Could Apple be working on next-generation Mac hardware that would be powered by an in-house designed processor based on CPU blueprints from British fabless semiconductor maker ARM Holdings plc? That's exactly the conclusion one could reach by looking closely at code strings in the macOS Sierra kernel, discovered by Dutch outlet TechTastic.nl.
Five years after its introduction in 2011, Siri finally made its debut on Mac with the release of macOS Sierra. Featuring much of the functionality that Siri contains on iOS, such as being able to check the weather forecast or set a reminder, Siri for macOS also has some exclusive abilities, such as handling documents in the file system and being able to pin results to Notification Center.
One feature that macOS's Siri didn't port from its mobile counterpart, however, is the ability to activate Apple's digital assistant hands-free with the "Hey Siri" command. Fortunately, there's a viable workaround available that enables users to invoke Siri in macOS with their voice to give commands from across the room.
Seven days following the release of a seventh beta of macOS Sierra, Apple today seeded an eighth beta of the upcoming software to its registered developers and public beta testers. Both macOS Sierra beta 7 for members of the Apple Developer Program and macOS Sierra beta 7 for members of the Apple Beta Software Program are now available through the Mac App Store on computers with an appropriate configuration profile and as standalone downloads on Dev Center.
Code strings found in the latest beta of macOS Sierra—originally discovered in the macOS API definitions by app developer Felix Schwartz back in June—indicate that future Macs will almost certainly support the latest USB 3.1 Gen 2 standard, which allows for up to 10 Gbps transfer speeds. While plans regarding future Macs could change, we fully expect the upcoming machines—just like existing and previous Macs—to support the latest and greatest in USB and Thunderbolt tech.
As you know, Apple yesterday seeded a sixth beta of iOS 10 and macOS Sierra to its registered developers and public beta testers along with developer-only builds of watchOS 3 and tvOS 10.
As we're now weeks away from their tentative fall release, small wonder the latest betas lack new outward-facing features. Here's Andrew's hands-on video detailing changes in the latest betas of iOS 10, macOS Sierra and watchOS 3.
If you're signed on the Apple Beta Software Program, you can now install the latest beta of macOS Sierra on your Mac even if you're not a developer as macOS Sierra Public Beta 3 just went live minutes after the Cupertino firm posted the third public beta of iOS 10.
macOS Sierra Public Beta 3 contains the same features as the developer-only macOS Sierra beta 4. Developer-only fourth betas of iOS 10, macOS Sierra, watchOS 3 and tvOS 10 were pushed yesterday.
Two weeks following the release of the third beta of iOS 10, watchOS 3, tvOS 10 and macOS Sierra, Apple on Monday issued iOS 10 beta 4, macOS Sierra beta 4, watchOS 3 beta 4 and tvOS 10 beta 4 to members of the Apple Developer Program. The public beta of iOS 10 and macOS Sierra matching the latest developer-only releases should be released tomorrow to public beta testers enrolled with the Apple Beta Software Program.
Picture in Picture, a self-explanatory feature which debuted on compatible iPads with last September's release of iOS 9, is coming to the desktop near you. That's right, now desktop users can watch video while they're multitasking on their Mac, thanks to Picture in Picture support on macOS Sierra.
With a click, you can float a clip from Safari or iTunes in a window over your desktop, and continue watching it as you're multitasking. The video can be resized, dragged and pinned to any corner of the screen and it even stays put when you switch Spaces.
Monday, Apple seeded a third developer-only beta of macOS Sierra (build number “16A254g”) to members of the Apple Developer Program, followed by a version suited for public beta testers 24 hours later.
After spending some quality time with Sierra's third beta, our own Andrew O'Hara summed up for you guys all the changes and fixes he's discovered in Sierra's beta 3 in a hands-on video.
A second beta of macOS Sierra was released to Apple's registered developers and public beta testers last week. In addition to turning on an anticipated new feature called Auto Unlock, the second beta of Sierra (build number “16A239j”) packs in iTunes 12.5, Dark Mode assets for some stock apps, a change of the Siri keyboard shortcut—which was clunky to begin with—and more.
Here's our video overview of everything that has changed in macOS Sierra beta 2 since its inaugural developer-only release at WWDC 2106.
It looks like iOS 10 may not be the only Apple operating system to include dark interface assets as Mac developer Guilherme Rambo tweeted out a number of screenshots showing a dark interface theme in several stock applications on macOS Sierra, including Safari and System Preferences.
This mode is different in appearance than macOS's existing setting for enabling dark menu bar and the Dock in System Preferences → General.
macOS Sierra brings the familiar features of Siri for iOS to the Mac with an attractive user interface, third-party integration and some interesting capabilities specifically designed for the desktop that are not supported on iOS. In addition to standard search queries, you can ask Siri to locate a specific document you worked on last night, add a meeting to your calendar, start a FaceTime call and more.
The Siri interface is interactive, letting you drag and drop items from search results into your documents.
You can even pin Siri searches in the Notification Center with live updating! Here's our quick video preview of Siri for Mac in action and a detailed overview of the supported features that Apple hopes will make you more productive.