Everything you need to know about the latest version of Apple’s desktop OS, Operating Systems
Everything you need to know about the latest version of Apple’s desktop OS Apple’s annual developer conference, WWDC, is just around the corner. Alongside a new version of iOS and other assorted goodies, the company is expected to wow attendees with the latest iteration of its desktop operating system, macOS 10.13. But what can we expect from the new software? We’ve run down the potential new features, as well as the release date and possible names. Rumours about what features Apple will include with the next version of macOS have been somewhat thin on the ground, but we can make some educated guesses as to what it’s likely to feature. Following on from last year’s conference, deeper integrations between the company’s mobile and desktop operating systems are a fairly safe bet, helping the company to bolster its ecosystem and inject some more life into its services and subscriptions business. Another strong contender for inclusion in macOS 10.13 is the Apple File System (APFS) . Introduced at WWDC 2016, the system is designed to improve space efficiency, encryption, and backups, and is optimised specifically for flash and SSD storage. The technology has been rolled out on iOS, but has yet to reach Apple’s desktops, so it’s a strong possibility that this could be the year it makes the jump. Design tweaks and changes are also a possibility, but given that macOS and iOS seem to be in sync from a design perspective, we’re not anticipating any drastic visual changes. Ever since 2013,Apple has named its macOS releases after locations and landmarks in its home state of California. We’ve already had Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite and Mavericks, but the next in the series is yet to be confirmed. Luckily, Apple has given us a couple of clues, in the form of a list of names that the company trademarked in 2014. Among the list are well-known Californian cities, animals, mountain ranges and deserts, including Ventura, Skyline, Pacific and Condor. Rumours are currently suggesting that the name of the next version macOS will start with an ‘m’, and that it won’t be named after a mountain range or national park. With that in mind, our guess is that Apple is going to go with ‘Mojave’ – another entry in the list of trademarked names. Other options include Monterey, Mammoth and Miramar. Apple’s usual pattern is to unveil the next version of its desktop OS at its annual developer conference, and we’re not expecting this to change for the latest release. macOS 10.13 will likely be shown off as part of the opening keynote on 5 June. Following the initial reveal, a developer preview will be made available shortly thereafter, with a public beta following a few months after that. The software won’t hit general availability until this Autumn, however – most likely in September.
