Integration Through Standards

Much of the success of macOS can be attributed to Apple embracing industry-standard formats and open source software. Adoption of common standards saves engineering time and allows for much smoother integration with other platforms. When Apple developers engineer a technology for a new feature, Apple often releases the technical specifications to the developer community. This fosters a new standard. An example of this is Bonjour network discovery, which Apple pioneered and has maintained as an industry-standard protocol commonly known as Multicast DNS (mDNS) for others to develop and use.

Another example is the Swift programming language for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, and beyond. After Apple unveiled Swift, it quickly became one of the fastest-growing languages in history. Swift makes it easy to write software that is incredibly fast and safe by design.

Here are some examples of common standards supported by macOS:

• Connectivity standards—Universal Serial Bus (USB), including USB-C, Thunderbolt, Bluetooth wireless, and the IEEE 802 family of Ethernet and Wi-Fi standards.

• File-system standards—A file system determines how information, usually in the form of a file, is stored on and retrieved from a storage device. macOS supports file-system standards such as File Allocation Table (FAT), New Technology File System (NTFS), ISO 9660 optical disc standard, and the Universal Disk Format (UDF).

• Network standards—Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Domain Name System (DNS), Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Web Distributed Access and Versioning (WebDAV), and Server Message Block/Common Internet File System (SMB/CIFS), including SMB3.

• Document standards—ZIP file archives, Rich Text Format (RTF), Portable Document Format (PDF), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) family of media standards, High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC, also known as H.265), and High Efficiency Image Format (HEIF, based on HEVC).

New Design for a Refined Experience

macOS Big Sur has a more cohesive look and feel throughout. New symbols are redesigned and common across controls, toolbars, and sidebars. This is true for macOS, built-in apps, and the apps you install. You’ll know exactly where to click.

macOS Big Sur helps you focus on your content. Apps are streamlined and more transparent. App sheets don’t have borders and bezels. The menu bar (at the top of your screen) is taller and more translucent, making more room for your desktop picture to shine. Menus are larger and have more space, improving legibility.

Windows have more room, making them easier to work with. They are more translucent. Edges are more rounded to match macOS. Sidebars extend to the full height of their windows, making it easier for you to find what you want. Toolbars have been redesigned. macOS Big Sur uses a new set of common symbols throughout macOS and your apps to represent common tasks. You’ll see these symbols in controls like toolbars, sidebars, navigation bars, context menus, and widgets. These new symbols add clarity and consistency, and they make it easy for you immediately recognize where to click.

The Dock now floats just above the bottom of your display. App icons are redesigned to feel both familiar and fresh; they have a uniform shape, making it easier for you to recognize at a glance.

System sounds are all new, but they sound familiar because they’re based on the originals. And the Mac startup chime is back!

New Control Center for Mac

Click Control Center in your menu bar to instantly access the controls you use the most, like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirDrop. Drag your favorite controls to the top of your menu bar for one-click access. Customize using Dock & Menu Bar preferences in System Preferences.

Updated Notification Center

macOS Big Sur combines notifications and widgets in a single dedicated column. Notifications are grouped by app. Redesigned widgets come in three sizes. Just click the date or time to open Notification Center. Click Edit Widgets at the bottom of Notification Center to personalize your experience.

Biggest Safari Update Ever

Safari is vastly improved. There are more options than ever to customize your start page, like the ability to set a background image. At the same time, Safari now performs better and is more power efficient than ever. A new privacy report feature helps you understand just how often Safari prevents cross-site trackers from following you around on the web. Find out more about how Safari protects privacy and security in Lesson 9.

Improved Messages

Pin up to nine of your most important conversations to the top your list. And searching your past messages is easier than ever. Reply inline to a specific message in a conversation.

Redesigned Maps

Create Guides for your favorite places, or discover Guides created by brands you trust. Maps includes improvements for indoor maps, as well as new routes customized for the different needs of cycling and electric vehicles.

New App Store Privacy Information

A completely new section for each app in the App Store is dedicated to that app’s privacy practices. See Lesson 18, “Install Apps,” for more details on the App Store.

Time Machine Improvements

macOS Big Sur significantly improves Time Machine backup performance when you use a disk that’s formatted with Apple File System (APFS). See Lesson 17, “Manage Time Machine,” for more details on using Time Machine to back up your content.

Improved Accessibility Features

macOS Big Sur introduces features that make it even easier for everyone to control their Mac. Voice Control is just one example.

Voice Control

macOS Big Sur adds improvements to Voice Control, which was introduced with macOS Catalina. With Voice Control, users who don’t use traditional input devices can completely control their Apple devices just with their voice. Become more efficient with improved dictation and text editing features. Open and control almost any app by speaking.

After you enable Voice Control, your Mac completes a one-time download from Apple, and an onscreen microphone appears.

macOS Big Sur adds the Overlay menu to the Voice Control panel. You can choose the following:

• None (the default)—Don’t display any overlay until you say the command “Show numbers continuously” or “Show grid continuously.” If you say the command “Hide numbers” or “Hide grid,” this option is set to None.

• Item Numbers—Always display item numbers that Voice Control recognizes as clickable, such as menus, checkboxes, and buttons displayed onscreen. Say the number of the item.

• Numbered Grid—Always display a numbered grid that lets you select, zoom, and drag with verbal commands.

The following figure illustrates how Voice Control displays item numbers for the Overlay menu.

“Show hints” is a new option for Voice Control in macOS Big Sur. Select this option to display suggested commands and hints next to the onscreen microphone. In the following figure, the user said “Save” and Voice Control displayed the hint to try “Save document.”

See “Change Voice Control preferences for accessibility on Mac” at support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/spc002 in the macOS User Guide for more information.

Photos Improvements

The list of improvements for Photos in macOS Big Sur includes:

• Expanded video editing capabilities

• Expanded photo editing capabilities

• Improved Retouch tool

• Easy, fluid navigation

• Captions (previously called descriptions)

• Enhancements to Memories

Mac Catalyst Improvements

With macOS Catalina, Apple released the Mac Catalyst technology to enable developers to bring iPad apps to Mac. macOS Big Sur makes additional frameworks and application programming interfaces (APIs) available to developers, so it’s easier than ever to use the same code to build apps for multiple Apple platforms. And these apps will have a truly refined Mac experience when you run them on Mac. Apple now offers universal purchase for App Store apps. Developers can let customers purchase an app on one platform and have access to that app across macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS devices.