Apple macOS 11.0 Big Sur announced with redesigned Finder, Dock

AppleInsider

Apple's macOS 11.0 Big Sur will be released later in 2020, and Apple has revealed that it will be bringing a refreshed design to all of its apps, and the Finder, plus adding an iOS-style Control Center, and improvements to Maps and Messages.

Apple demonstrates macOS 10.16 Big Sur

For its eighth use of Californian placenames, Apple has revealed that its latest Mac operating system will be called macOS Big Sur. As well as marking eight years since Mountain Lion, the last cat-named release, this is the 16th release of what was originally Mac OS X.

"Our next release of macOS is macOS Big Sur," said Craig Federighi. "MacOS Big Sur introduces an entirely new design and major updates to some of the most essential apps on the platform. And just like its name. Big Sur brings you unmatched levels of power and beauty."

Having expected to be released as macOS 10.16, Big Sur is actually version 11.0, marking the first time an OS has not been version 10 since the original OS X in March 2001. The overall look of every element of the Mac has been changed, with translucent menus, more rounded icons, and controls that appear when needed or disappear when not.

These controls are particularly visible in apps such as Mail, which has all new glyphs, including in color, and a search field that expands as you click to enter it. Similarly, photos has revamped the display of images, including how smoothly zooming in is done.

Federighi said that all of the iWorks apps have had the same redesign, which has gained a simplified toolbar. Menus across iWork and all Apple apps have been reworked to give "all the items just a little bit more room to breathe.'

Apple Mail in macOS Big Sur

"We've brought Control Center to the Mac," continued Federighi. "All of my controls are here, and it's really easy to make adjustments. For instance, I can change display brightness... Or, I can click to dive in for more like turning on dark mode or activating night shift. And what's really cool is that I can customise the menu bar with any of these controls."

Alongside revisions to the look of macOS apps, Big Sur will bring features from iOS, most markedly in Messages.

"We're taking messages to the next level with a tonne of great new features," said Federighi. "[For instance] we're introducing powerful search to help you find what you're looking for. We have a redesigned photo picker to make sharing photos and videos easier. And you're also getting pinned conversations that are synced across devices, so you can always get to them, along with new groups enhancements.

Safari updates

Apple says macOS Big Sur will see the browser increasing performance, showing more tabs on screen, and maintaining privacy.

"Our users love Safari for speeding performance power efficiency and state of the art privacy protections," said Federighi. "And it delivers all of that while making it easy to get your bookmarks tabs and browsing history across all of your devices."

Safari in macOS Big Sur adds to privacy information that's available to users

"This year we're building on Safari's amazing performance, elegant design, and pioneering privacy protections to deliver the biggest update to Safari since it was first introduced," he added.

Apple Maps

Apple's macOS Big Sur brings the same improvements to Apple Maps that are coming to iOS 14.

That means Apple Maps add extensive planning tools, including new guides for exploring places of interests. Apple Maps directions will now include cycling paths, too, plus electric vehicle trips.

Apple Maps, Messages, Safari, and Control Center are all redesigned for macOS Big Sur

As usual, macOS 11 will be released to the public later this year, when it will also become the default installation on all new Macs. A developer beta test is starting shortly and Apple is expected to again release a public beta test in the coming weeks.

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indieshack

Freudian slip headline!

mcdave

The new UI looks very tappable.

JinTech

Did anyone else notice when they were demonstrating the macOS on the new hardware it said "macOS Big Surprise Version 11" when they went to About This Mac?

mr. h

mcdave said:

The new UI looks very tappable.

That's an interesting observation and not one I'd considered. However, I think this is more about harmonising the design language across the different platforms - macOS did feel a bit "odd one out". Whilst this has made it look more tappable, I think there remain plenty of elements that in reality, are still too small to be used via finger-tap, and will always require a mouse pointer. In short, I don't think this means that they are working on a touch-capable Mac.

I'm a bit disappointed they didn't take this opportunity to rename the Finder to "Files"; I wonder if they had debates about that?

Darth_KalEL

It’s macOS 11. Not 10.16

Darth_KalEL

It’s macOS 11. Not 10.16. Fix your article. 

prismatics

It’s macOS 11. Is it now without Darwin Kernel or without NeXTSTEP inside, or is there something else that makes this worth an increment?

entropys

Looks to me like we are finally transitioning away from the Mac as we know it, and the glacial pace of updates to Mac lines explained. This was Apple’s focus. IPadOS is the future, with Mac OS 11 just a modified version. 

The Mac will just become a big iPad.

if so, do we get a high performance DeskPad with touch (imagine the price of a magic keypad on that mother). And do things also go the other way so that Mac features end up on iPad pros, an example being, and I can’t emphasis how important this is, Finder for iPad.

CheeseFreeze

I really hope that some of the “we hide buttons until you hover”, like the search bar that expands, can be customized so that you see all icons. On desktop I like to use all the screen space I have and rely on memory muscle.

CheeseFreeze

prismatics said:

It’s macOS 11. Is it now without Darwin Kernel or without NeXTSTEP inside, or is there something else that makes this worth an increment?

It’s just branding. Probably same kernel but compiled for Apples ARM architecture.

CheeseFreeze

prismatics said:

It’s macOS 11. Is it now without Darwin Kernel or without NeXTSTEP inside, or is there something else that makes this worth an increment?

It’s just branding to emphasize the big change to their own silicon, and to align their branding to iOS/iPadOS which also has one number. The X was getting weird.

Probably same kernel but compiled for Apples ARM architecture.

mr. h

CheeseFreeze said:

prismatics said:

It’s macOS 11. Is it now without Darwin Kernel or without NeXTSTEP inside, or is there something else that makes this worth an increment?

It’s just branding to emphasize the big change to their own silicon, and to align their branding to iOS/iPadOS which also has one number. The X was getting weird.

Yes, they'll probably start incrementing the major number once a year now, just like their other platforms

entropys

Until it catches up with iOS and gets the same version number.  I suspect you will basically have specOS, watchOS,TVOS, iPhoneOS, iPadOS and MacOS, same underneath, but with GUI features and other aspects specific to the capabilities of the particular hardware. 

hexclock

CheeseFreeze said:

I really hope that some of the “we hide buttons until you hover”, like the search bar that expands, can be customized so that you see all icons. On desktop I like to use all the screen space I have and rely on memory muscle.

Most changes to the Finder over the last few years have had toggles like that, so I expect this one to have that too. 

fastasleep

mr. h said:

mcdave said:

The new UI looks very tappable.

That's an interesting observation and not one I'd considered. However, I think this is more about harmonising the design language across the different platforms - macOS did feel a bit "odd one out". Whilst this has made it look more tappable, I think there remain plenty of elements that in reality, are still too small to be used via finger-tap, and will always require a mouse pointer. In short, I don't think this means that they are working on a touch-capable Mac.

I'm a bit disappointed they didn't take this opportunity to rename the Finder to "Files"; I wonder if they had debates about that?

Craig did point out the menu items have a lot more "room to breathe" which made me think of tap targets, but maybe it's literally just giving UI elements some white space and make it less claustrophobic. 

Another thought is whether there might be gaze control in conjunction with Apple Glass, which would require larger targets, or something else we haven't thought of based on air gestures and other things we've seen in patents in the past. All possibilities...or just a design refresh.

fastasleep

entropys said:

Looks to me like we are finally transitioning away from the Mac as we know it, and the glacial pace of updates to Mac lines explained. This was Apple’s focus. IPadOS is the future, with Mac OS 11 just a modified version. 

The Mac will just become a big iPad.

if so, do we get a high performance DeskPad with touch (imagine the price of a magic keypad on that mother). And do things also go the other way so that Mac features end up on iPad pros, an example being, and I can’t emphasis how important this is, Finder for iPad.

You need to get over your disdain for the Mac. They've been firing on all cylinders with regard to hardware, and this ARM transition shows there's been much, much more going on that we haven't been seeing. It's 100% clear they're FULLY INTO THE MAC if you spent any time watching the keynote or the Platforms State of the Union. 

entropys said:

Until it catches up with iOS and gets the same version number.  I suspect you will basically have specOS, watchOS,TVOS, iPhoneOS, iPadOS and MacOS, same underneath, but with GUI features and other aspects specific to the capabilities of the particular hardware. 

They're not merging the OSes. They will continue to share the foundation and frameworks that help bridge gaps between their platforms, clearly. They've said this time and time again, why don't you listen?

DuhSesame

From what I know, I think I'll like the new design.  It could made going to enclosing folder more intuitive, which sometimes I still forgot that it's in the title.

DuhSesame

also, while I may not be a fan of these new app icons, I do like the UI in general.

StrangeDays

fastasleep said:

entropys said:

Looks to me like we are finally transitioning away from the Mac as we know it, and the glacial pace of updates to Mac lines explained. This was Apple’s focus. IPadOS is the future, with Mac OS 11 just a modified version. 

The Mac will just become a big iPad.

if so, do we get a high performance DeskPad with touch (imagine the price of a magic keypad on that mother). And do things also go the other way so that Mac features end up on iPad pros, an example being, and I can’t emphasis how important this is, Finder for iPad.

You need to get over your disdain for the Mac. They've been firing on all cylinders with regard to hardware, and this ARM transition shows there's been much, much more going on that we haven't been seeing. It's 100% clear they're FULLY INTO THE MAC if you spent any time watching the keynote or the Platforms State of the Union. 

entropys said:

Until it catches up with iOS and gets the same version number.  I suspect you will basically have specOS, watchOS,TVOS, iPhoneOS, iPadOS and MacOS, same underneath, but with GUI features and other aspects specific to the capabilities of the particular hardware. 

They're not merging the OSes. They will continue to share the foundation and frameworks that help bridge gaps between their platforms, clearly. They've said this time and time again, why don't you listen?

Who knows why this is so difficult for some to grasp. I guess they just don’t understand software and to them things have to “merge” to share libraries. 

Could they have made the point any clearer a couple years back when they blew it up this big:

fastasleep

StrangeDays said:

fastasleep said:

entropys said:

Looks to me like we are finally transitioning away from the Mac as we know it, and the glacial pace of updates to Mac lines explained. This was Apple’s focus. IPadOS is the future, with Mac OS 11 just a modified version. 

The Mac will just become a big iPad.

if so, do we get a high performance DeskPad with touch (imagine the price of a magic keypad on that mother). And do things also go the other way so that Mac features end up on iPad pros, an example being, and I can’t emphasis how important this is, Finder for iPad.

You need to get over your disdain for the Mac. They've been firing on all cylinders with regard to hardware, and this ARM transition shows there's been much, much more going on that we haven't been seeing. It's 100% clear they're FULLY INTO THE MAC if you spent any time watching the keynote or the Platforms State of the Union. 

entropys said:

Until it catches up with iOS and gets the same version number.  I suspect you will basically have specOS, watchOS,TVOS, iPhoneOS, iPadOS and MacOS, same underneath, but with GUI features and other aspects specific to the capabilities of the particular hardware. 

They're not merging the OSes. They will continue to share the foundation and frameworks that help bridge gaps between their platforms, clearly. They've said this time and time again, why don't you listen?

Who knows why this is so difficult for some to grasp. I guess they just don’t understand software and to them things have to “merge” to share libraries. 

Could they have made the point any clearer a couple years back when they blew it up this big:

Imagine wanting to be disappointed by Apple so badly that you're willing to make negative shit up to support that worldview. There's a few of those here. What a miserable existence that must be.

I'd rather spend time enjoying using my Mac.