macOS Mojave brings you 90 changes & new features to your Mac, and it arrives today

Posted:
in macOS edited September 2019
Apple's Mojave update for the Mac is nearly upon us. AppleInsider has taken a deep dive on macOS Mojave since the reveal at the WWDC, and tells you 90 features to look forward to if you're upgrading on Monday

macOS Mojave


Editor's note: This video was produced by AppleInsider just after the Mojave beta launched to users. As the operating system was very stable upon release, and has only gotten better and more refined since, we are sharing this video again today so you can get a quick overview of what to expect from your Mac after Monday's release.

In Mojave, the most show-stopping features include Stacks for the desktop, major improvements to Quick Look, a more powerful Finder, beefed up screen captures, Dark Mode, and (coming in 2019) the ability to port iOS apps over to the Mac. For a close focus on these top features, check out our recent hands-on. Then, read on for every change, big and small, in macOS Mojave.



Desktop


  • Stacks

  • Dark Mode

  • Dynamic Desktop

Quick Look


  • Use MarkUp

  • Trim videos

  • Trim audio

  • Rotate/crop images

Finder


  • Gallery view

  • New sidebar

  • Quick Actions

  • Full metadata

  • New "Keep folders on top on desktop" option

  • App recents in dock

Preferences


  • New Accent Color option under General

  • Random screensaver option now a checkbox

  • Removed mouse options for Mission Control shortcuts

  • Software Update section in Preferences

  • New advanced auto update options

  • iCloud News option

  • iCloud Stocks option

  • iCloud Home option

  • Twitter login removed

  • FaceBook login removed

  • Allow platform switching to control your computer under accessibility

  • New Typing tab under Switch Control accessibility

  • Improvements to the international keyboard

Screen Capture


  • New easy-to-use menu

  • New screen recording options

  • Can set timer for video

  • Can show cursor clicks in videos

  • Customize screenshot save location

  • Thumbnail animates to lower corner

  • Share without saving a copy

Continuity Camera


  • Scan photos or documents with your iPhone

  • Take photos from iPhone

  • Insert into folder in Finder

  • Insert right into documents

Group FaceTime


  • Slightly updated UI

  • (Removes + button, switches to all vs missed on top instead of audio/video.

New Apps


  • Redesigned Xcode 10

  • News app is new to macOS

  • Stocks is new app to macOS

  • Voice Memos is new app to macOS

  • Home is new app to macOS

  • HomeKit support on macOS

Siri


  • Siri can now handle HomeKit requests

  • Can find saved passwords

  • Knows about food

  • Knows about celebrities

  • Knows about motorsports

Mac App Store


  • Redesigned Mac App Store

  • New Discover, Create, Work, Play, Develop tabs

  • Editor curation and stories

  • View purchases under Account

  • Removed developer name from purchased apps

  • macOS software updates removed from App Store

Security


  • Mojave requires apps to get your approval before accessing the camera or microphone

  • Enhanced tracking prevention

  • Automatic strong password suggestion

  • Flags passwords frequently used

Safari


  • Favicons in Safari tabs

  • View reused passwords in Safari preferences

  • View password details

  • Easily change password in Safari preferences

  • AirDrop passwords from Safari

  • Bock pop-up windows removed from preferences

  • Plugin Section of Websites in Preferences removed

  • One-time security code AutoFill

Photos


  • Levels and curves swap spots

Books


  • iBooks renamed Apple Books

Mail


  • Emoji picker in Mail

  • Suggested folders

  • Move to button in nav bar

DVD player


  • New Icon

  • 64-bit

  • Re-written in AppKit

  • Supports Touch Bar

  • New UI

System


  • Core ML 2

  • Metal 2

  • UIKit frameworks (2019)

  • UI language parity

  • W3C web driver

  • OpenType-SVG fonts

  • Improved CSS color support

  • APFS for fusion drives and hard drives

  • Faster wake from sleep

  • Automator shortcuts I Touch Bar

  • Redesigned Lock Screen

  • New save panel

  • New open panel

For more on Apple's latest updates, check out our hands-on with over 65 changes in watchOS 5.

Apple's macOS Mojave was revealed at WWDC18 alongside iOS 12, watchOS 5, and tvOS 12.

All of Apple's latest updates are set to be released later this fall. Stay connected with AppleInsider as we delve through the releases in the weeks and months to come.

And for a new Mojave-ready Mac, take advantage of some of the best deals ever on Apple hardware, going on now.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 38
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    About time with that DVD player.   
    racerhomie3smack416dysamoriadonjuancornchipEric_WVGG
  • Reply 2 of 38
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    Did you miss 3rd party password manager api?  That’s nice for cross platform users.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 38
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Very comprehensive, thanks!
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 38
    columbuscolumbus Posts: 282member
    What does the "change password" button do in Safari preferences - take you to the site to change it?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 38
    epicurusepicurus Posts: 29member
    i’m just happy to see dark mode 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 38
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,139member
    ...I've long asked (via feedback) & hoped for a finder column view auto resize, vs option clicking every new folder window divider per last para www.macyourself.com/2009/10/06/easily-resize-panels-in-finders-column-view-to-fit-long-file-names/ ... unless I'm missing something, of course...?
  • Reply 7 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    wizard69 said:
    About time with that DVD player.   
    Frankly I'm surprised they didn't just get rid of the old DVD Player app now that no Mac has come with an ODD for years, streaming is king, and there are plenty of cheap and free options for regionalized and protected DVD playback at this point.


    nht said:
    Did you miss 3rd party password manager api?  That’s nice for cross platform users.
    It's a great feature for the average user, but I'm still not going to use it. I do love the new feature that will let Apple's password manager read an app's password creation parameters (min, max, character palette options, number of repeated characters, complexity, etc.) to create the most secure password possible. This is something I've wished for a decade that was standardized with websites so that any password manager could read something public, like the robots.txt file, so that it could create a great password without excessive manual input.

    At this point all my passwords are unique and complex, but it was not a pleasant task since website developers are pretty lazy when it came to giving you all the rules of a password's complexity and sometimes had different rules for a website v app despite it being the same login.

    I'm also hoping that the increased focus on APIs for 3rd-party password managers for iOS 12 will lead more app developers (including Apple's apps) to all for better support of these other password managers.
    Alex1Nwatto_cobratmay
  • Reply 8 of 38
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Found another Finder change.

    New Folder with "name of folder" above Open in New Tab/Window

    This is driving me nuts as my muscle memory selects it 100 times a day in error when I want 'open in new Tab'.  I wish I could relocate this on menu!  Where is FedIt when you need it? /sigh ;)

    Folder Action elevated in hierarchy in place of Services.   Not yet sure what happened to Services, could be this is just because I don't have any yet.


    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 38
    rcfarcfa Posts: 1,124member
    Big question: do 32-bit apps still run, or do they no longer work, as has been rumored for quite some time?

    Odd, with the DVD player: since iTunes plays both CDs and iTunes music, why not make DVD playback part of iTunes so it would play video of DVDs and from the iTunes Store? Or then part of the QuickTime player?
    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 38
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Soli said:
    wizard69 said:
    About time with that DVD player.   
    Frankly I'm surprised they didn't just get rid of the old DVD Player app now that no Mac has come with an ODD for years, streaming is king, and there are plenty of cheap and free options for regionalized and protected DVD playback at this point.

    That doesn't mean you can't attach a USB Optical Drive to your Mac. Sure, you could probably use VLC or something like that but its not as intuitive to use as DVD player where you simply put the DVD in the drive and the app does the rest. 
    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 38
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    wizard69 said:
    About time with that DVD player.   
    Yeah, I'm surprised they didn't drop it entirely. I presume it doesn't handle Blu-Ray discs...?
    edited June 2018
  • Reply 12 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    rcfa said:
    Big question: do 32-bit apps still run, or do they no longer work, as has been rumored for quite some time?
    Yes they do, but "not without compromise" which I still haven't gotten an answer to.

    Odd, with the DVD player: since iTunes plays both CDs and iTunes music, why not make DVD playback part of iTunes so it would play video of DVDs and from the iTunes Store? Or then part of the QuickTime player?
    A lot of people around here want iTunes broken up into a dozen apps each with different abilities so your suggestion of rolling DVD playback into iTunes probably won't go over well, but I think your comment makes logistical sense with it being able to play music CDs and being able to play TV shows and movies. Rolling it into QuickTime would've also made sense, but I just assumed they were just going to can the app altogether since they 1) hadn't updated it in years, 2) they haven't had ODDs in Macs for years, 3) disc sales are dropping while they're pushing streaming media, and 4) there are plenty of apps that offer DVD playback. Why even bother with all the licensing requirements for regional DVD playback at this point? I'd be curious to know why they decided to add this as part of MacOS Mojave.
    Alex1N
  • Reply 13 of 38
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    Wait, why were the Mission Control mouse options removed? Are they somewhere else or do we no longer have hot corners?
  • Reply 14 of 38
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    Soli said:

    ...but I just assumed they were just going to can the app altogether since they 1) hadn't updated it in years, 2) they haven't had ODDs in Macs for years, 3) disc sales are dropping while they're pushing streaming media, and 4) there are plenty of apps that offer DVD playback. Why even bother with all the licensing requirements for regional DVD playback at this point? I'd be curious to know why they decided to add this as part of MacOS Mojave.
    Possibly some of the people working at Apple have considerable libraries of movies and TV shows on DVD and didn't want to lose the option of playing them with 1st-party Mac OS support...? I certainly am happy to see it maintained (though I really wish Apple had bothered adding native Blu-Ray support, since they are still being rather successfully marketed and streaming is inferior compression/picture quality and reliant on having high bandwidth internet available).
    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 38
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    macxpress said:
    Soli said:
    wizard69 said:
    About time with that DVD player.   
    Frankly I'm surprised they didn't just get rid of the old DVD Player app now that no Mac has come with an ODD for years, streaming is king, and there are plenty of cheap and free options for regionalized and protected DVD playback at this point.

    That doesn't mean you can't attach a USB Optical Drive to your Mac. Sure, you could probably use VLC or something like that but its not as intuitive to use as DVD player where you simply put the DVD in the drive and the app does the rest. 
    I don't think anyone suggested that you can't use an external ODD. Is VLC really that unintuitive? You point it to what you want to play? And what about other 3rd-party apps for playing DVDs?

    How many people do you know—on any desktop OS—that are still putting in a DVD into their PC for playback? Of those, how many are using a USB-connected ODD to playback a DVD? Are you seeing these people on planes? If you know people like that you really should show them how to use Handbrake or iVI Pro (the latter being very iniutuitvef) that will allow them to copy a file to their local drive which will use a lot less power and not make any noise that a spinning ODD makes.

    And as far as I know there is still no support for Blu-ray in this updated player. Again, obviously Apple has their reasons, but I don't think it's a run of the mill reasons, hence mine and others curiosity. Perhaps it's something like "we gave it to some interns as a project and they did a great job so we included it." (See this story for reference of an odd things that happen at Apple).
    Alex1N
  • Reply 16 of 38
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Soli said:
    macxpress said:
    Soli said:
    wizard69 said:
    About time with that DVD player.   
    Frankly I'm surprised they didn't just get rid of the old DVD Player app now that no Mac has come with an ODD for years, streaming is king, and there are plenty of cheap and free options for regionalized and protected DVD playback at this point.

    That doesn't mean you can't attach a USB Optical Drive to your Mac. Sure, you could probably use VLC or something like that but its not as intuitive to use as DVD player where you simply put the DVD in the drive and the app does the rest. 
    I don't think anyone suggested that you can't use an external ODD. Is VLC really that unintuitive? You point it to what you want to play? And what about other 3rd-party apps for playing DVDs?

    How many people do you know—on any desktop OS—that are still putting in a DVD into their PC for playback? Of those, how many are using a USB-connected ODD to playback a DVD? Are you seeing these people on planes? If you know people like that you really should show them how to use Handbrake or iVI Pro (the latter being very iniutuitvef) that will allow them to copy a file to their local drive which will use a lot less power and not make any noise that a spinning ODD makes.

    And as far as I know there is still no support for Blu-ray in this updated player. Again, obviously Apple has their reasons, but I don't think it's a run of the mill reasons, hence mine and others curiosity. Perhaps it's something like "we gave it to some interns as a project and they did a great job so we included it." (See this story for reference of an odd things that happen at Apple).
    Oh believe me...I use VLC at work and folks have no clue how to get the DVD to play in VLC. This is why I always use a Mac wherever possible. Pop the DVD in the drive and the Mac does the rest. Very simple and intuitive. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 38
    tipootipoo Posts: 1,141member

    Safari

    • Snappier 
    mattinozwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 38
    90 "Changes"
    100 "Awesomes"
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 38
    What's the confusion with VLC...?
    Drag and drop the DVD icon onto the VLC icon and voila!


    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 38
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    • New save panel
    • New open panel


    I’ve always appreciated the consistency between all the finder windows whether saving, opening, exporting, importing, whatever — always the same. Hope they didn’t jack that up too bad.

    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
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