MACS AND STACKS MAC OS X
MACS AND STACKS DRIVER
MACS AND STACKS SKIN

Core apps such as Mail and Messages have similarly been rebuilt with the same benefits - greater iOS/iPadOS/macOS consistency - and spacing issues. Apple usually uses the beta cycle to fine tune macOS elements like these, so I’m cautiously optimistic that they’ll tighten up and improve by the time Big Sur goes final in the fall. Icon spacing in the menu bar feels too loose, font sizes and line spacing are a little awkward (particularly when you switch display resolutions), and the title/icon bars for windows have been rebalanced in ways that feel foreign at first, but have clear space-saving intentions. Control Center on the Mac now resembles the iOS/iPadOS feature, albeit with better labeling and less reliance on icons alone to identify features.īig Sur’s Finder feels like it’s been substantially rewritten ahead of the Intel to ARM transition, and could still be a work in progress. Other OS-level tweaks to window corner radiuses give included apps a more bubbly feel, and introduce more of the translucent panes previously seen in iOS and macOS.

Big Sur has refreshed many of the Mac’s icons with shadow details, and they almost all look better for the change. I hated Apple’s shift to completely flat icons, and have felt for years that shadows were both a practical and beautiful way to make visual elements pop on 2D displays.

One welcome surprise: the return of icons with pre-iOS 7 3D depth and shading.

MACS AND STACKS SKIN

After spending hours with Big Sur, the differences turn out to be mostly skin deep, but it’s obvious that Apple really wants to unify its platforms behind a consistent design language at the same time as it’s debuting “Apple silicon” processors. It recalls the 2014-2015 releases of Yosemite and El Capitan (10.10-11), where Apple shifted Macs to the “flat” visual theme from iOS devices, and similarly feels decidedly different from the first moment it appears on screen. I’ve tested most of the macOS betas Apple has released over the years, and Big Sur is one of the most visually jarring - in generally good ways. If you’re downloading the first beta, you might notice “macOS 10.16” references here and there, such as during the initial download or when third-party apps reference the OS version, but Apple has confirmed that it’s supposed to be macOS 11.

MACS AND STACKS MAC OS X

You can almost picture Apple’s fall 2020 marketing campaign already: “This OS goes to 11.” After 19 years of Mac OS X (restyled macOS 10) releases, the company finally pulled the trigger and officially moved macOS to version 11, a symbolically major step forward for the Mac platform.

Whether you’re a developer planning to dive into one or all of Apple’s platforms, or a business considering a move to or from Apple’s devices this year, here are the big takeaways for each platform.

MACS AND STACKS DRIVER

I wound up putting four of the five new beta OSes on my daily driver devices, and have been using them for the last day so you don’t have to take the risk - or can jump in if you’re as intrigued as I was.

Macs and stacks