Everything you need to know about macOS Catalina

Apple's MacOS operating system is preparing to receive a major update this fall. MacOS Catalina has just been announced this week at WWDC. MacOS Catalina offers a number of major changes and updates to the Mac operating system. Here are some things you can expect to find in macOS Catalina.

iTunes will be removed

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Apple's iTunes application will no longer be part of macOS Catalina. Instead, there will be three different applications to replace it - Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts.Apple Music will include your entire music library, whether you download songs from Apple Music or rip them from CD. Apple TV is similar to Apple TV application on iOS and will provide content related to movies and TV shows. To view podcasts, Apple's new Podcasts application will be used, allowing you to browse libraries, view charts and download new podcasts.

Support for iPad apps

MacOS Catalina introduces support for third-party iPad applications. Through the use of the new Project Catalyst development tool, developers can create applications for both new iPadOS and macOS without too much effort. Therefore, if the application supports Project Catalyst, you will be able to use it on both Mac and iPad.

Apple Sidecar

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Many high-end users love connecting Macs to a second screen for ease of use and better graphics features. This option is mainly attractive to video editors or graphic designers who need to use multiple screens to complete their work more efficiently. If you own an iPad at home or office, you will be able to use it as a secondary monitor to better perform your work. Similarly, you can use the iPad as a drawing screen with an Apple pencil touch pen, if you like to draw or sketch and don't want to buy third-party accessories to do it.

Find My feature

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Apple's iCloud has a very handy utility called ' Find My iPhone / iPad / Mac ' service, which allows you to locate all your devices (log in with Apple ID), regardless of whether they're in where. If they are connected to the Internet, you can check their current location and emit a warning sound or lock the device remotely if you think your device is stolen.

The new 'Find my' feature, also available in iPadOS and iOS 13, brings 'Find my Mac' and 'Find my Friends' technologies to the Mac application. This allows you to keep track of your devices even when they are offline, using Bluetooth and other people's devices that may be around your lost or stolen device, relocating position your device safely and anonymously for you.

Screen Time

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Apple's Screen Time feature has been available on iOS for a while and will now be available for macOS. This feature will allow you to monitor usage on all devices to better analyze time management.

Security update

MacOS Catalina has a number of privacy and security improvements. Gatekeeper will check all applications to find known security issues. New data protection measures will also require these applications to get permission before accessing documents, contacts, etc., similar to those already on iOS.

Dashboard will be removed

Apple has officially removed the Dashboard from macOS Catalina. 32-bit applications will no longer be supported. This is not a problem for frequently updated applications. Older applications, not updated by developers for a long time, may not be supported in macOS Catalina anymore.

Update the application

Photos, Notes, Reminders and Safari have received some design updates and look better than ever.

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When is macOS Catalina released?

Apple has not announced a specific release date for macOS Catalina, which has just announced that it will be released this fall. The following devices are supported and will be able to run macOS Catalina:

1. Macbook (2015 and above)
2. Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, Mac Mini or iMac (2012 and above)
3. iMac Pro 2017 and above
4. Mac Pro 2013 or later

As usual, Developer Beta for MacOS Catalina is now available for application developers. Please read the article: How to upgrade Mac to macOS version 10.15 Catalina Developer Beta for more details. The Public Beta may be released in July, followed by the final release in the fall.

Are you excited about macOS Catalina or did Apple disappoint you with this upcoming update? Please share your opinion in the comment section below!