Photos might be the most important app on the Mac. After all, it is used to manage your precious, invaluable photos. So when a new version is in the works, you probably want to be aware of any new features, and there are a few coming to Photos in macOS 11 Big Sur.
Let’s take a look at the new features in Photos 6.
Photo editing tools
When tweaking a photo’s colors, Photos now offers a Vibrance adjustment. It’s found under Color in the Adjust tools. Apple has also adjusted the Retouch tool with “advanced machine learning” so it does a better job when you use it to remove blemishes.
There’s a new Vibrance adjustment under Color.
Video editing tools
In previous versions of Photos, you could import videos, but all you could do is watch them. Now, Apple provides editing tools. They’re the same tools you use when editing photos—that also includes the ability to apply filters, crop, and trim a video’s length.
The new editing tools for videos are great for doing basic edits. You need to use iMovie or another video editor if you want to do more production, like string different clips together, add titles, etc.
Captions
When you are looking at your photos and videos, Photos now shows the file name under each item. You can edit this label to if you want. Just click on the name, and it will highlight, then you can type in what you want. You can also get info on an item (right-click it and select Get Info, or select the item and them clock on the Info button at the top of the app, or selec an item and press Command-I), and then in the window that appear, add a caption by typing it in the Add a Caption section.
Captions give your photos more context.
Memories
Apple says that the Memories section has been improved to include a “more relevant selection of photos and videos.” There’s also more music tracks, and Memory movies are now enhanced with video stabilization.
With macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple takes the opportunity to refresh the Mac’s user interface. The changes aren’t dramatic—don’t worry, you’ll be able to use your Mac like usual. The changes give the Mac a more modern look, and also have led to speculation that Apple is getting ready for the next phase of user input, like maybe a Mac touchscreen.
If you are wondering what Big Sur looks like before installing it, we have a peek right here. You can prepare yourself before you dive in.
More space
Once you start up your Mac and log in, the Finder looks pretty much the same. The changes are subtle. For example, the menu bar icons are spread out, with each icon having a little more space. It makes it easier to spot the icon you want.
The menu bar icons in macOS Big Sur (top) and macOS Catalina (bottom).
Click on a menu, and you’ll notice that the listed items have more space.
Menus in macOS Big Sur (left) and macOS Catalina (right).
Menu bar items
Apple’s menu bar items have also been redesigned. For example, The Wi-Fi menu bar has been reorganized. Now, your preferred networks for an area are listed, and the rest of the available area networks are in an Other Networks section.
The Wi-Fi menu bar item in macOS Big Sur (left) and macOS Catalina (right).
If you have third-party items in the menu bar, they should look like they did previously. It’ll be up to the developers if they want to redesign their UI.
Control Center
Apple has taken the Control Center from iOS and made a Mac version. Its icon appears in the menu bar, and you get quick access to controls such as network, display brightness, and volume. It is customizable, so you can add the controls you want.
If your menu bar is getting crowded, you can use Control Center to take some items off the bar. For example, you can use Control Center for your sound volume, and then remove the volume control menu item. Also, you can click and drag Control Center items and place them in the menu bar for quick access.
Control Center in macOS Big Sur
Notification Center and widgets
When you click on the date in the menu bar, the revamped Notification Center, which combines your notifications and widgets, appears on the screen.
Adding a widget to Notification Center.
To add a widget, click the Edit Widgets button at the bottom. Notification Center will expand to show a listing of available widgets. Some widgets are available in small, medium, and large sizes; click the S, M, or L buttons to preview each widget size. Mouse over the widget itself, and a + button appears on the upper left; click that button to add it to Notification Center. You can then click and drag the widget in the Notification Center to the location you prefer.
New Dock icons
Apple has changed up the look of the Dock, as well. Icons of Apple apps have more of an iOS look, and the Dock has rounded corners. You still have the same options for the position of the Dock, turning hiding and magnification on or off, and to minimize the Dock using either the Genie or Scale effect.
The Dock in macOS Big Sur (top) and macOS Catalina (bottom).
Other changes
You’ll notice other changes with dialog boxes, sidebars, Finder windows, and more within macOS Big Sur. For example, some buttons in windows disappear when you move the cursor away from the area they are located. Most of the changes aren’t major and you’ll be able to navigate your Mac just as easily as before.
Dialog boxes have a fresh new look.
Sounds
Longtime Mac users will remember that the Mac used to “chime” when you powered it up. The chime is back by default in macOS 11 Big Sur. We have a separate article that covers the chime, and we also tell you how you can disable it if you prefer to have a silent boot process.
Also, the system sounds have been updated so that they are “more pleasing to the ear,” according to Apple. They’re new takes on the old version, so they’ll be familiar.
Longtime Mac users will remember that the Mac used to “chime” when you powered it up. Apple removed the chime in 2016, but with macOS 10.15 Catalina, users could reinstate the chime through a command in the Terminal.
The chime is back by default in macOS 11 Big Sur. In the short video clip below, you can hear what the chime sounds like on my (beat-up) 2014 MacBook Pro running the Big Sur beta.
If you mute the Mac’s audio before you shut down, the chime will not play the next time you boot the computer. If you want to turn off the chime all together, you can do so in the Terminal. Here are the steps.
Launch the Terminal app. It is located in Applications > Utilities.
At the prompt, enter the following: sudo nvram StartupMute=%01 and then press Return.
You may be asked for your user password. Type it in and then press Return.
You’re done.
If you later want to turn the chime on, use the same instructions above in the Terminal, but at the second step at the prompt type sudonvram StartupMute=%00 instead.
Install and run Big Sur now by joining Apple’s Public Beta program.
The next version of the Mac operating system, macOS 11 Big Sur, will be officially released this fall. But you can install and run Big Sur now by joining Apple’s Public Beta program.
Interested? Here’s what you need to know about the Public Beta.
Sign up for the program and install the macOS Big Sur Public Beta
Before you can install the new operating system, you must be enrolled in the Public Beta program. You can do this through Apple’s Public Beta program website. In the Get Started section of the website, click on the “enroll your Mac” link.
This should take you to the “Enroll you devices” webpage. Follow the instructions. In step 2, you will download the “macOS Public Beta Access Utility” which will enroll your Mac into the program. Then the utility will launch Software Update to download and install the Big Sur beta.
The installation takes a while. It can take about 40 minutes or longer, depending on your internet connection speed.
What is the macOS Big Sur Public Beta?
The current version of the Mac operating system is macOS 10.15 Catalina. The next version is macOS 11 Big Sur. Apple makes a public beta version of Big Sur available for people to try out, test against their favorite software, and report bugs to the company.
Since this is beta software, there’s a good chance it could cause problems on your Mac. You may encounter frequent freezes and crashes, or your apps may not work. Don’t count on it being stable enough to use all the time.
Should you install the macOS Big Sur Public Beta?
You should not install the beta on a production Mac or any other Mac you depend on and need to keep running. If you’re worried that a beta flaw will prevent you from using your Mac, don’t install it. Install it on a Mac that you consider a secondary computer.
If you do decide to try the beta, you can provide Apple with valuable feedback and get a look at the new features.
What should you do before installing it?
Back up your Mac. You can use Time Machine or whatever backup setup you already have. You need a backup you can revert to in case you need to stop using the beta and need to restore your system.
The macOS Public Beta Access Utility checks to see if you’ve made a Time Machine backup of your Mac. You can proceed even if don’t have one.
Which Macs are compatible with macOS Big Sur?
MacBook (2015 or later)
MacBook Air (2013 or later)
MacBook Pro (Later 2013 or later)
Mac mini (2014 or later)
iMac (2014 or later)
iMac Pro (2017 or later)
Mac Pro (2013 or later)
How to uninstall the macOS Big Sur beta
If you try out the beta and decide later that you don’t want to use it anymore and want to go back to macOS Catalina, Apple has instructions on How to unenroll from the public beta. You’ll need to use a Time Machine backup to restore your system back to the OS before Big Sur was installed. Apple also has instructions on how to restore your system if you want to reformat your Mac and start over from scratch.
What happens after the final version ships?
You can continue to use the public beta. You’ll get beta versions of Big Sur updates when they become available. If you want to get rid of the beta and install the final version of Big Sur, you can download the macOS Big Sur installer in the App Store when it becomes available in the fall.
At the WWDC20 keynote, Apple took the wraps off of macOS Big Sur, the next version of the Macintosh operating system. Big Sur will replace macOS 10.15 Catalina this fall.
Big Sur is a major upgrade with several features that users can take advantage of. Here are the features that Apple highlighted during its WWDC20 keynote presentation. We’ll follow up with more details on these features as they are revealed.
What version of macOS is this?
Apple revealed that macOS Big Sur is officially version 11 of the operating system. It marks the end of version 10, which was introduced on March 24, 2001.
What are the new features?
Refined user interface
The user interface inconsistencies between Apple’s mobile and desktop operating systems are notable, and compared to iOS, macOS looks a little dated. With Big Sur, Apple finally addresses the macOS UI, implementing the first major changes since the release of Mac OS X.
“Depth, shading, and translucency are used to create hierarchy,” said Alan Dye, VP Human Interface, during the WWDC20 keynote. “These new materials are rich, and they’re vibrant.”
The UI in macOS Big Sur features reworked icons, menus, Notification Center, and Widgets.
Apple has changed the icons of the built-in apps so they more closely resemble iOS icons, yet still maintain their “Mac personality,” as Apple puts it. The Dock, which prominently displays app icons, appears to float on the screen. Toolbars and Sidebars in apps look cleaner, and buttons disappear when they aren’t in use.
Menus in macOS Big Sur are translucent, and menu bar items display more functionality.
Apple also updated the menu bar so that it is even more useful. It is now translucent, and menus have a cleaner look and more space. Apple has also added Control Center to the menu bar, which works like the Control Center in iOS. It gives you access to many system controls, such as network connectivity, display brightness, sound volume, and music controls. And, like in iOS, you can customize it with the controls you want. If there’s a Control Center control you want to make a permanent part of your menu bar, you can drag it out of the Control Center and on to the menu bar.
The Mac now has Control Center, like the one found in iOS.
The Notifications menu bar icon is gone in Big Sur. Notification Center can be accessed by clicking on the time in the menu bar, and you can now click on Notifications and Widgets in the Center to get more information. Big Sur will also have a gallery that displays all the Widgets you can add (including third-party Widgets) to the Notification Center.
Apple has refined the system sounds, too. They are variations of the sounds we are all familiar with in prior versions, so they are recognizable but fresh.
Messages
Messages on the Mac has lagged behind the iOS version in its feature set. Apple changes that in Big Sur, having used Mac Catalyst to convert the iOS version of Messages to a version that runs on the Mac.
Messages now has improved search to make it easier to find what you are looking for in your message list. Search results are grouped into Conversations with the search term highlighted, Links (website URLs), and Photos.
Apple has improved search in Messages so it is easier to find what you need.
Apple made a ton of improvements to the tools you use to create a message. A redesigned photo picker makes it faster for you to find the photos and videos you want to send. Your name and photo or Memoji can be set to automatically share with the person you’re communicating with, whether that person is in your contact list or not. Speaking of Memoji, Apple will provide a Memoji editor so you can customize your look, and the new Memoji stickers can be used to graphically communicate a feeling or idea. A new #images feature can help find GIFs and images on the internet.
Other Messages features help organize your conversations. You can pin up to nine conversations at the top of your list, and your pins appear on your iPhone and iPad, too. In a group conversation, you’ll be able to reply to a specific message to maintain context; you don’t have to worry about your response being out of the flow. And you can assign an image to a group conversation, which helps it stand out in your listing.
New effects such as confetti and lasers can help set a tone to a conversation.
Safari
Apple says that Safari in Big Sur has been optimized so that it is even faster than before. The company claims that the new Safari is up to 50 percent faster than Google Chrome.
A new Privacy toolbar button can show web trackers and also display a full privacy report that shows a list of blockers trackers from the past 30 days. You can also add a Privacy Report to your start page.
If you use the web often, you probably use a lot of passwords to log into sites and services. Safari’s password monitoring checks if passwords have been involved in a data breach and generate new passwords if necessary.
Safari’s Privacy Report tells you what trackers can be found on a website.
Apple also put more focus on extensions made by third parties. Developers can get tools to convert Google Chrome extensions into ones for Safari. Users will be able to peruse extensions in the App Store, with descriptions to tell you about each one, and a chart to let you know which ones are popular. And you can designate when an extension works on a website.
As for the user interface, Safari’s start page will have more customization options. Favicons will appear in page tabs, and if you hold your cursor over a tab, you can see a preview of the webpage. Safari will also have tools so you can translate websites in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Russian, or Brazilian Portuguese.
Safari can be customized with your own wallpaper.
Photos
The Photos app is probably the most used app on the Mac. (It’s the app most people ask about in our Mac 911 column.) So new features that make Photos better to use are always a good thing.
Photos in macOS Big Sur will have more editing tools. For photos, there is now a Vibrance effect, where you can adjust the intensity of filters and Portrait Lighting. The Retouch tool is enhanced with machine learning to make your adjustments look better. There are also more tools you can use on videos.
To provide more context to your photos and videos, Photos will let you add and edit captions. With the help of iCloud, captions will sync with your iPhone and iPad.
Maps
Apple hopes the improvements to Maps will make it more useful for planning trips on the Mac. Apple said that the new version of Maps started with the iOS version, which was converted to the Mac using Mac Catalyst.
You can finally save locations as Favorites. This is one of those features that you can do in on the iPhone and iPad, but could never do on a Mac.
Maps’ new Guides give you information about locations on display. This could be helpful for travelers, but at launch, guides will be available only for London, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. More guides are in the works, but in the meantime, Maps will let you create your own guide.
Maps on the Mac finally has Favorites.
New route planning is available for cyclists and electric vehicles. Cycling routes show elevations, traffic, and other potential obstacles. Electric vehicle routes help track your car’s charge and show charging stations. Both types of routes can be sent from your Mac to an iPhone.
Other Maps features include:
Indoor maps
Look Around, which shows eye-level photography of a location
The ability to monitor a person’s commute
Estimated time of arrival of friends
Congestion zones
Notes
The Notes app currently lets you pin notes so they always appear at the top of your listing. In macOS Big Sur, you’ll be able to collapse and expand the list of pinned notes, which is a nice if you have a lot of them.
If you want to make your notes more functional, the Big Sur version of Notes will have several text style that you can apply.
The search results in Notes will now show Top Hits to help you find what you need.
What is Mac Catalyst?
Introduced last year, Catalyst is used by developers to bring their iOS apps to the Mac. Apple said that Catalyst has been updated so that apps can take advantage of the Mac display’s native resolution. Developers will also have access to new menu and keyboard APIs.
Mac Catalyst is a developer’s tool, but users will benefit from it. If you have an app you like to use on your iPhone, you could be able to use it on your Mac, too.
When will macOS Big Sur be released?
Apple usually releases the operating systems it previews at WWDC in the fall. Look for macOS Big Sur to be released in September or October. It could be later though, since the COVID-19 pandemic has affected production schedules for all companies.
What Macs are compatible with macOS Big Sur?
MacBook: 2015 and later
MacBook Air: 2013 and later
MacBook Pro: Late 2013 and later
Mac mini: 2014 and later
iMac: 2014 and later
iMac Pro: 2017 and later
Mac Pro: 2013 and later
Can I try a beta of macOS Big Sur?
If you’re a software developer, you can get a beta right now. You have to register as a developer with Apple, which you can do at developer.apple.com. You have to pay a $99 annual fee, but you get access to videos of all the developer sessions at WWDC, software developer tools, support, and more.
Apple does have a public beta program available to users who are willing to take the risk. You can sign up for the program at the Apple Beta Software Program website and you can download and install not only the macOS Big Sur beta, but also the iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14 betas when they become available.
If you want to try the betas, we suggest installing them on a secondary device, since beta software is prone to error and crashes. You’ll be expected to provide Apple with feedback if you do run into a problem. You can also opt out of the beta program if you change your mind.
Mr.Mac Bot 