macOS 10.15 (2019) update: Release date and features
Not much is known about the next version of macOS – beyond a few snippets we were able to glean from Apple’s March “Showtime” Event, namely that it will be bringing the TV app to the Mac – we can’t even be sure of the name – but we can be confident that Apple will update macOS in 2019. Here’s what to expect from macOS 10.15 – including Apple’s plans to make it easier for developers to port apps from iPhone and iPad to the Mac – and when we expect to see the new version of macOS.
Speaking of the iPad – we’ve head that Apple is working on some new window management technology which, among other features will include the ability to use an iPad as a second screen for your Mac. More on that below.
What will Apple call the next version of macOS?
Continuity would suggest that Apple will call the next version of the Mac operating system macOS 10.15. However, there are a couple more options. It may feasibly decide that it’s time to move on from macOS TEN (or Mac OS X for the die-hards) altogether and graduate to macOS 11. In fact, with the iPhone 11 potentially arriving in the autumn (iPhone XI if you are using Roman Numerals) it might be the right time to bring Apple’s devices into numerical alignment.
Of course, if it was to do that macOS 11 would be out in conjunction with iOS 13, so maybe not.
One thing we do know is that the next version of macOS should bring with it even more unification between iOS and macOS, with Apple already having confirmed that as of the 2019 macOS or iOS 13 it will be easier to port apps from one OS to the other. More on that below.
Perhaps, instead it’s time to ditch numbers all-together. Apple has for many years chosen a name to represent the Mac operating system. Initial generations of Mac OS X took names of big cats, Leopard, Jaguar, Lion. In recent years the names of choice were based on popular sites in California. We have this article that lists some potential California locations that the next macOS might be named for.
Some possibilities based on a March 2018 trademark filing include Sequoia, Sonoma and Ventura.
- Sequoia, after the national park that’s home to the largest trees in the world.
- Sonoma, in the heart of California’s winemaking region.
- Ventura, a coastal city famous for surfing and windsurfing.
When will Apple launch macOS 10.15?
We expect to see Apple’s first demo of the new Mac operating system at WWDC in June 2019. Apple recently confirmed the dates for this year’s event; 3 – 7 June 2019, with a macOS reveal likely taking place on the first day of the conference.
Then it is likely that the new software will be available to download in September or October 2019.
New features coming in macOS 10.15
We already know something about what’s coming in macOS 10.15 because Apple revealed details during WWDC 2018.
Unification of iOS and macOS apps – Project Marzipan
During Apple’s WWDC 2018 keynote the company announced plans to make it easier to port iOS apps to the Mac. The company gave developers a “sneak peek” of its strategy to give Mac developers a chance to “tap into” iOS.
While iOS and MacOS share common foundations, it’s not easy to port an iOS app to the Mac because the two user interfaces are somewhat different. “Porting an app from one to the other involves some work,” said Craig Federighi.
Apple has said it is looking at ways to adopt specific behaviours, for example, drag and drop, so that they can be translated to the other OS. In 2018 Apple ported across some of its own apps from iOS to Mac, and revealed that it was working on ways to make the transition between the two OSes smoother.
The plans to make it easier to port an app from iOS to the Mac was no big surprise. Back in January 2018 a report on Axios (by Ina Fried previously of Re/code and All Things Digital) claimed that you will be able to run iPad apps on macOS 10.14 when it launched in the autumn, as part of a secret Apple project.
However, around the same time, Apple software chief Craig Federighi told employees at a company meeting that Apple would be focusing on security and performance improvements in macOS and iOS in 2018. As a result, there were to be fewer major changes to the macOS than there have been in previous years, and hence it seems that the majority of work involved in getting iOS apps to run on the Mac was pushed to 2019.
Apple clearly decided that it would be a mistake to try and prepare to launch such a feature in 2018, but the rumoured project to combine iPhone, iPad and Mac apps was real.
Bloomberg also wrote that Apple planned to combine iPhone, iPad and Mac apps as part of a secret project called ‘Marzipan’. According to Bloomberg’s sources in a January 2018 report: “Developers will be able to design a single application that works with a touchscreen or mouse and trackpad depending on whether it’s running on the iPhone and iPad operating system or on Mac.”
Picture shows some of the iOS apps Apple bought to macOS in Mojave
By unifying the app development it was hoped that third-party Mac apps would be updated more frequently. Currently, most development funding goes to iOS apps.
According to Bloomberg: “Apple plans to change that by giving people a way to use a single set of apps that work equally well across its family of devices: iPhones, iPads and Macs.”
A March 2019 Bloomberg report offered even more details about Apple’s plans to combine apps across the iOS and macOS App Stores.
That report suggests that Project Marzipan will eventually allow developers to create one app that works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices, but that ability won’t arrive until 2021.
In 2019, according to Bloomberg sources, Apple will release an SDK that could allow developers to port iPad apps to Mac computers. There will be two separate apps, but developers will only have to write the underlying code once.
Then, in 2020 an enhancement to the SDK will allow the porting of iPhone apps to the Mac.
It won’t be until 2021 that developers will merge iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps, according to Bloomberg. Then developers will be able to create one “single binary” application that works across all Apple devices. At this stage there could be just one store at which customers will be able to buy apps for all Apple devices.
Expect to hear more about these plans at WWDC.
So, what’s this all mean? You won’t be able to run iOS on your Mac, or MacOS on your iPhone or iPad, but you should be able to run most of the apps you use on each device – as long as the developer ports them over. The process of porting apps should be simplified, so developers will hopefully be willing to do so.
But no merger of iOS and macOS…
This doesn’t mean we can expect a merger of iOS and MacOS. Back in March 2018. Apple CEO Tim Cook repeated his views that merging the two platforms would be a mistake.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Cook said: “We don’t believe in sort of watering down one for the other. Both [The Mac and iPad] are incredible. One of the reasons that both of them are incredible is because we pushed them to do what they do well. And if you begin to merge the two … you begin to make trade-offs and compromises.
“So maybe the company would be more efficient at the end of the day. But that’s not what it’s about. You know it’s about giving people things that they can then use to help them change the world or express their passion or express their creativity. So this merger thing that some folks are fixated on, I don’t think that’s what users want.”
Despite Apple saying that they won’t merge macOS and iOS, we have seen some great examples of how a merger of the operating systems could work, such as here. That report concedes that the new combined OS would simply need to support both x86 and ARM.
Incidentally, there are rumours that Apple will ditch Intel processors next year, moving to ARM. Ming-Chi Kuo of TF Securities predicts that in 2020 or 2021 Apple will start to use its own A-series processors in Macs. There may even be ‘evidence’ that a MacBook with an ARM processor is in the works:
Back in May 2018 there were reports that one of Apple’s manufacturing partners, Pegatron, was working on the company’s first ARM-based Mac, which 9to5Mac claimed has a “touchscreen, a sim card slot, GPS, compass, is water resistant and it also runs EFI”. So maybe a Mac that runs iOS isn’t as far off as we might think…
