WWDC Part III: Is MacOS Sequoia worth getting excited about

JULY 10 — The problem with having half your devices on the new Apple developer beta software and the other half (the laptops) not, is being constantly asked by my computer to download software that doesn’t exist for it... yet.

It’s a little hard for me to talk about what the upcoming MacOS Sequoia brings to the table as I’ve already talked about Apple’s AI ambitions and the new iPadOS tweaks.

Have also been working nine days in a row (a long complicated story that might end up in my future memoir), which has also turned my brain into mushy tofu so consider it a small miracle this column is somehow in.

I’m a lot more excited about the quality of life features in the upcoming WatchOS update. What I’m not quite as thrilled about is my watch telling me that walking from the office to the train nearly every day in the last week has improved my health readings (lower resting heart rate and better walking steadiness).

How dare you, I mutter to my watch, as I slap it on my wrist again to let it monitor my sleep data for science (and the next column).

What my iPhone-using friends are excited about is the new iPhone mirroring feature on Mac.

I guess this will help you order takeaway or discreetly check your notifications without letting people see what is on your phone screen. Your phone will remain on standby and locked, safe from your resident nosy bystander or wannabe hacker.

There is nothing I really want to add about AI because at press time, it won’t even be on the developer betas until next year at the earliest.

I cannot wait for Siri to be less stupid, I mean more intelligent. Sadly, the AI update will not help Siri on the HomePods so my smart speakers will also remain stupid for the years to come.

Apple also announced some improvements to Safari that barely registered to me because even after all these years, it’s still much easier to use other browsers for that thing we call productivity.

Despite now updating to a test version of the new MacOS, there is now a new app that continues to remind me it exists: Passwords.

Hello, the app says. Would you like me to save this password? Would you like me to save all your passwords? Please say yes I have no other reason for existing.

Apple has also announced it is bringing more games to the Mac including the Resident Evil series, which is amusing because it’s not exactly the newest game franchise and anyone who loves it already has the games on PC or consoles.

I’m more impressed they managed to get Blizzard to agree to get the next World of Warcraft expansion to work on Sequoia considering how Blizzard has frozen out the MacOS from its recent games including Diablo IV forcing me to get a PlayStation 5.

I must remember to send Apple the bill.

As to how these games will play on Mac I might never find out as after I wrote in no uncertain terms the recent Resident Evil port to iPhone sucked, the free game trial codes have run dry.

Sadly after all these decades I am still incapable of lying in my reviews.

Apple also announced some improvements to Safari. — AFP pic

Now to the most important bit of every MacOS announcement: will your Apple computer run it? Well so long as it is running one of the newer Silicon chips, sure.

It will also run on iMacs from 2018 and later, the iMac Pro from 2017, 2018 and later MacBook Pros and Mac Minis and all Mac Studios.

Alas there’s one caveat for MacBook Airs: only the 2020 models and later are supported on Sequoia so it is time to retire your old MBAs.

I feel that the latest MacOS is a nice but not life changing update, but then I was around when Apple was still naming software versions after cats. Truly I still miss Snow Leopard.

Stay tuned for next week when I write a love letter to the new WatchOS and how it has finally added the feature I desperately begged for Apple to add: letting me tell my Watch to just stop bugging me about my rings when I am just not feeling it.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist