Apple Announces OS X El Capitan With Split View, Contextual Spotlight, Updated Apps and More, Launches in Fall
Apple today announced OS X 10.11 El Capitan, the latest version of its Mac operating system. OS X El Capitan features new versions of multiple stock apps, including Safari, Mail and Notes, improved Spotlight search with natural language enhancements and contextually aware results, Metal for Mac and other features and refinements that Apple introduced during its WWDC keynote in San Francisco.

- Safari: A new pinned feature enables users to keep websites listed at the top of Safari, similar to a bookmarks bar. The browser also gains a universal mute feature that allows users to mute a website that is playing music, even with several tabs open.
- Mail: The new Mail app features enhancements to its full-screen mode, tabs in the compose window, the ability to hide in-progress messages and go back to the main Inbox. There are also new gestures built into Mail for archiving and deleting -- simply swipe on the trackpad.
- Spotlight: Apple has significantly improved Spotlight search in OS X El Capitan with natural language enhancements and contextually aware search results. "Get Mail from Brian about El Cap," for example.
- Metal for Mac: Metal for Mac has arrived, combining the computing power of OpenCL and graphics power of OpenGL into a new API that does both. 50% improvements in rendering with 40% less CPU processing power required for graphics. Metal on OS X El Capitan offers better battery life and improved graphics performance for both games and professional apps.
OS X 10.11 El Capitan is available to registered developers beginning today. It will be available in public beta in July and will publicly launch in the fall as a free software update for supported Macs.
We've created a new dedicated forum for OS X 10.11 El Capitan on the MacRumors forums, where you can discuss the new changes and features and learn new details about the upcoming update.
Popular Stories
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years.
iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack)
At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors.
Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report.
iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design
The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too.
2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3
Apple didn't update the...
All upcoming iPhone 17 models will come equipped with 12GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, according to the Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station.
The claim from the Chinese leaker, who has sources within Apple's supply chain, comes a few days after industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all be equipped with 12GB of RAM.
...
In a victory for Epic Games, Apple was today found to be in violation of a 2021 injunction that required it to allow developers to direct customers to third-party purchase options on the web using in-app links.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who has been handling the Apple vs. Epic Games dispute for the last five years, said that Apple is in "willful violation" of the injunction she issued to ...
Apple's iPhone 18 lineup will introduce a major leap in memory performance, according to new information shared today by Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station. Apple is reportedly planning to equip the 2026 models with a high-capacity six-channel LPDDR5X memory configuration, significantly upping the memory bandwidth for future AI features and multitasking.
Expanding the memory bandwidth...