Apple Previews Big Update to Safari on Mac, Featuring New Privacy Tools, Built-in Translation, Improved Tabs, and More

Apple today during its WWDC keynote unveiled macOS Big Sur, which comes with a big update to Apple's native Safari browser.

apple macos bigsur customizedsafari startpage 06222020
Tabs have been redesigned to make navigating with Safari faster and more powerful by showing more tabs onscreen, displaying favicons by default to easily identify open tabs, and giving users a quick preview of a page by simply hovering over the tab.

A new Privacy Report button in the toolbar gives users insight into how sites are using their connection, and which trackers have been blocked. Users can choose when and which websites a Safari extension can work with, and tools like data breach password monitoring never reveal users' password information.

apple macos bigsur safari improvedtabs 06222020
Extensions support for Safari is adopting new standard, so users can bring over extensions from other browsers. Users can also give extensions access just for a day, on a certain website, or for every website. In addition, the Mac App Store has a new extensions category that includes editorial spotlights and top charts.

apple macos bigsur safari privacyreport 06222020
Meanwhile, native-translation capabilities are now built into Safari, and the browser can detect and translate entire webpages from seven languages. There's also a customizable Start Page with background image support that extends to Reading List and iCloud Tabs.

Aside from features, Safari is getting faster. Apple says it now loads frequently visited sites an average of 50 percent faster than Chrome.

Top Rated Comments

abrantes09 Avatar
49 months ago
Im switching... I was looking for a reason and I've been given a reason...this is epic
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MEJHarrison Avatar
49 months ago

The iMac hasn't been redesigned in twelve years and you're talking about updates to Rosetta? ?
One of the interesting things I picked up today watching the video is that Apple seems to have many different people working on many different projects. It doesn't appear, as some think, to be a single group of people working on 1 project at a time. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if they have an entire department that handles artwork like emojis instead of it just being the developers doing that work. Who can say?

It's entirely possible those two things you mentioned are handled by completely different groups of people. And I would further guess that progress, or lack thereof, on one team probably doesn't affect the progress of the other team in this particular case.

You could literally have said "The iMac hasn't been redesigned in twelve years and you're talking about..." and stuck anything they said there today at the end and it would fit just as well. One has nothing to do with the other.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Airforcekid Avatar
49 months ago
Ill give it a try but I cant imagine it being faster than Brave plus I dont want to lose all my Chrome extensions.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dom_ Avatar
49 months ago
The only question is: will it do VP9? (Either natively or via the new extension functions.)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
velocityg4 Avatar
49 months ago
If it does indeed get better extension support I may try it out. Maybe this will pry me away from Firefox and Chrome.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r Avatar
49 months ago

I wish they would bring back Safari for Windows. Apple has to realize that many of us loyal customers also use Windows devices.
Yes, I totally agree.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2 Perspective Gray

Five Key Upgrades Coming to iPhone 16

Friday March 15, 2024 1:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone is Apple's top-selling product, and it gets an update every year. In 2024, we're expecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro lineup, with an arguably more interesting feature set than we got with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Capture Button All four iPhone 16 models are set to get a whole new button, which will be...
When To Expect New iPads Feature 1

Apple to Announce New iPads on March 26, Rumors Claim

Monday March 18, 2024 4:02 am PDT by
Apple is widely expected to release new iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro models in the next few weeks. According to new rumors coming out of Asia, the company will announce its new iPads on Tuesday, March 26. Chinese leaker Instant Digital on Weibo this morning 日发布%23">claimed that the date will see some sort of announcement from Apple related to new iPads, but stopped short of calling it an...
airpods 3 orange

Two New AirPods 4 Models Expected to Launch in September or October

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:56 am PDT by
Apple suppliers will begin production of two new fourth-generation AirPods models in May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this production timeframe, he expects the headphones to be released in September or October. Gurman expects both fourth-generation AirPods models to feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C...
iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Expected to Depreciate Heavily

Tuesday March 12, 2024 9:04 am PDT by
Resale value trends suggest the iPhone SE 4 may not hold its value as well as Apple's flagship models, according to SellCell. According to the report, Apple's iPhone SE models have historically depreciated much more rapidly than the company's more premium offerings. The third-generation iPhone SE, which launched in March 2022, experienced a significant drop in resale value, losing 42.6%...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

iOS 17.4.1 Update for iPhone is Imminent

Monday March 18, 2024 5:27 am PDT by
iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 should be released within the next few days, with a build number of 21E235, according to a source with a proven track record. MacRumors previously reported that Apple was internally testing iOS 17.4.1. As a minor update for the iPhone, it will likely address software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. It is unclear if the update will include any other changes. ...
M3 iPad Feature 3

New iPads Likely to Begin Shipping in April

Monday March 18, 2024 9:52 am PDT by
Apple's new iPad Pro models with OLED displays will likely begin shipping to customers in April, according to information shared today by Ross Young, CEO of display industry research firm Display Supply Chain Consultants. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said the new iPad Pro models might not ship until "deeper" into April in his Power On newsletter on Sunday:I've repeatedly said that new...
iOS 17 Passkey With Apple ACCOUNT Feature

'Apple ID' Expected to Change to 'Apple Account' Starting With iOS 18

Sunday March 17, 2024 7:13 am PDT by
MacRumors was first to report that Apple was planning to rebrand "Apple ID" to "Apple Account" across its software platforms and websites like iCloud.com as early as this year, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has corroborated this change. A mockup of the new Apple Account branding In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new "Apple Account" branding will start to be used later this...