Apple today announced that macOS Big Sur will be released on Thursday, November 12. The news came out of Apple's "One More Thing" event, where it revealed new Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models with the M1 chip.
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macOS Big Sur was previously revealed at WWDC in June, and will feature an overhauled look with what Apple is calling the biggest design update to macOS since the introduction of Mac OS X. This includes overhauling the curvature of window corners and dock icon designs.
While subtle, the changes should have a fresh feel in comparison to the current macOS. Other changes include lighter windows with additional translucency, a more translucent dock, app icons with a new uniform squircle shape, redone system sounds, and more.
There's a refreshed menu bar with access to a customizable Control Center that includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirDrop controls, keyboard brightness, Do Not Disturb, Dark Mode, sound level, and more. Likewise, Notification Center is redesigned with more interactive notifications grouped by app and iOS-style widgets with customizations in three different sizes.
Many of the first-party Apple apps have seen improvements and overhauls as well. Safari is faster and more battery efficient; Messages now support effects, @mentions, inline replies, and more; Maps supports Look Around, indoor maps, and Guides; Photos has expanded editing features; and Apple Music includes a new Listen Now section.
There are many more additions coming to macOS Big Sur on November 12, so be sure to read our full roundup if you're interested. For more coverage on today's event, check out our posts on the new Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro.
Top Rated Comments
There’s also the minor side benefit of “easing” a big change into comfortable, familiar hardware to reassure buyers who might not want too much change all at once.
(I also wonder if there’s less supply chain waste/learning curve by using very similar outer shells?)
THEN, you design whole new systems from the ground up around the chip as a step 2.
It’s exactly what they did putting the first intel chips into the existing iMac bodies.
I want new designs as much as anyone as a consumer, but this makes business sense, and I’d do the same thing if I was CEO.
Give it a year or two and I bet that you'll see a new design. Depending on lead times, you might even see one for the iMac or [S]Macbook Pro[/S] PowerBook (since it's a RISC chip again!).
Yeah the performance boosts of the new hardware are great - but the hardware looks EXACTLY the same as it has for YEARS. What on EARTH is going on in the industrial design department?