A First Look At Apple's macOS Sierra
by Brandon Chester on July 13, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mac
- Apple
- Operating Systems
- macOS
Final Words
By this point I've covered many of the tentpole features of macOS Sierra. Right now it's a bit difficult to test some of the other features announced at WWDC that relate to continuity between macOS, iOS, and watchOS due to the fact that all these platforms are in beta and, in the case of watchOS, a beta that you can't return from. Unfortunately, I feel that those features end up being the most interesting ones, because they're only made possible by Apple controlling the software and hardware stack across all their devices.
macOS Sierra has several tentpole features, with some being more subtle than others. Siri is the big feature for this release, but in my experience so far it certainly hasn't been the best. As the beta cycle moves onward it will be interesting to see how Siri improves. The improvements to Photos and iMessage are also significant, and for Photos it brings the service closer to parity with Google Photos. I think Apple could have tried harder with Messages, as you basically can't use any of the new features and just have support for receiving them.
The features that I actually found most useful in Sierra are the subtle ones that improve existing functionality or add new features that work on their own in the background. Leveraging iCloud to provide local desktop and document syncing is exactly the kind of feature Apple should be building now that they have a usable cloud service and millions of users using millions of devices. Providing a way to have the system handle the transfer of older and lesser used files to iCloud will do a lot to alleviate storage pressure on Macs with 128GB and 256GB SSDs as well, which I would wager makes up a significant portion of Macs out there given what the starting storage tiers are.
I think Apple choosing the name Sierra says a lot about this release. While OS X has been rebranded as macOS, Sierra is still an evolution of El Capitan, which was an evolution of the much larger overhaul that came with OS X Yosemite. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do wonder why certain parts of macOS like Finder and iTunes remain mostly unchanged with each release. It's possible that Apple doesn't feel there's anything that needs to be fixed there, and it's also possible that it's simply a large undertaking that just isn't ready. In any case, the trend is clearly toward making refinements to the existing system through new features like tab support in all multi-window apps, along with continuity features like Apple Pay and Auto Unlock on macOS that leverage the ability of Apple's many products to work together.
In the end, macOS Sierra seems to be a good improvement on OS X El Capitan. Users will feel right at home after they upgrade, and they'll be greeted with new features and small tweaks throughout the system that help make the experience better. If you've bought into Apple's device ecosystem you also get some features that don't really have any equivalent within Microsoft's or Google's device ecosystem, but that also means if you aren't fully within Apple's ecosystem you're missing out on a good chunk of Sierra's features. Sierra itself is fairly rough around the edges at this point, but it's available now as an open beta for users who want to want to install it and check out the new features for themselves.
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TheITS - Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - link
People are complaining because they don't want to see such a brilliant website lose its identity. I don't imagine many people care for a deep dive on the Galaxy S6 now and yet this is the direction the site is taking. Who cares about an in-depth article on a last-gen product when it isn't an unknown quantity anymore?Impulses - Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - link
Phone reviews, iPhone aside (and even then) were always late tho...I remember bugging Anand over email about 1st and 2nd gen Android phone reviews. They might've actually gotten better at some point but it's always been a slow process to produce the kinda reviews they do and they've pretty much never been able to review ALL phones.
It was way worse when every carrier had specific versions of various phones and basically no phone was available across more than 2 carriers... Samsung didn't start cracking down on that from their end until the SGS3 or so.
Just saying, the HTC 10 review is still pretty darn late, but it isn't an entirely new trend.
tipoo - Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - link
I'm talking about GPU and CPU reviews, hour 1 has never been their thing, but they often bring to light new architectural features or issues others skipped.
fanofanand - Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - link
This right here encapsulates the frustration. They have lost their way. Instead of in-depth breakdowns of different technologies, we get pages and pages about Apple watches, months spent on an iPad that is 3 inches larger, crap like that. They have completely missed the boat on some of the most in-demand consumer tech products like the 960, the 1070, 1080 etc. They are barely even dribbling content out at this point if it isn't an Apple product.jwcalla - Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - link
You don't really think Anand got a cushy job at Apple because they liked his hair, do you?Dennis Travis - Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - link
Anand got the Job at Apple because he knows his stuff. The strange thing is this, I have been here since close to the beginning and the last year before Anand left he was always being run down the same way and called an Apple fan boy, Taking $$$ from manufactures in return for positive reviews, Late reviews.Amazing to me as this site and the reviews both with Anand and since he left are FIRST RATE and really help people make the right decision.
I wish people would back off and not keep attacking everyone here. They are doing their best and the quality of the reviews are worth the wait.
KoolAidMan1 - Thursday, July 14, 2016 - link
Tech forums are filled with butthurt fanboys who only want to read things that reinforce their personal bias. They aren't unique to AT but it is disappointing given the higher caliber of reader you would hope a site like this attracts.xthetenth - Friday, July 15, 2016 - link
The really funny thing is it was Anand who sold me on windows phone.Dat apple bias.
ex2bot - Friday, July 15, 2016 - link
I agree. People who accuse others of corruption or dishonesty should have damn good evidence. If not, then they're being unethical.melgross - Wednesday, July 13, 2016 - link
Oh, BS. I mean, seriously, if you aren't happy, then just leave.