macOS Sierra Review: A Modest Yet Solid Update for Mac Users
Apple’s macOS Sierra marked a defining moment in its operating system history, moving from the branding OS X and lining up with the rest of the company’s branded platforms: iOS, watchOS, and tvOS. It is not all feature-set-changing, but these thoughtful changes are designed to make things slightly smoother and neatly integrated amongst devices. Here’s a deeper look at what macOS Sierra brings:
macOS Sierra Review
Siri Comes to Mac
One of the most hyped features in macOS Sierra would be Siri. The virtual assistant created by Apple, which has been available on iPhones and iPads since years back, is finally coming to Mac. You could make the most use out of Siri on Mac because this virtual assistant is absolutely powerful, and you can use her to:.
- Complex search such as documents by date or tags.
Allow Siri to merge other apps in iOS, including Apple Music and Photos.
But what makes it beautiful is that Siri on the Mac feels like completely assimilated and not just something appended; she feels really tightly knotted into the system, and can be engaged either from the Dock or a keyboard shortcut. It still feels unexploited in comparison to the iOS iteration, but this is a good start.
The macOS Sierra has brought in Optimized Storage-a feature that tries to address the lack of space on disk. It offloads rarely-used files to the cloud while keeping frequently-accessed ones on your local drive. For those who just carry around smaller SSDs, it helps.
This is how it works:
Files and documents that haven’t been seen after a while get uploaded to iCloud, freeing up local space.
- Attachments in Mail and downloads from iTunes can be removed to free up additional space.
- You can view your files that are hogging up space and delete them one by one if so desired.
This is teamed up well with an expanded iCloud Drive now syncing your Desktop and Documents folders across all of your devices. For frequent switchers between multiple Apple devices, it is ideal.
The Universal Clipboard is a small elegant upgrade for any Apple user. Now, you can copy-and-paste content-including text, images, or videos-on one device and paste that content onto another. Example:
You take a picture from your iPhone.
You then cut-and-paste it into a document on your Mac.
This is just one of the great many features that are making multitasking and file transfers between computers and devices easier, all working behind the scenes.
Auto Unlock with Apple Watch
You will love the Auto Unlock feature if you have an Apple Watch. Bye to password entry every time you wake up your Mac instead of it auto-unlocking for you when you are close.
This feature brings you convenience and security combined, therefore saving much time while letting only you into your Mac when you’re around. However, this feature will need two-factor authentication to be enabled on your Apple ID first.
Picture-in-Picture
This new Picture-in-Picture lets you pop out videos from Safari or iTunes into a window that floats on top of all your other apps. It’s great for multitasking:
- Watch videos on YouTube while editing a word document
- Keep up with your favorite shows while browsing the web
The Picture-in-Picture window is resizable and draggable within the screen, but it doesn’t have some of the more advanced controls available in other editions, like playback speed.
Web Apple Pay
Sierra introduces Apple Pay alongside Safari, so that you can use your iPhone’s Touch ID or Apple Watch to make web purchases on any website that accepts it. This has made online shopping not only more convenient but also significantly safer and less dependent on remembering things for quite some time now.
If you’re a Mac shopper with an iPhone or Apple Watch, then this is one great addition that will work both on the simplicity and security side of things in the OS.
Performance and Compatibility
macOS Sierra is not just about new features; it also promises better performance, although minor. Apple has made improvements to the OS so that it would run more efficiently on older hardware but could flawlessly work on most of its machines, such as:
- iMac from Late 2009 or later
- MacBook from Late 2009 or later
- MacBook Pro from 2010 or later
- MacBook Air from 2010 or later
Although you may not feel like it will boost your speeds over El Capitan, Sierra at least provides you with a stable and responsive performance even with older machines. It does not really choke on the heavier system demands, making it accessible to most Mac users.
Limitations and Disadvantages
Updates of macOS Sierra are certainly not revolutionary. For some users, these developments may be too incremental since indeed some features only profit those heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem. Here are some limiting points:
- Siri: Nice as this addition is, Siri still feels a tad less potent on macOS than it does on iOS.
It doesn’t rely on cloud storage with iCloud for optimal storage, so users with low cloud space or those who are adverse to online data hosting may not appreciate this feature.
No Major Overhaul It looks and feels pretty much identical to older versions of the operating system, leaving certain users desiring something more in regards to aesthetic appeal and innovation within the user interface.
Final Verdict: A Considerate, Ecosystem-Focused Upgrade
It is an unpretentious yet significant update for the Mac users, especially those really immersed in the Apple ecosystem. Here are some aspects that make macOS Sierra a masterpiece: Features like Siri, Universal Clipboard, and Optimized Storage provide productivity and convenience, while Auto Unlock and Apple Pay for Safari bring security and user-friendliness to this release.
Though it’s no revolution in an update, macOS Sierra, based on the stability of previous editions, blurs a number of rather small but convenient features that make daily computing even more efficient. If you are heavily invested into the Apple ecosystem, you’ll appreciate these new features much more as they do make life easier to manage across your devices. If you’re longing for revolutionary changes or enhanced performance, perhaps you might feel this release quite underwhelming.
Pros:
- Siri integration
- Universal Clipboard: it expands cross-device sharing between Apple devices
- Optimized Storage: for Apple storage space management
- Auto Unlock with Apple Watch: easy unlocking directly from the Apple Watch
- Apple Pay: can be used directly in Safari
Disadvantages:
The system benefits the most users who are using Apple Products.
Limited visual and UI changes
Even Siri has much room for improvement.
