Kibbles & Bytes Blog

High Sierra, version 10.13 of macOS, will be the 2017 release of macOS and is scheduled to be released by Apple on September 25. It will be available on any Mac that can currently use Sierra.

High Sierra is scheduled to include mainly refinements to Sierra, as opposed to new features. Among the updates are a new file system, support for the High-Efficiency Video Coding standard, and better support for developers to create graphically intensive applications.

The new macOS will include Apple File System (AFS), a new file system that is optimized for solid-state drives. AFS is designed to take full advantage of solid-state technology to make Finder operations much faster.

Another feature of High Sierra is support of the High-Efficiency Video Coding Standard (HEVC), a new form of video compression that is optimized for 4K and higher video. HEVC has the ability to compress video content up to 40% more than the current H.264 standard without any quality loss.

High Sierra will include support for the Metal 2 Developer Kit, which allows software developers to more easily control how software applications will interface with Mac’s graphics processor. This will allow for better-performing graphics as well as support for virtual reality hardware like the HTC Vive. Metal 2 also supports external graphics processing hardware via Thunderbolt 3,

Lastly, before installing High Sierra on September 25th, take a few minutes to ensure your existing programs will run with the latest macOS. Also, of course, make sure to run a Time Machine backup!

Feeling impatient, over the weekend I installed the iOS 11 public beta software update in hopes of getting a jump on acquainting myself with the new features and updates before the official release. As soon as the update was successfully downloaded onto my iPhone 6s Plus, the first thing I noticed was the update to the password entry screen. Although not a big interface change, the number icons have been rounded out, (I’ve been calling them bubbles due to their appearance), giving them a “sleeker” look in my opinion.

Once I got to the home screen, my eyes were immediately drawn to the dock. With iOS 11, whichever apps you’ve placed in your dock will no longer display their title or label. In my opinion, this is the most aesthetically pleasing update to the UI; it gives iOS devices a more “Mac-like” feel. It just looks natural.

Swiping up on the home screen brings us to the new and improved Control Center. This was my most anticipated feature in iOS 11, as I felt the previous Control Center had been due for an upgrade for some time. Finally we’re able to tweak and edit what we see in Control Center (to some extent) and the icons have also been upgraded to fit the new iOS 11 aesthetic. For example, before iOS 11, if you were running low on battery life, instead of navigating to Settings > Battery > Low Power Mode to conserve battery, iOS 11 gives users the option to place a Low Power Mode button right in Control Center.

Perhaps one of the larger changes in iOS 11 is the updated Siri. I’m certain everyone at one point has felt Siri was just a little too “robotic”. But now with iOS 11, Siri received a huge update to it’s voice and learning system. Siri now uses “on-device learning”, a privacy-minded local learning technique to understand a user’s behavior and interests inside different apps, to offer better suggestions and recommendations.

iOS 11 comes with a multitude of other additions, but these were the ones I imagine most users out there will notice immediately. I haven’t yet had the chance to play around with the new and long anticipated “Files” app, but I think I’ll get a jump on familiarizing myself with it for my next article.

Enjoy iOS 11!