Apple’s new and fifteenth addition to the MacOS hit the stores later (24th September2018) and is now available for downloading. One thing to note about MacOS Mojave first off is that it is rumoured to be the last version of MacOS that will be supporting 32-bit apps – Apple is planning to go 64-bit exclusive with their platform the next year. If you were wondering about pricing, it is a free upgrade.
Mojave will be compatible with the following Apple devices:
- MacBook, 2015 onwards
- MacBook Pro, 2012 onwards
- MacBook Air, 2012 onwards
- iMac, 2012 onward
- iMac Pro, 2017
- Mac mini, 2012 onwards
- Mac Pro, 2013*
*Older Mac Pro models may be able to run MacOS Mojave depending on whether their GPU is powerful enough to support Metal.
So, without further ado, down to business: how is Mojave compared to the year-old MacOS High Sierra? To answer your question honestly, there are no dramatic changes or sweeps across the desk on Apple’s account, but it does bring in a couple of long-awaited features, mostly from iOS, and a swathe of quality of life changes that might just make it worth checking out.
We will approach all of these major changes one after the other.
The Dark Mode
This sounds like a stationary UI improvement that, for the record, has been very easy to emulate in Microsoft Windows for years, but it is a welcome addition. Work on your Macbook a lot? Are you also a night owl? Well, now you can say goodbye to your eyesight woes, the blinding whiteness will no longer hit you sharp in the eye.
The dark mode can be toggled with the flick of a switch. In fact, it is going to ask you whether you want to use dark mode first thing right after you boot it up. It has been well-integrated, and it is great not just for its ease of nighttime usage basis, but also because it looks slick enough on its own to use it as a regular substitute. On a side note, though, it might take a little getting used to before that, if you have been using your MacBook Pro for more than a year.
The Other (Slightly) More Interesting Visual Update
This is a smart one that would take you by surprise if we didn’t spoil it for you: the all-new dynamic desktop will now change according to which time of day it is.
The Quick Look
After you bring up the quick look at an image by hitting the spacebar with the file selected, you can now instantly interact with it – rotate it, or directly get to sketching on it. This also works on PDFs, and you can get to annotating them in a very fast and intuitive way.
Stacks
Many of us can’t be bothered with taking the time to organize our files on our MacBooks. As much as we love to arrange everything neatly on the physical shelf, our virtual desktop is left messy with a lot of clutter of files here and there. If you experience this difficulty, the stacks feature will turn out to be a godsend.
The prototype stacks feature was introduced back in Mac OS X Leopard, but it is also on the desktop now. With Stacks, you can get a clean desktop instantly with one keypress. When commanded, it will automatically arrange all the files in groups (i.e. PDF documents, images, screenshots, movies, etc.) for you, and put them on a column on the right-hand side.
More iOS Integration
Porting iOS applications to MacOS was a hefty task before – the code had to be basically rewritten from scratch. 10.14 comes pre-loaded with four iOS apps, including Apple News. The signs are clear that they are headed towards making iOS-Mac migration easier with minimal coding alterations, as Apple had confirmed in the recent WWDC this June. By 2019, you should expect to see the app store flooded with iOS-ported apps. Speaking of the Mac app store, it has also received a renovation and shares a resemblance with the iOS app store now.
Screenshot-System Overhaul
The previous screenshot keyboard shortcuts remain intact, but hitting command+shift+5 also brings up a new screenshot command panel, where you can determine what kind of screenshot you want to capture, including a recording option. A handy feature from iPad has also been implemented. After the screenshot is captured, it appears as a tiny box in the right-hand corner, and you can immediately edit it by clicking on it.
Metal
A major technical change is the depreciation of OpenGL and OpenCL. Apple’s Metal library is now recommended to developers. The MoltenVK library adds some Vulkan portability, but it still has very limited compatibility with MacOS’ Metal.
Security Improvements
MacOS 10.14 Mojave also addresses some security issues and loopholes from the last versions and bolsters the privacy front. Besides the patching of security concerns in the app store, firewall, kernel, and auto unlock, Safari has now received a tracking prevention safeguard.
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