New iPhones and Apple Watches are one the way, and this calls for new versions of the software that power them and their older iterations. Apple released its latest desktop operating system, Sierra, in June 2016 at WWDC, surprising some by forgetting the OS X naming convention in favour of a return to Mac OS, or, rather macOS as it is now.
While Sierra was first revealed to the world back in the summer, Apple said the software will not be generally available until autumn. With no date given, it was widely speculated that Sept. 7, the date of the company's annual hardware launch event, will also be Sierra's launch date, or at the very least a firm launch date will be announced.
Here is what's coming to the Apple phones, Apple watches, computers and all about the new operating system ahead of its official launch.
iOS 10: Come for the stickers, stay for the system wide improvements
iOS 10 comes with a different look thanks to the lockscreen and new look notifications. With the new operating system, user might even take weeks to get used to, but the lock screen will light up and show notifications when the phone is raised, without hitting the home button.
With iOS 10, notifications will be more interactive, as it allows quick action on a notification, or see the latest footy scores updated in real time, without unlocking the phone.
In addition, the bling added to the Messages app will be the most obvious new feature of iOS. Hence, animations and stickers will probably convince more users to upgrade their operating system than any other feature in iOS history.
According to SMH, the new messages app features are pretty fun, and thanks to Apple opening Messages to developers, users should expect constant updates to the messaging experience. In fact, yesterday Nintendo announced it would bringing a pack of Mario-themed stickers to Messages, ahead of its new mobile game.
iOS will be available on Sept. 13 for iPhone 5 and higher, iPad mini 2 and higher, iPod touch 6th gen, iPad 4th generation, as well as all iPad Air and iPad Pro models.
macOS Sierra: better connected to everything
Apple has made available the newest operating system for the Mac, the golden master version of macOS Sierra.
The debut comes just few weeks after the seventh Sierra public beta and a day after the golden master was made available to developers.
The GM final version will pretty much be similar to the version that gets released to the general public on Sept. 20.
To get the update, users have to sign up to Apple's beta testing program. Once this is done, the GM can be downloaded through the Software Update app on MacOS.
With macOS, users will enjoy searching for files on their computer or the web as it is fast and easy, and supports natural language queries like "show me all my email from Sally from last week". Search results can be dragged right from the search bubble into a document you're working on.
For Apple Watch fans, the best new update in Sierra is the ability to unlock your Mac just by sitting in front of it. New universal clipboard spec - copy on the iPhone, paste on the Mac - continue to blur the lines between devices.
Another new feature is the optimised storage, this can automatically back up and remove files on the Mac, to free up space on your hard drive. While Apple is great and smart in the way it adds the feature, looking to automatically remove documents you haven't opened in a while.
Sierra will be available on Sept. 20 for Macs produced in 2010 or newer.
watchOS 3: finally faster
Lastly, the new and improved watchOS 3 is also in the process of debut. The changes to watchOS 3 have cleaned up the confusing interface, making interactions on the watch much faster. It is a better experience all round, especially when interacting with third party apps, which are now kept in memory, waiting to launch. watchOS 3 can now have up to ten apps in memory, more than enough for most watch users.
Swiping between watch faces is a great addition with fitness and activity features receiving more prominence in watchOS 3. There is also a great new analogue activity that the watch face that puts all emphasis on the activity rings. User will be able to share their fitness tracking and competing against other Apple Watch users.
All in all, these changes mean less time searching the tiny watch screen looking for information.
watchOS 3 arrives on Sept. 13 for all Apple Watch models.
According to ITPro, prior to the release of MacOS Sierra to Apple users, Apple released a public beta available to anyone on July 7. The golden master version for developers - approximately the same OS that is released on Sept. 20, was released on Sept. 9.
Here is a video of the 10 new features on iPhone 7 that was introduced by Apple: