Apple officially announced the name of the next version of macOS as Sonoma at the WWDC 2023 developer conference held today. In accordance with the practice formed by Apple in the past few years, it is estimated that the developer beta and public test version will be launched in the next few weeks, and officially released in the fall of this year.
The biggest highlights of the new version of macOS Sonoma are the support for widgets on the desktop and allows users to customize wallpapers as screensavers. Summary of the relevant information as follows:
Widgets
The widget will fade into the background after the user opens the window. In addition, Mac and iPhone can access widgets from the iPhone if they are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
Widgets are also interactive, and an official Apple demo shows how to control connected vehicles from a desktop widget.
Game Mode
Apple also introduced a new Game Mode for Mac devices, which Apple says works with all games on the Mac platform and reduces audio latency on AirPods, doubles the Bluetooth sample rate when connected to an Xbox or PlayStation joystick.
Apple also invited Hideo Kojima to the opening presentation, confirming in a live session that Death Stranding Director’s Cut will be coming to macOS.
Video Conferencing Improvements
Apple has further improved video conferencing with the ability to use AR effects in meetings. The webcam can recognize certain user gestures to trigger certain effects, such as a thumbs up, which can trigger a fireworks explosion effect.
