Apple’s WWDC 2017 event is in full swing, and one of the major announcements at the conference is a new macOS version: High Sierra. That’s right, the new update has a similar name to its predecessor, but that’s because it’s really focused on perfecting macOS Sierra.
Essentially, High Sierra focuses on several key areas: performance, security, and space efficiency. In terms of speed, the most noticeable performance improvement in this new version of macOS lies in Apple’s new File System, which is replacing the Hierarchical File System. Not only does the new file system offers better security and stability, it’s also said to be much faster.
Safari is also getting several noteworthy improvements. According to the Cupertino company, Safari will offer 80% better Javascript performance than Google’s Chrome browser; the former will also be able to block autoplay videos. We imagine many, many users will appreciate this small – but very neat – feature.
In the graphics department, High Sierra offers better performance thanks to Apple’s new graphics technology, Metal 2. The most important change with this new version of Metal? VR support. Of course, in order to support VR content, Apple is releasing an external graphics solution that takes advantage of the Thunderbolt port – basically, it’s not unlike the Razer Core. However, only the developer kit is released for now.
macOS High Sierra’s developer beta is now available for download, while the public beta will be opened by the end of this month. If your Mac supports Sierra, good news: macOS High Sierra will be pushed out to all Macs that can run Sierra in fall 2017.
