While maintaining the familiar aesthetic of its predecessors, macOS Sequoia introduces a host of new features, enhancements, and refinements. Let’s take a look at what Sequoia has to offer.

Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence, now available on Macs with M1 chips and later, integrates AI-driven tools throughout the operating system. This includes smart text and image handling, with tools to extract text from images, provide real-time grammar support, and help with organizing image libraries. Apple Intelligence now operates directly within Preview and Quick Look, enabling you to copy text from images and scanned documents with ease. These enhancements are especially useful for managing a large number of documents and images, allowing for efficient handling and categorization of content.

Writing Tools, Proofread, Rewrite and Summarize

Sequoia introduces enhanced Writing Tools within core applications such as Notes, Mail, and Pages. These tools provide essential assistance for editing and organizing text.

Let’s take a look at some of the tools included.

• Proofread provides grammar and punctuation corrections.
• Rewrite and Summarize allows you to refine or condense selected text, simplifying complex or lengthy information.
• At the bottom of the Writing Tools menu, additional formatting options such as Summary, Key Points, List, and Table are available to help you organize ideas and create structured documents.

These tools are part of an effort to make macOS more supportive of creative and administrative writing tasks without requiring third-party plugins or apps.

Image Playground for AI-Generated Visuals

Image Playground is a new toolset that allows you create images based on text descriptions. Integrated directly into Apple applications, Image Playground enables you to bring visual ideas to life without requiring graphic design expertise or artistic talent. This feature is designed for those who want to quickly conceptualize and generate visuals, making it a versatile tool for presentations, reports, and creative projects.

iPhone Mirroring App

The iPhone Mirroring app in macOS Sequoia allows you to mirror your iPhone screen to your Mac. Through this app, you can view your iPhone’s Home Screen, launch apps, and control the device using the Mac’s keyboard and trackpad. Notifications from the iPhone also appear on the Mac, allowing quick responses or access to relevant apps without switching devices. However, drag-and-drop functionality is currently unsupported.

Improved Window Management

Sequoia’s updated window management tools make multitasking and window organization easier and more intuitive. You can now tile and resize windows by dragging them to specific screen areas of the screen, similar to the tiling features available on iPadOS. Keyboard shortcuts and menu options allow you to quickly arrange windows, so you can create more productive workspaces.

Presenter Preview and Background Replacement for Video Calls

Sequoia enhances video calling capabilities with Presenter Preview and Background Replacement. Presenter Preview allows you to see what you’re sharing before others on the call see it.  The Background Replacement feature allows you change the background of your call with pre-selected images or personal photos. These features work in FaceTime and across other video conferencing apps.

New Passwords App

The new standalone Passwords app in macOS Sequoia centralizes password and credential management. Unlike previous versions, where passwords were stored in KeyChain, Safari or Settings, this app provides a dedicated space for creating, storing, and managing passwords, passkeys, and verification codes. It syncs across devices and supports autofill in Safari, making credential management more secure and efficient.

Highlights in Safari

Highlights in Safari captures and summarizes key points from web pages. The feature is designed for quick information retrieval, allowing you to view essential details from a web page without needing to scroll through the entire page. Additionally, the redesigned Reader view offers a focused view of articles with optional summaries and tables of contents for longer content.

Smart Reply in Messages and Mail

Smart Reply in Sequoia brings AI-driven quick responses to Messages and Mail, allowing you to reply with single-click options based on the context of the received message. This is especially useful for brief responses, reducing typing time and making communication faster and more convenient.

Enhanced Siri Capabilities

Siri in Sequoia features improved functionality, including better contextual understanding and app-specific commands. However, certain advanced features, such as Siri’s ability to control specific app actions are a bit lacking at the time of writing. Siri remains a useful tool for hands-free operations, providing support across compatible applications and improving user productivity in daily tasks.

System Maintenance and Security Features

Further Reading

For more information on the subject, have a look at the following book: