macOS is the operating system that runs on the Mac — the desktop computers and laptops made by Apple. Major updates come every year in September. It’s renowned for being a highly secure, reliable and easy to use compared to Windows.
The original Macintosh system software from 1984 was one of the first to use a mouse and a fully graphical interface. Modern macOS began with Mac OS X, when the operating system was completely rebuilt for the 21st century. Apple new updates it with new features in parity with iOS, iPadOS, visionOS and other Apple software.
The Mac has many of the same apps you can find on the iPhone and iPad. Safari, Mail, Messages, Music, Photos, and productivity apps like Pages and Keynote, run on all the platforms. Using iCloud, your data in each of these apps can sync to their peers on iOS and iPadOS.
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Tahoe is the next major release that is currently in beta testing. It is expected to be arrive for everyone in September 2025. It’s light on new features, but includes a radical new visual look.
Sequoia was released on September 16, 2024. It introduced many major new features to the Mac:
Sonoma was released on September 26, 2023. Its notable features include:
Check out the list of all the best features here.
Ventura was released on October 24, 2022. It introduced a new desktop windowing mode and several long-standing missing features from iOS.
Read about more features in this article here.
If you’re a long-time PC user who’s recently made the switch, here are some tips on Windows feature equivalents on the Mac.
Snipping Tool is an easy way to take screenshots on Windows PCs since it received a modern redesign in Windows 11.
The Mac has similar functionality in the Screenshot app. Hit Command-Space (⌘␣) to bring up Spotlight, type in Screenshot, then hit Return to launch it. There’s also a shortcut you can use — Shift-Command-5 (⇧⌘5). You’ll see a floating menu appear near the bottom of your screen.
You can also record your screen using the Screenshot app:
Under Options, you can choose where your screenshots will go, set a start timer, choose whether or not to include the mouse pointer, choose to include your microphone voiceover in a recording and more. Read more details in our full how-to article.
Control-Alt-Delete is the famous keyboard shortcut that lets you launch the Task Manager to force quit a Windows program. The Mac has two similar features to force quit an app.
In the upper left corner of the screen, in the menu bar, hit > Force Quit… to bring up a simple menu that lets you quit a running application. You can hit Command-Option-Escape (⌘⌥⎋) as a keyboard shortcut. Select an app in the list and click Force Quit. Close the window when you’re done.
This app only shows you user applications, like apps that are in the Dock or menu bar. For a full list, you can launch Activity Monitor. This is a pro tool that shows you all the running processes on your Mac, a bit like the Windows Task Manager. Using the tabs at the top, you can sort by CPU, memory, energy, disk and network usage. The table in the center of the window can sort processes by name or by other statistics. With a process selected, you can click Stop in the toolbar to end the process. I don’t recommend ending system processes unless you really know what you’re doing.
Parallels Desktop for Mac is the officially authorized way to run Windows on a Mac. In addition, the software’s Coherence Mode puts your Windows programs side by side with the Mac apps running on your desktop, an advantage exclusive to Parallels.
Virtual machines like Parallels run your copy of Windows on top of macOS. It’s not as fast as booting into Windows directly, but it doesn’t seem like Apple and Microsoft are working toward enabling that on Apple silicon Macs.
Read about Parallels and the other ways you can run Windows on a Mac here.
NTFS (short for NT file system) is the system Windows uses to store files. The Mac can read the contents of an NTFS drive, such as opening or copying files, but can’t write (or save) files to NTFS. Third-party software can help your Mac bridge the gap.
Apple uses its own file system APFS (Apple File System).
Updating the software on your Mac is easy. Launch System Settings, then go to General > Software Update. It’ll check if there’s an update available for your Mac. From here, you can install beta software as well.
To update your apps, launch the App Store and click the Updates tab on the left. You should see all your available updates. Click Update All to get all of them at once.
Hidden files and folders on the Mac are easy to show. Hidden files are reserved for important system features, so you shouldn’t go rooting through them unless you know what you’re doing. Anywhere in the Finder, hit Shift-Command-Period (⇧⌘.) to toggle between showing and hiding hidden files and folders.
Homebrew is a popular command line utility for the Mac Terminal that makes installing and updating other utilities super easy. It’s used for programming and software development.
There are two methods you can try to install it:
.pkg file to download it. Launch the package that’s downloaded and follow the instructions to install./bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"Once you have Homebrew installed, you can install other packages by just typing in brew install followed by its name.
Apple is already cooking up a MacBook Neo 2. The budget laptop’s successor is tipped to feature a faster chip and a healthy memory bump.
The upgrade would fix the biggest complaint about the current model.
If you see a file called CrashReporter.dmg in your Mac’s Downloads folder, don’t open it. It’s not from Apple — it’s a new strain of malware called CrashStealer. It’s wearing Apple’s own clothing, right down to the icon, name and a fake password box designed to look like standard macOS.
The malware slips past Apple’s security checks and tricks victims into typing their Mac password before draining everything of value on the machine. Anyone who’s opened an unfamiliar app in the past few weeks should pay close attention.
The “free” clipboard manager you just downloaded could be doing more than just copying and pasting text. Researchers recently found a new malware called PamStealer disguised as Maccy, a popular clipboard tool, that does something most Mac malware doesn’t bother with — checking your Mac password before sending it off.
The malware hides itself in a lookalike download for Maccy. It doesn’t just grab your password and run — but it checks the password against the same system Apple uses to log you in.
Security researchers have disclosed a new macOS flaw that lets attackers shut down your security software after getting onto your machine — no admin password, no kernel exploit, and almost no trace left behind.
The attack takes advantage of how macOS apps earn each other’s trust, and if you use a Mac at work, it is exactly the type of thing your IT needs to know about.
June is the best time of year to give feedback to Apple on betas for iPhone, Mac, iPad and Apple Watch. Just after the company releases the initial betas of its upcoming software updates, this is when Apple engineers have the most time to address bugs and make changes. And that makes this the optimal time to file an Apple bug report.
It won’t be long before Apple engineers’ task lists fill up through the fall, when the new software will be released. After that, teams are rearranged to make the sprint toward the next year’s updates. So if you have any input, you’d best make yourself heard now.
How do you file a bug report or send in feedback to Apple? Apple made a tool called Feedback Assistant that will guide you through the process. It’s available if you’re running a developer or a public beta of iOS, macOS, iPadOS and visionOS. Here’s how.
The AirPort Utility app, which has been available for Apple devices since the mid-2000s, is going away. Buried in iOS 27 and macOS 27 beta 2 release notes, Apple says it is removing the app that lets anyone configure an AirPort router from the App Store.
If you are still using an AirPort Extreme, AirPort Express or Time Capsule with your home Wi-Fi, this is your warning. Once the app disappears, new users won’t be able to download it again from the App Store. Even if it’s already on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, Apple says it will stop working the moment you update to iOS 27 or macOS 27 Golden Gate.
macOS 27 comes packed with features that will make your daily life on the Mac all the better. From an enhanced user interface to super-charged search, the new operating system delivers upgrades that should please every Mac user.
While Apple Intelligence and Siri AI dominated Apple’s WWDC26 keynote last week, and much of the fervor focused on improvements coming to iOS 27, the Mac is getting some great new features as well.
Here are the 10 best “hidden” features coming to macOS Golden Gate 27.
If your Mac showed a warning the last time you tried to paste something into Terminal, Apple just explained what’s going on. Turns out, your Mac has been quietly blocking and protecting you from an increasingly common scam.
The feature, which shipped back in March with the macOS Tahoe 26.4 update, blocked pasted Terminal commands without explanation. Apple published an official support document on Monday explaining what those alerts mean — and what to do when one appears.
Apple’s new Siri AI chatbot might know when you’ve been bending its ear — and encourage you to take a break. A hidden piece of code in iOS 27 reveals that Siri AI could remind you to chill out if a conversation runs too long.
It’s a small detail, but it suggests Apple is clearly thinking about what happens when you don’t stop talking to Siri.
June 8, 2009: Apple introduces OS X Snow Leopard, a version of its Mac operating system that ranks among the company’s finest desktop updates.
Showcased at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Snow Leopard doesn’t seem as flashy as some other Mac operating system upgrades. In fact, Apple famously includes a slide in its WWDC presentation touting “0 new features.” However, OS X Snow Leopard more than delivers on Apple’s core values, paving a path to a bright future for the Mac.
If you use an older Mac, iPhone or iPad, Microsoft might be about to break your Office apps. Starting July 13, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote will stop letting you edit, save or create new files unless you meet certain requirements. You’ll still be able to open and print documents, but that’s it.
The move affects more people than you might think. If you’re running anything older than iOS 17 or macOS 11 Big Sur, your Office apps will mostly be defunct. Microsoft calls it “reduced functionality mode,” which is a fancy way of saying your Office apps will lose editing functionality.
If you learn how to personalize your Mac, you can make your computer feel like home. Every MacBook might look like a boring aluminum rectangle out of the box, but you can match any aesthetic with a few tips and tricks.
For starters, you could cover the backside with stickers or a colorful plastic case. But your work doesn’t end there. You can easily give your Mac’s desktop, app icons, desktop folders and theme colors a coordinated look.
Here’s how to customize your Mac to give it that personal touch.
OpenAI just gave its Codex for Mac programming app a feature called Appshots that makes copy-pasting code or describing what’s on the screen unnecessary. Just press Command twice, and the AI assistant automatically takes a screenshot and captures text from your window, including scrollable content that isn’t visible.
Appshots is the headline addition in this week’s Codex update, and it’s only available on Macs for now. Think of it as giving your AI assistant a pair of eyes, instead of always explaining what you are looking at.
One of the most dramatic ways you can customize your computer is to remap your Mac keyboard keys. You can make it your own with custom functionality, powerful keyboard shortcuts and advanced features.
Using the free app Karabiner Elements, switching out one key for another is super-easy. It’s a must-have if you use a PC keyboard with your Mac. You can also go one step further, making custom keyboard shortcuts.
But if that sounds too fiddly to do yourself, you can simply install some customizations made by the Karabiner Elements community. Someone might have set up a rule for your specific keyboard!
Here’s how to get started.
Anyone still using an Intel Mac needs to know that when macOS 27 launches this fall, it won’t be available for computers that don’t use Apple’s own processors.
It’s not like your Intel-based Mac will suddenly explode in your face because it’s running an older version of macOS, but the odds of getting hacked go up considerably. Here’s why.
Apple will reportedly send a sizable share of its Siri development team to an intensive, multi-week bootcamp to improve their AI coding skills. To be clear, the employees won’t be learning how to make an AI, but how to use AI to develop.
It’s part of a push to finally complete the revamp of Apple’s voice assistant that the company promised years ago.
The macOS Tahoe menu bar icons are one of the more universally panned changes in Apple’s redesigned Mac operating system. They clutter the interface, making it hard to find what you’re actually looking for. And on top of that, different apps use different icons for different actions — it’s not remotely consistent.
You don’t need to live your life this way, though. Developer and hacker Steve Troughton-Smith figured out a quick way to disable the icons. You need to crack open the Mac’s Terminal app, but luckily, you can paste a single command in to bid (most of) the icons adieu.
Apple on Thursday released macOS 26.4.1, a minor but essential update for Mac users running macOS Tahoe. The software arrived a day after the corresponding iOS 26.4.1 and iPadOS 26.4.1 reached iPhone and iPad users.
The update does not introduce major changes. Instead, it focuses on fixing bugs.
April 7, 1997: Apple’s System 7 operating system receives its last update with the shipment of Mac OS 7.6.1.
The update brings a few bug fixes and support for Apple’s new PCI Power Macs and the PowerBook 3400. Most importantly, it marks the end of the System 7 era, which dawned way back in 1991.
Every MacBook boasts industry-leading battery life. But everything comes to an end. It may take a full day or more, but MacBooks do eventually run out of charge.
If you want to take your M5 Max MacBook Pro to the coffee shop to get work done, and you leave your power cable at home — even if you’re editing 8K ProRes video streams in Final Cut Pro — you still might be ordering breakfast, lunch and staying for dinner.
Of course, that low battery warning always comes at the most inopportune time. With that in mind, there are a few tricks to get even more unplugged time with your MacBook. Keep reading or watch our quick video.
The MacBook Neo runs macOS on an Apple A-series processor with excellent performance, which has caused people to suggest that the Apple TV 4K could be hacked to run macOS and create a full-featured desktop computer for $129.
Or they propose Apple itself port macOS onto the video streamer and release it as a desktop that costs $200 or less.
Neither one is likely at all. Here’s why.
The MacBook Neo comes with 8GB of RAM, and that’s great news for all Mac users, even if they never buy a Neo. It means current and older Apple computers will continue to offer speedy performance when running macOS for years to come.
Here’s why.
This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: Apple’s prepping to launch something Monday, but who knows what? We put our professional reputations on the line once again with predictions about what’s coming next week, including the “special Apple Experience” set for March 4.
Writer, developer and Accidental Tech Podcast host Casey Liss joins us for our fun Apple predictions game — and you can play along, too!
Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:
Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
Building a touchscreen into the MacBook Pro coming late this year will require significant changes to macOS 27. Some early details of what Apple has in store for macOS leaked out Tuesday from a generally reliable source.
The upcoming notebooks will supposedly be the first Macs with a Dynamic Island — but that’s just the start of what Apple has planned.
Using a clipboard history manager on a Mac is a total game-changer. If you copy something important, then copy something else without thinking, the first item doesn’t disappear. You can go back and get it again. In fact, you can go back and paste things from hours and hours ago, like a link you copied earlier in the day.
You can also copy a bunch of things in a row and quickly paste them elsewhere, without switching back and forth and back and forth.
macOS 26 Tahoe added a built-in clipboard history that does all that for free. Here’s how it works.