macOS 16

The Mac operating system is quite mature and rarely gets significant updates, but the rumored redesign may push macOS 16 in a new direction. Apple will undoubtedly provide a place name in California for the release, but that won't be known until WWDC on June 9.

So far, the leaks have focused on iOS 19 and a potential redesign that will bring operating systems closer to the visionOS glass and transparency aesthetic. Mockups show reflective buttons and windows across system apps.

Since the design unification is happening across all operating systems, it is likely that macOS will see similar changes to its UI. It isn't yet known how far the changes will go, but macOS 16 could look dramatically different from macOS Sequoia.

Beyond design changes, there's not much else that can be predicted beyond polishing existing apps and systems. The new app tiling system and Stage Manager could be updated, and System Preferences could continue to be tweaked.

Apple Intelligence is likely to be a significant focus of the developer conference as well. The delayed contextual features will likely be shown off again, but hopefully with more polish.

Also, expect Apple to further expand features it introduced in macOS Sequoia and iOS 18, like iPhone mirroring. Stage Manager and window management could get more polish as well.

macOS 16 accessibility updates

Apple has made it a habit to announce accessibility features for upcoming operating systems ahead of WWDC. There's nothing here hinting at an operating system redesign, but there are a lot of great quality-of-life updates for users that need them.

Enlarging text and using an attached iPhone to bring Magnifer to the Mac — image credit: Apple

The new features include:

• Accessibility Nutrition Labels on the App Store
• Magnifier for Mac
• Braille Access
• Accessibility Reader
• Live captions on Apple Watch
• Live Recognition in Apple Vision Pro

Accessibility Nutrition Labels give users an overview of what features are compatible with a given app in the App Store. It could help push some apps to adopt features in order to help promote them as accessible apps.

Braille access is a big update, bringing support for braille across the system like taking notes or transcribing conversations. Braille Access also works as an app launcher and Braille Ready Format file support.

Accessibility Reader lets users adjust font size, color, spacing, and other settings. It is available within any app, including the Magnifier app.

More features are coming to Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro as well. Plus, Apple plans to update existing features.

• Eye Tracking on iPhone and iPad
• Head Tracking to control devices with head movements
• Switch Control for Brain Computer Interfaces
• Assistive Access for the Apple TV app
• Customizable Music Haptics on iPhone
• Sound Recognition gains Name Recognition
• Voice Control for Xcode
• New languages in Live Captions
• Large Text in CarPlay

The features are expected as a part of iOS 19, macOS 16, visionOS 3, tvOS 19, and watchOS 12. They could arrive in the initial release or in a point one or two update before the end of 2025.

macOS 16 will be revealed during WWDC 2025 on June 9.