Apple kicked off WWDC 2017 today, where it announced the next iteration of macOS during the keynote. The new version, which is presumably 10.13 (the company doesn't use the version numbers in its events anymore), will be called High Sierra, and Apple promised that while there might be some misconceptions about the name, it's "fully baked".
The company is promising that Safari is the fastest browser on High Sierra, with improvements across the board. It also includes an autoplay blocker, so those websites that like to play video as soon as you load a page can finally be silent. This adds onto the ability to silence tabs, which was introduced last year in Sierra.
Safari will also include a new feature called Intelligent Tracking Prevention. This is yet another way of protecting your privacy, as sites won't be able to track your viewing habits.
Apple also made some improvements to the Mail app; users will now be able to use split-screen to separate their inbox and the compose view. The company says that it's also optimized Mail so that your messages take up 35% less space.
But that goes along with improvements to the file system as a whole. Apple File System (APFS) was first introduced for iOS with version 10.3, but it's now going to be the default for macOS. It's "64-bit top to bottom", has native encryption, and promises high performance.
The Photos app also has a number of improvements, that include new organization and editing tools.
As you can see, the editing tools are much more advanced; however, if you still use a third-party option for editing your images, those changes will now be synced back to your Photo Library. Apple is also improving the organization features that it introduced last year by promising that categories and names will be synced across devices.
Along with APFS, there are plenty of under-the-hood improvements to macOS. Apple introduced the second iteration of its graphics API, called Metal 2, which will support VR. It will also be bringing 360-degree video support to its pro apps, such as Final Cut Pro X.
macOS 10.13 High Sierra will be available as a Developer Beta today, with a Public Beta coming later this month, and the final release will be this fall.
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