An update to macOS Catalina incorporates bug fixes for some users, but perhaps more importantly resolves an issue that manifested in graphical issues on the 27-inch 2020 iMac.
Compatibility check. As with most new versions of macOS, Catalina is fairly well-supported on older hardware. If you have a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or Mac mini from mid-2012 or later, it will.
Apple released macOS 10.15 (Catalina) on 7th Oct 2019 and now it is publicly available for download. With multiple features presented at the WWDC 2019, here’s an overview of the new security and privacy features introduced in Catalina.
MacOS Catalina includes a new app called Music, which uses a very similar app icon to the one once used by iTunes. This is where you go to stream Apple Music, access previously purchased music, manage your local music library, and make new digital purchases on the iTunes store.
Enhanced Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper, is an important outer layer of security, designed to prevent malicious software from running on your system. It ensures that all new apps you install — from the App Store or the internet — have been checked for known security issues by Apple before you run them the first time.
From macOS 10.15 Catalina, Gatekeeper will now perform known security checks periodically to check that code has not been tampered with. Also all software, whether quarantined or not, and regardless of how that code is loaded, will be scanned for malicious content.
In a future version of macOS, unsigned code will not run by default.
Notarization
In order to run on macOS Catalina, Mac apps, installer packages, and kernel extensions that are signed with Developer ID must also be notarized by Apple. It will help users gain more confidence that the software they download and run, no matter where they get it from (App Store or the internet), is not malware by showing a more streamlined Gatekeeper interface.
For macOS 10.14.5, Kernel extensions signed after April 7th 2019 must be notarized in order to load
For macOS 10.15: All software must be notarized from June 1st 2019
User Privacy Protection
User privacy protection (aka Data Protection) is designed to ensure that even if malicious software is able to get around Gatekeeper, it doesn’t necessarily have access to your most sensitive data and resources.
macOS Catalina will now protect most of the common locations where you store your files, such as Documents, Desktop, and Download folders, Trash, iCloud Drive/other cloud storage providers, as well as external, removable, and network drives. Apps must also request your permission to perform key logging, or to capture still or video images from your system. Similar to Mojave, the list of approved apps can be viewed and managed in the System Preferences Privacy pane.
User consent is not required for an app to create new documents in any of these protected locations, just to read existing contents, the contents of files that are already there. For example, a file transfer app can continue to save new files to the users downloads folder without triggering a consent prompt.
Dedicated System Volume
macOS Catalina will run in its own private, read-only volume, so there will be no way for malicious apps to write files to the volume or alter existing files. The installation of macOS Catalina creates two volumes, one with the operating system, and another with data, segregating the two types of files.
User-space System Extensions
macOS Catalina will be the last version that will run existing kext’s (kernel extensions). Kext’s are slowly being replaced with system extensions (user-space apps), which will exist outside of the protected system volume. This will ensure that if something is wrong with an extension, either from poor design or an attack from malware, the system itself is not affected.
Torrent For Mac Catalina
Furthermore, installing kext’s or system extensions will likely require a restart of the Mac.
Removed Support for 32-bit Apps
Catalina has removed all support for 32-bit code. Thus, a number of older apps that have not been updated to 64-bit will cease to run.
Activation Lock on Macs
Similar to iPhone, if you have a Mac which contains T2 security chip, you will now be able to prevent the unauthorized use of your Mac, if it is lost or stolen. This T2 chip can be found in Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro from 2018 or later, and the iMac Pro.
Find My
Find My Mac will allow you to locate a lost device even if it’s asleep and not connected to the network, via crowd‑sourced location and Bluetooth beacon. When you report your device as missing and another Apple user’s device is nearby, it can detect your device’s Bluetooth signal and report its location to you. User Privacy is not compromised as device information sent is completely anonymous and encrypted.
Wrap Up
Apple is incorporating multiple security features and enhancing the existing ones considering the emerging threat landscape. Most of these security features provide decisions in user’s hands, but what will help user to take right decision? How can you protect your Mac from the security threats out there? Here are a few defensive measures to minimize the level of risk:
Keep your Mac updated: Apple will release security updates to the OS to address new vulnerabilities. Keeping your system up to date will help to keep you safe from new threats.
Install Quick Heal Total Security for Mac: Updates will help eliminate vulnerabilities, but having good security software will provide an extra layer of protection. Use antivirus with on-access scanner and privacy program to detect browser threats, scan your system, and remove any malware.
Stay aware: Follow a few blogs or sites devoted to Macs and Mac security. Staying up to date about what the latest OS X or macOS threats look like, will help you avoid them. Avoid downloading applications and other files on your computers from torrent websites or any untrusted source.
I hope this list will help you anticipate the changes required when you decide it’s time to upgrade to macOS Catalina. What changes in macOS Catalina are you most concerned about, or looking forward to? Let us know in the comments, below.
Introduction
macOS Catalina is the latest version of Apple's prestigious operating system. The update (version number 10.15) was released on October 7th 2019 and shows off a number of big changes that Apple has been cooking up over the last year. We're going to cover some of the biggest new features of the update in this article, so buckle up.
Our existing users of TouchCopy will be pleased to know that the software has been updated to provide full compatibility with macOS Catalina. For people who are new to the software, TouchCopy is a handy piece of software which allows the transfer of files from iPhone to Mac.
Quick Jump to..
How to upgrade to macOS Catalina
Before upgrading your Mac or MacBook's operating system, Apple recommends performing a couple of steps to ensure a smooth and safe upgrade. Check out Apple's guide to find out how to check system requirements, backup your files and install the update.
Fun Fact: macOS Catalina is named after Santa Catalina Island, situated off the coast of southern California. This follows Apple's convention for naming updates after Californian landmarks.
New Apps and Features
Catalina is bursting with new apps and features, and we'll touch on a few of the big ones here:
Bye bye iTunes.. iTunes has been split into 3 new apps on macOS. Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple TV will now be your go-to apps for managing your entertainment media.
The apps will automatically be populated with the music, podcasts and TV shows that were stored in iTunes, so you won't have to worry about migrating your files manually to the new apps.
No changes have been made to iTunes on Windows computers.
Apple Arcade: Apple's new subscription gaming service Apple Arcade offers unlimited access to a fairly large selection of games. The $4.99 monthly subscription allows users to play games on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV. You can even start a game on iPhone, and pick up where you left off on Apple TV when you get home.
They have even considered you hardcore console gamers, with many games supporting Xbox and PlayStation controllers!
Sidecar (I love the name of this feature!): If you are lucky enough to own an iPad as well as a Mac, you can now use the iPad as a second display! This really opens up your work station to new possibilities.
Sidecar support both wired and wireless connections, so whether you need to charge your iPad and home, or set up both displays on the go, you're covered.
If you can multitask, access different windows or applications on each device, rather than switching between windows on one screen. Or if you're creative use the iPad with an Apple Pencil for greater control when using apps like Photoshop.
Accessibility: Rightly so, there is more emphasis today on making sure services are usable by everybody, than ever before. Apple have obviously strived to achieve higher levels of accessibility for their users in Catalina.
Voice Control: Create and edit text using only your voice (via the power of Siri). You can even navigate and interact with apps using your voice using numbers and grids.
From sound to sight, features like Hover Text and Zoom Display make navigating websites and apps easier for vision-impaired users.
For a run down of other features, check out Apple's Catalina release page.
How to use your iPhone with Catalina
Since the main interfacing method between iPhone and Mac has gone (iTunes), how do you use iPhone with Catalina? It's actually a simple change once you know where to look.
As covered in the new features above, you can find your iPhone Music, Podcasts, and TV in their respective new apps when your iPhone is connected.
Making backups of your iPhone used to be done in iTunes. You can now find the same backup interface by connecting your iPhone to the Mac, then clicking on your device in Finder (you can find the device under the 'Locations' header in Finder). Remember that you can't access your backed up data on your Mac though - if you want to transfer files from iPhone to Mac, you'll need a third-party software like TouchCopy.
Here you'll find device information, backup preferences, in addition to multiple tabs that you can use for syncing Music, Films, TV, Podcasts, Audiobooks, Books, Photos, Files, Contacts and Calendars between your Mac and iPhone.
Transfer iPhone music to the new Music App
To transfer music stored on an iPhone to the Music app, you'll need a 3rd party tool to help you.
Check out our guide on how to copy music from iPhone to Music app >
TouchCopy is available as a free download, so you can try it and copy up to 100 tracks completely free of charge.
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Takeaways
As you can see, there have been some major shake-ups in the world of macOS with the introduction of Catalina - perhaps the most notable being the removal of iTunes. Will we see this change reflected on Windows in the future?
Manage your entertainment media in the new Music, Podcast and TV apps.
Backup your iPhone from Finder.
Consider using TouchCopy for transferring iPhone files to Mac.
Subscribe to Apple Arcade for unlimited gaming across your Apple devices.