MacOS Catalina, Apple's latest operating system for the Mac, is not only exciting for current Mac users, but could also be a major clue for the next MacBook Pro. This is the MacBook Pro with a 16-inch display, not the first MacBook Pro with an 8-core processor that launched in May 2019. All eyes are on the redesign, not the upgrade. Mac OS 10.15 Catalina offers several important features that give us a fair idea of what to expect (read: hope) from the next MacBook Pro. MacOS Catalina offers three main themes that could, and should, improve with the next MacBook Pro.
The MacBook Pro under Asphalt 9: Legends. (Image credit: Apple)
A much better MacBook Pro for gaming.
If Apple hasn't explicitly said anything about macOS, Catalina doesn't think the next MacBook Pro is a gaming laptop, but it is the combination of Project Catalyst and Apple's deepening relationship. with graphics processor maker AMD guiding our expectations. First, Project Catalyst will see a lot of iPad apps on MacOS next year, and the most popular apps on iPad are games, just like the iPhone. With Apple finally acknowledging the position of its mobile devices as a gaming platform through Apple Arcade, and even ditching the name of the famous mobile game Asphalt 9: Legends in its Project Catalyst preview, this influx of iPad games on Mac it will surely have an effect on the perception of the MacBook Pro's gaming abilities. Also keep in mind that the relationship between Apple and AMD has grown in recent years. In fact, AMD's next AMD graphics card debuted at Apple's WWDC 2019 keynote, showing Apple's interest and trust in the company. High-end Macs and MacBook Pros only offer graphics options from AMD, and that's only going to continue. So could we see the MacBook Pro better serve all Mac fans and gamers? Here is hope.
Siri's great opportunity for professional life.
Apple's voice assistant, Siri, has been available on the Mac for a long time, at least several versions of MacOS. And frankly, it didn't do much to help people do their jobs. This could very well change with the upcoming MacBook Pro, as Siri's voice control capabilities have been greatly improved with macOS Catalina. Users can now navigate the entire operating system with just their voice. It's currently billed as an accessibility feature, which is welcome, but we see a lot more potential there, especially given the improvements to Siri's natural language with the iOS 13 update. The next MacBook Pro was able to perform entire tasks using only Siri, which would change the deal for time limit typists.
The macOS Catalina Sidecar feature at work. (Image credit: Apple) (Image: © Apple)
A MacBook Pro with close friends.
With macOS Catalina, iPad becomes a trusted companion to Mac with the aptly named Sidecar feature. This allows the iPad to become not only a secondary display for the Mac, but also allows Apple Pencil to enter macOS through a list of compatible apps. This seems to be a clear indication of how much Apple is considering taking its next MacBook Pro, and all its Macs in general, for that matter. It's easy to anticipate this kind of functionality expanding system access in the next version of macOS, with the Pen input extending beyond the few apps it now supports. Similarly, we could easily see the iPhone benefit from similar access to macOS via Sidecar, for example as a smaller secondary screen or as an additional input method. With this feature, the iPhone could even become a macOS game controller for different iPad games destined for macOS ports in the coming years. Whatever it is, we hope Apple doubles its MacBook Pro as a hub for its mobile devices, taking full advantage of its touch capabilities.- These are the best Macs we've tested so far.