Apple rolls out MacOS Catalina, debuts Arcade on Macs

Apple has announced that macOS Catalina, its new desktop operating system for Macintosh computers, is now available worldwide. First unveiled at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, the free upgrade includes features such as Sidecar to enable the use of an iPad as a secondary screen or drawing tablet, all-new Mac versions of Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts that replace the discontinued iTunes software, full voice control capabilities and Mac Catalyst, a new technology that makes it easy for third-party developers to bring iPad apps to the Mac environment. These include Mac versions of Twitter, TripIt, Post-It, GoodNotes, Morpholio Board, Rosetta Stone and Jira, with more Mac Catalyst-developed apps to be released in the weeks ahead.

The new OS also sees the desktop debut of Apple Arcade, the company’s new USD 4.99 a month game subscription service featuring exclusive games and unlimited access to a large catalogue of Mac games that can also be played on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV. On the Mac, games can be played with keyboard and trackpad or mouse, and many support controllers including Xbox Wireless Controllers with Bluetooth and PlayStation DualShock 4, said the company.

Finally, macOS Catalina also brings the iOS app Screen Time to the Mac, giving desktop users insights into how they are spending time with apps and websites, while letting them schedule time away from their PC. It comes with a new “One more minute” feature to give users more time to save their work or finish up a game and can be combined with Family Sharing to give parents visibility for their kids’ activities across all of their Apple devices.