Skip to main content

MacOS Mojave officially launches on September 24

Image used with permission by copyright holder

During Wednesday’s Apple event, the company announced that MacOS Mojave will be exiting its beta status on September 24. The operating system was announced earlier this year at the Worldwide Developers Conference and developers and consumers have been helping Apple test the OS since then in beta editions. At the time, Apple promised that Mojave would be available for all Mac users on a compatible system to download this fall, and now it looks like users will be able to experience Mojave later in September.

“MacOS Mojave will be available this fall as a free software update for Macs introduced in mid-2012 or later, plus 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro models with recommended Metal-capable graphics cards,” Apple announced.

MacOS Mojave delivers a number of notable upgrades to the Mac experience. It brings a new night mode, bringing a dark theme interface to the Mac. The new Mojave night mode is designed, as Apple highlighted during its WWDC keynote, to help reduce eye strain for night owls who prefer to get work done in the dark. Apple will also be revamping its MacOS App Store with a refreshed design, and the company promised that some iOS apps will be available on the Mac for the first time with Mojave. These include popular apps from the iPhone, like News, Home, and Voice Memos. The Home app will allow Mac users to control their smart home setup from the Mac.

Other features include enhancements to the Finder, desktop stacks, dynamic desktops, Quick Actions, and an easier way to mark-up screenshots.

Another big Mojave update — and one that likely isn’t as attention-grabbing as the night mode — is that the new operating system is designed with user privacy in mind. The Safari web browser on Mojave will be updated to make it harder for sites to track you on the internet. Data privacy is becoming a growing topic of interest with lawmakers. With the European Union passing stricter privacy regulations earlier this year and California following suit this summer, the topic is now part of the national conversation with Apple scheduled to testify before the Senate about its privacy practices later this month.

Editors' Recommendations

Chuong Nguyen
Silicon Valley-based technology reporter and Giants baseball fan who splits his time between Northern California and Southern…
I was wrong about using Stage Manager on Mac
Stage manager in macOS Ventura.

Stage Manager is one of those software features that has had a rather bumpy road since Apple launched it in 2022. The unique multitasking feature has landed itself in a heap of criticism over its short lifespan.

I, however, was not one of these critics. I was super excited by Stage Manager and the promise it contained. It was something new and shiny, here to shake up macOS in a fresh and different way. Even after using it myself, I foresaw it fundamentally changing the way I used my Mac.

Read more
Does your Mac really need antivirus software? We asked the experts
The MacBook Air on a white table.

There’s been a long-held belief that if you own a Mac, you don’t need to use any type of antivirus software to keep your machine free of malware and other destructive code. But it turns out this may actually be more of an old wive’s tale than even the most devoted MacOS users would like to admit. Indeed, Apple has built many safeguards into its operating system, but that doesn’t always mean you’re completely safe. 

We get it: Who would want to sign up for a free or paid version of another computer-adjacent thing? That being said, it never hurts to have too much protection for your Mac. This is a complex topic though, and we asked some Apple insiders to weigh in on the discourse.
Vulnerabilities in Apple’s systems
The belief that Macs are fairly resilient to malware isn’t just idle fanboy-ism. Windows PCs make up roughly 90% of the market, making them a much more attractive target to malware makers.

Read more
The best Mac keyboard shortcuts for 2024
Apple iMac with Retina 5K Display review hand on mouse

Many Mac owners swear that keyboard shortcuts help simplify their lives. If you’re new to a Mac, learning all the available keyboard shortcuts can be a real challenge. Quite a few of these shortcuts will now work in iPadOS, too, thanks to the Magic Keyboard available to iPad Pro users.

We’ve put together a list of the most important shortcuts you should know. You can also take a look at our list of the best Mac apps for even more Apple shortcuts.
The most important shortcuts

Read more