Apple macOS 13 Ventura brings improvements to password management, device continuity, and more

Apple today unveiled the latest version of macOS. Dubbed "Ventura," the latest iteration of the Cupertino colossus's desktop operating system focuses on collaboration and continuity.

The first feature announced is Stage Manager. In contrast to Mission Control, which allows users to see every open window at once, Stage Manager puts a single app in focus and rearranges all other open windows in stacks (arranged by app) on the left side of the screen. The active app is displayed in a large window that dominates the rest of the screen. Multiple apps can be put into focus as well.

Spotlight will receive an update that allows previewing a search result by tapping the space bar. Spotlight can also search for text in images and can now start more apps like the Timer. These features will eventually trickle down to iPadOS and iOS.

Mail will get some oft-requested features like undoing a sent message (though this is limited to a short timeframe after hitting send) and scheduling messages. Users can also set up reminders to follow up with messages. Mail's search will get smarter as well with improved live results and typo correction.

Ventura brings improvements to Safari, the chief of which is shared tab groups. This feature allows users to group tabs together and share them with other Safari users. Apple gave the example of using shared tab groups for planning a camping trip.

Ventura will change up how macOS handles passwords. Rather than relying on a typed password, it will rely on Touch ID or Face ID to create an encrypted passphrase. The Passkey is saved locally to the user's machine and can be synced across all of Apple's devices. Passkey is FIDO-compliant, allowing users to scan a QR code on their iPhone to log into an app, ensuring cross-compatibility.

Due to the increased graphical power of Apple Silicon, Apple introduced the next version of its Metal API. Metal 3 brings MetalFX Upscaling to improve framerates at higher resolutions. No Man's Sky will support this feature later this year. Metal 3 also improves texture loading in games. Apple also announced Resident Evil Village is heading to the Mac.

The last feature Apple highlighted is Handoff. The feature now supports Facetime calls, allowing users to answer a Facetime video call on one device, like an iPhone, and continue it on another supported device, like an iPad or MacBook Air. Ventura also brings Continuity Camera, a feature that allows an iPhone's camera as a webcam. This is an interesting solution to the oft-criticized quality of Apple's built-in webcams.

Continuity Camera also brings Deskview, a feature which uses the wide-angle lens of an iPhone to simultaneously show the user's face and a top-down view of the space in front of the user. Deskview works with no adjustments to the positioning of the attached iPhone. Continuity Camera will also work with Teams, Zoom, and other video conferencing apps.

You can find more details of all the updates coming with Ventura on Apple's site.