macOS Catalina gives you more of everything you love about Mac. Experience music, TV, and podcasts in three all-new Mac apps. Enjoy your favorite iPad apps now on your Mac. Extend your workspace and expand your creativity with iPad and Apple Pencil. And discover smart new features in the apps you use every day. Now you can take everything you do above and beyond.


Features:
Music, TV, and podcasts take center stage.
iTunes forever changed the way people experienced music, movies, TV shows, and podcasts. It all changes again with three all-new, dedicated apps — Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Podcasts — each designed from the ground up to be the best way to enjoy entertainment on your Mac. And rest assured; everything you had in your iTunes library is still accessible in each app. iCloud seamlessly syncs everything across your devices — or you can back up, restore, and sync by connecting the device directly to your Mac.

Presenting Apple Music on Mac.
The new Apple Music app is the ultimate music streaming experience on Mac.1 Explore a library of 50 million songs, discover new artists and tracks, find the perfect playlist, download and listen offline, or enjoy all the music you’ve collected over the years. And find it all in your music library on all your devices.

Apple TV. Premiering on Mac.
The Apple TV app for Mac is the new home for all your favorite movies, shows, premium channels, and — coming soon — Apple TV+. Watch everything directly in the app or enjoy it offline, and discover the best of what’s on in the Watch Now tab. You can even pick up where you left off on any screen, across all your devices. And for the first time, 4K2 and Dolby Atmos3–supported movies are available on Mac.

Listen up. Podcasts on Mac.
More than 700,000 of the best entertainment, comedy, news, and sports shows are now available on your Mac with Apple Podcasts. Search for podcasts by title, topic, guest, host, content, and more. Subscribe and be notified as soon as new episodes become available. And in the Listen Now tab, you can easily pick up where you left off across all your devices.



The apps you love. Right on your Mac.
Experience your favorite iPad apps now on your Mac. With Mac Catalyst, developers can easily create Mac apps from the iPad apps you already know and love. They run natively alongside your existing Mac apps so you can drag and drop content between them. They take full advantage of the larger screen and powerful architecture of your Mac. And because they are built from their iOS versions, they provide a seamless experience across your devices. Enjoy a broad range of Mac apps — from travel, entertainment, and gaming to banking, education, and project management.

The apps you use every day, made extraordinary.
With macOS Catalina, the apps you love are now more beautiful and intelligent than ever. So your everyday tasks are easier than ever.

Photos
Focus on your best shots.
Photos has a new immersive, dynamic look that showcases your photos and memories. See only the best shots in your library, without the duplicates and clutter. Browse your favorite photos by days, months, and years and get larger previews of all your photos. And Photos is even smarter, so it can highlight important moments like birthdays, anniversaries, and trips.

Notes
Easier to find. And easier to share. A new gallery view and more powerful search help you find your notes quicker than ever. Shared folders let you collaborate on entire folders of notes with another person or a group. And new checklist options let you move completed items to the bottom, quickly reorder items using drag and drop, and more.

Reminders
Organization. Reorganized.
The Reminders app has been completely rebuilt, with an all-new design and new ways to easily create, organize, and keep track of reminders. Add attachments to reminders, create or change reminders with the quick edit buttons, and let Siri suggest new ones found in Messages. Smart lists automatically organize and display your upcoming reminders. And if you tag someone in a reminder, you’ll be notified the next time you’re chatting in Messages.

Safari
Start browsing. Faster.
An updated start page helps you easily and quickly access your favorites and frequently visited sites. And Siri suggestions surface bookmarks, iCloud Tabs, and links from your reading list, as well as those you receive in Messages.

Apple Arcade
Play extraordinary.
Unlimited access to over 100 new games for your Mac — all in a game subscription service unlike any other. Start playing on your Mac and jump to your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.



Extend your desktop. With iPad.
Sidecar lets you extend your workspace by using your iPad as a second Mac display.5 Work in one app while you reference another or view your artwork on your Mac while you use tools and palettes on your iPad. You can also mirror the screens so they both display the same content, making it perfect for sharing exactly what you see with others.

Express your creativity. With Apple Pencil.
Bring the ease and precision of Apple Pencil to your favorite creative Mac apps with Sidecar.6 Just drag your app window from your Mac to your iPad as you would with any second display. Then use Apple Pencil to design in Illustrator, edit photos in Affinity Photo, or create 3D models in ZBrush. The handy sidebar puts essential Command, Control, and Shift keys right at your fingertips.

Make your mark on Mac.
Use Apple Pencil for everyday tasks like drawing and sketching or marking up screenshots and PDFs. You can easily insert a sketch from your iPad into any document on your Mac.



Screen Time. Now on Mac.
macOS Catalina brings all your favorite Screen Time features to Mac, giving you greater insight into how you’re spending your time. Monitor usage, schedule downtime, and set limits for both apps and websites across all your devices. And with Family Sharing, you can set app and communication limits for your kids to help them focus on the right things.

Communication Limits
Communication Limits let you choose who your children can communicate with throughout the day and during downtime, so you can make sure they’re always reachable.

Combined Limits
With Combined Limits, you can combine individual apps and websites, and even whole categories, into a single, easy-to-manage limit. Set a limit for a group of apps and websites, like gaming or your favorite streaming apps.

One More Minute
Need an extra minute to wrap up what you’re doing? You’ll get a notification when you’ve reached your time limit, so you can quickly wrap up a conversation, save a file, or close a game session before your time runs out.



Increased security. Greater privacy.
With macOS Catalina, there are enhanced security features to better protect macOS against tampering, help ensure that the apps you use are safe, and give you greater control over access to your data. And it’s even easier to find your Mac if it’s lost or stolen.

More secure hardware. The Apple T2 Security Chip keeps your Mac secure by ensuring that you’re running trusted software and automatically encrypting your stored data. It also provides secure authentication for Touch ID and secure payments for Apple Pay. And now macOS Catalina features Activation Lock, so only you can erase and reactivate your Mac.

Safer-running software. macOS Catalina runs in its own read-only volume, so it’s separate from all other data on your Mac, and nothing can accidentally overwrite your system files. And Gatekeeper ensures that new apps you install have been checked for known security issues before you run them, so you’re always using good software.

Data protections. Apps must now get your permission before directly accessing files in your Documents and Desktop folders, iCloud Drive, and external volumes, so you’re always in control of your data. And you’ll be prompted before any app can capture keyboard activity or a photo or video of your screen.



Find My
The new Find My app combines Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single, easy-to-use app on Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Find My can help you locate a missing Mac — even if it’s offline and sleeping — by sending out Bluetooth signals that can be detected by Apple devices in use nearby. They can then relay the detected location of your Mac to iCloud so you can locate it in the Find My app.

It’s all anonymous and encrypted end-to-end so no one, including Apple, knows the identity of any reporting device. And because the reporting happens silently using tiny bits of data that piggyback on existing network traffic, there’s no need to worry about your battery life, your data usage, or your privacy.

Approve with Apple Watch
Double-click the side button on your Apple Watch to authenticate on your Mac. Unlock a locked note, approve app installations, and view your passwords in Safari preferences without having to enter one.



All access to all devices.
macOS Catalina includes new features to help everyone get the most out of Mac. Voice Control lets users who can’t use traditional input devices control Mac, iPad, and iPhone entirely with their voice. New tools for users with low vision allow you to zoom in on a paragraph of text or the entire screen.

Voice Control
Easily navigate your Mac using just your voice. Improved dictation and richer text editing features make writing more efficient, while comprehensive commands let you open and interact with virtually any app. Navigate an app by calling out numbered labels next to clickable items or by superimposing a grid that lets you select, zoom, and drag with verbal commands.

Zoom Display
If you have two screens, you can keep one screen zoomed in close while the other remains at a standard resolution. It’s great for everyday work and giving a presentation.

Hover Text
Hover Text makes it easier to view text on your Mac display. Just hover over any text with your cursor and press Command. You’ll get a dedicated window with large, high-resolution text. You can even choose the fonts and colors.

See a full list of what's new in macOS Catalina.


1. A subscription is required for some Apple Music features.
2. 4K, 4K HDR, 4K Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and HDR10 content is available on all Mac models introduced in 2018 or later with 4K-resolution screens.
3. Dolby Atmos is available on Mac notebooks introduced in 2018 or later.
4. $4.99/month after free trial. No commitment. Plan automatically renews after trial until cancelled.
5. Sidecar requires an iPad that supports Apple Pencil.
6. Some features require Sidecar-enabled apps.
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages.
The “Voice Control — See Voice Do” video highlights both iOS and macOS accessibility features.
Voice Control is not available in all areas and on all Apple software.

New in this version:
macOS Catalina 10.15.5 introduces battery health management in the Energy Saver settings for notebooks, a new option to disable automatic prominence in Group FaceTime calls, and controls to fine-tune the built-in calibration of your Pro Display XDR. The update also improves the stability, reliability, and security of your Mac.

Battery Health Management
• Battery health management to help maximize battery lifespan for Mac notebooks
• Energy Saver preference pane now displays battery condition and recommends if the battery needs to be serviced
• Option to disable battery health management
For more information, please visit https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211094

FaceTime Prominence Preference
• New option to control automatic prominence on Group FaceTime calls so video tiles do not change size when a participant speaks

Calibration Fine-Tuning for Pro Display XDR
• Controls to fine-tune the built-in calibration of your Pro Display XDR by adjusting the white point and luminance for a precise match to your own display calibration target

This update also includes bug fixes and other improvements.
• Fixes an issue that may prevent Reminders from sending notifications for recurring reminders
• Addresses an issue that may prevent password entry on the login screen
• Fixes an issue where System Preferences would continue to show a notification badge even after installing an update
• Resolves an issue where the built-in camera may not be detected when trying to use it after using a video conferencing app
• Addresses an issue for Mac computers with the Apple T2 Security Chip where internal speakers may not appear as a sound output device in Sound preferences
• Fixes a stability issue with uploading and downloading media files from iCloud Photo Library while your Mac is asleep
• Resolves a stability issue when transferring large amounts of data to RAID volumes
• Fixes an issue where the Reduced Motion Accessibility preference did not reduce the speed of animations in a FaceTime group call

Requirements:
OS X 10.9+