Apple's macOS High Sierra Public Beta Is Here

Just days after releasing the beta of iOS 11 to the public, Apple has done the same for the latest version of macOS, High Sierra. Unveiled at WWDC earlier this month and originally released in beta form to developers, the upcoming update will offer a bevy of upgrades — Apple File System (APFS) implementation, HEVC (H.265) support, and a Photos overhaul chief among them, not to mention support for VR content creation.

Check out a rundown of some of the operating system’s notable offerings below and head on over to beta.apple.com to take the macOS update for a test drive.

High Sierra is due out as a free upgrade sometime this fall.

- Safari can automatically use Reader to open articles in a clean, uncluttered format, while Autoplay Blocking stops media with audio from automatically playing in the browser

- Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari uses machine learning to identify and remove the tracking data that advertisers employ to follow users’ web activity

- Mail search gets faster and easier with Top Hits, which puts the most relevant results at the top of a user’s message list

- Siri on the Mac responds with a natural and more expressive voice, and when using Apple Music, it learns music preferences, creates custom playlists and answers music trivia

- Notes adds simple tables, where a user can type in cells, make edits and move rows and columns

- Spotlight provides flight status information, including departure and arrival times, delays, gates, terminals and even a map of the flight path

- iCloud File Sharing lets users share any file stored in iCloud Drive and collaborate with other people