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iOS 12 and macOS Mojave

It is that time of year again when Apple refreshes its OS line up. iOS 12 was released earlier this month on September, 17 and macOS Mojave was released on September, 24. Following the slew of announcements, we thought we would share some important information with you to ensure you are not caught out when the new operating systems are launched.

What is new in iOS 12

There are lots of new features and enhancements:

Faster – Apple has gone to great lengths to optimise and speed up the general use of iOS 12. Everything feels snappier; the keyboard pops up faster, apps launch quicker and the camera swipes in more speedily. Even on older hardware, you will see the benefit.
FaceTime – soon you will be able to FaceTime up to 32 people at once.
Augmented Reality – this has been improved, allowing you to share AR objects between friends.
Screen Time – this allows you to monitor how much time a device is used for and in which apps.
Notifications – these have been revamped, giving you more control over which ones you want. Additionally, message threads are now grouped.
Do Not Disturb – this has been enhanced to allow you to better manage when you do not want to be interrupted.
Siri Shortcuts – this is a brand new feature which allows Siri to automate tasks you perform with apps. A new app called Shortcuts allows you to manage and create workflows to help you along in your daily routines.
Privacy and Security – this has been improved across the board, including enhanced tracking prevention, automatic strong passwords, SMS security code auto-fill and password sharing.

Technical changes to iOS 12

Additionally, the following technical changes have come to iOS 12 which you will need to be aware of:

Apple products will completely distrust Symantec CAs as early as autumn 2018.
The Federal Common Policy Root CA has been removed from the iOS Trust Store. Organisations that require the Federal Common Policy Root CA can distribute it in a profile payload.
FTP and File URL schemes for Proxy Automatic Configuration (PAC) are deprecated. HTTP and HTTPS are the only supported URL schemes for PAC. This includes PAC URLs configured by a user in Settings, or by a configuration profile.

A complete list of the new features can be found here: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-12/features/

iOS 12 compatibility

The following devices are compatible with iOS 12. If your device is not listed, you will need to upgrade your device:

iPhones 5s
iPhone SE
iPhone 6 Plus
iPhone 6
iPhone 6s Plus
iPhone 6s
iPhone 7
iPhone 7 Plus
iPhone 8
iPhone 8 Plus
iPhone X
iPhone Xr
iPhone Xs
iPhone Xs Max
iPad mini 2
iPad mini 3
iPad mini 4
iPad Air
iPad Air 2
iPad 5th Generation
iPad 6th Generation
9.7-inch iPad Pro
10.5-inch iPad Pro
12.9-inch iPad Pro 1st Generation
12.9-inch iPad Pro 2nd Generation

What is new in macOS Mojave

Here is a run down of some of the new features in macOS Mojave:

Dark Mode – this allows the user to adopt a darker appearance across the system. All the built in apps support this new mode and third party apps can quickly adopt it, if they have not done so already.
Stacks – these keep your desktop free of clutter by automatically organising your files into related groups.
Finder – the Finder has been enhanced to give you access to your data more easily, with features such as Gallery View, new Quick Actions and access to Metadata.
FaceTime – coming soon is the ability to have up to 32 people in one call.
New Apps – including News, Stocks, Home and Voice Memos
Privacy and Security – macOS Mojave requires apps to get your approval before accessing the camera or microphone on your Mac. The same goes for data like your message history and mail database.

Technical changes coming in macOS Mojave

Additionally, the following technical changes are coming to macOS Mojave which you will need to be aware of:

Apple products will completely distrust Symantec CAs as early as autumn 2018.
The Federal Common Policy Root CA has been removed from the macOS Trust Store. Organisations that require the Federal Common Policy Root CA can distribute it in a profile payload.
FTP and File URL schemes for Proxy Automatic Configuration (PAC) are deprecated. HTTP and HTTPS are the only supported URL schemes for PAC. This includes PAC URLs configured by a user in System Preferences, or by a configuration profile.
32-bit processes will trigger an alert on launch. To prevent the alert, create and install a custom configuration profile payload in the com.apple.coreservices.uiagent domain, setting the CSUIDisable32BitWarnings key to ‘true.’
For increased security, using the kickstart command to enable remote management on a Mac, will only allow you to observe it when sharing its screen. If you wish to control the Mac while sharing its screen, enable remote management in System Preferences.
Using either the Full Security or Medium Security Secure Boot setting on your Mac computer that has the Apple T2 chip will prevent your Mac from starting up into single-user mode. Boot into macOS Recovery instead.
You can allow apps to access certain files used for system administration, and to allow access to application data. For example, if an app requests access to your calendar data, you can allow or deny the request. MDM administrators can manage these requests using the Privacy Preferences Policy Control payload, as documented in the Configuration Profile Reference.

macOS Mojave compatibility

The following devices are compatible with macOS Mojave. Please be aware some older (2009 models) that were support on High Sierra, have been dropped for Mojave. If your device is not listed, you will need to upgrade your device:

MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
iMac Pro (2017)
Mac Pro (Late 2013, plus mid 2010 and mid 2012 models with recommended Metal-capable GPU)