Apple debuts macOS 13 Ventura with its Stage Manager multitasking interface to manage app windows, the ability to share groups of tabs in Safari, and more

Ars Technica 2022-06-07

Context & Ripple Effects

Ventura extends Apple’s prior cross-device productivity work, including Monterey’s shared cursor and control across iPad and Mac, by bringing a new window-management approach to the Mac alongside Safari collaboration features.

The rollout later put Stage Manager on both Mac and iPad, while a subsequent review found it worked better on the Mac than on the iPad, making Ventura a consequential test of how consistently Apple can carry desktop interaction models across its devices.

First-order effects

Mac users gain Stage Manager as a new way to organize active app windows, while Safari users can share tab groups with collaborators.
Apple adds a productivity-focused reason for Mac and Safari users to adopt Ventura rather than treating the release as only an under-the-hood update.

Second-order effects

Because Stage Manager also arrived on iPad at release, Apple must support a common feature whose experience differs by device, with Mac execution setting the clearer benchmark.
Safari’s shared tab groups make browser collaboration a product surface for Apple, increasing the importance of Safari features alongside the company’s broader device-continuity tools.

Third-order effects

If Apple continues carrying work-management features across macOS and iPadOS, differentiation will increasingly depend on how well each device adapts the same workflow rather than on feature parity alone.
The later addition of desktop widgets and docked web apps in macOS Sonoma suggests Apple is iterating toward a Mac desktop organized around persistent, app-like work surfaces.

The trend: Apple is steadily making the Mac, iPad, and Safari parts of a more continuous productivity environment, while tuning shared features to each device’s interface constraints.

Discussion

@anildash @anildash on x
From the people that brought you Exposé, and then LaunchPad and Mission Control to fix that, here comes Stage Manager, with just a click, you have the fifth way to get confused about where all your shit is on your Mac. Why can you type in Spotlight and also in Siri?
@rileytestut @rileytestut on x
This Stage Manager system would be especially nice on say an iPad... 👀
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
macOS Ventura is here, baby https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@classicii_mrmac Mr. Macintosh on x
Re: macOS Ventura support 2013 Mac Pro was sold until Dec 2019 2017 MacBook Air was sold until July 2019 2014 Mac mini was sold until Oct 2018 Most surprising was Apple dropping the 2016 MacBook Pro.
@tapbot_paul Paul Haddad on x
No snark, windowing management is a huge area of possible improvement for Mac. Not sure this is the best solution but at least they are working on it.
@sdw @sdw on x
Nice, fresh look for System Preferences in macOS Ventura. https://twitter.com/...
@tapbot_paul Paul Haddad on x
Apple was manufacturing and selling the 2013 Trash Pro until at least 2018 if not 2019. Kind of lame to get a whopping 3 years of use out of a 4k+ machine.
@mkbhd Marques Brownlee on x
Ok my favorite feature: Continuity Camera. Use your iPhone as your wireless webcam 👀 And it synthesizes a top-down “desk view” from the ultra wide camera. Sick https://twitter.com/...
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
You'll soon be able to use an iPhone as a Mac webcam. This will be great for people with old MacBooks that have crappy webcams. Details here: https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@davewiner @davewiner on x
I don't think Steve would've gone for this. https://twitter.com/...
@thekitze @thekitze on x
“we gave up on making a good webcam, so now you can use your iPhone as a webcam” Continuity Camera😲the picture quality looks crisp afffff https://twitter.com/...
@marinaaisa Marina Aísa on x
My favorite release from #WWDC22 is Continuity Camera, for sure. I've always found super strange to buy an external webcam when we all have amazing cameras on our phones. This is huge. iPhone's camera is going to improve so much the quality of video calls. 👏
@qbking77 Tim Schofield on x
😂😂 Apple's new “Continuity Cam” because they refuse to put any halfway decent camera into their laptops #WWDC22 https://twitter.com/...
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
As I suspected, Apple is trying to appeal to more AAA video game developers for Mac. Talking about Apple's unified silicon architecture is an interesting angle since it spans iPhone, iPad, Mac, and even TV.
@munster_gene Gene Munster on x
They are allowing you to use your iPhone camera on a Mac for FaceTime and Zoom. Finally the Mac can have a real camera. https://twitter.com/...
@html5test Niels Leenheer on x
Camera continuity... we've shipped some shitty camera's, so now you can use your iPhone instead... That said... I want it NOW!!!
@stevemoser Steve Moser on x
Handoff comes to FaceTime calls. And Continuity Camera. Who needs the web cam on the Studio Display? https://twitter.com/...
@snazzyq Quinn Nelson on x
“You can now use your iPhone as a webcam” is a code name for “the new MacBook Air's camera is farts.”
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
Finally! Continuity Camera, use your iPhone as your webcam on your Mac. https://twitter.com/...
@tldtoday @tldtoday on x
Apple just fixed the studio display webcam by using iPhone as the webcam now lol That's actually sick though
@raywongy Ray Wong on x
Say you're sorry about the Studio Display's bad webcam without saying you're sorry #WWDC22 https://twitter.com/...
@sdw @sdw on x
uh, wow — FaceTime continuity camera handoff uses crazy computational perspective correction to re-render the ultra-wide camera footage into an overhead view of your desk. This is nuts. https://twitter.com/...
@alexisohanian @alexisohanian on x
@Suhail Core reason we seeded @opalcamera was because we knew Apple couldn't obsess over the software & hardware of a pro-sumer webcam at the level of this startup team. I did not expect them to phone it in like this tho 🤪
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
And Apple just killed Camo. Using the iPhone cameras instead of whatever's in your Mac just makes so much sense. https://twitter.com/...
@suhail @suhail on x
The iPhone as webcam feature is the most un-Apple thing I've ever seen. The MacBook should have a 1080p camera, it should be nearly invisible, and it should have Center Stage. Instead it's chunky & can't use your phone. Astonished it didn't happen considering the last 2 years.
@samred Sam Machkovech on x
with iPhone entering the chat, image reconstruction is officially the future of video game rendering. among other things, this makes Nvidia's big 2018 bet—favoring “RTX” silicon over sheer power—all the more incredible. https://twitter.com/...
@tldtoday @tldtoday on x
iPhone as webcam giving you two shots. A top down view using the ultra wide. Actually wild 🤯 this is the @UnboxTherapy shot https://twitter.com/...
@levpopov Lev Popov on x
@Suhail It's physics. iPhones have sensors 2x bigger than webcams that go all in on image quality (ie @opalcamera), and a way better lens. Bigger sensor = thicker lens. There's a reason why 13pro lens bumps are so huge, and apple reasonably figured they cant fit that in a laptop …
@thurrott Paul Thurrott on x
Continuity Camera. F you, Camo! Love, Apple! #WWDC22
@captain2phones Michael Fisher on x
Agreed. Incredible to think *both* these views are generated by the same iPhone, clamped to the top of a laptop. head-explosion-dot-gif https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@damedoteth @damedoteth on x
continuity camera seems like bad news for Opal
@anthony Anthony DeRosa on x
Jony Ive probably hyperventilating at the iPhone hanging on top of the Mac screen as an external camera #WWDC
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
(yes, they should put good cameras in the Mac. but the iPhone will always be better)
@heybradk Brad on x
@reneritchie I hope this continuity camera will work with tvOS and the Apple TV. Would be great for people like my parents who could use their iPhones as the camera and have their TVs as the display.
@laurengoode Chaotic Goode on x
More continuity features: You can use an iPhone as your web camera when you're on your Mac. Fun! No word on whether you can use your Pixel phone 😜
@ijustine @ijustine on x
Continuity camera: use your iPhone as a webcam! The coolest thing is being able to go to desk view.. it uses the wide angle camera to show both the desk and you in the same shot! Whoa! #WWDC22 https://twitter.com/...
@digital_vix3n Tatjana Vejnovic on x
Why don't they just.. oh, I don't know, put a decent camera on the MacBook and charge a bit more? https://twitter.com/...
@gfodor @gfodor on x
@Suhail People would rather use their phone to tune out of a Zoom call than use it as a camera
@garrytan @garrytan on x
@Suhail Pretty strange given the global macro shift: that front facing camera went from nice-to-have to must-have in a remote work world.
@_inside Guilherme Rambo on x
Desk view is just 🤯 #WWDC22
@vadimyuryev Vadim Yuryev on x
Code one, code all :) This what the Apple Silicon gaming dream I talked about in 2020 in my Apple gaming videos. https://twitter.com/...
@_inside Guilherme Rambo on x
Can't wait to get Mail follow up suggestions for the spam I get #WWDC22
@rstephens Robert Stephens on x
Email snooze is just about the only feature keeping me on Gmail. When this launches this fall, might be time to switch. https://www.techmeme.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
When's the last time Apple reworked the mail app?

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