OS X Mavericks (version 10.9) is the 10th

major release Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mavericks was announced on June 10, 2013, at

WWDC 2013 The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in th ...

, and was released on October 22, 2013, worldwide. The update emphasized battery life, Finder improvements, other improvements for

power user A power user is a user of computers, software and other electronic devices, who uses advanced features of computer hardware, operating systems, programs, or websites which are not used by the average user. A power user might not have extensive tec ...

s, and increased iCloud integration, as well as bringing more of Apple's iOS apps to OS X. Mavericks was named after the surfing location in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. It also removed some of the

skeuomorphic A skeuomorph (also spelled skiamorph, ) is a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues (attributes) from structures that were necessary in the original. Skeuomorphs are typically used to make something new feel familiar in an effort t ...

designs from OS X Mountain Lion, and it is the final version of macOS that features the Lucida Grande typeface as the standard system font since Mac OS X Public Beta in 2000. Mavericks was the first OS X release to be named after a location in California, and the first to be a free upgrade since Mac OS X 10.1 Puma.

History

Apple announced OS X Mavericks on June 10, 2013, during the company's

Apple Worldwide Developers Conference The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in th ...

(WWDC) keynote (which also introduced iOS 7, a revised MacBook Air, the sixth-generation

AirPort Extreme The AirPort Extreme is a residential gateway combining the functions of a router, network switch, wireless access point and NAS as well as varied other functions, and one of Apple's former AirPort products. The latest model, the 6th generatio ...

, the fifth-generation

AirPort Time Capsule The AirPort Time Capsule (originally named Time Capsule) is a wireless router which was sold by Apple Inc., featuring network-attached storage (NAS) and a residential gateway router, and is one of Apple's AirPort products. They are, essentially ...

, and a redesigned

Mac Pro Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers for professionals that are designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2006. The Mac Pro, by some performance benchmarks, is the most powerful computer that Apple offers. It is one of f ...

). During a keynote on October 22, 2013, Apple announced that the official release of 10.9 on the Mac App Store would be available immediately, and that unlike previous versions of OS X, 10.9 would be available at no charge to all users running Snow Leopard (10.6.8) or later. On October 22, 2013, Apple offered free upgrades for life on OS X and iWork.

System requirements

All the Macs supporting OS X Mountain Lion support OS X Mavericks. As with Mountain Lion, 2 GB of RAM, 8 GB of available storage, and Mac OS X Snow Leopard or later are required. Mavericks and later versions are all available for free. The full list of compatible models: * iMac (Mid 2007 or later) * MacBook (Aluminum, Late 2008 or later) * MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later) * MacBook Pro (Mid 2007 or later) * Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later) *

(Early 2008 or later) * Xserve (Early 2009)

System features

The menu bar and the

Dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

are available on each display. Additionally, AirPlay compatible displays such as the

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

can be used as an external display. Mission Control has been updated to organize and switch between Desktop workspaces independently between multiple displays. OS X Mavericks introduced App Nap, which sleeps apps that are not currently visible. Any app running on Mavericks can be eligible for this feature by default. Compressed Memory is a virtual memory compression system which automatically compresses data from inactive apps when approaching maximum memory capacity.

Timer coalescing Timer coalescing is a computer system energy-saving technique that reduces central processing unit (CPU) power consumption by reducing the precision of software timers used for synchronization of process wake-ups, minimizing the number of times th ...

is a feature that enhances energy efficiency by reducing

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

usage by up to 72 percent. This allows MacBooks to run for longer periods of time and desktop Macs to run cooler. Apple now supports OpenGL 4.1 Core Profile and OpenCL 1.2. Server Message Block version 2 (SMB2) is now the default protocol for sharing files, rather than AFP. This is to increase performance and cross-platform compatibility. Some skeuomorphs, such as the leather texture in Calendar, the legal pad theme of Notes, and the book-like appearance of Contacts, have been removed from the UI and replaced with flat design similar to iOS 7.

iCloud Keychain iCloud is a cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016. iCloud enables users to sync their data to the cloud, inclu ...

stores a user's usernames, passwords and Wi-Fi passwords to allow the user to fill this information into forms when needed. The system has native LinkedIn sharing integration. IPoTB (Internet Protocol over Thunderbolt Bridge) Thunderbolt networking is supported in Mavericks. This feature allows the user to quickly transfer a large amount of data between two Macs.

Notification Center Notification Center is a feature in iOS and macOS that provides an overview of alerts from applications. It displays notifications until the user completes an associated action, rather than requiring instant resolution. Users may choose what a ...

allows the user to reply to notifications instantly, allows websites to send notifications, and, when the user wakes up a Mac that was in a sleep state, displays a summary of missed notifications before the machine is unlocked. Some system alerts, such as low battery, removal of drives without ejecting, and a failed

Time Machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

backup have been moved to

. The "traffic light" close, minimize, and maximize window buttons have appeared somewhat brighter than

OS X Lion OS X Lion, also known as Mac OS X Lion, (version 10.7) is the eighth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. A preview of OS X 10.7 Lion was publicly shown at the "Back to the Mac" Apple Speci ...

and OS X Mountain Lion.

App features

Finder gets enhancements such as tabs, full-screen support, and document tags. Pinch-to-zoom and swipe-to-navigate-history gestures have been removed, although both are supported anywhere else. The new

iBooks iBooks may refer to: * iBooks, the former name of Apple Books. * ibooks Inc., a book and comics publishing company founded by Byron Preiss Byron Preiss (April 11, 1953 – July 9, 2005) and a night mode to make it easier to read in dark environments. The new Maps application adds the same functionalities that were featured in iOS Maps. Among these new features is the capability to search directions for driving and walking, report problems in the Maps application, and viewing street addresses to Maps via the Contacts application. The

Calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

app has enhancements such as being able to add Facebook events, view the map of a specified location, and an estimate for the travel time to an event. The

Safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...

browser has a significantly enhanced JavaScript performance which Apple claims is faster than

Chrome Chrome may refer to: Materials * Chrome plating, a process of surfacing with chromium * Chrome alum, a chemical used in mordanting and photographic film Computing * Google Chrome, a web browser developed by Google ** ChromeOS, a Google Chrome- ...

and Firefox. A Top Sites view allows the user to quickly access the most viewed sites by default. However, the user can pin or remove websites from the view. The sidebar now allows the user to view their bookmarks, reading list and shared links. Safari can also auto-generate random passwords and remember them through iCloud Keychain. Additional changes were made to the messaging system. FaceTime is updated so that the user no longer needs to enable camera, in a similar manner to FaceTime in iOS 7. OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 added the option to block users in iMessage.

Removed functionality

The

Open Transport Open Transport was the name given by Apple Inc. to its implementation of the Unix-originated UNIX System V, System V STREAMS networking stack. Based on code licensed from Mentat's Mentat Portable Streams, Portable Streams product, Open Transport wa ...

API has been removed. USB syncing of calendar, contacts and other information to iOS devices has been removed, instead requiring the use of iCloud.

QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...

10 no longer supports many older video codecs and converts them to the ProRes format when opened. Older video codecs cannot be viewed in Quick Look. Apple also removed the ability to sync mobile iCloud Notes if iOS devices were upgraded from iOS 8 to iOS 9, effectively forcing all Mavericks users to update or upgrade their computers.

Reception

OS X Mavericks has received mixed reviews. One complaint is that Apple removed the local sync services, which forces users to get iCloud to sync iOS devices with the desktop OS. However, this feature has since returned in the 10.9.3 and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

11.2 updates. The Verge stated that OS X Mavericks was "a gentle evolution of the Mac operating system". CNET generalized OS X Mavericks as a "solid foundation" to OS X, lacking new features but praised it as a free update that incorporates additional iOS features. Criticism was brought to the insufficient updates to existing applications.

Release history

Timeline

References

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