OS X Mavericks (version 10.9) is the 10th major release of

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

desktop A desktop traditionally refers to: * The surface of a desk (often to distinguish office appliances that fit on a desk, such as photocopiers and printers, from larger equipment covering its own area on the floor) Desktop may refer to various compu ...

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 An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...

for

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

computers. OS X Mavericks was announced on June 10, 2013, at WWDC 2013, 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 continued

iCloud 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 ...

integration, as well as bringing more of Apple's

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

apps to OS X. Mavericks, which was named after the surfing location in Northern California, was the first in the series of OS X releases not only for being named for places in Apple's home state since earlier releases used the names of

big cat The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus ''Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. Despite enormous differences in size, various cat species are quite similar ...

s, but also for being the first one to be a free upgrade since Mac OS X 10.1 "Puma". 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 OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8) is the ninth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mountain Lion was released on July 25, 2012, for purchase and download through Apple's Mac Ap ...

, and it is the final Mac operating system to feature the

Lucida Grande Lucida Grande is a humanist sans-serif typeface. It is a member of the Lucida family of typefaces designed by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes. It is best known for its implementation throughout the macOS user interface from 1999 to 2014, as ...

typeface as the standard system font since

Mac OS X Public Beta The Mac OS X Public Beta (internally code named "Kodiak") was the first publicly available version of Apple Inc., Apple Computer's macOS, Mac OS X (now named macOS) operating system to feature the Aqua (user interface), Aqua user interface. It ...

in 2000.

History

Apple announced OS X Mavericks on June 10, 2013, during the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote (which also introduced

iOS 7 iOS 7 is the seventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 6. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, 2013, and was released on September 1 ...

, a revised

MacBook Air The MacBook Air is a line of ultrabook computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc. It consists of a full-size keyboard, a machined aluminum case, and, in the more modern versions, a thin light structure. The Air was originally position ...

, 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). 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 iWork is an office suite of applications created by Apple Inc. for its macOS and iOS operating systems, and also available cross-platform through the iCloud website. It includes the presentation application Keynote, the word processing and ...

System requirements

OS X Mavericks can run on any Mac that can run

; as with Mountain Lion, 2 GB of RAM, 8 GB of available storage, and

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...

10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) or later are required. Mavericks and later versions are all available for free. The full list of compatible models: *

iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...

(Mid 2007 or later) * MacBook (Aluminum, Late 2008 or later) *

(Late 2008 or later) * MacBook Pro (Mid 2007 or later) *

Mac Mini Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac and the professional Mac Studio and Mac Pro as one of four current Mac deskto ...

(Early 2009 or later) * Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later) *

Xserve Xserve is a line of rack unit computers designed by Apple Inc. for use as servers. Introduced in 2002, it was Apple's first designated server hardware design since the Apple Network Server in 1996. In the meantime, ordinary Power Macintosh G3 ...

(Early 2009)

System features

The menu bar and the Dock are available on each display. Additionally, AirPlay compatible displays such as the Apple TV 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 Virtual memory compression (also referred to as RAM compression and memory compression) is a memory management technique that utilizes data compression to reduce the size or number of paging requests to and from the auxiliary storage. In a virtua ...

system which automatically compresses data from inactive apps when approaching maximum

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...

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 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 OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a framework for writing programs that execute across heterogeneous platforms consisting of central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), field-progra ...

1.2.

Server Message Block Server Message Block (SMB) is a communication protocol originally developed in 1983 by Barry A. Feigenbaum at IBM and intended to provide shared access to files and printers across nodes on a network of systems running IBM's OS/2. It also provide ...

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. iCloud Keychain 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 LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...

sharing integration. IPoTB (Internet Protocol over Thunderbolt Bridge)

Thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hel ...

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 A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent mat ...

buttons have appeared somewhat brighter than

Mac 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

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 A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

application allows the user the same functionality as in

Maps. The Calendar app has enhancements such as being able to add

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

events, and an estimate for the travel time to an event. The Safari browser has a significantly enhanced JavaScript performance which Apple claims is faster than Chrome and

Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current ...

. 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.

Other applications found in Mavericks

*AirPort Utility *

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...

*Archive Utility *Audio MIDI Setup *Automator *Bluetooth File Exchange * Boot Camp Assistant * Calculator *Chess *ColorSync Utility *Console *

Contacts Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...

* Dictionary * Digital Color Meter *

Disk Utility A disk utility is a utility program that allows a user to perform various functions on a computer disk, such as disk partitioning and logical volume management, as well as multiple smaller tasks such as changing drive letters and other mount po ...

DVD Player A DVD player is a device that plays DVDs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. Some DVD players will also play audio CDs. DVD players are connected to a television to ...

FaceTime FaceTime is a proprietary videotelephony product developed by Apple Inc. FaceTime is available on supported iOS mobile devices running iOS 4 and later and Mac computers that run and later. FaceTime supports any iOS device with a forward-faci ...

* Font Book *

Game Center Game Center is a service by Apple that allows users to play and challenge friends when playing online multiplayer social gaming network games. Games can now share multiplayer functionality between the Mac and iOS versions of the app. Game C ...

* GarageBand (may not be pre-installed) * Grab *

Grapher Grapher is a computer program bundled with macOS since version 10.4 that is able to create 2D and 3D graphs from simple and complex equations. It includes a variety of samples ranging from differential equations to 3D-rendered Toroids and Lor ...

* iMovie (may not be pre-installed) * iTunes *Image Capture *Ink (can only be accessed by connecting a graphics tablet to your Mac) * Keychain Access * Keynote (may not be pre-installed) *

Mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

* Messages * Migration Assistant *

Notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versio ...

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

(may not be pre-installed) *

Pages Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...

(may not be pre-installed) * Photo Booth *

Preview Preview may refer to: Theatre, film, television * Preview (subscription service), an early subscription television service in the United States * Preview (theatre), a public performance of a theatrical show before the official opening * Previe ...

QuickTime Player 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 av ...

* Reminders * Script Editor * Stickies * System Information *

Terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output dev ...

TextEdit TextEdit is an open-source word processor and text editor, first featured in NeXT's NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP. It is now distributed with macOS since Apple Inc.'s acquisition of NeXT, and available as a GNUstep application for other Unix-like ope ...

* VoiceOver Utility * X11/XQuartz (may not be pre-installed)

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 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 11.2 updates. The Verge stated that OS X Mavericks was “a gentle evolution of the Mac operating system”.

Release history

Timeline

References

{{Authority control 9 X86-64 operating systems 2013 software Computer-related introductions in 2013