200 brilliant macOS ventura tips

It's time to take to the Stage, start swapping your passwords for Passkeys, and get set with tips for all these new features.

- By Howard Oakley

Which Macs will Ventura work with?

• iMac 2017 and later

• iMac Pro

• MacBook 2017 and later

• MacBook Air 2018 and later, but not 2017

• MacBook Pro 2017 and later

• Mac mini 2018 and later

• Mac Pro 2019, but not late 2013

ALL APPLE SILICON Mac models are supported.

Unlike in Monterey, almost all features are available on all Macs supported by Ventura. Those special to Apple silicon Macs are detailed in the final pages.

Some older models might be able to run Ventura with some features limited, using Dortania's OpenCore Legacy Patcher from bit.ly/ mal200legacy.

AMONG ITS MYRIAD changes and improvements, macOS Ventura brings changes that will leave their marks for years to come. Stage Manager may seem an interface gimmick, but it's arguably the biggest change to the way we use our Macs since Mac OS X. Passkeys are even more transformative, in ending the tedious era of passwords for everything we do online, and freeing us from fear of the next big security breach.

Reactions to the warping of System Preferences into System Settings depend on whether you spend more time with Macs or tapping on other devices. Even for the habitual iPad user it's going to require relearning, and further smoothing of rough edges.

Some of the biggest benefits won't happen until later, when Apple starts using Rapid Security Response to push urgent security fixes faster and without timewasting macOS updates. We also still have Apple's collaborative diagramming app Freeform to look forward to later in the year.

Join us on this whirlwind tour of tips and tricks for this year's new macOS.

Stage Manager, Finder and more

All the world's a Stage, and your apps and windows are its Cast