macOS 10.16 Big Sur may bring revamped interface, major updates to Safari and more

In keeping with its established tradition of giving major macOS released in the past few years California-themed names, Apple should name the upcoming macOS 10.16 update that will be formally announced during today’s WWDC 2020 keynote Big Sur.

At least that’s according to the increasingly reliable Twitter leaker @l0vetodream who previously predicted that a LiDAR sensor would appeared on an iPad, which eventually proved correct after Apple refreshed its 2020 refresh for the iPad Pro line featuring LiDAR.

The account went on to mention that “in my dream,” which is the leaker’s way of making Apple-related predictions without actually predicting, the upcoming macOS update will also feature a redesigned interface along with a huge update for Safari.

We’re unsure what the latter means, but Apple in the past year or so has been consistently adding new features to Safari Technology Preview which gives an early look at upcoming web technologies in macOS and iOS.

As for the redesigned interface, we’re not expecting a major departure from the Finder and the current desktop metaphor we’re accustomed to. We’re also not expecting any major visual changes, at least not on the level of the Great Flattening in 2014’s macOS Yosemite update.

If the leaker is right about a redesigned interface, we believe the changes revolve about removing the current user interface inconsistencies between the iOS and macOS platforms.

As for the Big Sur name, it’s worth pointing out that it’s nowhere to be found among over three dozen California-themed trademark applications that Apple filed. Some of these, including Yosemite, Sierra and Mojave, were indeed used for major macOS releases.

MacRumors has more on that:

In the lead-up to WWDC19, we noted that of that original set of trademark applications, only four unused ones remained active: Mammoth, Monterey, Rincon and Skyline. All four of those trademarks had been granted by the Patent and Trademark Office, and Apple was keeping them alive for potential use by filing successive extension requests.

That said, 2019’s macOS Catalina update wasn’t one of the previously trademarked names. In other words, it’s entirely within the realm of possibility that the iPhone maker could now turn to an entirely new name that had not been previously rumored, such as Big Sur.

For those wondering about Big Sur, it’s a rugged stretch of California’s central coast located between Carmel and San Simeon, bordered to the east by the Santa Lucia Mountains and the west by the Pacific Ocean. Aside from state parks for hiking, camping and beachcombing, the area is traversed by a state route featuring winding turns and seaside cliffs.

What do you make of the supposed macOS Big Sur name?

Let us know in the comments!