Mac OS X Yosemite Now Available, iOS 8.1 Launches On Monday With Apple Pay

Apple has confirmed iOS 8.1 will be available to compatible iPhones and iPads from Monday, introducing Apple Pay to the US market, while Mac owners can download OS X Yosemite for free immediately.

Both operating systems were revealed at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) earlier this year and both are designed to work closely together.

iOS 8.1 restores camera roll to the photos app and enables many of the continuity features between iOS and OS X Yosemite. This includes instant hotspot, handoff, which lets users continue working on the same document on different devices with a swipe, and the ability to make calls and texts on a Mac when an iPhone is in range.

iOS 8.1 and Mac OS X Yosemite

Apple Pay, which is not available in the UK, has the support of another 500 banks which have pledged their support either later this year or early next, and has also signed up a number of retailers and apps who plan to use the system for online payments, not just point-of-sale.

Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering at Apple, boasted that 48 percent of iPhone and iPad users were now on iOS 8 when just 25 percent of Android users are on 4.4 KitKat, but made no mention that this adoption rate was slower than iOS 7, nor did he refer to the problems that have blighted the launch, such as the Healthkit bug and the botched iOS 8.0.1 update.

OS X Yosemite, which introduces a flatter, iOS-inspired interface, along with new sidebar apps, updated versions of Safari, Mail and Messages and has been available as a beta download for a number of months, with one million Mac users registering their interest.

Federighi said the new iCloud Drive, which lets users share files and documents between devices, was central to the integration of OS X and iOS, but again there was no mention of the high profile hacks that saw intimate photos of a number of celebrities leaked onto the Internet.

iOS 8.1 will ship with the newly announced iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3, while OS X Yosemite will come as standard on the iMac with Retina Display.

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