A new version of Safari has arrived with the macOS Monterey 12.1 and iOS 15.2 updates. This update closes six partially critical vulnerabilities in WebKit, so it is recommended to install the update as soon as possible.
If you are on Big Sur or Catalina Safari 15.2 is available as a separate download.
Safari users who install the updated browser will gain an improved colour format for displayed images. Website developers can now upload the images in the P3 colour space to be viewed in Safari 15.2. Until now, only the sRGB colour space was possible.
Compared to the established sRGB colour space, which dates back to the 1990s, the colours on screens that support P3 look more vivid and intense. Most newer displays can interpret the wider colour space of P3, Apple’s iPhones, for example, have featured wide-gamut displays since iPhone 7.
Another innovation concerns complex web apps that work like programs in the browser. For such elaborate pages, Apple expands access to memory up to 4GB, so larger and more powerful web applications are possible. An associated relaxation concerns access to shared memory (unified memory) which the processor and the graphics unit can access at the same time. Apple’s native applications have no restrictions on accessing them, but Apple had cut access for websites after the Spectre attack. Now web pages may also access shared memory if they have better isolated their processes.
In addition to the innovations for web developers, Apple has corrected some bugs that affected end users. Including: microphone switching during FaceTime calls on the Mac and disconnections with a Bluetooth speaker.
This article originally appeared on Macwelt. Translation by Karen Haslam.