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Last week Apple released the latest version of macOS 11. This new operating system, Big Sur, is a significant visual overhaul to your Mac, It brings the look and feel of your iMac, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air a lot closer to that of your iPhone or iPad. 

One way that Apple has bridged this gap is with the Control Center feature. For a long time in iOS, the operating system that runs on your iPhone and iPad, there has been a single place to manage a variety of features. Screen brightness, system volume, flash light, bluetooth, WiFi control, timer, calculator and more have all been accessible in one place that’s easily accessed by a swipe gesture. 

For many years these features have existed in macOS, but their controls have been scattered throughout the system. One may have to go to the System Preferences app to adjust screen brightness, and the menu bar to control bluetooth, or the keyboard to control volume. Now in Big Sur, just like in iOS and iPad OS there is a unified control center where all of these controls co-exist. 

To access this feature - look to the upper right corner of your Mac’s screen. You’ll see a small icon that looks like two switches on top of each other. This is the control center. Clicking here will show the control center drop down that houses a variety of handy features. You can even customize which functions appear here in the ““Dock and Menu Bar” section of system preferences.