As we’ve been covering Apple’s staged rollout of Apple Intelligence, one announced feature that has remained tantalizingly in the future is the enhanced version of Siri that would have onscreen awareness, understand your personal context, and be able to interact with apps. The company has quietly admitted that this new version of Siri isn’t ready […]

Although we think about HomePods as being useful for playing audio and responding to Siri commands for HomeKit devices, they can do more. HomePods can send a notification to your iPhone if their built-in microphones recognize the piercing squeals from smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. If you are away from home, that notification could help […]

You can now work directly with PDFs received in the Mail app using a little-known feature in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. Tap a PDF attachment in a message and use the Markup and Form Fill buttons at the bottom to access the PDF markup and filling tools. After modifying your PDF, tapping the Done […]

In iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 Sequoia, Apple removed a standard feature of the Calculator app that allowed users to press the = button multiple times to repeat the last mathematical operation. Following user complaints, the company reinstated this feature in iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS 15.3. Now, to calculate the compound […]

Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence in October 2024 and expanded its extensive collection of AI-powered features with its December updates. The company’s January 2025 releases of macOS 15.3 Sequoia, iOS 18.3, and iPadOS 18.3 enhanced the feature set in several notable ways. Remember, Apple Intelligence features operate only on a Mac with Apple silicon, an iPhone […]

We know iPhones can get pricey—a top-of-the-line 1 TB iPhone 16 Pro Max costs $1,599, and that’s before AppleCare. To make the lineup more affordable, Apple has long sold the iPhone SE and kept previous years’ models available. Until February 18, you could buy a 64 GB iPhone SE for $429 or a 128 GB […]

The first set of Apple Intelligence features appeared in macOS, iOS, and iPadOS in October. Apple has now debuted the second set in the December releases of macOS 15.2 Sequoia, iOS 18.2, and iPadOS 18.2. Apple still considers them to be in beta, which is a nice way of saying that they may not work […]

An unheralded feature in iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 helps you manage the default apps on your iPhone and iPad. A default app is one that opens automatically for a particular function, like opening a Web link or inserting a saved password. Previously, the only way to change a default app was within the settings […]

This is a guest blog post by Charlie Kelson of Zyopic AI Consulting, a former Mac IT professional turned software engineer who has now directed his attention to helping integrate AI solutions into small and medium-sized businesses. Reach out to him at at for more information about how he can help grow your business.  … Read more

For many, Apple’s AirPods are just another pair of earbuds: a convenient way to listen to media. But with the latest versions of iOS and automatically applied firmware updates, the AirPods Pro 2 have become significantly more interesting. They have long had noise cancellation features, which we find helpful in open office environments and for […]

Apple slipped a significant new feature into Mail in iOS 18.2 that has nothing to do with Apple Intelligence: Categories. Like Gmail and other email apps, Mail can now automatically categorize messages into four buckets: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. The idea is that categories make it easier to pay attention to important messages while […]

If you are accustomed to opening the Camera app on your iPhone by tapping its Home Screen app icon or Lock Screen widget icon, you may find it challenging to remember to use the new Camera Control button on the side of an iPhone 16. That button is a big win for easy access to […]

Widgets on the iPhone or iPad Home Screen are enhanced versions of app icons that display extra information. You can now bypass the complicated widget creation process and experiment with widgets more easily. No longer do you have to edit the Home Screen, tap the Edit button, tap Add Widget, choose a widget from the […]

Although the first wave of Apple Intelligence features won’t upend the user experience for most people, Apple is pushing hard to ensure that all its new devices can participate. That’s largely what’s behind the recently released seventh-generation iPad mini. It’s physically unchanged other than a few new colors, but under the hood, the iPad mini […]

Apple has concluded a three-day release of the first Macs to use the M4 chip family, which debuted earlier this year with the iPad Pro. The updated iMac and MacBook Pro retain the same industrial designs as in the past, while Apple took a shrink ray to the Mac mini. These are highly compelling Macs, […]

In macOS 15 Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and watchOS 11, Apple has officially renamed Apple ID to Apple Account. The new name is a slightly more sensible term because you can sign in to an Apple Account that holds your information, whereas an Apple ID was primarily an identifier—it’s an email address—that didn’t inherently […]

Do you worry about family members with whom you’re otherwise happy to share your iPhone passcode reading your private diary in a journaling app? Or perhaps you want to keep your child out of apps where they could cause mischief. A new feature in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 lets you use Face ID or […]

Control Center has been a part of our iPhone and iPad experience for over a decade, first appearing in iOS 7 in 2013. It provides direct access to important controls so we don’t have to hunt through Settings or apps. On the whole, it has been a welcome addition. Although Control Center has changed a […]

A friend recently expressed astonishment when she saw us using trackpad mode while editing text on an iPhone. (It works on the iPad, too!) So, even if you already know these tips, do your friends a favor and show them: Tap once to position the insertion point at the start or end of a word. […]

The calendar has flipped over to September, so Apple will soon release major upgrades for all its operating systems. iOS 18 and watchOS 11 will undoubtedly ship alongside new iPhone and Apple Watch models mid-month. iPadOS 18 is likely to accompany iOS 18, as are tvOS 18 and visionOS 2. Although Apple has sometimes delayed […]