Apple released a new iPad Pro and iPad Air, among other products and announcements, during its May 7 "Let Loose" event. As is normally the case when newer versions are released, the older ones go down in price. Right now, the 5th generation 256GB iPad Air is $549.99 (originally $749). This iPad Air is the thinnest—and still one of the best—tablets Apple has to offer right now.
This wifi-enabled iPad Air, which PCMag said is "outstanding," was released in 2022. It comes with an M1 system-on-a-chip (SoC), a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, a 12MP front and back camera, as well as Touch ID through the tablet’s power button. It's just a tenth of an inch thinner than the iPad Mini (and matching the 6th generation in thickness) but about twice as heavy as the Mini. Unlike previous iPad Airs, this one offers many of the same features as the 2021 iPad Pro, like the M1 processor and second-gen Apple Pencil support. The iPad Air does fall short compared to the Pro lineup when it comes to the camera, audio, and graphics, but considering it is almost half the price, it may be worth the tradeoff.
Apple loves keeping you in its walled garden of convenient but locked-down apps. That's not always a bad thing—I enjoy using my Apple Watch to unlock my Mac. However, it gets annoying when you can't use third-party apps or services for certain things, like music streaming or voice assistants. Shazam, the song recognition service owned by Apple, is a great example of this.
When you ask Siri to identify a song playing around you, the voice assistant will listen, recognize the song via Shazam, and show you a button to open it in Apple Music. That's great if you use Apple's streaming service, but not so great if you opt for a third-party option. Normally, iOS won't allow you to open these links in Spotify, YouTube Music, or any other streaming app that you might use. Fortunately, the iPhone automation community has a great solution to this particular problem: a shortcut called Quick Shazam, created by user @ZXXII over on RoutineHub.
Force Shazam to send songs to Spotify (or other services)
To stop Shazam from sending you to Apple Music all the time, you'll need to use Apple's Shortcuts app. Most iPhones will already have it, so start by downloading the Quick Shazam shortcut and running it on your iPhone. During the setup process, Quick Shazam will ask you to choose your favorite music platform from the following options:
Spotify
Deezer
Tidal
iTunes
YouTube
YouTube Music
Pandora
SoundCloud
Don't worry if you end up dropping a subscription later, as you can change your pick whenever you'd like. Before you use this shortcut, I highly recommend making it easier to access by adding it to the Home Screen. To do so, open the Shortcuts app and hold down the Quick Shazam icon. Hit Share and Add to Home Screen. Now, it'll open just like an app.
From here, just tap the shortcut's icon whenever you want to and it'll automatically open Shazam and start listening for a song. Once the song is identified, you'll see a Shazam pop-up with an Apple Music button for a second or so. Ignore this. The shortcut will automatically dismiss the pop-up and opens the song in your preferred music streaming service.
Sometimes, the most expensive option isn’t the best one, and smartwatches are no exception. For the past two weeks, I’ve swapped out my typical Apple Watch SE for the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and for the most part, I much prefer the $249 pick to the $799 one.
From an always-on display to an Action button, there’s a lot to love about the Apple Watch Ultra 2. But it’s a highly specialized device, with a lot of features included that most people won’t need. Even if cost wasn't a factor, I’d bet a good amount of folks would still prefer either an Apple Watch SE or Apple Watch Series 9.
Let’s break down the pros and cons of Apple’s most expensive and least expensive watches to help you find which one is right for you.
Why get a smart watch?
I didn’t start wearing a smartwatch until just after the pandemic, when I started commuting to work more often. I’m not much of an athlete, and I thought the whole thing was kind of silly, like wearing a “please mug me” sign. I suppose people once said the same thing about flip phones.
The Apple Watch SE is meant for someone like me. It’s small, lightweight, and does just enough to win me over. I like to think of it like an updated iPod Nano. It’s a tiny box I can use to control my media, use tap-to-pay, and occasionally track walks. That’s all I need, but it was convenient enough that I’ve grown to love the thing and how it lets me keep my phone in my bag while on the train.
Others, however, have bought into smartwatches since the beginning. They love the detailed sensors higher-end models come with, the luxury looks available with an upgrade, and feeling their hefty cases on their wrists. For these people, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a great choice.
What does each Apple Watch model come with?
Apple currently sells three Apple Watch models, and I’ve tested two. None are bad choices, but they each cater to a different audience, so there’s a lot to take into account even if money is no object.
The cheapest Apple Watch is the Apple Watch SE, which comes with the smallest size option and bare minimum specs. For $249, its aluminum body packs a 1,000 nit display, a battery that’s advertised to hold up to an 18 hour charge, the S8 chip (powering features like Siri and Find my iPhone), and an optical heart rate monitor. You’ll get water resistance up to a 164 feet depth, and for a $50 upcharge, you can add in the ability to connect a cellular plan.
The Apple Watch Series 9 is one step up and starts at $399 (cellular adds $100 to the price, and you can pay even more for a stainless steel case). For that extra money, you’ll get a 2,000 nit always-on display, the S9 chip (unlocking the double tap feature and upgrading Siri as well as Find my iPhone), a new ECG, temperature sensing, fast charging, and a low power mode for your battery that’s purported to last up to 36 hours.
Finally, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 starts at $799 and only comes in one model, with additional upcharges being reserved for accessories. All Ultra 2 models have a titanium case, a 3,000 nit always-on display, the S9 chip, 328 feet of water resistance, an upgraded GPS, cellular compatibility, and a purported battery life of up to 36 hours in normal use and 72 hours in low power mode. There’s also an orange Action button on the side and additional sensors including a gyroscope and a depth gauge.
All Apple Watch models come with OLED screens, a digital crown, speakers (although they’re upgraded on the Ultra), and a menu button, but if we were to discuss everything that’s different about them, we’d be here all day. For more details, check Apple’s site, but even with everything I’ve already laid out, I’ve yet to touch on the most important difference.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is too big and heavy for my wrist
Remember how I called the Apple Watch SE an updated iPod Nano? That wouldn’t fly with the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
The SE comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes (I have the 40), and weighs a max of 33g even on the larger model with cellular included. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 only comes in 49mm, and weighs 61.4g.
This thing is chonky, especially for a smaller wrist like mine, and feels less like wearing a control center for your iPhone—or perhaps a whole separate iPhone entirely. It’s cool for bragging rights, but less so for the type of everyday use that sold me on smartwatches in the first place.
Outside of its specialty use cases, the always-on display is about the only upgrade I actually enjoyed for most of my time using it. Everything else was just a burden.
If you’re like me, the Ultra 2 is just a bad pick, even if you can afford it and usually opt for top-of-the-line options like the M3 Max MacBook Pro. You’ll end up getting a lot you don’t use, and a worse experience with what you do, so do yourself a favor and cheap out.
When is the Apple Watch Ultra 2 worth it?
But that doesn’t mean the additions to the Ultra 2 are just back-of-the-box selling points that Apple is using to jack up the price. They’re genuinely useful for people who need it, i.e. outdoorsy folks.
The whole reason I started this comparison was to test out the updated Golfshot app, a golf course assistant for Android, iOS, and Apple Watch. Earlier this month, it got an update for Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2 that was a genuine game changer, and could totally make the upgrade worth it for me if I were a big golfer.
On top of adding driving ranges to the app’s lineup of courses, the update makes use of the Apple Watch Ultra line’s extra sensors to track your swing in detail every time. SwingID allows the app to track factors like tempo, rhythm, backswing, and the like, and while it’s available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra can track your swing at 800hz, allowing it to detect exactly when you hit the ball.
In just a short few hours of play, I managed to use this data to see what was causing my shots to veer off to the right so frequently, and ended the session straightening them out.
It’s cases like this where Apple Watch shines. For instance, the extra waterproofing and Depth app makes it a diving companion, while the detailed watch face options, extra large battery, loud speakers, and cellular connectivity make it useful for keeping hikers both informed and safe.
I’m not likely to use these features anytime soon, but given that competing activity watches like Garmin’s Mk3 Dive Computer can reach into the thousands of dollars, the Apple Watch Ultra could be a fair replacement for more specialized equipment.
The large size also puts Apple Watch Ultra in greater competition with luxury watches. I tend not to pick my outfit for bragging rights, but there’s no arguing that the Ultra doesn’t look slick, especially if you add on one of Apple’s official Hermès bands.
Do I need Apple Watch Ultra if I’m just going to the gym?
I like to view Apple Watch Ultra best as a specialty activity companion, and while I did try wearing it to the gym, I didn’t get much out of it. My typical day at the gym involves about a half-hour of using the elliptical and ten minutes of weight lifting, and for this, the Ultra only really gave me one benefit: the Action button.
On the side of both Apple Watch Ultras is an orange Action button that can be set to trigger anything from a stopwatch to a flashlight (which turns the watch’s screen white and sets it to max brightness). Most available Action button functions are also available as features on the Apple Watch SE and Series 9, but require digging through menus, so being able to turn them on with a single button press is convenient. It's a similar experience to the Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max.
I set the Action button to start my workout, and I could press it again to pause workouts. I didn’t notice too much deviation in the recorded data on either watch, but because I usually just wait for my SE to detect when I’m working out before starting tracking, I was able to more accurately time my workout tracking on the Ultra 2. The SE, for all its lightweight convenience, can be a little slow to notice when I’m in the gym.
If you work out outside, there’s also the larger battery to take note of. I usually have to charge my SE every night, but I was able to get away with charging it every other night on the Ultra 2. You’ll still be set for hours either way, but you’re less likely to accidentally wear a dead watch with the more expensive model.
Aside from in-exercise tracking, there is also something to be said for the ECG and Cycle Tracking apps. While these are also available on the more modestly priced Series 9, the closest the SE offers is the ability to manually log cycles.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
Which Apple Watch should I get?
The best Apple Watch for you may not be the one with the most bells and whistles. I prefer a small, lightweight device with a minimal interface that I can mostly use as a companion while commuting, so the SE isn’t just a budget compromise to me: It’s my favorite option.
The Ultra 2, meanwhile, is great for people who regularly dive, golf, hike, or engage in some other more intense outdoor hobby. Its extra sensors and more rugged design allow it to keep up with more expensive specialty equipment, and despite its bulk, it’s still capable of everyday use cases like tap-to-pay.
The Series 9 is a great compromise. Its smallest option is only a touch larger than the SE’s, it comes in more colors, and it has a few extra sensors without getting as big as the Ultra 2. It’s a good splurge pick, but be sure to look up whether you’ll actually use its extra sensors paying the extra $150 for it.
Apple and OpenAI have successfully made a deal to include OpenAI's generative AI technology in Apple's software, according to The Information, which cites a source who has spoken to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about the deal.
It was previously reported by Bloomberg that the deal was in the works. The news appeared in a longer article about Altman and his growing influence within the company.
"Now, [Altman] has fulfilled a longtime goal by striking a deal with Apple to use OpenAI’s conversational artificial intelligence in its products, which could be worth billions of dollars to the startup if it goes well," according to The Information's source.
It's no secret that Apple is working on AI features that will roll out with iOS 18 and macOS 15. When you update your iPhone, iPad, and Mac later this year, you may find a more natural-sounding Siri, or be able to generate emojis based on whatever you're talking about in Messages. Pretty cool—but how will Apple protect your data while the AI processes all these nifty new features?
While reports suggest Apple will be running many of these features on-device, at least with its newer products, rumors also say the company is planning on outsourcing much of the processing to the cloud. That's not atypical from the rest of the industry: Most AI processing right now is happening in the cloud, simply because AI processing is intense. It's why companies continue to push the capabilities of their NPUs (or neural processing units), which are specialized processors that exclusively handle AI functions. Apple has been using NPUs for years, but made a big show of touting the new M4 chip's beefy NPUs earlier this year, while Microsoft started a new AI-PC standard with its Copilot+ PC line.
Running AI on-device is more secure
Of course, whether or not your AI features are running on your phone or in the cloud probably doesn't matter to you, so long as the feature is working as it should. The issue, however, is that running these features on-device provides an inherently more secure experience. By pushing the processing to the cloud, companies risk exposing user data to anyone with access, especially when the service doing the processing needs to decrypt user data first. Exposure risks include the employees of the company in question, but also bad actors that may try to break into the company's cloud servers and scrape whatever customer information they can find.
This is already an issue with services like ChatGPT, and why I advise not to share any personal information with most cloud-based AI services: Your conversations are not private, and are all being fed to these servers, both for storage and to train the AI model. Companies with an investment in user privacy, like Apple, prefer to use on-device solutions whenever possible, since they can demonstrate that keeping user data isolated to their phone, tablet, or computer keeps it out of anyone else's hands.
How Apple will use 'Secure Enclave' to protect AI data
While newer Apple hardware should be powerful enough to run the AI features the company is cooking up, for older devices, or for features that are too power intensive, it may be forced to turn to cloud-based servers in order to offer those features at all. However, if a report from The Information and cited by Android Authority is accurate, the company may have found a solution: the Secure Enclave.
The Secure Enclave is already part of the hardware of most Apple products in use today. It's a part of the SoC (System on a Chip) that is kept separate from the processor, and its job is to store your most sensitive information, like your encryption keys and biometric data. That way, if the main processor is ever compromised, the Secure Enclave ensures bad actors can't access its data.
According to The Information, Apple is working on an AI-cloud solution that would send all AI user data to the Secure Enclaves of M2 Ultra and M4 Macs running in its server farms. There, those server Macs could process the request while preserving encryption, then send the results back to the user. In theory, this process would keep user data safe while also giving older devices access to Apple's latest AI features.
We won't know for sure whether this is Apple's plan until they reveal what they're working on at WWDC, if at all. If Apple stays hush-hush about how it will protect AI user data, we may never know exactly. But seeing as Apple touts itself as a company that cares about user privacy, the approach (or any approach that ensures cloud-based data is end-to-end encrypted) would make a lot of sense.
People in the US are starting their menstrual cycles earlier and experiencing more irregularities, both of which raise the risk of a host of health problems later in life, according to an Apple women’s health study looking at data from over 70,000 menstruating iPhone users born between 1950 and 2005.
The mean age of people's first period fell from 12.5 years in participants born between 1950 and 1969 to 11.9 years in participants born between 2000 and 2005, with a steady decline in between, the study found. There were also notable changes in the extremes—between 1950 and 2005, the percentage of people who started their periods before age 11 rose from 8.6 percent to 15.5 percent. And the percentage of people who started their periods late (at age 16 or above) dropped from 5.5 percent to 1.7 percent.
In addition to periods shifting to earlier starting ages, menstrual cycles also appeared to become more irregular. For this, researchers looked at how quickly people settled into a regular cycle after the start of their period. Between 1950 and 2005, the percentage of people obtaining regularity within two years fell from 76.3 percent to 56 percent.
Apple prioritizes device durability over easier repairs, according to John Ternus, the company's head of hardware engineering, in a recent interview with YouTuber MKBHD. "It's objectively better for the customer to have that reliability," Ternus stated, adding that it is "ultimately better for the planet" due to significantly lower failure rates. Apple tests over 10,000 units of each product before release and incorporates real-world concerns into its testing suite.
Modern Macs look and feel great, but sometimes I really miss the look and feel of retro Macs. Skeuomorphism, where digital objects are designed to mimic their real-world counterparts, is dead, but quite often I feel like going back to that era of Mac software. If you're feeling as nostalgic as I am, this guide will walk you through the steps to create the perfect retro look for your Mac.
Make Music look like QuickTime Player
Credit: QuickTune
The Mac's Music app is the go-to for anyone who uses Apple Music. To use a retro controller for this app, check out QuickTune, which recreates the look of QuickTime 7 from Mac OS X Tiger and allows you to control playback for Apple Music. Standout design elements include glass buttons for window controls, a brushed metal theme, and dedicated playback control buttons.
For those who use command line tools, the modern macOS Terminal app can feel a bit too polished. If you feel like going back to the good old days of using the command line on a CRT monitor, consider using Cool Retro Term. My colleague Justin Pot has written a great piece that walks you through the ins and outs of that app.
Bring back iTunes and iPhoto
Credit: Pranay Parab
iTunes and iPhoto were era-defining apps for the Mac. Everyone knows about the former, which was the default music player, a digital storefront for buying music, and the app you used to manage your iPhone. iPhoto was less popular, but used to be the photo management app before Photos came around.
To complete a retro look for your Mac, you're going to need a pack of retro icons. Designer Ben Vessey has you covered here, with 205 old school icons that complete your modern Mac's transformation into a retro computer. This icon pack costs £7.99 (roughly $10) and includes icons for Apple's apps plus lots of third party apps including the Adobe suite, 1Password, Spotify, and more. It also has icons for system folders and commonly used file extensions. This pack includes a complimentary retro wallpaper, too.
You'll also need to buy the IconChamp app ($9) to replace icons on your Mac, and even after that, a couple of system apps including Trash and Calendar cannot be changed due to macOS restrictions.
Get a retro Mac wallpaper
Credit: freddiemt/YouTube
The final step of your retro transformation involves changing your Mac's wallpaper. YouTuber freddiemt has uploaded all of the default wallpapers that shipped with each version of the Mac's operating system to this Google Photos album. You can also quickly search online for retro Mac wallpapers to craft the perfect retro look for your computer.
There are a lot of productivity applications out there, and FocusedOS tries to combine several of them. The application, which is available for all Apple devices, can block distracting apps and websites, dim the entire screen except for the window you're currently looking at, and play ambient sounds. The idea is that you'll be able to turn all of these features on with the press of a button, work, then turn it all off again when you're done.
To get started, simply download the application and decide which features you want to enable. The first tab, "Behavior," lets you dim all windows except the currently active one—this is similar to the application HazeOver ($4.99). You can also limit the number of apps that can show up on the screen and add some custom text to the menu bar. Finally, there's a feature that can hide icons on the menu bar, which is similar to the application Bartender ($22). You can also hide wallpaper or even go so far as to disable the wifi entirely. Note that none of these features are offered on the iPhone or iPad version of the application (mostly because they wouldn't make sense there).
There are also tools for blocking distracting apps and websites. You can choose which apps to block or only allow specific applications to open. Websites are a little simpler: There are pre-built categories you can add, or you can add URLs yourself.
Credit: Justin Pot
Finally, if this isn't enough, you can trigger any Apple Shortcut when you turn the focus mode on or off. You could use this to turn off notifications, start a timer, or anything else you can imagine.
The free version only allows you to create one "environment," meaning you configure everything the way you like it and that's how the application works. The paid version, which costs $20 per year, allows you to make multiple environments, meaning you could configure things differently for different tasks. The paid version also allows you to sync your current environment between your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, unlocks more ambient sounds, and allows you to run a shortcut when starting an environment.
I don't think this combination of tools is going to be right for everyone. If you're constantly toggling a collection of focus-boosting tools every time you need to focus, though, FocusedOS might be exactly what you need. Give the free version a try to find out.
Enlarge/ The font styling is very intentional. (credit: TinyPod)
I traded in my Series 5 Apple Watch last week to Apple after the battery couldn't make it through most evenings. There wasn't much resale incentive on the open market, because the screen was far from pristine and the battery was nearly 5 years old. You can replace the battery yourself, but, already having a lot of fix projects on the shelf, I opted to send it off, take a gift card, and move on.
If I get a chance, though, I'm going to ask Apple for that watch back. Apple can keep its estimated $90. I am cautiously but earnestly optimistic that the tinyPod can give me more value than a gift card number I plow into some future iPhone upgrade. In fact, the tinyPod, according to its creator, should go on sale for around that $90 mark after a more detailed reveal in June.
No electronics, just a lefty-oriented Apple Watch case
The tinyPod is essentially an iPod-like case, complete with circular-scrolling clickwheel, into which a strapless Apple Watch can be snapped in. Once inside the case, the scroll wheel function is "entirely analog and physically rotates the watch crown," according to tinyPod founder Newar, better known as "Sentry" on X (formerly Twitter) and in jailbreaking circles. The crown-moving mechanism and general case enhancements to the Watch are patent-pending, Newar wrote by email. More on the scroll wheel will be shown next month, he wrote, at a "proper launch."
Apple is seeking a senior engineer to help build a television and sports app for Android, a sign the company is finally bringing its TV+ service to the rival smartphone platform. From a report: In a job listing published in recent days, Apple said it's looking for someone to lead the development of "fun new features" and "help build an application used by millions to watch and discover TV and sports." The move suggests that the company is looking to gain market share in video streaming -- and is setting aside its rivalry with Android in order to chase additional users. It's rare for Apple to develop software for Google's Android, which competes with its iOS platform. The TV+ service, launched in 2019, is Apple's answer to Netflix or Disney+, and the company has spent heavily on feeding it with original content.
Normally, you wouldn't think of using your keyboard with Apple Music, but like Spotify, Apple Music supports plenty of convenient keyboard shortcuts, even some on Windows. From basic playback controls to managing your playlists, you can do pretty much everything on Apple Music without touching your trackpad or mouse.
Apple Music keyboard shortcuts for playback and navigation
Credit: Pranay Parab
These are the best keyboard shortcuts to play music, find things in your music library, and to manage playback.
Spacebar (Mac) or Ctrl-Spacebar (Windows): Play or pause the selected song.
Option-Command-U (Mac) or Alt-L-Q (Windows): View or hide the playback queue.
Command-Up Arrow (Mac) or Ctrl-Up Arrow (Windows): Increase the volume.
Command-Down Arrow (Mac) or Ctrl-Down Arrow (Windows): Decrease the volume.
Return (Mac) or Alt-L-R (Windows): Play the song from the beginning.
Right Arrow (Mac) or Ctrl-Right Arrow (Windows): Play the next song. Works only when a song is playing.
Left Arrow (Mac) or Ctrl-Left Arrow (Windows): Play the previous song.
Option-Command-Left Arrow (Mac) or Ctrl-Alt-Left Arrow (Windows): Go back within the currently playing song.
Option-Command-Right Arrow (Mac) or Ctrl-Alt-Right Arrow (Windows): Go forward within the currently playing song.
Command-F (Mac) or Alt-L-F (Windows): Open the search page in Apple Music.
Command-T (Mac) or Ctrl-T (Windows): Show or hide the visualizer.
Option-Command-E (Mac) or Ctrl-Shift-E (Windows): Opens the equalizer.
Control your Apple Music windows
Credit: Pranay Parab
Use these shortcuts to quickly manage Apple Music windows on your Mac.
Option-Command-M or Shift-Command-M (Mac) / Shift-Ctrl-M (Windows): Open or close the mini player.
Shift-Command-F (Mac): Open or close the full-screen player in Apple Music.
Option-click the green button (Mac): Lets you switch between the custom and maximum window sizes for the app. The green button is located in the top-left corner of the window.
Command-/ (Mac): Shows or hides the status bar, which reveals information about the songs on the screen. This includes the number of songs in a playlist, total duration, and how much space the playlist will occupy if you download it.
Command-M (Mac): Send the Music window to the dock.
Command-H (Mac): Hide the Music window.
Option-Command-H (Mac): Hide all applications other than Music.
Command-0(Mac): Show the Music window.
Command-W (Mac): Close Music.
Command-Q (Mac) or Alt-F4 (Windows): Quit Music.
Quickly manage your playlists
Credit: Pranay Parab
If you love creating playlists on Apple Music on your Mac, these are the shortcuts you need.
Command-N (Mac) or Ctrl-N (Windows): Create a new playlist.
Option-Command-N (Mac) or Ctrl-Alt-N (Windows): Create a new smart playlist. Lets you define a few requirements and automatically generates playlists with songs that match your needs.
Shift-Command-N (Mac) or Ctrl-Shift-N (Windows): Generate a fresh playlist from songs you've selected. Use this shortcut after selecting a bunch of songs and it'll instantly create a new playlist.
Command-L (Mac) or Ctrl-L (Windows): Select the song that's currently playing.
Command-I (Mac) or Ctrl-I (Windows): Open the information window for the selected song.
Shift-F10 (Windows): Right-click any selected song and reveal the contextual menu.
Command-] (Mac): With the information window open, this shortcut shows the information for the next song.
Command-[ (Mac): When the information window is open, this will show you the information for the previous song.
Shift-Command-[ (Mac): Moves to the previous tab in the information window.
Shift-Command-] (Mac): Moves to the next tab in the information window.
Command-C (Mac) or Ctrl-C (Windows): Copies information of the current song, such as name, duration, artwork, etc.
Command-V (Mac) or Ctrl-V (Windows): Pastes information that you've copied.
Command-A (Mac) or Ctrl-A (Windows): Select all songs in a playlist.
Shift-Command-A (Mac) or Shift-Ctrl-A (Windows): Unselect all songs.
Delete (Mac) or Backspace (Windows): Deletes the selected song from the playlist (asks for a confirmation before deletion).
Command-Delete: Deletes the selected song from the library without any confirmation.
Option-Delete: Deletes the selected song from all of your playlists and your library.
Other useful Apple Music keyboard shortcuts
Credit: Pranay Parab
Command-U (Mac) or Ctrl-U (Windows): Stream an audio file from a URL using the Music app on your Mac.
Shift-Command-Right Arrow (Mac) or Shift-Ctrl-Right Arrow (Windows): Go to the next chapter in the audio file (if it has chapter markers).
Shift-Command-Left Arrow (Mac) or Shift-Ctrl-Left Arrow (Windows): Go to the previous chapter in the audio file.
Command-O (the letter, not the number) (Mac) or Ctrl-O (Windows): Import an audio file into your library.
Shift-Command-R (Mac) or Ctrl-R (Windows): Show where an audio file is located.
Command-, (comma) (Mac) or Ctrl-, (Windows): Open Music settings.
The Mac's built-in tool for screenshots is pretty cool, but recording your screen has always been a bit of a pain. As of writing, this feature is divided between two apps—the screenshot tool (accessed by pressing Command-Shift-5) and the good old QuickTime Player. For a better and more direct alternative to macOS' built-in screen recording tools, try the free QuickRecorder utility.
QuickRecorder combines the best features of macOS' screen recording with excellent customizability, which makes it a must-have. You can record your Mac's screen, or that of an iPhone connected to your Mac, or even capture audio from any app that's running on your Mac. This includes your web browser, a video conferencing app, or any other app that plays audio.
Why use a screen recording app?
A screen recording app does what it says—records a video of your screen. This is useful for many reasons. If your Mac is having issues, you can use a screen recording app to record a video and demonstrate the problem to either Apple or your friendly neighborhood repair shop. If your grandparent can't figure out how to do something on their Mac, you can record your screen and send them a video to show how something is done.
With a good screen recording app, you'll be able to choose the quality of the recording so that you can optimize it for either space or looks. A good recording app will also allow you to choose whether to show the mouse cursor, record an app's audio, and allow you to record a voiceover with the screen recording. QuickRecorder does all of these things and it's free, which makes it a compelling alternative to the screen recording tools in macOS.
Installing and setting up QuickRecorder
Since you'll need to download this app off GitHub (click the dmg file to download, then double click the download to install), your Mac may not allow you to use it immediately. You may have to go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway to run it. This is a security feature, but QuickRecorder is safe to use, so you need not worry. The app may also prompt you to allow it recording permissions, which you can do right from the pop-up.
Using QuickRecorder to record your screen
Credit: Pranay Parab
Once the setup is done, you can launch QuickRecorder. The app will show a nice, large rectangular pane with options that are easy to follow. You can choose one of the following options:
System Audio: Records audio from any app on your Mac.
Screen: Records the whole screen.
Screen Area: Lets you create a rectangle on screen and only records things that are inside the rectangle.
Application: Lets you pick an app and records all visible windows of that app.
Window: Records the selected open window.
Mobile Device: If you've connected a mobile device to your Mac using a USB cable, this lets you record the screen of the mobile device. Normally, you'd do the screen recording directly on the mobile device, but this method saves you the hassle of converting formats and transferring the file to your Mac.
Credit: Pranay Parab
Once you've selected any of the above options, QuickRecorder shows you a record button next to a few additional options for resolution, quality, and frame rate. Hit record to begin recording. When the recording begins, you'll see a purple area in the menu bar. Click the pause icon to take a break from recording or the stop icon to end the recording. Once you're done recording, QuickRecorder saves the file to your Mac's desktop.
QuickRecorder also supports Presenter Overlay, the macOS Sonoma feature that lets you place yourself on camera while recording your screen. On older versions of macOS, the app lets you record yourself along with the screen recording using the webcam.
Configuring QuickRecorder for optimal results
Credit: Pranay Parab
The default settings in QuickRecorder are pretty good, but you can easily configure the app for more utility. When you open the app, click the gear icon to open Preferences. Here you can customize pretty much everything about your screen recording. The most important options are listed below:
Video Settings: Choose between MOV and MP4 as a video format, and pick an encoder (H.264 for greater compatibility and H.265 for smaller file sizes).
Audio Settings: Audio format is AAC by default, but you can choose MP3 for smaller file sizes or ALAC/FLAC for lossless audio. You can also enable noise cancellation to block out background noise.
Shortcuts Settings: Set up keyboard shortcuts to start recording without using your mouse.
Other Settings: Here, you can add a short delay before the recording begins to allow you some time to compose yourself. You can also choose to include or exclude QuickRecorder and the menu bar from the recordings. The app can also highlight the mouse cursor, in case you want to make it extra clear where to click.
Excluded Apps: Lets you select which apps not to record.
Icon Settings: Use these to show or hide the app from your dock or menu bar.
Select Save Folder: Choose where your screen recordings are saved.
With these options configured, you can level up screen recordings on your Mac.
As the rest of the tech world scrambles to add as many AI features as possible to every product and service imaginable, Apple has kept quiet. In the eighteen months since OpenAI changed the game with the launch of ChatGPT, Apple has yet to roll out any substantial AI features to the iPhone, iPad, or Mac, even as Microsoft, Google, and Meta have seemed focused on nothing else.
But if the rumors are to be believed, that's changing this year, as Apple is expected to release new AI features for iOS 18 and macOS 15 at WWDC in June. There have been murmurs about the trillion-dollar company's AI plans for months now, and the hints keep on coming. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who has a reputable track record of reporting on Apple rumors, the company is planning an AI approach that isn't quite as flashy as some of the competition's efforts. Instead, Apple will roll out AI features that integrate with the apps iPhone and Mac users already know and use, such as Photos, Notes, and Safari. The initiative is known as "Project Greymatter." AppleInsider also confirms as much, and reports on a handful of additional AI features.
As a bit of an AI skeptic, I like this plan. It allows Apple to enter into the AI space while offering AI-powered features people might actually use, rather than wasting resources on "revolutionary" AI capabilities that most users will ignore once the novelty wears off.
How Apple plans to power its AI features
Whatever Apple ends up announcing this year, its AI features will need to be powered by...something. Your iPhone or Mac likely already has an NPU (neural processing unit), which is a part of the hardware specifically designed for running AI tasks. (Apple already does have some AI features, including Live Text, which uses the NPU to handle processing.) The company made a big deal about the NPU in the M4 chip in the new iPad Pros, which, once added to the new line of Macs, will likely power many of Apple's upcoming AI features.
However, not all features are ideal for on-device processing, especially for older iPhones and Macs. Gurman predicts that most of Apple's features will be able to run locally on devices made in roughly the last year. If your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is pretty new, the hardware should keep up. However, for older devices, or any features that are particularly power hungry, Apple is planning to outsource that processing power to the cloud.
Apple has reportedly been in talks with both OpenAI and Google to lease those companies' cloud-based AI processing to run some of its new features, but it's not clear whether (or when) those deals will materialize. Gurman says Apple plans to run some cloud-based features from server farms with M2 Ultra chips. If Apple can manage to handle the cloud processing on its own, I'm sure that's preferable to signing a deal with a competitor. We'll likely see how Apple's grand AI plan is coming together at WWDC.
Speaking of plans, here are the AI features Apple is rumored to be revealing in June:
Generative AI emojis
Emojis are a huge part of any iOS or macOS update (we may have already seen a handful of new emojis heading for a future version of iOS 18 and macOS 15). However, Gurman suggests Apple is working on a feature that will create a unique emoji with generative AI based on what you're currently typing. That sounds genuinely fun and useful, if done well. While there are a ton of emoji to choose from already, if nothing fits your particular mood, perhaps an icon created from whatever you're actively talking about with a friend will be a better choice. Over on Android, users have had "Emoji Kitchen," which lets you combine certain emoji to create something brand new, for a few years now. Apple seems poised to offer an effective iteration on that idea.
Building off this idea, AppleInsider says Apple is working on something called "Generative Playground," which allows users to create and edit AI-generated images. Perhaps the emojis are just one part of this experience.
Siri, powered by AI
I don't know about you, but I've never been too thrilled with Siri. The smart assistant frequently fails to follow through on my requests, whether because it misunderstands my query, or just ignores me altogether. For some reason, it's especially bad on macOS, to the point where I don't bother trying to use Siri at all on my MacBook. If Apple can find to supercharge Siri with AI, or at least make it reliable, that sounds great to me.
We learned about the possibility of Apple integrating AI with Siri earlier this month, based on info leaked to The New York Times by an unnamed source. Gurman's recent report suggests Apple is planning on making interactions with Siri "more natural-sounding," and while it's possible the company will outsource that work to Google or OpenAI, Gurman says the company wants to use its own in-house large language models (LLM). There may even be a specialized AI Siri in the the works for the Apple Watch.
That doesn't mean Apple is turning Siri into a chatbot—at least not according to Gurman, who reports that Apple wants to find a partner that can provide a chatbot for the company's platforms in time for WWDC, without Apple having to build one itself. Right now, it appears the company has sided with OpenAI over Google, so we may see ChatGPT on the iPhone this year.
According to AppleInsider, Apple plans to make other AI changes to Siri as well, including the ability to ask Siri on one device to control media playback on another device. (For example, asking Siri from your iPhone to pause a show on your Apple TV.)
Intelligent Search in Safari
Earlier this month, we learned Apple has at least one AI feature planned for Safari: Intelligent Search. This feature reportedly scans any given web page and highlights keywords and phrases in order to build a generative AI summary of this site. While Gurman says Apple is working on improved Safari web search, we don't know too much more about how Intelligent Search will work just yet.
AI in Spotlight search
Speaking of better search, Apple may use AI to make on-device search in Spotlight more useful. The feature always gives me mixed results, so I'd love if generative AI could not only speed up my searches, but also return more relevant results.
AI-powered accessibility features
Apple recently announced a handful of new accessibility features coming "later this year," which is almost certainly code for "coming in iOS 18 and macOS 15." While not all of these features are powered by AI, at least two that are seem really interesting. First, Apple is using AI to allow users to control their iPhone and iPad with just their eyes, without the need for external hardware. There's also "Listen for Atypical Speech," which uses on-device AI to learn and identify your particular speech patterns.
Automatic replies to messages
As of last year, iOS and macOS will suggest words and phrases as you type, to help you finish your sentences faster. (This feature is not to be confused with the three predictive text options in Messages that have been around for years now.) With iOS 18 and macOS 15, Apple may roll out automatic replies as well. This means that when you receive an email or a text message, the app may suggest a full reply based on whatever you're responding to. Soon, we may all be communicating with single button taps. (Hmm, do I want to tap the response that says "Sounds good: I'll meet you there," or "Sorry, I can't. Raincheck!")
Notes gets an AI overhaul
AppleInsider's sources say Notes will be quite changed by AI: In iOS 18 and macOS 15, you'll be able to record audio directly in a note, and the AI will transcribe that recording as well. Apple already transcribes voice messages sent in the Messages app (quite quickly, in my experience), so utilizing AI to transcribe recordings in Notes only makes sense. Gurman suggests Voice Memos will also get this transcription feature.
In addition, AppleInsider says the Notes app will also get something called Math Notes, which can recognize math notation and answer math-related questions. As you write out your equations, "Keyboard Math Predictions" can suggest ways to autocomplete the notation. I don't have much use for complex math these days, but I imagine these changes could make the Notes app popular with students.
Smart recaps
Gurman says one of Apple's big focuses is "smart recaps," or AI-generated summaries of information you may have missed while not looking at your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, including notifications, messages, web pages, articles, notes, and more. iOS already has a notification summary feature, but these smart recaps sound more involved.
AppleInsider backs this claim up, and in fact goes so far as to suggest a working name: Greymatter Catch Up. According to the outlet, you'll be able to pull up these AI-generated summaries from Siri as well.
Photo retouching
AppleInsider also confirms another Gurman leak: AI is coming to the Photos app. While Gurman simply says Apple plans to use its AI tools for "photo retouching," AppleInsider says the feature will allow you to select objects to remove from photos, similar to other AI photo editing tools on the market now.
It's not clear if there are more AI editing tools in the pipeline, though. The company has already built an AI image editor that takes in natural language prompts to perform edits; it's possible it will incorporate some of those features into an AI photo "enhancer" for the Photos app on iOS and macOS.
The iPad Pro and iPad Air came out earlier this month, but the 10th Generation iPad is yet to have its predecessor announced, with only rumors about its release. Back in 2022, when it was released, the 10th Generation iPad was $449, with some limited-time deals dropping the price to $349 earlier this year. Right now, you can get the 64GB Wifi iPad for $299.99 after using the $29.01 on-page coupon, the lowest price it has been since its release (including Black Friday), according to price-checking tools.
The 10th-generation iPad is considered Apple’s entry-level tablet and is one of the best tablets you can buy. It was considered the “best tablet for most people” in 2022, according to PCMag’s “excellent” review. Back then it was not considered a "budget" tablet, given its higher base price when compared to previous models. However, at its current $299.99 price, it's much more affordable and trumps any tablet below the $300 price.
One of the best upgrades this iPad received is its buttonless design, which brings it in line with its higher-end Apple Pro tablet sibling. It measures 9.79 by 7.07 by 0.28 inches and includes the latest A14 Bionic chip, a 10.9-inch liquid retina display, 64GB of storage, a 12MP front and back camera, Touch ID, and a battery that Apple promises will last all day.
If you are considering this iPad, useful accessories include the Apple Magic Keyboard Folio, which will make your iPad work like a laptop, and the Apple Pencil USB-C, which will allow you to make the most of your iPad's touchscreen abilities.
Apple once designed a Tetris clone that has been found on a prototype version of the third-generation iPod, indicating the company was experimenting with releasing the game on the music player. From a report: It's called Stacker and, obviously, is controlled via the iPod's scroll wheel. The software was spotted by X user AppleDemoYT, who is known for finding rare prototype devices. The prototype iPod is a "DVT" device, meaning it was a mid-stage device that was still in "Design Validation Testing." It has a model number of A1023, which is not a known model number of any iPod version.
The device runs a prototype version of iPodOS 2.0, which is where Stacker comes from. The pieces are moved from left to right using the scroll wheel and they fall when the middle button is pressed. The goal is to clear lines and score points. You know the deal. It's Tetris. It's not the only game found on the prototype iPod. There's something called Block0, which is likely an early version of Brick. The device also features a game called Klondike, which is likely an early version of Solitaire. The music player did eventually get some games, including the aforementioned Solitaire and Brick. AppleDemoYT asked former Apple VP Tony Fadell why Stacker was never released and he said it was because games didn't show up until a "later software release."
Apple has shed more light on the bizarre iOS 17.5 bug that caused long-deleted photos to mysteriously reappear on users' devices. In a statement to 9to5Mac, the iPhone maker clarified that the issue stemmed from a corrupted database on the device itself, not iCloud Photos. This means the photos were never fully erased from the device, but they also weren't synced to iCloud. Interestingly, these files could have hitched a ride to new devices through backups or direct transfers.
The release of iOS 17.5 brought with it a somewhat troubling bug, as many users reported old, deleted photos resurfacing—some from more than ten years after they were deleted. While Apple has resolved this bug in iOS 17.5.1, many are still curious to know what caused the issue in the first place.
While there were rumblings that it could be tied to issues with iCloud’s photos backups themselves, Apple has confirmed to 9to5Mac that the issue did not originate from iCloud. Instead, the tech company says that the resurfacing photos were caused by a corrupt database entry that existed on affected phones' file systems.
But how does that work, especially since many of us aren’t using the same devices that we were more than five years ago? Apple says that the issue could have transferred to newer devices through device-to-device transfers, restoring from an iCloud backup, or restoring from a backup on the device itself.
To better understand the issue and how it was fixed, security researchers with Synactiv took a deeper look at the issue by reverse-engineering the update to iOS 17.5.1 to see what changed. According to their report, iOS 17.5 appears to have added a migration routine that scans and re-imports photos from the filesystem. Apple deleted this routine in the update to iOS 17.5.1, as it seems to be the cause behind why old files were re-indexed on the local file system and moved back to the active photo galleries.
Synactiv told The Verge that the the photos appear to have been lying around on affected file systems, and that “based on the code” they were picked up by the migration routine. Unfortunately, the security researchers say that there isn’t really any way to conclude how the photos remained on the file systems in the first place.
Another possible cause that Synactiv pointed to, though, was a Reddit comment noting how sometimes your device saves files to both the Files app and your Photos app. So, if you only deleted images in your Photos app, the image would still be on your device and stored in Files.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to say for sure whether or not the issue boils down to the image being saved in two places or Apple’s “corrupt database entry,” explanation. The issue is now resolved, so long as you update to iOS 17.5.1. If you were one of the few who had older photos resurfacing, you’ll need to delete the photos yourself, as the update won’t remove them automatically.
Enlarge/ iPadOS 17.5.1 ready to install on an iPad Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon)
On May 20, Apple released iOS 17.5.1 to fix a bug users had found a few days prior in iOS 17.5 that resurfaced old photos that had been previously deleted. So far, the update seems to have resolved the issue, but users were left wondering exactly what had happened. Now Apple has clarified the issue somewhat, describing the nature of the bug to 9to5Mac.
Apple told the publication that the photos were not regurgitated from iCloud Photos after being deleted on the local device; rather, they were local to the device. Apple says they were neither left in the cloud after deletion nor synced to it after, and the company did not have access to the deleted photos.
The photos were retained on the local device storage due to a database corruption issue, and the bug resurfaced photos that were flagged for deletion but were not actually fully deleted locally.
Apple executive Phil Schiller admitted in court on Wednesday that the company's court-mandated changes to its iPhone app store payment system have not significantly increased competition. The ongoing hearings in Oakland, California, are determining whether Apple is properly complying with an antitrust order to allow developers to display links to alternative payment options. Despite Apple's implementation of the changes in January, only a small number of apps have sought approval for external payment links.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has expressed frustration with Apple executives, questioning whether they understand the order's intent to increase competition. Schiller defended Apple's response as well-intentioned but acknowledged the need for further action to encourage more apps to utilize external payment options.
The Apple Watch Series 9 is Apple's second-most expensive watch after the Apple Watch Ultra 2, both released in the fall of 2023—and for a limited time, the Series 9 is discounted to a lower price than it was during Black Friday. The extremely brief sale, via Best Buy (it lasts until May 23, 1 a.m. ET), features the 45mm GPS + Cellular sport loop Series 9 with four free months of Apple Fitness+ for $389 (originally $529) after a $140 discount. This is the lowest price I have seen for the Series 9, after looking at price comparison tools.
Like most tech products, the Apple Watches have a basic model (the SE), a mid-tier model (the Series 9), and a high-end version (the Ultra 2). But the Series 9 has arguably the best bang for your buck, with many premium features and designs, while being closer to the price of the SE than the Ultra 2.
The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 were making headlines in January because of the ban on its blood-oxygen feature, which you might not need anyway. If you purchase a Series 9 from Best Buy, you're likely to get them with the blood-oxygen feature—so far, only the Apple store has stopped selling those models (the Best Buy product page still lists the feature as available). There is no indication that Apple will get rid of the feature via software updates for those who already have it or manage to get them from third-party stores before that stock runs out.
Since this is the GPS + Cellular version, you won't need to have your iPhone near your Apple Watch to take calls or send messages; you'll be able to leave your iPhone behind on runs. The aluminum case is cheaper than the stainless-steel model, and the 45mm screen is for those who prefer a bigger screen compared to the 41mm one. You can check out all the watchOS features here and read a full review of the Series 9 over at PCMag.
Editorial music curation is one of Apple Music's strong suits, as evidenced by the service's excellent playlists. Apple is taking that to the next level now, with the release of a list of it 100 best albums of all time. You can find a link to the list in the Apple Music app, but rather annoyingly, the list itself can only be viewed on a webpage, much like the Apple Music Replay collection.
If you ask a hundred people to make a list of their favorite albums, you'll get 100 different lists. The same is true for Apple Music's list of 100 best albums. There are plenty of great albums in this list, but you could spend the rest of your life arguing about the order. For example, I think albums such as Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue should be in the top 10, but you may think they're fairly placed in the twenties. Another problem with this list is that it appears to be focused on English albums. If you're a fan of music from other languages or non-English speaking regions, you're not going to find much representation in Apple Music's list. Apple hasn't detailed the exact methodology for this list, but it has offered this explanation: "Assembled with the help of artists and experts, it’s a modern love letter to the records that have shaped the world we live and listen in today."
What one can't dispute is that the list includes some top-notch albums. If you enjoy music, you'll definitely find lots of great albums in Apple Music's list.
The Apple Music app is good enough for most people, but it's not well-suited for people who dislike playlists and prefer listening to albums exclusively. Since Apple's list is all about music albums, you might want to consider using a third-party Apple Music app instead of the official one. Albums (free, $19/year for premium features) is a great app that lets you keep the focus off playlists and on the album order songs were released in.
While the free tier should be good enough for most, the premium tier includes Last.fm integration, better stats, and improved customization.
Apple Music's 100 best albums of all time
With that out of the way, here are Apple Music's 100 best albums of all time, starting from Apple's favorite and working down. Each album links to Apple Music's website, where you can sign in and listen as long as you have an active Apple Music subscription.
One of the first things I do after I set up a new Mac is install Itsycal, a small yet mighty calendar app that stays docked in the menu bar. I use it to replace the Mac's more limited default calendar, and it serves as a quick and accessible calendar whenever I need to plan something, confirm a date for a deadline, or look up the day's events.
Itsycal is tiny, free, and open-source. While there are other options out there when it comes to Mac calendar apps and menu bar utilities (Dato being a popular option), they are either paid or quite complex. If you want something simple and delightful, set up Itsycal.
Customizing Itsycal
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
Itsycal's default setup will show you the date in the menu bar icon, an overview of the current month, and the current day's calendar appointments. But there are a few tweaks that will make the app even better.
First, let's customize the menu bar icon. Open the Itsycal app (it's only a menu bar utility, so you won't see a full-screen app), click the Settings icon, and switch to the Appearance menu.
Here, enable Show month in icon and Show day of week in icon. Much better. If you have the date or day of the week enabled in the system clock, you can disable it from System Settings so you don't see it twice. Go to Control Center > Clock Options and choose Never for the Show date option, then disable the Show the day of the week feature. Now the system clock will only display the time.
While you're editing Itsycal's Appearance, I would also suggest you make the Calendar size bigger and use the Highlight feature for Saturday and Sunday, to differentiate the weekend.
From the General section, you can choose the First day of the week, and switch it to Monday if you'd like. Here, you can also connect to the Calendar app and choose which calendar events show in Itsycal.
The default Itsycal settings only show the current month, but I like to look ahead. You can grab the little Separator icon below the calendar and drag it down to reveal one more month.
Itsycal works quite well with the native Calendar app on Mac, so events created in the Calendar app will show up instantly in Itsycal. And you can click the Plus button in Itsycal to create a new event using the native Calendar app input (complete with video call links, and calendar selection). Clicking the Calendar button at the bottom will even open the macOS Calendar app.
I'll leave you with one last tip: If you press the Pin icon in the bottom bar, Itsycal will now float on top of the screen, and will stay there no matter what you do. I find this indispensable when planning a trip or trying to coordinate with someone on a meetup or an event. You can use it to refer to your calendar or upcoming appointments without pressing the menu bar icon each time.
Apple wants you to upgrade your old iPhone and is willing to give you a bit more trade-in credit to convince you to do so. Until June 3, the Apple Store (both online and physical locations) is offering more money in trade-in value for your old iPhone when you trade it in for a newer iPhone.
The promotion applies to the iPhone 11 and newer, but Apple continues to accept the iPhone 7 Plus or newer for the usual trade-in value. The other thing to note is that you don't need to get the latest iPhone 15 to trigger the credit boost for trade-ins; you just need to get a newer iPhone than the one you're selling.
Although Apple has published the higher values for trade-in credit (anywhere from $10 to $30 more), the ultimate amount Apple offers you will depend on the condition of your phone. You get a preliminary amount when you answer some questions about your device, and Apple will issue you the credit once they receive the device and confirm the description of its quality is accurate.
Remember that the boosted credit only kicks in if you are using the credit to upgrade to a newer iPhone. Also, even with the boost, you may be able to find a better trade-in value for your iPhone from third-party retailers like Back Market. Before you finalize the trade-in through Apple, do a quick check with other retailers to see if you could get more money elsewhere.
Enlarge/ iPadOS 17.5.1 ready to install on an iPad Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon)
Apple has released its first bug fix update for iOS and iPadOS. The 17.5.1 release claims to fix a bug that saw some users' deleted photos resurface long after deletion.
The release notes list just one bullet point:
This update provides important bug fixes and addresses a rare issue where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted.
Users started reporting the issue after iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 were released on May 13. The optics certainly weren't great for Apple, as some users assumed that the company was keeping their long-lost deleted photos (sometimes nude photos, as some reported seeing those pop up again) in the cloud without telling them.
Right on schedule for past releases, iFixit has done a teardown of Apple's new, redesigned iPad Pro. It found that the iPad itself has one big improvement in repairability over its predecessor but that the Apple Pencil Pro is basically unserviceable.
The first step in the teardown video revealed arguably Apple's most interesting new tech: the "Tandem OLED" screen. It doesn't reveal anything we didn't already know and describe in our review last week, but it's neat to see what it all looks like up close.
The teardown also found that there are not one but two metal brackets all the way through the middle of the iPad to help with durability. Some worried that the new, thinner iPad Pro would be thinner than past models to snap in half, but durability tests have shown that's not the case. This could be part of why.
When you delete a photo from your iPhone, you expect it to be gone for good. But that's not what users running iOS 17.5 experienced: After the update, some users found their deleted photos were unexpectedly returning from the grave, with no clear reason why. Understandably, people were concerned (they did delete these photos, after all).
Whatever the cause of the bug, there's now at least a positive development to report: Today, Apple released iOS 17.5.1, with one note in the changelog: "This update provides important bug fixes and addresses a rare issue where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted."
How to stop deleted photos from reappearing on your iPhone
If these release notes are to be believed, once installed, iOS 17.5.1 will stop any deleted photos from reappearing in your library. That's great news, if perhaps not entirely comforting. With no overt explanation for why this happened in the first place, who's to say it won't happen again?
As a reminder, when you delete a photo on from your iPhone, it doesn't go away immediately. Instead, it hides itself from your Photos library, and ends up in a password or Face ID protected "Recently Deleted" folder for 30 days. You have the month to reverse your decision, and pull it back into your library. However, after those 30 days are up, iOS will permanently delete the photo from your library. (You also have the option to manually erase it from this folder at any time during that month.)
It's possible some of the photos that reappeared because of this bug were pulled from the Recently Deleted folder. But when it comes to photos that were definitely deleted, there are other possible explanations. After all, any digital file is not typically destroyed immediately after being deleted. Technically, the information—whether a text file or a racy photo—remains on the disc until the system needs that space to store new information, at which point the original data is overwritten. Perhaps iOS mistakenly retrieved this data before it was overwritten? Hard to say, and Apple isn't telling us.
While there are no guarantees we are free of a bug like this reoccurring, Apple does say this latest update fixes the issue. So if you want to keep deleted photos from reappearing in your Photos library, updating to iOS 17.5.1 is your best bet.
How to update your iPhone to stop deleted photos from reappearing
To update your iPhone to iOS 17.5.1, open Settings > General > Software Update, then follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the update.
The new lineup of M3 MacBook Air laptops launched this March and, surprisingly, have seen discounts since their release. As is typical for Apple products, though, the discounts haven't been revolutionary: Most have been $50 here or $100 there. The latest discount for the basic M3 MacBook Air, however, is the steepest one yet. You can get the 13-inch MacBook Air laptop with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage for $949 (originally $1,099) after a $149 discount on Amazon. (You must click the $49.01 on-page discount.) This is the lowest price this MacBook has been since its release, according to price-checking tools.
The MacBook Pro lineup is also discounted up to $300 if you're looking for the best Apple laptop your money can buy right now. But if you're just looking for something to do your everyday work, go to school, or for personal use, the MacBook Air is a great choice and will save you a lot of money. All MacBook Airs, including the M2 and M1 chips, are also seeing good discounts right now, but if you can afford the extra $100 to upgrade from the M2 to the M3, you'll be getting a much better value for your money.
Kanban boards help you find the flow in your work: Instead of a simple list of tasks, your large tasks can be broken into different stages (in columns), and as you move from one stage to another, you can drag the task over to the next section. Kanban boards are useful when you're collaborating with team members, or when you're dealing with tasks that take two or more steps before they're actually done. Until now, Kanban boards were only found in the nerdiest of productivity software (Trello being a famous example.)
But slowly, Kanban boards are making their way to many consumer products. They're a staple in the Todoist app, and even Google added Kanban view in Google Tasks. The most surprising place you'll find them, though, is the Reminders app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
How Apple Reminders app does Kanban
Apple Reminders takes a simplified approach to Kanban, as you'd expect from an Apple product. Apple doesn't even call them Kanban boards, and there's no special place to go to create one. Instead, you create a reminder list with multiple sections, and you switch to the Column view. And suddenly, a Kanban board appears. Your tasks are now broken down in different columns, visually distinct from each other.
Apple's system works similarly to Todoist, where it's creating a custom view of an existing list. Instead of a list broken down in sections, you now see them as columns, making it visually easy to drag and drop tasks as you move forward on your process. This is better than what Google Tasks has recently implemented, where each column shows tasks from a particular list. To make Google Tasks work like a real Kanban board, you'd have to create different lists for each column, which is pretty tedious. Apple's process is far more seamless, and unlike Google Tasks, it's available on all platforms (running macOS Sonoma, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, or higher).
How to create a Kanban board in Apple Reminders
I'll walk you through the Mac app first—I feel like this is where the Kanban feature really shines (though it's just as useful on the iPhone). From the sidebar, click the Add new List button to create a new list. Give it a name, emoji icon, color, and stick with the Standard list option. Then click OK.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
Your list is now ready. From the top toolbar, click the Add a new Section button, and give the section a name.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
This will become the column heading. Repeat this until all your column headings are done.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
Then, from the menu bar, go to View > as Columns.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
Your list will instantly transform into a Kanban board. You are now free to add tasks like you usually do (complete with due dates, notes, images, attachments). And you can easily move tasks from one column to another using drag and drop.
On the iPhone, tap the Add List button to create a new list. In the new list, go to the top Menu button, and choose the Add Section button. Add new sections that you want. Then, tap the Menu button again and choose the View as Columns option to switch to the Kanban view.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
On the iPhone, you'll see one list at a time, but you can scroll horizontally to see all the columns. Here, too, you can drag and drop tasks between lists.
iOS 17.5 seems to be experiencing a rather nasty bug that raises some very, very concerning questions about what Apple thinks “delete” really means.
After updating their iPhone, one user said they were shocked to find old NSFW photos that they deleted in 2021 suddenly showing up in photos marked as recently uploaded to iCloud. Other users have also chimed in with similar stories. “Same here,” said one Redditor. “I have four pics from 2010 that keep reappearing as the latest pics uploaded to iCloud. I have deleted them repeatedly.”
“Same thing happened to me,” replied another user. “Six photos from different times, all I have deleted. Some I had deleted in 2023.” More reports have been trickling in overnight. One said: “I had a random photo from a concert taken on my Canon camera reappear in my phone library, and it showed up as if it was added today.”
A report a few days later says that even on devices that have been wiped and sold, photos seem to be reappearing. This is even scarier than photos reappearing on devices you’re still using today – just think of all the iOS devices you’ve had and sold that might still be in use today. Users all over could be looking at old photos you took that you thought weren’t only deleted, but also wiped when you sold the devices in question.
Apple has not said anything yet, but it further illustrates just how untrustworthy companies like Apple really are. Even taking into account it might take some time (minutes? An hour?) for a delete request to propagate through iCloud’s server network, there’s obviously no way photos that were supposedly deleted years ago are resurfacing now – especially when entire device wipes are involved, and any new user isn’t even logged into the same iCloud account.
I hope for everyone involved – the users, that is, I don’t give a rat’s ass about Apple – that this isn’t very widespread, because the last thing any of us needs is old nude photos reappearing on random people’s devices.
Enlarge/ The RetroArch app installed in tvOS. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)
Apple’s initial pitch for the tvOS and the Apple TV as it currently exists was centered around apps. No longer a mere streaming box, the Apple TV would also be a destination for general-purpose software and games, piggybacking off of the iPhone's vibrant app and game library.
That never really panned out, and the Apple TV is still mostly a box for streaming TV shows and movies. But the same App Store rule change that recently allowed Delta, PPSSPP, and other retro console emulators onto the iPhone and iPad could also make the Apple TV appeal to people who want a small, efficient, no-fuss console emulator for their TVs.
So far, few of the emulators that have made it to the iPhone have been ported to the Apple TV. But earlier this week, the streaming box got an official port of RetroArch, the sprawling collection of emulators that runs on everything from the PlayStation Portable to the Raspberry Pi. RetroArch could be sideloaded onto iOS and tvOS before this, but only using awkward workarounds that took a lot more work and know-how than downloading an app from the App Store.
Apple’s grudging accommodation of European law – allowing third-party browser engines on its mobile devices – apparently comes with a restriction that makes it difficult to develop and support third-party browser engines for the region.
The Register has learned from those involved in the browser trade that Apple has limited the development and testing of third-party browser engines to devices physically located in the EU. That requirement adds an additional barrier to anyone planning to develop and support a browser with an alternative engine in the EU.
If any normal person like you and I showed the same kind of blatant disregard for the law and authorities like Apple does in the EU, we’d be ruined by fines and possibly end up in jail. My only hope is that the European Commission goes through with its threats of massive fines of up to 10 or even 20 percent of worldwide turnover.
So, you just set up a brand new Apple Watch. Apple’s popular wearable is an awesome extension of your iPhone, and it comes packed with features that span health, fitness, communication, and entertainment. But before you dive into all of those fun and exciting options, there are 10 things you should probably do first to maximize your watch straight out of the box.
By default, your Apple Watch’s sound is turned on. At first, it’s fun to listen to all the unique chimes and tones that Apple put into its wearable. After a while, though, it might become irritating, especially if you do have a lot of notifications. (More on this later.) If you’re someone who usually keeps their iPhone on silent, you might want to consider the same for the watch.
To mute your watch, just wake it up, swipe up from the bottom, then tap the alarm bell icon in Control Center. To simply lower the volume, go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics on the watch or in the Watch app, then use the volume icons to adjust accordingly. You can also access "Silent Mode" to mute notifications from here, if you want.
Set up your watch to unlock your Mac
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
If you have a Mac, especially a Mac without Touch ID, you’ll want to set this feature up. Whenever you wake up your Mac, whether by lifting up your MacBook’s lid or by pressing a key on your iMac, it’ll unlock right away, so long as your Apple Watch is unlocked on your wrist. For more info, check out this walkthrough from Lifehacker writer Khamosh Pathak.
Turn off notifications for apps you don’t want
Credit: Jake Peterson
The Apple Watch ships with a lot of notifications by default, especially if you have a lot of notifications set up on your iPhone. Luckily, it’s easy enough to manage these notifications specifically on the watch.
Open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to Settings > Notifications. Here, go through all apps and disable notifications for any you no longer wish to see. Tailoring this experience is key to fully enjoying your Apple Watch: If you don’t want to see any more breathing reminders, but you do want to see your Messenger alerts, you’ll be happy you took the time here.
If there are apps from your iPhone on your watch that you don’t want there, just get rid of them! If you told your watch to download all available apps from your iPhone, you might have way more options than you really need. Deleting these apps will make finding the apps you do want to use much easier, since there won’t be a sea of irrelevant options every time you open the app view.
You can remove apps from your Apple Watch by long-pressing on an app on your watch and tapping the (X) that appears, just like on your iPhone. Alternatively, you can open the Watch app, scroll down to the list of installed apps, tap the app you want to remove, and hit the toggle on Show App on Apple Watch to confirm.
Set up cellular (if you have a cellular Apple Watch)
Credit: Jake Peterson
If you have a cellular Apple Watch, it won’t simply give you free cellular connectivity out of the box. Instead, you’ll need to buy a cellular plan through your carrier. You can initiate this process from Settings > Cellular on the watch, or through your iPhone’s Watch app.
Aren’t sure if you have a cellular Apple Watch? There are two easy ways to tell: You’ll only see the Cellular settings page in the Watch app if you have a connected cellular watch. In addition, the red ring on the cellular watch’s crown is a dead giveaway.
For the longest time, Apple didn't have a native sleeping-tracking feature for the watch. If you wanted to track your sleep with your Apple Watch, you were forced to use a third-party app instead. These days, you can track your sleep habits using built-in tools, but they need to be set up first. You can learn more about it in Lifehacker Senior Health Editor Beth Skwarecki's guide here.
Save some battery
Credit: Jake Peterson
If you have a newer Apple Watch, it likely comes with an Always On display. With it, you can quickly glance at your watch to tell the time, look for new notifications, or read data from your watch face without having to wake up the watch at all. While this feature is awesome, it does put a strain on the battery. To maximize your battery life, consider disabling it by going to Settings > Display & Brightness > Always On.
I'd also recommend disabling Background App Refresh as well from General > Background App Refresh. While this feature can be helpful for keeping your various Apple Watch apps up to date with the latest content, it's another battery hog. You're probably better off just loading up the apps when you're interested in seeing what's new. You can go here for more Apple Watch battery-saving tips.
Learn the gestures
Your Apple Watch is a touch-screen device, but doesn't operate exactly like your iPhone. Here's how to navigate watchOS:
Quick-press Crown: Open app view
Long-press Crown: Activate Siri
Quick-press Side button: Pull up Control Center
Long-press Side button: Expanded menu, including Power, Medical ID, Compass Backtrack, and Emergency SOS
Swipe down from top of watch face: Notification Center
Swipe up from bottom of watch face: Widget view
Long-press watch face: Switch and customize watch faces
Cover watch face with palm: Put watch to sleep/mute notifications
There's also a gesture new to Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 called "double-tap": Whenever there's an action you need to tap on your watch face say, to, turn off a timer or answer a call, you can double tap your index finger against your thumb to act as a button press. Even if you don't have one of these watches, however, you can set up something similar through Accessibility settings.
Calibrate it
If you wanted an Apple Watch for fitness, you might have already recorded an exercise or two with it. However, it’s possible that those exercises weren’t recorded as accurately as they could be.
Apple doesn’t advertise it very clearly, but the Apple Watch actually needs to be calibrated in order to record the best and most accurate workouts. It’s not an intensive process—essentially, it boils down to a 20-minute outdoor walk or run in an open, flat environment—but without that calibration, your data might be a bit skewed.
While you're calibrating your workouts, make sure Fall Detection is at least enabled when you're exercising, if not all the time. The feature can contact emergency services on your behalf if the watch detects that you've fallen.
Charge it
If this is still day one using your new Apple Watch, and you haven’t yet, give that battery some juice. Most tech ships with a partially discharged battery, and the Apple Watch is no exception. If you want it to last the rest of the day, or even track your sleep on the first night, put it on the charger for a while. If you have a Series 7 or newer, you can take advantage of quick charging to fill up fast. For fast charging, you just need:
To fire up the voice assistant on your iPhone, you can say "Hey Siri" or simply "Siri," followed by your command. This has been true for a long time now, but Apple will finally let you change this to a custom trigger phrase of your choice "to launch shortcuts and complete complex tasks." This is not a blanket system-wide change coming with iOS 18, but it will allow you to set up custom phrases for some tasks in your workflow.
This means that although you won't be able to replace the "Hey Siri" command totally in iOS 18, you'll have the choice to make Siri do some things without calling it by its name.
iOS 18's big push for accessibility
We've written about iOS 18's accessibility features that Apple recently announced ahead of WWDC 2024, and one of these features is called Vocal Shortcuts. This will allow you to use custom phrases to trigger Siri. You'll also be able to launch shortcuts using custom phrases with iOS 18. The example Apple shared shows an iPhone using the phrase "Rings" to display your Activity Rings from the Apple Watch.
This is an accessibility feature designed to help people who face challenges with speech. It is a good example of why companies should invest more in improving accessibility—these features make the iPhone experience better for everyone. Vocal Shortcuts sounds like a great addition to the iPhone, but there are a few concerns that remain to be addressed.
Even the "Hey Siri" command gets triggered accidentally or sometimes isn't understood by the iPhone. It remains to be seen, then, how well Vocal Shortcuts work. There's always the chance that it ends up getting triggered by mistake, which could make the feature less useful. The screenshots shared by Apple show that it works just like Siri's setup process, where your iPhone will ask you to say the phrase a few times to learn how you say it. The Vocal Shortcut will be based on your speech, which should reduce the chances of firing up your shortcuts accidentally.
Apple doesn't put a middle-click button on its mice anymore. Instead, the company now makes two types of mice for its Mac devices—the trackpad (available for desktops via the Magic Trackpad) and the trackpad-like Magic Mouse. But even if you're using one of the touch-focused options that Apple ships with your computer, you can still add a middle-click function to speed up your workflow.
Apple Magic Trackpad
To use this trick anywhere but a MacBook, you'll need an Apple Magic Trackpad or Magic Mouse.
What you can do with middle-click
Anyone who's ever used a mouse on PC knows that the middle-click button is a part of the scroll wheel, which Apple's current mice don't have. You can click the scroll wheel to execute certain functions, which vary depending on how the mouse is programmed. Macs still have access to these functions, since you can use third-party mice with them, and they include:
Open links in the background in your browser
Close browser tabs
Paste selected text in your Mac's Terminal
These things can save you a lot of time and they're really convenient. If you're switching to Mac from Windows, you're going to find Apple's lack of focus on the middle-click frustrating.
How macOS lets you middle-click by default
Although Macs don't ship with the middle-click button, you can use the Command-left click shortcut to execute a middle-click. This works really well, but it's a little inconvenient compared to pressing one button.
There's a better way to middle-click on your Mac
Credit: Pranay Parab
If your Mac uses a trackpad or Magic Mouse, you can add a simple, free utility called MiddleClick-Sonoma to give it a middle-click feature. The app binds the middle-click to a simple three-finger tap gesture, which is easy to execute on either device. It'll open links in the background on all browsers and close tabs, too. You can select any text in Terminal, and the three-finger tap also pastes it quickly in the app. In my experience, all these features work perfectly every time.
To install MiddleClick-Sonoma, go to its GitHub page and download the zip file. Open it and drag the app to your Mac's Applications folder using Finder, which will complete the installation. You may see a security warning from Apple, but the app is safe. Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security on your Mac, and click Open Anyway to run the app.
It'll ask for Accessibility permissions, which are required to allow the app to function. Once this is granted, the last step is to ensure that the app starts when your Mac boots up. To do this, go to System Settings > General > Login Items on your Mac and hit the + button under Open at Login. Use the search bar to find MiddleClick and add it. Now, the app will run as long as your Mac is running.
Apple Magic Mouse
The Magic Mouse is Apple's take on a traditional pointer, but it doesn't middle-click.
Remember to disable the Look Up gesture
Credit: Pranay Parab
By default, the three-finger tap gesture on your Mac is reserved for Look Up. This allows you to select text and look up its meaning, definition, or other information about the term from the internet. I've always found this gesture a little annoying, as I keep accidentally firing it up when I don't need it.
Since MiddleClick uses the same gesture, it's best to disable Look Up to make sure that your middle-clicking isn't interrupted. You can do this on your Mac by going to System Settings > Trackpad > Point & Click. Now, disable Look up & data detectors. That's all you need to do to ensure you can middle-click in peace.
A paid alternative that has more features
Credit: Pranay Parab
Although MiddleClick-Sonoma is great and free, it requires a bit of setup, and the app is usually forked once a year as someone updates it to work with new versions of macOS. This means that you may have to reinstall the app annually and set it up all over again, so long as you keep updating your Mac regularly (you should).
For some people, that's a big hassle. You can avoid this by opting for a paid app, and I think Middle is worth the asking price of $8. Its developer also made Rectangle, which is a window manager app that we've recommendedmultiple times. Middle is easier to install and setup, and has the advantage of automatic updates (for as long as the developer chooses to support it).
It also allows you to configure other gestures to execute the middle-click. If you don't like the three-finger tap, you can choose instead to use a Three Finger Click, Four Finger Tap, or One Finger Force Touch. This app also lets you disable the middle-click action in certain apps, which is nice to have.
Your MacBook has a few features built in to ensure that its battery's health stays intact. It will automatically shut down the laptop if it gets too hot, since higher temperatures reduce the battery's life and capacity to perform. It'll also slow down charging when the battery is at 80% if it determines you won't need a full charge. While these features are good enough for most people, there are some battery management apps that will allow you far greater control over your MacBook's battery health.
Battery Toolkit is the best free app I've found to manage your MacBook's battery. It allows you to keep your MacBook's battery percentage between two predefined values, lets you stop charging your MacBook even when it's connected to power, and even lets you force your MacBook to charge to 100%. Some of these features require you to pay on other battery management apps, such as AlDente.
Battery management apps are best used by people who like to keep their MacBook plugged in all the time. Plenty of people use their MacBooks with the lid shut, where the laptop is connected to a monitor, an external keyboard, and a mouse. In these situations, plugging in and unplugging the Mac repeatedly to prevent overcharging is a little cumbersome. Why put in all that effort when an app can manage your battery for you?
Installing Battery Toolkit on your MacBook
To start, download Battery Toolkit from its GitHub page. Your Mac may prevent you from installing the app because it's not from a well-known developer, but it is safe to use. Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway to install it.
Set up the app for optimal battery management
Credit: Pranay Parab
Once the app is running, set it up in a way that works for you. Click Battery Toolkit's icon in the menu bar up top and select Settings. Go to the Power tab and set a minimum and maximum percentage value. That way, your MacBook will start charging when it hits the minimum value and stop charging at the maximum. I've set it up to keep my MacBook between 30 and 80%, but you can choose the values that work best for your use. Click OK when you're done.
Note that the app doesn't allow you to let the minimum percentage drop below 20%, and the lower limit for the maximum charge is 50%. This is to prevent damage to the battery.
With the initial setup done, Battery Toolkit will run in the background and do what you've asked. You can keep the MacBook plugged in all the time and the app will ensure that its battery stays within the predefined threshold. But there are times when you need to change things around, and the app lets you do that too. Click Battery Toolkit's menu bar icon to see these features.
You can toggle on Disable Power Adapter to temporarily stop the MacBook from charging while it's plugged in. There are two more options here that you should know about:
Request Charging to Full
Request Charging to Maximum
These options can be confusing because of the way they're worded, but it's quite easy to understand. Charging to full will force your MacBook to charge to 100%, which you should use when you know you're going to be away from a power adapter for a long time. Charging to maximum will charge the laptop to the upper limit you've specified in the app.
You can also temporarily disable all of Battery Toolkit's settings by clicking its menu bar icon and selecting Quit Battery Toolkit.
iOS 17.5 is officially out, bringing the latest security updates to all applicable iPhones. Alongside fixing some major security flaws that Apple needed to address, the update also had an unintended effect: It's bringing back deleted photos.
This iOS 17.5 bug has caused quite an uproar in the Apple community, with some raising concerns over Apple's privacy claims, and wondering if the company's software keeps old photos even after you've deleted them.
The big concern here is the possibility for not safe for work photos to unexpectedly rear their heads again: One Reddit user says that nudes (and some less compromising photos) that were deleted "years ago" reappeared in their recent images after updating their phone. You don't even need to be connected to iCloud, according to another Reddit user experiencing the issue. Locally stored photos are supposedly coming back, too.
Unfortunately, there isn't exactly a clear reason for what is happening here. Given that many of the photos are from years ago, it isn't likely to be an issue with the recently deleted settings on the iPhone, which only keeps photos for 30 days after deletion, in case you accidentally delete a photo and need to restore it.
It's possible that these reports could all come down to an indexing issue, some kind of corruption in the photo library, or, in the case of photos backed up online, a syncing issue between iCloud and local devices. Related to the latter point, it's possible that Apple made a mistake while trying to fix a syncing issue reported by users in a previous iOS 17 update.
The explanation is likely innocent, though: Deleted files are never truly gone from a device until overwritten, so it's possible the bug is simply resurfacing them instead of keeping them available to be rewritten. That might also explain a similar bug another user experienced where old voicemails came back.
For the moment, there isn't much you can do to avoid the bug if you already updated to iOS 17.5. However, holding off on the update isn't recommended, as it does address some security flaws that iPhone users will want to resolve as soon as possible. It's arguably more important to protect yourself from a Find My bug that could let a malicious app track your current location, than it is to prevent iOS from resurfacing your old deleted photos—however embarrassing that may be.
All eyes are on Apple's WWDC event next month. That's when the company will no doubt show off their latest operating system upgrades, including its late-to-the-party AI plans for iOS and macOS.
But AI doesn't just mean generative AI. Apple has more traditional features in the works for users to check out, some simply powered by AI. And as it happens, we just got a glimpse at a slew of upcoming iPhone and Mac features that fit that mold, specifically related to accessibility.
Apple unexpectedly announced a batch of these new accessibility features Wednesday. The company says these features are coming "later this year," which almost assuredly means they're shipping with iOS 18. Apple switches between using the language "AI" and "machine learning" to describe how these features work, but rest assured, the underlying tech is part of Apple's AI push this year.
Eye Tracking lets you control your iPhone with your eyes alone
Out of nowhere, Apple announced that both iPhone and iPad users will soon have the ability to control their devices with just their eyes. Apple says the front camera on either your phone or tablet will use AI to calibrate and set up the feature, as well as power it. Most impressive of all, you don't need any additional hardware to use it.
Once Eye Tracking is set up, you can navigate apps, use Dwell Controls to engage with elements, and replicate physical buttons, swipes, and gestures with your eye movements.
Music Haptics let you feel the beat through your iPhone
Apple added a new music feature for users who are deaf or hard of hearing: Music Haptics uses the Taptic Engine to play taps and complex vibrations along to the beat of the song. While it sounds like a great accessibility feature, it also seems like a great way to enhance the Apple Music experience for everyone. This feature works on "millions" of songs in Apple Music, but Apple has also included it as an API for developers to add to their apps.
Vocal Shortcuts and Listen for Atypical Speech
Vocal Shortcuts is a new feature that lets you assign actions to words or phrases. For example, you could set the word "Rings" to open your Apple Watch Activity Rings in Fitness. In addition, Listen for Atypical Speech uses on-device AI to learn your speech patterns, so your device will recognize the way you speak.
These features are designed for users with conditions such as cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or stroke—as these conditions affect speech.
Vehicle Motion Cues tries to prevent motion sickness
Apple wants to cure motion sickness. Vehicle Motion Cues places dots on your screen when your iPhone or iPad recognizes you're in a moving car. These dots will then move according to the direction of the vehicle: These moving dots may counter the effects of motion sickness, as Apple says research shows motion sickness happens when there's a conflict between what you're seeing and what you're feeling.
You can choose to have these Motion Cues appear automatically, or enable them manually from Control Center.
CarPlay gets some new accessibility features
Speaking of cars, CarPlay is getting a series of new accessibility features: Voice Control, which lets you control CarPlay with your voice; Color Filters, which lets you fine tune the color space of your CarPlay UI; and Sound Recognition, CarPlay will let you know when it detects sounds like car horns and sirens.
visionOS accessibility features
Remember Apple Vision Pro? That's still around, even if it isn't getting much attention lately. Still, Apple is working on some visionOS accessibility features, including Live Captions. These captions will work in conversations in-person and on FaceTime, as well as from audio in your apps. Apple is also adding new vision features like Reduce Transparency, Smart Invert, and Dim Flashing Lights, as well as support for Made for iPhone hearing devices and cochlear hearing processors.
New VoiceOver features
VoiceOver is getting new voices. Apple didn't say how many, or what they sounded like, but they're coming. In addition, the feature is getting a "flexible Voice Rotor," which lets you control how VoiceOver works, custom volume control, customizable VoiceOver keyboard shortcuts on macOS, and support for custom vocabularies and complicated words.
Magnifier
Apple's Magnifier doesn't get the love it deserves, but it is getting some new features. Coming soon, you'll get a new Reader Mode, as well as quick ways to launch Detection Mode with the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro.
Braille
There are some new Braille features as well: You'll have a new way to start and stay in Braille Screen Input, Japanese will be available, Dot Pad users have support for multi-line braille, and you'll have the ability to choose input and output tables.
Hover Typing
Hover Typing is a new feature that increases the size of the text whenever you're typing in a text field. Plus, you get to control the font and color.
Personal Voice is now available in Mandarin
Apple rolled out Personal Voice last year, an AI-powered feature that can replicate your voice during Live Speech. The feature is now available in Mandarin Chinese. In addition, you can now create a Personal Voice even if you have difficulty with reading full sentences out loud.
Speaking of Live Speech, the feature now comes with categories, and is compatible with Live Captions.
Virtual Trackpad
Apple is adding a virtual trackpad feature as part of AssistiveTouch, so one area of your iPhone or iPad can be used to move a cursor around the screen. I could see this being useful for anyone who wants a trackpad experience, especially on the larger iPads, but doesn't have a physical trackpad to use.
Switch Control
With Switch Control later this year, you can use your iPhone or iPads' camera to recognize finger-tap gestures as switches. Switch Control lets you use hardware to control your iPhone or iPad with switches, so this means you can gesture with your fingers in view of the camera to control on-screen elements.
We've talked more than once about the pomodoro technique, which is built around intensely focusing on a task for 25 minutes and taking a five minute break. There's a lot of software out there for the job, but most of them live on only one of your devices.
Not Focus Timer, an indie app that's been around in various forms for eleven years. The current version works on every Apple platform: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Watch, and even Vision Pro. Your settings—including the current timer—sync via iCloud, all without you having to do much of anything other than install the app on various platforms. It's very convenient, but it's not free: The app costs $40 per year for access on all platforms.
Credit: Justin Pot
That's a lot to pay for a timer, granted, but it is really nice having a Pomodoro timer that follows you everywhere. I, for example, like to get up and walk around the house during my breaks—with this application installed I can start my break on my laptop, get up, and get my "back to work" reminder on my phone.
Credit: Justin Pot
Meaningful Things, the Germany-based four-person team behind the application, offers updates constantly—basically any major Apple feature you can think of is offered. There are versions for Apple Watch and Vision Pro. There's a live activity for the iPhone app, meaning you'll see the realtime countdown on your phone's lock screen as soon as you start a session (even if you start that session on your Mac). There are a variety of widgets available for all platforms. There's extensive support for Apple Shortcuts. There's a menu bar icon for the Mac version.
Credit: Justin Pot
I could go on, but basically if you're the kind of person who likes to take advantage of the latest Apple features, this application has you covered. Focus Timer isn't going to be the perfect Pomodoro app for everyone—the price alone means some people aren't going to touch it—but I recommend at least giving the seven-day free trial a shot. It's rare to find something that works across devices this smoothly.
Your iPhone has more features than you probably ever use, but with this comes with a problem—an overcrowded Settings app. With each new feature addition, toggles get added to or shuffled around in Settings. Every time I need to access an infrequently used setting, I find myself going through multiple pages, even if I use the nifty search feature in my iPhone's Settings app. If you find this frustrating, try SCSettings. This shortcut makes it easy to access of useful iPhone settings, such as wifi, Bluetooth, shut down and restart options, controls for silencing unknown callers, and more.
Setting up SCSettings
The setup for this shortcut is pretty easy. First, open Apple's Shortcuts app, which is your iPhone's automation hub. Next, download SCSettings from RoutineHub. This a third-party site that acts as a gallery for some of the best shortcuts out there. Tap Get Shortcut and follow the on-screen instructions.
Once the shortcut is installed, open the Shortcuts app and switch to the Shortcuts tab. Tap and hold SCSettings, select Share, and then tap Add to Home Screen. This will make this shortcut act like an app. You can even drag it to the dock at the bottom of the screen for easier access.
Using SCSettings on your iPhone
Tap the SCSettings icon on your iPhone's Home Screen to launch the shortcut, then select any of the on-screen options to toggle various settings. This is everything the shortcut can do:
Toggle wifi: This completely switches off wifi. You can't do this from Control Center, which merely disconnects wifi without switching off the radios.
Toggle Bluetooth: This switches off the Bluetooth radio. Like wifi, you can't do this via Control Center.
Silence Unknown Callers: Automatically silences any calls from unknown numbers.
VPN Settings Menu: Lets you access the following VPN settings: Toggle VPN, Toggle Connect on Demand, and VPN Settings.
Restart Device: Asks for a confirmation and restarts your iPhone.
Shut Down: Asks for a confirmation and shuts down your iPhone.
Search Passwords: Allows you to search your iCloud Keychain for saved passwords.
Settings Shortcuts: Allows you to easily access the following settings:
iPhone Analytics
App Privacy Report
iCloud Private Relay
Hide My Email
Screen Time
Personal hotspot
Clear Safari website data
Switch camera formats
Storage settings
Battery settings
AirDrop settings
Once you get used to this shortcut, you'll find yourself using it all the time. It's become a mainstay on my iPhone, since my job requires me to play around with settings a lot. As long as you place SCSettings in a prominent place on your iPhone's Home Screen, you'll grow to love it.
Sometimes, the shortcut may ask you for permissions to send some values. These are safe to allow, and they let the shortcut figure out which option you've chosen and take you to the corresponding Settings page. The beauty of SCSettings is that it works with options your iPhone already has, and just makes them easier to access.
A study analyzing Apple, Microsoft, and SpaceX suggests that return to office (RTO) mandates can lead to a higher rate of employees, especially senior-level ones, leaving the company, often to work at competitors.
The study (PDF), published this month by University of Chicago and University of Michigan researchers and reported by The Washington Post on Sunday, says:
In this paper, we provide causal evidence that RTO mandates at three large tech companies—Microsoft, SpaceX, and Apple—had a negative effect on the tenure and seniority of their respective workforce. In particular, we find the strongest negative effects at the top of the respective distributions, implying a more pronounced exodus of relatively senior personnel.
The study looked at résumé data from People Data Labs and used "260 million résumés matched to company data." It only examined three companies, but the report's authors noted that Apple, Microsoft, and SpaceX represent 30 percent of the tech industry's revenue and over 2 percent of the technology industry's workforce. The three companies have also been influential in setting RTO standards beyond their own companies. Robert Ployhart, a professor of business administration and management at the University of South Carolina and scholar at the Academy of Management, told the Post that despite the study being limited to three companies, its conclusions are a broader reflection of the effects of RTO policies in the US.
Apple has released the latest updates for virtually all of its actively supported devices today. Most include a couple handfuls of security updates, some new features for Apple News+ subscribers, and something called Cross-Platform Tracking Protection for Bluetooth devices.
The iOS 17.5, iPadOS 17.5, macOS 4.5, watchOS 10.5, tvOS 17.5, and HomePod Software 17.5 updates are all available to download now.
Apple has released the latest updates for virtually all of its actively supported devices today. Most include a couple handfuls of security updates, some new features for Apple News+ subscribers, and something called Cross-Platform Tracking Protection for Bluetooth devices.
The iOS 17.5, iPadOS 17.5, macOS 4.5, watchOS 10.5, tvOS 17.5, and HomePod Software 17.5 updates are all available to download now.
Cross-Platform Tracking Protection notifications alert users "if a compatible Bluetooth tracker they do not own is moving with them, regardless of what operating system the device is paired with." Apple has already implemented protections to prevent AirTag stalking, and Cross-Platform Tracking Protection implements some of those same safeguards for devices paired to non-Apple phones.
Enlarge/ The 2024, M4-equipped 13-inch iPad Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon)
The new iPad Pro is a technical marvel, with one of the best screens I’ve ever seen, performance that few other machines can touch, and a new, thinner design that no one expected.
It’s a prime example of Apple flexing its engineering and design muscles for all to see. Since it marks the company’s first foray into OLED beyond the iPhone or Watch, and the first time a new M-series chip has debuted on something other than a Mac, it comes across as a tech demo for where the company is headed beyond just tablets.
Still, it remains unclear why most people would spend one, two, or even three thousand dollars on a tablet that, despite its amazing hardware, does less than a comparably priced laptop—or at least does it a little more awkwardly, even if it's impressively quick and has a gorgeous screen.
The new 13-inch iPad Air with the Apple M2 processor inside. [credit:
Andrew Cunningham ]
The iPad Air has been a lot of things in the last decade-plus. In 2013 and 2014, the first iPad Airs were just The iPad, and the “Air” label simply denoted how much lighter and more streamlined they were than the initial 2010 iPad and 2011’s long-lived iPad 2. After that, the iPad Air 2 survived for years as an entry-level model, as Apple focused on introducing and building out the iPad Pro.
The Air disappeared for a while after that, but it returned in 2019 as an in-betweener model to bridge the gap between the $329 iPad (no longer called “Air,” despite reusing the first-gen Air design) and more-expensive and increasingly powerful iPad Pros. It definitely made sense to have a hardware offering to span the gap between the basic no-frills iPad and the iPad Pro, but pricing and specs could make things complicated. The main issue for the last couple of years has been the base Air's 64GB of storage—scanty enough that memory swapping doesn't even work on it— and the fact that stepping up to 256GB brought the Air too close to the price of the 11-inch iPad Pro.
Which brings us to the 2024 M2 iPad Air, now available in 11-inch and 13-inch models for $599 and $799, respectively. Apple solved the overlap problem this year partly by bumping the Air's base storage to a more usable 128GB and partly by making the 11-inch iPad Pro so much more expensive that it almost entirely eliminates any pricing overlap (only the 1TB 11-inch Air, at $1,099, is more expensive than the cheapest 11-inch iPad Pro).
Disassembly and enhancements for Apple II DeskTop (a.k.a. Mouse Desk), a “Finder”-like GUI application for 8-bit Apples and clones with 128k of memory, utilizing double hi-res monochrome graphics (560×192), an optional mouse, and the ProDOS 8 operating system.
The goal of this project is to reverse-engineer Apple II DeskTop, and fix bugs and enhance it in the process. I didn’t actually know that the Apple IIgs initially shipped with this instead of the 16 bit GS/OS, which is the operating system I personally associate with the IIgs. Apple II DeskTop was largely 8 bit, and built on top of ProDOS 16, and didn’t really take full advantage of the IIgs hardware. It wasn’t until version 4.0 of the system software that the IIgs switched over to GS/OS.
The latest release is v1.4-alpha9, released a few days ago. Apple II DeskTop is still entirely compatible with Apple II machines and clones from before the IIgs, as well, and it runs in emulators, too. We actually already covered this project a few years ago, but a reminder that this exists never hurt anyone.
Enlarge/ One of many human-created objects destroyed in Apple's "Crush!" ad for the iPad Pro. (credit: Apple)
Earlier this week, Apple took the wraps off of a thoroughly leaked iPad Pro refresh with a 1 minute and 8 second ad spot wherein a gigantic hydraulic press comprehensively smushes a trumpet, an arcade cabinet, a record player, paint cans, a piano, a TV, sculptures, a bunch of emoji, and plenty of other tools that one might loosely categorize as "artistic implements."
At the end of the ad, the press lifts away to reveal a somewhat thinner, somewhat faster version of Apple's iPad Pro. The message of the ad, titled "Crush!" and still available via Apple's YouTube channel and CEO Tim Cook's Twitter account, is obvious: look at all of the things we've squeezed into this tablet!
"Just imagine all the things it'll be used to create," wrote Cook.
You can get this open-box Magic Keyboard Folio for iPad (10th Gen) on sale for $94.97 right now (reg. $249) with free shipping through May 31. The folio’s two-piece design is detachable, allowing you to use the keyboard wirelessly while the back panel holds up your tablet. The keyboard features a click-anywhere trackpad for easy scrolling, a 14-key function row with shortcut options, and an adjustable stand to create a laptop-like experience. Both pieces attach to your iPad magnetically, and the stand can be adjusted to different viewing angles. The gadget is an open-box item—excess inventory from store shelves or customer returns—but it’s been repackaged and is verified to be in new condition.
You can get this open-box Apple Magic Keyboard Folio for iPad (10th Gen) on sale for $94.97 right now (reg. $249) with free shipping through May 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT, though prices can change at any time.
In iOS 17.4, Apple introduced a new system called eligibilityd. This works with countryd (which you might have heard about when it first appeared in iOS 16.2) and the Apple ID system to decide where you physically are. The idea is that multiple sources need to agree on where you are, before giving you access to features such as those mandated by the Digital Markets Act.
The way Adam Demasi managed to convince Apple his very much Australian iPhone in Australia was, in fact, a European Union iPhone in the European Union was by making sure not a single wireless signal managed to escape the device. He had to disable location services, insert an Italian SIM, set up a pfSense Wi-Fi router using the regulatory country of Italy, and go into his basement where there’s no mobile signal. Between all these steps, the phone was reset multiple times.
And then, and only then, did the iPhone think it was in the European Union, with all the benefits that entails. Demasi has no idea which of these steps are actually needed, but the process of figuring this all out is ongoing, and more information is sure to be discovered as smart people sink their teeth into the process by which Apple determines where an iPhone is from.
Login
