iOS 18.2 drops a huge number of new features onto the iPhone. The second major iOS 18 update, available now, expands the capabilities of Apple Intelligence — and adds plenty of goodies for everyone else, too.
Keep reading or watch our video on the new features awaiting iPhone owners in iOS 18.2.
Working in an office or in the city, you’re probably inundated with noise from people chattering, cars running and nearby music. Your iPhone has a built-in feature called Background Sounds for playing rain noises or white noise to tune it all out.
You don’t need to download any apps or pay a cent; it comes for free on your Mac and iPhone. Let me show you how it works.
If you want the biggest and highest-capacity external hard drive, Cyber Monday is the time to buy.
I have a personal recommendation on a Thunderbolt enclosure that fits four full-size hard drives or SSDs, so you can get the fastest storage in enormous capacities. I’ve used the OWC ThunderBay 4 for about a year (having purchased the hard drive last Black Friday, coincidentally enough) and it’s served me well for all my odd purposes.
Here’s how to get the fastest, biggest external storage this shopping season.
The best web browser for iPhone depends heavily on what you need. Apple’s own Safari comes with a lot out of the box and offers integration with other Apple devices in your life. The top competitors — Chrome, Edge and Firefox — are good choices if you need to sync with a Windows PC.
Other alternatives you may not have heard of can offer diverse benefits, though. Arc is a fast, modern browser built around search, and comes with built-in ad blockers. DuckDuckGo and Onion Browser lead the pack when it comes to privacy features. And if you want a bespoke app just to keep up with your favorite six or seven sites, TicciTabs was made for that exact purpose. There are even web browsers made for Apple Watch and for saving the environment.
Keep reading or watch our video.
Apple Music has a karaoke mode for people who love to sing along as they listen. Apple Music Sing lets you turn down the lyrics so you can karaoke to your favorite hits with just one tap.
In fact, I’m using it right now to listen to some of my favorite music without the lyrics distracting me from reading and writing. Let me show you how it works!
If your Apple Watch feels like it’s not responding to your taps, it could be in Water Lock mode. It’s easy to forget to turn off Water Lock Mode after you go for a swim or a shower.
There’s also a bit of confusion about how Apple Watch’s Water Lock feature works. Read on to see how to (and how not to) use it.
★★★★☆
Asus’ new ProArt 5K desktop monitor costs just half of what you’ll pay for Apple’s Studio Display but offers many of the same features. The Asus ProArt 5K PA27JCV boasts the same 27-inch screen, Retina resolution, standard framerate and P3 wide color gamut as Apple’s midrange monitor. It also comes with a built-in USB hub and KVM, which proves great if you still use a few USB-A accessories or flash drives.
Admittedly, Asus’ 5K desktop monitor misses some of the Studio Display’s premium features. The stand wobbles and the body is made of creaky plastic. Plus, the panel isn’t quite as bright as Apple’s display, and it doesn’t come with a webcam.
Still, with very similar specs — and a budget-friendly $799 list price, compared to the Studio Display’s $1,599 (or $1,999 if you dare to desire an adjustable stand) — Asus is making an offer that’s hard to refuse. Keep reading or watch our video review.
Using Genmoji, you can create custom emoji when you can’t find the exact right one to express yourself nonverbally. An Apple Intelligence feature coming in iOS 18.2, Genmoji generates emoji on the fly based on your description.
Finally, you can enhance your conversations about ostriches or shovels or tissues boxes with your own emoji. Or make an emoji that matches your pet, like a white cat or a Pomeranian dog. You can even make emoji versions of the people you know.
Here’s how.
I always use Apple’s privacy-focused Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email services whenever I get the option.
The Sign in with Apple feature, which lets you log into third-party accounts using your Apple ID while keeping your personal info private, is so easy to use that I utilize it everywhere. But that also means my disguised logins pile up, accumulating in the digital junk drawer that is iCloud Settings. If you ever need to manage or transfer your Apple purchases history, Apple now offers an option to migrate digital purchases between accounts.
I’ll show you where you can find, manage or delete these accounts. Perhaps you’re jumping ship from iPhone to Android, and you want to make sure you still have another way of signing into your Chipotle account.
The Hide My Email service is similar. It creates a temporary email address that forwards to your real one — handy if you’re signing up for a shady website, or if you need a public contact email. I’ll show you where you can create new ones and delete the old ones.
Image Playground is the free app coming to your iPhone that will let you generate unlimited AI images for free. You can generate images based on your friends, from a text prompt or totally from scratch, in a wide variety of themes and styles.
It’s part of Apple Intelligence, the growing set of AI features that work on the latest iPhones, Macs and iPads. Image Playground is one of the most hotly anticipated features — here’s how to use it.
Camo is a powerful app that lets you use your iPhone, and any connected USB camera, as a webcam for your Mac. I use it every week to record videos and livestream podcasts. The camera built into the MacBook — and even the high-end Studio Display — just doesn’t compare to the clarity and quality of an iPhone camera.
Apple built a basic version of this feature into macOS and called it Continuity Camera. But like most apps that have been sherlocked, Camo goes above and beyond with powerful tools and pro features.
Camo also works with Windows PCs, Android phones and most modern cameras, not just Macs and iPhones.
★★★☆☆
The new Apple Magic Keyboard, updated with USB-C, is a fine option if you want Touch ID and if you like laptop-style membrane keyboards. It’s not my preferred typing experience. It also, unfortunately, only comes in a limited number of colors and only two sizes.
It’s the stock keyboard that comes if you order an iMac. It’s also available if you want an external keyboard on your Mac mini, Mac Studio or a desktop-docked MacBook.
The Magic Keyboard is the only way to get Touch ID on the Mac, which is a pretty excellent experience. You just have to pay the rather high price for it — and the even greater sacrifice of giving up on a clicky mechanical keyboard.
Keep reading or watch our latest video.
★★★☆☆
The Magic Mouse has been updated with USB-C, and … well, that’s about it. You can ditch the Lightning cable on your desk, but that’s where the changes end.
It still has a design that’s uncomfortably thin for my hands and lacks modern niceties like Force Touch and multi-device pairing.
The Magic Mouse is, however, still the best (and maybe only) mouse that uses trackpad-style swiping and scrolling gestures in place of a traditional scroll wheel. If you can set all else aside, it’s a great experience.
Keep reading or watch our latest video.
★★★★☆
The new Apple Magic Trackpad with USB-C still holds the crown for the best Mac peripheral. It’s the best trackpad in the world and the best input device for macOS.
I was hoping for a little more out of this update, like built-in Touch ID or multi-device pairing. I also wish there were a neutral silver color, not just black and white.
But even without either, it has features that are still unparalleled anywhere else. Force Touch and Apple’s perfected multitouch gestures make the Magic Trackpad the king.
Keep reading or watch our video review.
★★★★★
The new Mac mini with M4 Pro chip offers incredible power at an unbelievable price. The diminutive desktop computer reaps the rewards of Apple silicon’s trickle-down performance: It delivers capabilities similar to a Mac Studio (or Mac Pro) with an M2 Ultra, at just a third (or a fifth) of the price of those high-end computers.
We haven’t yet seen what the new M4-series chips will do for the Mac Studio and Mac Pro, but the remarkable Mac mini makes me question how much of a pro user you’d have to be to truly need them. And on top of all that, it’s super-tiny. What’s not to love?
Keep reading or watch our video review.
★★★★☆
The 2024 iMac with the M4 chip is a stunning and powerful all-in-one. The desktop computer is an endangered breed, but if you have room for one in your life, the new iMac offers a beautiful design and some impressive performance.
Power users might find the base model M4 iMac’s small number of ports and skimpy storage capacity limiting. But the amount of powerful creative work you can get done on this thing speaks to the golden age of the Mac we find ourselves in. There’s not a single bad computer in Apple’s lineup. Everything can edit video or produce a professional podcast or develop apps. So, why not do it from a colorful iMac that sparks joy?
Keep reading or watch our video review.
iOS 18.2 brings exciting new Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, Visual Intelligence and ChatGPT integration. These flashy new tools let users create images and custom emoji, look up information using the iPhone’s camera and tap into one of the hottest AI chatbots around.
How well do they work? Keep reading or watch our hands-on video to see iOS 18.2’s new Apple Intelligence features in action.
Attention, new iMac owners: The M4 iMac sits upside down inside the box it comes in. This can be an unwelcome surprise if you open the box the wrong way — your new computer could tumble onto the floor on its first day, just like mine did.
Don’t fall for the picture on the front of the packaging, which shows the base of the iMac on the bottom. Follow these instructions on how to open an iMac box to avoid catastrophe.
Songs disappear from Apple Music all the time due to licensing problems or artists doing controversial things. Spotify found itself caught up in similar situation in 2022, losing Neil Young’s discography in a protest of the streaming service’s association with podcaster Joe Rogan. Luckily, there’s a way you can find out if any songs in your library have been removed from Apple Music behind your back.
If you own a Mac, you can quickly find out by building a special Smart Playlist. I’ll show you how.
Mac keyboard shortcuts are a great way to speed yourself up when you’re using your computer. Mastering them means more time spent getting things done and less time spent moving your hands back and forth between keyboard and trackpad.
There are the basic Mac keyboard shortcuts like Command-C and Command-V for copy and paste; Command-B, Command-I and Command-U for bold, italics and underline; Command-Z and Shift-Command-Z for undo and redo. But for a lot of people, that’s where their knowledge ends.
You can do so much more than you may know. Here’s a guide to the best Mac keyboard shortcuts.
You can use Apple Maps to plan multiple stops along the same route. You can add three, four or even 15 stops to your trip if you want.
Here’s how it works.
Everyone misplaces their iPhone.* You’re walking around, you set down your iPhone, you do some chores, you get ready to go. Where is it? If you own an Apple Watch, it really is the fastest way to find your lost iPhone.
It’s totally easy to ping your iPhone from your Apple Watch. At the push of a button, you can make your iPhone ring, even if it’s on silent. And, while you might know about the basic feature that lets you ping your iPhone, the Apple Watch also offers advanced options for tracking down your missing device.
Bonus: Even if you don’t own an Apple Watch, anyone in your Family Sharing group can ring your iPhone even louder with the Find My app. And if you don’t have a family, you can use any other device signed into your Apple account.
Is the new M4 MacBook Pro worth it? The latest models come with impressive power and unbelievable battery life. Even if you bought the M1 model, the new version may be a huge boost in performance.
Is it worthwhile to upgrade? We have a guide below with helpful charts and a video to help you decide.
Is the new M4 Mac mini worth it? The latest models come with impressive power in the tiniest packaging yet. Even if you bought the M1 model, the new version may be a huge boost in performance.
Is it worthwhile to upgrade? We have a guide below with helpful charts and a video to help you decide.
Is the new M4 iMac worth it? Should you upgrade and buy one? The latest models come with a big boost in performance and brighter, refreshing colors. It’s a solid upgrade if you’re still on an older model.
Of course, depending on your preferences, Apple may no longer make an iMac for you. You might want to consider the new Mac mini with a Studio Display.
Is it worthwhile to upgrade? We have a guide below with helpful charts and a video to help you decide.