iOS 26.5.1 update has been released by Apple, aimed at all models of iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air, to address an issue where the iPhone may not charge if the battery is low. The problem appears to only impact iPhone 17 models and iPhone Air, and thus the update is not available for all iPhone models.
Apple has released MacOS Tahoe 26.5.1 as a software update for Tahoe users, though the update is specifically aimed at enterprise users of M5 machines that could experience an issue where the Mac unexpectedly shuts down.
The update is available for all MacOS Tahoe users, but there does not appear to be any security patches or other bug fixes included, and the release notes specify the problem is associated with Mac hardware with M5 chips. Thus it’s probably not the most urgent update to apply if you’re not an the impacted category of Macs, but we’ll keep an eye on things to see if some other
Age of Empires II, regarded as one of the best real-time strategy games of all time, is finally available for Mac. Sure, it originally debuted back in 1999 for Windows, but AoE 2’s depth and replayability has allowed it to maintain a longstanding following that has kept the game wildly popular even 25+ years later.
Thanks to native Mac support, Mac users can now play Age of Empires II directly on an Apple Silicon Mac. That means no more workarounds, Windows virtual machines, no more Age of Empires clone, 0 AD (though that’s still a fun alternative and remains free), and no spare PC’s are required, you can just play the game directly on your Mac after downloading it from Steam.
Age of Empires 2 for Mac offers single player and multiplayer mode, and you can play as over dozen civilizations ranging from Britons, Franks, Japanese, Chinese, to Byzantines, each with their own unique strengths and strategic advantages. In classic real-time-strategy form, you have to balance resources, economics, military, exploration, and diplomacy, as you navigate a world map, establish a civilization, grow and build cities, build armies, engage in warfare, research technologies, and conquer your way through history.
Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition is a welcome addition to the Mac gaming pantheon, and whether you’re a longtime fan, a general fan of RTS’s, or a complete newbie to the series, you’re sure to appreciate and enjoy the classic gameplay, now natively on your modern Mac.
System requirements to play Age of Empires 2 on Mac are pretty straight forward: you will need to be running MacOS Sequoia 15.7 or newer (yes MacOS Tahoe 26+ is compatible with Age of Empires 2), have an Apple Silicon processor (any M-series including M1 or better, or A-series including A18 Pro or better), 8GB RAM, and at least 16GB of available storage space. That’s it, so basically any modern Mac will play the game with flying colors.
And if you aren’t sure if Age of Empires is for you but you don’t want to shell out the $35 for a copy, you can check out the popular game 0 AD, a free Age of Empires clone, to get a general idea of how a real-time strategy game like this operates. Age of Empires II is far more refined and wildly popular for a reason, so expect it to be even better than 0ad.
Amazon is continuing to take $200 off the entire M5 MacBook Air lineup in both 13″ and 15″ display sizes, and in all color, memory, and storage configuration options. These are fantastic deals for great Macs:
FTC: OSXDaily is an affiliate partner with Amazon, meaning if you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment which goes towards keeping the site running.
Some Mac users may discover the mds_stores process has run amuck, consuming absurd amounts of CPU and memory when viewed in Activity Monitor. Typically this is accompanied by unusually sluggish system performance on a Mac, which is what inspired the visit into Activity Monitor to begin with, and there you may find that mds_stores is taking up 100% or more CPU, and perhaps many GB of RAM to the extent that it’s causing significant swapping and virtual memory usage.
Let’s dig into mds_stores to learn about what it is, what it’s doing, and more importantly to the topic on hand, how to fix it when it has gone haywire and is consuming large amounts of system resources including CPU and memory.
Amazon has expanded their $200 off deal to the entire M5 MacBook Air lineup, including both the 13″ and 15″ display models, in all available configurations and color options (update: the mid-range 15″ model is not available in some colors currently, but stock rotates quickly). This means the 15″ MacBook Air M5 starts at $1099, while the 13″ MacBook Air M5 starts at $899. Choose whichever display size works best for you and enjoy the discount either way:
FTC: OSXDaily is an affiliate partner with Amazon, meaning if you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment which goes towards keeping the site running.
A fair number of people who use the ChatGPT app for Mac have recently run into a strange and alarming malware message when attempting to open and use ChatGPT. The error says that “Malware Blocked and Moved to Trash” and informs the user that “ChatGPT.app was not opened because it contains malware. The action did not harm your Mac.”
These concerning malware messages have caused a lot of distress to some Mac users who are concerned their Mac or ChatGPT app has been compromised. But if you see this message on your Mac when you open ChatGPT, don’t be alarmed, because it’s almost certainly a false positive that has been triggered because you are running an older version of the ChatGPT app.
The precise error message you might see says something like this when you attempt to open ChatGPT: “Malware Blocked and Moved to Trash – “ChatGPT.app” was not opened because it contains malware. This action did not harm your Mac.”
If you’re the type of person who uses tons of open tabs in a web browser, you’ll undoubtedly have experienced a situation where you’d like to bookmark all of the tabs you have open so that you can easily return back to your browsing session. Fortunately, the Google Chrome browser makes bookmarking all tabs in a browser window pretty simple, and the trick works the same for Chrome on Mac, Windows, iPad, iPhone, Android, Linux, and Chrome OS too.
Ready to tackle your Chrome tabs and bookmark them all at once? Here’s how to do that quickly and easily in the Google Chrome browser.
Amazon is offering a fantastic deal on the base model 13″ M5 MacBook Air for just $899, taking $200 off the retail price. This puts the already stellar M5 MacBook Air 13″ into nearly competing with the higher-end MacBook Neo 13″ (available for $689) on price, but with the Air you get a far more powerful processor, dual external monitor support, and twice the RAM… pretty sweet deal!
M5 MacBook Air 13″ from $899
You can save up to $200 off the 13″ MacBook Air base model, and $150 off the upgraded models:
FTC: OSXDaily is an affiliate partner with Amazon, meaning if you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment which goes towards keeping the site running.
Apple has released the first beta versions of iOS 26.6, MacOS Tahoe 26.6, and iPadOS 26.6. These new betas are available for users in the beta testing program to access now on any eligible enrolled device. No major new features or changes are expected.
With WWDC 2026 just around the corner, it’s likely that Apple is putting most of their operating system development efforts into iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and MacOS 27, and thus the 26.6 versions are likely to be focused on bug fixes and security patches.
Unrelated and outside of the Amazon deal, if you don’t mind opening an Apple credit card and jumping through a bunch of hoops to get a reimbursement over the course of a year, you can get a set of free AirPods Pro 3 but there are plenty of conditions to achieve that, and that deal is not applicable to existing Apple Card holders.
M5 MacBook Air 15″ from $1099
Amazon is continuing to offer a whopping $200 off the base model 15″ MacBook Air, which is a very capable machine especially at this price point, and you can get upgraded models for $150 off too.
FTC: OSXDaily is an affiliate partner with Amazon, meaning if you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment which goes towards keeping the site running.
Instagram has introduced a new feature called “Instants” which seems to be inspired by Snapchat in that it allows for instant expiring pictures to be sent to people. Like any new feature, some people are going to like it, and some people are going to not like it, and if you happen to find the Instants feature to be annoying, particularly how it overlaps and hangs over your Instagram messages inbox.
If you’re a retro Macintosh computer fan you might like this fun wallpaper pack for iPhone, which makes your iPhone lock screen and home screen look a lot like a good old Macintosh from 1984.
The creator of these retro iPhone wallpapers, ogerx, says they are inpsired by the legacy of Macintosh, but with a bit of modern elegance. There are four different color options, and two wallpapers (for lock screen, and for home screen), per color.
Amazon is taking $200 off the base model M5 MacBook Air 15″ with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD in Starlight color (and sometimes you’ll find the same discount on other colors and models too), otherwise they’re continuing to offer $150 off upgraded models and other color combinations. If you’re shopping for a new MacBook Air, these are some really fantastic deals.
The iPhone Voice Messages feature is quite useful and fun, allowing for audio recordings to be sent to and from people in the Messages app. Voice Messaging allows people to hear your voice, and you to hear theirs, and for many people it’s easier to speak into their iPhone rather than tap out a long text message. Understanding how Voice Messages and Audio Messages works to record and send on your iPhone lets you get the most out of the feature, but over time Apple has changed where it’s located and accessed on iPhone, which may throw off some users.
Let’s go through the basics for Voice Messages on iPhone, so you can understand how the feature works, how to access it, and use audio messages to the fullest.
Amazon is back offering $150 off the new M5 MacBook Air 15″, a fantastic large screen laptop that is incredibly powerful, lightweight, and versatile. Why pay more than you have to? Check out the deals below, in all available color and configurations:
The latest iOS versions for iPhone include a custom gradient wallpaper generator, allowing you to make some nice looking wallpapers of your choice, but many users are likely to miss the feature because it’s tucked into the LGBTQ Pride wallpaper collection on the iPhone.
Want a multicolor gradient blue wallpaper? A greyscale gradient? A gradient of greens? Gradients of the entire rainbow? The new Pride wallpaper allows for complete color customization, offering an easy way to have a unique wallpaper designed just for you, with whatever colors you’d like to see.
You must have iOS 26.5 or newer on your iPhone to have this gradient wallpaper generator feature available to you. Once your iPhone is up to date, making your custom wallpaper is easy:
Apple is launching a promotion whereby they will give you $250 in cash back for signing up for a new Apple Card credit card and buying AirPods Pro 3, but there’s a bit of a catch and series of hoops you must jump through.
To get the full $250 cash back, you must buy the AirPods Pro and then make 10+ purchases a month for the next year to which will be rewarded by $25 increments, effectively making the AirPods Pro free over the year.
“For a limited time, earn back the cost of AirPods Pro 3, up to $250 total Bonus Daily Cash. Get a new Apple Card and buy AirPods Pro 3 at Apple by June 15. Starting July 1, each month you make 10+ purchases you’ll earn $25 Bonus Daily Cash, through April 30, 2027.*”
There’s a lot of fine print, so you’ll want to review all of that carefully, before signing up for the Apple Card (or any credit card for that matter). Given how catastrophic high interest debt can be, this offer should really only be considered by individuals who can responsibly manage credit card usage, ideally by paying off the card balance in full every month to avoid high interest payments.
Basically this means if you do not yet have an Apple Card, and you’re responsible at managing credit and don’t mind making many purchases with the card every month for a year (which is fairly easy to accomplish if you use it as your primary card), you will be able to sign up for the Apple Card and receive a free set of AirPods Pro 3, but again, as long as you meet all the required terms and conditions of the card and promo.
Apple Card offers 1% cash back on standard purchases with the physical card, and between 2% and 3% cash back on purchases made with Apple Pay. Those who have an Apple Card can also open an Apple Savings Account which offers a reasonably high yield of 3.5%, which the cash back can be deposited directly into.
Apple rarely offers promotions, discounts, or freebies, so this is somewhat unusual.
