Apple is back with an accelerating beta timeline, with the fourth beta version of iOS 26.5, iPadOS 26.5, and MacOS Tahoe 26.5, now being available for developers to test. Anyone participating in the beta testing programs, developer or public, for Apple system software can get the newest beta releases on their enrolled devices.

Presumably the new betas are working to fix various bugs in the OS 26 suite, but also seem to include a few new features and changes, like support for RCS encrypted text messaging. There’s also apparently support for stuffing advertisements into Apple Maps, which is likely to make advertising enthusiasts and corporate bean counters excited, but whether or not an average Maps user finds it beneficial to see ads as they attempt to get directions and lookup businesses remains an open question.

With a new beta arriving just a week after the last, it’s reasonable to expect the final version of iOS 26.5 and MacOS 26.5 to arrive perhaps as soon as sometime next month. Currently, the most recent stable builds of system software are MacOS Tahoe 26.4.1, iOS 26.4.2, and iPadOS 26.4.2.

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MacOS includes a built-in way to assess memory usage, called Memory Pressure, and it can give you a lot of insight into your Macs performance, and whether or not you need more RAM. This is particularly informative if you feel like your Mac is slow, apps and media are stuttering, or you’re experiencing the annoying spinning beachball cursor.

By using Activity Monitor, you can quickly determine whether your Mac has enough memory for your workload, or you can see if upgrading RAM (or choosing more RAM on a new Mac purchase) would make a noticeable difference.

If you’re in the market for a new Mac, don’t skip this, as assessing your current Mac’s Memory Pressure status can let you know if choosing the higher RAM models on a new Mac will make sense for you.

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ASCII art is a unique plain text art style that you might have seen over the years when connecting to a remote server via the command line, or perhaps a BBS, or something silly like watching Star Wars in ASCII art from the Terminal. It’s a distinct style of artwork for plain text situations on shells, man pages, MUDs, BBSs, readme files, and more, and originates way back in the world of text-based command prompts of Apple II, unix, DOS, and the BBS days of pre-internet (and maybe before that!). If you’re a longtime reader here you might even recall using the command line to create an ASCII art banner.

If you’d like to create some really fanciful ASCII artwork, a neat web based tool is available called Mockdown, that offers a simple and easy to use grid for building ASCII artwork and diagrams. It’s all ASCII, creating plain text boxes, arrows, labels, and style, and is an impressively capable tool for building ASCII layouts right in the web browser.

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If you’ve ever heard a bird and wondered what it was, the free Merlin Bird ID app for iPhone offers one of the easiest ways to find out. Developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Merlin has quietly become a favorite among everyone from casual birdwatchers and more serious enthusiast birders alike, thanks to its ability to identify birds by sound of a bird call, photo of a bird, or even a few simple questions.

What makes Merlin especially compelling is how little effort it requires to use, all you need is your iPhone and the Merlin app. You don’t need to know anything about birds to start using it, making it perfect for everyone from beginners, the curious, to lifelong Birders. It works this simply; open the app, tap a button, and let it listen, and in moments it will report back the type of bird. Think of Merlin as kind of like the Shazam music identifier, but for bird calls and bird song.

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AirPods 4 are available at 22% off Apple’s retail price, offered for just $99. AirPods 4 feature the iconic design, and many great features like gesture support, spatial audio, voice isolation, water and sweat resistance, Siri support, USB-C charging, and more.

• Get AirPods 4 for $99 (down 22% from $129)

MacBook Neo from $589, Rapid Delivery Available

The MacBook Neo is wildly popular and has lengthier shipping times from Apple, but you can get many MacBook Neo models and configurations from Amazon delivered either same or next day, plus at a small discount.

• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Indigo Blue – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Indigo – $689
• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Silver – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Silver – $689
• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Citrus – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Citrus – $689
• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Blush pink – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Blush pink – $689

Save $150 on M5 MacBook Air Models

The latest M4 MacBook Air series is available at a nice discount as well:

M5 MacBook Air 13″

• 13″ M5 MacBook Air – 16GB – 512GB – $999 ($100 off)
• 13″ M5 MacBook Air – 16GB – 1TB – $1149 ($150 off)
• 13″ M5 MacBook Air – 24GB – 1TB – $1349 ($150 off)

M5 MacBook Air 15″

• 15″ M5 MacBook Air – 24GB – 1TB – $1549 ($150 off)
• 15″ M5 MacBook Air – 16GB – 1TB – $1349 ($150 off)
• 15″ M5 MacBook Air – 16GB – 512GB – $1149 ($150 off)

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.

iOS 26.4.2 has been released by Apple for iPhone, along with ipadOS 26.4.2 for iPad. Both updates include important security fixes, as well as unspecified bug fixes, for the iPhone and iPad. The security patch apparently addresses an issue with data being retained in notifications, which had allowed extraction of deleted Signal messages from notifications retained on device.

Additionally, iOS 18.7.8, and iPadOS 18.7.8, are available for iPhone and iPad devices that are not running the iOS 26 version of system software.

As for the Mac, the most recent version of system software is currently still MacOS Tahoe 26.4.1, so if MacOS Tahoe 26.4.2 is to come out it has not done so yet, nor has the Apple Security Updates page been updated to mention anything there.

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If you have felt your Mac is curiously sluggish, you may have opened Activity Monitor to investigate at some point and noticed a process called “WindowServer” using a large amount of CPU or memory. High CPU usage and memory consumption of WindowServer has been a long reported issue on MacOS with various system software versions, but a resurgence of new complaints about WindowServer have surfaced with the release of MacOS Tahoe. Some Tahoe users feel that WindowServer is using excessive amounts of system resources, leading to sluggish behavior, poor performance, laggy animations and interactions with the user interface, and even excessive battery drain.

WindowServer is a core part of MacOS, and these complaints are often justified, but it’s important to understand what is likely causing the problems with WindowServer resource usage, and what you can do to manage it. Let’s dive in and learn more about the WindowServer process, what it does, and how to troubleshoot its resource usage.

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Are you looking to resize your photos captured on iPhone or iPad, and make them smaller in size? This may be necessary if you want to upload images to a site where there’s a size limit or you want to fit your image into a certain space on a web page. As complicated as this may sound, you can get this done pretty easily on your iPhone or iPad with a free third party app.

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Apple has announced that longtime Apple CEO Tim Cook will be stepping down from his role on September 1, 2026, concluding a 15 year tenure that has coincided with Apple become one of the largest and most influential companies in the world.

Tim Cook will transition to the role of executive chairman of the Apple Board, where he will continue to advise the company, while the CEO position will be passed to John Ternus, Apple’s current head of hardware engineering, and a 25-year Apple veteran.

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The third developer beta versions of iOS 26.5, iPadOS 26.5, and MacOS Tahoe 26.5, are now available to those engaging in the beta testing programs for Apple system software. The new beta build is initially available to developers but typically soon followed by public beta access.

The new beta versions of system software continue to work on encrypted RCS text messaging support, and support for advertisements in Apple Maps (a feature for Apple, probably not for the Maps user). Presumably bug fixes and security enhancements will also be included in the final releases.

The latest stable versions of system software remain as MacOS Tahoe 26.4.1, iOS 26.4.1, and iPadOS 26.4.1.

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The Liquid Glass interface is highly translucent and layered with various depth and visual effects, and while some users may like the glitz and shine, there are others who find the transparency and reduced contrast to be difficult to use. Introduced with iOS 26, the Liquid Glass look has been a hit with some and a complete dud with others, while posing some frustrating accessibility challenges for some too, leading a fair number of people to wonder if it’s possible to disable Liquid Glass completely on their iPhone or iPad.

I recently helped a relative setup a new iPhone with the latest iOS 26 release, and their new iPhone was their first exposure to the Liquid Glass interface, which they immediately disliked and expressed strong frustration with. Their complaints were ones you’ve likely heard elsewhere, about how it’s hard to read and see things, confusing, makes their eyes hurt, too low of contrast, and just a general strong dislike of the new Liquid Glass look. I can understand all of this, since I initially hated Liquid Glass but came to like it after some time of use with a few adjustments. So this article is basically what I did to help setup their iPhone to disable Liquid Glass as much as possible, and since this is still an ongoing complaint with many people I figured it was worth a write-up.

If you’re an iPhone or iPad use who is still not a fan of Liquid Glass, we’ll walk through some helpful tips on how to tone it down and disable Liquid Glass as best as can be done with the current settings options.

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Using a game controller with an iPhone or iPad can make playing games feel much more like a traditional gaming console experience, and both iOS and iPadOS fully support modern controllers. The Xbox Series X controller connects easily over Bluetooth and works with many popular iPhone and iPad games, whether that’s popular classics like Fortnite or Call of Duty, or tons of Apple Arcade titles.

If you’re an iPad or iPhone gamer and you want to use your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S controller with your device, here’s how you can get that setup so you’re connected and ready to play.

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The MacBook Neo is sold out for delivery this month from Apple, and though you may have mixed success finding a Neo in select Apple Stores, Amazon offers select MacBook Neo models available within a day to a week, and you get a little discount with the purchase too. The MacBook Neo is a huge hit, bringing a powerful low cost Mac to the masses, perfect for everyone from students, to more casual users, a couch browser, as a travel Mac, and much more. Check out the deals from Amazon below, and explore the various color and storage configuration options to see which is right for you, and on with a speedy delivery timeline:

• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Indigo Blue – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Indigo – $689
• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Silver – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Silver – $689
• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Citrus – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Citrus – $689
• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Blush pink – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Blush pink – $689

As of this writing, the Indigo Blue and Silver models are available for overnight delivery, whereas Citrus and Pink are delivered within a few days.

If you want even more power and capability, with more storage and memory, or a larger display, the M5 MacBook Air is also available at a nice discount from Amazon.

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Many people think of game controllers on iPad as something only used inside games, but modern versions of iPadOS allow you to use a Bluetooth controller to navigate the system interface itself, including the Home Screen. This allows you to launch apps and games directly with the controller, right from the iPad, and is a particularly great trick for anyone who uses an iPad to play games, or as a media player.

You can use any Bluetooth controller for this, as long as it’s connected to the iPad. Whether that’s a Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, or Nintendo Switch Controller, they all will work the same in this regard. You will be able to move between app icons, open apps, and control basic navigation on an iPad, all from the controller. For gamers, this can make the iPad feel much more like a console experience.

Using this feature is really quite simple.

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If you have ever been on a phone call and tried to adjust the volume on iPhone and found the volume buttons aren’t responding, you’re not alone. This is a frustrating presumed bug that can happen on iPhone, and the volume buttons seem to stop working during phone calls, even though they can sometimes still function normally for music, videos, or alerts.

You’ll know you’re impacted by this because if you use either volume up or volume down on iPhone during an active phone call, the volume does not adjust. Often the volume slider itself just doesn’t even appear. This effectively makes it impossible to adjust the volume of the phone call in either direction, and can be quite frustrating.

Fortunately, there are several straightforward troubleshooting steps you can take to resolve the problem and get your iPhone volume buttons working again during calls.

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Amazon is offering a small discount and quick delivery on all color models and configurations of the MacBook Neo. This Mac is already a huge hit and is set to be even more popular as time goes on, and with the Amazon discount bringing it down to just $589 for the 256GB model or $689 for the 512GB model with Touch ID, it’s truly the most affordable Mac.

While the discount price of ten buckeroos is the same, some of the MacBook Neo models are available for same-day or next-day delivery, while others may be a few days out, but Amazon stock rotates quickly.

• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Indigo Blue – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Indigo – $689
• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Silver – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Silver – $689
• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Citrus – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Citrus – $689
• MacBook Neo – 256GB – Blush pink – $589
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – Blush pink – $689

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.

One common complaint of MacOS Tahoe users is that it can be difficult to determine which window is active or in the background. With all of the flatter and low contrast design elements in Tahoe, there is a significant reduction in contrast between background and foreground apps and windows, which can make visual focus less clear than it should be or used to be.

This is where HazeOver comes in, a long-standing Mac utility that dims the background and background windows to help highlight the foreground active window. Basically HazeOver makes it very obvious where your focus and foreground window is.

If you find the MacOS Tahoe (or even Sequoia or Sonoma) interfaces to be visually ambiguous when seeing which window is active in the foreground against all the background windows, HazeOver offers a simple and effective fix for that complaint, and it looks pretty good too.

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Apple has released the second beta versions iOS 26.5, MacOS Tahoe 26.5, and iPadOS 26.5, to those who are participating in the beta testing programs of Apple system software.

The latest betas continue to work on RCS messaging support for encrypted text messages (this is a separate feature from iMessage, which is already encrypted), and support for placing ads into Apple Maps which you might imagine is not considered a feature for end users who almost certainly do not want to see advertising in the Maps app.

The latest stable builds of system software from Apple are currently iOS 26.4.1, iPadOS 26.4.1, and MacOS Tahoe 26.4.1.

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