MacOS Tahoe 26 has been officially launched by Apple to all Mac users with compatible hardware. The new operating system for Mac includes some notable visual changes and a variety of new features, which is sure to generate considerable interest. MacOS Tahoe 26 is labeled that way but
The most significant new obvious change to MacOS Tahoe 26 is the introduction of the Liquid Glass interface look which is more animated, translucent, and shiny, with some new icon customization options and other visual changes. You will also find a refreshed lock screen with new wallpapers and new screen savers, some newly redesigned system icons, and various other changes on the appearance side of things. In terms of features, MacOS Tahoe 26 features major Spotlight changes like the inclusion of Launchpad and a new clipboard history feature, Live Activities from iPhone show on Mac, Messages app gets custom background options and group polling, Phone app with Voicemail comes to MacOS, Journal app, and many other little features, updates, and changes to the Mac operating system.
Separately, iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 have also been made available, along with watchOS 26, tvOS 26, homeOS updates, visionOS 26, and more.
Apple has released iOS 26 for iPhone, and iPadOS 26 for iPad, as software updates for all iPhone and iPad users with compatible devices. The release of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 provide many new features and improvements to the operating systems, and bring some significant changes too. The release of the iOS 26 software update may be somewhat polarizing, as all major system software releases with interface changes are, but the redesign with many new features is sure to make it another popular version of iOS.
iOS 26 brings the all new Liquid Glass interface appearance which is much shinier and more translucent with more animations, icon customization options, new wallpapers, new ringtone options, a redesigned lock screen look, CarPlay gets a visual revamp, Messages app gains polling and custom backgrounds, Preview app, Apple Intelligence improvements, and more. Specific to ipadOS 26 is the inclusion of a menu bar and new window-based multitasking experience, along with Phone app. The
Separately, MacOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26 are available as well, along with updates to basically every other supported Apple device.
Amazon has brought back two of the best deals of the summer; M4 MacBook Air starting at $799 for the 13″ and $999 for the 15″ (both $200 off), and the M3 iPad Air for $449 for the 11″ and $649 for the 13″ (both $150 off). These are fantastic Mac and iPad models.
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Some years ago, Apple introduced a default setting on iPhone and iPad that automatically installs system software updates, including major updates like iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. If you do not want your iPhone or iPad to automatically update to iOS 26, you can make a settings adjustment to make sure that does not happen.
Whether you are sitting on the sidelines for compatibility reasons, aren’t yet interested in the update, or perhaps you have not yet prepared for iOS 26, you might have an interest in preventing your iPhone or iPad from updating to iOS 26 automatically, which usually happens overnight.
iOS 26 is on the way, bringing a pretty significant software update to iPhone and iPad. With a variety of interesting new features and notable visual changes like the Liquid Glass interface appearance style, Messages group chat polling and custom backgrounds, new ringtones, Preview app, and much more, the excitement around the release is understandable.
But before you go jumping into the iOS 26 update on iPhone, or iPadOS 26 update on iPad, you’ll probably want to take a little time to prepare your device for the next major system software version. Let’s review some of those helpful steps to get you started.
The release candidate build of iOS 26 for iPhone and iPadOS 26 for iPad has been released to users participating in the developer beta and public betas for Apple system software. The release candidate (RC) build is typically the final version that is released to the general public, assuming no major bugs or problems are discovered.
The iOS 26 RC build comes alongside the availability of MacOS Tahoe 26 release candidate, watchOS 26 RC, and tvOS 26 RC as well.
iOS 26 introduces the Liquid Glass interface appearance that is more translucent and shiny with some additional icon customization options. You’ll also find new wallpapers available, a revamped lock screen, new ringtone choices, and a revamped CarPlay appearance too. But that’s not all, you’ll also gain background wallpapers for Messages along with group chat polling, Preview app, improvements to Apple Intelligence if your device supports it, and more. iPadOS 26 gains all of that plus new multitasking windowing options for apps and a menu bar, along with Phone app.
Apple has released MacOS Tahoe 26 as a release candidate build (build number 25A5353) for users participating in the developer beta and public beta programs. The RC (release candidate) build for Tahoe comes alongside RC builds for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, and watchOS 26 too. RC builds are often the final version released to the general public if no major bug or issue is found, and typically indicate the end of the beta testing cycle.
MacOS Tahoe 26 introduces the new Liquid Glass interface appearance to Mac which features more translucency and shinineness with less contrast. You’ll also gain new icon customization choices, new wallpapers, new screen savers, some newly redesigned icons, and other little changes for the interface. Additionally, MacOS Tahoe 26 includes a handy clipboard history feature within Spotlight, Launchpad has turned into an app launcher within Spotlight, Messages app gains background customizations and group chat polls, Phone app with voicemail comes to Mac, Journal app comes to Mac, and many other smaller features and changes.
Apple has released a series of updated products during their September 9 special event, with the focus being on new iPhone 17 models including iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro, along with new Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch SE 3, and AirPods Pro 3.
The event itself follows Apple’s new normal script of being ultra produced and scripted with a huge cast of employees giving little presentations on whatever product they’re telling you about. There’s also plenty of cutscenes, video panning, and slow motion twirls of various products in various stages of production, lots of nearly AI-looking scenes of Apple executives talking in sterile environments soundtracked to what some people would call music, and tons of corporate marketing speak, which if you’ve already seen a modern Apple event you’ve seen this one too then, just swap out some product names and slides.
All the new products that are announced were what the mainstream rumor mill expected, with refreshed iPhone models, Apple Watch models, and updated AirPod Pro 3. If you want to get caught in the weeds of new chips and marketing lingo (“successive anodizing baths” etc), you can certainly do that, but basically every newly updated device is better than its predecessor. If you were hoping for a semi-synthetic humanoid robot assistant or intergalactic space ship, or some other ultra advanced technology indistinguishable from magic, well maybe that’ll be out next year, or next decade, or next century, because for now you get an improved iPhone and Apple Watch instead.
iPhone 17 Lineup Announced
As expected, the new iPhone 17 series is faster with better features than prior iPhone models. This should come as a shock to nobody, as Apple has yet to release a new iPhone that is slower with fewer features than a prior model (well, except when they removed the headphone jack anyway and yes I am still bitter about that).
You’ll find the base model iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone Air, with the latter model being a new model introduced into the iPhone lineup that is thinner and lighter than the other iPhone models (remember when Apple used to just have one new iPhone model and it was always faster, thinner, and lighter than the prior iPhone model? Simpler times!).
Each new iPhone has a better camera and faster chip than prior models, with some new software-limited features too encouraging you to get a new iPhone.
All new models of iPhone 17 can be pre-ordered this Friday September 12, and will be widely available on September 19. Prices start at $1099 for iPhone 17 Pro, $999 for iPhone Air, and $799 for iPhone 17.
New Apple Watch Models
Apple Watch has been updated as well and Apple Watch Series 11 includes some new features you might appreciate, like a high blood pressure notification, which won’t give you your blood pressure reading directly, but will attempt to inform the user if over time their blood pressure is elevated. Kind of like the a-fib notifications. Also, the latest Apple Watch 11 is faster with better battery life than prior models and offers 5G connectivity.
Apple Watch Ultra 3 is also updated to be faster and better, with a slightly bigger screen too, and 5G connectivity.
Apple Watch SE 3 is new as well, which is also faster and better than prior SE models, but not so great that it overtakes the Series 11.
Perhaps the most exciting announcement for existing Apple Watch users is that Apple Watch Series 9 and newer will gain the high blood pressure notificaiton via watchOS 26 software update next week.
Apple Watch Series 11 starts at $399 and is available next week.
AirPods Pro 3
AirPods Pro 3 are freshly updated and include better audio, plus a heart rate monitoring feature, which is kind of intriguing to have on a pair of headphones. There’s also improvements to active noise cancellation and battery life.
Apple also announced that iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26 will be available for everyone to download on September 15, so get your devices backed up and ready to go for that.
And there’s your basic overview of what Apple announced today; updated iPhones, updated Apple Watch models, updated AirPods Pro. Exciting times! More to come.
WhatsApp for iPad has finally been released, bringing the popular messaging app to the Apple tablet in an official way for the first time ever. No more web-based WhatsApp chats are required, now with a dedicated iPad WhatsApp application, you can get an optimized and native experience directly on your device.
WhatsApp for iPad includes all the WhatsApp features you know and love, including all the standard messaging features, video calling, polling, custom backgrounds for chats, group chats, audio calls, and much more. Everything syncs with your other WhatsApp clients too, whether on iPhone, Mac, Android, too, Plus WhatsApp for iPad supports the array of iPad multitaskign capabilities, so you can use it either in full screen mode on its own, or as a windowed app in conjunction with other applications open on the same screen. And of course you’ll be using your regular WhatsApp account so all your chats will sync to your WhatsApp application on iPhone and Mac too.
Instagram is a wildly popular social network centered around photo and video sharing, but for the majority of its life it has been available only for iPhone and Android. But not anymore, as Instagram finally has made an app available for iPad users too.
The Voice Memos app is incredibly useful on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, but one thing that some users may wish to change is the Location Based Naming system that is automatically active with any created Voice Memos. We’ve previously discussed disabling location-based voice memo naming on iPhone and iPad before, but now we’re going to cover the same tip for Mac users.
Apple has released MacOS Tahoe 26 beta 9, along with iOS 26 beta 9, iPadOS 26 beta 9, and beta 9 updates for the rest of the OS 26 suite too. Usually the same build is released for developers and public beta testers in close proximity to each other, so that should be expected in this case too. (Update: the beta 9 build is 25A5351b and now available as a matching public beta 6)
MacOS Tahoe 26 brings the Liquid Glass interface to the Mac with more translucency and shinineness throughout the interface appearance, and there are also new icon customization options, new wallpapers, new screen savers, and some new icon designs like a dull Macintosh HD redesign. Mac users will also gain some handy new features like clipboard history as part of Spotlight, Launchpad has been merged into Spotlight, the Phone app comes to Mac along with the Journal app, and there are background customization options for Messages app, and group chat polling for Messages too, plus various other features and changes on the Mac.
If you have a MacOS Tahoe compatible Mac and you want to get an early look at the new operating system, anyone can install MacOS Tahoe 26 beta onto a compatible Mac, though it’s important to remember that beta system software is not as stable or reliable as final versions.
Apple has said that macOS Tahoe 26 will be released this fall, along with the rest of the OS 26 suite.
iOS 26 beta 9 has been released by Apple for iPhone, along with iPadOS 26 beta 9 for iPad, MacOS Tahoe 26 beta 9, and other OS 26 beta 9 updates for the rest of the Apple device suite. New betas typically arrive for developers first and the same build is released for public beta users soon after.
iOS 26 features a new translucenct and shiny interface appearance called Liquid Glass, new icon cusdtomizations, new wallpapers, a redesigned lock screen, new ringtone options, group chat polling and custom backgrounds in Messages app, Phone app improvements, enhancements to CarPlay, enhancements to Apple Intelligence, Preview app for iPhone and iPad, and more. iPadOS 26 includes the same features for iPad but also a new multitasking system and app windowing, a menubar, and the Phone app arrives on iPad too.
The final version of iOS 26 for iPhone and iPadOS 26 for iPad is set to be released this fall, according to Apple. Users who want to get an earlier experience with the new operating systems can install iOS 26 beta on iPhone or iPadOS 26 beta on iPad, but most people would be better served waiting for the final version to be released in the coming weeks.
Windows 95 was made widely available to the general public 30 years ago this week, on August 24, 1995. 30 years! It might not seem too thrilling today, but Windows 95 was a pretty big deal back in the day, being the first half-decent (ie: Mac-like) GUI to arrive on PC and a huge leap in usability from Windows 3.11. If you lived anywhere near a beige box PC in the mid-90s, you probably remember either running Windows 95 yourself or perhaps on a friends or colleagues computer. You got the Start menu, multitasking, a taskbar, and a much more user friendly interface that borrowed quite a bit from the Mac. Sure it might have crashed and given you a not entirely infrequent BSOD, but it was all part of the charm.
You might even remember when Bill Gates, Steve Balmer, and co, were dancing around on stage to the Rolling Stone’s song “Start Me Up” during the initial Windows 95 launch, here’s a short little clip of the Microsoft leadership team in action:
And what better way to celebrate than to run Windows 95 directly on your modern Mac, by simply downloading and launching a self-contained Windows 95 as an application that runs impressively well?
It’s a full Windows 95 installation and it runs great direclty atop MacOS, give it a try:
Celebrate even further by downloading this fun BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) wallpaper and setting it on your Mac, iPad, Windows PC, iPhone, Android, whatever:
Cheers to ex-Microsoft employee Brad Silverberg who reminded the world of the 30th anniversary of Windows 95 on X (the site formerly known as Twitter), we are over there too.
Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of Windows 95. It was a very memorable day. Special thanks to the team and all those who made it happen. pic.twitter.com/R8kCmKceuI
The Commodore 64 has been reborn from the dusty bins of nostalgia, with a slightly modernized twist. Retro computing enthusiasts and longtime computer users may recall the Commodore 64 as a fun way to tinker with tech, play games, and do some coding, and with the new Commodore 64 project you get all of that but with some nice modern amenities too, like HDMI output, wi-fi, ethernet, and USB. You can play over 10,000 original games. You can plugin your old cartridges, CRT screens, and disk drives. You can do a little coding with BASIC. The possibilities for retro computing fun are endless, it’s up to you to see where it takes you.
Amazon is taking $200 off the price of M4 MacBook Air models, with the 13″ starting at $799, and the 15″ starting at $999. With the powerful M4 chip with Apple Intelligence support, 13″ or 15″ LCD display (easy on the eyes for PWM sensitive!), all day battery life, Center Stage with FaceTime camera, backlit keyboard, MagSafe charging, two USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, dual display support, and more, these are fantastic and popular laptops for good reason.
VintageApple has long been a fantastic collection of retro Apple and Mac materials, including old magazines, catalogs, and user guides, and now they have added a whopper collection of over 150 vintage Mac programming books available for free.
If you’re a Mac user who installed a Safari beta version on a stable version of MacOS to experiment with beta Safari features, it’s possible that you might want to downgrade the Safari beta back to a Safari stable version. This can be tricky because if you install a beta version of Safari onto MacOS, it will default to overwriting the stable version of Safari on that Mac. So what should you do in this situation, how can you downgrade from a Safari beta back to a Safari stable build on MacOS? That’s what we’re going to address in this article.
For example, lets say you installed Safari 26 beta onto MacOS Sequoia 15.6, but you find that Safari 26 beta is too buggy to use reliably, or you just don’t like it for whatever reason. But by installing the Safari 26 beta onto Sequoia, you overwrote the stable Safari build and now you’re stuck with the beta, right? Wrong! There are a few different ways to return the Safari stable version to your Mac, as we’ll show you here.
