Amazon has started their early Black Friday Deals on many Apple products, so if you’ve been planning on shopping this holiday season for some great deals on Apple gear, this is a great place to get started.
AirTags are popular personal trackers, allowing you to keep track of bags, pets, luggage, even pets and people. They’re a handy Apple product that is easy to setup and use, and you can grab a 4 pack for $80 on Amazon allowing you to deploy several AirTags for multiple different purposes. Just as easy to find, through Find My or even with Siri by saying “Hey Siri, find my luggage”, for example.
Let’s check out some great uses of AirTags that you might find useful in your life.
Apple is dropping support for iCloud backups for iPhone or iPad running iOS 8 or earlier. Additionally, Apple is also dropping support for Safari Bookmark Syncing for devices running iOS 10 or earlier, or macOS Sierra 10.12.5 and earlier.
While this will not impact the vast majority of people, there are many older model iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices still in use out there, many of which continue to run older versions of iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS. Thus, these changes will undoubtedly impact some users and their older devices, and they should be aware of these changes.
Apple has released the fourth beta version of iOS 18.2, MacOS Sequoia 15.2, and iPadOS 18.2, for users participating in the beta testing programs for Apple system software.
The primary focus of these new betas appear to be introducing additional Apple Intelligence features, including things like ChatGPT integration to Siri, Genmoji for custom Emoji creation, and Image Playground AI image generation. These Ai features are in addition to the helpful writing tools, smart replies, and summary features with Apple Intelligence that debuted in the prior .1 updates.
Aside from the new Apple Intelligence features, there are some additional new features as well, like allowing iPhone Mirroring to use Personal Hotspot, sharing functionality in Find My, a weather widget for the Mac menu bar, refinements to Settings app, and some other smaller changes and features.
iOS 18.2 and MacOS Sequoia 15.2 are expected to launch next month for all users. The most recent stable version of system software currently available is the just released iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and MacOS Sequoia 15.1.1.
Apple has issued iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, iOS 17.2.2, and iPadOS 17.2.2, for iPhone and iPad users. These updates are relatively small but contain important security fixes, making the software updates important for users to install onto eligible devices.
Separately, Apple also released MacOS Sequoia 15.1.1 with the same set of security patches, along with visionOS 2.1.1.
No new features or other changes are expected in these security updates, as those will be arriving likely next month with iOS 18.2 when it finishes beta testing.
Apple has released MacOS Seqouia 15.1.1, a small software update focused on important security fixes for the Mac. No new features are included, but several actively exploited security issues are patched, making these important updates to install on your Apple devices.
Separately, Apple has also released iOS 18.1.1 for iPhone, ipadOS 18.1.1 for iPad, visionOS 2.1.1, along with iOS 17.7.2 and iPadOS 17.7.2, all with the same security patches.
Data loss is one of the most terrifying experiences to encounter in our digital lives, and so it’s no surprise that iPhone and iPad users who encountered a recent issue with iCloud Notes disappearing from their devices caused significant distress. But Apple has now officially acknowledged the disappearing iCloud Notes problem, and has provided a solution to those affected.
For some background, a fair number of reports began to surface from some iPhone and iPad users, who, either after updating their iPhone or iPad to a new version of iOS/iPadOS system software, or after accepting the new iCloud Terms & Service agreement, suddenly discovered their Notes were missing from their devices. Given how many people rely on the Notes app to store critical information, it’s easy to see why Notes going missing is problematic. Some users had discovered a few troubleshooting tricks to fix the issue, however, and a variation of one of those troubleshooting tips is basically what Apple has issued as their official resolution.
Window Tiling on the Mac has gotten much better since MacOS Sequoia, and it’s now easier than ever to arrange and tile windows on your screen.
With Window Tiling, you can split windows, send windows to the left or right, quarter windows on your display, and much more. There are multiple different ways to access the new and improved Window Tiling features on the Mac, so familiarize yourself with them and you’ll be a master in no time.
The Apple Pencil is a great accessory for iPad users, but obviously you can’t use an Apple Pencil if it’s lost, and it’s not particularly useful if it’s missing.
Fortunately there are a few tricks that you can employ to help you find a lost Apple Pencil, so you can be back to your writing, scribbling, doodling, and whatever other work you enjoy with the stylus. The tips we’ll show you here work regardless of which Apple Pencil model you have, whether you have the original Apple Pencil, Apple Pencil 2nd gen, or Apple Pencil Pro. We’ll show them in order of ease and efficacy, so read along and let’s find your missing Apple Pencil!
Some iPhone users have noticed Bluetooth connection problems after updating their device to iOS 18, often presenting as dropping connections, or as an inability to connect to Bluetooth devices, whether those Bluetooth devices are speakers, hearing aids, headphones, car stereo systems, or even gaming controllers.
Often you can resolve Bluetooth issues by simply toggling Bluetooth, restarting an iPhone by turning it off and on again, or by turning the Bluetooth device itself off and on again. But we’re going to assume you already tried that, unsuccessfully, and you’re still having issues with Bluetooth connections in iOS 18. In that case, read along for a tried and true method of resolving Bluetooth issues on iPhone.
Many iPhone users have discovered that Wi-Fi is turning itself on automatically on their iPhone, usually after they install a system software update to iOS, restart the iPhone, or turn the iPhone back on. This is frustrating to many iPhone users because not everyone wants to have wi-fi turned on for any number of reasons, but it’s a particularly common complaint amongst users who are bringing a personal iPhone into an area whether it’s work, business, or personal, that has some kind of wi-fi network that is public, corporate, healthcare, or a government network, that they do not wish to join. A common obvious solution to not joining a wi-fi network is to keep wi-fi turned off (or forget the network), but again, many users have discovered that iPhone turns wi-fi on by itself.
Let’s discover why the iPhone wi-fi is turning itself on automatically, and what you can do to prevent that. And yes this often applies to iPad users and iPadOS as well.
The iOS 18 update is a fun one with some intriguing new features, mostly for visual tweaks like adding dark mode icons and color hues, and of course there’s Apple Intelligence AI features if your iPhone is new enough to support those features. One of the other major changes in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 for iPhone and iPad is the redesigned Control Center, which is now customizable, but also which has changed how some of the toggles and switches work, and the Bluetooth toggle is causing some confusion.
One of the more prominent changes to Control Center in iOS 18 has to do with toggling Bluetooth off and on again, an adjustment that many iPhone and ipad users need to make frequently for various reasons, whether they’re connecting to an external speaker system, car stereo system, or any other device that connects via Bluetooth. But as many users have discovered, if you tap on the Bluetooth switch in iOS 18, you end up at a Bluetooth device selection screen, instead of disabling Bluetooth. This new change to the Bluetooth toggle behavior in Control Center is causing a fair amount of confusion with some iPhone users, so we’re going to clarify how the feature works now so that you can easily disable Bluetooth and re-enable Bluetooth at any time.
A fair number of Mac users have discovered that Spotlight Search is not working well in MacOS Sequoia, either missing files, apps, and sometimes not working at all to find any local file. For some users the issues with Spotlight happens right after they update to MacOS Seqouia, and for others it may happen later seemingly at random. The most obvious examples of Spotlight issues with MacOS Seqouia relate to Spotlight having an inability to find files and data that you search for on the Mac, often even with exact match names, but what can make the search failure issue particularly strange is that some files and search data does return properly.
If you’re experiencing issues with Spotlight search, where Spotlight search appears to be broken or not working properly, after updating to MacOS Seqouia in particular (though the troubleshooting tips here will apply to any macOS version), then read along to fix the Spotlight search problem.
The third betas of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and MacOS Sequoia 15.2, are available for beta testers of Apple system software.
The latest betas continue to emphasize on new Apple Intelligence features, including ChatGPT integration, Genmoji custom Emoji creation, Image Playground for AI image generation, and more. These new AI features are in addition to the existing helpful Apple Intelligence features that includes writing tools, summaries, smart replies, and similar functionality.
Separately from AI features, there are also some refinements to the Settings apps, iPhone Mirroring can be used with Personal Hotspot at the same time, Find My gains an ability to share items, the Mac adds an optional menu bar weather widget, and a few other smaller features as well.
Amazon is selling the M2 MacBook Air 13″ model with 16GB RAM for just $749.99, taking $250 off the $999 retail price from Apple. Like many great Amazon deals, they tend to shift quickly, so if you’ve been thinking of getting a 16GB model MacBook Air now might be the time.
To get the deal price you will need to clip the on-page coupon for some colors, whereas others show the discounted price right away, and others in the cart.
The M2 MacBook Air features the powerful and energy efficient M2 chip, a nice 13.6″ Retina LCD display, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD storage, backlit keyboard, 1080p FaceTime camera, MagSafe charger, two USB-C ports, and is available in Midnight, Starlight, Space Gray, and Silver color options.
Remember to clip the on-page coupon to grab the deal price, it’s pretty small but the screenshot below shows where to find it:
Amazon is also offering the larger 15″ M3 MacBook Air at a discount in various configuration and color options, though it’s not as dramatic as a deal as the M2 16GB Air model mentioned here.
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Find My Mac is an incredibly valuable aspect of iCloud that allows you to find your Mac by using another Apple device’s Find My app, or through iCloud on the web. Aside from the obvious anti-theft aspects that make Find My Mac so important, the majority of users are more likely end up using Find My Mac to track down a misplaced laptop bag, or a lost travel luggage scenario. Find My Mac is great, but there are some situations where you might want to turn it off and disable Find My Mac. Typically you’d need to turn off Find My Mac if you’re sending it into Apple or providing it to a repair center, in which case you’d want to backup your Mac first.
Disabling Find My Mac is simple but it’s buried within a bit of a maze of settings, so let’s dive in and find where to go to toggle the feature off.
You can install and run Windows 11 on a Mac, without having to overwrite the MacOS operating system, by installing Windows 11 into a virtual machine. Virtual machines are self-contained installations of operating systems that can be used for a variety of purposes, from testing to demonstrations, to running software that runs on Windows but not on Mac.
We’re going to walk through the necessary steps to install Windows 11 on a Mac into a virtual machine using the UTM app. The end result will be that you can run Windows 11 on your Mac at any time just by opening the UTM app and starting the virtual machine. This may sound complex, but we’ll walk through every step.
The second beta versions of iOS 18.2, MacOS Sequoia 15.2, and iPadOS 18.2 are now available for users participating in the beta testing programs for Apple system software. The new betas continue to focus on additional Apple Intelligence features, expanding beyond the writing tools, smart replies, and summary features what was initially introduced in iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and MacOS Sequoia 15.1.
The latest betas add additional AI features like ChatGPT integration, Genmoji for custom Emoji, Image Playground for image generation, and more. Non-AI features include some refinements to Settings app, Personal Hotspot support when using iPhone Mirroring, a new Find My sharing feature, and the Mac gains an optional weather widget for the menu bar.
