Sound Glow is a snazzy new feature introduced for HomePod (2nd gen and later), and HomePod Mini (1st gen and later) that allows the small display on the top of the smart speaker to show a fun little ambient light effect that reacts to the rhythm, beat, and color of whatever you are playing on the device. It adds a bit of character to the HomePod that is particularly enjoyable in a dimmer or dark room. Curiously, Sound Glow is not enabled by default, so if you wish to use the feature you will have to turn it on manually, which we will show you how to do here.

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MacBook Neo is already the most affordable Mac, but Amazon is cutting another $30 off the retail price in a rare discount on the popular budget laptop from Apple. You can find the $30 discount available on a few color options, though the larger storage model has less of a discount applied to it.

• MacBook Neo – 256GB – $670 (down from $699)
• MacBook Neo – 512GB w/ Touch ID – $789 (down from $799)

If you want more CPU, RAM, larger screen, and more capability, the M5 MacBook Air 15″ is fantastic and available at an even bigger discount of $200 off (same deal available on the 13″ Air).

$200 Off M5 MacBook Air

• 15″ M5 MacBook Air – 24GB – 1TB – $1799 ($200 off)
• 15″ M5 MacBook Air – 16GB – 512GB – $1299 ($200 off)
• 13″ M5 MacBook Air – 24GB – 1TB – $1599 ($200 off)
• 13″ M5 MacBook Air – 16GB – 512GB – $1099 ($200 off)

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Apple has issued the first beta build of iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3, and MacOS 27.3 Golden Gate, to users who are participating in the beta testing programs of Apple system software.

iOS 27.3 and MacOS 27.3 betas include a new vertical tab option in Safari, as well as an automatic dark mode feature for Safari. iPhone Duo gains a Reachability feature that pulls the screen content to the side to make interacting with one hand easier, new Standby Mode clock features and options for all iPhones with iOS 27.3, more Siri functionality, and a redesigned Health app. Apple Intelligence is also set to arrive in China with theses releases.

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The marketing images from the new PROLED XDR touchscreen MacBook Pro includes a fancy new default wallpaper that spells out “PRO” with a bunch of streaking multicolor lines. The color choices are likely designed to showcase the PROLED XDR display where deep true blacks are possible alongside contrasting vibrant highlights.

But you don’t need to spend $4000 on a new touchscreen Mac just to enjoy the new default wallpaper, you can download it in 4096 × 2698 resolution now and appreciate the new look right on your current Mac, iPhone, iPad, PC, or Android.

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Amazon is back again offering $200 off the M5 MacBook Air in both 13″ and 15″ sizes, and in all configurations and color options.

$200 Off M5 MacBook Air 15″

• 15″ M5 MacBook Air – 24GB – 1TB – $1799 ($200 off)
• 15″ M5 MacBook Air – 16GB – 512GB – $1299 ($200 off)

$200 Off M5 MacBook Air 13″

• 13″ M5 MacBook Air – 24GB – 1TB – $1599 ($200 off)
• 13″ M5 MacBook Air – 16GB – 512GB – $1099 ($200 off)

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Amazon is offering a 29% discount on a 4-pack of AirTags 2, the second generation of personal trackers. These are wildly useful for many purposes whether you’re tracking a bike, pet, bag, or whatever else you want to keep track of on the Find My network.

• AirTags 2 – 4-pack – $69.99 (down from $99)

Miscellaneous Apple Deals

• MacBook Neo 13″ – $689 (down from $699)
• M6 Mac Mini – 16GB / 256GB – $779 (down $120 from $899)
• M6 Mac mini – 16GB / 512GB – $949 (down $150 from $1099)
• M5 Pro Mac Mini – 24GB / 512GB – $1599 (down from $1699)
• M5 Max Mac Studio – 32GB / 512GB – $2299 ($200 off, down from $2499)
• Magic Trackpad – $119 (down from $129)
• Magic Keyboard – $89 (down from $99)
• Anker 7-in-1 USB-C hub For $22 (down from $26)
• AirPods Pro 3 for $199 (down from $249)
• AirPods Max for $475 (down from $549)
• Pre-order Homeview for $299

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You may find yourself in a situation when you need to boot into Safe Mode while troubleshooting a MacBook Air, MacBook Neo, or MacBook Pro.

Safe Mode boots a Mac without loading third party login items, system extensions, and non-system fonts. Additionally, Safe Mode runs a disk check to verify the startup disk, clears system caches, and prevents third party drivers from loading, helping to narrow down potential issues, and sometimes even resolve them through the safe mode boot itself.

If you’re unfamiliar with booting into Safe Mode on modern Apple Silicon equipped MacBook laptops, including the Air, Neo, and Pro, it’s a pretty easy process that is the same on all Apple Silicon Macs, including M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, A18 chips.

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Apple has launched two all-new touchscreen MacBook Pro models, with 14″ and 16″ OLED display sizes. This marks a notable reversal from Apple against their longstanding resistance to touch screen laptops due to ergonomic issues.

The new MacBook Pro features a redesigned enclosure, M5 Pro or M5 Max chip options with up to 128GB RAM and 16GB of storage, a smaller Dynamic Island cutout replaces The Notch on the display, and is lighter weight than predecessors, weighing 3lbs for the 14″ model, and 4lbs for the 16″ model. A notable welcome return is the reintroduction of the glowing Apple logo on the back of the MacBook Pro.

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Apple has released a series of hardware updates this week, including an updated iPad Mini with A20 chip and OLED display, an iMac with M6 chip, and a 14″ MacBook Pro base model with M6 chip. These products were announced ahead of the “Pro and Tell” event set for tomorrow, which is expected to launch a touchscreen MacBook Pro.

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MacOS Tahoe 26.7.2 and MacOS Sequoia 15.8.2 are available now as security software updates for Mac users who are continuing to run those operating systems. Those users will also find Safari 27.2 available as an update.

These updates include hundreds of security patches and fixes making them recommended to all users who are running macOS Tahoe or Sequoia, instead of MacOS 27 Golden Gate.

Separately, Apple has also released MacOS 27.2 Golden Gate, iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, iOS 26.7.2, iPadOS 26.7.2, iOS 18.7.11, iPadOS 18.7.11, watchOS 27.2, tvOS 27.2, along with updates to just about every other Apple device, so you’ll want to check for and install updates elsewhere too.

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Apple has released iOS 27.2 for iPhone, and ipadOS 27.2 for iPad. These updates include new Siri AI features, along with Siri AI support in new languages, unspecified bug fixes, and security patches, making them recommended for all iPhone and iPad users to install.

Additionally, Apple has also released MacOS 27.2 for Golden Gate users, MacOS Tahoe 26.7.2 update, HomePod OS 27.2 with support for Sound Glow on HomePod Mini and HomePod second gen, iOS 26.7.2, iPadOS 26.7.2, iOS 18.7.11, and iPadOS 18.7.11, tvOS 27.2, watchOS 27.2, and more, so you will want to update all of your Apple devices.

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Apple has released MacOS 27.2 Golden Gate, the update includes new Siri AI features and support for Siri AI in additional languages, along with miscellaneous nonspecific bug fixes and security patches. Release notes are included below, along with download links for the full installer and IPSW file for MacOS 27.2.

Separately, Apple has also released MacOS Tahoe 26.7.2, MacOS Sequoia 15.8.2, iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, along with 27.2 updates for WatchOS, tvOS, HomePod OS with SoundGlow support, and more, so check for updates on your other Apple devices as well.

And for those who are confused by versioning and numbers, apparently MacOS 27.2 leapfrogged MacOS 27.1 which was never released to the public, and the same applies to iOS 27.2 which leapfrogged iOS 27.1 that was also never released.

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I ran into a peculiar issue recently where the ‘dasd’ process had been consuming 100% CPU for several days straight. Since dasd is a system process, my initial assumption was that there must be some important background task that was going on. But, after a few days of no change and dasd constantly hovering between 90-100% CPU usage, contributing to significant battery drain and resource misallocation, I decided to dive into troubleshooting dasd consuming large amount of processor specifically in MacOS 27 Golden Gate.

With the help of some tinkering around in Console and Terminal, an agent, and ChatGPT, I discovered the problem with dasd going haywire may be related to an issue with telemetry and the PowerLog background processing database in MacOS. And, as it turns out, clearing this particular database and then restarting the Mac can resolve the problem.

Be forewarned, these steps involve using the Terminal to delete a system file that is actively being written to, so something could always go wrong. Backup your Mac before beginning.

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Visual Intelligence offers a set of AI features that can be used to identify objects and items in photos or things on screen, and a neat new feature available in MacOS 27 Golden Gate allows you to interact with Siri and Visual Intelligence from just about anywhere on your Mac. You can use this to help identify things in pictures, understand a document, or even to learn what a particular file or app is for if you aren’t sure.

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If you have been shopping for a high end M5 Max MacBook Pro 16″ model with 36GB RAM and 2 TB SSD and waiting for a whopper discount, now might be time to act. Amazon is cutting a whopping $900 off the retail price of this top-of-the-line MacBook Pro, or a more modest yet still generous $500 off the 24GB/1TB model of the 16″ MBP.

• 16″ M5 Max MacBook Pro – 36GB – 2TB – $3499 ($900 off, down from $4399)
• 16″ M5 Pro MacBook Pro – 24GB – 1TB – $2499 ($500 off, down from $2999)

These are incredibly powerful Macs and it’s rare to see such generous discounts available, check them out!

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The Edge Light feature of FaceTime for Mac enables a virtual ring light on your screen during FaceTime calls, which helps to more evenly illuminate your face. This is particularly useful in lower light conditions, and it can improve the appearance of a FaceTime call quite a bit. Ring Lighting is commonly used in media for all sorts of portraiture and photography, and in the modern era of video conferences and video chat, it’s also quite popular for average users too, so it’s a nice addition to MacOS.

Edge Lighting is not typically enabled by default in FaceTime on the Mac, but it can be enabled or disabled at ease, as we’ll show you.

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One of the more compelling new subtler features introduced iOS 27 pertains to the ability to use full screen Widgets on iPhone. Full screen widgets can effectively turn a Home Screen page into a full mini-app of whatever the full screen widget is.

For example, you can have the full screen Weather widget, which shows a full longterm forecast and weather conditions right on the iPhone Home Screen, without having to open the Weather app. Or another popular example, is to use the full screen Photos widget, which lets you have a full Home Screen page dedicated to the photos widget and showing photos you might enjoy.

Full screen widgets are compelling for iPhone, here’s how to add one on your Home Screen.

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The Mac mini and Mac Studio are both increasingly popular, not only as desktop Macs, but also for local AI setups. Amazon is taking up to $150 off the Mac mini configs, and $200 off a well-equipped Mac Studio:

• M6 Mac Mini – 16GB / 256GB – $779 (down $120 from $899)
• M6 Mac mini – 16GB / 512GB – $949 (down $150 from $1099)
• M5 Pro Mac Mini – 24GB / 512GB – $1599 (down from $1699)
• M5 Max Mac Studio – 32GB / 512GB – $2299 ($200 off, down from $2499)

Mac mini and Mac Studio do not com with displays, keyboards, or mouse, but you can get those separately:

• Apple Magic Mouse (black) – $89
• Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad (black)- $199
• Apple Studio Display 27″ – $1599
• Dell 27″ 4k display – $350
• ASUS ProArt 27″ display – $650

Separately, Amazon continues to offer the Rose Pink HomeView at a small discount with pre-order:

• Pre-order HomeView for $289 in Rose Pink (down from $299, Released November 13)

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.