Apple has released beta 7 of macOS Big Sur to users participating in the beta testing programs for macOS. Usually a developer beta build is first and soon followed by the same build as a public beta version.
MacOS Big Sur remains in active beta development, while iOS 14, iPadOS 14, tvOS 14, and watchOS 7 have all been finalized and released to the general public.
Depending on your line of work you may end up in a scenario where you have a variety of duplicate files on a Mac. Sometimes this goes unnoticed, but occasionally the Mac will run low on storage space and you might want to free up space by finding and removing those duplicate files from the Mac. Thankfully, finding duplicate files on macOS is not nearly as hard as you may think.
Apple has released tvOS 14 for Apple TV users. The final version is now broadly available after going through a lengthy beta development process.
tvOS 14 includes some noteworthy new features, including system wide Picture-in-Picture support, improved HomeKit features with a Home section within Control Center, support for YouTube video in 4k, support for AirPlay 4k videos and photos, multiple users for Game Center and Apple Arcade, audio sharing for multiple pairs of AirPods, support for Microsoft Xbox Elite 2 controllers, and more.
Additionally, Apple also released watchOS 7 for Apple Watch, iOS 14 for iPhone, and iPadOS 14 for iPad. MacOS Big Sur remains under active development with a later release date.
WatchOS 7 has been released for Apple Watch users. The final version is now available to all after a period of beta development.
watchOS 7 features a variety of new features for Apple Watch, including new Apple Watch faces, a new sleep tracking app, hand washing detection and timer, family setup to manage multiple Apple Watches from a single iPhone (helpful for parents if their child has an Apple Watch but no corresponding iPhone), a revamped Fitness app taking over for the Activity app with new features, and more.
Separately, Apple also released iOS 14 for iPhone, iPadOS 14 for iPad, and tvOS 14 for Apple TV. MacOS Big Sur remains in active beta development.
Apple has released Safari 14.0 for users of MacOS Catalina and MacOS Mojave. Safari 14 is also the version of Safari that comes bundled with macOS Big Sur, though Big Sur has yet to be released and remains in beta development.
Safari 14 includes a redesigned tab bar and a customizable start page, the removal of Adobe Flash support, a Privacy Report feature that focuses on cross-site tracking, along with various other improvements and security enhancements.
iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 are now available for all users to download onto eligible devices. The final builds of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 arrive as a free update after months of beta testing.
Many new features are included with iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, including the ability to add widgets to the iPhone home screen, an App Library feature for simpler app management, instant foreign language translation functionality, new capabilities for Messages, improvements to Safari, new sorting and view modes for Photos, amidst many other smaller features and improvements to the mobile operating systems.
Separately, watchOS 7 and tvOS 14 are also available to download for Apple Watch and Apple TV users.
If you’ve ever tried to use a Mac hard drive or USB key with a Windows PC, you’d know that Windows fails to read the contents of the drive. However, with third-party software, it’s still possible to view all the data that’s stored on the drive, even if it’s formatted for Mac.
Is your Mac currently running the macOS Big Sur Public Beta or Developer Beta? If so, you might be interested in knowing that you can report bugs and glitches directly to Apple using Feedback Assistant.
Apple has released an all new iPad Air, new base model iPad 8th generation, Apple Watch Series 6, and Apple Watch SE at an online event today. They also released iOS 14 GM and iPadOS 14 GM with the final versions set to be available to the general public tomorrow September 16.
Apple has released the GM build of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. GM stands for Golden Master and typically matches the same build as the final software version which then gets released to the general public. This is fitting given that Apple just announced the final versions of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 will be released for everyone tomorrow, on September 16.
Additionally, watchOS 7 GM and tvOS 14 GM are available, though macOS Big Sur GM is not yet available.
All GM builds are available to download now for both public beta and developer beta testers.
Do you want to express yourself with more than just emojis when you’re messaging and texting your friends and family from iPhone or iPad? With iMessage, you can use various fun screen effects like balloons, confetti, fireworks, lasers, shouting, and more, when you send messages from your iPhone and iPad.
Resetting the SMC on new model iMac, iMac Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro desktop Macs have a T2 security chip is a different procedure than on earlier models of the same hardware.
SMC, which stands for System Management Controller, handles a variety of hardware functions on the Mac, including power, fan operation, some ports, and much more. Thus resetting the SMC is a common troubleshooting technique when the hardware side of things are not working as expected on a Mac (along with resetting NVRAM / PRAM).
This tutorial will walk through how to reset the SMC on iMac Pro, iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Pro, each with security chips. Unlike Mac laptops, resetting SMC on newer desktops is done mostly with a power cord.
To be clear, this approach includes resetting SMC for iMac from 2020 and newer, all iMac Pro, Mac Pro 2019 and newer, and Mac mini 2018 and newer. Earlier models will use a different method.
Some Windows 10 users have been reporting an error message stating “a device attached to the system is not functioning” when their iOS or iPadOS devices are connected to a PC. This occurs when Windows is unable to properly communicate with your iPhone or iPad, and there are various reasons why this could happen all of a sudden.
Do you want to keep your WhatsApp conversations and media private? You’re certainly not alone, but WhatsApp allows users to conveniently hide their conversations within a matter of seconds by archiving them.
How’d you like to set a song as the ringtone on iPhone? If you want to use your favorite song as a custom ringtone for incoming phone calls or text messages, you’re certainly not alone. Thanks to Apple’s GarageBand app, you can set literally any song as a ringtone right on your iPhone, and without needing iTunes.
How would you like to try some iMessage special effects? Emojis are great and all, but what if you want some of your messages to stand out when you’re texting your friends and family? Thanks to iMessage, you can use various bubble effects like Slam, Loud, Gentle, etc. to express yourself in flashy and fun ways when messaging from iPhone or iPad.
iOS 14 beta 8 and iPadOS 14 beta 8 have been released for users enrolled in the developer beta and public beta programs.
Separately, new beta versions of watchOS 7 and tvOS 14 are available as well.
Guided Access is an extremely useful accessibility feature that can be utilized to lock your iPhone and iPad’s screen to one app. It can also limit what you can touch on the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch screen. Guided Access is a great feature of iOS and iPadOS, particularly for parents, educators, and even businesses wanting to put an iPad into a form of kiosk mode.
