Apple has been busy mucking with the design and functionality of the Mail app, this time bringing Mail Sender Icons to the Mac Mail app. With this new introduction to clutter the Mail interface, you’ll see a Contact Photo or mail sender icon next to the mail sender name, subject, and preview of the mail content. Whether or not you enjoy the Contact Photos in Mail app may depend on who and what you get emails from most often, and while some users may enjoy the mail sender icons others may not like them at all. If you’re in the latter camp, you will be thrilled to discover that you can disable the Contact Photos from appearing as mail sender icons in Mail app for Mac.

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Amazon is back with some nice deals on select Apple products, including a big discount on Apple Watch SE 2, and some nice discounts on brand new M3 iPad Air, M4 MacBook Pro models, AirPods Pro with hearing aid functionality, and more.

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One of the more interesting features to arrive on iPhone lately is the Ambient Music player, which, as the name implies, plays ambient music. This neat audio feature was introduced with iOS 18.4, and the Ambient Music Player offers four different ambient music types to play; Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing.

While the Ambient Music Player is free to use, and it seems to be related to Apple Music, it’s unique in that it doesn’t play through the Music app, nor is there a dedicated Ambient Music app to play through either. Instead, the Ambient Music Player on iPhone is mysteriously hidden as an optional part of Control Center, so it’s very easy to overlook or not even notice. Nonetheless, if you like subtle beats and music playing while you work, focus, or rest, you might appreciate and enjoy this feature, and you’ll want to take a moment to see how it works.

Read along and we’ll show you how to add the Ambient Music players to your iPhone Control Center for quick and easy access.
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Perhaps you recently saw that Apple had released the iPhone 16e and drooled with envy at the iPhone 16e default wallpaper, which sort of looks like a drop of Liquid Metal (why did macOS Sequoia autocorrect capitalize “Liquid Metal”? Who knows, but it did it again, so let’s go with it) or maybe a water droplet suspended in air.

But you don’t need to spend $600 on a new entry-level iPhone just to get a new wallpaper, you can download the full resolution version right now and throw it on your current iPhone, an Android, iPad, Mac, or Windows PC.

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The Mail app for iPad has been updated to include the Mail Categories feature with iPadOS 18.4. The Mail Categories feature is intended to automatically sort your email inbox within the Mail app into particular email categories, including “Primary”, “Transactions”, “Updates”, and “Promotions”, along with a mostly hidden “All Mail” option.

While the intention may be to clean up and sort the email inbox for users, in practice many users find that the Mail Categories are prioritizing ancient useless emails (like months old DoorDash promotions) and hiding useful recent emails from real people (like emails from family, friends, colleagues). Additionally, the Mail Categories feature places additional layers of interaction between your email inbox within Mail app and being able to actually see all of your emails. For these reasons, amongst others, some users may wish to disable the Mail Categories feature on iPad (You can also disable Mail Categories on Mac Mail app and turn off the feature on iPhone Mail too).

If you want to return the Mail app on iPad back to it’s easy classic interface and disable the Mail Categories feature, we’ll walk you through how to do it, because the setting for this is not in the Settings app.

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While Apple may have just released the final versions of MacOS Sequoia 15.4, iOS 18.4, and iPadOS 18.4 to the general public, they’re already back on the beta train. This time around we’ve got the first beta versions of iOS 18.5, iPadOS 18.5, and MacOS Sequoia 15.5.

It’s not clear what the focus of these new beta versions will be, and no major new features are expected, or at least included in the initial betas. Presumably the focus will be on the typical bug fixes and security enhancements, perhaps with some further refinements to Apple Intelligence features.

Beta testers can also find new beta versions of watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS, if they’re testing for those devices as well.

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Amazon is offering some intriguing deals on Apple products at the moment, including a deeply discounted M2 MacBook Air, iPad mini 7, and a nice little discount on the latest M3 iPad Air.

Check out the deals!

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Apple has brought the controversial Mail Categories feature to the Mail app on Mac, and you will find that it is enabled in the Mail app by default. The idea behind Mail Categories is that your inbox is now sorting itself automatically into four categories; Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. There’s also a hidden “All Mail” category that is where you’ll actually find all of your emails, including emails you likely want to see that are not found in one of the pre-sorted Categories. This feature was first introduced on iPhone and was not necessarily received well by everyone, and now this feature is on the Mac and iPad.

If you wish to turn off the Mail Categories feature on Mac Mail app, read along and you’ll quickly find out how to do that, returning your Mail app to the standard inbox experience that you have been accustomed to for the entire duration of your Mac usage.

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Apple has released macOS Sonoma 14.7.5 and MacOS Ventura 13.7.5 as security updates for Mac users running Sonoma and Ventura operating systems. These updates are security patch focused and do not include new features that are otherwise available in the latest MacOS Sequoia 15.4 update that was released simultaneously.

Separately, you’ll find software updates available for both newer and older model iPhone and iPad, along with updates for Apple TV, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro.

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While iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates were just released for modern iPhone and iPad devices, Apple has also released a bevy of software updates for older iPhone and iPad devices. Each of these updates include important security fixes and are therefore recommended for all eligible users and their devices to install.

Specifically, you will find the following security updates available for older iPhone and iPad models;

• iPadOS 17.7.6 iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2nd generation, iPad Pro 10.5-inch, and iPad 6th generation
• iOS 16.7.11 and iPadOS 16.7.11 for iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPad 5th generation, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, and iPad Pro 12.9-inch 1st generation
• iOS 15.8.4 and iPadOS 15.8.4 for iPhone 6s (all models), iPhone 7 (all models), iPhone SE (1st generation), iPad Air 2, iPad mini (4th generation), and iPod touch (7th generation)

Some of these software updates go back to several generations older devices, indicating the importance of the security patches contained within these updates.

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This is important and relevant to most Mac, iPhone, and iPad users: Installing the latest updates for MacOS Sequoia 15.4 for Mac, iOS 18.4 for iPhone, and iPadOS 18.4 for iPad, will forcibly enable automatic software update for system updates on your device.

Some people may already have these auto-update features enabled on their devices and not mind this change (nor would they notice a difference), whereas there are many other people who intentionally disable automatic update and do not wish to have the auto-update feature forced upon their devices.

With Automatic Updates enabled, this means your Mac, iPhone, or iPad, will automatically download and install system software updates onto your device(s) as they become available, without your approval or prompting.

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Apple has released iOS 18.4 for iPhone, along with iPadOS 18.4 for iPad. These updates include a few new features, as well as bug fixes and security enhancements.

iOS 18.4 for iPhone includes new emoji icons, an ambient music generator, a Priority Notifications feature for Apple Intelligence, and various bug fixes and security patches.

iPadOS 18.4 for iPad includes the introduction of the controversial Mail Categorizations feature from iPhone to sort your email inbox for you, ambient music generation, new emoji icons, Priority Notifications, and fixes for various bugs and security issues.

You will also find MacOS Sequoia 15.4 available for Mac, along with updates to macOS Sonoma, macOS Ventura, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS.

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MacOS Sequoia 15.4 has been released for Mac users running the Sequoia operating system. The software update includes some new features and refinements, as well as resolutions to various bugs and security patches.

For new features, MacOS Sequoia 15.4 gains the Mail Categorization feature that automatically sorts your email inbox for you that has been somewhat controversial on iPhone since it debuted, along with new Emoji icons. You’ll also find the typical array of bug fixes and security patches in this particular software update for Mac.

Aside from Sequoia, if your Mac is running macOS Sonoma or MacOS Ventura you will find updates available for those macOS versions as well.

Additionally, iPhone and iPad users will find iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 available as updates to download and install, along with updates for watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS.

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Amazon is having some fantastic spring sales and deals, offering many Apple products at great discounts from retail prices. Check out the deals below to find discounted prices on new Apple gear including AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2, wired Earbuds, Apple Watch Series 10, iPad mini 7, M3 iPad Air, M4 MacBook Pro, AirTags, and more.

Why pay full price when you don’t need to? Check out the deals.

AirPods 4 – $99 (down from $129)

AirPods 4 are popular wireless earbuds and include great features like gesture support, Spatial Audio, voice isolation, water and sweat resistance, Siri commands, and a USB-C charging case.

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

AirPods Pro 2 with Hearing Aid Functionality – $169 (down from $249)

AirPods Pro 2 offer advanced features like hearing aid functionality, active noise cancellation, high fidelity sound, water and sweat resistance, Spatial Audio, custom fit, transparency mode, ear detection, a USB-C charging case, and more.

• AirPods Pro 2 – $169 (down from $249)

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Apple has issued a second release candidate (RC) build of iOS 18.4 and ipadOS 18.4, a day after releasing a 2nd RC build of MacOS Seqouia 15.4. Earlier in the week Apple introduced the first RC builds of these system software versions.

iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 gain some new features and improvements to Apple Intelligence, Photos app, various bug fixes, and iPad gains the Mail Categories feature on iPhone which hasn’t been well received by everyone but you can always disable it if you don’t like it. There’s also a new feature to play Ambient Music from Control Center, and the inclusion of new Emoji icons like a face with bags under its eyes.

With a second release candidate and accompanying release notes being made available today, it is likely that the final versions of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 will debut next week.

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Apple has provided a second Release Candidate build of MacOS Sequoia 15.4 for users enrolled in the beta testing program, arriving just a few days after the first release candidate build of Sequoia 15.4, iOS 18.4, and iPad 18.4 were issued.

Release Candidates typically match the final version of software that is released to the general public. A second release candidate build suggests some bug or issue with the first release candidate build has been found and addressed.

MacOS Sequoia 15.4 includes some new features, including the controversial Mail Categories feature first seen on iPhone, along with new emoji icons.

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VirtualBuddy offers a simple way to quickly virtualize MacOS (and Linux) on any Apple Silicon Mac, offering an easy method for developers, enthusiasts, and the curious to run multiple instances of MacOS on their Mac. And VirtualBuddy is speedy with great performance, plus it’s free and open source, so you can easily explore the world of virtual machines with no commitment aside from the disk storage and bandwidth required to setup a MacOS or Linux VM.

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Amazon is back at it with some great spring deals, ranging from big discounts on M2 MacBook Air, iPad mini 7, AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2, Apple Watch Series 10, AirTags, and more.

If you’re shopping for some Apple gear, check out these great deals.
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