Apple has released the first beta versions of macOS Tahoe 26.4, ipadOS 26.4, iOS 26.4, along with the rest of the OS 26.4 beta suite.

The new betas are available now to registered developers and soon after for public beta testers.

In the first beta builds, macOS Tahoe 26.4, ipadOS 26.4, iOS 26.4 all introduce a few changes and minor features, including things like end-to-end encryption for RCS messaging (for texting with compatible Android devices that are non-iMessage users), a redesigned wallpaper settings section in iOS/iPadOS, new battery charge options on macOS, video podcast support in the Podcasts app, the return of compact tab bar options in iPadOS and macOS, and more. Presumably bug fixes and security patches will also be included as well.

Apple has a special event scheduled for Wednesday March 4, in which it’s likely that new updated hardware will be unveiled, though it’s unclear if those new devices will ship with existing OS 26.3 versions or the upcoming OS 26.4. Since Apple usually goes through multiple iterations of beta development before releasing a final version, 26.3 is more likely, unless the 26.4 updates are accelerated or the updated hardware doesn’t ship until late March.

Aside from the new betas, the most recent stable builds of system software are currently macOS Tahoe 26.3, iOS 26.3, and iPadOS 26.3.

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The freshly released macOS Tahoe 26.3 update has resolved an accessibility issue where the “Reduce Transparency” feature was not working properly on the Mac. Before macOS Tahoe 26.3, toggling the switch on would leave considerable transparent effects, including in sidebars, headers, titlebars, search boxes, and more, leading to situations where text would overlap and interface elements would be washed out with blurry colors and interface elements. Now with macOS Tahoe 26.3, this issue, which had surfaced originally in 26.1 and 26.2, has finally been resolved.

The Liquid Glass redesign of macOS Tahoe has received significant criticism from the Apple user community, often because of perceived reductions in usability, legibility, and user experience. With all of the translucent and transparent interface elements, many Tahoe users initially used an Accessibility feature called “Reduce Transparency” to make the interface easier to read and interact with, but in a bizarre turnaround or bug, the Reduce Transparency feature was broken in macOS Tahoe 26.2 and 26.1 leaving tons of interface elements transparent and difficult to interact with.

If you have been annoyed with the excessive transparency and visual chaos of the macOS Tahoe interface, you’ll want to update to macOS Tahoe 26.3 again as soon as possible, so that you can use the newly effective Reduce Transparency Accessibility toggle.

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Apple has released MacOS Sequoia 15.7.4 and MacOS Sonoma 14.8.4 as system software updates for the Sonoma and Sequoia operating systems, focusing on security patches for Mac users who are not running macOS Tahoe.

Separately, macOS Tahoe 26.3, iOS 26.4, ipadOS 26.3, watchOS 26.3, tvOS 26.3, along with iOS 18 updates, are also available for eligible devices.

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Apple has released macOS Tahoe 26.3 for all Mac users to install as a software update. macOS Tahoe 26.3 focuses on bug fixes and security enhancements, and are recommended to install for all Tahoe users.

Mac users who are running Sequoia or Sonoma will find smaller security patch oriented updates available for those system software versions instead.

Separately, Apple has also released iOS 26.3 update for iPhone, iPadOS 26.3 update for iPad, along with watchOS 26.3, tvOS 26.3, visionOS 26.3, and updates for older iPhone and iPad models as well.

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iOS 26.3 for iPhone and iPadOS 26.3 for iPad have been released by Apple for all supported devices. The software updates aim to provide important security updates and bug fixes.

Additionally, Apple has released macOS Tahoe 26.3 update for Mac, along with updates to Sequoia, Sonoma, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS, and older iPhone and iPad models that are still running iOS 18 that are unable to update to iOS 26.3.

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If you’d like to maintain and ad-free AI experience, you might want to consider using Claude, which offers free AI tools, web chat, and clients for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, all of which are free from advertising clutter.

Why are you mentioning this? Well, you might have seen that OpenAI has recently announced that ChatGPT would start rolling out ads within your AI chats and conversations. And if you’re a Google user, you likely already have noticed that Google Gemini features ads littered around its AI content too. Displaying advertising can provide a way for services to be available for free (like the website you’re reading right now), but there’s a big difference between small websites using ads to offer free material, and a huge mega-corporation using advertising for not only revenue, but also data profiling, gathering, and tracking.

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Apple has moved on to the Release Candidate phase of the beta cycle for macOS Tahoe 26.3, iOS 26.3, and iPadOS 26.3. The new RC builds are available for users participating in the beta programs.

Release Candidate builds indicate the end of the beta testing period, absent any major bugs or issues, and also serve as a way of determining that a public software update release is close. With the RC build released today, it’s reasonable to expect that the final versions of iOS 26.3, iPadOS 26.3, and macOS Tahoe 26.3, could be released within the next week or two.

No major new features or changes are expected in any of these software updates. It’s unclear which bugs are resolved in the latest RC builds, but there are some prominent frustrating issues that have irritated a large number of OS 26 users. (For example, Tahoe Mac users are hoping Reduce Transparency actually works again, but don’t hold your breath given Apple has released multiple updates without fixing that problem).

It is rumored that new MacBook Pro M5 models will be released in the near future, possibly even next week by press release, and it’s likely that macOS Tahoe 26.3 will debut to support that new hardware.

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If your iPad is running iPadOS 26, you might have already experimented with Windowed App mode which allows apps to be in self-contained windows, allowing for windowed multitasking more like a desktop operating system interface. That’s obviously quite a different experience than the traditional iPad interface, which was more single task oriented with a focused app view of one single app running in full screen.

If you’d like to switch from Windowed app mode or Stage Manager back to Full Screen app mode, read along and your iPad will be running full screen apps again by default in no time.

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Apple has released important software updates to a variety of older devices, including older model Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watch’s. These new updates are released as macOS Big Sur 11.7.11 and macOS Catalina Security Update 2026-001 Catalina, iOS 16.7.14, iPadOS 16.7.14, watchOS 10.6.2, watchOS 9.6.4, and watchOS 6.3.1.

According to release notes from Apple, these software updates extend necessary device activation certificates, allowing for services like iMessage and FaceTime to continue working after January 2027. Without installing these updates, device activation, FaceTime, and iMessage services, will stop working. This makes these updates important to install on any eligible device, though there’s about 11 months technically before the features stop working.

Specific devices eligible for these updates include many that have not otherwise been updated or supported in quite some time, including:

• Apple Watch, as watchOS 10.6.2, watchOS 9.6.4, watchOS 6.3.1: Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, Series 4, and Series 5, Series 6, Series 7, Series 8, SE, SE 2, and Ultra
• Mac, as Security Update 2026-001 Catalina and macOS Big Sur 11.7.11
• iPhone & iPad, as iOS 16.7.14 and iPadOS 16.7.14 : iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPad 5th generation, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, and iPad Pro 12.9-inch 1st generation

The updates included in these new software updates appear to be the same patch that was included in iOS 12.5.8 for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 series.

If you have an older model iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch, you’ll want to check to make sure you don’t miss these updates, or those issued the week prior, with the same patch.

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Image Capture has long been a preferred method of getting photos from an iPhone to a computer or external drive, but something I have run into fairly often over the last several years is that Image Capture occasionally randomly disconnects the iPhone during an image transfer. This obviously ends the image transfer in a failure, and it can be difficult if not impossible to figure out where the transfer left off and then begin again, leading to a hassle as you begin another transfer of images, and so on. When this happens, you’ll see an error message that is direct in statement but void of causation, saying simply that “Camera disconnected while importing”.

Having your iPhone disconnect while trying to transfer photos with Image Capture is obviously incredibly annoying, so you’ll be happy to hear there might be a very easy fix for this, though the solution is probably not what you might expect.

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With macOS Tahoe 26 and newer, you can change and customize the color of your folders as seen within the Finder. This is a fun way to customize the look and feel of using your Mac, and yet it’s simple to implement.

There are a variety of interesting ways to customize the Liquid Glass appearance of your Mac with macOS Tahoe, and using custom folder colors can really set the personalization apart of your Mac.

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You are not hallucinating, and you did not step into a time machine; yes, this is really an article about iOS 12 updates on the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus!

If you or a loved one have an older model iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, or iPhone 6 Plus, or original iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, or iPod touch 6th gen, you’ll want to fire up Software Update and install the latest available system software version on those devices so that they will be able to continue using core device features.

Specifically, iOS 12.5.8 and iPadOS 12.5.8 include updated certificates to allow older iPhone and iPad models to continue using iMessage, FaceTime, and device activation features, after January 2027. Without installing these updates, those core features will stop working at the beginning of next year as the necessary certificate in prior versions then expires.

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Apple has released iOS 26.2.1 and iPadOS 26.2.1 for iPhone and iPad, respectively. These are relatively small system software updates that include support for the freshly released AirTags 2nd generation, along with unspecified bug fixes.

Separately, Apple has also released minor updates to watchOS 26.2.1 for Apple Watch, along with iOS 18.7.4, iOS 16.7.13, iOS 15.8.6, and even iOS 12.5.8 (!) for older iPhones and iPads. There are no updates available for macOS Tahoe 26, and there are no available security updates for any Apple devices either.

The main purpose behind the 26.2.1 update appears to be to support the newly released AirTags 2nd generation, which Apple quietly released today with improvements in the precision finding feature and range, though you will need an iPhone 15 or newer to take advantage of those features. Because there do not appear to be any security improvements, nor details about specific bug fixes, and the updates themselves are quite small, it’s reasonable to assume nothing major has been resolved or included in this update, and there may not be the typical urgency with installing these updates, unless you’re trying to use the new AirTags with your device.

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Apple has moved on to the third beta version of iOS 26.3, iPadOS 26.3, and macOS Tahoe 26.3, which are now available for beta testers on enrolled devices.

No major changes or new features are expected in these upcoming versions of system software, so if you’re not thrilled with the Liquid Glass design quirks or any existing bugs or complaints with the OS 26 suite, you’ll have to keep waiting.

While running these beta versions of system software is impractical for most users, keeping on top of beta releases can be helpful to see what is coming down the pipeline in terms of updated OS features, changes, and potential bug fixes. With widespread user complaints regarding the redesign and Liquid Glass appearance of the entire OS 26 suite, there is some renewed interest in beta builds by more casual users who are hoping for some significant changes and improvements to the user interfaces and user experiences. Those users will be let down however, because the iOS 26.3 betas and macOS Tahoe 26.3 betas, as yet anyway, do not include any major redesigns, improvements, or changes. For example, Reduce Transparency continues to not work fully in macOS Tahoe, rendering the popular Accessibility feature basically useless for improving legibility on the Mac.

Outside of betas, iOS 26.2.1 and iPadOS 26.2.1 were released earlier with unspecified bug fixes along with support for the 2nd gen AirTag, though macOS Tahoe 26.2 remains the most recent public build of Tahoe.

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If you’re a command line enthusiast and you’re the type of Mac user who likes to keep an eye on your system resources and resource utilization, you’ll likely enjoy checking out the btop command. btop offers real-time visualization of CPU usage, memory use, processes, network activity, and disk activity. You can even use btop as a task manager, and kill processes directly from within btop, making btop kind of like Activity Monitor, but for the Terminal.

The btop tool is open source and cross platform, so while we’re focusing on MacOS here, you can also install it on Linux or Windows.

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One of the big complaints about the Liquid Glass interface of iPadOS 26 and iOS 26 is that the user interface can be challenging to use, read, differentiate elements, and interact with. There are various toggles and settings that Apple has placed under the “Accessibility” category that can significantly improve the legibility and experience of interacting with the Liquid Glass interface on iPhone and iPad however, and one of those is something called “Show Borders”.

As you might have guessed by the name, “Show Borders” will draw a border around many interface elements that are otherwise low contrast and blended, making the Liquid Glass interface easier to use and quickly differentiate various visual elements and cues. This feature is available for both iPhone and iPad running the iOS/iPadOS 26 operating systems, but some users may find dit particularly advantageous on the iPad using the window-based multitasking system.

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One of the more intriguing new features introduced in iPadOS 26 for iPad is the optional windowed app mode for multitasking. Windowed apps behave very similar to application windows in MacOS or Windows, allowing you to have multiple simultaneous apps and documents open at the same time, often interloping each other. If you’ve ever felt like this windowed app functionality was missing from your iPad experience, you’ll be thrilled to have this feature on iPadOS now. And even if that’s not the case, it’s worth trying out for iPad users in general, because some of you might decide you prefer windowed apps anyway.

Windowed app mode on iPad is best used with a Magic Keyboard case, or with an external keyboard and mouse in general whether that be through Bluetooth or Universal Control and a Mac. It also generally works best on the bigger screen iPad models, as multiple windows can feel a bit more cluttered on the smaller screens.

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The second beta versions of iOS 26.3 beta, macOS Tahoe 26.3 beta, and ipadOS 26.3 beta, are available now for testing by those participating in the beta testing programs for Apple system software.

The most recent public stable versions of system software are currently iOS 26.2, iPadOS 26.2, and macOS Tahoe 26.2.

Perhaps iOS 26.3 and macOS Tahoe 26.3 will patch a few bugs, but whether or not it will resolve some of the longstanding complaints that users have expressed with the new system software versions remains a question. Given that multiple OS 26 point releases have come out without resolving some of the significant issues with interface legibility and wi-fi issues, it’s better to assume that no major changes are coming.

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