By now it’s fairly likely you have either heard about or updated to iOS 18 on iPhone or iPadOS 18 on iPad, and you might be wondering about some of the new features.
While there are some major new features along with many small changes and mini features here and there, there are a handful of features in particular you might find to be most compelling or useful, and that’s what we’re aiming to cover here.
The Messages app for Mac is incredibly useful in that it allows Mac users to seamlessly communicate over iMessage with other Macs, iPhones, and iPads, and it allows Mac users to send text messages to Android users too, but the latest versions of Messages on the Mac are known for randomly using high amounts of CPU and slowing down a Mac, even if the Messages app is in the background and idle.
We’ve covered various tips for fixing high CPU use in Messages for Mac and the related sluggish performance before, but we’re going to cover another quick tip here that quickly fixes Messages when it’s using large amounts of system resources on a Mac when idle.
If you have recently installed iOS 18 on iPhone, or iPadOS 18 on iPad, and you’re not thrilled with the experience, or maybe you’ve encountered something that is incompatible with your workflow, you can still downgrade from iOS 18 back to iOS 17.
Specifically, currently you can downgrade an iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 back to iOS 17.7 or iPadOS 17.7, but this technique will only work for as long as iOS 17.7 is being signed by Apple. Thus, if you’re motivated to downgrade, you’ll want to act relatively quickly, since you never know when Apple will stop signing past releases.
Apple has released the 5th beta versions of iOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, and iPadOS 18.1, with Apple Intelligence support.
The Apple Intelligence features that are included with these releases are mostly Writing Tools, summaries, and new Siri features, which allow you to do things like summarize emails, offer Smart Replies in Mail and Messages, and re-write selected text into different tones and styles. Absent from these system software versions are other Apple Intelligence features like AI image generation with Image Playground, and Genmoji to create your own emoji. Those AI features are likely to come later, perhaps in iOS 18.2 and MacOS Sequoia 15.2, or later. It’s important to remember that Apple Intelligence has very strict system requirements particularly for iPhone, requiring iPhone 15 Pro or better, and an M1 or better chip on iPad or Mac.
Another notable feature inclusion with MacOS Sequoia 15.1 beta 5 and iOS 18.1 beta 5 is that you can now drag and drop files and data between iPhone and Mac when using iPhone Mirroring, one of the most useful features included in MacOS Sequoia.
If you are enrolled in the developer or public beta testing program you can download iOS/iPadOS 18.1 beta 5 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 beta 5 right away from Software Update.
A fair number of Mac users have discovered that the Apple Music application will seemingly spontaneously open itself at random, and even play music, without being prompted to do so. That Apple Music will randomly open itself and even start playing music is highly undesirable behavior for many Mac users, and thus it’s reasonable to want a solution to this potentially embarrassing or just outright annoying problem.
We’re going to explain why Apple Music opens randomly on a Mac, and offer four different ways to stop or prevent this behavior.
Now that MacOS Sequoia is available for all Mac users to update and install, you might be wondering which of the many new features and changes are particularly enticing, and that you might actually use. Rather than overwhelm you with a list of twenty seven trillion new things that you will quickly forget about, here we’ll focus on six of the most significant new features in macOS Sequoia that you should try out, and that you’re likely to use on a regular basis.
Apple has issued the fourth beta version of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and MacOS Sequoia 15.1, each with Apple Intelligence features that were not available in the initial public release of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15.0. The fourth developer beta version also matches the first public beta version of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and MacOS 15.1 with Apple Intelligence.
Users who are enrolled in the beta testing programs can download the beta 4 updates right now to their eligible devices.
Apple Intelligence AI features include functionality to perform tasks akin to ChatGPT (and in many cases, is being performed by ChatGPT itself), with tools that allow for things like rewriting emails to be more professional, summarizing data on screen or webpages, generate AI artwork, and more.
iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and MacOS Sequoia 15.1 will technically run on any device that supports iOS/iPadOS 18 or macOS Sequoia 15.0, but the Apple Intelligence AI features are much more strictly limited. For iPhone, Apple Intelligence is only available on iPhone 15 Pro or better, whereas for iPad you must have an M1 chip or better, and Macs must also have an M1 chip or better. While this may be disappointing to many users, it’s worth remembering that basically every model device is able to run ChatGPT through the dedicated app, or OpenAI website.
Apple has released iOS 17.7 and iPadOS 17.7 as software updates for iPhone and iPad, containing important security fixes that make these updates recommended to install.
While most attention is on the freshly released iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 software updates for iPhone and iPad users, Apple has also released security updates for users who are staying on iOS 17 or iPadOS 17. If you’re not yet prepared for iOS 18 or maybe you’re simply waiting to install it for some other reason, then you should install iOS/iPadOS 17.7 to get the relevant security patches.
Apple has issued new software updates for MacOS Sonoma 14.7 and MacOS Ventura 13.7, for users who are not yet installing the freshly released MacOS Sequoia 15.0 system software upgrade.
Both MacOS Sonoma 14.7 and MacOS Ventura 13.7 contain security fixes, and are therefore recommended to all Mac users. There are no new features or major changes otherwise.
Mac users will also find Safari 18.0 available to download for Sonoma and Ventura as well, otherwise Safari 18.0 is bundled with Sequoia.
Apple has released iOS 18 as a software update for all iPhone users, after a summer of beta testing the new system software.
While iOS 18 isn’t a revolutionary software update, it does offer many new customization options and features for iPhone and iPad users, including the ability to color hue icons and widgets, new Dark Mode icons, an option to make icons larger on the Home Screen, the ability to customize the redesigned Control Center, a dedicated Passwords app, a Calculator app on iPad, new Safari features like Distraction Control which lets you select obnoxious areas on a webpage to hide, a redesigned Photos app that will confuse some users, the ability to schedule Messages, along with many smaller changes to apps like Notes and Mail. Later, starting with iOS 18.1, users with compatible devices will also find Apple Intelligence AI features throughout the operating system.
iOS 18 for iPhone arrives alongside iPadOS 18 for iPad, as well as watchOS 11 for Apple Watch, macOS Sequoia for Mac, and tvOS 18 for Apple TV.
Apple has released watchOS 11 for Apple Watch. The new software update includes a variety of new features and changes for Apple Watch, including new fitness and health features and insights, improvements to Smart Stacks, sleep apnea notifications on eligible devices, new watch face options, a Translate app, and more.
Apple Watch users will also need to make sure they are running iOS 18 on iPhone that is paired with their device.
macOS Sequoia has been officially released by Apple, and is now available to all Mac users. Versioned as MacOS 15.0, Sequoia takes its name from the famous big trees and national park in Apple’s home state of California.
macOS Sequoia brings some exciting new features to the Mac, most notable being iPhone Mirroring, an intriguing feature that allows you to control an iPhone from your Mac using the cursor and drag and drop files and photos easily between the devices. You’ll find a variety of other new features too, including a dedicated Passwords app, easier window tiling, new wallpapers, new screensavers, Highlights and Distraction Control in Safari, scheduling in Messages, live audio transcription in Notes app, and more. Later in the year, macOS Sequoia will also gain Apple Intelligence AI features that do things like help you write, summarize text, rewrite text into different tones or styles, and ChatGPT integration.
All Mac users with a compatible Mac can download and install macOS Sequoia right now.
Separately, Apple has also released iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, and visionOS 2.
iOS 18 will become available as a software update for iPhone on Monday, September 16, alongside iPadOS 18 for iPad. With some fun new features, customization options, and capabilities, it’s easy to see why people are excited about installing the new software update on their iPhone or iPad.
Before you dive into updating your iPhone to iOS 18, or iPad to ipadOS 18, consider taking a few steps to prepare your device.
Apple has bestowed upon us some wonderful weekend reading, in the form of all new iCloud Terms and Conditions, which are required to accept if you wish to continue to use iCloud on your Apple devices. It’s iCloud, it’s Terms, and it’s Conditions… iCloud. Terms. Conditions… are you getting it yet? This is not three separate documents!
It’s a page turner from the very beginning where Apple welcomes you – and you do feel that welcome, don’t you? – to the very end where they provide a URL for the web version of the document, the full new iCloud Terms and Conditions comes in at a soothing 10,437 words. That’s roughly 21 pages of a single-spaced text document, or 42 pages double-spaced for all you students out there, making the new iCloud Terms and Conditions roughly the length of a healthy college dissertation.
The writing style is effortless and riveting, and it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat like a Jack Carr novel, rising to a thrilling crescendo once it reaches the section on how you’re not allowed to use any of the Apple software or services to participate in the “development, design, manufacture or production of missiles, nuclear, chemical or biological weapons” (seriously, it says that, so don’t do any of that).
In all of the hubbub about the new iPhone 16 series and release candidate builds for macOS Sequoia, iOS 18, and iPadOS 18, you might have missed when Apple announced what the official release dates will be for all of their new operating systems.
Let’s clear that up right now so that you can be ready to download the install the iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11, and tvOS 18 onto your eligible devices.
Apple has issued the macOS Sequoia 15 release candidate build for Mac users participating in the beta testing programs, for both developer and public beta testers.
Separately, you’ll find downloads for iOS 18 release candidate, iPadOS 18 release candidate, watchOS 11 release candidate, tvOS 18 release candidate, and visionOS 2 release candidate, for those eligible devices as well.
Apple has issued the Release Candidate build for iOS 18 for iPhone, alongside iPadOS 18 Release Candidate. The RC, or Release Candidate, build is typically the final version that will match the public release, and is available now labeled simply as iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 for any iPhone or iPad user that is enrolled in the public or developer beta testing programs.
Separately, macOS Sequoia Release Candidate has also been made available, alongside Release Candidate builds for WatchOS 11 and tvOS 18.
Apple has announced the all new iPhone 16 series, including iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Each new iPhone supports Apple Intelligence, the upcoming AI feature suite debuting in October.
As is expected with the annual iPhone update cycle, each new iPhone offers faster performance with improved cameras, and include a variety of other marginal improvements to things like the microphone and power efficiency, compared to the prior model iPhones they are replacing.
We watched the keynote and waded through all the aggressive Apple marketing language and buzzwords, and the gist of the new iPhone 16 series is as follows:
