Apple has released a small software update for MacOS Ventura 13.3.1 that Apple says provides important bug fixes and security updates.

At the top of the “important bug fixes” in MacOS Ventura 13.3.1 is a resolution to an issue where skin tone variations did not display in the new pushing hands Emoji. Secondarily, and perhaps more niche, an issue where auto-unlocking a Mac with Apple Watch was not working has been fixed. The security updates included in MacOS 13.3.1 apparently patch known and actively used exploits as well. There is no mention of resolving newly identified issues with Universal Control and Sidecar, however, from user reports and personal experience the issues with both appear to be fixed with the MacOS 13.3.1 update.

Separately, Apple has released Safari 16.4.1 with security fixes for Mac users running Big Sur and Monterey, and iOS 16.4.1 for iPhone and iPadOS 16.4.1 for iPad, which also include the push hands Emoji color bug fix, and a resolution to a problem where Siri sometimes does not respond to requests.

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You can now use and pair a Playstation 5 DualSense Edge Controller with your Mac, you can do so rather easily.

The pairing and connection process for the PS5 DualSense Edge Controller to the Mac is pretty straightforward, using a standard Bluetooth pairing process.

If you’re wondering how to pair and connect a PS5 DualSense Edge controller to your Mac, read along.

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An Apple ID is used as a gateway to every Apple service and many features on the Mac (and other Apple devices), ranging from iCloud, iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive, Find My, iCloud Documents and Data, backups, Contacts, Messages, Notes, Mail, and so much more.

While basically every Mac should stay logged into an Apple ID to have access to all of those features and to function as intended, there are times when users may wish to log out of an Apple ID and remove an Apple ID from a Mac.

But, like so many other things relating to System Settings in MacOS Ventura, signing out of an Apple ID is different in MacOS Ventura than it was in earlier versions of MacOS as the location of the settings have changed.

Let’s review how you can go about signing out of an Apple ID on a Mac with MacOS Ventura 13 or newer, and what that means.

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Are you in the market for some AirPods, an Apple Watch, M1 iPad Air, M1 MacBook Air, M2 MacBook Air, or M2 Mac Mini? They’re all available right now from Amazon with some pretty big discounts, so why not save a bit of cash and get yourself some new Apple hardware from Amazon.

AirPods 2nd generation at 38% Off

Starting off with the 2nd generation AirPods at $99, a $30 discount.

• AirPods for $99 (down from $129)

AirPods Pro 2nd generation for $50 off

Want AirPods Pro with even more features? The 2nd gen are discounted by $50:

• AirPods Pro for $199 (discounted from $249)

Apple Watch SE 2nd generation for $30 off

The Apple Watch SE is a great entry level Apple Watch with fitness tracking, heart rate monitoring, and so much more.

• Apple Watch SE 2nd gen for $219 (down from $249)

Apple Watch Series 8 for $70 Off

Next up is the Apple Watch Series 8 for $329, a great $70 discount, available in several colors at this price. The Series 8 includes ECG, blood oxygen sensor, GPS, an always-on display, and much more.

• Apple Watch Series 8 for $329 (down from $399)

M1 MacBook Air at 20% off, for $799

The base model M1 MacBook Air is offered at a $200 discount from retail, a great price for a great Mac:

• M1 MacBook Air for $799(down from $999)

M2 MacBook Air up to 13% off, from $1049

The base model M2 MacBook Air in Midnight Blue is available at a nice discount, for both 256GB and 512GB models:

• M2 MacBook Air – Midnight Blue – 256GB – $1049 (down from $1199)
• M2 MacBook Air – Midnight Blue – 512GB – $1349 (down from $1499)

M2 Mac Mini up to 17% off, from $499

The all new M2 Mac Mini is available at a nice discount from 14% to 17% off, depending on the model you choose:

• M2 Mac Mini – 256GB – $499 (down from $599)
• M2 Mac Mini – 512GB – $689 (down from $799)

M1 iPad Air up to 17% off, from $499

You can pick up the iPad Air with M1 processor in select colors at up to a 17% discount:

• M1 iPad Air – Blue, Pink, Space Gray – 64GB – $499 (down from $599)

And if you’re shopping around for other Apple products, be sure to the Apple product page at Amazon where, there are tons of other discounts available on other hardware. If you’re in the market for Apple gear, why not save a bit of money?

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Sending invitations to events is a primary feature in any calendar, and the Calendar app for iPhone and iPad is no exception.

While it is easy to send invitations to events to contacts or other people with the Calendar app on iPhone and iPad, if you’re unfamiliar with the process it may be new to you.

Additionally, there are a few quirks that may cause some confusion when using the Calendar invitation system on iOS and iPadOS.

Let’s dive in and see how this feature works.

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All iPhone and iPad users should be aware that installing the iOS 16.4 update for iPhone or iPadOS 16.4 update for iPad will enable the system settings for automatically installing and downloading future iOS/iPadOS software updates to that device.

A splash screen noting this change appears right after the update has installed on a device and before it can be used, but since many device users are trained to just mindlessly tap forward on these setup screens, they may miss what exactly is being done on their iPhone or iPad, and the implications of this.

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If you have updated to MacOS Ventura, you may have noticed that if you double type a space, you end up with a period automatically typing itself.

Some users may appreciate the automatic typing of periods after hitting the spacebar twice, but many Mac users who write code, scripts, or write professionally, can be annoyed by the automatic typing of periods with the space bar.

Here’s how you can turn off the auto-typing of periods after hitting space twice in MacOS Ventura.

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Apple has introduced a feature called Voice Isolation to iPhone cellular calls that should make it easier to have phone conversations while using iPhone, even when there is loud or distracting background noise.

As the name implies, Voice Isolation prioritizes the sound of your voice, rather than other sounds that may be picked up by the iPhone microphone elsewhere in the surrounding environment.

If you’ve ever been on a phone call with someone walking by a leaf blower, vacuuming, revving an engine, washing dishes, or performing other common tasks, you can likely already imagine how prioritizing voice and using voice isolation is going to be helpful at improving the clarity and focus of your phone calls, so read along to learn how to turn on this somewhat hidden feature.

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Remember the old days of BBS? Using a modem, you’d dial in to a BBS (bulletin board system) to connect and get online, where you could then play games, communicate with others through message boards and chat, and exchange information and files, all long before the days of the modern internet. While BBS’s are mostly obsoleted by more modern internet protocols and apps, it turns out they actually still exist out there, and you can connect to any active BBS through telnet and with fun retro apps like MuffinTerm.

MuffinTerm is a free app for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, which offers a very authentic classic BBS experience, complete with emulated nostalgia like scan lines, CRT screen curvature, simulated modem speeds, modem lights, virtual sticky notes, support for ANSI, PETSCII, and ATASCII terminal emulation, and more.

Sound like some retro fun? Well what are you waiting for, here’s how you can get MuffinTerm and connect to a BBS from your iPad, Mac, or iPhone.

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If you have a HomePod or HomePod Mini and you attempt to connect audio streams to it through AirPlay, you’ve undoubtedly ran into the error message “AirPlay – Unable to connect to (HomePod)” with an OK button.

This is a very frustrating error message that makes the HomePod Mini and HomePod not particularly useful or reliable with AirPlay connections, ironic given the entire implementation is through Apple devices.

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If you do not wish Recent Apps to be shown on the left side of Stage Manager on iPad, you can choose to hide the display of Recent Apps in the multitasking screen.

Hiding Recent Apps in Stage Manager offers more visible screen real estate which may be helpful on smaller screen iPad models, or if you wish to simply have fewer distractions visible on the display as you work on iPad. The Recent Apps are what are shown on the left side when in Stage Manager.

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You can now change file extensions of any files, documents, or items contained within the Files app on iPhone or iPad.

In order to change file extensions on your iOS or iPadOS device you will first need to make sure you show file extensions in Files app on iPad or iPhone if you haven’t done that already.

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Apple has announced that its annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) will take place on June 5, and run through June 9.

WWDC 2023 will primarily be an online event, but also have an in-person component held on the Apple campus for developers who wish to attend that.

The keynote presentations for WWDC are where Apple typically unveils upcoming major system software versions, revealing expected new features and changes that are coming in those system software releases. This year, it’s expected that iOS 17, iPadOS 17, MacOS 14, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17 will be unveiled.

Usually after the keynote speech, the first beta versions of upcoming system software versions are released to developers, and then usually about a month later the public beta program begins.

There are various rumors that Apple may unveil a rumored Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality headset at WWDC this year, and possibly updates to the Mac Pro to bring that machine onto the Apple Silicon architecture, and a highly anticipated 15″ MacBook Air. Rumors are best to take with a grain of salt, however.

In the Apple press release announcing WWDC 2023, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations said “WWDC23 is going to be our biggest and most exciting yet”, but it’s impossible to ascertain if that’s typical Apple marketing hyperbole (everything is always the best yet, right?), or if that alludes to some unknown features or products that may be coming.

If you are an Apple developer and you wish to attend the WWDC 2023 special event held at the Apple campus, you can request an invitation here at the Apple website.

Whether for troubleshooting or other purposes, you may arrive at a situation where you must reinstall MacOS Monterey onto a Mac that is presently running MacOS Monterey.

The most convenient way to reinstall macOS is to simply reinstall the macOS system software, without erasing other data on the Mac, and that is the method we are going to focus on here with a Mac that is running MacOS Monterey 12.x.

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Apple has issued the first beta versions of iOS 16.5 for iPhone, iPadOS 16.5 for iPad, and macOS Ventura 13.4 for Mac.

The betas arrive just a day after MacOS Ventura 13.3 update, iOS 16.4 update, and iPadOS 16.4 update arrived for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad, respectively.

It’s not clear what the focus of iOS 16.5, iPadOS 16.5, or macoS Ventura 13.4 will be, but presumably the updates will offer minor enhancements, bug fixes, and security fixes for Apple devices.

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Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.6.4 and macOS Big Sur 11.7.5 for Mac users who are continuing to run the two prior generation Macintosh system software versions. The updates are available separately from the macOS Ventura 13.3.

Additionally, Safari 16.4 is available as a software update for Monterey and Big Sur users.

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Apple has released iOS 15.7.4 for iPhone and iPadOS 15.7.4 for iPad for older iPhone and iPad models with important security updates.

Specifically, iOS 15.7.4 for iPhone and iPadOS 15.7.4 for iPad are available 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), when these devices are not running iOS/iPadOS 16.x.

Separately, Apple has released iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 for iPhone and iPad, macOS Ventura 13.3 for Mac, and other updates for older Macs, along with Apple TV, Apple Watch, and HomePod.

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iOS 16.4 for iPhone and iPadOS 16.4 for iPad have been released by Apple. The software updates include new Emoji icons, security enhancements, bug fixes, and a few very minor features, like the inclusion of voice isolation support for cellular calls.

For users of older iPhone and iPad models, iOS 15.7.4 and iPadOS 15.7.4 is also available as a software update.

Separately, Apple also released macOS Ventura 13.3 update for Mac, along with software updates for MacOS Monterey, MacOS Big Sur, watchOS, tvOS, and HomePod.

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