Apple’s fall harvest has yielded the new M5 chip, leading to updates for the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, the iPad Pro lineup, and the Vision Pro. All three benefit from the M5’s significant performance boosts, but remain mostly unchanged otherwise. Availability starts on October 22. We anticipate that Apple will release M5 versions of the iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Air in the coming months, along with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips in early to mid-2026.

With the M5 chip, Apple continues to focus on boosting AI performance. Its new 10-core GPU promises up to four times the peak GPU compute performance of the previous M4 chip—an impressive leap. The GPU also provides enhanced graphics capabilities and ray tracing that deliver results up to 45% faster than the M4. The 10-core CPU, with six efficiency cores and four performance cores, provides up to 15% faster multithreaded performance than the M4, a more typical performance increase between chip generations. Additionally, Apple increased unified memory bandwidth from 120 GBps to 153 GBps, which speeds up many different operations.

14-inch MacBook Pro

The most mainstream of the updated devices is the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, which benefits from the improved performance of the M5 chip. Apple claims improvements in various tasks ranging from 20% to 80% compared to the M4 model it replaces. Even more compelling is the comparison with the M1-based 13-inch MacBook Pro, where the M5 MacBook Pro is 2 to 7 times faster.

Apple also increased SSD performance by up to 2x, which we suspect should give the new M5 model read/write speeds comparable to those of the M4 Pro and M4 Max models of the MacBook Pro.

The final update is that the M5 MacBook Pro can now be equipped with 4 TB of storage, a $1,200 option previously reserved for the M4 Pro and M4 Max models. They remain for sale, and although Apple didn’t share any benchmarks, we suspect they will continue to outperform the M5 model at most tasks.

Otherwise, the new M5 MacBook Pro continues to feature three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SDXC card slot, and MagSafe 3 charging. Its 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion remains unchanged, as does the physical design. Pricing is also the same, starting at $1,599 for 16 GB of unified memory and 512 GB of storage.

For now, the M5 model of the 14-inch MacBook Pro is notably more capable than the M4 models of the MacBook Air, which was less true of the M4 MacBook Pro it replaces. That said, you won’t go wrong with the more affordable MacBook Air or the higher performance of the M4 Pro and M4 Max models of the MacBook Pro.

11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro

The M5 models of the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro deliver similar performance improvements over the previous M4 models, with Apple highlighting up to 2x faster AI image generation and up to 2.3x faster AI video upscaling. The enhancements are even more pronounced when compared to the M1 iPad Pro models, where benchmarked tasks are 2x to 7x faster. Additionally, the M5 iPad Pro models feature up to 2x faster storage, although they are limited to 2 TB.

Apple didn’t stop there. The 256 GB and 512 GB configurations have 50% more unified memory, increasing from 8 GB to 12 GB, while the 1 TB and 2 TB configurations have 16 GB. The new models also feature enhanced external display support, enabling them to drive external 4K displays at up to 120 Hz with Adaptive Sync, which reduces latency and enhances gaming performance. Lastly, Apple introduced fast charging that provides 50% power in 30 minutes with an appropriate charger.

Two other notable changes probably won’t be evident to most users. The M5 models of the iPad Pro utilize Apple’s new C1X cellular modem and N1 wireless network chip, which enable Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread networking. Apple claims faster cellular and Wi-Fi performance, along with lower power consumption, but official battery life estimates remain unchanged.

Otherwise, the new iPad Pro models remain nearly identical to their predecessors. They retain the same Ultra Retina XDR display, cameras, ports, and accessory ecosystem (Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil). The case and industrial design are the same.

Pricing for the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999 for Wi-Fi models and $1,199 for Wi-Fi + Cellular models. The 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299 with Wi-Fi and $1,499 for Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity.

Creative professionals already using a previous generation of the iPad Pro may consider upgrading, but for most people, we recommend either the low-cost iPad or the mid-range iPad Air.

Vision Pro

In the first hardware update to its Vision Pro “spatial computer,” Apple replaced the M2 chip with the more powerful M5. This upgrade boosts performance, allowing the Vision Pro to render 10% more pixels, resulting in a sharper image with crisper text and more detailed visuals. The M5 also increases the Vision Pro’s maximum refresh rate to 120 Hz from 100 Hz, helping to reduce motion blur. Battery life receives a slight boost, providing an additional 30 minutes of general use (up to 2.5 hours) and video playback (up to 3 hours). The only other change is a new Dual Knit Band, which Apple says is more comfortable.

Apart from the M5 and Dual Knit Band, the Vision Pro remains unchanged in form, function, and philosophy. Nor did Apple lower the Vision Pro’s price, which is still $3,499. Although these changes undoubtedly improve the Vision Pro experience a bit, they won’t change anyone’s purchasing decision.

(Featured image by Apple)

Although it’s easy to joke about how little we use our iPhones for actual phone calls, telephony remains a core feature that everyone depends on to some degree. In iOS 26, Apple put significant effort into improving the phone experience, delivering the most notable upgrade to the Phone app in years. Here’s what you’ll find.

Unified View

The Phone app has traditionally featured a toolbar with buttons for Favorites, Recents, Contacts, Keypad, and Voicemail, along with a separate Search field. iOS 26 retains this layout as Classic view (below, left) and introduces a new Unified view (below, right) that aims to simplify the interface by reducing the toolbar to four buttons: Calls, Contacts, Keypad, and Search, with the Calls screen combining favorites and recent calls. You can switch between these views by tapping the Filter button in the top-right corner and choosing the preferred layout. The Filter menu also lets you specify which calls appear below, including voicemail.

Call Screening

A new Call Screening feature, configurable in Settings > Apps > Phone > Screen Unknown Callers, intercepts incoming calls from unknown numbers and prompts the caller to “state their name and reason for calling” before the iPhone even rings. If the caller responds, you’ll see a transcript or snippet of their response, allowing you to decide whether to answer or ignore the call. In our experience, it mainly causes spammers and telemarketers to hang up instantly, which is equally effective.

Unknown Call Lists

The Phone app has long been able to silence calls from unknown numbers—those not in your contacts or numbers you haven’t called—and send them directly to voicemail. This feature, now called Unknown Callers, remains available in Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Filtering, as does the previous Silence Junk Callers option, now called Spam. What’s new is that when these options are turned on, lists for Unknown Callers and Spam appear in the Filter menu, so they don’t clutter your Calls list. You can delete calls from unknown callers, mark their numbers as known, or add them to Contacts so they aren’t silenced next time.

Spam Voicemail Reporting

With most spam calls going to voicemail, your inbox may fill up with unwanted messages. You’ve always been able to delete them, but now, when you view a voicemail from an unknown number, a Report Spam button appears. Tap it to report the voicemail to Apple and delete it. We don’t know if reporting spam voicemails will make any difference, but it’s more satisfying than just deleting them.

Hold Assist

The Phone app’s new automatic Hold Assist feature is somewhat hard to test, but we hope it works when you need it. When Hold Assist Detection is enabled in Settings > Apps > Phone, Apple says that if you’re placed on hold by a customer service agent, the Phone app can detect hold music, silence it, and notify you when the agent comes back on the line. You can also manually tap the More button, tap Hold Assist, and then see a transcript of the hold message while you wait. Tap Pick Up when you’re ready to talk.

Live Translation in Calls

If you need to call someone who speaks a different language (as long as it’s English, French, German, Portuguese, or Spanish), the new Live Translation feature might be helpful. Once you’re on the call, tap the More button, then tap Live Translation, and choose the languages for From and To. We highly recommend testing this feature before you actually need it, as it can take a few minutes to download a new language for the first time. After that, tap Start Translation to hear spoken translations and have your voice translated for your caller. You’ll also see a transcript of both sides of the conversation.

Type to Siri During Calls

If you desperately need to use Siri during a phone call, you can now activate Type to Siri. Make sure it’s turned on in Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Talk & Type to Siri, and then double-tap the bottom edge of the iPhone to open a Siri text entry field.

Screen Sharing and SharePlay in Calls

When you’re on a call with someone using iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or macOS 26, you can now initiate Screen Sharing or SharePlay with that person during the call. Access these features from the More button. Screen Sharing can be helpful for explaining how to perform an action on the caller’s device or troubleshoot a problem, and SharePlay lets you and the caller listen to the same audio or watch the same video in a supported app.

Call History

When you view a contact from within the Phone app (not the Contacts app), a Call History option appears, and tapping it shows your call history with that number, which could go back years.

Phone App Comes to macOS, iPadOS, and visionOS

Wait, did we just say you could be on a call with someone using the Phone app on a Mac or iPad? Exactly! With macOS 26, iPadOS 26, and even visionOS 26, the Phone app has expanded to the iPhone’s sibling platforms. It looks and works very similarly, with the benefit of displaying more information at once. To use one of these Phone apps, your iPhone must be on the same Wi-Fi network and signed in to the same Apple Account.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/sergeyryzhov)

If you’ve been following Apple’s recent product releases, you’ve probably heard the term “Liquid Glass.” That’s what Apple calls its newest design language, a combination of an aesthetic look and functional philosophy for the user interface in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 Tahoe, in particular, but also in watchOS 26, visionOS 26, and tvOS 26 (we think of them collectively as OS 26). Apple describes Liquid Glass as a “translucent material that reflects and refracts its surroundings, while dynamically transforming to help bring greater focus to content.” The company claims that Liquid Glass “makes apps and system experiences more expressive and delightful while being instantly familiar.” Apple even has an intro video.

Beyond the marketing speak, that means most of the controls you’ll interact with in Apple’s new operating system will be semi-transparent and appear to float above the content, blurring what’s underneath and adjusting to the underlying content’s color. That may make it easier for you to focus on your content, or it may make the interface harder to read. Liquid Glass also features subtle animations that may seem fun or make everything feel a little squishy.

Like many of Apple’s interface changes over the years, Liquid Glass has sparked strong reactions—some love it, while others dislike it. While we’ll explore the pros and cons below, it’s worth acknowledging upfront that Liquid Glass represents Apple’s vision for the future of its interfaces. Although you can adjust various settings to make it more comfortable to use (which we’ll cover shortly), Liquid Glass will be part of all Apple operating systems going forward. The good news is that, as with previous major interface changes, such as Aqua in Mac OS X and iOS 7, we’ll all adapt to it over time as Apple continues to refine and enhance the experience.

Liquid Glass Pros

Although Liquid Glass might appear to be just a fashionable cosmetic update, Apple’s designers had some serious objectives:

• Cross-device platform consistency: Many Apple users own an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. The interfaces for these operating systems have all evolved somewhat independently due to differences in their development, usage, and screen sizes. Liquid Glass is Apple’s effort to unify the design language across its devices, making each device feel like part of a cohesive design philosophy.
  
• Focus on content: Between the translucent look that refracts the content behind it and by having interface elements morph and fade when not in use, Apple designed Liquid Glass to help you focus on your content rather than cluttering the screen with controls.
• Modern look and feel: While longtime Apple users may prioritize functionality and familiarity, one of Apple’s main goals is to attract new users by convincing them to switch from Android and Windows or encouraging them to start with Apple devices. Liquid Glass draws inspiration from futuristic devices seen in science fiction shows and movies, which might especially appeal to younger users who have grown up with these visual references.
• Fluid animations: By adding subtle animations to Liquid Glass, Apple makes the interface come alive in a way that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Again, that may attract new users or impress possible switchers.
• Personalization: Some people have a strong aesthetic desire to see their interfaces be clear or tinted rather than have every icon in its own bold color. With Liquid Glass, you can customize your icons, widgets, and folders to work better in dark mode, be clear, or have any tint you prefer.
• Technical showcase: Liquid Glass’s complex real-time blurring and lighting effects require a significant amount of processing power, but Apple’s A-series and M-series chips are up to the task. This is another case of competitive advantage—Apple is showing off by saying, “Our devices have so much power that we can use it to make the interface snazzy looking.”

Liquid Glass Cons

Just because Apple describes Liquid Glass as “delightful” doesn’t mean everyone will agree. Many users dislike change, and numerous user experience experts have criticized aspects of Liquid Glass. Some of the concerns include:

• Readability: When Liquid Glass displays light gray text on a clear control positioned over a dark background with additional text, it becomes almost unreadable. While this is an extreme case, many floating translucent controls over backgrounds can cause legibility issues, especially for those whose vision isn’t perfect. As you can see in this screenshot of iOS 26’s release notes (below, left), the Liquid Glass controls in Photos are notably awkward (below, right).
  
• Learning curve: Apple can say that the interface changes in Liquid Glass are for the better, but there’s no denying that everyone will need to learn something new. That’s easier for some users than others, and many people will be boggled by controls moving around.
• Matter of taste: Not everyone shares Apple’s design aesthetics. Some people find Liquid Glass to be cartoonish or distracting.
• Inconsistent design: While Liquid Glass aims to create a uniform design language across all Apple platforms, it will take time for even Apple to update everything. Some third-party apps will never receive updates, and some developers may refuse to modify their interfaces to support Liquid Glass. We’ll be dealing with inconsistent interfaces for several years.
• Performance issues: On some older devices, Liquid Glass may feel sluggish or drain the battery more quickly due to heavy GPU usage. Although Apple doesn’t intend to create a bad user experience for anyone, performance issues may nudge some people to upgrade sooner than they planned.

Liquid Glass to Solid Metal

You can’t turn off Liquid Glass, but three Accessibility settings will make it less liquid and less glassy on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. There are also a few additional settings that may make the iPhone and iPad easier to use. All these settings are independent, so you can mix and match to find the combination that gives you the look you prefer. (Paths are for the iPhone and iPad; on the Mac, start with System Settings and note slight naming differences.)

• Reduce Transparency: Turning on Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Reduce Transparency significantly improves Liquid Glass readability by making translucent panels opaque, adding solid backgrounds, and reducing blur. On the Mac, this setting restores the solid menu bar. However, Reduce Transparency may make certain aspects of the interface look awkward, such as when a previously transparent toolbar suddenly covers a much larger part of the screen.
• Increase Contrast: Enabling Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Increase Contrast makes interface elements stand out more by sharpening borders and reducing the tendency for controls to meld with the background. Keep in mind that Increase Contrast can also significantly alter the colors of many interface elements.
  
• Reduce Motion: If Liquid Glass’s animations, blurring, and parallax effects make you a little queasy, turn on Settings > Accessibility > Motion > Reduce Motion. While you’re here, turn on Prefer Cross-Fade Transitions to minimize motion for interface controls that slide in and out. A warning—without transitions, some parts of the iPhone and iPad experience might seem abrupt.

The next three settings are exclusive to the iPhone and iPad, and you’ll find them in Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size:

• Bold Text: Flipping this switch makes all interface text bold, which can make it much easier to read, particularly when transparency renders thin glyphs nearly invisible.
• Button Shapes: It’s harder to find controls that benefit from turning Button Shapes on, but if you want a true button instead of blue text or underlines that show a label is clickable, turn this on.
• On/Off Labels: Turning this setting on displays small | and O labels for On and Off on all switches to help clarify if the change from gray (Off) to colored (On) isn’t clear.
  

Again, Liquid Glass is the foreseeable future of Apple interface design, and while it’s far from perfect right now, we anticipate Apple improving and refining it over the next few releases. You can help nudge that process in the direction you want by submitting feedback to Apple.

(Featured image by Apple)

macOS 26 Tahoe is a larger visual leap than any recent upgrade. Although we don’t yet recommend that everyone upgrade, we want to show you some of the user interface changes that will impact your everyday experience of using the Mac.

Liquid Glass Changes

Many of these changes stem from Apple’s new Liquid Glass design language, which we’ve previously covered in more detail. Familiar macOS interface elements with a new Liquid Glass appearance include:

• Rounded corners: You may be surprised by the more rounded corners in many interface elements, including windows. There’s no option to adjust the corner radius.
  
• Menu bar: Tahoe’s menu bar is now transparent, allowing app windows or desktop wallpapers to show through, which can make it less visually prominent at the top of the screen. To make it opaque, go to System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Reduce Transparency. This setting also affects many other transparent interface elements.
  
• Icon style: Many developers are updating their icons to conform to Apple’s Liquid Glass guidelines. A more notable change is that users can now switch to dark mode icons, clear icons, or tinted icons in any color. Make these changes in System Settings > Appearance > Icon & Widget Style.
  
• Widget style: Desktop widgets are now mostly transparent when any window is open on the desktop, and they become solid only when the last window is closed or hidden. You can adjust this setting in System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Dim widgets on desktop. Widgets also adopt the same clear or tinted style used by icons.
  
• Customized folders: Folders start out blank, but you can Control-click one, choose Customize Folder, and pick an icon (monochrome) or emoji (colored) to brand the folder.
  
• Sidebars: Although they’re less transparent than other items, sidebars become subtly tinted based on what’s under them. That occasionally results in some awkward overlays, such as in System Settings > Wallpaper, where the thumbnails can scroll underneath the sidebar.
  

Safari

With Safari, Apple’s Liquid Glass interface causes the toolbar controls and the tab bar at the top to float over the page content underneath. On some sites, this can be distracting or make tab titles hard to read (below, top). If that bothers you, turning on System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Reduce Transparency separates the controls from the content more clearly, but also gives them a gray background (below, bottom).

Control Center

In Tahoe, Control Center not only receives a Liquid Glass makeover but also gains notable new features. Similar to iOS and iPadOS, you can now fully customize the buttons, sliders, and other interface shortcuts in Control Center, removing those you don’t need and adding others. To get started with personalization, click Edit Controls at the bottom of Control Center.

The selection of commands is impressive enough on its own, but Apple also promises that independent developers will be able to offer controls for their apps. Clicking the + button in the menu bar provides the equivalent of additional Control Center pages from iOS: another menu bar icon that displays a different set of Control Center items. You can have as many of these extra Control Center pages as you want.

Lastly, note that you can add many items from Control Center directly to the menu bar, where they can function as toggles or quick access shortcuts.

Spotlight

Apple revamped Spotlight in Tahoe, adjusting its interface (yes, it’s transparent by default, too) and introducing clipboard history. When you activate Spotlight with Command-Space and move the pointer, four buttons appear to filter your search by apps, files, shortcut actions, and clipboard history—Command-1 through 4 serve the same purpose.

Previously, Spotlight separated different result types vertically; now you can click buttons just below the search box to filter results by category. Spotlight also remembers past searches, allowing you to use the arrow keys to browse backward and forward through your search history.

Spotlight’s new Apps view, which gets its own icon on the Dock, also replaces the longstanding but little-used Launchpad. If you want a full-screen grid of app icons, similar to Launchpad, consider Launchie, AppHub, or AppGrid Launcher.

Terminal

Although many people never open the Terminal app, which gives access to the Unix command line hidden in macOS, Apple has finally updated it to allow for more customization. Fortunately, Terminal still features completely opaque windows—transparency won’t make reading command-line output any easier. Each profile offers various customization options beyond appearance, so those who frequently use Terminal can tailor it to their preferences.

While we don’t want to downplay the impact these visual changes may have on your Mac experience, we’ve also found they’re easy to get used to or turn off. After using Tahoe for a few weeks, most of these changes will become the new normal. Apple will undoubtedly continue to polish Liquid Glass over the next year, refining its smoothness and eliminating awkward bits.

(Featured image by Apple)

Most AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Google’s Gemini, let you control whether your conversations will be used to train future models. While allowing this could improve the AI, it also means that sensitive business information and intellectual property could become part of the chatbot’s training data. Once data is incorporated into AI training, it likely can’t be removed. Even with training disabled, you should be cautious about sharing sensitive business details, trade secrets, or proprietary code with any AI system. To reduce risks, disable these training options:

• ChatGPT: Go to Settings > Data Controls and turn off “Improve the model for everyone.”
• Claude: Navigate to Settings > Privacy and disable “Help improve Claude.”
• Gemini: Visit the Your Gemini Apps Activity page and turn off Gemini Apps Activity.
• Meta AI: Avoid it entirely, as it doesn’t allow you to opt out of training.

(Featured image by iStock.com/wildpixel)

You’re in a meeting with colleagues, and after everyone else has trickled out, you talk about a sensitive topic with a trusted friend. That would typically be no problem with an in-person meeting, but with a modern virtual meeting, where an AI records a transcript, summarizes what was said, and automatically emails it to all participants, you might not want everyone to know about your coworker conflicts, job search, health issues, relationship troubles, or countless other confidential matters.

This issue affects all major videoconferencing platforms—Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and others. Many organizations also use standalone AI recording tools that can join meetings as participants, such as Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, and tl;dv.

No one should feel ashamed of using AI-generated meeting summaries, nor should these tools be categorically avoided. They’re undeniably helpful, allowing people to focus on the discussion instead of taking notes or worrying about forgetting action items. We know people who consider them life-changing.

However, the fact remains: unlike a person tasked with taking notes, these tools record everything, including pre-meeting chatter, small talk, and personal asides that a person would know not to include. Making matters worse, AI notetakers are often configured to distribute transcripts and summaries automatically to all attendees—including those who were invited but didn’t attend. While this helps people catch up on missed meetings, it can cause problems if the absent individuals were themselves the topics of discussion. And we won’t even get into the potential legal and HR implications of certain conversations being made public.

Practical Solutions

Given the utility of AI-generated meeting summaries, what can you do to reduce the chances of potentially embarrassing or problematic conversations being shared inappropriately?

• Warn attendees: Although most videoconferencing tools alert users that recording is happening, everyone is used to these notifications. For a more explicit warning, the meeting host can remind everyone that summaries will be shared with all attendees.
• Pause/resume recording: While not all videoconferencing and AI recording tools offer the option to pause and resume, it can be useful. The meeting host can wait to start recording until everyone has arrived and the pre-meeting chatter has died down, and then stop it once the last agenda item has been discussed. The challenge is that this requires the host to remember to start and stop at the right times, and any valuable conversation before or after these points will be lost.
• Restrict distribution: Another option is to configure the system so meeting summaries are sent only to the host, who can then review and edit them if needed before sharing with the rest of the attendees. The drawbacks here are the extra work for the host and the delay in participants receiving the notes, which can hold them back from starting on action items.
• Watch what you say: Just as with social media posts, it’s important to think before you say something you might regret. If you assume that everything you say could be shared with your entire organization—including HR and your boss—you’ll be much less likely to get into trouble. Of course, this requires everyone to be sufficiently self-aware to avoid problematic topics.
• Use private channels: If you anticipate needing to discuss sensitive information with a remote colleague—the kind of thing you’d shut your office door to keep passersby from overhearing—use a private channel like a personal meeting room, direct message, or phone call. And if someone starts to say something problematic in a group meeting, gently suggest moving it to a private channel.

Although having AI-generated summaries of conversations you thought were private circulated to others may feel like a modern problem, variants have been around for a long time: the romantic message misaddressed to the company-wide email list, the list of layoffs left in the copy machine, or even a conversation that continues across stalls in the bathroom without realizing someone else has come in. Ultimately, all we can do is be mindful of what we say and who might hear it.

(Featured image by iStock.com/ArnoMassee)

With Apple’s recent launch of AppleCare One, which covers multiple devices, and updates to its traditional AppleCare+ plans, you might be wondering what the best strategy is for post-warranty coverage of your Apple devices. Here’s what we suggest.

Your AppleCare Choices

First, to make sure we’re all on the same page, Apple now offers three AppleCare protection plans:

• AppleCare+: Apple’s traditional protection plan provides coverage for individual devices other than the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, paid monthly or annually.
• AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss: This plan extends AppleCare+ with up to two annual claims for theft and loss and applies exclusively to the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
• AppleCare One: Apple’s new consolidated plan covers up to three devices for $19.99 per month. Additional devices—even those you already own—cost an extra $5.99 per month each. It includes up to three annual claims for theft and loss for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

Both plans include unlimited accidental damage protection and battery replacements when capacity drops below 80%. Apple advertises its AppleCare+ and AppleCare One plans as including 24/7 priority support, but it’s worth noting that any customer can call Apple Support for help. Apple reserves the right to limit free phone-based assistance for the first 90 days after purchase to AppleCare subscribers, but in practice doesn’t limit support calls even after that.

Device-Specific Recommendations

As much as Apple would appreciate you paying extra for AppleCare+ or AppleCare One for every device you buy, it isn’t always the best financial choice. Here’s when AppleCare coverage is worth considering for different devices, roughly ordered by how important the coverage is:

• iPhones: You should strongly consider AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss or AppleCare One. Phones are constantly mobile, easily dropped or lost, and expensive to replace. With coverage, screen or back glass repairs cost just $29, other repairs are $99, and a replacement will set you back only $149. But a protective case is still a good idea.
• Mac laptops: We highly recommend coverage, especially for students. Laptops are frequently mobile, easily dropped or knocked off desks, and particularly vulnerable to damage when closing the screen. A single repair will almost certainly cost more than a year of coverage.
• iPads: Consider coverage based on your model and how you use it. For an inexpensive base-level iPad, coverage may be unnecessary unless it’s for a child or paying for a repair would stretch your budget. For an iPad Air or iPad Pro, think about coverage based on how often you use it in situations where it could be dropped or lost.
• Apple Watches: Coverage is typically unnecessary due to their exceptional durability and relatively low cost. Even with heavy use, a watch is difficult to damage and less likely to be lost than an iPhone since it’s attached to your wrist.
• Desktop Macs and displays: In most cases, you can skip coverage altogether. These devices seldom move and have low failure rates.
• AirPods: You can usually skip coverage. While you’ll probably drop them often, they’re pretty durable. More importantly, they’re relatively inexpensive to replace.
• Apple TV and HomePod: Don’t bother covering them—they’re inexpensive to replace, stay in one spot, and rarely experience hardware failures.
• Apple Vision Pro: Absolutely get AppleCare+ because the Vision Pro is so expensive, and you’ll be putting it on and taking it off regularly, making it easy to drop or knock off the couch.

When AppleCare One Makes Sense

If you own multiple devices, compare the cost of individual AppleCare+ plans against AppleCare One’s consolidated coverage. The $19.99 monthly fee for three devices could represent real savings, particularly if you have high-end devices. For example, individual AppleCare+ coverage for a 13-inch MacBook Pro ($9.99/month) and iPhone 16 Pro ($13.99/month) would total $23.98 per month, making AppleCare One’s $19.99 fee an attractive option, especially if you add a 13-inch iPad Air ($6.99/month) that you wouldn’t otherwise cover. In contrast, AppleCare One wouldn’t make sense if you had a 13-inch MacBook Air ($6.99/month) and an iPhone 16e ($9.99/month), which together would cost only $16.98 per month.

However, it’s not always straightforward. AppleCare One will cost $239.88 per year ($19.99 × 12). In the MacBook Pro and iPhone 16 Pro example, annual AppleCare+ plans would cost $239.98 ($99.99 + $139.99), essentially the same as AppleCare One. For the MacBook Air and iPhone 16e combination, annual payments would reduce the cost to $169.98 ($69.99 + $99.99) compared to the monthly total of $203.76 ($16.98 × 12), making AppleCare One’s $239.88 even less appealing.

Important AppleCare One Considerations

Before purchasing AppleCare coverage, keep these points in mind:

• AppleCare One is a per-user plan for devices signed in to your Apple Account. You can’t add devices purchased for family members if they use them with their own Apple Accounts.
• AppleCare One complains about Macs with multiple accounts; we hope Apple will address this problem soon.
• All plans include service fees for repairs and replacements.
• AppleCare One can cover devices up to 4 years old, although they may need to pass a diagnostic check. AppleCare+ plans can be added only within 60 days of the original purchase date.
• AppleCare One is currently available only in the US, while individual AppleCare+ plans are available more broadly in other countries.

Remember that extended warranties generally benefit the companies offering them more than the customers buying them. Apple wouldn’t offer AppleCare+ or AppleCare One if it weren’t going to make money in the process. Nonetheless, AppleCare can provide valuable peace of mind, especially for mobile devices that face daily risks.

(Featured image by Apple)

Apple has raised the monthly subscription fee for Apple TV+ to $12.99, marking the third price increase since the streaming service launched at $4.99 in 2019. While the monthly cost has increased, Apple kept the annual subscription priced at $99, making it a more economical choice for those who plan to maintain their subscription throughout the year. Apple doesn’t put the annual billing option front and center on the Apple TV+ website, as you can see below, but you can easily switch to it in Settings > Your Name > Subscriptions on your iPhone or iPad or in System Settings > Your Name > Media & Purchases > Subscriptions > Manage on a Mac.

(Featured image by Apple)

Recently, we’ve fielded a spate of questions from people who have used an AI chatbot to help with a technical issue and then asked us to confirm whether the information was accurate, helpful, or even safe.

First off, we’re not offended. If you can work through simple problems on your own with the help of an AI chatbot, that lets us focus on helping you with the bigger picture and issues that can be solved only by someone with awareness of your physical setup or broad knowledge of your workflow.

However, the mere fact that we’re getting these questions shows that people aren’t entirely comfortable with the AI answers, which is a good thing. Because chatbots work by giving you the most statistically likely words from their training models or extracted from search results, they can sometimes return incorrect information that could be harmful or even damaging. And, of course, they’ll do so in a breezy, confident tone that doesn’t suggest any concern.

For instance, we’ve seen chatbots confidently suggest deleting files or resetting permissions from the command line (be very afraid of anything that starts with sudo), disabling System Integrity Protection (almost never necessary), turning off Gatekeeper to install unsigned apps, resetting iCloud Keychain syncing, and more.

Here’s how to think about those responses. First, if you sense that following the chatbot’s instructions might cause problems, ask it to explain potential concerns and how to address them. Also, if you don’t understand what it’s telling you to do, say so and ask it to restate the instructions in simpler terms for someone less experienced. After pushing the chatbot for more details, use your critical thinking skills to ask yourself if its instructions could lead to irreversible changes or data loss.

If you still have any hesitation after going through that process, then it’s time to contact us. It’s helpful to share your chatbot conversation with us so we can assess what it suggested and explain why there was no need to worry or why you were justified in checking before taking action that you might regret.

Although this may seem like a modern problem, we’ve seen many similar situations over the years, where people get fired up about an article they read in an airline seatback magazine or hear something from their brilliant nephew who’s getting a degree in computers from a very good college. Although there’s no intent to deceive from any of these sources (chatbots don’t have intent at all, much less any to deceive), technical advice only makes sense in the context of your goals and resources.

In fact, having conversations about AI suggestions can be helpful because they help you develop better technical judgment. We can help you understand the principles behind different technical solutions, highlight what details matter when evaluating recommendations, and build your confidence in knowing when to trust (or distrust) technical advice from any source. Think of it as collaborative problem-solving that makes you better equipped to handle future technical challenges, whether you tackle them independently or with our professional help.

For the record, chatbots can help you understand basic settings, find features in common apps, and interpret standard error messages. But whenever a suggested solution involves system-level changes or seems risky, that’s when you should contact us.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Valerii Apetroaiei)

Many people prefer Apple’s default of sorting contacts by last name, so “Andy Anderson” appears near the start of the list and “Liliana Velasco” toward the end. But some would also prefer to display contacts with their last name first, such as “Anderson, Andy,” and “Velasco, Liliana.” That’s not the default, but if it’s what you want, here’s how to accomplish it. On the iPhone and iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Contacts > Display Order and select Last, First. On the Mac, open Contacts > Settings > General and from the Show First Name controls, select Following Last Name.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)