As you upgrade to iOS 15, iPadOS 15 (and macOS 12 Monterey by the end of the year), you’re going to see references to iCloud+. You might even already be an iCloud+ subscriber! That’s because iCloud+ is Apple’s new name for what you get if you pay for additional iCloud storage for yourself and up to five family members, which has been possible for a long time.

iCloud+ comes with some new features as well, namely iCloud Private Relay (still in beta), Hide My Email, and Custom Email Domain, along with expanded HomeKit Secure Video support. Three tiers of iCloud+ match up with the previous storage tiers:

• 50 GB for $0.99 per month gets you all the iCloud+ features plus HomeKit Secure Video support for one camera
• 200 GB for $2.99 per month gets you all the iCloud+ features plus HomeKit Secure Video support for five cameras
• 2 TB for $9.99 per month gets you all the iCloud+ features plus HomeKit Secure Video support for unlimited cameras

We expect that most people will subscribe to iCloud+ largely for the extra storage—Apple provides only 5 GB of iCloud storage for free—but once you’re paying for more storage, the other new features are welcome. Let’s look at each.

iCloud Private Relay

Whenever you browse the Internet, your privacy can be compromised in two ways. First, anyone on your local network can see the names of the websites you access based on your DNS lookups. Second, the websites you visit record the IP address of your computer, which makes it easier for advertisers to track you across multiple sites.

iCloud Private Relay, which Apple says will come out of beta by the end of the year, attempts to block such tracking by encrypting your Safari traffic (plus DNS queries and most non-HTTPS Web queries), sending it through two proxy servers, and associating it with a geographically reasonable but otherwise anonymous IP address. That way, the first proxy server (which Apple runs) knows who you are but not what site you’re visiting. The second proxy server (run by companies other than Apple) knows what site you’re visiting, but not who you are.

Although Apple’s technique appeared to work well and early reports suggest that it didn’t slow down traffic noticeably, networking is notoriously complex. Apple wanted more time to ensure that iCloud Private Relay works as promised with all network traffic, which is why the feature remains in beta. However, nothing prevents you from trying it out now. After you turn it on, you shouldn’t notice any difference when using the Internet. Just make sure that if you have network-related troubles, you remember to turn off iCloud Private Relay to remove it from the troubleshooting equation.

To enable the feature, go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Private Relay (Beta) and turn on the switch for Private Relay (Beta). In the IP Address Location Settings screen, you can choose whether iCloud Private Relay should try to maintain your general location or just make sure it gets your country and time zone correct.

Hide My Email

Have you ever felt icky giving your email address to a questionable website, knowing that it’s probably going to spam you with unwanted solicitations? The new Hide My Email service that’s part of iCloud+ creates random, unique email addresses that automatically forward to your inbox, either your Apple ID address or another address associated with an email account configured on your device. In fact, Apple has provided this option for some time with apps that use the Sign in with Apple service—you can opt to give them a random address instead of your real address.

To use Hide My Email, go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Hide My Email. Make sure the Forward To address is the one you want, and then tap Create New Address at the top. Either accept the address provided or ask for a different one, give it a label and optional note so you know where you used it, tap Next, and tap Done.

To stop receiving email from an address, tap it in the list and tap Deactivate Email Address. In the Inactive Addresses list, you can see such addresses and leave them for reference, reactivate them, or delete them.

Custom Email Domain

Throughout the history of iCloud (including its predecessors iTools, Mac.com, and MobileMe), users have received email addresses that end with the mac.com, me.com, and icloud.com domains. If you wanted to register your own custom email domain (like hoopyfroodemail.com, for instance) and use that in a personalized email address, you had to rely on another service like Gmail or Fastmail.

With iCloud+, it is at long last possible to connect up to five custom domains and use them in addition to the standard domains. You (and each person in your Family Sharing group) can have up to three addresses for each domain. Note that you must have a primary iCloud Mail email address set up and have two-factor authentication enabled for your Apple ID.

Although the process for setting up a custom email domain isn’t that difficult, it’s beyond the scope of this article. You need to have a domain registered, update DNS records with your domain registrar, associate email addresses with the custom domain, and verify your settings. Apple provides instructions, and you should also read How to Set Up Custom Email Domains with iCloud Mail from TidBITS for more real-world coverage. Reach out if you need help.

Our take is that this feature is welcome, but it’s just for hobbyists and families. If you’re running a business of any sort, you should have a custom email domain with a full-fledged email service. Contact us for advice on the best solution for your particular situation—this is very much not a “one size fits all” scenario.

HomeKit Secure Video

The final iCloud+ feature is HomeKit Secure Video, previously a free bonus with the higher-level iCloud storage plans. It requires a compatible third-party security camera and takes over from the manufacturer’s app to ensure that no one can access your video, including the camera maker and Apple. That’s a big deal—one of the main problems with many third-party security cameras is that they transmit and store video in insecure ways, making it possible for evildoers to capture video from inside your house. (Yeah, it happens.)

All that seems to have changed with iCloud+ is that Apple has added HomeKit Secure Video to the 50 GB plan with support for one camera, increased the number of supported cameras on the 200 GB plan to five, and allowed an unlimited number of cameras for 2 TB plans.

As with custom email domains, the steps necessary to set up a security camera in the Home app and work with HomeKit Secure Video are beyond the scope of this article. Apple provides basic instructions, and the year-old article Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video Leverages iCloud Storage and Preserves Privacy from TidBITS explains more and provides context.

Welcome as these features may be, they’re unlikely to compel upgrades for those who don’t need more than the 5 GB of free iCloud storage. However, it’s so common to need more iCloud space for photos, backups, and files that we anticipate lots of people taking advantage of the iCloud+ features that come along for the ride.

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

For many years, Apple’s Reminders app let you sort your lists, but in just one way that applied to all lists equally. That was a problem if you had a to-do list that you wanted to sort by Due Date and a list of foods in your freezer that you wanted to sort by Creation Date (to see which were older) or Title (for a simple alphabetical sort). Happily, in iOS 14 and macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple finally addressed this limitation, letting you sort each list independently. Your choices even sync across all your devices! So if you had given up on sorting, or given up on Reminders entirely because of this limitation, on the Mac, check out the View > Sort By menu, and in iOS and iPadOS, tap the ••• button and then Sort By.

(Featured image by iStock.com/fizkes)

Along with a new version of Safari in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Apple has released Safari 15 for macOS 11 Big Sur and macOS 10.15 Catalina. Why do this before macOS 12 Monterey ships? Some of the browser’s new capabilities—notably the Tab Groups feature—integrate it more deeply into your Apple device experience by syncing across devices. So, assuming you have Safari 15 on at least some of your devices, what’s new, and is it any good?

New Tab Bar Interface

For Safari 15, Apple tried to minimize the tab bar interface to occupy less screen real estate and stand out less from the content of Web pages by co-opting the color of each page. Early betas were met with a litany of complaints from testers, and Apple pulled back in the eventual releases, offering settings that let you retain the old interface. How that plays out varies between the iPhone, iPad, and Mac:

• iPhone: Apple combined the address bar and tab bar into a single set of controls at the bottom of the screen, where they’re easier to reach with your thumb while working one-handed and where you can swipe left and right to switch tabs. Plus, the status bar area at the top of the screen takes on the color from the current site, which isn’t necessarily a visual win. This is a huge change from the controls appearing at the top, so if you don’t like it, go to Settings > Safari and switch from Tab Bar (below left) to Single Tab (below right). Turn off Allow Website Tinting (also below right) if you don’t like the colorizing.
  
• iPad: Displays on the iPad are relatively small, so saving some vertical space with the new Compact Tab Bar could be helpful. However, since the tab bar automatically minimizes when you scroll down a page, reducing its size when it’s visible isn’t as much of a win as it might seem. And the colorized tab bar can be shockingly bright. In Settings > Safari, you can choose between Compact Tab Bar (below top) and Separate Tab Bar (below bottom); either way, consider disabling Show Color in Tab Bar.
  
• Mac: Laptop screens aren’t huge, and Safari doesn’t minimize its tab bar when you scroll, as it does on the iPhone and iPad, so saving some vertical space might be welcome on a smaller screen. But the way the Compact layout embeds the address field inside a tab and reduces the number of buttons you can see may perturb you (below top). Once again, the colorized tab bar can be glaring. To revert to something closer to the old look, in Safari > Preferences > Tabs, select Separate for the tab layout (below bottom), and disable Show Color in Tab Bar to keep the controls gray regardless of the site color.
  

Voice Search

For many searches, it’s easier to speak than type, and Apple has made doing that even faster with Voice Search on the iPhone and iPad. Tap the current tab to display the address field, tap the microphone button, and speak instead of typing. As soon as you stop, Safari performs the search. You can even navigate directly to a site by speaking its URL, like “apple dot com.” Sadly, Apple didn’t extend this feature to the Mac version of Safari 15.

Tab Switcher

In iOS 14 and earlier, Safari used a card stack metaphor for its tab switcher (below left), which could make it hard to see what each tab contained. In Safari in iOS 15, Apple took a cue from the iPad and Mac versions of the app and moved to a grid interface for the tab switcher (below right). You can drag the tab thumbnails around to organize them and remove them by tapping an X button (weirdly located in the upper-right corner) or swiping them left off-screen. You can also bring up the option to close all open tabs by pressing and holding Done at the lower right corner of the screen.

Tab Groups

If you struggle under the cognitive load of dozens of unrelated tabs, the new Tab Groups feature might help. With it, you can collect tabs into as many groups as you like and switch among them. You work with tab groups in either the tab switcher interface (iPhone and iPad with the Separate Tab Bar) or the sidebar (Mac and iPad with the Compact Tab Bar).

To open the tab switcher on the iPhone, tap the tab button in the lower-right corner of the screen; on the iPad, tap the different-looking tab button in the upper-right corner. Once you have the tab switcher open, tap X Tabs to reveal the Tab Groups menu. To show the sidebar on either the iPad or the Mac, tap or click the sidebar button in the upper-left corner of the tab bar.

Once you have the Tab Groups menu or sidebar showing:

• To create a new tab group on the iPhone’s or iPad’s Tab Groups menu, tap New Empty Tab Group, name it, and tap Save. In the sidebar on a Mac or iPad, use the New Tab Group button at the top (or choose File > New Empty Tab Group on the Mac). You can also use New Tab Group from X Tabs to create a tab group from currently open tabs.
• To switch to a different tab group, tap it in the Tab Groups menu on an iPhone or iPad, or access it from the sidebar on a Mac or iPad.
• To delete a tab group, swipe left on it in the Tab Groups menu or sidebar to reveal a delete icon on an iPhone or iPad; on the Mac, Control-click it and choose Delete.

Shared with You

Ever gone spelunking through Messages to find a link someone sent you? Safari 15’s new Shared with You feature should help. It automatically collects all Web pages you receive in Messages into a new Shared with You section of the Safari start page. On the iPad and Mac, there’s also a Shared with You item in the sidebar.

Customizable Start Page

Speaking of the start page, if you want to customize which headings appear and in what order, you can now do that on the iPhone and iPad. (Choosing which headings appear has long been possible on the Mac by clicking the little settings button in the lower-right corner, but reordering isn’t possible there.)

Create a new tab to view the start page, scroll to the bottom, and tap Edit. Then disable any headings you don’t want to see and drag the remaining ones into your desired order. You can also choose among several Apple-provided background images and have your start page settings sync to your other devices.

Other Stuff

Two final new features may be welcome but probably won’t rock your world:

• Pull to refresh: If you need to reload a Web page on the iPhone or iPad, either you can tap the reload button in the address field if it’s visible with your tab bar settings, or you can now just pull down with your finger from the top of a page.
• HTTPS upgrade: If you visit a website that supports encrypted HTTPS but is also loading insecure content over unencrypted HTTP, Safari will now ensure that you connect to it over HTTPS so your entire connection is secure.

There you have it! Check out the new features in Safari 15 and let them improve your browsing experience.

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

It’s easy, particularly when traveling, to end up connecting to a Wi-Fi network that doesn’t provide Internet access, requires credentials you don’t have, or lacks access to the network’s printer. Unfortunately, once your iPhone, iPad, or Mac has connected to such a network, it may reconnect to it later, causing consternation when things don’t work. The solution? Whenever you realize a Wi-Fi network is worthless, forget it. (The network, that is.) On the Mac, open System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Wi-Fi, select the network in the list (you don’t have to be connected to it), click the – button, and click Remove. On an iPhone or iPad, when you’re connected to the offending network, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, tap the i button to the right of the current network, and tap Forget This Network on the next screen.

(Featured image based on images by iStock.com/fizkes and Elena Pimukova)

Although spam remains as much of a scourge as ever, spam filters have improved enough that most people see relatively little spam and lose relatively few legitimate messages (known as “ham”) to spam filters. However, good email messages are still sometimes caught by spam filters. To reduce the chance of missing an important message, consider making a “ham filter.” A ham filter looks for certain words—usually proper nouns—that are likely to appear only in legitimate messages and then marks such messages as Not Spam or moves them out of a Spam folder. (This capability is available in Gmail and can be emulated with multiple rules that you create in Apple’s Mail preferences, and likely in other systems as well; ask us about yours if you’re not sure.) Useful ham words include the name of your city, local high school or college names, club names or abbreviations, industry-specific terms, and any other words that are specific to your community or profession. Always test a possible ham word by first searching for it in your Spam folder to make sure it appears only in legitimate messages.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Fotosmurf03)

Apple’s recent announcement that it would soon be releasing two new technologies aimed at protecting children has generated a firestorm of media coverage and questions from customers. Unfortunately, much of the media coverage has been based on misconceptions about how the technology works, abetted by uncharacteristically bungled communications from Apple. It’s not inconceivable that Apple will modify or even drop these technologies in the official release of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS 12 Monterey, but in the meantime, we can provide answers to the common questions we’ve been hearing.

What exactly did Apple announce?

Two unrelated technologies:

• Messages will gain features that warn children and their parents when sexually explicit photos are received or sent. Such content will be blurred, the child will be warned and given the option to avoid viewing the image, and parents may be alerted (depending on the age of the child and settings).
• Photos uploaded by US users to iCloud Photos will be matched—using a complex, privacy-protecting method that Apple has developed—against known illegal photos considered Child Sexual Abuse Material, or CSAM. If a sufficient number of images match, they’re verified by a human reviewer at Apple to be CSAM and then reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which works with law enforcement in the US.

Does this mean Apple is scanning all my iPhone photos?

Yes and no. Messages will use machine learning to identify sexually explicit content in received and sent images. That scanning takes place entirely on the iPhone—Apple knows nothing about it, and no data is ever transmitted to or from Apple as a result. It’s much like the kind of scanning that Photos does to identify images that contain cats so you can find them with a search. So scanning is taking place with this Messages feature, but Apple isn’t doing it.

The CSAM detection feature operates only on images uploaded to iCloud Photos. (People who don’t use iCloud Photos aren’t affected by the system at all.) On the device, an algorithm called NeuralHash creates a hash and matches it against an on-device database of hashes for known illegal CSAM. (A hash is a one-way numeric representation that identifies an image—it’s much like how a person’s fingerprint identifies them but can’t be used to re-create that person.) NeuralHash knows nothing about the content of any image—it’s just trying to match one hash against another. In this case, it’s matching against existing image hashes, not scanning for a type of content, and Apple is notified only after enough image hashes match.

It’s also important to note that this is different from how companies like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft scan your photos now. They use machine learning to scan all uploaded photos for CSAM, and if they detect it, they’re legally required to report it to the NCMEC’s CyberTipline, which received 21.7 million CSAM reports from tech companies in 2020, over 20 million from Facebook alone. Because Apple does not scan iCloud Photos in the US like other companies scan their photo services, it made only 265 reports in 2020.

What happens if the CSAM detection feature makes a mistake?

This is called a false positive, and while vanishingly improbable, it’s not mathematically impossible. Apple tested 100,000,000 images against NeuralHash and its CSAM hash database and found 3 false positives. In another test using 500,000 adult pornography images, NeuralHash found no false positives.

Even if NeuralHash does match an image hash with one in the known CSAM hash database, nothing happens. And nothing continues to happen until NeuralHash has matched 30 images. Apple says that the chances of there being 30 false positives for the same account are 1 in 1 trillion.

I have terrible luck. What if that happens with my account?

Once at least 30 images have matched, the system enables Apple to decrypt the low-resolution previews of those images so a human can review them to see if they are CSAM. Assuming they are all false positives—remember that possession of CSAM is illegal in the US—the reviewer sends them to Apple engineers to improve the NeuralHash algorithm.

Could non-CSAM images end up in Apple’s CSAM hash database?

It’s extremely unlikely. Apple is constructing its database with NCMEC and other child-safety organizations in other countries. Apple’s database contains image hashes (not the actual images; it’s illegal for Apple to possess them) for known illegal CSAM images that exist both in the NCMEC database and at least one other similar database. So multiple international organizations would have to be subverted for such image hashes to end up in Apple’s database. Each source database will have its own hash, and Apple said it would provide ways for users and independent auditors to verify that Apple’s database wasn’t tampered with after creation.

Plus, even if a non-CSAM image hash were somehow added to Apple’s database and matched by NeuralHash, nothing would happen until there were 30 such images from the same account. And if those images weren’t CSAM, Apple’s human reviewers would do nothing other than pass the images to engineering for evaluation, which would likely enable Apple to determine how the database was tampered with.

Couldn’t a government require Apple to modify the system to spy on users?

This is where much of the criticism of Apple’s CSAM detection system originates, even though Apple says the system will be active only in the US. On the one hand, Apple has said it would resist any such requests from governments, as it did when the FBI asked Apple to create a version of iOS that would enable it to break into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone. On the other hand, Apple has to obey local laws wherever it does business. In China, that already means that iCloud is run by a Chinese company that presumably has the right to scan iCloud Photos uploaded by Chinese users.

It’s conceivable that some country could legally require Apple to add non-CSAM images to a database, instruct its human reviewers to look for images the country finds objectionable, and report them to law enforcement in that country. But if a country could successfully require that of Apple, it could presumably force Apple to do much more, which hasn’t happened so far. Plus, the CSAM detection system identifies only known images—it’s not useful for identifying unknown images.

Is Apple heading down a slippery slope?

There’s no way to know. Apple believes this CSAM detection system protects the privacy of its users more than scanning iCloud Photos in the cloud would, as other companies do. But it’s highly unusual for a technology that runs on consumer-level devices to have the capacity to detect criminal activity.

(Featured image by iStock.com/metamorworks)

Most Apple Watch users charge their watch every night, putting it on a charger as part of a bedtime routine. If that’s you, make sure you’re not missing one of the Apple Watch’s best features: nightstand mode. When you enable it in the iPhone’s Watch app, in General > Nightstand Mode, a charging Apple Watch displays the charging status, current time and date (in a large, easily readable font), and the time of any alarm you’ve set. It uses a green color that won’t shock your eyes in the middle of the night, and after a minute, the screen goes completely dark. To see it again, tap the watch or—even better!—the surface it’s on. The screen lights up for 10 seconds before going dark again. (And yes, we love the little classic Mac stand.)

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

In iOS 14, Apple added a feature that warns you when one of your website passwords stored in iCloud Keychain has appeared in a data breach. We’ve fielded some questions of late from people worrying if the message is legitimate, and if so, what they should do. What has happened is that online criminals have stolen username and password data from a company, and your credentials were included in that data breach. You should indeed change your password immediately, and it’s fine to let the iPhone suggest a strong password for you. Or, if it makes you feel more comfortable, you can usually change the password in Safari on your Mac instead. Either way, make sure it’s unique—never reuse passwords across multiple sites!

(Featured image by iStock.com/LumineImages)

September is here, which means that Apple will soon start releasing major upgrades for all its operating systems. Apple previewed these releases at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and many people have been testing the public betas since. Once Apple judges macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15 to be ready for prime time, the question arises—when should you install them?

(Note that we say when and not if. There’s no harm in delaying a major operating system upgrade until Apple has sanded off rough edges that slipped through testing. But waiting too long puts you at risk from security vulnerabilities, increases compatibility annoyances, and prevents you from taking advantage of new features. Plus, when you buy a new Mac, iPhone, or iPad after these operating systems have shipped, you’ll get the latest version, which could pose problems for your existing apps. It’s best to be prepared if you have to replace a device unexpectedly.)

In the past, we’ve offered separate takes on when you should install each of Apple’s operating systems, but many of this year’s new features are spread across multiple operating systems. For instance, the marquee feature of this season’s releases is SharePlay, which promises to let users watch videos, listen to audio, share screens, and more, all while on a FaceTime call that could involve an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV. SharePlay sounds technically impressive—we’ll let you decide if it interests you—but it’s not a reason to upgrade right away. Apple has already announced that SharePlay is delayed and won’t ship until later in the year.

So here’s the general upgrade order that we suggest, starting with the iPad. Remember, always make a backup before upgrading a Mac, iPhone, or iPad so you can revert right away if necessary.

iPadOS 15

Upgrade your iPad to iPadOS 15 first. For the most part, iPadOS is a superset of iOS, so why should you upgrade your iPad before your iPhone? The big reason is that Apple has again taken a swing at improving iPad multitasking, and the changes are worth investigating. People who rely heavily on iPads will likely appreciate the new multitasking features, and those for whom the iPad is less important have nothing to lose by upgrading shortly after release.

Particularly welcome is a Multitasking menu at the top center of every window that lets you create a full screen, Split View, Slide Over, and in some cases (like Mail), a center window. There’s also a shelf at the bottom of the screen that shows open windows within an app. You can create Split View spaces by dragging one app from the App Switcher onto another. Finally, a list of keyboard shortcuts appears when you press and hold the Command key on an external keyboard. At long last, discoverability comes to multitasking!

Apple migrated some iOS 14 improvements to iPadOS 15. Widgets can now appear anywhere on the Home screen, and a new larger widget size lets apps display more information. Also coming to iPadOS 15 is the App Library, which automatically organizes all your apps into categories and enables you to avoid cluttered Home screens.

If you’re a Notes user, you’ll appreciate the new Quick Note feature, which lets you create a note with a swipe up from the corner of the screen using your finger or an Apple Pencil. Quick Note can automatically pull in highlighted text or links to a website or app, and it’s easy to add more with the Apple Pencil or keyboard.

Other welcome changes include a Focus mode that reduces distractions; voice searching and tab groups in Safari; FaceTime improvements; Live Text that allows you to search for, select, copy, and translate text in photos (on iPads with an A12 Bionic chip or later); and increased city detail in Maps.

iOS 15

It’s usually safe to upgrade iOS fairly quickly because Apple puts significant effort into ensuring that the new iOS version is a good experience for those who buy the new iPhones that come with it. However, because iPhones are so crucial to our everyday lives, it’s probably worth delaying the upgrade to iOS 15 for a few weeks, just in case. After that, you can install it and enjoy the new features.

Although SharePlay won’t arrive on day one, FaceTime still gets welcome improvements inspired by competing videoconferencing systems. There’s finally a grid view, Portrait mode for blurring the background, different mic modes for focusing on your voice or on sound in the room, the capability to include Windows and Android users, and FaceTime Web links for scheduling and sharing calls.

Messages will collect links, images, and other content that your friends have sent you in a new Shared with You section, which you’ll also find in other Apple apps like Photos, Safari, Apple News, Music, and Podcasts. Plus, when someone sends you multiple photos in Messages, they appear as either a collage or a stack that you can swipe through. There are also new Memoji options to try if you’re into that.

Other new features are similar to those in iPadOS 15, including Focus mode, voice searches and tab groups in Safari, Live Text in Camera and Photos, and improved city detail in Maps, which also gains immersive walking instructions.

watchOS 8

Once you upgrade your iPhone to iOS 15, go ahead and upgrade your Apple Watch to watchOS 8 right away. You may not even notice the difference since none of the changes will force changes in your existing usage patterns.

New features include Portrait mode photos on your watch face, Memories from Photos pushed to your watch, the capability to share photos via Messages and Mail, integration with HomeKit security cameras, more control over scenes and devices in the Home app, digital keys for HomeKit locks, a new Mindfulness app that replaces the Breathe app, a Pilates option in the Workout app, tracking of your sleeping respiratory rate, and a Find Devices app for locating lost devices from your wrist.

tvOS 15

Why put tvOS ahead of macOS? The decision to upgrade to tvOS 15 is easy for most people. It’s unlikely to cause problems for your Apple TV, and the new features won’t get in the way of basic TV watching. Plus, if you have automatic updates turned on in Settings > Software Updates, it will install automatically at some point after release.

You might not want to wait for the automatic update, though. There are plenty of small but welcome improvements, such as the capability to sign in to Apple TV apps using Face ID or Touch ID on your iPhone. The playback interface has a redesigned scrubber that displays more information. The Apple TV will automatically detect nearby AirPods and show a notification to connect them, saving you a manual step. If you have AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, you can listen to Apple TV audio with dynamic head tracking. The TV app will include a “For All of You” row based on the interests of everyone in the house (via Family Sharing). Finally, you can ask a HomePod to play a particular show on the Apple TV and even use one or two HomePod mini speakers as the default audio output.

macOS 12 Monterey

The hardest upgrade decision revolves around your Mac, as always. For the most part, macOS 11 Big Sur has been relatively solid, with fewer complaints than plagued macOS 10.15 Catalina. Some beta testers believe that macOS 12 Monterey is more of a refinement upgrade without the major architectural changes that marked Big Sur and Catalina. That would suggest more stability and the possibility of an easier and earlier upgrade.

Plus, Monterey has some unique features. Most notable is Universal Control, which lets you work seamlessly between multiple Macs and your iPad, connected wirelessly or via USB. You can move the pointer from a Mac to the iPad, type into iPad apps with your Mac’s keyboard, and even drag and drop content from one Mac to another. Another welcome addition is the option to use AirPlay to display video, play audio, or present content from another Apple device to a Mac, something that has previously been possible only in the other direction. Finally, Monterey brings the Shortcuts automation app to the Mac, making it easier to automate repetitive tasks without learning AppleScript or using the aging Automator.

Apart from those features, you’ve already read about most of the changes. They include FaceTime improvements, support for Focus mode, Shared with You collections in Apple apps, tab groups (but not voice searching, sadly) in Safari, a Quick Note hot corner activation option, Live Text, and Maps enhancements.

You may find some of these features compelling, but we recommend waiting to upgrade to Monterey for at least a few months. App compatibility isn’t usually a big problem with the other operating systems, but most of us rely on specific Mac apps—sometimes older versions—to get our work done. Even once you’re confident your apps will work properly in Monterey, there may be workflow or intra-office compatibility concerns if some people upgrade and others don’t. And, of course, unanticipated bugs could crop up at professionally inconvenient times—important work takes place on Macs! So please, do not upgrade to Monterey without checking with us first. With luck, the start of the new year will have brought both the bug fixes and app updates necessary to give the green light.

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: Apple is gearing up to release macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15. We take a brief look at the features worth upgrading for and suggest when to upgrade each of your Apple devices.

September is traditionally when new iPhones are ripe for the picking, and this year’s crop is no exception. At its California Streaming event on September 14th, Apple unveiled four iPhone 13 models. Apple also announced the expected Apple Watch Series 7, but entirely unanticipated were an upgrade to the iPad and a redesigned iPad mini.

Left to the fine print in Apple’s press releases was the fact that iOS 15, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 8 will become available for download on September 20th. As we’ve said before, you should wait at least a week or two before installing them on essential devices, just in case some unpleasant bug manifests itself. Regardless of when you upgrade, make a backup right beforehand, just in case something goes wrong and you need to erase and restore.

Let’s look at each of the new products.

iPhone 13 Models Evolve from Their iPhone 12 Equivalents

Some new iPhones are revolutionary, others are evolutionary. The iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max fall into the latter category, improving on their iPhone 12 equivalents in numerous ways while maintaining the same industrial design (albeit with a smaller front notch) and core capabilities. There’s no shame in that, and these are without a doubt the best iPhones Apple has ever made. So what’s new?

Most of Apple’s attention went into improving the cameras and photo- and video-related functionality. The rear-facing dual-camera systems in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini have larger pixels and the sensor-shift optical image stabilization that was previously available only in the iPhone 12 Pro Max, providing better images in low-light photos and videos. The triple-camera systems in the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max receive new sensors and lenses that also improve low-light performance and enable 3x zoom (up from 2x and 2.5x in the iPhone 12 equivalents). The new ultra-wide camera in the Pro models also significantly improves macro photography, capturing tiny subjects with a minimum focus distance of 2 centimeters.

All the iPhone 13 models offer three new and improved computational photography features: Photographic Styles, Smart HDR 4, and Cinematic mode. With Photographic Styles, the camera system automatically applies your photographic preferences (a bit like custom filters) to photos in real-time. Smart HDR 4 provides improved color, contrast, and lighting for each subject in group photos.

Cinematic mode brings to iPhone videos a cinematic technique called rack focus that emphasizes people or objects in a shot by focusing on them while blurring the rest of the scene. When enabled, Cinematic mode makes focus changes automatically during shots, for example in response to a person looking in a different direction or someone walking into the scene. You can also manually change the focus during or after capture.

Beyond the cameras, Apple put effort into several other important iPhone subsystems:

• A15 Bionic: Apple says the new A15 Bionic chip is the fastest smartphone chip ever, though it never said how much faster it is than last year’s A14 Bionic. Nevertheless, the A15 Bionic provides stellar performance that enables the near-magical computational photography features like Cinematic mode.
• Improved displays: The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini have a brighter Super Retina XDR display with a higher contrast ratio for true blacks, all while being more power-efficient. The display in the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max is brighter yet and supports Apple’s ProMotion technology that dynamically changes the screen refresh rate as needed from 10 Hz to 120 Hz, either preserving battery life or offering smooth video for games and movies.
• Longer battery life: Apple improved battery life with more power-efficient components, larger batteries, and technologies like ProMotion and Smart Data mode (which switches to LTE when 5G isn’t needed). The iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 Pro offer 1.5 hours more battery life than their predecessors, while the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Max provide 2.5 hours more than theirs.
• 5G in more countries: The iPhone 13 models support more 5G bands for broader coverage and faster performance. Apple says that 5G support on the iPhone 13 will include 200 carriers in 60 countries and regions by the end of the year.

All four iPhone 13 models now start at 128 GB of storage, and the Pro models offer a new 1 TB tier for those shooting a lot of video. Here are the 128 GB prices; add $100 for 256 GB, $300 for 512 GB, and $500 for 1 TB:

• iPhone 13 mini: $699
• iPhone 13: $799
• iPhone 13 Pro: $999
• iPhone 13 Pro Max: $1099

You can pre-order starting at 5 AM Pacific on September 17th, with delivery and in-store availability on September 24th. The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini come in five colors: pink, blue, midnight, starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED. In contrast, the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max come in graphite, gold, silver, and sierra blue. The second-generation iPhone SE ($399), iPhone 11 ($499), and iPhone 12 ($599) remain for sale as well.

Generally speaking, we wouldn’t recommend upgrading from an iPhone 12 model unless you’re switching to the iPhone 13 mini to get a smaller form factor or to one of the Pro models for the ultimate camera capabilities. It’s easier to recommend an upgrade from an iPhone 11 model or earlier, given the easier-to-hold squared-off industrial design and innovations like 5G and MagSafe that debuted with the iPhone 12 and continue in the iPhone 13.

Apple Watch Series 7 Is Bigger, Brighter, and Incrementally Better

Much as with the iPhone 13, the new Apple Watch Series 7 doesn’t offer any new sensors or surprising new features. Instead, it improves on last year’s Series 6 in subtle yet welcome ways. Most notably, it boasts a larger display with nearly 20% more screen area than the Series 6 and over 50% more than the Series 3.

The larger screen can display about 50% more text than on the Series 6, making it easier to read text messages or emails with less scrolling. Apple also took advantage of the extra real-estate to add a full keyboard in watchOS 8, enabling you to enter text by either tapping or sliding your finger from letter to letter using Apple’s QuickPath technology.

A couple of new watch faces take advantage of the larger display. The dynamic Contour face animates throughout the day, pushing the dial to the edge of the display and emphasizing the current hour. Plus, a new Modular Duo face leverages the extra space to provide a pair of large, data-rich complications.

A physical consequence of the larger display is that the Series 7 comes in 41 mm and 45 mm sizes, replacing the 40 mm and 44 mm Series 6 models. However, existing bands remain compatible. The front crystal has a stronger and more robust geometry that’s over 50% thicker than on the Series 6, making it more crack-resistant. It’s also now IP6X dust-resistant for dirty environments, and it retains its WR50 water-resistance rating for swimming (but not scuba diving).

When your wrist is down, the Series 7’s always-on display is 70% brighter indoors, making it easier to check the time discreetly. Despite this, it continues to provide 18-hour battery life, and it charges 33% faster than the Series 6, thanks to a new charging architecture and Magnetic Fast Charger USB-C Cable. Charging for 45 minutes will get you an 80% charge, and 8 minutes of juicing up before bed is enough for 8 hours of sleep tracking.

There are a few new fitness-related features, such as automatic detection of Outdoor Cycle workouts and better fall detection algorithms during workouts—including cycling—but most of them come with watchOS 8 and will work on older Apple Watch models as well.

Pricing for the Apple Watch Series 7 will start at $399, although it’s easy to spend a lot more on different case materials, bands, and Hermès models. The aluminum models will come in five colors: midnight, starlight, green, a new blue, and (PRODUCT)RED; the stainless steel and Apple Watch Edition models continue in existing colors. There will also be new band colors. Apple hasn’t provided a date when you can order a Series 7, saying only “later this fall.”

We can’t recommend an upgrade from the Apple Watch Series 6 or Series 5, but if you’re limping along with an older watch whose battery is getting weak, the Series 7 will be a compelling upgrade.

Upgraded iPad Gets Better Camera, True Tone, and More Storage

The base-model iPad has long been Apple’s best value, and with the changes the company brought to the ninth-generation iPad, it’s even more so. Apple improved the ninth-generation iPad in four ways:

• New front-facing FaceTime HD camera: This is the big one. Apple replaced the anemic 1.2-megapixel front-facing FaceTime HD camera with a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera that supports the Center Stage technology previously available only on the iPad Pro. Center Stage zooms and pans to keep whoever is on camera centered and in focus. And yes, the front-facing camera is now nominally better than the 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, which is a little weird.
• A13 Bionic chip: It’s not the latest and greatest, but the A13 Bionic is a generation newer than the previous iPad’s A12 Bionic, and it should provide plenty of performance.
• True Tone display: Another feature swiped from the iPad Pro, True Tone automatically adjusts the display’s color temperature based on the ambient lighting conditions, making the screen easier to read in different environments.
• Double the storage: Previously, the iPad started at 32 GB of storage, which wasn’t enough to do much. Apple has now doubled the base storage level to 64 GB and the next level to 256 GB.

Despite these improvements, the price for the basic iPad remains $329 ($299 for education) in silver and space gray. It jumps to $479 for 256 GB of storage, and another $130 gives you 4G LTE connectivity at either storage level. Overall, the ninth-generation iPad is a better value than ever, and if you’re buying an iPad for anyone who doesn’t need lots of power, it’s a no-brainer. It’s available now.

Redesigned iPad mini Mimics iPad Air

Even more surprising than the upgraded iPad was the redesigned sixth-generation iPad mini. It resembles nothing so much as a smaller iPad Air, with the same squared-off case design, an edge-to-edge 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, Touch ID in the top button, and USB-C charging and connectivity. It’s powered by the same new A15 Bionic chip that’s in the iPhone 13 Pro.

Apple also significantly improved the iPad mini’s cameras, outfitting it with a pair of 12-megapixel cameras. The rear-facing camera can now shoot video in 4K resolution, and the front-facing camera supports Center Stage. For ultimate portable connectivity, you can now get the iPad mini with optional 5G wireless connectivity.

The main place where the sixth-generation iPad mini falls behind the iPad Air is in accessories. It does support the second-generation Apple Pencil, which sticks magnetically to the side, but it lacks the Smart Connector that enables Apple’s well-regarded keyboards. You can still use Bluetooth keyboards, but they don’t provide as integrated an experience.

Storage options remain the same, but Apple dropped the price by $30, making it $499 for a 64 GB configuration and $649 for 256 GB. Add $150 to either configuration for 5G wireless connectivity. The iPad mini comes in space gray, pink, purple, and starlight, and it’s available now.

Realistically, you’re buying an iPad mini only if you value its diminutive size over all else. It may not be worth upgrading from a fifth-generation iPad mini unless it no longer meets your needs in some way, but anyone who wants full iPad power in a small form factor will appreciate the redesigned sixth-generation iPad mini.

(Featured image by Apple)