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Choosing the Best Mac for a College-Bound Student in 2022

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Do you have a child starting college soon? It’s likely that your kid has been relying heavily on a computer throughout high school, but if it was a school-provided laptop or shared family computer, now’s the time to get them something of their own. And even if they had their own laptop throughout high school, if it’s old or unreliable, college is a good excuse to bring them up to date. If you haven’t been paying close attention to Apple’s Mac lineup, you might wonder which model makes the most sense.

First, don’t buy anything without first checking with the college. Many college departments have specific requirements based on the software students use in their classes. Generally, these revolve around processor type, amount of RAM, and storage space. Luckily, current Macs should meet the requirements. Second, see if the college provides access to education pricing—most will—to save a few hundred dollars.

Colleges often specify—and students usually prefer—laptops instead of desktop machines. Although the 24-inch iMac is an excellent machine with a gorgeous screen, it’s too big and unwieldy for the transient lifestyle of the typical college student. The same applies to a Mac mini or Mac Studio with an external display. A laptop is much easier to pack during moves, and it can travel to class every day. A student who’s accustomed to taking notes on an iPad with a Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil might be able to use that along with a desktop Mac, but most students should focus on Apple’s laptops.

In the past, it was harder to decide which model was best for a given student, but with Apple’s move to the M1 and M2 chips, which significantly outperform the Intel processors used in previous models, the decision is easier. We see three primary scenarios:

  • Most students: Buy Apple’s MacBook Air. It’s Apple’s smallest, lightest, and least expensive laptop, but thanks to its M1 or M2 processor, it has fabulous performance for everyday tasks. Although the M1 MacBook Air from 2020 remains available for those who need the most cost-effective option (starting at $999), the new M2 MacBook Air is a better choice for most people, thanks to its bigger-brighter-better 13.6-inch screen, faster performance, 24 GB memory ceiling, and higher-resolution webcam. It starts at $1199.
  • Better specs: If performance is more important than cost—particularly if your student will be working with processor-intensive tasks like video editing—look to the 14-inch MacBook Pro. It features an M1 Pro chip that’s more powerful than the base-level M2 and is configurable with an even faster M1 Max chip. Its screen is bigger, and it can take up to 32 GB of memory. Its price starts at $1999.
  • Windows compatibility: The only downside of the transition to Apple silicon is that it’s no longer easy to run Windows using virtualization software like VMware Fusion (free for students) or Parallels Desktop. On M1 and M2 Macs, it is possible to run Parallels Desktop and Windows for ARM Insider Preview, but we can’t recommend that anyone rely on that combination yet. If Windows compatibility is paramount, your choices are a used Intel-based MacBook Pro or—much as we hate to say it—a PC laptop that runs Windows natively.

Regardless of which laptop you decide on, you’ll have to pick a processor, an amount of RAM, and storage capacity:

  • Processor: With the M1 MacBook Air, you’re limited to the M1 chip with an 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU, so there is no choice to make. However, with the M2 MacBook Air, the M2 chip always has an 8-core CPU, but you can pay $100 to upgrade from an 8-core GPU to a 10-core GPU. The performance difference isn’t likely to be noticeable with everyday apps, but for $100, it might be worth it, just in case. The 14-inch MacBook Pro has three M1 Pro options and two more M1 Max options, and choosing among them is probably best done by weighing likely performance needs against the increased cost.
  • Memory: The M1 MacBook Air offers the choice of 8 GB or 16 GB. 8 GB is acceptable for most college students, but we’d encourage 16 GB to reduce the chance that memory becomes a limiting factor in performance. The M2 MacBook Air lets you choose from 8 GB, 16 GB, or 24 GB, and again, we’d default to 16 GB unless there’s some particularly memory-hungry software in play. With the 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16 GB is standard and fine for most tasks, but 32 GB is available if you think it will be necessary, and for seriously intensive work, the M1 Max chip in the 14-inch MacBook Pro offers a 64 GB option.
  • Storage: For both MacBook Air models, 256 GB is the lowest storage level, and you can upgrade to 2 TB. The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at 512 GB and offers upgrades up to a whopping 8 TB. Choose the amount of storage based on budget—it gets expensive fast—and anticipated usage—audio and especially video can consume a lot of space, as can large numbers of photos, but most other uses don’t. Remember that it’s easy to connect an external Thunderbolt SSD or hard drive to offload large files that don’t have to be kept available at all times.

To our thinking, the most obvious choice for a Mac that’s likely to last for four years of college would be the new M2 MacBook Air with a 10-core GPU, 16 GB of memory, and 512 GB of storage. Be sure to budget for AppleCare+, too; it’s almost guaranteed that some mishap will befall a student laptop, and AppleCare+ covers up to two incidents of accidental damage every year.

You’ll need to have some conversations with your child to find out what they think they’ll need—and be sure to double-check that against the college’s recommendations—but if you have any questions after that, don’t hesitate to contact us.

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: Which Mac is best for a new college student? Short answer: the new M2 MacBook Air. Read on for the longer explanation and how we recommend configuring it.

Not Getting Full 5G When You Should? Try a New SIM Card

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If you’ve been moving your SIM card from phone to phone over the years, you might inadvertently be preventing your current phone from taking full advantage of 5G connectivity. Cellular carriers aren’t always forthcoming about what will and will not work, but at least in the US, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon all make noises about how you need a 5G-capable SIM card to use the latest and greatest 5G technologies. The solution is simple: stop by a carrier’s store or contact them to ask for a new SIM. It should be free and will take just a minute to install once the carrier support people have configured it to your phone number. Precisely where the SIM card slot is on your iPhone varies a bit by model; Apple provides full instructions.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Kuzmik_A)

Ease Vacation Navigation with Favorite Addresses in Maps

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Imagine you’re on vacation, staying at an Airbnb and collecting tourist points in the surrounding area throughout the day. Since you’ll be heading back to your Airbnb regularly but may not remember its address reliably, it’s best to make it a favorite in Maps before you even leave home. That way, you can navigate to it easily without searching repeatedly or looking for it in your Recents list. Similarly, take a few minutes to add other addresses that you know you’ll need, such as the rental car dropoff spot. In Maps on the iPhone, tap the ••• button ➊ next to an address and then Add to Favorites ➋. Then, when it’s time to navigate, swipe up on the search handle ➌ and tap the favorite ➍ to get directions.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Prostock-Studio)

Find Apple Watch Apps Faster in List View

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Every so often, we encounter someone struggling to find and launch an app on their Apple Watch because they have trouble seeing and interacting with the icon-centric grid view layout. If you’re in that camp, there’s a better way. In the iPhone’s Watch app, tap My Watch at the bottom, and then tap App View. Then select List View, which provides an alphabetically sorted, scrolling list of all your apps. From then on, it’s easy to press the Digital Crown to show the apps, turn it to scroll, and tap an app to launch it.

(Featured image by iStock.com/raditya)

The Hardware You’ll Need to Run Apple’s 2022 Operating Systems

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At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June, the company threw back the curtains on macOS 13 Ventura, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9. These operating systems won’t be available until September or October of 2022, and we usually recommend waiting some time to upgrade—particularly for macOS.

Even so, it’s not too early to think about how these operating systems might impact your plans to buy new hardware in the next six months. Any Apple device you buy now—or have bought in the last few years—will be able to run the new operating systems. But some devices that can run the current macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8 won’t be able to upgrade to their replacements later this year. And some older devices that can upgrade won’t support all the new features.

Here’s what you’ll need and compatibility gotchas to keep in mind.

macOS 13 Ventura

For macOS 13 Ventura, Apple has dropped support for every Mac model released before 2017. That’s in contrast to macOS 12 Monterey, which supported previous generation Macs that came out as early as 2013. If your Mac predates 2017 and you want to run Ventura, think about when it would make sense to buy a new Mac, perhaps in early 2023.

  • iMac: 2017 and later (late 2015 supported by Monterey)
  • iMac Pro: 2017 and later
  • MacBook: 2017 and later (early 2016 supported by Monterey)
  • MacBook Air: 2018 and later (early 2015 supported by Monterey)
  • MacBook Pro: 2017 and later (early 2015 supported by Monterey)
  • Mac mini: 2018 and later (late 2014 supported by Monterey)
  • Mac Pro: 2019 and later (2013 supported by Monterey)
  • Mac Studio: 2022

If you’re unsure which Mac you have, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu and look in the first line under the macOS version.

iOS 16

With iOS 16, Apple has maintained the same basic timeframe, supporting all iPhone models released in 2017 and later but dropping everything earlier, along with all iPod touch models. That means you’ll be able to run iOS 16 on these iPhones:

  • iPhone 13/mini/Pro/Pro Max: A15 Bionic
  • iPhone 12/mini/Pro/Pro Max: A14 Bionic
  • iPhone 11/mini/Pro/Pro Max: A13 Bionic
  • iPhone SE (2nd generation or later): A13 Bionic
  • iPhone XR/XS/XS Max: A12 Bionic
  • iPhone X: A11 Bionic
  • iPhone 8/8 Plus: A11 Bionic

We included each model’s chip family in the list above because that becomes important for particular features we’ll discuss later.

Practically speaking, these iOS 15-compatible devices won’t be able to upgrade to iOS 16:

    • iPod touch (all models)
    • iPhone SE (1st generation)
    • iPhone 6s/6s Plus
    • iPhone 7/7 Plus

iPadOS 16

Things get more complicated with iPadOS 16 due to there being four different iPad model types with varying capabilities. As with the iPhone models, we’ve included the chip families for reference.

  • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st–5th generation): A9X, A10X Fusion, A12X Bionic, A12Z Bionic, M1
  • iPad Pro 11-inch (1st–3rd generation): A12X Bionic, A12Z Bionic, M1
  • iPad Pro 10.5-inch: A10X Fusion
  • iPad Pro 9.7-inch: A9X
  • iPad Air (3rd–5th generation): A12 Bionic, A14 Bionic, M1
  • iPad (5th–8th generation): A9, A10 Fusion, A10 Fusion, A12 Bionic, A13 Bionic
  • iPad mini (5th and 6th generation): A12 Bionic, A15 Bionic

While that’s a long list, a simpler way to look at it is that only two iPad models that can run iOS 15 now won’t be able to upgrade to iOS 16:

  • iPad mini (4th generation)
  • iPad Air (2nd generation)

If you’re unsure which iPad model you have (this goes for the iPhone, too), look in Settings > General > About > Model Name.

watchOS 9

The upcoming watchOS 9 has a simple upgrade story. It supports the Apple Watch Series 4 through the Apple Watch Series 7, including the unnumbered Apple Watch SE. (Look in the Watch app on your iPhone if you can’t remember which model you have.) The only current model that won’t be able to upgrade is the Apple Watch Series 3. Although that model is quite old, dropping support for it is somewhat awkward since Apple continues to sell it even today as a low-cost option. If you’re planning to buy an Apple Watch soon, avoid the Series 3.

Feature-Based System Requirements

For some new features in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, Apple has drawn a line in the sand at the A12 Bionic chip. These features will work on an iPhone or iPad with an A12 Bionic or later, but not on older devices that can still run iOS 16 and iPadOS 16. Some will also work on the Mac. These features include:

  • Lifting the subject of a photo from its background (also works on all Ventura-compatible Macs)
  • Live Text support in videos (also works on all Ventura-compatible Macs)
  • Spotlight search for images by location, people, scenes, text, and contents
  • Using dictation alongside the onscreen keyboard
  • Inserting emojis using dictation (in Ventura, requires a Mac with Apple silicon)
  • Enhanced Siri support for asking an app what voice commands it supports, hanging up calls, inserting emojis in texts, and working offline (these features won’t be available on the Mac in Ventura)
  • Recognition of birds, insects, and statues in Visual Lookup (also works on all Ventura-compatible Macs)

Some additional features have idiosyncratic system requirements:

  • Live Captions that automatically generate text for any audio require an iPhone 11 or later, an iPad with A12 Bionic or later, or a Mac with Apple silicon.
  • Detection Mode in the Magnifier app, which can identify objects like doors, requires an iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 13 Pro, an iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th and 5th generation), or an iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd and 3rd generation).
  • The Camera app will let you blur the foreground in Portrait photos and improves the quality of Cinematic mode videos, but only for the iPhone 13 lineup.
  • The capability to use an iPhone as a webcam requires an iPhone XR or later.
  • When using an iPhone as a webcam, the Center Stage and Desk View features (the latter lets you show the other party what’s in front of you on your desk) require an iPhone 11 or later.
  • The new Studio Light feature that dims the background and lights up your face to simulate external lighting needs an iPhone 12 or later.
  • The Health app’s capability to scan medicine labels requires an iPhone XR or later.
  • Dictation can add punctuation automatically if you’re using an iPhone 11 or later, an iPad with an A12 Bionic or later, or a Mac with Apple silicon.
  • You can shrink iPad user interface elements to be smaller to fit more onto the screen with M1 iPads.
  • iPadOS 16 supports virtual memory swapping to provide up to 16 GB of memory to demanding apps, but only on M1 iPads.
  • The new Stage Manager windowing feature requires an M1 iPad in iPadOS 16 but will work with all Ventura-compatible Macs.

It can be disappointing when your fully functional Mac, iPhone, or iPad doesn’t support some snazzy new feature, but it’s better that Apple lets that device upgrade to the latest operating system rather than kicking it off the upgrade train just because it doesn’t have enough processor power for everything.

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: Later this year, Apple will release macOS 13 Ventura, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9. Here’s the hardware you’ll need to run these operating systems—and to support some of the whizzier features.

Do You Keep Losing Your Pointer on a Large Screen? Try This Tip for Finding It

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A large screen—or several screens!—increases productivity by helping you see more content at once. It’s a big help to refer to a Web page in one window while writing in another, for instance, or to check your calendar while composing an email. But the more screen real estate you have, the easier it is to lose track of the tiny pointer arrow. Happily, Apple added a clever trick for finding the pointer to macOS—quickly slide your finger or shake your mouse back and forth horizontally a few times to enlarge the pointer briefly.

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

Apple Previews M2-Based MacBook Air and Updated 13-Inch MacBook Pro

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During its Worldwide Developer Conference keynote on June 6th, Apple took a brief break from showing off new features in upcoming operating systems to throw back the curtains on its new M2 chip and a pair of laptops that use it: an all-new MacBook Air and an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro. Apple said that both laptops will be available in July.

Next Generation M2 Chip Boosts Performance, Offers More Memory

Although we’re still wrapping our heads around the insane performance offered by a Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra chip, Apple is already introducing the next generation of chips to power the Mac line, beginning with the M2. It includes an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, and builds on the capabilities of the M1, increasing CPU performance by 18%, GPU performance by 35%, and Neural Engine performance by 40%. It also offers up to 24 GB of unified memory (16 GB max in the M1) and expands memory bandwidth by 50%. Impressive numbers, but still well under the capabilities of the M1 Pro. We expect Apple to release an M2 Pro, M2 Max, and M2 Ultra within the next year or so.

New MacBook Air Brings Complete Redesign

Apple claims the MacBook Air is the world’s best-selling laptop, which isn’t surprising, given the model’s svelte size, zippy performance, and reasonable price point. For this revision, Apple changed the previous wedge-shaped design to a squared-off look that echoes recent Apple products like the 24-inch iMac and iPhone 13. It’s otherwise similar in size to the previous model, though just a touch thinner and lighter. It’s the same width and a bit deeper, likely because it boasts a 13.6-inch screen and a full-height function key row with Touch ID. Happily, it now charges using Apple’s MagSafe 3 technology. You can get the new MacBook Air in four finishes: silver, space gray, starlight, and midnight.

The new MacBook Air’s screen isn’t just bigger, it’s also better. It has a slightly higher resolution of 2560×1664, it’s brighter, and it supports up to 1 billion colors. In other words, it’s gorgeous, and you can supplement it with an external display up to 6K in resolution. Embedded at the top of the screen is a better webcam with a 1080p resolution instead of the previous 720p resolution. Apple also enhanced its audio capabilities with a four-speaker sound system and a three-mic array with directional beamforming.

The price of the M2-based MacBook Air starts at $1199, but additional processing power, memory, and storage are available:

  • Chip: Choose from either an M2 with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU or one with an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU ($100).
  • Memory: 8 GB of unified memory is standard, but you can opt for 16 GB ($200) or 24 GB ($400).
  • Storage: The base level of SSD storage is 256 GB, with upgrades to 512 GB ($200), 1 TB ($400), or 2 TB ($800).

Like the previous M1-based MacBook Air, the new model sports two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports on the left side (next to the MagSafe port) and a 3.5 mm headphone jack on the right side. It also supports Wi-Fi 6 wireless networking and Bluetooth 5.0.

It comes with a 30-watt USB-C power adapter, or you can pay $20 more for either a 35-watt power adapter with two USB-C ports or a 67-watt USB-C power adapter that supports the M2-based MacBook Air’s fast charging capabilities. If you opt for the higher-end M2 chip and at least 512 GB of storage, you get one of the more-capable power adapters for free.

Although the new MacBook Air is a little more expensive than a comparably configured M1-based MacBook Air, it sports better performance, more memory, a bigger and better screen, a better webcam, a larger function key row, better speakers, and MagSafe 3. Nevertheless, if you’re working on a tight budget, the least expensive M1-based MacBook Air remains available for $999, and it’s still a fine machine.

In the end, it’s hard to go wrong with the new M2-based MacBook Air when upgrading from an Intel-based Mac laptop or supplementing your desktop Mac with a laptop. It’s small, light, powerful, and cost-effective, if not a significant enough jump to warrant upgrading from an M1-based MacBook Air.

Updated 13-inch MacBook Pro Gains M2 Chip

While the new MacBook Air is a complete redesign, the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro is unchanged from its M1-based predecessor, apart from the move to the M2 chip. Since that’s the same chip that’s in the MacBook Air and the price is identical for comparable configurations, the question becomes why you’d buy the 13-inch MacBook Pro instead of the new MacBook Air.

On the plus side, the 13-inch MacBook Pro has cooling fans that enable it to maintain peak performance for sustained loads—the fanless MacBook Air will throttle itself to avoid overheating if you push it for too long. The MacBook Pro’s battery life is likely a little longer, given that it has a large battery. Finally, it has a Touch Bar instead of a function key row, which some may like.

However, the new MacBook Air’s slightly larger screen supports more colors (1 billion versus millions), and the MacBook Air has a better webcam and potentially better speakers. It’s also a little thinner and lighter.

In balance, we recommend the MacBook Air unless you love the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar, which seems to be on the way out. The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1299 for an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU M2-based model with 8 GB of unified memory and 256 GB of SSD storage. The build-to-order options are the same as for the MacBook Air.

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: At its WWDC22 keynote, Apple unveiled a completely redesigned MacBook Air and an updated 13-inch MacBook Pro, both powered by the next-generation M2 chip. Read on for details:

11 Features to Look Forward to in Apple’s 2022 Operating Systems

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It’s that time of year again. Apple CEO Tim Cook and numerous Apple employees took the virtual stage again at the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote on June 6th to share what we can expect to see later this year in macOS 13 Ventura, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9. (Almost no mention was made of tvOS or the HomePod, but Apple will undoubtedly move them forward in small ways as well.)

The announcements came thick and fast, and like last year, many of the technologies cut across several of Apple’s operating systems. Before we dive in, however, remember that some older devices won’t be able to upgrade. Here are the basic system requirements, though certain features won’t be available on all devices:

  • macOS 13 Ventura: iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, and MacBook Pro from 2017 and later. MacBook Air and Mac mini from 2018 and later. Mac Pro from 2019 and later. Mac Studio from 2022.
  • iOS 16: Second-generation iPhone SE, iPhone 8, and later
  • iPadOS 16: Fifth-generation iPad and later, fifth-generation iPad mini and later, third-generation iPad Air and later, and all iPad Pro models
  • watchOS 9: Apple Watch Series 4 and newer, including the Apple Watch SE

Here are the promised new features we think will have the most impact on your Apple experience. Assume that these features are available on the Mac, iPhone, and iPad unless otherwise specified.

Customizable iPhone Lock Screen

We’ve been able to put a photo on the iPhone’s Lock screen for years, but that’s it. With iOS 16, Apple is opening up lots of customization options along the lines of what you can do to Apple Watch faces. To start, you can customize the font, color, and placement of various options, just like a watch face. Photos dynamically display in front of the time, and you can have a set of photos shuffle throughout the day. Widgets from Apple and third-party developers provide at-a-glance information so you can check the weather, say, without even unlocking your iPhone. Notifications now scroll up from the bottom, and Live Activities help you stay up on the music that’s currently playing or the latest score in the big game.

Messages Gains Editing, Undo Send, and Mark as Unread

At long last, Messages will let us edit messages after sending, undo sending to call a message back, and mark messages as unread. The first two features are essential for clear communication, especially when you’re fixing auto-correct failures, and being able to mark messages as unread ensures that you won’t forget to respond to something that you read when you’re not in a position to reply.

Mail Adds Undo Send, Scheduled Send, Follow-up, and Remind Me

It’s surprising that Apple hasn’t spent more time on Mail in recent years, but that’s changing in 2022, when it will gain some welcome features that are commonplace in other email apps. You’ll be able to undo sending, which is helpful when you remember something to add to a message within 10 seconds after clicking the Send button. For more specific timing, scheduled send lets you specify when a message should go out. This is helpful when you are working on the weekend or late at night but don’t want your co-workers to feel that they need to reply right away.  Mail will also move sent messages that haven’t received replies to the top of your inbox so you can follow up, and you can set a reminder to come back to messages that you’ve opened but not dealt with (many of us just mark those as unread).

Multi-Stop Routing in Maps

No longer are you limited to a single destination when creating a route in Maps. You’ll be able to specify up to 15 stops on a route, making it easy to build a trip that includes a swing by your favorite diner, a quick visit with an old friend, and a pilgrimage to the World’s Largest Bull in Iowa.

iCloud Shared Photo Library Improves Family Photo Sharing

Apple’s latest attempt to help families share photos looks like the best yet—certainly better than the shared Family album that’s created for Family Sharing groups now. It will be a completely separate iCloud photo library shared with up to five other people. You’ll be able to populate it with all your existing photos or a subset based on start date or who’s in them. Everyone will have equal permission to add, edit, favorite, caption, and delete photos, so maintaining and improving it becomes a group activity. Sharing new photos will be easy with a switch in the Camera app, automatic sharing based on proximity to family members, and sharing suggestions in Photos.

Passkeys Aims to Replace Passwords… Eventually

Apple’s new Passkeys technology, which is associated with the work of an industry consortium called the FIDO Alliance to ensure cross-platform support, aims to replace passwords for websites and apps with private passkeys that are stored only on your device and accessed by Touch ID or Face ID. Passkeys are easier to use than passwords and significantly safer because they can’t be stolen from websites and each one is specific to the site for which you create it. They’ll be available on all your Apple devices, syncing end-to-end encrypted through iCloud Keychain.

Use Your iPhone as a Webcam for Your Mac

Mac webcams are nowhere near as good as the rear-facing cameras in your iPhone, so Apple is helping us improve our videoconferencing by using an iPhone as a webcam and microphone. The feature, called Continuity Camera, works wired or wirelessly and can automatically switch to using your iPhone as a webcam when you bring it close to your Mac. It provides Portrait mode to blur the background, Center Stage so you can move around, Studio Light to dim the background and illuminate your face, and even Desk View to show what’s on your desk in front of your Mac. Apple says Belkin will be making clips to attach your iPhone to your Mac.

Stage Manager Offers New Window Management Approach

We’re not yet sure what to make of Stage Manager, which is Apple’s new approach to window management on the iPad and Mac. It puts one app in the center of the screen while keeping other apps off to the side, making it easy to flip between apps or show multiple apps at once. It doesn’t replace traditional window management—you have to turn it on in Control Center—so you won’t be forced to change, but it might be welcome, especially on the iPad, where it also enables the use of an external display.

Simultaneous Dictation, Touch Selection, and Keyboard Editing

On the iPhone and iPad, you’ve been able to tap a microphone button to invoke Dictation, a huge boon when you want to send a message without typing. In iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, Apple has radically improved Dictation, so you can now simultaneously talk, type, edit on the keyboard, select text via touch, and use the Apple Pencil (on an iPad). Dictation will also automatically add commas, periods, and question marks as you dictate, and you can insert emojis with voice commands. Sadly, it seems that the Mac gets only the punctuation and emoji capabilities.

Medications App on the Apple Watch

Many of us have to take medications, vitamins, and supplements regularly. To help us better manage our health, Apple is adding the Medications app to watchOS 9. You’ll be able to enter your meds in the Health app on the iPhone, be alerted to any critical interactions between drugs, and have your Apple Watch notify you to take the right pills at the right times.

Weather App Appears on the iPad and Mac

Finally, because our list goes to 11, Apple says it’s bringing the Weather app to the iPad and the Mac. Since Weather has been on the iPhone since the beginning, it’s hard to fathom what took Apple so long. If you haven’t already jumped ship for one of the 17,000 other weather apps out there, you’ll be able to enjoy using Apple’s built-in app in iPadOS 16 and macOS 13 Ventura.

Apple’s upcoming operating system releases boast many other new features, and we plan to explore more of them once everything ships in a few months. We’ll let you know when it’s time to update!

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: At its Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, Apple announced oodles of new features that we’ll see in macOS 13 Ventura, iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9 later this year. Here are the ten—no, eleven!—features we think you’ll most like:

How to Recover from Overzealous Auto-Correct Curly Quotes

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Most of the time, it’s appropriate when an auto-correct feature turns single and double hash marks into single and double curly quotes. However, there are times when the curly quotes are awkward for some reason or actively wrong. For instance, hash marks indicate feet and inches, as in 5′ 6″. You could attempt to disable the auto-correct feature or copy and paste a hash mark from some other place, but the simple fix is to type the hash mark, watch auto-correct change it, and immediately press Command-Z to revert to the hash mark. We can’t guarantee this will work in all situations, but it’s generally effective.

(Featured image by iStock.com/nicoletaionescu)

Easily Share Wi-Fi Passwords with Other People and Devices

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You’re on vacation with your family, staying in an Airbnb, with multiple Apple devices to connect to the apartment’s Wi-Fi. Typing the password repeatedly would be a pain, but happily, Apple has added a password-sharing feature to all its operating systems. Once you enter the password on your iPhone, whenever someone else—or another of your devices—tries to connect to the Wi-Fi network, your iPhone will prompt you to share the password. Tap Share Password and then Done. It’s also a great way to share your home Wi-Fi password with a visitor. (For password sharing to work, both devices must have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and Personal Hotspot disabled, and you and the other person must have each other’s Apple ID email address saved in Contacts.)

(Featured image by Adam Engst)