Skip to content
Thoughtful, detailed coverage of everything Apple for 36 years
and the TidBITS Content Network for Apple professionals
Adam Engst 12 comments

Apple Opens Public Betas for OS 27

Ready for a glimpse into our future as Apple users? Public betas for macOS 27 Golden Gate, iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and other major Apple operating systems are now available—but beware of bugs and be sure to back up your devices first.

Adam Engst 9 comments

The Real System Requirements for OS 27

Apple has finally completed its silicon transition: macOS 27 drops all Intel-based Macs, and iPadOS 27 and watchOS 27 each leave five models by the wayside, whereas the iPhone compatibility list remains unchanged.

Adam Engst 7 comments

Apple Increases Apple Music, Apple One, and AppleCare+ Prices

Apple has raised prices for Apple Music and most Apple One bundles, citing rising licensing costs. AppleCare+ prices also increased, presumably to keep pace with rising component costs.

Adam Engst 3 comments

Taming Email Overload: Avec Makes iPhone Email Triage Almost Fun

Tired of clunky email triage on your iPhone? Avec’s swipe-based interface lets you quickly sort important messages from noise, using AI to prioritize what matters. It’s Gmail-only and iPhone-only for now, but IMAP support is promised and a desktop version is coming.

Adam Engst 9 comments

OpenAI Shuffles ChatGPT Apps, Kills Atlas Browser, Improves Voice

OpenAI has replaced its Mac apps with a confusing 1.45 GB amalgamation, killed its ChatGPT Atlas Web browser after less than a year, and boosted ChatGPT Voice by backing it with more capable models.

Adam Engst 39 comments

Beyond Streaming: Why and How to Download Videos from YouTube

Can’t stream a YouTube video on a plane? Worried that a rare concert recording will disappear? Need to edit a clip for a presentation? Here’s why TidBITS Talk readers download YouTube videos—and which apps they recommend.

Adam Engst 50 comments

How Planning Made My Second Long EV Trip Stress-Free

After a mostly successful first EV road trip, Adam Engst refined his approach for a weekend drive to Boston. The result was a boring, stress-free experience—exactly what you want from travel logistics.

Adam Engst 11 comments

AppBITS: Fidelia Offers Audiophiles Precise Control over Music Playback

Audiofile Engineering’s Fidelia plays your music collection with bit-perfect accuracy and lets you shape the sound through Audio Units, equalization, and headphone virtualization. It’s not for everyone—but audiophiles will appreciate its depth.

Adam Engst 34 comments

Do You Use It? Clear and Tinted Icons Are a Hard Pass

Our poll results are in: virtually no TidBITS readers use clear or tinted icons on the Mac or the iPhone. But the real issue isn’t color—it’s that Apple’s mandatory squircle shape strips icons of their distinctive personalities, making them harder to differentiate.

Adam Engst 34 comments

“Hide My Email” Vulnerability Exposes Real Addresses

Apple’s Hide My Email feature has a vulnerability that does exactly what the name says it shouldn’t: reveal your real email address. Worse, Apple has ignored reports of the flaw for over a year.

Adam Engst 5 comments

EveryMac Hits the 30-Year Mark

EveryMac is celebrating its 30th anniversary. For three decades, Brock Kyle’s comprehensive Apple specs site has been a reliable standby for hunting down obscure details that Apple doesn’t make easy to find.

Adam Engst 16 comments

26.5.2 Updates Squash Vulnerabilities in macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Safari

Apple has released macOS 26.5.2, iOS 26.5.2 and iPadOS 26.5.2, and Safari 26.5.2, addressing 29 security vulnerabilities. Most fixes target WebKit, with additional patches for the kernel and other components. No exploits have been reported in the wild.

Adam Engst 18 comments

People and Companies Should Be Legally Liable for Their AI Agents

Public-interest technologist Bruce Schneier argues that companies and individuals deploying AI agents should bear legal liability for those agents’ actions, just as they would for human employees.

Adam Engst 15 comments

Apple Raises Prices for Many Products

Apple finally pulled the trigger on the price increases Tim Cook telegraphed last week. The hikes average 20% across most of Apple’s lineup, with the Apple TV taking the biggest percentage hit and the iPhone and Apple Watch spared for now.

Adam Engst 95 comments

Why AI Agents Fill Me with Dread

AI agents are supposedly going to manage our calendars, reply to email, make reservations, and plan trips. Adam Engst has been thinking about why this fills him with dread rather than excitement, and whether he’s alone in his skepticism.