D. Griffin Jones - page 9

How can you run Microsoft Windows on a Mac these days? Fifteen years ago, the answer was simple: Just install Windows using Boot Camp. Today, you have loads of other options — even though Boot Camp itself does not work on Macs with Apple silicon processors.

You can use a virtual machine, pay to access Windows in the cloud from a web browser, use special software to get access to a couple of essential apps or simply Remote Desktop in to a PC. Which path forward is right for you? I’ll run through them all.

If you like working, sleeping, relaxing or meditating to ambient music — and you own an iPhone — you’re in luck. You can now play background tunes from Control Center on your iPhone. The feature is ad-free and doesn’t require a subscription to Apple Music.

If you usually put on a lo-fi music stream on YouTube, you should give this new feature a shot instead. You don’t need to keep the YouTube app open, and annoying ads won’t interrupt you.

Here’s how the iPhone’s ambient music feature works.

You could have dozens of copies of the same images in your Photos library, taking up space on your phone and in your iCloud account. Luckily, Apple offers an easy-to-use little tool that lets you find duplicate photos and delete the copies, all right from the Photos app.

These types of duplicate images can accumulate more quickly than you might expect. They arise if you make a copy of a photo to edit, if you screenshot a photo to bump it to the top of your Camera Roll, or if you and your partner both upload the same picture to your Shared iCloud Photo Library. In fact, I found hundreds of duplicates in my own carefully curated library.

It’s a surprisingly sophisticated feature that took Apple engineers a fair amount of smarts to cook up (more on that later). Here’s how to use Apple’s duplicate image remover and get rid of all those unnecessary files. Keep reading or watch our video instructions.

You can quickly tag photos on your iPhone with the names of your friends, family members and pets so you can easily find pictures of them later on. The Photos app will detect pictures of people automatically — you just need to give them a name. I’ll show you how to fine-tune the results as well.

I’ll show you how to find this long-standing feature in the new Photos app and make the most of it. Keep reading or watch our video guide.

Vision Pro Guest mode is how you can share your Vision Pro with someone else. Because if you own one of Apple’s new AR/VR headsets, everyone you know is inevitably going to want to try it on. That’s where Vision Pro Guest Mode comes in.

With the release of visionOS 2.4 and iOS 18.4, setting up Guest Mode is much easier than before. The old way still works — but to make sharing your headset more seamless, you should follow the instructions below. There’s a little bit of setup, but then it should be smooth sailing.

This is how to set up a guest user on Vision Pro. Keep reading or watch our video.

Believe it or not, there are actually quite a few helpful tricks Siri can do — besides setting timers and sending texts. Granted, there’s a lot of things Siri can’t do, especially with the recent news that the smarter, more capable Siri promised with Apple Intelligence and the total LLM-powered overhaul are both significantly delayed.

Nonetheless, after many hours of research, I have come across six neat things you can ask Siri you might find surprising or handy. Keep reading our list or watch our video.

You can easily change the default browser on your iPhone if you prefer to use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge or any other alternative. Maybe you use a PC at home and want your bookmarks, history and passwords to sync to your iPhone. Or maybe you simply prefer something other than Apple’s Safari browser.

Whichever browser you set as your iPhone’s default will open when you tap on a link from Messages or Mail, get AirDropped a URL, scan a QR code, search the web with Siri and perform other tasks. This doesn’t mean Safari will be deleted, however. Apple’s stock app will remain installed on your iPhone if case you decide to switch back (which is super-easy).

Here’s how to change the default browser on your iPhone — and transfer your bookmarks and data, too. Keep reading or watch our quick video.

Since I spend a lot of time using Safari on my iPhone, any new tips and tricks I learn can feel life-changing. Apple’s mobile web browser proves absolutely instrumental to my iPhone usage (and odds are, it does for you, too).

Here are a few of my favorite hidden features. These Safari tips will help you browse the web faster, clean up your experience and restore tabs you accidentally close. I also have a handy Shortcut you can download at the end.

Keep reading or watch our video.

Vocal Shortcuts let you control your phone by speaking a command out loud. Think “Hey Siri,” but for running your own custom actions from Apple’s Shortcuts app. (Here’s a quick rundown on Shortcuts, if you’re not familiar with this powerful tool.)

Using Vocal Shortcuts is a versatile way to automate tasks on your iPhone with the power of your voice alone. You don’t need to make space on your Home Screen for a Shortcuts widget, type anything into Spotlight or, god forbid, open the Shortcuts app.

You can create a Vocal Shortcut that opens an app you use often, like the Apple TV remote, for instant access with your voice.

You can even use this feature as a roundabout way to use “OK Google” — or whatever your favorite alternative voice assistant may be — instead of Siri.

Watch our quick video or keep reading.

The Photographic Styles feature built into your iPhone’s camera can give your pictures a radically different aesthetic. And once you nail down your personal photo style or styles, you can make sure all your pictures use these specific filters. And on a newer iPhone, you can edit them after the fact.

Photographic Styles can save you the time you’d waste editing your pictures in Instagram or VSCO. Since they live in the iPhone’s camera and in Apple’s Photos app, you can see them while you’re shooting your pictures, too. Read on to see how to edit your photos in these different styles or watch our video below.

Apple is perceived as a laggard in the AI race — despite that, Apple has developed the single best computer for AI research. The new Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra chip, which supports up to 512GB of unified memory, is the easiest and cheapest way to run powerful, cutting-edge LLMs on your own hardware.

The latest DeepSeek v3 model, which sent shockwaves through the AI space for its comparable performance to ChatGPT, can run entirely on a single Mac, Apple AI researchers revealed Monday.

It’s a machine that fits comfortably on your desk, rather than a server farm; it costs the same as a used Honda Civic, not a new Lamborghini.

How did this happen? Most remarkably of all — by sheer coincidence. Here’s why the Apple silicon architecture makes for the best AI hardware, a use case Apple didn’t mean to design it for.

Window snapping and tiling is a new way to quickly organize your Mac desktop. It lets you throw the two apps you’re working on side by side so you can focus on them.

Window snapping proves more versatile than fullscreen mode, which the Mac has had ever since OS X Lion. Using fullscreen mode comes with a few compromises. For one, fullscreen mode only supports two windows side by side. And while you’re in fullscreen mode, you can’t have any other apps visible — fullscreen apps exist in a separate space from everything else.

With window snapping, you can have your Mac windows tiled in halves, quarters or a mix — you pick the orderly layout that works best for the task at hand. You can use gestures or keyboard shortcuts for quick tiling. Or you can control the tiling from your Mac’s menu bar. Keep reading or watch our video to learn how this cool Mac productivity feature works.

You should get comfortable with the world’s handiest camera so you can capture memories that will last a lifetime. After all, more and more people are leaving behind family point-and-shoot cameras for the smartphones in their pockets. With our iPhone photography tips, you won’t need the latest and greatest in your pocket.

If you know the ins and outs of photography, you can make the most out of a years-old camera. In fact, the winner of the 2020 iPhone Photography Awards took the prize-winning picture on an iPhone 4!

No matter what phone you have, check out these pointers for the casual and curious. And watch our video to see them in action.

You don’t need to buy an old Macintosh to experience classic Mac OS anymore. In fact, you don’t even need to fiddle around installing an emulator and downloading ROMs. Thanks to Infinite Mac, you can boot up every major release of Mac OS from the 1980s and ’90s right in your web browser.

With more than 25 Apple computers and devices in my collection, I’m something of a vintage Mac collector. It’s an expensive hobby that few can indulge in, but the Infinite Mac website lets you experience one of the joys of collecting vintage gear: Taking ancient software for a spin on a vintage Mac.

The M3 iPad Air can do it all, as I found while testing Apple’s midrange tablet for this review. At its core, the thin, lightweight device proves perfect for living room reading, watching and browsing. Add the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil, and you can get some serious work done. It’s fast, powerful and remarkably capable.

I never previously owned my own personal iPad. I’ve used Windows PCs and Macs since 2002, switching to the Mac full-time in 2012. Between my Mac mini and Vision Pro, I haven’t felt the need for an iPad in my life.

Nonetheless, for this M3 iPad Air review, I went all-in, using the tablet with a Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil for as much of my work as I could to see if I was missing out. Here’s what I discovered — keep reading or watch our video review.

The 2025 MacBook Air with Apple’s M4 processor comes as close as you can get to a perfect computer for just about everyone. As I found during testing for this review, Apple crammed tons of power into a svelte, lightweight design. And this combination has never been more affordable.

This latest MacBook Air might look familiar on the outside. But when you get to work, you’ll quickly discover that the M4 is a totally different beast. M3 to M4 is the biggest leap in performance since Apple’s original switch from Intel processors to Apple silicon.

I put the latest MacBook Air through its paces for this hands-on review — read what I learned below or watch our video.

Is it worth it to buy the new Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra or M4 Max? Apple’s latest desktop Macs are the most powerful ever — and that’s not hyperbole. And updates to the Mac Studio don’t come by too often.

If you have an old pro Mac with an Intel chip, it’s a no-brainer. It’s definitely time to move on — no matter which model you have. However, if you’re already on a Mac Studio, you may not need to update quite yet.

Is it worthwhile to upgrade? We have a guide below with helpful charts and a video to help you decide.

Is it worth it to buy the latest iPad 11 with an A16 chip? Apple’s latest budget tablet comes with a big boost in performance at an even lower price — and now with double the internal storage. It’s an absolutely fantastic starter tablet, and a genuine bargain.

If you have an old iPad with a Home Button, now is a great time to upgrade. Especially if you have an 8th-generation model or older. Although it doesn’t have Apple Intelligence, the iPad 11 is still a great buy.

Is it worthwhile to upgrade from a newer iPad? We have a guide below with helpful charts and a video to help you decide.

Is it worth it to buy the iPhone 16e? Apple’s latest entry-level iPhone brings a nice balance of modern features and capabilities at a reasonable price. It’s also possibly the nicest-looking iPhone in the current lineup.

If you’re still on an iPhone SE, now is a great time to upgrade. You’ll be getting a modern device with Face ID, Apple Intelligence, 5G, USB-C and more — in a handsome and lightweight design.

Is it worthwhile to upgrade? We have a guide below with helpful charts and a video to help you decide.

 Is it worth it to buy the M3 iPad Air? The new tablet is a stellar upgrade to a fine line of iPads. The M3 chip brings even more power to the mid-range offering.

If you have an older iPad Air with a Home Button, it’s time to upgrade to the new class of iPad. It can be a laptop replacement, with an attachable keyboard and trackpad, and desktop-style multitasking. For those considering a high-performance alternative, check out this M3 iPad Pro review to compare features. Add the new Apple Pencil and it becomes an advanced drawing tablet.

Is it worthwhile to upgrade? We have a guide below with helpful charts and a video to help you decide.

Is it worth it to buy the M4 MacBook Air? This machine has got to be the best value in all computing right now. The latest model brings a big boost in performance, and comes in a stunning new sky blue color — at an even-lower price. The new MacBook Air is one of Apple’s best laptops ever.

If you’re still using the Intel MacBook Air you bought in early 2020 during COVID-19, now is the golden time for you to upgrade. You’ll be getting a fantastically powerful laptop that can handle it all.

Is it worthwhile to upgrade? We have a guide below with helpful charts and a video to help you decide.

How can you report a spam text you get on your iPhone, and what happens when you report it? Where does the report go? Does anyone look at these things?

Apple has useful tools like Hide My Email and Sign in with Apple for managing email spam, but text spam can be far more annoying. You don’t have a spam filter for your texts, and texts can be easier to fake.

If you’re getting spam texts, there are a few different steps you can take to can it, and I’ll walk you through all of them.

You can visit the App Store to download Apple apps like Music, Podcasts, Weather, Maps and Find My missing from your iPhone or iPad. If you can’t find them. It’s possible you uninstalled them and your device needs to download them again. Or they might have simply disappeared from your Home Screen, and are now hiding in the App Library.

There are also a few iPhone apps that Apple hasn’t made available on iPad. This was the case with Calculator until very recently, so you may need to install an update to get it.

I’ll walk you through all the possibilities, showing you how to get Apple’s stock apps back on your iPhone or iPad.

Apple unveiled a revised MacBook Air with an M4 chip inside Wednesday. It comes in a beautiful new sky blue color, at an even lower price point — with the same incredible 18 hours of battery life.

“MacBook Air is by far the world’s most popular laptop,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said in a press release, “and today we’re giving everyone even more reasons to love it, including a big boost in performance with the M4 chip, a new Center Stage camera, and a beautiful new sky blue color.”

The M4 MacBook Air starts at $999 and will become available on March 12.

The iPhone 16e might lack some of the iPhone’s most premium features, but I can’t help but love it. While testing it for my iPhone 16e review, the phone’s light weight and clean rear design made me happy every time I picked it up, in a way I haven’t felt since my iPhone 5s. And its updated guts make it a perfectly serviceable daily driver that’ll stay fast and responsive for years to come.

It isn’t as cheap as the iPhone SE it replaces in Apple’s lineup. And while it largely resembles the iPhone 14 and 15, it’s missing MagSafe, one of the iPhone’s best features for many years now.

I downgraded from my personal iPhone 16 Pro to the iPhone 16e for the review, to put it through its paces — and came out impressed. Keep reading or watch the video below.