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Julio Ojeda-Zapata

Julio Ojeda-Zapata

Julio Ojeda-Zapata is a technology reporter and blogger at the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has written books about Twitter, the iPad, and mobile productivity. Keep up with him at ojezap.com.

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Evaluating New Features in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 9, and AirPods Pro

Julio Ojeda-Zapata took the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the Apple Watch Series 9, and the recently tweaked second-generation AirPods Pro on a trip as a tech experiment: How would their new features fare in a travel capacity? He renders his verdicts. 

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AT&T Joins T-Mobile, Verizon in Deploying 5G Home Internet

AT&T has joined T-Mobile and Verizon in offering wireless home Internet service. Julio Ojeda-Zapata tested AT&T Internet Air and found it a good value—but not good enough to replace his Xfinity wired broadband. He thinks wireless home broadband is a great fit for many, though.

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Two Laptop Stands Appropriate for a 15-inch MacBook Air

The new 15-inch MacBook Air with its large screen awakened Julio Ojeda-Zapata’s interest in laptop stands. He wants one that is robust but portable, and adjustability is a must. He found two stands that qualify in different, ingenious ways.

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Photographing a Bicycling Tour with an iPhone

Julio Ojeda-Zapata recently spent four days crouching by the side of country roads, pointing his iPhone 14 Pro at oncoming bicyclists. An avid amateur shutterbug, he had become the semi-official photographer for the Bicycling Around Minnesota tour—and the iPhone was all he needed. 

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The Beats Go On: Apple Subsidiary Releases Studio Pro Headphones, Studio Buds+ Earbuds

No search for Apple earbuds or headphones is complete without weighing what’s on offer from Apple subsidiary Beats By Dre. Releases include flagship Studio Pro headphones and a modest update to its 2021 Studio Buds.

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Another Dozen Compelling Features Coming to Apple’s Operating Systems in 2023

Apple has pulled back the curtains on the new features it is adding to iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14 Sonoma, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17. Adam Engst recently wrote about his top features; here are 12 more that caught Julio Ojeda-Zapata’s eye. 

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Using Smart Speakers While Temporarily Blind

How smart are smart speakers, really? Julio Ojeda-Zapata put this to the test when temporarily sightless due to a medical condition.Leaning on his Amazon, Apple, and Google speakers more than usual proved an often-frustrating exercise because Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are still pretty dumb.

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Photos Workbench Helps You Organize, Rate, and Compare Photos

For those who want more organization flexibility and efficiency than Apple’s Photos app provides, Houdah Software’s Photos Workbench provides a handful of targeted features that make the process faster and easier, all while working with your existing Photos library.

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Continuity Camera Turns an iPhone Into a Mac Webcam

If you think the webcams built into the latest Macs and Apple’s Studio Display leave a bit to be desired, there’s an alternative: Continuity Camera. Harnessing an iPhone as a Mac webcam, Continuity Camera provides a high-quality virtual-camera system in the upcoming iOS 16 and macOS 13 Ventura.

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First Impressions: Stage Manager on the iPad and Mac

Apple has turbocharged iPad multitasking in the upcoming iPadOS 16 with Stage Manager, a new feature that introduces Mac-style windowing. It also provides external display support that does more than mirror the iPad screen. A version of Stage Manager is coming in macOS 13 Ventura, as well. Julio Ojeda-Zapata tried Stage Manager on both platforms.

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watchOS 9 Adds Health and Fitness Features

Apple’s unveiling of watchOS 9 at WWDC unsurprisingly emphasized health and fitness updates (along with four new watch faces) but offered a surprise or two, including a new medication-tracking app and a brilliant little Dock tweak.

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Revitalize an Elderly Mac with Google’s Chrome OS Flex

If you have an old Mac gathering dust, Google may be able to return it to active use. Its free Chrome OS Flex replaces macOS and puts pep back in the Mac’s step. It’s a decent option for families who might want to set up workstations for kids or who just want a dedicated Web machine somewhere in the house.

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5G Home Internet Is a Good Alternative To Wired Broadband

T-Mobile and Verizon provide home Internet service via devices that use the wireless carriers’ 5G data signal as backhaul for local Wi-Fi. Julio Ojeda-Zapata has been testing both services and found them to be affordable, fast, and dependable.

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Apple Unveils Fifth-Generation iPad Air with M1, 5G, and Center Stage

At its Peek Performance event, Apple unveiled a fifth-generation iPad Air that swaps out the aging A14 Bionic processor for the M1 chip found in the iPad Pro and lower-cost Macs.

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Bowflex’s C6 Bike Is a Less Costly, More Versatile Peloton

Peloton exercise bikes are expensive and lock users into the company’s exercise service. Julio Ojeda-Zapata tried a less expensive alternative, Bowflex’s C6 bike. It gives users the flexibility to use a range of fitness services with an iPhone or iPad, an Apple TV, or a Mac.