Public betas of this year’s crop of Apple operating systems—macOS 15 Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, and visionOS 2—have just dropped. Can your Apple gear upgrade? If it can, will all the new features work? We run down all the details. Adam Engst looks into the reanimation of TUAW as what looks like an AI-powered zombie site and joins the Chit Chat Across the Pond podcast as a regular contributor. We also link to an Apple support document with sound advice for identifying social engineering attacks and a Fast Company article that looks at what the Internet was like in 1994—but Adam’s Internet Explorer’s Kit for Macintosh book from that year provides a far more comprehensive view. Notable Mac app releases this week include 1Password 8.10.36, Default Folder X 6.0.8, Firefox 128, and Nitro PDF Pro 14.3.
If you like TidBITS and Apple tech podcasts, take note: Adam Engst is now a regular contributor to Allison Sheridan’s Chit Chat Across the Pond podcast. For the inaugural episode, they talk about how to avoid missing calendar and reminder notifications and a slew of related topics.
Apple’s upcoming operating systems have good historical hardware support, but devils dance in the details. Two MacBook Airs, three iPads, and three Apple Watches fall by the wayside this year. Older devices that are generally compatible won’t be able to take advantage of all the new features. Read on to find out what your devices will support.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog, an early player in the Apple blogosphere that has been defunct for a decade, has been revived as an AI-powered site that rewrites content from other sites. iLounge suffered the same fate. Avoid both sites from now on.
Watchlist
Adds support for generating QR codes for Wi-Fi networks. ($35.88 annual subscription, free update, 4.8 MB, macOS 10.15+)
Brings support for adding URLs as Favorites and opening them in your default Web browser. ($39.95 new, free update, 17.5 MB, macOS 10.13+)
Introduces a beta text translation feature. (Free, 147.2 MB, macOS 10.15+)
PDF editing app adds a new home screen and improves visibility of export options. ($179.99 new, free update, 561.2 MB, macOS 10.14+)
