Speed Up Mac and iOS Typing with Text Expansion

Silicon Valley thinks everyone wants to delegate writing to AI, which is why Apple Intelligence constantly suggests replies for you in Messages and Mail. But there’s an excellent way to supercharge your typing speed without sounding like a chirpy chatbot or resorting to teenage texting abbreviations: text expansion. Text expansion speeds up typing words or […]

Never Run AppleScripts from Untrusted Sources

The latest scam to watch out for is fake websites that try to get you to open Script Editor directly from your browser with a pre-filled AppleScript. Don’t do this! Security researchers at Jamf Threat Labs documented an attack where a convincing Apple-themed page claiming to help “reclaim disk space” prompted users to allow Script […]

Get to Your Files Faster by Choosing the Best Finder View

If you can work comfortably with the Mac’s four Finder views, you’ll enjoy an easier experience when you try to get to your folders and files. Each view has its pros and cons, so using the best view for the job at hand will make you more productive. Here’s a look at the Icon, List, […]

Choose Default Apps for File Types in iOS 26 and iPadOS 26

On the Mac, every file type opens in a particular app by default, but it’s easy to open a PDF, image, or text file in a different app. In the Finder’s Get Info window, you can also reset the default app so that, for example, JPEGs open in Photoshop or Affinity instead of Preview. That’s […]

Safari’s Compact Tab Bar Returns in macOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4

Safari’s compact tab bar option, which saves vertical space by placing the address bar in the current tab, went missing in the initial releases of macOS 26 Tahoe and iPadOS 26. Only Apple knows why this helpful option disappeared (Liquid Glass?), but as of macOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, it’s back! On the Mac, select […]

Not All Your Mac’s USB-C Ports Are the Same

We recently helped a client set up an external boot drive on a Mac mini for testing, but the installation kept failing near the end with vague errors. We tried different cables, swapped drives, and more, to no avail. On a hunch, we moved the SSD to a different USB-C port, and the installation completed […]

Check Your Input Source If Your Mac Types Unexpected Characters

If your Mac starts typing unexpected characters—or rejects a password you know is correct—check to see if the Input Source menu appears in the upper-right corner of the screen, indicating that your Mac has more than one keyboard layout available for writing in other languages. Accidentally switching from the standard U.S. keyboard (or whatever you […]

Understanding New MacBook Battery Charging Features

The just-released macOS 26.4 Tahoe introduced two battery-related features for MacBook users, helping them understand and control MacBook charging. A Slow Charger indicator now appears in the battery status menu and in Battery settings when your Mac is connected to a charger that isn’t delivering the minimum recommended wattage. More significantly, a new Charge Limit […]

View Suspicious Documents Safely with Dangerzone

A standard piece of advice for staying safe online is to avoid opening attachments from people you don’t know or attachments that seem suspicious. It’s good advice, since PDFs and office documents can contain JavaScript and macros that present a security risk, or they could be maliciously crafted to take advantage of vulnerabilities in common […]

Intel-Based Apps Will Stop Working in macOS 28

Yes, we know we’re still on macOS 26. In 2025, Apple announced macOS 27 would be the last version to support Rosetta for most Intel-based apps. (Beyond that, Apple will maintain a subset of Rosetta functionality for older, unmaintained gaming titles.) This fact has become relevant because in the just-released macOS 26.4, when you launch […]