Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:
This week, Federico and John tackle Apple’s updates to iOS and iPadOS 18 and Federico’s review of both.
In a special AppStories+ segment available as a special review season perk to all listeners, Federico explains what led him to take a different approach to this year’s annual review.
This episode is sponsored by:
Sentry: Mobile crash reporting and app monitoring. Try it for free.
Robb goes on an epic quest and fails, John has been writing reviews, and the they discuss Astro Bot.
A decade is an eternity on the web, which makes Six Colors’ tenth anniversary something special. It’s weird how “web time” works. On the one hand, Six Colors feels like the sort of institution that’s always been there. On the other hand, it also feels like yesterday that Jason Snell and Dan Moren left Macworld and Six Colors got its start.
Here’s Jason on his immediate jump from corporate media to working for himself:
Ten years ago I took a leap into working for myself, not working in corporate media. For most days since, I’ve worked in my garage, writing articles for my site, recording podcasts, and writing the occasional piece for other places (including my former employer, which I couldn’t ever have predicted). Lauren and I agreed we’d spend six to nine months giving it a try before judging if it was a success or a failure, but it all started succeeding so quickly that we never really even got to the point where we needed to have the conversation. All of a sudden, Six Colors and Upgrade were my primary jobs… and they still are, here in 2024.
I can only imagine what those first weeks were like. I had the benefit of an overlap of nearly two years between my corporate job and MacStories and the transition was still hard.
The good news is that a decade later, Six Colors is going strong producing great writing and podcasts. Congratulations on ten great years.
It’s been an unprecedented week for Apple’s OSes, with updates to every OS landing at the same time at the beginning of the week. Today we’ll publish our fourth and final OS review with Devon Dundee’s visionOS review, which means I’m finally getting a chance to catch my breath and enjoy what others have to say about Apple’s OSes.
If you haven’t seen it, Chris Lawley, co-host of Comfort Zone here on MacStories, has a fantastic walkthrough of iOS and and iPadOS 18 that covers everything from Home and Lock Screen customization and the all-new Control Center to updates to system apps like Freeform, Shortcuts, Safari, and Messages. The video is especially good if you’ve had a busy week and want to get up to speed on iOS and iPadOS 18 quickly.
Chris has included a lot of excellent lesser known tips in his video that will help you get the most out of the OS updates too.
Sequoia is unlike any major macOS update in recent memory. Annual OS releases usually tell two stories. The first is the tale of that release, which consists of a combination of design, system, and built-in app changes that add to the existing Mac experience. The second story plays out over time, taking multiple years to unfold and reveal itself. The best macOS releases are those that strike a balance between the two.
Often, a macOS update’s multi-year story revolves around new developer technologies that signal a change in direction for the entire platform. Swift and Catalyst were like that. Neither had an immediate impact on the day-to-day experience of using a Mac. However, even though the final destination wasn’t entirely clear at first, the corresponding macOS releases included concrete first steps that provided a sense of where the Mac was heading.
It’s possible to look at macOS Sequoia and see something similar, but the resemblance is only skin deep. This year’s release includes meaningful updates to system apps and even a brand new one, Passwords. Plus, Apple Intelligence promises long-term, fundamental changes to how people use their Macs and will likely take years to fully realize.
But Sequoia feels fundamentally different from Swift, Catalyst, and other past releases. It’s light on new features, the design changes are few and far between, and Apple Intelligence isn’t part of macOS 15.0 at all – although more features are on the way and are currently part of the macOS 15.1 developer beta. So what sets Sequoia apart isn’t so much what you can do with it out of the box; what’s unique about this release is that you could install it and not even notice the changes.
That’s not to say that Sequoia is a bad update. There’s more to like than not, with excellent additions like iPhone Mirroring, window tiling, the new Passwords app, and Safari’s video viewer. The trouble is that the list of changes, good or bad, falls off steeply after that. A half loaf may be better than none, but Apple has taught us to expect more, which makes Sequoia vaguely unsatisfying and out of balance compared to other releases.
It’s clear is that Apple is placing a big bet that artificial intelligence will pay off for macOS the same way magic beans did for Jack and his mother. The question heading into macOS 15.1 and beyond is whether Apple’s beans are magical too. Perhaps they are, but based on what I’ve seen of macOS 15.1, I’m not feeling the magic yet. I’ll reserve judgement and revisit Apple Intelligence as it’s incrementally rolled out in the coming months. For now, though, let’s consider macOS Sequoia 15.0’s morsels that readers can actually dig into today.
After years of steady, iterative updates to watchOS, last year, Apple dropped one of their most significant releases in years with watchOS 10. The design language was updated for all of their first-party apps, watch faces were upgraded to take full advantage of the larger screens on current models, and the Smart Stack was introduced to make glanceable information much easier to access. To make way for the Smart Stack, Apple also reassigned the Digital Crown and side button to new functions. These changes, along with the usual updates for health and fitness, made for a release that every Apple Watch user took note of.
The awkward recalibrating of muscle memory aside (I still very occasionally swipe up on my watch face to try and reveal the Control Center), it was an excellent update. My only worry coming out of it was that Apple would dust off their hands, reassign lots of their talent to something else, and go back to the usual, iterative, health- and fitness-focused updates with watchOS 11.
Thankfully, that was far from the case. Not only has Apple made some solid updates to the Apple Watch hardware line this year, but they’ve also enhanced and added to the software in ways that signal they are far from done.
The question is, are these changes going to enhance your daily use of Apple’s most personal device, or are they just, well, changes?
I’m excited to dive into this question in my first watchOS review for MacStories, but before I do, I want to thank Alex for his years of excellent watchOS coverage. I hope I can live up to the standards he set.
A short time ago, Federico published his annual iOS and iPadOS 18 review. As in past years, we’re releasing a wide variety of perks exclusively for Club MacStories members throughout the week, but this year, the perks are a little different – just like the review.
First of all, we’re releasing this week’s episode of AppStories+ to everyone who listens to the show for free.
AppStories+ is the extended version of our flagship podcast that’s typically released a day early and ad-free in high-bitrate audio. The show is part of a Club Premier or AppStories+ subscription, but this week, everyone gets the extended version of the show. If you’re not a subscriber, you’ll still get an ad with the episode (we do have bills to pay), but you’ll also get the full extended version of the episode in high bitrate audio, just like subscribers. It’s our way of saying thanks to everyone who has listened to AppStories through the years and share why this year’s review is not just different, but part of an editorial evolution of MacStories.
As Chris explains in his video, we have an eBook version of the review for all Club members. We’ll also publish a special making-of edition of MacStories Weekly, our Club newsletter, on Saturday.
If you’re not already a member, you can join Club MacStories for $5/month or $50/year using the buttons below:
Now more than ever, an indie publication like MacStories depends on income from members who want to directly support what we do and our ability to collaborate with people like Scout and James more often. As always, though, we aim to provide as much value as we can to Club members, so we have more details after the break, for anyone who wants to learn more about this year’s perks and Club MacStories before joining.
There are two versions of iOS 18 coming out this year.
Or, think about it this way:
Inside Apple, there are two versions of iOS 18. The version I’ve been able to test since June, and which will be the focus of this review, is the debut of iOS 18, which emphasizes user customization and smaller app updates. The other one – and, arguably, the version most are anticipating since WWDC – is iOS 18.1, which will mark the launch of Apple Intelligence in the United States later this year as well as the beginning of a process to roll out more AI features over time.
Technically, iOS 18.1 is going to be a major update to iOS 18.0, which will introduce the first slate of AI features on iPhones and iPads; in spirit, it might as well be the version of iOS 18 that is going to steal the spotlight and become The Conversation in our community for months to come.
However, due to a mix of legal and political reasons, as an Italian citizen, I won’t be able to participate in that discourse just yet. Thankfully, there’s plenty to like in iOS 18 even without Apple Intelligence, especially if, like yours truly, you’re the kind of MacStories reader who cares about apps, minor system tweaks, and making your Home Screen look nice.
This is what my review will focus on this year. There are two versions of iOS 18: I’m going to cover the fun, nerdy one.
I’ve been writing annual reviews of iOS (and later iPadOS too) for ten years now. During this time, I’ve seen my fair share of mobile OS trends, and I’ve observed how Apple judiciously iterated on their post-iOS 7 design language and stoically ignored the majority of the tech industry’s fads, staying the course of their vision for what their ecosystem of devices and OSes should empower people to do.
Never have I been in the position to witness the company finding itself unable to ignore a major industry shift. That’s exactly what is happening with AI. As we saw back in June, Apple announced a roadmap of AI features that will be gradually doled out to users and developers over the iOS 18 cycle. Most of them won’t even be launching this year: I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them just in time before the debut of iOS 19 at WWDC 2025.
What’s even more fascinating is realizing just how much of a priority Apple Intelligence must have been for the iOS, iPadOS, and macOS teams. Let’s face it: if it weren’t for the handful of additions to iOS, which are also cross-compatible with iPadOS, I wouldn’t have much to cover today without Apple Intelligence. This is quite apparent in macOS Sequoia: as John will cover in his review, with no Apple Intelligence, there are only two main features worth analyzing in detail.
Thus, dear reader, don’t be surprised if this will be my shortest annual iOS review to date. Plus, it’s not like I was particularly looking forward to Apple Intelligence anyway.
In any case, as I argued in my preview story back in July, the smaller features that found their way onto iOS and iPadOS this year are still interesting enough to justify a “traditional” review. And it’s not just that these are good features: they’re also my favorite kind, for they’re primarily about customization and apps. From more flexible Home Screens to Control Center finally becoming extensible with third-party controls, some big improvements to Notes and Journal, plus a brand new Passwords app, how could I not be excited about iOS 18?
This intrinsic duality of iOS 18 is the reason why I’ve never felt so ambivalent about a new version of iOS. Or, think about it this way:
Inside me, there are two takes. I fundamentally dislike generative AI tools and, from what I’ve seen so far, I don’t think I’m ever going to take advantage of Apple’s features that modify text or create images. At the same time, I’m excited about the prospect of a smarter Siri that is better integrated with apps; and today, with the version of iOS 18 that is shipping to customers, I think there are plenty of smaller features worth appreciating, especially if you’re into customization.
Today, we don’t need to reconcile those two takes. We don’t have to be grownups for this one. We’re just going to dive into what makes iOS 18 a smaller update than previous years, but a fun one nonetheless.
If you haven’t heard of Copilot yet, it’s time to check out Apple’s Editors Choice award-winning money tracker app. Copilot makes it simple to monitor your finances while providing valuable insights.
Their native iPhone and Mac apps can do it all: you can track your spending, budgets, investments, and net worth all in one place, allowing you to drill into the details without losing sight of the big picture.
In the Apple community, Copilot is known for staying in sync with new iOS launches, from responsive widgets to tinted icons ready for iOS18. Beyond beautiful design and functionality, Copilot’s mission is to build a future where everyone has a clear picture of their finances, without all the anxiety. Where anyone can reclaim their data from the banks to build their own plan for achieving their goals — with confidence and trust in their tools for doing so.
Copilot’s new Cash Flow section brings them closer to that vision. It focuses on three key areas: income, spending, and net income. You can easily compare your progress over different time frames to see how your financial habits stack up month-to-month or even week-to-week.
For a limited time, MacStories readers can get a special two-month free trial by using the code MACSTORIES when signing up. Visit their website to learn more and download Copilot from the App Store to get started today.
Our thanks to Copilot for sponsoring MacStories this week.
Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:
Sigmund and Devon break down the exciting announcements from Apple’s It’s Glowtime event and grade their event predictions.
It’s all challenge this week as the gang brings (and defends) their phone home screens. Rules were followed by all, but of course there’s a little twist this time as well.
This week, as we approach the release of Apple’s updated OSes, Federico and I check in on where our reviews stand and the one distraction we’ve both allowed ourselves in the final stretch.
