MacLife

JUST AS WE were going to press, Apple unveiled the “newest member of the family”: the all–new iPhone 16e. Created to replace the iPhone SE, the iPhone 16e sports a 6.1–inch Super Retina XDR display, a 48MP Fusion camera, and is powered by Apple’s A18 chip. It’s also the first product to include an Apple silicon C1 chip — Apple’s own 5G modem. Apple says the iPhone 16e also sports the longest battery life of any of its previous 6.1–inch phones, offering up to 26 hours of video playback — or six hours more than the iPhone 11, and 16 more than the iPhone SE. Rather than offering wireless charging via MagSafe, like other iPhone 16 series phones do, it makes do with USB–C charging, meaning that the Lightning port…

AS WIDELY ANTICIPATED, Apple has introduced iPhone 16e, describing it as “the most affordable member of the iPhone 16 family.” It certainly lives up to the family in many respects, but it barely qualifies as a budget phone: starting at $599 (128GB base model), it is right on the cusp of the “premium” category (defined as $600 and up), and a big jump from the iPhone SE it replaces (which was $429 with 64GB, or $479 with 128GB). CONSTANT EVOLUTION The iPhone 16e boasts the same powerful Apple A18 chip as the rest of the iPhone 16 line, but with a 4–core GPU, as compared to 5–core in iPhone 16 and 6–core in iPhone 16 Pro. Apple claims “breakthrough” battery life of up to 26 hours of video playback, which…

Nobody outside of Apple can say with certainty that the Cupertino giant is going to unveil a folding device. But with more and more rivals bringing foldable tech to market — from Samsung and Google to Motorola and OnePlus — there is a growing expectation, amid mounting evidence, that it will follow the same path. “I think it’s extremely likely that Apple will create a foldable iPhone and iPad at some point,” Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman tells Mac|Life, and there are multiple reasons it would want to do so. Although the foldable device market is still rather small, accounting for just 1.5% of smartphone sales, demand increased by 5% in 2024. We’ve also seen a trend towards larger screens. To ensure they’ll still fit in your pocket or bag, foldable…

WE’RE HALFWAY THROUGH the iPhone 16 and iOS 18’s launch year, and yet we’re still waiting for the final piece of the puzzle that completes Apple Intelligence’s first wave of features — that is, the major changes coming to Siri in iOS 18.4. When Apple Intelligence was unveiled in June last year, it was seen as a pivotal moment for the future of Apple products, with incredibly promising artificial intelligence (AI) tools that would transform how you interact with your devices. SIRI IS THE BEATING HEART OF APPLE AI; UP UNTIL NOW, IT’S BEEN A CLUNKY MESS Fast–forward eight months, and I think it’s fair to say that Apple Intelligence’s rollout has been tepid at best. AI tools have launched as part of iOS 18.1, 18.2, and 18.3 bringing new…

ONE OF THE most common criticisms of the Mac is that it’s not upgradeable. This is not true. While modern Macs have integrated memory and storage chips soldered to the logic board, there are a lot of other things you can do to upgrade and enhance your Apple computer. You don’t have to open the casing and swap out internal parts to turn your Mac from wheezy to whizzy. In this feature, we explore the many ways you can power up your Mac, from teaming it with a high quality external display to make using it easier and more fun, to increasing the amount of available storage by connecting an external drive. You can even easily connect more peripherals by doubling the number of available ports — and we’ve lined…

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) Is all the rage at the moment, and Apple is getting in on the act with Apple Intelligence. This AI is woven throughout macOS 15 (Sequoia) and helps power up Siri, rewrite text, organize your emails, and more. A key element of Apple Intelligence is the Image Playground app, which is all about creating AI–generated images. It’s easy to use but offers a lot of power and flexibility, and whether you want to whip up a personalized image for a friend or create your own custom emoji, it’s a good place to start. You can also use it to generate images in apps like Messages and Freeform. To create a custom emoji, known as Genmoji, for example, open Messages, click “+” and choose Image Playground, then enter…