Like last year’s model, it also meets the TÜV Rheinland privacy and security certification. This is important, because it navigates via AI.See—a “visual recognition technology.” Basically, it uses a camera to steer around your house. It’s not upward-facing, and Eufy assures its customers that the photos are not stored in a server and are deleted before the next cleaning cycle. However, Eufy also doesn’t offer additional security features like two-factor authentication. This is just something to keep in mind if you feel squicky about having a camera in your home.
AI.See is interesting. Its estimates of its own accuracy seem generous—I forgot to screenshot all the instances where it identified my daughter’s various hair things as poop and warned me to “clean this area immediately.” I did think it helped the robot navigate seamlessly around my house. The few times it got stuck, I found that the roller brush had become ensnared in my daughter’s or my long hair. It’s understandably much harder to see hair than it is to identify and avoid shoelaces, which tend to trip up even the best robot vacuums.
My first floor has five rooms with a total of about 800 square feet of cleanable space, depending on how widely my children’s stuffed animals are scattered at any given moment. The mapping function works quite well; it stored multiple maps on multiple floors without a problem. The battery life is decent—it can finish a whole first-floor vacuum in about an hour and a half, using about 75 percent of its battery life. You can also raise or lower the cleaning intensity, from fast to deep, and the suction power has a range from Quiet to Max.
Photograph: Adrienne So
On Max, it has a suction power of about 8,000 pascals. I have a theory about suction power. As I learned from the founders of the robot vacuum Matic, the level of suction power may matter less than whether your roller brush is able to agitate the carpet thoroughly. In any case, I didn’t notice a huge difference in the cleanliness level on the frequently trod areas of my carpet when I upped the suction power from Standard to Max.
The Price Is Right
The mopping is particularly good. The X9 Pro was capable of cleaning up half a jar of spilled syrup, and the X10 Pro works just as well. As with last year’s model, it exerts about 2 pounds of downward pressure with two mops that rotate 180 times per minute. When my children inexplicably decided to throw bananas at the breakfast table and leave sticky banana mash on the floor, the X10 Pro cleaned it up in minutes.
Mopping is the most disgusting household chore and the one I would do the least frequently if I could. Mopping the hardwood and tiled areas of my first floor (about 230 square feet) takes about 30 minutes, including time spent washing the mops. An onboard water tank keeps the mops continuously wet for the entire cleaning time. The dirty water tank has to be emptied and rinsed out every three or four cleans. Emptying and rinsing the tank is, as always, a vile and terrible task, but at least it doesn’t happen that often.
Spring isn’t just the time for cleaning your home. It’s also the time for renovating, refurbishing, and restoring. That yardwork project you put off last fall? Those garage projects you wanted to do all winter when it was too cold to work out there? Now’s the time to stock up on tools and gear, but you have to act quickly if you want to snag a deal. Home Depot’s Spring Black Friday ends after April 28, and Lowe’s SpringFest ends after May 1, but there are still deals on loads of our favorite gear from brand favorites, such as DeWalt, Milwaukee, Ridgid, Klein, and Kobalt.
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Tool Deals
Gearwrench 232-Piece Mechanics Tool Kit
Photograph: Home Depot
The Gearwrench brand is my favorite entry-to-mid-level tool brand for chrome hand tools. Made in Taiwan, these sockets, combination wrenches, and ratchets have excellent manufacturing tolerances, meaning less slipping off bolt heads and potentially damaging them. This kit only comes with 1/4-inch and 3/8-inch drive sockets and ratchet handles, not 1/2-inch, but that shouldn’t matter unless you’re working on large projects, such as cars’ axle components or building a deck. The organization box is also excellent, with sturdy slide-out drawers and built-in handles that make picking up the heavy box a breeze.
An impact driver is a power tool that delivers rapid, repeated forward thrusts as it rotates on a bolt or screw head. It works wonders for stubborn screws and bolts that may be too rusted in place to remove without a power tool. An impact driver typically fits small screws and bolts. Similarly, a hammer drill delivers the same thrusts but is designed for drilling through tough materials that could choke up a normal cordless drill. This combo kit includes two batteries and a charger, so when you run one dry, you’ve got another to use while the first one is charging.
An impact wrench is similar to an impact driver in that it uses repeated forward thrusts to loosen stubborn bolts, but it tends to be more powerful and meant for larger bolts. I’ve used one to loosen rusty suspension bolts and engine bolts enough times in the garage to consider one a godsend for heavy-duty mechanical work.
DeWalt 20V Max XR Cordless Drill Kit
Photograph: Lowe’s
The cordless drill is arguably the most versatile power tool in a homeowner’s toolbox. Not only can it drill, but it can be fitted with screwdriver bits for Phillips head screws, Torx, triple square, and hex bolts. A similar 20-volt DeWalt has been my standby for years, and the XR version adds a brushless electric motor for a longer life span. The speed is adjustable from 650 to 2,000 rounds per minute, which is useful because you won’t need a high RPM all the time. The ergonomics are perfect. I’ve spent hours in a row with an ergonomically identical DeWalt with no hand pain. The small LED in front of the trigger lights up dark work areas nicely.
If I were to “hypothetically” say that I’ve drilled more than 100 holes in my apartment walls (and if my hypothetical landlord wasn’t reading this), I’d tell you that these budget drill bits performed excellently in drilling through pre-war drywall, which in my place measures a particularly thick 3/4 inches. I’ve used these bits to repair the frame of a couch, build wooden furniture, and drill through metal picture frames, and they’re the best value out there. They come in several sizes that have never left me wanting.
Gearwrench makes the best value in tools. I tested this 12-piece screwdriver set earlier this year, and I was enamored with how tightly the Phillips head screwdrivers fit into screw heads. That means less slippage that can damage screws and potentially make them nearly impossible to remove or reuse. The rubber-wrapped handle is comfortable for extended periods too.
Garage and Yard Deals
Ridgid Compact Miter Saw Stand
Photograph: Home Depot
Perform any woodworking, even if you’re cutting boards, and you practically need a miter saw. The hang-up comes in finding a stable, secure place to put it while you’re using it. Choosing a stand is vital because a miter saw is dangerous when it’s unstable. I’ve always been impressed by Ridgid stands. The mounting brackets are quick and easy to use, and the structural parts have robust materials that don’t scream cost-cutting. This stand can hold up to 400 pounds, which is plenty for a miter saw.
A stalwart tool of any garage, whether you’re cleaning up after a woodworking project or washing the car, is the shop vac. It’s a supercharged cousin of your household vacuum cleaner. It can suck up wet messes, thanks to its built-in drain, as well as dry ones. Ridgid makes my favorite shop vacs because, with five horsepower on tap (for this model), it has no shortage of power for sucking up large messes, the included hose attachments fit securely, the caster wheels glide easily, and I’ve never had one break while on duty.
Maybe it’s the number of times I’ve stood on a Werner ladder and didn’t fall off, but when I need to purchase a new ladder, I almost always go with Werner. This 8-foot-tall model is made of thick, durable fiberglass that helps cut down on some of the weight when you’re moving it, and it holds up to 300 pounds. There’s a magnetic tool strip at the top, along with a paint can holder and a slot for holding a drill or hammer.
Kobalt 630-CFM Leaf Blower
Photograph: Lowe’s
Leaf blowers aren’t just for fall. They can be a major time saver when you want to clean up the grass shrapnel that remains after edging your lawn, for example. Gone are the days of a bulky, smoke-spewing, gasoline-powered leaf blower. This cordless, electric model from Kobalt moves 630 cubic feet per minute of air, meaning it offers plenty of power while weighing just under 9 pounds. There’s a battery and charger included too.
Other Tool Deals
Klein Digital Multimeter Kit
Photograph: Home Depot
Being able to measure the electrical current flowing through an outlet, car battery, or the like is essential when working with electronics. Klein is a longtime stalwart in tools designed specifically for electricians. This multimeter measures up to 600 AC/DC voltage and 10A DC, and it comes packaged with GFCI outlet testers and cables. If all the dials and screens look complicated, don’t be scared. The included instructions will tell you how to set everything, and it’s far easier than it appears at first glance.
It’s easy to find a decent utility knife, but hard to find a great utility knife. I’ve used tons, from Craftsman to Stanley to no-name brands off Amazon, and the Fastback is my favorite. The replaceable blades are sharper than those from other brands, and you can flick the blade open and shut one-handed with ease. You can store a spare blade in the handle, and there’s a bit holder for a common-sized flat head and Phillips head screwdriver bit. A battle opener and wire stripper round out the features list.
Stanley makes my favorite tape measures in their Fat Max series, but these DeWalt tape measures are nearly good, and hey, they’re on sale. I’d say they’ve earned the right to use “tough” in their name, because I’ve thrown some around a few job sites, and the thick plastic casing can put up with a lot of abuse. One of the few differentiators among tape measures is their ability to extend without collapsing. The DeWalt’s thick tape manages this well, so if you need to stretch it out 10 feet across the room to measure something (which is quite common), then you’ll have a lot fewer headaches with this than a cheaper tape measure.
Plastic trigger clamps won’t be the clamp to grab for the heaviest-duty jobs, but they may be the clamps you reach for the most often. More times than I could count in a month, I need a third hand to hold something steady for me while I work on a project. From pinning a bracket to an awkward place while you bolt it in to keeping hands safely clear when cutting something, you need a few clamps in your toolbox. With 100 pounds of clamping force, these will be more than capable of many day-to-day, small tasks.
If you’ve been wondering when you’ll be able to order the flame-throwing robot that Ohio-based Throwflame first announced last summer, that day has finally arrived. The Thermonator, what Throwflame bills as “the first-ever flamethrower-wielding robot dog” is now available for purchase. The price? $9,420.
Thermonator is a quadruped robot with an ARC flamethrower mounted to its back, fueled by gasoline or napalm. It features a one-hour battery, a 30-foot flame-throwing range, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for remote control through a smartphone.
It also includes a Lidar sensor for mapping and obstacle avoidance, laser sighting, and first-person-view navigation through an onboard camera. The product appears to integrate a version of the Unitree Go2 robot quadruped that retails alone for $1,600 in its base configuration.
Photograph: Xmatter
The company lists possible applications of the new robot as “wildfire control and prevention,” “agricultural management,” “ecological conservation,” “snow and ice removal,” and “entertainment and SFX.” But most of all, it sets things on fire in a variety of real-world scenarios.
Back in 2018, Elon Musk made the news for offering an official Boring Company flamethrower that reportedly sold 10,000 units in 48 hours. It sparked some controversy, because flamethrowers can also double as weapons or potentially start wildfires.
Flamethrowers are not specifically regulated in 48 US states, although general product liability and criminal laws may still apply to their use and sale. They are not considered firearms by federal agencies. Specific restrictions exist in Maryland, where flamethrowers require a Federal Firearms License to own, and California, where the range of flamethrowers cannot exceed 10 feet.
Photograph: Xmatter
Even so, to state the obvious, flamethrowers can easily burn both things and people, starting fires and wreaking havoc if not used safely. Accordingly, the Thermonator might be one Christmas present you should skip for little Johnny this year.
The kidney used in the latest NYU transplant was procured from a pig with a single genetic edit—the removal of a gene that produces a sugar known as alpha gal. This sugar appears on the surface of pig cells and seems to be responsible for rapid rejection in humans. The pig was engineered by Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation.
Mandeep Mehra, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is excited by the NYU news. “It’s very innovative to combine the two,” he says, but the heart pump carries a risk of infection. Left ventricular assist devices require external batteries to power them. A wire comes out of the patient’s abdomen and connects to a controller and battery pack. “It’s that exit site that can be prone to infection,” he says.
Mehra says it also remains to be seen whether the single gene edit will be enough to prevent rejection and keep the kidney functioning for the long term. “The entire premise of gene editing was to overcome the immunological barrier,” he says.
PHOTOGRAPH: JOE CARROTTA FOR NYU LANGONE HEALTH
In the previous pig organ transplants in living patients, the animals had more modifications. The pig used for the heart transplants had 10 edits and the one used in Slayman’s procedure last month had 69. Yet with both Bennett’s and Faucett’s hearts, doctors noted signs of rejection. And even a week after Slayman’s surgery, his kidney showed early evidence of rejection—something his medical team hadn’t expected.
“The evolutionary distance between humans and pigs is 100 million years,” Mehra says. “Any gene editing needs to overcome that.”
The NYU’s team is taking a “less is more” approach with gene editing, Montgomery said, and instead relying on the pig’s thymus to help mediate the immune mismatch.
Pisano says she’s glad she took a chance on the procedure. She hopes she can leave the hospital so she can go shopping and play with her grandchildren. “The worst case scenario is that it doesn’t work,” she says, but even then she thinks it would be worthwhile. “It might work for the next person.”
About two years ago, I was in a car with my best friend and her toddler. She was driving, and I was sitting in the back next to her 10-month-old, who was tucked into his car seat. For a while, the ride was smooth—then the baby burst into tears. We tried every common trick to comfort him. I contorted my face into the silliest of poses, my friend burst into a catchy song, but our efforts were met with louder wails until finally—mercifully!—we pulled into my friend’s driveway and she was able to scoop her son up in her arms.
This scenario, minus the useless friend in the back, is probably familiar for many parents who drive alone with their young children. And it is the reason why Japanese automaker Nissan is developing a peculiar puppet to relieve backseat tantrums. It’s called Iruyo, which translates to “I’m here” in Japanese.
The fuzzy babysitter, which gives off big Elmo vibes, is in fact two puppets: “big Iruyo,” which is strapped to the backrest of the backseat, facing the baby; and “little Iruyo,” which sits in the driver’s cup holder. Big Iruyo does most of the work. When prompted by specific voice commands spoken by the parent, big Iruyo can wave its hands, cover its eyes for a game of peek-a-boo, or clap its hands as the parent sings.
Photograph: Nissan
A Bot for Tots
Rear-facing child seats are significantly safer than their front-facing counterparts, but they come with an inevitable flaw: you can’t see your child’s face while driving. That’s why Big Iruyo also comes with a built-in camera to monitor your child’s face. When your baby’s eyes are closed for longer than three seconds, big Iruyo will assume they are asleep and will convey the message to little Iruyo, which will in turn close its eyes to mirror your little one. When your baby reopens their eyes, little Iruyo will do the same—like a high-tech game of monkey see, monkey do.
Iruyo was designed by Tokyo ad agency TBWA\Hakuhodo, in collaboration with Nissan as well as one of Japan’s largest retail chains specializing in baby products, Akachan Honpo. The project started as a marketing campaign for Nissan’s sensing technology used in its driver-assistance system. For example, some auto models like the Nissan Ariya use a combination of radar sensors and front-facing cameras to continuously assess your environment and automate some of your driving, so you can take your hands off the wheel and feet off the pedals on a freeway.
Iruyo uses similar camera tech to assess your baby’s face and assist you with babysitting. TBWA assures me the robot’s camera only detects eye movement, which the company says should mitigate any privacy concerns associated with capturing full facial expressions.
Today, Bang & Olufsen—the audio company that has made what we called “the prettiest gadgets in the world”—is rereleasing its iconic CD player, the Beosound 9000. If you were alive in the 1990s, you definitely saw this CD player standing in a place of honor, six discs and glass lid gleaming, either in your bougiest friend’s home or in the background on an episode of Entourage. Now you can buy it again as a new item from Bang & Olufsen rather than bid for one on eBay.
This is the second project in a series of what the company calls “recreated classics.” Bang & Olufsen sourced 200 original units of the Beosound 9000 and brought them to the company’s factory in Struer, Denmark. There, the Bang & Olufsen team—some of whom worked on the original models—carefully disassembled, cleaned, and repaired each unit. Each was then individually tested and fine-tuned to meet B&O’s audio standards.
To lend it a more modern look, the team inverted the black and aluminum finishes of the original. The new black backplate makes the CDs stand out even more as works of art. But never fear—all the aluminum parts are still from the original Beosound 9000s. The pieces were all brushed, etched, and blasted in Bang & Olufsen’s factory, then re-machined and re-anodized to bring them in line with the looks of the classic player.
The Beosystem 9000c is a complete package.
Photograph: Bang & Olufsen
The dressed-up CD players will only be sold as part of a package that includes a pair of high-end Beolab 28 speakers and a fancy Beoremote. The products are bundled together under the name Beosystem 9000c. Only 200 units are being produced, and each bundle costs $55,000. Even if that price puts it out of reach for most of us, the Beosound 9000’s design is worthy of celebration for what it represents.
What Goes Around
The player’s glass door swings open on a motor so you can change the discs.
Photograph: Bang & Olufsen
The Danish brand has long prioritized product longevity, using high-end materials and keeping durability in mind. Also, its products exude timeless, quirky vibes that you really just can’t get anywhere else. I always think of the Beosound Bluetooth speaker that looks just like a picnic basket, but in 2021 the company also released the Beosound Level, an exceptionally beautiful $2,000 Bluetooth speaker that was designed to be easily repaired; the battery, wood, and cloth elements are all replaceable, giving the speaker a lifespan of decades instead of years.
“The consumer electronics industry is not as resource-efficient as it should be,” says Mads Kogsgaard Hansen, the head of product circularity and portfolio planning at B&O, who I reached over email. By tackling obsolescence through design, he says, his team can “create a movement toward a more long-lasting future, where products serve a purpose after their first useful lifecycle.”
The original Beosound 9000 was designed by David Lewis, a legendary industrial designer whose work is currently showcased in the Museum of Modern Art. The player’s design—with its inner workings on full display and encased in glass—was based on the concept of “audiovisuality,” which is the idea that exposing a music machine’s basic functionality is beautiful.
Of course, these days it’s no big deal to see a clear computer case or a folding phone with an exposed hinge. But back in the 1990s, watching a smooth clamp slide soundlessly between CDs or seeing the Beosound 9000’s motorized glass lid slowly swing open was the height of luxury.
Comes Back Around
Bang & Olufsen’s rerelease also comes at a time of a CD revival. In my twenties, I worked in a record store—which we called a record store, even though we mostly sold CDs. That’s where bands played free daytime shows and did CD signings and where we wandered over to the death metal or African funk listening stations because the country section was too crowded.
That click-click-click of people shuffling through bins of jewel cases is permanently embedded in my brain. A lot of us miss it, even those of us who weren’t old enough at the time to listen to music on compact disc, as evidenced by Gen Z buyers gobbling up long-neglected CD collections.
A beefy graphics card paired with the lovely 14-inch screen size at an affordable price? That’s the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, and when you add extras like an OLED display and battery life impressive for a gaming laptop, it’s hard for me to not fall in love with this thing.
The G14 is the smallest model in the Zephyrus line, so it’s extremely portable. You can outfit it with an Nvidia RTX 4060 or 4070 graphics card, depending on whether you want to save some cash or max it out. It feels as comfortable to use as the Macbook Air M1 (2020) that I use for work, but it comes with luxury features that make playing games—and even watching movies—a top-tier experience.
Work-Life Balance
The Zephyrus G14 isn’t built to be a powerhouse—consider a laptop like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 for that—but what power it does have is well allocated. The Zephyrus is powered by AMD’s Ryzen R9 8945HS, a powerful processor, paired with the RTX 4060 laptop graphics card—it tackles most games with ease and can even run some of the heaviest AAA titles reasonably well.
Both Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077 managed to maintain a respectable 50 to 60 frames per second on medium graphics settings at the laptop’s full 2,880 X 1,800 resolution. Starfield dipped to around 40 fps in areas like New Atlantis that have famously struggled to get very high frame rates. But this is still reasonably high given that Starfield is capped at 30 fps on the Xbox.
Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft
When adjusting the display to 1,080p, I could crank the graphics settings in Cyberpunk and Starfield up to high while maintaining roughly the same 50 to 60 fps. By staying on medium, I got over 60 fps in both games. I prefer the latter approach since smoother gameplay feels better for me than extra foliage detail, but there’s flexibility here to tailor the experience to your desires.
Like most gaming laptops, you won’t spend much time playing on this machine away from a charger. However, the G14 still impressed by getting nearly two hours of gameplay while running games like Cyberpunk. Overwatch 2 lasted closer to an hour and a half, which makes sense, given that in faster-paced competitive games, I tend to lean on getting at least 90 fps for a smooth experience.
When using the laptop for more typical work or casual use, I got closer to 11 hours of battery life, impressive among any Windows laptop. I could easily use the Zephyrus G14 as my daily driver and feel comfortable getting an entire day’s worth of work done on a single charge.
More complicated was ginger soy fish which steamed, half submerged in a mix of lime, soy sauce, and sesame oil. The recipe instructs you to put a shallow bowl small enough to cook the fish inside the cooking basket. It also needs to be large enough to hold the fish, and your fingers will thank you for figuring out how to extract the hot dish before you hit the Start button. That said, it made for a surprisingly quick and lovely meal.
Mess of Both Worlds
Next came combo cooking, where I was hoping to get a bit of the best of both worlds: Steaming for tender interiors, then a hot blast to crisp the exterior. I learned quickly that using combo mode meant it would only steam, then cook. Programming it felt like trying to figure out a Konami code. The touchscreen controls look sleek but are a complicated jumble best overcome with brute memorization. Adding time at the end of cooking (steam or combo) means you have to reset the temperature, which defaults to 370 degrees at the end of every cycle. Then you punch in the extra time.
You’re either beholden to GoWise’s recipes or laboriously experimenting with times and temperatures cribbed from them if you want to cook something else. I came to wish that the book was titled 100 Basic Recipes, with times and temperatures and charts. I would happily take a basic instruction manual in exchange for GoWise’s mediocre or strange takes on broccoli—blasted, but counterproductively coated with yogurt—or Italian stuffed peppers with “low-carb marinara sauce,” whatever that is.
I made stuffed mushrooms, a throwback hors d’oeuvre, stuffed with three cheeses folded into cream cheese with Worcestershire sauce and garlic, which I kinda just wanted to slather on my Triscuits. After eight minutes of steam and another eight with a 400-degree blast of hot air, they came out well. There’s not much to not like if you’re a fan of cheese and mushrooms, but the mushroom caps were a bit waterlogged. I wish I’d preblasted them before adding the filling, but that seems to go against the simplified ethos of air fryer cooking.
Perhaps the best combo-mode success came with honey-soy chicken thighs. After muddling my way through the poorly written recipe and stealing a few techniques and cooking temperatures from other recipes, they came out exceedingly well. They were tender and moist, with a crispy flavorful exterior, perhaps the best thing I made in the GoWise.
As with all smart kitchen appliances with apps, I was skeptical of GoWise’s. Not to gloat or anything, but my opinion did not change here. I cringed when I noticed more one-star than five-star reviews in the app store, and little in between. The featured review happened to mention the biscuit recipe was “wrong.” I pulled up the app, figuring the company must have corrected whatever it was by now, but no. The ingredients do not call for butter, but the first line of the procedure does. Due diligence done, I deleted the app.
Modern Conveniences
Despite this, I enjoyed my time with the GoWise. It cooked well enough and is pleasingly quiet. I love that the basket and tray are dishwasher-safe. No need to muck up that simplified ethos with five minutes of standing over the sink scrubbing out crusty bits! Though there were plenty of duds, I appreciated that it comes with 100 recipes, especially the ones that help users take advantage of the steaming and combo-cooking functions. I would have been much more interested in the whole thing if I could have controlled the heat during the steam cycle. You can do a lot of interesting stuff in a “regular” steam oven, but pegging the temperature at 212 really hamstrings the fun you could have with it.
Photograph: Amazon
The bigger problem with this air fryer is shared with all dedicated air fryers: They only do one thing (or, in this case, two), take up a ton of counter space, and have surprisingly little space for cooking. If you like air frying, use the convection setting you may have on the built-in oven you already own, or make sure the next built-in you buy has it.
If you really want a countertop air fryer, get the toaster-oven style, so you can air fry, bake, broil, or toast, with a more ample space. (Yes, the toaster-oven style has an even larger footprint, can be harder to clean, and takes a little longer to heat up, but still.) If you’re convinced you want a stand-alone air fryer, the GoWise is OK. The company should first sunset the app as an act of mercy. Just grab a copy of Air Fryer Perfection instead of the company’s recipe book and have some fun.
Also new in Safari is the ability to separate the browser via profiles, meaning you can create one profile for work and another for your personal life. It splits your history, extensions, cookies, Tab Groups, and Favorites, and it’s easy to switch back and forth.
You can also now create web apps that allow you to turn your favorite websites into an app-like experience that you can place in the dock. Instead of opening a browser window, these web apps launch and act like traditional macOS apps when you click on them. You can get notifications from them, and even segment them in tools like Stage Manager.
Additionally, Apple is making it easy to share passwords with shared accounts. When you create a group, everyone is able to add and edit passwords and share them through iCloud Keychain (with end-to-end encryption).
More With Messages
Video: Apple
As with iOS 17, Apple brought a few new upgrades to the Messages app. Building on inline replies first introduced with iOS 14, you can swipe right to quickly reply to a specific message instead of having to long-press on it each time.
Improvements have been made to search within Messages. Whenever you search for something, results are now divided into categories like people, keywords, photos, and links, making them easier to find. There’s also a one-time passcode cleanup feature that automatically deletes one-time passcodes through AutoFill—which helps clean up your list of conversations. The company is also making a big push for Stickers. Any stickers you create with iOS or iPadOS (including Live Stickers made using Live Photos) are now accessible on your Mac too.
Game Mode
Video: Apple
Gaming on an M-series Mac? You’ll appreciate the new Game Mode feature for graphically intensive titles. It ensures the Mac gives high priority to the CPU and GPU while you’re playing a game, delivering a smoother experience with consistent frame rates. It also lowers the audio latency when you’re using AirPods and reduces input latency with supported PlayStation and Xbox controllers.
Communication Safety Features
Photograph: Apple
To prevent people from unexpectedly viewing sensitive images in Messages, AirDrop, FaceTime messages, and third-party apps, users now have the option to enable a Sensitive Content Warning. That way, photos and videos containing nudity will be blurred, with the option to choose whether you want to see them and the ability to block the contact who sent them. Expanding on the communication safety features for children in iOS 15, parents and guardians can blur sensitive videos (in addition to photos) that their children send or receive as well. The feature also works with the Photos app when opened within Messages.
New Screen Savers
Video: Apple
If you love the preloaded screensavers that come with your Mac, you’ll be happy to hear that new options are here. There are slow-motion videos of locations from all around the world, including Arizona, California, and Hong Kong. The login prompt has also moved to the bottom of the screen, so it no longer gets in the way of the image on your display.
An Improved Typing Experience
Courtesy of Apple
It’s no secret that Apple’s Autocorrect isn’t the most accurate. And regardless of whether you’re on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, it can be a super frustrating feature. Using “enhanced on-device language models,” Autocorrect fixes typos more accurately. Autocorrected words are also now underlined temporarily—making it easier to keep up with what’s been changed as you’re typing. With a new inline predictive text capability, you’ll also see single and multi-word predictions based on what you’re typing to help you finish the message faster.
Accessibility Features
Photograph: Apple
MacOS Sonoma includes a wide range of new accessibility features for vision, cognitive, and speech support. Among the list of capabilities are phonetic suggestions that appear when dictating and editing text via Voice Control; animated images (like GIFs) that can be paused in Safari or Messages; Live Speech, where users can type messages to be spoken aloud during FaceTime and phone calls; the option to customize text size on Mac apps; and the ability to connect Made for iPhone hearing devices to your Mac (available on the 2021 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, 2022 Mac Studio, and Mac computers with an M2 chip).
Transcripts With Apple Podcasts
When using Apple’s Podcasts app, you can now simultaneously listen to a podcast episode and read the transcript on your Mac. You can within the transcript for certain lines and keywords too. It’s currently available for English, Spanish, German, and French-language podcasts.
Upgrades to the Notes App
If you’re struggling to keep track of all your notes, you’ll be relieved to know that Apple has added the option to link them to each other. You no longer have to scroll through the app to find what you’re looking for. You now have access to new text styles as well, including Block Quote (which offsets a section of writing with a quote bar) and Monostyled Text (with inset text and a visible background). For more layouts and formatting tools, you can also open a specific note in the Pages app.
New Emoji
Photograph: Emojipedia
With MacOS 14.4, you now have new emoji to pick from including a phoenix, a broken chain, a shaking head, a brown mushroom, and more. You’ll also have four new family emoji, six people emoji now available in both directions (like “Person Walking Facing Right”), and four non-gender family emoji.
Additional Features:
Reminders: Putting together a grocery list? Reminders will automatically sort the items you add based on categories. It will also remember your preferences whenever you change how items are grouped. And a new Column View organizes sections into columns across your screen.
Find My: You can add up to five other people to your Find My network accessories or AirTags. Those added will be able to follow the item on the map or play a sound to help pinpoint the location of the item.
Siri: The days of “Hey Siri” are gone. All you have to do is say “Siri” to trigger the voice assistant. This feature will only be available for Macs running an M-series chip.
Photos: In addition to recognizing people, the Photo app can (finally) automatically recognize cats and dogs.
Visual Lookup: With the Look Up tool, you can get more information on the subject of a photo. For example, if it’s a photo of food, you can use the feature to find recipes for similar dishes. You can use Visual Lookup in paused video frames too.
Home App: A new Activity History feature now allows you to see who locked or unlocked the door (and when), as well as recent activity for contact sensors, garage doors, and your security system.
Apple Music: You’ll be able to invite friends to join a playlist, giving them the ability to add, remove, or reorder songs.
Enhanced AutoFill for PDFs: You’ll be able to fill out PDFs in Preview using enhanced AutoFill. It will identify fillable fields—like your name, address, and email—and automatically input the information for you.
Catch Up Arrow: Whether you’re in a group chat or a private conversation, coming back to tons of new messages is overwhelming. A new “catch-up” arrow will bring you to the first new message with a simple tap—so you no longer have to scroll up to find it yourself.
AppleCare & Warranty: You now can check your coverage for all devices signed in with your Apple ID through Settings.
Safari Favorites Bar: You can now choose to show only icons for your favorite websites. All you have to do is right-click on the specific site, and de-select “Show Title.” It’ll then automatically appear as an icon.
Updates in Messages for Business: In Messages, you can now opt-in to receive updates like flight notifications, order status, fraud alerts, and more.
Hearing aids: Not only for the near-deaf? We’ve already seen one product in the emerging category of hearing aids designed for users with relatively mild hearing loss—the Olive Union Olive Max. Now there’s Elehear’s Alpha Pro, another affordable over-the-counter product that aims to acclimate users to what hearing aids can do … before things reach crisis mode.
Elehear’s Alpha Pro doesn’t break any new ground in the design department, offering a traditional behind-the-ear design with a receiver connected to the primary device via a thin wire—perhaps just a bit longer than most. The units are available only in a dark gray color, which I find more aesthetically pleasing and unobtrusive than the more common silver or beige (yech).
Photograph: Elehear
The units arrive unconfigured, but new users get a free 30-minute online session with an audiologist if they need help setting things up and getting the lay of the land. If you’re a first-time hearing aid user, this is a good idea, as the audiologist can guide you through which settings and eartips are likely to work best for you, not to mention provide general usage and cleaning tips. The audiologist (there’s just one at Elehear) can also help later, on an ad hoc basis, via phone and email.
The Alpha Pro’s hardware controls are simple, with an individual volume rocker on the back of each unit. They will work out of the box, without Elehear’s app, but you’ll need to delve into said app if you want to get the most out of the hearing aids. While the app is simple on the surface, there’s a lot more to it underneath. Naturally, individual volume controls dominate the main screen, with selections for controlling the amount of ambient noise reduction plus the ability to opt between a forward-facing speech focus or a 360-degree listening mode. I also found the Mute button here handy, which cuts out all amplification and lets you work in silence should you need some peace and quiet.
The Adjust tab lets you drill down further, where you’ll find four presets that correspond to various levels of hearing loss, from Mild to Moderate II. Elehear’s audiologist told me these are all tuned based on common hearing loss patterns—boosting high-level frequencies more than lower ones—but you can tweak them further by tapping the Edit icon, which opens a rudimentary equalizer where you can set levels for Ocean Wave, World Sound, and Birds Chirping (i.e. lows, mids, and highs). All of the settings on this screen can be made globally or per-ear. There are also four environmental modes—General, Restaurant, Outdoor, and TV—which are fairly self-explanatory. Elehear says the only real difference among them is the amount of noise reduction along with the use of the directional focus mode.
