Crafting a smart home ecosystem can be tricky. There are a lot of product categories, and it can be hard to know which ones to prioritize. Here are some of my go-to smart home recommendations for outfitting a smart home — and they all make great gifts this holiday season.

It feels like every year, Apple quietly adds dozens of small features and improvements to the Messages app, but most of them fly under the radar. These aren’t flashy or eye-grabbing features, but they are the type of features that really help the quality of life and experience of the Messages app. If you are like most people, then you have probably been using the Messages app the same way for years, meaning you are barely scratching the surface of what the app can do. Here are some of the best Messages features that you need to know.

While it was somewhat overshadowed by the release of iOS 26.2, Apple also released macOS 26.2 last week. This update introduces one of the most clever video calling features I’ve seen in years: Edge Light.

Here’s how it works.

Alongside the ongoing Amazon all-time low on AirPods Pro 3 at $199, today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break has a series of new price drops to scope out. Apple’s iPad 11 has returned to the $274 Black Friday price alongside a shot at Apple Pencil Pro at $78 shipped. We also have the most affordable 24GB M5 MacBook Pro you can buy at $250 off joined by Apple Watch Ultra 2 at $250 off (just about every config) and another chance at the rare Magic Mouse (USB-C) holiday price. Scope it all out down below.

While Apple is currently lobbying against being given a legal responsibility for age verification when it comes to downloading apps, I think the company’s customers would very much benefit from it taking on this role.

Given the company’s track record in finding privacy-respecting approaches to personal data, I would like to see it go even further than the proposals we’ve seen to date …

Apple released iOS 26.2 last week with important security fixes. At the same time, it also shipped iOS 18.7.3 for users who haven’t upgraded yet — at least in theory.

In practice, Jason Snell at Six Colors reports that some iPhone owners aren’t being offered the iOS 18 security update at all, and are instead being pushed straight to iOS 26.

If you’ve noticed odd screen flickering since installing macOS Tahoe, you’re not alone. A growing number of users are reporting brief but distracting display flickers, particularly when using Apple’s Studio Display.

It’s happening again. Pluribus viewers won’t have to wait a full week to see the conclusion to season one.

Following U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ reversal of her own certification of a class action suit accusing Apple of monopolizing the iPhone app market, the case was put back in play today. Here are the details.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but it appears that the TikTok sale odyssey may be about to wrap up. Here are the details.

Japanese users can now download AltStore PAL and sideload apps on their iPhones and iPads. Here’s how.

The new Duck.ai feature, still in beta, adheres to DuckDuckGo’s privacy-first approach to AI and to search in general. Here are the details.

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The Mac’s built-in green LED privacy indicator—paired with those displayed on-screen in macOS—do a solid job of alerting users in real time when the webcam or microphone is active. When you’re actively working on your Mac, they’re hard to miss. But that protection assumes you’re actually there to see the privacy indicators light up.

What happens when you’re away from your Mac and malware triggers the camera or microphone to quietly record or eavesdrop—without you being there to notice the green light? How would you ever know?

Well, there’s an app for that.

Apple confirmed today that it will adapt Josh Bazell’s 2009 debut novel “Beat the Reaper” for Apple TV. Here are the details.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently made a rare appearance on the MacroMicro podcast, where he shared some new information regarding the iPhone Fold’s production timeline. Here are the details.

One of my favorite Apple Watch features introduced this year is Sleep Score. Sleep is a crucial part of life, and this feature gives you a look at three different facets of it: duration, bedtime, and interruptions.

With this week’s launch of iOS 26.2 and watchOS 26.2, it just got even more useful.

OpenAI is on a streak when it comes to releasing user experience improvements to ChatGPT. The latest update will make finding important conversations much easier.

Building on a previous model called UniGen, a team of Apple researchers is showcasing UniGen 1.5, a system that can handle image understanding, generation, and editing within a single model. Here are the details.

Apple has added new provisions to multiple sections of its Developer Program License Agreement, including Japan-specific terms, following yesterday’s announcement of changes to the App Store. Here’s what’s new.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by Backblaze: Give yourself the gift of peace of mind. Till the end of the month, 9to5Mac listeners get 30% off with code 9to5Xmas. 

When Apple released the radically new iPhone X in 2017, it marked the beginning of a years long march into a new era of iPhone design. A year later, iPhone XR replaced the legacy iPhone 8, bringing a corner to corner display, Face ID, and the gesture based experience that largely retired big bezels and the Home button.

Eight years later, iPhone Air stands as the closest thing Apple has delivered to another iPhone X moment. The leap is narrower in scope, but no less intentional. Where iPhone X reset expectations across the entire lineup, iPhone Air represents a deliberate divergence. Its ultra thin design favors a futuristic feel over feature maximalism, carving out a distinct place alongside Apple’s more traditional models.

iPhone Air is also expected to remain on the market longer than iPhone X did. Apple replaced iPhone X with iPhone XS in less than a year. iPhone Air, on the other hand, has a looser relationship with time.

As a part of the Android 16 QPR3 beta update that rolled out to Google Pixel phones yesterday, Google has also updated its emoji set to include a few refreshed designs ahead of a larger update to come.

Just when you thought the Apple deals were about to start ramping down ahead of the holidays, Amazon has announced a M4 MacBook Air back at $250 off and the most affordable 24GB M5 MacBook Pro at $250 off, but we also spotted a new all-time low on the most affordable M3 iPad Air models at $200 off, and the 2025 black Apple Trail Loop at its best price to date too. Head below for a closer look, AirTag price drops, smart home gear, chargers, and more. 

Benjamin and Chance discuss the late-in-the-year public launch of iOS 26.2, and the beginning of the 26.3 beta cycle. The Information has some juicy new details about the forthcoming iPhone roadmap, ChatGPT adds a clever Apple Music integration, and Chance tried using the PSVR2 spatial controllers with his Vision Pro.

And in Happy Hour Plus, there’s more tantalizing evidence of a higher-end iMac in the works. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join. 

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