Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale in July is an excellent opportunity to save money on Apple devices. For two days every year, you’ll find tons of deals including savings on AirPods, Macs, iPhone, iPad and more.

The next Amazon Prime sale will kick off just after midnight on July 11 and will run until 11.59 pm on July 12, 2023. We expect to see some great discounts on Apple products during the 48-hour sale, but you don’t have to wait until then to save money. We usually see companies offer Early Prime Day Deals to get ahead of the rush. Amazon itself is offering early access to deals via its home page. To see if you can already save money on something you want take a look at Amazon Prime Day (US) and Amazon Prime Day (UK) or at your local Amazon storefront.

You’ll need to sign up for Prime to qualify for the discounts, but that also gives you free one or two-day delivery and access to Prime Video. If you don’t already have a Prime membership, you can sign up for the free 30-day trial. After that ends, the service costs $14.99/£8.99 per month or $139/£95 a year.

To get a taste of what is to come, here are the best prices on Apple gear we saw during Amazon’s Prime Early Access sale in October 2022, which should give you an idea of what to expect from Prime Day 2023.

AirPods deals

Amazon U.S.

• AirPods Pro (2nd-generation): $223.24 ($26.76 off, MSRP $249)
• AirPods Max: $479 ($80 off, MSRP $549)
• AirPods 2nd (2nd-generation): $90 ($39 off, MSRP $129)
• AirPods (3rd-generation with Lightning case): $169 (full price)

And in the U.K.

• AirPods 2rd generation £129 (£10 off, MSRP £139)
• AirPods 3rd generation £179 (full price)
• AirPods Pro 1st generation £189 (£50 off, MSRP £239)
• AirPods Pro 2nd generation £249 (full price)
• AirPods Max £374 (Space Grey) (£174.16 off, MSRP £549)

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale AirPods deals for more deals.

Apple TV deals

Amazon U.S.

• Apple TV 4K, 32GB: $109 ($70 off, MSRP $179)
• Apple TV 4K, 64GB: $129 ($70 off, MSRP $199)

Apple Watch deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

• Apple Watch Series 7 (41mm) GPS, Midnight: £339 (£30 off, MSRP £369)
• Apple Watch Series 7 (45mm) GPS, Midnight or blue: £359 (£40 off, MSRP £359)
• Apple Watch Series 7 (41mm) GPS + Cellular, green: £369 (£100 off, MSRP £469)
• Apple Watch Series 7 (45mm) GPS + Cellular, blue: £399 (£100 off, MSRP £499)
• Apple Watch SE (44mm) GPS, blue: £239 (£30 off. ,MSRP £269)
• Apple Watch SE (40mm) GPS + Cellular, starlight: £279 (£10 off, MSRP £279)
• Apple Watch SE (44mm) GPS + Cellular, blue: £289 (£30 off, MSRP £319

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Sale Apple Watch deals for more deals.

iPhone deals

Amazon U.S.

Amazon rarely discounts iPhones in the U.S. and when it does they are tied into a contract. However, you can visit Amazon’s iPhone page to see the deals on offer.

Amazon U.K.

• iPhone 14, 128GB SSD: £849 (full price)
• iPhone 14, 256GB SSD: £959 (full price)
• iPhone 14, 512GB SSD: £1,179 (full price)

Older iPhones

• iPhone 13, 256GB SSD, Pink: £837 (£22 off, MSRP £859)
• iPhone 13, 512GB SSD, Red: £1,029 (£50 off, MSRP £1,079)
• iPhone 13 mini, 128GB SSD, Pink: £649 (full price)
• iPhone 13 mini, 256GB SSD, Pink: £738 (£21 off, MSRP £759)
• iPhone 13 mini, 512GB SSD, Pink: £811.86 (£168 off, MSRP £979)
• iPhone 13 Pro, 128GB SSD, Sierra Blue: £943.99 (£5 off, WAS £949.)
• iPhone 13 Pro, 512GB SSD, Gold: £1,056 (£190 off, WAS £1,249)
• iPhone SE, 128GB SSD, Midnight for £469 (£30 off, MSRP £499)
• iPhone SE, 256GB SSD, starlight is £569 (£40 off), MSRP £609
• iPhone 12, 64GB SSD, blue: £629 (£20 off, MSRP £649)
• iPhone 12, 128GB SSD, white: £679 (£13 off, MSRP £699 )
• iPhone 12, 256GB SSD, white: £658.90 (£151 off, MSRP £809)
• iPhone 12 mini, 64GB, starlight: £419 (£30 off, WAS £449)
• iPhone 12 mini, 128GB, white: £579 (£50 off, WAS £629)
• iPhone 12 mini, 256GB, black: £609 (£120 off, WAS £729)

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPhone deals for more deals.

iPad deals

Amazon U.S.

• 2022 iPad Air (64GB): $519 ($80 off, MSRP $599)
• iPad mini (64GB): $399 ($100 off, MSRP $499)
• 10.2-inch iPad (64GB): $269 ($60 off, MSRP $329)
• 11-inch iPad Pro (256GB): $829 ($70 off, MSRP $899)
• 12.9-inch iPad Pro (128GB): $899 ($200 off)

Amazon U.K.

• Standard iPad, 256GB for £424.99 was £459 (£34 off). With cellular: £568 (£11 off, MSRP £579).
• iPad mini, 64GB for £459: was £479 (£20 off). With cellular: £589 (£30 off, MSRP £619).
• iPad mini, 256GB for £579: was £619 (£40 off). With cellular: £692 (£67 off, MSRP £759).
• 11-inch iPad Pro, 128GB for £719: was £749 (£30 off).
• 11-inch iPad Pro, 256GB for £813: was £849 (£36 off).
• 11-inch iPad Pro, 1TB for £1,340.10: was £1,399 (£58.90 off).
• 11-inch iPad Pro, 2TB for £1,698.80: was £1,749 (£51 off).
• 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 1TB for £1,599: was £1,649 (£50 off).

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day iPad deals for more Prime Day deals.

MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals

IDG

Amazon U.S.:

• M2 MacBook Air (10-core GPU, 512GB): $1,349 ($150 off, MSRP $1,499)
• M1 MacBook Air, 256GB) all colors: $799 ($200 off, MSRP $999)
• 14-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip (8‑core CPU, 14‑core GPU, 512GB): $1,599 ($400 off, MSRP $1,999)
• 14-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip (10‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU, 1TB): $2,099 ($400 off, MSRP $2,499)
• 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip (10‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU, 512GB): $2,099 ($400 off, MSRP $2,499)
• 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip (10‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU, 1TB): $2,299 ($400 off, MSRP $2,699)

Amazon U.K.:

• M2 MacBook Air (256GB) in Midnight: £1,123 (£126 off. MSRP £1,249).
• M2 MacBook Air (512GB) in Starlight: £1,399 (£150 off, MSRP £1,549). Same discount in Midnight.
• M2 MacBook Air (512GB) in Space Grey: £1,403 (£146 off, MSRP £1,549).
• 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chip (8-core CPU, 10-core GPU), 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD in Silver: £1,196.47 (£153 off, MSRP £1,349)
• 14-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip (10‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU), 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD in Space Grey: £2,129 (£270 off, MSRP £2,399).
• 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip (10‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU), 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD in Space Grey: £2,129 (£270 off, MSRP £2,399)

See our best Amazon Prime Day MacBook Air and MacBook Pro deals for more deals.

Want a new hard drive or SSD? See our Best SSD and hard drive deals for Prime Day.

iMac and Mac mini deals

Amazon U.S.

• iMac with M1 chip (7‑core GPU), 8GB RAM, 256GB: $1,279 ($20 off, MSRP $1,299)
• iMac with M1 chip (8‑core GPU), 8GB RAM, 256GB: $1,499 (full price)
• iMac with M1 chip (8‑core GPU), 8GB RAM, 512GB: $1,699 (full price)
• M1 Mac mini, 512GB: $869 ($30 off, MSRP $899)

Amazon U.K.

• iMac with M1 chip (8‑core GPU), 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Green: £1,275 (£174 off, MSRP £1,449)
• iMac with M1 chip (8‑core GPU), 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Pink: £1,287 (£161 off, MSRP £1,449)
• M1 Mac mini, 256GB: £622 (£77 off, MSRP £699)
• M1 Mac mini, 512GB: £812 (£87 off, MSRP £899)

See our roundup of the best Amazon Prime Day Mac deals for more deals

Want a display to go with your Mac or MacBook? See our Best monitor or display deals for Prime Day 

How to qualify for Prime Early Access Sale deals

Many Prime Day discounts are exclusive to Amazon Prime members, so if you want to take advantage of the deals, you’ll need to become a Prime member. Membership cost $139 / £95 / AUD$59 annually, or $14.99 / £8.99 / AUD$6.99 on a monthly basis. There’s also a 30-day free trial for anyone who doesn’t want to commit. You can cancel at any time.

Amazon Prime is a service that began as a way to get unlimited next-day delivery but has since become much more. Subscribers get access to Amazon’s Netflix rival Prime Video, plus plenty of other benefits. You can see all Prime benefits here.

How to get the best Apple deals

Here are some quick tips to grab an Apple bargain during the two-day Prime Day sale.

1. Browse Apple’s Amazon storefront. 

It’s essentially a catalog for the full range of Apple products, and when you click through to specific devices, you’ll also see any available discounts.

We’ve listed all available devices below, many of which had good discounts off last Prime Day. We’d recommend bookmarking the product pages you’re most interested in, so you can browse discounts as soon as Prime Day hits. 

• iPhone: iPhone 14 range, iPhone 13 range, iPhone 12 range, iPhone SE, and iPhone Accessories
• iPad: iPad Pro, iPad Air, 10.2-inch iPad, iPad mini, and iPad Accessories
• Apple Watch: (Series 8, Apple Watch Ultra, Series 7, Watch SE (gen 1 & gen 2) and Watch Accessories
• MacBook: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Accessories
• Mac desktops : 24in iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Accessories
• AirPods: AirPods Max, AirPods Pro (gen 1 & gen 2), AirPods (gen 2 & gen 3), and AirPods accessories
• Apple TV: 4K, TV HD, TV Accessories
• Beats headphones: Powerbeats, Powerbeats Pro, Beats Solo Pro, Beats Studio3 Wireless, Beats Fit Pro, Beats Studio Buds, Beats Flex, Beats Solo 3 Wireless, and Beats Pill+

Here are the same product pages for UK readers:

• iPhone
• iPad
• Apple Watch
• MacBook
• Mac desktops
• AirPods
• Apple TV
• Beats headphones

2. Be prepared before Prime Day

Prime Day deals will go quickly, as many offers are available as Deals of the Day, which means stock can be limited or last for only a few hours.

Ensure first off that you’re signed up to Amazon Prime to access the deals on Amazon. You don’t need to be paying for the service; you can be on the free trial.

Also, make sure your payment and shipping information is up to date to make sure you can purchase products before they sell out.

If you come across a deal that has sold out, you can usually join the waitlist to be alerted to any stock that becomes available, usually because someone has decided they don’t want to purchase it after all, and removes it from their basket.

You can also use the “Watch this Deal” button on upcoming deals to be alerted when they become available.

3. Keep an eye on our deal selections

With a team of Apple-breathing experts browsing through deals and offers every day (literally), you can be sure if there’s a top offer out there. See only the best deals on Macworld right here.

Apple Inc

Do Macs get viruses? Do Macs need antivirus software? The answers to these questions aren’t as simple as they might seem. In this article, we look at the dangers faced by Mac users, and the pros and cons of using Mac antivirus software.

Historically, the Mac has been considered safe and secure for a number of reasons that we will go into below, but in recent years the consensus has fluctuated. In its 2020 State of Malware report, Malwarebytes said it saw “a significant rise in the overall prevalence of Mac threats in 2019, with an increase of over 400 percent from 2018.” The following year, the company found that overall malware detected on macOS decreased by 38 percent but that the worst kind, namely “backdoors, data stealers, and cryptocurrency stealers/miners,” increased by more than 61 percent.

One reason for the decline in 2020 was the pandemic; as restrictions were lifted, malware saw a resurgence in 2021, with the number of Mac detections soaring by more than 200 percent to an astonishing 164 million. Even Apple software boss Craig Federighi acknowledged in May 2021 that Mac malware was a problem… although it’s worth bearing in mind that at the time he was trying to make the case for iOS’s very different approach to security. “Today,” he said, “we have a level of malware on the Mac that we don’t find acceptable.” Federighi revealed that 130 different cases had been documented since May 2020, and that one of these had affected more than 300,000 Macs. He even admitted that members of his family had got malware on their Macs.

When the judge asked about the fact that Mac users can purchase and download software from various places on the Mac, rather than being limited to the Mac App Store, Federighi said: “Yeah, it’s certainly how we’ve done it on the Mac and it’s regularly exploited on the Mac. iOS has established a dramatically higher bar for customer protection. The Mac is not meeting that bar today.”

PROMOTION

Antivirus Deal: Intego Mac Premium Bundle

Get Intego’s Mac Premium Bundle X9 with antivirus, firewall, backup and system performance tools for just $29.99 (down from $84.99) for the first year.

Get Deal

Federighi noted that Mac users don’t download as much software as iOS users, and argued that if iOS was as open to third-party downloads there would be a real problem for that platform. “If you took Mac security techniques and applied them to the iOS ecosystem, with all those devices, all that value,” he said, “it would get run over to a degree dramatically worse than is already happening on the Mac.”

To get a feel for the number of attacks on the Mac platform, browse our complete list of Mac viruses, malware and trojans. Adware and Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) make up the majority of the malware detections on Macs, according to Malwarebytes.

Do I need antivirus for Mac?

So should Mac users start panicking? No. Mac malware does pose a risk that users should be aware of, but it doesn’t follow that Macs absolutely must be equipped with antivirus software. Such products have their advantages and you may choose to install one for more peace of mind, but we don’t view them as essential for the Mac.

For one thing, there are measures put in place by Apple at the operating system level that should protect Mac users from the worst malware threats. These built-in security features make attacking a Mac particularly challenging. They include Gatekeeper, which blocks software that hasn’t been digitally approved by Apple from running on your Mac without your agreement, and XProtect, which is Apple’s own antivirus built into macOS and inspects every app for malware.

As you can see, Apple goes to great lengths to protect you from malware by making it almost impossible for you to download it in the first place, let alone install it. Additionally, Apple does a pretty good job of keeping on top of vulnerabilities and exploits; if your Mac needs to be protected from these, a patch will quickly be pushed out over auto-update.

Thanks to these features, before you can install an app, your Mac will check it against a list of malware, and even if there is no reason for concern it will not make it easy for you to open an application from a developer that hasn’t been approved.

These features and other protections built into macOS (which we will discuss in more detail below) mean it’s not an essential requirement to install antivirus software on your Mac.

However, as good as these protections are, there have been occasions when malware has managed to infiltrate the Mac platform, and times when Apple hasn’t responded to a threat as quickly as Mac users might hope. If you want the very best protection from threats, therefore, consider adding a dedicated Mac security suite such as Intego Mac Internet Security. You’ll find Intego at the top of our roundup of the best antivirus for Mac, among other free and paid-for antivirus apps that might give you some peace of mind, including McAfee and Norton.

Get Intego Mac Security X9 here

Read on to find out more about how Apple’s security measures work–and why they may not be enough to keep your Mac secure.

How Apple protects Macs from viruses

Macs are generally safer than PCs, but with threats to the Mac growing due to the platform’s increasing popularity, Apple has had to build in protections to macOS and the Mac hardware itself. 

In this section we will look at the built-in protections in macOS to establish whether they are enough, or if you should also install antivirus software on your Mac.

How XProtect works

The Mac’s malware scanning tool, XProtect, works invisibly and automatically in the background and requires no user configuration. Apple has a list of malicious applications that it checks against when you open downloaded applications. XProtect is regularly updated by Apple, and it updates in the background, so you should always be protected.

This is similar to having antivirus software from a third-party software developer running on your Mac, with the bonus of being written into the operating system and therefore not hampering performance.

If you download and try to open files contaminated with malware, you may see an explicit warning that the files will “damage your computer,” along with a reference to the type of malware. In that case you should delete the file immediately.

This is great news for Mac users, but is it enough? How does XProtect compare to the antivirus solutions out there? Well, XProtect may not be as up to date as some third-party products and it doesn’t look for as many strains of malware. Read our roundup of the Best Mac antivirus apps for an in-depth evaluation of the options out there.

How Gatekeeper works

Thanks to Gatekeeper, macOS blocks downloaded software that hasn’t been digitally signed, a process whereby Apple approves the developer. This leads to the familiar error message when you try to use or install unsigned software: “[This app] can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.” One change to Gatekeeper that arrived in macOS Catalina a few years back was that software is checked for malware and other issues every time it runs, rather than just the first time you install it.

For maximum protection, GateKeeper can be set to only allow software to be installed if it was downloaded from the Mac App Store. Or you can set it to allow you to install software from the web, but from verified developers only.

You can adjust these settings via the Security & Privacy section of System Preferences:

1. In Security & Privacy, select the General tab. 
2. Choose from the options underneath Allow Applications Downloaded From.
3. Choose App Store or App Store and Identified Developers.

The safest option is App Store only, but if you also want to be able to install legitimate software from the web then App Store and Identified Developers is the best plan. There used to be a further option to disable the feature by choosing ‘Anywhere,’ but this option is no longer available.

All software downloaded via the App Store is signed, but should you attempt to open an app you’ve downloaded from the web that isn’t signed, you’ll see a Gatekeeper warning like the one below:

This may mean you’ve almost installed malware. On the other hand, of course, it may be a legitimate app. In which case (and if you’re sure) you can bypass Gatekeeper’s protection and install it.

To do so, go to the Finder and locate the app there. Now hold down Ctrl when you click on the app, and then select Open. This will mark it as being trusted. For more details, read how to open an app from an unidentified developer.

Being able to download unsigned software might sound like a benefit, but it essentially enables you to bypass the protections offered by Gatekeeper. That’s a mixed blessing, and more and more malicious apps are instructing users to do exactly this when they are installed.

Sandboxing and related protections

Software that is approved by Apple is also sandboxed, which means apps do only what they’re intended to do. App sandboxing isolates apps from the critical system components of your Mac, your data and your other apps, so they shouldn’t be able to do any damage. It doesn’t protect you from malware getting into the system, but it does limit the extent of what the malware can do once it’s in there.

The main problem here is that while apps sold on the Mac App Store have to be sandboxed, other Mac apps don’t.

However, even without app sandboxing, there are related features built into macOS that should still stop apps snooping on your data. Since macOS 10.15 Catalina in 2019 it has been a requirement for all Mac apps to get your permission before they can access your files. macOS will also ask for your permission before an app can access the camera or microphone, or log what you type.

Another change that arrived with Catalina is that macOS itself is now stored on a separate disk volume. This means that your important system files are all completely separate and therefore more challenging to access. Apps can’t get to your system files where they could cause problems.

Security updates

Apple regularly issues security updates for the Mac. While these can serve to demonstrate that the Mac isn’t infallible, with Apple all too frequently having security flaws pointed out to it, they are generally issued promptly.

Less pleasingly, these security updates have generally been issued as part of a larger macOS update: for example, macOS Monterey 12.2.1 closed a security vulnerability in WebKit that would have made it possible to execute malicious code. Because these security fixes were issued as part of a macOS update, which often requires the computer to reboot during the install process, Mac users may be less likely to install the update promptly, even though these updates can be set to install automatically.

Since the launch of Ventura, however, Apple has started separating out the security updates from wider macOS updates and rolling them out automatically. This way the update can happen in the background, without a restart.

Password protection and Passkeys

Apple improved the way users can manage passwords in macOS Monterey and also made some changes to two-factor authentication. You can find all your Passwords in System Preferences > Passwords. You just need to unlock it with your main password to see every other password you have. (You can also view this information on your iPhone in Settings > Passwords.)

In Monterey a new authenticator was added, so you can set up verification codes instead of using an authentication app. To add a setup key you need to click on a password and then choose Enter Setup Key, which you should be able to obtain from the provider. Once input the 2FA verification codes should automatically fill.

In macOS Ventura Apple moved from passwords to passkeys. Apple explains: “Passkeys use iCloud Keychain public key credentials, eliminating the need for passwords. Instead, they rely on biometric identification such as Touch ID and Face ID in iOS, or a specific confirmation in macOS for generating and authenticating accounts.” Passkeys are more secure, according to Apple. Essentially your device will hold one part of a cryptographic key pair and the other part will be stored by the website or service you’re logging into. Your device will authenticate you biometrically (with Touch ID or Face ID) and log you in. For more information, read How to use Passkeys.

Recording alerts

In macOS Monterey Apple added a Recording indicator in the menu bar so you’ll know if an app is recording you. A bit like the light that indicates the mic is in use on your iPhone.

Pasteboard alerts

Similarly, as of macOS Ventura, any app that wants access to your pasteboard has to request permission.

Safari protections

Anti-phishing technology in Safari will detect fraudulent websites. It will disable the page and display an alert if you visit a suspect website.

Anti-phishing isn’t the only way that Safari protects you when you’re surfing. Apple also allows users to prevent advertisers tracking them around the web. You can see a Privacy Report including details of all the cross-site trackers Apple has stopped from profiling you.

You’ll also notice that plug-ins such as Silverlight, QuickTime, and Oracle Java won’t run if they aren’t updated to the latest version, another way of ensuring your Mac is safe. And of course now that Adobe has discontinued Flash people should hopefully no longer fall for malware hidden in Flash Player.

Safari will also flag up weak passwords and make strong password suggestions when you open an account on a website. This strong password will be saved in your iCloud Keychain so you won’t have to remember it. It’s a lot safer than using the same password you always use. For more on this subject, read about How Apple plans to retire passwords.

In the past, one issue with Apple’s suggested passwords has been that sometimes they don’t match the website’s requirement. For example, a website may require one upper-case letter, one special character, one number and so on. As of the launch of Ventura, macOS allows users to edit suggested passwords so they meet these requirements.

New in Safari 15 were improvements to the Intelligent Tracing Prevention that arrived in Safari 14. Now web trackers won’t be able to see your IP address so they won’t be able to create a profile about you. Check this by choosing Safari from the Safari menu > Preferences > Privacy > Hide IP address from trackers.

Photo privacy

A few years ago there was a lot of bad publicity for Apple when celebrities reported that their iCloud photos had been stolen. (For more on this, read How to stop photo hacks on iPhone.) There have been a number of security enhancements in iCloud since this happened, and Apple has given users other ways to protect their photo privacy: for example, the ability to hide photos and albums. In Ventura, Apple expanded this so that hidden albums, and the Recently Deleted album, are locked by default, and only authenticated by Touch ID or Face ID.

Mail protections

macOS Monterey brought a new feature in Mail on the Mac. Mail Privacy Protection improves privacy for users. For example, it stops email senders from being able to track whether you’ve opened an email, or even determine your location from your IP address. Check that the feature is working for you by opening Mail > Click on Mail in the menu > choose Preferences > Privacy > and make sure Protect Mail Activity is selected. It should be by default.

There are additional Mail protections if you’re an iCloud subscriber. Hide My Email allows you to create an alternative email address that you can give out. The email will still be delivered to your inbox, but you can easily delete the alternative email later.

You can turn this on in System Preferences > click on Apple ID > and select Private Relay (currently in Beta). 

In Ventura Hide My Email was extended to third-party apps.

iCloud+ protections

If you’re an iCloud subscriber, you’ll be interested in a feature that arrived in Monterey (part of the upgrade from iCloud to iCloud+) called Private Relay. It’s a bit like a VPN in that it encrypts your network traffic and routes your DNS lookup requests through two servers, one of which is not controlled by Apple. However, it’s not a VPN, because it only works in Safari and obviously it lacks the other usual features of a VPN. (If you want a VPN, by the way, check out our roundup of the best VPNs for Mac. You may even be able to save some money if you take a look at our roundup of VPN deals, or try one of these free VPNs.)

You can manage your Private Relay settings in System Preferences > Apple ID > click on Options beside Hide my email. Here you will see any fake email addresses you’re using; just click on Turn Off if you want to stop those emails arriving. You can also change which email address they are forwarded to. 

Safety Check

A new feature in macOS Ventura is Safety Check, a feature that will allow anyone who is concerned that they are in danger from a person known to them to revoke any access they have granted to that person. So, for example, that person won’t be able to access their location, their photos, or anything else that could help them to be traced.

File encryption with FileVault

In addition to Gatekeeper, which should keep malware off your Mac, FileVault 2 makes sure your data is safe and secure by encrypting it.

If you’re concerned about someone being able to access the files on your Mac you can encrypt them using FileVault, which will mean only you can unencrypt them. Read our tips for keeping your mac secure, of which using FileVault is one.

Warnings about spyware

Apple announced in November 2021 that it would warn its users of state-sponsored espionage attacks, such as the well-publicised Pegasus spyware, on their iPhones, iPads and Macs. The notification will come via email or a message. The same warning will be displayed on the user’s Apple ID page at appleid.apple.com.

The warning will offer advice about how affected users can protect themselves against attack. There’s more information on Apple’s site.

Find My

Not every threat to your data comes from malware. Sometimes a criminal might get hold of your Mac, in which case Apple’s Find My service will come into its own.

The Find My app can relay the location of your lost or stolen Mac back to you. If you’re concerned that it might not be recoverable, you can wipe the contents of the Mac so that your data can’t be accessed. For more on this, read How to find a lost or stolen iPhone.

In addition, every Mac with an M1-series, M2-series, or T2 chip has an Activation Lock feature that means they can be bricked remotely.

When Apple’s security measures aren’t enough…

All the above is great, but unfortunately there have been cases where Gatekeeper has been bypassed because malware has got an approved developer signature. For example OSX/CrescentCore was able to bypass Gatekeeper because it was signed by a certificate assigned by Apple to a developer. It took Apple a few days to retract that certificate.

It isn’t only when malware gets a certificate from a registered developer. In the case of OSX/Linker, a zero-day vulnerability in Gatekeeper was being exploited.

Zero-day threats mean there are “zero days” to fix the vulnerabilities, although often a legitimate developer discovers the vulnerability and lets the developer know about it. There is usually a 90-day deadline for the fix to be made available. Some times the developer doesn’t act in time and the exploit is publicised.

Apple normally reacts quickly, although there have been cases where the company has ignored the identified vulnerability, such as when a teenager reported the Group FaceTime vulnerability that meant someone could listen in to a call and Apple failed to act. There’s more about how Apple reacts to security threats next.

When Apple is made aware of a threat the company usually issues a security update to the latest version of macOS and to the two versions prior to it. This way Apple will protect users from vulnerabilities and flaws in macOS that could be utilised by hackers.

Normally the advice would be to install the update immediately. However, for example a Sierra and High Sierra security update in July 2019 was subsequently pulled after people experiences problems after installing it.

How Apple responds to security threats

Despite the security measures Apple has in place, from time-to-time there are threats to the Mac.

Apple has its own security research team, but it depends on users and independent researchers to help by reporting any flaws they find in Apple products.

To this end, Apple has an incentive program that rewards such discoveries with payments of up to $200,000, depending on the seriousness of the flaw. But it was the last major tech company to set up such a scheme. (Microsoft set up its own bug-reporting incentive programme in 2013, and was itself criticised at the time for leaving it so late.)

On 4 August 2016, Apple security boss Ivan Krstic announced the Apple Security Bounty Program. “We’ve had great help from researchers in improving iOS security all along,” Krstic said. “[But] we’ve heard pretty consistently… that it’s getting increasingly difficult to find some of those most critical types of security vulnerabilities. So the Apple Security Bounty Program is going to reward researchers who actually share critical vulnerabilities with Apple.”

The top reward of $200,000 is given to those who discover vulnerabilities in Apple’s secure boot firmware components; for less critical flaws the bounties drop through a series of smaller figures to a bottom tier of $25,000. Wired has the details.

We imagine most Mac users will be pleased to hear that Apple has an incentive programme to encourage more widespread reporting of its vulnerabilities. Incentivising security researchers to let Apple know about a flaw instead of passing it on to hackers (which may still, sadly, be more lucrative) makes Apple products safer for everyone.

One such flaw was the High Sierra root bug, discovered on 28 November 2017. This flaw in macOS 10.13 could allow access to settings on a Mac without the need for a password. Apple immediately issued a statement confirming that it was working on a fix and an update was anticipated to be issued within days.

How to keep your Mac safe from malware

Apple does a lot to keep your Mac safe, but you have to work with it, installing updates when they arrive, not clicking on suspicious links in emails, not installing Flash, and so on. There are also some third party antivirus apps you could try – we have a complete guide to the best antivirus for Mac here.

Here are a few of the things you should do:

1) Keep macOS up to date

Despite what we said above about the security update Apple later retracted, normally the advice would be to install a security update as soon as possible.

Apple addresses flaws and vulnerabilities with the Mac by issuing updates to the Mac operating system, it is important to keep your Mac up to date. We advise checking regularly for OS updates remains a key part of a sound security strategy.

You can find out about the latest version of macOS here: macOS Ventura latest version information.

You can set your Mac to automatically update as soon as a new version of the operating system is made available. Follow these instructions to set that up:

How to automatically install macOS updates

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on Software Update.
3. Tick the box beside Automatically keep my Mac up to date.
4. Or, click on Advanced and choose from automatically: Check for updates, download new updates when available, Install macOS updates and Install app updates from the App Store.

How to automatically install High Sierra or older software updates

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on App Store.
3. Tick the box beside Automatically check for updates.
4. You can choose to download the newly available updates, if you want them to install automatically though you need to make sure the box beside Install macOS updates is checked.

How to manually install macOS software updates

If you’d rather not let your Mac automatically update, you should periodically check to see if there is an update to your version.

• In macOS High Sierra and earlier you can go to the Mac App Store and check for updates.
• In macOS Mojave and newer you need to go to the Software Update pane in System Preferences.

You may need to restart your computer once the update has downloaded. You can expect a typical 460MB download to take about 8 minutes (during which time you will still be able to work) but for a large update you will have to restart and install and that could take as much as 20 minutes, bringing the total install time to about 25 minutes in total.

For our in-depth guide to updating Mac operating systems, see How to update macOS.

2) Don’t connect to public Wi-Fi networks

Beware of connecting to a public Wi-Fi network as there may be someone spying who could gain access to your passwords and other private information, or you could have your session hijacked. Snoopers can set up their own Wi-Fi hotspot, pretending to be your hotel or coffee shop, then once you have connected they can grab any data you send over it. In the past there have been flaws detected in the OS that could allow access to your Mac, such as the SSL error in an earlier version of Mac OS X that meant it was possible for a hacker to access your machine if you were using public WiFi.

3) Don’t install Flash

Adobe discontinued Flash on 31 December 2020 with good reason. Intego, Malwarebytes and others recommended that you shouldn’t install Flash Player. Fake Flash Player updates have often been the means by which people install malware. For example, people want to watch or download a popular movie or TV series for free and they find a search result that leads to a request to update Flash Player in order to view the content. There is no need to install Flash Player now that HTML5 has made Flash obsolete. Now that Flash is no longer be supported the advice is simple: Don’t use Flash!

4) Keep Java up to date on your Mac

If you must use Java (which is also problematic) then make sure it’s up to date. Vulnerabilities with Java have highlighted the fact that there are cross-platform threats that even Mac users need to be aware of. Apple blocks Java by default, leaving it to the user to decide whether to install those tools. If you do need to update them be very careful where you download updates from!

5) Avoid falling foul of phishing emails

Protect yourself from phishing attacks not responding to emails that require you to enter a password or install anything. You could also use free software such as BlockBlock. That way even you were to carry out the steps to launch the malware, it would not be able to write files or mark itself as launching on startup.

6) Don’t fall for Facebook scams

Facebook scams are usually designed to harvest data about the most gullible people, so if it seems like it might be too good to be true it probably is and you’d be wise not to share it on Facebook. At best you might just look silly and those scammers will start to target you with more scams, at worse scammers can access your personal data and that of those you share their post with. So don’t click on a link just because a friend shared it and definitely don’t give out your personal data on Facebook.

Why you need to protect Windows users

One of the reasons why, regardless of how safe a Mac is from malware, we should run an antivirus is to protect our Windows using friends and colleagues. While it’s unlikely that your Mac will run any malware, there is possibly a more pernicious issue: You Mac could become the Typhoid Mary of Windows viruses, which is to say, you could be harboring viruses on your Mac that won’t effect you, but can be problems for Windows users.

Some years ago when writing about Mac malware we identified the following nasties on our Mac:

That is a list of 30 potentially bad things that… you guessed it, were found on the Mac we ran a test virus scan on, one of which was a Windows virus.

How to tell if a Mac has a virus

Look out for the following signs that your Mac has been infected with malware: 

1. Aggressive web page banners and browser pop-ups recommending software.
2. Web page text turning into hyperlinks.
3. Programs appearing that you haven’t authorized.
4. Mac crashes.
5. Mac runs hot.
6. Mac speeds up for no reason.

If you think something suspicious is happening, open Activity Monitor and click on the CPU tab. Check what software is running – especially if something is hogging a lot of your resources.

We discuss how to tell if your Mac has a virus and how to remove a Mac virus in a separate article: How to remove a virus from a Mac and How to protect your Mac against attack and disaster to avoid getting infected.

Antivirus, Personal Software, Security

Do Macs get viruses? Do Macs need antivirus software? The answers to these questions aren’t as simple as they might seem. In this article, we look at the dangers faced by Mac users, and the pros and cons of using Mac antivirus software.

Historically, the Mac has been considered safe and secure for a number of reasons that we will go into below, but in recent years the consensus has fluctuated. In its 2020 State of Malware report, Malwarebytes said it saw “a significant rise in the overall prevalence of Mac threats in 2019, with an increase of over 400 percent from 2018.” The following year, the company found that overall malware detected on macOS decreased by 38 percent but that the worst kind, namely “backdoors, data stealers, and cryptocurrency stealers/miners,” increased by more than 61 percent.

One reason for the decline in 2020 was the pandemic; as restrictions were lifted, malware saw a resurgence in 2021, with the number of Mac detections soaring by more than 200 percent to an astonishing 164 million. Even Apple software boss Craig Federighi acknowledged in May 2021 that Mac malware was a problem… although it’s worth bearing in mind that at the time he was trying to make the case for iOS’s very different approach to security. “Today,” he said, “we have a level of malware on the Mac that we don’t find acceptable.” Federighi revealed that 130 different cases had been documented since May 2020, and that one of these had affected more than 300,000 Macs. He even admitted that members of his family had got malware on their Macs.

When the judge asked about the fact that Mac users can purchase and download software from various places on the Mac, rather than being limited to the Mac App Store, Federighi said: “Yeah, it’s certainly how we’ve done it on the Mac and it’s regularly exploited on the Mac. iOS has established a dramatically higher bar for customer protection. The Mac is not meeting that bar today.”

PROMOTION

Antivirus Deal: Intego Mac Premium Bundle

Get Intego’s Mac Premium Bundle X9 with antivirus, firewall, backup and system performance tools for just $29.99 (down from $84.99) for the first year.

Get Deal

Federighi noted that Mac users don’t download as much software as iOS users, and argued that if iOS was as open to third-party downloads there would be a real problem for that platform. “If you took Mac security techniques and applied them to the iOS ecosystem, with all those devices, all that value,” he said, “it would get run over to a degree dramatically worse than is already happening on the Mac.”

To get a feel for the number of attacks on the Mac platform, browse our complete list of Mac viruses, malware and trojans. Adware and Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) make up the majority of the malware detections on Macs, according to Malwarebytes.

Do I need antivirus for Mac?

So should Mac users start panicking? No. Mac malware does pose a risk that users should be aware of, but it doesn’t follow that Macs absolutely must be equipped with antivirus software. Such products have their advantages and you may choose to install one for more peace of mind, but we don’t view them as essential for the Mac.

For one thing, there are measures put in place by Apple at the operating system level that should protect Mac users from the worst malware threats. These built-in security features make attacking a Mac particularly challenging. They include Gatekeeper, which blocks software that hasn’t been digitally approved by Apple from running on your Mac without your agreement, and XProtect, which is Apple’s own antivirus built into macOS and inspects every app for malware.

As you can see, Apple goes to great lengths to protect you from malware by making it almost impossible for you to download it in the first place, let alone install it. Additionally, Apple does a pretty good job of keeping on top of vulnerabilities and exploits; if your Mac needs to be protected from these, a patch will quickly be pushed out over auto-update.

Thanks to these features, before you can install an app, your Mac will check it against a list of malware, and even if there is no reason for concern it will not make it easy for you to open an application from a developer that hasn’t been approved.

These features and other protections built into macOS (which we will discuss in more detail below) mean it’s not an essential requirement to install antivirus software on your Mac.

However, as good as these protections are, there have been occasions when malware has managed to infiltrate the Mac platform, and times when Apple hasn’t responded to a threat as quickly as Mac users might hope. If you want the very best protection from threats, therefore, consider adding a dedicated Mac security suite such as Intego Mac Internet Security. You’ll find Intego at the top of our roundup of the best antivirus for Mac, among other free and paid-for antivirus apps that might give you some peace of mind, including McAfee and Norton.

Get Intego Mac Security X9 here

Read on to find out more about how Apple’s security measures work–and why they may not be enough to keep your Mac secure.

How Apple protects Macs from viruses

Macs are generally safer than PCs, but with threats to the Mac growing due to the platform’s increasing popularity, Apple has had to build in protections to macOS and the Mac hardware itself. 

In this section we will look at the built-in protections in macOS to establish whether they are enough, or if you should also install antivirus software on your Mac.

How XProtect works

The Mac’s malware scanning tool, XProtect, works invisibly and automatically in the background and requires no user configuration. Apple has a list of malicious applications that it checks against when you open downloaded applications. XProtect is regularly updated by Apple, and it updates in the background, so you should always be protected.

This is similar to having antivirus software from a third-party software developer running on your Mac, with the bonus of being written into the operating system and therefore not hampering performance.

If you download and try to open files contaminated with malware, you may see an explicit warning that the files will “damage your computer,” along with a reference to the type of malware. In that case you should delete the file immediately.

This is great news for Mac users, but is it enough? How does XProtect compare to the antivirus solutions out there? Well, XProtect may not be as up to date as some third-party products and it doesn’t look for as many strains of malware. Read our roundup of the Best Mac antivirus apps for an in-depth evaluation of the options out there.

How Gatekeeper works

Thanks to Gatekeeper, macOS blocks downloaded software that hasn’t been digitally signed, a process whereby Apple approves the developer. This leads to the familiar error message when you try to use or install unsigned software: “[This app] can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.” One change to Gatekeeper that arrived in macOS Catalina a few years back was that software is checked for malware and other issues every time it runs, rather than just the first time you install it.

For maximum protection, GateKeeper can be set to only allow software to be installed if it was downloaded from the Mac App Store. Or you can set it to allow you to install software from the web, but from verified developers only.

You can adjust these settings via the Security & Privacy section of System Preferences:

1. In Security & Privacy, select the General tab. 
2. Choose from the options underneath Allow Applications Downloaded From.
3. Choose App Store or App Store and Identified Developers.

The safest option is App Store only, but if you also want to be able to install legitimate software from the web then App Store and Identified Developers is the best plan. There used to be a further option to disable the feature by choosing ‘Anywhere,’ but this option is no longer available.

All software downloaded via the App Store is signed, but should you attempt to open an app you’ve downloaded from the web that isn’t signed, you’ll see a Gatekeeper warning like the one below:

This may mean you’ve almost installed malware. On the other hand, of course, it may be a legitimate app. In which case (and if you’re sure) you can bypass Gatekeeper’s protection and install it.

To do so, go to the Finder and locate the app there. Now hold down Ctrl when you click on the app, and then select Open. This will mark it as being trusted. For more details, read how to open an app from an unidentified developer.

Being able to download unsigned software might sound like a benefit, but it essentially enables you to bypass the protections offered by Gatekeeper. That’s a mixed blessing, and more and more malicious apps are instructing users to do exactly this when they are installed.

Sandboxing and related protections

Software that is approved by Apple is also sandboxed, which means apps do only what they’re intended to do. App sandboxing isolates apps from the critical system components of your Mac, your data and your other apps, so they shouldn’t be able to do any damage. It doesn’t protect you from malware getting into the system, but it does limit the extent of what the malware can do once it’s in there.

The main problem here is that while apps sold on the Mac App Store have to be sandboxed, other Mac apps don’t.

However, even without app sandboxing, there are related features built into macOS that should still stop apps snooping on your data. Since macOS 10.15 Catalina in 2019 it has been a requirement for all Mac apps to get your permission before they can access your files. macOS will also ask for your permission before an app can access the camera or microphone, or log what you type.

Another change that arrived with Catalina is that macOS itself is now stored on a separate disk volume. This means that your important system files are all completely separate and therefore more challenging to access. Apps can’t get to your system files where they could cause problems.

Security updates

Apple regularly issues security updates for the Mac. While these can serve to demonstrate that the Mac isn’t infallible, with Apple all too frequently having security flaws pointed out to it, they are generally issued promptly.

Less pleasingly, these security updates have generally been issued as part of a larger macOS update: for example, macOS Monterey 12.2.1 closed a security vulnerability in WebKit that would have made it possible to execute malicious code. Because these security fixes were issued as part of a macOS update, which often requires the computer to reboot during the install process, Mac users may be less likely to install the update promptly, even though these updates can be set to install automatically.

Since the launch of Ventura, however, Apple has started separating out the security updates from wider macOS updates and rolling them out automatically. This way the update can happen in the background, without a restart.

Password protection and Passkeys

Apple improved the way users can manage passwords in macOS Monterey and also made some changes to two-factor authentication. You can find all your Passwords in System Preferences > Passwords. You just need to unlock it with your main password to see every other password you have. (You can also view this information on your iPhone in Settings > Passwords.)

In Monterey a new authenticator was added, so you can set up verification codes instead of using an authentication app. To add a setup key you need to click on a password and then choose Enter Setup Key, which you should be able to obtain from the provider. Once input the 2FA verification codes should automatically fill.

In macOS Ventura Apple moved from passwords to passkeys. Apple explains: “Passkeys use iCloud Keychain public key credentials, eliminating the need for passwords. Instead, they rely on biometric identification such as Touch ID and Face ID in iOS, or a specific confirmation in macOS for generating and authenticating accounts.” Passkeys are more secure, according to Apple. Essentially your device will hold one part of a cryptographic key pair and the other part will be stored by the website or service you’re logging into. Your device will authenticate you biometrically (with Touch ID or Face ID) and log you in. For more information, read How to use Passkeys.

Recording alerts

In macOS Monterey Apple added a Recording indicator in the menu bar so you’ll know if an app is recording you. A bit like the light that indicates the mic is in use on your iPhone.

Pasteboard alerts

Similarly, as of macOS Ventura, any app that wants access to your pasteboard has to request permission.

Safari protections

Anti-phishing technology in Safari will detect fraudulent websites. It will disable the page and display an alert if you visit a suspect website.

Anti-phishing isn’t the only way that Safari protects you when you’re surfing. Apple also allows users to prevent advertisers tracking them around the web. You can see a Privacy Report including details of all the cross-site trackers Apple has stopped from profiling you.

You’ll also notice that plug-ins such as Silverlight, QuickTime, and Oracle Java won’t run if they aren’t updated to the latest version, another way of ensuring your Mac is safe. And of course now that Adobe has discontinued Flash people should hopefully no longer fall for malware hidden in Flash Player.

Safari will also flag up weak passwords and make strong password suggestions when you open an account on a website. This strong password will be saved in your iCloud Keychain so you won’t have to remember it. It’s a lot safer than using the same password you always use. For more on this subject, read about How Apple plans to retire passwords.

In the past, one issue with Apple’s suggested passwords has been that sometimes they don’t match the website’s requirement. For example, a website may require one upper-case letter, one special character, one number and so on. As of the launch of Ventura, macOS allows users to edit suggested passwords so they meet these requirements.

New in Safari 15 were improvements to the Intelligent Tracing Prevention that arrived in Safari 14. Now web trackers won’t be able to see your IP address so they won’t be able to create a profile about you. Check this by choosing Safari from the Safari menu > Preferences > Privacy > Hide IP address from trackers.

Photo privacy

A few years ago there was a lot of bad publicity for Apple when celebrities reported that their iCloud photos had been stolen. (For more on this, read How to stop photo hacks on iPhone.) There have been a number of security enhancements in iCloud since this happened, and Apple has given users other ways to protect their photo privacy: for example, the ability to hide photos and albums. In Ventura, Apple expanded this so that hidden albums, and the Recently Deleted album, are locked by default, and only authenticated by Touch ID or Face ID.

Mail protections

macOS Monterey brought a new feature in Mail on the Mac. Mail Privacy Protection improves privacy for users. For example, it stops email senders from being able to track whether you’ve opened an email, or even determine your location from your IP address. Check that the feature is working for you by opening Mail > Click on Mail in the menu > choose Preferences > Privacy > and make sure Protect Mail Activity is selected. It should be by default.

There are additional Mail protections if you’re an iCloud subscriber. Hide My Email allows you to create an alternative email address that you can give out. The email will still be delivered to your inbox, but you can easily delete the alternative email later.

You can turn this on in System Preferences > click on Apple ID > and select Private Relay (currently in Beta). 

In Ventura Hide My Email was extended to third-party apps.

iCloud+ protections

If you’re an iCloud subscriber, you’ll be interested in a feature that arrived in Monterey (part of the upgrade from iCloud to iCloud+) called Private Relay. It’s a bit like a VPN in that it encrypts your network traffic and routes your DNS lookup requests through two servers, one of which is not controlled by Apple. However, it’s not a VPN, because it only works in Safari and obviously it lacks the other usual features of a VPN. (If you want a VPN, by the way, check out our roundup of the best VPNs for Mac. You may even be able to save some money if you take a look at our roundup of VPN deals, or try one of these free VPNs.)

You can manage your Private Relay settings in System Preferences > Apple ID > click on Options beside Hide my email. Here you will see any fake email addresses you’re using; just click on Turn Off if you want to stop those emails arriving. You can also change which email address they are forwarded to. 

Safety Check

A new feature in macOS Ventura is Safety Check, a feature that will allow anyone who is concerned that they are in danger from a person known to them to revoke any access they have granted to that person. So, for example, that person won’t be able to access their location, their photos, or anything else that could help them to be traced.

File encryption with FileVault

In addition to Gatekeeper, which should keep malware off your Mac, FileVault 2 makes sure your data is safe and secure by encrypting it.

If you’re concerned about someone being able to access the files on your Mac you can encrypt them using FileVault, which will mean only you can unencrypt them. Read our tips for keeping your mac secure, of which using FileVault is one.

Warnings about spyware

Apple announced in November 2021 that it would warn its users of state-sponsored espionage attacks, such as the well-publicised Pegasus spyware, on their iPhones, iPads and Macs. The notification will come via email or a message. The same warning will be displayed on the user’s Apple ID page at appleid.apple.com.

The warning will offer advice about how affected users can protect themselves against attack. There’s more information on Apple’s site.

Find My

Not every threat to your data comes from malware. Sometimes a criminal might get hold of your Mac, in which case Apple’s Find My service will come into its own.

The Find My app can relay the location of your lost or stolen Mac back to you. If you’re concerned that it might not be recoverable, you can wipe the contents of the Mac so that your data can’t be accessed. For more on this, read How to find a lost or stolen iPhone.

In addition, every Mac with an M1-series, M2-series, or T2 chip has an Activation Lock feature that means they can be bricked remotely.

When Apple’s security measures aren’t enough…

All the above is great, but unfortunately there have been cases where Gatekeeper has been bypassed because malware has got an approved developer signature. For example OSX/CrescentCore was able to bypass Gatekeeper because it was signed by a certificate assigned by Apple to a developer. It took Apple a few days to retract that certificate.

It isn’t only when malware gets a certificate from a registered developer. In the case of OSX/Linker, a zero-day vulnerability in Gatekeeper was being exploited.

Zero-day threats mean there are “zero days” to fix the vulnerabilities, although often a legitimate developer discovers the vulnerability and lets the developer know about it. There is usually a 90-day deadline for the fix to be made available. Some times the developer doesn’t act in time and the exploit is publicised.

Apple normally reacts quickly, although there have been cases where the company has ignored the identified vulnerability, such as when a teenager reported the Group FaceTime vulnerability that meant someone could listen in to a call and Apple failed to act. There’s more about how Apple reacts to security threats next.

When Apple is made aware of a threat the company usually issues a security update to the latest version of macOS and to the two versions prior to it. This way Apple will protect users from vulnerabilities and flaws in macOS that could be utilised by hackers.

Normally the advice would be to install the update immediately. However, for example a Sierra and High Sierra security update in July 2019 was subsequently pulled after people experiences problems after installing it.

How Apple responds to security threats

Despite the security measures Apple has in place, from time-to-time there are threats to the Mac.

Apple has its own security research team, but it depends on users and independent researchers to help by reporting any flaws they find in Apple products.

To this end, Apple has an incentive program that rewards such discoveries with payments of up to $200,000, depending on the seriousness of the flaw. But it was the last major tech company to set up such a scheme. (Microsoft set up its own bug-reporting incentive programme in 2013, and was itself criticised at the time for leaving it so late.)

On 4 August 2016, Apple security boss Ivan Krstic announced the Apple Security Bounty Program. “We’ve had great help from researchers in improving iOS security all along,” Krstic said. “[But] we’ve heard pretty consistently… that it’s getting increasingly difficult to find some of those most critical types of security vulnerabilities. So the Apple Security Bounty Program is going to reward researchers who actually share critical vulnerabilities with Apple.”

The top reward of $200,000 is given to those who discover vulnerabilities in Apple’s secure boot firmware components; for less critical flaws the bounties drop through a series of smaller figures to a bottom tier of $25,000. Wired has the details.

We imagine most Mac users will be pleased to hear that Apple has an incentive programme to encourage more widespread reporting of its vulnerabilities. Incentivising security researchers to let Apple know about a flaw instead of passing it on to hackers (which may still, sadly, be more lucrative) makes Apple products safer for everyone.

One such flaw was the High Sierra root bug, discovered on 28 November 2017. This flaw in macOS 10.13 could allow access to settings on a Mac without the need for a password. Apple immediately issued a statement confirming that it was working on a fix and an update was anticipated to be issued within days.

How to keep your Mac safe from malware

Apple does a lot to keep your Mac safe, but you have to work with it, installing updates when they arrive, not clicking on suspicious links in emails, not installing Flash, and so on. There are also some third party antivirus apps you could try – we have a complete guide to the best antivirus for Mac here.

Here are a few of the things you should do:

1) Keep macOS up to date

Despite what we said above about the security update Apple later retracted, normally the advice would be to install a security update as soon as possible.

Apple addresses flaws and vulnerabilities with the Mac by issuing updates to the Mac operating system, it is important to keep your Mac up to date. We advise checking regularly for OS updates remains a key part of a sound security strategy.

You can find out about the latest version of macOS here: macOS Ventura latest version information.

You can set your Mac to automatically update as soon as a new version of the operating system is made available. Follow these instructions to set that up:

How to automatically install macOS updates

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on Software Update.
3. Tick the box beside Automatically keep my Mac up to date.
4. Or, click on Advanced and choose from automatically: Check for updates, download new updates when available, Install macOS updates and Install app updates from the App Store.

How to automatically install High Sierra or older software updates

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on App Store.
3. Tick the box beside Automatically check for updates.
4. You can choose to download the newly available updates, if you want them to install automatically though you need to make sure the box beside Install macOS updates is checked.

How to manually install macOS software updates

If you’d rather not let your Mac automatically update, you should periodically check to see if there is an update to your version.

• In macOS High Sierra and earlier you can go to the Mac App Store and check for updates.
• In macOS Mojave and newer you need to go to the Software Update pane in System Preferences.

You may need to restart your computer once the update has downloaded. You can expect a typical 460MB download to take about 8 minutes (during which time you will still be able to work) but for a large update you will have to restart and install and that could take as much as 20 minutes, bringing the total install time to about 25 minutes in total.

For our in-depth guide to updating Mac operating systems, see How to update macOS.

2) Don’t connect to public Wi-Fi networks

Beware of connecting to a public Wi-Fi network as there may be someone spying who could gain access to your passwords and other private information, or you could have your session hijacked. Snoopers can set up their own Wi-Fi hotspot, pretending to be your hotel or coffee shop, then once you have connected they can grab any data you send over it. In the past there have been flaws detected in the OS that could allow access to your Mac, such as the SSL error in an earlier version of Mac OS X that meant it was possible for a hacker to access your machine if you were using public WiFi.

3) Don’t install Flash

Adobe discontinued Flash on 31 December 2020 with good reason. Intego, Malwarebytes and others recommended that you shouldn’t install Flash Player. Fake Flash Player updates have often been the means by which people install malware. For example, people want to watch or download a popular movie or TV series for free and they find a search result that leads to a request to update Flash Player in order to view the content. There is no need to install Flash Player now that HTML5 has made Flash obsolete. Now that Flash is no longer be supported the advice is simple: Don’t use Flash!

4) Keep Java up to date on your Mac

If you must use Java (which is also problematic) then make sure it’s up to date. Vulnerabilities with Java have highlighted the fact that there are cross-platform threats that even Mac users need to be aware of. Apple blocks Java by default, leaving it to the user to decide whether to install those tools. If you do need to update them be very careful where you download updates from!

5) Avoid falling foul of phishing emails

Protect yourself from phishing attacks not responding to emails that require you to enter a password or install anything. You could also use free software such as BlockBlock. That way even you were to carry out the steps to launch the malware, it would not be able to write files or mark itself as launching on startup.

6) Don’t fall for Facebook scams

Facebook scams are usually designed to harvest data about the most gullible people, so if it seems like it might be too good to be true it probably is and you’d be wise not to share it on Facebook. At best you might just look silly and those scammers will start to target you with more scams, at worse scammers can access your personal data and that of those you share their post with. So don’t click on a link just because a friend shared it and definitely don’t give out your personal data on Facebook.

Why you need to protect Windows users

One of the reasons why, regardless of how safe a Mac is from malware, we should run an antivirus is to protect our Windows using friends and colleagues. While it’s unlikely that your Mac will run any malware, there is possibly a more pernicious issue: You Mac could become the Typhoid Mary of Windows viruses, which is to say, you could be harboring viruses on your Mac that won’t effect you, but can be problems for Windows users.

Some years ago when writing about Mac malware we identified the following nasties on our Mac:

That is a list of 30 potentially bad things that… you guessed it, were found on the Mac we ran a test virus scan on, one of which was a Windows virus.

How to tell if a Mac has a virus

Look out for the following signs that your Mac has been infected with malware: 

1. Aggressive web page banners and browser pop-ups recommending software.
2. Web page text turning into hyperlinks.
3. Programs appearing that you haven’t authorized.
4. Mac crashes.
5. Mac runs hot.
6. Mac speeds up for no reason.

If you think something suspicious is happening, open Activity Monitor and click on the CPU tab. Check what software is running – especially if something is hogging a lot of your resources.

We discuss how to tell if your Mac has a virus and how to remove a Mac virus in a separate article: How to remove a virus from a Mac and How to protect your Mac against attack and disaster to avoid getting infected.

Antivirus, Personal Software, Security

Wondering what the name of the latest macOS version is? Want to know what the next version of macOS will be? Curious about the versions of Mac OS X that came before? Here we’ll fill you in on the names of the different versions of the Mac operating system in order: from the newest macOS to the first version of Mac OS X and the codenames that Apple used for them. We’ll also show you how you can check which version of macOS you are running and find out what the latest version of macOS is.

If you are wondering what the latest version of macOS is it’s Ventura, also known as macOS 13. Ventura arrived on Monday, October 25, 2022, and is currently on version 13.4, which arrived on May 18, 2023. For more information, read our Complete guide to macOS Ventura.

Ventura will eventually be replaced in the fall of 2023 with macOS Sonoma, aka macOS 14. You can install a beta version of Sonoma now, but we suggest that you wait until the final version is available to download in the fall (usually in the September or October time frame).

If you are looking for help installing Ventura read: How to update macOS and Fixes for Macs that won’t update. If you want to install the beta of macOS read about joining Apple’s beta program.

macOS version history

Mac OS X was launched more than two decades ago on March 24, 2001. There’s been a lot of change over those two decades: good and bad. From the problems with the first edition (it was slow and didn’t run important apps like Microsoft Word) Mac OS X has evolved through various iterations and various designs to what we know today. We’ve seen tight integration with iOS devices, the incorporation of the cloud, and the arrival of excellent and helpful features including integrated Time Machine backups, Quick Look – which lets you see a preview of a document without opening the application, and innovations like Expose and Spaces and Desktop Stacks to help you work more efficiently.

For an overview of the features of the various versions of the Mac operating system, showing how it has developed over time, take a look at our video above. If you want to know the names Apple assigned to Mac OS X over the years, and the codenames that were used internally, read on.

List of macOS version names and latest versions

Here’s an overview of every version of macOS and Mac OS X Apple has released. You’ll find a complete list of the latest release of each version of OS X and macOS, along version code names, along with internal code names (if available):

• OS X 10 beta: Kodiak – September 13, 2000
• OS X 10.0: Cheetah – March 14, 2001 (Latest: 10.0.4)
• OS X 10.1: Puma – September 15, 2001 (Latest: 10.1.5)
• OS X 10.2: Jaguar – August 14, 2002 (Latest: 10.2.8)
• OS X 10.3 Panther (Pinot) – October 24, 2003 (Latest: 10.3.9)
• OS X 10.4 Tiger (Merlot) – April 29, 2005 (Latest: 10.4.11)
• OS X 10.4.4 Tiger (Chardonnay) – January 10, 2006 (for Intel Macs) (Latest: 10.4.11)
• OS X 10.5 Leopard (Chablis) – October 26, 2007 (Latest: 10.5.8)
• OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard – August 28, 2009 (Latest: 10.6.8)
• OS X 10.7 Lion (Barolo) – July 20, 2011 (Latest: 10.7.5)
• OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (Zinfandel) – July 25, 2012 (Latest: 10.8.5)
• OS X 10.9 Mavericks (Cabernet) – October 22, 2013 (Latest: 10.9.5)
• OS X 10.10: Yosemite (Syrah) – October 16, 2014 (Latest: 10.10.5)
• OS X 10.11: El Capitan (Gala) – September 30, 2015 (Latest: 10.11.6)
• macOS 10.12: Sierra (Fuji) – September 20, 2016 (Latest: 10.12.6)
• macOS 10.13: High Sierra (Lobo) – September 25, 2017 (Latest: 10.13.6)
• macOS 10.14: Mojave (Liberty) – September 24, 2018 (Latest: 10.14.6)
• macOS 10.15: Catalina (Jazz) – October 7, 2019 (Latest: 10.15.7, Security Update 2022-005)
• macOS 11: Big Sur (GoldenGate) – November 12, 2020 (Latest: 11.7.6)
• macOS 12: Monterey (Star) – October 25, 2021 (Latest: 12.6.5)
• macOS 13: Ventura (Rome) – October 24, 2022 (Latest: 13.4)
• macOS 14: Sonoma (Sunburst) – Beta, full release expected in October 2023

We have a full list of which Macs run which versions of Mac OS X and macOS here.

Foundry

Mac OS X and macOS names

As you can see from the list above, with the exception of the first OS X beta, all versions of the Mac operating system from 2001 to 2012 were all named after big cats, from Cheetah to Panther to the final release, Mountain Lion.

But while the public-facing builds were named after big cats, internally, they were named after wines (aside from OS X 10.6 which had no codename).

Even after Apple switched public-facing code names to places in California back in 2013, it carried on naming them after wines internally until 2014. In 2015, Apple decided to change the theme of internal code names from wines to types of apples. Original.

In 2016, Apple took the plunge to unify the branding of its operating systems by rebranding Mac OS X to macOS, which sits nicely alongside iOS, tvOS, and watchOS and paved the way for macOS 11, the successor to Mac OS X, which arrived twenty years after the first beta of Mac OS X.

Which versions of macOS are still updated?

Apple still supplies regular features and security updates to the most recent version of macOS, Ventura, also known as macOS 13.

The previous two versions of macOS also receive security updates and bug fixes. If you are running macOS 12 Monterey and macOS 11 Big Sur you should install the regular security updates. The latest versions of those two Mac operating systems are listed above.

Since the arrival of Ventura Apple no longer supports macOS Catalina, which arrived in 2019. When Apple makes the full version of Sonoma available later in 2023 Big Sur support is also likely to end. See: How long do Macs and MacBooks last?

Apple also issues updates to its Safari web browser. The latest version of Safari for Mac is 16.4.1 (as of April 2023) and it requires Big Sur, Monterey, or Ventura.

Foundry

How to tell which macOS version you are running

You can tell which version of macOS you are running by clicking on the Apple logo in the top left and choosing About This Mac. It will clearly show which version of macOS you are running along with the most recent version that your Mac has installed

Foundry

How to install the latest version of macOS

If you want to update your Mac to a newer version of macOS the method will be determined by the version of macOS you are running.

Very old versions of Mac OS X came on a disk and any security updates came via Software Update. Since the arrival of the Mac App Store in 2011 (as an update to Snow Leopard) versions of Mac OS X and macOS have been available to download via the Mac App Store.

However, that changed slightly with Mojave, which arrived in 2018. Now operating system updates come in via a new Software Updates pane in System Preferences. You can still find the software in the Mac App Store, but you will also see it in System Preferences > Software Update. One of the benefits of this is that your Mac can be set to automatically download the latest updates and install them, keeping your Mac up-to-date with minimum effort on your part.

You can get to System Preferences from the Apple menu: Click on the Apple logo in the top left and choose System Preferences. You may be taken straight to the Software Update pane, if not click on the Software Update cog icon. Your Mac will search for an update and if there is one you can choose Update Now.

Some Macs will be set to update macOS automatically. If you want your Mac to update automatically follow these steps:

In Ventura:

1. Open System Settings.
2. Click on General.
3. Click on Software Update.
4. Click on the i beside Automatic Updates and make sure that Check for updates, Download new updates when available, and Install macOS updates are selected. This way your Mac will automatically update to the latest version. If you would prefer not to have your Mac do this automatically you can deselect these options.

In Monterey, Big Sur, Mojave, or Catalina:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on Software Update.
3. Check the box beside Automatically keep my Mac up to date (or Download new updates when available).
4. Now select the box Install macOS updates.

In High Sierra or earlier:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on App Store.
3. Check the box beside Automatically check for updates – it should have a tick in it as should the four options below that…
4. Now deselect the box beside Download newly available updates in the background.

Read all about how to update your Mac here.

We also have a list of every version of iOS where you can see the latest versions and how long Apple supports iPhones for.

Mac, MacOS, Personal Software

Wondering what the name of the latest macOS version is? Want to know what the next version of macOS will be? Curious about the versions of Mac OS X that came before? Here we’ll fill you in on the names of the different versions of the Mac operating system in order: from the newest macOS to the first version of Mac OS X and the codenames that Apple used for them. We’ll also show you how you can check which version of macOS you are running and find out what the latest version of macOS is.

If you are wondering what the latest version of macOS is it’s Ventura, also known as macOS 13. Ventura arrived on Monday, October 25, 2022, and is currently on version 13.4, which arrived on May 18, 2023. For more information, read our Complete guide to macOS Ventura.

Ventura will eventually be replaced in the fall of 2023 with macOS Sonoma, aka macOS 14. You can install a beta version of Sonoma now, but we suggest that you wait until the final version is available to download in the fall (usually in the September or October time frame).

If you are looking for help installing Ventura read: How to update macOS and Fixes for Macs that won’t update. If you want to install the beta of macOS read about joining Apple’s beta program.

macOS version history

Mac OS X was launched more than two decades ago on March 24, 2001. There’s been a lot of change over those two decades: good and bad. From the problems with the first edition (it was slow and didn’t run important apps like Microsoft Word) Mac OS X has evolved through various iterations and various designs to what we know today. We’ve seen tight integration with iOS devices, the incorporation of the cloud, and the arrival of excellent and helpful features including integrated Time Machine backups, Quick Look – which lets you see a preview of a document without opening the application, and innovations like Expose and Spaces and Desktop Stacks to help you work more efficiently.

For an overview of the features of the various versions of the Mac operating system, showing how it has developed over time, take a look at our video above. If you want to know the names Apple assigned to Mac OS X over the years, and the codenames that were used internally, read on.

List of macOS version names and latest versions

Here’s an overview of every version of macOS and Mac OS X Apple has released. You’ll find a complete list of the latest release of each version of OS X and macOS, along version code names, along with internal code names (if available):

• OS X 10 beta: Kodiak – September 13, 2000
• OS X 10.0: Cheetah – March 14, 2001 (Latest: 10.0.4)
• OS X 10.1: Puma – September 15, 2001 (Latest: 10.1.5)
• OS X 10.2: Jaguar – August 14, 2002 (Latest: 10.2.8)
• OS X 10.3 Panther (Pinot) – October 24, 2003 (Latest: 10.3.9)
• OS X 10.4 Tiger (Merlot) – April 29, 2005 (Latest: 10.4.11)
• OS X 10.4.4 Tiger (Chardonnay) – January 10, 2006 (for Intel Macs) (Latest: 10.4.11)
• OS X 10.5 Leopard (Chablis) – October 26, 2007 (Latest: 10.5.8)
• OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard – August 28, 2009 (Latest: 10.6.8)
• OS X 10.7 Lion (Barolo) – July 20, 2011 (Latest: 10.7.5)
• OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (Zinfandel) – July 25, 2012 (Latest: 10.8.5)
• OS X 10.9 Mavericks (Cabernet) – October 22, 2013 (Latest: 10.9.5)
• OS X 10.10: Yosemite (Syrah) – October 16, 2014 (Latest: 10.10.5)
• OS X 10.11: El Capitan (Gala) – September 30, 2015 (Latest: 10.11.6)
• macOS 10.12: Sierra (Fuji) – September 20, 2016 (Latest: 10.12.6)
• macOS 10.13: High Sierra (Lobo) – September 25, 2017 (Latest: 10.13.6)
• macOS 10.14: Mojave (Liberty) – September 24, 2018 (Latest: 10.14.6)
• macOS 10.15: Catalina (Jazz) – October 7, 2019 (Latest: 10.15.7, Security Update 2022-005)
• macOS 11: Big Sur (GoldenGate) – November 12, 2020 (Latest: 11.7.6)
• macOS 12: Monterey (Star) – October 25, 2021 (Latest: 12.6.5)
• macOS 13: Ventura (Rome) – October 24, 2022 (Latest: 13.4)
• macOS 14: Sonoma (Sunburst) – Beta, full release expected in October 2023

We have a full list of which Macs run which versions of Mac OS X and macOS here.

Foundry

Mac OS X and macOS names

As you can see from the list above, with the exception of the first OS X beta, all versions of the Mac operating system from 2001 to 2012 were all named after big cats, from Cheetah to Panther to the final release, Mountain Lion.

But while the public-facing builds were named after big cats, internally, they were named after wines (aside from OS X 10.6 which had no codename).

Even after Apple switched public-facing code names to places in California back in 2013, it carried on naming them after wines internally until 2014. In 2015, Apple decided to change the theme of internal code names from wines to types of apples. Original.

In 2016, Apple took the plunge to unify the branding of its operating systems by rebranding Mac OS X to macOS, which sits nicely alongside iOS, tvOS, and watchOS and paved the way for macOS 11, the successor to Mac OS X, which arrived twenty years after the first beta of Mac OS X.

Which versions of macOS are still updated?

Apple still supplies regular features and security updates to the most recent version of macOS, Ventura, also known as macOS 13.

The previous two versions of macOS also receive security updates and bug fixes. If you are running macOS 12 Monterey and macOS 11 Big Sur you should install the regular security updates. The latest versions of those two Mac operating systems are listed above.

Since the arrival of Ventura Apple no longer supports macOS Catalina, which arrived in 2019. When Apple makes the full version of Sonoma available later in 2023 Big Sur support is also likely to end. See: How long do Macs and MacBooks last?

Apple also issues updates to its Safari web browser. The latest version of Safari for Mac is 16.4.1 (as of April 2023) and it requires Big Sur, Monterey, or Ventura.

Foundry

How to tell which macOS version you are running

You can tell which version of macOS you are running by clicking on the Apple logo in the top left and choosing About This Mac. It will clearly show which version of macOS you are running along with the most recent version that your Mac has installed

Foundry

How to install the latest version of macOS

If you want to update your Mac to a newer version of macOS the method will be determined by the version of macOS you are running.

Very old versions of Mac OS X came on a disk and any security updates came via Software Update. Since the arrival of the Mac App Store in 2011 (as an update to Snow Leopard) versions of Mac OS X and macOS have been available to download via the Mac App Store.

However, that changed slightly with Mojave, which arrived in 2018. Now operating system updates come in via a new Software Updates pane in System Preferences. You can still find the software in the Mac App Store, but you will also see it in System Preferences > Software Update. One of the benefits of this is that your Mac can be set to automatically download the latest updates and install them, keeping your Mac up-to-date with minimum effort on your part.

You can get to System Preferences from the Apple menu: Click on the Apple logo in the top left and choose System Preferences. You may be taken straight to the Software Update pane, if not click on the Software Update cog icon. Your Mac will search for an update and if there is one you can choose Update Now.

Some Macs will be set to update macOS automatically. If you want your Mac to update automatically follow these steps:

In Ventura:

1. Open System Settings.
2. Click on General.
3. Click on Software Update.
4. Click on the i beside Automatic Updates and make sure that Check for updates, Download new updates when available, and Install macOS updates are selected. This way your Mac will automatically update to the latest version. If you would prefer not to have your Mac do this automatically you can deselect these options.

In Monterey, Big Sur, Mojave, or Catalina:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on Software Update.
3. Check the box beside Automatically keep my Mac up to date (or Download new updates when available).
4. Now select the box Install macOS updates.

In High Sierra or earlier:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on App Store.
3. Check the box beside Automatically check for updates – it should have a tick in it as should the four options below that…
4. Now deselect the box beside Download newly available updates in the background.

Read all about how to update your Mac here.

We also have a list of every version of iOS where you can see the latest versions and how long Apple supports iPhones for.

Mac, MacOS, Personal Software

Apple had plenty of great things to show off when it unveiled iOS 17 at WWDC. We’re psyched about vastly improved autocorrect, StandBy, Live Voicemail transcriptions, custom contact posters, and all that other good stuff.

But sometimes it’s the little things that have the biggest impact. A small interface change or tiny unsung feature might change the way you use your iPhone day-to-day more than all the fancy AI-powered gimmicks ever will. Here are some of the little things in iOS 17 that you didn’t hear about in the keynote, but are sure to have an impact on your iPhone.

Ping your Apple Watch

One of our favorite features of the Apple Watch is that you can open Control Center and ping your iPhone, causing it to make a brief loud sound so you can find it quickly.

With iOS 17, it goes the other way as well! There’s now a “ping Apple Watch” button in Control Center on your iPhone.

Linking Notes

You’ve got one note with your itinerary for your trip to Tokyo, and another with a list of restaurants you want to go to. Wouldn’t it be nice to quickly jump between them?

With iOS 17 links aren’t just for websites, you can link directly from one note to another. Just long-press somewhere in your note, choose Add Link, then you can type either a URL or, now, the title of another note.

Foundry

News+ daily crossword

A mainstay of many newspapers, Apple News+ subscribers will get daily crossword puzzles in the News app. This doesn’t appear to be live in the first beta so we don’t know what it will look like or how hard it will be, but it’s one more reason to subscribe to Apple News+ or the Apple One bundle.

Better Spotlight search

An underused feature for many, Spotlight search (just drag down from anywhere on your iPhone home screen) lets you very quickly find apps, search the web, do simple calculations and conversions, and even find content in Mail or Messages.

In iOS 17 it gets smarter and more capable. Search for a setting like “Wi-Fi” and the top Siri Suggestion will have a toggle to turn it on or off right there, without diving into the Settings app. When you don’t type in anything in Spotlight, Siri Suggestions will contain some new more intelligent items like starting a timer or going right to a particular album in Photos.

For many, swiping down to enter Spotlight / Siri Suggestions is already the first thing they do when picking up their iPhone. These changes in iOS 17 make it even more useful for more people.

Fitness+ Custom Plans

Want to build your own custom workout plan for your Fitness+ workouts? Open the Fitness app, tap the Fitness+ tab, and select Custom Plans. You can choose days of the week, how long your plan is for (2-8 weeks), workout length, and which type of activities you want to use–and even include which equipment you have like dumbbells or yoga mats.

Note that this isn’t a freeform fitness plan creation tool–it’s for Fitness+ and is limited to the types of activities and equipment you’ll find in the Fitness+ workouts.

Foundry

Quickly listen to web pages

The Speak Screen feature has been able to read web pages in Safari for a long time now, but Apple seems to have realized that it can be really useful for everyone. So, in iOS 17, there’s a “Listen to Page” feature right in the aA menu on your address bar. Tap it again to pause or resume reading.

Lock white balance when recording video

In Settings > Camera > Record Video you’ll find a new option to lock the white balance when recording video. Helpful for those shots where the ambient light changes and you want to capture that effect.

Weather Averages

The Weather app has a new Averages tile that shows temperature deviation from the historical average for that day. Tapping the tile for more detail shows normal temperature ranges and precipitation amounts for your location, both throughout the day and monthly averages.

There’s a new Moon tile too!

Foundry

Apple Music Crossfade

We heard a lot about new Music SharePlay features, but there’s another feature Apple didn’t mention: Crossfade, which smoothly fades out one song and fades in the next so there’s no gap between music. Ever since Apple Music replaced iTunes users have been begging for this, and it’s been available on the Mac for a long time but not iPhone.

Open Settings > Music and look for the Crossfade setting.

Foundry

Follow Up medication reminders

The Health app can optionally send a second notification 30 minutes after the first notification about taking your medication.

In the Health app, tap the Browse tab, then Medications. Scroll down to the Options at the bottom and tap that. You’ll find the toggle for Follow Up Reminders there.

Foundry

Multiple timers

This was mentioned in the iPadOS section of the keynote, but it bears elaboration: multiple timers will be a feature across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. No, we don’t know why it took this long, either.

Insert Contacts or Passwords into almost any field

In almost any text field in iOS 17, including Messages, Mail, Notes, and so on, you can long-press, select Insert, and in addition to the existing Scan Text option you’ll see options to add Contacts or Passwords. Choosing one will open up your contacts or passwords (you’ll have to authenticate before your passwords open) where you can quickly select the one you want to add.

Recover deleted passwords

Deleted passwords are kept in a “Deleted Passwords” section of Settings > Passwords for up to 30 days and can be recovered if you deleted something by mistake.

Interactive Widgets

Apple promoted this as an iPadOS feature, but it’s present on iOS 17 as well as macOS Sierra. You can now check off Reminders items, toggle smart home switches, and so much more from your widgets without opening the app.

Auto-sort Groceries list

The Reminders app will automatically sort any list set as a “Groceries” list type into sections: Produce; Beverages; Dairy, Eggs & Cheese; Breads & Cereals; and so on. You can add and reorder the categories as you wish.

You can create custom categories for any other Reminders list, too, though they won’t be automatically sorted. Other Reminders improvements include a Column View, early reminders notifications, and live widgets so you can check off items right from the widget.

Hiding sensitive images

The Communication Safety safety feature that can hide sensitive images sent to a child account through Messages has been expanded. It now works for AirDrop, the systemwide photo picker, FaceTime messages, Contact Posters in the Phone app, and third‑party apps. You’ll find that in Screen Time when settings up a Child account.

For everyone, not just children, you’ll have the option to blur sensitive photos and videos before you view them. You’ll see a grey box with the words “This may be sensitive.” in it, which you can tap to show the image.

Apple

Dark AirPods cards

It sure is distracting to have that bright white card pop up when you open your AirPods case near your iPhone when using dark mode. We’re not sure why it took so long, but iOS 17 now respects your dark mode preferences when showing these popup cards.

New quick Crop interface in Photos

When you’re viewing a photo in iOS 17 and you pinch-to-zoom into it, you’ll see a new “Crop” button in the upper right.

Tapping that will open the usual edit interface in crop mode, with the crop edges set to exactly what was showing on your screen when zoomed in. You can still drag the borders to adjust the crop, but this is a fast and easy way to get a crop that fits exactly right for making an iPhone wallpaper or new Profile Poster, for example.

Clean up verification codes automatically

We love the feature that automatically fills in verification codes sent to you via text message, and iOS 17 extends that to codes you receive in email.

But even better is the way it can keep those old codes from piling up. Open Settings > Passwords > Password Options and you’ll see a new toggle Clean Up Automatically that will delete these texts or emails after inserting them with AutoFill.

Foundry

Find My Item sharing

In iOS 16, once you assign an AirTag or other trackers to an Apple ID, it’s tied to that ID only. That’s a great security feature that alerts you when someone has surreptitiously planted an AirTag on you, but it’s also a pain for shared items like luggage and keys. In iOS 17, you’ll be able to share AirTags in Find My with other people so you’ll know when somethings’s actually lost—and not just being used by someone else.

iOS

Apple had plenty of great things to show off when it unveiled iOS 17 at WWDC. We’re psyched about vastly improved autocorrect, StandBy, Live Voicemail transcriptions, custom contact posters, and all that other good stuff.

But sometimes it’s the little things that have the biggest impact. A small interface change or tiny unsung feature might change the way you use your iPhone day-to-day more than all the fancy AI-powered gimmicks ever will. Here are some of the little things in iOS 17 that you didn’t hear about in the keynote, but are sure to have an impact on your iPhone.

Ping your Apple Watch

One of our favorite features of the Apple Watch is that you can open Control Center and ping your iPhone, causing it to make a brief loud sound so you can find it quickly.

With iOS 17, it goes the other way as well! There’s now a “ping Apple Watch” button in Control Center on your iPhone.

Linking Notes

You’ve got one note with your itinerary for your trip to Tokyo, and another with a list of restaurants you want to go to. Wouldn’t it be nice to quickly jump between them?

With iOS 17 links aren’t just for websites, you can link directly from one note to another. Just long-press somewhere in your note, choose Add Link, then you can type either a URL or, now, the title of another note.

Foundry

News+ daily crossword

A mainstay of many newspapers, Apple News+ subscribers will get daily crossword puzzles in the News app. This doesn’t appear to be live in the first beta so we don’t know what it will look like or how hard it will be, but it’s one more reason to subscribe to Apple News+ or the Apple One bundle.

Better Spotlight search

An underused feature for many, Spotlight search (just drag down from anywhere on your iPhone home screen) lets you very quickly find apps, search the web, do simple calculations and conversions, and even find content in Mail or Messages.

In iOS 17 it gets smarter and more capable. Search for a setting like “Wi-Fi” and the top Siri Suggestion will have a toggle to turn it on or off right there, without diving into the Settings app. When you don’t type in anything in Spotlight, Siri Suggestions will contain some new more intelligent items like starting a timer or going right to a particular album in Photos.

For many, swiping down to enter Spotlight / Siri Suggestions is already the first thing they do when picking up their iPhone. These changes in iOS 17 make it even more useful for more people.

Fitness+ Custom Plans

Want to build your own custom workout plan for your Fitness+ workouts? Open the Fitness app, tap the Fitness+ tab, and select Custom Plans. You can choose days of the week, how long your plan is for (2-8 weeks), workout length, and which type of activities you want to use–and even include which equipment you have like dumbbells or yoga mats.

Note that this isn’t a freeform fitness plan creation tool–it’s for Fitness+ and is limited to the types of activities and equipment you’ll find in the Fitness+ workouts.

Foundry

Quickly listen to web pages

The Speak Screen feature has been able to read web pages in Safari for a long time now, but Apple seems to have realized that it can be really useful for everyone. So, in iOS 17, there’s a “Listen to Page” feature right in the aA menu on your address bar. Tap it again to pause or resume reading.

Apple Music Crossfade

We heard a lot about new Music SharePlay features, but there’s another feature Apple didn’t mention: Crossfade, which smoothly fades out one song and fades in the next so there’s no gap between music. Ever since Apple Music replaced iTunes users have been begging for this, and it’s been available on the Mac for a long time but not iPhone.

Open Settings > Music and look for the Crossfade setting.

Foundry

Follow Up medication reminders

The Health app can optionally send a second notification 30 minutes after the first notification about taking your medication.

In the Health app, tap the Browse tab, then Medications. Scroll down to the Options at the bottom and tap that. You’ll find the toggle for Follow Up Reminders there.

Foundry

Multiple timers

This was mentioned in the iPadOS section of the keynote, but it bears elaboration: multiple timers will be a feature across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. No, we don’t know why it took this long, either.

Insert Contacts or Passwords into almost any field

In almost any text field in iOS 17, including Messages, Mail, Notes, and so on, you can long-press, select Insert, and in addition to the existing Scan Text option you’ll see options to add Contacts or Passwords. Choosing one will open up your contacts or passwords (you’ll have to authenticate before your passwords open) where you can quickly select the one you want to add.

Interactive Widgets

Apple promoted this as an iPadOS feature, but it’s present on iOS 17 as well as macOS Sierra. You can now check off Reminders items, toggle smart home switches, and so much more from your widgets without opening the app.

Dark AirPods cards

It sure is distracting to have that bright white card pop up when you open your AirPods case near your iPhone when using dark mode. We’re not sure why it took so long, but iOS 17 now respects your dark mode preferences when showing these popup cards.

New quick Crop interface in Photos

When you’re viewing a photo in iOS 17 and you pinch-to-zoom into it, you’ll see a new “Crop” button in the upper right.

Tapping that will open the usual edit interface in crop mode, with the crop edges set to exactly what was showing on your screen when zoomed in. You can still drag the borders to adjust the crop, but this is a fast and easy way to get a crop that fits exactly right for making an iPhone wallpaper or new Profile Poster, for example.

Clean up verification codes automatically

We love the feature that automatically fills in verification codes sent to you via text message, and iOS 17 extends that to codes you receive in email.

But even better is the way it can keep those old codes from piling up. Open Settings > Passwords > Password Options and you’ll see a new toggle Clean Up Automatically that will delete these texts or emails after inserting them with AutoFill.

Foundry

Find My Item sharing

In iOS 16, once you assign an AirTag or other trackers to an Apple ID, it’s tied to that ID only. That’s a great security feature that alerts you when someone has surreptitiously planted an AirTag on you, but it’s also a pain for shared items like luggage and keys. In iOS 17, you’ll be able to share AirTags in Find My with other people so you’ll know when somethings’s actually lost—and not just being used by someone else.

iOS