In addition to introducing Face ID changes for mask usage and the Exposure Notification API, iOS 13.5 adds a new feature for sharing Medical ID information.
Today's iOS 13.5 beta prompts users to review their Medical ID settings when opening the Health app, introducing options to share Medical ID info during an emergency call and on the Lock screen.
Based on the text accompanying the feature, enabling the option sends Medical ID information to emergency dispatchers who answer an emergency call. Apple says it will provide emergency services personnel with key info like allergies, language, and medical conditions.
iPhone and Apple Watch can automatically send the information in your Medical ID to the dispatcher who answers your call.
This can speed up the process of getting the care you need.
This feature can be toggled on when adjusting medical settings after updating, as can the option to provide access to Medical ID even when an iPhone is locked.
These settings can be adjusted in the Health section of the Settings app by tapping on Medical ID and then the "Edit" option.
According to Apple, when the Medical ID sharing feature is enabled, a call or text to emergency services shares location and encrypted Medical ID info with Apple.
Apple uses location to determine whether Enhanced Emergency Data is supported in your area, and if so, the Medical ID info is forwarded to a partner for delivery to medical services.
If Emergency Calls & SOS in Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services is disabled, the feature does not work.
Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:05 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone includes a smaller but meaningful improvement for Apple's in-car iPhone mirroring system CarPlay.
Specifically, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra with a...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 7:39 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Daring Fireball's John Gruber today shared some strongly-worded comments about Apple's delayed personalized Siri features. Gruber is a well-known Apple pundit who has been writing about the company for more than two decades.
In a blog post titled "Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino," Gruber said Apple's credibility has been "damaged" by the delay:Keynote by keynote, product by...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
iPhones are finally getting a much-requested setting, but availability is limited.
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update introduces an option to set a default navigation app, other than Apple Maps, but unfortunately this new setting is limited to users in the EU. There, you can now set an app like Google Maps or Waze as your default navigation app on the iPhone by opening the Settings app and tapping ...
Tuesday March 11, 2025 3:26 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for.
Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...
Apple is planning for a major design overhaul of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac interfaces with the introduction of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 later this year, reports Bloomberg. The update will "fundamentally change" the look of Apple's operating system, introducing a more consistent cross-platform experience.
Apple plans to update the style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system...
Thursday March 13, 2025 3:07 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to feature a significant design overhaul, and a new image apparently taken on an assembly line for the unreleased devices appears to confirm the biggest rumored change.
Render of an iPhone 17 Pro model shared by Jon Prosser
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to adopt a horizontal camera bar reminiscent of Google's Pixel...
Thursday March 13, 2025 9:32 am PDT by Juli Clover
The Apple Intelligence features that Apple introduced with iOS 18 are not pushing people to upgrade their iPhones, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reiterated today. Apple's recent Siri failures are also going to have an impact on 2025 iPhone shipments, which the market is beginning to realize.
As early as last July, Kuo said expectations that Apple Intelligence could drive iPhone upgrades were...
Apple is set to release iOS 18.4 in early April, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a neat new capability to iPhone 15 Pro devices, new emoji, and more.
While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.4 still introduces enhancements that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've listed 12 new...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 2:28 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is planning a radical redesign of macOS with version 16, and it could be the most significant visual refresh since macOS Big Sur was introduced in 2020, according to Bloomberg.
MacRumors concept render
The upcoming Mac operating system will reportedly be part of Apple's sweeping effort to create a more consistent interface across all of its platforms, including iPhone, iPad, and Apple...
This cultivated social awareness mentality that they appeared to be getting high on... downside with following any mob reaction (or basically any recent social trend) is that mob’s are ruled by emotion not logic.
The actual underlined, dotted I’d and crossed T’s, preliminary research findings won’t happen at least until next year. At which point the hysteria and clutter in the data always gets cleared, as it does in any ‘disaster’, and likely everything being done will have been for naught. The government never does anything right in a disaster, and their prep is equally laughable with any hindsight.
Nobody has saved any lives here, let’s stop pretending that anybody deserves any medals for social distancing or locking themselves away. Because hiding out of disease fear is the single most selfish, ugly reaction a person could have in a crisis. Those people chose to sit in their caves, while the world crashed, hoping to better pick thru the scrapes after.
All Apple is doing is enabling a horrendously poor social reaction by trying to make a trendy tool to continue into the skid. Worse it’s useless wishy, washy pop-sci-ish bloat with the abuse potential outweighing any supposed benefit.
Tim Cook should be ashamed of himself. He is a horrible person ruining actual technical innovation for the sake of his ego. Worse, he’s a reactionary ninny who often gets it wrong, and wastes investor money on ******** causes purely for the upkeep of his trendy brand name, “I care” persona.
“If saving trees” or “feeling accepted” is a feature you are looking for in a tech product... I’m sorry, you are just superstitious looking for deep personal validation and spiritual significant from a hammer.
As an investor, I think it’s time Apple bottom lines on all of Tim’s pet issues, how much more expensive is the iPhone with the features inspired by Tim overreacting to watching MSNBC on his exerbike? Whatever the savings are, $2 or 10 cents from the price of an iPhone... worth it.
Like what does the Watch cost just without the Breath function? Take that in a second.
