macOS Tahoe 26 includes support for automatically joining your iPhone's Personal Hotspot when no Wi-Fi network is available, so you no longer need to manually connect.
To set up automatic joining in macOS Tahoe, you can click on the Wi-Fi button in the menu bar or Control Center to open up Wi-Fi Settings. From there, scroll down to the bottom where it says "Ask to join hotspots" and click to select the Automatic option.
With Auto-Join Hotspot turned on, when your Mac doesn't have Wi-Fi available and is near an iPhone or iPad providing a Personal Hotspot, it will automatically attempt to join it.
Auto-Join works with Family Sharing, so you can set up your Mac to automatically connect to a family member's Personal Hotspot, or allow their Mac to automatically connect to yours.
Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio.
Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014.
Q.ai has...
Monday January 26, 2026 1:55 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced its first two physical products of 2026: a second-generation AirTag and the Black Unity Connection Braided Solo Loop for the Apple Watch.
Read our coverage of each announcement to learn more:Apple Unveils New AirTag With Longer Range, Louder Speaker, and More
Apple Introduces New Black Unity Apple Watch BandBoth the new AirTag and the Black Unity Connection Braided...
Monday January 26, 2026 3:56 pm PST by Juli Clover
Alongside iOS 26.2.1, Apple today released an updated version of iOS 12 for devices that are still running that operating system update, eight years after the software was first released.
iOS 12.5.8 is available for the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6, meaning Apple is continuing to support these devices for 13 and 12 years after launch, respectively. The iPhone 5s came out in September 2013,...
Tuesday January 27, 2026 2:39 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Update: Apple Creator Studio is now available.
Apple Creator Studio launches this Wednesday, January 28. The all-in-one subscription provides access to the Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage apps, with U.S. pricing set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year.
A subscription to Apple Creator Studio also unlocks "intelligent features" and "premium...
Thursday January 29, 2026 2:40 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
On an earnings call with equity analysts today, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to fast-rising RAM and SSD storage chip prices in the supply chain.
Prices for RAM and NAND storage chips are surging lately due to high demand from companies building out AI servers, resulting in supply constraints.
Cook said that rising memory chip prices had a "minimal impact" on Apple's gross margin in the...
Since my cell carrier has a strong signal, blazing fast speeds, and cheap prices, I no longer have a WiFi at home and exclusively use my hotspot.
It has been quite annoying to have to turn it on on the phone so frequently, so this is a much asked feature from me (via feedback app) (and no doubt many in my situation).
One question that I haven’t tested yet is that frequently I see my neighbor’s iPhone hotspot.
Does auto join any hotspot or only those it has been authenticated to like during manual join?
I think it must be the latter but ask out of an abundance of caution as I’m not keen (spoof hotspot for MIM attack?) on just attaching to any hotspot in the neighborhood, train or plane.
Since my cell carrier has a strong signal, blazing fast speeds, and cheap prices, I no longer have a WiFi at home and exclusively use my hotspot.
It has been quite annoying to have to turn it on on the phone so frequently, so this is a much asked feature from me (via feedback app) (and no doubt many in my situation).
One question that I haven’t tested yet is that frequently I see my neighbor’s iPhone hotspot.
Does auto join any hotspot or only those it has been authenticated to like during manual join?
I think it must be the latter but ask out of an abundance of caution as I’m not keen (spoof hotspot for MIM attack?) on just attaching to any hotspot in the neighborhood, train or plane.
I did the same and haven’t had a Wi-Fi router for a few years so this is welcome as I feel your pain in manually connecting.
You can forget networks so can set your neighbours phone to ignore. Also your Mac would need to know their hotspot password anyway which I assume you don’t have?
The easiest way to achieve a reliable hotspot connection is by 1. Connecting your iPhone to your Mac with a cable 2. Turning on Personal Hotspot in the Control Center 3. Turning OFF WiFi on your Mac
1. Was not a plausible scenario as I move my MacBook around the house. 2. Did that hundreds of times. 3. The hotspot IS a wifi connection...
Android just works. I step in the house and all my devices have instantly wifi. And it's fully configurable.
