Your Apple phone has some new AI powers with iOS 26 and Visual Intelligence. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. By now you should've upgraded to iOS 26 on your iPhone, and the update is a big one. In addition to rolling out an entirely new look (called Liquid Glass), iOS 26 introduces a host of new and upgraded features, from a new battery saving mode to a mobile version of the classic Preview Mac app . Another change ushered in by iOS 26 is the introduction of an expanded Visual Intelligence tool, part of Apple Intelligence.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday.

DIY Tech Hacks iOS 26 adds a new app to your iPhone. Here's how to use it. You're not imagining it--there is a new app on your iPhone. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Apple's big iOS 26 software update for 2025 has now reached millions of iPhones, and brought with it a bunch of new features and an updated visual interface.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. If you own an iPhone 16 or an iPhone 17, you'll find different buttons around the sides of your smartphone. Older iPhones have fewer, depending on the model, but all of these buttons are multitaskers: They come with secondary functions as well as primary ones. For example, did you know you can use either of the volume buttons to snap pictures when you're in the Camera app? This can make it easier to capture photos, compared to trying to hit the circular button on screen.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Beta testing then gets underway, before a full release later in the year--typically September for iOS to coincide with the launch of the new iPhones. At WWDC 2025, Apple has announced some sweeping changes to its software platforms, as well as a shift in numbering. All of this year's releases will be version 26, to match the year 2026 that they'll last until, and to keep more consistency across devices. Here are the key new iOS 26 and macOS features, and how you can sign up to test these updates ahead of their full release.

Apple typically pushes out major iOS upgrades every September, alongside new iPhones--you may recall the launch of iOS 18. Those big software upgrades are followed by'point' releases that squash outstanding bugs, improve security and stability, and occasionally introduce new features. That's the case with iOS 18.4, which brings more with it than most minor iOS updates. From extra tools in Image Playground, to ambient music to relax you or send you off to sleep, here's what's new in the iOS 18 update. Apple Intelligence can now prioritize iPhone notifications, selecting which you need to see first and create AI-written summaries.

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 855 mobile processor offers a ton of new features that could be potentially enabled on next-generation smartphones--almost too many to list. But we managed to see some of the best in action. After Qualcomm finished announcing the Snapdragon 855, the company opened a pair of demo rooms showing some of the 855's flagship features. Through PCWorld's video team didn't make it to the event, I was able to record video demonstrating some of the new capabilities of the mobile chip, including improved battery life and gaming performance, intelligent audio filtering, and 4K recording with HDR. They all ran on prototype phones with the Snapdragon 855 chip inside. Unfortunately, what we didn't get to see included object identification and replacement, one of the features that taps into the computational aspect of the Snapdragon 855's Spectra image signal process (ISP).

Amazon just dropped a whole bunch of Alexa-equipped gear on us, including a redesigned Echo speaker with a price tag of just $99. That's a bargain compared to the $189 price of its predecessor, but you can take advantage of Alexa's best new feature on your old Echo stuff right now, for free: Multi-Room Music is rolling out across the platform. Multi-Room Music allows you to play your tunes or talk radio (woo!) simultaneously across a variety of Echo devices on the same network. It works like a Sonos system, pumping audio to individual speakers throughout a house. Or, you can place several speakers around a really big room that's covered by the same network, a technique often used by gyms, studios, or other large spaces.

If you're a Mac user, it's more than likely that you've hit "remind me later" a few times for the newest macOS software update. But Sierra, aka macOS Sierra Version 10.12, is available now on most modern MacBooks and iMacs and has some huge new features for your computer. To get Sierra and try them out for yourself, visit this official Apple page and click the blue button marked "Upgrade Now." Or, on your computer, click on the Apple logo in the top left of your Mac's screen, select "System Preferences", find the "App Store" icon and click it, then click "Show Updates." You get an upgraded dock with the addition of Apple's signature Siri, and you gain some other fun and useful features with your computer and compatible Apple devices. Here are our favorites, and how you can use them.