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Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 2025) kicked off yesterday, with the usual glossy keynote from the iPhone maker. As ever, the company outlined the changes it’s made to its operating systems, all now named by year rather than version number. The biggest news is a visual overhaul of all the OSes, dubbed Liquid Glass, to bring them more in line with each other, and sharing features across the platforms. For instance, it’s redesigned the iPhone’s phone app, but it’ll also be available on macOS Tahoe as well. Plus, some updates to Apple Intelligence, which include the useful (live translation of text and speech) and the less useful (using Image Playground to make backgrounds for your group chats).

The focus here, on smaller tweaks and features with more practical utility, is welcome after last year’s show. After all, the company made some bold claims about what it was bringing to Siri, which it simply couldn’t deliver in the time allowed. Apple does its best work when it’s giving its users features that make their lives easier, not when it’s trying to shout down its Silicon Valley rivals in AI.

— Dan Cooper

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It’s a review in progress.

The first Switch 2 units are still making their way to customers around the world, so there are lots of people who still don’t know what they’re about to get. That’s why the team has been working on this early thoughts story, where they’re finding out in real time all the joys and quirks the new hardware has to offer. Our full and comprehensive review is coming, but if you’re eager to get the details early, this is worth keeping an eye on.

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Warner Bros. Discovery will split into two media giants

You already know the dividing lines.

There’s nothing Warner Bros. likes more than a high-profile merger, followed swiftly by an equally high-profile de-merger. Not long after its ill-advised coupling with Discovery, WBD is cleaving itself in twain, and it’s not hiding where it sees the future of its business. One company, Streaming and Studios, will hold on to Warner Bros, New Line, DC Studios, HBO and HBO Max. The other, Global Networks, includes the entity’s cable channels and brands, like CNN, HGTV Cartoon Network and Discovery. Perhaps a better name for that second outfit would be The Stuff We’d Otherwise Lose Money On When People Ditch Cable Plus A Lot Of The Merger Debt, So Let’s Cast It Into The Sea To Sink Now… Inc.

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Nintendo delays The Legend of Zelda movie

But only by six weeks.

Nintendo is saying “Well, excuuuuuse me” to the 2027 cinema release schedule, punting The Legend of Zelda back to May 7. Shigeru Miyamoto said the delay was to ensure the film was as “good as it can be,” even if the phrase live-action Zelda movie chills the blood by default. Mercifully, director Wes Ball has said he’s aiming to make a movie in the spirit of a live action Miyazaki, which is the best anyone can hope for.

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YouTube now allows more harmful misinformation on its platform

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The New York Times reports YouTube has relaxed rules around moderating problematic content, like misinformation. It saw internal training documents telling moderators to leave up clips even if up to half of its runtime includes material that violates the platform’s policies. In a statement to Engadget, YouTube said the exceptions were broadened to preserve content that serves the public interest.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-111551630.html?src=rss 

While it still remains more of a dream than an obvious stop on Apple’s product roadmap, the company’s updates in macOS Tahoe 26 offer new evidence that Apple could one day sell Macs with cellular connectivity. Sure, the biggest takeaway from WWDC 2025 will probably be the new Liquid Glass design language the company is sprinkling over all of its operating systems, but based on the addition of a Phone app to macOS, Apple’s laptops and phones are converging in more ways than one.

The new Phone app, which combines recent phone calls, favorite contacts and voicemails all in one interface, will offer the same features in both iOS and macOS. That’s a first for Apple’s desktop operating system, which has a FaceTime app, but otherwise primarily interacts with phone calls through Continuity features. Currently, iPhone calls can be relayed and answered on a Mac, and you can place calls from the FaceTime app, but it’s far from intuitive. That should change in macOS 26. The Phone app lets you make calls, listen to voicemails and even use new features like Hold Assist as easily as you would on an iPhone.

Every year Apple nudges its platforms together, like letting you access your iPhone from your desktop with iPhone Mirroring or use your iPhone as a webcam with Continuity Camera. But porting apps directly from the iPhone feels like a more significant step. On iPad, which is sold in Wi-Fi and Cellular configurations, adding the Phone app (as Apple is with iPadOS 26) makes sense. The iPhone and iPad share a lot of similarities from both a software and hardware perspective. The Mac does not — at least, not yet.

In December 2024, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple was “investigating the idea of bringing cellular connectivity to the Mac.” Apple has been trying to move away from relying on Qualcomm’s cellular modems for years. The company bought Intel’s smartphone modem team in pursuit of that idea in 2019, and debuted the iPhone 16e, its first device with a custom Apple C1 modem, earlier this year. A cellular Mac seems like a perfect opportunity to put future versions of that modem, say a C2 or C3, to the test.

Even with better multitasking, there’s still plenty of tasks that are easier on a Mac than on an iPad. A cellular Mac could let you upload a professionally edited video out in the field, or communicate with your team without having to be tethered to a Wi-Fi hotspot. Both are possible on an iPad, but would feel more natural on a Mac.

Gurman suggests the company wouldn’t try to bring its custom modem to devices other than the iPhone until 2026 at the earliest, but Apple could be laying the groundwork from a software perspective right now. Macs already use Apple’s custom chips, and they’ll soon feature software that’s increasingly similar to the iPhone. All that’s missing is a modem that can connect to cellular networks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/the-phone-app-in-macos-26-is-another-baby-step-towards-a-cellular-mac-220854738.html?src=rss 

iPadOS 26 makes Apple‘s tablet much more like macOS. Better windowing? Check. The menu bar? Yup. There’s even a more fine-tuned Files app, along with document editing in Preview. It’s as if Apple took a checklist of longtime power-user requests and fulfilled them all. It’s enough that the App Store’s walled garden could be the last remaining reason to stick with your Mac.

For me, the iPad’s productivity changes were the most intriguing part of Apple’s WWDC 2025 keynote. Years ago, when Apple first made iPadOS more work-friendly, I tried to replace my MacBook with the iPad Pro. After reviewing several Microsoft Surfaces, I wanted an Apple equivalent, dammit. So, despite the iPad’s obvious limits, I gave it a shot.

For most things I did, it was… fine. But there were always tasks that slowed me down. Apple’s Split View, which places two apps side by side, was solid. Stage Manager added even more windowing nuance. But it still wasn’t the same as arranging windows manually. All I had to do was hop back on a Mac, and things became clear: The iPad was nowhere near ready for my workflow. I was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

The changes in iPadOS 26 will finally bring the tablet close to something that could replace a Mac. For many, I suspect it will be more than enough. You can place windows anywhere and resize them fluidly. The menu bar will make it easier to access the finer controls of apps. You can tile windows and see them all in a grid with Exposé. The Files app catches up with the Mac’s Finder. The new Preview app should make document editing a breeze. And you can easily return to full-screen iPad simplicity at any time.

That raises the question: Where does iPadOS still fall short of macOS? It’s the lock-in, stupid.

The Mac grew up in an era when you could install apps from anywhere. First, it was discs. Then, the internet. Sure, Apple made changes in the last decade that make macOS a bit more restricted. System Integrity Protection (SIP) comes to mind. Gatekeeper, too. However, on the whole, it remains a relatively open environment. Getting your apps from anywhere often means a broader selection, faster updates and fewer restrictions.

The iPad, on the other hand, evolved from the iPhone. (Those old enough may recall the “It’s just a big iPod touch” commentary mocking the first model.) The App Store has always been the only official way to install apps on the iPad (EU exceptions notwithstanding). That remains so in iPadOS 26.

The tablet software also prevents apps from overriding security and privacy restrictions. While that may not sound like a good idea, it can be a killer feature for trusted Mac apps.

Keyboard Maestro on MacOS

For example, Keyboard Maestro on macOS can automate almost anything you can do with a keyboard and mouse. BetterTouchTool also offers a (nearly) endless list of customizations, including window controls. (My favorite is changing the yellow “traffic light” button so that it hides apps instead of minimizing them.) Karabiner-Elements lets you remap any key. A clipboard manager can, with a single keystroke, display everything you’ve copied.

Then there are Mac apps that let you use alternatives to Apple’s versions. Third-party launchers like Raycast and Alfred are like Spotlight on steroids. (Their extension libraries are so vast, they have their own storefronts.) Apps like Rectangle and Moom give you alternatives to Apple’s window management. Many Mac apps offer more flexible text replacement than Apple’s built-in solution.

What iPadOS 26 does is draw a line between two types of power users. Like before, Mac power users will use some combination of the above examples. Meanwhile, a new class of iPad power users will enjoy the tablet’s desktop capabilities. But the latter will still be limited to Apple’s version of, well, everything. The power is much stronger now; openness, however, isn’t.

For that reason alone, I’ll likely remain a Mac-first guy for the foreseeable future. But iPadOS 26 will surely tempt me to experiment.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/apples-walled-garden-is-the-ipads-biggest-roadblock-to-becoming-a-mac-223014619.html?src=rss