Zac Hall is a Senior Editor, covering Apple, AI, and the modern technology landscape.
He joined 9to5Mac in April 2013, originally as a writer and copy editor.
He later served as Lead Editor from May 2016 through December 2020, before shifting focus to creating the Space Explored website.
In 2015, Zac began co-hosting 9to5Mac Happy Hour, establishing the format of the site’s premier podcast, which he hosted for eight years.
In 2018, he created 9to5Mac Daily, providing audio recaps of Apple and technology news each weekday. He also created and hosted multiple seasons of the 9to5Mac Watch Time podcast, a health and fitness-focused interview series.
Zac currently focuses on writing for 9to5Mac. He is based in the lovely Gulf Coast town of Ocean Springs, MS, where he lives with his brilliant kids and Nova, his adventurous Cavachon rescue pup.
Contact: zac@9to5mac.com
Apple changed the charging port from Lightning to USB-C with the iPhone 15. A USB-C charging cable comes in the box, but upgraders to the iPhone 15/16/17, iPhone 16e, or iPhone Air may need to purchase a separate cable to continue using CarPlay.
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Torn between reading an ebook and listening to the narrated version? Amazon’s Audible is introducing a clever solution that it calls immersion reading.
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Starting with iOS 26, Apple will officially allow video playback through CarPlay. Released this week in beta, iOS 26.4 appears to be the first version with support, as long as two conditions are met. While CarPlay video playback isn’t ready for users yet, one developer has shown off how it will look as well as how Apple’s TV app looks in the car.
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Anthropic just released the second Claude model upgrade this month. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the first upgrade to Anthropic’s medium-sized AI model since version 4.5 arrived in September 2025.
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Apple has released the first iOS 26.4 public beta version for iPhone. iOS 26.4 includes a number of exciting new features and changes, including AI-powered Apple Music updates.
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Apple just released the first iOS 26.4 beta, and it seems to feature a number of under-the-hood improvements. One change includes an overhauled Wallpaper Gallery system.
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As part of iOS 26.4, Apple is upgrading its Podcasts app to “bring advanced video podcast capabilities” to creators and listeners, Apple says. The new “enhanced video podcast experience” will allow users to seamlessly switch between viewing a video podcast and listening to the audio.
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Apple has released the first iOS 26.4 beta for iPhone. While we originally expected iOS 26.4 to include upgraded Siri, it sounds like we won’t see those changes just yet.
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Despite inking a deal with Google to use Gemini AI as the brains behind upgraded Siri, Apple is reportedly facing internal challenges in getting the final product ready for prime time. The reported delays could stretch into iOS 27 this fall. Apple first announced a more capable version of Siri in 2024; that update hasn’t shipped yet.
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There’s a new software update available for iPhone. Apple has released iOS 26.3, the third big update to Apple’s redesigned operating system and the last before a major improvement to Siri.
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The legacy iTunes Wish List feature for saving movies and TV shows to buy or rent later is “going away soon,” according to Apple. For customers with items still saved to an iTunes Wish List, Apple is providing one last chance to migrate to the modern equivalent.
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Back in December, Rivian released support for using an Apple Watch as a digital key. Next, the EV maker is launching a dedicated Apple Watch app with remote access and control capabilities.
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Per Mark Gurman in his weekend Power On newsletter, Apple is preparing to launch M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros as early as the week of March 2. For those waiting on the major redesign with OLED displays and touch support, this spec bump revision that we expect first can’t come soon enough.
Does waiting another month for the M5 Pro update to arrive rule out an M6 Pro release in 2026? There’s a good reason to keep the M6 Pro MacBook Pro dream alive this year.
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When Apple previewed “next-generation CarPlay” in 2022, it felt like Apple froze development of the CarPlay version actually used by drivers. Eventually, next-gen CarPlay became CarPlay Ultra, and CarPlay for non-Aston Martin drivers rapidly started to see new improvements again. Now it sounds like that trend will continue either before or as part of iOS 27.
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While AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini feature conversational voice mode, the apps don’t exactly work well with Apple CarPlay. That will soon change, it appears, with an upcoming iOS software update.
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Anthropic has announced its latest AI model with Claude Opus 4.6. The new version arrives just two months after the previous model upgrade.
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If your Apple CarPlay connection randomly drops out while driving, the cause might not be your iPhone, cable, or car.
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Last year, I spent some time testing BenQ’s 4K 32-inch Ergo Arm Programming Monitor with MoonHalo and found it especially easy on the eyes, comfort-wise. Now BenQ is back with a new take on the coder’s (or writer’s) ideal display. Two specs make the new BenQ RD280UG shine.
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Apple has released the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate for iPhone. iOS 26.3 introduces an easier way to switch between Android and iPhone, tweaks to the Astronomy and Weather wallpaper gallery, and more.
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While Tesla may be the last automaker anyone expected to consider CarPlay, there’s an even more unlikely vehicle maker that could adopt Apple’s infotainment feature in the future.
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Apple has released iOS 26.3 beta 3 for iPhone. iOS 26.3 introduces an easier way to switch between Android and iPhone, tweaks to the Astronomy and Weather wallpaper gallery, and more.
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Apple today has officially released iOS 26.2.1 for iPhone. This update comes a month after the launch of iOS 26.2, which brought changes to Liquid Glass, CarPlay, and much more.
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Two big Apple AI stories today, and they couldn’t feel further apart. First is Apple reportedly embracing chat as an interface for using Siri and AI throughout iOS and macOS later this year. That sounds like an amazing change of tune for the company. Apple would argue it isn’t a pivot away from avoiding chat, they just think chat is only useful if it’s deeply integrated with the system. Second is Apple developing an AI wearable pin. What strikes me about this one is how much it feels like a bad idea while the possibility of Jony Ive doing the same thing for OpenAI actually works.
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Apple reportedly plans to make a major pivot with Siri in iOS 27. According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple is developing its first chatbot with a version of Siri that will replace the existing experience.
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