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
The fine folks behind the great Halide camera app have given their long exposure-focused app, Spectre, a big new feature: It’s now free for everyone. There are also longer shooting modes and a new Halide-matching icon to unlock.
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While Apple is building what it sees as the future with spatial computing and Vision Pro, Microsoft is opening shop at the intersection of work and AI.
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Apple has been preparing the iOS 16.6 software update for iPhone all summer, and now the upcoming release is almost ready for primetime. The release candidate for iOS 16.6 is now available as an over-the-air software update for iPhone users on the iOS 16 beta train.
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Anyone who follows the Apple design world knows with the name Alan Dye. He’s the Apple VP of Human Interface Design who recently unveiled visionOS, the new operating system for Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset.
Now a podcast interview for Debbie Millman’s Design Matters series takes you down the path of Alan Dye’s career in design, his origin story at Apple, and the new visionOS platform that powers Vision Pro.
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Apple is a major proponent of the post-password world. Last year, it built passkey technology into the iPhone with iOS 16. As a result, more and more services are letting users say goodbye to passwords and hello to passkeys.
Soon, TikTok users across the world will be able to make the shift from passwords to passkeys as well.
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Apple CarPlay is probably never coming to Tesla EVs, but it looks like next best thing is on the way.
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After a rocky start, Apple has released a Rapid Security Response update to iOS 16.5.1 and macOS Ventura 13.4.1.
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macOS Sonoma’s best kept secret is really no secret at all, and it’s something Chrome browser users are going to love.
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One week after launching, Meta has released the first update to Threads for iPhone. Threads version 291 (the first version was … 289) includes one big fix that has arrived just in time.
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iOS 17 has been out as a pre-release developer beta since early June. Now the beta pool is expanding to more testers with the more accessible iOS 17 public beta.
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There’s a new firmware version out for Beats Studio Buds. Apple released version 10M4372 today for the wireless earphones. AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max have new beta firmware updates out today. 6A5262d is the newest version for AirPods with the developer beta firmware installed. Version 5E135, released in May, is the current shipping version.
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If you’re searching for a note-taking app that isn’t Apple Notes, Bear is likely to make the list of great alternatives. The makers of the popular notes are releasing Bear 2.0 today, which includes what they call the next-gen editor and more.
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A second round of iOS 17 beta 3 has arrived for developers testing the upcoming software update for iPhone. Revisions to macOS, tvOS, and other platforms are also out today.
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Apple released a critical security update to iPhone, iPad, and Mac on Monday that patches a known exploit. Unfortunately, the patch had a side effect of breaking how some websites load.
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Apple has set the date for its next quarterly earnings report. The company will release results and host a conference call with analysts next month.
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7/11: Pulled for breaking some websites. More to come.
In addition to iOS 16.6 beta 5, Apple has released an important security fix to all iPhones and iPads.
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1 p.m. PT update: Public beta versions are also now available.
While all the action is happening around iOS 17 beta, Apple is continuing to prepare a more imminent iPhone software update for release. Apple has released the fifth iOS 16.6 beta for developer testing.
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Have you seen an account claiming to be Phil Schiller on Threads? 9to5Mac has confirmed that the account belongs to the actual Apple Fellow himself.
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Apple has its eyes on India as the next major market to dominate. The nation is also a big part of Apple’s plans to diversify product manufacturing outside of China. Foxconn, Apple’s iPhone manufacturing partner, just dropped out of a $19.5 billion chip deal in India, however.
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What’s the fastest way to grow a new social network? It turns out converting your existing 1 billion+ users over to the new thing isn’t a bad start.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that the company’s new Threads service has crossed 100 million users in its first five days. The new Twitter competitor piggybacks on Instagram to simplify account creation and connect who you follow.
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Threads is on the verge of crossing 100 million users over the span of four days. Among those users? 9to5Mac sites and staff, a bunch of celebrities and Wendy’s, and now a handful of accounts by Apple.
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AirPods are gaining conversation awareness soon, but there’s another kind of awareness that AirPods have been lacking lately: when they’re in your ears and not lost.
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New data suggest that interest in OpenAI’s golden goose ChatGPT has dropped for the first time since launching less than a year ago.
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We can all use a little encouragement in our lives to stay active, and that’s what the new Peak app strives to do. The new app by indie developer Harshil Shah provides a new approach to tracking your fitness goals and progress.
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