Zac Hall is a Senior Editor, covering Apple, apps, and AI. His work is regularly featured by Techmeme.
He joined 9to5Mac in 2013. He later served as Lead Editor from 2016 through 2020, before 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 hosted multiple seasons of the 9to5Mac Watch Time podcast, a health and fitness-focused interview series.
Zac is based in the lovely Gulf Coast town of Ocean Springs, MS, where he lives with his brilliant kids and Nova, his loyal Cavachon rescue.
Contact: zac@9to5mac.com
Wikipedia has launched a daily historical facts game on iPhone called “Which came first?” The game is included in the latest version of Wikipedia’s iOS app starting today.
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iOS 27 and Siri AI introduce a positive change to the iPhone’s Camera Control. This welcome improvement is a benefit of the new Siri camera mode replacing Visual Intelligence on the iPhone.
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Apple Journal has been one of my most-used apps since it came to the Mac last summer. iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate introduce a few welcome changes to the Journal app that make it even better.
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Pocket Casts for iOS has picked up a fresh visual overhaul this week. The latest version brings Apple’s Liquid Glass design language to one of the most popular podcast apps on the platform.
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Apple is making a major push around child safety and parental controls with iOS 27, including a completely redesigned Screen Time experience, new limits for websites, expanded communication controls, and more flexible tools for managing when kids can use apps. The changes are part of Apple’s broader OS 27 updates across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.
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While the Apple Watch is gaining a handful of helpful features with watchOS 27, it’s also losing one that some users might miss.
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Missing out on this week’s WWDC fun in California? Apple Vision Pro users can virtually join tonight’s The Talk Show livestream with the Theater app.
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Signify, the firm behind Philips Hue, is launching a new Sports Live feature that connects lighting effects to real-time live sports data. The new feature arrives in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup kickoff.
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macOS 26 Tahoe made some polarizing design choices that evoked strong responses from critics. While the new design in macOS 27 Golden Gate is still all about Liquid Glass, Apple’s new Mac operating system corrects a lot of the mistakes Tahoe made.
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Back in April, Anthropic unveiled its Claude Mythos AI model that it said was too powerful to publicly release. Instead, the company has shared access with software vendors, including Apple, in an effort to use the model for enhanced cybersecurity.
Now, as promised, Anthropic has released what it calls a Mythos-class model that customers can actually use. The new model is called Claude Fable.
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Google Gemini for macOS was recently flagged for not being a very good app citizen on the Mac. Apple’s new macOS 27 Golden Gate seems to make an example out of apps like Gemini that sneakily run in the background after a user quits the software.
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iPhone and iPad can easily control an Apple TV when you don’t feel like reaching for the physical remote. Starting with iOS 27, the virtual Apple TV remote can once again be added to your Home screen, not just Control Center.
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Apple previewed iOS 27 and the new Siri AI system today. Now it’s time for developers and eager early adopters to start testing the new software. The first iOS 27 developer beta is now available.
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At WWDC 2026, Apple is detailing its Apple Intelligence improvements, starting with its Google Gemini collaboration. The company is also announcing the new Siri experience, and improvements to apps through AI.
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Apple has unveiled watchOS 27, the next Apple Watch software update, and it will include a number of new features and improvements.
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Apple has officially announced iOS 27. Here’s what’s included in the next major iPhone update.
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There’s now a physical Apple pin for Lil Finder Guy, the adorable Finder-based Mac mascot who originated from MacBook Neo’s marketing campaign.
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Apple Watch performs favorably in The Wall Street Journal’s health and fitness tracker showdown today. Here’s how Apple Watch Series 11 stacks up against the Oura smart ring and fitness bands from Fitbit and Whoop.
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Back in April, Google joined OpenAI and Anthropic in offering a dedicated Mac app for its AI chatbot software. Two months later, it’s clear that Gemini for Mac isn’t as good as it could be.
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At the start of May, OpenAI released a playful feature inside its Codex desktop app for creating a virtual pet.
This silly little addition solved my biggest challenge with Codex: what should I do with it? My first real task with Codex was putting together a virtual Lil Finder Guy for fun.
A month later, I’m using two Mac apps that Codex built at my direction. Toying around with Codex Pets was the gateway for me to better understand its capabilities.
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Update: The app appears to have been removed two hours after our story was published.
The third most popular free iPhone app in the U.S. App Store today is a mysterious productivity app that’s only available in Russian. That’s a pretty obvious red flag that something isn’t quite what it seems.
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ChatGPT’s memory feature allows it to learn about you and remember your preferences over time. Memory gives ChatGPT useful context for natural interactions that don’t need start from scratch each time. OpenAI has released new details on how ChatGPT’s memory feature is getting smarter and coming to free users for the first time.
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No, it’s not an April Fools’ Day gag in June as far as we can tell. Cash App has launched a tap-and-pay magic wand keychain accessory for contactless payments.
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In April, The Weather Channel released a new version of its Storm Radar app, introducing a customizable AI weather presenter and much more. More recently, Storm Radar has arrived on Apple Watch.
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