macOS Tahoe 26 includes support for automatically joining your iPhone's Personal Hotspot when no Wi-Fi network is available, so you no longer need to manually connect.
To set up automatic joining in macOS Tahoe, you can click on the Wi-Fi button in the menu bar or Control Center to open up Wi-Fi Settings. From there, scroll down to the bottom where it says "Ask to join hotspots" and click to select the Automatic option.
With Auto-Join Hotspot turned on, when your Mac doesn't have Wi-Fi available and is near an iPhone or iPad providing a Personal Hotspot, it will automatically attempt to join it.
Auto-Join works with Family Sharing, so you can set up your Mac to automatically connect to a family member's Personal Hotspot, or allow their Mac to automatically connect to yours.
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026.
"I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld.
Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by Juli Clover
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do.
The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up.
Upgraded Architecture
The next-generation...
Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, according to a known Weibo leaker.
Citing supply chain information, the Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. Combined with the efficiency improvements of the A20 Pro chip, made with TSMC's 2nm process, the...
Since my cell carrier has a strong signal, blazing fast speeds, and cheap prices, I no longer have a WiFi at home and exclusively use my hotspot.
It has been quite annoying to have to turn it on on the phone so frequently, so this is a much asked feature from me (via feedback app) (and no doubt many in my situation).
One question that I haven’t tested yet is that frequently I see my neighbor’s iPhone hotspot.
Does auto join any hotspot or only those it has been authenticated to like during manual join?
I think it must be the latter but ask out of an abundance of caution as I’m not keen (spoof hotspot for MIM attack?) on just attaching to any hotspot in the neighborhood, train or plane.
Since my cell carrier has a strong signal, blazing fast speeds, and cheap prices, I no longer have a WiFi at home and exclusively use my hotspot.
It has been quite annoying to have to turn it on on the phone so frequently, so this is a much asked feature from me (via feedback app) (and no doubt many in my situation).
One question that I haven’t tested yet is that frequently I see my neighbor’s iPhone hotspot.
Does auto join any hotspot or only those it has been authenticated to like during manual join?
I think it must be the latter but ask out of an abundance of caution as I’m not keen (spoof hotspot for MIM attack?) on just attaching to any hotspot in the neighborhood, train or plane.
I did the same and haven’t had a Wi-Fi router for a few years so this is welcome as I feel your pain in manually connecting.
You can forget networks so can set your neighbours phone to ignore. Also your Mac would need to know their hotspot password anyway which I assume you don’t have?
The easiest way to achieve a reliable hotspot connection is by 1. Connecting your iPhone to your Mac with a cable 2. Turning on Personal Hotspot in the Control Center 3. Turning OFF WiFi on your Mac
1. Was not a plausible scenario as I move my MacBook around the house. 2. Did that hundreds of times. 3. The hotspot IS a wifi connection...
Android just works. I step in the house and all my devices have instantly wifi. And it's fully configurable.
