Monthly Mini-Bytes - September 2023

 

iPhone 15 or 15 Pro Well, it's September and that means it's time for new iPhones. Yes, the new models look a lot like the older phones. Apple didn't introduce a foldable or make any major change in form factor, but under the hood there are a decent amount of changes to make the iPhone 15 Pro a very attractive update for owners of older models. If you have an iPhone 14 Pro, the differences may be small, but if you are on a standard iPhone or something like an iPhone 8, etc., the iPhone 15 Pro could be a good choice. Recently since Apple went to the "Pro" models, it's been hard for us to justify the additional costs for most users, but this year it is different. The iPhone 15 Pro is $200 more than the regular 15, but hosts a bunch of features that cost way more than the price bump. First, the 15 Pros are made of titanium, which is a very expensive metal and very difficult to work with. Second, they boast a much better camera system, a faster next generation processor, and with the new USB-C port allow for data connections that match desktop computers. In addition, the Pros have longer battery life than the standard 15s. All of this makes the iPhone 15 Pro the best value in Apple's lineup, despite being the flagship phone. To learn more about the iPhone 15 Pro visit: https://www.apple.com/iphone-15-pro/

macOS Sonoma is Here, but Wait to Update The latest iteration of macOS has dropped. macOS Sonoma is out and even though your computer may be begging you to update, just wait. OS updates like this always have some type of annoying issues that usually get taken care of in a later release. Let everyone else be the guinea pigs, and just standby and wait a month or more until jumping in the pool. If you are on macOS Big Sur note that with the release of Sonoma it is no longer supported by Apple. You need to be running at least Monterey, Ventura, or Sonoma, but again wait for Sonoma. If you are on Big Sur, but would rather update to one of the other systems, they are still available from Apple. This support page has links to those versions of macOS in the App Store: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

iOS 17 and iPadOS 17

The number 17 updates for the iPhones and iPads are out. Despite my usual advice I went and updated since I have an older phone and at the time really didn't care. But I am here to tell you right now that iOS 17 is... okay. It has some interesting features and has been stable for me on my iPad Pro 10.5 inch and also my iPhone Xs. Your mileage may vary, but if you inadvertently updated, it doesn't appear as bumpy as the updates in the past.  To learn more about iOS 17 visit: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-17/ For iPad OS 17 check out: https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-17/