Lee Hartfield is the new member who joined VMUG in September.
ADAM ENGST 19 September 2025
Early in the macOS 26 Tahoe beta cycle, reports emerged that Apple had removed support for FireWire, the once-ubiquitous peripheral connection technology that took over from SCSI around 1999 and powered high-speed Mac accessories until Thunderbolt 1 and USB 3.0 superseded it in 2011 and 2012. Also known by its technical standard name of IEEE 1394, FireWire operated first at 400 Mbps and later at 800 Mbps, much faster than SCSI’s paltry 40 Mbps but far behind USB 3.0’s 5 Gbps and Thunderbolt 1’s 10 Gbps.
Stephen Hackett confirmed the removal back in July 2025, writing:
The reports are true: FireWire’s run on the Mac has ended after 26 years. RIP, my once-fast friend.
Nothing changed between the betas and the official release of macOS 26, and you can see that FireWire no longer appears in System Information.
Although no Mac has had FireWire ports since the 13-inch MacBook Pro that Apple released in mid-2012 and sold until October 2016, the technology’s software support has remained in macOS until now. Many users have relied on the Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter to connect FireWire-based hard drives, scanners, audio interfaces, camcorders, and other peripherals, including the original iPod.
Some of those devices may have alternative interfaces, most likely USB or Thunderbolt, but if not, you’ll need to keep a Mac running macOS 15 Sequoia or earlier to use them.
While there’s no question that USB has taken over from FireWire in every way that matters, I’ll miss FireWire’s evocative name, which so aptly described it. Thunderbolt is nearly as expressive, but it’s a shame that USB falls so short in comparison. Between its name (Universal Serial Bus), acronym (USB), and hodgepodge of versioning identifiers (USB 2.0, USB 3.2, USB4, and we won’t even get into connector types), USB’s branding is a stultifying combination of confusing and tedious (also see “USBefuddled: Untangling the Rat’s Nest of USB-C Standards and Cables,” 3 December 2021, and “USB Simplifies Branding but Reintroduces Active Cables,” 29 September 2022).
You can create Memories movies in Photos using both pictures and video.
There are now two ways to create Memories movies in Photos as of iOS 18.1 or later: one method is the same way you have done it in previous iOS versions, and the new one leverages Apple Intelligence if it's available on your device.
To use the latter method, you'll need to have an iPhone that is capable of supporting Apple Intelligence. This means an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 model.
Making Memories without Apple Intelligence
For those on older devices, we'll go over how to create Memories movies on Photos using the original method first. As with the Apple Intelligence method, much of the work is automated by Photos itself.
If you haven't yet created an album of related photos or videos, do that first. If you already have an existing album you want to add these images to, just tap the existing album from the list.
To create an all-new album, tap the plus sign to create and name a new album. Tap on Albums, then tap Create. Tap New Album, and then give the album a name.
You can then select photos from across your entire photo collection. If you have videos you want to add, you can select those as well.
Adding pictures or video from existing albums to help make your Memories movie.
To select multiple photos or videos at once, tap theSelect button to choose as many as you like. Once you've done that, tap the ellipses button and select Add to Album."
Photos and videos can exist in multiple albums, so you are not moving any photos anywhere. They will all remain in the main Photos Library, and any albums you put them in previously.
Once you have an album of all the photos or videos you want to use to create your Memory, simply tap and hold on that album in Photos. A drop-down menu will appear, and you can select Play Memory Video.
An auto-generated movie will start playing, including music taken from your Apple Music library. We'd suggest watching the auto-generated all the way through first before deciding whether you want to customize it.
If you have an iPhone or iPad that is capable of running Apple Intelligence, you can use it to generate the Memory movie instead — and post Apple Intelligence, Apple sometimes refers to them as Memory movies instead of Memories.
Apple is inconsistent with this, so the first thing you do is scroll down to the Memories section of Photos, where it says Create. This card includes a text prompt area for you to type in a description of the video you want to create.
For example, typing in "family and friends in New York over the years" or "our trip to Geneva" will auto-generate a Memory movie. You can use locations, the names of anyone you've identified in Photos, as well as times of year, special occasions, and more.
Once you've typed in a description and pressed return, a graphic will appear showing Apple Intelligence assembling the movie using your photos and videos. Keywords you used in your description, along with others in your photos, will also float by at the bottom.
As soon as the movie is completed, it will begin playing. The first image will have the title of the movie, generated by Apple Intelligence from your keywords. While the movie is playing, you can tap to pause the movie, then tap near the bottom to see the photos and videos that were chosen.
To make changes to the auto-generated Memory movie, simply tap the screen while it is playing, and then tap the pause button. Next tap the button on the bottom of the screen to the left — the Memory Mixes button.
This lets you change the running order of the selections in the movie, and offers several options. You can review each one to decide which one you like most.
You can also change the music that was randomly chosen by Photos by pressing the Music button on the right side. This lets you select any track from your existing Music library.
Your completed Memory movies can be seen on the main page of Photos.
The furthest button to the right is for Filters. It allows you to apply filters to the Memory, including black & white film, a faded color, or added warmth among other options.
Once you have chosen these options, you can tap the screen to see the Memory movie with the changes you have made.
By default, the title of the Memory movie is auto-generated from the name of the albums or album you have chosen pictures from. To change it, as well as to rearrange or manage the photos and videos in the Memory, tap the ellipses menu at the top right of the Memory.
Here, you can edit the title, reconfigure the memory to put the photos in the order you want, and more. You can also AirPlay the Memory movie to another device from this menu, or hide it to prevent anyone else from seeing it.
You can also add the Memory movie to your Favorites from that menu. When you are finished, tap the back arrow button at top left, and then Done.
Memory movies are stored in the For You tab of Photos, so you can view them at any time.
If you wish to edit the movie again later, you can tap the ellipses menu at the top to change the title and images used. You can also choose to replace the music picked to accompany the movie.
Tap Done when you've made your changes, and the movie can be played again to see your changes. The Memory movie will be available to view at any time in Photos, unless you choose to delete it.
ADAM ENGST 17 September 2025
In his review of macOS 26 Tahoe at Ars Technica, Andrew Cunningham writes:
One other tweak to the install process is the default behavior for Apple’s FileVault disk encryption. If you sign in to an Apple account as part of setting up macOS, FileVault now turns on automatically, and also automatically uses your Apple Account for recovery in the event something goes wrong. … But if you decline to sign in with an Apple Account during setup, just creating a local account, the macOS installer offers FileVault encryption, generating a recovery key that you can write down and store elsewhere, but it’s possible to skip FileVault entirely.
One other tweak to the install process is the default behavior for Apple’s FileVault disk encryption. If you sign in to an Apple account as part of setting up macOS, FileVault now turns on automatically, and also automatically uses your Apple Account for recovery in the event something goes wrong. …
But if you decline to sign in with an Apple Account during setup, just creating a local account, the macOS installer offers FileVault encryption, generating a recovery key that you can write down and store elsewhere, but it’s possible to skip FileVault entirely.
It’s frustrating when Apple makes setup choices for us during installation, but in this case, the security benefits are worthwhile. While Macs with Apple Silicon or Intel-based Macs with a T2 security chip already hardware-encrypt their drives, FileVault adds boot protection that prevents unauthorized access to data on the drive even if someone has physical access to your Mac. There’s no noticeable performance hit from this encryption.
The only slight downside of enabling FileVault crops up if you lose your login password. That could happen with a long-unused Mac, for someone experiencing cognitive decline, or if there is corruption in the recovery partition where FileVault stores its password data. In these cases, the Recovery Key offers an alternative login credential. Without the login password or Recovery Key, you cannot log in to your Mac (which is also true when FileVault is disabled), and your data stays encrypted (with FileVault off, the Mac’s hardware key alone would be enough to decrypt the data).
In other words, turning off FileVault makes it more likely that a firm like DriveSavers could recover your data if you lose access to your password and have no backups. However, it also makes it easier for a hostile government agency to access your data without permission or your knowledge, something that’s less confined to the realm of thrillers than it used to be. I recommend that everyone use FileVault, but if you’re uncomfortable with extra protection from hostile governments, you can always turn it off in System Settings > Privacy & Security > FileVault.
Another new aspect of FileVault setup in macOS 26 is that Apple no longer allows you to store your Recovery Key in your iCloud account, as Glenn Fleishman explains at Six Colors. Apple likely made this change to prevent a hostile government from forcing the company to reveal a user’s Recovery Key. However, macOS 26 now automatically stores the Recovery Key in Passwords instead of showing it only once during setup, and you can still save it in another password manager or print it, as you prefer. One interesting quirk—FileVault recovery keys automatically stored in Passwords in macOS 26 sync to other devices running OS 26, but not to those running older operating system versions, which could complicate recovery.
Charles Martin
The Camera Control button is currently unique to the iPhone 16 and 17 lineups.
Unless you've gone looking in System Settings, you may not be aware that the Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 can be set to do other functions besides set up and take a picture. Here's how to change it.
By default, pressing the Camera Control button launches the Camera app on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 models. Once open, pressing the button again will take a picture, or pressing and holding will shoot video.
A light press on the Camera Control button once the Camera app is open gives users a haptic click and the ability to adjust settings like zoom level or exposure. It operates sort of like the dials or on-screen controls in DSLR cameras.
Some users, however, will prefer to use the Camera app's on-screen menus rather than the button. System Settings will let you reprogram the Camera Control button to instead use it to launch the Magnifier app, or to launch a hidden Code Scanner app.
Here's how to do it.
The Camera app can, by default, read QR codes when the camera is pointed at one, and reveals the destination URL of the QR code without having to snap a picture of it. However, if you need to scan a lot of QR codes for your work or project, you can reprogram the Camera Control button to instead launch a secret, dedicated Code Scanner utility that is already on your device.
To do this, open Settings, scroll down and tap Camera, then tap Camera Control, and select the Code Scanner option. Now, when you press the Camera Control button on the iPhone, the code scanner app will open by default.
As soon as it spots a QR code, it will open the URL referenced by the code, or display and copy the information if the QR code is not linked to a URL. The Code Scanner can also be launched by typing "code" into th search field on an iPhone.
Accessing other functions for the Camera Control button can be found in System Settings.
Alternatively, you can set the Camera Control to launch the Magnifier app when pressed. This is ideal for people with low vision, or who have trouble reading small print in less-than-ideal lighting conditions.
If you've never used the Magnifier app, it is a regular application included by default on all iPhones. It uses the camera to allow people to zoom in to anything they find difficult to see.
To set the Camera Control button to instead launch Magnifier by default, open Settings, scroll down and tap Camera, then tap Camera Control, and select the Magnifier option. You can then use the pinch-out gesture on the screen to zoom in to difficult to see items.
You also have the option of disabling the Camera Control button on your iPhone 16 model entirely. This option may appeal to people who are prone to accidentally clicking the Camera Control button accidentally, or prefer to use the volume buttons on their iPhone to take a picture.
To do this, visit the Settings app, tap on Accessibility, find the Physical and Motor section, tap on Camera Control, and turn the switch for Camera Control off. If you change your mind later, you can revisit the section and flip the switch for Camera Control back on.
This is also where you can adjust the firmness of the button pressing if you are going to use the Camera Control button for any of its possible functions.
William Gallagher
What did we do before tabs? And now you can automatically share them across your devices
Having Safari be able to open the same tabs on all your Apple devices is hugely convenient, yet Apple hides the feature away. Here's how to find and make use of it.
This is specifically about what are called iCloud tabs — and they are not the same as Tab Groups. If you use Tab Groups in Safari on one Apple device, the feature is on with the same tabs on all your devices.
In theory, iCloud tabs is always on too, but you have to dig further to find it, and you have to make sure that it is enabled.
To take advantage of this Safari tab synchronization, you'll first need to check that the feature is turned on. It's quick and simple to do, but does vary fractionally depending on whether you're using a Mac or an iPhone, or iPad.
Enabling iCloud Tabs on your Mac is as simple as ticking one box.
To enable iCloud Tabs on a Mac:
Enabling iCloud Tabs on your iPhone or iPad is largely the same process.
To enable iCloud Tabs on an iPad or an iPhone:
With iCloud Tabs enabled on all of your Apple devices, your tabs are being shared across your Mac, iPhone, and iPad — but you may not see them. You have to take specific steps to see these shared tabs and while it's not difficult, it's enough of a chore that you can tend to not bother.
It's worth looking for the shared tabs. Especially if you've ever come away from your Mac and realised precisely the page you needed was on that and not your iPhone.
On the iPhone or iPad:
You have to click on the show tabs icon, then on the + sign before you can see the list on iOS
On the Mac, open Safari. Then click on the icon for navigation pane (a square with dots down the left) which is at top left. At the very bottom of the screen, there will now be an iCloud Tabs button.
It's possible that nothing will appear, in which case it's likely that you've only just turned on the feature and it will take a time to work. It's also possible that you're so low on iCloud space that it will never work, but in that case you should be getting iCloud warning notifications and emails about the space you've used up.
Most of the time, though, you will open iCloud Tabs and see the same tabs you have on your other devices.
It could be more straightforward to find, but it is simple enough when you've been shown. And the convenience of never having to go back to another device to check a page address is tremendous.
ADAM ENGST 3 September 2025
After years of legal proceedings, the Google antitrust case has finally resulted in a ruling with real-world impact—though perhaps not in the way many expected. Rather than forcing dramatic changes, the ruling preserves key aspects of how users currently engage with Google’s products. In a highly readable 230-page PDF, Judge Amit Mehta writes:
Last year, this court ruled that Defendant Google LLC had violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act: “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” The court found that, for more than a decade, Google had entered into distribution agreements with browser developers, original equipment manufacturers, and wireless carriers to be the out-of-the box, default general search engine (“GSE”) at key search access points.
According to The Verge, the remedies ruling opens the door for Google to appeal Mehta’s finding that the company has acted as an illegal monopoly, a process that could take years and end up in the Supreme Court. While that legal battle plays out in the background, the ruling’s immediate impact on Apple users comes from two key decisions that maintain the status quo.
First, Google won’t be required to divest itself of the Chrome browser, rendering moot Perplexity’s ridiculous $34.5 billion purchase offer. That seems like a win for users, given that Google maintains Chromium—the open source engine that powers Chrome and serves as the foundation for numerous third-party browsers, such as Microsoft Edge, Brave, The Browser Company’s Arc and Dia, Vivaldi, and Perplexity’s own Comet. The vibrant ecosystem of third-party browsers built on Chromium speaks to its successful management.
Second, Google can continue to make payments to distribution partners—read, Apple and Mozilla—for “preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, or its GenAI products.” The judge said that forbidding this would impose “substantial—and in some cases, crippling—downstream harms.” In other words, the Apple/Google deal that sends most Safari searches to Google in exchange for $20 billion in annual payments can continue unimpeded. Apple is undoubtedly overjoyed with that decision since $20 billion is a significant portion of Apple’s increasingly important Services revenue.
I’m almost a little sad that the search placement deal was allowed to stand, mainly because I’m curious about what Apple would have come up with as an alternative. The easiest and most profitable route would have been for Apple to switch to Microsoft’s Bing, but it would have been more interesting to see Apple take the opportunity to develop its own search engine. Then again, it has always been more effective to search Apple’s website using Google than the site’s own search engine, so perhaps that’s just a pipe dream.
Beyond preserving much of Google’s status quo, the ruling breaks new ground by focusing on the massive shift to generative AI in the past year.
Much has changed since the end of the liability trial, though some things have not. Google is still the dominant firm in the relevant product markets. No existing rival has wrested market share from Google. And no new competitor has entered the market. But artificial intelligence technologies, particularly generative AI (“GenAI”), may yet prove to be game changers. Today, tens of millions of people use GenAI chatbots, like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude, to gather information that they previously sought through internet search. These GenAI chatbots are not yet close to replacing GSEs, but the industry expects that developers will continue to add features to GenAI products to perform more like GSEs. The emergence of GenAI changed the course of this case. No witness at the liability trial testified that GenAI products posed a near-term threat to GSEs. The very first witness at the remedies hearing, by contrast, placed GenAI front and center as a nascent competitive threat. These remedies proceedings thus have been as much about promoting competition among GSEs as ensuring that Google’s dominance in search does not carry over into the GenAI space. Many of Plaintiffs’ proposed remedies are crafted with that latter objective in mind.
Much has changed since the end of the liability trial, though some things have not. Google is still the dominant firm in the relevant product markets. No existing rival has wrested market share from Google. And no new competitor has entered the market. But artificial intelligence technologies, particularly generative AI (“GenAI”), may yet prove to be game changers. Today, tens of millions of people use GenAI chatbots, like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude, to gather information that they previously sought through internet search. These GenAI chatbots are not yet close to replacing GSEs, but the industry expects that developers will continue to add features to GenAI products to perform more like GSEs.
The emergence of GenAI changed the course of this case. No witness at the liability trial testified that GenAI products posed a near-term threat to GSEs. The very first witness at the remedies hearing, by contrast, placed GenAI front and center as a nascent competitive threat. These remedies proceedings thus have been as much about promoting competition among GSEs as ensuring that Google’s dominance in search does not carry over into the GenAI space. Many of Plaintiffs’ proposed remedies are crafted with that latter objective in mind.
The Findings of Fact section provides a detailed analysis of generative AI, LLMs, and their potential impact on traditional search engines. It includes an overview of the key players in the generative AI market, describing Google, Anthropic, DeepSeek, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Perplexity, and even xAI. Notably absent from that list is Apple, and Apple Intelligence is mentioned only once, in reference to how Apple is integrating ChatGPT and OpenAI technology in exchange for revenue share payments.
