Apple iOS 26 Spotlights Enhanced UI With Liquid Glass And Intelligent Features
Apple has built a reputation for its sleek, minimalist aesthetics, and its user interface (UI) design is at the front and centre of this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC for short. Alongside a change in naming tradition, the Cupertino giant announced a slew of new updates and quality-of-life improvements to its software on the platform.
For starters, the operating system across its family of devices now known iOS 26 – numbered based on the year after their introduction – instead of iOS 19, which some may find easier to follow. It introduces the Liquid Glass redesign, featuring a new responsive, see-through look that extends to elements like buttons, switches, sliders, text, widgets, and media controls, and various system experiences including Home Screen, notifications, and more.
On the Home Screen, the size of the clock can be changed to fill more of the display, and an animation will activate when users swipe up to unlock. There's an emphasis on keeping things cleaner and more streamlined, with the Camera app hiding controls from sight, Safari lining its webpages from one edge to the other, and the tab bar floating over on-screen content.
Apple's in-car navigation system, CarPlay, is part of this facelift experience, so drivers can expect a compact view for incoming calls, Activities on their dashboard, and pinned conversations in Messages.
Much of the iOS 26 updates can be found in apps. A call screening tool is being added to the Phone app along with Hold Assist, which informs users when a live agent is available, while Messages allows them to create polls and customise a background image, either by adding their own photos or generate one via Image Playground. On-device spam detection is also on the way (nothing new for Android folks, though).
Elsewhere, Wallet will let you create a digital ID starting this fall, with a refresh of boarding passes offering real-time flight updates in Live Activities and an indoor map for airport navigation. Other notable features include a learned or preferred route system for Maps, an online order tracker for Apple Pay, and a dedicated Games app, reinforcing the company's continued push into the gaming space with big-name titles like Assassin's Creed Shadows , Cyberpunk 2077 , and more.
Apple Intelligence is also getting a handy addition in the form of Live Translation, coming to FaceTime and Messages with support for text and audio in phone calls. The real-time translation convenience extends to Apple Music, which includes a pronunciation guide for lyrics, a new AutoMix feature, and the ability to pin artists and playlists to the top of the app (Spotify says hi).
Taking a page out of Google's playbook, the tech juggernaut now brings Visual Intelligence beyond the camera. Users are now able to ask ChatGPT questions about any content displayed on the screen, take a screenshot to do an image search for products on supported apps like Google and Etsy, or add an event to Calendar when the software detects a time, date, and location in a screenshot.
iOS 26 marks the second major software update after the rollout of the Apple Intelligence last year. A public beta will be available in July before its official launch this fall. An exact date was not given, but it'll presumably be after the next big iPhone reveal event, typically scheduled for September.
Sherwin once held the Matrix of Leadership, but wisely passed it on to the rightful leader of the household.
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Apple iOS 26 Spotlights Enhanced UI With Liquid Glass And Intelligent Features
Apple has built a reputation for its sleek, minimalist aesthetics, and its user interface (UI) design is at the front and centre of this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC for short. Alongside a change in naming tradition, the Cupertino giant announced a slew of new updates and quality-of-life improvements to its software on the platform. For starters, the operating system across its family of devices now known iOS 26 – numbered based on the year after their introduction – instead of iOS 19, which some may find easier to follow. It introduces the Liquid Glass redesign, featuring a new responsive, see-through look that extends to elements like buttons, switches, sliders, text, widgets, and media controls, and various system experiences including Home Screen, notifications, and more. On the Home Screen, the size of the clock can be changed to fill more of the display, and an animation will activate when users swipe up to unlock. There's an emphasis on keeping things cleaner and more streamlined, with the Camera app hiding controls from sight, Safari lining its webpages from one edge to the other, and the tab bar floating over on-screen content. Apple's in-car navigation system, CarPlay, is part of this facelift experience, so drivers can expect a compact view for incoming calls, Activities on their dashboard, and pinned conversations in Messages. Much of the iOS 26 updates can be found in apps. A call screening tool is being added to the Phone app along with Hold Assist, which informs users when a live agent is available, while Messages allows them to create polls and customise a background image, either by adding their own photos or generate one via Image Playground. On-device spam detection is also on the way (nothing new for Android folks, though). Elsewhere, Wallet will let you create a digital ID starting this fall, with a refresh of boarding passes offering real-time flight updates in Live Activities and an indoor map for airport navigation. Other notable features include a learned or preferred route system for Maps, an online order tracker for Apple Pay, and a dedicated Games app, reinforcing the company's continued push into the gaming space with big-name titles like Assassin's Creed Shadows , Cyberpunk 2077 , and more. Apple Intelligence is also getting a handy addition in the form of Live Translation, coming to FaceTime and Messages with support for text and audio in phone calls. The real-time translation convenience extends to Apple Music, which includes a pronunciation guide for lyrics, a new AutoMix feature, and the ability to pin artists and playlists to the top of the app (Spotify says hi). Taking a page out of Google's playbook, the tech juggernaut now brings Visual Intelligence beyond the camera. Users are now able to ask ChatGPT questions about any content displayed on the screen, take a screenshot to do an image search for products on supported apps like Google and Etsy, or add an event to Calendar when the software detects a time, date, and location in a screenshot. iOS 26 marks the second major software update after the rollout of the Apple Intelligence last year. A public beta will be available in July before its official launch this fall. An exact date was not given, but it'll presumably be after the next big iPhone reveal event, typically scheduled for September. Sherwin once held the Matrix of Leadership, but wisely passed it on to the rightful leader of the household.
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Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025)
If there's one thing Apple has proven with the Mac Studio, it's that size doesn't determine performance. Ever since the company shrunk its desktop from tower size to well, box size, it has taken great care to show that its premium performance tabletop machines have condensed pure muscle packed into a highly compact form factor, serving as an alternative for power users who want the might of the Mac Pro tower workstations but can do without the extra heft. Three generations in, and its legacy is still going strong, so it only stands to reason that the latest model, powered by the company's own M4 Max processor and the M3 Ultra – the first in the lineup to come equipped with two generations of chips – will continue in the same vein. Indeed, the 2025 iteration of the Mac Studio reinforces its status as a creative powerhouse, with upgraded hardware, generous connectivity, and impressive AI-driven capabilities improving on already sky-high standards. Maintaining the same aesthetic identity since its 2022 debut, the lunchbox-sized offering comes decked out in a familiar silver-skinned, all-aluminium chassis. Rounded corners complete the minimalist look, and its physical build remains unchanged at 2.7kg for the M4 Max model and 3.6kg for the M3 Ultra, accompanied by the 9.5 cm-tall, 19.7-by-19.7cm footprint of its predecessors. Under the hood are where distinctions lie. The previous generation, sporting the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips, supports up to a 12-core CPU, 38-core GPU, and a 24-core CPU, 76-core GPU configuration respectively. Meanwhile, this year's variant takes it up to 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores for the M4 Max version. But instead of the top of the line Ultra with the M4, Apple has opted for the beefier M3 Ultra model, which can be upgraded to 32 CPU cores and 80 GPU cores. This might sound a little confusing, as shouldn't the newer M4 chip tout more power over its M3 predecessor? Well, it's not in this case, as the Ultra chipset is larger and formed by fusing two M3 Max chips. Neural Engine processing isn't the same on both models either, as are the RAM and storage options. The base M4 Max version boasts a 16-core Neural Engine, 36GB of unified memory, and 512GB of storage (configurable to 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB), whereas its M3 Ultra sibling comes in at 32 Neural Engine cores, 96GB of base unified memory, and starts with 1TB of SSD that tops out at 16TB. Additionally, the latter features a copper heatsink instead of the standard aluminium, allowing for improved heat dissipation. Receiving a boost to its unified memory and SSD (128GB + 1TB), this M4 Max-powered review unit strikes a welcome balance between value and high performance for workstation tasks, starting with connectivity. The device is the first in the family to offer Thunderbolt 5 functionality, with four USB-C ports at its rear delivering speeds of up to 120 Gbps, and support for USB 4 (up to 120 Gbps), USB 3 (up to 10 Gbps), and DisplayPort 2.1. Alongside the power button, the rest of the lineup comprises two USB-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 and 10Gb Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the front are two USB-C ports and an SD card reader, the former of which is swapped out for Thunderbolt 5 ports on the M3 Ultra model. Like before, this year's Mac Studio with M4 Max can power up to five displays simultaneously – namely four displays with 6K over Thunderbolt and one display with 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI, or two displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz and one with 8K resolution at 60 Hz, or at 4K resolution at up to 240Hz over HDMI. Meanwhile, the M3 Ultra variant supports up to eight displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at up to 144Hz, or four displays with 8K resolution at 6K or 4K resolution at up to 240Hz. Casual users will likely find both options, especially the latter, to be excessive, which makes it clear who the Mac Studio is meant for. Where the MacBook Pro and Air, or the Mac mini series, are designed with everyday use in mind, this desktop is best suited to creative professionals and heavy-duty workflows, from video editing and rendering 3D environments to running large language models (LLMs). Anything more demanding requiring up to seven PCI Express expansion slots, and it's a job for the ultra-high-end Mac Pro tower. Indeed, the Mac Studio with M4 Max cements its status as a well-oiled machine for both work and play. Apple claims that it can support up to 18 streams of ProRes video playback, and a fraction of that brawn peeked through benchmarking tests across various software, including Cinebench R24, Geekbench 6, and Novabench. On Cinebench R24, its GPU rendering score came in at 16,740 points, alongside 2,089 (multi-core) and 186 points (single-core) in the CPU department. This puts the desktop ahead of the competition, with the M1 Ultra model – results of the more recent M2 Ultra iteration, released in 2023, weren't included in the app's list for direct comparison – trailing behind at 1,629 and 113, respectively. The performance one-upmanship was also reflected in Geekbench 6, which recorded a single-core score of 3,978 and a 21,160 multi-core score (versus 2,778 and 21,555 on the M2 Ultra model). 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Encoding performance in Handbrake was equally speedy, with the process completed in six minutes and 29 seconds – a whole minute faster than its predecessor. It's a particularly impressive feat, as a single-chip system doesn't often match, much less surpass, a dual-CPU system. While hardly a dedicated gaming device, the device boasts support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing to complement its 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU. The feature offers extra horsepower amid Apple's continued push into the gaming space, which sees the addition of several heavyweight titles to its 2025 lineup, and putting it to the test is Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft's shiny new AAA title featuring hardware-accelerated real-time ray tracing on supported Apple chipsets like the M4 Max. With its ray tracing preset (that strangely, cannot be disabled completely) pushed to the highest settings alongside other visual tweaks, and utilising Apple's MetalFX upscaler for performance boosting, gameplay was capped at 30 FPS while running at 1440p. Bumping the resolution up to 4K saw a dip in frame rate to the low 20s, with MetalFX's performance mode bringing it up to around 25 FPS – still admittedly far from ideal, especially for a desktop setup. As observed during the test, running the game at 1080p with the lowest graphical settings was the only plausible way to hit the coveted 60 FPS mark, and even then, the frame rate wouldn't go past the low 50s in busier scenes. The issue seems to stem from forced ray tracing in Assassin's Creed Shadows , as further testing with a non-ray-traced title like 2023's Resident Evil 4 yielded smooth and consistent 60 FPS gameplay at 4K resolution and the highest settings. It should be noted that heavy-duty gaming on the Mac Studio with M4 Max isn't a priority for most, so its ability to handle 4K play with ease for non-ray-tracing-supported titles acts more like a nice by-the-way bonus. The unit will be a little warm to the touch in this state, though never too much that it feels unbearable or worrying. The other change here is the integration of Apple Intelligence as macOS Sequoia comes in handy for users who own multiple Apple devices, enabling them to move files, photos, and videos between their iPhone and Mac easily, and control or view their iPhone on a bigger display via iPhone Mirroring. Then, there's the mix of onboard and on-cloud tools that simplifies day-to-day tasks like writing emails, summarising text, fielding queries, and generating images that are also readily available on other offerings powered by the M-series processors. The enhanced Neural Engine and GPU, alongside the expanded memory on this year's Mac Studio, however, means these features are at their ripest stage. All things considered, there's a lot that this lean, mean rig does right. The M4 Max iteration may be the younger sibling, but it promises the same best-in-class performance and well-rounded functionality that have formed its core identity. On the flip side, the persistent drawback of limited customisation returns to dull its shine, with upgrade options tied to pre-purchase and a hefty cost. Case in point – at the starting price of S$2,899, the M4 Max model offers 36GB of unified memory and 512GB of SSD storage, locked down to a 14-core CPU, 32-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine. Opting for 1TB of storage requires an additional S$300, while the 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB options set users back by another S$900, S$1,800, and S$3,600 (from the base price), respectively. And all of this, without a display, or displays, that you have to spring for. RAM upgrades aren't counted in the equation, either. The 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU load-out configures 48GB of unified memory to 1TB of SSD, and can be bumped up to 64GB and 128GB, which are available as separate pricing options from the SSD selection. What it translates to is even more spending on top of an extra S$300 and S$1,500, respectively, potentially stacking to absurdly high amounts. Bear in mind that the Mac Studio cannot be taken apart and outfitted with more powerful internals a la normal PCs, so users will have to plan properly ahead of purchase and find the build that makes the most of their budget. Granted, it's unlikely for the regular Joe to upgrade this performance beast past a certain point, as the base M4 Max can already be overkill for everyday use. But for creative professionals and industry-grade work who can afford it, the Mac Studio remains the one to beat. Summary A worthy successor to the Mac Studio name, the M4 Max model continues to be proof that the best can always be better. Aesthetics - 8.5/10 Build Quality - 9/10 Performance - 9/10 Value - 8.5/10 Geek Satisfaction - 9/10 Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth's theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really. Apple Mac Studio Mac Studio M4 Max Review
