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Best Ice Makers
CNET staff -- not advertisers, partners or business interests -- determine how we review products and services. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Ice: The one thing a summer hang can never have enough of. The best countertop ice makers will have a bin full of nugget, bullet or cocktail ice that is never out of reach. A standalone model is particularly valuable if your fridge doesn't have a built-in ice maker or it can't keep up with consumption. There are also specialty ice makers to make the fanciest cubes you'll find outside of a speakeasy. Just a few of the ice makers we tested to find the best in class. David Watsky/CNET To find the best ice makers to keep the party going, I tested 10 machines. The models I evaluated varied widely in price, ice type and size, so there are picks on this list to accommodate specific frozen water requirements. If you're a consummate host of big outdoor bashes -- and where's our invite? -- consider a large-capacity ice maker versus a smaller model with limited output. What's the best ice maker for 2025? After weeks of testing and lots of cold beverages, we found GE Profile's Opal 2.0 Nugget Ice Maker with water tank to be the best ice maker overall. The larger machine pumps out mountains (3 pounds to be exact) of chewable nugget ice that's perfect for icy spritzes, chilled lemonade and blends into smoothies with zero resistance. A version of this ice maker has been around for more than a decade -- we tested the first generation model in 2016 and liked it then -- so we have faith it'll stand the test of time, which is key for an appliance type that's not known for longevity. But there are other ice makers made for smaller spaces or specialty cocktails that could be a better fit for your summer soiree. Read on for our picks for the best ice makers for 2025. GE Profile Photo Gallery 1/3 GE Profile Best ice maker overall GE Opal 2.0 Nugget Ice Maker + Water Tank Pros Makes crunchy nugget ice, great for chewing or cocktails The large removable water means you don't have to constantly refill Quiet and easy to use The design is pleasing Cons The most expensive nugget ice maker on our list Larger than most so it might not fit on your kitchen counter Why I liked it: The Opal Nugget 2.0 ice maker had one of the fastest ice outputs of the models we tried. It also has the largest capacity, able to hold three pounds at once and produce more than 35 pounds of ice in a single day. The large .75-gallon side water reservoir on the 2.0 comes in handy when you're hosting and don't want to bother with refilling constantly. The Opal is also relatively quiet and easy to use. Why we chose this model over GE's other Opal ice makers is the removable reservoir that is far more convenient than the built-in water tank found on the brand's other models. Who is it for: If you need large quantities of ice and have the space to house it, the Opal will provide the most ice to keep drinks cold and party guests happy. The Opal has a pleasant design and an easy-access bin with a caddy for the ice scoop on the side so you never lose it. Who should avoid it: If you don't require loads of ice regularly, the Opal may be more ice maker than you need. It's significantly larger than the other ice makers on our list so it may not be the best pick if you plan to keep it in the kitchen. It also costs about $579 so it's not a budget buy. Note: Our pick is for the Opal 2.0. The Opal 2.0 XL is identical except for a slightly larger 1-gallon reservoir but costs $149 more. There is also a line of Opal ice makers with a built-in reservoir, which is less convenient to fill than the removable reservoir. ... Show more Get it now $500 at Amazon $529 at Walmart $600 at Target Specs & Configurations Ice type Nugget Ice capacity 3 lbs Ice made per day 38 lbs Dimensions 17.5"D x 13.43"W x 16.5"H Colors available Silver, carbon, powder blue, white Cleaning cycle Yes Removeable Water Tank Yes Price $300 Add to compare Frigidaire Photo Gallery 1/2 Frigidaire Best ice maker for most kitchens Frigidaire Pros Made ice faster than any other nugget ice maker we tested Simple to use Classic design with several colors available Good value considering the performance Cons The ice bucket feels a little cheap No holder for the ice scoop Why I like it: This simple nugget ice maker quickly and efficiently turned 2 quarts of water into crunchy ice. It isn't decked out with special features like others on this list but it has a cleaning cycle that is recommended to run with distilled vinegar every so often to keep scale from building up. I appreciated the removable reservoir, which allows you to keep the machine anywhere in the kitchen. Those with built-in water tanks must either be placed near the sink or you'll have to find a vessel to bring water over to refill. Who should get it: This ice maker is quiet, works well and is a modest size, making it a great pick for most kitchens. It will take up about the same amount of space as a 4-quart air fryer so you'll need to budget some counter space. That said, it's roughly half the size of the GE Profile Opal. Who should avoid it: If your ice needs are particularly great, this mid-sized model may not be able to keep up. Two and a half pounds of ice may sound like a lot, but during a summer party with 10 or more guests, it'll go fast. A full batch of ice takes about an hour, so you can expect to fill it somewhat regularly throughout your event. ... Show more Get it now $300 at Amazon Specs & Configurations Ice type Nugget Ice capacity 2.5 lbs Ice made per day 44 lbs Dimensions 16.75"D x 11.75"W x 20.25"H Colors available Blue, black, silver, cream Removable water tank Yes Price $300 Add to compare Ecozy Photo Gallery 1/2 Ecozy Best smart ice maker design Ecozy Pros My favorite design of any ice maker we tested Love the top-open door revealing ice bin and water tank Keeps ice super cold after making Cons Smart features seem mostly unnecessary Digital screen is busy Less familiar with the brand, which makes me nervous about longevity Why I like it: This ice maker had my favorite design of all the models tested. The slick top-open door reveals an ice basket and easy-fill removable reservoir. The Ecozy also made its soft nugget ice fast, churning out 2.5 pounds in just more than an hour. It makes slightly less ice per day than the Frigidaire but still enough for the average household not to fall behind. The Ecozy's smart features are fun, but I didn't find myself using them often. The ice maker is Wi-Fi enabled so you can start and stop the cycle remotely if you choose. However, you'll still have to return to manually fill the reservoir so remote control isn't a major boon. This machine sports an LED light to show ice bin fullness without opening it. It also tells you the air and water temperatures but I struggled to see how this would be helpful other than to plan how long the ice would keep from melting. The insulated chamber was useful as this machine kept its ice frozen for several hours after it was made, even when I turned it on. Who should get it: Smart home aficionados will appreciate the Ecozy's extra features, such as app control and temperature readouts. While it doesn't filter water, the machine also reads the water's total dissolved solids, so you can haul in a separate filter system if the quality is poor. Who should avoid it: My biggest concern with this ice maker is my lack of familiarity with the brand. Because it sports all those smart features, there are more elements that could potentially break or glitch over time, although everything ran smoothly in my weeks-long test. ... Show more Get it now $360 at Amazon $400 at Best Buy Specs & Configurations Ice type Nugget Bin capacity 2.6 lbs Ice per day 40 lbs Dimensions 9.33"D x 14.01"W x 15.51"H Colors available Black Cleaning cycle Yes Removable water tank Yes Price $400 Add to compare Igloo Photo Gallery 1/2 Igloo Best cheap ice maker Igloo Pros A bargain at less than $100 Made bullet ice fast and kept it cold Handle is convenient for bring ice outside or to another room Cons Makes a small amount of ice What I like: The Igloo is about as simple as ice makers get but it made bullet ice fast and kept it frozen. The ice maker is relatively quiet and takes up very little counter space. I loved the handle that lets you easily lug a full batch of ice, which takes about an hour to make, outside or into another room. It also made its first ice cubes faster than any machine, churning out nine cubes in less than 8 minutes. Who is it for: For those who need just a small supplemental supply of ice, the Igloo's $95 machine won't bust your wallet or crowd your counter. It works consistently Who should avoid it: This is a small-capacity ice maker. It holds just 1.25 pounds of ice and makes only 26 pounds total per day so you'll need to run and refill it often to keep up with even modest demand from a group. You can always batch ice and stick it in the freezer, but that requires planning ahead so consider this machine's output before you decide to buy. ... Show more Get it now $90 at The Home Depot $95 at Wayfair Specs & Configurations Ice type Nugget Bin capacity 1.25 lbs Ice made per day 26 lbs Dimensions 12.2"D x 9.06"W x 12.8"H Colors available Black, light blue Removeable water tank No Cleaning cycle Yes Price $95 Add to compare Klaris Photo Gallery 1/3 Klaris Best ice maker for whiskey drinkers Klaris Craft Ice Maker Pros The 2-inch cubes made by this machine were a thing of beauty Slow melting ice is perfect for cocktails and sipping liquor Small footprint Cons It takes eight hours to make four cubes Expensive at more than $500 Why I liked it: The Klaris specialty ice maker makes perfectly clear 2-inch cubes of ice. While it takes time to make them, the resulting ice is optimal for sipping a fine whiskey or bourbon cocktail. The ice melts considerably slower than other types and thus won't water down your custom cocktail. It's also visually appealing if you plan to show off your cocktails on Instagram. Who is it for: This is undoubtedly a specialty ice maker for fans of premium liquor with some money to spend. The Klaris makes four large crystal-clear ice cubes in each batch but takes about 8 hours to do it. It's easy to operate with just one button. The Klaris is also one of the smaller ice makers so it won't crowd your countertop and can ornament a home bar. Who should avoid it: This isn't a practical ice maker for most people. The Klaris makes perfect cocktail ice but it takes eight hours to create just four cubes. It's also one of the more expensive home ice makers on the market at more than $500. ... Show more Get it now $549 at Amazon Specs & Configurations Ice type Cocktail, cube Bin capacity 4 large cubes Total ice per day 12 large cubes Dimensions 9"D x 9"W x 12"H Colors available Stainless steel Cleaning cycle No Removable water tank No Price $524 Add to compare Others ice makers we tested Frigidaire ball: This $335 model would be a good pick if you want cocktail ice but don't want to splurge on the $500 Klaris. The balls of ice were at times inconsistent or half-made but it was mostly efficient and easy to use. Whynter Nugget Ice Maker: This machine performed well but it was louder than the others. Also, the build is low and wide -- most were taller but narrow -- making it more difficult to squeeze into a crowded kitchen. GoveeLife Smart Ice Maker: This ice maker was the worst of the bunch. The Govee never produced a single cube after several attempts at running a cycle. Gevi V2.0 Nugget Ice Maker: The Gevi performed OK when making ice but it didn't keep that ice frozen in the bin for as long as the others. Cuisinart Compact Bullet Ice Maker: This bullet ice maker got the job done but the control panel was fussy and the price was bloated for a basic ice machine. The Igloo, our budget pick, is a nearly identical machine but costs $100 less. There aren't a ton of ice makers from well-known brands. Kitchen brands don't seem to be clamoring to get into the ice maker space and plenty of brands have skipped out on the category. I asked reps from several of my favorite kitchen brands why but most didn't have an answer. In researching the models we would test, I reached out to some of them. A rep from SharkNinja, a kitchen brand we are consistently impressed with, said, "We aren't in that category at the moment but we're always looking for the next consumer problem to solve … and always follow our deep consumer insights in that process." How we tested ice makers Testing ice makers isn't as straightforward as some of the other products we evaluate at CNET. Most of the ice makers we brought in for testing delivered on the promise to turn tap water into ice. But some made ice faster than others and kept it cool for longer when the machine was turned off. Many of our picks hinged less on hard metrics gleaned from testing and more on how well the ice makers were designed and constructed, how easy they were to use, their features and their noise level. We ran each ice maker more than 10 times to ensure consistency in production and looked for any glitches in the controls. We also looked for leaks or design flaws that might cause a mess to clean up later. For hard metrics, we timed how long it took each ice maker to make it's first cubes. We ran that test twice and averaged the two times. In most machines, it was consistently about 10 minutes before the first cubes or nuggets dropped into the bin. Next, we tested how long it took each ice maker to fill its bin. This isn't an apples-to-apples comparison because the machines all have different capacities but we wanted to see if the ice makers delivered on the promises made in marketing lingo. What to consider: Ice maker buying advice A removable reservoir A removable reservoir makes refilling easier, especially if the machine is far from the sink. David Watsky/CNET The most convenient feature of all the ice makers I tested was a removable reservoir. Some of the budget models had built-in water tanks, which meant you had to either keep the machine near the sink or bring water in a separate vessel to fill it. The Whynter ice maker has a built-in water tank, which I found trickier to fill. David Watsky/CNET The removable reservoirs proved uniquely handy for refilling, especially for the midsized machines that required more refills to keep up with demand. Ice type Most home ice makers make either nugget or bullet ice. David Watsky/CNET Most at-home ice makers make one of two types of ice: bullet or nugget. Nugget ice can be made quickly and is great for chewing on but it melts fast in drinks. Bullet ice seems to be the go-to ice type for budget-friendly ice makers. It's more similar in structure to ice you would find in an in-fridge ice maker. Then there are the specialty ice makers, largely designed for cocktail making. Frigidaire has a $300 ball ice maker, while Klaris' $524 ice maker makes perfect, air-pocket-free blocks for sipping your favorite brown liquor or mixed drink. Size and production volume Midsized ice makers like the Frigidaire and Ecozy hold enough ice for about 7 drinks. David Watsky/CNET The smallest ice makers are good for crowded kitchens but the production is limited so it might not be worth even the meager space they take up. The Cuisinart and Igloo, for instance, hold just 2 pounds of ice, enough for roughly 7 drinks. Most ice makers hold about 2 liters, which equals roughly 2.5 pounds of ice, good for about 9 drinks. The bigger ice makers, including our top pick the GE Profile Opal Nugget ice maker, hold 3 pounds at once, enough for 12 drinks, but the footprint on your counter is significantly bigger. You'd be wise to consider the space where you plan to put your ice maker before you purchase. Many homes may require the extra ice only in the summer so if you can budget the space for three or four months only, you can spring for a larger model that produces more. If it's going in the basement or garage to replenish ice as needed or to be pulled out for special occasions, size may not be a concern. Cost and value The Opal Nugget Ice Maker is our top pick but it's also one of the more expensive options. GE The most affordable ice makers we tested were less than $100. All of these models were small in stature and made bullet ice -- similar to ice from a fridge ice maker. Ice makers that produce nugget ice, which is easy to chew and looks nice in cocktails, typically start at about $300. Premium ice makers, such as the Opal 2.0 and Klaris specialty ice maker, cost about $500 to $700. Cleaning mode Most of the ice makers we tested have a cleaning function that sends water mixed with a food-safe cleaning product or a vinegar solution through the channels to descale. We recommend buying an ice maker that has this feature to prevent tainted ice down the line. Ice maker FAQs Will an ice maker work outside in the heat? In my experience, ice makers function far less efficiently in the heat. If you have a portable ice maker, it's best to operate it inside where it's cooler during warm weather. How do you clean an ice maker? To clean an ice maker unplug the machine and empty the ice bin and water reservoir. Next, wipe down interior and exterior surfaces with a mild cleaning solution. For a deeper clean, run the machine's cleaning cycle once or twice to rid the lines of buildup. The run another cleaning cycle with only water to flush it out. How long does an an ice maker take to make ice? Most automatic ice makers we tested start making ice in about 12 minutes but take a full hour or longer to make a full batch. The larger models took longer to fill the bucket with ice. How much ice do ice makers make? Most of the ice makers we tested hold between 2.5 and 3 pounds of ice, enough for 8 to 12 drinks. The smaller, more budget-friendly machines hold closer to 1 pound.
CNET
13 hours ago
- CNET
Confused About Student Loans? As a Student Loan Expert, Here Are My Top Tips for Taking Control of Your Debt
Regardless of your situation, there are ways to take charge of your student loans. Getty Images/Zooey Liao/CNET Student loan policies have changed swiftly over the past year. After a five-year payment pause, it's understandable if you're not sure what's happening with your student loans. Between a barrage of news about the end of the Saving on a Valuable Education plan and the ramp-up of wage garnishment efforts, there's a lot to keep track of. I get it. I'm a student loan policy expert who's worked in the industry for more than 15 years, so I know the past few years have been trying for borrowers. It's easy to feel like everything happening with student loans is out of your hands. There's still time for you to take charge of your student loans, and you don't need to let it all overwhelm you. Follow my six recommendations to get yourself back on track and in control. Read more: SAVE Student Loan Borrowers Likely Won't Make Payments This Year, but Should Do This One Thing Now Find out your student loan balance Do you know how much you owe in total on your student loans? It's a question that many borrowers can't answer when I ask them. You might have an idea (or think you do). But it's important to check, especially if you think you may be behind on your payments. Many borrowers I've worked with are surprised to find they owe more than they initially borrowed when it's time to start repayment. This is because most loans, except subsidized ones, begin accruing interest from the moment they are disbursed. Outstanding interest, which has not been capitalized or added to your loan, is listed separately from the principal balance. To fully understand your loan balance, it's important to carefully review your statements. If you know who your student loan servicer is, you can log into your online account to check your balance. If you're not sure, you can find out by logging into your Federal Student Aid account and visiting the My Aid page. Read more: 5 Ways to Pay Off Your Student Loans Even Faster Plan to restart payments If you are enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan, your loans have been in an administrative forbearance since summer 2024 due to the plan's legal challenges. You haven't been able to make payments, and your interest rate has been set to zero. This payment hold is temporary and could end soon. It's a good idea to explore other income-driven repayment plans so you can plan for your new monthly payment. You can use the US Department of Education's Loan Simulator to estimate your payments and check eligibility for specific plans. Read more: My Student Loan Payment Will Jump From $0 to $488 After SAVE Ends. Yours Might Too Earning less? Recertify your income A lot has changed since the first administrative forbearance in 2020, and if you're facing financial hardship or making less money than you were five years ago, you may want to apply to have your income recertified to potentially lower your student loan payment if you're on an income-driven repayment plan. To recertify your income, visit IDR application page and select "Recertify or Change Your Income-Driven Repayment Plan." Apply for the PSLF buyback program now, if you're eligible The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers debt cancellation for teachers, nurses and other public service employees who work in a qualifying job for 10 years and make 120 payments on their loans. If you're enrolled in SAVE and were close to reaching your 120 total payments, the recent payment pause may have delayed your forgiveness. In this case, you might benefit from the PSLF buyback program. The PSLF buyback program lets you "buy back" months where your loans sat on hold during a forbearance period -- but only if doing so brings you to 120 total payments. For example, let's say you had already made 115 qualifying payments before your loan entered the SAVE Plan forbearance. You could apply for the PSLF buyback program to buy back five of the months where your loans were in forbearance to reach the 120-payment requirement. You'll apply for the program online, and once approved, you'll have 90 days to pay off what you owe for the number of months you buy back. So, if your monthly payment was $100, you'd need to pay $500 to receive forgiveness. You'll also need to make sure you meet all other PSLF eligibility criteria, such as working for a qualifying employer and having the correct loan type. If you think you're eligible and want to confirm your payment count, you can find qualifying payment amounts in your account. Expert tip: Note: Many borrowers have been waiting to find out the status of their PSLF buyback request, but it's still worth applying if you meet the requirements. Read more: More Student Loan Forgiveness Is on the Way for PSLF Borrowers. What's Next for Debt Relief? Pay off your interest while you're in school If you're still in college, your student loans likely haven't entered repayment yet. While it's difficult to predict what repayment options will be available in the future, there are proactive steps you can take now. One recommendation is to pay off any interest that accrues while you're still in school. Even small contributions can help reduce the overall cost of your loans in the long run. If your federal student loan hasn't yet entered repayment, you won't be eligible to enroll in a repayment plan. Repayment starts six months after graduation or if your enrollment drops below half-time, unless you enroll in another program, like graduate school, before the grace period ends. Read more: What's the Future of Student Loans and FAFSA if the Department of Education Goes Under? Don't count on student loan forgiveness Many borrowers have turned to income-driven repayment plans to reduce their monthly payments and potentially qualify for student loan forgiveness. However, forgiveness is not guaranteed, especially as legal challenges continue to threaten SAVE and some of the other IDR repayment plans. Programs like PSLF and forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment Plan carry less risk, since they would require congressional action to be altered or eliminated. That said, it's always wise to plan for full repayment of your student loans, regardless of any current potential forgiveness opportunities.
CNET
21 hours ago
- CNET
Ahead of WWDC 2025, These 6 Apple Intelligence Are the Ones I've Embraced
I'm looking forward to what Apple announces at WWDC 2025, specifically how it's going to improve Apple Intelligence in the face of competition from Google Gemini and every other AI service clambering for dominance. Of the features Apple has rolled out over the past year, several have rolled into my daily iPhone and Mac use. CNET I sat down to figure out just which of the current Apple Intelligence features I actually use. They aren't necessarily the showy ones, like Image Playground, but ones that help in small, significant ways. Admittedly, Apple Intelligence has gotten off to a rocky start, from misleading message summaries to delayed Siri improvements but the AI tech is far from being a bust. If you have a compatible iPhone -- an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16E, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro (or their Plus and Max variants) -- I want to share six features that I'm turning to nearly every day. More features will be added as time goes on -- and keep in mind that Apple Intelligence is still officially beta software -- but this is where Apple is starting its AI age. On the other hand: Are you not impressed with Apple Intelligence or want to wait until the tools evolve more before using them? You can easily turn off Apple Intelligence entirely or use a smaller subset of features. Get alerted to priority notifications This feature arrived only recently, but it's become one of my favorites. When a notification arrives that seems like it could be more important than others, Prioritize Notifications pops it to the top of the notification list on the lock screen (with a colorful Apple Intelligence shimmer, of course). In my experience so far, those include weather alerts, texts from people I regularly communicate with and email messages that contain calls to action or impending deadlines. To enable it, go to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and then turn the option on. You can also enable or disable priority alerts from individual apps from the same screen. You're relying on the AI algorithms to decide what gets elevated to a priority -- but it seems to be off to a good start. Apple Intelligence can prioritize notifications to grab your attention. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET Summaries bring TL;DR to your correspondence In an era with so many demands on our attention and seemingly less time to dig into longer topics … Sorry, what was I saying? Oh, right: How often have you wanted a "too long; didn't read" version of not just long emails but the fire hose of communication that blasts your way? The ability to summarize notifications, Mail messages and web pages is perhaps the most pervasive and least intrusive feature of Apple Intelligence so far. When a notification arrives, such as a text from a friend or group in Messages, the iPhone creates a short, single-sentence summary. Apple Intelligence summarized two text messages. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET Sometimes summaries are vague and sometimes they're unintentionally funny but so far I've found them to be more helpful than not. Summaries can also be generated from alerts by third-party apps like news or social media apps -- although I suspect that my outdoor security camera is picking up multiple passersby over time and not telling me that 10 people are stacked by the door. Nobody told me there's a party at my house. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET That said, Apple Intelligence definitely doesn't understand sarcasm or colloquialisms -- you can turn summaries off if you prefer. You can also generate a longer summary of emails in the Mail app: Tap the Summarize button at the top of a message to view a rundown of the contents in a few dozen words. In Safari, when viewing a page where the Reader feature is available, tap the Page Menu button in the address bar, tap Show Reader and then tap the Summary button at the top of the page. Summarize long articles in Safari in the Reader interface. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET Siri gets a glow-up and better interaction I was amused during the iOS 18 and the iPhone 16 releases that the main visual indicator of Apple Intelligence -- the full-screen, color-at-the-edges Siri animation -- was noticeably missing. Apple even lit up the edges of the massive glass cube of its Apple Fifth Avenue Store in New York City like a Siri search. Instead, iOS 18 used the same-old Siri sphere. Now, the modern Siri look has arrived as of iOS 18.1, but only on devices that support Apple Intelligence. If you're wondering why you're still seeing the old interface, I can recommend some steps to turn on the new experience. Siri under Apple Intelligence looks like a multicolor halo around the edges. James Martin/CNET With the new look are a few Siri interaction improvements: It's more forgiving if you stumble through a query, like saying the wrong word or interrupting yourself mid-thought. It's also better about listening after delivering results, so you can ask related followup questions. However, the ability to personalize answers based on what Apple Intelligence knows about you is still down the road. What did appear, as of iOS 18.2, was integration of ChatGPT, which you can now use as an alternate source of information. For some queries, if Siri doesn't have the answer right away, you're asked if you'd like to use ChatGPT instead. You don't need a ChatGPT account to take advantage of this (but if you do have one, you can sign in). Invoke Siri silently without triggering everyone else's devices Perhaps my favorite new Siri feature is the ability to bring up the assistant without saying the words "Hey Siri" out loud. In my house, where I have HomePods and my family members use their own iPhones and iPads, I never know which device is going to answer my call (even though they're supposed to be smart enough to work it out). Plus, honestly, even after all this time I'm not always comfortable talking to my phone -- especially in public. It's annoying enough when people carry on phone conversations on speaker, I don't want to add to the hubbub by making Siri requests. Instead, I turn to a new feature called Tap to Siri. Double-tap the bottom edge of the screen on the iPhone or iPad to bring up the Siri search bar and the onscreen keyboard. Double-tap the bar at the bottom of the screen to bring up a voice-free Siri search. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET On a Mac, go to System Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and choose a key combination under Keyboard shortcut, such as Press Either Command Key Twice. Yes, this involves more typing work than just speaking conversationally, but I can enter more specific queries and not wonder if my robot friend is understanding what I'm saying. Remove distractions from your pictures using Clean Up in the Photos app Until iOS 18.1, the Photos app on the iPhone and iPad lacked a simple retouch feature. Dust on the camera lens? Litter on the ground? Sorry, you need to deal with those and other distractions in the Photos app on MacOS or using a third-party app. Now Apple Intelligence includes Clean Up, an AI-enhanced removal tool, in the Photos app. When you edit an image and tap the Clean Up button, the iPhone analyzes the photo and suggests potential items to remove by highlighting them. Tap one or draw a circle around an area -- the app erases those areas and uses generative AI to fill in plausible pixels. Remove distractions in the Photos app using Clean Up. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET In this first incarnation, Clean Up isn't perfect and you'll often get better results in other dedicated image editors. But for quickly removing annoyances from photos, it's fine. Stay on task with the AI-boosted Reduce Interruptions Focus mode Focus modes on the iPhone can be enormously helpful, such as turning on Do Not Disturb to insulate yourself from outside distractions. You can also create personalized Focus modes. For example, my Podcast Recording mode blocks outside notifications except from a handful of people during scheduled recording times. With Apple Intelligence enabled, a new Reduce Interruptions Focus mode is available. When active, it becomes a smarter filter for what gets past the wall holding back superfluous notifications. Even things that are not specified in your criteria for allowed notifications, such as specific people, might pop up. On my iPhone, for instance, that can include weather alerts or texts from my bank when a large purchase or funds transfer has occurred. To enable it, open Control Center, tap the Focus button and choose Reduce Interruptions. The Reduce Interruptions Focus mode (left) intelligently filters possible distractions. Turn it on in Control Center (middle). When something comes in that might need your attention, it shows up as a notification marked Maybe Important (right). Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET For more on Apple Intelligence features, check out how to create Genmoji, how to use Image Wand and, if you want to scale things back, how to disable select Apple Intelligence features.
