Anthropic has rolled out background computer use for Claude on macOS, available to Pro and Max subscribers through Claude Code and Claude Cowork. The feature lets Claude click, type, and operate applications on a user's desktop without taking over the visible cursor, so people can keep working on something else while it runs.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-02
Apple emailed developers announcing that universal macOS apps requiring macOS 13 or later can now be built as arm64-only, removing Intel compatibility. Developers must update build settings to arm64 and resubmit; Intel Mac users can still use the last compatible version of an app they already have.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-02
A new macOS Safari extension called Weedout removes videos that YouTube has tagged with its "Made with AI" disclosure badge from a user's home feed, search results, related videos, playlists and Shorts. The tool costs $1.99 as a one-time purchase, requires macOS 13 or later, and runs entirely locally without collecting user data.
masteranza.github.io
· 2026-09-01
A new open-source tool called slotstream enables Apple Silicon Macs to run the 104GB Qwen3.8-Flash-Next language model even when the machine doesn't have enough RAM to hold it, by streaming weights from disk and dynamically sizing memory use, down to an 8.1GB floor. On a 48GB Mac it delivers about 12 tokens per second in warm decode with a roughly 3-second cold start, capping memory use at 32GB so the rest of the system stays usable. It requires macOS 14+, Apple Silicon, and about 110GB of free disk space for the one-time weight download.
github.com
· 2026-09-01
Safari in macOS 27 can automatically sort open tabs into topic-based groups using on-device AI, accessible via Safari's Tabs settings under 'Organize Tabs.' Users can choose 'Automatically Create Topics' for fully automated grouping or 'Show Related Tabs' for suggestions they approve manually.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-01
9to5Mac's Security Bite podcast hosted Patrick Wardle of Objective-See and Kseniia Yamburh of Moonlock Lab for a discussion on recent changes Apple has made to its bug bounty program. The episode is the first of a two-part series, with the second installment set to cover the current macOS threat landscape and the upcoming Objective by the Sea security conference.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-01
Darling is an open-source translation layer, comparable to Wine for Windows, that allows macOS software to run on Linux systems. Built on Apple's freely released Darwin source code along with components from The Cocotron and GNUstep, it now offers basic experimental support for graphical applications and can also run under Windows via WSL 2.
darlinghq.org
· 2026-08-31
Apple has issued the eighth developer beta of macOS 27 Golden Gate, continuing its weekly test cycle ahead of the operating system's public launch. This build appears focused mainly on bug fixes and performance tweaks rather than new visible features, following earlier betas that introduced redesigned Liquid Glass-style traffic light controls.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-08-31
Developers are building ravynOS, a pre-alpha open-source operating system combining FreeBSD, Darwin, and Apple's open-source components. The project aims to replicate the look, feel, and app compatibility of macOS while running on general-purpose hardware without Apple's restrictions.
ravynos.com
· 2026-08-31
A new open-source project called vphone-cli lets developers create and run a virtual iPhone on Apple Silicon Macs running macOS Sequoia, using Apple's Virtualization.framework alongside infrastructure derived from Apple's Private Cloud Compute research VM setup. The tool automates the full pipeline of downloading IPSW firmware, patching the boot chain, restoring via DFU mode, installing a custom firmware variant, and launching the resulting virtual device, with commands also available to manage, clone, export, and import VM instances.
github.com
· 2026-08-28
EasyEffects is a Linux application that taps into the PipeWire audio system to apply real-time sound processing—equalization, compression, bass enhancement, limiting and more—to a laptop's built-in speakers. Because it works directly with the audio streams entering and leaving the system, users can noticeably improve the thin, tinny sound typical of laptop speakers without buying external hardware. The tool bundles plugins from projects like Calf Studio Gear, MDA.LV2 and GStreamer with adjustable presets, all managed through one interface instead of separate mixers or command-line scripts.
osnews.com
· 2026-08-28
FnScribe is a new open-source macOS menu-bar app that transcribes speech locally on the device and inserts text directly into whatever app is focused. Users trigger it with a push-to-talk shortcut (the fn/Globe key) or a hands-free mode, and it includes smart cleanup features like filler-word removal, punctuation commands, list formatting, and voice-based correction phrases like 'scratch that.'
github.com
· 2026-08-28