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Michael Burkhardt

mbrkhrdt

Michael is 9to5Mac’s Associate Editor, leading all of our Apple news coverage on Saturday and Sunday, and contributing to reporting from Monday to Wednesday. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer in his free time, and started the weekly Indie App Spotlight series, which has covered dozens of indie apps since it launched.

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Connect with Michael Burkhardt

This new macOS Tahoe feature solves a common Mac complaint

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With macOS 26 Tahoe this year, Apple introduced a new Control Center. Of course, it implements the new Liquid Glass design seen across the entire ecosystem, but it also brings a brand new feature to the Mac for the first time: third-party integrations.

That, on its own, is a big deal, and was a greatly appreciated feature of iOS 18 last year. However, it has an even bigger implication for the Mac.

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Indie App Spotlight: ‘Coffee in the Sun’ helps you find an ideal outdoor spot to hang

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.


If you’re trying to find an ideal spot outdoors, whether that be a coffee shop, bar, or restaurant – but want to know whether or not it’ll be in the sun or shade, Coffee in the Sun is the premier app for you. It’s a vibe coded app, but it certainly works well – and the developer put an adequate amount of effort into crafting it.

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Indie App Spotlight: ‘ClosetLog’ helps you manage your wardrobe in a smarter way

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.


ClosetLog provides you with all of the information you need to know about your wardrobe, and helps you make better decisions on what you should wear. It’s a useful little tool, and helps you balance what you’re wearing on a day-to-day basis.

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I’m not typically an iPad fan, but the M4 iPad Pro changed my mind

For the longest time, I had believed that purchasing a new iPad at full price never made any sort of sense. Ultimately, you’re paying more than an equivalently spec’d MacBook, for less capability. It always felt like iPadOS was the key limiting factor for the iPad, not the hardware.

However, I’ve now owned an M4 iPad Pro for nearly a year, and I can confidently say it’s changed how I feel towards iPads. And that’s before factoring in all of the great new features in iPadOS 26.

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iPad Air vs reMarkable Paper Pro: Which tablet is best for note taking? [Updated]

Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of testing out the reMarkable Paper Pro. You can read my full review here, but in short, it gets everything right about the note taking experience.

Despite being an e-ink tablet, it does get quite pricey. However, there are certainly some fantastic parts of the experience that make it worth comparing to an iPad Air, depending on what you’re looking for in a note taking device for school, work, or whatever else.

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Indie App Spotlight: ‘Queue’ makes it easier to keep in touch with everyone in your life

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.


Keeping up with all of the people in your life can be hard. Queue is a simple app that helps you be better at that. It’s like a personal CRM, but for all of the people in your life.

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Vision Pro

Xcode 26 beta includes new ‘Apple Vision Pro 4K’ simulator

Apple held its WWDC25 keynote yesterday, where it announced a new suite of software updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS – all under the new version numbering umbrella of ’26’. A new suite of OS releases comes with a new version of Xcode, which also falls under the new 26 naming umbrella.

In the first beta of Xcode 26, the developer tool used to build apps for these new operating systems, Apple now includes a new ‘Vision Pro 4K’ simulator.

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Father’s Day Gift Guide: Five great Apple products you can pick up for your Dad

Father’s Day is around the corner, and if you’re looking to pick up an Apple gift for your dad this year – I’ve got a number of great recommendations that won’t quite break the bank. Despite not being Black Friday, there are still a number of noteworthy deals at this time of year – all of which offer Prime delivery and will arrive with plenty of time to spare.

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Review: ELO Vagabond is a great full-size game controller for your iPhone or iPad mini

With the recent re-launch of Fortnite on iOS and Apple’s rumored new gaming app for iOS 26 – now is a better time than ever to pick up a game controller for your iPhone. I’ve been testing out the ELO Vagabond for quite some time, and it’s certainly a compelling offering. It also supports iPad mini, if a handheld gaming experience on a larger display is up your alley.

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Indie App Spotlight: ‘Pill Buddy’ is a really fun way to keep track of your medicines

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.


Have you ever wanted a medicine tracker that keeps you motivated, is interactive, and fun to use? Pill Buddy is the answer for you. Designed by a former Duolingo Product Manager, Pill Buddy truly encapsulates everything engaging and applies it to yet another pesky chore: medicine.

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Here are three fantastic iCloud+ features you might not be taking advantage of

In more recent years, Apple has introduced a number of interesting and privacy-preserving features for iCloud subscribers. It even rebranded its subscription to iCloud+ around the launch of these new features, highlighting the fact that iCloud is more than just a storage subscription.

If you’re a more privacy-conscious person, you should definitely make sure you’re taking full advantage of the three features mentioned below.

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It’s time for Apple to re-introduce this long discontinued macOS feature

Back from 2005 to 2009, Apple used to have a neat little software feature called ‘Front Row’. It essentially allowed you to utilize an Apple TV remote with your Mac, and take advantage of a unique software interface for watching content. It didn’t last very long, but I think now could be a pretty unique time to reintroduce it.

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