Technology

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards was held on Monday night, honouring some of television's biggest stars and most talked-about shows from the past year.

SEE ALSO: 'South Park' creators troll Trump after Emmys win

Going into the night, The Pitt had plenty of chances to add to its trophy collection with an impressive 25 nominations across both tonight's ceremony and the Creative Arts Emmy awards presented earlier this month. Though the medical drama had enough supporting cast nominations to keep the hospital busy, it ultimately took home two Emmys on Monday. The Pitt's sole acting Emmy went to Noah Wyle for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, while it also won the award for Outstanding Drama Series, beating stiff competition from other contenders such as Pluribus, The Gilded Age, and Slow Horses.

Close behind The Pitt in the nominations was Hacks, whose 24 nods set a new single-year record for a comedy. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder were both back in contention, with the series also competing for Outstanding Comedy Series, writing, and directing. Even so, Smart's trophy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy was Hacks' only Emmy win for the night.

Rather, it was newcomer Widow's Bay that beat out Hacks for Outstanding Comedy Series, coming out on top of a lineup that also included The Bear and Shrinking. Widow's Bay ultimately swept the ceremony, snagging the most Emmys of the night with six. These included the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Matthew Rhys, and both Outstanding Supporting Actress and Actor awards for Kate O'Flynn and Stephen Root respectively.

The limited or anthology series race was another one to watch. Though All Her Fault, The Beast in Me, Beef, and Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette were all in competition for the trophy, it was DTF St. Louis, that took home the prize.

Below are all the nominees in the categories presented tonight. Winners are bolded.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Wonder Man

Steve Carell, Rooster

Matthew Rhys, Widow's Bay [WINNER]

Jason Segel, Shrinking

Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

Elle Fanning, Margo's Got Money Troubles

Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback

Jean Smart, Hacks [WINNER]

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Taylor Dearden, The Pitt

Fiona Dourif, The Pitt

Allison Janney, The Diplomat [WINNER]

Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt

Sepideh Moafi, The Pitt

Julianne Nicholson, Paradise

Karolina Wydra, Pluribus

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Patrick Ball, The Pitt

Billy Crudup, The Morning Show

Shawn Hatosy, The Pitt

Gerran Howell, The Pitt

Jack Lowden, Slow Horses

Tom Pelphrey, Task [WINNER]

Carlos-Manuel Vesga, Pluribus

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age

Chase Infiniti, The Testaments

Keri Russell, The Diplomat

Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus [WINNER]

Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Dale Dickey, Widow’s Bay

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

Janelle James, Abbott Elementary

Kate O'Flynn, Widow's Bay [WINNER]

Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo’s Got Money Troubles

Megan Stalter, Hacks

Jessica Williams, Shrinking

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

Dancing With the Stars

RuPaul's Drag Race

Survivor

Top Chef

The Traitors [WINNER]

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons

Paul W. Downs, Hacks

Harrison Ford, Shrinking

Nick Offerman, Margo's Got Money Troubles

Stephen Root, Widow's Bay [WINNER]

Michael Urie, Shrinking

Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Randall Einhorn, Abbott Elementary

Christopher Storer, The Bear

Andrew DeYoung, The Chair Company

Lucia Aniello, Hacks

Mary Lou Belli, The Ms. Pat Show

Hiro Murai, Widow's Bay [WINNER]

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

Salli Richardson-Whitfield, The Gilded Age

Hanelle M. Culpepper, Paradise

Noah Wyle, The Pitt

Vince Gilligan, Pluribus

Saul Metzstein, Slow Horses [WINNER]

Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Task

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

Peter Ackerman and Debora Cahn, The Diplomat, “Amagansett”

Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman and R. Scott Gemmill, The Pitt, “1:00 P.M.”

Valerie Chu, The Pitt, “12:00 P.M.”

Vince Gilligan, Pluribus, “We Is Us” [WINNER]

Will Smith, Slow Horses, “Scars”

Brad Ingelsby, Task, “A Still Small Voice”

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin, The Chair Company

Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback

Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky, Hacks

Anthony King, Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat

Katie Dippold, Widow's Bay [WINNER]

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Claire Danes, The Beast in Me

Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures [WINNER]

Carey Mulligan, Beef

Sarah Pidgeon, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette

Sarah Snook, All Her Fault

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Riz Ahmed, Bait

Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit

Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story

Oscar Isaac, Beef

Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me [WINNER]

Outstanding Variety Series

The Daily Show

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert [WINNER]

Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

All Her Fault

The Beast in Me

Beef

DTF St. Louis [WINNER]

Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette

Outstanding Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary

The Bear

Hacks

Margo's Got Money Troubles

Nobody Wants This

Only Murders in the Building

Shrinking

Widow's Bay [WINNER]

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise

Gary Oldman, Slow Horses

Mark Ruffalo, Task

Rufus Sewell, The Diplomat

Noah Wyle, The Pitt [WINNER]

Outstanding Drama Series

The Diplomat

The Gilded Age

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Paradise

The Pitt [WINNER]

Pluribus

Slow Horses

Your Friends & Neighbors

Your laptop had a full charge at the start of the day, but by noon, you're reaching for the outlet to refill the battery. The battery percentage kept dropping even though you didn’t stream anything or run a demanding task. That’s because Windows 11 isn’t sitting idle while you work. In the background, a quiet parade of apps, services, and sync routines run constantly in the background — none of which you ever asked for. The good news is that you can stop most of them.

Knowing where you actually are can sometimes be a problem when you're traveling. But that drawer phone gathering dust can outperform a purpose-built GPS unit, for the price of an app and a little setup time.

With so much music on streaming services, and more and more being added daily, it's not always easy to find music I really love among the millions of tracks. I use a cheap ESP32 board to make the process much easier.

A quick look at the Paramount+ top 10 rankings tells you everything you need to know about what movie lovers hold as a priority when it comes to choosing something to watch. The supernatural horror Passenger is still sitting at the top of the list, and Joe Dirt (which we covered last week) is in the top 5—two movies that have nothing in common other than the fact that they both have appalling Rotten Tomatoes scores. People like what they like.

Switching to Ethernet was simultaneously the best and the cheapest network upgrade I've ever gotten. Simply ditching Wi-Fi for a cable is fantastic, and in most cases, it improves your connection tremendously.

Linux has changed dramatically since the early days of the kernel. Desktops have gone from X11 environments with primitive window managers to polished graphical shells. Containers, cloud computing, virtualization, and immutable operating systems have transformed how people deploy Linux. Even the hardware running Linux today would have seemed extraordinary to many of its earliest users.

The unstoppable rise of foldables has slowed the homogenization of smartphones with new form factors and designs, but early in the foldable era, dual-screen smartphones (two separate displays connected by a hinge) seemed like an alternative to traditional slabs.

Among my most anticipated movies of the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival was Theo Rhys' feature directorial debut, Stuffed. Many might be intrigued by the cast, which pairs Killing Eve's Jodie Comer with Pillion's Harry Melling. Some might be curious about its logline: An isolated taxidermist seeks a willing volunteer to be her greatest piece yet, and finds a lonely man desperate to be remembered. 

For me, Rhys hooked me back in 2021 with his short film, also titled "Stuffed," which he expands here. Five years ago, I was a jury member for the Midnight shorts section of SXSW and was absolutely enchanted by Rhys' 19-minute film, which not only blended romance and horror but was also a musical. I am proud to be part of the committee that awarded it a special honor at the festival, and I squealed with excitement to see he'd finally built it out into a feature. But how did this expanded version go over? Divisively. 

At the press and marketing screening, folks walked out throughout Stuffed, which is not uncommon at a festival, where attendees have many different reasons to give a film a go. But the pronounced flock who fled after a close-up of a dead poodle being flayed suggested that Rhys' musical was too much for some. I experienced this spectrum firsthand: On my left, a fellow critic howled with laughter throughout the darkly funny film, while on my right, a stranger frequently covered his eyes, letting out low groans. 

As for me, I was elated to see Rhys' vision come to life, even if the results were at times more scrappy than sensational. 

SEE ALSO: How It Hits: Are horror musicals the future? Stuffed is a tale of strange love. 

Blessed is the Harry Melling, who between Pillion, Please Baby Please, and Stuffed, has become an icon of offbeat (and sexy) love stories. In each of these stories, he plays a submissive man, eager to be loved by a domineering partner, on whatever terms they demand. Pillion explored this through BDSM sex in a leather-daddy biker subculture; Please Baby Please did it through genderplay. Stuffed is less tied to kink and sex play, and more to the stuff of Sweeney Todd, minus the murder. 

With a nest of untamed dark curls and a penchant for goth fashion, Comer's Araminta recalls Helena Bonham Carter's Mrs. Lovett from Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. Likewise, her high, birdlike singing voice echoes the choices in Angela Lansbury's filmed performance of the same role ("The worst pies in London!") However, Araminta is no killer or co-conspirator. And she’s not played as broadly comedic. 

Instead, Rhys gives Comer the space to make Araminta into a passionate, grubby misfit. The nearby townsfolk  spread malicious rumors about her, and hate the "meat" debris she pitches into the trash bins, as its stench attracts rats. But inside her home, Araminta has made a creepy-cozy sanctuary, dappled with shadows but populated by her taxidermied critters. In her sitting room stand a full-sized doe, a stuffed pig, a cat, ducklings, and on and on. Through song, she soulfully explains how reconstructing these creatures means they are not gone, but "remain…still." 

By contrast, Bernie (Melling) lives a life where no one notices him, no matter how hard he might try. Rhys smartly establishes this factory worker in a warehouse so bland and absurd that a huge, rusted metal vat reads "Mayonnaise." A conveyor belt is lined with bored workers assembling sandwiches without a word of conversation. And Bernie tries desperately to make a connection. His only friend is his mother, who is fading away in a retirement home, her memories ravaged by dementia.

An opening song features a spirited chorus of elderly residents facing their approaching deaths, singing about how they're certain to be remembered, either for their work or their families. Then a chorus sings in a hilarious round about being remembered because, "I ran a marathon." 

It's the collision of theatrical musical boldness with winking absurdity that makes Stuffed a marvel. Rhys — and co-writer Joss Holden-Rhea — expertly use the form to give a big voice to introverts and misfits who share their inner lives with no one (or no one living). So each song that Bernie and Araminta sing is an exploration of yearning, vulnerability, and ultimately intimacy. As they move from singing solos to singing together, their bond blossoms. And that's their problem. 

They get together so that Bernie can die and become Araminta's taxidermied masterpiece. But as they fall in love, he wants to live with her, not die for her. He also wants to give her what she wants: his corpse. So what can love look like for them? In this exploration, Rhys refuses to judge his oddball lovers and creates a film that is grisly, funny, and uniquely romantic. 

Stuffed struggles in spectacle. 

Melling and Comer are terrific in Stuffed, bringing sincerity and texture to these roles of ghastly yet lovable losers. Early on, their songs feel held close to their chests, like a breath that could crack open their ribs. But as love blossoms, Bernie embraces a "bold" new self  through Araminta's encouragement. Like in Pillion, he gets a makeover that rejects blending in with the so-called normal folk. And ultimately, he'll find his voice in a comedically beguiling sequence. 

For her part, Comer blossoms in love as her posture shifts from a protective hunch to an open-chested stride. Their performances beautifully encapsulate the transformative power of love without ever rejecting Rhys' determinedly bizarre world. 

Where Stuffed underwhelms is in its production value. While the singing is big, distinctive, and beautiful, the film yearns for choreography and cinematography that can match it. The production design and costumes deftly create a compelling realm for this romance, reflecting the rot and wonder of death and life. But you can feel the low budget in the dearth of dancing or wide shots that might explore the potential physicality of these numbers. The close-ups, while effective, become a bit one-note visually. Still, for as weird and macabre as this musical gets, Stuffed feels like a miracle for existing at all.

It won't be the next horror musical to break box office records. (Hello, Sinners.) But this gnarly wonder is certain to find a cult following that will love it, warts and all. And I can't think of a more fitting fate for a film that sings that true love means exactly that. 

Stuffed was reviewed out of the Toronto International Film Festival. 

Apple officially released macOS 27 Golden Gate on Sept. 14, and the operating system update finally brings the new Siri AI experience to Mac devices.

Apple announced macOS 27 Golden Gate at WWDC in June, and the developer beta has been available for months. So, while the new OS doesn't come with any huge surprises, it does bring users upgrades both large and small.

If you have a Mac device that supports the new macOS and Siri AI, then here are the top features we'd recommend trying after you update.

Siri AI Credit: Apple

We have to start with the headline news: You can finally try the new and improved Siri AI, powered by Google Gemini. Apple explained how the new Siri will work at WWDC, and the company has emphasized that its new cloud-based private cloud compute platform will provide high levels of privacy.

Siri now comes in a standalone app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users, and the smart assistant will be integrated across the user experience.

The new Siri can:

• Generate text, make writing and editing suggestions, and write and send emails

• Analyze what your camera sees to identify objects or provide context using visual intelligence

• Answer questions or take action based on the user’s screen using on-screen awareness

• Access a wide range of apps to find information, take action, and answer user questions

• Remember your conversations and prompts in the new dedicated Siri app

Users can also customize Siri's voice to be more expressive and can change the pitch, tone, and pacing of the assistant's voice.

Change the Siri voice's pitch, speed, tone, and accent. Credit: Apple Siri can now take actions across a wide range of apps Credit: Apple New photo editing tools, including Spatial Reframing

Spatial Reframing is one of the cooler new AI tools revealed at WWDC. This tool allows users to adjust the angle of photos after they've been taken. It's just one of the new AI photo editing capabilities that arrive with macOS 27.

In the Photos app, users can also clean up and extend photos in new ways.

Credit: Apple New child safety and parental controls

Do any kids or teenagers in your house use a Mac, or maybe a MacBook Neo? Apple has added new parental controls to macOS 27 Golden Gate.

Credit: Apple

For example, by going to "Family" in the "Settings" menu, parents can now set a screen-time schedule. And to help make informed decisions, parents can also access a quick view of their kids’ average device usage and the top apps they use.

Parents can also get automatic messages when their kids want to access a new website via a new tool called Ask to Browse.

Learn more at Apple's parent safety website.

Group tabs in Safari Credit: Apple

Are you the type of person who always has about 30 different tabs going at once? Now, there's a better way to organize all those tabs.

You can now organize your tabs into groups such as "Vacation planning" or "Work stuff."

Describe a Shortcut

Shortcuts is probably one of the most underappreciated Apple software tools. Using a Shortcut, you can automate certain workflows and actions. For example, you can set up a shortcut that automatically edits and resizes photos once they're added to a specific folder.

The reason Shortcuts are underutilized? They're tricky to set up if you're not a tech person. However, now you can let Siri AI and macOS set up the shortcut for you with Describe a Shortcut. Simply describe the kind of Shortcut you have in mind, and let the OS do the rest.

An improved Maps experience

According to Apple, you'll be able to see even more details and information in Maps. For example, "Flyover now uses aerial imagery combined with Visual Intelligence models to render everything from architectural fixtures to the shapes of individual trees in stunning, sharp detail."

General system improvements Visual Intelligence with Siri AI in macOS 27 Golden Gate Credit: Apple

This one's a bit tricky to appreciate right away, but all new operating systems bring little refinements and improvements to the overall user experience — at least, in theory. Apple promises that macOS 27 Golden Gate will provide users with faster AirDrop transfers, faster file browsing, and faster loading times for apps and websites.

Refinements to Liquid Glass should also fix some of the visibility problems that sometimes occurred in iOS 26 and macOS 26.

Future updates coming to macOS 27

Apple has also announced some features that will be released in later versions of the OS, such as:

• Suggestions: Messages and Mail will soon offer suggestions to take quick actions based on context clues, such as attaching a photo or pulling in flight information.

• Fix passwords with a click: "The Passwords app alerts you to weak or compromised passwords and can update them on your behalf without the hassle."

What devices support macOS 27?

Apple says macOS 27 Golden Gate is available for the following devices:

• MacBook Neo (2026)

• MacBook Air with Apple silicon (2020 and later)

• MacBook Pro with Apple silicon (2020 and later)

• iMac with Apple silicon (2021 and later)

• Mac mini with Apple silicon (2020 and later)

• Mac Studio (2022 and later)

• Mac Pro with Apple silicon (2023)

Preorder the new Apple products

Along with iOS 27, Apple also released new AirPods, Apple Watches, and iPhones. Except for the iPhone Duo, all of these devices are available for preorder now.

Apple AirPods 5 earbuds $124.99 at Amazon
  See It at Amazon See It at Apple.com See It at Walmart Apple Watch Series 12 (GPS, 42mm) $399 at Amazon
  See It at Amazon See It at Best Buy See It at Walmart Apple iPhone 18 Pro, 256GB Save up to $1,200 at T-Mobile
  See It at T-Mobile See It at AT&T Wireless See It at Walmart iPhone 18 Pro Max, 256GB Save up to $1,200 at T-Mobile
  See It at T-Mobile See It at Apple.com See It at Walmart

Linux on desktop systems is in a great place right now. Whatever desktop system you have, you can probably slap a Linux distro of your choice on it right now, and have few if any issues.

It's no secret that Milwaukee makes some of the best power tools, but buying into Team Red isn't as straightforward as it appears. The initial sticker price is only part of the story, and everything that comes after will inevitably cost a lot more.

Meta's $17 billion settlement is a fence around a mile-deep hole at a playground. Fewer kids fall in on the way to the swings, but the hole is still there.

Full wins are rare in the fight for online child safety. What families mostly get are half-wins like a settlement instead of a verdict, a design mandate not turned on by default, or a check that is a rounding error relative to a company's annual revenue. Half-wins are still worth having. But they carry a cost that clean victories don't: because a half-win is contestable, advocates don't get to just win it. They have to keep re-arguing that it counts, in public, indefinitely, using the same personal cost that got them into the fight in the first place.

I watched that cost get paid in real-time outside the federal courthouse in Oakland when survivor parents — Lori Schott, Shannon Heacock, Erin Popolo, Julianna Arnold, Mary Rodee, Victoria Hinks, Paul Hinks — stood in front of a wall of cameras and talked about the worst moment of their lives, again, for an audience that will mostly remember a 10-second clip and a dollar figure. Joining them were young people who didn't have to be there, standing beside them in solidarity.

SEE ALSO: Is Meta finally backing a federal kids safety bill, or is it all PR?

None of that shows up in a settlement figure. It's not a line item. It's not even really visible in most coverage of the case, because the story is "Meta settles," not "here is what it takes to make Meta settle."

I grew up in front of cameras, and I know the instinct they train into you: get small, get careful, hand over the version of yourself that's easiest to broadcast. What that experience taught me is that visibility is not a neutral cost. Every time a parent goes back on camera to describe how their kid died, or a young survivor stands in a plaza holding a photo instead of being anywhere else, they're paying something the settlement itself will never account for.

Meta's $17 billion figure has line items for age-assurance systems and independent auditors. It has no line item for what it costs a parent to relive their child's death on a stranger's studio couch, but they do it anyway because that's what it takes to get airtime.

It's why these types of wins are exhausting. A settlement requires the people who fought for it to keep proving, publicly, that it was worth fighting for. If we're serious about accountability, the fix isn't asking survivor parents to keep showing up to press conferences until Meta gets embarrassed enough to throw better-looking Band-Aids at the problem. It's changing the business model in the first place to ensure these companies are required to fix what took these kids too soon: a business structure that relies on addictive features.

SEE ALSO: Lawsuits allege ChatGPT use led to suicide, psychosis

In California, AB 1709, authored by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 10, does that by making these companies stop deploying addictive features to users under 16. Not a content ban, but a design restriction. A platform can keep operating exactly as it does now for everyone else, but it doesn't get to hand a 12-year-old the same engagement-optimized product it hands an adult.

AB 2, also authored by Lowenthal, makes large platforms liable for real money — up to $1 million per child, or three times actual damages — when ordinary negligence in the design of the product injures a minor. That's not a number Meta can negotiate down to a lump sum once and move on from, the way it did with this settlement. It scales with every child harmed, case by case, indefinitely — which is exactly the kind of exposure a company can't absorb as a cost of doing business, because there's no ceiling on it to absorb.

Together, these bills do what a $17 billion settlement can't: they change the incentive before the harm happens, instead of paying for it after the fact.

That's the difference between managing a story and fixing a product. A settlement is Meta agreeing, after years of litigation, to adjust some defaults under supervision it can eventually age out of — a 10-year consent decree that ends, after which Meta negotiates the next one from scratch. AB 1709 doesn't ask Meta to behave better under supervision that expires. It removes the option to keep operating the way it currently does and call it compliance, permanently, the same way any other law stays on the books after the fight to pass it is over. The parents testifying in Sacramento are doing the same kind of labor they did outside that courthouse, but they're doing it once, for a law that outlives the news cycle, instead of doing it every time a consent decree comes up for renewal.

SEE ALSO: 5 of the biggest changes coming to Instagram, Facebook

While those parents were in Sacramento testifying about their kids, Meta's lobbyists were in a different room asking for a way out. Politico reported that Meta approached Senate Judiciary Chair Tom Umberg with draft language that would let platforms apply for an exemption from AB 2 entirely. Meta spent $4.6 million lobbying Sacramento last year, more than any year since it started lobbying the state in 2010, and launched a new political committee to back candidates who favor lighter tech regulation. So the next time you see Meta's PR machine discussing how much they want to show up for parents, remember: they spent a lot trying to shut those same parents up in state legislatures.

The fence is up. The hole is still there. And the people who keep pointing at the hole, publicly, at their own expense, deserve better than another way for Meta to fool the masses while it keeps deploying the same business model that brought these parents to their child's gravesite instead of their high school graduation.

This article represents the opinions of its author.

Lennon Torres is a former Dance Moms performer now fighting for young people’s safety online. A trans activist and University of Southern California alum, she uses her pop‑culture fluency and lived experience to power her work at the Heat Initiative, taking on tech giants and demanding platforms to protect and empower the next generation.

No matter where you park or how many precautions you take, cars get incredibly hot, especially when left in direct sunlight. Sometimes, you have no choice but to leave your phone baking in the car, but what happens to its battery while you're gone might make you think twice.

Are you sick of having Wi-Fi problems? Yeah, so was I. And the internet is full of hacks that supposedly help so much, but most of the time, you'll be changing some settings and then scratching your head, trying to determine what exactly is now so much better.

Everyone is always so focused on new, new, new. But Netflix's back catalog of movies has legs, too. A week after I pointed you toward Straight Outta Compton and Alien, both are still holding strong on the U.S. charts. This week, Angelina Jolie joins them with her thriller Those Who Want Me Dead, which I get into below.

iOS 27 is here! The newest iPhone operating system has just been rolled out by Apple today.

Here are a few of the must-try features that you should check out as soon as your iPhone is finished updating to the new OS.

Siri AI

This is the big one. Apple has completely reimagined its voice assistant Siri as a full-fledged AI assistant.

Siri AI can now perform tasks and answer questions just like other AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude. But, of course, Siri AI is integrated directly into the iOS experience. Siri AI even has its very own app now.

The new Siri AI can take actions across a wide variety of apps, such as a user's email, phone, photos, and Shortcuts. Siri AI can even create a new Shortcut based on a simple description. Users simply vocalize the workflow they want to automate in plain English, and Siri AI will take over and set the whole thing up.

So, be sure to check out Siri AI both via the standalone app (and the custom voice controls) to see what the brand new Siri can do.

Change Siri's voice speed, pitch, tone, and accent. Credit: Apple Weather app updates

The Weather app has some big new updates in iOS 27 to take a look at.

There are new tabs for the day's weather that provide users with information about conditions, precipitation, and Wind. Each tab will provide more in-depth details about the current day's temperature, rain or snow, and the wind conditions over the next few hours.

There's also a new Highlights feature in the Weather app that provides users with a written summary of what to expect weather-wise throughout the day.

AirPods custom EQ Credit: Apple

Surprisingly, AirPods have been missing custom EQ settings, a standard feature for most headphones and earbuds. Well, no longer.

iOS 27 adds a three-band equalizer to the AirPods settings screen, allowing users to control the audio frequency spectrum of their earbuds. 

Users can adjust EQ in real-time, changing how they hear the bassy lows, vocal mids, treble detail in the highs, and more.

Other headphones have this capability and Apple previously allowed AirPods users to customize EQ within Apple Music. Now, however, AIrPods owners can have this greater audio control regardless of where they listen to their music.

Liquid Glass updates Credit: Apple

If you had some problems with the way Apple's new Liquid Glass design for iPhone looked, you may want to go directly to this new feature.

Apple has updated the Liquid Glass design with "more uniform refraction and improved contrast." The iPhone-maker has even added controls in the form of a new slider that allows users to change just how clear or tinted the Liquid Glass design appears.

Disable the dictation button in Messages

This is another fix to an issue that has long-annoyed some iPhone users.

There's a dictation button next to the text box in Messages. That dictation button becomes the "Send" button when you've already typed out some text in your message. However, the placement of both buttons makes for some accidental taps, which sometimes activate the dictation feature when it isn't wanted. 

Now, in iOS 27, users can change that in the iPhone settings. Simply open the Settings app, select Apps, then Messages, followed by the new Show Text in Field option. Users can pick if there's a Record Audio button, Start Dictation button, or no button at all in that spot. The Send button will obviously still appear as normal after a user starts typing.

Bill splitting

If you're tired of trying to figure out the math of who pays what when going out for a meal with friends, this new iOS 27 feature is a must-try.

Using Apple Wallet or the Messages app, simply point your iPhone camera at a receipt, iOS 27's new bill splitting feature will read the information and then provide an itemized list on your iPhone. From there, you can pick which items you're paying for and then use Apple Cash to just pay for what they ordered. The bill-splitting feature even adds the relevant tax and tip portion as users select what items they are paying for.

Photo app updates

By now, you've probably heard about the big iOS 27 updates to the Photos app. Clean Up, Extend, and Spatial Reframing utilize generative AI in order to completely transform your photos, remove unwanted objects, and change angles and perspectives.

But there are other lesser talked about new features to check out too.

For example, iPhone users can now share albums with their friends who own Android and Windows phones with the new iOS 27. In addition, users can now select stills from videos and save them as standalone pictures instead of having to take screenshots.

iPhone Handoff

This is probably the most undercovered feature, especially if you're someone who can't choose between your classic iPhone or the new foldable iPhone Duo.

iPhone Handoff lets you have both.

With iOS 27's new iPhone Handoff feature, Apple smartphone owners can use one number with two separate devices. Users can swap back and forth and pick which device will receive phone calls and messages, and then switch it back at any time.

For now, this feature is only available for T-Mobile users, and the carrier is charging an extra $5 per month to use it.

There's even more to check out with the new iOS 27, so be sure to explore the latest updates to your iPhone.

Preorder the new Apple products

Along with iOS 27, Apple also released new AirPods, Apple Watches, and iPhones. Except for the iPhone Duo, all of these devices are available for preorder now.

Apple AirPods 5 earbuds $124.99 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at Apple.com Pre-order Here at Walmart Apple Watch Series 12 (GPS, 42mm) $399 at Amazon
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There's a saying that "the internet never forgets, "which is a nice soundbite, but in truth some things are lost forever on the net. Once a server goes down and the last copy of that data is disconnected, that's it.

Updated on Monday, Sept. 14 at 1:30 p.m. ET — Apple launched iOS 27 (along with macOS 27 Golden Gate, iPadOS 27, and watchOS 27) this morning. Users with a compatible iPhone can download the new OS right away.

Apple's next big iOS update is finally on the launch pad.

At its "Surprise and Shine" event on Sept. 9, Apple showed off new wares like the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, the foldable iPhone Duo, new Apple Watches, and the AirPods 5. One of the smaller (but still significant) nuggets of news to come out of the event concerned iOS 27. Specifically, when you can finally download it to your iPhone.

Users with compatible iPhones will be able to install iOS 27 on Monday, Sept. 14.

How to download iOS 27

If you have one of the compatible iPhones (keep scrolling for the full list), then starting on Monday, Sept. 14, you can look for iOS 27. Apple typically releases a new iOS at 10:00 a.m. PT (1:00 p.m. ET).

Follow these steps to get iOS 27 set up on your iPhone:

• Go to the Settings app on your phone

• Go to General

• Go to Software Update and wait as the system checks for new updates

• When iOS 27 appears, you can download and install the new OS

You can also click "Automatic Updates" and turn this feature to "On." That way, iOS 27 should automatically download once it's available (your phone must be locked and charging to download automatic updates).

What's new with iOS 27? This is a big one! Siri AI, new Apple Intelligence tools, and Liquid Glass updates are all coming soon. Credit: Apple

If you haven't been following along, iOS 27 is the one that finally brings us Siri AI. You can now talk to Siri like you would an AI chatbot, and it's powered by Google Gemini.

Some of the most exciting changes coming to iPhones involve new AI photo-editing features, such as spatial reframing. Users will more easily be able to remove unwanted details, or even describe the edits they'd like to Siri by voice or text. Android smartphones from Google and Samsung have had a full suite of AI editing tools for a couple of years now, and Apple is finally catching up. Smart photo editing will also help users make the most of the iPhone 18 Pro Max's new camera features.

Apple also included some new and subtle customization options for Liquid Glass, various small updates for apps like Health, Photos, and Notes, and more.

SEE ALSO: 5 Siri AI and iOS 27 features we’re looking forward to Every iPhone that supports iOS 27

Of course, you can only go through that whole downloading process if you have a device that supports iOS 27. Here are the devices that work with the new iOS:

• iPhone SE (second generation or later)

• iPhone 11

• iPhone 11 Pro

• iPhone 11 Pro Max

• iPhone 12

• iPhone 12 Mini

• iPhone 12 Pro

• iPhone 12 Pro Max

• iPhone 13

• iPhone 13 Mini

• iPhone 13 Pro

• iPhone 13 Pro Max

• iPhone 14

• iPhone 14 Plus

• iPhone 14 Pro

• iPhone 14 Pro Max

• iPhone 15

• iPhone 15 Plus

• iPhone 15 Pro

• iPhone 15 Pro Max

• iPhone 16

• iPhone 16e

• iPhone 16 Plus

• iPhone 16 Pro

• iPhone 16 Pro Max

• iPhone 17

• iPhone 17e

• iPhone Air

• iPhone 17 Pro

• iPhone 17 Pro Max

• iPhone 18 Pro

• iPhone 18 Pro Max

• iPhone Duo

If you don't have one of those, you're out of luck. We should also note that Siri AI will not be coming to Europe due to some regulatory issues. Sorry, European friends.

My current phone, a Pixel 10 Pro, is the first phone I've ever owned that packs 256GB of storage space. Almost six months into owning it, I've still got plenty of storage left, and I'm in no hurry to free up space. But when I recently looked up how much storage I could free up on it for a piece I was writing, I discovered that Spotify took up almost 15GB of space. This wasn't new, but I completely forgot about it after upgrading to the Pixel.