This digest compiles the latest from Apple Insider.
Today’s Apple Insider Roundup
How to configure Control Center on macOS Tahoe
Apps you don’t want can clog up your Mac menubar, while ones you do can’t be added. Here’s how and why to use Control Center to make that menubar work for you, the way you want.
Especially if you have a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with a small display — and a notch — you will have hit problems with menubar apps and controls. Quite apart from some apparently hiding behind that notch, there are others you want but there isn’t enough room for them.
Or even on a large display, you might shrug and let any app go in the menubar if it likes. But the result there is a huge number of apps, making it hard to find the one you actually need — especially since macOS will keep moving them around.
MacBook Neo is just the latest in Apple's 35 years of trying to make a budget portable
Since the dawn of Apple laptops 35 years ago with the PowerBook 100, it has tried to make some of them affordable, with mixed results. The MacBook Neo finally delivers on that promise and is an excellent balance between features and cost.
It’s true that Apple does not have a reputation for making low budget devices, so the MacBook Neo is a departure. But sometimes it seems as if it’s not for want of trying that Apple hasn’t previously brought out such a good combination of design and cost in a laptop.
Apple’s efforts to make such a device don’t date all the way back to its first ever portable, well, luggable, but they come close. In 1989, Apple released the Macintosh Portable, which at 16lbs was as heavy as two current Mac Studios. And that weight doesn’t even include the wall wart.
Apple iPad Air review roundup: Faster as expected, but iterative
Early reviews say the Apple iPad Air delivers impressive performance gains with the M4 chip, but that doesn’t mean existing users should rush to upgrade.
Reviews of Apple’s M4 iPad Air began appearing Monday after the company lifted its review embargo. Major publications quickly published hands-on testing of the new tablet.
Coverage focuses largely on the addition of Apple’s M4 chip and updated wireless hardware. Apple kept the same overall design and Liquid Retina display found on the previous generation.
iPhone 17e review roundup: Cheap, cheerful, and fixes the iPhone 16e's mistakes
The first wave of iPhone 17e reviews call it an improved budget smartphone, thanks to better performance and MagSafe.
One week after the launch of the iPhone 17e, the first reviews of the budget iPhone have started to surface. As usual, it’s a positive set for Apple’s hardware.
The update to the iPhone 16e, the reviewers all pick up on the new model being better than the previous one, packing more processing power and gaining MagSafe charging.
Integrating pet products into the smart home with Jacob Zuppke on Smart Home Insider
On this week’s episode of the Smart Home Insider podcast, our guest host Jacob Zuppke joins to discuss integrating pet products into the smart home, as well as more of this week’s news.
Jacob Zuppke is the CEO of Whisker, the company that created the most popular automated litter box, the Litter Robot. With his background in SEO and digital marketing, he became a master of all trades to help lead the smart home brand.
We talk a bit about the new Litter Robot 5 Pro, but we also talk about the larger task of integrating smart pet products into ecosystems and the smart home as a whole. Before we get into that, we first talk about the news.
Apple's TikTok ads for the MacBook Neo are the right kind of weird
Apple’s TikTok ad campaign has gone down the absurdist route to promote the MacBook Neo. It’s weird, but it works.
In the attention economy that is modern social media, brands have to be bold with their posts while also marketing their wares. In the case of Apple’s latest activity on TikTok, it’s a very rare demonstration of a company “getting it.”
Apple’s introduction of the MacBook Neo is intended to attract a new audience to its hardware line. With a relatively low price point, it’s going after consumers that are more sensitive to budgeting than ever before, where they congregate online.
More high-end hardware is coming from Apple in 2026, not all will get 'ultra' branding
Apple is shifting towards producing more “Ultra” products, with high-end devices on the way that may extend the use of the special suffix in new ways.
Everyone is already quite familiar with the way Apple uses specific names as shorthand for different product tiers. While Pro, Air, and Mini are already widely used across the ecosystem in various ways, Apple could do the same with Ultra.
Writing in the Bloomberg “Power On” newsletter on Sunday, Mark Gurman muses that, while the world is fascinated with the new MacBook Neo and the entry-level market, there’s the other end of the scale to consider. Apple is shifting to making more high-end hardware, Gurman claims.
Apple's updated leadership page reveals renewed focus on design
Apple only rarely updates its corporate leadership page, but when it does, it’s significant for who it does — and does not — add, and what this tells us about the firm’s plans.
Apple is likely to be radically updating its Apple Leadership page over the next few years as Tim Cook and others retire. But in general, changes to the page are rare — and when they are made, they can tell a story about the company.
The latest update is that the company has now added three new people, and revised another. The new entries are:
This is what case-makers think the iPhone Fold will look like
A leaker with a good track record has posted design images of the iPhone Fold, although with no further details and no indication of dimensions.
Supposed CAD drawings for the iPhone Fold were previously claimed to be leaked in December 2025. Now leaker Sonny Dickson has shown two more on X that match the previous claim.
In each case, it’s possible that the designs have been drawn based only on rumored specifications. But if true, these newly leaked images likely sourced from the case manufacturing industry back up previous claims that the open iPhone Fold will resemble the iPad mini.
Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible
MacBook Neo vs M1 MacBook Air: you decide – M4 lite or M1 plus
The new MacBook Neo is in the same performance ballpark as the M1 MacBook Air. Here’s how the newest budget notebook compares against the original Apple Silicon MacBook Air.
Apple’s latest notebook model, the MacBook Neo, will remind people of a previous model in more ways than one.
The MacBook Air with M1 shipped over five years ago, in late 2020, as one of the first Apple Silicon devices to hit the market. Half a decade later, the MacBook Neo turns up, with it seemingly providing a similar experience, albeit with an iPhone chip instead of an M-series version.
Party of One: Tim Cook doubts Apple's 50-year-old DNA can be replicated
Apple is a “Party of One” in the world, according to CEO Tim Cook in a new interview weeks ahead of the company’s 50th anniversary.
Apple is fast approaching a big milestone, with it reaching its 50th anniversary on April 1. As part of the event’s coverage, Apple CEO Tim Cook has sat down for an interview to discuss the company’s existence and potential future.
Speaking to David Pogue for CBS Sunday Morning, the extended 20-minute interview on YouTube covers topics from the history of Apple. Including how it migrated from the tenure of Steve Jobs, its meteoric growth, and where it can go in the future.
Get Disney Plus, Hulu bundle for $4.99/mo for 3 months with March streaming deal
Save 79% on three months of Disney Plus and Hulu with this limited-time streaming deal.
Enjoy a family movie night with titles like Zootopia 2, which streams on Disney Plus starting March 11, or binge-watch fan-favorite TV programs with this month’s top streaming deal.
New and eligible returning subscribers can save 79% on the ad-supported Disney Plus and Hulu bundle plan, bringing the price down to $4.99 per month for three months. The offer is valid for U.S. residents aged 18 and up, and it’s valid now through March 24.
End of today’s Apple Insider roundup.
