"For just $45, you can bring home $10 worth of apples," Kate McKinnon said in a Saturday Night Live sketch poking fun at apple picking.

"Select from our varieties like huge soft," Aidy Bryant continued.

"Tiny hard," McKinnon said.

"Green."

"Orange."

"And apple," they both said together.

That's a pretty accurate representation of what apple picking can feel like. You come home with a ton of different types of apples and have no idea what to do with them. Should you make apple pie? Apple sauce? Apple cider? Apple crisp? And what types of apples work best for each recipe?

Worry no more. We put together this guide to all the common apple varieties with the help of two apple experts. Arnold Wilkerson founded Little Pie Company back in 1985. The New York City bakery is known for their Sour Cream Apple Walnut Pie, which is served all year long. "We had to source apples that would be available in New York year-round," Wilkerson said. "We were also looking for a nice firm texture and consistency with just the right amount of ripe apple flavor and bright acidity." They landed on Golden Delicious, a sweeter variety, and Granny Smith, a more tart variety. Mixing the tart and sweet apples is good practice when baking for a more complex flavor. But the two also have a firm texture that won't turn to mush in the oven.

We also reached out to James Rich, author of the cookbook Apple: Recipes from the Orchard. He is a big proponent of mixing apples when cooking. "The trick is to get the right mixture of varieties that will reduce to a sauce-like consistency and those that will keep their shape and texture for that all-important bite," he said. "For baking, you want something that will keep its shape. [For applesauce], the best varieties are those that break down and form a creamy, sweet sauce. My personal favorites for snacking on are varieties that are super crisp and tart."

Down below, you'll learn about 15 common types of apples and which applications they work best for—baking, snacking, sauce, cider, and more. Just remember, for the best-tasting dishes, use a combination of sweet and tart apples.

Sarah Ceniceros - Hearst Owned

Given that it’s in early access, Baldur’s Gate 3’s performance impressed and could Strengthen in subsequent releases. Much less impressive was a noticeable performance drop the longer the Mac was on. After an hour of constant play, Tomb Raider benchmarks and in-game frame rates dipped by as much as 10 fps. You either have to put up with that or deliver the Mac a little rest. Fortunately, another issue—poor performance after switching AAA games—was rapidly fixed with a reboot. (We suspect, but cannot confirm, a 16-GB MacBook Air wouldn’t have this problem, due to having more RAM headroom.)

Windows Games on Mac

Apple ditching Intel also complicated running native Windows content on a Mac. Options remain, but none are good. Beyond adding complexity (where your games live; installing multiple versions of Steam), you hamper performance, because these games don’t run natively.

Parallels Desktop is the most user-friendly and powerful choice, and handily installs Windows 11 automatically. CrossOver doesn’t require Windows, but needs more fiddling with to get games running. (There’s also PlayOnMac, a free option riding on CrossOver’s coattails.)

Getting Steam on Parallels Desktop and CrossOver is dead easy; finding games that work, less so. Broadly, 2D titles are most likely to work well. Old favorites Death Ray Manta and Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 played flawlessly during testing. But when we tried 3D effort Pinball FX3, it failed entirely in CrossOver and was akin to a slow-motion replay in Parallels Desktop.

You might have more luck, depending on the games you favor. GTA V, for example, plays at over 50 fps on the M2. But that’s a pretty old game. So if you want to fire up an existing Windows collection on your MacBook Air, go for simpler fare or higher-end titles that are several years old. For newer Windows games, get a PC.

So: Is Apple’s M2 MacBook Air Any Good for Games?

Whether you think the M2 MacBook Air is good for games depends on the games you care about. With AAA titles, there are clear problems. The hardware is largely capable, but the ecosystem and throttling let it down. Too few games are optimized for Apple silicon, sustained performance is questionable, and even Apple’s WWDC announcements whiff of the late 1990s, when Mac users took whatever scraps they could—which usually meant getting a handful of Windows games years late, and for more money.

Speaking of money, for the price of an M2 Air, you could buy a PC that’s more suitable for games. So buying an Air primarily for games would be an odd choice. And if you demand more raw power and would consider upgrading from an M2 Air to an M1 Pro or M1 Max machine, the price difference alone would net you a PS5, Xbox, or Steam Deck. Any of those would be more suitable for AAA gaming.

But despite what gaming obsessives might otherwise claim, AAA titles don’t encompass all games, and an M2 MacBook Air, as we’ve shown, supports many fun titles. So if you just want to play the odd game to relax, enjoy casual fare or streaming, or aren’t too picky regarding AAA games, the Air will serve. And if you’re into classic games, OpenEmu remains the most polished and user-friendly emulation system around on the desktop.

If you were hoping for a dramatic overhaul of the Apple Watch 8 when it debuts later this year, you’ll be disappointed: the latest rumours suggest that the smartwatch’s look will be mostly unaltered from the current model.

If you are looking for the “basic” or “standard” version of the wearable, this comes from ShrimpApplePro. If Apple does issue a premium version of the watch, it’s possible that some visual changes will have been made.

Flat-edged designs were said to be in the works for the Apple Watch 7, but the 2021 model looked a lot like the devices that came before it. The Apple Watch 8 seems to be the next logical step in this direction.

See more

Same old, same old

There are a few more insights from the same source concerning the Apple Watch 8. All existing replacement bands should be compatible with the new versions, since they are expected to come in the same 41 mm and 45 mm sizes.

No additional sensors seem to be planned for the watch, and the colours that are on the way are rumoured to be silver and graphite in stainless steel, as well as midnight, starlight, red, and silver for the aluminium model.

According to reports, the Apple Watch 7 was unveiled on October 15; however, prior models were released in September. As a result, we should expect the new wearable to arrive somewhere in September or October.

What if it isn’t broken?

Apple’s decision to stick with the present design of the Apple Watch 8 may be frustrating, but the current look of the wristwatch is traditional and iconic, so there is no need for the company to modify it.

All the bands and chargers and accessories for the Apple Watch that have been released throughout the years are also included. Changing the device’s form factor implies that it doesn’t fit into the present ecosystem of goods as readily or as snuggly.

Hopes are high for a new product from Apple this time around. A tough or extreme version of the Apple Watch is said to exist, and this might potentially alter the wearable’s looks in some way.

The Mac Studio, according to one source, may be killed out in favour of a more powerful Mac mini, according to a latest claim.

Apple is expected to release two new Mac mini models in the autumn, according to Gurman. The boxy Mac that was initially announced in 2005 will be available in M2 and M2 Pro models. In addition to the current Mac mini, which is a top-of-the-line Mac, Apple also sells an M1 version of the Mac Pro, which is also a top-of-the-line Mac. Both of them will be phased out in favour of the M2 and its Pro variant.

Rumors of a Mac mini M1 Pro have been floating around for a while now. But with the formal launch of M2 chips this month, that is no longer the case. It is unlikely, according to Gurman, that the Mac mini’s design will be altered. The latest M1 and Intel-based Mac mini come in silver and space grey.

Gurman believes that the first-generation 2022 model of the Mac Studio will be the last version of the premium Mac ever built. Explaining, he continues “For me, the most pressing issue is whether or not the Mac Studio will ever be upgraded. As a result of its high price and narrow market, it provides the impression that it is a short-lived Mac. Having a Mac Studio and a Mac Pro is redundant, in my opinion.”

This year’s well-received Mac Studio was able to do two things at once. With its 27-inch Studio Display, the iMac’s bigger form factor was replaced. It also provided Cupertino time to develop on an Apple silicon version of the Mac Pro, which was a benefit of the launch. As soon as the next several months, we’ll know more about it.

As far as Gurman is concerned, Apple will have two autumn events this year. New iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8 are expected to be unveiled by Apple in September. Then, in October, Apple is expected to unveil a new line of iPads and Macs.

Of all the Apple tools available, iMessage might seem like the one most designed for teenagers, friends, and families. The ease it offers when sharing media, stickers, emoji, GIFs, for example, make it the ultimate consumer product.

But it has steadily involved into a powerful business messaging solution and collaboration tool. You could even think of it as a basic – and free – alternative to Slack or Microsoft Teams. That’s a view that will only get more real with iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, which will extend iMessage’s enterprise capabilities when they arrive this fall.

iMessage has been around for more than a decade and it offers quite a few advantages over standard SMS and MMS messaging. It boasts media and file support, group chats, read receipts, the ability to integrate content from a range of other apps, and tight integration across all of Apple’s major product lines.

Some latest additions make it even more useful to business users. Last year, Apple introduced a new Shared with You feature that displays content received in the Messages app directly in an associated app. 

URLs are automatically displayed in Safari, for example, and songs or albums in Apple Music. Along with broadening this feature across platforms (including macOS Ventura), Apple will extend support for third-party apps and direct in-app collaboration.

More on that in a bit. First, let’s look at what you can do now.

Messages in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and Monterey

While iMessage will get serious collaborative boosts in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, let’s look at how to use Messages in the Apple OSes that exist now.

There are three major pieces to any business-worthy chat and collaboration platform:

Secure communication. iMessage is end-to-end encrypted to a degree that meets regulatory compliance for rules like HIPAA in healthcare, as is FaceTime.

Support for group communications. Although individual chats are important, businesses need group communications and message threads, which iMessage has supported for some time. Group chats also allow you to message the entire group or specific individuals and support inline responses so that you can easily respond to (and see responses to) specific comments in the message thread.

Status notices. Knowing that people have (or have not) read your message can be critical. Seeing whether they are in the process of replying is also extremely helpful. iMessage supports both of these functions.

For a business tool to succeed, however, requires more than these basics. The ability to pin message threads and the option to mute notifications about specific threads are both key features for workers who need to manage business conversations.

The ability to share media, content, or files is also important. While the Messages app for iOS/iPadOS 15 supports photo and video sharing as well as the sharing of links and other network addresses, it doesn’t, at first, appear to support file and document sharing.

It can be done, though. And, even if it’s not obvious, it’s easy. You just can’t do it directly from the app. Instead, use the Files app. Tap and hold a file and then choose to share it from the pop-up menu that results. You can also share files from within the app that created them using a standard share sheet. 

In both cases, Messages pops up as an option for sharing. Sharing in macOS is even simpler: Drag a file into the chat in Messages. You can also right-click on the file’s icon in the Finder and select share. Or you can share from within app that created the file.

Once you share a file with the group chat, everyone in the chat receives the file and can comment and discuss it in the message thread. This provides a baseline for collaboration. 

Everyone can see and discuss the same documents or files in real time. In many cases, this sort of discussion is easier than relying on features like Track Changes and Comments within a productivity app, because the discussion is interactive and it avoids cluttering the document with large numbers of comments and responses.