The macOS 15.5 update is here, and it’s overall pretty light on features. However, the Safari 18.5 update bundled with it does include a new developer feature that will save battery life for users. “Declarative Web Push” is a more efficient approach to web notifications that will drain less battery every time you get a notification on Safari.
The feature already came to iOS and iPadOS in the last update, allowing developers to swap their notification implementations to the simpler JSON format. Just for fun, here’s what it looks like:
If you automatically click “NO!” every time a website asks to send you notifications, this little perk may not affect you at all. If you do allow a few of your favorite sites to send you notifications, this new system will make sure your notifications are reliable and timely — even when you haven’t opened the target website in a while — without making your Mac work too hard. Because Declarative Web Push doesn’t require Service Workers, it’s also easier for developers to use and more private by design.
If you didn’t even know that websites could send you notifications, the concept is pretty simple. Just like apps on your phone send you notifications about new content, promotions, and updates, you can choose to let websites do the same.
If you accept notifications from a news site, it’ll tell you about trending stories and new posts. If you accept notifications from an online store, it’ll probably tell you about sales and promotional deals. Some people like them, other people hate them — it’s really a matter of preference.
If you’re not running macOS Sequoia, you can still get this Safari update on macOS Sonoma and macOS Ventura as well. If you were hoping for more features in this latest update, don’t be too disappointed — WWDC 2025 is under a month away now, which means we’ll get our first look at macOS 16.
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.
Nearly a month after announcing the GPT-6.1 Sol model, OpenAI unveiled GPT-6.1 Terra today. The latest addition to the family focuses on computer use, visual reasoning, coding, and professional work, while costing 50% less through the API than GPT-5.6 Terra.
OpenAI says Terra can handle everything from filling out browser forms and working inside spreadsheets to interpreting technical drawings and editing videos. The company says it can also complete computer-based tasks more than three times faster than GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol.