3 useful upgrades in MacOS 15.1 – especially if AI isn’t your thing (like me)
The big item for MacOS 15.1 is Apple Intelligence but I’m not interested in using AI. Even so, I still wanted to know what the fuss was about but quickly discovered that, even with the 15.1 update on my MacBook Pro M1, I still had to get on Apple Intelligence’s waitlist before it available. The wait wasn’t long (maybe 24 hours) and I enabled Apple’s version of AI.
Also: How to follow US election results on your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch
Shrugging my shoulders, I moved on from there to see what else MacOS 15.1 had to offer. If you’re an Android user like me, you’ll also miss out on the new iPhone mirroring drag-and-drop support (which would also be really cool to have for Android, but I’m not holding my breath).
So what’s left to ensure updates if AI isn’t your thing and you don’t use an iPhone? These are my three favorite upgrades.
1. Summary of Apple Mail
Okay, I’m not one for taking shortcuts. Some people might even say about me that if there’s a harder way to do things, that’s the way I’ll do them. That being said, I’m a fan of efficiency and sometimes, I simply don’t have time to read emails that tend to be long enough to consider short stories.
Also: The 4 best MacOS text editors (and why you should use one)
So Apple Intelligence added a handy feature to Apple Mail: email summaries. When you open one of your longer emails and want a quick summary, click the Summary button in the top right corner of the Mail window and Apple Intelligence will work its magic.
Depending on how the email was created (and if the email’s content is more than just text), you may receive a warning that Apple Intelligence is not designed to summarize that content, and the results may not be accurate. That’s an important warning to keep in mind.
The summaries are surprisingly accurate.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
To my surprise, I’ve actually used this feature a few times and the summaries are (in my experience) quite accurate.
2. Better battery indicator
If you use a MacBook, you’ll be happy to know that Apple has finally improved the battery icon in the top bar. With this latest update, you’ll have access to low power mode directly from the battery drop-down menu. The battery icon also turns yellow when the device is in low power mode.
Also: 4 Apple products you should not buy right now
When you go into low power mode, MacOS is optimized to save energy by reducing performance, pausing background tasks, dimming the display, and limiting the ProMotion display refresh rate to 60Hz. (if any). One thing to note is that low power mode is not enabled by default. To enable it, click on the battery icon and then click on Battery Settings. Click the Low Power Mode drop-down menu and select “On battery only”. You will then see the Low Power Mode option.
If you depend on the battery to keep going, Low Power mode can be a big help.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
3. Reduce disruptions
Okay, there’s one more piece of AI that I’m willing to work on on MacOS, and that’s the Reduce Interruptions option in Focus Mode. This filters out everything but the most important notifications so you can work without interruption. The new option, “Smart and Silent Breakthrough”, allows only important notifications to interrupt you.
Also: 5 easy ways to make MacOS Finder a better file manager
In this mode, all other notifications will be muted. I’m open to using this AI because it will allow those important interruptions to be bypassed, making it a better option than Do Not Disturb. This is similar to Reduced Notification Focus but gives you a little more control and works with AI to learn which notifications are important and which aren’t.
Once you enable this feature, you can configure which people and apps can annoy you. You can apply “Smart Breakthrough and Silent” in all the different focus modes (so it’s not just limited to Breakthrough Reduction).
If interruptions disrupt your workflow, you’ll appreciate Apple’s new options for Focus mode.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
That’s my excitement surrounding the MacOS 15.1 upgrade. Yes, if AI is your thing and if you use an iPhone, your enjoyment may be significantly higher than mine for this upgrade. But even with limited features for someone like me, version 15.1 still adds a little extra help to an already efficient and useful operating system.
