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Stop squinting at your iPhone: Use the new iOS 15 feature that makes it easier to see your screen

Zoom magnification on iPhone and iPad is the end of squinting to read the small print on your device.

We spend a lot of time looking at screens — especially the past year’s spike in remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And while we’re navigating screens’ headache-inducing blue light and tiny print on websites, we should remember that technology must also be accessible for blind and visually impaired users.

Fortunately, Apple added a number of accessibility features in its latest iOS 15 software release that you can explore and customize on your device under Settings > Accessibility. Zoom is a new reworked accessibility feature under iOS 15 (and no, we don’t mean more virtual meetings). Here’s what you need to know about Apple’s Zoom feature:

What is the Apple’s Zoom tool and where do I find it?

The Zoom feature lets you magnify specific parts of your screen. You can customize the feature to magnify the whole screen or a draggable windowed view. Zoom also allows you to turn on gestures like double-tapping three fingers to activate Zoom, move around your screen, and change the magnification.

To find Zoom, open the Settings app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, tap Accessibility and choose Zoom.

How does Zoom work?

Here’s what you’ll turn on or off to make the magnification feature work best for you.

  • Follow Focus lets you track your selections, like your text insertion point, as well as your typing.
  • Smart Typing becomes available if you turn on Follow Focus. This lets you switch to Window Zoom when the keyboard pops up. Window Zoom magnifies a section of screen in a window that you can drag around to expand what you need to see, like a digital magnifying glass. Also, once the keyboard pops up, you can double tap to magnify where you’re typing, but the keyboard stays put.
  • Keyboard shortcuts only apply if you’ve connected an external keyboard to your iPad. If you have, simply toggle the option on to find and customize keyboard shortcuts like toggling Zoom, moving your Window, resizing your Window and more. If you open Zoom on your Mac, you can turn on Zoom keyboard shortcuts, scroll gestures, enable hover text and zoom on the touchbar. For example, toggle zoom is Option + Command + 8. Pressing that combination lets you zoom in and back out. You can also choose whether you want to magnify full screen, split screen, or picture-in-picture mode.
  • Zoom controller gives you quick access to controls like what activates for single, double and triple taps on the screen. You can also choose to Show Controller on the screen. This puts a little icon on the screen that I found helpful when moving the Window around the screen. Think of it as a little map to keep you oriented when you’ve magnified a section of screen. You can choose between five different colors to make the icon more visible, as well as change the opacity.
  • Zoom Region lets you choose between a Window Zoom, Full Screen Zoom or Pinned Zoom. Window Zoom will magnify a section of your screen, but you’ll still be able to see some of the unmagnified screen and pan over that area. Full Screen Zoom eliminates the window and works like double tapping to magnify and pan around on a photo. Pinned Zoom lets you choose a specific section of the screen — top, left, right or bottom — and keeps the unpinned section in regular size.
  • Zoom filter lets you customize the magnified section’s coloring — inverted, grayscale, grayscale inverted or low light.
  • Maximum Zoom Level is a simple slider that lets you customize the magnification anywhere between 1.2x all the way to 15x.

For more information, check out everything you need to know before upgrading to iOS 15 and these 6 hidden iOS 15 tricks we found.

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Technologies

Apple Gave Us the Neo, Now It Might Be Planning a High-End MacBook Ultra

The company might launch its most sophisticated MacBook ever, with its first OLED screen.

Apple went budget with the MacBook Neo. Now reportedly the company is preparing to go high end, and high price.

Apple is gearing up to launch a MacBook «Ultra» in the fall, outfitted with the first OLED display in MacBook history, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

Gurman says the new laptop will have a touchscreen and new M6 chips. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Apple could be launching its first touchscreen MacBook — with a Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island is a feature on more recent iPhone models — iPhone 14 and later — that’s shaped like a long horizontal pill atop the screen and shows alerts, notifications, timers and music.

It if happens, the Ultra would be at the opposite end of the cost spectrum from the Neo, which Apple launched earlier this month for $599 as a rival to Chromebooks and Windows laptops in the same price range. Gurman says the MacBook Ultra could cost 20 percent more than the new MacBook Pro (M5 series), which Apple lists at $1,699.

If you want to read more about the new Neo, CNET has been all over it: Here’s why students might love it, the colors we liked and didn’t like and why the Neo is a really is a game-changer.

Gurman suggested that Apple might keep selling the M5 series MacBook Pro even after the Ultra launches. That would give the company a wider range of MacBooks at various costs — the Neo ($599), the Air (starting at $1,099), the Pro ($1,699) and the Ultra. 

Tech analyst Paolo Pescatore said adding the premium MacBook Ultra would «signal a clear shift in strategy» for Apple.

«If this turns out to be the case, then Apple appears to be stretching the Mac further upmarket,» Pescatore told CNET. «The opportunity is to drive higher spending and keep premium users firmly within Apple’s ecosystem. The challenge will be avoiding confusion, especially if the lines between MacBook Pro and iPad Pro become even more blurred.»

Gurman also said that Apple’s first foldable iPhone, rumored to be launched later this year, might be called the «iPhone Ultra.»

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Technologies

AI Is One of the Least-Liked Things in America, According to New NBC Poll

The poll finds that AI is viewed less positively than ICE and President Donald Trump, and only more positively than Iran and the Democratic Party.

Artificial intelligence has rapidly become embedded in everything from phones to schoolwork to war plans. And that means everyone is likely to have an opinion about the technology. 

A new national survey conducted for NBC News highlights a striking disconnect between the spread of AI tools and Americans’ views on them. The poll, which ran from Feb. 27 to March 3, asked 1,000 registered voters about their views on topics ranging from border security to the new pope. 

Only 26% of voters said they view AI positively, 46% view it negatively, and 28% said they feel unsure or have no opinion, leaving AI with a net favorability of -20. In the study, AI ranked less favorably than US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, President Donald Trump, former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Republican Party and The Late Show host Stephen Colbert. (Pope Leo XIV was by far the most popular person respondents were asked about.) 

Among the rankings, AI is one of the least popular topics in the survey — ranking only slightly more positively than Iran and the Democratic Party.

A growing disconnect between AI and public opinion

There is a notable disconnect between the industry’s ongoing push for AI adoption and how Americans feel about it. 

Tech companies are currently investing millions of dollars into developing generative AI tools and physical AI. In the last week alone, OpenAI released its latest GPT 5.4 model and AI companies made moves to work with the US Department of Defense. At the same time, Americans are growing increasingly wary of the technology.

The mismatch between adoption and public sentiment seems to be driven by concerns about AI’s broader impact, such as job displacement, privacy issues, the spread of misinformation and the undermining of human-made work. 

For companies and policymakers going all in on AI, the biggest challenge will be less about developing the next slew of innovative chatbot models or AI devices and more about persuading the public that the technology can be trusted. 

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Technologies

Just $30 Will Get You 3 Months of the 5GB Mint Mobile Phone Plan

Finding a phone plan for $10 a month was impossible until this Mint Mobile deal came along.

If you told me I could get a three-month cell plan for just $30, I probably wouldn’t believe you. But that’s exactly what Mint Mobile is offering right now. If you pay for three months of 5GB cell service upfront, you can score it for just $30.  

New customers to Mint Mobile can score a 5GB wireless plan for just $10 per month for the first three months. The only catch is you have to use the code 5GB10 and pay $30 upfront for the full term. The usual price is $45 for three months, meaning this is a 33% discount. 

After the three-month period, the plan renews at $25 per month for three months. If you really like the plan, you can opt for the six-month version, which can lower the monthly cost to $20. You can also track your data usage in the Mint Mobile app and switch to a better-suited data plan when it’s time to renew.

Don’t forget a new phone to go with your new phone plan. Take a look at the best phone deals you can score right now. 

MOBILE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

It seems like everything is becoming more and more expensive these days. That’s why saving wherever you can makes a huge difference. The phone bill is one thing that is here to stay, and that’s why this deal of $10 per month is really unbeatable. Just keep in mind you’ll have to pay the full three months upfront. But even that is just $30 total. Be sure to use code 5GB10 for the discount. 

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