The best free reference apps for your iPhone and iPad

Dictionary.com Word of the Day on iPhone

If there’s a handy spot to have references at your fingertips, it’s your iPhone or iPad. Physical books still hold a place in many people’s hearts but no one walks around with dictionaries, encyclopedias, and phone books nowadays.

So if you’re in the market for good references for school or work, you’ll like this list of the best free reference apps for iPhone and iPad.

Windows emulation for M1-powered Macs is in active development, Parallels confirms

When Apple announced the switch away from Intel chips this summer, many people have been wondering about Boot Camp's future. And while Apple has only said that Boot Camp will not work with the new M1-powered Mac computers, companies that build virtualization software may provide a solution down the road. Parallels Desktop, a popular virtualization app for Mac systems with Intel chips, announced today that a new version of the app that can run on these new Mac computers equipped with the Apple M1 chip is in “active development.”

The new MacBook Air keyboard has dedicated keys for Spotlight, Dictation, DND and Emoji

Apple's just-refreshed MacBook Air with the new Apple M1 laptop chip that was announced yesterday features an updated media key layout in the function row, with the new shortcuts for Dictation, Spotlight and Do Not Disturb functions replacing the previous keys for adjusting brightness and invoking the Launchpad feature. Also, there's now a dedicated Emoji key.

Apple discontinues Intel-based MacBook Air, other models still available with Intel chips

With its new M1 laptop chip and related hardware updates to the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini, Apple has now stopped selling MacBook Air configurations with Intel processors in order to focus exclusively on the new models that are powered by the M1 chip. As for the Mac mini and MacBook Pro, some Intel-based configurations continue to be offered by Apple.

Servicing HomePod mini without AppleCare+ is only $20 cheaper vs. buying a new one

If you don't have optional AppleCare+ extended warranty for the HomePod mini, Apple will charge you a fee of $79 per an out-of-warranty repair of the new $99 Siri-powered speaker — which is only $20 cheaper vs. buying a new one. Apple announced the new HomePod mini a month ago in an effort to widen the addressable market for its smart speakers. The full-size HomePod wasn't updated last month and continues to retail for $299.