Magnifier on Mac works with Continuity Camera | Image credit: Apple
To mark Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple is spotlighting inclusive tools, like Music Haptics and Mac’s Magnifier, that empower users to experience the world on their own terms.
It’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and to celebrate, Apple has highlighted two of its accessibility features: Music Haptics on iPhone and Magnifier on Mac.
“Music Haptics on iPhone” shows how Apple’s Music Haptics, a feature rolled out in iOS 18, can help anyone — hearing, hard of hearing, or deaf — enjoy music. The feature plays taps, textures, and refined vibrations to the audio of the music.
The video features Kenneth “Kiddo K” Alexander, a Louisiana-born rapper who happens to be hard of hearing. Kiddo explains that after Hurricane Katrina, repetitive ear infections permanently affected his hearing.
“When the haptics feature came to Apple Music it was a very revolutionary tool,” Kiddo explains in the video. “The vibrations… allow us to feel music and experience it at a different level.”
The video features his song, “Platoon.” It appears on his new EP, “Warzone,” which debuted on May 13.
“If you are deaf or hard of hearing, don’t let that stop you from enjoying music,” he says. “Music isn’t about listening. It’s about feeling it.”
“Magnifier on Mac,” shows how useful the upcoming Magnifier feature is for those who are low-vision. While the feature isn’t out yet, it is planned for release in iOS 19 and macOS 16.
The video features a young woman using her Mac, in conjunction with her iPhone, to zoom in on notes and slides that a professor is presenting during class. She uses the built-in features to adjust brightness, contrast, apply color filters, and adjust the perspective to make text and images easier to see.
“With Magnifier on Mac, you can now bring whatever is important into focus,” the video description reads.
On May 13, Apple previewed new accessibility tools ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day. This included Accessibility Nutrition Labels, Accessibility Reader, Braille Access, Live captions on Apple Watch, Live recognition in Apple Vision Pro, and Magnifier for Mac.