Philip Michaels
Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.
Latest articles by Philip Michaels
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Apple Intelligence on the iPhone: A lot of promise but no must-have features
By Philip Michaels published
Apple Intelligence may not be a game-changer yet, but there's a lot of promise in these new features, as they arrive on the iPhone via software update.
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iPhone 16 Ultra: All the rumors so far
By Philip Michaels last updated
The rumored iPhone 16 Ultra wasn't to be
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Apple Intelligence Mail summaries in iOS 18.1 will help tame your inbox — here's how it works
By Philip Michaels last updated
Among the changes to Mail coming via Apple Intelligence are summaries for both your inbox and the messages themselves. Here's how the feature works.
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iOS 18 Memory Movie is one of Apple Intelligence’s best features — here’s how to use it
By Philip Michaels last updated
You can use Apple Intelligence to auto-assemble a slideshow on iPhones running iOS 18.1. Here's how to create a Memory Movie.
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iPhone SE 4 screen sizes and design changes grab the attention, but only one rumored change matters
By Philip Michaels published
The biggest change to Apple's budget phone — and the reason to make the move to an iPhone SE 4 next spring — will likely be under the hood.
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Apple Intelligence is ready to launch — does that mean it's time to get an iPhone 16?
By Philip Michaels published
It may be a while before Apple's AI becomes a must-have feature
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Pet photos are going to look a lot better on Snapdragon 8 Elite phones — here's why
By Philip Michaels published
Your pet photos should look sharp, even when your dog or cat won't cooperate
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Copilot Plus PCs are getting a big upgrade to catch up to Macs
By Philip Michaels published
This will have musicians and podcasters singing a new tune
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We just benchmarked the Snapdragon 8 Elite — the iPhone 16 Pro is officially on notice
By Philip Michaels published
Here's how Qualcomm's latest chip performs
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Best Android apps in 2025
By Philip Michaels, John Velasco last updated
There are plenty of apps in the Google Play store, but we tracked down the best Android apps that deserve a place on your smartphone.
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Qualcomm exec on the Snapdragon 8 Elite: 'You have something that rivals any PC you've ever used in your pocket'
By Philip Michaels published
Qualcomm's Chris Patrick explains the changes the chip maker made to the Snapdragon 8 Elite and why they should excited mobile phone users.
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I tried on the latest Snap Spectacles AR glasses — and they nearly turned me into a pool shark
By Philip Michaels published
Snap released its 5th generation Spectacles last month, and we got the chance to go hands on with the smart glasses that developers are using to build AR apps.
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A smarter ride awaits, as Qualcomm's Snapdragon automovie chips get better AI, new Oryon CPU
By Philip Michaels published
xQualcomm brings its Orion CPU, AI improvements to its automotive chipsets
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Snapdragon 8 Elite unveiled — here's how Android phones could blow away the iPhone 16
By Philip Michaels last updated
New CPU, more AI capabilities highlight Qualcomm's top mobile chipset
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ESPN Plus review: Offers plenty of live sports but not always what you want
By Philip Michaels, Malcolm McMillan last updated
ESPN Plus offers a lot of live sports for a little money, but it's no replacement for the mainstream match-ups you'll still find on cable. Here's our review of ESPN's streaming service.
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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip is almost here — can it challenge Apple’s A18?
By Philip Michaels last updated
Here's what to expect at the Snapdragon Summit this week
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I've been testing Apple Intelligence — 5 features I love and 4 I don't
By Philip Michaels published
After testing Apple Intelligence, I've seen some hits and misses with Apple's AI
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I tried Apple’s new call recording feature — and this iOS 18.1 addition was worth the wait
By Philip Michaels published
Record calls, get transcripts and more, thanks to this new feature
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Apple just announced a big change for the iPhone that will help you separate real businesses from spam
By Philip Michaels published
That's no robo-caller, that's my pharmacist
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iOS 18 Photos — all the new features available on your iPhone
By Philip Michaels last updated
The Photos app gets a redesign with Apple's iOS 18 update — here's what's new
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200-photo face-offs: All of our head-to-head camera phone comparisons
By Philip Michaels published
When we test the top camera phones, we put them through 200-photo face-offs with similar devices. Here's where you'll find every camera comparison we've done on recently smartphones.
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Is the iPhone 16 Plus going to be Apple's last Plus model? I certainly hope not
By Philip Michaels published
I was once a Plus skeptic — now I think it's a key part of Apple's phone lineup
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I tried Apple Intelligence to improve my writing — here’s what happened
By Philip Michaels last updated
How good is Writing Tools at improving your tone?
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