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MacworldIts never been easy to upgrade the storage in Macs, so its always a good idea to buy an external drive to provide extra storage for all your work files, photos, videos, and games. And, of course, you should always have an external drive available for making Time Machine backups in case anything ever goes wrong.Modern solid-state drives (SSD) are the best option as theyre really fast, reliable, and compact. However, SSDs are still relatively expensive, with 1TB drives costing around $100/150, whereas that same amount of money can get you a 4TB basic desktop hard drive with a USB interface (drives with high-speed Thunderbolt ports tend to be more expensive). Hard drives are slower than SSDs, but if you need lots of storage for your important files and back-ups then a good old-fashioned hard drive is still the most affordable option. (If its an SSD you are after, read Best external SSD for Mac.)There are plenty of choices, too, with compact, portable hard drives designed for use with laptops, and desktop drives with larger capacities if you really need a lot of storage. Some hard drives also provide additional features, such as built-in docks with lots of Thunderbolt and USB ports, or perhaps allowing you to open up the casing of the drive and insert a new drive for an instant upgrade.Below we rank the best hard drives we have reviewed recently, plus youll find general buying advice that explains what you should be looking for.Looking for a Black Friday deal? See our round up of the Best Hard Drive deals for Black Friday.Update November 2024 to add the Seagate Expansion Desktop HDD . 1. Seagate Ultra Touch HDD: Best Mac hard driveProsCompetitive price2TB, 4TB or 5TB storagePassword protection and encryptionConsAverage performanceLarger and heavier than original modelBest Prices Today: 142,42 at Proshop.deThe original Seagate Ultra Touch was a pocket-size hard drive with an attractively slim and lightweight design. It was a fairly old design though, limited to either 1TB or 2TB of storage, and it was still using an old USB 3.0 interface that required an adaptor in order to work with more modern Macs and PCs with USB-C.This updated version of the Ultra Touch updates most aspects of the drives design. Its slightly larger and heavier, but now starts with a minimum of 2TB storage, with 4TB or 5TB models also available if you need additional storage. This new model now has a USB-C interface too, with a lengthy (50cm) USB-C cable included as well.The 2TB model which is finished in cloud white is still fairly slim, measuring just 13.2mm thick, 80mm wide and 115mm long, and weighing a modest 168g, so its a good option if you just need a lightweight, portable drive that you can slip into your pocket or a bag. The 4TB and 5TB models are finished in a darker pebble grey and are slightly larger and heavier, measuring 23mm thick and weighing 267g.You cant buy the Ultra Touch directly from Seagate, so youll have to shop around online, and prices do seem to vary quite a lot. Seagate pricing is as follows: $164.99/179.99 for 5TB, $159.99/154.99 for 4TB, $99.99/109.99 for 2TB. However, the average prices that we came across during testing were around $79.99/99.99 for the 2TB model that we tested, while the 4TB and 5TB models are around $124.99/139.99 and $207.99/164.99 respectively. Performance is similar to that of the original Ultra Touch, at 130MB/s for both read and write speeds, which is around average for a portable drive such as this. The Ultra Touch includes some additional features too, such as the ability to create mirror folders on your Mac and the Ultra Touch drive that are automatically synced and updated whenever you make any changes to those folders. The Toolkit app also provides 256-bit encryption and password protection for extra security, making the Ultra Touch a good option for people who need to keep important files secure when theyre working away from the office. Customers in the US can also use Seagates Data Recovery service to rescue files in the event that the drive is damaged (although this service isnt available in all regions).Cliff Joseph2. LaCie Mobile Drive: Best valueProsCompetitive priceLaCies ToolKit appConsNot the fastest hard drive availableBest Prices Today: 0.01 at idealoLaCies Mobile Drive has been on our list of the best hard drives for Mac users for a while and this version was released in 2022. The 2022 Mobile Drive adopts an Apple-style slimline, rectangular design with smooth rounded corners with the LaCie logo right in the center. Prices start at a competitive $79.99/69.99 for a drive with 1TB storage (thats a price cut from the initial 79.99 in the U.K.), but there are also models with 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB available too. The 1TB and 2TB models measure just 10.4mm thick, 85mm wide, and 118mm long, and weigh 200g, so theyre easy to pick up and carry around with your laptop. The 4TB and 5TB models are a little thicker at 20.4mm and weigh 300g, but thats still a good size for portable hard drives that provide such high capacity. Theyre all constructed out of recycled aluminum, and sturdy enough to cope with life on the road. You can use them for your Time Machine backups, but LaCies ToolKit app for macOS 10.14 or later also allows you to create a Mirror folder that is automatically updated whenever you make any changes to the files or data within that folder.The drive has a USB-C interface, with a USB-C cable included in the box, and recorded write and read speeds of 126MB/s and 130MB/s respectively when running the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test. There are faster hard drives available, but thats still a respectable speed for a compact hard drive such as this, and the Mobile Drive 2022 remains a good, affordable backup drive for MacBook owners and even owners of desktop Macs who may need the larger 4TB or 5TB models. Cliff Joseph3. SanDisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATD: Best rugged portable driveProsCheap for the capacityAttractive designUSB Type-CConsFormatted to exFAT so youll need to reformat it in Disk UtilityBest Prices Today: $89.99 at Best BuyThe ArmorATD starts at $99.99/89.99 for 1TB, rising to $229.99/225.99 for the new 6TB model.Its an enclosure with a 2.5-inch hard drive inside thats shock-mounted, and the rugged aluminum case is surrounded by a silicon sock for extra protection. It will withstand minor abuse, more when off than on and the disks are spinning, but your best bet with any hard drive is not to treat it like a hockey puck. The connection is USB-C with a speed rating of 5Gbps (USB 3.1/Gen 1)plenty fast enough for any hard drive. The drive warranty is for three years.Youll get around 120MBps writing and 127MBps reading maximum (with large files) from the ArmorATD on your Mac. Good stuff. The Armor ATD arrives formatted to exFAT so youre good to go out of the box under both macOS and Windows. However, exFAT will extract a 5 percent max penalty, so Mac users will want to reformat the drive. Jon L. JacobiRead our full G-Drive ArmorATD review 4. Western Digital My Passport Ultra for Mac Big storage in a small caseProsUp to 6TB of storageFar cheaper per terabyte than SSDsType-C connectivityAttractive design fits in your (large) pocketConsHard drive-level performanceThe WD My Passport Ultra for Mac is a 2.5-inch external USB hard drive that offers a pretty decent storage capacity of 6TB for around $200/200. The 5TB unit currently offers the best bang for your buck at $28 per terabyte.The drive delivers 110MBps read and write speed, making it suitable for media streaming and Time Machine backups running in the background.The My Passport Ultra for Mac features a USB-C port. Until recently, external 2.5-inch USB hard drives unanimously used USB micro-B SuperSpeed connectors (for extra power) on the drive and USB-A on the other end of the cable. WD bundles a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-A adapter to accommodate older and current connection scenarios.The first time you attach the drive a.dmg file for installing WDs Discovery application appears. Discovery can import your data from your Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive accounts. Youll also find links for the WD Drive Utilities, WD Security (encryption, password protection), and a branded version of Acroniss True Image backup software. Its not a bad software bundle, you dont have to use it of course.In our tests the My Passport Ultra for Mac delivered a transfer rate of up to 110MBps, which is fast enough for several audio or movie streams. But in a world becoming accustomed to 3GBps speed on USB4/Thunderbolt external SSDs you may not find this fast.It is still a great storage device for a large multimedia collection and is suitable for background backup with Time Machine. The My Passport Ultra for Mac is a great storage device for a large multimedia collection and can stream across the network at 2.5Gbps.Read our full My Passport Ultra for Mac review 5. Western Digital My Passport: Best budget driveProsProvides up to 6TB storageCompetitive pricePassword protectionConsCould be fasterLarger than most portable drivesNo USB-C interfaceWestern Digital has updated its popular portable hard drive. The 2024 version of My Passport, available in dark blue, offers the worlds first 2.5-inch 6TB model (claims the company). There is no longer a 1TB version. Instead, the range starts with 2TB for $84.99/75.99. There are also 4TB and 5TB models, while the 6TB model costs a reasonable $184.99/165.99.The 2TB model is slimmer and lighter than the others, measuring 13.5mm thick, 75mm wide, and 107mm long, and weighing just 140g. The 4TB and 5TB models increase to a thickness of 19.2mm, while the 6TB model is 20.6mm thick, weighing 210g.The My Passport drive still uses an ageing USB Micro-B interface, but Western Digital includes a USB-A cable with a separate USB-C adaptor for compatibility with newer Macs with USB-C and older Macs with USB-A. Weve also looked at the My Passport Ultra for Mac (above), which uses USB-A pr USB-C via an adaptor.The My Passport drive also includes Western Digitals Discovery app for Mac and Windows, providing password protection and encryption features.Read our full Western Digital My Passport review 6. WD Black P10: Best for gamersProsCompetitively pricedConsUSB 3.2 with USB-A cable USB-C adapter not includedThe WD Black P10 provides a more portable alternative to the WD Black D10, which is geared for desktop use. Its not as fast as the D10, but it can draw power from a USB port, so you can simply plug it into any Mac, PC, or games console when you need to back up your files. Its relatively large for a portable drive, measuring a chunky 20mm thick, 88mm wide, and 118mm long, but its reinforced casing is sturdy enough to cope with being bumped around in a backpack when youre traveling.The drive is rated at a relatively modest 140MB/s for both read and write performance, although our tests actually recorded speeds of 120MB/s and 110MB/s for read and write performance respectively. Thats not going to break any records, but its fine for the occasional Time Machine backup or for storing lots of games, photos, videos, and other multimedia files. The P10 is also competitively priced, starting at just $89.99/80.99 for a healthy 2TB of storage. There are 4TB and 5TB models available too, so the P10 is a good option for Mac users who have really large collections of photos and videos that they cant fit onto their Macs internal drive.The only oddity is that the P10 uses an aging USB 3.2 interface. Theres a USB cable included, but it has a USB-A connector, so youll need to provide an adaptor for Macs that only have USB-C. Cliff Joseph7. Seagate Expansion Desktop: Smart and fastProsLow price per terabyte Up to 24TBConsRequires AC adapterBest Prices Today: $119.99 at SeagateYou will need to reformat the Mac you will need to reformat the Seagate Expansion Desktop with a Mac. Once complete, the drive should be detected and you will be able to use it as you would any hard drive. It measures approximately 7-inches long, by 4.9-inches wide, by 1.65-inches thick and weighs around 2.5-pounds and comes in black with plenty of ventilation grating, and diagonal grooves spicing up significantly what would otherwise be a bland countenance. Its not bad looking. The Seagate Expansion Desktop is available in a variety of capacities and can provide up to 24TB in a single unit. You wont get that much storage in an SSD, and even if you could this will cost a lot less than the same allocation in an SSD. Of course, the difference is that an SSD is a lot faster, but our 16TB test unit was a lot faster than you might think. Instead of the usual 120- to 140MBps its smaller 2.5-inch cousins read and write at, the Expansion Desktop managed almost 280MBps. While its not fast compared to an SSD, the Expansion Desktop is workable for streaming and background operations, is far faster than 2.5-inch external HDDs, and you sure as heck cant beat the capacity.8. Western Digital My Book: Great if you need A LOT of storageProsUp to 22TB storageGood performance (for a hard drive)Competitive priceConsUses old USB 3.0 interfaceRequires mains powerMore and more people are now using a MacBook as their main computer, so the trend with hard drives in recent years has been towards smaller, more portable drives that you can easily carry around with your laptop. Thats fine if you only need 1TB or 2TB of storage, but there are times when you may need a larger, desktop drive that can store several terabytes of files and data.Western Digitals My Book range of desktop drives has been around for quite a few years, but the range provides up to 24TB of storage (we looked at the 22TB model) which should be more than enough for photographers, designers and video-editors who work with large, high-res files every day. Prices actually start at $134.99 / 120.99 for a My Book drive with 4TB of storage, and there are several other models along the way before you reach the 22TB drive that we review here, which costs $499.99 / 502.99, and the 24GB drive that costs $579.99 / 570.99.Not surprisingly, the My Book is very much designed for desktop use. It measures 6.7 x 1.9 x 5.5-inches (170 x 49mm x 139mm), and weighs 2.20 pounds (1kg), and also requires a mains power supply, so its not a drive thats going to leave your home or office very often.Its a bit odd that the drive still uses an aging USB 3.0 interface, with a USB-A cable provided for connecting to a Mac or PC, so you may need to provide a USB-C adaptor for Macs that no longer have USB-A ports. However, the My Book does provide good protection and security for all your files, with 256-bit encryption and password protection available in the WD Security app for Mac and Windows.The drive itself has a three-year warranty, and professional users might also want to sign up for WDs Data Recovery plan from $9.99 / 9.99 for two years which can retrieve lost data if the drive does get badly damaged.Performance is good too despite the aging USB interface with the My Book recording read and write speeds of 215MB/s. Thats almost twice as fast as most of the smaller, portable drives that we review here, so the My Book will be a good option for people who need a lot of storage for their important work files. And if 22TB isnt enough, theres also a model called the My Book Duo, which provides RAID storage options using two internal hard drives for a total of 44TB of storage for $1,119 / 1,289.99.9. Seagate Special Edition Firecuda: Best for collectorsProsIts Baby Yoda!ToolKit appConsUSB-C adapter not includedFormatted for Windows PCs, so youll need to reformat it using Disk UtilityBest Prices Today: $139.99 at SeagateSeagate has a range of special edition Firecuda drives that sport designs taken from Marvel and Star Wars films. There are drives with Spiderman, Boba Fett and the Mandolorian, but our favorite is the small and powerful Baby Yoda drive (yes, we know his name is Grogu, but hell always be Baby Yoda to us). And, when attached to your Mac, the drive is even displayed on your desktop with a Baby Yoda icon as well.These special edition drives are only available with 2TB storage. Theyre priced at $139.99/139.99 on Seagates website, which is a little pricey for a 2TB drive so youre paying a bit extra for the Star Wars vibe. Some are now discounted including Grogu, who is now $59.99 in the U.S., and we have seen them at lower prices elsewhere online.Its a little larger than some portable drives, measuring 14.5mm thick, 80mm wide, and 122mm long. Its sturdily built though and only weighs 167g, so its still light enough to just pick it up and slip it onto a bag with your laptop when youre traveling. The only minor oddity with the design is that it uses a USB 3.2 interface with a USB-A cableto provide compatibility with Xbox consoles, apparently, so youll need a USB-C adaptor if your Mac only has USB-C.The Firecuda drive is formatted in the ExFat format for Windows PCs, but you can reformat it for Macs using Disk Utility, and Seagates ToolKit app will run on any Mac with macOS 10.14 or later. The drive will work with Time Machine on your Mac, but the ToolKit app also allows you to create a special Mirror folder on your Mac that is always kept in sync with a matching Mirror folder on the Firecuda drive. The app even lets you customize the colored lighting effects for the status light on the front of the drive too.Seagate doesnt quote a speed for the drive, but we recorded read and write speeds of 130MB/s in our tests. Professional users might prefer a faster hard drive or SSD, but thats a respectable speed for a portable hard drive such as this, and the Firecuda is a really good not to mention seriously cute option for day-to-day backups on your Mac. Cliff Joseph10. LaCie 1big Dock: Best for pro and creative usersProsMultiple ports including a second Thunderbolt port, DisplayPort 1.4 interface and memory card slotsConsSmallest capacity of 4TBBest Prices Today: $499.95 at AppleNot Available at AdoramaAs the name suggests, LaCies 1big Dock is more than just a straightforward hard drive. It starts at $369/349.99 for a drive with 4TB storage, going up to $889/869.99 for 18TB, and its 7,200rpm IronWolf Pro hard drive provides strong performance with read and write speeds of 235MBps via its Thunderbolt 3 port. That makes it a good option for anyone that needs a fast drive for large video, photos, and audio files.The primary Thunderbolt port also provides power for charging a MacBook laptop as well. You even have the option of popping open the front panel to swap out the standard hard drive and insert a new drive to provide an instant upgrade.But the thing that really makes the 1big Dock stand out from most of its hard drive rivals is its built-in hub and connectivity features. Theres a second Thunderbolt port that will allow you to connect additional Thunderbolt and USB-C devices, and a DisplayPort 1.4 interface for an external monitor.The front of the drive also provides a standard USB 3.0 port and slots for both SD and CompactFlash (CF) memory cards, making it a great option for creative users who need to import files from cameras and other devices.Theres also a version of the 1big Dock available that uses faster solid-state storage tooof course, its quite a bit more expensive. Cliff Joseph11. WD Black D10: Best budget performerProsCompetitive price FastCons8TB model onlyRequires USB-C adapterRequires external power supplyBest Prices Today: $169.99 at Best Buy$189.99 at AdoramaWestern Digitals WD Black drives are primarily aimed at gamers who want a fast drive to boost loading times for their games, which explains why the menacing black design of this D10 desktop drive looks like a piece of heavyweight munitions from the Call Of Duty games. But a fast drive will also appeal to anyone that has a lot of photos, videos, and audio files that they want to store on their Mac, and the D10 has other features that can come in handy too.Some aspects of the design are a little odd. Theres only one version available, with 8TB storage, although its $240/199.99 price tag on Amazon is still competitive for a fast drive such as this. Its equipped with only an old USB A interface (even though it is USB 3.2) perhaps to provide compatibility with older games consoles, so youll need an adapter if your Mac only has USB-C. Its 7,200-rpm drive provides very good performance, reaching read and write speeds of 245MBps and 240MBps, respectively. The D10 requires an external power supply, so its very much designed for desktop use, but it also has two additional USB 3.2 ports on the back of the drive that can provide power to other devices, such as an iPhone or iPad. These ports are only for charging, though, so you cant use the D10 as a dock for connecting peripherals such as a printer or memory stick. Cliff JosephHow to choose the right Mac hard driveWeve rounded up the best Mac hard drives above, but before making a buying decision you need to think about how youll be using the device. To find the best hard drive for your needs, you need to answer a few questions.How much storage do I need?Hard drive storage is relatively cheap. Unless you are really out to save your pennies, the smallest size of hard drive wed recommend is 1TB.Upgrades to 2TB, 3TB, and even 4TB are also cost-effectivethe price per megabyte goes down the higher the capacity, so making the bump up to the next model is a good idea. Each terabyte can store around 11,000 music albums at 192kbps quality, but such storage doesnt seem so grand whenyou start archiving 4K video.Portable or desktop?If you think youll be happy with a 1TB to 4TB hard drive, you can buy a portable drive. These use small 2.5-inch disks, and they fit happily into a coat pocket. Portable drives are usually bus-powered, too. This means you just need to plug them into your desktop or laptop, no separate power supply is required. Theres just one cable, and the drive will barely take up any space.If only an ultra-high capacity hard drive will do, consider a desktop unit. These use larger 3.5-inch drives and tend to cover capacities from 4TB to 18TB. Theyll need to be plugged in for power; thats fine if it stay home all of the time, or moves from office to office.Rugged drives for travelSome portable drives offer ruggedization. Shock protection is the most important kind for a hard drive, as unlike an SSD they have moving parts that can be permanently damaged following a drop. Rugged drives usually have some form of rubber coating that soaks up impact forces, and a toughened enclosure that wont dent, crack or collapse under any normal amount of pressure.A few also have water resistance. While few are rated IP68 like aniPhone 11 Pro, meaning they can be submerged in water without damage, several can handle rain or water jets/splashes.What extra features do you need?Buy a larger drive, though, and youre more likely to get other features. Desktop units may have a built-in hub, letting you plug-in memory cards or peripherals using USB ports. These are particularly useful if your current setup has limited connectivity, or the USBs you do have just arent that handy.Which connector do you need?Matching the hard drives connector to those of your laptop or desktop is also essential. Youll get a cable in the box, but it will either terminate with a USB-A or USB-C shaped plug, as seen here:USB-A (left) and USB-C.Unless you have an old Mac or MacBook that only offers the old USB-A port, youll will want the newer USB-C connector, which also doubles up as Thunderbolt. Every Mac sold by Apple in the past few years features a USB-C style connector, although some Mac desktops still offer the older USB standard as well.Not all USB-Cs are the same, though. The USB-C port on Macs also supports Thunderbolt 3 and in some cases Thunderbolt 4. USB-C is based on USB 3.1 and offers up to 10Gbps. Thunderbolt 3 offers up to 40Gbps. Thunderbolt 4 also offers 40Gbps, but has a few other advantages, including a 32Gbps data rate, which will be a benefit to anyone who needs to transfer large video files to from the drive to their desktop for editing. Theres also a new USB 4 standard that offers between 20Gbps and 40Gbps bandwidth that you will see alongside the newer Thunderbolt 4 standard, but note that USB 4 doesnt offer all the features of Thunderbolt.Its clear that Thunderbolt is a better option than USB if you are looking for the best interface for your hard drive, but Thunderbolt options are likely to be more expensive than their USB counterparts.Wireless and NASNot every hard drive needs to be plugged in: you can also opt for a network-attached storage (NAS) drive which enables to to wirelessly transfer files and backups. These network-attached storage drives connect to your home Wi-Fi to share their data with other devices in your home. That might be a smart TV, Apple TV, a tablet or laptop.A NAS is particularly useful if you want to set up a media server at home. This is like a wireless jukebox you can fill with videos, photos and music. Read our best NAS drivesfeature for more.

MacworldPDFs can be a pain. As they were initially designed to be forms that were printed out and filled in by pen, they can feel somewhat anacronistic in the modern digital age. But, its not as hard to complete forms or annotate documents in this format, and you dont even need expensive software to do it. Here we look at a collection of PDF apps that are either completely free, or have a free trial version with a lot of the necessary functionality for a one-off PDF editing requirement.Some of these apps do certain things better than others, so the best PDF editor for you will depend on what your particular needs. For example, if you want a PDF editor that can use OCR (optical character recognition) to read the text on a page you have scanned, and allow you to edit it, we have an option that can allow you to do that. If you need some more functionality than these free options offer take a look at our Best PDF Editor for Mac round-up.PROMOTIONBlack Friday Special: 50% Off EaseUS PDF EditorEaseUS PDF Editor offers Mac and Windows users a complete PDF toolkit to edit text and graphics, convert into/from PDF documents, combine multiple files into a PDF, annotate PDFs, add security features, free OCR, and more. With the most reliable tools for editing PDFs, your PDFs become effortless. Start from only $44.95/year ($59.95/year) now.Now 50% OFF Exclusive Black Friday Code: CRAZYBFShop and Save 50%Alternatively, if you are looking for a PDF editor thats simple to use and flexible enough to let you fill in a form without pulling out your hair, we have one below. We have even found a PDF tool that will let you import a PDF into Word (or Pages) and edit it there.We have looked at the following features and abilities of the PDF Editors reviewed here:Import: How faithful to the original PDF is the PDF editor? Does it maintain fonts and spacing? Can you open the PDF in Word, Excel etc?Editing: Can you select text from the original PDF? Is the new text added in a separate text box? How easy is it to edit and delete content from the PDF? Can you move content around? Does the text you add maintain the style and formatting of the original PDF? Can you add hyperlinks or attach documents? Can you add images?Collaboration: What markup tools are available? Can you highlight, underline, or strikethrough text? Can you use freehand drawing tools and an eraser. Can you add stamps? Can you track who reads and edits?Signing: Can you add a signature? Is this signature scanned, imported, or typed? How many signatures can you save?Saving: Can you resize the PDF? Can you stitch pages from multiple docs? Can you delete pages? Can you rotate pages?Find & Replace: Can the PDF editor search the PDF? Can you find and replace words? Can you redact words?OCR: Can the PDF editor read a scanned page and can you edit that?Watermark: Does it add a watermark? Can you add your own watermark?Dont forget that macOS comes with some PDF editing capabilities of its own in Preview, and you can read a bit more about how to work with it in tips for using Preview to edit a PDF on a Mac and How to make a PDF on Mac. We also cover How to scan documents and make PDFs on your iPhone or iPad.Apple PreviewProsAlready on your MacSurprisingly capableConsLimited feature set for advanced usersThere is a free PDF editor already available on your Mac and its pretty good. Its got some limitations, but its likely to offer enough tools for you if you just need to fill in some responses to questions on a PDF.You can use Preview to add text to PDFs, sometimes it recognizes where text should go, other times you need to add your own text boxes, in that case it can be a bit fiddly to get the text box to line up with the text on the page, but its not impossible. You can change the size, color and font you use.You can also perform actions like strike-through initially, we used the line shape, but then we discovered that it is possible to select strike-through from the menu (Tools > Annotate). You can also underline text the same way. These options are also available from the highlighter palette.Under Annotate in the menu are options for adding a speech bubble. You can also add comments in the form of sticky notes. Our spellings were checked as we typed indicated by the usual squiggly line.Adding a signature is simple, with three options for doing so: using a trackpad, iPhone or iPad, or by signing your name on a piece of paper and holding it up to the camera. You can save multiple signatures and add them to the document easily. We have a guide to adding a signature to a PDF here.Its easy to shuffle pages and add and delete pages from a Preview PDF. If you cant already see the thumbnail view on the left click on the dropdown box above the A icon and choose Thumbnails. Now that you can see the thumbnails it is easy to shuffle page order, delete a page, and you can even drag and drop another PDF into the thumbnail column to add it.It is also easy to rotate pages (click on the page in the Thumbnail view and click on the rotate icon in the menu).You can export your PDF as a JPEG, TIFF, but there are no options for exporting to other apps, such as Word or Pages.Preview also offers an OCR optical character recognition. If you are running macOS Monterey or later and you open anything in Preview be it a PDF or a photo you will be able to select most forms of text and cut and paste it into a text document. We were able to select text, even if it was on a slant, and generally, the results were good.Since macOS Sonoma macOS its been possible to auto-fill PDFs with your name, address, phone number and other data saved in your Contacts app. As we said above, Preview offers enough features if all you need to do is enter a bit of text and sign a PDF. So if you are trying to fill in an application form or filling in a few yes or no checkboxes, its likely to be sufficient. Those wanting a little more flexibility may find that Preview might not have enough features in which case we have some options below that might prove more tempting.Also read our full guide tousing Preview on the Mac.Read our full Apple Preview review Adobe Acrobat ReaderProsFree tier is quite usefulComment, annotate and sign PDFsFree trial for paid tiersConsSome of the more advanced features only on paid tiersExpensive if you need a subscriptionAdobe Acrobat Reader is free for some basic use, but some of the features require moving to the Standard or Pro tiers that come with a monthly, annual or prepaid annual subscription. Standard costs from $12.99/13.14 p/m. The Pro tier will set you back $19.99/19.96 p/m. Theres a 7-day free trial available for these additional features. However, there are a lot of features that are available for free. Youll find these in the Comment and Fill & Sign sections.To add text to the PDF choose Fill & Sign. Here you will also find the options to add a tick or a cross, a circle, or a line. The signature option is here too, well look at that in more detail below.Comment options include the ability to add a speech bubble, highlight, underline, and strike-through words. In fact, you can strike-through and add a related comment. All your comments will appear in the sidebar on the right.There are also tools here to draw and erase what you draw. A stamp tool with options like Approved, Revised, Confidential, Sign Here, and the option to import your own (these need to be in the PDF format, but it could be a way to add an image).When adding a signature you have options to Type, Draw (using a mouse or trackpad), or Image. If you opt for the latter you could import a scan or photograph of your signature you can import any image this way, but it will appear translucent, with the background appearing behind it as you can see from our illustration.Acrobat Reader offers enough features to make it worth the download. It can be a tad annoying when it looks like you need to get a subscription to use features that it turns out can be performed without signing up, so beware of this before you spend. Read our full Adobe Acrobat review.Wondershare PDFelementProsEdit text and imagesCreate new PDFs7-day trial of full softwareConsWatermark cant be removed on free versionLimited tools unless you payNo monthly planWondershares PDFelement app brings a streamlined interface and additional capabilities that make it a fine choice for those who want pro-level features at an affordable price, although there is, as with so many of these options, a free 7 day trial version.With the latter, you can edit images and text, create PDFs and print them. If you register the demo then youll get access to almost the full range of features available on the paid version. One caveat here is that youll only be able to remove the PDF Element Pro watermark on the paid version and youre limited to PDFs with a maximum of three pages. With the full software, you can create new PDFs from scratch, convert Word, Excel or PowerPoint files, as well as quickly produce forms that can be used online, replete with dropdown menus.Editing an existing PDF is straightforward, with tools for adding text or comments, annotating images and documents, plus the standard option of inserting a signature created on the trackpad. There are also OCR capabilities that make it easy to scan in documents and have them converted into usable PDFs in minutes.PDFelement is a comprehensive package with an interface thats simple and intuitive. The full Pro license costs $89.99/83.06 per year or $139.99/129.20 for a perpetual license (the company adds on a Download Insurance Service, but you can remove this).If youd prefer a free version that you dont have to pay for, PDF Reader is also from Wondershare, but this is an entirely free version of PDFelement that you can use on your iPad or iPhone to read, edit, annotate, convert and sign PDFs. You just need to register with Wondershare to use the app.Were mentioning it here because, while its not a Mac app, you might be happy to edit the PDF on your iPad or iPhone for the sake of getting a free option. Incidentally, there is a Windows version of PDF Reader.Once the app was downloaded to our iPhone we were able to open PDFs that were stored in iCloud, edit text and add your own. You can add crosses and ticks (checks), draw on the PDF, strike through text, highlight text, and create and add a signature. Once your changes are made you can save.Download Wondershares PDF Reader from the iOS App StoreRead our full Wondershare PDFelement review Readdle PDF ExpertProsFully featured 7-day trialLifetime plan is good valueLots of toolsConsNo permanent free tierPDF Expert for Mac from Readdle offers a seven-day full-featured free trial, which could make it ideal if you just need a solution now and dont expect to be editing PDFs again for a while. If you do need it for longer than a week it costs $79.99/72.99 a year on subscription, or $139.99/139.99 if you choose the Lifetime plan.We found PDF Expert did a good job of maintaining the fonts, style and formatting of the original PDF.There are two options for editing that you can find in the menu at the top of the page: Annotate and Edit. Under Annotate you will find the tool to easily add text to the PDF. You can choose the font and color of the text here.However, you will find the better editing tools under Edit. Here you have the option to actually edit the text already on the page, add images, add hyperlinks, and redact sensitive information (you can choose to black out names, or you can search for a specific word and delete every occurrence of that.)We were able to select text and move it around the page. But as we found with all the PDF editors here, it wasnt possible to drag and drop text between pages (to get around this we were able to cut and paste and still make a good-looking document).Under the Annotate tab you will find options to highlight, underline, or strike-through text, as well as a pan tool that means you can draw freehand in any color, as well as change the line width and opacity. Theres also a crop tool here. In Annotate you can also add sticky notes and stamps (e.g. an Approval). Youll see a column of existing annotations on the left so its easy to see what edits have been made and when. These annotations can be exported as HTML, text or markdown.Adding a signature is also done via the Annotate tab. You can add more than one signature and these are added via the keyboard, trackpad, or an image. To add the signature to your PDF just drag and drop from the signature pane. You an also add a watermark yourself, perhaps your company logo, rather than having one added for you as is the case with some of the other trials looked at here.Resizing a large PDF was easy thanks to a High/Low slider that indicated the size of the resulting file. There was also the option to merge files, combine multiple documents into one PDF, or individual pages from multiple documents.We had one PDF that was scanned on our iPhone via the Notes app (we explain how to scan a document with an iPhone separately). Obviously such a document will only be recognized by the PDF editor if the editor has OCR abilities that are unlocked in the trial. PDFExpert couldnt do this so we werent able to edit the text in the scanned document, although we were able to add hyperlinks to sections of that document. Obviously, we couldnt search the scanned document, or edit the text there.We were able to search normal PDFs though, and we were able to search for a word and redact every occurrence of it either by blacking it out, or deleting it.We were able to export the PDF into Word, PowerPoint and Excel, as well as to Text and Image.Its a free seven-day trial, so if you need the software for longer than that and dont want to pay up then you would have to look elsewhere. But if you dont need something long term this trial offers everything you need.Read our full Readdle PDF Expert review Abbyy FineReader Pro for MacProsOCR capabilitiesAllows PDF content to be edited in Word or PagesConsA bit hit and miss at timesQuite a niche productPreview now has OCR capabilitesAbbyy FineReader is the app to try if you want OCR (optical character recognition) capabilities (although Preview does now offer these). However, we nearly didnt realize how deep the capabilities of this app went because the results can be a little hit-and-miss. Actually, the capabilities of the 30-day free trial version are pretty impressive, as long as you are willing to accept that it might not always do a great job of translating what it sees.We discovered this when we imported our PDF and were greeted with a warning to Please re-scan your document at a higher resolution. Given the PDF we were imported hadnt been scanned we were a little confused by this. Then when we exported the scan to Word we saw a warning that some of the pages had not been recognised. The resulting Word document (actually we opened it in Pages) was a little muddled, some of the translations were laughable. But the general content had come through well enough for us to be able to correct the mistakes.Now, this probably wouldnt do for you if you wanted to edit a straightforward PDF if thats the case use one of the other apps. However, if you had scanned text from a book or a printout and you wanted to edit that then this is the app for you.As we mentioned earlier, we had a scan we had taken with our iPhone camera via the Notes app and we were able to get FineReader to read this and open it as a Word document, which we could then edit. Sure, there might be a few words that are wrong, but its got to be better than typing the whole thing out.Once in Word (or Pages), you can edit the document as much as you like. We did see a warning that fonts were missing, and there was a strange case of paragraph formatting that caused the text to wrap to the next line as if it was in a box, but it was a good effort we thought.As for collaboration and editing you have all the tools that are available in the app you end up opening the document in, be that Word, Pages, Excel, PowerPoint or something else.It might not be spot on every time, but the fact that we were able to scan a document and export it to Word where we could edit it, was a real bonus.You can buy an annual subscription to FineReader for $69.99/59.99, or one month for $11.99/11.99, also available in the Mac App Store.Read our full ABBYY FineReader PDF for Mac review Cisdem PDFMaster/EaseUS PDF EditorProsSome useful toolsEasy to useWeb basedConsFile size limits on free tierReduced editing features unless you payBest Prices Today: Free at PDF EscapeCisdem PDFMaster is also distributed by EaseUS as their PDF Editor for Mac (which had us very confused when we first looked at it). It has a free trial that lasts 14 days, which may be enough for your purposes. Cisdem PDFMaster is a decent app for those looking to make casual adjustments to their documents, although it lacks some of the features required by professionals.You can download the app from multiple channels, including Apples App Store, the aforementionedEaseUS website, andCisdems official website.Each version has a different price and there are some differences in functionality. Once you load a PDF document in the app, the toolbar it surfaces is similarly straightforward and easy to grasp. Its ideal for beginners with limited tech knowledge rather than those seeking an advanced PDF editor, since its feature set is somewhat limited. You can edit the text in the document, allowing you to add or remove words, change the font, insert links, move things around, and so on.The software also supports extensive annotation, including shape insertion, highlighting, underlining, striking through, leaving comments, guiding with arrows, and you can insert images, stamps, and digital signatures. Watermarking, document cropping, conversion to multiple file formats, size shrinking, optical character recognition (OCR), redaction, page reorganization, PDF comparisons, area calculations, are available. Foxit ReaderProsSimple and lightweightFreeEnough tools for basic form-fillingConsMight not suit advanced usersCompleting our list is Foxit PDF Reader, which is a simple editor that, as the name suggests, allows you to open and read PDFs on your Mac. Thats not all though, as the free program can also let you fill in forms and digitally sign documents. When you first open the app, it can look a little busy as Foxit places ads for its other software products, including the PDF Editor which is a more powerful version of Reader but requires a purchase. Thats not necessary though, as Reader has plenty to offer. You can enter text into PDF fields, create a new signature or import one you may already have on your Mac so that you can sign-off on forms. Plus there are various annotation tools on hand, such as highlighting and adding notes. Its a nice little app that will probably be all that most people need if they dont work with PDFs very often. Read our fullFoxIt PDF Editor reviewPDF CandyProsWeb basedEasy to useUseful featuresConsHourly limits on free tierWhile there is no Mac app for PDF Candy, Mac users can use the free online version to add text to a PDF, as well as underlines, strike-throughs, and add signatures.You can also compress and merge PDFs, rearrange pages, delete pages, rotate and crop PDFs.Unfortunately, you cant add or change the text, so if you need to do that this isnt going to suffice (although you can place white overlay over content you want to hide).You can also convert PDFs to Word, Excel and various other documents using this free online tool. You then need to download it from the website. Unfortunately when we did this the Word document we ended up with wasnt quite what wed started with.There are limits to this free online version. For example, you can only perform one task per hour. If you want access to more tools (there are 47 in total) you need to register and select a plan. There are two on offer, you can pay monthly and cancel at any time for $6/6 or pay yearly for $48/48. LibreOfficeProsFull office suiteEdit text and add imagesCreate PDFsConsNo signature featureLimited features compared to dedicated PDF editorsLibreOffice is a free office suite with some handy features if you want to edit and update PDFs.Because its an office suite you also benefit from all the Office-like features and familiar menus.We were able to open a PDF in LibreOffice and edit text and add text and images. We werent able to add a signature, but this would be simple enough if you already had the signature as an image file.You can also create a PDF from a document you create in LibreOffice, just as you can from Pages or Word. Create the document and then choose File > Export as PDF.While its not a dedicated PDF editor or creator you can do many of the things you are likely to want to do to a basic PDF, so its a good option that comes with various benefits on account of it being a decent alternative to Microsoft Office. Read our round-up of the best word processors for Mac for more information.SkimProsCompletely freeAdd notes, underline and highlight textConsBasicMainly intended for reading PDFsSkim is an open source, free PDF reader, so as long as you dont expect more than basic functions you will be satisfied.The tool allows you to view PDFs, add notes, underlines and highlight text.Skim is more for reading PDFs it was designed for academics, so its less about filling in and editing PDFs and more about the comfort of reading and navigating them along with the ability to add notes and bookmark pages. If all you want is a PDF reader this may well suit you. You can download it here.PDF Escape (macOS)ProsSome useful toolsEasy to useWeb basedConsFile size limits on free tierReduced editing features unless you payBest Prices Today: Free at PDF EscapePDF Escape is another web-based editor that has decent tools on offer. To get started you upload documents to the site, then work in the online portal on your PDF. Like most of the packages on this list, theres a limited free tier or a more powerful version can be unlocked through a paid subscription. You can still do a fair bit of work with the free version, so its a good place to start. There are three main areas in the interface, comprised of Insert, Annotate, and Page. Within each of these youll find the relevant tools for editing text, images, links, adding notes, underlining and striking through text, plus you can reorder pages and use a few other useful organizational settings. PDF Escape does impose a 10MB file size limit on the free tier, which will make larger PDFs a no-go. Perhaps a more limiting restriction is that the free tier also has no way to edit the existing text in a PDF or even allow the conversion to another format. If your needs are modest, then it could do the job but basically, its something akin to a demo rather than workable piece of software unless you sign up to a subscription. The current cost is $5.99 (4.80) per month or $35.88 (29) per year for Premium. Theres also the Ultimate tier for or $8.99 (7) per month and $71.88 (59) per year. Thats brings the ability to digitally sign documents, use the redaction feature, as well as sealing a document for added security. pdfFillerProsWeb based30-day free trialWide range of featuresConsNo free tierNo desktop versionpdfFiller is another option if you want to edit and adjust a PDF. As with the other paid for PDF editors in this round-up, there is a 30-day free trial that you can use (although its included with a full version when you sign up, so it would probably be more accurate to describe it as the first month free-youll need to cancel before the subscriptions start). You will need to enter your details, but since you can sign in with Apple you can avoid sharing your email address, which is nice.Its web-based, although there is an iOS app you can use. You can add and edit existing text, copy and paste, and add images to the PDF. Its also possible to add a signature which is even electronically verified. You can easily combine multiple PDFs in one file. You can save your PDFs and collaborate with others while editing. If you are working as part of a team the lock and encryption options will be useful. It is even possible to create and host fillable forms that multiple users can fill in, and you can export the data added. Plus it is possible to convert documents from Word, JPG, Excel, PowerPoint and so on and create PDFs from them.If you want to open up the whole app to use then youll need to sign up to a subscription. At the time of writing this costs $8 (6.14) a month for the Basic version or $20 (15.36) a month if you want to be able to cancel before the end of the first year.Read our full pdfFiller review Free PDF editors to avoidSometimes a free product just isnt worth the hassle. Weve looked at some options that we simply dont recommend. SwifDooWe looked at SwifDoo, a free to download PDF reader. Apples built-in Preview app performs most of the tasks offered, including proper PDF editing, which SwifDoo doesnt do. But more concerning is the fact that the app collects users location data and uses it to track them, as outlined in the clients listing on Apples App Store. Our research indicates that SwifDoo PDF seems to collect a broader range of data than some other options out there. Theres absolutely no excuse for a PDF editing app to collect and use this kind of information. Read our SwifDoo PDF for Mac review. For more advice about accessories and software for your Mac, iPad or iPhone see all our Best Picks.

Amid the uncertainty around what makes a Windows 11 PC a Copilot+ PC, and how that differs from an AI PC, Arm is bringing some clarity or perhaps a new source of confusion with its definition of what constitutes an Arm PC.For decades, the heart of every PC running Windows was an x86 processor, designed by Intel and later expanded upon by AMD with the x64 architecture. But in 2017, Microsoft released a version of Windows 10 that ran on processors built on designs from Arm, prompting some manufacturers to introduce Arm-based PCs.Initially they had little influence on the market, but now Microsoft has really thrown its weight behind the Arm architecture. The Arm version of Windows 11 is superficially indistinguishable from the x86/x64 version, with the same user interface and functions. However, behind the scenes, while Windows 11 on Arm will run applications compiled for x86, it runs them slowly, in an emulator. Only applications compiled for the Arm architecture get the full power of the processor.Microsoft makes no distinction between x86 and Arm architectures in its definition of what qualifies as a Windows 11 PC, leaving buyers to find out for themselves whether their favorite software application will run well or not.For the last year or so, weve also had to contend with AI PCs. Pretty much everyone agrees that these are PCs that run AI applications thanks to an additional neural processing unit (NPU) alongside their CPU and GPU. For Intel, that NPU has to be in one of its Core Ultra chips. In Microsofts definition, an AI PC initially at least also had to have a dedicated Copilot key to launch its Copilot software.Microsoft then added to the confusion with a new category: Copilot+ PCs. These are Windows 11 PCs with a compatible processor and an NPU capable of 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) or more. This requirement neatly excluded Intels first generation of AI chips, which only hit 37 TOPS. The only chips Microsoft deemedsuitable for the Copilot+ PCson sale at launchwerethe Arm-based Snapdragon X Series from Qualcomm. However, thats changing as machines with AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series and Intel Core Ultra 200V Series chips that meet the spec are now hitting the market.But wait: It takes more than just a processor to make a PC. For years, Intel and AMD created reference designs for PCs based on the chips they made, clarifying details of interconnects and security systems. Arm doesnt make chips, though; it licenses its architecture to Qualcomm and other companies, who sell the chips used in Arm-based PCs. So who is responsible for defining how everything fits together in an Arm-based PC?Into that vacuum comes Arm, with its Arm PC Base System Architecture 1.0 platform design document providing rules and guidelines for companies manufacturing PCs from chipsets based on its architecture. This is an important step towards CEO Rene Haas goal of winning half of the Windows PC market by 2029.Critical requirements for Arm PCsArms new PC Base System Architecture (PC-BSA) document lays out the basic elements intended to make its architecture reliable for PC operating systems, hypervisors, and firmware.At a high level, it stipulates that 64-bit processors must be built on Arm v8.1 (or newer) core designs and integrate a TPM 2.0 trusted platform module to support security. TPM may be implemented as firmware, a discrete chip, or in a secure enclave. Arm PCs must also adhere to PCI Express standards, and allow for virtualization through a System Memory Management Unit (SMMU).The PC Base System Architecture embeds the notion of levels of functionality, Arm explains in the document. Each level adds functionality better than the previous level, adding incremental features that software can rely on. Technical specifications also cover memory maps, interrupt controllers, and device assignment.Protection from supply chain attacksArm points out that PCs go through different stages as they progress along the supply chain, from manufacturing and provisioning through deployment, production, and finally decommissioning.To allow actors in the supply chain to determine the current security state of a system, the security-relevant state can be reflected in hardware through mechanisms such as fuses and one-time programmable (OTP) memory, the document stipulates.A software boost for Arm-based PCsOne of the challenges for owners of Arm-based Windows 11 PCs is that, apart from the operating system and the Microsoft 365 productivity suite, few applications were optimized for the Arm architecture.There were some significant new Arm-compatible software releases at Microsofts Ignite event this week, though, with Google releasing a beta version of its Drive for Desktop ARM64 cloud storage client, and the secure Signal Messenger app getting an update that supports the Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors in Copilot+ PCs.Microsoft also demonstrated new search functions powered by the NPU in Copilot+ PCs that it will release sometime in early 2025. Users will be able to find files, documents, and photos by describing their content to Copilot, even when they are offline. For instance, they may search for modes of transport, and the model will bring up documents that discuss cars, buses, and airplanes, Microsoft explained.Another new Microsoft capability for Copilot+ PCs, now in preview, is Click to Do. Its purpose is to simplify workflows by making text and images selectable so that AI can provide relevant action suggestions, such as summarizing text or editing images.Microsoft has also introduced a new API for its lightweight open multimodal model, Phi 3.5, custom-built for the Copilot+ with Snapdragon X series. This will support text summarization, completion, and prediction.Finally, the company rolled out new enterprise-grade controls for Recall, its controversial data snapshot tool. The AI-powered feature uses natural language to help people re-engage with content. It takes frequent snapshots of active screens, encrypting them and storing them on the PC where they can be searched by AI to make what Microsoft calls an explorable timeline of your past on your PC.However, this feature has raised concerns about security and privacy, so Microsoft has turned it off by default for managed commercial devices. IT teams must choose to re-enable it to save screen snapshots.

AI agents will soon be everywhere, automating complex business processes and taking care of mundane tasks for workers at least thats the claim of various software vendors that are quickly adding intelligent bots to a wide range of work apps.Many companies appear to be listening. Over the next three years, at least 40% of Global 2000 businesses will use AI agents and agentic workflows to automate knowledge work, according to an IDC report, doubling productivity in the process where the technology is successfully implemented, at least.Should the technology live up to expectations, businesses will be faced with a significant shift in how work is done in their organization.People are not just being asked to adopt a new technology, theyre being asked to change the way they do their jobs, said Amy Loomis, research vice president, Future of Work at IDC, I think that the vendors dont quite appreciate how much AI is altering who does what and how. What are AI agents?At a basic level, AI agents can be viewed as the next stage in the evolution of the AI tools that are already embedded in many workplace software applications the assistants or copilots that generate content or retrieve information as directed by a worker, such as summarizing documents and drafting emails, for instance. Autonomous AI agents, on the other hand, can complete complex, multi-step tasks with little or no input from human workers, combining large language models (LLMs) with workflow automation triggers and actions. The goal is to create intelligent and highly capable assistants that can plan, reason, and execute work tasks independently, or with minimal human oversight.AI assistants, advisors, and agents have different capabilities and use cases, according to IDC.IDCFor so long weve talked about the work about the work the busy work, the stuff that gets in the way of you actually doing work, said Chris Marsh, research director, Workforce Productivity & Collaboration at S&P Global Market Intelligence. And I think there is a genuine opportunity now to really expedite high-value work by having agents automate all that crud.Defining exactly what an agent is can be tricky, however: LLM-based agents are an emerging technology, and theres a level of variance in the sophistication of tools labelled as agents, as well as how related terms are applied by vendors and media.And as with the first wave of generative AI (genAI) tools, there are question marks around how businesses will use the technology. IDC analysts pointed to business scepticism around AI agent performance, alongside privacy concerns, a lack of clarity around pricing, and a skills gap in terms of understanding how knowledge work is performed outside of traditional-documented business processes.Nevertheless, Deloitte predicts that a quarter of companies that use gen AI will launch agentic AI pilots or proofs on concept in 2025, growing to half by 2027. Some agentic AI applications, in some industries, and for some use cases, could see actual adoption into existing workflows in 2025, especially by the back half of the year, said Deloitte staff in a report published this week.Achieving the substantial gains promised by agentic AI will require significant overhead in terms of teams and companies adjusting to what this world looks like, said Marsh. And there are bigger questions do you have the right data architecture? Do you have the right integration strategy to actually make the next phase of agentic AI a reality?The agents are comingThe range of options for building and managing AI agents has quickly grown in the past year.Numerous dedicated frameworks and development platforms for building AI agents from both startups and established technology companies are already available. Robotic process automation software vendors have touted agents as the next generation of intelligent automation tools. More recently, enterprise software vendors have added no-code platforms into their apps, too.Salesforces Agentforce was the centerpiece of its recent Dreamforce event with the launch of its Agent Builder, a low-code tool for building AI agents, while Microsoft made its autonomous agent builder within Copilot Studio available in a public preview this week.This is likely just the start: Gartner predicts that a third of enterprise applications will include agentic AI by 2028, up from less than 1% in 2024, with 15% of day-to-day work decisions made autonomously as a result.Agents are also coming to digital work apps that a wide variety of office workers interact with on a regular basis. Asana, Atlassian, Box, and Slack have been among the first to announce such features in recent months. In some ways, its going to be just baked into the productivity apps that youre using, like [Microsoft 365] Copilot, said IDCs Loomis.An employee onboarding agent created in Microsoft Copilot Studio.MicrosoftThen there are agents in development from the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI:these promise to actually take over a users computer and perform tasks on their behalf across multiple apps.With so many tools in development or coming to the market, theres a certain amount of confusion among businesses that are struggling to keep pace.The vendors are announcing all of these different agents, and you can imagine what its like for the buyers: instead of The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming, its the agents are coming, the agents are coming, said Loomis. Theyre being bombarded by all of these new offerings, all of this new terminology, and all of these promises of productivity.Software vendors also offer varying interpretations of the term agent at this stage, and tools coming to market exhibit a broad spectrum of complexity and autonomy.At a launch event last month, Microsoft gave an example of a client onboarding agent built by consultancy McKinsey. The agentic workflow kicks into action when a customer email arrives from here the agent extracts the relevant details from emails and follows a series of steps: checking for previous interactions, summarizing client needs, and identifying the correct McKinsey employee to meet with the client. Then it can write and send an email to the employee with the relevant client details.McKinsey claimed that the agent was able to reduce its lead time by 90% and admin work by 30%.Microsoft has also developed other agents with more limited capability. For example, a pre-built Employee Self-Service agent available in Microsoft 365 Copilot can take some actions on behalf of a user such as updating HR profiles but functions mostly as an AI assistant that provides responses to user queries based on its access to documents and data from apps such as Workday and ServiceNow.Similarly, SharePoint agents basically function as customized AI assistants that help workers retrieve information from select files. And although Microsoft says that its Facilitator note-taking agent in Teams one of several agents announced for Microsoft 365 apps at the companys Ignite conference this week will eventually manage meetings end-to-end, the initial incarnation doesnt sound like a huge departure from what the Copilot AI assistant can already do in the collaboration app.These may all be useful features, of course, but are examples of the different ways agents are being marketed.Another workplace transformation loomsMany of the agent builder tools coming to business and work apps require little or no expertise. This accessibility means a wide range of workers could manage and coordinate their own agents.Some software vendors claim that all knowledge workers will build agents to help them in their job.We think everyone will need to be able to create agents in the future, much like how everyone can create spreadsheets or presentations in Microsoft 365, said Bryan Goode, corporate vice president for Business Applications at Microsoft, in an email comment to Computerworld last month. Alongside its Copilot Studio app, Microsoft has added a lightweight agent builder to its Microsoft 365 Copilot assistant, which aims to encourage a wide range of workers to create agents using natural language prompts from the AI assistants BizChat interface.A recent IDC report predicts a transformative shift in how knowledge workers approach their daily and project-oriented tasks and workflows in the coming years, thanks to the introduction of AI agents that will perform tasks both autonomously and interactively.As frustration with inefficient processes and lack of technological support mounts, workers will quickly realize they can harness the new capabilities of LLMs to automate and augment portions of their jobs, the authors wrote.The IDC analysts forecast that a fifth of knowledge workers with no development experience will build their own agentic workflows by the end of next year. Despite lacking formal development experience, [knowledge workers] will harness the power of LLMs conversationally to create personalized, agentic workflows, analysts said in the report. This means describing tasks, processes, problems, and goals in plain language that language models turn into the code, scripts, or automation routines required to run personal AI agents.Although he sees potential for all manner of workers to create agents for individual productivity, S&Ps Marsh said that, for the most part, its likely to be a smaller subset of workers that build agents to automate key business processes. So if its a bunch of workflow automation in a sales team, its probably going to be the sales ops person who does that, or the marketing ops person in a marketing function, he said.AI agents will handle a range of business processes, from relatively simple to complex.MicrosoftThe introduction of agents will require businesses and workers to adapt to yet another substantial change to how knowledge work is carried out. The shift to a hybrid-remote model is barely complete for a lot of organizations, and the initial wave of generative AI assistants are only in the early stages of adoption at most businesses. Injecting AI agents into business processes will further disrupt how work is done.In the longer term I actually believe that we will start to change workflows in businesses, from human-led to AI-led, said Matthew Kropp, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group.The deployment of new automation technologies inevitably raises the prospect of job losses too. But despite the potential for agents to automate work processes, IDCs Loomis expects that the technology will reshape rather than replace jobs.It doesnt mean your jobs going away, she said. It means you focus on different things, and your job is to manage or develop the automation. So people are going to have to get much more technically astute, to a certain degree.Craig Le Clair, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, predicts that the net number of jobs will remain the same or grow, but increasingly advanced automation will eventually result in a significant shift in the types of roles that are needed.Agents will mostly affect the digital elite, which is the professional category, and the middle workers for those lower-level cognitive tasks that they do in the mid-office, in the back office. Those are going to create the greatest shifts, said Le Clair, author of the book Random Acts of Automation.Use cases in industries with high interest in AI agents, according to Forrester Research.Forrester Research, Inc.AI is going to not so much eliminate jobs I think we figured out that we cant really predict that anyway its more having middle workers either move to front line, or in a positive way, have middle workers who become AI operators be able to move up the digital elite will be challenged with the diminished importance of their professional credentials, he said.Are AI agents ready to deploy?While automation holds great potential to transform how work is carried out in future, the near-term reality for businesses is a different story.The first generation of generative AI assistants and copilots have now descended into what Gartner terms the trough of disillusionment, with many projects remaining at a pilot stage due to a combination of factors: change management, a lack of clarity on ROI, and various security considerations, for example. And then theres the propensity for language models to hallucinate answers. Many of the same challenges will be faced when deploying AI agents.Businesses are understandably cautious about letting LLM-based agents act autonomously and access business systems, for example, even if they are subject to limitations in terms of the actions they are programmed to carry.For the time being, most businesses will want some sort of human oversight. There are no circumstances, at least right now, in which you would deploy this without some human in the loop, said Kropp. This means that human workers have visibility into the agents actions and are consulted before taking riskier actions. That said, Kropp is confident that the problem of AI hallucinations will fade in significance as the technology matures, with agent reasoning capabilities also improving quickly.While there are likely to be plenty of challenges along the way, Marsh expects that the combination of AI and automation will ultimately have a profound impact on how works gets done even more so than other recent workplace shifts prompted by new technologies.I think the productivity gains are there. I think theyre real If I think of all those changes that have happened over the past five years, this will be easily the biggest, he said.

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