Apple Weather knows more than the forecast and if it will rain in the next half hour. It knows about the Moon too. Let’s check out the moon on the Mac and the iPhone. Both are very similar.
How far away is the Moon right now? (It varies.) When does the Moon rise tonight? When does it set? When is the next full Moon or new Moon? All these questions and more are answered in the latest version of the Apple Weather app. It does not affect the weather here on Earth of course, but the information it presents is interesting.
It could also be useful if you plan to go out at night and look at or even photograph one of the special Moons that occur from time to time, like the Tetrad lunar eclipse or blood Moon, Blue blood Moon, and others.
Related: See historical temperatures and rainfall in Mac Weather app
Find the Moon in Weather
Open the Apple Weather app on a Mac and look in the bottom left corner for Moon information. On an iPhone, open the app and swipe up until to get to the Moon.
There is a comment about the Moon’s current state, like waxing crescent, first quarter, new Moon, or whatever is appropriate. It also shows the illumination, moonrise, and when the next full Moon is expected to occur.
Dig into the Moon information
Click the Moon on a Mac or tap it on an iPhone to open a panel with more detailed information. It now adds the moonset and Moon distance to the information. The Moon’s orbit is elliptical and this means that sometimes it is nearer and sometimes farther away.
On the Mac, moving the mouse over the Moon reveals left and right arrows. Click them to jump to the next or previous days. On both the Mac and the iPhone, click and drag over the scroll bar under the Moon to move forward or backward in time, and see how the information changes over time.
Pull up the Moon panel on the Mac and iPhone to reveal a calendar on which the phases of the Moon are drawn. You can see how it changes over the month from a new moon to full Moon.
Click the arrows next to the month at the top to see last month, this month, and next month. It does not go beyond a month ahead though. It is easy to see the state of the Moon over time, which could be useful if you plan to look at the Moon, photograph it, or want to know when you will turn into a howling werewolf.
Right down at the bottom of the Moon panel is some information about Moon illumination and distance.
You probably won’t look at the Moon panel as much as the rest of the weather information, but it is a nice addition to the apps on the Mac and iPhone.
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