MacFormat的May 2018目录

SonarPen Drawing inspiration from this affordable stylus While Apple Pencil is undoubtedly a brilliant stylus, at £99 it’s also undoubtedly expensive. If that price tag puts you off buying one, take a look at the SonarPen. At $29.95 (about £21), it’s a fraction of Pencil’s cost. It supports palm rejection to prevent accidental input, is pressure sensitive, has a shortcut button, and comes with a magnetic holder. It’s not wireless, instead relying on a colourful cord connected to your iPad’s 3.5mm headphone jack, so there’s no need to worry about a battery running out while you work. It’s compatible with non-Pro iPads, too! From $29.95 (about £21) INCLUDES SonarPen, magnetic pen holder WEBSITE sonarpen.com WORKS WITH All iPads except first-generation model, iPhone 4s or later…

While its rivals have forged ahead with 2-in-1 laptop/tablet devices, Apple has stayed well clear. The company has never shown willingness to merge the MacBook and iPad lines, always keeping them firmly separated. However, that might soon change, as Apple has been granted a patent for a device that could become a dual-display MacBook. The patent (number 9,904,502 with the US Patent and Trademark Office) was filed in September 2015, but was only granted in February 2018. It details a product that contains two separate displays that are connected via a hinge axis. The displays could be rotated along this hinge, allowing it to be used in different orientations. Alternatively, Apple also notes that the two screens could be connected magnetically, potentially allowing the concept to be applied to the…

The Mac went through some rough years in the 2000s where entertainment software was concerned. Even after the switch to using Intel processors, the Mac still misses out on a lot of titles. But back in the Macintosh Classic era through to the start of the 21st century, Apple’s platform was host to a whole bunch of quirky and innovative titles that are all but lost in the mists of time. This iBook will bring back a flood of memories. Its game profiles conclude with catch-ups on what developers went on to do. We’d have liked more screenshots of these classics, simply because we no longer have the hardware to run them. The Secret History is nonetheless packed with info, amounting to more than 400 pages’ worth of insights into…

LETTER OF THE MONTH! What’s up with Apple? Thank you for a great magazine. A very informative and interesting read. One of the informative and interesting articles I read was ‘top-notch innovation’ for the iPhone (in your Apple Core section, in MacFormat’s March issue, #323). I have invested heavily in Apple products the last couple of years, having switched from Microsoft systems, because I was impressed with the design and quality of Apple’s products and that they just work. Until now. Recently, I’ve become disillusioned. Having bought the highest spec iMac at the time of purchase, with a 3TB drive and maxed-out memory, processor and graphics card, after two years of use the drive has failed. Not what I expected after splashing out over £3,000 for a desktop. I am…

With prices starting at less than £10, the compact and affordable Raspberry Pi computer has really helped to make programming popular in recent years. There are several models of Pi available. All consist of a simple circuit board that holds the main computer processor, memory and a few USB ports. You can extend Pi’s capabilities with add-ons such as a mouse and keyboard, camera, and even a touchscreen display. There are several ways of using an iPhone or iPad with a Pi – in fact, an iPad can act as a screen for the tiny device, and there are projects online, such as HomeBridge, to enable you to control a variety of smart home accessories through a Pi. Read more at raspberrypi.org and, if you’re good at tinkering, our sister…

Before you begin to troubleshoot your existing High Sierra setup or install the system afresh, take time to spring clean your Mac. Get everything in order, then make a backup of your entire system using Time Machine or, better, a cloning app such as Carbon Copy Cloner (£35.88, bombich.com). As shown in last issue’s Detox and Back Up special, this means you’ll have a complete backup you can revert to if need be. (After you’ve installed High Sierra, ironically, Time Machine will automatically save a Local Snapshot of your system before installing any macOS update.) Even if High Sierra installs smoothly, people have reported various problems occurring afterwards, so you’ll be glad to have a backup from which to restore such vital data. Verify your Mac can run High Sierra…

Any software update can result in glitches and problems. High Sierra is a major macOS revision with far-reaching changes under the hood, and inevitably this has meant problems with some apps. The solution is almost always to upgrade to the newest version of the app in question; in the vast majority of cases, you can do so free of charge. Some older apps, however, aren’t being updated, which means you might need to find a replacement, but before you invest time in that, see page 36 for another option, but bear in mind that to implement it you need the installer for a previous operating system version. Older versions of Apple’s own professional apps are not compatible with High Sierra. This includes Final Cut Pro X (10.3.4 and earlier), Logic…

Your trackpad recognises far more gestures than Apple provides access to in System Preferences’ Trackpad pane. But BetterTouchTool can unleash the full power of the Multi-Touch surface. The app lets you choose from additional gestures and assign actions to them. Treat the examples we give here as a starting point and then experiment with ideas of your own. (In Manage Presets, export a backup of your BetterTouchTool settings, then reimport them later – a great way to reuse them on a second Mac, such as an iMac with a Magic Trackpad.) BetterTouchTool also offers more nuanced general trackpad controls. In the app’s toolbar, click the Advanced button and then Trackpad. You’ll see a range of options for fine-tuning how your trackpad works. If things go a bit weird, you can…

Your iPhone, and gadgets such as the GoPro Hero 6 Black camera, can record video footage at different resolutions and frame rates. The iPhone’s default video recording resolution is 1080p HD at 30 frames per second (fps). This high-definition footage looks great on TV and YouTube. However, there are situations where you might want to change your iPhone’s default video recording resolution. To save storage space on your phone (and capture more clips), you can drop the resolution to 720p HD. This smaller high-definition resolution will still look okay when viewed on social media sites, but it may look a little fuzzy when combined with higher resolution files in an iMovie project. You can also record slow-motion (slo-mo) clips on your iPhone using the 720p HD resolution. This is worth…

Photo prints are wrongly scaled Q My iMac is running macOS 10.13.3 and the latest printer software, but Preview and Photos only print a third of each image to 6x4in photo paper on my HP Deskjet 3520. All other printing is fine. How can I print these photos properly? by PAUL ROPER A High Sierra’s drivers might need a little assistance in setting them up for high-quality print modes. It’s best to do this using a custom print setting. Open an example image in Preview, and then choose File > Print. If you only see a simple dialog, click on the Show Details button to expand it fully. Ensure you have the correct paper size and orientation set at the top and then, in the pop-up menu halfway down, choose…

I can’t read Apple’s free iBooks Q I recently added Apple’s free iOS user guides for iPhone and iPad to the iBooks collection on my Mac. When I try to open either, I’m told that a different Apple ID was used to buy them, which isn’t the case, and they work fine on my iPhone. How can I read them on my Mac? by MADDIE PLEASANTS A Restart your Mac, and open the iCloud pane. Sign out, wait a few seconds and then sign in again. Also try removing the books from your Mac and then redownloading them. If those don’t help, open Settings on your iPhone. At the top of the first page, tap your name. You’ll see all your current Macs and iOS devices listed. Tap your Mac…

Apple’s computers are well known for their high prices. While you certainly get a lot for your money, there’s no doubting that buying a Mac requires a big financial investment. But there’s no need to pay full price if you know where to look. There are plenty of clever tips and tricks that can save you a huge amount of money, so buying the Mac you always wanted becomes a much more palatable prospect. From sales and specs to rights and resellers, over the next few pages we’ll take you through all the ways you can save a packet when buying a Mac. Read this and you’ll never need to pay full price again.…

When it comes to buying a Mac directly from Apple, there are several ways to save some money. Before you hand over your hard-earned cash, there are a few places you should check first. One is the clearance section on Apple’s website, which offers slightly older Macs (such as those from 2015 and 2016) for a lower price. If you don’t mind not having the latest and greatest Mac available, this is a great place to snag a bargain (see page 72 for more). Separately, there’s also a section offering second-hand Apple products that have been refurbished by the company, also sold at a discount. While these are not unused, brand-new Macs (unlike clearance items), they have still been tested and certified by Apple, so you know they’re in a…

iMAC PRO p82 Manifesto – our ratings explained Our reviews are totally independent; we’re not affiliated with Apple or anyone else, nor are we influenced by advertisers. You can trust us to give an honest assessment of a product’s worth. The prices quoted for products are correct at the time of writing and are the best we can find from a reputable online dealer, excluding delivery. A brilliant thing in all regards, and worth every penny Strongly recommended; any flaws are only minor concerns Worth considering, though there may be better options Fundamentally flawed; look at alternatives as a priority A waste of your money and everyone’s time; do not buy! The MACFORMAT Awards Awarded to a five-star product we believe is truly exceptional in its category. Given solely at…

From £4,899 (£9,039 configuration tested) FROM Apple, apple.com/uk DISPLAY 5120x2880-pixel Retina display PROCESSOR 3GHz, 10-core Intel Xeon W MEMORY 128GB 2,666MHz ECC STORAGE 2TB SSD GRAPHICS AMD Vega 64 16GB CONNECTIVITY 4x Thunderbolt 3, 4x USB 3 (Type-A), 10Gb Ethernet, SDXC card slot, 3.5mm jack, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 The iMac Pro is a wolf in sheep’s clothing – somehow, Apple has packed a workstation with up to an 18-core Xeon processor in a frame the exact size of the regular 5K iMac. The only thing more amazing than the engineering feat of producing it is the price you might pay for one. But this is a truly pro machine, and that kind of power comes at a cost. Apple provided us with a very high-end unit for our review…

£69.95 FROM Upright, uprightpose.com FEATURES Posture sensor, adhesive strips, companion iOS app Upright Go is the tech equivalent of a bad-tempered schoolteacher yelling at you to sit up straight. The hardware resembles a tiny computer mouse, which you wear on your back, and there’s an app too, of course. The app and wearable quickly connect, and the calibration happens by you sitting up straight and pressing a button on your iPhone’s screen. Upright Go defaults to training mode. This buzzes when you heavily slouch – great when desk-bound, but annoying when, for example, you are attempting to remove a toddler’s coat and it keeps going BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ. Thanks, tiny white tech limpet! You can adjust sensitivity and volume levels, but for extended general use, you’re better off with the…

Wearables made something of a comeback last year following a turbulent 2016, in which the smartwatch market saw sharp declines across the board. While Apple maintained its position as market leader with Apple Watch Series 2, it still had to go back to basics for its next smartwatch, avoiding replicating iPhone functions on the wrist and instead renewing its focus on fitness. Its rivals did the same, and global smartwatch shipments have since rebounded. The most popular devices on the market promise valuable insights into your overall health. They provide a wealth of biometric measures and workout functions to improve your well-being. But with so many competing devices, how do you choose between them? Here, we compare the health and fitness capabilities of five of the latest smartwatches: the Samsung…

£13.35 FROM Surtees Studios, macbartender.com NEEDS macOS 10.12 or later Bartender enables you to control what appears in the menu bar and when. You can hide icons permanently, relegate them to the secondary Bartender menu, or let them temporarily appear when they update. You can also drag and drop menu items within the menu bar to rearrange them. Configuration is handled in Bartender’s System Preferences pane, which is both comprehensive and clear. Version 3 is largely a major compatibility update, rewritten from the ground up to play nicely in Sierra and High Sierra. It enables you to once again control system items on the menu bar without attracting the unwanted attention of System Integrity Protection. There are handy new features, too. The interface has been updated so the Bartender Bar…

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! SAVE UP TO 57%! Turn to page 40 More than six months have already passed since Apple released macOS High Sierra and iOS 11 into the wild. The former, in particular, has had a rough start in life, and perhaps you haven’t upgraded. But Apple has fixed serious problems that raised eyebrows early on, and this issue’s cover feature will help you through any lingering problems with installing the upgrade, how to go about it in a sensible way, and how to fix post-install problems with your apps – including a way to keep incompatible apps running. The feature also covers Apple’s mobile operating system, with a guide to changes along with a general troubleshooting process that’ll help you pinpoint problems on iOS devices. Some readers have expressed…

What interesting products has Apple got up its sleeve for the coming years? That’s a closely-guarded secret, but in a recent interview with Fast Company, CEO Tim Cook said Apple is working on ideas that will not see the light of day until the 2020s. Cook explained that Apple probably starts a lot of its projects well before its competitors, but sometimes takes longer to release them in order to get them right. The company has been working on a number of major projects recently, from the recently released iPhone X, iMac Pro and HomePod to the Mac Pro, which doesn’t yet have a firm release date. It’s certainly keen to build hype, however mysterious, for what lies beyond that.…

After lower-than-expected sales of iPhone X, Apple is reportedly going to bring out an ‘iPhone X Plus’ this year. According to a Bloomberg report (which builds on work by analyst Ming Chi-Kuo, who has a good track record when it comes to Apple rumours), Apple will release a 6.5-inch version of iPhone X. That will make it the largest-ever iPhone, dwarfing iPhone 8 Plus (with a screen size of 5.5 inches). And with a more spacious screen comes a larger resolution, claimed to be 1242x2688 pixels on an OLED display. Interestingly, the report claims that Apple is considering whether to make the 6.5-inch phone a dual-SIM model, allowing you to easily switch mobile providers while you’re on holiday, for example. Aside from the 6.5-inch phone, both the report and Ming…

Most times, High Sierra installs without problems, but there are a few common hiccups. If your hardware and system are compatible but you get an error message along the lines of ‘macOS High Sierra download has failed’ or ‘installation could not continue’, then it could be that your internet connection or Apple’s server is too busy. Try again later, ideally at a quieter time of day. It might also be worth switching from Wi-Fi to an Ethernet cable, so your connection is as reliable as possible. In the Mac App Store, choose Store > Check for Unfinished Downloads, and you should be able to resume any stalled downloads. If not, choose Store > Sign Out, then sign in again. If you get an error message saying installation has failed, something…

Many bugs that existed in early versions of iOS 11 have now been fixed, and upgrading should be fairly painless. If you’re curious about what has been resolved, Apple maintains a detailed list at bit.ly/ios11notes. Note that this isn’t exhaustive, though – from its contents, you wouldn’t have a clue as to why an app might no longer show up in Spotlight’s search results, for example. (We’ll talk about that specific issue in a moment.) Many changes in iOS 11 are beneficial, and if your device can take the upgrade but you haven’t installed it, read our past coverage in MF #318 and #320. As with High Sierra, there are some stumbling blocks, but over the next few pages we’ll help you overcome them, and show how to track down…

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a security feature in iCloud, introduced with iOS 9 and El Capitan. It’s an evolution of two-step verification (2SV). The latter pushes a security code to a device using either SMS or Apple’s Find My iPhone system; 2FA pushes a notification to ‘trusted devices’ linked to your account. This tells you that someone has requested a verification code and shows you a map of the location where the request was made. You can then reject the attempt to access your account, or allow it and have the code sent to the trusted device you’re using. In addition to at least one trusted device, you’ll also have to register at least one trusted phone number. Apple encourages you to register more than one, such as your home…

To switch to another keyboard, tap the globe or emoji key You might think that to get any serious typing done on an iPhone or iPad you need to use an external keyboard. While it’s true that you can do that – over Bluetooth, using a Smart Keyboard, or using Apple’s Lightning to USB adapter – if you learn the little tips and tricks Apple has baked into the on-screen keyboard, everything from a tweet to the next great novel is well within the reach of your fingertips. Let’s get typing! We’ll start with something fundamental. Most people will only really use one keyboard for typing, but you can set up several. One main use for this is for typing in different languages; adding other keyboards in Settings > General…

Issues with an old disk image Q How can I mount an important old disk image that’s reported as having an invalid checksum? by ADES TUART A Read-only or compressed disk images are checked by macOS when you try to mount them. When they’re created, a checksum of their entire contents is saved in the file, and that’s compared against their current checksum. If those differ, macOS reports this error and refuses to mount them. If you can’t get another undamaged copy of the disk image, the only way around this is using the command line in Terminal. As the image is likely to be damaged, this can cause problems, and in the worst case could cause a kernel panic. So save all open work and close non-essential apps. You…

Q I recently updated support for my Canon Pixma PRO-1 printer. Following that, when printing a photo at high quality, the printer software crashed and the printer was unresponsive. I can’t understand much of the crash report’s contents, but it refers to EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV). How can I fix it? by SIMON SIMPSON A That generic error usually indicates that the software is broken. After an update, it shows that failed, either because the update didn’t install properly, or there’s a bug in the new version. Check your printer’s firmware is v2.000 or later; if not, update it using Canon’s Printer Update Utility. Then uninstall it from the Printers & Scanners pane. Choose between installing version 16.20.0.0 of the printer driver from Canon, or leaving macOS to install its latest release.…

The tech world has a concept called ‘feature creep’, where a product gains features until it becomes bloated and complicated. The same thing can happen when you buy a Mac. Better add more memory. And a more powerful processor. Oh, and don’t forget to get a larger display, because you’ll need the extra screen space. Before you know it, you’ve blown your budget on an absurdly powerful Mac that’s overkill. Knowledge is power The key to avoiding this situation is ensuring you know exactly what you need before you start looking at Macs and get carried away. If you know what you need – and are strict about sticking to that specification – there’s no need to spend more than necessary. For example, do you really need an Intel Core…

1 StyleWriter Apple’s first inkjet printer can print one black-and-white page per minute at a resolution of 360dpi. 2 Paper feed The sheet feeder can be detached from the StyleWriter to allow single sheets to be fed in manually. 3 Ink cartridge The StyleWriter’s print engine is made by Canon, so Canon BC-10 bubblejet cartridges are compatible with it. 4 Cables The StyleWriter only supports a serial connection. The LaserWriter can handle serial, parallel or (very slow) networking over AppleTalk. 5 LaserWriter Select 360 The LaserWriter is capable of 600dpi resolution with an output of 10 pages per minute. This printer has a minimum lifespan of 300,000 pages. 6 Toner cartridge Refurbished Apple toner cartridges (part number M1960GA) are still available for the LaserWriter and should last for 4,000 pages.…

£439 FROM Philips, philips.co.uk FEATURES USB-C, HDMI, DisplayPort and VGA, 10-bit colour panel, 99% Adobe RGB gamut Philips is well known for monitors, things. It has a reputation to uphold, and it clearly knows it. The 32-inch ‘328P6AUBREB’ referred to as the ‘Brilliance monitor with HDR’) is aimed squarely at the colour-critical design and production market. ell among many other rly REB’ (fortunately, also illiance QHD LCD The product design is Philips’ tried-and-tested format: a swivel base with a spring-loaded arm that provides fingertip-height adjustment – assuming you have strong fingers. This is a swivel display, too; it can rotate 90° if you prefer a portrait orientation display, although you’ll need to set the display rotation in System Preferences yourself. The display’s bezel is slim and therefore unobtrusive. The sleep…

Over the years, I’ve used a lot of different computers from various brands to do high-end video editing. And I ask a lot from them. Now that 4K video is the norm in my sector of the industry, this has really put the cat among the pigeons when it comes to performance – doing anything in real time with a timeline full of 4K clips tends to bring a lot of computers to their knees. I was thrilled to get the chance to see how the iMac Pro copes with this. For my work during the time I had the iMac Pro, I was using Adobe Premiere Pro CC with RED raw footage, Canon C200 CinemaRawLite and some lower tier Sony FS7 XAVC clips to see how it performed. Watching…

£199.99 (free to existing Logic Pro X users) FROM Apple, apple.com/uk NEEDS macOS 10.12 or later Space Designer has gone Retina, and it’s joined by some great new plugins Point releases usually mean minor changes, but Logic Pro X 10.4 delivers big improvements. The first new feature is tempo detection, which listens to you play and adjusts the tempo accordingly. You can fine-tune its analysis, and it copes admirably with subtle or dramatic changes. It also works with imported audio, making it easy to add extra instruments or automation to existing recordings, and you can even create djay Pro-style seamless mixes by daisy-chaining audio files together and having Logic adjust their tempos accordingly. You can record performances before adding instruments and Drummer tracks. Talking of Drummer, there are two new…

€279+VAT (about £295), or €20+VAT monthly (about £21) FROM PhaseOne, phaseone.com NEEDS OS X 10.11.6 or later While it’s unlikely that Photoshop will ever stop being top of the photo-editing heap, things are a little less clear-cut for Lightroom. The recent change to Lightroom Classic was widely panned, updates to the software were of the more’ variety. anned, and e ‘less is Such is the window of opportunity that Capture One 11 finds itself in, with this latest version incorporating various improvements in the hope of luring Lightroom fans. The list of things that it does that Lightroom can’t is compelling. You can add up to 16 layer masks, with variable opacity to allow an incredible amount of flexibility. Masks can be feathered and refined once they’ve been added, giving…

£9.99 FROM Feral Interactive, feralinteractive.com NEEDS iOS 11 or later After years of iOS gaming being dismissed, here we have a genuine AAA console racer squeezed into your device. You get access to 100 cars and 100 circuits, a slew of challenges and tournaments, and great configuration options. If you’re new to simulation racing you can make use of driving assists. Confident console racing aficionados can disable these, delve into a racing season, and abruptly find themselves backwards in a gravel trap, having first driven into a wall. You see, even at its most helpful, GRID Autosport can be demanding. You can’t get away with always pelting along at full speed. You must instead learn how your car handles and discern the best places to overtake. But this makes the…

Apple has long used cloud storage from Amazon and Microsoft to host iCloud data, and now Google has been added into the mix. In 2016, Apple agreed a multi-million dollar deal with Google to use its Cloud Platform, according to reports published in early 2016. Now, according to Apple’s iOS Security guide, iCloud hosts data using Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Platform; the guide no longer makes reference to the Azure cloud hosting platform run by Microsoft, which iCloud has used in the past. Since iCloud stores your contacts, calendars, photos, documents and a lot of other personal information, all of these things could, in theory, end up on Google’s or Amazon’s servers. Apple stresses in its guide that your data is divided into chunks and securely encrypted “using AES-128…

You’ve probably read all about the flaws in the earliest versions of High Sierra. Some were a good deal more serious than the usual minor bugs that crop up in any operating system release, but Apple has worked to address them in successive updates. This applies even to issues that weren’t its fault, such as the so-called Spectre and Meltdown chip vulnerabilities – fundamental design flaws in processors, including (but not limited to) the Intel processors used in Macs. Apple included ‘mitigations’ for these in 10.13.2 and newer. The earliest reported problem was a flaw in keychain services, which meant that malicious code could steal the contents of your keychain, including critical passwords. The second was a bug that affected encrypted APFS volumes, APFS being the Apple File System, introduced…

Skim some online discussion forums and you’d be forgiven for thinking High Sierra breaks pretty much everything. Some people report that their Mail, Contacts or Messages are lost or not synced. Apps stop working. Wi-Fi or Bluetooth fall over. There do seem to be bugs that Apple has still to fix. Certain fonts – even key ones such as Times – might stop showing up in Apple apps. Apps might not play videos that are over 1GB in size from an external drive without a tedious process of ‘verifying’, which can take several minutes. But most glitches, it seems, can be cured with a little tweaking… Mac won’t wake from sleep If your screen keeps going black and your Mac won’t wake again, it takes several minutes after a key…

NEW IDEAS Your in-depth guide to getting more from your Apple kit Understand iOS gestures A tap is a brief contact of (usually) one finger on your device’s screen. To drag is to move a finger across the screen to scroll or pan around content. Swipe means move one or more fingers across an item or the screen, then let go. A flick is like swiping, but it’s quicker, and is often used to scroll content more quickly. Pinch means move two fingers together or apart, usually to zoom in or out. Touch and hold means lightly rest your finger on an item and wait for a reaction. Master Mac keyboard shortcuts When you see a shortcut like command+option+C, hold all but the last key, then press that one. command…

GarageBand always had a wide range of sounds, but the Alchemy synth’s arrival has been transformative for Apple’s music-making app. Camel Audio’s Alchemy had long been regarded as one of the finest digital synths, and Apple’s acquisition of it in 2015 was a wise move. As expected, Apple quickly welded Alchemy to Logic Pro. What wasn’t expected: Apple squeezed its flagship synth into GarageBand for iOS, too. Sure, it’s cut-down in terms of interface, but you still get plenty of dials and pads to experiment with. In this tutorial, we’ll continue making a ringtone (started in the March issue, #323). You’ll use Alchemy and GarageBand’s arpeggiator to construct a bass line. The arpeggiator keeps things in time, so this will help to underpin your work. Before we begin, two tips.…

Q If I upgrade to High Sierra, will my iMac still be compatible with my Promise Pegasus R4 RAID, which contains my backups? by IAN WINKWORTH A Yes, provided that you’re running current versions of the drive’s software, and that you update the drive’s firmware. Before upgrading to High Sierra, visit the Promise support page at promise.com/Support/downloadcenter. Select Legacy products, then model details. Download the Pegasus Series Utility for Mac and the Pegasus Series Driver for Mac, and install them. It’s worth installing the driver, which is a kernel extension, before upgrading to High Sierra, as that version of the system handles third-party extensions differently, requiring an additional authorisation step in order to use them. With that new version of the Pegasus Utility installed, you should be able to upgrade…

Q I used to sync key documents to a thumb drive, as an off-site backup. The app I used has now died, and I’m running High Sierra. Is there a better way to do this? by MARTIN TUCK A There are no less than three ways, depending on whether you enjoy writing AppleScript or shell scripts, or prefer to use a simple pane in System Preferences. AppleScript supports Folder Actions, scripts that run whenever something changes in a folder, such as adding a document to it. They’re now more fiddly to use, as you need to make the Script menu visible, which is done in Script Editor’s General prefs. (Script Editor is part of macOS, and located in /Applications/Utilities.) You’ll need to write your own script to copy files from…

If you want to raise some extra cash to put towards the purchase of a new Mac, consider selling your old computer. Apple offers a trade-in scheme and will give you cash to recycle your old Mac, but the prices it offers are not always the best available. If you want to get an idea of how much your Mac is worth, use a website called mac2sell.net. It’s prices are often a little on the generous side admittedly, but it can be useful to see how much you might be able to sell your model for. Perhaps the best way to get an accurate sense of how much you might raise is by checking other listings on eBay. Watch auctions of the same model as the one you want to…

£149.99 FROM AfterShokz, aftershokz.co.uk FEATURES Bluetooth 4.2, IP55 water resistance, sound leak reduction technology Blocking out ambient noise is fine in the gym, but can be dangerous elsewhere. If you’re out on a run in an urban environment or commuting through busy streets and stations, you need to hear what’s going on around you. Cue open-ear sport headphones like the Trekz Air. These wireless open-ear headphones work by bone conduction, AfterShokz calls this ‘OpenFit’, and it allows you to hear external noises. One of the bone conduction transducers is equipped with a mute button; located on the left-hand side, it’s easy to find when, say, you’re crossing a busy road. With a titanium wrap-around band covered in soft silicone, Trekz Air is light (a mere 30g), strong and flexible, and…

£44.95 FROM Elgato, elgato.com FEATURES Bluetooth LE, CR2032 battery Without Hey Siri, you have to tap your iPhone or iPad to control HomeKit scenes and accessories. That, or buy a programmable remote that can invoke a limited number of actions. Eve Button isn’t the first of its type; second-generation Logitech Pop buttons work with HomeKit, too. Elgato’s 5cm-square and 1.3cm deep gadget has an advantage:, though: it doesn’t require a bridge (and a plug socket) to talk with Apple’s tech. In the Eve or Home app, you can set what happens for a single press, double-press and long press. Each can activate one or more scenes, set the state of one or more accessories, or a combo of those. We noticed a pause between pressing the button and getting results.…

With its limited everyday fitness smarts and lack of HR tracking, the Casio WSD-F20 comes last in our test; that’s not to write it off, it’s just that it’s better suited to off-roaders and explorers looking to map hiking routes than fitness fans and workout warriors. The Fitbit and Samsung devices are great for tracking all-day activity and workouts, but syncing on the former is buggy, and the latter is marred by a lacklustre app experience. Neither criticism can be aimed at Garmin, with its exhaustive analytics and impressive multiple training modes. But it’s the superior screen, app integrations and all-round tracking performance of Apple Watch Series 3 that ultimately won us over. The superior screen and all-round performance of Apple Watch Series 3 ultimately won us over Alex says……

€45 (about £40) FROM Objective Development, obdev.at NEEDS OS X 10.11 or later This app monitors outgoing network connections and alerts you whenever something on your Mac attempts to ‘phone home’. That connection could be as innocent as Mail connecting to a mail server or as sinister as a piece of malware attempting to send personal data to would-be hackers. When Little Snitch alerts you, it asks whether or not to allow the connection – subject to a set of rules you enable or create. Version 4 has a number of improvements, including one that addresses the app’s Achilles’ heel – persistent nagging. The redesigned Silent Mode allows you to silence alerts and deal with them in bulk. You’ll still get notifications at the top right of the desktop for…

Welcome to MacFormat’s Store Guide, the place to go to find out about all the Apple kit that matters, whether you’re looking for your next iPhone or a powerful new desktop Mac. We’ve highlighted the model of each product that’s ideally suited to your needs, whether you’re a recent convert or a seasoned Apple user. So be sure to check our handy tables to see which Mac, iPad or iPhone is best for you. We’ve also handpicked the gold standard in audio, storage, cameras, and many other categories, helping you complement your Mac or iOS device with the best accessories. All of these third-party devices have been reviewed in the magazine. Mac mini From £479 An update in 2014 brought a £100 price drop to the most affordable Mac, but…