Macworld UK的February 2024目录

A ccording to a Bloomberg report (fave.co/3REHUES) that cites “people familiar with the investigation”, regulators in the EU are getting ready to hand down a decision prohibiting Apple’s anti-steering rules for music services. Currently, Apple requires that digital subscription services on iPhone or iPad offer subscriptions only through Apple’s own payment processing, for which the company takes 15-to 30 percent of every purchase. Services such as Spotify can allow you to subscribe on the web or somewhere else where they don’t have to pay Apple a big cut of the in-app-purchase fee, but they’re very limited in their ability to direct customers to do so. Apple prohibits companies like Spotify (and others) from actually providing links or other direct means of letting customers go somewhere else to pay. Spotify has…

Apple has released a rare update to the 140-watt power adapter that ships with the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Before you ask, no, we have no idea what it does. But we do know it brings the version number to 1.4.73 and the build number to 10M5237. Apple doesn’t document this kind of firmware update with release notes so we don’t know what bug fixes or features it brings, but according to Aaron613 on X (fave.co/3NOLutV), who tracks software and firmware updates, it’s the first time Apple has updated the 140-watt charger since it debuted alongside the 16-inch MacBook Pro in 2021. Apple ships all 16-inch MacBook Pros with the 140-watt power adapter, which is needed for fast charging along with the supplied USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable. On the newest…

2023 ended up being a good year for the Mac, thanks to the somewhat surprising introduction of the M3 series of chips and the launch of the 15-inch MacBook Air. But what about next year? What will happen to the Mac line-up in 2024? Well, it looks like not a whole lot. We’ll get some new macOS features revealed at WWDC in June, but hardware-wise, we’ve reached a stage in the M-series Mac evolution that will likely be more routine than revolutionary. Put it all together and you’ve got the makings of a very dull year for the Mac. CHIP CYCLE PLATEAU The M3 chip got a lot of attention leading up to its October release in the iMac and MacBook Pro. It’s the first 3nm chip to be used…

Last month, we reviewed the new M3 iMac and the M3 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro, and we’ve seen interesting and insightful responses to Apple’s new Macs, both in our email and on social media. A frequent comment that struck us is the opinion that the M3 doesn’t provide enough of a boost over the M1 and M2. Before the M3 came to market, speculation was that the new 3nm fabrication process would allow for greater transistor density, thus resulting in a larger-thanusual performance boost. Or maybe people remember how big the M1 gains were during the switch from Intel, and they expect the same type of gains all the time now. Whatever the reason, expectations have been raised now. But historically, the generational increase between chips has usually been about…

Whether you’re an experienced iPhone user or just got your first one, it can be hard to know which model you have. Apple updates its handset every year, but it doesn’t always change the design – sometimes the significant changes are on the inside, such as faster new components. There are various reasons why you might be wondering what iPhone I have. Not everyone walks into an Apple shop to buy the latest model. You might have been handed down an iPhone by a family member who was unclear about which model it is, in which case you might be wondering if it would be a good idea to update the iOS on it. This can be an issue because only certain models can run the latest version of iOS.…

HOW TO BLOCK UNWANTED WEBSITE NOTIFICATIONS ON A MAC Push notifications were the best thing since sliced bread when they appeared first in Android and later in iOS and iPadOS. Instead of requiring a lot of attention, a notification can appear briefly, is easily dismissed, and can be controlled – you can suppress apps from showing them all together, all the way to allowing Critical Alerts in some apps for events you absolutely don’t want to miss a message about. Apple added push notifications to Safari in macOS to let websites access the system-wide notification system because the increasing reliance on web apps (a website that provides an app-like set of features) means you could have a tab open performing tasks that require your attention. It’s a double-edged sword, though:…

The academic research institution Eurecom (fave.co/47Xe9F5) has discovered security holes in the Bluetooth wireless standard that could allow a threat agent to impersonate devices and set up man-in-the middle attacks (fave.co/3TkE8ll). The holes have been in several versions of the Bluetooth protocol, including the current 5.4 version, as well as the 5.3 version that’s used in Apple’s current hardware line-up. Eurecom has developed a set of attacks called ‘Bluetooth Forward and Future Secrecy’ (BLUFFS) that exploit the discovered Bluetooth weaknesses. According to a research paper (fave.co/41onMKl) by Eurecom’s Daniele Antonioli, “The attacks exploit two novel vulnerabilities that we uncover in the Bluetooth standard related to unilateral and repeatable session key derivation.” “We show that our attacks have a critical and large-scale impact on the Bluetooth ecosystem,” wrote Antonioli, “by evaluating…

Since it follows the winter months, spring is often thought of as a season of awakening. And it looks like Apple is hoping for a bit of spring influence on iPad and Mac sales, as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple is planning to release new iPads and an M3 MacBook Air (fave.co/3v5KomF) by the end of March. The iPad Air, which was last updated in March 2022, will reportedly see the biggest change, with Apple launching a new 12.9-inch model to go along with the 10.9-inch version. Gurman did not mention any other updates to the iPad Air, but we can assume it will get a new chip as well, either the M2 or M3. At the higher end, the iPad Pro models will get a major update to…

When it comes to buying a MacBook, you have two options: the Air or a Pro. Apple sells five MacBook Airs and nine Pros as standard, plus you can add extra RAM, more storage or a faster processor should you need to. All this choice can be confusing, which is where we come in. Over the following pages, we reveal everything you need to know when choosing a new MacBook. RELEASE DATES One consideration to make when shopping for a MacBook is when it was released and whether the current version is likely to be updated soon. Here is a quick look at when each laptop was released. November 2020: 13-inch MacBook Air (M1) July 2022: 13-inch MacBook Air (M2) June 2023: 15-inch MacBook Air (M2) October 2023: 14-inch MacBook…

Just over three years ago, Apple’s M1 chip had a tremendous debut in the Mac mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air. Since then, those Macs have gone through their cycles and have had chip upgrades – or have been replaced altogether. But a single M1 Mac remains in Apple’s current Mac line-up: the MacBook Air (M1). Apple keeps the M1 Air around because, at £999, it’s the company’s only sub-£1,000 laptop (yes, by only a £1, but, you know, marketing). It’s actually a decent MacBook by today’s standards, but it’s also a three-year-old laptop that’s no longer worth that price – especially when the M2 model is just £150 more. 3-YEAR-OLD LAPTOP, 5-YEAR-OLD DESIGN The £999 price was the original price back in November 2020. But the price…

As the name implies, FJDynamics’ Pony 500 houses a 504-watthour (Wh) battery. FJDynamics uses a lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) battery that allows the Pony 500 to be more compact and usable in a wider temperature range. A lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO4), which is used in many power banks, lasts longer. The Pony 500 is clean and cool looking, with a housing made of an aluminium alloy that is resistant to shock, splash water, and dust and has a protection class of IP4X. It weighs just under 3.6kg and measures 220x145x83mm. The leather carrying handle is a nice touch. To promote its portability, the Pony 500 has only three ports, all of which can be used to charge devices or to charge the Pony 500 itself. One port…

MacBooks are great portable computers, but they lack one key feature for true, on-the-road usability: cellular connectivity. That may change in a future MacBook, but it’s going to take a while. In a recent Power On newsletter (fave.co/3v8j8E4), Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman provides a progress report about Apple’s in-house chip development. One major project Apple has been working on is its own cellular modem, which has been in the works for some time. Gurman reports that the modem could be ready by 2026, but it will take “two or three additional years” for it to be used in the iPad and Apple Watch (both of which can be bought with Qualcomm modems), and the Mac. If the modem is ready in 2026, why so long for it to be used in…

Google has released a critical update for the Chrome browser on the Mac to patch several security flaws, at least one of which exists in the wild. According to Google’s Chrome Releases blog (fave.co/48fev9Q), the latest Stable channel update for the Mac desktop browser (119.0.6045.199) is rolling out to users and includes seven security fixes, all of which have been rated as ‘high’ risk. Spellcheck Risk: High Description: Type Confusion CVE-2023-6348: Reported by Mark Brand of Google Project Zero Mojo Risk: High Description: Use after free CVE-2023-6347: Reported by Leecraso and Guang Gong of 360 Vulnerability Research Institute WebAudio Risk: High Description: Use after free CVE-2023-6346: Reported by Huang Xilin of Ant Group Light-Year Security Lab Libavif Risk: High Description: Out of bounds memory access CVE-2023-6350: Reported by Fudan University…

While the higher-end MacBooks with M1/M2/M3 Pro and Max chips support multiple external displays, Apple’s lower-end range of MacBooks that use a standard M1, M2 or M3 processor cannot natively connect more than one external monitor. This is a massive limitation compared to the previous Intel-based generation of Mac laptops that could run two displays when connected to a USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 docking station or hub that we hope will be rectified with the M3. Later, we list our tested and recommended software and hardware solutions for adding more than one display to the plain M1, M2 and M3 Macs. Here are the external display specs for Apple’s current laptops: MacBook Air (M1): Maximum one external display MacBook Air (M2): Maximum one external display MacBook Pro (M2): Maximum one…

Deciding which iPhone to buy has always been tricky. Which screen size is best for you, and how much storage do you need? Should you save money by selecting an older model or should you splash out on the latest iPhone? Which iPhone is the best compromise between specs and value for money? We talk you through each of the phones currently available from Apple, to help you decide which is best for you. We discuss iPhone prices, specs and features, paying particular attention to the cameras, screens and durability, so you should leave feeling much more confident about which iPhone you should get. CURRENT MODELS iPhone 15 The standard iPhone 15 doesn’t get all the bells and whistles of the Pro models, though it does offer some great new…

Sometimes an application that could have been outstanding shoots itself in its own feet, a series of corporate and engineering decisions as well as bugs twisting a potentially great idea into something clunky and awkward to use. This may have been the case with PC Matic, as the macOS version stumbles out the gate, never regains its stride, and a series of infuriating corporate decisions makes a frustrating interface only that much more infuriating. First and foremost, PC Matic is an application for macOS that, like similar applications, works to scan for and remove viruses and malware. The app takes a unique approach in that it’s centred around customizable blacklist and whitelist classifications, which designate which applications and file systems are safe to use and which not to use within…