Índex per August 2017 a MacFormat

WWDC 2017 SHOW REPORT Let’s get one thing out of the way: High Sierra is a rubbish name for the latest version of macOS. Even Craig Federighi seemed to acknowledge it, jokingly claiming that his marketing team had assured him the name was “fully baked”. But there’s nothing half-baked about the new features. From the built-in apps to the structure of the OS, Apple has overhauled things in a big way. Let’s start with the native apps. Safari saw a number of improvements, including much faster performance – Federighi claimed it is the world’s fastest desktop browser in High Sierra. And it’s not just about speed, as web browsing now comes with two quality-of-life improvements in High Sierra. Firstly, Safari can now block videos from automatically playing when you browse…

or all the fanfare about the Touch Bar and better trackpad, the new MacBook Pro managed to alienate a lot of people. In internet forums across the land, high-end users complained that Apple had copped out and forgotten about its professional users with a Mac that simply wasn’t powerful enough. Apple’s answer, it seems, is the brand new iMac Pro. Spec-tacular The specs in the entry-level model alone are something to behold… 8-core Xeon processor. 32GB of ECC memory. 1TB SSD. An as-yet unreleased AMD Radeon Vega GPU. And, of course, Apple’s signature 5K Retina display. Those internals get even more impressive the higher up the chain you go. The CPU, for example, can be configured as either a 10-core or massive 18-core Xeon processor, capable of hugely demanding tasks…

There’s no doubt that Apple TV is no longer the ‘hobby’ that it used to be for Apple, but it still barely got a mention at WWDC. In fact, the only news of note for Apple TV and tvOS is that Amazon Prime Video will be coming to Apple TV later in 2017. But Apple didn’t specify a release date, so even this thin sliver of news left us wishing more accurate information was forthcoming. Still, the deal with Amazon means that, if you have an Apple TV, you’ll be able to enjoy Amazon’s video offerings alongside other TV network apps such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer. There were other tvOS updates at WWDC, but they were mainly aimed towards the developers who create Apple TV apps. Among the updates…

Apple is not known for being overly keen on customers getting their iPhones repaired by anyone but Apple. For many years it has been the case that repairing your iPhone’s screen had to be done at an Apple Store, lest you end up voiding your warranty. In a sign that Apple may be (slightly) softening this stance, the company now plans to put its proprietary screen repair machines in as many as 400 third-party repair shops around the world by the end of 2017. The machine, named ‘Horizon’, may have been kept under wraps by Apple because it can access every part of an iPhone. Moreover, in order to repair your iPhone’s screen, it has to interact with iOS. Apple has previously argued (along with other tech companies) that granting…

[MOVIE] KONG: SKULL ISLAND £13.99 A classic monster story gets a reboot. A group of scientists and soldiers find out that Kong isn’t the only beast they should be afraid of. [PODCAST] THE GRIFT FREE From card sharks and art forgers to psychics and imposters, learn the secrets and stories of some of the world’s most prolific con artists. [TV SHOW] THE HANDMAID’S TALE £19.99 In a dystopian future, women are the property of the state and forced into sexual servitude. An acclaimed series and a haunting future vision.…

RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD ravishankarprasad.in “India is a huge market for Apple, they will need to look towards the Indian market.” Government minister says Apple is missing out PHIL SCHILLER apple.com “Voice assistants are incredibly powerful… but the role of the screen is going to remain very important.” Without a screen, voice assistants are limited, says Apple marketing chief JIMMY IOVINE apple.com “The labels don’t seem to like [exclusives], and ultimately it’s their content.” Signing exclusives to Apple Music can be tricky, admits music impressario JEFF GOLDBLUM 9now.com.au “Steve Jobs called me… a few decades ago to be the voice of Apple.” Goldblum starred in Apple ads in the 1990s, but Jobs wanted more from him…

LIVE SMARTER The smart home is here – live the Apple dream today! "We love music.” That was VP Phil Schiller’s explanation for the introduction of Apple’s new HomePod speaker. He then went into loving detail about the HomePod’s great sound, its seven beam-forming tweeters and real-time acoustic modelling. And then, right at the end of the demo, he snuck in a quick mention of the fact that the HomePod also works with Apple’s HomeKit software, and the Home app in iOS 10. Building HomeKit into the HomePod means that – finally – Apple now has a voice-assistant that can compete with the Amazon Echo and Google Home. Apple doesn’t want to admit it, but HomeKit has fallen way behind Amazon and Google in the ‘smart home’ market. So the…

Our lords and masters at Apple have tried hard to live up to the ‘it just works’ mantra. Apple devices have an excellent interface and the online support (support.apple.com) is second to none. If you’re fortunate enough to live near an Apple Store then you can enjoy a free appointment at a Genius Bar to diagnose your troubles. In the interests of saving you both time and travel expenses though, this month we have focused on 50 of the most common issues with iOS and macOS and supplied handy quick fixes for them. Wherever possible try to make a full backup of your Mac or iOS device before implementing these. Although we cannot cover every problem in depth, we have included links to Apple’s support site where possible, so you…

NEW IDEAS Your in-depth guide to getting more from your Apple kit EXTRA APPLE ID PROTECTION 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.…

IT WILL TAKE 25 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to create stunning brochures in Pages YOU’LL NEED Some photos to use in your document Pages is capable of much more than bashing out the odd letter. You can use it to create eyepopping adverts, fab flyers, nifty newsletters, mouthwatering menus, and pretty much any other kind of document you can imagine, and you can use it to create ebooks and to collaborate on documents via iCloud. We’ve used it to write books, create album covers and design brochures, and we’re constantly amazed by how easy it is to use and how great the results are. And yet many Mac users don’t use it, opting for less friendly and often more expensive document creation apps. Pages’ existing password protection option has…

Even if you generally save things to the desktop for speed, there’ll be times when you want to do some housekeeping, either to archive old files or simply to work out what can be trashed. That’s when it’s helpful to know some tricks you can use in Finder. The features we’ve detailed here don’t represent an exhaustive list of techniques for using Finder, but they are things we use a lot to navigate and manage our files. We think you’ll find them useful, too – especially those that help you more efficiently reach whatever folder you need without having to laboriously click your way there one folder at a time. Alan Stonebridge Quick navigation Jump to a higher folder There are quick routes to get from the folder you’re viewing…

You might be familiar with Bluetooth without realising it: it’s how the Apple Wireless Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 all talk to your Mac, if you use them. The technology sends signals over radio waves, with the majority of devices able to transmit over distances up to 10m (33ft). Technically, you can connect up to seven Bluetooth devices to your Mac, but Apple recommends a practical limit of three or four at once. Here’s how to set up and use your Bluetooth devices. 1Set it up It’s best to have the Bluetooth menu visible in your Mac’s menu bar. If you can’t see it, go to command> System Prefs > Bluetooth and tick ‘Show Bluetooth in menu bar’. The icon will appear to the right of the…

Over the course of its 40 years of existence, Apple has helped start some pretty amazing businesses. But we’re not talking about firms that the Cupertino giant has directly bought or ploughed money into here. We mean those companies founded by people who cut their teeth at Apple. There is life after Apple. Some of the biggest companies in the world, from LinkedIn to Electronic Arts, were started by people who departed Apple for pastures new. Even iOS arch-rival Android owes its start in life to a former Apple engineer. Perhaps this shouldn’t be too surprising. Apple is known to hire some of the best and brightest minds in Silicon Valley. Nestled along the winding curve of the firm’s Infinite Loop campus is Apple University, a secretive training facility run…

MARC NEWSON HOURGLASS FOR HODINKEE He worked with Jony Ive to create the Apple Watch, but Australian designer Marc Newson has turned his attention to an older form of timekeeping. One of his latest projects is an hourglass filled with around 1.3 million steel and copper balls. Want one? It’ll set you back a cool $12,000. FIREFLY Mark Williams quit Apple, where he led a macOS design team, to cofound Firefly, a company that makes vaping devices. It also seems to have become a favourite among smokers of a more herbaceous type of roll-up… NEXTBIT ROBIN The Nextbit Robin was a smartphone that aimed to make storage issues a thing of the past. Cofounded by former Apple employee Mike Chan, the Robin backed up photos and even apps to the…

The parental control section keeps a log of your child’s use of apps and websites they visit. To access the logs, click the padlock at the bottom left of the parental controls pane, then enter your admin account’s credentials. Select your child’s managed account, then click Logs to see their activity. First click on the ‘Show Activity for…’ pop-up menu to filter by time, such as today’s activity. There are two tabs: Applications and Web. Click the former to display a helpful pie chart which shows how your child has been dividing their times between apps. The box on the right lists them. Click the arrow to the left of an app for a more detailed look at the time and duration for which the app was used. Based on…

Click Spotlight’s icon at the right end of the menu bar and type ‘Terminal’, select that app from the results, then press R to open it. In Terminal’s window, enter this command: sudo defaults write /Library/ Preferences/com.apple. loginwindow. Hide500Users -bool FALSE This command should reveal any hidden accounts on the login window. If all seems in order, log back in to your own account, open Terminal as before, and enter the command: dscacheutil -q user | grep -A 3 -B 2 -e uid:\ 5’[0-9][0-9]’ This will list every user account on the Mac. Check the “name” value for any you don’t recognise. The “dir” value tells you the location of the home folder. If this doesn’t start with “/Users”, then it’s a hidden account. To remove a hidden account from…

£129 FROM Google, madeby.google.com FEATURES Voice-controlled AI responses, access to streaming services, Chromecast support, support for various smart home device brands Jo says… While I’m tempted by the lower price, I’m not sure I’d opt for Google Home over the Amazon Echo just yet when the difference is so little. It sounds like Google Home’s feature list and device support is going to grow and grow over time, but by December the HomePod will be out. We’ll have to see! G oogle Home is an AI home assistant. So it’s a listening, talking device that can understand your words and respond to a range of orders, questions and requests. It’s always ‘hearing’, unless you specifically mute its mic, but it’s not actually ‘listening’ until you say ‘Hey, Google’ or ‘Okay,…

iPhone & Watch charging stands Griffin WatchStand Powered Charging Station £34.99 FROM Griffin Technology, griffintechnology.com DIMENSIONS 8x13.8x20cm Design With its matt black finish and grey textile iPhone pad, the WatchStand is a pretty good looking addition to your nightstand. It doesn’t take up too much space, though the Watch-stand tower is taller than you might think. Features Looks trump features here. It connects to the mains for power, and has two USB ports. There’s no dock for the phone, just a nice pad, or you can prop it against the Watch tower. The Watch tower holds the charging disc at the top. Ease of setup Flip the unit over to plug in your cables, and you’ll see places to hide excess iPhone cables. The Watch tower is more elaborate –…

Free FROM doo, unfade.io NEEDS iOS 9 or later G etting old prints into digital form is often more hassle than it’s worth. Like the original, Unfade’s version 2 makes it super-simple to scan in (physical) photos using your iOS device. Lay out your pictures on a well lit surface and the app automatically takes each picture and crops the edges for you. The app is now free, but only for the first 20 scans. It also lacks most of the cool stuff from the previous paid edition. You can still get these goodies by buying a one-time in-app purchase of the Pro upgrade for £6.99, which is worth every penny; and the update is free for owners of the original, a classy move on the developer’s part. Pro adds…

GET ON INSTAGRAM Share your images with us by using the hashtag #MacFormat and we’ll print the best here in the magazine. While you’re there, follow @MacFormat (Twitter) and @MacFormatUK (Instagram). ALIVE AND WELL … in Lyme Regis! According to kiku77777, this iMac is still in use. Although we’re wondering what sort of use it’s being put to… Nestled among a variety of household items, such as WD40, a tin of seeds, a rather sharp looking knife, Gorilla Tape and pair of pink rubber gloves, it’s very much giving the impression it’s been stowed away in one of those cupboards of doom we all mean to sort out… Share your pics with us using the hashtag #MacFormat on Instagram. In each issue we’ll pick our favourites to feature on this…

Amouse with only one button used to be the defining feature of a Mac, and the one-button tyranny ruled throughout the 80s and 90s. Apple eventually gave in and started to make mice with more features though. Here we track the chequered history of Apple’s point and click devices. Hits and misses The original iMac mouse, known as the ‘Hockey puck’ mouse, was a bold mouse design, but it suffered from being difficult to hold, especially if you had big hands, and had a very short USB cable, because it was designed to attach to the iMac keyboard. Both features made it unpopular with Mac users, and impractical for left-handed people, until the iMac keyboard was redesigned. The original The mouse that shipped with the Apple Lisa, and later the…

With so many rumours flying before WWDC, it was no surprise to see Apple launching a Sirienabled speaker. As is so often the case, Apple has let other tech firms go first before entering the speaker fray with what it hopes is a superior product. In this case, Apple is going after both Sonos and Amazon; Sonos on audio quality, Amazon Echo on voicecontrolled smarts. Apple said it wanted to achieve three things with the HomePod: rock the house, make it spatially aware, and make it fun to use. In order to achieve that first goal, Apple has kitted the speaker out with a four-inch upward-facing subwoofer and an array of seven beam-formed tweeters, each with its own driver. Controlling it all is the A8 chip found in the iPhone…

1 106 Listeners from 106 different nations can tune it to listen to Beats 1. 2 15 One of Beats 1’s three main hosts, Ebro Darden got his first radio job when he was 15. He became a programming director at the age of 22. 3 SPRING KING The first track played on Beats 1 was City by Manchester band Spring King. 4 Beats 1 host Julie Adenuga had only worked in radio for five years before joining Beats 1, compared to the more than 40 years’ combined experience of fellow hosts Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden. 5 Beats 1 launched on 30 June 2015, but Zane Lowe only joined Apple in March, giving him just three months to help create Beats 1 from scratch. NEXT ISSUE Your Mac. Elevated.…

Turn to page 44 SUBSCRIBE TODAY! SAVE 54%! “SO, WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF WWDC THEN?” Alex says… How about the latest WWDC? Excited? Disappointed? Raiding your piggy bank?! I was impressed. There’s plenty to talk about this year! I was expecting the HomePod (just not necessarily by that name!), but was a bit surprised that the speaker is so high-end. I’m pleased that the 21.5-inch iMac got a decent update to its specs. Workwise I’d love to get my hands on a 27-inch in iMac Pro, but at home the 21.5-inch is fine for my needs and doesn’t dominate my decor! The iMac Pro looks amazing! I’m not sure the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is going to be that much of a revenue winner; if you’re going Pro you want…

iFacts… 35,600,000 The number of people in the US that currently use voice-activated assistants.* 5,244,300,000 The estimated number of ‘smart devices’ in use in homes worldwide in 2017.** $725,696,000,000 All those connected smart devices will be worth around $725bn.** 70% The Amazon Echo currently has a 70% market share in the US*. *emarketer.com/Article/Alexa-Say-What-Voice-Enabled-Speaker-Usage-Grow-Nearly-130-This-Year/1015812 **gartner.com/newsroom/id/3598917 Apple has had its eye on homeautomation for a long time. Siri was able to control lights, thermostats and other home devices long before the Amazon Echo and Google Home got in on the act. Yet it’s been Amazon and Google that have grabbed all the headlines recently – until, that is, Apple announced its new HomePod speaker system at its World Wide Developers Conference in June. So how was it that Apple found itself on…

1 The battery life on your iOS device seems short Firstly, make sure that your software is fully updated by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Then, go to Settings > Battery on your device to check your usage. The easiest solution to reduce the drain on your battery is to go into Low Power Mode (in the Battery section) which disables unnecessary features – background app refresh is disabled, automatic downloads are disabled, screen brightness is turned down, and more. (Note that Low Power Mode is an iPhone-only feature. Go to apple.co/2qZzNaZ for full details.) 2 Your device is slow/ unresponsive… If your device responds sluggishly or freezes up, try to restart it by holding down both the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button until you see…

As part of the iLife family, GarageBand used to be given away with all new Macs. Recently, however, Apple made GarageBand along with iWork and iMovie free for all Mac users regardless of whether they’d just bought new hardware. GarageBand is actually more powerful than you might expect a free app to be. Sharing much of its underlying technology with the more advanced Logic Pro X, it puts a friendly face on its music-making tools, and shouldn’t be daunting even for beginners. It comes with a lot of pre-created loops, instruments and effects to get you started, and building up your first track can be surprisingly simple. Best of all, you don’t need any extra equipment to start making music, although if you want to take things further, you might…

Two-factor authentication (or 2FA for short) is a protective measure designed to ensure your Apple ID can only be accessed with your explicit approval. With the feature enabled, you’ll need more than just your email address and password to sign in to apps and services using your Apple ID. In addition to those credentials, you’ll need to have a trusted device to hand in order to receive a verification code, which is used to confirm that the sign-in request came from you. If whoever is signing in doesn’t have one of your trusted devices to hand – and unlocked – they’ll be unable to read the code and pretend they are you. 2FA requires that you register at least one trusted phone number to receive verification codes, which can be…

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN Search for files on your Mac more efficiently YOU’LL NEED macOS Sierra, a web connection, some documents for Spotlight to search Genius tip! Visit Spotlight in System Preferences and click Search Results. If there are certain results you don’t want to appear, untick the relevant checkboxes. To remove the smart results noted elsewhere in this walkthrough, untick Spotlight Suggestions. Spotlight has long made it easier to find content on your Mac, and, more recently, online. You can search for local documents, perform quick conversions and sums, and locate nearby stores and restaurants. You can also get the weather forecast for anywhere in the world, find out the latest sports scores and check transit information for locations covered by Apple Maps. Spotlight also…

EXPERT ADVICE Our resident genius solves your Mac and iOS problems Accessing PC slideshows Q I used to create slideshows on Windows PCs using Photodex ProShow software, then burn them to DVDs. Now I’ve switched, how can I best transfer those to use on my Mac? By JOHN MADDI SON A There are at least two good ways to do this. DVDs are really just a bunch of data files, and you can move those to your Mac either on DVD, if it has an optical drive, or by copying them from your PC to a memory stick or other storage. Once on your Mac, you can play them using DVD Player by opening eligible files in the DVD folder named VIDEO_TS: open the app, then use its Open DVD…

Q I normally take the SDXC card out of my camera, put it into an integral card reader, and plug that into a USB port. This no longer works, and I can’t read the card on my iMac or MacBook. What’s wrong? A Try a different card, in case that’s become corrupted. If that doesn’t work either, your card reader has probably bitten the dust. Many Macs have integral card slots which save you the trouble of using another peripheral. Older iMacs with optical drives have their slot close to that drive. Newer models without optical drives position the slot on the back by the USB ports. Insert the card the right way round, with the connectors going in first. Once you’ve downloaded all the images from that card, reformat…

NEW SECTION! Inspiring ideas for revamping old Apple kit Embarrassment of riches ove Your Mac is like panning for gold. Each month I dip my sieve into the turbulent waters of eBay, Gumtree and Facebook small ads. I’m looking for the glint of an old, interesting, and above all, cheap, Mac that I can polish into something worth having. In other words, I’m looking for treasure. But let me tell you something about treasure. Treasure, by and large, does not want to be found. It is hidden, or buried, or heavily guarded. When Thorin Oakenshield wanted to reclaim his ancestral treasure from the dragon Smaug, it took 12 dwarves, a hobbit and three very long films to pull off. Smaug did not just email out of the blue and say:…

ROLE AT APPLE: Co-founder TIME AT APPLE: 1976-1985 NOW WORKING ON: Chief Scientist at data virtualisation company Primary Data Apple’s second most famous employee has had his hands full since leaving the company in early 1985. The first thing he did upon parting from Apple was join the University of California at Berkeley to complete his degree. But he felt that his name was too we ll known, so he enrolled under the name ‘Rocky Raccoon Clark’. Shortly after, he founded CL9, and worked on building one of the world’s first universal remote controls. Two years after CL9 was wound down in 1988, he joined the board of directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights and civil liberties organisation, in its earliest days. Later, in 2002, he founded…

There’s no substitute for sitting with your child when they’re using a computer to make sure they don’t see or do anything that might be harmful. However, what parent hasn’t been forced to divide their time between their kids and household chores? As your kids grow older, they may also deserve a certain amount of privacy when using the family Mac, too. Fortunately, macOS offers the next best thing to watching over your kids’ shoulders: the use of parental controls. These can be configured by creating managed user accounts for your children, and you can then enable or disable specific features. For instance, you may choose to disable the webcam and iTunes Store altogether, or set time limits on when the Mac can be used. Parental controls also includes ‘whitelists’…

BUYING ADVICE Our authoritative reviews help you make more informed choices ENBLUE EVOLUS 3 DOCK p95 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…

T he baby of Apple’s laptop family, the MacBook was updated in June 2017 with slight improvements to the processors and SSD storage. Weighing in at just 0.9kg, it’s Apple’s most lightweight laptop but still packs in a 2304x1440 resolution and 226ppi pixel density in its gorgeous 12-inch Retina display. The 12-inch MacBook is powered by your choice of Intel Core m3, i5 or i7 processors (running at 1.2GHz, 1.3GHz or 1.4GHz). These don’t require a fan to keep cool, so the MacBook runs silently. This fanless design also gives more space for battery cells, giving the machine up to 10 hours of wireless web browing capability. It also features Apple’s Force Touch trackpad, which can trigger different responses as you apply more pressure. All models of the MacBook come…

The San Jose Convention Centre played host to the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) this year and, after what feels like a lifetime of waiting for new products, Apple didn’t disappoint, announcing a brand new line-up of Apple devices and services, so let’s break down exactly what happened. Apple CEO Tim Cook took on the lion share of duties, with guest spots from notable Apple employees like Craig Federighi, Vera Carr and John Ternus. Cook introduced this year’s event as ”the best and biggest WWDC ever” and in terms of length he wasn’t wrong. Weighing in at just under two hours this one kept going and going! Cook started by introducing tvOS, a big update to the Apple TV but he was light on details, except that it will finally…

WWDC 2017 SHOW REPORT Apple loves to brag about the App Store, but there are plenty of reasons to dislike it. Most prominently, finding new apps has always been tricky, which is an obvious issue for app developers. Apple seems to have acknowledged this, and has given the App Store a muchneeded makeover to bring the design more in line with Apple Music. That means larger, bolder headlines for one thing, but also a new focus on ‘stories’. The new app will feature indepth articles all about app developers and games, as well as app tutorials. The new look means a new set of tabs at the foot of the app. There will be a Today tab containing stories and features; a games tab; an apps tab; an updates tab…

The Apple Watch continues its fitness drive with watchOS 4, due out in autumn 2017. The latest release brings an updated Workout app, new watch faces and a new way for apps to integrate with gym equipment. The Workout app features new motion and heart rate algorithms for High Intensity Interval Training, as well as updates for pool swim sessions telling you your pace, distance covered and more. Apple is also set to bring its GymKit framework to watchOS 4. This will allow gym machines to connect to your Apple Watch, so you can get a more accurate view of your gym workout. The Activity app aims to help you meet your fitness goals, sending notifications and prompts if you’re close to hitting your targets. And it’s not just apps…

640x480 POWERBOOK 180C DISPLAY RESOLUTION Before the 1992 launch of the PowerBook 180c, all previous PowerBooks had a resolution of 640x400 pixels. The PowerBook 180c could also display 256 colours, as opposed to the greyscale displays of older PowerBooks. 1994 THE POWER MACINTOSH 6100 GOES ON SALE The startup sound of the Power Macintosh 6100 was a guitar chord played by jazz musician Stanley Jordan. The sound of breaking glass denoted a startup error. $7,769 LAUNCH PRICE OF THE MACINTOSH IIX IN 1988 Apple has never been afraid to charge a hefty premium for its products, aptly shown by the Macintosh IIx. Its $7,769 launch price would cost you about £12,500 today. Add in an 80MB HDD and the price rose to $9,369, or roughly £15,000 today.…

Apple has never been about giving people what they think they want. The company has a history of delivering what people didn’t know they wanted, but almost always turn out to want very much, now that you mention it. Steve Jobs was a fan of Henry Ford’s (probably apocryphal) famous quote “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” This attitude has two sides to it, though: the side we love that means Apple comes out with ground-breaking products that change whole markets; and the side where Apple gets a reputation for being a company that doesn’t really listen to criticism. Obviously, the latter isn’t really accurate, but the secrecy and aloofness that Apple projects heightens the impression. When it seems like Apple’s direction…

Just like Siri, the Amazon Echo and Google Home can use voice commands to control a variety of devices and appliances in your home – perhaps turning your heating off, or turning down the lights when you go to bed. However, they’re not so good when it comes it controlling more than one device at a time. That’s an area where Apple’s HomeKit software – now built into the new HomePod – has a real edge. The Home app in iOS 10 is based on the HomeKit software, and it allows you to create ‘scenes’ that perform complex tasks, such as turning both your lights and heating on or off at the same time. There’s also a more powerful option in the Home app, called ‘automations’, that provides even more…

IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to add hyperlinks and character styles to email signatures on iOS YOU’LL NEED Pages for iOS, Thunderbird for macOS Many of us like to include hyperlinked text in our email signature. Often this will be a link to a website – perhaps for your business, or maybe one for each of your social network accounts. Sadly, the ability to create signatures in iOS’s Settings app is limited, and doesn’t allow for hyperlinking text at all. Thankfully, you can use Pages, which is now free for devices running iOS 10 or later, to work around this limitation. The walkthrough below shows how to accomplish this. What you can’t do solely with an iOS device, sadly, is create links for contacts who also…

Genius tip! Easy on the eye If you’re working into the evening, you might feel that your screen is too bright. The blue light emitted from computer screens has been linked to insomnia as it can have an effect on the body’s circadian rhythm. In macOS Sierra, you can slip your screen into Night Shift for warmer tones. Either schedule it in System Prefs (Displays > Night Shift) or toggle the feature on from the Notification Centre. NEW SECTION Your dedicated guide to getting more from macOS Sierra SEARCH WITH SPOTLIGHT macOS Sierra requirements macOS Sierra works on Macs dating back to 2010, and MacBooks and iMacs to 2009. You need to be running Mac OS X 10.7 or later. You need 8.8GB of available storage. Back up your Mac…

In macOS Sierra, it is possible to dictate into any application you’d normally type into and even control your Mac using spoken commands. Most of the time (if not all of it) though, you’ll tend to use input devices: keyboards, mice and trackpads. These devices might not work precisely as you want them to though – and that can be very frustrating. You may find that tracking, which maps physical movement to the pointer, may be absurdly slow, forcing multiple swipes to get the pointer across the screen; or you may prod the trackpad only to accidentally click; the lack of keyboard shortcuts for useful actions in certain apps may drive you nuts. Here’s how to alter the settings for these things (and more) in the separate Keyboard, Mouse and…

Peripherals quick-fire questions Is a hybrid SSHD as fast as a Fusion Drive? No: they work differently. Hybrids have a small amount of SSD, typically 4GB, to act as a cache. Apple’s Fusion Drives have larger SSDs which macOS manages to store its own and your most heavily-used files. Much of the time, a Fusion Drive should deliver near-SSD performance for only slightly greater cost than an HD. Why do I get stuttering audio on my USB headset? Try updating to Sierra 10.12.5 or later. The previous version had a bug which could lead to stuttering, dropout, distortion and other problems on a range of different USB headsets. This should be fixed in 10.12.5. Fastest startup for a mini Q My Mac mini Late 2014 starts up from an external…

Mac OS quick-fire questions How to reinstall the latest macOS? This changed with 10.12.4. You can download the installer from the App Store, but it’s best to erase the disk and perform a clean install. When running 10.12.4 or later, start up in remote Recovery mode with c+a+R on a wired keyboard. Reinstalling from there gives you the latest version of macOS. Why can’t the App Store load data for updates? Move its settings at ~/ Library/Preferences/com. plist, Library/Preferences/com. apple.commerce.plist, and ~/ Library/Preferences/com. apple.appstore. plist to Documents. Then set it up from scratch. If you still can’t get it to check properly for updates, contact Apple support so they can check your account. Trashing old backups Q I’ve installed a new larger external hard disk and started using it as…

iOS software quick-fire questions Why can’t my iPad Air sync with iTunes in 10.7.5? Older versions of OS X running iTunes can’t now sync properly with devices running iOS 10. The best solution is to upgrade your Mac to a more recent version, preferably macOS Sierra, where iTunes 12.6.1 should work fine. If you can’t do that, try the latest version of iTunes that will work under OS X. Can I force an app to keep data locally? Although macOS lets you decide where to store the support data for an app, iOS doesn’t. Some apps may give you controls in their section in Settings, but that’s unusual. You may be able to encourage iOS to keep more locally by disabling Mobile Data for that app. When should you use…

Hardware quick-fire questions What are old Macs actually worth? A working Mac SE/30 in good condition, with keyboard and mouse typically sells on eBay for £40-£100, but if they don’t boot, this drops to £20-£30. If you want to buy an Apple LISA, there is a working one on eBay for over £3,000. But I have been watching this item for over a year now and it keeps being re-listed without finding a buyer, so the market value is obviously lower. Should I sell my vintage Mac or give it to Apple to recycle? Sell it. Apple will take old computers off your hands but their recycling program simply shreds them back down to their raw materials. Even if your Mac doesn’t work, it’s better to donate or sell it…

Role at Apple: Senior Vice President of iOS Time at Apple: 1997-2012 Now working on: Co-producing Broadway plays, acting as an advisor to Snapchat Scott Forstall had been with Apple for 15 years – and NeXT for 5 years – before he abruptly left in 2012. The main cause of his departure was probably due to the disastrous launch of Apple Maps, and Forstall’s apparent refusal to issue a public apology. Rumours were rife about Forstall being a polarising character at Apple, and Tim Cook was keen to increase harmony at the company. In the years since leaving Apple, Forstall’s career has taken a very different path. He announced in 2015 that he had been working as a co-producer on the Broadway musical Fun Home, which was well received and…

From £619 FROM Apple, apple.com FEATURES 10.5in, 2224x1668 resolution, Apple A10X processor, Lightning and Smart Connector, Apple Pencil support, up to 512GB of storage, 4G version available Alex says… I’ve held off updating my decrepit iPad 3 for years because no other iPad has ever really enticed me. That’s all changed with the new iPad Pro. The display’s 120Hz refresh rate and the big updates coming soon in iOS 11 make it a seriously tempting prospect for me. Even the price is palatable. T here’s an adage for most new tech: don’t buy the first version. No matter how ground-breaking and good it is, the second will be even better. And so it has come to pass that the smaller iPad Pro’s second version leaves its predecessor looking like an…

£14.99 FROM Filmic, filmicpro.com NEEDS iOS 10 or later S ome apps can leave you bewildered by their sheer amount of power and features. Filmic Pro is just such an app, made for iPhone and iPad. It’s a hugely advanced video camera, hence its £15 price and £10 in-app purchase for even more powerful colour controls. We’re not talking ‘a couple of nicer features over iMovie’. We mean a suite of deep, professional controls for live colour and white balance adjustments; a dozen aspect ratios from HD widescreen 16:9 to Panavision 2:76:1; customisable, dials for zoom and focus; and so much more. The app offers various pro audio controls and supports third-party hardware like adaptors for other lenses and even a motorised gimbal. Filmic Pro is surprisingly accessible for an…

LETTER OF THE MONTH! Multitasking joy Luis Villazon (Love Your Mac, June 2017), brought back waves of nostalgia for me because not only was I a proud owner of a Mac SE back in the days of yore, but I also owned a Mac Plus. Along with all the other ephemera, there was an application called Multifinder, that came bundled with the computer, that enabled multitasking. Not wanting to engage with this seemingly seductive idea, I plodded on with getting used to the other bundled applications so kindly donated by Apple. Besides, as many Apple fans of a certain age may remember, the Mac Plus came with 1MB of RAM and an 800KB floppy drive – and the manual insisted on having at least a couple of megabytes and a…