Índex per March 2022 a Macworld

Intel’s Alder Lake processor is starting to become available in PC laptops and that means one thing: benchmarks! Macworld’s sister publication, PCWorld, posted a review of one of the first laptops with the Core i9-12900HK processor, code-named Alder Lake, and it inevitably got us thinking about Apple’s M1 Pro and Max. To be clear, PCWorld didn’t include Apple silicon in its review—they are reviewing Windows-based laptops and comparing Alder Lake to its predecessor and a new 8-core Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU. Many of the benchmark programs PCWorld used aren’t even available on the Mac or do not have native M1 versions, but PCWorld did run Geekbench and Cinebench, two benchmarks Macworld also uses. And we learned a lot from them. First, let’s check out the specifications for the laptops: 14-inch…

Researchers at security firm Eset have provided details on brand-new macOS malware that can be used to perform surveillance on a Mac. “DazzleSpy” is malware that may have infected users who visited a website that promoted democracy in Hong Kong. DazzleSpy is what security researchers call a watering hole attack, where a website infects visitors to that site. It is used when an attacker wants to target a specific group. DazzleSpy is documented with the ID of CVE-2021-30869 in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures database, and was patched by Apple in Catalina and Big Sur updates in September. The Google Threat Analysis Group reported on the technical aspects of these watering hole attacks last November. Eset’s recent report provided details on the exploit and how Mac users come into contact with DazzleSpy. According…

GUCCI OPHIDIA CASE FOR AIRPODS MAX This exclusive to online Guuci shoppers is an AirPods Max case made of “GG Supreme canvas” and features brown leather details, gold-toned hardware, and the words “Hodiernum” printed inside. It functions like Apple’s Smart Case for the AirPods Max, but it comes with a shoulder strap so you can sling your AirPods over your shoulder when you’re not listening to the House of Gucci soundtrack on your iPhone. —ROMAN LOYOLA SKYWORTH W82 65" Skyworth’s TV is described as “transformable,” by which the company means the TV’s curvature is adjustable, from flat to 1,000R. Curvature ratings—1,000R, in this case—define the distance in millimeters that the viewer can sit and still see the entire display properly. he lower the number, the greater the curve. The…

We all know how annoying group conversations can be when one of the bubbles is green (see page 37), but it’s about to get better. Google’s solution to iPhone tapbacks is rolling out to Android phones beginning today, and it’s very slick. Tapbacks in iMessage are the reactions that appear when you long-press on a text. On the iPhone, you can choose one of six reactions, and they appear above the message when texting between iPhone users. But when an Android user joins a group conversation, tapbacks become text strings that clutter the conversation with “Mike laughed at” or “Karen loved” before repeating the entire message. That’s gotten a whole lot better now. We were able to test the feature on a Pixel 5 and the implementation is surprisingly solid.…

We don’t all have a new iPhone 13 with giant batteries. Many of us are using older iPhones with aging batteries that always seem to be in the red. Fortunately, there are several ways to save battery life, built right into iOS, that take mere seconds to try out. Here are 10 simple ways to help your iPhone last as long as possible. 1. GO AHEAD AND REBOOT The surefire Mac fix works for your iPhone too. Restarting your iPhone periodically can give your battery life a lift by killing background processes that could be draining precious juice. All you need to do is press and hold the volume up button on the left and the power button on the right (or hold the power button if your iPhone has…

Full-disk encryption (FDE) is a low-effort way to ensure that if someone were to get ahold of one of your drives while unmounted or a Mac while powered down, the contents on the drive would be unusable to them without their knowing a password or other encryption information. Apple offers two distinct ways of encrypting volumes on a drive, and it’s important to know the difference between them and the current limitation on drives connected to M1-based Apple Silicon Macs. FileVault: FileVault lets you control access to your startup volume, whether on an internal or external drive, including encrypting a drive where necessary. You can’t use FileVault with an external startup drive with an M1-based Mac. Drive encryption: Finder-mountable non-system volumes can be encrypted via the Finder, as well as…

Accell calls the Power Cube a “2 in 1.” While in cube form, it sports six USB Type-A ports and two AC outlets. Gently teased apart, the bottom portion winds up with three AC outlets and two USB ports. (One AC plug is hidden while in use as a cube.) The top part has its own foldable AC plug and takes four USB ports with it. The notion is that instead of managing and carrying separate USB chargers around when you need more capacity on the road or in different parts of your home at the same time, this compact, attractive surge-protecting cube—3.2 inches on a side—lets you plug-and-play to play with plug options. The USB ports are split into sets of two and four. The four-port section, part of…

Roku has been slowly expanding its line of affordable soundbars, most recently with last year’s compact, “pretty good” Streambar. Now it has come out with the $180 Streambar Pro, the successor to 2019’s Smart Soundbar. While none of Roku’s soundbars will appeal to audiophiles, they’re perfect for everyday viewers looking to upgrade their TV’s tinny audio without breaking the bank, and the 2.0-channel Streambar Pro ups the ante with surprisingly solid sound and a new virtual surround mode. The Streambar Pro’s efficient audio performance is already a strong selling point, but the real draw is an integrated Roku streaming player with 4K HDR playback, not to mention Alexa, Google Assistant, HomeKit, and AirPlay 2 support. There’s also the vaunted Roku remote, complete with a microphone for voice commands and search.…

HOW TO FIND OUT WHICH MAC APPS ARE TRACKING YOUR LOCATION The privacy issues associated with our location when we’re carrying an iPhone or iPad have gotten a lot of attention. But a Mac can reveal to apps where we’re located as well. No Mac includes a GPS or cellular modem, but between Wi-Fi positioning and cues and information retrieved by associated and nearby cellular devices of your own and those of other people, a Mac can often approximate its own position fairly well. Open the Security & Privacy pane in System Preferences, click the Privacy button, and select Location Services from the list at left, and you can see all the apps to which you’ve given permission and for which you’ve revoked access. To remove permission to retrieve your…

The year 2022 promises to be another big one for the Mac, with the second half of the Apple silicon transition bringing a new 27-inch iMac, a new Mac Pro, and a redesigned MacBook Air. While we’re excited about the performance gains and new designs, the conclusion of the switch to its own chips is also an opportunity to create some further feature parity between the Mac and our iOS devices. As much as we love our Macs, the iPhone has become our primary device throughout the day. So we’ve gotten used to the convenience the iPhone brings and find ourselves longing for many of its features when we turn to our Macs. Here’s are the ones we’d like to see come to the Mac after the transition to Apple…

Piriform’s CCleaner, which was initially created to help clean up Registry files on Windows-based machines, made its way to the Mac in the Mac OS X 10.7 Lion days and hasn’t looked back. It’s been a techie staple on Macs, Windows PCs, and Android-based computers for years now, and rightfully so. Designed as freeware with an option to pay for a professional version and its appropriate annual license, CCleaner achieves what it sets out to do: help clean up gigabytes of cache files and internet history files, and locate and purge large files on your Mac, all with an impressive level of control. CCleaner may not be as flashy as its competitors, but it gets the job done. You provide CCleaner with full hard disk access in the macOS Security…

A bit more than 10 years after its introduction, iMessage is suddenly a part of the conversation again. A dubious report in the Wall Street Journal implied that the secret to the iPhone’s success with young people is all about peer pressure, with Android-using teens being cast out of social circles owing to their embarrassing status as non-iMessage green bubbles in group chats. That article was silly for numerous reasons, as John Gruber explored in detail last week. While blue-bubble FOMO is certainly real, suggesting that it’s the reason people want iPhones is an A-grade, uncut “people only buy Apple products because they’re status symbols” kind of delusion. When you look at the messaging landscape today, iMessage isn’t a colossus that dominates the world. In fact, I’d say that iMessage’s first…

If there’s one knock we have against the iPhone, it’s a lack of customization. But a trick built into iOS 15 lets you get around that restriction by adding a personalized icon to your status bar. A new feature in iOS 15 called Focus lets you set times when notifications are silenced so you can concentrate on a specific task or get some shut-eye. You can select from several preset Focuses, such as driving, working out, or reading, or you can set a custom Focus for something you often do. Within the settings it lets you add an identification icon that will appear in the status bar while in use. The trick is you don’t actually have to set anything to turn off. Apple’s Focus customization options let you exclude any…

The macOS 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4 betas were recently released to developers, and there was a surprise: Apple finally added Universal Control, the much-anticipated feature that was revealed at WWDC21. Late last year Apple announced that the release of Universal Control would be delayed to this spring, so we didn’t expect to see any trace of it until at least March. For the uninitiated, Universal Control allows you to use an iPad as an external display for a Mac. During the demo in the WWDC keynote, Apple VP Craig Federighi merely placed the iPad next to his Mac, and it worked. No cables to connect, no restarting, no need to click anything or say “please”—it just connected and worked like magic. And from my initial experience, after you set it all up, it…

Apple’s Notes is one of my go-to apps in macOS. For me, it’s a repository of notes, links, images, excerpts, and anything else I think I’ll need for work or personal projects. And with macOS Monterey, Apple guaranteed that I’ll use Notes even more often with a new feature called Quick Note. Quick Note is a fast way to create a note file when you’re not using the Notes app. When you trigger it, the Notes app quickly opens to a new file that you can start using immediately. It’s a fantastic feature but might not be so obvious if you don’t know it’s there. Here’s how to find it. HOW TO SET UP QUICK NOTE Apple added Quick Note as a Hot Corner function in macOS Monterey. You can…

Naim Audio is one of the UK’s most venerable high-end audio-electronics manufacturers. With a history of nearly 50 years, the company continues to offer many of the finest amplifiers, streamers, CD players, and digital-to-analog converters on the market today. The Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition (HE) is the latest member of the company’s Uniti family of products. These all-in-one streamers provide access to a wide variety of audio sources, including online high-res audio-streaming services such as Tidal and Qobuz. The Uniti Atom HE is virtually identical to the older Uniti Atom, except you get an amplifier for your headphones instead of a power amplifier for your loudspeakers. After spending some time with it, I found its sound spectacular, although it does have a few quirks. FEATURE SET The Uniti Atom…

Fluance makes good audio gear affordable. The Ai61 Bluetooth bookshelf speakers reviewed here cost $300, yet were competitive with my $400 Yamaha HS5 (5-inch) studio monitors while offering more versatile connectivity. DESIGN AND SPECS The Ai61 cabinets are somewhat larger than the typical bookshelf speaker, measuring 13.1x7.8x9.2 inches (HxWxD). That’s due to the hefty-for-its-class 6.5-inch woven composite woofers inside the cabinets. I had to tweak the Ai61’s EQ a bit (increasing bass) for taste, but said woofers had no trouble keeping up when I did. Note that there’s actually a recommended break-in period of 10 to 12 hours for the woofer’s butyl rubber outer ring—so don’t crank them right out of the box. Exactly what would happen, I can’t tell you, but there it is. The 1.0-inch silk soft dome…

Some people have unreasonable nostalgia for the good old days, when everything was somehow miraculously “better”—forgetting the invention of penicillin, modern electric cars, and ubiquitous internet access. Maybe scratch that last one. Then there’s John Siracusa, a programmer, podcaster, and opinion-haver who has reasonable nostalgia, sharing a feeling many of us have that certain aspects of macOS that Apple abandoned or changed were better. For Siracusa, that was pre–Mac OS X methods of window layering in the Finder. System 7 through Mac OS 9 let you click a single window in a non-foreground application that manages multiple document windows and have the entire set of windows for that app come into the foreground. Mac OS X, continued in macOS, brings a single document window forward. After relying on utilities for…

Communication has always driven technology forward. From the telegraph to the telephone to the internet, it’s regularly been one of the killer apps for every technological development of the last century-plus. And Apple’s devices are no exception to that. When Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone, he described it as a revolutionary mobile phone, but he also called the device that would go on to dominate Apple’s business a “breakthrough internet communication device.” Fifteen years later, we use the iPhone to communicate with others in a variety of ways, of which the phone capability may ironically be the least. But while Apple’s spent a lot of time investing in the communications powers of its platforms, it has a tendency to let those technologies languish once it’s rolled them out. As…

We’ve all been there. You’re busy playing a game on your phone (right by a power outlet, of course), and you’re thinking, “How is anyone going to know I’m a gamer if my phone isn’t blasting RGB lighting out the back? How can I expect someone walking by to realize I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on predatory micro-transactions and in-app purchases if my phone doesn’t sound like a frickin’ jet engine?” Finally, you need suffer no longer. Razer has got your back…or rather, your iPhone’s back, with its Phone Cooler Chroma. A product well-built but so ill-conceived on every level that it makes me mad just to know it exists. This is a solution in search of a problem, a product that is both expensive and useless. But don’t worry,…

The new AirTag from Apple is a compact tracking device that has an extremely long life and precise locating ability in the right circumstances. Unlike a GPS tracker, which requires cell service and may drain a battery quickly, an AirTag relies on the distributed Find My network of iPhones, iPads, and Macs that hundreds of millions of people around the world carry with them, and uses Bluetooth LE to signal that hardware. While there are a thousand positive and legitimate ways to use an AirTag, it can be abused when someone tracks you without your knowledge, which potentially exposes you to a dangerous situation. For example, the York regional police department in Canada recently announced that AirTags are being placed in hidden areas of target cars parked in public, and…

It’s a good idea to check on the health of your Mac’s internal storage on a regular basis. You can do this using Disk Utility, an app that comes with every Mac. To run the check, you need to boot the Mac into Recovery Mode. On Intel-based Macs, restart your Mac and hold down Command-R on the keyboard. On M1 Macs, shut down the Mac, then press and hold down the power button as it boots. When your Mac is in Recovery Mode, it will display a window with the available recovery utilities. Click on the bottom option, Disk Utility, and this will launch the Disk Utility app. Follow the steps below to check your storage device for errors and to fix them. (The rest of these instructions are performed…

JBL named this product well: The Boombox booms and then some. It’s easily the loudest portable Bluetooth speaker I’ve tested and, even better, one of the best sounding. Considering that it employs waterproof materials and carries an IPX7 rating, something I’ve found often inhibits successful sound reproduction, color me impressed. DESIGN AND FEATURES As you might expect from its moniker (assuming you’re old enough to get the reference), the Boombox is on the large side: 19.48 inches long, 7.69 inches high, and 10.01 inches deep, to be exact. It also weighs a rather hefty 11.57 pounds. Fortunately, the thick and comfortable handle makes that less of a burden than you might expect. The buttons are on the upper front of the Boombox. In the center are the power button and…

Meters Music, an Ashdown Engineering brand, has taken the iconic analog VU meter and embedded one in each earpiece of its $350 OV-1-B Connect Bluetooth headphones. Visually, these noise-canceling headphones are a sight to behold, with an industrial design you won’t find anywhere else. VU meters (the acronym stands for volume unit) are a physical representation of an audio signal level; as such, they play an important role in professional sound capture and playback. As used here, they simply lend a retro design flair; after all, you can’t see the levels while you’re wearing the headphones unless you’re looking in a mirror. Unfortunately, however, the OV-1-B Connect’s subpar audio performance fails to live up to that exciting industrial design. DESIGN Ashdown Engineering is famous for making superb amplification for countless…