MacLife May 2022

Apple is really starting to dominate in the 5G smartphone arena. Its latest handset to join the 5G fold is the new iPhone SE, and it means that super–fast mobile internet will be available to even those on a budget, provided you can access it of course. There’s a comprehensive review of the new handset on page 42, co–written by yours–truly, highlighting the new features that have been brought to the entry–level iPhone. Spoiler: it’s basically the same as the previous iPhone SE, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the small device made a lot of people happy at a time when Apple was making the rest of its iPhones bigger and bigger. While it might not look different, it’s now got the power of a flagship device, which…

AS I WRITE this, stories in the news about Apple’s supposed headset for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are swirling. They’re predicting that the headset will arrive this year, and that it’ll also feature chips as powerful as those in the new MacBook Pros, which would put its capabilities way beyond the equivalent models from Oculus. Sorry: Facebook. Sorry: Meta. THE AR/VR VISION? SURELY APPLE’S HUMAN–LED DESIGN SENSE WILL SAVE US But this will also put its price way beyond those models too, and more in line with buying a laptop than an iPad or games console. So it’ll be interesting to see whether Apple’s early pitches for the product focus on professional use (where price will matter less) or as part of the attempts to push VR and the…

To the editor: thanks for all the new life and significant improvements you’ve brought to MacLife. One such long awaited topic is a test alongside recommendations for Apple Time Machine replacements, which appears on pages 50–55 of the April 2022 issue (#191). Unable to wait any longer after several Time Capsules in our extended family failed, I have opted for the Synology NAS product line which has worked extremely well, albeit with a steeper learning curve than the Apple product they’ve replaced, so I was relieved and delighted to see Howard Oakley’s favorable review of the Synology model he chose. That said, I have one serious bone to pick, namely one of the two negatives he levels at the Synology is it’s higher cost while failing to point out that: 1. The…

APPLE HAS ADDED an entirely new high–performance headless computer to its desktop lineup, aimed at professionals who need raw grunt for tasks such as 3D rendering, code compilation, image processing, or video encoding. Mac Studio looks much like a pumped–up Mac mini, with an identical footprint of 7.7 x 7.7 inches but 3.7 inches high, half an inch less than three Mac minis stacked on top of each other. It is designed to sit on your desk, tucked under a monitor, for easy access to its ports — more about these in a moment. Mac Studio comes in two flavors, both with Apple silicon. The base model with M1 Max processor (with 10–core CPU and 24–core GPU), 32GB of unified memory, and 512GB SSD storage starts at $1,999, just $200 more than…

TO ACCOMPANY THE new Mac Studio, Apple has introduced a matching monitor, the Studio Display, priced at $1,599. It has a 27–inch 5K Retina screen (5,120 x 2,880 pixels at 218ppi), with 600 nits brightness, P3 Wide Color, and support for 1 billion colors. True Tone technology automatically adjusts the display’s color temperature as the ambient light changes for a more natural viewing experience. A range of reference modes is available to ensure color accuracy. The “all-screen” design has narrow borders and an all–aluminum enclosure. The display can tilt between -5° and +25° on the built–in stand, and build–to–order options include a tilt– and height–adjustable stand ($400) with counterbalancing arm that makes the display feel weightless as it is adjusted. A VESA mount adapter is also available, which supports landscape or…

UNIVERSAL CONTROL IS here. Although still in beta as we go to press, the feature makes it possible to use the keyboard, mouse, or trackpad on one Mac to control and work on another nearby Mac, iPad, or both. As distinct from Sidecar, which allows you to use an iPad as an external monitor, Universal Control leaves all the devices operating separately, each with its own screen and apps, but enables you to jump between them — so you can move from typing on one device to another with the same keyboard, or copy–and–paste between devices, or drag–and–drop from one to another. Universal Control requires macOS Monterey 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4 on supported devices. Find the details at support.apple.com/HT212757.…