Innholdsfortegnelse for Autumn 2017 i MacFormat

ORII Make phone calls like a spy If you feel like your life lacks the necessary level of James Bond coolness, ORII is for you. Simply put, it’s a ring that lets you make phone calls with your finger. Pop it on and, next time you get a call, press your digit to your ear – you’ll be able to hear the call as if you were holding your phone. Microphones in the ORII pick up your voice, which means you can also use Siri and dictate texts. It’s quick and convenient, so there’s no need to even take your iPhone our of your pocket. Sure, it’s a little frivolous, but there’s no denying that we want one. $159 (about £123) INCLUDES ORII ring (charging dock and case also available)…

SECRET APPLE JOB ADVERT MAN FINDS JOB POSTING HIDDEN IN CODE A cyber security ou like your new voice in iOS 11?” reporter has found a secret Apple job ad by chance. Zack Whittaker was analysing data sent from iPhone apps when he noticed it was being sent to an Apple URL. He followed the link and was greeted with the message ‘Hey there! You found us’, along with details of an engineering job at Apple. Apple has since removed the job listing. TIM COOK’S IN THE MONEY APPLE CEO GETS $89.2 MILLION STOCK REWARD Thanks to Apple’s sterling performance compared to its rivals, company CEO Tim Cook has been awarded 560,000 Apple shares, coming to a whopping $89.2 million. Apple’s shares hit a record of $159.75 per share in…

Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com LETTER OF THE MONTH! Coffee overload So Ulysses is the latest Mac app to switch to the subscription model. The outcry against it is huge, although there are some fans applauding the company for making this decision. From a business perspective, the subscription model makes sense: a regular cashflow, vital for survival in business. From a user’s perspective it’s yet another monthly outgoing. We’re regularly sold subscriptions using the ‘less than the price of a coffee a month’ analogy. But what many software developers seem to forget is that we’re now buying many coffees a month: Adobe, Microsoft, Evernote, etc. Indeed, my coffee consumption is so large if I’m to stick with Ulysses then another software developer will have to…

The HomePod stands just 172mm tall, yet manages to squeeze in seven high frequency tweeters, which are arranged in a circle around its base. The top part of the speaker holds a large, upward-facing woofer for lower frequencies. In between are six separate microphones that enable the HomePod to monitor the sound in the room around it. The A8 processor inside the HomePod can analyse that sound and work out both how big the room is, and where the speaker is positioned. It can then configure the seven tweeters as a ‘beamforming array’ that adjusts the sound to suit the room. If the HomePod is sitting in the centre of the room it will spread the sound through 360-degrees. Or, if it’s tucked into a corner, it will turn the…

iOS 11 consolidates all of the items in Control Centre into a single page, rather than expecting you to swipe left or right between general, media playback, and HomeKit controls. Because it makes things much faster to access, it’s one of our favourite changes in this year’s upgrade. At a glance, you might think some controls have been removed in iOS 11. There’s no sign of AirDrop, for example. The key to getting the most from Control Centre is to remember that you can apply a long press (or a firm one on devices with 3D Touch) to many of the individual or groups of controls to reveal additional features, or sometimes contextual settings. Aside from it being better structured and quicker to navigate, there’s a long list of new…

1 TYPE TO SIRI Until now, speaking was your main way to ask something of Siri. Typing on a keyboard only figured if you wanted to correct something Siri misheard. iOS 11 has a new Type to Siri option in Settings > General > Accessibility > Siri. If enabled, typing is used to interact with Siri when you hold the Home button. 2 COMBINE WITH DICTATION You can still use your voice with Siri if iOS’s Dictation feature is enabled in Settings > General > Keyboards. Open Siri, tap the microphone key, speak your request, then tap the keyboard icon followed by Done. 3 HEY SIRI Even with Type to Siri enabled, Apple’s personal digital assistant will switch to voice control if you call for its help by saying “Hey…

Instant Markup is a set of tools for annotating documents in any app, whether for your own use or to collaborate with other people. In most apps you only have to tap the Share icon, then Create PDF in the bottom row of the sheet. Some add extra steps, for example, at the documents list in Pages, tap the Share icon, Send a Copy, PDF, then Create PDF. If an app has no sharing feature, you can take a screenshot and annotate that! Here’s how to get started. 1 START MARKING UP While viewing a document, use its app’s means of opening the Share sheet. In the sheet’s bottom row, tap Create PDF. When the PDF opens, tap the pen icon on the toolbar. 2 THE LASSO TOOL Tap this,…

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How Paprika can help you cook, shop and plan your meals YOU’LL NEED Paprika Recipe Manager (£4.99), iOS 8 or later It’s one of those apps you’ll wonder how you ever managed without If you cook, you’ll love the Paprika Recipe Manager: it’s so good that if it were a food, it’d be bacon. As the name suggests it’s a way to manage your recipes, but it’s more than just Notes with a list of ingredients. It can automatically scale recipes for more or fewer guests, you can use it to set timers, you can use it as a meal planner to cut out waste and it can even create your shopping lists. The shopping list is smart too, so it organises…

iOS software quick-fire questions Why won’t my son’s iPad get the latest iOS update? Is it jail-broken? If so, remove the jailbreak by connecting via USB cable to iTunes, setting Find My iPhone off, backing its apps up, and restoring it to its original software state. After that you’ll need to update it to the latest iOS, before finally restoring its apps from the backup. Where can I view all devices using my Apple ID? In iOS 10.3, open Settings and tap your name at the top of its long list. Scroll down and you’ll see a detailed listing of each of your Macs and other devices which are associated with your Apple ID. Tap them to see summary details such as serial numbers. To the right of your text…

£119.99 FROM Logitech, logitech.com FEATURES 2x Pop buttons, 1x wireless bridge with HomeKit support MAC FORMAT VERDICT It’s a luxury, but the Pop provides a quick and easy way to control smart devices. Supports HomeKit The app can be fiddly Logitech’s Pop was first launched about a year ago, but we decided to take a closer look following a recent update that added support for Apple’s HomeKit software. The Pop is a little tricky to describe. Logitech calls it a ‘smart button’ that you can use to control a variety of devices around your home. As well as supporting HomeKit, the Logitech Pop is compatible with many other devices too, such as Sonos speakers and Samsung’s SmartThings security sensors. The Pop starter kit includes two Pop buttons and a wireless…

There’s been plenty of publicity for smart speakers in recent months, especially with Apple’s HomePod about to go head to head with the Amazon Echo this Christmas. But the real driving force in the smart home market is a lot more straightforward – it’s security. That’s hardly surprising, as we all want to make sure our homes are secure, and for many people the first smart device that they’re likely to buy for their home will be a security camera. The popularity of security cameras has led to a bewildering range of products that you can choose from – a quick look at maplin.co.uk shows 81 cameras from dozens of different manufacturers. We can’t fit 81 cameras into a single issue of MacFormat, so we’ve rounded up the latest products…

£12.99 FROM Global Delight Technologies, globaldelight.com NEEDS OS X 10.10.3 or later Mac FORMAT VERDICT Boom 3D really can make your Mac sound better, especially on headphones. Improves your audio Easy to go too far There’s a problem with ever-thinner Macs: thin cases mean thin speakers, which means thin sound. It’s particularly noticeable on the iMac, on which music sounds as if it is being shouted at you by somebody in a bucket, but it’s a problem on MacBooks too. Boom 3D can help though. The app changes the sound of your Mac to make it brighter, wider – and on headphones, to give you virtual surround sound. It works: turn it off and the sound is considerably duller and less interesting. At heart it’s an equaliser with some extra…

£4.99 FROM Broken Rules, oldmansjourney.com NEEDS iOS 10 or later Mac FORMAT VERDICT One of the most beautiful games we’ve seen in a while. Delightfully responsive. Gorgeous visuals Time-based pressure Old men. Heartbreak. Redemption. And walking. These are the main ingredients of Old Man’s Journey, a story told through wordless vignettes of one man’s life as he walks across hills, mountains and seas to find… something. You are his guide, of sorts, dragging the scenery around him to clear the path and help him continue. You can pull up hills to meet his feet, creating zig-zags of landscape, or leave him to pause on an immovable part such as a house, bench, or lighthouse, as you rejig the curves of the land to create a way forward – since you…

The most memorable part Apple’s iPhone X event for me wasn’t a product unveiling, but a bit of fun. Craig Federighi spent a bunch of time just showing off the new face-tracking Animoji feature, sometimes with his impressively elastic face (he’s a natural for a reboot of The Mask), sometimes by just continuing his presentation, with a gigantic cartoon fox face mimicking him in a manner so fluid, I felt kind of weirded out. This moment wasn’t just memorable because of the confusing dreams I’ve been having since, but because it was Apple doing what it loves the most: showing off insanely advanced tech used for a completely trivial purpose, because that’s how it gets used in real life most of the time, and Apple makes products for real life.…

LIVE SMARTER The smart home is here – live the Apple dream today! Apple was as modest as ever when it announced its new HomePod speaker back in June. “We want to reinvent home music,” said CEO Tim Cook – which is quite a boast when the big names of the hi-fi industry have almost a century worth of experience designing speakers tucked under their collective belts. Cook has given a number of interviews where he talks about the HomePod’s excellent sound quality, and it’s certainly true that the hardware design of this compact little speaker looks very impressive (see p25). And, of course, the HomePod is a ‘smart’ speaker too, with the ability to use Siri voice commands to control your lights, heating and other smart household appliances. However,…

Apple HomePod $349 (£TBA) apple.com/uk/music There’s a lot riding on the HomePod; it has to sound great and be smart enough to challenge the Amazon Echo for control of your smart home. It’s also Apple’s first foray into the multi-room audio market, thanks to the new features of AirPlay 2. B&O BeoPlay M5 £529 beoplay.com Bang & Olufsen has a number of AirPlay speakers, and has said that most of them can be updated to use AirPlay 2. The M5 is relatively expensive, but has a second woofer to boost the bass, as well as a powerful 130W output. B&W Zeppelin Wireless £499 bowers-wilkins.co.uk B&W’s Zeppelin was one of the first, and best, AirPlay speakers. Sadly, the current model, the Zeppelin Wireless, can’t be updated for AirPlay 2, although it…

1 LOW POWER MODE (iPHONE) Tap to shut down certain functions – see Settings > Battery – and slow the rate of power consumption. 2 DO NOT DISTURB WHILE DRIVING (iPHONE) This feature for driving more safely normally kicks in automatically, but this starts it manually. 3 VOICE MEMOS (iPHONE) Tap this to go to the Voice Memos app, or hold it for options to start a recording or play back the last one. 4 WALLET (iPHONE) Tap to open Wallet to use Apple Pay or another card there. Hold it to check your last transaction. 5 APPLE TV REMOTE This opens a built-in remote control, with a menu to choose an Apple TV, plus a Siri button for tvOS. 6 ACCESSIBILITY SHORTCUTS This opens a panel containing shortcuts to…

Files isn’t just the iCloud Drive app renamed, though it is how you access that service in iOS 11. It’s also a means to access other storage on your device, such as Dropbox, or storage on a macOS Server, and it works a lot like Finder on the Mac. Storage apps released before iOS 11 work with it, but appear in a small window on iPad rather than using all of the right pane – be sure to check for updates in the App Store! 1 THEBROWSE TAB Each section of this tab’s sidebar can be collapsed by tapping its headline. The right pane browses whatever you tapped last in the sidebar. Swipe beyond the top items in it to: create a folder; sort by name, date modified, size, or…

Few would argue with the notion that Apple made a bit of a pig’s ear of integrating third-party apps with Messages when it introduced the capability in iOS 10. Now it has untangled the spaghetti mess of navigation it created, by putting access to the iMessage App Store, Digital Touch, and your installed iMessage apps behind one icon that looks like the regular App Store’s. Tap it to reveal the new, easier to navigate app drawer and explore a whole world of messaging plug-ins. 1 THE APPDRAWER In an iMessage conversation, tap the App Store icon to open the app drawer. Swipe on the drawer and its row grows larger to help you find what you want. 2 FAVOURITE APPS The iMessage App Store is the leftmost item, then Digital…

NEW IDEAS Your in-depth guide to getting more from your Apple kit KEYNOTE GAMES p50 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…

Genius tip! Universal clipboard Universal Clipboard enables you to copy and paste content between your Mac and your iOS device. You need to be signed into the same iCloud account on the Mac and the iOS device, and have Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Handoff enabled. Now you can simply copy and paste (command+C, command+V) content between the two. You can pick up, say, a recipe from the internet or a photo, then just position the pointer where you want the content to go. HIGH SIERRA This issue we focus on getting more from macOS High Sierra PERSONALISE SAFARI p58 macOS High Sierra requirements You need MacBook or iMac going back to 2009, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini’s from 2010. You need to be running Mac OS X 10.8 or later. You…

Peripherals quick-fire questions How to get rid of unwanted HP printer Utilities? If you replace an old HP printer with a different brand that may leave tools for the previous model hanging around and cluttering up Launchpad. Trash any alias to them from Applications/Utilities, before removing the folder named ‘hp’ in Library/Printers. Why won’t my Wi-Fi printer use 5GHz? Some older printers don’t support the 5GHz Wi-Fi standard, or may be incompatible with new devices operating at that frequency. If they have problems, they should automatically switch to 2.4GHz, but you may need to give them a hand by ensuring your Wi-Fi base station supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Hard drives for a Mac Pro Q Which 1TB to 2TB external hard drives – portable and desktop – should…

Contact us Email your queries and your questions to lovemac@macformat.com Keep up to date by following us on Twitter @macformat Join the conversation at facebook.com/ macformat Get the latest subscription offers at macformat.com REUSE OLD KIT Inspiring ideas for revamping old Apple kit Restoring classic Macs Not to brag, but I have a wall of classic Macs in my sitting room. They are stacked in a grid four across and three high, and they neatly fill the alcove next to the TV. At the moment, they are just sculpture. The 12 Macs in the Haq Collection (see issue 315 for the history) include six Mac SE/30s and one Mac SE, and this month I’m tackling those. It is years since any of them were last booted up, and a lot…

BUYING ADVICE Our authoritative reviews help you make more informed choices HOME SECURITY CAMERAS p90 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…

£99.95 FROM Pioneer, pioneerrayz.com FEATURES Smart button, Lightning port, pass through charging, carry case MAC FORMAT VERDICT At just under £100, the Rayz Rally is a good option for regular VC callers. Good call quality Not essential A vailable in onyx or space grey, this diminutive speaker could become an indispensable accessory for a very specific group of people. If you often find yourself on a call with your coworkers (or family), then it will be a £100 well spent. Conference call quality is exceptional and a marked improvement on the iPhone’s built-in speaker (unsurprisingly). The single button can be used to mute or end calls. If you don’t need it for conference calls, the Rayz Rally could be useful, but you’ve probably got something already that can do its…

The Nest Cam IQ is expensive at £299, although its 4K sensor does provide excellent image quality and useful features such as track-and-zoom. However, Nest’s reliance on paid subscriptions for online storage and other advanced features can be costly in the long run. Netgear’s Arlo Pro is the same price, but it provides a weatherproof camera, one week of free storage and a super-loud siren for extra protection. At £200, D-Link’s Omna stands out with its HomeKit support, although that really isn’t essential for a security camera at the moment. At that price, Netatmo’s facerecognition features may prove more useful, especially for hectic family homes. The most affordable cameras are clearly the Nokia Home and Logitech Circle at £170. Some people will like the Home’s air quality features, but the…

£360 (upgrade for £180) FROM Corel, painterartist.com NEEDS OS X 10.7 or later Mac FORMAT VERDICT Great new additions to refine and develop your digital painting experience. Thick Paint feature Redesigned Natural Brush library More texture options Steep learning curve Accurately mimic the look and feel of traditional oil and acrylic paint This new release of Painter has many new features that will make the digital artist quiver in anticipation. Let’s start with the Thick Paint option. This set of painting tools goes beyond the Impasto painting tools that were present in earlier versions. They accurately mimic the look and feel of traditional oil and acrylic paint. You can pile on the paint, push it around, scrape the paint, and realistically blend. The default brushes have been inspired by their…

£19.99 FROM Luma Touch, luma-touch.com NEEDS iOS 10 or later Mac FORMAT VERDICT The best video editor on iPad, but not quite a desktop replacement yet. Pro-level editing Awesome keyframing tool… … but more refinement needed The best attempt yet at fitting a full-on video editor on a tablet The iPad has become a great device for a lot of creative tasks, but video has always been a bit of a weak area. iMovie is great for simple stuff, but is very limited. Other apps have come and gone that have attempted to add the tools people are used to from desktop video editors, but none has set the world alight. LumaFusion is the best attempt yet at fitting a full-on video editor on tablet, and though it’s not perfect,…

MONITOR ViewSonic VP2772 £697 viewsonic.com If you’re not fussed about 4K but still want exceptional image quality, this IPS display is truly superb. It offers 99% coverage of the Adobe RGB colour space, 10-bit colour and a 2560x1440-pixel resolution. It has HDMI 1.4, DVI and Mini DisplayPort connections, and four USB 3.0 ports for expansion. NETWORK STORAGE QNAP TS-251+ 6TB £452 qnap.com We know a good NAS drive when we see one, which is why the 6TB TS-251+ won MF302’s group test. It’s one of the quickest NAS drives we’ve seen lately, with transfer rates of over 105MB/sec for large files. It has an HDMI port and a remote control for watching your media directly on your TV set. Four USB ports top it off. PRINTER Epson Eco-Tank ET-2600 £165…

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). Moody sky Lightning strikes in sunny Spain! We’re sincerely hoping that Mick has used some kind of filter on this shot, or is the sky really that shocking shade of purple when low pressure weather hits Benidorm? We do like the watercolour effect, and the lights in the distance for added composition. So much for sunny Spain though, eh? Still, at least the lightning bolt is a pretty safe distance away… Unless anyone happens to be out there on a boat, of course! Share your pics with us using the hashtag #MacFormat on Instagram. In each issue we’ll pick…

In the brand-new Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park, some of the most powerful men in the world were as giddy as fresh-faced schoolchildren. Why? They were unveiling their latest playthings: the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. Let’s start with the iPhone 8. Visually, it looks fairly similar to the iPhone 7, but with an important difference. That’s its allglass back, which enables wireless Qi charging for the first time in an iPhone. The cameras on both the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have been improved, with 12MP rear cameras with new sensors, better dynamic range, and optical image stabilisation for both cameras on the Plus model. There’s also a new Portrait Lighting mode with powerful lighting adjustment options. But of course, everyone was waiting for the iPhone X, and…

For our latest subscription offer see page 40! Read almost any tech website’s coverage of the Apple Watch and a familiar story emerges. It’s a failure. No one wants to buy one. It was a huge mistake on Apple’s part, a gamble that hasn’t paid off and should simply be shelved. You get the idea. This narrative is persistent and near-universal. But is it true? We decided to take a look at the numbers to see whether the Apple Watch really is in a slump, and what can be done by Apple if it is. It’s not hard to see why people might think the Apple Watch is struggling – almost the entire wrist wearable industry is still trying to find its feet. Former giants are falling left, right and…

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! SAVE 45%! Turn to page 40 Paul says… “AN 8K DISPLAY? APPLE SCREENS GO SUPER-SIZE” Apple is working on a standalone display, and some reports say it’ll have an 8K screen! I’m not sure what to make of that. 5K is still more than most people need at the moment, so 8K seems like a bit much! Well I’m sure designers will love it – I’m already getting excited. Remember that Apple said it’s working on this alongside the Mac Pro, so an 8K display won’t be for the mainstream. That’s true, and I can’t imagine it’ll be priced for the mainstream either! But there are people shooting 8K footage who would really benefit from being able to edit it on a nice big (OK, huge) 8K resolution…

The next-gen operating system for your iPhone and iPad is here, and it’s packed full of features that will transform your devices and your productivity. We show you how to make the most of the changes, both big and small… It’s that time of year when Apple gives us all a special treat: a major update to the iPhone and iPad’s operating system. One of the biggest features is, without a doubt, the revamped Control Centre – as well as an eye-catching fresh look, it has a lot of new controls, and gives you the ability to rearrange many of them to your exact liking. This update is the biggest one for the iPad in years, where major improvements include the ability to drag and drop things between apps, and…

The way you work with two apps side-by-side has changed for the better in iOS 11, which means learning some new tricks to get things where you want them. Don’t worry though, that’s where we come in. You can stash more apps and folders in the Dock now, in the area left of its dividing line – much like you can on your Mac already. To the right you’ll see up to three other app icons: those you’ve recently used; which Siri thinks you might need; or to which one of your nearby devices can hand off a task. These can be hidden using Settings < General < Multitasking & Dock < Show Suggested and Recent Apps if you prefer. The Dock can be called up at anytime with a…

1 CAMERA FILE FORMATS The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus take photos and videos in the new and very efficient HEIF and HEVC formats. In Settings > Photos, Transfer to Mac or PC is usually set to Automatic, which tells iOS to work out whether to transfer in these new or older (JPEG and H.264) formats. You might pick Keep Originals if you’re transferring media to your computer purely for archival purposes. If an app or part of your workflow doesn’t work with the new formats, force iOS to record in JPEG/H.264. In Settings > Camera > Formats, tap Most Compatible. 2 CELLULAR DATA USAGE In Settings > Photos, you can turn off the Cellular Data option to stop iCloud Photo Library updates using your limited data allowance. If…

Emergency SOS is a method of calling for help when you can’t interact with your iPhone as normal – using its touchscreen or by talking to Siri. It debuted in iOS 10.2, but hasn’t been available until now. It’s triggered by pressing the Sleep/Wake button five times in quick succession. That reveals a special form of the ‘slide to power off’ screen with two additional sliders: one that displays your Medical ID (conditions you have and treatments you take, configured in the Health app), and another that calls emergency services. To use Emergency SOS without touching the screen, tap Auto Call in Settings > Emergency SOS. This reveals the Countdown Sound option, which plays a clearly audible sound and gives you the chance to cancel. After the call, the feature…

IT WILL TAKE 60 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to cut together different pieces of footage, add transitions and a backing track YOU’LL NEED A Mac running iMovie, some footage If you thought iMovie was for turning your amateur footage into equally amateur faux movie-trailers, think again. Stick to iMovie’s templates and filters and you’ll achieve rather hackneyed results. But aim a little higher and you’ll find a competent video editor that makes cutting together clips a doddle. That’s not all it does, either – adding picture overlays, new audio and transitions are all simply done. Even tasks that normally take more advanced – and expensive, and harder to use – editors, such as stabilising a shaky clip, are often little more than a click away. For this tutorial, we’re…

Contact us Email your queries and your questions to genius@macformat.com Keep up to date by following us on Twitter @macformat Join the conversation at facebook.com/ macformat Get the latest subscription offers at macformat.com EXPERT ADVICE Our resident genius solves your Mac and iOS problems Transfer and edit PDFs Q I need to edit some old documents created using Serif’s PagePlus X9 program for Windows. Are there Mac apps, which will allow me to edit them as PDF files while preserving their fonts? by BR IAN CAVE A There are several excellent Mac apps which will edit PDF documents, ranging from PDFPen Pro to the full version of Adobe’s Acrobat CC. However, PDF isn’t a format which is intended to support much in the way of editing, and you may be…

macOS quick-fire questions How do I transfer Photoshop CC to a brand new Mac? What you need to do is deactivate it on your old Mac, then you should be able to activate it and install it fully on the new one. Adobe provides a complete guide at bit.ly/ newmac_activate. How can I open old Word docs when new Word won’t? Microsoft Word more recent than Word 2011 refuses to open many old Word documents. You can recover their text contents as an option when opening them, but the best solution is to find a Mac or PC with Word 2011 or earlier and convert them all. Word 2011 runs in Sierra, but most users find that they can’t install a new copy. Mail merge made easy Q Can I…

1 Cathode ray tube A 9-inch 512x342 black and white screen. Many PCs still had green and black displays back then. 2 Expansion slot The SE was the first Mac to use the Processor Direct Slot (PDS). This one contains a DaynaPORT network card. 3 Drive caddy 1.4MB floppy disk drive, plus an optional 20MB or 40MB SCSI hard disk. 4 Motherboard Hidden underneath everything else is the motherboard, with a 16MHz 68030 Motorola CPU and 1MB of RAM (expandable to 128MB). 5 Ports Two ADB ports for keyboard and mouse, Two DIN-8 serial ports, plus ports for external floppy and SCSI drives. 6 Power supply The dangerous highvoltage capacitors for the screen are exposed. Leave the Mac switched off overnight before removing the case.…

£799 (body only) FROM Fujifilm, fujifilm.co.uk FEATURES 24.3MP, X-Trans CMOS III sensor, ISO100 to ISO51200, 4K video at 30fps, 11.8x8.3x4.1cm, 383g weight (body only, including battery and memory card) Jo says… The improvements in this model make it an impressive piece of kit – greater sensitivity range, better focus tracking, and easy-touse controls. OK, so battery life doesn’t compare well to some, and weather sealing would be preferable, but I think the ease of use and great results make it an attractive option. Fujifilm has taken a lot of the good stuff from the X-T2 and packaged it in a lighter, more affordable body to give us the X-T20. The X-T20 incorporates Fujifilm’s latest 24.3MP X-Trans CMOS III APS-C sensor. The ISO range gets a boost as well, with a…

£84 FROM Philips, philips.co.uk FEATURES Bluetooth, 10-hour battery life, IP57 and IPX7 ratings, Micro-USB slot, 3.5mm audio jack, 21x7.2x7.1cm, 520g Mac FORMAT VERDICT It’s loud, bassy and waterproof, with a 30m range and 10-hour battery life. Loud yet balanced Excellent bass Mesh wrap may stain Sounds better when not placed on a surface The BT7900 can reach incredibly high volumes without any distortion The EverPlay BT7900 does bass – very well, in fact. But there’s a lot more to like about it than its low frequency finesse. It works very well away from your phone. While most Bluetooth speakers offer 10m of range, you can walk 30m away from the BT7900 before the music cuts out. That’s handy, as is its waterproof, shockproof and drop-proof design. The speaker is covered…

£28.99 FROM Edovia, edovia.com NEEDS OS X 10.11 or later MAC FORMAT VERDICT If you need to connect to a remote Mac, Screens 4 is a great way to do it. Easy to set up Occasional glitches Screens 4 enables you to connect to your Mac from anywhere where there’s an internet connection. Once connected you can control the Mac remotely as if you were sitting in front of it. Version 4 adds the ability to transfer files by dragging and dropping between your local Mac and the remote one, as well as a feature that obscures the display of the remote Mac while you work. If you connect to a Mac with multiple displays attached, you can choose which of them you want to view, or see all of…

Free FROM Himanshu Singh, vanido.io NEEDS iOS 9.3 or later Mac FORMAT VERDICT As a voice coach it’s probably too simple, but Vanido has lots of promise to help. Makes training fun Choppy audio With very few exceptions, a good singing voice is something we need to work on, not something we’re born with. Before you call that expensive vocal coach, give Vanido a try. Vanido is a free app that aims to make voice training fun. The app works out your vocal range – ensuring the exercises aren’t too low or too high for you – and then gets you to practise some simple notes and sounds. Technology comes into play with its real-time analysis, which shows you how well or how poorly you’re managing to hit each note.…

PHOTO EDITOR (MAC) Affinity Photo £49 serif.com It’s hard not to love Affinity Photo. Whether you’re fancy yourself a seasoned pro or a photo novice, you will find it powerful and easy to use. Its interface has the perfect blend of ease of use and quick access to powerful features, and its useful batch processing is a great addition. An app that packs both power and practicality for less than £50? Sign us up! WRITING APP (MAC) Ulysses £36 per year ulyssesapp.com Here at MacFormat, we like to demand a lot from our writing apps. We want them to run fast, be unobtrusive, support iCloud and Dropbox, export to lots of file formats, and much more. Ulysses does all that and more to a great standard. Throw in Markdown compatibility…

As you can see here, since 2012, September has become ‘New iPhone month’. Apple has released a new iPhone every September for the last five years, and 2017 was no exception with the new iPhone X, which offers face recognition and a host of amazing features, and the iPhone 8 with an improved camera, and much more. We take a look back at how we got here from the first iPhone way back in 2007… Antennagate The story of the iPhone has been one of almost unparalleled success except for one small bump in the road – a scandal centred around the iPhone 4 that became known as ‘Antennagate’. Some users noticed that once held in the hand, the phone’s signal strength would start to fade, a situation that resulted…