Содержание выпуска: July 2017 — MacFormat

An iPhone charging stand with a retro flavour If you miss the Apple Macintosh Classic design but can’t quite bring yourself to find and buy a working model, there’s always this. It’s an iPhone stand from Elago with a heavy nod to the past, shaped to resemble Apple’s old stalwart. Slide your iPhone in the side and it gives the effect of a Mac display while charging, with an easy-access opening for the volume controls and a routing area for your Lightning cable. Elago says its ideal for watching movies and browsing the web, but we think it’d be equally at home in a curio stand alongside a mini Bondi Blue iMac G3, perhaps. ¤34.95 (about £29) INCLUDES Elago M4 Vintage Stand for iPhone WEBSITE elagostore.eu WORKS WITH iPhone 6,…

50,000 IIGS COMPUTERS WITH WOZ’S SIGNATURE The IIGS was the most powerful computer in the Apple II series. To make it even better, the first 50,000 came bearing Steve Wozniak’s signature silkscreened onto the front. They were known as the ‘Woz Limited Edition’ version. 2005 APPLE DROPS MAC INTERNAL MODEMS By 2005, Apple had decided dial-up modems were passé, and ceased building them into Macs. The USB Apple Modem debuted for people who still wanted dial-up. $2,000 MACINTOSH LC 520’S 1993 LAUNCH PRICE Apple’s Industrial Design Group so detested the design of the Macinstosh LC 520 that they began working on a redesign almost as soon as it went on sale. It launched at $2,000 (roughly £2,600 today), but was discontinued a mere eight months later.…

APPLE CORE News feature For our latest subscription offer see page 28! Launched in 2011, the Mac App Store quickly became an integral part of the Macowning experience, providing easy access to thousands of apps and merging seamlessly into macOS itself. Almost all the most important apps are found on the Mac App Store, but there have always been some notable exceptions – Adobe in particular has apps that are famously absent. Regardless, if you’re looking for an app, the Mac App Store is the place you start your search, mainly because it’s so convenient: you’ve probably agreed to Apple’s Ts&Cs and given them your credit card details, so there are no risks regarding the security of your payment information. You can also trust that the App Store team has…

JIMMY IOVINE apple.com “A music service needs to be more than a bunch of songs and a few playlists.” Apple Music is becoming a “movement in popular culture”, says Beats mogul STEVE WOZNIAK apple.com “I’m hoping Apple does the same thing with autonomous cars that [they did with the iPhone].” Woz is excited to see where Apple goes with driverless cars JOHN GRUBER daringfireball.net “Apple’s… stores are one of the most… overlooked advantages in all of technology.” Pundit says Apple Store ethos puts Apple way ahead of its retail rivals LISA JACKSON apple.com “We’re a little nervous, but we also think it’s really important.” Apple will make recycled iPhones in the future, says Apple environment chief…

LIVE SMARTER The smart home is here – live the Apple dream today! The iPhone has been at the heart of Apple’s plans for health technology for years, and those plans took another big step forward with the Apple Watch Series 2 last year, which can now be used to monitor your performance in an even wider range of sports and activities. And, of course, there are dozens of rival smartwatches and fitness bands that provide their own iOS apps too. But burning calories is just the start. There are many other devices that now allow you to monitor important aspects of your health, including your weight, body fat, or blood pressure. You’ll occasionally get a disapproving email from your bathroom scales – having a bad week, Cliff?’ – but…

For many of us these days, the ‘office’ is wherever we need to be. Whether that’s stopping off between travelling from meeting to meeting or heading out to meet clients, there are a lot of times when having a desktop Mac just isn’t practical. With that in mind, we’ve centred this part on the 12-inch MacBook, Apple’s feather-light laptop that’s ideal for working on the go. Every accessory you’ll find here will help ramp up your productivity on the road, letting you get work done whether you’re home or away. Road warrior A laptop means you’ll need a few essentials to keep you mobile. A battery pack for your travels and an international-friendly charger for the hotel will be invaluable, as will a rugged hard drive to protect your work…

NEW IDEAS Your in-depth guide to getting more from your Apple kit CREATE A SMART ALBUM IN PHOTOS p44 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…

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to get started with and use Pastebot to boost copy and paste on macOS YOU’LL NEED OS X 10.11 or later, Pastebot trial, an internet connection (or alternate items to copy and paste) Pastebot can improve productivity through multiple pasteboards Genius tip! Click command on an individual pasteboard or filter item in the main window. You can then assign it a unique keyboard shortcut. The basics of copy and paste have barely changed since the Mac’s earliest days. And that’s fine – after all, part of the Mac’s appeal is its elegance and simplicity. Even so, it can feel limiting to only have a single pasteboard if you frequently use copy and paste. It’s here that Pastebot can prove transformative, hugely…

NEW SECTION Your dedicated guide to getting more from macOS Sierra ORGANISING FINDER p56 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 before upgrading; go to support. apple.com/en-gb/HT201250 for advice on using Time Machine. Go to the Mac App Store and download the free macOS Sierra upgrade. The benefits of running macOS Sierra macOS Sierra introduces Siri to the Mac. You can use Apple Pay on your Mac with macOS Sierra. Picture-in-picture – extract a video from a website and watch it from your desktop. By default, Desktop and Documents folders are uploaded to iCloud Drive. macOS offers the smartest…

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to use voice commands to control your Mac YOU’LL NEED macOS 10.12 (some features will work on earlier versions); optionally an internet connection to set up ‘Hey Siri’ Genius tip! By default, Siri will speak its responses out loud. If that feels inappropriate for where you are, you can silence it and just read responses in its window: go to Siri’s preferences pane and then turn off Voice Feedback. You may be familiar with Siri if you own an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. You can ask the personal assistant to look up information, create a new reminder or calendar event, send a message and much more using just your voice. Siri makes it easy to get many common tasks done…

Connecting with hearing appliances Q I rely on expensive, professionally fitted hearing appliances. My current iPhone is connected by its headphone socket to a special adaptor, which transmits its audio output to those appliances. If I were to get an iPhone 7 which lacks that headphone socket, how could I connect this adaptor? by NORMAN JACK SON A Although the iPhone 7 doesn’t have a headphone socket, for around £9 or a little less you can get a Lightning to headphone socket adaptor cable, which should then connect happily with the special adaptor which you use to transmit the audio to your hearing appliances. The snag with this is that an iPhone only has one Lightning port, so you can’t use that single port for audio output when you want…

BUYING ADVICE Our authoritative reviews help you make more informed choices GOOGLE WIFI 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 five-star product…

£22 FROM Nonda, nonda.co FEATURES Bluetooth, separation alarm, rechargeable battery, charging cable, free companion app Back in MF299, we reviewed key fob trackers: Tile and TrackR. How does Nonda’s iHere stack up against those tracking trailblazers? The answer is very well. The buzzer is loud but not obnoxious, and the car finder is great too, pointing the way back to your car. Get out of its 75-foot Bluetooth range and it shows a timestamped last known location of your car on a map. It doesn’t show where you are in relation to that, which would be useful. The app is competent and fairly easy to use, letting you switch the iHere from a car finder to a phone tracker and more. It also shows you the device’s remaining battery life.…

£4.99 FROM Cosmic Engineers, cosmicexpressgame.com NEEDS iOS 6 or later VERDICT Cosmic Express has a difficulty curve like a steep cliff, but is adorably enjoyable. + Charming looks - It’s so very difficult This adorable yet rock-hard puzzle game is made by a man called Alan Hazelden. He’s the Einstein of puzzle games – he’s so very good at them. But that means Cosmic Express is incredibly difficult. You have to draw a tiny railway to pick up and drop off alien passengers, whose houses correspond to their colours. They will not go to each other’s houses, and some of them refuse to even get inside a train carriage that another alien has been in. It’s deceptively adorable, with cute little noises every time you squish an alien. But Cosmic…

Free FROM Apple, apple.com NEEDS iOS 10.3 or later A pple’s relationship with social media has always felt a little bit uncomfortable. You feel that it knows it’s important, but just can’t bring itself to fully engage. Clips might just change that. It’s not, as some have suggested, an app made to compete with Instagram or Snapchat – there’s no integrated social network for one thing – but it does provide an easy way to make greatlooking video and share it on Instagram, as well as on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Where iMovie puts the emphasis on powerful editing controls and features, Clips is focused on doing things quickly and easily so that you can share the results. It’s not quite as spontaneous as Snapchat or Instagram, and you’ll need…

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). How old?! VINTAGE KIT Apple hits Europe! The Apple II Europlus was the first Apple computer to travel the waters and go on sale in Europe and Australia, back in 1979! The units complied with the different hardware, software and firmware requirements outside the US. While the computer only offered 48K memory (say, what?!), it was open architecture – and you could add another 16K! Share your pics with us using the hashtag #MacFormat on Instagram. In each issue we’ll pick our favourites to feature on this page. WHAT TO DO! 1 Open an Instagram account. 2 Follow @MacFormatUK…

The upward trajectory of Apple’s already sky-high valuation continues apace. In early May it became the first company in history to be worth $800 billion. It’s even more amazing considering Apple only broke the $700 billion barrier just over two years ago. The company’s shares have increased by 33% in 2017 and almost 50% since November 2017. If they continue this level of growth, Apple could hit the $1 trillion mark by the end of the year. The staggering valuation will be music to Tim Cook’s ears, especially as it comes shortly after news that iPhone sales had taken a surprising dip in the year’s second quarter. Apple shipped 50.8 million iPhones in the quarter ending 1 April, down from 51.2 million in the previous quarter. But with the iPhone’s…

Our top picks of what’s worth watching and playing this month [MOVIE] T2 TRAINSPOTTING £13.99 The follow-up to cult hit Trainspotting sees the original cast return to Scotland. If you loved the original, this is a worthy follow-up film. [PODCAST] THE TALK SHOW FREE John Gruber’s podcast covers all things Apple. Tune in for interviews with industry bigwigs, from app developers to Apple chiefs. [TV SHOW] AMERICAN GODS AMAZON VIDEO The gods of the old world take on those of the new. Based on the book by Neil Gaiman, it’s visually stunning, grand and hugely ambitious.…

Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com LETTER OF THE MONTH! MacBook Pro rip-off I wasn’t overjoyed at having to shell out £79 for a second power adaptor for my new MacBook Pro, but that’s my own choice (though a MagSafe adaptor would have been a nice thought from Apple). However, I was infuriated to find that £79 for the adaptor doesn’t include a cable to connect it to my MacBook, unlike every previous version, and that I have to pay another £19 for this. I’ve been using Apple equipment for nearly 30 years and have never minded paying a premium price for a quality product, but for the first time ever I just feel I’ve been cynically ripped off. BY PAUL R EX GRAHAM SAYS… Firstly,…

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! SAVE 54%! Turn to page 28 “WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FOR THE NEXT iOS?” Jo says… Graham says… I’ve got a feeling the next upgrade won’t be that dramatic. The latest iPad didn’t really rock the boat, but then Apple already had a great product. And iOS is impressive too. I’m worried about the upgrade… Apple is stopping support for 32-bit apps, isn’t it? There’s no need to panic about that. In fact, p47 of this issue explains how to check out your apps in advance! It’s the new stuff and improvements I’m interested in… Sometimes even minor tweaks can make a big difference. I’ve heard you might be able to ‘lock’ individual apps. With kids wanting to play on my iPhone or my iPad all the time,…

The complex array of sensors that Apple has crammed into the iPhone and the Apple Watch can compile an amazing amount of data about your exercise habits (or lack thereof). They can track how far you run, walk, or swim, and calculate the number of calories you burn while you’re at it. The Apple Watch can even monitor your heart rate in case you overdo things a bit. For most people, that level of information is all they need to keep on top of their health and fitness regime. However, there are plenty of other smart devices that can connect to your iPhone and help you to monitor your health, and that of your family. Of course, you don’t need an iPhone or iPad to weigh yourself or check your…

There are a lot of upsides to Apple being the biggest company in the world. One particular benefit is that there’s a huge range of choice when it comes to kitting your Mac out with gadgets. And, fortunately, you can rely on us to sort the wheat from the chaff. Over the page, you’ll find a curated collection of accessories that we reckon every Mac user should have by their side. From uninterruptible power supply boxes and surge-protected cords keeping your files safe to fantastic desktop speakers giving your audio experience a boost, it’s all here. We’ve also included a reliable Mac backup drive to store your documents, plus a couple of useful cables and expansion hubs to help you over the hurdles that the modern Apple ecosystem occasionally throws…

Working with photography means you expect a lot from your computer. You’ll need something that’s powerful enough to quickly edit your shots, but that’s easy enough to carry around to shoots and locations. The new MacBook Pro fits the bill. It’s got plenty of power, with either an i5 or i7 processor to power your photo edits speedily and efficiently. The screen is bright and beautiful too, and there’s the Touch Bar option, which lets you make quick edits with the touch or slide of a finger. All that squeezed into a light, slimline chassis makes it an ideal choice to carry out on location. We’ve included a range of devices here that will make perfecting your images a breeze. Picture perfect It’s essential that your photos look as good…

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to create a Smart Album and apply and modify filters to it YOU’LL NEED Some photos and the Photos app Photos’ built-in organisational chops are not to be sniffed at. Face recognition, geotagging and sifting of images into Selfies, Panorama and Live Photos make finding what you want incredibly easy. To organise things further, you’ll often find yourself creating Albums. This is fine for single events – last year’s holiday, say, or a wedding lend themselves well to individual albums. You’ll find, though, that creating an individual album for, say, a favourite couple of yours is pretty onerous – let’s say you want pictures of your mum and dad. You’d have to search for one person, then sift through for the…

IT WILL TAKE > 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to stop apps using an unwanted amount of precious iCloud storage YOU’LL NEED > iOS 10.3 Get more space If you prefer to back up everything regardless, but need more space to do so, tap the storage breakdown in iCloud’s settings, then Change Storage Plan. It’s tempting to leave certain settings on your iPhone or iPad on their defaults, not least iCloud Backup – how many times has the importance of backing up been hammered into your brain, after all. That may seem like the safest strategy for looking after your files, but ask yourself whether it’s costing you more money than necessary. While writing this tutorial, we were shocked to discover that iCloud Backup was putting 941MB of…

IT WILL TAKE 10-15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to label items in your sidebar and customise your tags YOU’LL NEED macOS 10.12 (some features will work on earlier versions) You can assign multiple tags to items if you wish By default, when Finder opens it shows all the files on your Mac. As time goes on, this can become rather chaotic. In this guide, we’ll explore firstly how to customise your sidebar on the left-hand side of the finder. You can use this to control which folders and locations are displayed. You can also drag frequently-used folders into the Favorites section to access them easily. The Finder also supports tags. This allows you to colour code files and folders into certain categories. For instance, if you’re working on a…

EXPERT ADVICE Our resident genius solves your Mac and iOS problems The invisible log Q When I used El Capitan, I kept an eye on my Time Machine backups in Console. When that didn’t help in Sierra, I switched to running a small script. Now that I’ve updated to 10.12.4, even that doesn’t work any more. Why not? by JOHN C A SE L LA A You’re one of the few Mac users who is running in normal user mode, rather than as an admin user. One of the undocumented changes in the Sierra 10.12.4 update is that log access no longer works unless you’re logged in as an admin user, although log entries are still made. No one knows whether this is a passing bug, or a permanently changed…

Looking for protection Q I’m looking for new anti-virus software to replace AVG Free on my iMac. What should I look at? by CHR I STOPHER HOUGHTON A There is no ‘one size fits all’ in anti-virus protection, as the need depends entirely on your risk. As a minimum, for someone who only downloads apps from the App Store and is a light and cautious user of social media and websites, they should keep a couple of tools to hand in case they need to check out anything suspicious. Objective-See’s free TaskExplorer from objective-see.com and a product such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (malwarebytes.com) should suffice. At the high-risk end of the spectrum, someone might regularly download software from plain HTTP sites, and already have had a couple of close calls from…

1 Forgotten passwords If you’ve forgotten your Apple ID passwords, go to iforgot.apple.com and enter the email address linked to your Apple ID, such as janedoe223@post.com, then click Continue. 2 Reset method Choose ‘I need to reset my password’ and Continue. You’ll be asked how to reset your password. If your Apple ID is linked to a working email address, choose Get An Email, then Continue. 3 Reset password Find the ‘How to reset…’ email. Click Reset Now in that email to go to the website. Enter your new password in the New Password and Confirm Password fields, then Reset Password.…

If you sign in to the iTunes Store or App Store using a new Apple ID, you’ll lose the ability to download previously purchased content from your old Apple ID. If you have an Apple ID you don’t use any more, you can use Family Sharing to access content you purchased using that ID. (Family Sharing is a way for up to six people to share their previous purchases using different Apple IDs.) In System Preferences > iCloud, make sure you’re signed in with your new Apple ID, then click Set up Family. Follow the on-screen instructions to create a family group. Once this is done, return to System Preferences > iCloud and click Manage Family. Click the ‘+’ button to add a family member and enter your old Apple…

£150 FROM Olfi, olfi.co.uk FEATURES 4K UHD, 240fps slow motion, gyro stabilisation, waterproof case (up to 30m) Paul says… It’s a shame that the Olfi companion app is a bit of a letdown and can’t keep up with the likes of Garmin and GoPro. That said, the hardware looks great and is very affordable too – perfect if you’re dipping your toes into the action camera world for the first time. O lfi caused quite a storm in the action cam world last year when it unveiled a £149.99 model that undercut its rivals, yet managed to compete, and even impress, with its picture quality. That model has been given a refresh, and it now boasts enhanced styling, improved picture quality and a glut of additional user-friendly features. The diminutive…

Canon Maxify MB2750 £140 FROM Canon, canon.co.uk FEATURES 4-colour inkjet, 600x1200dpi resolution, 1200x1200dpi scanner, fax, 50-sheet auto document feeder, two 250-sheet paper trays CONNECTIVITY USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, AirPrint Eco credentials Designed for home workers and small offices, Canon’s high-capacity ink cartridges will print 1,200 pages in mono and 900 pages in colour. It automatically switches to standby mode after seven minutes, which uses just 0.9W. Features The MB2750 is a bit bulky, but it’s a real workhorse office printer that includes a printer, scanner, fax and document feeder. There are two paper trays, each holding 250-sheets, and automatic two-sided printing. You can connect via USB, Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and there’s AirPrint support too. Performance The MB2750 spits out at a speedy 24 pages per minute for mono documents with crisp,…

Free (Basic)/£14.99 (Premium) FROM Actions, quadro.me NEEDS iOS 8 or later Want a Touch Bar but can’t afford the new MacBook Pro’s price tag? Then enter Quadro, which turns your iOS device into a touchscreen that controls your Mac. It requires you to install a mini-server on your Mac, which it then connects to over USB (effortlessly) or Wi-Fi (with a bit of yelling). It scans the Applications folder, and if it spots an app it knows about, it installs the appropriate set of tiles and buttons to control it. For example, if you switch to Ableton you’ll get a screen enabling you to control audio track transport, mapping, and quantisation. Move across to Calendar and you get buttons for adding events, editing events, going to a particular date, and…

Welcome to MacFormat’s Store Guide, the place to go to find out about all the Apple kit that matters, whether you’re looking for your next iPhone or a powerful new desktop Mac. We’ve highlighted the model of each product that’s ideally suited to your needs, whether you’re a recent convert or a seasoned Apple user. So be sure to check our handy tables to see which Mac, iPad or iPhone is best for you. We’ve also highlighted the gold standard in audio, storage, cameras, and many other categories, helping you complement your Mac or iOS device with the best accessories. Who’s it for? ENTRY LEVEL > You’re just getting started in the world of Apple and need to know where to begin. UPGRADER > A firm Apple user, you’re ready…

Apple’s iCloud service is built on the back of its previous internet services, which started way back in January 2000 with iTools. iTools quickly morphed into .Mac then later into the much maligned MobileMe service. After a shaky start, iCloud soon hit its stride. MobileMe flops With Google and Facebook starting to make serious headway Apple needed to up its internet game. Its answer was MobileMe. Unfortunately the service was a disaster. Plagued by technical problems it was never a success. It did, however, add the ability to synchronise data across your devices, and introduce key elements of iCloud like Find my iPhone, but Apple still wanted £60 a year for the privilege. MobileMe added the features we still see in iCloud. .Mac Apple’s .Mac service was a paid-for, subscription-based…

APPLE RUMOUR With Apple owning the powerful combination of Siri, Apple TV, and HomeKit, creating some sort of AI-based home assistant that works like Google Home or Amazon Alexa would seem like a natural progression of the company’s product base. As WWDC approaches this June, rumours are circulating that Apple is about to release something along these lines. Here we’ve tried to imagine what that device could look like, and what it will be able to do. Apple could well be making an announcement as you read these pages, but expect the actual release to be more like Christmas time for Apple’s Siri-powered home helper. See what Matthew Bolton thinks about the idea on page 18. Alex says… Apple is late to the home assistant speaker it catch up to…

A pple’s AirPods were impressive when we reviewed them, but Siri was an issue. Using the virtual assistant with the AirPods proved difficult in noisy locations, as it often struggled to understand us. However, it appears that Apple is working on improving Siri’s performance in loud environments. But it won’t do so through voice commands – a recently published patent shows the Cupertino giant has been designing ways for you to interact with Siri through text commands. The system would work much like iMessage. Users could send Siri a message, which would then carry out the command and respond via text. Not only would this be a boon for noise interference, but it would also help in situations where talking to Siri may seem inappropriate. No more strange looks from…

From the arrival of Siri, it was only a matter of time before smart voice assistants escaped our phones and took up residency in our houses through devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home. The effectiveness of AI assistants in our lives is decidedly hit-and-miss – after almost six years, I still use Siri mostly for setting timers over my Apple Watch when cooking, which actually justifies the wearable’s price on its own for me, to be honest – but with my growing suite of smart home products, I must admit to being very, very tempted by the voice control that Alexa and Google Assistant offer. That anyone in my house can just order all the lights off at once when they head to bed, or request the temperature boosted…

Whether you’re a melody-making maestro or a more of a fledgling Fatboy Slim, Algoriddim’s djay apps can take your tunes to the next level. We’re giving away a whopping 20 bundles of djay software – either djay 2 for iPhone and iPad, or djay Pro for Mac, iPhone and iPad. If you win, you get to choose which bundle you want. Here’s the breakdown. A hugely popular app, djay 2 gives you all you need to produce high quality tracks on your iPhone and iPad. It’s easy to get into but has tons of depth if you want more, like support for two decks and colour-coded waveforms. It even shows you the actual grooves on the records you’re mixing, so you can quickly see breaks in songs and mix them…

Being a tech-savvy student is all about getting the best value for money possible. Not every student can afford a £4,000 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and 2TB of flash storage, after all. That’s why we’ve opted to focus on the MacBook Air here. It’s perfect for university life – light, portable and very capable for writing essays and doing research. It’s Apple’s cheapest laptop, too – with prices starting at under £1,000 – so won’t cause too much heartache when you check your bank balance. Study aids All of the accessories on the next page are aimed at increasing your productivity at an affordable cost. You’ll find storage expansions and speedy flash drives, alongside stands and keyboards to make the days spent churning out your dissertation a more comfortable…

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to keep your apps working in iOS 11 YOU’LL NEED iOS 10.3 or later After updating your iPhone or iPad to iOS 10.3, opening certain apps and games may have presented you with a warning that they need to be updated to work with future versions of iOS. You can keep using them with iOS 10, but if you plan to upgrade to iOS 11 (expected to be released in the autumn), now is the time to take action for any apps you depend upon. You need to find out which of your apps are affected. Expect many of them to be games, which you may still enjoy playing, but it’s more in the case of productivity apps that you should…

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to tame all your emails YOU’LL NEED An email account, Spark app, OS X 10.11 or later If email makes you anxious, Spark could be the solution. It’s available for iOS too If, like us, you spend a lot of time reading and replying to email, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by an overstuffed inbox. Apple’s Mail app does a decent job of filtering things, but it lacks some useful features that make email much easier, such as automatic replies, automatic classification of incoming messages and the ability to snooze messages until it’s time to deal with them. Spark (Free) offers all those things not just on the Mac, but on iOS and the Apple Watch too. Spark starts with what…

IT WILL TAKE 5-10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to download, install and use fonts in macOS Sierra YOU’LL NEED macOS 10.12 (some features will work on earlier versions), internet access to download fonts Once installed, your new font should be available from the menu Your Mac comes with many dozens of fonts, but if you want to add extra flourish, you can install extra ones through the built-in app, Font Book. Two of the most common font formats are TrueType and OpenType, and fortunately macOS – and, by extension, Font Book too – supports both. If you’re reading this guide, you’ll most likely have found a website offering fonts available for download, so make sure the site provides them in one of the supported types. Fonts are often protected…

When you create an Apple ID, you select three security questions and enter your corresponding answers, such as the name of your best friend in school. Security questions are useful for gaining access to your account if you’ve forgotten the password – go to iforgot.apple.com. You may also need to answer security questions when signing in to the Apple ID website. If you forget the answers to your security questions, you’ll need to know your Apple ID password to be able to reset them. Go through the steps to ‘Reset your Apple ID password by email’ (opposite) if you’re unsure of this. Once you’re sure of your password, go to appleid.apple.com and sign in. In the Security section, click Change Questions to select new Q&As. When setting up your Apple…

£60 FROM Creative, uk.creative.com FEATURES Bluetooth, microphone, compact carry case, USB cable (0.3m) These wireless earphones are of the behind-theneck, in-ear, variety. They are pitched at sporty types, meaning that they’re rugged, sweatproof and designed to survive being thrown into a stinky gym bag at the end of your workout. We’ve dragged these headphones around with us for a solid month now – through sweaty training sessions, endless commutes, bike rides and some rather more mundane hours sitting at a desk – and they’ve held up remarkably well with nary a sign of wear to their exterior. More importantly, thanks to their design they sit nicely in your ear without falling out, and they also sound excellent as well. If you’re looking for a set of wireless headphones that are…