Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2019 i Macworld

There’s been a lot written about the potential merging together of the software that runs (and runs on) the Mac and the iPad. 2019 is shaping up to be a huge year, as Apple’s devices get closer together than they’ve ever been before. But while the focus on Apple’s smooshing together of its platforms has been primarily about the software (iOS apps running on the Mac) and hardware (the potential of future Macs running Apple-designed ARM processors), the new MacBook Air got me thinking about another way Apple’s approach to iPads and iPhones may dramatically change how we shop for Macs in the future. AS LONG AS IT’S BLACK The new $1,199 base-model MacBook Air comes with a 1.6GHz dual-core Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz. If…

Considering the awkwardness of almost every other aspect of Mac gaming, I was a little shocked to discover how easy it is to pair popular console controllers with my MacBook. Sure, you’ll need to tweak a few things. Yes, some of the “support” exists only through the generosity and dedication of a few modders. Even so, you’re not entirely nuts if you assume you can pick up your PlayStation or Xbox controller and use it with your MacBook without dropping any extra cash. There’s a catch, of course (and there always is): It’s easier to pull this off with some controllers over others. You’ll sometimes need to download separate drivers, and you might need to reboot the system to see those drivers take effect. You’ll almost certainly have a better…

EVE ROOM The Eve Room is the second generation of Eve Systems’ popular indoor air-quality monitor. This HomeKit-enabled accessory comes with an iOS app that displays the current room temperature, indoor humidity, and an air-quality rating shown as a five-star scale. The Room collects measurements over time, and the Eve app can display these in graph or list form for tracking and comparison. The app also allows you to configure settings and share data, and is an elegant way to interact with the Room device.—MICHAEL ANSALDO CURRANT WIFI SMART OUTLET Smart outlets are rapidly becoming a commodity, but Currant’s new Smart Outlet is shaping up as one of the best. The Outlet uses Wi-Fi to connect to your network, and with the mobile app, you can perform advanced scheduling based…

After getting my new iPhone XS Max, I didn’t used my iPad Pro for days. In fact, I forgot it existed until I guiltily realized I’d buried my longtime daily writing companion under a pile of papers as though it were a piece of trash. But the guilt passed quickly. Within seconds my attention had already turned back to my new iPhone, a device that does many of the tasks my iPad Pro does more comfortably and efficiently. And I highly doubt I’m alone in that thinking. A WORLD IN AN INCH Nothing about the iPhone XS Max won me over quite like its gorgeous 6.5-inch display. That’s “only” a diagonal inch larger than the iPhone 8 Plus, but that extra inch makes the iPhone XS Max good enough for…

I was getting fed up with bags. I’m a carless San Franciscan, so good bags rank right up there with good shoes among my priorities, but for months I’ve struggled to find something that nails the sweet spot between comfort and convenience. Backpacks win for comfort (and they’re better for my back), but getting anything out of them usually demands convoluted acrobatics. Messenger bags win for urban convenience, but they gnaw into my shoulder when I’ve crammed them with MacBooks, iPads, and regular books. But then I found the Sutter Tech Sling from WaterField Designs. The name makes it sound a bit like a 1920s-themed shindig in Silicon Valley, but it comes as close to perfection as anything I’ve ever used. Comfort? Check. Convenience? Check. And as with almost any…

Apple says the MacBook Air is “the most beloved notebook ever,” and it’s not wrong. The huge success of the original Air had ripple effects throughout the industry, but it has languished in recent years. For the last three years or so, Apple had kept up with neither technological nor design advances in its most important laptop. Now, the MacBook Air has finally been brought up to modern Mac laptop standards, skipping forward three generations of Intel processors, adding a Retina display and Thunderbolt 3 ports, and giving us three color options, among other things. But it feels a bit like Apple threw out the baby with the bathwater, jettisoning some features of the MacBook Air that make it so well-loved. In fact, it would be more accurate to call…

You’ve probably heard it dozens of times: It’s important to back up your data. Apple has Time Machine to help you get on a regular backup routine, but are there other methods you should be using? Different backup methods use different frequencies by which they push updates to an archive. When evaluating these methods, ask yourself: How many copies are made? How and where is the data stored? How securely is data locked away, both physically and with encryption? And, often the most important, how recent? Here are a few popular methods for consumer backups: File synchronization services: These services, including Dropbox, typically monitor particular designated areas of your Mac’s storage device and update changes immediately. Local backup software: Apps like Time Machine perform backups on a regular interval, which…

You might have missed it between all the turkey brining and Black Friday sales, but recently The Information reported that Apple considered making a tiny Apple TV “stick” similar to those made by competitors like Amazon and Roku. Up to now, Apple has been steadfast in holding the line on Apple TV pricing. When the company introduced the Apple TV 4K, it didn’t even drop the price on the fourth-generation model—they’re still both for sale, at starting prices of $149 and $179, respectively. Compare that to the competition: You can buy a Fire TV Stick for $40 and a 4K version for $50, and comparable devices from Roku cost $30 and $40, respectively. Yes, these sticks are underpowered compared to Apple’s box—Roku’s Apple TV–equivalent box is $100—but no matter how you…

RESTORE MISSING PHOTOS AFTER DOWNGRADING iCLOUD STORAGE iCloud storage isn’t expensive, especially compared to Apple’s competitors. If you use iCloud Photos (the new name for iCloud Photo Library), it’s easy to exceed the 5GB of free storage included with iCloud and then outstrip the 50GB ($1 a month)—and the 200 GB tier ($3 a month). For folks paying for iCloud storage, it might be tempting to cut out those recurring subscriptions and just store media locally—typically on a Mac. But take care in particular if you’re using iCloud Photos: Downgrading your storage plan doesn’t immediately delete photos and videos, but it does make some of them inaccessible. It’s not clear when (or if) Apple deletes the content you’ve uploaded in excess of a downgraded iCloud storage plan, but the company doesn’t…

Despite Apple’s push to turn all Mac professionals into Touch Bar devotees, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with a traditional row of function keys has remained popular. If you own one, you might be able to take advantage of a new SSD service program. Here’s everything you need to know: WHAT IS THE 13-INCH MACBOOK PRO (NON TOUCH BAR) SOLID-STATE DRIVE SERVICE PROGRAM? Apple has announced a new solid-state drive replacement program for certain 13-inch MacBook Pro models due to an issue that affects “a limited number of 128GB and 256GB solid-state drives.” According to Apple, some machines have “an issue that may result in data loss and failure of the drive.” I JUST BOUGHT A 13-INCH MACBOOK PRO. AM I AFFECTED? Apple says units with affected drives were sold between…

The new version of Adobe Premiere Elements may be a bit lighter on new features that most people are used to, but the 2019 version puts a laser focus on automated operations that make quick work of editing your family videos. With increasing reliance on its Sensei artificial intelligence engine, Adobe assists users with tedious and complex tasks like picking the best photos or videos for a collage or trimming the fat out of movies before splicing them together. The first place you encounter improved automation is the brand-new Home Screen, identical to the one in Photoshop Elements 2019. It lets you access new auto-generated collages and slideshows derived from the photos and videos you loaded into the Organizer, the built-in asset manager that ships with the program. Premiere Elements dives into…

Reviewers can’t agree whether the iPad Pro can be used for “real work,” but there’s one thing they all seem to agree on: the new iPad Pro hardware is great and Apple needs to invest in upgrades for iOS to take advantage of it. But what form should those upgrades take? Leave it to reader Mike R from Twitter to boil this down to the right answer—it’s time for a David Letterman-style Top 10 List. So here it is, ready to be delivered to the home office in Cupertino, California, the Top 10 iPad Features We’d Like To See in iOS 13: 10. MENU BAR MODE The iPad Pro supports 4K and 5K external displays, which is great, but since iOS is almost entirely touch-driven, that pretty severely limits the…

Judging by a YouTube video from JerryRigEverything, we’re supposedly on the verge of a new “Bendgate.” Holding the edges of the new 11-inch iPad Pro in the video, host Zack Nelson jams his thumbs into the back of the tablet, pulls, and—shock, I guess?—the $799+ tablet cracks and then folds together like a chapbook of college poetry. The bend specifically happens near the microphone hole, where the structural integrity would be weakest. It’s definitely something we’ll keep an eye on, but I’m not really sure what other outcome people were expecting. To be sure, it does feel structurally weaker than previous models. I’m holding my 12.9-inch model right now, and I can easily see how I could work the same magic if I handled it with the same violence. Maybe…

Old School Runescape There’s Lord of the Rings Online’s “Legendary” servers. And right here on our iOS devices, there’s Old School Runescape (free). The original simple mouse controls translate well to iPhones, and there’s a breathtaking variety of often humorous fantasy content that should keep you busy for years. Just keep in mind that you’ll have to pay an $11 monthly subscription fee if you want to get the most out of it. Tesla vs Lovecraft In life, Nikola Tesla was no match for the dastardly Wizard of Menlo Park, but pit him against the tentacle-beard horror from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft, and he’s the apocalypse on legs. That’s the idea behind Tesla vs Lovecraft ($8.99), a relentless twin-stick shooter. NBA 2K Mobile Basketball Gosh, but NBA 2K Mobile Basketball (free) looks good. This…

Apple says the MacBook Air is “the most beloved notebook ever,” and it’s not wrong. The huge success of the original Air had ripple effects throughout the industry, but it has languished in recent years. For the last three years or so, Apple had kept up with neither technological nor design advances in its most important laptop. It’s been ages since the Mac mini received an update, so we can see how fans of Apple’s smallest Mac would be happy for any improvements. On the flip side, because the mini hasn’t been updated for four long years, you may have convinced yourself that Apple would make dramatic changes—yet the update is pretty much limited to a processor upgrade. If you were anticipating a major overhaul, your disappointment is understandable. But…

CleanMyMac X is MacPaw’s catch-all software crud and gunk remover for the Mac. This version swings for the fences, with new features such as a malware scanner, extensions manager, and a universal updater for all of your application programs. This is in addition to CleanMyMac X’s core functions, which include tools for smart cleanup, system junk, mail attachments, iTunes junk, trash bins, a large and old files scanner, privacy scanner, and application uninstaller. CleanMyMac X is also complimented by an improved menu bar menu that can be clicked to take note of handy information such as available hard drive space, available RAM, network connectivity speed, CPU usage, and a quick means of opening your Dropbox account. An improved Notification system lets you know which programs are lagging or suspended, but…

In Apple’s ideal world, we’d all have our collections of our own personal devices—preferably Apple-branded. We’d never leave the house without our iPhone or our Apple Watch (or probably both); we’d sit down on the couch, browsing the web on our own iPads while binging the latest hot new show on our personal Apple TV. And for anything that might require it, we retreat to our personal MacBooks or iMacs. For some of us, this dream might be a reality. For others it sounds like a bit of a nightmare. After all, many of us live in households with more than one person. How many Apple TVs or iPads do we need, really? Yes, an iPhone or an Apple Watch is certainly a personal device, but why does that need…

Apple recently released Final Cut Pro X version 10.4.4, a major update to the company’s professional video editor. Available through the Mac App Store the big change is that the app now supports workflow extensions that allow users to directly access third-party apps and services. In its announcement of the update, Apple highlighted three workflow extensions that are now available to Final Cut Pro X users: > Frame.io, a service for team collaboration, review, and approvals. > Shutterstock for accessing stock videos and photographs for use in FCP projects. > CatDV for media asset management. OTHER NEW FEATURES In addition to the new workflow extensions, Final Cut Pro X includes several new features that the company says were requested by users. These include: > Batch sharing, where a user exports multiple clips or…

It’s hard to love a swamp. Mountains have majesty, deserts have mystery, but what do wetlands have? I imagine some Joe on the street would boil it down to something like “muck, malaria, and mosquitoes.” Even so, Famia Mercius, an antiquarian who’s a great admirer of the Elder Scrolls series’ lizard-like Argonians, is trying to get me to love the surrounding marsh as she does. She’s not doing such a hot job. She slaps a gnat off her neck while in the middle of a giddy introduction, and her stone house suggests she retains some reservations about living like the locals. I can’t say I blame her. After all, the place (and the name of the DLC) is called Murkmire, which hardly sounds like it’s going to rival Tahiti in…

The days of Apple’s fortunes being tied entirely to the iPhone are over. Between iPads, Macs, the HomePod, the Apple TV, and Apple Watches, not to mention a very rapidly growing services business, Apple’s most famous product is not necessarily the only one that matters. But it is still the most important product in Apple’s entire portfolio. It has the most cultural significance, the broadest reach, the greatest cachet, and it is for most people the entry point into the all-important Apple ecosystem. The iPhone XS was a predictable “S” model phone, taking the major design and features of the previous year and improving performance and camera quality. For 2019, hopefully Apple goes further. Here’s what’s in the hope chest for the 2019 model iPhone. Note that general software improvements…

Look out Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, there’s a new carrier in town. Google is opening up its Project Fi nationwide wireless service to way more phones, including the hottest iPhones, Galaxy phones, and GSM-only Android phones of the year. But, sadly, you won’t be getting the full Fi experience. To mark the expansion, Google has renamed the service to Google Fi (or just Fi for short), because it’s no longer a project. It’s now a real-deal network, using three mobile 4G LTE networks and more than two million secure Wi-Fi hotspots to create a blanket of coverage. Where the service was previously limited to a handful of handsets designed for Fi—namely Pixels, the Moto G6, and a couple LG ThinQ phones—the new service expands availability to phones made by Samsung, Huawei,…

STARDEW VALLEY Viewed from afar, Stardew Valley ($7.99) looks a lot like the 1991 fantasy adventure The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. But the fantasy here has nothing to do with swords and sorcery. Instead, it’s the fantasy of escaping the bustle of office life in favor of running an inherited farm outside a cozy coastal village. You can clear land and harvest crops, and you can tromp into caves to sift through ore. Beyond that, you can hobnob with the local folk and get married. Remarkably, it rarely feels repetitive. KINGDOM RUSH VENGEANCE Tower defense games are among the great clichés of iOS, but Kingdom Rush Vengeance ($4.99) manages to show that the genre has plenty of life in it yet. The time, you’re playing as…

Virtualization software like Parallels is usually associated with running Windows on a Mac, but virtualization can be used to also run other versions of macOS. I’ve been able to safely tinker with Apple’s latest developer or public beta by using virtualization to run them right inside the current stable release of macOS. I also keep older operating systems around to occasionally run software like Final Cut Pro 7, which was orphaned with last year’s macOS 10.13 High Sierra. Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac is now available and is fully optimized for macOS Mojave. Version 14 focuses less on whiz-bang new features and instead wisely focuses on where it counts: Under-the-hood performance improvements. You’ll notice the difference each and every time you launch the application, which is the fastest it’s ever been…

Apple makes it relatively painless to migrate data on one Mac to another. But you can also selectively migrate and split up multiple users on a single Mac into users across multiple Macs. You would do this if, for example, you have kids on a shared computer who now own their own, or if you’re leaving a job and want (and are allowed) to take your home directory with you. Migration Assistant is the app you use to perform a user migration. It’s found in the Applications folder’s Utilities folder. This flexible software can work in a variety of ways to transfer all or part of the applications, user files, and other settings on one Mac to another. You can start from Time Machine backup, another Mac, or a Mac…

House of Marley touts the use of cork in the construction of its No Bounds XL Bluetooth speaker. Asked to explain this odd choice of material, the company’s PR person replied that cork is “vibrationally resistant.” Most speaker enclosures employ materials that resonate to some degree, so that explanation didn’t make a lot of sense. Unless of course, you’re talking about a waterproof enclosure that you want to float. Aha! Yup, the No Bounds XL is about as pool-friendly as they come, sporting an IP67 rating. That means it can be submerged in up to one meter of water. (Dive to the bottom of the pool with it and you’re on your own.) This speaker is also dustproof, if you want to head inland to drier areas. The other reason…