Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2021 i Essential Apple User Magazine

The M1 CPU Apple is no stranger to designing and manufacturing processors. It has been making chips for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch for years. But the new M1 CPU, Apple’s most powerful chip yet, is its first designed for the MacBook. The M1 is an entire system on a single chip. In the past, a MacBook needed several chips running alongside the CPU. There was a controller for data transfer in and out, and another for the Thunderbolt ports alone. Solid state memory required more chips, as did the Apple T2 for security features. Not any more. The M1 combines all these technologies into a single unit, which is great for efficiency, and therefore, performance. The M1 chip uses five nanometer technology. What this means is an individual…

The new Apple Silicon chips have yet to reach the 16-inch MacBook Pros, but if you need the larger screen or more than 16GB of memory, it’s still a great notebook. It has the largest screen in any MacBook, and a new-style keyboard that’s a pleasure to use. Suitability. If you don’t need to upgrade soon, you might want to wait for 16-inch models with Apple Silicon chips, but we doubt this model will disappoint. Price. Most expensive: £2,799, $2,799, 3.118,35 € Cheapest model: £2,399, $2,399, 2.630,95 € Ports. 1 Four USB C ports* 2 Headphone socket…

While the world was in the middle of a lockdown and things were looking pretty scary, Apple took to the virtual airways to announce its newest operating system: macOS Big Sur. The unveiling caused quite a stir, chiefly due to the fact that Big Sur is the biggest update the company has adopted since the initial release of Mac OS X, back in 2001. Virtually every aspect of the operating system has seen an overhaul, from minor elements such as the curvature of window corners, colours and icon designs, through to major changes to its core apps. The new design is set to blur the lines between iOS and its desktop brethren, while adding a new, fresh feel to the OS; while at the same time keeping it familiar for…

If you pay attention to the Apple rumour mill, the new 16-inch MacBook Pro comes as no surprise. It’s been expected for a while now and on 13th November, it was released. But what you might not have anticipated is just how improved the MacBook Pro is as a whole. An extra inch of screen space is welcome, of course, but this revision offers so much more. The New Screen Naturally, the 16-inch MacBook Pro has a screen that’s an inch bigger than the 15-inch model it replaces (measured corner to corner). It’s the largest Retina notebook display ever, with a pixel resolution of 3072x1920 at 226 pixels per inch (the 15-inch version had a 2880x1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch). That’s almost six million pixels. Each display is…

The Messages app has been completely rewritten to be based on Apple’s Catalyst technology. Originally called Project Marzipan, Catalyst is designed to help developers bring iOS app experiences to the Mac desktop and prevent the underlying software code being written twice. As such, the new Messages has the same capabilities as the iOS 14 version, giving you all the necessary tools to stay in control of the conversation. Messages: Redesigned With new Messages you’re able to pin up to nine conversations to keep them at the top of your conversation list. The pinned conversation appears as circular icons and there are new indicators that inform you if someone is typing. Plus, you’re able to sync your pins across your iPhone, iPad and Mac. You can include mentions with Messages now,…

Appy Macs With the release of Big Sur, the privacy data that developers will be required to include, are to be displayed alongside any other relevant information. This is a big step forward for any operating system that deals with installable apps. Apple Arcade now has better Game Centre integration, enabling you to see the games that are popular with your friends and view those games that have achievements; as well as viewing your own in-game achievements. The Game Centre’s in-game dashboard showcases a lot more, with leaderboards and more available at a glance. You can get sneak peeks at upcoming Apple Arcade titles and download them as soon as they’re released. And you can launch games you’ve recently played across devices directly from the Arcade tab in the Mac…

Phone Home The Home app now supports facial recognition for video cameras and compatible doorbells, which also include animal and vehicle detection. Any connected security cameras can identify people you’ve tagged in the Photos app for better control, so you’re able to create personalised notifications based on the tagged individual. There’s a new visual status indicator at the top of the Home app which will give you a summary of any connected accessories that require your attention or that have any important status changes to view. From here, your devices can be quickly and easily controlled. New Activity Zones will allow customised areas of high motion to be ignored, enabling you to tailor your motion detection setup. Also, HomeKit connected smart lights that can change colour will take advantage of…

Forget me not A key new feature of Reminders is the ability to assign reminders to those whom you share lists with. Once assigned, the relevant people will get notifications based on the tasks that they are responsible for. This makes it easy to keep track of who’s doing what and what’s going on. Lists can be personalised with emoji and newly added symbols and there are a set of new keyboard shortcuts that will help you easily navigate lists and smart lists, move dates and much more. Plus, adding people to lists is now even easier. Smart lists can be arranged and easily customised in the Reminders app. Rearrange them, hide them and more. There’s also smart suggestions for dates and locations, which will automatically suggest dates, times and…

First, restart your Mac whilst holding down CMD and R; keep them held until you see the Apple logo, then let go of the keys. The Mac continues to boot, but instead of the regular desktop, a window appears showing four options as seen here. From the window, select Disk Utility (the bottom of the four options) and click Continue. Select your startup disk (called Macintosh HD by default) and in the toolbar at the top of the Disk Utilities window, click the Erase icon to wipe it clean. On the next screen, the Format pull-down menu should read APFS if it’s available or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if it isn’t. Select the appropriate option and click Erase to wipe your boot drive. When it’s finished, click Done, then quit…

Once you’ve set up your router according to the instructions supplied with the device, getting online using Ethernet is relatively easy. First of all, you need a cable that looks like this. There should be at least one supplied with your router. Plug one end of the cable into your Mac and the other end into one of the router’s Ethernet ports: it doesn’t matter which one. If your Mac doesn’t have an Ethernet port, you need an adapter. You can get one online or from an Apple Store. If your router isn’t close enough to your Mac to support a cabled connection, consider using Home Plug AV instead. This uses your household electrical wiring to send data. Ask at your local computer store about a Home Plug AV starter…

The first Apple Silicon-based Mac that Apple unveiled is the latest 13-inch MacBook Air, the ultra-portable laptop that packs a seriously powerful punch into a small and light package. The M1 CPU makes the new MacBook Air 3.5x faster than the previous generation, with up to 5x faster graphics, the biggest generational leap ever for a MacBook Air. You can play modern, graphically immersive games at significantly higher frame rates; great news for Apple Arcade subscribers. Video editors will also appreciate the new MacBook Air. Before, Apple’s ultra-portable wasn’t considered suitable for such a processor-intensive task, but now you can edit multiple streams of full quality 4K video without dropping a frame. Although the higher-end and the cheaper MacBook Airs use the same M1 processor, the cheapest model only has…

So far, only the lower-end Macs have switched to the new Apple Silicon processors. For the 13-inch MacBook Pros, this means the cheaper two models now run on M1 Apple Silicon chips, and the more expensive two are still based on Intel processors. Suitability. If you need a new MacBook and are happy with 16GB or less of memory, this is for you. If you can wait, though, Apple Silicon will come to these Macs soon. Price. Most expensive: £1,999, $1,999, 2.075,30 € Cheapest model: £1,799, $1,799, 2.299,00 € Ports. 1 Two USB C ports* 2 Headphone socket…

2001 Version: Mac OS X 10.0 Codename: Cheetah Date: March 24th, 2001 Steve Jobs famously said “We made the buttons on the screen look so good, you’ll want to lick them,” when describing the new Aqua User Interface with the release of Mac OS X. While we may not have licked them, they were certainly new, fresh and good to look at. 2001 Version: Mac OS X 10.1 Codename: Puma Date: September 25th, 2001 Less of a functional update with Puma and more of a performance enhancement. Puma introduced better handling of optical disc burning, file management and improved responsiveness throughout. 2002 Version: Mac OS X 10.2 Codename: Jaguar Date: August 23rd, 2002 The release of Jaguar saw a new Apple logo (the large grey version), better search functionality and…

There’s little in Big Sur that hasn’t been overhauled from its predecessor, Catalina. Everything looks lighter and more colourful, leading to a cleaner User Interface with a number of great aspects. The desktop itself is better presented, with a fresher Dock complete with rounded corners better icons and clearer reading fonts. It’s also lifted from the bottom of the screen, so it feels more a part of the desktop rather than a bolted-on module Buttons for apps now appear when needed and disappear when not in use, to shift the focus on the content at hand. Windows have a lighter look, making them easier to view and also feature translucency and rounded edges. The menu bars within apps are designed to better blend in with the window theme; which in…

The main emphasis in the new Maps design is to help you plan your route, then send it to iOS. The added benefit of the planning stage is that you’ll be doing it on your Mac with its high resolution display, so you can get down to the nitty gritty and utilise all the new features of the app. Finding Your Way One of the main benefits to the newly designed Maps isn’t so much the features that have been included but rather the encompassing redesigned User Interface. Maps is now much clearer than before and the window design means you’ll get the focus you need while other content is working in the background. With updated information you’re able to drill down to precise locations and from there begin to…

Photogenic Ask most users what they love about their Mac and its operating system and they’ll probably come back with the way it displays photos. While the built-in Photos app may not be as sophisticated as say the Adobe products, it is one of the best free tools in any operating system’s built-in arsenal. You’re able to easily view through your photo library and see the images you’ve taken based on time and date. You can also zoom in and out quickly to get to the photos you want to look for in views across the Photos app – which includes Albums, Media Types, Import, Places and more. There are expanded editing capabilities, such as the Retouch Tool and you can apply the Vibrance effect to photos as well as…

The Food of Love The For You option in Music has now been replaced with Listen Now, designed for playing and discovering your favourite music, artists, interview and mixes from a single function. This is a more personalised approach, connecting you with the content that’s relevant to you. Listen Now will display a summary of your Top Picks from all your music interests. In addition, AI and machine intelligence will learn what you listen to and help you to discover more content based on your choices over time. The more you listen, the more new discoveries you’ll make. There’s an improved Search functionality, which incorporates different genres and music based on the data collated through your listening preferences. The best music is showcased and helpful suggestions are made available as…

Apple’s latest version of its Mac operating system is macOS 11: Big Sur. Unsurprisingly, it plays very nicely with the new M1 processor. Apple Silicon and Big Sur were designed side by side, each getting the best from the other. If you have a Mac with an M1 CPU and Big Sur, it instantly wakes from sleep, just like an iPhone or an iPad. Apps launch almost instantly too. Safari also gets a boost, being 1.5x faster at running Javascript and 1.9x more responsive. Yet for all its strengths, the change-over in processors leaves a very important question in Mac users’ minds; will Apple Silicon Macs run existing software written for Intel processors? Thankfully, the answer is ‘yes.’ Apple fans can look forward to Universal Apps, that is, applications which…

Apple also unveiled a new M1-powered MacBook Pro, but only the 13-inch version. If you prefer the extra screen size offered by the 16-inch model, you’ll have to wait. Also, the two more expensive 13-inch MacBook Pros retain Intel chips, presumably for those who need more than 16GB of RAM. The M1 chip makes its appearance in the two cheaper notebooks, which can be configured with 8GB or 16GB of memory and up to 2TB of storage. The M1 eight-core CPU, when paired with the MacBook Pro’s active cooling system, is up to 2.8x faster than the previous generation, delivering improved performance when compiling code, transcoding video, editing high-resolution photos and more. The eight-core GPU is up to 5x faster, allowing users to enjoy super smooth graphics performance for gaming,…

Remember: Apple can’t possibly support its hardware indefinitely. Some of Big Sur’s newer features will need better processors in order to work and in general the older the machine is the less powerful it will be.…

Safari has, over the past few years, played second fiddle to the likes of Chrome. Much like its Microsoft companion, Internet Explorer (or Edge, as it’s now called), Safari was often treated as a backup browser, with Chrome being the main browser and the one that most users tended to lean toward and install as soon as possible. However, with the Safari update included with Big Sur, Chrome’s days on the Mac may well be numbered. The customisations fall under the new Menu Button, located in the bottom-right of the Safari window (the three horizontal lines). From here you’re able to include the contents of the Safari start page based on which boxes you tick and underneath that you can opt for a customised backdrop wallpaper to personalise your Safari…

In the Spotlight The improved performance of Spotlight is an update that’s long overdue. Although always good, generally Spotlight did suffer in the performance department, which tended to let down the rest of the operating system. Thankfully, that’s all in the past now. Results from Spotlight are now all presented in a streamlined list, which makes it much easier to read. You can get to the app, web address or link in iTunes quicker thanks to this better level of clarity. Spotlight also powers the Find menu in apps such as Safari, Pages, Keynote and many more. Spotlight now supports Quick Look, which enables you to access a full-sized and scrollable preview of near any document or website. You can also rotate, crop, sign PDFs and mark up images without…

Take Note Notes on Big Sur is another prime example of how the desktop and mobile operating systems are being merged to form a universal OS. As with Notes on iOS, the Pinned Notes section can be expanded or collapsed and there are additional text styles and more formatting options via the Quick Styles function. Top Hits appear at the top of your search results, making it easier and quicker for you to find what you want. The emphasis on the new functionality of Notes is performance and ease of use. The less time you spend looking for content, the more time you’ll have to work on it. Continuity Camera has been vastly improved, by using your iPhone or iPad to capture sharper, more detailed scans that are auto-cropped to…