Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2018 i MacLife

FEED YOUR MIND. FEAST YOUR EYES. APPLE HAS UPDATED the 9.7-inch iPad, augmented the iWork apps, and introduced new specialist software, all to appeal to the education market. The announcements came in a special event held on March 27th at Lane Technical College Prep High School in Chicago, Apple’s first education-targeted product launch since 2012 The 9.7-inch iPad now supports Apple Pencil, comes with TouchID built-in, and is available in Silver, Space Gray, and a new Gold color, but the price is unchanged from the previous generation, starting at $329 for the 32GB Wi-Fi model ($299 for schools). Apple Pencil is available separately for $99 ($89 for schools), although it was also mentioned at the event that Logitech is introducing a new Crayon for $49, as well as a $99…

1 Klipsch The Sixes klipsch.com $799.99 It’s time to put some seriously ’70s hi-fi style back in your life. This audio system combines totally modern tech with a wood finish and brassy metal details with proper physical controls, including some retro switches you won’t be able to stop playing with. These speakers are active, meaning you don’t need an amp to power them — just plug in anything from your Mac to your record player (they have a phono pre-amp). They even have Bluetooth for wireless playback. And of course, they sound absolutely incredible. 2 LIFX Beam lifx.com $199.99 Modular smart lights are getting to be a big thing, and we’re digging the minimalism of this set. The kit contains six strips and a corner piece, so you can create…

YOU’VE PROBABLY read all about the flaws in the earliest versions of High Sierra. Some were a good deal more serious than the usual minor bugs that crop up in any operating system release, but Apple has worked to address them in successive updates. This applies even to issues that weren’t its fault, such as the so-called Spectre and Meltdown chip vulnerabilities — fundamental design flaws in processors, including (but not limited to) the Intel processors used in Macs. Apple included “mitigations” for these in 10.13.2 and newer. The earliest reported problem was a flaw in keychain services, which meant that malicious code could steal the contents of your keychain, including critical passwords. The second was a bug that affected encrypted APFS volumes, APFS being the Apple File System, introduced…

Videos not playing, or glitchy, or sometimes saying “Video cannot be played?” Some subscription-based streaming services use Microsoft Silverlight, which hasn’t been updated for High Sierra; it’s only certified for 10.6 through to 10.11. For a start, install the latest version and see bit.ly/check-silverlight if it won’t install. As of High Sierra, Silverlight can’t access local files by default, which may include downloaded/buffered videos. In Safari > Preferences > Websites, select Silverlight on the left, then Alt-click the pop-up menu next to the problematic website and disable “Run in Safe Mode.” Confirm when asked. This may do the trick, but note that doing this presents a security risk. Mac won’t wake from sleep If your screen keeps going black and your Mac won’t wake again, it takes several minutes after…

WE COULD ALL do with a few extra hours of juice from our portable products sometimes. Maybe you’re on a long journey with no charger, or maybe your device is old and the battery life isn’t what it used to be. Either way, the result is the same: you need a bit of magic to keep it going. Well, magic is exactly what we’ve got here. Using the tips and tricks on these pages, you’ll know which power–hungry features you can do without on your iOS devices or Mac to eke out every drop of electricity. And we’ll show you how to check up on your battery, and stay topped up with power on the go! How modern batteries work The science behind the power supply THOUGH THE SPECIFICS of…

NATIVE UNION JUMP CABLE nativeunion.com $49.99 A compact charging cable and battery pack in one neat, portable piece. It has USB-A and Lightning plugs built in; you charge the battery over USB, and plug in your iPhone for an energy boost! APPLE SMART BATTERY CASE apple.com $99 Apple’s own battery case works great with iPhone 6/6S/7 and (unofficially) 8. The lumpy back is a little bit weird, but it keeps the phone edges easy to grip, and it’s pretty good for protection. (There aren’t any Apple-certified battery cases for the iPhone X yet.) MOPHIE POWERSTATION USB-C XXL mophie.com $149.95 It’s not cheap, but this 19,500mAh battery can output power at 30W. Not only can it charge your iPhone and iPad, it carries enough power for a full charge of a 13-inch MacBook Pro.…

The ARKit framework included in iOS 11 enables iPhones and iPads to superimpose computer graphics over the real world, allowing developers to take their apps beyond the screen and into the user’s environment. Here we’ve chosen six standout titles on the App Store that make great use of the nascent platform in ways you may not expect. Did you know you can use AR to rear your own pet dragon? Or measure your apartment and then test out how new items will look in your kitchen? And of course, there are some puzzle games in there, too. SKY GUIDE AR $2.99 Made for iPhone, iPad Gyro-based stargazing apps have been around for years, but Sky Guide is the first to mark out constellations and planets in the sky overhead. It…

$4,999 From Apple, apple.com Features 5120x2880-pixel Retina display, 3GHz, 10-core Intel Xeon W, 128GB 2,666MHz ECC, 2TB SSD, AMD Vega 64 16GB, 4x Thunderbolt 3, 4x USB 3 (Type-A), 10Gb Ethernet, SDXC card slot, 3.5mm jack, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 The iMac Pro is a wolf in sheep’s clothing — somehow, Apple has packed a workstation with up to an 18-core Xeon processor in a frame the exact size of the regular 5K iMac. The only thing more amazing than the engineering feat of producing it is the price you might pay for one. But this is a truly pro machine, and that kind of power comes at a cost. Apple provided us with a very highend unit for our review (see the specs above), but the “basic” $4,999 model…

$129 From DJI, dji.com Needs iPhone 5S or higher, Bluetooth LE 4, iOS 10 or higher DJI makes some very advanced tech for pro film makers but its latest offering is much more affordable. The Osmo 2 is a smartphone gimbal — a device that allows a camera to rotate smoothly. The handle of the device contains its battery, which lasts 15 hours and is charged over micro USB. There’s a secondary USB port so you can charge your phone. Osmo Mobile 2 works in basic mode with any camera app, but is best when using the DJI GO app. Once the devices are linked via Bluetooth, the phone leaps to face you. Move the whole thing around and it maintains smooth, cinematic sweeps, continually adjusting to keep everything balanced.…

From $799 From DJI, dji.com Features 4K video (30fps), 12MP stills, 8GB internal storage, 2,375 mAh battery, 15oz DJI’s latest drone takes the best bits from the powerful Mavic Pro and the compact and user-friendly Spark. The result is a high-end drone at a relatively low price point. It’s small enough to be placed in a large pocket thanks to its foldable arms, and relatively easy to carry at 15oz. It’s well built too. Setting up is easy — just install the DJI Go 4 app and follow the on–screen instructions. In use, the Mavic Air belies its small size with a 40mph max flight speed. It’s also pretty loud. Controlling it is easy thanks to the Advanced Pilot Assistance System, which navigates the Mavic Air around obstacles in flight.…

Free From Momenta B.V., agenda.com Needs OS X 10.12 or later Note taking apps aren’t great at keeping tabs on when entries took place, while calendar apps focus strictly on date and time, with little regard to other details. Agenda bridges this divide, adding a project-based workflow to make things unique. This approach comes in handy for linking notes to specific events. The refined interface is designed around your agenda, with a collapsible pane to view upcoming events and jump directly to related notes with one click; you can also search across all projects at once, filtering by date range, people, or hashtag. Sample projects do a good job acclimating new users, and you can import existing Markdown or Apple Notes to pick up where you left off. The latter…

BETTER LIVING THROUGH SMARTER TECHNOLOGY The CES show that takes place in Las Vegas every January always makes headlines, even if it’s sometimes dismissed as just “toys for boys.” But there’s another show that happens every January that is meant to be all about toys. Admittedly, London’s Olympia conference centre isn’t as glamorous or glitzy as Vegas, but this year’s Toy Fair had more than its fair share of high-tech highlights. In amongst all the classic board games that seem to be making a comeback, and the recent barrage of “poop” toys (apparently inspired by Apple’s latest collection of emojis), there was a really strong showing from STEM toys – “science, technology, engineering and math” – that allow young children to have fun whilst also learning skills that will be…

Email Mac|Life at ask@maclife.com Hot topics right now Make sure you check out these important support articles on Apple’s website to better understand the latest features. CONNECT MORE MONITORS With four Thunderbolt 3 ports built in, the iMac Pro can support multiple 4K and 5K monitors. But which ones can you use? Check out Apple’s advice on connecting them all up at bit.ly/ml141ask1 MAKE HOMEPOD RESPOND If you’re having problems getting HomePod to respond, it could be a Wi-Fi connection issue, or some other problem. To find out how to cure this, go to bit.ly/ml141ask2 GET A NEW REMOTE FOR APPLE TV Have you lost the remote you use with your Apple TV? Then all is not lost, because you can use your iPhone or iPad to control it instead.…

REQUIRES A Mac, an Apple ID, and (optionally) an iPhone or iPad YOU WILL LEARN How to set up and manage the contents of iCloud Keychain IT WILL TAKE 30 minutes YOU MAY WELL have dozens of usernames and passwords for websites. Remembering them all is a tall order, but it’s vital that you don’t start using the same details for multiple sites; if one website suffers a security breach, your details may end up leaking out online, which could potentially give other people access to your email, social networks, online retail sites, all in one go. Instead, iCloud Keychain can help you out; it enables you to keep usernames, passwords, and bank card details in an encrypted vault on Apple’s servers. Data stored in your keychain is available on…

The march of technology never stops, so neither do we. Mac|Life’s website is now part of the new and improved TechRadar, so you can grab your fix of Mac and iOS news over at www.techradar.com. You’ll get all the latest news and tutorials for Mac, iPhone and iPad, as well as other trusted reviews, news, and how-tos that have made TechRadar one of the world’s top tech sites. We’ll see you there! Read more news, reviews, and tutorials at techradar.com GET SOCIAL FACE BOOK: facebook.com/maclife TWITTER: twitter.com/maclife OUR APP MAC|LIFE DIGITAL EDITION FOR IPAD Get it from bit.ly/maclifeapp…

FACEBOOK HAS PUBLICLY apologized after admitting that the information of tens of millions of users was apparently used without their consent. In mid 2014, Aleksandr Kogan developed a personality test app, “thisisyourdigitallife,” which was made available on Facebook and downloaded by about 270,000 people. The app collected data about them and their Facebook friends, a total of as many as 50 million people. This was permitted under Facebook rules at the time, but only for specific purposes. However, although Kogan’s app claimed the data would be used for academic research only, he passed it on to a consultancy company called Cambridge Analytica (CA). CA used “psychographic profiles” built from the harvested data to send microtargeted political messages to identified voters as part of Senator Ted Cruz’s 2016 Presidential primary campaign…

UPGRADING TO THE latest version of an operating system is more nuanced than needing to make a full backup beforehand. There may be incompatibilities between the system and your peripherals and apps to investigate, never mind lingering bugs in the system. High Sierra didn’t get off to a good start, largely thanks to some high-profile security risks in its early incarnations, and some of us have encountered our share of niggles with iOS 11, too – though nothing as bad as macOS’ issues. Perhaps you’ve been unable to install the upgrades at all. Whether your problem is with installing an upgrade, using the system afterwards, or incompatibility with third-party add-ons, the following pages will help. BEFORE YOU UPGRADE BEFORE YOU BEGIN to troubleshoot your existing High Sierra setup or install…

ANY SOFTWA RE UPDATE can result in glitches. The solution is almost always to upgrade to the newest version of the app in question. Some older apps, however, aren’t being updated, so you’ll need a replacement. Before you do that, see “Keep old apps running” on page 26. Older versions of Apple’s own pro apps are not compatible with High Sierra. This includes Final Cut Pro X (10.3.4 and earlier), Logic Pro X (10.3.1 and earlier), and associated tools, so get the latest versions. You should also update to GarageBand’s latest version. Although Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio were superseded some time ago, many continue to use apps bundled with them, such as Soundtrack Pro, Cinema Tools, and DVD Studio Pro, but none of these work in High Sierra.…

OVER THE YEARS, I’ve used a lot of different computers to do high-end video editing. And I ask a lot from them. These days, 4K video is the norm in my sector, but doing anything in real time with a timeline full of 4K clips brings a lot of computers to their knees. I was thrilled to get the chance to see how the iMac Pro copes with this. During the time I had the iMac Pro, I was using Adobe Premiere Pro CC with RED Raw footage, Canon C200 CinemaRawLite, and some lower tier Sony FS7 XAVC clips. Watching 4K footage on the iMac Pro was a joy. The color space and contrast showcases footage beautifully, but I soon wished I had more than 27 inches of screen to…

$49.95 From Elgato, elgato.com Features Bluetooth LE, CR2032 battery Without Hey Siri, you have to tap your iPhone or iPad to control HomeKit. That, or buy a programmable remote that can invoke a limited number of actions. Eve Button has an advantage over its rivals: it doesn’t need a bridge (and a plug socket) to talk with Apple’s tech. In the Eve or Home app, you can set what happens for a single press, double-press and long press. Each can activate one or more scenes, set the state of accessories, or a combo of those. We noticed a pause between pressing the button and getting results. It wasn’t long, just not instant. We set the button to light up our living room when clicked, a double-press to do the same…

$149.95 From Mophie, mophie.com Made for MacBook/MacBook Pro with USB-C port, iOS device Mophie’s Powerstation USB-C XXL houses a 19,500mAh rechargeable battery that the company claims will give your Mac an additional 14 hours of battery life. The XXL label is apt. This is the kind of backup battery for a bag rather than a pocket — at 5.9x3.29in and almost 14oz, it’s hefty. It’s also quite attractive, covered in a fabric wrap that looks and feels great and protects the battery. The Powerstation has two ports: the USB-C and a USB-A port into which you can plug an iPhone or iPad charger. If you plug the USB-C socket into a power outlet and plug in an iOS device, the battery will charge the device before it charges itself. Or…

$29.99 From Micromat Inc., micromat.com Needs Intel-based Mac, OS X 10.8.5 or later Hard drives are the weakest link in the Mac, since they’re more likely to fail before other components. That’s why manufacturers implement SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) to predict drive failure. This data is usually hidden from users, popping up only when disaster is imminent. Micromat’s Drive Scope can give you peace of mind, it goes well beyond the basic SMART capabilities of the company’s TechToolPro by offering a granular look into the health of connected volumes. Hard drives typically run diagnostics while idle, but Drive Scope can initiate self-testing at the click of a button. It’s almost information overload, but the software provides plenty of useful stats for non-techies, like uptime hours, total power cycles,…

Free trial, $19.99 annually From Parallels, parallels.com Needs OS X 10.10.5 or later Toolbox is a disparate collection of tools that are accessible via a menu bar icon. Click this and a collection of large icons with descriptive names make it easy to choose from the tools on offer — now numbering more than 30. The tools are designed to plug the gaps in macOS, and range from Download Video (drag and drop links from YouTube and the like) to adding a menu bar icon for swiftly switching between different resolutions. The last two major updates to Toolbox have added six new tools: Find Duplicates, Make GIF, Clean Drive, Free Memory, Resize Image, and Screenshot Page. Most are self–explanatory — Screenshot Page is designed for capturing long web pages as…

With prices starting at less than $10, the compact and affordable Raspberry Pi computer has really helped to make programming popular in recent years. There are several models of Pi available. All consist of a simple circuit board that holds the main computer processor, memory and a few USB ports. You can extend Pi’s capabilities with add-ons such as a mouse and keyboard, camera, and even a touchscreen display. There are several ways of using an iPhone or iPad with a Pi — in fact, an iPad can act as a screen for the tiny device, and there are projects online, such as HomeBridge, to enable you to control a variety of smart home accessories through a Pi. Read more at raspberrypi.org and, if you’re good at tinkering, our sister…

$4.99 THE LATEST TVOS APPS AND THE HOTTEST HARDWARE Two years ago, developer Snowman dazzled us with the runner-style game Alto’s Adventure, which found the title character whisking down snowy slopes. The beautiful graphics were critically acclaimed, but now Alto is back with a new adventure in completely different scenery. Alto’s Odyssey is a standalone journey. This time, Alto finds himself sandboarding his way through the desert, using the same one-touch trick system that powered the first game, which enables players to chain together combos and complete 180 level goals. Players “soar above windswept dunes, traverse thrilling canyons, and explore long–hidden temples in a fantastical place far from home.” But like the original game, Alto’s Odyssey isn’t as quite as easy as it looks — there are plenty of vines,…

HOW TO DO ANYTHING ON YOUR MAC, iPHONE & iPAD REQUIRES iMovie, Photoshop YOU WILL LEARN How to grade colors and tones for a nocturnal look IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes SHOOTING VIDEO AT night can be a challenge, especially when no strong light source is available. The quality of footage can suffer due to the camera’s need to increase its ISO speed to make it more sensitive to low light; a fast ISO can make the clip look grainy. To avoid these problems, many filmmakers shoot during the day and then grade colors and tones. This involves adding a cold blue hue and reducing saturation and brightness. iMovie has a dedicated Day into Night effect filter, though the result isn’t particularly realistic. Instead, in this tutorial, we’ll demonstrate how…

IT MAY SEEM like a fairly simple app, but Apple’s Maps is full of neat little extras. Successive versions of macOS have introduced a number of useful features to make planning a journey easier and faster. Thanks to Apple’s tight integration of the Mac and iOS platforms, you can send journey and map info from your Mac to your iPhone. The app will indicate the weather and temperature wherever the centre of the map sits, and you can even take a tour of several cities around the world. So, let’s discover just some of the useful features of Maps that are easily overlooked. USE MU LTIPLE TABS Plan several routes at once Planning a journey with multiple destinations can quickly become disorganized. It you want to plan where to visit…

HIGH SIERRA USUALLY installs without problems, but there are a few common hiccups. If your hardware and system are compatible but you get an error message such as “macOS High Sierra download has failed” or “installation could not continue,” then it could be that your internet connection or Apple’s server is too busy. Try again later, ideally at a quieter time of day It might be worth switching from Wi-Fi to an Ethernet cable, so your connection is as reliable as possible. In the Mac App Store, choose Store> Check for Unfinished Downloads, and you should be able to resume any stalled downloads. If not, choose Store > Sign Out, then sign in again. If you get an error message saying installation has failed, something is missing or damaged, or…

MANY BUGS THAT existed in early versions of iOS 11 have now been fixed, and upgrading should be fairly painless. If you’re curious about what has been resolved, Apple maintains a detailed list at bit.ly/ios11notes. Note that this isn’t exhaustive, though — from its contents, you wouldn’t have a clue as to why an app might no longer show up in Spotlight’s search results, for example. (We’ll talk about that specific issue in a moment.) Many changes in iOS 11 are beneficial, and if your device can take the upgrade but you haven’t installed it, read our past coverage in Mac|Life issues 135 and 134. As with High Sierra, there are some stumbling blocks, but over the next few pages we’ll help you overcome them, and show how to track…

$180 From Asus, asus.com Features AC2600 radios, Gigabit Ethernet, Asus AiProtection device security, parental controls, file and print server The Blue Cave, with its toroidal cavern gouged through the middle, is a pretty unique router. As far as we can tell there’s no practical reason for this design, but it does give the Blue Cave a visual edge. Around the back, thankfully, the design isn’t as radical. There’s a Gigabit ethernet port to hook up to your modem, four Gigabit ports for other connected devices, and a USB 3.0 port used for additional expansion. You’ll also find a physical off switch and a hidden WPS button for easy device connection. In terms of performance, we’ve tested routers with more powerful distance coverage, but its dual radios, which broadcast on distinct…

$349 From CalDigit, caldigit.com Features 14 ports, 85W power supply to MacBook For generosity with ports, CalDigit’s new dock wins by a whisker over OWC’s previous best, giving you 14 for expansion and one to connect to and power even a 15-inch MacBook Pro. The front side has the same USB-A and discrete 3.5mm headphone and mic jacks as the non-Plus model, and adds a 5Gbps (USB 3.1 Gen 1) USB-C port and an SDXC card reader. On the back, CalDigit has removed the niche eSATA ports from its original TS3 dock, and doubled the USB-A ports to four. You still get Gigabit Ethernet, DisplayPort 1.2 and a passthrough USB-C port (enabling connection of one 5K or two 4K displays), and there are two brand-new ports: S/PDIF optical audio output,…

$3.99 From Kane Cheshire, unlox.it Needs MacOS 10.13, Bluetooth LE, iOS 11.2 or later Unlox is the name for the new version of MacID (as Apple objected to the name). The concept remains the same and focuses on remotely locking and unlocking your Mac using your iPhone or Watch. There are multiple options available, all of which work over Bluetooth LE. The simplest is the facility to lock or unlock your Mac’s screen by tapping the iPhone or Watch app. You can use Touch ID or Face ID on a phone or even a special pattern tapped on your Mac’s trackpad to do this. The Watch remains authorized as long as it’s on your wrist, so its app just needs a tap. On iPhone or Apple Watch, notifications let you…

From $28.99 From Hyperbolic Software hyperbolicsoftware.com Tidy Up 5 aims to keep your Mac clear of duplicate and unnecessary files by finding such files and making them easier to delete. It does so from a gorgeous interface, with smoothly animated transitions, and even honest information about why a search is taking time. There are two modes: Simple and Advanced. Simple image search finds pictures that are identical; in Advanced mode you can hone in on date, location, even camera used. Searches are quite quick. When done, Tidy Up provides detailed suggestions for removal, showing the path to each file with previews. The problem with Tidy Up isn’t what it does, so much as the damage you could do with it. It doesn’t remove duplicate images in Photos, but marks them…

Free Business users might not be the target audience for Apple TV, but developers are targeting the hardware as more than just a streaming media box. Case in point: Numerics, an app dedicated to helping companies visualize key performance indicators (KPI), used to reach targets. Numerics makes creating visual dashboards a snap, thanks to connections with over 40 cloud services so metrics are updated in real time. Custom connectors enable pulling data from spreadsheets, in-house systems, or third-party software via JSON. You don’t design the dashboards on Apple TV — this work is done on iPhone or iPad, then synced via iCloud. From there, you use the Siri Remote to move between different on-screen widgets and click the touchpad to open in full screen. Existing dashboards can be resized with…

REQUIRES OS X 10.11 or later, Cardhop YOU WILL LEARN How to use Cardhop to more efficiently manage and get in touch with contacts IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU NEED A good reason to replace apps that come with macOS. They’re free, after all. When choosing Cardhop over Contacts, that reason is speed — Cardhop being a fast and efficient way to manage your contacts. You can get a free 21-day trial by going to flexibits.com; the app then costs $19.99. Cardhop utilizes information that’s already stored in Contacts, so when you first open it you’ll need to grant it access to the latter’s contents. (If you accidentally deny access, go to System Prefs > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Contacts and check Cardhop.) You can then try…

REQUIRES An iOS 11 device, GarageBand 2.3 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to play and record world instruments in GarageBand IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes APPLE’S TOUCH INSTRUMENTS OFFER TACTILE MUSICAL INSIGHT INTO TRADITIONAL EASTERN FARE IN RECENT YEARS, GarageBand’s capabilities have expanded beyond the guitars, drums, and synths that are most familiar to Western ears. This hasn’t just been by way of new keyboard presets either — Apple has added new touch–controlled world instruments, which offer tactile musical insight into traditional Eastern fare. In this tutorial, we’ll be continuing to make a ringtone (see April’s Mac|Life, issue 140), and using two Chinese instruments — the erhu (a two–stringed bowed instrument) and guzheng (a plucked stringed instrument) — to add melody and atmospherics to the eight-bar loop we already…

REQUIRES iOS 10.3 or later, Affinity Photo YOU WILL LEARN How to select parts of your image and replace them IT WILL TAKE 20 minutes MODERN DIGITAL CAMERAS have a problem. Actually, they have several, but one that is encountered time and time again is a lack of dynamic range — the inability to capture both very light and very dark tones in an image. This leads to either a silhouette, where a dark subject — be that because your subject is actually dark, or merely darker than an extremely bright backdrop — is unrecognizable except for its outline against a perfectly exposed background, or a nicely exposed subject with the sky behind them washed out to pure white. If you’re getting such shots, it’s often a good idea to…