Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i Macworld UK

Fourteen years ago this month, Steve Jobs resigned (fave.co/46UAuor) and Tim Cook became the CEO of Apple. Given Jobs’s ongoing health issues, Cook’s ascension wasn’t unexpected; he had, in fact, filled the role during Jobs’s multiple leaves of absence. Cook was a familiar face and promised to be a steady hand at Apple, but if there ever was a tough act to follow (fave.co/3W5JyAC), it was Steve Jobs. But here we are, living in an era where Cook has now served as Apple CEO longer than Jobs did (fave.co/47UMasp). The Apple of 2025 is quite different from the company Cook took control of back in 2011. Today’s Apple generates nearly four times the revenue that the company did when Cook took over, driven by more-than-quadrupling iPhone revenue. Back in 2011,…

Designer Marcin Wichary has posted a comprehensive and detailed look at the design of the Mac operating system settings interface. In “Frame of Preference” (fave.co/46Jl05B), Wichary examines the design details of the original Macintosh System Software 1.0, all the way to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. But Wichary doesn’t just offer his commentary; Wichary worked with Mihai Parparita of Infinite Mac (fave.co/3Kj83oZ) to offer emulators of the system software that you can actually use. For example, the entry for the original Mac is accompanied by a Macintosh System Software 1.0 emulator framed by a 512K Mac. You can open the Control Panel and follow along with Wichary’s text, or you can launch MacPaint and try to do your own rendition of a geisha portrait like the one that adorned the…

Most mice and keyboards will work with a Mac, but there aren’t many that are specifically designed for use with Macs. Many mice and keyboards also require an app that provides additional features, such as the ability to reprogram the buttons on a mouse or the Function keys on a keyboard. In recent years, Logitech has been one of the few companies that provides a proper Mac app for its MX range of mice and keyboards, which has made it the first choice for many Mac users who wanted an alternative to Apple’s own Magic mice (fave.co/3a8uU7A) and keyboards. Logitech has finally got some competition, though, as the gaming gurus at Razer have released a new version of its Synapse app that finally works on Macs with Apple Silicon (there…

When pre-event rumors claimed that the iPhone 17 series (fave.co/46xdoCH) would have a new horizontal camera bar, I admit that I was concerned. At the time, all we had were renders and supposed CAD designs, with the assumption that the camera bar’s purpose was to bulk up the camera array to make the rest of the phone seem even thinner. As it turns out, I was completely wrong. But as Tim Cook reminded everyone at the “Awe Dropping” event in September, Apple is the company of “design is how it works,” where a good design is one that works seamlessly and enriches your life, not just one that is visually appealing but devoid of functionality. As Apple demonstrated, the iPhone Air’s and 17 Pro’s camera “plateau” isn’t just a camera…

If you watched Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote back in June, you probably remember the headline features in watchOS 26, such as the AI-powered Workout Buddy and Liquid Glass redesign. But you might not have realized there’s actually far more to it than these showy new additions. In fact, this software update (fave.co/4lwe5Co) is packed with a slew interesting updates, from clever widgets to new ways to enjoy your favorite photos. Here, we’ve picked out eight of our favorite little-known tweaks you’ll want to rush to try in watchOS 26. 1. CONFIGURABLE WIDGETS Love the Smart Stack on your Apple Watch (fave.co/4nxXJuv)? With watchOS 26, you now get even more options to customize it to your liking. For example, you can drill down into individual apps and decide which aspects…

The Razer Kishi V2 (fave.co/4mJpgIi) is cool, but it’s a shame it doesn’t fit an iPad. A short time later, Razer introduced the Kishi Ultra, which already fits an iPad mini, and I thought to myself, “Ah, Razer can read my mind!” (I know full well that it doesn’t work like that.) But now Razer has unveiled the next generation of Kishi controllers, and somehow it seems like Razer is…mocking me? “Well, a controller for 13-inch iPads? Are you happy now? Have you had enough now? Have you?” Yes, I know, it still doesn’t work like that, but the new controller with the lavish name “Razer Kishi V3 Pro XL” feels like that. And yes, now I’ve had enough. But more is not possible. In many respects, the Razer Kishi…

The first true superstar of the Thunderbolt dock world was the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 3 (TS3), a compact Thunderbolt 3 powerhouse laptop docking station that beat the competition with superior high-end ports in an engaging metal shell. After improvements with the TS3 Plus (fave.co/4750RGz) and the jump to Thunderbolt 4 with the TS4 (fave.co/3FyIC0F), we now arrive at the launch of the TS5 Plus, bringing in superfast Thunderbolt 5 and a legion of top-end ports, including 10Gb Ethernet and an incredible 330W power supply. If you desire the ultimate in MacBook docking stations (fave.co/3h1wVoY), the TS5 Plus has just about everything you need—indeed probably more than you need. CalDigit also sells a cutdown TS5 version with five fewer ports for those who don’t need to reach the summits of power…

You young whippersnappers out there—pull up a chair and let me tell you about a more innocent time. Way before you could connect to the internet out of thin air, you had to use what was called a dial-up connection. A box called a modem was connected to your computer, and it used a phone line to call a service provider that would give you access to a bulletin-board service (BBS; think of a BBS as an early form of Reddit). It took a few years before the BBS gave way to the web. There were several dial-up service providers, but one ruled them all: America Online, which became widely known as AOL. But the days of AOL as a dial-up service provider are now over. According to an AOL…

Netflix is still perceived as the default on-demand TV streaming service, delivering movies and series to over 300 million paid subscribers. Despite its popularity and sizable catalog, the platform has been steadily raising prices while introducing changes that downgrade the overall user experience. Apple TV+, on the other hand, offers a more limited content library and has only attracted around 45 million users. Nevertheless, after using both platforms for years, I canceled my Netflix subscription and decided to embrace Apple’s alternative service. Here’s why. SHARING IS CARING One thing I despise is when tech corporations paywall free features instead of innovating to boost their revenue. Once upon a time, Netflix allowed multiple users to share a single account—even when they lived in separate households. In fact, the company encouraged this…

Apple hides some of its best features through obscurity, not intentionally. For many years, you have been able to select and change the icon for any file, folder, volume, or drive. But it’s a multistep process that requires starting with the right image. You can find the source icons all over the place. Generic ones are available at places like IconArchive (fave.co/3DyYz3z) and DeviantArt (fave.co/3mRtGSb, which has a lot of NSFW content, but not drive related); companies that sell drives often make downloadable icons available of all the models they sell, like One World Computing (fave.co/46v42ZT) and LaCie (fave.co/4pM85s5); and you can copy an icon from an existing volume. You can also find little projects, like these 20 icons (fave.co/3mSgoVi) made from historic Japanese patterns by a designer at software…

Apple’s macOS 26 public betas are now out, marking another major milestone on the road to their release this fall. While all the social-media discourse has been about Apple’s new Liquid Glass (fave.co/3TV56ih) design, that talk obscures some of Apple’s other interesting choices in this year’s operating system cycle. While Apple would probably insist (like a proud parent) that it doesn’t have favorites among its platforms, the choices Apple has made in this cycle say an awful lot about the company’s priorities, especially when it comes to the Mac. LIVING IN GLASS HOUSES Let’s start with the Liquid Glass design itself. The entire premise of this design is that Apple’s devices are largely featureless glass slabs, so creating a software interface that plays on the illusion that it’s actually a set…

If you have updated to iOS 26 (fave.co/4mulbaB), you have thoughts on the new features and the Liquid Glass look. You may also find, as I did, that your iPhone doesn’t run quite as smoothly as usual. For example, I wanted to send a screenshot via WhatsApp, and it felt like it took forever. In addition to the sluggish performance, you may have noticed a negative impact on your iPhone’s battery life. Social media is filled with posts similar to xycron.tv’s on Bluesky (see above image). Apple is aware of the issues and has posted a support document explaining what is happening (fave.co/3VCWPke). Here’s what Apple has to say about battery life: Immediately after completing an update, particularly a major release, you might notice a temporary impact on battery life…

Most portable drives are designed to be used with Macs and PCs, but Lexar’s Professional Go Portable SSD With Hub is primarily designed for the iPhone. In fact, the company’s website states that it is “specifically designed for iPhone 15/16 users” and aims to provide extra storage for recording high-quality ProRes video (as only the iPhone 15 and 16 allow you to record onto external drives). However, the Professional Go is equipped with a standard USB-C port, so you can easily use it with a Mac as well if you want, and it’s certainly small enough to carry around along with a MacBook when you’re traveling. You could also use it to back up your iPhone recordings onto your Mac for safekeeping. Unlike most conventional portable drives, the Professional Go…

There was a time when Apple offered one iPhone model. That’s it. You want an iPhone, you got it. Does someone else you know want an iPhone? They got the same one you did. Times are a little more complicated, and now Apple offers multiple iPhone lines and models. Plenty of reasons exist for why that is, including the evolution of technology, the maturing of the market, Apple’s approach to sales (fave.co/3Wd6QVo), and more. But all that doesn’t matter to you. What matters is that a simple task is no longer so: Which iPhone should I get? Apple is doing its part to clarify which iPhone is the right one for each customer. Take the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the focus of this review. It’s Apple’s top-of-the-line phone, and it’s…

Don’t be scared of the name or their forbidding looks—a NAS drive is a storage solution that has a place in both the home and office. Freeing you from restrictive and inflexible external hard drives (fave.co/3LGJRh5) and expensive cloud storage solutions (fave.co/3CSx4G9), a NAS drive might be the storage solution that your small business or home office requires. A NAS (Network Attached Storage) drive is a dedicated file-based storage system that connects to your network and enables multiple users and devices to simultaneously store and access data centrally and even remotely over the internet. Operating as a single storage hub for a network, NAS is a scalable, collaborative, high-speed storage solution that can streamline a small business network with teams viewing, sharing, and live-editing files and documents, or control a…

During its iPhone 17 launch event, Apple introduced the highly anticipated AirPods Pro 3 (fave.co/4kfbThx), which are available to purchase today (fave.co/42gipyH). Prior to the keynote, some leaks suggested we might see bigger changes, including a design with much shorter stems. That didn’t materialize. Instead, Apple delivered the rumored Live Translation feature, along with stronger ANC, longer battery life, and heart rate sensors. On paper, these all sound like welcome upgrades that could entice many users to opt for the new model. However, a closer look at the spec sheet reveals 7 reasons you may want to stick with the AirPods Pro 2. COMMON TONGUES Live Translation is one of the neat additions that certain rival brands have offered for a while. As its name suggests, the tool lets you…

Apple One launched in late 2020, bundling the company’s premium subscription services together for a discounted price. The highest tier includes unlimited access to Apple Music, TV+, Fitness+, Arcade, News+, and iCloud+, and lets Apple loyalists save up to $32 per month after the latest Apple TV+ price hike (fave.co/4mLlfTJ). Five years on, Apple One looks largely the same from a functional point of view: You still get access to just the six main services included at the start. Look deeper, however, and you’ll find that most of these services have evolved and continue to introduce new features that subscribers can enjoy at no additional cost. Here are five lesser-known Apple One perks you have access to but probably aren’t using. EMAIL LIKE A PRO iCloud+ (fave.co/46ZvIWJ) is one of…

When you upgrade to iOS 26 (fave.co/44uVU9u), you’ll immediately come face-to-face with Liquid Glass (fave.co/3TV56ih), Apple’s new graphical look for the user interface. Apple is excited about Liquid Glass, but, as with any UI change, you might find it jarring and maybe even a little hard to read. If you’ve given it a good, long look and decide you need to make adjustments, you can do so. Apple has an option to reduce the transparency—you can’t completely turn it off, but it does make the effect more opaque, which you might find more comfortable. Here’s how to change the setting. 1. Open the Settings app. 2. Tap Accessibility. 3. Tap Display & Text Size. 4. In the Display & Text Size section, look for Reduce Transparency and flip the switch…

With the rise of third-party antiviral and anti-malware applications for the Mac (fave.co/3Gaf9tt), the question of how macOS defends against malware (fave.co/42Xt7bS) on its own has surfaced. To this end, is it safe to use macOS on its own and rely exclusively on macOS and security updates from Apple, or are you better off using a well-reviewed antiviral and anti-malware suite in conjunction with the native macOS layers of protection? Being somewhere between brave, curious, and outright idiotic, I backed up everything on my MacBook Pro as a Time Machine volume on my external hard drive, removed all third-party protection software, and then proceeded to run all of the Objective-See Mac Malware Collection (fave.co/4810Ia2) across my operating system, throwing more than 130 chunks of questionable software at macOS 15.6.1 to…

With Apple’s rather pricey and then some internal storage upgrades, you can get a lot more bang (capacity) for your buck with external solutions. Not that the 4-drive TerraMaster D4 SSD is cheap at $300 sans drives, but even after you add SSDs, it’s a lot less expensive per GB than what Apple charges you. A lot. It’s also a nicely designed unit with good performance. FEATURES The TerraMaster D4 SSD is a 4-slot (M.2/NVMe) external enclosure utilizing the 40Gbps USB4 protocol. That’s basically Thunderbolt 4 but with better backward and forward compatibility than USB3.2×2. You can see the interior in the image, right. The D4 SSD measures 5.5 inches deep and tall, by about 2.35 inches wide. Relatively speaking, it’s a featherweight for a desktop drive, weighing in at…

A fter months of testing, Apple has released iOS 26 (fave.co/44uVU9u) to the public, and it’s a major update. The new version of the iPhone operating system features a new look and feel with Liquid Glass (fave.co/46rdwFy), which will instantly make your iPhone look fresh. But that’s not all. Under the hood, there are a bunch of refinements, utilities, and new APIs worth exploring. Here are the top things you absolutely should try once you update your iPhone to iOS 26. 1. EXPLORE THE NEW LIQUID GLASS INTERFACE Possibly the most notable change in iOS 26 is Liquid Glass, which is what Apple calls its new interface available across its family of operating systems. Liquid Glass simulates the effects of glass on the screen, bringing much more transparency and brightness…

How important is a toggle? You probably haven’t given much thought to those little settings sliders you find scattered throughout iOS. But what if a toggle can shine a light on how a system is designed and the priorities of its creators? That’s something we can learn about Apple’s Liquid Glass redesign (fave.co/46rdwFy), and it’s not an encouraging lesson. Don’t get me wrong—there’s a lot to love about Liquid Glass. I think it looks gorgeous in macOS Tahoe, and there are plenty of places in iOS 26 (fave.co/44uVU9u) where it’s a real step up over the designs we saw in iOS 18 (fave.co/3Bk1PTU) and before. But it’s hard for me to deny I’m often irritated by it and left with the feeling that it’s an indulgence on Apple’s part, an…

Apple’s MagSafe technology has transformed the iPhone power bank from a lumpen battery pack to a handbag-ready convenience essential. A magnetic MagSafe power bank clamps to any iPhone newer than the 11 to revolutionize wireless charging with efficiency and power. Pull your power bank from your pocket or bag and simply clamp it to the back of your iPhone to start immediate charging. No wires, no buttons to push. The Belkin BoostCharge Pro Magnetic Power Bank with Qi2 15W 5K continues—maybe even advances—the company’s obsession with extraordinarily long product names, but we can forgive this predilection as this is not only the most colorful power bank we’ve reviewed but also the one that aced our battery performance tests with a new highest score. CHARGING POWER We’ll start with that test…

If you’re like me, you probably have at least one old iPhone lying in a drawer, or an obsolete iPad that hasn’t been updated in years. Using these devices as your main phone or tablet is impossible as they no longer run the latest software and the battery life isn’t the best. Even so, there are still some things you can do with these devices if you don’t want to just throw them away—especially at a time when some people are trying to spend more time away from modern technology. From a smart home controller to a pseudo-iPod, here are some ideas on how you can breathe new life into an obsolete iPhone or iPad. TURN YOUR iPAD INTO A DIGITAL PHOTO BOOK iPads are excellent devices for viewing photos.…

The compact and colorful 65W max 20K INIU Cougar P62-E1 power bank is a neat choice for the 13-and 15-inch MacBook Air, with the potential to top the laptop to near full while fast-charging an iPhone at the same time. Choosing a power bank that has ample capacity for charging a laptop means making some compromises on size and weight for the higher battery capacity. Though you can buy a 0.34-inch slim 5K (5000mAh) power bank that will charge your iPhone to over 75%, recharging your MacBook to the same percentage means carrying around a bigger brick. While even laptop power banks have come down in size and weight recently, thanks to GaN battery technology, there’s no MacBook battery pack that you can slip into your pocket without raising eyebrows…until…

Apple offers three classes of AirPods to cater to different use cases and budgets: regular, Pro, and Max. But despite their size, price, and surname, the AirPods Max actually pack fewer features than the AirPods Pro 2 (fave.co/3ZWX6QO). All too often underrated, the Pro models are packed with cool features you probably don’t know about. With every annual OS release, Apple continues to introduce new perks, many of which are exclusive to the latest Pro model, and iOS 26 is no exception. If you recently bought a pair of AirPods Pro 2, you’ve got to check out and set up these seven advanced features. REMOTE SHOOTING One of the most notable AirPods Pro 2 features bundled with this year’s software updates is the new camera remote. Like the Apple Watch’s…

Earlier this year, we reported on a new service being tested in Australia and New Zealand that let disgruntled Spotify users transfer music libraries and playlists to Apple Music. Now that service is coming to the rest of the world. According to an Apple support document, the ability to transfer your library and playlists to Apple Music is available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S. The service, which is powered by SongShift and available in the Apple Music app or on the web, works to add your saved music and playlists you’ve created in other music services, such as Spotify, to your Apple Music library. While the tool lets you transfer saved songs, albums, and playlists, what makes it over “varies and…

When you first launch the Camera app after updating to iOS 26 (fave.co/44uVU9u), you’ll see a splash screen telling you that it’s a new design. If you’re like us, you’ll just tap Continue to get it out of your way—you have selfies to take! Don’t panic at the dramatically different look. For the most part, the new Camera app works like the old one and doesn’t remove any major features. In fact, it adds some settings selections that you used to have to jump into the Settings app for, which is a big time-saver. Here’s how the new Camera app works in iOS 26. 1. SWIPE FOR CAMERA MODES The camera modes used to be listed just above the shutter button. Now they’re below it. You’ll only see Photo and…