Macworld August 2024

Following the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on June 10, we now know that the next version of macOS will be called Sequoia, named after the Californian national park. Among the new features coming to Macs are iPhone mirroring, which puts your iPhone screen on your Mac’s display and lets you interact with it via your mouse and keyboard, a new videoconferencing presenter preview, and changes to Safari. In addition, developers will be easily able to port games between iPhone, Mac, and iPad. Read on for the lowdown on all the new features and improvements coming later in 2024. This free software update will bring a raft of interface tweaks, bug fixes, and new features. In this article, we discuss everything you need to know about macOS 15. Some new features…

When Apple announced it was going to stop using Intel processors in Macs, the company said it would support those Intel-based Macs for a number of years. It’s been four years since Apple silicon was introduced, so as WWDC arrives each year with its unveiling of the new version of macOS, users wait to see if the Intel Mac they use will be on the compatibility list. You can find the macOS Sequoia compatibility list on Apple’s website. But it lists Macs by the model year, not whether it has Intel or Apple silicon. To help you figure it out, here’s the list of Intel-based Macs compatible with macOS Sequoia listed by release year and Model Identifier. So, we have one model from 2017, the iMac Pro that started at…

Doing what I do for a living, I’m often asked for advice on buying a MacBook Pro. It involves a lot of back-and-forth—me asking questions, them answering, me giving options, them asking more questions. People want to understand the chips in play, memory configurations, ports, and, most importantly, whether their tools will still work. Do you know what seldom comes up in these discussions? How thick the MacBook Pro is or how much it weighs. It’s a concern, but it’s not the main one. Customers know what to expect and are fine with what’s being offered. Apple seems to think the thickness of its devices is a problem that needs attention. According to a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the new iPad Pro was just the start of “a new…

When it comes time to get a new Mac, you have three options: Trade in your old Mac, sell it, or hold onto it. Macs tend to maintain a good amount of value, but some Macs are more in demand than others. MacBooks are relatively hot sellers, but on the other hand, there seems to be a glut of used Mac minis for sale. With inexpensive Macs like the Mac mini, it’s probably not worth the hassle of selling it, and Apple isn’t going to give you very much for a trade-in. So why not keep that old Mac mini? There are many sensible uses for it, even if it’s past its prime. If you have an old Mac mini that has been replaced by a newer model, here are…

Although tape and optical media seem quaint by today’s standards, they had some huge advantages: Cartridges and discs were removable, easily transportable, could be stored off-site, and, rather than dumping everything into a single repository, allowed separate data sets to be physically isolated. Those same advantages are leveraged by SanDisk’s Pro-Blade Transport: a svelte, handsome USB dock that accepts even svelter NVMe SSD modules. The caveat for Mac users is that while the Pro-Blade Transport supports 20Gbps USB 3.2, current Macs only support 10Gbps USB 3.1. Even those with USB4 aren’t compatible. This limits the Transport system to 10Gbps on Macs. (What’s up with that, Apple?) FEATURES With the major cats out of the bag, I’ll get into the specifics of both the dock and the modules. The handsome, Type-C…

The first thing that stands out about The Think Tank Retrospective EDC Backpack is the material used on the backpack. The stone-washed canvas made from 100 percent cotton looks stylish and has a durable repellent coating. This coating is good at keeping out a short rain shower, and a proper rain cover is included to keep out water during a downpour. The two-color twill lining and genuine leather applications match the style. As befits a backpack manufacturer, great attention has also been paid to the carrying system. The padded back panel is just as comfortable as the shoulder straps. This means that you can carry even heavy loads home in comfort. The Retrospective EDC has a storage capacity of 19 liters and weighs just 1 kilogram. COMPARTMENTS GALORE A USB-C…