Innehållsförteckning för September 2021 från MacFormat

Your iPhone’s not only a powerful pocket computer, but a brilliant photo taker too – and to prove it this month’s lead feature (p20) will show you how! You’ll discover all kinds of tips, tricks and techniques to help you shoot landscapes, portraits and more, as well as how to finesse them on your Mac using the Photos app and the best third-party extensions. When you’ve done that, turn to p62, where we reveal how Apple turned its TV ‘hobby’ into the streaming colossus it is today, and in MacFormat Investigates (p16) we examine whether Apple TV+ and services like Apple Music, News+, Fitness+ and Apple Arcade are worth the cash. Continuing our series of Beginner’s Guides, our five-page introduction to Keynote (p71) should help get your creative juices flowing,…

HomePod users have recently been feeling the heat – literally – as an AppleSeed beta for the now-discontinued speaker has apparently been causing devices to overheat and fail. The problem was first documented on Reddit, where a user explained their HomePod was hot on top and worried the logic board could fail. While HomePod does not use developer or public betas, users can be invited to special AppleSeed betas. Unfortunately, HomePod users have no way of reverting to an earlier version of the software once it is installed. A reminder of why you should not install beta software on primary devices: things can go wrong! THE POLL WE ASKED… Which macOS Monterey feature are you most excited about?: Log on and see next issue’s big question! twitter.com/macformat facebook.com/macformat…

1 Set f-stop Tap to select Portrait mode. Tap the f-stop icon to dial in an aperture value. The lower the number, the blurrier the bokeh will be. Here we’ve gone for f8.0. By default we’re using the Natural Light preset. Take the shot. 2 Adjust blur In Photos, tap Edit. Tap the f-stop icon. Drag the aperture slider to a larger number (such as f16) to reveal more background detail. Drag it to a smaller number for more blur. The 12 Pro Max can open to a wide f1.4. 3 Adjust lighting Tap the hexagonal icon to access the Lighting Effects wheel. Drag to experiment with different studio effects, such as the face-modelling Contour Light. Here we’ve gone for Studio Light to brighten the face.…

1 Night mode Night mode automatically chooses an exposure time (such as 10 seconds), but you can drag the countdown slider to choose a different duration. During the shot a Hold Still message appears. Keep the crosshairs aligned to avoid blur. 2 Change focus In Photo mode, the iPhone focuses on the closest foreground subject. However, you can tap on a background object to place the square focus/exposure reticle on that. Drag the sun icon up or down to tweak exposure. 3 AE/AF Lock In contrasting locations, the Camera changes exposure to reveal highlight or shadow detail. Hold you finger on the screen to summon the AE/AF Lock. This preserves detail in a bright sky when you reframe the shot. 4 Manual exposure Exposure is set automatically but it may…

While you can perform edits on your iPhone’s version of Photos, the Photos app for Mac gives you greater control due to a more powerful set of tools (such as the Retouch tool for removing unwanted objects). You can also check the quality of a shot more effectively when viewing it on your Mac’s larger display (especially if you need to smooth out noise caused by a high ISO speed, for example). One way to get iPhone-sourced videos and stills on to your Mac is to automatically upload them to your iCloud account. They will then be ready to edit and share in the Photos app on any iCloud connected device such as an iMac or an iPad. To set up iCloud syncing, go to your iPhone’s Settings, then scroll…

1 High contrast In a high-contrast scene that lacks shadow and highlight detail, use the Brilliance slider to simultaneously lighten shadows and darken highlights. Fine-tune Shadows and Highlights independently to claw back more detail. 2 Colour casts In mixed lighting, some skin tones can look too cold (blue) or warm (orange). In the White Balance panel, set the drop down to Skin Tone. Click the eyedropper on skin to automatically counteract cold or warm casts. 3 Composition To tackle a tilted horizon, click Crop. Drag the rotate wheel to counteract the tilt. A grid will appear to help you get a straight horizon. Tick a value in the Aspect panel to crop your shot to a common print size and shape. 4 Noise reduction In low light, the iPhone may…

1 Download and install On an iPhone or iPad, go to the App Store, search for Teams and download it. The Mac version is not on the Mac App Store, so go to bit.ly/msoftforhome and download the installer, then double-click it to install Teams. 2 Sign up or log in If you already have a Microsoft account, you may be prompted to sign in to it. If you want to use a different account, choose ‘Sign in with another account’. Or ‘Sign up for free’ to create a new account to use with Teams. 3 Start on iPad On iPhone or iPad, you’ll be prompted to allow Teams to access Contacts. If you agree, start a dialogue by tapping the New Chat icon and starting to type a name in…

1 Set up Handoff Wi-Fi and Bluetooth should be on and you should be signed into iCloud with the same Apple ID on both devices. Go to System Prefs > General > Allow Handoff. On iOS, it’s Settings > General > AirPlay & Handoff, then switch on Handoff. 2 Handoff from Mac Start using a compatible app on your Mac (most Apple apps and many third-party apps work). When you want to Handoff, pick up your iPhone or iPad, activate the App Switcher and tap the bar at the bottom of the screen. 3 Handoff to Mac Start using a compatible app on your iPhone or iPad. When you’re ready to switch to your Mac, go to the Finder and look in the Dock for the app’s icon with an…

The web is teeming with incredible articles to read, from eye-opening interviews to in-depth explorations of fascinating subjects. Whether you want to settle in for a long read or just get the latest news, the web leaves you spoiled for choice. But with so many places to find all this varied and amazing content, just knowing where to start looking can be a daunting prospect. And what do you do if you come across a particularly enticing read but don’t have time to get started? It’s a mess. Thankfully, Pocket (free with in-app purchases) is a Safari extension and app that cuts through the potential chaos. It lets you save articles to a central repository, where you can tag and organise them for later reading. You’ll never again have to…

1 Add emergency contacts Open the Health app and tap your profile icon > Medical ID > Edit. Scroll to Emergency Contacts and tap ‘+’. Tap a contact and phone number, then set their relationship to you. Tap Done, then add other contacts if you want. 2 Activate an SOS call Press and hold the side and volume buttons, then drag the Emergency SOS slider to start a call (use this if you need to be quiet). Or continue holding the buttons until a loud countdown begins. Release to cancel. 3 iPhone 7 or earlier If you are on iPhone 7 or earlier, rapidly press the side (or top) button five times. The emergency call slider will appear – drag it across to begin an emergency call. To cancel the…

It’s important to add emergency contacts because they might be able to reach you before the emergency services if they are nearby. After an emergency call has finished, your iPhone will send your chosen contacts a message with your current location (unless you cancel the message). This works even if location services are disabled, in which case they will be temporarily enabled. If your location changes, your contacts will be told and you will get a new notification regarding this about 10 minutes later. That way, they always know where to go.…

The £99 HomePod mini is a tiny ball of audio prowess, topped with Siri assistant smarts. You can control it from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac running the latest versions of iOS, iPadOS and macOS and you can issue instructions using your voice – see the ‘Use Siri on HomePod mini’ (right). The HomePod mini is versatile too. You can use it solo (perfect for a bedroom, study or kitchen), use multiple HomePod minis in multiple rooms (thanks to AirPlay 2), and you can even use two HomePod minis as a stereo pair – perfect for listening to your favourite sounds in your living room. Plus, because it supports HomeKit and Thread, it can be used as a controller for your smart home too. It’s important to note…

1 Listen in stereo! If you own two HomePod minis, you can use them as a stereo pair. To do that, set up each speaker as in steps 1 and 2, choosing the same location for both speakers. In the menu that then appears, tap Use As Stereo Pair. 2 Use the Home app You can also control your HomePod mini from the Home app – open the app and tap its option to play or pause any audio there. Perform a long press to reveal a menu with further options, such as audio playback and alarm settings. 3 Change your settings Still in the Home app’s HomePod mini screen, scroll down further until you reach the Settings (gear) icon. Tap this to reveal even more options, such as Audio…

Apple is a computer company; Apple is a gadget company; Apple is a lifestyle company – and Apple is now solidly a TV company, too. Apple TV+ is quickly growing from an also-ran to a serious contender in the streaming game, and Apple’s own studios are producing world-leading content. The days of the Videos app and iTunes rentals seem long behind us. This is the way things are done, and Apple is doing it well. Confusing nomenclature aside – you do not need an Apple TV to watch Apple TV+, or indeed to use the Apple TV app, which is a way to connect to various TV services through Apple but on non-Apple TV devices – Cupertino’s own TV streamer is one of the absolute best on the market today,…

Though sales in the Apple TV’s initial period were reasonable, it took less than a year for Apple to rethink the whole concept. Apple TV Software 2.0 – cunningly subtitled ‘Take Two’ – was revealed by an uncharacteristically humble Steve Jobs during the company’s keynote at the 2008 Macworld Expo. “We’ve all tried to figure out how to do movies,” he said. “And you know what? We’ve all missed. No one has succeeded yet. We tried with Apple TV. Apple TV was designed to be an accessory for iTunes and your computer. It’s not what people wanted. We learned what people really wanted was movies… And we weren’t delivering that. So we’re back with Apple TV take two.” The second-gen model replaced the hard drive with 8GB flash and apple…

Now you know how to add and edit slides in Keynote, you have everything you need to create a basic presentation. But who wants to create a basic presentation? We want to wow our audience and dazzle them with a slideshow they will remember long after it’s finished. One way to do that is by using animation. Keynote makes it easy not just to add transitions between slides, but to animate the appearance of elements within a slide. Want bullet points to arrive one at a time? You can do that. Want an image to fade in slowly after the audience has seen the headline? You can do that. How about adding video and audio? Keynote has you covered there too. Before you jump in and add all the effects…

> £250 FROM Sony, sony.co.uk FEATURES True wireless headphones, active noise cancellation, Hi-Res Audio compatible, Bluetooth 5.2, USB-C port; up to 8 hours battery life (headphones)/16 hours (charging case); IPX4 rating Your one-stop shop for controlling the earbuds is Sony’s fully featured Headphones Connect app The latest model in Sony’s WF-1000 line of true wireless earbuds are smaller, lighter and greener than ever – oh, and the XM4 also sound even more articulate and immediate than the model they replace. Compared to their predecessors, the XM3, the new earbuds offer enough features to make them worth upgrading to, even if they are slightly more expensive. A more compact design means they’re more comfortable and easier to carry around, while the app makes it simple to adjust controls and EQ settings.…

> £379 > FROM ViewSonic, viewsonic.com > FEATURES 2560x1440px IPS, USB-C, 2x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 2x USB-A, USB 3.0 B, Ethernet An excellent screen for creative colour work and an excellent partner for a MacBook Pro ViewSonic’s VP2768a is part of the company’s ColorPro Professional line of displays. It is a widescreen 2K display with a native resolution of 2560x1440 pixels and a rotating mount that can turn the screen 90° to a vertical position in either direction. It has a slim, neat bezel around the display itself, and the stand is sturdy without feeling bulky. The stand has a tilt range of 26°, swivels through 120°, and the height can adjust through 130mm. The VP2768a also includes a wealth of connectivity options, including two HDMI 1.4 ports, two DisplayPort…

> £29.45 FROM Bombich Software Inc, bombich.com > NEEDS macOS 10.15 or later Even if you’re happy with your backup software, CCC’s cloning and snapshot tools are compelling When Apple killed off its Time Capsule devices, backing Macs up fell into a void. Apple’s own Time Machine languished in Catalina, and competitors such as Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) stood up. With Big Sur, the game has changed again: Apple decided Time Machine would at last back up to APFS volumes, and it does so excellently, but making copies of the new sealed System volume wasn’t going to be useful – or even possible until recently – any more. Carbon Copy Cloner version 6 is Mike Bombich’s riposte: near-infinite flexibility against Time Machine’s rigid hourly schedule; navigators, audit and information before,…

The PowerBook 100 series of portable computers from Apple was launched in October 1999. Unlike its predecessor, the Mac Portable, the PowerBook was (relatively) lightweight, and easy to carry, with the team behind it reportedly determined to keep the weight to under 3.6kg. It came in three versions, the 100, 140, and 170. They all had an eye-catching trackball built in, a feature then not offered by PC rivals. Only the top-end 170 model had an active-matrix display though. The product was granted a marketing budget of just $1 million by then CEO John Sculley. This was mostly spent on deploying the advertising firm behind the famous 1984 advert to create a spot featuring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The former basketball star is crammed on to a plane but pulls out his…

The next iPhone is only a few short months away, but we may already know a thing or two about what to expect. Here, we have collated together all the key news and rumours. We should probably start with the name, as this is a little contentious. According to Taiwan’s Economic Daily News (EDN), the next iPhone will be dubbed the iPhone 13. There has been plenty of speculation that Apple might instead opt to call the device the iPhone 12s, apparently to allay the worries of superstitious users, but those claims now look to be in doubt. The EDN report also noted Apple will release four variants with the same screen sizes as the current iPhone 12 range. That means a 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini, 6.1-inch iPhone 13 and…

Editing reams of images individually can quickly become a chore, especially if they all need to be edited in the same way. There’s no need to struggle on, though, as Realmac’s Squash has had a significant update to version 3, and can do the hard work for you. Just drag and drop your images into Squash, tell it what to do, then let it get started. It’s super simple to use – perfect for when you’re trying to get a tedious task done quickly. The latest update brings a new design, preset actions, straightforward file name workflows, plus a host of new tools. It also integrates photo filters from Realmac’s Analog app, works with multiple files at once, and can now convert HEIC files into more universally compatible extensions like…

11,289,600 Total number of pixels in the iMac’s 4.5K Retina display, which has a resolution of 4480x2520 at 218 pixels per inch. 2TB Maximum amount of solid-state storage available on the M1 iMac, although most models ship with a 256GB or 512GB SSD. 40Gb/s Maximum data transfer speed of the iMac’s two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports. Step-up models have two USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports offering up to 10Gb/s. 11.5mm Depth of the iMac’s super-slim chassis, which houses the entire computer and its display inside its slender frame. 16 The number of cores in the M1’s Neural Engine. The iMac can also be specced with an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU as well as up to 16GB of memory, all mounted on a single System on Chip (SoC). 100% The…

Portraits and landscapes are common subjects, but it can be a challenge to capture these shots well. When look at a snap of a landscape, it rarely lives up to our memory of the scene. This can be because our peripheral vision takes in a wider field of view than the iPhone’s lens, especially in a 4:3 shaped photo. To capture more of a landscape, you can set the Camera app to the Pano shooting mode. This enables you to pan the iPhone left to right (or right to left by tapping the arrow icon) to include more of the landscape. As you pan, the Camera app stitches the video feed together to produce a wider panoramic image. However, the hit-and-miss Pano mode can lead to some ugly artefacts. If…

1 Go Live In the Camera app’s Photo mode, tap the Live icon to activate Live Photo. Hold the iPhone steady and tap the shutter button to record a three-second clip of a moving object such as a train. Snap a couple of shots for safety. 2 Choose effect In the iOS Photos app, tap Albums. Swipe down to media Types and tap on Live Photos. Tap to view your shot. Swipe up to view Effects, such as Loop and Bounce. Swipe left then tap on the Long Exposure effect. 3 Motion blur After applying the Long Exposure effect, swipe up to see the edited image. Only the moving subject (such as a train) should appear motion-blurred. Static objects like the background should remain nice and sharp.…

1 Favourites The fastest way to sort the ‘wheat from the chaff’ is to tap the heart-shaped Favourite icon. You can do this in the iPhone or Mac version of Photos. Click on the Favourites category to display all favourited files. 2 Albums Photos mimics the traditional way of storing photos by enabling you to place them in albums. Choose File > New Album. Name the album. You can then drag relevant photos to the album in the My Albums panel. 3 Get smart Choose File > New Smart Album. Label the album. From the menu choose a property for Photos to look for, such as Keyword or Camera Model. Photos will automatically gather shots that meet your criteria. 4 Making memories Photos automatically gathers some images into collections based…

Luminar AI £79 FROM skylum.com Luminar uses machine learning to recommend a suitable template (or file) for each image (such as a portrait or landscape). It also enables you to quickly and creatively enhance a landscape by adding a new sky (without needing to be a compositing master). You can also summon it as a Photos extension. DxO PhotoLab 4 £89.99 FROM dxo.com PhotoLab 4 uses machine learning to remove noise and colour fringing (chromatic aberration) while preserving important details. A powerful Control Point tool enables you to make selective adjustments to a sampled circular region. The downside is its inability to read Apple ProRAW files. Lightroom Classic £9.98 per month FROM adobe.com If you have multiple hard drives containing thousands of old DSLR photos, Lightroom Classic will help you…

In the last few months, we have focused on creating and recording music on your Mac, but what about performing? Whether you’re a rock band or a bedroom techno overlord your Mac can be a really powerful tool when you want to play live. In this tutorial, we’ll look at two big-name apps, Apple’s Logic Pro and Ableton Live. They aren’t the only options – most loop-based music apps can happily play live too – but they’re the most popular choices. Ableton is a familiar sight on big stages; unlike Logic it was created specifically for live performance. But with the arrival of Live Loops, Logic has now caught up. Taking it to the stage Apple has another app for live performance called MainStage, which enables you to bring all…

1 Open image Choose File > New from Photos. Give permission for Pixelmator to access your Photos library. Browse to an image in Photos. In the Tools sidebar, click on the Color Adjustments icon. Scroll down and turn on Custom LUT. 2 Explore LUTs LUTs are gathered in five categories, such as Duotone or Cinematic LUTs. As you move the cursor over each LUT, you’ll see a preview of how an LUT will alter the image’s colours, tones and texture. Click to apply the LUT. 3 Customize LUT Here we’ve applied the Cinematic 04 LUT. Drag the Intensity slider to 75% to reduce the effect. For a more analogue look, turn on Vignette. Set Exposure to 30%. Set Softness to 20%. Turn on Grain for a more filmic look. 4…

One of the best things about using a Mac is the way it works seamlessly with other Apple devices in all kinds of ways. Apple collectively calls the features that make it easy to switch between Mac, iPhone and iPad ‘Continuity’. Perhaps the best-know Continuity feature is Handoff, which enables you to start using an app on one device and pick up exactly where you left off on a different device. However, Handoff is only one element of Continuity… Other features include Continuity Camera, which allows you to use your iPhone’s camera to scan documents to your Mac, or take photos, controlled from your Mac, and Instant Hotspot, which allows you to connect your Mac to your iPhone Personal Hotspot and use its mobile data network connection. The ability to…

1 Set up Continuity Markup Your Mac will need to be running macOS 10.15 or later, and mobile device iPadOS or iOS 13 or later. You’ll need Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on and be signed in to iCloud. Continuity works with most Apple and some third-party apps. 2 Choose a doc to markup On your Mac, locate the image or PDF you want to mark up. Control-click on it in the Finder and choose Quick Actions > Markup. You can also invoke Quick Look, click Annotate, and then the device icon at the right of the toolbar. 3 Annotate the document A window will open on your device. Use an Apple Pencil or your finger to annotate it, or tap ‘+’ to access more Markup tools. When you’re finished, tap Done.…

1 Sign up and install Create an account on getpocket.com. Once logged in, you will see any saved articles on your homepage. On the App Store, install the Save to Pocket extension for Safari. This adds a button to the left of Safari’s URL bar. 2 Start saving Every time you visit an article you want to save, click Pocket’s Safari button and you’ll find it is added to your account. Alternatively, copy an article URL, then click the ‘+’ on Pocket’s dashboard, paste it, then click Add. 3 Formatted for reading Saved stories strip out most of the original formatting, instead grabbing the text and any images embedded in the article. Although it’s not perfect 100% of the time, this approach helps you focus on enjoying the story. 4…

1 Use the side button On Apple Watch, activate Emergency SOS by pressing and holding the side button. Swipe across the last option to use Emergency SOS and place a call. If you don’t have a cellular Apple Watch, your iPhone must be nearby. 2 Fall Detection Fall Detection works on Apple Watch Series 4 or later and requires Wrist Detection. If you fall, it will sound an alarm and start Emergency SOS. If it detects that you haven’t moved for a minute, it will call for you. 3 End a call If you accidentally start a call, you can end it by tapping the red End Call button, then Yes. You can choose whether to still send a message to your emergency contacts regardless of whether the call goes…

For some music listeners, records are ancient artefacts like floppy disks Apple Music is a wonderful service. It’s the ultimate jukebox, the greatest ever music collection, an alwayson, always-updated compendium of the most exciting artists of all time. But sometimes we can’t help feeling that it’s maybe a little too modern, a little too shiny, a little too digital. Remember the feeling when you pressed play on a tape deck or dropped the needle onto a vinyl record? For some Apple Music users, the answer is no: physical music formats are historical artefacts, just like floppy disks, monocles and unicycles. But there’s something magical about music on vinyl, and Vinyls attempts to transfer that magic to the world of digital music. It’s a great interface for your Apple Music albums…

1 Setup made easy With your HomePod mini connected to the mains and powered on, bring your iPhone close to it. You’ll need to have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled for this to work. Your HomePod mini will now appear on your iPhone’s screen. 2 Choose a location Next, choose a room where the HomePod mini is located. There are 13 named locations to choose from (Kitchen, Living Room, etc), although unlike the AirTags there’s no Custom option for entering a more bespoke name. 3 Transfer your details After a few more steps, it’s time to link the HomePod mini to your Apple ID. In the Accounts and Settings screen, tap Transfer Settings. This lets the HomePod join your Wi-Fi network, and transfer your iCloud, iTunes and Apple Music settings.…

HomePod mini comes into its own when you use it with Siri – say “Hey Siri” then the command you wish it to carry out. Examples include: “Hey Siri, turn it up”, “Hey Siri, turn the volume down”, “Hey Siri, next song”. You can also issue more complex commands like “Hey Siri, play my workout playlist in the living room” or “Hey Siri, play Billie Eilish everywhere”. One of the best features is Intercom. If you have multiple Apple device users in your home, you can say things like “Hey Siri, Intercom everyone, dinner is ready” and everyone will get the message.…

1 Magnetic charging The first-gen’s Lightning charging involved sticking a pencil into your iPad’s charging port – which felt like a broken connector waiting to happen. The second-gen doesn’t have any connectors – it uses MagSafe-style inductive charging when you magnetically attach it to a compatible iPad. 2 Tap sensor The second-gen Apple Pencil doesn’t have buttons; inside it has a tap sensor that can detect a tap or doubletap. In Apple apps, doubletapping near the tip switches back to the tool you used last; you can configure this in Settings > Apple Pencil. Third-party drawing or notes apps offer different options. 3 Tilt and pressure sensors Sensors inside the Apple Pencil can identify the angle you’re holding it at and how hard you’re pressing down. That’s useful for drawing…

Keeping the dream alive > Got a first-gen Apple TV? Apple may have deemed it obsolete, but jailbreaking it and using Rowmote (regularrateandrhythm.com) can get you remote access with an iPhone, AirPlay control, as well as certain third-party apps which make it at least partially useful as a second-TV streamer even today. Don’t expect improved resolution or super-fast speed, though. It is what it is. Apple’s involvement in the TV game had been a long time coming. The company had dabbled with TV-adjacent devices in the past, of course, but to limited success. Whether or not you think 1993’s TV tunere-quipped Macintosh TV counts (with only 10,000 sold, we’ll admit its relevance would be a stretch even if it’d been a runaway success), the justified bomb of the Apple Bandai…

> IN PRINT > ON iPAD & iPHONE ISSUE 367 AUGUST 2021 > 57 amazing Apple projects > NEW APPLE KIT TESTED: iMac 24in, iPad Pro 12.9in, Apple TV 4K > What’s coming in macOS Monterey ISSUE 366 JULY 2021 > Say hello to the new iMac! > Meet the all-new M1 iPad Pro > PLUS: iPadOS 14 tips and tricks > AirTag: Apple’s new tracker on test ISSUE 365 JUNE 2021 > Big Sur secrets revealed! > Our predictions for Apple kit > Ultimate guide: make music on Mac > How to improve AirPods audio To order back issues of the print magazine, go to bit.ly/macformat_backissues or phone +44 (0)330 333 1113 and we’ll post them out to you. Download back issues onto your iOS device at any time…

> £279 FROM Amazon, amazon.co.uk FEATURES Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), dual-band 2.4GHz/5GHz, 1.2GHz, quad-core processor, 4GB flash memory, 512MB flash storage, 2x Gigabit Ethernet ports The 1,800Mbps speed should be fast enough for streaming on most broadband connections Eero is now owned by Amazon, and rather than being ‘version 6’ as the name suggests, the eero 6 is the first model to introduce Wi-Fi 6 technology (aka 802.11ax). At just £279 for a three-piece kit, you get a primary router and two ‘extenders’, which provide dual-band Wi-Fi 6 capable of covering homes up to 5,000sq ft in size. There are plenty of faster mesh systems available (including the tri-band eero 6 Pro), but the eero 6 stands out as being one of the most affordable mesh systems to offer Wi-Fi 6,…

Group test ON TEST… > Audio Pro C3 > Bose Portable Smart Speaker > JBL Link Portable > Sonos Move > Soundcore Motion+ > Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 2 As listening habits have changed in recent years, more of our music than ever is streamed from the cloud or a portable device. Being able to play your music outdoors – be it in the garden for a party, or in the park while working out – no longer requires the kinds of trade-offs it used to. Ranging from ultra-portable to more audiophile-friendly, modern Bluetooth speakers have really upped their game when it comes to things like battery life, volume, audio fidelity, and even waterproofing. A portable speaker connects to your iPhone or iPad and Macs directly over Bluetooth, and in some…

> £59.99/year (1 device); £79.99/year 3 devices) > FROM F-Secure, f-secure.com > NEEDS macOS 10.11 or later TOTAL’s ‘bonus’ tools are a password manager and VPN software TOTAL is F-Secure’s top-of-the-line security product for Mac, and comprises three products, which you install separately. F-Secure SAFE offers core antivirus protection, backed up with ransomware protection, browsing and banking protection, and parental controls. It’s easy to install, and steps you through the process of giving the app the access it requires. The main interface is straightforward, but bare. Configuration is virtually non-existent – a stark contrast to the likes of Bitdefender and Norton. There are just two types of virus scan: full or ‘choose what to scan’. Most other controls are on/off with a handful of advanced controls buried in the app’s…

> £4.99/month (Apple Arcade) > FROM Mistwalker Corporation, mistwalkercorp.com > NEEDS macOS 11 or later As you journey through the game, you gain new abilities, and fight new foes Apple says it will not merge iOS and macOS because the combined result will be too compromised in order to work on both platforms. Fantasian is the perfect example of Apple’s thinking. Apple Arcade games like Fantasian must run on the smallest iPhone and the largest iMac, pushing developers to make compromises and resulting in something that is fatally flawed. On paper, Fantasian seems like a classic Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) in the mould of Monster Hunter or Final Fantasy. You play as Leo, a dead ringer for 2B from Nier Automata minus the blindfold, who has lost his memories and…

The MacBook Pro has been doing the rounds of the rumour mill for months, with a wide-ranging redesign highly anticipated, but it looks like we will have even longer to wait for it to arrive. Several leakers and analysts have posited that the new laptops will be launched around late summer or early autumn, where before they were expected around the middle of the year. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has said that the MacBook Pro is coming “later this year”. He previously stated it would launch in summer, which runs until 21 September; that lines up with a new report from DigiTimes, which claims we should expect a reveal in the third quarter of 2021, which runs from 1 July until 30 September. There are dissenting voices. Taiwan’s Economic Daily…

Looking forward to experiencing some of the new features in Apple’s upcoming software for iPhone, iPad and Mac? You’re in luck, because Apple has launched the public betas of iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey, full of updates and new tools for your devices. Be warned, though, that since these are all beta versions, they will contain bugs and unexpected behaviour, so make sure you back up first and do not install them on your primary devices lest something goes wrong. All three operating systems contain features that emphasise cross-compatibility and shared working. For example, SharePlay is a new tool to help you share content with other people on a FaceTime call. In the beta it only works with Apple’s TV and Music apps, but Apple is letting third-party…

For our latest subscription offer see page 34! One of the major strategic shifts undertaken by Apple is offering an increasing range of services alongside the hardware it has long be known for. Apple TV+, launched in November 2019, gets much of the publicity thanks to the presence of global superstars (Oprah, Prince Harry, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon…) and breakout shows (Ted Lasso, Defending Jacob). However, there is much more to Apple’s service ecosystem, with offerings covering everything from storage to music to fitness. It’s certainly comprehensive, which can all leave you wondering what-is-what, and what is worth spending money on. Apple TV+ Apple TV+ launched in 2019, with the television and movie streaming service attracting inevitable comparisons with the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. There is, however,…

Low-light locations can be a challenge for photographers. The built-in flash only has a short range and tends to create washed out foreground subjects against jet-black backgrounds. And the use of flash is often forbidden in locations such as museums and churches. The 12 Pro’s LiDAR scanner helps the camera focus in low light without having to zap a blast of flash on your subject. The 12 Pro’s Wide lens can also open the aperture to f/1.6 which lets in more light than its other lenses. By letting in more light, a lower ISO speed is required to expose the subject, resulting in less noisy (grainy) results. 11 and 12 Pro iPhones can also automatically activate Night mode in low-light locations. This causes the Camera app to use a slower…

Your iPhone doesn’t just take stills. You can also use it to shoot video clips in up to 4K resolution, ‘live’ photos, slo-mo clips, time-lapses and more. The iPhone 12 models can also shoot video in a High Dynamic Range (HDR) Dolby Vision format. This new 10-bit format enables you to capture clips with a wider contrast range and more detail and colour than you’ll see in the 8-bit SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) clips captured by older iPhone models. To activate HDR, go to Settings > Camera and tap on Record Video. Toggle on the HDR Video (High Efficiency) option. Choose a size such as 1080p HD. When you switch to the Camera app’s Video mode, you’ll see an HD icon at the top left (when shooting in horizontal landscape…

1 Wide-angle woes When shooting a time-lapse using the Ultra Wide lens, you may notice perspective distortion that causes vertical lines to converge towards the top of the frame. A tripod-mounted iPhone’s horizon may be tilted too. 2 Straighten horizon Tap the Edit button followed by the Crop tool icon. This gives you access to a Straighten tool. Drag the Straighten tool’s slider to counteract the tilted horizon. A Rule of Thirds overlay grid will appear to help you get a perfectly straight horizon. 3 Perspective distortion Tap the vertical perspective control icon and swipe to make the building’s converging vertical lines run parallel with the edge of the frame. Drag the clip to make sure that the top of the building remains in shot. 4 Improve exposure If a…

On the whole, the iPhone excels at capturing detail in both shadows and highlights. It can also reproduce accurate colours in various lighting conditions. However, you may still run into exposure problems in contrasting light, leading to shots where the sky is overexposed or the shadows are underexposed. As different light sources produce different colour temperatures, your photos may suffer from cold or warm colour casts as well as green/magenta tints. You may also notice unwanted objects or annoyingly tilted horizons. Fortunately, the Photos app has most of the tools you’ll need to overcome typical pic problems. As well as improving your shot, the Photos app boasts filters that can help to make your images stand out in social media feeds. The macOS version has more tools than the iOS…

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1 Prepare your project You can access Live Loops from within an existing Logic Pro X project or you can start a new one via the Choose A Project window. There’s also a good Live Loops tutorial in the Tutorials section here. Let’s start a new Live Loops project. 2 Add a loop The grid in the centre is where loops live, organised by instrument just as tracks are in a normal Logic Project. This time, though, they’re also organised by columns. To add a loop, drag it from the Loop Browser to the appropriate square. 3 Add some variety Each column can contain multiple loops, so you might have the first for your intro, the second for your verse, and so on. You can adjust how loops behave –…

While many of us have been working predominantly from home over the last 12 months, Microsoft Teams hasn’t had quite the same profile of Zoom or Skype. That said, it has been crucial for many companies and large organisations in keeping people connected and working together; schools in particular have been using it as a platform for accessible home learning. Teams isn’t just for business and education, though… Microsoft is pushing to make Teams popular among friends and families as an alternative to Zoom, Skype, and Apple’s FaceTime. As such, it’s currently free to download and use, without the need for an Office 365 subscription – though you will need to create a Microsoft account if you don’t already have one. Extra features Along with the ability to send text…

1 Get set up Make sure both your Mac and mobile device have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on and signed into the same iCloud account. Continuity Camera works in Finder, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Notes, Mail, Messages, and TextEdit. 2 Choose your application control-click in a document in the app you want to import the photo to, or on the Desktop, and choose Import from iPhone > Take Photo. To scan a document, choose Import from iPhone > Scan Documents. 3 Take the photo Point your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch at the subject or document you’re scanning and tap the shutter button. Tap Use Photo. The photo will appear in the application on your Mac or on the Desktop if you were in the Finder.…

The three examples of Continuity we’ve covered here only scratch the surface of what this group of features can do. Some of the other elements of Continuity are familiar, such as AirDrop, and using Apple Pay on your Mac and authenticating on iPhone or Apple Watch. Others are less obvious – auto-unlocking your Mac with an Apple Watch, for example. Then there’s Continuity Sketch, that enables you to sketch on an iOS device into a document on your Mac, and Sidecar, with which you can use an iPad as a second display or graphics tablet.…

No one wants to be in an emergency, but if things wind up that way, your iPhone and Apple Watch can offer a lifeline in the form of Emergency SOS. This calls the emergency services when you really need them and provides vital information like your location and medical details. It’s easy to activate and could save your life. Emergency SOS usually needs a signal. If you do not have any, you must be connected to a Wi-Fi network and have Wi-Fi calling enabled in Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling. Make sure this is sorted before you need it. Emergency SOS gets even more useful with an Apple Watch. If you fall, it can call the emergency services with an automated message that explains your situation, gives your location…

1 iPhone settings In the iPhone’s Settings app, tap Emergency SOS. You can choose to use the side button as an activator, allow automatic emergency calls, disable the alert sound, and go to the Health app’s emergency contacts section. 2 Apple Watch settings For Apple Watch, open the Watch app on your iPhone, then tap Emergency SOS on the My Watch tab. This lets you enable or disable Fall Detection, and choose whether holding the side button initiates Emergency SOS. 3 Share Medical ID To share your Medical ID, open the Health app on your iPhone and tap your profile icon > Medical ID > Edit, then ensure Show When Locked is enabled. In Emergency SOS, drag the Medical ID slider to display your info.…

1 Give permission Vinyls needs your permission for two things: to connect to other devices such as your Apple TV, and to connect to your Music app and Apple Music account. Vinyls doesn’t currently support other music streaming services. 2 Pick a song Vinyls looks similar to the Music app – the sidebar shows playlists, artists and albums; the currently selected playlist is in a second panel, then the selected song is in the main window. You can swipe the playlist sidebar in and out. 3 Pick your player There are lots of options in the Settings section, including some useful ones for people who need to reduce motion. The first section of Settings is all about the visuals: you can choose what bits you’d like to see on screen.…

1 Play music from iPhone To play music from your iPhone, open the Music app, then tap a track or playlist. On the playback screen, tap the AirPlay icon, then choose your HomePod mini from the list of available AirPlay devices. This also works from Control Centre. 2 Play music from Mac It’s the same process on your Mac. Open the Music app, choose a track or playlist, then tap the AirPlay icon (top right) and choose your HomePod mini from the list of AirPlay devices. You can adjust the volume level here too. 3 Stream from elsewhere While the HomePod mini works best with Apple Music and iTunes purchases, it also supports third-party music services such as Spotify. To do that on iPhone, say “Hey Siri, play music from…

Emmy awards > Apple’s first two Emmys came from hardware, and its third, in 2018, from its involvement in James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke. Since the launch of Apple TV+ it has earned a Primetime gong for Billy Crudup’s performance in The Morning Show, Daytime Emmys for Ghostwriter and Peanuts in Space, and 25 nominations in the most recent Daytime round. Tim Cook was somewhat more effusive of Apple TV at Apple’s September 2015 special event. “This is the new Apple TV,” he said, revealing the fourth-generation Apple TV, “and we believe it is the future of television.” Through the lens of today, you’d have to agree that Apple was more on the mark: the newest Apple TV then was not only powerful enough to support 1080p content at 60fps, it…

Keynote’s templates are things of beauty and make it really stand out from presentations created using other tools. They vary from text-only minimalist designs to those that incorporate large photographs and textures. Templates are split into different categories so whether you’re presenting a dissertation to your tutor, a new product idea to the company board, or the results of your genealogy research to friends and family, there’s a template to suit. In the example we’ll use to get started with Keynote, we’ll be pitching an idea for a new garden design. The presentation will use lots of images and its success will rely on persuading our target audience that the proposals will not only look fantastic but be functional and suit the environment and climate. We’ll start by choosing a…

BUYING ADVICE Our authoritative reviews help you make more informed choices > Our ratings > Our reviews are totally independent; we’re not affiliated with Apple or anyone else, nor are we influenced by advertisers. > A truly exceptional product. Award given solely at the discretion of the editor. > The best example of its kind when pitted against comparable products. > A brilliant thing > Strongly recommended > Worth considering > Notable flaws > A waste of your money Contact us > Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com…

> £49.99 FROM rapoo-eu.com FEATURES Full-size wireless keyboard with numeric keypad, navigation keys, media controls: wireless four-button mouse with scroll wheel; Bluetooth, USB-A The slimline keyboard feels a little sturdier than Apple’s keyboard Apple’s keyboards and mice always seem to be overpriced and overdesigned – they look smart, but they’re not particularly comfortable, and not necessarily sturdy enough to cope if you’re a bit heavy-handed and/or working all day long. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of alternatives and, while Rapoo isn’t exactly a household name, its 9500M keyboard and mouse combo provides an affordable alternative to Apple’s designer devices. Priced at just £49.99, the 9500M combo includes a compact mouse and a full-size keyboard with numeric keypad, navigation keys and controls for media playback and volume. Apple charges £129 for its…

The differences in price between the speakers has less to do with sound quality and more with smart features. They all sound really good, but if you want voice control and cloud streaming you’re going to pay more. The snag is that those features and AirPlay require you to be on a Wi-Fi network. While that’s fine for your garden, being away from your Wi-Fi means relying on a Bluetooth connection. The Sonos Move, JBL Link Portable, Audio Pro C3 and Bose Portable Home Speaker are all web-connected, with the C3 and Move in particular having the widest feature sets although also being the largest of the bunch. The Bose is a great balance of portability and features, but at a price. With an honourable mention for the affordable and…

Down Dog > Free (offers in-app purchases) > FROM Yoga Buddhi Co, downgoapp.com > NEEDS iOS 9.3 or later Content variety Down Dog offers 11 yoga styles, and these can be augmented with Boosts that focus on one area of your body. The duration of each workout can be adjusted, and you can tweak the amount of instruction, music, pace, and even video quality. The app lacks themed workouts and plans, though. Ease of use Getting started is super simple – just choose what you want and get stuck in. Because there are no predefined workouts, there is no catalogue to browse, with everything instead focused on the home screen. That limits what you can do but also means you are never overwhelmed. Value for money Down Dog’s premium subscription…

> DESKTOP SPEAKER Ruark MR1 £329.99 ruarkaudio.com > Winner of MF357’s head to head, the MR1 speaker set looks and sounds the business. The dome tweeter and long-throw woofer can handle a variety of audio styles with aplomb. You get a good variety of connectivity options, and we love the chunky function/volume dial too. NEW > IN-EAR WIRLESS EARPHONES Sony WF-1000XM4 £250 sony.co.uk > The WF-1000XM4 are slightly smaller than their predecessor and the case is 40% smaller – and more eco-friendly. The true wireless earbuds have a good audio ability, support voice-assistant control and the Headphones Connect app provides lots of customisation and ease of use. As well as LDAC, the WF-1000XM4 are compatible with SBC and AAC codecs. > KEYBOARD (MAC/iOS) Logitech MX Keys For Mac £99.99 logitech.com…