Innehållsförteckning för January 2023 från MacFormat

Scan here to get the latest tech news in your inbox! If you’re lucky enough to get a new Mac, iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch this Christmas, you may be wondering how to move all your data across on to your new device. Luckily, in this month’s lead feature (p20), you’ll be able to discover exactly how to do that – whether you’re moving from an older Apple device, a Windows PC or an Android phone or tablet. Talking of tablets (and new devices), turn to page 78 and you’ll be able to read in-depth reviews of the M2-powered 12.9in iPad Pro, the entry-level iPad 10.9in and the new Apple TV 4K, which now sports an A15 Bionic chip and more storage, and remains by far the best media streamer…

> £1,229 > From dji.com > Aregular drone is a great way to get a new perspective on the world, but nothing beats the immersion of a first-person-view (FPV) drone. These devices let you don a headset and see through the on-board camera, putting you in the middle of the action. DJI’s new Avata is just such a drone. It records in 4K resolution and 60fps for smooth, high-res footage, and its 155° field of view means you won’t miss anything on your flight. It’s small and rugged, letting it fit into the smallest gaps and survive bumps and bruises. There’s also a DJI Motion Controller that enables you to steer the drone with a twist of your wrist or squeeze on its trigger. That makes it easy to…

There are lots of ways to move to a new Mac, and one of the easiest is to clone your existing one. This creates a perfect copy of your current Mac’s system, data and all your files, and it’s straightforward. All you need is a decent amount of external storage and a cloning app. We particularly rate Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper! (see below), both of which make it exceptionally easy to clone some or all of your Mac system. Just make sure both Macs are running the same version of macOS. Before you consider cloning, though, it’s a very good idea to do some housekeeping so that any messy bits from your old Mac don’t make it across to your new one. A good place to start is in…

For those who’ve used Apple’s Migration Assistant to move everything from an old Mac to a new one, all your apps, customisation and settings should have migrated too – so you’ll have the correct account details in Mail, your purchased content in iTunes or Music, and messages should up and running. If you’re already a Mac user, chances are you’re using iCloud for a lot of things: synchronising Safari bookmarks and settings, contacts, calendars, passwords stored in Keychain and Photos too. You may be using iCloud Drive and iCloud Mail too. If you are, great; as soon as your new Mac is logged into iCloud, it should start synchronising all of that data. If you’re migrating manually, however, or if you’re coming from a Windows PC rather than a Mac,…

NEW IDEAS Your in-depth guide to getting more from your Apple kit Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com Master Apple shortcuts macOS > is the Command key, which is also labelled cmd. > å means the Option key, labelled alt or opt. > ≈ means the Control key, labelled ctrl, and shown as ^ in shortcuts in the menu bar. > ß is the Shift key. > ∫ is the Delete key, which deletes to the left. ƒ+∫ deletes to the right. > † is the Tab key, which shifts the focus between some controls. iOS > A tap is a brief contact of (usually) one finger on your device’s screen. > To drag is to move a finger across the screen to scroll or pan…

1 Preview image > You’ll see a preview of your camera image before you confirm. 2 Mute or no image > You can mute the mic or turn off the camera before completing a switch. 3 Switch or Join > On the Mac, the Switch command is replaced by a Join button. 4 Invite everyone > You can invite others by sharing a link before confirming the switch. IT WILL TAKE > 30 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to use Handoff during a FaceTime call YOU’LL NEED > macOS 13, iOS 16, iPad OS 16 If you’re using a Bluetooth headset, it will automatically switch devices along with the call, so you don’t miss anything FaceTime, along with its competitors Zoom and Teams, came into its own…

IT WILL TAKE > 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to make tonal adjustments to enhance parts of a landscape YOU’LL NEED > Lightroom, iOS 14 or later Thanks to your iPhone’s Deep Fusion processing powers the Camera app can capture a series of different exposures for brighter and darker parts of the scene and then combine them in a single correctly exposed shot. This should result in a photo that features detail and colour in the shadows, midtones and highlights. However, sometimes you might need to make some manual tweaks to reveal more detail and colour in underexposed shadows or overexposed highlights. Take the shot in step 1 here for example. This was snapped on an iPhone 12 and while the sky looks fine, the building’s details are…

YOU WILL LEARN > What passkeys are, how they work and how to use them “We’ve helped to create a nextgen credential that’s more secure and easier to use.” Key fact > According to Microsoft’s Vasu Jakkal, there are over 921 password attacks every second. What a turnaround. It was only with macOS 13 (Monterey), iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 that Apple added a dedicated Passwords pane to the Mac’s System Preferences and the mobile device’s Settings… But with macOS Ventura, iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, the company is trying to make passwords redundant. Passkeys uses powerful cryptographic techniques and the biometrics built into your device to allow you to log into a website, make an online purchase and anything else that requires a login ID and a password without…

Quick-fire questions > How to remove a scratch in my MacBook’s display? > Apple notebook displays are multilayered structures. You’ll see suggestions of using lightly abrasive paste, or toothpaste, to polish small scratches out, but that invariably makes them worse. The only options are a costly replacement display or living with the mark. How does a screensaver save my iMac’s display? > Screensavers originated with monochrome cathoderay tube (CRT) displays, where over time they could physically destroy themselves. Some claim flat-screen displays aren’t prone to damage from showing the same image for long periods, but they can and do degrade; the changing image in a screensaver can save your display from that ageing. Make a movie from your slideshow Q After upgrading to Ventura, my M1 MacBook Air has gone…

When Apple launcched Find My iPhone12 years ago it was a revolutionary idea, if fairly limited in terms of features. The idea was that using an app on an iOS device, or by logging into iCloud on a computer, you could identify the exact location of an iPhone, iPod, or iPad that was connected to your account. You could then have the device play a sound, lock it with a passcode, or erase all contents and settings on the device if it had been lost or stolen. A year later, Find My iPhone was joined by Find My Friends, which enabled you to share your location with friends or family members, either temporarily or permanently. Skip forward a decade and the Find My app is now on Mac, iOS and…

> From £149 > FROM apple.com/uk > FEATURES A15 Bionic chip, 64GB (Wi-Fi model) or 128GB of storage (Wi-Fi+Ethernet model), Wi-Fi 6 (aka 802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.0, 1x HDMI 2.1 port, 1x Gigabit Ethernet port (Wi-Fi+Ethernet model only), Siri Remote There are a number of enhancements that make it better value While Macs, iPhone and iPads all seem to have got a lot more expensive, there’s one thing that hasn’t; and that’s Apple’s black box media streamer, the Apple TV. Now starting at £149, the new third-gen Apple TV 4K is £20 cheaper than before, as is the step-up model at £169. While perhaps seemingly little has changed, the Apple TV 4K (2022) actually contains a number of enhancements that also make it better value than before. Now sporting the same…

£19.49 FROM cultofthelamb.com NEEDS OS X 10.9 or later The game makes it very clear that you are to be as dastardly as possible MAC FORMAT VERDICT ›Cult of the Lamb is a fanatically good recruit-’em-up. ★★★★★ +Fascinating world and premise +Gorgeous graphics +Fun combat +Multilayered base building In an alternate reality, where animals rule the world, your cutesy I cartoon lamb protagonist smiles as it disposes of unbelievers, desecrates corpses, and recruits new followers to the cult in this indie action-adventure game. The game begins with you being sacrificed to the gods of the Old Faith. In the underworld you are greeted by The One Who Waits, who resurrects you so you can launch a cult in their name and destroy the Old Faith. Back in the land of…

EXPECTED APR 2023 UPDATED APR 2021 iMac From £1,249 Ever since the Bondi Blue iMac debuted in 1998, Apple’s all-in-one desktop computer has been setting standards for design and performance. The current 24in model is certainly Apple’s finest yet – thanks to its 4.5K (4480x2520) Retina display and the Apple-designed M1 chip, which is available with either an 8-core CPU/7-core GPU at the entry-level, or an 8-core CPU/8-core GPU on the mid-range and top-tier versions. All models come with 8GB of memory as standard (upgradeable to 16GB), with solid-state drive (SSD) storage ranging from 256GB on the entry-level and mid-range versions to 512GB on the top tier, although you can add more – up to 1TB on the entry-level and up to 2TB on the mid-range and top-tier models if…

The iPhone 14 family may only be a few months old, but rumours have already started to fly concerning what we could see coming up in the iPhone 15. And if those whispers and stories turn out to be even half true, big changes could really be on the horizon. That said, we’re still a long way from a release date, and many of the predictions may fall by the wayside between now and September 2023. Nonetheless, we’ve rounded up some of the more prominent and reliable iPhone 15 rumours to get an idea of what could be on the way. Further stratification One of the biggest stories surrounding the iPhone 15 line-up is how Apple will likely continue – and perhaps even extend – the differentiation between the Pro…

Apple has built a reputation on the back of its strong stance on privacy, making it a central selling point for its devices and a reason to switch away from rival companies. But a couple of new reports suggest that the company’s privacy credentials might not be quite as strong as previously thought. For starters, security researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry found that Apple’s device analytics contain an identifier that is unique to each iCloud account. This identifier can allegedly be linked to its user, revealing their name, date of birth, email, and other information stored in iCloud. Elsewhere, a freshly filed lawsuit claims Apple devices still collect user data even when people opt out of such collection. Specifically, it claims the ‘Share iPhone/iPad Analytics’ and ‘Allow Apps…

> £339.99 > From brydge.co.uk > Lacking space on your desk? The Brydge ProDock takes the traditional MacBook dock and ramps up the options. It comes with three Thunderbolt 4 ports, three USB-A slots, one USB-C port, a headphone jack, an SD card reader, and an Ethernet port, going way beyond what any MacBook offers. There’s even a 15W MagSafe charger built right in. And it lets you connect up to two 4K monitors to the MacBook Air, something the laptop can’t do natively. So instead of trailing countless cables to your laptop, you just need one for the dock. How’s that for desktop efficiency?…

Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com LETTER OF THE MONTH! ROBBERY & BATTERY As a lifelong Apple fan, I own everything from an iPod touch to a Mac mini M1 and M1 MacBook Air, and enjoy keeping up to date with the latest software and, when I can afford it, hardware. But, for the first time ever, I’ve decided not to buy an Apple product. The product in question is the AirPods. When they first came out I immediately bought a pair and they were everything I could have wished for, great sound and really user friendly. But recently the battery life has decreased to about 30 minutes listening time in one go. Thinking I could easily get the batteries replaced, I visited an Apple Store…

The end of 2022 was a dramatic time for big tech, with the likes of Twitter, Facebook-parent company Meta and others laying off huge numbers of staff as strategies (and owners!) changed. While Apple, at the time of writing, was faring better than most, it was not totally immune to the pressures facing the sector. For one thing, ongoing and tough Covid restrictions in China continued to disrupt iPhone production at the crucial Foxconn factories in the country. There were also reports of a lack of consumer enthusiasm for the iPhone 14 Plus, leading to production cuts of the mid-range device. It is highly likely that Apple will not bother with either the Plus or mini models in future generations of the iPhone as neither sold particularly well. We do…

Windows PCs and Macs run completely different operating systems, so there’s always going to be some adjustment when it comes to moving from PC to Mac. But it’s easier than ever before to move your essential documents, photos and other files from one to the other. In many cases you don’t need to move anything. If your email is Gmail, your messages aren’t stored on your computer; they live in the cloud, and you can access them in Safari just as you did in Edge. You can also add Gmail to the Mail app on macOS by going to Mail > Add Account. It takes about one minute. It’s the same with Google Docs and other cloud-based services. One of the biggest differences when you move from a Windows PC…

Moving to a new iPhone or iPad? Well, there are multiple ways of doing that, too. Whichever option suits you best, it’s a very good idea to ensure that you have a full backup of absolutely everything on your current device before you move to your new one, and that you keep backing up your new device to keep your important data safe. Apple offers two kinds of device backup: wirelessly to iCloud, and via a cable to iTunes or Music, with the backup stored on your Mac. The former is more convenient but you’re limited by the size of your iCloud account, which for nonstudents is 5GB unless you pay for a larger storage capacity or have an Apple One subscription. There is a workaround, though: if you go…

IT WILL TAKE >5 minutes YOU WILL LEARN >How to use Stage Manager YOU’LL NEED >macOS 13 Genius tip! You can have Stage Manager appear in the menu bar if you wish. Go to System Settings > Control Centre > Stage Manager and use the pull-down to set it up. Stage Manager is a brand new way of organising your desktop, which comes to the Mac with macOS Ventura. It’s designed to work hand in hand with existing desktop manager features such as Mission Control, Spaces, Stacks and Finder Tabs, but it works very differently. When you have too many windows open on your Mac, activating Stage Manager pushes them all – except the one you’re currently using – into a column in the left-hand side of the screen, organised…

IT WILL TAKE > 5 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to open and navigate System Settings to configure your Mac YOU’LL NEED > macOS 13 Apple’s ongoing plan to bring its operating systems closer together and form a single all-purpose ecosystem took another step forward with macOS Ventura, as System Preferences got an iOS-inspired makeover. Now called System Settings, it functions in much the same way as the old System Preferences, but instead of being arranged in a grid of preference panes, it’s now far more like the Settings app in iOS and iPadOS, with a long list of individual settings options. In macOS, this list is set into a sidebar, with the settings options themselves in the main window. Unlike Apple’s mobile devices, it doesn’t offer settings for…

IT WILL TAKE > 20 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to use the new dictation features on iPhone and iPad YOU’LL NEED > iOS/iPadOS 16 Genius tip! As well as tapping the microphone in the text box in Messages, you can tap the microphone next to the keyboard to start dictating. We’ve long been able to dictate text in iOS, whether it’s in Messages, Mail, or any other app where we would normally type. However, in iOS 16, dictation has been significantly improved. It now punctuates automatically, using the context of what you’re typing and the pauses in your speech to determine whether to add a comma, full stop or other punctuation mark. You can, however, still manually punctuate by dictating the name of the punctuation you want to…

Quick-fire questions > Why am I asked to give an app keychain access? > Some apps need to access passwords or certificates stored in your Mac’s keychains. Their documentation should explain why, and their request should make clear what they want to access. If you’re uncertain whether it’s genuine or fake, click on Deny. How to securely store details of bank accounts? > Ventura provides two ways of storing notes in complete security. The traditional method is to add a secure note to your login keychain, using Keychain Access. New are secure notes in the Notes app: you can now lock any note using either your login or a different password, and that note can be shared in iCloud. Can’t add cards to Apple Pay Q After I solved…

> From £499 > apple.com/uk > FEATURES 10.9in Liquid Retina display (2360x1640 pixels), A14 Bionic chip (6-core CPU, 4-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine), up to 256GB of storage, 12MP Wide camera, Landscape 12MP Ultra Wide front camera, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax Wi-Fi), Bluetooth 5.2, Touch ID, up to 10 hours’ battery life Apple is finally consigning the wide bezels of the previous generation to history Apple’s most affordable iPad has been given a big makeover, bringing it into line with the iPad Air and iPad Pro in terms of design with a bigger, all-screen Liquid Retina display, flat-edged sides and a USB-C port. However, this 10th generation model has also become more expensive with the cheapest model costing £499 as opposed to the previous gen’s original £319 entry point. That’s the…

£86.56 (upgrade for £70.91) FROM adobe.com NEEDS macOS 11, macOS 12 (12.4 or later) The Moving Elements tool explains how to select part of a photo and animate that particular section Photoshop Elements 2023 is designed to help photographers create eye-catching images with the minimum of time and effort. It focuses on overcoming common photo problems such as revealing missing tonal detail or removing unwanted objects. Thanks to the Adobe Sensei AI machine learning technology it also enables you to give your images a creative makeover without requiring years of experience using the full version of Photoshop (Photoshop CC). In times when budgets are tight Photoshop Elements 2023’s one-off purchase price should make it an attractive alternative to Photoshop CC’s rolling monthly subscription costs. Unlike the black and dark…

›Free (with limitations); subscriptions from £1.79/month ›FROM bookfusion.com ›NEEDS iOS 12 or later; iPad OS 12 or later; macOS 11 or later You can link to your Kindle account and import your books When the iPad first launched, it seemed like the perfect platform for reading ebooks that, for whatever reason, weren’t suited to e-ink readers like Amazon’s Kindle. In addition to Apple’s iBooks, as it was at the time, several third-party ebook readers launched and created what seemed to be a vibrant, growing market. And then… nothing. Apple’s app improved and very quickly didn’t just become the standard, it pretty much killed innovation in the ebook space. That might all have changed with BookFusion, however. This ePub and PDF reader and organiser is more flexible and more open…

The nature of open-source software often imparts it with a degree of trust, since users can read its code to check for hidden nasties and subsequently patch them out if they are found. But according to security firm Trend Micro, bad actors have taken open-source app ResignTool and modified it to steal your Keychain data, which can include passwords and credit card info. According to the report, the malware version of ResignTool is frequently distributed on filesharing websites, perhaps targeting users who want to save money by downloading cracked software. That could be a fatal error, however, given how much sensitive data is stored in the Keychain. The researchers advise people to be vigilant when browsing the web, checking that websites they visit are legitimate and avoiding suspicious downloads from…

Ever since Apple switched to its own Arm-powered Apple silicon chips, the company’s Mac division has seen a remarkable uptick in its fortunes, with sales climbing year-on-year. Now, a new report says Arm chips could make up as much as 30% of the entire PC market by 2026. Arm chips were rarely seen until just a couple of years ago. Apple only started selling computers backed by the Arm-based M1 system-ona-chip (SoC) in 2020, but its Arm computers had gobbled up 13.5% of the PC market by the third quarter of 2022, according to research at IDC. But the increase in Arm chips is not entirely down to Apple. Many affordable Chromebooks are powered by Arm SoCs, and while they don’t sell in huge numbers, they’re a notable segment of…

Leica Cine 1 > £TBC > From leica-camera.com > Leica is known for its cameras, but the firm has now found a new area to explore: projectors. The Leica Cine 1 is the company’s first ultra-short-throw laser projector and can beam out 4K images up to 100 inches across without needing a massive distance between itself and the projection surface. It looks classy, incorporating Leica’s renowned design sense into a sleek aluminium body with an automatic dust cover to protect the lens. There’s built-in Dolby Atmos sound too, so it’s also very easy on the ears. Leica has been coy on any further details, but according to The Verge, the company is said to be working on two models: one producing about 2,500 lumens for a 100-inch 4K picture,…

> £599 > From bluesound.com > The Powernode Edge aims to take the agony out of audio by combining amplification, control, and streaming sources into one handy device; all you need to do is add speakers. Its flexibility is key. The Powernode Edge lets you add a set of passive speakers to create a hi–fi system. You could connect it to a wireless subwoofer for a 2.1 stereo system, or let it power a surround-sound setup. The 2x40W amplifier supports hi-res tracks up to 24-bit 192kHz, as well as MQA audio, letting you enjoy original studio masters of your favourite songs.…

When you’re migrating from one computer to another, or from a mobile device to a Mac, the goal is to get up and running on your new Mac with the minimum of fuss in the shortest possible time. Apple goes out of its way to make that process as fast and as fuss-free as possible, and for computer-tocomputer transfers it does that via an app called the Migration Assistant. The Migration Assistant is on every new Mac and can be downloaded to Windows PCs too, and its job is to transfer all the important things from your old computer to your new Mac. It will copy all of your documents and apps, your user accounts and your settings from one Mac to another, and it does a great job of…

IT WILL TAKE > 20 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to use backround sounds YOU’LL NEED > macOS 13 Genius tip! > You can listen to background sounds on and offline. But the first time you choose one, you will have to be online so it can be downloaded. Some of us like to work in complete silence. Many of us don’t. Or can’t. But then we also find music or podcasts distracting. And sometimes, when meditating or just trying to find some stillness during a stressful day, neither absolute silence, nor the stimulus that comes from listening to something with which our brain engages, like music, will do. On these occasions, white noise is often the solution. Soothing background sounds that fill the ears and block out what’s…

IT WILL TAKE > 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to use iOS 16’s new sharing features for your family YOU’LL NEED > iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 Genius tip! The same family set-up feature for iPhone and iPad also works for Apple Watch, enabling you to quickly personalise an Apple Watch for a family member. Apple’s parental control and Family Sharing features are superb, but as they’ve become more comprehensive they’ve also become pretty unwieldy. iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura have changed that, with a brand new Family page in Settings that makes everything simpler. Although most of the changes are in Settings, there are some other useful new ones too. Family members’ Screen Time requests are now sent to their parent or guardian via Messages for…

IT WILL TAKE > 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN > How to personalise your Apple Watch YOU’LL NEED > Apple Watch S4 or later, watchOS 9 Genius tip! > If you use iOS 16’s Focus modes on your iPhone and watch, you can assign different Apple Watch faces to each Focus mode in Settings > Focus. One of our favourite things about watchOS 9 is that you can make customise the way your Apple Watch looks. In addition to four new watch faces – Lunar, Metropolitan, Playtime and the redesigned Astronomy – there are also big improvements to the complications you can use and where you can use them. Complications are little bits of apps – Apple ones and some third-party apps too – that live on your watch face,…

> From £1,249 > apple.com/uk > FEATURES 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display (2732x2048 pixels) with True Tone, M2 chip (8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine), up to 2TB of storage, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi+Cellular option, USB-C port, 12MP Wide camera and 10MP Ultra Wide camera (rear), 12MP Ultra Wide camera (front) There’s no doubt that you’re getting one heck of a tablet for your money Apple’s iPad line-up is arguably better than it’s ever been, delivering class-leading performance from the cheapest model (the new iPad 10.9-inch, reviewed on p82) to the M1 iPad Air (MF377). And now we have the delicious prospect of the first M2-powered iPad in the form of the new iPad Pro. We’re looking at the 12.9-inch iPad Pro here, but both the iPad Pro…

ON TEST… > ASUS ZenWiFi X > Devolo Magic 2 WiFi ne > eero Pro > Google Nest Wi > Linksys Atlas > Netgear Orbi RBK752 Ever struggled to get decent Wi-Fi E coverage throughout your home? If you have dead spots in key areas, or your network is overwhelmed with too many devices trying to stream at once, you need a mesh network. This utilises two or more devices – routers and satellites – to blanket your home in a strong, stable wireless system. Traditionally prices have been prohibitively expensive, but as the technology matures and new options come to market, investing in a mesh network has become increasingly affordable. In this round-up we’ve taken a selection of systems spanning various budgets and technologies, from older Wi-Fi 5 (or…

Free FROM notenik.app NEEDS macOS 10.13 or lateR You can add footnotes, citations, generate a table of contents, and more MAC FORMAT VERDICT Notenik is a great note-taking app for creating libraries of interconnected notes to be shared online, and it’s free! ★★★★☆ +Notes stored as text files -Lots of import and export options +Powerful features -Mac only Notenik is a note-taking app that gives you complete control over N your notes. They are stored in folders as text files and you can access and edit them in any text or Markdown editor. You can sync notes (though only with another Mac, as this is a Mac-only app), but how you choose to do that is on a folder-by-folder basis. For example, you could host one folder, known as a…

You might have heard the news recently that, thanks to an EU Y directive, Apple is going to be forced to ditch the Lightning port and use USB-C instead in its iPhones from 2024 onwards. USB-C makes sense because it’s fast and widely adopted, mostly by Apple itself, who have been a champion of the standard in many of its devices, a bit like it once was for FireWire, an old USB rival that Apple thought was going to set the world alight, but ended up on the scrap heap of history, a monument to Steve Jobs’ hubris. FireWire was supposed to be a moment when the industry came together and produced a collaborative bit of technology that made everybody’s lives better. These days FireWire is all but forgotten, but…