Innehållsförteckning för November 2020 från MacLife

THE OFFICIAL OS X story starts with a cat, but the excitement began with a bear: Kodiak, the $29.95 beta of Mac OS X, which introduced the new OS and its groundbreaking, “lickable” Aqua interface. It expired in May 2001 but by then Cheetah was out of its cage. Mac OS X 10.0 looked and worked unlike any previous Mac operating system. Based on the Darwin Unix–like core and the Open Software Foundation Mach Kernel, it had full pre-emptive multitasking and memory protection, and it had a command line interface in the form of Terminal. It was also demanding. When many Macs shipped with 64MB of RAM, it preferred 128MB. It needed at least 800MB of disk space, and it didn’t support the upgrade cards that kept pre–G3 Power Macs…

LACIE 1BIG DOCK + Fast, reliable back–up drive + Versatile Thunderbolt/USB dock - Big and bulky - More expensive than a conventional hard drive GREAT From $369 (4TB) From LaCie, lacie.com Features Built–in storage drive (4TB, 8TB, or 16TB), TB3 port There are more and more hard drives and storage devices that now use high–speed Thunderbolt 3 or USB–C ports for connecting to your Mac, but LaCie’s 1big Dock is more than just a back–up drive — it also includes a built–in dock that can be used to connect Thunderbolt, USB, and other devices. The 1big Dock is indeed rather big, with a weight of 3.7lb and a large external power supply that will keep it stuck indoors on your desk most of the time. It’s available with 4TB, 8TB…

From $79.99 From Parallels, parallels.com Needs macOS 10.13 or later, 4GB memory, Intel Mac We’re now at peak virtualization: whichever operating system you want on your Mac, this is the easiest time to go virtual, and the latest version 16 of Parallels Desktop should prove an excellent platform for almost any Intel Mac. Parallels has long been a convenient way of running Windows on your Mac without having to resort to Boot Camp, although if you’ve got that installed already, Parallels can also run it as a guest operating system or Virtual Machine (VM). If you haven’t got a copy of Windows 10 to hand, Parallels can download and install it for you, and other methods are demonstrated at parallels.com/blogs/install-windows-10- parallels-desktop. Version 16 brings mostly incremental improvements for Windows users.…

APPLE S WITCHING T O ARM–BASED PROCE SSING MEANS BIG THING S FOR Y OUR SMART HOME This year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) was, understandably, a little different than before, and not only in the way it was presented. This was a transition year, dominated by the not–entirely–unexpected news of Apple’s forthcoming move away from Intel to its own homegrown Apple silicon. Switching from x86 to ARM–based processing means big things for your smart home, and not only within the context of HomeKit; it brings macOS, iPadOS and iOS closer than ever, and the second version of porting tool Catalyst makes moving apps from mobile hardware to your desk far easier. Apple’s two–year–old macOS port of the Home app (which, you’ll surely have noticed, is basically the same as the…

WHAT ALTERNATIVES ARE THERE TO THE APPLE PENCIL? There’s a wide choice, including Wacom Bamboo ones, Logitech’s popular Crayon, which is significantly less expensive, and even cheaper models. Ensure you check that they’re compatible, as some are designed for use with different hardware. HOW TO SEE MY iPHONE DISPLAY BETTER OUTDOORS? Simple actions like turning your back to the sun so the display is in the shade can greatly reduce screen glare. Some find it better either to turn display auto–brightness off or on, then to increase brightness, but beware of the effect on battery life. Try Dark Mode, and there are Accessibility settings of use. WHO SUPPLIES REPLACEMENT KEYS FOR MACBOOK PRO? Although there are some suppliers who sell individual replacement keys, modern keyboards are too fiddly to get…

If it’s more than seven years old, that model may now be unsupported with spares. Although it may only require a replacement power supply, which shouldn’t be that pricey, if it needs a new logic board too that’s much more expensive, if you can even get one. An independent Mac repair specialist may be able to help. Failing that, you need to extract its internal storage, which you can then mount in an external case and connect to your next Mac to salvage those documents. Disassembling an iMac can be tricky, so your local Mac technician may be an easier choice even if your old iMac is only going for recycling. Internal storage should have a SATA interface, and a suitable 3.5–inch external case with a USB–C port is inexpensive.…

In macOS Mojave and Catalina, you can set Time Machine to make its backups to a sparse bundle in HFS+J format, which can be stored on an APFS disk. That isn’t the way that Big Sur uses to back up to APFS, though. First decide the largest total size for the virtual volume to contain your backups, then create a sparse bundle in HFS+ Journaled format. An easy way is using Spundle from bit.ly/mac356spndl, or in Terminal using hdiutil, saving it to the APFS volume. Add that to your Login Items in the Users & Groups pane to ensure it always gets mounted when you log in. Before Time Machine recognizes that as a backup volume, mount the sparse bundle and use the tmutil command to set it as a…

REQUIRES NAS device with Time Machine support or large USB hard drive YOU WILL LEARN Set up a shared Time Machine folder accessible to all your Macs IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes A DRIVE LIKE TIME CAPSULE IS CONNECTED DIRECTLY TO THE NETWORK AND SO ALWAYS ACCESSIBLE ARE YOU LOOKING to replace your AirPort Time Capsule? If you’ve been relying on it as a network router, then it’s long overdue an upgrade. Choose a router with Ethernet ports, such as the Eero, and convert your Time Capsule into a standalone network drive to retain Time Machine support – the annotation above summarizes the steps you need to follow. If you would like to have a centralized Time Machine backup drive without a Time Capsule, then you have several options. The…

REQUIRES Krisp, macOS 10.12 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to denoise your video calls for free using Krisp IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes SICK OF STRUGGLING to make yourself heard on video calls over ear–splitting traffic, whirring washing machines, and screaming children? If so, try Krisp. It uses artificial intelligence to filter out background noise in your calls to give you cleaner, crisper audio. The basic version is free and gives you 120 minutes of denoised audio a week. If you only need it for the occasional video call, you can use it without ever spending a cent. If you want unlimited filtered audio or support for teams, there are paid options available. Head to krisp.ai and download the Mac app. There are also versions for iOS and Windows,…

WHILE 2020 HAS not been a great year for the film industry in general, streaming services have become increasingly popular thanks to the COVID–19 pandemic. And Apple’s nine–month-old Apple TV+ service is looking like it’s off to a good start with 18 Primetime Emmy Award nominations across all of its digital offerings. Leading the field for Apple TV+ is The Morning Show. It features five acting nominations, with Jennifer Aniston receiving her first dramatic role nomination and Steve Carell being nominated for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. Other Apple TV+ shows receiving nominations are Beastie Boys Story, Defending Jacob, Central Park, Home, and The Elephant Queen. It’s the most program and acting nominations yet for a streaming service that’s in its first year. NEW SHOWS COMING Launched on 1…

THE MOST INTERESTING thing about Mavericks? Is it unfair to say it was its name? Well, maybe. But the first OS X to be named after a place rather than a magnificent creature was very much evolution rather than revolution. It was a free OS X update whose reviewers agreed was worth every cent. That’s not to say it was worthless. It redesigned the Dock and core apps such as Contacts and Notes, and it brought iBooks and Maps across from iOS. It also relied heavily on iCloud for syncing: OS X’s SyncServices was no longer present. But it felt like a point release, not a new Mac OS. You couldn’t say the same about Yosemite. Like its namesake, it was huge. OS X 10.10 set out to position your…

$7.99 From Noio, noio.nl Needs macOS 10.13 or later, 1GB RAM Cloud Gardens is a sculpture game set at the end of the world. Each level consists of a semi–destroyed structure — such as an abandoned construction site or a burned-out car — that you decorate with weeds, scavenged road signs, and more. Soft, ambient music accompanies your endeavors. It’s also very confusing. The only hints are the occasional suggestion of where to click or pinch the trackpad (which often doesn’t do anything), and there’s no explanation of your story or goals. When you put objects in the correct places, the weeds grow — but it’s never obvious what defines the “correct place,” meaning the game often becomes a frustrating exercise in throwing objects somewhere, anywhere, in the hope you…

From $29 per year From Postbox, postbox-inc.com Needs macOS 10.13 POSTBOX 7 + Light, spacious layout + Clever keyboard shortcuts + Extensive settings for deep customization - Lacks auto–triaging into newsletters, social, etc EXCELLENT Plenty of email apps struggle to dislodge Apple’s stalwart Mail app. Can Postbox 7 do the trick? Its $29 one-year subscription – compared to the free Mail – may suggest not. Don’t be fooled, though: Postbox is worth it. The app is light and airy, with generous spacing and judicious color highlights on buttons and certain sidebar items. Apple’s Mail app looks positively primitive in comparison, with its dense grayscale layout. But looks are not everything. Fortunately, Postbox has the top–notch features to overcome Apple’s workhorse. Take the Focus Pane, a smart column that lets you…

Hot topics right now Make sure you check out these important support articles on Apple’s website to better understand the latest features. WHICH GRAPHICS CARDS WITH WHICH MAC PRO If you want to find out which Apple–provided graphics cards are supported by your specific model of Mac Pro, along with which cards were offered as an upgrade kit by Apple, then head over to: bit.ly/ml173ask1. DON’T GET SCAMMED! Phishing and other forms of scamming you out of your hard earned is a major issue that, unfortunately, is never going to go away. Apple has some tips on how Apple users can recognize and avoid them though: bit.ly/ml173ask2. DEALING WITH STRANGE SLEEPING HABITS? What do you do when your Mac suddenly starts taking unauthorised nap time, or you can’t wake it…

Kernel panics occur when something so serious happens that macOS simply can’t recover, and should be followed after a while by your Mac automatically restarting, although some models shut down instead. As your Mac isn’t going through this whole process, this isn’t likely to be a kernel panic. Instead, what’s happening here is that WindowServer, which is the part of macOS responsible for compositing all the individual windows into the image on the display, has to be restarted. As that normally occurs when the user logs in, that’s what you’re being forced to do. Although some apps can overstress WindowServer, its crashes are more commonly the result of the GPU in the graphics card becoming unresponsive. One way to tell is whether your Mac ever freezes like this for tens…

Many of those using Enhanced Dictation have found themselves disappointed with its replacement in Catalina. Only basic dictation is now available in the Dictation tab of the Keyboard pane, and most users find that inadequate for their needs. Instead, Apple intends that you turn on Voice Control in the Accessibility pane. This provides the combination of voice control for all your apps, with dictation when the cursor is in a view which can receive text entry. Dictation takes more setting up, and for some users never works as well as Enhanced Dictation did. It needs to download additional software, and you should experiment with language settings. US English uses Siri, and can work best of all, but other forms of English and other languages can prove almost unusable. Details are…

REQUIRES Fantastical for iOS, iOS 13.2 or later, watchOS 6 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to use Fantastical on your Apple Watch IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes THERE ARE SOME apps that really benefit from the portability and ease of access that you get with the Apple Watch, and Fantastical is a prime example. With it installed on your wrist, there’s no need to reach for your iPhone or Mac to see what’s coming up on your schedule — just raise your wrist and get organized in a few taps. The Fantastical Apple Watch app isn’t limited to checking details that have been entered elsewhere. You can create new events, mark tasks as complete, and add useful complications to your Watch face. It’s well engineered for working on a…

HOW IT WORKS YOU WILL LEARN What Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4.0 will bring to the connectivity table. THUNDERBOLT 4 SHOULD START APPEARING IN LAPTOPS TOWARDS THE END OF THE YEAR The tech you use to connect external displays and external storage may get a lot better. Thunderbolt 4 promises to be three–times faster than USB 3 – but while it’s faster than the current USB standard, it isn’t faster than the current Thunderbolt one. And the incoming USB 4 is just as fast, and it includes Thunderbolt 3. Confusing? You bet! Let’s find out what Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 mean for your next Mac — and maybe your next iPad… THUNDERBOLT FACTS Thunderbolt, codenamed Light Peak, was developed by Intel in collaboration with Apple. The goal was to…

APPLE IS HITTING back at Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite that’s in the throes of suing Apple following the game’s removal from the App Store on its iOS devices. Apple has now launched a counter–suit claiming Epic Games has engaged in “willful, brazen, and unlawful conduct.” “Although Epic portrays itself as a modern corporate Robin Hood, in reality it is a multi-billion–dollar enterprise that simply wants to pay nothing for the tremendous value it derives from the App Store,” says Apple. “Epic’s demands for special treatment and cries of ‘retaliation’ cannot be reconciled with its flagrant breach of contract and its own business practices, as it rakes in billions by taking commissions on game developers’ sales and charging consumers up to $99.99 for bundles of ‘V-Bucks.’” When Epic circumvented…

CATALINA, MACOS 10.15, is the very last chapter in the Mac OS X story. And, like other gripping stories, not all of your favorite characters are going to make it to the end… Let’s start with iTunes, which has been part of the Mac OS X story since 2001. Catalina killed it, replacing it in 2019 with three focused apps: Music, Podcasts, and TV. iTunes may have been the biggest casualty but there were many more, because Catalina also dropped support for 32–bit apps. Catalina also continued to bring the Mac, the iPhone and the iPad closer together. Its Sidecar feature enabled you to use your iPad as a second screen and use that iPad’s touchscreen or your Apple Pencil to interact with apps. You might sign a PDF with…

SHIFTCAM MULTILENS CASE FOR iPHONE 11 PRO + Get closer to subjects + Polarizer reduces glare - Fish–eye lens isn’t for everyone - Blocks some iPhone lenses EXCELLENT $79.99 From ShiftCam, shiftcam.com Features Five lenses (4x telephoto, fish–eye, 10x & 20x macro, CPL filter), protective phone case ShiftCam’s MultiLens Case is a collection of five lenses on a detachable mount that clips onto a specially designed iPhone 11 Pro case. You can slide (shift) the mount left or right to make various lenses overlap the iPhone’s existing ones. At first it can be a fiddle to slide lenses into place, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. The iPhone 11 Pro has a 2x optical telephoto lens. To get an even closer view of a distant subject you can…

Free (IAPs) From Act Focused Media, slugline.co Needs macOS 10.14 or later Screenwriting’s formatting and style requirements mean that many writers turn to dedicated screenwriting apps rather than more general writing ones. The best–known is Final Draft, but it’s expensive and may be overkill for many writers. Slugline is a much simpler and much cheaper alternative. Let’s start with the price. It’s free to try, and if you’re writing shorts of six pages or less it’s free forever. Longer than that and it’s a one–off payment of $49.99. You can start with a blank page or use one of the templates to set out your basic structure: a TV pilot, a three–act structure of a specific length, or a beat sheet. Slugline 2 is deliberately minimalist — there are no…

Free (IAPs) From Primephonic, primephonic.com Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch Needs iOS 11 or later Primephonic is a classical music streaming service with over 3.5 million tracks — from new or lesser–known artists and composers to, ahem, the classics. You can listen to it in one of three ways: in the dedicated app for iOS and iPadOS, via its online web player, or by adding it through a third–party app such as the Sonos Controller. There’s a 14–day free trial, after which it’s $9.99/month for Premium, which streams tracks in 320kbps MP3; or $14.99/month for Platinum, which offers Lossless 24–bit FLAC streaming. You can also download and listen to your tracks offline. On iPhone and iPad the app seems almost familiar. There’s definitely an Apple Music feel here, with…

It wasn’t much of a summer, was it? We’re cruising to the stage of darker nights again, but many of us have a lot of unspent summer energy. We can’t get the daylight hours back, but we can put that potential into what we do over fall and winter. It’s the perfect time to learn something new, and your iPhone or iPad can help massively with that. Maybe you would like to learn something as a hobby, maybe it’s something you’ve always been curious about, maybe it would help your career, or maybe you’re one of the millions of people strongly considering a new profession once we’re clear(er) of the pandemic danger. Whatever it is, these apps can set you on the right path. UDEMY Free (IAPs) Made for iPhone,…

Before going any further, carefully check your charging kit and inspect the port on your iPad to ensure that everything is correct and clean, and there’s no fluff inside it. Your Power Adapter should be also a 12W model, see bit.ly/mac356ipadpwr. Then check its recharging history and Last Charge Level in Settings > Battery: if your iPad’s battery is ageing and no longer reaching fully charged levels of 100%, consider getting it replaced. If it’s still covered by AppleCare+, Apple won’t replace batteries free of charge unless they can only hold a maximum of 80% of their original capacity. Any out–of–warranty replacement would typically set you back $99. Apple has been rolling out changes to recharging behavior on some of its hardware, but hasn’t made these changes to iPads at…

That particular model is notorious for not updating its firmware. Although the current version is shown in the Hardware Overview in System Information, that doesn’t tell you whether it’s up to date. There’s a listing of current firmware versions at bit.ly/mac356fmvn, or simpler still the free utility SilentKnight from bit.ly/mac356slkgt will check automatically for you. If it isn’t up to date, all you can do is download the latest Combo macOS installer and install that. Apple only releases firmware updates as part of macOS installers and updates, and doesn’t provide any other means of fixing out–of–date firmware. HOW TO CONNECT MY MACBOOK PRO TO A UPS? Energy Saver settings for an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) can be set to shut down desktop models after wall power outage. macOS doesn’t support…

Catalina divides the startup volume into separate System and Data volumes, so cleaning them up and formatting them before installing a fresh copy of Catalina is complex. Get it wrong and you’ll end up with multiple Data volumes. Start up in Recovery Mode, and open Disk Utility. Here you need to delete your existing Data volume, named something like Macintosh HD — Data, and erase your System volume, by default named Macintosh HD. Note: you need to erase, not delete. Select the Data volume (left of its window) and use the Delete APFS Volume command from the Edit menu, or click on the “–” tool. Once deleted, select the System volume and click on the Erase tool at the top. This may require a number of attempts. You may even…

REQUIRES Lightroom Classic YOU WILL LEARN How to import, organize and edit images migrated from the Photos app. IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes ON THE PREVIOUS pages we demonstrated how to migrate files from iCloud Photos and the Mac’s Photos Library and copy them to an external drive. To keep things tidy, create a new folder on your external drive called “Archived from Photos.” You can then pop all the folders full of migrated images into that and browse to them using a third–party app such as Lightroom. Lightroom comes in two “flavors.” The newer version — Lightroom — is a cut–down version designed to let you work with images that are synced via the cloud. The original version is called Lightroom Classic. The beauty of using Lightroom Classic is…

IN 1984, MOST computer monitors presented a grid of character spaces; pressing arrow keys moved a flashing cursor between them. The Macintosh provided a mouse–controlled pointer that could sweep smoothly across the screen to any individual pixel. This was the basis of its graphical user interface and the world of creative freedom it represented. The included MacPaint app, running on the one–bit black–and–white screen, allowed users to draw lines, fill areas with patterns and click pixels on and off to produce artwork, while MacWrite offered proportionally spaced fonts in a choice of sizes. With the world wide web still years away, the end result that most people wanted from their work was a printed document. A year after the Macintosh, Apple would release the LaserWriter, a printer based on hardware…