Innehållsförteckning för March 2023 från Macworld UK

The Mac Pro is the final Intel Mac in the line-up, but it doesn’t look like Apple saved the best for last. The latest rumour from Mark Gurman dumps a bucket of cold water on another anticipated feature: graphics card support. According to a tweet from Gurman, who has leaked several Mac Pro details recently, the Apple silicon Mac Pro “may lack user upgradeable GPUs.” Along with speed, support for RAM and GPU upgrades are two of the main reasons users opt to spend £5,999 on the modular tower. The next Mac Pro may lack user upgradeable GPUs in addition to non-upgradeable RAM. Right now Apple Silicon Macs don’t support external GPUs and you have to use whatever configuration you buy on Apple’s website. But the Mac Pro GPU will…

Apple hopes to decrease its dependence on Samsung and LG by making its own in-house mobile displays beginning in 2024, according to a new report. Aside from lowering costs and giving the company more freedom in the way it creates its devices, this move will also reportedly bring the advantages of microLED, a screen tech that is even more efficient than the OLEDs currently used. Writing for Bloomberg (fave.co/406wb49), reputable leaker-analyst Mark Gurman says the strategy will first affect the Apple Watch, whose premium Ultra model will get an in-house custom MicroLED with its 2024 update. In due course (and assuming no technical issues arise), the displays will be added to other Apple Watch models, and to the iPhone. It’s worth noting that the ‘in-house’ part of the report is…

Apple’s new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M2 Pro and M2 Max processors aren’t nearly as exciting as their predecessors. They have the same display, design, and ports, and the processor is a small speed bump compared to the massive leap with the 2021 redesign. But even if you spent thousands of pounds on an M1 Pro or M2 Max model, there are still a few reasons why power users might want to trade in their M1 model and upgrade. 1. YOU DO A LOT OF GRAPHICS WORK The new models Apple just released have M2 Pro and M2 Max processors that are obviously faster than their predecessors. But the real gains are on the graphics side, where the 19-core GPU in the M2 Pro boats about a 30-percent…

The march of Apple silicon is not slowing down. To power the new high-end Mac mini and 14- and 16‑inch MacBook Pro systems, Apple has unveiled the all-new M2 Pro and M2 Max processors, taking all the improvements of the A15 and A16 processors and applying them to the Mac chips, resulting in a significant boost in performance over the M1 line. Apple claims the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips bring 20 percent better CPU performance and 30 percent faster GPU performance than the M1 Pro and M1 Max. They also include the newer Neural Engine, which is up to 40 percent faster than that in the M1 series. As impressive as those claims are, they are also unsurprising and a bit disappointing. Some of the more exciting rumours…

Apple’s efforts to protect a user’s data are a major selling point for customers. If your MacBook is stolen, it’s extremely difficult for the thief to bypass the laptop’s security measures and access the data as long as you’ve taken advantage of the tools at your disposal to lock down your machine. However, those same security measures can render a Mac useless in a legitimate sale on the second‑hand market. A report by Vice (fave.co/3JfFCbw) highlights the frustrations of an independent computer repair specialist and refurbisher, John Bumstead, who tweeted about the “millions” of MacBooks that have been “condemned…to death” because of Apple’s Activation Lock. Activation Lock associates a device with an Apple ID, and is automatically turned on when Find My Mac is activated within the Apple ID settings…

Last month was a busy one for Apple. As we’ve already reported, we got new chips, Mac minis and MacBook Pros, and January brought the surprising return of the full-sized HomePod, with a similar design as the original model as well as the same £299 price tag, about two years after it was discontinued. And when you dig into it, things get even weirder. The new HomePod isn’t a carbon copy of the original model, but in subtle and confusing ways that won’t be all that noticeable to anyone buying one. Here are six facts about the new HomePod that have us scratching our heads: 1. APPLE REDESIGNED IT TO LOOK THE SAME At first glance (and second and third), the 2nd-gen HomePod seems to be identical to the original…

Whether you have a new Mac or just got around to updating your old one, macOS Ventura has a lot of new features to get to know. Regardless of whether you’re a veteran or a new Mac user, these new features are ones you’ll want to take advantage of. Here are seven of them that your Mac will be better off using. 1. USE YOUR iPHONE AS A WEBCAM Did you get a new iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or Apple Studio Display? Brace yourself, because here’s an unfortunate truth about those machines: the built-in FaceTime camera is a disappointment. But if you have an iPhone 11 or later, you can skip that camera and use a new Ventura feature that lets you use your iPhone as a webcam with…

Here at Macworld, we tend to recommend that customers not buy the entry-level configuration of any Mac. It generally doesn’t have enough storage for most people, even people who rely heavily on iCloud or other cloud storage will likely run into space constraints down the line. But there’s another reason why you might want to avoid the entry-level configurations of Apple’s latest Mac minis and MacBook Pros. While the new £649 M2 Mac mini is a very nice computer at a great price, it hides an ugly secret we’ve seen before: a slower SSD. MacRumours reports that benchmarks (fave.co/3wxtpHo) of the machine show that the 256GB SSD is up to 50 percent slower than the 256GB SSD in the M1 model it replaces. The reason for the slowdown is the…

Before there was the Mac, there was the Lisa, Apple’s first computer to feature a graphical user interface. Lisa was released 40 years ago this year, and to celebrate the anniversary, the Computer History Museum – which calls Lisa “Apple’s most important flop” – is offering the source code of the Lisa software free to download (fave.co/408fvsX). The download is a mere 7MB compressed, 30MB expanded. You do, however, have to agree to a license agreement before you can get the download, and provide your name and email address. And then once you download it, you’ll need to figure out how to run it (fave.co/3Ha85g5). A look at the Lisa GUI tells you instantly where the Mac has its roots. In fact, the Mac’s desktop still takes its cues from…

Price: £1,399 from fave.co/40bMGMu And then there was one. With the introduction of the new Mac mini, Apple officially sells only one Mac that still uses an Intel chip – the Mac Pro. While the low-end Mac mini got an upgrade to the M1 processor just over two years ago, Apple continued to sell the 2018 Intel-based model as a more expensive option. Apple has now updated the low-end model to the M2 and replaced that Intel-based model with a new M2 Pro Mac mini. The M2 model gained Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 and has been reduced in price from £699 to £649. It’s a fine entry-level system. The M2 Pro model adds two additional Thunderbolt 4 ports (for a total of four), upgrades the HDMI port to HDMI…

With the release of the 2023 MacBook Pro and the 2023 Mac mini, the shape of the second generation of Apple silicon on Mac has been revealed. It is, unsurprisingly, a bit of a replay of the first generation: Apple has segmented its chips into a few different varieties. As with the M1 generation, the new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips are closely related to each other and to the M2 chip introduced last summer. They’re all based on the same foundation, but each chip has some different characteristics. When it comes time to choose how much to pay for a Mac mini or a MacBook Pro, those differences matter. BUT FIRST, THE M2 Before I compare the M2 Pro and M2 Max, it’s only right to discuss the…

Oh, look, another round of rumours about new Apple display technologies. These are nothing new. Apple has prioritized display quality for years, and many of its devices have some of the most colour-accurate and sharp displays in their class. On the other hand, Apple is rarely the first to adopt brand-new display technologies – it was far behind Android phones in delivering always-on displays, higher refresh rates, variable refresh rates, and so on. The MacBook Pro only got HDR and ProMotion last year. In the past month, we’ve heard three new rumours about Apple displays worth investigating. One is that Apple will start to use microLED displays beginning with the Apple Watch Ultra next year. Another is that the first MacBooks to use OLED displays are on the way as…

Price: £599 from fave.co/3G3Oyxq I characterized the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 noise-cancelling headphone released last year as “less sizzle, more steak” because its audio performance was phenomenal, but competitors such as the Sony WH-1000XM5 delivered more whiz bang features. With its step-up Px8 noise-cancelling headphone, B&W delivers a great-sounding luxury audio product chock‑full of high‑tech features. Luxury comes in the form of the Px8’s materials as well as its build quality. Where the Px7 S2 is constructed primarily from plastic, the Px8 features die-cast aluminium arms and diamond-cut metal detailing. The earcups, memory-foam earcups, and both sides of the headband are wrapped in exquisitely soft Nappa leather. While those elements add a bit of weight to the headphone – the Px8 weighs 320g compared the Px7’s 302g – I…

HOW TO MOVE A CHILD’S APPLE ID ACCOUNT TO THEIR OWNERSHIP WHEN THEY BECOME ADULTS As hard as it is for me to believe, my older child recently turned 18. The age of majority in the UK means that they are now able to take charge of – and are personally responsible for – a lot more of their life that my spouse and I managed for them. This includes online accounts that we set up for them at places like government agencies (for passports and ID), Amazon, and the like. With two-factor authentication (2FA) encouraged or required at many sites, what’s the easiest way to pass control from you to your child while keeping security intact? Here’s a general set of steps that relies on Apple operating systems and…

Extensive details of Apple’s upcoming ‘Reality Pro’ headset, which looks set to be the biggest release in years, have been revealed in a lengthy new report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (fave.co/3JiTNwi). Apple’s AR headset project has been the tech industry’s worst-kept secret for years, and it’s widely assumed that 2023 will be the year we finally get to see it, probably at a dedicated spring event. But until now the details of the product have been relatively vague. Gurman discusses what he refers to as Reality Pro in considerable depth. Presented as a summation of everything we know about the device, it necessarily covers some familiar ground: aside from the likely branding, we already expected the price to be somewhere in the vicinity of $3,000, around £2,425 (with a $1,500,…

Price: £2,699 from fave.co/3wx5VlS In the autumn of 2021, Apple’s 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros made a grand entrance into the Mac line‑up, and made an instant impact, combining processing prowess with a sophisticated redesign. If you were aching for a new high-end MacBook Pro, the 2021 release offered soothing relief. But maybe you decided to wait a little longer. Maybe you thought it would be wise to let a generation of Apple silicon pass so the company can work out the kinks and app developers can catch up with native software. Or maybe you just weren’t convinced this whole thing was really going to work, despite Apple’s past success with silicon transitions. Whatever the reason, let me tell you, for most people, there isn’t a reason to wait any…

Apple finally updated the Mac mini, with the new high-end M2 Pro version replacing an absolutely ancient Intel model. It fills an important gap in Apple’s Mac desktop line-up. The M1 Mac mini was cheap and got even cheaper with its M2 upgrade and the Mac Studio is powerful but expensive, starting at £1,999. Then there’s the good iMac for £1,599, which is really just an M1 built into a colourful 24-inch display. So if you want a desktop Mac, you were forced to go low-end or high-end. With the Mac mini (M2 Pro), there’s finally something in-between. It starts at £1,399 for a cut-back version of the M2 Pro with a 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU. Upgrade to the full M2 Pro with a 12-core CPU and a 19-core…

Bear with me: this is, on the face of it, a weird idea. But is it possible Apple is making its Macs too powerful? Okay,, I know: how could having a computer that’s too powerful be a bad thing? But after the announcement of the new MacBook Pro and Mac mini, I found myself wondering whether Apple has painted itself into a corner, vis-à-vis its impressive hardware. It is, admittedly, a strange state of affairs when you find yourself wondering if Apple has maybe become too good at making computers that are so powerful they are overkill for the purposes of most tasks, but you don’t have to look too far to see another example of this same phenomenon. This is a struggle that Apple’s long contended with on the…

A day after unveiling updated Macs with M2 processors, Apple surprisingly announced another refreshed product: the return of the full-size HomePod. The original model was discontinued in March 2021 and was assumed to have sold poorly, making the decision to make a new one surprising, to say the least. Design-wise, the new speaker appears largely unchanged from its predecessor: there’s no sign, for example, of the widely rumoured screen upgrade, which a colleague points out would have made a lot of sense with Apple Music’s recently added karaoke feature. It’s 4mm shorter than the original model, and roughly 200g lighter and Apple says it’s now made from “a seamless, acoustically transparent mesh fabric”. Apple hasn’t even added any new colours. Like the original model, the new HomePod comes in either…

Price: Free from fave.co/3Hg62XX Some free security programs appear to offer an array of features beyond just basic antivirus protection. But when you dig deep, you find that most of those extra, advanced options actually require a paid subscription. Such is the case with Avira Free Security for Mac. Free for home use, Avira Free Security starts off with antivirus protection but then lists a VPN, password manager, browser cookie cleaner, junk file cleaner, application uninstaller, start‑up manager, and PC performance booster. All of these features pop up in the program’s dashboard, but only a few are actually accessible in the free product. INSTALLATION The Avira Free Security for Mac installation is quick and painless. The process directs you to the specific preferences on your Mac that must receive permission…