Innehållsförteckning för June 2023 från Macworld

Rumors picked up again recently that a new 15-inch MacBook Air will be Apple’s next major Mac release, possibly at the Worldwide Developers conference, according to Mark Gurman’s latest report. But whether we get it before, during, or after WWDC, this much is true: It will instantly become Apple’s perfect laptop. That may seem like a stretch, but hear me out. Assuming the rumors and our own assumptions are true, the 15-inch MacBook Air will be the ideal laptop for nearly every user, with its combination of size, processing power, and value. The MacBook Air is already Apple’s most popular laptop, and a 15-inch model would be the jewel of the lineup. Here’s why. THE RIGHT SIZE Apple offers MacBooks in four different sizes: 13.3 inches (13-inch MacBook Pro), 13.6 inches…

For a long time, Mac users have been able to watch from afar as Windows users had to deal with increasing ransomware attacks. But according to new evidence, there may come a time in the not-so-distant future when Mac users won’t be so immune. According to security research (via Wired), hackers are putting more effort into creating macOS versions of the malware attacks that are already prevalent on Windows. MalwareHunterTeam has found that a collective known as LockBit is working on ransomware encryptors that work on both Macs using Apple M-series chips and Intel processors. The findings indicate that LockBit is in the early stages of development and may not have ransomware that’s completely ready to be unleashed. But the collective is working toward that end. “It would be naive to assume…

You get faster ports and two drive bays in the OWC miniStack STX hub for Mac mini or Mac Studio. The miniStack STX matches the Mac’s own Thunderbolt 4 bandwidth and its SSD drive bay will support the fastest NVMe M.2 SSDs. By comparison, Satechi’s rival Stand & Hub for Mac mini features 5Gbps USB-C and USB-A ports and slower SATA M.2 SSDs. Combined with the Mac mini’s own roster of ports, with the ministack STX you will have six fast Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-A ports, plus the mini’s own ethernet and HDMI ports. The OWC miniStack has one upstream Thunderbolt port that connects to the Mac, and three downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports. With Thunderbolt 4, you can create three independent daisy chains with up to five total Thunderbolt…

You might have seen headlines this week about the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra taking so-called “fake” moon pictures. Ever since the S20 Ultra, Samsung has had a feature called Space Zoom that marries its 10X optical zoom with massive digital zoom to reach a combined 100X zoom. In marketing shots, Samsung has shown its phone taking nearly crystal clear pictures of the moon, and users have done the same on a clear night. But a Redditor has proven that Samsung’s incredible Space Zoom is using a bit of trickery. It turns out that when taking pictures of the moon, Samsung’s AI-based Scene Optimizer does a whole lot of heavy lifting to make it look like the moon was photographed with a high-resolution telescope rather than a smartphone. So when someone takes…

Apple Card now has another benefit for cardholders, at least those in the U.S.: a high-yield savings account that gives you daily compound interest with a 4.15 percent APY interest rate. Apple Card Savings is billed as a destination for your Daily Cash—the cash back you get when making Apple Card purchases—but you can transfer money to the account from a linked bank account, and withdraw money at any time with no fees. Like Apple Card, this is currently only available to users in the United States. You must be 18 years old, have a social security number or individual taxpayer identification number, have a valid physical U.S. address, and have two-factor authentication set up on your iPhone. (If you have Apple Card, you already meet most of these criteria.) Here’s…

The Mac mini now boasts an incredibly fast M2 or M2 Pro processor, and rivals even Apple’s most pro computers despite costing significantly less. However, as great as it is, there is a problem with the Mac mini—the upgrades are pricey, and after you buy one, it’s impossible to upgrade its internal components. However, we’re here to help. Apple doesn’t let you upgrade the Mac mini with inexpensive third-party components such as RAM or internal storage, and it prices its custom-build options at the very high end of affordability. Like the rest of the Apple silicon Macs, the Mac mini, Apple has fixed the RAM to the processor and the SSDs to the logic board, so they can’t be swapped out after you buy one. ADDING MEMORY Apple integrated the…

It’s exciting as a Mac user to live in a time when you can purchase an M2 Mac mini at the starting price of $599 that’s vastly faster than nearly any computer you might have previously owned except certain higher-end M1 Macs. But the problem isn’t the base price. It might seem reasonable to leap from 8GB to 16GB of RAM for an extra $200. But if you want to jump from the baseline 256GB SSD—inadequate for 2023, or even 2018—you can pay a bundle. Apple charges $200, $400, and $800 to shift upward to 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB, respectively. While those are even increments, they’re far above the prices paid in the marketplace. There’s no way to crack up an M-series Mac mini, Mac Studio, or iMac to add…

If you’re a music fan, there are basically two options: Spotify and Apple Music. Sure there are other music streaming services—Tidal, Amazon Music, Qobuz—but if you want access to as much music as possible, Spotify and Apple Music are head and shoulders above the rest. But just because they’re the two best services doesn’t mean one doesn’t have advantages over the other. Apple Music might have gotten off to a rocky start, but if you haven’t checked it out in a while, there are plenty of reasons to consider dropping your Spotify Premium account and signing up for Apple Music. Here are six of them: APPLE MUSIC CLASSICAL The newest Apple Music feature is actually a whole new app dedicated to classical music. Included free with Individual and Family subscriptions,…

I love speaking at user group meetings. There aren’t as many Apple user groups out there as there used to be, and these days the meetings are mostly over Zoom, but as someone who mostly speaks with developers, PR people, and media types, it’s refreshing to speak to people who are much more purely enthusiastic about Apple and its platforms. User groups also tend to do a good job of exposing the concerns and pain points of Apple customers who aren’t doing this for a living. It’s a great perspective shift. Last month, I spoke to a group that made it pretty clear what Apple is doing that is making them unhappy. The particular complaints that floated to the top were, I think, instructive about where Apple needs to make changes…

The other day my son needed a ride and before hopping in the car, I did a pocket check. Sure enough, I forgot something. “I gotta get my wallet,” I said to my son. When I got into the car 30 seconds later, he asked me, “You carry a wallet?” Bemused, I replied, “Uh, yeah. I need to carry my driver’s license so I can drive you to work. Plus, I have my work security card, my ATM card, cash, and some other things.” My son snickered. “You use an ATM card. And cash. You’re funny.” Generational differences aside, a physical wallet is a handy thing to have. They’re like the folders in the Mac user interface, a place to organize the stuff you need. That seems to be what…

The next time you buy a Chevy, your iPhone might no longer be your co-pilot. According to a new report, GM plans to “phase out” CarPlay from future electric vehicles as it looks to “capture more data on how consumers drive and charge EVs.” Reuters reports that the first General Motors car to drop CarPlay support will be the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer. The company plans to launch a new onboard navigation system with Google that has been in development since 2019. GM is moving its entire fleet of cars to “zero tailpipe emissions” by 2035 and plans to eventually begin charging for digital subscription services as Tesla does. Moving away from CarPlay won’t happen overnight—and likely won’t affect the millions of GM cars currently on the road—but it’s a notable shift…

Goal Zero is the company that largely created the portable power station category almost 15 years ago, including making the first lithium-ion–based unit that kicked off the current solar-generator war. Category leaders, however, often find themselves trailing hungrier competitors in features, and that fact was evident in Yeti’s 1500X portable power station. DESIGN AND SPECS This beefy, well-built unit boasts a hefty 1,500 watt-hour capacity in an aluminum-bodied shell. For those who need just a little more oomph to carry you through a power outage or camping trip, 1,500 watt-hours is perhaps the ideal capacity, if you ask us. You get up to 50 percent more capacity than with typical 1,000 watt-hour power stations, but still keep the bulk to a luggable weight of 45 pounds. Once you get to…

When you turn on your Mac, various apps, add-ons, and invisible background processes start running all by themselves. This is usually what you want, but you may sometimes see items running that you don’t recall adding yourself. Where do they come from? Sometimes these processes and apps can cause problems, and you need to remove them for your Mac to behave normally. And even if there’s not a problem, such items can increase your Mac’s startup time and may decrease performance, you’ll want to make sure your Mac is loading only items that are useful to you. Here’s a quick primer on the various kinds of startup and login items and how to manage them. LOGIN ITEMS MacOS 13 (Venutra) or later: Open System Settings and click General, then click…

Lithium-ion batteries have terrific properties that have caused a revolution in everything from tiny flashlights to Ford trucks. Yes, you have to take them seriously if they show any sign of having a physical failure, such as swelling or smoking, but that is fortunately an incredibly rare occurrence relative to the vast number of lithium-ion batteries in use. Wearing down over time is quite common and can be frustrating as a Mac laptop owner, used to many hours of use, now eking out just a few. Unlike older generations of batteries, Li-ion batteries don’t have a memory effect, where incomplete charging can reduce their maximum charge. Rather, the chemical nature of the batteries causes a general depletion over time in how fully you can safely charge them. Apple does provide…

If you want to use your iPhone or iPad to handle audio playback from your device or to other devices that are part of the Apple ecosystem (like an Apple TV, HomePod, or HomePod mini) or that support AirPlay for streaming, Apple provides control through a media player. You find and swap among sources through the Control Center and within audio-playback apps. However, as Apple has made the player richer, it’s also made it more complicated to understand what’s going on. In particular, it can be hard to figure out whether you’re streaming media from your iPhone or iPad to a device or you’re controlling a device so that it is streaming directly from a library on the local network or over the Internet. Let’s start with the basics: Swipe…

Having trouble discerning dialogue in a busy TV soundtrack? Feeling the wrath of viewing mates (and fighting over the remote control) for the sin of cranking the TV volume too loud? The Mirai Speaker solves both problems—to a degree, at least—thanks to a design that’s unlike any other I’ve encountered. Created by veteran engineers from JVC Kenwood for a new venture called SoundFun, the amplified Mirai Speaker (Mirai is Japanese for “future”) first caught my eyes and ears at CES 2023. During a show-floor demo, the chaps played a tinkly music box at a distance of 15 feet from the audience. Initially, the tune was inaudible over the din. But when the pitch man touched the mechanism to a convex-curved piece of plastic sheeting, the tinkling suddenly reached my ears with…

It’s been more than a decade since Steve Jobs passed away, but his influence is still felt in everything Apple does. Now a new free ebook charts his life and legacy through speeches, interviews, and neverbefore-seen photos of Steve’s remarkable life. The new digital handbook, “Make Something Wonderful,” is divided into three eras: 1976–85 (Apple’s founding and the launch of the original Macintosh), 1985–96 (the creation of NeXT), and 1996–2011 (the return to Apple and creation of some of the world’s most iconic products, including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad). The book includes an introduction by his widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, and was edited by “Troublemakers” author Leslie Berlin. In the acknowledgments, it says the book is designed by Jony Ive’s firm, LoveFrom. Each of the three parts begins…

Window sizing and placement are two of the least-evolved parts of macOS. There’s a joy to familiarity, and whenever Apple makes a change, many people roll their eyes and grit their teeth about learning something new after acquiring many years—decades even—of motor memory. However, managing the size and position of windows is something Apple has neglected because its current implementation is just good enough. (If you hover over the green resize dot on any window, you’ll see a drop-down menu that shows the extent of Apple’s commitment.) If you want more efficiency, control, and speed in managing windows across one or more displays, Apple’s lack of interest has left room for Lasso, a single-minded utility designed to let you use a grid to move and resize windows quickly. Use Lasso…

The Denver FBI office recently tweeted a warning not to use public USB phone charging stations, and it seems like a good excuse to remind everyone about this sound advice: Never plug your iPhone, iPad, or Mac into any USB device or cable you do not control. The Denver FBI office’s tweet echo’s the agency’s advice for protecting your data and devices online. The FCC carries similar warnings against using public USB chargers, warning of “juice jacking”—the practice of using public USB ports to load malware onto devices. Apple does its best to reduce this threat, but these protections are never perfect. On an iPhone or iPad, you might see a “Trust this Computer” prompt when plugging into a public USB charging port. If you see this, do not select “Trust” and…

Apple has been making aggressive moves to push further into health, fitness, and wellness services. Its Fitness+ workout subscription service has expanded to more devices and no longer requires an Apple Watch. Rumor has it that iOS 17 will include a new journaling app, often considered a key mental health exercise (though Apple may not present it as such). Now news comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman that Apple is planning a new AI-Powered health coaching service, new technology for tracking emotions and moods, and finally, an iPad version of the Health app. The coaching service, code-named Quartz, is said to use data from Apple Watch and the Health app to “make suggestions and create coaching programs tailored to specific users,” according to the report. The report says the service will…

The Mac games scene is—not to put too fine a point on it—a bit of a mess these days. Apple has never been very interested in games on the Mac, and this has meant that Macs have never enjoyed the same range of A-list game titles as owners of Windows PCs or games consoles like the Sony PlayStation or Microsoft’s Xbox. And, just to make things worse, the arrival of macOS Catalina (10.15) a few years ago—which moved the macOS to 64-bit software and no longer supported older 32-bit software—killed off a lot of popular Mac games too. There are, sadly, many games still available on the Steam store that will only run on pre-Catalina versions of the macOS, and we recently had to delete dozens of old games from…

While Windows users often close down their PCs at the end of the day, those with Macs tend to leave them on indefinitely. Many Mac users engage in this behavior because they want to pick up where they left off, but also because experience has shown them that Macs tend to cope well with this kind of behavior—probably because Apple has designed macOS and Macs to be very efficient in terms of energy use and performance. But is this a good idea? There are three options open to every user when they’ve finished using the computer for the day: Leave it on, put it to sleep or turn it off. Want to know which one to choose? Read on. DO I NEED TO SHUT DOWN MY MAC OR MACBOOK? Over…

If you haven’t been closely following the world of streaming media, you may have missed the major changes in the past year. Following a particularly bad financial quarter at Netflix, the entertainment industry collectively decided they were done spending huge sums of money to establish new streaming services. The gold rush is over and the rules have changed. One of the biggest changes is that Netflix, which for years refused to even consider offering advertising on its platform, instead announced it would add a discounted version of its service…with commercials. And the results are in: Netflix already makes more money from a subscriber who’s viewing its ad-laden version than it does from a subscriber who’s signed up for a more expensive ad-free tier. If you don’t like ads on your…

When Apple announced the new 2nd-generation HomePod in January, it also announced a cool new feature called Sound Recognition. All HomePod models (1st gen, 2nd gen, and mini) can listen for a smoke alarm and send a notification to your iPhone and Apple Watch when it goes off. Though the feature was announced months ago, it has only just become available—if you’ve upgraded the Home app with the new Home architecture under iOS 16.4, you should see the option with no other software update necessary. Here’s how it works. When enabled, the HomePod will continuously listen for “certain sounds” and use on-device intelligence to notify you when an alarm sounds. It will send the notification to your iPhone, which you can then use to check in, listen to the alarm yourself, and…

CAN A 100-WATT USB-C CHARGER BE SAFELY USED WITH ANY MAC? USB-C was developed as a robust multi-function standard that would finally let a single industry-supported jack provide high-wattage power and super-fast data. In the fuss about the transition from USB Type-A and Apple’s original MagSafe and MagSafe 2 magnetic laptop charging system, the joy of a single cable may be lost. A hallmark of USB-C is that you can plug any USB-C plug into any USB-C jack. The jacks on two devices negotiate what they have in common. Sometimes, this is terrible, like 480Mbps with active Thunderbolt 3 cables and USB-C charge cables instead of 10 to 40Gbps! Other times, it’s great, such as not worrying about the wattage of cables, chargers, or laptops when plugging them all together.…