Macworld December 2023

Perhaps you’ve heard that for the past few quarters, Mac sales have slumped. Perhaps you’ve also heard that the new iPhone 15 Pro has some nifty new features that have Apple fans flocking to stores to buy one. Hey, how about this for an idea? Apple should incorporate some of those nifty new iPhone features into the Mac. That’s a sure way to boost Mac sales—customers benefit, too, with features that make the Mac a more powerful tool. Here are the iPhone 15 Pro features that Apple should bring to the Mac. TITANIUM The iPhone 15 Pro has a titanium body instead of the stainless steel that has been used since the iPhone X. Apple describes it as “the most premium material” ever used on an iPhone. Titanium is strong,…

The Mac Pro’s history has had excellent high points, as well as challenges that had to be dealt with. When Apple replaced the Power Mac G5 with the Mac Pro, the switch to Intel chips made the future look bright, while at the same time, users had to deal with the technology transition. In 2013, Apple proved it could think differently about its flagship Mac, with a cylindrical design that morphed our notion of what defines the Mac Pro. But the “trash can” Mac suffered much criticism for its lack of upgradability and reliance on external devices. The 2019 Mac Pro brought back the tower that users demanded, but Apple had to win back a lot of customers. Good or bad, the release of the new Mac Pro was an…

Due to an extremely weird series of troubleshooting maneuvers, I recently found myself having to set my Mac up from scratch without migrating any of my preferences for the first time in longer than I’d like to admit. Think decades, not years. This meant I had to experience every single Apple software default, enter license numbers into software not bought in the Mac App Store, and generally recall every decision I had taken over the last few years to get back to where I wanted to be. More than anything else, though, the experience reminded me that Apple has a lot of work to do when it comes to making the experience of upgrading or migrating to a new Mac more pleasant—and that its security and privacy team clearly has…

Now that macOS Sonoma is here, it brings with it a new feature that Apple calls Game Mode. When activated, Game Mode kicks in automatically when a game launches, giving top CPU and GPU priority to maximize performance. It also improves connectivity with wireless devices, so items such as controllers and AirPods have less latency. Game Mode is all part of Apple’s efforts to make the Mac more appealing to both developers and users as a gaming device. As a user, here’s what you need to know about Game Mode and how to use it in macOS Sonoma. Also check out Apple’s support document about Game Mode on the Mac. WHAT IS GAME MODE? If there’s one thing serious gamers have in common, it’s a never-ending desire for hardware that…

Trend Micro is probably known by business users, which is where the Japanese manufacturer puts its focus. However, Trend Micro also has a long history with private users looking for virus protection and is one of the best on the market. FEATURES Protection against ransomware is provided and monitors selected folders for suspicious actions. If blackmailing software starts to encrypt data in the Documents folder, for example, this function should prevent this. As usual with many antivirus programs, there is also the mandatory browser extension, which is intended to protect against malware sites. But the range of functions seems quite limited compared to competitors such as Norton and Avast. For example, there is no anti-phishing function and no VPN application included in the package, which is quite unusual today. Instead, the…

For many Mac users, running Windows applications is a necessity. Perhaps your employer uses software that’s available only for Windows, or requires the use of a website that relies on Windows-only technology. Or maybe you want to play Windows games on your Mac. Or you need to test applications and services on alternative operating systems—the only way you can install macOS alongside Windows is on a Mac, because Apple won’t allow macOS to be installed on anything else. When Apple moved to Intel CPUs back in 2006, running Windows on a Mac became easier with the introduction of Apple’s own Boot Camp, which made it simple to run both Windows and macOS natively on a Mac. But times have changed, and Apple has now transitioned from Intel to its own…