Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2022 i MacLife

THE M1 PRO and M1 Max bring Apple’s system–on–a–chip architecture to pro systems. M1 Pro delivers up to 70% faster CPU performance than M1, and up to 2x faster GPU performance. It has up to 200GB/s of memory bandwidth, nearly 3x the bandwidth of M1. M1 Max delivers up to 4x faster GPU performance than M1, has up to 400GB/s of memory bandwidth — nearly 6x that of M1 — and supports up to 64GB of fast unified memory (PC notebooks top out at 16GB video memory), meaning apps have dramatically more memory for the most demanding graphics tasks. Unlike pro PC notebooks, which provide peak performance only when plugged in, MacBook Pro delivers the same level of performance whether it is plugged in or running off the battery, yet…

FACETIME FaceTime on the web lets others access calls via their Chrome or Edge web browser without needing Apple hardware to participate, and you can send anyone invitations using web links. Those links and Calendar events ensure that everyone knows when to meet next. For group calls, tile up to 18 callers into a single grid view. Portrait mode puts the focus on the person by blurring the background behind them (M1). Audio improvements add two modes, one to exclude background sounds in Voice Isolation, the other to do the opposite in Wide Spectrum — useful for voices with music or small groups. Spatial audio places each speaker’s voice in space. >>> SHAREPLAY This integrates shared audio including music, video from movies and TV shows, the screen on your Mac…

1 Create a shortcut This sorts Preference or other files which haven’t changed for a while into a new folder in your Documents named SavedFiles. In Shortcuts, select All Shortcuts and click “+” to create a new shortcut. Give it a name. 2 Add first actions Select the Documents category at the right and locate the Select File action. Drag it into the shortcut main window and set it to Select Folders in its pop–up menu. Repeat with a second action to “Get contents of folder”. 3 Set file filter Add the Filter Files action, in which you can add a filter to select only those files whose Last Modified Date is before a date that was at least a year ago. The output of this action will be the…

>>> STARTING UP FROM EXTERNAL DISKS WITH M1 M1 Exclusive Monterey changes the way to set Secure Boot policy for bootable external disks on M1 Macs. To drop from Full Security, you have to start up from the external disk, shut down, then start up in Recovery mode by holding the Power button. That takes you into the Recovery system on that external disk, where you can change its policy using Startup Security Utility. When started up from the Recovery system on the internal SSD, you can only set policy for that disk, not external disks. Most laptop models gain an optional new Low Power Mode, to reduce display brightness and slow hardware clock speed when needed to prolong the battery. Should you want to remove all personal data, for…

$69.99 From creative.com Features Dual polar pattern, real–time mic–monitoring, 24–bit/96 kHz recording resolution Creative’s Live! Mic M3 offers a good product for a reasonable price. You get a compact microphone with an adjustable ball joint stand, two polar recording modes (cardioid and omnidirectional), a mute button, headphone jack with volume control, and even an included pop filter. The first thing you’ll notice is the microphone’s size. It’s 8.46in tall with the filter and stand attached, so it’s small enough to pack in a bag when you’re out of the office. The mic itself is lightweight, but the stand’s base is heavy at 13.4oz — while this keeps it solidly rooted, it’ll add to your travel weight. Recordings were pleasantly crisp with no ambient hum, although they were a little quiet.…

Totally spaced out, man… Apple’s “spatial audio” and Yamaha’s “3D Sound” have much in common, but they’re not exactly the same. Both headphones can create a kind of 360–degree surround sound effect while watching films and video, and both have a head–tracking feature that can adjust the direction of sound if you happen to move. There’s “spatial audio” on Apple Music too, but this works differently. You can actually use any headphones to listen to spatial audio on Apple Music, but only with a limited selection of songs that have been specially recorded and mixed. Yamaha’s 3D Sound goes a little further, as it’s designed to create 3D audio effects from any standard stereo source, including both music and video. Both approaches work quite well, but stereo headphones still can’t…

$189 From plugable.com Features 3x USB–C ports (Thunderbolt 4/USB 4), dual 4K or single 8K output, 60W charging for laptop There are plenty of docks and hubs available for the Mac these days, but Plugable says that its new Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 Hub is the first to offer “pure USB–C design”. That simply means that the Hub focuses exclusively on providing support for Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 via its three USB–C connectors. The Hub is still compatible with older Macs that have Thunderbolt 3 and USB–C (aka USB 3.2), but there are no USB–A ports, or the audio or Ethernet interfaces that you can find on some docks. Having just three ports means that the dock is admirably compact, measuring just 120mm wide, 73mm deep, and 18mm high. You…

ON TEST… > 1Password > Bitwarden > Keeper Password Manager > LastPass > NordPass > Secrets PASSWORDS ARE EVERYWHERE, and two–factor authorisation (2FA) keeps creeping up too. One solution, ideal for anyone with more than one means of connecting to the internet, is a password manager. macOS and iOS provide basic management so long as you use Safari, but if you want to access your passwords from Android or Linux, then you’re on your own. Apple’s new iCloud Keychain Password Manager for Windows could help many. These password managers go where Apple’s doesn’t. All bar one store your passwords and other data in a private vault on the app’s own servers, independently of Apple and iCloud. To do this securely, the information you save in the app is encrypted there…

$9.99 From dinopoloclub.com Needs macOS 10.15 or later Every driver knows bad traffic. If you think you could do a better job of road planning, Mini Motorways is your chance to prove yourself. The game sets you the task of connecting houses to destinations from a bird’s–eye view. Each car needs to make it to a destination of a matching color, whereupon it collects a pin that gets added to your score, then drives home and repeats the process. More cars are added as the game progresses, and every so often you get power–ups like traffic lights, roundabouts, and highways to improve your road network. The top–down, quirky visuals fit perfectly and make you feel like a god who is by turns omnipotent and powerless. The music is often calm…

Our iPhones are many things these days: instant messengers, games consoles, digital cameras. We can also add Dictaphones to the list thanks to the quality mics and great range of recording apps. But which recording app should you get? There are plenty of apps tailored to various recording needs. Some are perfect for quick, painless recording. Others specialize in super–accurate transcription. And some integrate their recording chops into broader organizational tools. We’ve found six of the best for you to browse and download. Each one is ideally suited to recording audio on the go. OTTER: TRANSCRIBE VOICE NOTES Free (IAPs) From otter.ai Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac When you’re recording audio, you don’t want to spend hours transcribing it by hand. Instead, just use Otter. This app uses…

FIND THAT YOU rarely delete incoming mail and almost never file it in a folder? It’s a common issue. The result is thousands of messages sitting in your inbox. Perhaps many of them are even unread. While modern Macs and fast broadband mean that huge inboxes aren’t the problem they once were, it’s still good practice to organize incoming mail. Apple makes it easy with smart mailboxes, and rules, which perform actions on messages. Spend some time setting these up and your inbox will be much less cluttered. Mail also has an unsubscribe feature that seeks to identify newsletter emails and offer you the option to unsubscribe at the press of a button. We’ve found it to be a bit hit and miss, but it’s useful on the occasions it…

WHY DO NOTIFICATIONS SOMETIMES MISS OUT MY WATCH? When iPhones or iPads receive notifications, they work out whether to pass them on to your paired Watch. They aim to minimize duplication, so you only receive a single notification on the device you’re using. Just lock your iPhone and they should arrive on your Watch instead. HOW TO DOWNLOAD TO MY MAC FROM iPHONE LINKS? The simplest solution is to buy copies of Transloader from the App Stores for your iPhone and Mac. Then copy and paste the download link into the app on your iPhone, and assign it to your Mac for downloading. This works remotely and even copes with downloads which require you to log in. HOW TO REPLACE THE SSD IN A MACBOOK PRO 2017 13–INCH? Provided the…

A QUICK SELECTION The intelligent Quick Selection tool works out which parts of a subject you want to select. B LAYER MASKS White sections keep the attached layer’s pixels 100% solid; black parts create 100% transparency. C FINE TUNE Black brush strokes hide any remaining unabated pixels. White strokes reveal missing pixels. D SHADOWS To integrate the child into the image, spray shadows onto a background transparent layer. IMAGE–EDITING APPS such as Lightroom do a fine job of fixing problems with color, tone and composition, but to get really creative with your photos you need to be able to work in layers. Pixelmator Pro (pixelmator.com/pro) has a host of tools that enable you to select, transform and combine parts of different photos into a layered composite image, like popping a…

APPLE HAS MADE several announcements about music quality, including Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos over the last few months, and it’s all getting a little confusing. In a nutshell, Apple Music on the most recent versions of macOS, iOS and iPadOS now allows you to to play tracks that have been encoded in Dolby Atmos format. While AirPods (including AirPods 3rd gen, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max) and supported Beats headphones equipped with Apple’s H1 or W1 chips can be set to play Dolby Atmos tracks automatically. Dolby Atmos will also work on most other headphones, although you’ll need to activate the feature in those instances manually. In addition, most iPhones, iPads and Macs made since 2018 include automatic support for Dolby Atmos. Dolby Atmos is a surround sound format…

APPLE IS ON a mission to make the smartphone even more indispensible than it already is. The whole early schtick about smartphones was that they’re the center of our digital lives. Email, photos, music, social networks, entertainment, navigation… all in your pocket. This is why we’re happy to pay iPhone Pro prices just as much as SE prices — it’s perhaps the most important thing we own. But despite feeling like you really can’t be without one, the iPhone remains ultimately a luxury — to be without any of these things is rarely a crucial issue in life. If you lose your iPhone it’s a major inconvenience, no doubt, but you can mostly carry out your most important tasks somewhere else while you decide whether to pony up for an…

1 Hasselblad 907X Anniversary Edition Kit $15,100 From hasselblad.com >>> Hasselblad is known for its incredible cameras and incredible prices to match. If you’re the ultimate fan of the company and have money to burn, the 907X Anniversary Edition Kit will be right up your street. Made to mark Hasselblad’s 80th anniversary, the camera takes its design cues from its much–loved SWC camera. Included in the kit is a 907X body with a large medium format 50MP CMOS sensor, a CFV II 50C digital back, a control grip, an optical viewfinder, and an XCD 3,5/30 lens, all with anniversary edition trimmings. Not only will all that help you take great pictures, it’ll mark you out as someone with far more nostalgia and cash than they know what to do with.…

1 Enable sharing Open the Messages app, and in its Preferences select the “Shared with You” tool at the right. In this window, ensure that automatic sharing is turned on, and that it’s enabled for each of the apps listed below. 2 Set Safari’s Start Page Shared web links are the simplest to deal with. On Safari’s Start Page, open the menu from its control at the bottom right of the page and enable “Shared with You” to show all received links on your Start Page. 3 Share from Safari To share the current page as a web link use the Share tool at the upper right of the window. This can send that page to the open conversation in Messages ready for your friend to open that link in…

1 Set AirPlay Receiver In the Sharing pane, enable AirPlay Receiver. Then decide whether to limit who can use your Mac for AirPlay, whether just the current user connected to the same Apple ID, anyone on your local network, or everyone. 2 Set Sound output Switch to the Sound pane and ensure that its Output section is set correctly to get the best out of the AirPlay output. Here, you’ll probably want to push Output volume to maximum to give full control on your device. 3 Switch play to Mac Start playing the track on your device. Tap the AirPlay icon at the foot, and select your Mac as the destination. Agree to this in the notification shown on your Mac, and the audio should switch over immediately.…

>>> AIRPLAY TO MAC Play media from a connected iPhone/iPad/Mac (various) >>> DIGITAL LEGACY Method to remove activation lock from someone’s devices after their death (general) >>> FOCUS Managed notifications (Notifications & Focus) >>> HOMEKIT SECURE VIDEO Encrypted storage in iCloud for security camera recordings (iCloud) >>> iCLOUD+ Forthcoming enhanced iCloud service (general) >>> INTELLIGENT TRACKING PREVENTION Technology to prevent trackers (Safari) >>> LIVE TEXT Real–time optical character recognition of text in images (various) >>> LOOK UP Live Text linked to additional info from Siri and Apple apps (various) >>> LOW POWER MODE Reduced display brightness to prolong battery endurance (laptops) >>> MAIL PRIVACY PROTECTION Technology to prevent sender from gaining info (Mail) >>> MEMORIES Played albums of themed images (Photos) >>> OBJECT CAPTURE For building 3D models of objects…

THE iPOD WAS a big hit for all kinds of reasons. It was better than the competition, it was easy to use, and it had white headphones that would become the focus of an iconic ad campaign. The first iPod campaign included one of Steve Jobs’ pet hates: people. Jobs preferred not to use real people in ads because no one person would appeal to everybody. And this particular ad, according to Ken Segall, who worked on ad campaigns with Apple, was “uncomfortable to watch… it was a young guy trying to act cool, and doing so in a fairly pitiful way.” In 2003 Apple’s ad agency Chiat/Day came up with the idea of using dark silhouettes of people with bright white headphones on primary colored backgrounds. Jobs hated it…

$59.99 From Twelve South, twelvesouth.com Features USB–C PD, HDMI, USB–A 2.0, headphone out Twelve South’s latest hub is a miniaturized version of its existing StayGo USB–C hub. They share the same sort of style, but the Stay Go Mini is a fraction of the size, and weighs next to nothing. It’ll easily fit in a small pocket. The major differentiator between the two (as well as most other hubs), however, is that it’s designed specifically for the iPad Pro. A built–in USB–C connector on one side of the device allows it to be plugged straight into an iPad Pro, the body sitting flush with the bottom edge of the iPad. As the connector is integrated, there are no extra cables to carry, though the Mini comes with a lengthy MacBook…

$99.99 From logitech.com Features Bluetooth Low Energy, Smart illumination, USB–C rechargeable, 17.86 oz Logitech’s MX Keys Mini packs much of the good stuff from its larger sibling into a significantly smaller package. Weighing just under 18 oz, it’s ultra–portable and charges over USB–C via the bundled cable, offering 10 days of usage on a single charge, or up to 5 months with backlighting switched off. It’s compatible with recent versions of all major desktop and mobile operating systems and has three Device buttons, each one of which can be paired individually so you can switch between devices without re–pairing each time. Adjustable backlighting uses a proximity sensor to switch itself off when you move away from the keys. The regular version of the keyboard has both Mac and Windows key…

$299 From klipsch.com Features Noise–canceling, transparency, custom EQ, gesture support, IPX4 At $300, Klipsch’s first noise–canceling true wireless headphones are a pricey contender in the premium headphone market — $50 more than the AirPods Pro. Visually, the T5 II ANC’s impress, with a neat gunmetal case and matching headphones. Designed in the US, the chunky metal case and side–hinge is reminiscent of a Zippo. A silicone base gives it solid grip when placed down. On the inside a three–bar light shows the case’s remaining charge. While the headphones aren’t that stylish, they work — a generous six pairs of tips means it’s easy to get a snug fit, with the unit sitting flush in the ear canal. Passive noise–canceling is very good, but active noise cancelation reduces ambient sounds even…

APPLE’S MAIL APP is often overlooked in favor of alternative email clients that appear to offer more in the way of features. However, it’s a very capable and easy–to–use tool and offers many advantages, particularly if you have multiple Apple devices and synchronize them using iCloud. What’s more, it’s had a couple of decent upgrades in recent versions of macOS, many of them focused on privacy. Sign in with Apple enables you to sign up to an email newsletter or enter a competition using a random email address that is forwarded to your iCloud email account. That prevents the sender from knowing your real address. And in Monterey, you can generate a random email address using Hide My Email. Mail can also prevent senders finding out whether you have opened…

> Which macOS upgrade? I usually run the last major version of macOS, and now have to decide whether to upgrade to Big Sur, or Monterey. Which should it be? Each of the previous macOS upgrades has brought major internal changes: switching the file system to APFS, killing all 32–bit software, dividing the startup volume into two, and in Big Sur, locking the system away altogether in a snapshot. Monterey is the exception to that particular rule, in that it consolidates rather than makes architectural changes, with all the problems those usually bring. Entry requirements and incompatibilities are very similar between Big Sur and Monterey. The major difference for users is that, while Big Sur only gets security updates now, Monterey gets all the bug fixes in addition. In the…

MANY PEOPLE HAVE movie and TV collections ripped from DVDs or other sources, often in formats that QuickTime doesn’t natively support. Infuse 7 (free, offers IAPs) is an application for macOS, iOS and tvOS that lets you stream digital video files on your local network to your devices without any conversion required. Infuse can play pretty much any video file right off the bat. Its only real restriction is an inability to play purchased iTunes videos because of the digital protection. Movie collections can use up a lot of space, but you can point Infuse at almost any drive or folder including networked hard drives, local hard drives and, with a Pro subscription ($0.99 per month), stream directly from cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox and so on. A great…

IF YOU’VE BEEN paying attention to the tech world over the last year or so, chances are you’ve heard of Clubhouse. The immensely popular app centres on conversation “rooms” hosted by “clubs” — the idea is it’s like a round table speaking event where everyone can take part. Just join a room and you can listen to people chat about the topic at hand. Whether you want to learn something new or just hang out with some of your friends, Clubhouse’s rooms are an excellent way to sit back, talk and listen in a world that’s obsessed with short and speedy interactions. When Clubhouse first launched, it was known for its explosive growth despite being invite–only. Now anyone can join, opening up access to interesting spoken conversations on all manner…

APPLE HAS INTRODUCED a redesigned MacBook Pro built around a new generation of Apple silicon, with ground-breaking performance, a stunning larger screen, and amazing battery life, plus the return of the MagSafe charger connector, a range of ports, and physical Function keys instead of a Touch Bar. There are two new models. The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999 with an Apple M1 Pro chip with 8–core CPU and 14–core GPU (configurable to M1 Pro with 10–core CPU and 14–core GPU, M1 Pro with 10–core CPU and 16–core GPU, M1 Max with 10–core CPU and 24–core GPU, or M1 Max with 10–core CPU and 32–core GPU). The 16–inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499 with M1 Pro chip with 10–core CPU and 16–core GPU (configurable to both M1 Max options). Both…

Which Macs work with Monterey? All M1 Macs (all features) iMac Late 2015 and later iMac Pro MacBook Early 2016 and later MacBook Air Early 2015 and later MacBook Pro Early 2015 and later Mac mini Late 2014 and later Mac Pro Late 2013 and later M1 Exclusive >>>Monterey’s features weren’t expected on all supported Macs. The only models to enjoy them all are M1 Macs. Live Text and AirPlay have worked well when tested on most Intel models, but Object Capture requires an M1 or ample memory and VRAM. THE LAST FEW years of macOS upgrades brought some trauma with their advances. We’ve lost 32-bit apps, gained a new file system ideal for SSDs and Time Machine backups but unsuited to hard disks, and previously simple startup volumes have…

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$179 From apple.com Features Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, IPX4, MagSafe charging case Don’t need AirPods Pro noise–canceling? Want to save $80? Then the new AirPods might be Apple’s best true wireless headphones. As with the old AirPods, there’s no in–ear bit; instead these nestle in your ear lobes. It’s exceedingly comfy. In terms of fit, that depends on the size of your ears, but even with our bigger lugs it was just about right. They aren’t snug, but neither do they feel loose. Ok, so you don’t get the noise–isolating effect, a la AirPods Pro, and nor do you get transparency. But that might work in your favor — the AirPods reduce external noises, but you can still hear stuff — in a busy city, this is a…

$149.99 From nokia.com Features Three listening modes, touch controls, Google Assistant, 25 hours battery life total Nokia’s buds look like AirPods, but how do they compare? At $150, they are $100 cheaper than Apple’s AirPods Pro, yet still offer active noise cancelation (ANC). You get five hours of battery with ANC on (the same as AirPods Pro), a charging case, and Google Assistant (but no Siri). Unsurprisingly, there are compromises to accommodate all that. Audio quality is a mixed bag. The buds have a bias towards bass, and vocals that are normally crisp and clear get a little lost when using Nokia’s earphones. It’s far from the worst audio reproduction we’ve ever heard, but it’s nothing more than decent. There’s also no ear detection, so audio won’t pause when you…

$129.99 From astropad.com Features 4 different display modes Needs 2011 Mac or later; macOS 10.11 or later; iPad Mini 2 (2013+), iPad Pro (2016+), iPad 5th generation (2017+), or iPad Air (2013+); iOS 12.1 or later When Luna first announced its Display USB gizmo, its main attraction was the ability to use an iPad as a second screen for your Mac. Then, months later, along came macOS Catalina with its Sidecar feature and it looked like Luna Display had been well and truly “Sherlocked”. But undeterred, Luna ploughed on, focusing on improving performance and adding features. We’re glad it did, because Luna Display now does a great deal more than Sidecar and could prove itself a worthwhile addition to your laptop bag. In addition to allowing you to use an…

$7.99 From Yannick Schrade, shiftscreen.app Made for iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch Needs iOS or iPadOS 14.0 or later Apple likes to tout the iPad as being capable of replacing a computer but in some areas it still falls short of being able to do so. One example is using external monitors. Although you can physically connect to a second screen with a cable or wirelessly using AirPlay, iPadOS and iOS limit you to simply mirroring what’s on the device’s screen. And even worse, you’ll often get mismatched aspect ratios, resulting in wasted empty space on the external screen. Shiftscreen is an intriguing attempt to get around this limitation until Apple decides to fix the issue itself, which on past evidence may never happen. It’s an inexpensive app that lets…

ONE OF THE best things about Mail is that it can be as simple or as complicated as you want. If you use it with just one iCloud account and don’t send or receive a lot of email, you can leave preferences set at their defaults and just have a two–pane interface with the list of messages in your inbox in one, and the current message in the other. If you enable the Show Favorites bar, you’ll be able to switch between your inbox, sent mail, drafts, flagged messages, and VIPs easily, even without the mailbox list displayed. If you have multiple accounts and like to file messages in folders rather then keep them in your inbox, you can keep the mailboxes list on–screen and use Smart Folders to file…

INTEL MACS CAN run Windows in Boot Camp, but there’s no equivalent on Apple silicon Macs, where the best way to run Windows or Linux is in a virtual machine (VM) in Parallels Desktop. Until the release of Windows 11, running that or Windows 10 on an M1 requires you to join Microsoft’s Insider Program to gain access to pre–release versions for ARM systems. Fortunately, Linux is simpler, as Parallels offers four different distros for ARM systems, including the excellent Ubuntu. Until native Asahi Linux ships, that’s actually the best way to run Linux on your M1. Intel Macs have a far wider choice of many different versions of Windows, half a dozen easy–install Linuxes, Android, and the numerous versions of macOS from 10.7 to Monterey. In each case, installing…

APPLE MADE WAVES when it introduced Sign in with Apple, the service that lets you use dummy email addresses in online forms and then have everything forwarded to your regular address. Now DuckDuckGo (free) is offering a similar Email Protection feature. As well as enabling you to sign up for newsletters using randomly generated email addresses, the service also strips any incoming mail of privacy–breaking trackers. Sign up for a free @duck.com email address, then use it when you register for newsletters and DuckDuckGo will forward mail to your normal email address, free from tracking pixels and cookies. There’s no need to remember new passwords or use a new inbox. At the time of writing the feature is in beta, but you can sign up for beta access in the…

ONE OF THE Apple Watch’s strengths is its level of customization, particularly with complications. These are small widgets that adorn your watch face, adding nuggets of information at a glance. Apple has loaded the Watch with lots of its own complications, and third–party apps can add their own too. But what if these don’t quite hit the spot? Instead of making do with one that’s subpar, you can get the free Watchsmith app and create your own complications. With Watchsmith (free, offers IAPs), you can craft complications with a range of functions, from displaying the date in various formats to measuring your fitness and more. Almost everything can be tweaked, including the fonts and colors used. It even includes timed complications, which are only displayed during the hours you set.…

WHILE PLENTY OF users love it, the iPad mini has arguably always been a bit of an odd–one–out in Apple’s product line–up. Originally announced on October 23, 2012, and available in November that same year, the first–generation iPad mini only contained Apple’s A5 chip and 512MB RAM. Subsequently, it was deemed by some to be a bit underpowered. It also did not come with a Retina display. Many were annoyed by the use of a Lightning port for charging instead of a traditional 30 pin connector too. Furthermore, at $329 for a 16GB model, the iPad mini was too expensive to challenge Amazon’s range of Kindle e–readers, which had already been available since 2007 and, as CEO Jeff Bezos put it, reached the “magical two–digit price point,” by 2011. The…