Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Macworld UK

Truly, Apple’s rise from near-bankruptcy to being one of the most valuable companies in the world is a story for the business history books. But as legendary football coach and analyst John Madden frequently said, “Winning is the best deodorant.” (That’s American football, for our U.K. audience.) When you’re riding high—and you have been riding high for a couple of decades—it’s very hard to notice the parts of your business that have begun to emit a bit of an odor. To take another page from football, Apple has a winning playbook, and it keeps using it. But if you keep calling the same plays without adapting and reacting, a winning playbook can become something much worse. In the past year, two major Apple product launches show just how calcified the…

If you’re looking to take full advantage of the Thunderbolt 5 ports on your M4 Pro Mac mini or M4 Pro or Max MacBook Pro and possibly circumvent Apple’s avaricious storage upgrade pricing, you should consider OWC’s Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 external SSD. The Envoy Ultra is hardly cheap, but it’s nowhere near what Apple charges. On the downside, there are more backward-compatibility issues than expected. THUNDERBOLT 5 COMPATIBILITY While the speed is alluring, and Thunderbolt 5 itself is backward compatible with older Thunderbolt specs, it’s not nearly as backward compatible as you might think, as we wish, or as is hinted at. First, do you need a Thunderbolt 5-enabled Mac or Windows PC to take full advantage of Thunderbolt 5’s 80Gbps transfer rates. 80Gbps? Yes. While you may have…

USB-C wall chargers get smaller and cuter every year, but stick a cable in one and it becomes an eyesore poking out at the opposite end to the wall. Anker makes a lot of those mini and some less mini chargers, but its latest creation bucks the ugly-sticky-out-cable trend by elegantly locating the ports on the underside of the charger. The Anker 140W 4-Port PD 3.1 Charger lacks a catchy name but solves the charger-cable aesthetic challenge with its near configuration. PORTS The four underside ports are as follows: 2× USB-C: 140W PD 3.1 1× USB-C: 40W 1× USB-A: 33W Each of the 140W USB-C ports could be used to fast-charge even the top-end 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro and are rated at PD 3.1. As the maximum output is 140W…

One of the biggest new features of iOS 18 (fave.co/3Bk1PTU) is a completely redesigned Photos app. Apple calls it the “biggest redesign ever,” and the massive changes have been quite contentious, to put it mildly. Many users have expressed frustration with the new layout, complaining about missing features (some of which aren’t really missing) and difficulty finding what they’re looking for. It’s easy to see what’s different. Where the old Photos app had four tabs at the bottom of the interface (Library, For You, Albums, and Search), the new interface is tab-free, placing all of your content on a vertically scrolling page. You can’t revert to the old iOS 17 Photos app, but these tweaks can make the new design a lot more usable. YOUR PHOTO LIBRARY IS STILL THERE…

When the tech world talks about end of life, it usually means obsolete devices losing support for repair and security updates. But this end-of-life iPad case isn’t concerned with Genius Bar support—it’s worried about what happens when the user goes to the eternal Apple Store in the sky. Of course, device protection after death isn’t a totally outrageous concern. There are legitimate complaints from bereaved next of kin who can’t access their loved one’s devices and online accounts, which means they have no way to shut down profiles or access personal information that’s locked away. But In Case of Death Case (fave.co/4hZDove) is less about securing your digital livelihood than protecting your digital reputation: The case will brick your iPad moments after your heart stops, so your embarrassing secrets will…

The pillar design of the Ugreen Nexode Qi2 Power Bank is reminiscent of a skyscraper—albeit a squat one. It offers an impressive 20000mAh battery capacity in a small footprint. And just like a skyscraper, it has something on top: a 65-degree tilting Qi2 wireless charging station that provides additional convenience and flexibility when charging. A striking feature is the large display, as we have seen in other Nexode power banks. The screen provides informative information about the connected interface and the charging power. However, this only applies to the three interfaces and not to the Qi2 charging port. There is also a large percentage display with an estimated duration of how long the power bank can deliver energy at that power, or how long it will take until the Nexode…

When Apple launched iOS 18 (fave.co/3Bk1PTU), the updated iteration of the software came with an entirely new password manager app called, simply, Passwords. So, how does it compare to the existing iCloud Keychain (fave.co/3Xsp3zd), and does it have enough features to have Password Managers (fave.co/4bPSGza) like Dashlane (fave.co/43DcjtN) and 1Password (fave.co/3xGI3QU) looking over their shoulders? WHAT APPLE’S PASSWORDS APP DOES (AND DOESN’T) DO Apple’s Passwords app works helps with basic functions most of us rely on. It stores and fills login passwords, Wi-Fi passwords, 2FA codes, and passkeys. It warns you of easy-to-guess passwords, reused passwords, and passwords that appeared in major data breaches. It’s also relatively easy to securely share passwords with others. Apple also provides its own suggested passwords for new signups. With the app up and running,…

Sometimes there’s a reason you haven’t heard of a software company or its products. This is the case with Total Security Limited’s TotalAV Antivirus Pro 2025 (fave.co/4ihDwpC) software, which functions as an intended jack-of-all-trades security suite centered around virus and malware protection and removal, with almost every other utility that can be conceived of included and available as premium add-ons. TotalAV, which requires Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) or later to install and run, is available as a free trial and retails for a $99/£99 license fee for one year (currently discounted to $29 in the U.S. but not in the U.K.), which offers licensing for three Mac, Windows, iOS, or Android devices. The software downloads and installs cleanly, and granted full access to my hard drive for scanning with…

Back in 2022, Apple added a speaker to the AirPods Pro case to help you find it when it’s lost in a couch cushion or under a desk. But for years people have been hearing their cases make sounds all on their own. We finally know why—and surprise, it’s not the case at all. As spotted by MacRumors, Apple has added an explanation for the occasional and unprompted noises made by AirPods (fave.co/41C6ETg). Tucked way down in the “Use hearing health features with AirPods Pro 2” section of the AirPods User Guide, Apple explains that it’s not actually the case making a noise but rather the AirPods inside the case: To help ensure that your AirPods microphones and speakers are operating at their best (for example, to help provide high-quality…

HOW TO STOP A MAC’S HARD DRIVES FROM SPINNING DOWN Hard disk drives (HDDs) work by spinning their internal platters. Only while they’re spinning can data be read or written. It’s been decades since they gained the ability to remain online but not spinning in a standby state. This reduces power and can also reduce wear and tear produced by heat output and mechanical usage. macOS automatically sends a signal to internal HDDs (on older Macs) and external ones that tell them to spin down after a period during which there has been no access to data stored on them. The next time an HDD is needed, there is a slight delay while the drive spins up to speed. Some people have an intermittent but continual need for HDD usage,…

If you’re fully immersed in the Apple ecosphere of products, you may not have noticed a big trend that’s happening with computing. No, we’re not talking about artificial intelligence, though that is the hot trend. It’s something that’s actually tied to AI development: graphics cards. You might typically associate graphics cards with gaming and other video-focused pursuits, but AI has had a major influence on graphics card sales. The tech involved can handle AI’s large-scale calculations well. Because of that, Nvidia, perhaps the largest player in the graphics card market, has seen its products’ popularity explode. Apple has had success with its M-series chips for its Macs and iPads. When the M1 debuted (fave.co/3ywYjll), it demonstrated impressive gains over the Intel processors it replaced, and each new M chip (fave.co/4bguJ5f)…

Hades was a huge hit when it first appeared back in 2020, so a sequel was pretty much inevitable, and Hades II was released as an Early Access game for Windows PCs almost a year ago. However, the game received a big update at the end of 2024 that added native support for Macs with Apple Silicon. The bad news is that the game requires macOS 12 or later and—unlike the original version—Hades II won’t run on Macs with Intel processors. The first game cast you in the role of Zagreus, the son of Hades—the god of death from Greek mythology—as he attempted to escape from his father’s underworld and eventually reach the home of the gods on Mount Olympus. This time around it’s Zagreus’ sister, Melinoë, who takes center…

ESC KEYS aspreystudio.com Susan Kare is a legend for creating the icons for the original Macintosh. Her new Esc Keys collection features 32 icons in her recognizable bitmap style, available as keycaps that can be inserted into mechanical keyboards (you can’t use them on Apple’s Magic Keyboard). The keycaps are in either silver or gold vermeil. All purchases include a digital version of the icon inscribed on the blockchain.—ROMAN LOYOLA GUNNAR DUME gunnar.com The LED displays used in electronic devices emit blue light that some believe can harm your eyes. Even though studies have yet to provide conclusive evidence, you can play it safe with sunglasses like the Gunnar Dume that provide blue light and 100 percent UV protection. With gold-colored frames, the Dume is available with Amber or Amber…

Last month, we covered a new SMS phishing scam (smishing for short, fave.co/3XnIkBT) specifically targeting iPhone users. The idea behind the scheme is to trick the recipient into replying to a text in order to activate a link, which would then be clicked, either purposefully or inadvertently, and activate a piece of malware. Messages in iOS 18 has a feature that turns off hyperlinks when receiving a text from a number that’s not in your Contacts list. That extra bit of security makes it difficult for scammers to trick you into clicking their links—unless you then reply, which unlocks the link. The idea is that the original text tricks you into replying with something as simple as a Y or N so the link will become clickable. It’s usually a…

Unless you are a work-from-home obsessive or a recluse, a power bank for your iPhone is an essential accessory to your mobile life. Since Apple introduced magnetic wireless charging to the iPhone, these power banks have become increasingly convenient while decreasing in size. Apple’s MagSafe has been available on all iPhones since the iPhone 12, allowing us to magnetically clamp a compatible accessory to the back of the iPhone. Wirelessly charging the iPhone is as simple and efficient as it can get. But it’s not the fastest way to get power into your phone. If the charger is certified by Apple as MagSafe, it should wirelessly charge at 15W. If it is merely MagSafe compatible, charging speed is at a lower 7.5W. The newer Apple-approved Qi2 wireless charging standard is…

The iPhone 16e is Apple’s most affordable model in the iPhone lineup. It replaces both the iPhone 14 and the iPhone SE and is a departure from the “classic” design of those older SE phones. Here’s everything you need to know about the new phone. RELEASE DATE > The iPhone 16e was announced on February 19, 2025 (fave.co/4h4tIhY). > Pre-orders started on February 21 (fave.co/4bn9tus). > The iPhone 16s became available to buy on February 28. PRICE The iPhone 16e replaces the iPhone SE and iPhone 14 in the line up. Like the iPhone 14, the 16e sells for $599/£599. The iPhone SE did start at $429/£429, but that was for a 64GB model; the 128GB iPhone SE cost $479/£479. This means that the cost of owning an iPhone is…

In an increasingly digital world, PDF editors have become essential for numerous Mac users. While macOS offers an Apple Preview app for viewing and annotating PDFs by default, thoroughly editing these documents requires third-party software. Tenorshare PDNob PDF Editor for Mac is one of the options you may come across when hunting for a compatible application. Is it worth the recurring fees, though? PRICING AND AVAILABILITY Tenorshare’s PDNob PDF Editor (we can hear the Brits sniggering at the name) is only available on macOS 10.15, Windows 10, and newer versions of the two operating systems. So, unlike many similar apps, the company doesn’t offer an iPhone or iPad client for editing on the go. To help you evaluate the service, Tenorshare (fave.co/4hm9fp7) offers a 14-day free trial that unlocks PDNob…

Collating pages used to be an intensely manual process. A printer—a human being, not a device—would produce many copies of the same pages, and workers would collate or gather those into the right order for final assembly, whether to become a book or a stapled stack. Collating via printing software is a lot easier. But it’s also a little murky since the term doesn’t describe an act most of us remain familiar with. In Apple’s Print dialog, the Collation option under Print Handling has a precise meaning when you choose to print two or more copies: Print the entire document from start to finish for each copy before starting the next. If you disable Collation, each page is printed the number of times you specified in order from start to…

The Creative Aurvana Ace Mimi is a follow-up to the Aurvana Ace 2 earphones. While the Ace Mimi improves upon some things from the Ace 2, some of the weaknesses are unfortunately still there. One of the major positives of the Ace Mimi is its fit. They sit firmly and comfortably in both large and small ears, not least thanks to the included ear tips in five different sizes. Unfortunately, its touch controls are poorly implemented. It feels like mistouches are the rule and getting them to do what I want is impossible. It’s not helped by the fact that the ability to reprogram them is limited. It is only possible to change what double and triple touching does. There is no single tap option at all (except for the…

Whether you’re a veteran Mac user or a macOS Sequoia newbie, you’ve probably heard that Macs never need to be restarted. It’s a belief that goes back to the time when PC and Macs were represented by different actors and let me tell you: It’s a myth. Now, some of you reading this will roll your eyes and say, “Well, of course.” But there are plenty of MacBook users who simply close their lid at the end of the day and reopen it the next morning. The only time they might consider a restart is when a macOS update forces them to. I know because I was one of them. I’ve been a Mac user since 2000 (Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet), and I have never made a habit of…

We have become accustomed to the brick format of power banks. Anker has rounded the edges with its new power bank, which not only looks more appealing but also feels better in the hand. The official name of the high-capacity battery pack is the rather plain Anker Power Bank (25K, 165W, Built-In and Retractable Cables). Although it is not part of Anker’s high-end Prime line, the technical data is impressive: The 25000mAh battery capacity is very high but still approved for use in aircraft; 165W maximum output power; and four connections. The four connections are divided into three USB-C and one USB-A. Of these, one connection is on a retractable cable, one is on a fixed cable that becomes a carrying strap, and two are classic ports. The retractable cable…

It’s not every February we get an iPhone announcement—in fact, it’s rarely February. But rarely doesn’t mean never, and on a Wednesday in that month, Apple took the wraps off the iPhone 16e (fave.co/4h4tIhY), a new model that brings cutting-edge internals to an older form factor. Tempted as you might be to call the 16e the fourth-generation iPhone SE, this new model doesn’t precisely fit the mold. For one thing, this is the first time Apple is using this new lower-end iPhone to launch a brand new piece of technology. For another, this lower-cost iPhone isn’t exactly as low cost as its predecessors. Suffice it to say, the iPhone 16e isn’t your parents’ iPhone SE. But after almost a decade of producing those models, Apple seems to be taking a…

Why won’t my iPhone charge anymore? Many of us have been there, frantically wiggling the charging cable to try to get the charging icon on our phone screen. If your iPhone stops charging properly when you connect a cable, the likely reason is fluff, dust, or debris stuck in your phone’s charging port. This stuff stops the cable from properly connecting with your phone’s charging components. You might notice that the charging cable isn’t fitting in the port as well as it used to. Remove the junk, and your phone should charge as you expect it to. Below we show you how to remove this fluff, and more importantly we also show you how to stop dirt getting in the charging port (fave.co/41AIwAf) in the first place. Don’t feel dirty.…

Slip in an SSD module into the Dockcase Smart Magsafe M.2 NVMe SSD case, then attach it magnetically to an iPhone 15 Pro or 16 Pro, connect it with a USB-C cable, and the video fun can begin. The Dockcase SSD enclosure enables 4K60Hz ProRes recording directly to the SSD, an ideal solution to conserve internal storage. You can then simply connect the SSD to your Mac or iPad Pro for editing. The enclosure supports compact NVMe M.2 SSDs in 2230 and 2242 formats that you must buy separately. You can get a maximum capacity of 2TB, enough for up to three hours of recording in 4K ProRes. A 1.54-inch 240-by-240 pixel IPS LC display shows real-time details on SSD health and transfer rate. The integrated display may appear playful…

Apple’s AirPods are very popular, but unfortunately also very expensive. On the Apple Store right now the cheapest option is the non-ANC version of the 4th-generation AirPods at $129 (fave.co/3UpO1xX)/£129 (fave.co/43mGLYK); there’s also the ANC version at $179 (fave.co/40r2a1k)/£179 (fave.co/3QGeR2f), while you can pay $249 (fave.co/4fh1sYU)/£229 (fave.co/4ks1kt5) for the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro. And don’t forget the AirPods Max at a whopping $549 (fave.co/3QIK2Kv)/£499 (fave.co/3F4stSE). With prices like that, it’s no wonder that customers are hunting for a discount, and luckily you can often find deals on AirPods (fave.co/3N7wJS8), especially at times like Black Friday (fave.co/3Xmx74A) or one of Amazon’s Prime events (fave.co/3QIVO7w). But what if you find an even better deal somewhere like eBay (fave.co/4i0Dv9V) or eBay U.K. (fave.co/4in2t31)? Can you be sure that the supposedly “brand-new in original packaging”…

If you’re looking for a dainty wallflower of a storage box, skip this review. If you’re looking for a large-capacity network-attached storage (NAS) box to provide ton of storage space as well as run web apps, read on. The ZimaCube is a cube-shaped (duh!), 6-bay server and storage enclosure that can function both over 10Gbe and Thunderbolt 4 port via an ethernet bridge. The handsome box measures approximately 8.75 inches deep, by 8.75 inches tall, by 9.5 inches wide–no, it’s not a perfect cube. Cubular? Cubist? All six SATA drive bays are 3.5 inch, housing six nonlocking, easily removal trays. Note that the 3.5-inch trays don’t use quick-change, pop-out rails; you must use the provided screws to install drives. Smaller, finer-threaded screws are also provided for SATA SSDs. There is…

The Powerbeats Pro (fave.co/3wdIjAe) have been a hugely successful product, arguably the most popular fitness-oriented earbuds of all time. The iconic ear hooks and “b” logo are found in gyms and on tracks everywhere. After five years, it’s time for an upgrade. What has Beats done for an encore? They’ve improved just about every aspect of these buds, and thrown in a brand-new technology not even found on Apple’s latest AirPods Pro. There are a few items on my software update wishlist if these are to reach their full potential, but the Powerbeats Pro 2 are easily my new favorite earbuds for working out. SMALLER, LIGHTER, SLEEKER It’s not as if the original Powerbeats Pro were large, but they’re showing their age. Powerbeats Pro 2 are significantly sleeker, without giving…

Let’s say your best buddy—we’ll call him Pietro—uses an Android phone. To each his own, you say. The problem is, Pietro, who doesn’t own a TV and watches shows on his phone (like I said, to each his own) doesn’t subscribe to Apple TV+ because there’s no Android app for that. This means when you excitedly call Pietro after watching the latest episode of “Severance” that dropped on Friday, you can’t talk about it. Instead, you have to ask him how he’s doing, how the kids are, what he had for dinner, whatever. Ho hum. But today is your (or Pietro’s) lucky day. Apple has released the Apple TV app on Android, and it’s now available on the Google Play store (fave.co/3EZsVRU). It provides access to all Apple TV+ content,…