Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2017 i Macworld

The Mac Pro and Mac mini have languished for years. The iMac faces increased competition from rivals like Microsoft’s Surface Studio. The MacBook is thinner and lighter than ever, but not more powerful. Critics say it’s clear that Apple has put the Mac on the back burner. In a memo to employees, CEO Tim Cook said nothing could be further from the truth: “We have great desktops in our roadmap,” he wrote, according to TechCrunch. “Nobody should worry about that.” But it’s not that simple. A recent report from Bloomberg outlined the internal troubles facing the Mac team at Apple and spilled the updates coming next year. Spoiler alert: They’re minor. The iMac is getting a new AMD graphics processor and USB-C ports, while the MacBook and MacBook Pro will see slight…

A year ago, I reviewed the third version of a Mac application called Grids, one of those rare native solutions for viewing Instagram posts on the desktop without a web browser. With support for multiple accounts, developer ThinkTime Creations had an early leg up on the mobile app at the time, but the inability to upload new content meant this third-party software was strictly a view-only experience. HERE’S THE STORY I’m happy to report Grids 4.0 for Instagram not only carries forward all the conveniences of the previous version (stuff like multiple layouts, keyboard shortcuts, and push notifications) but is also now capable of posting images or videos with optional tags and location data. Although Instagram remains stuck with traditional square photos, Grids will offer to add white space to non-square…

When Apple announced its totally wireless AirPods, the only question on my mind was: Will those things survive a run? It seemed impossible. I can barely get a pair of high-end Bluetooth buds with foam or silicone tips to fit comfortably in my ears and stay there while I work out, let alone a pair of hard plastic earphones. And the EarPods Apple includes right out of the iPhone box fall out of my ears if a breeze wafts near them just so. None of the early AirPods reviews addressed their fitness potential, so I snagged a pair in-store recently and put them to the test.   The good news: These things don’t budge. I ran on a treadmill at 6mph to see if the impact would dislodge them, but to…

Minecraft is the biggest (paid) gaming sensation of the last decade, racking up more than 100 million downloads across platforms and still growing in popularity after several years. It’s hugely popular with young kids, has a vibrant fan community, and even is used in classrooms for educational purposes. And now you can play it on the Apple TV. Released right before Christmas, Minecraft: Apple TV Edition is essentially a big-screen conversion of the Minecraft: Pocket Edition you might know well from the iPhone and iPad. It’s not only the biggest game to hit the Apple TV to date, but also simultaneously the highest-profile game on the device to require a gamepad— you won’t be able to play with the Siri Remote. And that’s for the best, because it means that Minecraft isn’t…

When Apple pulled the headphone jack off the iPhone 7, it also unveiled a new set of wireless earbuds called AirPods, and claimed they were so great, users wouldn’t mind the missing headphone jack. The AirPods didn’t come out for nearly three months after the new iPhone’s release, but now that they’re here, they’ve solved every problem an iPhone 7–using music lover could have, right? Oh, heavens no. Like so many Apple products before them, the AirPods bring with them as many problems as they solve. With no onboard buttons, the AirPods require users to ask Siri to do everything, from changing a track to adjusting the volume. What’s more, Siri doesn’t have the same abilities in all music apps—an arbitrary restriction set by Apple to steer you toward Apple…

The quality of your Wi-Fi in every corner of your home or office can be a bit of a sticky wicket: Great in the reception area, not so hot by the copier. Mediocre in the boss’s office, and absolutely perfect near the last toilet in the bathroom. The question is, how do you figure out what’s bad where and why so you can make adjustments and guarantee good Wi-Fi in the places you need it most. With NetSpot, the Wi-Fi network survey tool. The app comes in three expense tiers: free for non-commercial use, $149 for a one-user-per-device license for the Pro version, $499 for a 10- user-per-device license. The free version is sufficient for most small homes and offices, but you’ll want to purchase the profession or enterprise versions…

As holidays pass, we’re often left with dozens of cherished family photos. You certainly want to make them look their best, so here are a few tips for quickly getting dramatic improvements in Photos for Mac and iOS. ENHANCE TOOL To quickly improve a picture that looks a little dark, dull, or washed out, press the Return key (Mac) or tap the Adjustments icon (iOS) to make sure you’re in Edit mode, and then give the Enhance tool a try. (In Photos for iOS, all you see is a magic wand icon without a label.) When you do, Photos analyzes the picture’s pixels and does its best to improve the image’s overall brightness, contrast, and color. This tool also tries to identify areas that are in focus in an attempt…

How to change your default font in macOS Mail Q: I would like to permanently change the default font setting from “Helvetica 14pt” to “Helvetica Neue Light 14pt” in my mail application so that my messages appear as this one does. — Mark Chayka (Trust me that his message did arrive in 14-point Helvetica Neue Light.) A: I suggested he change Mail preferences: in the Mail app, choose Mail → Preferences → Fonts & Colors, click the Select button next to the Message font item (which shows the currently set font and size), and then use the Fonts selector that appears to choose your new options. (You also need to be sure that in the Composing preferences you set Message Format to Rich Text, not Plain Text, or the font…

As sure as the Earth sweeps through its orbit around the sun, the changing of a calendar year is a time to reflect about what’s happened and ponder what’s to come. Last year I made a list of things I wanted to see from the Mac in 2016; the results were fair to middling. Truth be told, 2016 was a rough year for Mac watchers. There were new MacBook Pros and a slightly updated MacBook, and of course OS X became macOS, but there were no new Mac desktops for the first time in a long time. Keeping in mind that these lists are always a mixture of informed guessing and sheer wishcasting, here’s a list of some of the things I hope we see from the Mac in 2017. MAC PRO:…

Luminar 1.1.0, Macphun’s brand new flagship photo app, is the company’s answer to Photoshop and Lightroom for photographers. It’s a universal, non-destructive general photo editor that sits atop an impressive assortment of specialized Mac-only image apps and plug-ins like Creative Kit 2016, Aurora HDR 2017, and others. With Luminar, Macphun now aims to conquer the complexity of general image editing for amateur and pro users who capture photos with a variety of devices from DSLRs and mirrorless cameras to high-end smartphones. Whereas photographers who rely on Photoshop quickly encounter its famously steep learning curve, Luminar provides the tools for similar editing results with a much easier, Apple Photos-style effort. Its concentration on photo editing and styling, combined with a massive number of slider-based tools, is designed for all skill levels,…

HENGE DOCKS TETHERED DOCKING STATION If you’re hesitant to get a new MacBook Pro because you hate the idea of using all kinds of adapters to connect the laptop’s Thunderbolt 3 ports, you can start reconsidering. The $199 Tethered Docking Station is a brand-new product from Henge Docks, and it features a design that’s somewhat akin to other Thunderbolt docks: it’s an external box that you connect all your devices to, and then you use a single cable to connect your laptop to the box. It has a wedge shape, so you can rest your laptop on top of it. The dock has three USB 3 ports, two Mini DisplayPorts, gigabit ethernet, an audio port, an SD card slot, and a Thunderbolt 3 port for connecting to the MacBook Pro.…

Sometimes it’s just not worth it to peek behind the curtain and find out how the magic happens. That’s the feeling you get from iFixit after the teardown champs took on their latest challenge: Apple’s AirPods. These tiny wearables pack a lot of power into a small space. They’ve got Bluetooth, beamforming microphones, optical sensors, a motion accelerometer, a 93 milliwatt battery (we’ll get to that), and speakers. It’s no surprise there’s little room among all those components for grace and an easy entry point. In fact, the AirPods appear to be equal parts technology and glue. Or as iFixit puts it: “If jamming complex components into a small form factor and sealing it with a copious amount of glue were a game, Apple would be winning.” The impact on you…

Just Sing Just Sing! (free, iPhone and iPad) comes from the makers of Just Dance! It’s iOS-based video karaoke— pick from 10,000 tracks, sing or lip-sync along, then create a music video to complete the project. You can collaborate with other users, or spend hours watching the creations they’ve made. And, of course, you can share your own videos with the crowd. Djay Pro Djay Pro ($5, iPhone and Apple Watch) is finally available on the iPhone, complete with the DJ interface, Spotify integration, four-deck mixing and more that made its big brother app on the iPad so popular. Handle Handle (free, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch) brings together your Gmail, calendar, and to-do list into a single app. Version 1.3.9 launched with a number of new features, including a new…

As Apple has tweaked and improved its Mac operating system, the need for third-party utilities just shifted—it never went away. A lot of the fiddly missing stuff we used to need an app for is built in, but Apple aims for the simplest experience for the most people, which leaves more advanced users or those that want a choice of how they carry out a task looking for alternatives. I’ve used many hundreds of Mac utilities over decades, and still rely on them to make my computing life better. Here’s the top 10 I recommend, a mix of free software, donationware, and inexpensive paid products. (I’ve cheated a little; I list more than 10, as I offer a couple of alternatives.) Some of the paid products might seem pricey on…

In the preceding article, we revealed some hidden features in Apple Photos that can quickly make your cherished images look their best. Now, you’ll learn to adjust brightness in specific areas and copy all your adjustments from one photo to many others. HOW TO USE THE LEVELS SLIDERS Photos for Mac sports some seriously advanced image editing controls in its Adjustments panel, the most powerful of which is Levels. Amazingly, while a Levels adjustment in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements has just three sliders, Photos has eight. This gives you precise control over the brightness levels of all the tones in your image. For example, you can control brightness levels in just the darkest shadows, just the midtones, just the lightest highlights, in the tones that fall between shadows and midtones,…

What do Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, opened in December, and the Mac have in common? John Knoll is chief creative officer at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the division of LucasFilm that has been a leader in creating special effects for decades. And, yes, ILM is responsible for the special effects in Rogue One. But beyond his role as a leader at ILM, John Knoll is the executive producer of Rogue One, and the film’s story is credited to him. When Disney bought LucasFilm and announced that it would be making annual Star Wars films, including ones that weren’t the continuation of the story from Return of the Jedi, Knoll pitched an idea he had that had its origins in the opening crawl of the original 1977 Star Wars.…

For moviegoers, the cinematic experience begins with buying a ticket at the box office. But for filmmakers, it’s a story that was years in the making—a communal voyage that began with a writer extracting ideas from their head and turning them into descriptive words and colorful dialogue that would act as a blueprint for the entire production. Since 1991, Final Draft has been the word processor of choice for most screenwriters. The software is now in use by a large majority of film and television productions, and with good reason: It not only eases the burden of formatting scripts to the rigid standards of Hollywood studios, but introduces new ways to visualize ideas. FADE IN Celebrating a silver anniversary in 2016, Final Draft 10 ($250, finaldraft.com) comes on the heels…

There was a time when the iPhone wish list was miles long. In the early days of the smartphone, there were so many clear gaps that it wasn’t a question of what features needed to be added, but in what order. But since the announcement of the iPhone ten years ago, the wish list has dwindled. The gaps have been filled in. The smartphone is amazing, essential, and a bit boring. Still, we can dream, can’t we? And so here’s a list—both mundane and fantastical—of the iPhone features I’m dreaming of for 2017. MORE CAMERA IMPROVEMENTS Phone cameras can always get better, so I’d like to see Apple keep the ball rolling in 2017 when it comes to iPhone camera updates. As a fan of the smaller phone model, I’d…

Part of the experience of having an Apple Watch is the daily ritual of making sure it’s charged. Apple includes a charging cable, of course, but it’s on a 1-meter cord, which isn’t the most travel-friendly length and still limits where I can set up a charging station. So I’m really into the trend of portable Apple Watch chargers with built-in batteries. The power bricks themselves charge over micro-USB and then hold enough juice to recharge an Apple Watch multiple times, anywhere and everywhere. Several are on the market now, but of the four I’ve tested so far, I’m partial to two. KANEX GOPOWER WATCH Kanex’s GoPower Watch ($100 list price, but offered for less on Amazon) is just over 3 inches square by 1 inch high, a nice compact little…

GIROPTIC IO We’ve moved on from live video on social media. The newest thing? Video that gives you a 360-degree HD view of the scene. Giroptic IO ($249 MSRP) is built to deliver the new hotness: It features high-quality twin custom lenses and connects to your phone or tablet so you can easily provide live, immersive video to your friends. MOCACUFF The MocaCuff ($69 MSRP, preorder for $49) is a blood pressure cuff that, with the tap of a button, syncs your measurements to your iPhone, letting you track your health history and make new fitness goals. M2 GAMEPAD CONTROLLER The M2 Gamepad Controller ($49 with a Kickstarter pledge) turns your iPhone into a handheld game console. It looks like a standard game control with an iPhone mount sticking out…

With the brand-new version of Spark Video, Adobe continues to lure consumers into photographer and designer territory via its creative mobile and web apps. The Spark collection, featuring the newly updated Spark Video, is targeted not to the advanced Photoshop/Lightroom crowd, but to just plain folks—kids, teachers, neighbors, community activists, and small businesses who have something to say. Spark Video (which began life as Adobe Voice, and earlier this year acquired its current branding) provides the tools to create a sophisticated social media presence complete with presentation prowess for those without an art degree, a pocketful of cash, or time on their hands. Adobe has updated Spark Video for the web, iPhone, and iPad by adding a video component. Previously, the app let you use a mixture of voice recordings,…

Oh, Yahoo. It was bad enough that the company already announced a breach exposing 500 million user accounts two years after it happened. Then late one recent night Yahoo revealed that it had uncovered another unrelated hack exposing the account details of one billion users. It’s not clear how much of that is overlap, but at this point does it really matter? I don’t know about you, but I’m done. I wasn’t much of a Yahoo user to begin with but the uses I do have for the company are over. I know that’s easy for me to say. I have a single account that I only use to play fantasy football. But what about those of you who are more fully invested in Yahoo? Here’s a guide to replacing Yahoo’s…

When guests visit, we love having a Photos slideshow playing on our Mac. However, if guests show up with little or no advance notice (as they tend to do during the holiday season), you’ve got little (or no) time to go picture hunting. Happily, macOS Sierra lets you tell Siri to track down certain pictures for you. From that point, all it takes is a couple of clicks to get a slideshow rolling. MAKE SURE SIRI IS ENABLED The first step is to ensure Siri is enabled. If it is, its colorful, round icon should be sitting pretty near the far right end of your Mac’s menu bar. To summon Siri, either click the icon or hold down the Command-Spacebar keys for a second or two. A window slides into…