Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2020 i Macworld

It’s not the first and it won’t be the last, but the recent announcement of the 16-inch MacBook Pro (see page 74) is probably the clearest sign thus far that Apple has changed its priorities when it comes to the Mac. It’s a process that’s been visible in public for a couple of years now, and it’s not quite done—but here in the latter half of 2019, we’re getting our clearest look at a company that got out of sync with some of its most important customers and has realized it needs to change some of its assumptions about product design. TWEAKING JOBS’S LAW Apple is clearly guided, at least in part, by a design philosophy that considers size and weight to be the enemy of good. I like to…

In late October, my house lost power and internet for three days, part of a larger story involving nearby fires and poorly maintained electrical infrastructure in California. Over those 72 hours and the ones that directly preceded and followed them, I spent a lot of time thinking about how best to deal with technology when faced with a blackout. Here’s what I learned. BACKUP BATTERIES ARE ESSENTIAL If you don’t own any backup batteries to charge your devices, get some. They’re useful when traveling—I always bring at least one with me fully charged when I go on a trip, so I don’t end up in an unfamiliar city without a fully functional iPhone. I have two 10,000 mAh batteries with two USB ports, capable of charging an iPhone several times.…

STICKER-EYE SMART HOME WIRE FREE AI CAMERA Thanks to its magnetic base, the Sticker-Eye camera can be stuck anywhere you have a metal surface. If you don’t have one, a magnetic mount is provided that is easily affixed to wood or masonry with a couple of screws, and you can stick the camera to that. Powered by a built-in 6000mAh rechargeable battery, the camera has a 130-degree field of view and captures 1080p video. The camera wakes only when it detects motion, then its built-in AI analyzes the moving object and, if it identifies it as human, the camera starts recording video and continues until the motions stops. You can watch video clips using the Sticker-Eye mobile app.—MICHAEL ANSALDO ECOVACS DEEBOT OZMO 920 A robot vacuum/mop hybrid, the Ozmo…

Apple Arcade, the new gaming subscription service, is now available on the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple TV, and the Mac. After playing Apple Arcade across all those devices, the iPad currently offers the ideal blend of performance, optimization, comfort, ease of use, and general gameplay experience. That may change in the future—hopefully sooner than later—with more games and optimization. But right now, if you want to get the most out of Arcade, reach for Apple’s tablet. Here’s why. 1. THE DISPLAYS ARE LARGE ENOUGH TO ENJOY THE GAMES Latter-day iPhones are capable of running every Apple Arcade game, but let’s be real: They’re phones. In the optimal case of the iPhone 11 Pro Max, you’re still playing on a screen that’s only 6.2 inches wide by 3.06 inches high…

Months before the introduction of AirDrop in iOS 7 and Mac OS X Lion 10.7, a clever little mobile app debuted that allowed iPhone and iPad owners to transfer photos and videos between devices using what can only be described as magic. And it continues to be better than what Apple has done. PhotoSync 4.0 is a nifty little universal iOS app for transferring photos and videos between mobile devices, desktop computers (via web browser or free Mac/Windows companion app), network-attached or cloud storage, and more. I’ve used this app for years when transferring iOS review screenshots to the Mac, because it has several advantages over AirDrop. CROSS-PLATFORM SYNC For starters, PhotoSync offers an option to delete images once they’ve been successfully transferred to reduce unwanted camera roll clutter. The…

With the 16-inch MacBook Pro, the company set out to create a laptop that would satisfy user demand—and that’s a little different way of doing things for Apple. Most users are used to Apple setting the tone and direction, and expecting users to just go with the flow. But it finally got to a breaking point, and users started to loudly complain about the things they didn’t like about the MacBook Pro. So, Apple corrected course. With the prior 15-inch model, there was always a “Yeah, but….” However, with the 16-inch MacBook Pro that replaces it, there are fewer chances for users to say, “Yeah, but….” The new laptop is a great combination of usability and performance, and it fixes the biggest issues that plagued its predecessor. BYE-BYE BUTTERFLY, HELLO…

When it comes to a VPN that protects your privacy, Sweden-based Mullvad is the best we’ve ever seen. The company wants to know as little about you as possible and doesn’t require an email address or even a password. Instead, the company randomly generates a unique code for your username. This username sans password is what you use to top off the credits on your account, and log in to the desktop apps. If you’re worried about not having a password, Mullvad says it’s statistically very safe. “A newly created Mullvad account number is a 16-digit decimal…This allows for a total of 8.99 quadrilion possible account numbers,” the company said in a 2017 blog post. “Assuming our customers are actively using 100,000 different accounts with us, one would need to…

We may not yet have support for multiple accounts on the iPad, but by gosh, we’ll have it on the Apple TV once tvOS 13 drops. The new feature lets you easily switch between two or more Apple IDs on Apple’s set-top box, which means it’ll be easier to keep your recommendations from getting muddled with the viewing histories of family members and friends who share the device. Yet, it’s not like multiple accounts on the Mac. Every app you’ve downloaded stays in place when you switch between profiles, and you usually won’t see any differences in the account management of apps like Netflix. (Fortunately, Netflix comes with its own support for multiple accounts.) Instead, you’ll see the differences in the libraries, recommendations, and purchase histories in the Movies, TV…

Apple finally took the wraps off the long-rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro (see page 74), and it ushered in a new era for the highest-end Mac notebook you can buy. Most notably, it brings a much-needed change to the keyboard, eschewing the maligned butterfly mechanism for more traditional scissor keys that should be quieter and more reliable than recent models. But along with a bigger screen, better speakers, and more battery, the new MacBook Pro still feels like an iterative update rather than a transformative one. Yes, it introduces a new screen size for the first time in years and retires a model that’s been in existence for more than a decade, but aside from some extra pixels, the new notebook doesn’t really break the mold or offer much in the…

A cynic might argue that prolonging the lifetime of its smartphones runs counter to Apple’s interests. After all, the sooner iPhones break down, the sooner customers have to pony up the cash for a new one. For years, conspiracy theories of “planned obsolescence” have run rampant, full of anecdata of iPhones breaking down just as they run out of warranty. But that argument flies in the face of reality. For one thing, if your expensive new phone breaks after a year, are you really going to immediately replace it with another phone from the same unreliable manufacturer? More to the point, Apple has demonstrated that it is dedicated to getting the most life possible out of its smartphones, such as with last year’s iOS 12 update, which promised better performance…

By this time, iOS 13 has already been installed on iPhones and iPads around the world, though it was poised to be one of the shortest-lived updates of all time, with iOS 13.1 being released just five days later and iOS 13.2 released a month after that. But now that these initial releases of Apple’s latest mobile OS have arrived, it’s time to once again cast our eyes forward to the inexorable future marching toward us. Apple likes to say that it skates to where the puck is going, so for those who are interested in the company’s future plans, it’s always instructive to look at which direction it’s going. There’s no better way to get that direction than to look at Apple’s biggest software release of the year. As I’ve spent…

For video makers, the highlight of this year’s September Apple keynote was undoubtedly the slick demo of Filmic Pro taking advantage of all four iPhone 11 cameras to record multiple angles at the same time. Multi-cam is a great way to quickly create dynamic videos without the time-consuming task of shooting a performance multiple times from different views. Although Filmic Pro’s multi-cam update isn’t expected until later in the year, there are other ways to shoot and edit multi-camera video right now, using as many as four iOS devices you already own. Unfortunately, the app in question turns out to be cooler in concept than execution. MULTI-CAM SHOOTING 4XCamera Maker is a video app from Roland Corporation, the Japanese company dating back to the early seventies best known for electronic musical…

Apple is at its best when it takes something that people find fiddly or annoying and then makes it effortless. And the new AirPods Pro are a perfect example. They’re not the first wireless earbuds with noise cancelling, and they’re not the best-sounding wireless earbuds you can buy, but they do sound quite good and they’re just so easy that it’s just hard to go back to anything else. MAKING WIRELESS EASY The original AirPods have been a smash success, and it’s not because Apple invented the first truly wireless earbuds. Nor is it because they sound better than anything else in their price range. AirPods made wireless effortless. While next to your iPhone, AirPods pair with your device just by opening its case. The connection is rock solid. They turn on…

If you’re looking for an ultra-compact, sleek, and great-sounding on-ear headphone then look no further than AKG’s Y500 Wireless. While AKG might not be a household name to some, this Harman International subsidiary (and sister company to Harman Kardon, JBL, Mark Levinson, and Revel) is well known in audiophile and recording circles. AKG also has a rich legacy in the recording studio world. I’ve reviewed several AGK headphones over the years, including the AKG N60 NC Wireless and N700 NC Wireless, and have always had a great experience. The AKG Y500 Wireless is no exception. DESIGN AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS The AKG Y500 Wireless come beautifully packaged. The headphones themselves were awarded an iF Design Award in 2018. The headphone box proudly displays the iF Design Award logo on its cover. The…

TRYING TO MAKE AN OLD APPLE DISPLAY WORK WITH YOUR NEW MAC? IT’S NO LONGER WORTH IT “I have an old Apple monitor,” several readers write each week. “How can I hook it up?” Here we reveal everything you need to know. How to connect an old DVI monitor to newer Mac with USB-C One problem that Mac 911 can always count on: The complexities of using old Apple monitors to work with new USB-C-equipped Macs. The 2015 and later MacBook uses USB-C for USB 3 and DisplayPort. The newer MacBook Pro and iMac models pass Thunderbolt 3 over USB-C, along with DisplayPort and other standards. I recently updated our best advice and knowledge for Apple’s Mini DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 2 displays. For older Apple monitors that relied on DVI—sometimes…

I’ve been covering Apple’s quarterly financial results—including the obligatory conference call between Apple executives and Wall Street analysts—for years now. And yet I never mention Apple’s head of investor relations, Nancy Paxton, who appears on every call to warn of forward-looking statements and introduce the analysts. Paxton is retiring in December and this was her 93rd and final earnings call, and if anything deserves applause, it’s sitting through 93 of these things. But I keep listening, because amid the scripted declarations about how great Apple’s latest quarter was—this one was Apple’s best fiscal fourth quarter ever—Apple’s executives will give you a few tidbits about how they view their business that’s just not available anywhere else. Here’s what we learned this quarter. HOLIDAY QUARTER, DREAM OR DISASTER? A record for Apple’s…

I’ve been an ardent fan of RSS news readers for a long time, but lately find it easier to consume information on Twitter in bite-sized chunks; you can browse headlines in near real-time, clicking links to read full articles of interest from a web browser. A well-designed reader app does the same, but once you add an avalanche of feeds, it becomes time-consuming to slog through the digital noise every day. When I heard Mac reader app NetNewsWire had been resurrected by the original developer, it felt like a good time to dust off my feeds and give RSS another shot. COMING HOME NetNewsWire 5 is the latest incarnation of an application dating back to 2002, when developer Brent Simmons unveiled what would soon become one of the most popular Mac…

The end goal of Apple’s augmented reality program is currently a mystery, particularly in light of a DigiTimes rumor claiming that Apple disbanded the team responsible for its AR head-mounted display. This rumor flies in the face of a slightly earlier report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claiming we’d see some kind of Apple AR headset as early as next year. There’s little doubt, though, that Apple is still championing augmented reality with a zeal we find in few other competitors, and the progress in the new ARKit 3 (and so in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13) feels like a great leap forward. That leap is so great, in fact, that many of the features only work with iPhones or iPads running A12 chips or better. (And for that matter, that progress…

If your Mac is running macOS Catalina, you can now use your iPad as a secondary monitor with the new Sidecar feature. It’s ridiculously easy to set up wirelessly through AirPlay. First, a few notes. Unlike with some existing third-party screen-sharing apps such as Air Display 3, you can really only use your fingers on the display for simple actions such as scrolling through text. The Apple Pencil works as a “mouse,” though—and that includes using it to alter and create images through the full version of Adobe Photoshop while we’re waiting on the proper iPad version to appear. Apart from the Apple Pencil, interaction involves a number of shortcuts on the borders of the interface—and you can press these with your fingers. Notably, Apple also includes relevant Touch Bar…

SPEK The iPhone has long been a particularly good platform for puzzle games, and Spek slips easily into that tradition. Like Apple’s packaging, this creative brain-teaser has a lot of white space and subtle black lines (at least at first), and it’s all about moving around shapes so that they blend into other shapes, which in turn allows you to use an endlessly moving circle to grab squares along the lines. THE PINBALL WIZARD If you look at a screenshot of The Pinball Wizard, you might think you’re looking at a fairly rote RPG about a grubby little wizard working their way through a dungeon. It’s decidedly different in action. Think of the wizard as a pinball, and then imagine using the doors at the beginning of each round to…

Pop quiz for longtime Mac users: How many applications currently installed on your system have been there for close to 30 years? If you have a list, it’s likely to be short. But there’s a good chance BBEdit will be on it. The venerable BBEdit is a text editor that has long held a place of honor among wordsmiths and coders, and with good reason. Although few will ever take advantage of everything it offers, we’re all better for having such a gleefully comprehensive arsenal of features at our fingertips. CATCHING UP Before jumping into BBEdit 13, let’s recap what was new with version 12, a significant overhaul launched in late 2017. That release was the first to run entirely as a 64-bit application, allowing BBEdit to not only open…

Of all of Apple’s platforms, tvOS seems to have gotten the least attention in this year’s annual round of updates. When you think about it, that’s a little surprising. After all, Apple has launched a major new video streaming service, and the Apple TV hardware doesn’t seem to be a part of that. Where’s the love? But look a little closer and the big picture starts to come into focus. Even with the launch of Apple TV+, the Apple TV set-top box, once Apple’s beachhead in the living room, is simply not nearly as critical to the company’s mission as it used to be. THE FUTURE OF TV IS APP Apple’s TV platform has long been a third-class citizen in the company’s ecosystem, after both macOS and iOS. These days,…

If you like Bang & Olufsen’s signature sound and have longed to capture it in a wireless in-ear monitor, look no further than B&O’s Beoplay E6. This in-ear-headphone is beautiful to behold. The headphone’s main housing is encased in a textured rubber and polymer that B&O says is designed to resist sweat and moisture. The headphones have that tangible heft and feel that tells you there’s no cheap plastic here. Form and function have always been hallmarks of B&O audio gear. You can choose from three colors: Sky, sand, or black. My review pair were the last. The headphone’s color-matched cable sports a braided pattern that elevates the headphone’s styling and premium feel. During my review period, the braided cable resisted tangles and kinks no matter how many times I…