Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2022 i Macworld

After months—if not years—of fevered theorizing over Apple’s chip roadmap for the Mac, this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference at last gave us a tantalizing peek at the successor to the blockbuster M1, released a little over a year and a half ago. We learned a bit more about the M2 this week when the first round of reviews landed (see page 46). The 13-inch MacBook Pro is identical to the M1 model on the outside, but the inside is completely different, thanks to Apple’s latest chip. Benchmarks show a nice speed boost of around 20 percent, a significant jump in graphics performance, and a very good improvement over the already speedy M1. But, far more excitingly, now that we’ve got a second data point to work with, we can start…

Some people look at the notch at the top of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with disgust and see it as a distraction to an overall elegant design. Others don’t even notice it. And some, like developer Ian Keen, are inspired by it. Keen recently tweeted about his latest project: a macOS “AirDrop helper” that activates the Mac-to-Apple device file transfer feature by dragging files to the notch, which lights up, and then the AirDrop window appears. Keen has a demo of it on Twitter. Keen is also working on a notch-less variant of the helper app for people who are buying an M2 MacBook Pro or have an older Mac. It works similarly, but the highlighted area isn’t as obvious. As someone who uses AirDrop a lot, I…

Since its debut about two years ago, we have considered Logitech’s MX Master 3 to be the best overall Mac mouse for productivity. Now it has been updated to the MX Master 3S, and the improvements, though minor, are enough for it to hold on to the top spot. The MX Master 3S is virtually identical to the MX Master 3 but features an improved 8000dpi sensor and quiet-click buttons. There’s a new Options+ app as well, though that will work with a lot of Logitech mice, including older models. A COMFORTABLE DESIGN (FOR RIGHT-HANDED USERS) Logitech’s design for the MX Master 3S is identical to the MX Master 3. It’s got a nice sculpted shape that fits well in the hand, with a gentle left-to-right slope and a thumb rest for…

Following a move by the European Union to force all smartphones and small electronics to use USB-C for charging instead of proprietary methods such as Lightning, U.S. lawmakers are urging the Commerce Department to enact a similar strategy. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) pressed for the agency “to coordinate with offices and agencies across the Department of Commerce to develop a comprehensive plan that will protect both consumers and the environment by addressing the lack of a common U.S. charging standard.” The move is clearly aimed at Apple and the iPhone. While the letter calls out smartphones, tablets, portable speakers, and e-readers, the biggest device by far is the iPhone, which uses the proprietary Lightning cable over…

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is a unique Mac laptop. It has the distinction of being the first Mac with the M2 system-on-a-chip, the second generation of Apple silicon for the Mac. And considering that the M1 made such a tremendous impression, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro has a little bit of a burden in following such a successful debut. It does leave an impression, but it’s not a jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring one. Maybe that’s unfair because, after all, following the originator of the Mac rebirth is a tough task. And the new 13-inch MacBook Pro does offer better performance than its M1 predecessor. What tempers the enthusiasm for the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is everything else about it—besides the M2, it’s the same laptop as its predecessor. It’s a good…

A Mac is like an ant colony: An army of tireless workers carries out tasks beneath the surface to keep the whole operation running, none of them with particular knowledge of the whole. And macOS’s ants include agents, background daemons, scheduled jobs (called cronjobs after the cron tool), startup scripts, and more. Lingon X 8 is like the sheet of glass on the side of an ant farm, offering visibility into the seemingly manic chaos that keeps the colony alive. The app lets you schedule recurring tasks to launch an app, run a script, execute a command, or, in macOSMonterey, invoke a Shortcut. This is a mix of options anyone can benefit from up through the most technically proficient. Creating recurring jobs in macOS and modifying entries can be a bear.…

Apple on Tuesday announced that it has a deal with Major League Soccer for exclusive rights to broadcast MLS matches for the next 10 years. Starting with the 2023 season, Apple will offer an MLS streaming service that will be accessible through the Apple TV app, and the service will show all MLS matches live without blackout restrictions so you can watch any match from anywhere. The MLS stream includes all MLS, Leagues Cup, and select MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT matches. The stream will also feature a weekly live highlights show, game replays, recorded highlights, analysis, and other original programming. According to Apple’s press release, Apple TV+ subscribers who are not signed up for the MLS stream will be able to watch a limited number of matches. According…

Perched in the middle of JBL’s Bluetooth speaker lineup, the JBL Charge 5 surprises with its big sound. It’s incredibly loud for its size and far easier to stuff in a backpack than other footlong outdoor speakers. If you’re looking for a single speaker to use at home and on your outdoor excursions, it’s easy to find a spot for the Charge 5 on a bookcase or tabletop. JBL has embraced a single-use philosophy for the Charge 5. It’s a Bluetooth speaker, full stop. There’s no microphone, so it doesn’t double as a speakerphone. There’s also no AUX or USB input, so you can’t plug in another music source. All your audio must be streamed from a Bluetooth device, most likely your phone. To be completely fair, it’s a slight…

Apple has revealed that its new 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter (now on sale), can automatically adjust its power output depending on what types of devices are connected. A new support document explains that when devices are connected to both of the charger’s USB-C ports, the (relatively modest) 35W output is split “based on their power requirements.” What that means in practice is that MacBooks, iPhones and iPads are prioritized over Apple Watches and AirPods. If you connect both a MacBook and an iPad, for example, the wattage is split evenly: Each device gets up to 17.5W. But pairing one of these high-priority devices with an Apple Watch or an AirPods case means a split of 27.5W/7.5W. Note that the all-important “up to” prefix attaches to all of these figures;…

It pains me to admit this, but I’ve covered Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference for more than a quarter of a century. I’ve seen it go from a sleepy conference in San Jose to an electrically charged event in San Francisco to a can’t-get-a-ticket event back in San Jose. And, like everyone else, I participated in WWDC remotely for the past two years via session videos posted on Apple’s developer site. The lesson here is that WWDC is nothing if not changeable. Apple changes with the times, and so does its relationship with outside developers. But having spent a day on the Apple Park campus as a part of the company’s reimagined WWDC this year, I can say this: I don’t think we’re ever returning to the old WWDC, and I…

SAMSUNG THE SERIF QLED 4K UHD HDR SMART TV Samsung has a penchant for creating off-the-beaten-path TVs, and The Serif is perhaps furthest from the straight and narrow. This 120Hz, 4K UHD quantum-dot TV has a sculpted white bezel and case with protruding edges are reminiscent of the serifs on a font. The screen’s matte coating is excellent at glare reduction and enhances the appearance of blacks. Overall, the Serif’s picture quality is first-tier—but at the bottom of said tier—so you don’t give up anything in exchange for its design.—JON JACOBI PHILIPS HUE GO PORTABLE TABLE LAMP The Philips Hue Go portable table lamp comes with a circular charging dock that begins charging the lamp as soon as it’s placed on the charging contact (the lamp isn’t compatible with Qi…

It’s probably never occurred to you to watch videos on your Apple Watch’s tiny screen, other than the occasional text movie. There’s no browser, and Google hasn’t shipped an official YouTube app (even though it does offer YouTube Music for Apple Watch). We’re not going to say it’s a good idea, but that problem has been solved. A new third-party app called WatchTube has arrived with one mission: to let you watch YouTube videos on Apple’s smartwatch. The app is pretty simple, which makes sense given the limitations of the screen you’ll be using to navigate the interface. There are four swipeable panes: an algorithmic home page, a search page, a personal library, and settings. It won’t take long to get the hang of things. You can also see comments and…

Apple’s M2 is here…or it will be shortly, when the 13-inch MacBook begins shipping on June 24. As expected, the M2 is a nice upgrade over the M1, but not revolutionary. There are improvements in every part of the system-on-chip; the CPU, GPU, memory system, Neural Engine, and media engine. Clearly, the M2 is superior to the M1, but it now begs the question: Is it worth buying a Mac with the M1 Pro, M1 Max, or M1 Ultra anymore? Just because the second generation of Apple silicon is here, does that mean the first generation has reached the end of the line? We don’t have benchmarks yet, but in general, the answer to that is going to be yes, with the differences becoming starker as you move up the…

While macOS has gradually adapted features once found only in iOS and iPadOS, contextual selection tools remain trapped in the past. Select text, and you have to Control-click to have a contextual menu appear with a jumbled-up set of options to act on the text. It’s difficult to customize or organize that list. PopClip offers an iOS and iPadOS–like pop-up bar that appears whenever you make a text selection in any app. With the app dating back to 2011, it’s developed right alongside Apple’s evolution of iPhone and iPad options. PopClip includes several options by default, including searching on Google, looking up a word or phrase in the macOS Dictionary app, offering to open a URL as a link, and providing spelling suggestions. Why turn to a pop-up bar? It speeds…

The original HomePod flopped. But Apple wasn’t discouraged. It reconceived the product and released the HomePod mini, a less high-tech—and more affordable—iteration that seems to have been more successful in the market and suggested Apple had larger home ambitions. Now come rumors that Apple’s planning on building a new HomePod. In fact, there are rumors that as many as three new HomePods could be headed our way. Could it be, in the same year that the iPod finally faded away, that the HomePod will transform itself from a failure into a key Apple product line? It’s time. Not just for a HomePod comeback, but for HomePod domination. Two HomePods? I want more. I want four. It’s time for Apple to rush back into the smart home game, and the HomePod…

HOW TO RECEIVE TEXTS TO A PHONE NUMBER ACROSS ALL YOUR APPLE DEVICES The oldest parts of the cellular phone system are figuratively held together with chicken wire and chewing gum, and wireless carriers have little motivation to change it because it works and nets them billions upon billions of dollars. Apple created iMessage for an improved (and secured) messaging ecosystem and married it on the iPhone with “traditional” SMS (text) and MMS (multimedia) cellular messaging systems. On your iPhone, you can send and receive cellular texts and iMessages. Apple extended the iPhone’s phone network capability to your other iCloud-linked devices many years ago to provide that same access to non-Apple texting. To make sure it all works just as you like, you may need to check and change your…

While Apple’s M1 processors have helped the Mac reach new performance heights, a few reports have exposed potential security issues with the celebrated system on a chip. The latest such report comes from MIT CSAIL, where researchers have found a way to defeat what is called “the last line of security” on the M1 SoC. MIT CSAIL found that the M1 implementation of pointer authentication can be overcome with a hardware attack that the researchers developed. Pointer authentication is a security feature that helps protect the CPU against an attacker that has gained memory access. Pointers store memory addresses, and pointer authentication code (PAC) checks for unexpected pointer changes caused by an attack. In its research, MIT CSAIL created “PACMAN,” an attack that can find the correct value to successfully pass…

Logitech makes pretty good keyboards. They’re a staple of our best keyboard lists, whether it’s for Mac or iPad, because outside of Apple’s own keyboards Logitech’s are the safest bet. You’re almost always going to get something well built with good key action and useful software features. It seems odd, then, with mechanical keyboards becoming all the rage among enthusiasts and working from home exploding in recent years, that Logitech’s mechanical keyboards have only been available in its gaming-focused G series. With the MX Mechanical, the company finally rectifies that. Available in a tenkeyless Mini ($149) and full-size ($169) variants, it combines the craftsmanship of the company’s mechanical gaming keyboards with its excellent productivity features and software. It all comes in a more professional design that would be welcome in any…

Water and technology are not usually happy bedfellows, so suddenly seeing your precious iPhone plummet into the sink, bath, or any other body of water can be a heart-stopping moment. Don’t panic. All may not be lost, as modern phones are far more robust than those of yesteryear. In this article we explain the best strategies for dealing with a wet or water-damaged iPhone. IS MY iPHONE WATERPROOF? If you’ve purchased a new iPhone in the last few years, then there’s a very good chance that it will be water-resistant, meaning it should happily survive short dips and the odd spilled beverage or two. Smartphones, and other electronic devices, can be certified with something called an Ingress Protection or IP Rating. This instantly lets you know how water-resistant the product…

Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has published an article about spyware from RCS Labs, an Italian company that targeted iPhones and Android phones in Italy and Kazakhstan. When installed, the spyware would monitor the user’s messages and contacts. However, Apple has fixed the exploits used by RCS Labs—some as far back as iOS 12’s cycle from 2018 to 2019. iPhone users who regularly update iOS are not in danger of having their iPhone exploited by RCS Lab’s spyware. Google TAG listed the following exploits used by RCS Labs. We’ve listed the iOS version when Apple issued a security patch and the links to its security notes. Apple also patched iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS when applicable. iOS 12: CVE-2018-4344 (aka LightSpeed) iOS 12.3: CVE-2019-8605 (aka SockPuppet)  iOS 13.3.1: CVE-2020-3837 (aka…

For years, a quiet-but-present arms race has been happening between Apple’s Preview application and Adobe’s Acrobat Reader for PDF supremacy. The conflict surfaces whenever a user has to open and work with a PDF file on their Mac, the long-running suggestion for both Mac and Windows users being to download and install Adobe Reader. Apple’s Preview app has gone a long way with its PDF support, and for most people, it offers all the tools needed. Adobe Acrobat may be the better app if you’re working with PDFs on a regular basis. Let’s investigate the main differences between Apple Preview and Adobe Acrobat for PDF handling. You might also take a look at our roundup of the best free PDF editors for Mac. APPLE PREVIEW Apple’s Preview application is free…

My wife is a saint. She has to put up with me complaining every time we’re in our car listening to satellite radio and a DJ comes on. “You just don’t want to hear people talking,” she says, and she’s absolutely right. I accept that other people like listening to the prattling DJs, but I hate it and I will keep changing the channel until there’s a song I want to listen to again. I don’t want to hear about who is touring where, or who said something interesting at a show, or even the behind-the-scenes detail about how a song came to be written. Not when I’m just trying to listen to music. That’s the great thing about streaming music services like Apple Music: Whether you’re listening to a…

First things first: The Starlet01 (Tribit’s model number TR-KH01) children’s headphones sound far better than a $19 headset (there’s a microphone) has any right to sound. Indeed, the sonics are comparable to those of many products costing five times as much. Even better, the Starlet01 are exceptionally comfortable. Color me impressed. DESIGN AND FEATURE SET As for their color scheme, I’m claiming supreme sacrifice for wearing an off-pink headset around the house while testing. Tribit didn’t send me the more masculine mint green headset, but I soldiered on. (The neighbors had a good laugh.) And if you’re a gender studies major, don’t bother—I don’t care. Something you need to know right off the bat is that the Starlet01 is actually a headset with an inline microphone (and a dB switch)…