Inhoudsopgave van September 2019 - Macworld

A 16-inch MacBook Pro with reduced bezels and possibly a new keyboard design is coming in October, according to a report in the Economic Daily News relayed by 9to5Mac. Most notable in this latest suggestion of Apple’s next-generation laptop is the price—EDN suggests a starting price around an eye-watering $3,000. Should we be surprised? Apple has never been focused on being the low-price leader, and at the top end of its product range, it has been unafraid to charge a whole lot of money…especially for products bearing the name pro. FROM POWER USERS TO PROS Long after the arrival of the iMac as a low-cost consumer computer, most Mac power users still bought Power Macs. But during the Intel switch, Apple turned the Power Mac into the Mac Pro—and that…

As you’ve probably heard, Apple is finally eliminating support for 32-bit Mac applications this fall. That means older software which hasn’t moved to 64-bit code won’t work on the latest macOS Catalina and although Cupertino has provided guidance on the impending “app-ocalypse,” identifying and taking action on affected apps is a hassle. A free (donations accepted) Mac utility called Go64 aims to ease the 64-bit transition by performing a quick scan of your applications and creating an inventory of those where 32-bit code is still present. It’s fast and painless—Go64 took less than 45 seconds to scan 1,586 apps (?!) on my iMac Retina 5K startup disk. SCANNING CODE Of those, about 150 apps were 32-bit only, many support apps from older Adobe Creative Suite installations. The remaining 45 were technically…

We’ve been hearing for months that longtime customers are souring on the iPhone upgrade cycle, and now there may be some evidence to back that up. According to a study conducted by BankMyCell of some 38,000 people, iPhone owners are 15 percent less loyal to their handset than they were last year, with 73 percent of responders claiming that they were sticking with Apple. Those are still strong numbers, but it’s the lowest retention rate since the company started tracking in 2011. You can quibble with BankMyCell’s methodology all you want, but the numbers are significant. According to its tally, 24.5 percent of users trading in their iPhone during the fourth quarter of 2018 (when the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max launched), did so because they moved to a new…

It’s been a year of big software-related surprises in the Appleverse, and we’ve got another one for you: Apple’s own Texas Hold’em card game has finally made its way back to the iOS App Store after an eight-year absence. For that matter, we’ve got another surprise—this “simple” card game weighs in at 1.5GB. Yikes. When we originally reviewed it in 2008, we warned you about the “huge 128MB download size.” Apple restored the game to the App Store using the same listing, so it’s kind of funny to see reviews that were written 10 years ago, as though the game had vanished and reappeared thanks to a Thanos-style snap. Texas Hold’em looks about the same, but sports improved graphics—which probably have a lot to do with the massive file size—and you…

Apple’s recent revamp of its MacBook lineup makes it a lot easier to understand the target audiences for Apple’s laptops. And with the release of the new 13-inch 1.4GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro, Apple also made it easier to pick a 13-inch model. It’s easier now because you don’t have to decide if you’re willing to sacrifice any features when picking an entry-level model over the higher-end ones. Before the newly-updated base model was released, there was a division within the four 13-inch models. Apple offered two entry-level models without the Touch Bar, and two high-end models with it. (The entry-level models were missing some other features, as well, but the main missing feature was the Touch Bar). So when it came down to picking a 13-inch MacBook Pro, you had…

It’s been four years since Microsoft scooped up Wunderlist, the popular cross-platform to-do app. Although that software has thus far received a stay of execution and remains available, the introduction of Microsoft To-Do two years later with no native Mac app in sight had many longtime users adding “Find a new to-do app” as a new task. For those who made do with just iOS and web apps over the last couple years, Microsoft To-Do has finally arrived in the Mac App Store. Overall, the free app is a faithful port from Windows, although those who prefer the dark theme found in that edition will be disappointed to find it missing here, nor does the Mac version currently support Mojave’s built-in dark mode. MADE FOR MAC Those familiar with Microsoft…

When Steve Jobs came back to Apple, one of his early moves was to vastly simplify what had become a bloated lineup of Mac hardware. Jobs famously showed off a two-by-two product grid: pro and consumer, desktop and portable. Filling the grid were four products—iMac, Power Mac, iBook, PowerBook—each addressing one of those combinations. The two-by-two grid lasted for several years, until the debut of the category-busting Mac mini in 2005. Since then, there’s been an almost magnetic impulse to cite the grid as the holy grail of Apple product design aspirations. Every time Apple releases a new Mac, pundits try desperately to figure out how to shove that latest addition into the already bulging grid. With the company’s recent rearrangement of its portable lineup, Apple has gotten both closer…

For average Mac users, the concept of a separate application just to manage files and folders probably sounds like overkill. After all, the Finder is free, baked right into macOS, and does just about everything one could ever want. But file manager apps are no longer just for power users, and once you’ve gone dual-pane, it’s hard to go back. Transmit and Forklift are among the most recognizable names in the Finder alternative subgenre, but the folks at Eltima Software have also been busy cultivating their own solution in recent years, and if you can deal with the less-refined Windows-style UI, has a few unique tricks up its sleeve. MASTER AND COMMANDER Featuring a dual-pane user interface with support for tabbed windows, Commander One 2.1 doesn’t look all that different from its predecessor.…

The race to 5G just added a new lane. Following a report in the Wall Street Journal in late July, Apple announced that it will be acquiring the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem chip business, which went belly-up earlier this year. The transaction is valued at $1 billion and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, Apple said in a press release. Intellectual property exchanging hands between industry giants isn’t exactly earth-shattering news, but this deal has significant ramifications. Just three months ago, Apple and Intel were partners on the development of the iPhone’s 5G modem, but that abruptly ended in one fell swoop when Apple and Qualcomm settled their longtime court case and Intel “announced its intention to exit the 5G smartphone modem business and complete an assessment…

Apple wants us to believe that augmented reality will be a transformative technology. I want to believe it. It sure as heck feels like it has better potential than virtual reality, which still strikes me as little more than a means of escaping the world by sticking your eyes to a sweaty box. AR, though, can add wonder to the mundane. It can provide information at a glance that we could otherwise only guess at (especially when Google Lens finally makes a full debut on the iPhone). And yes, in some cases, it can even make the world more fun. But even in its flashiest keynotes, Apple struggles to show us any compelling reason why we should embrace AR technology now. With that in mind, here’s a list of AR…

The podcast industry has been flooded with big money over the last few years, as businesses and investors seek to get in on a rapidly growing media business that’s got a lot of room for audience and revenue growth. (Spotify alone is spending $500 million on podcast companies and exclusive content.) And yet over all this time, the industry’s biggest player hasn’t made any big podcast business moves. That player is Apple—its Podcasts app is the top podcast player, with 50 to 70 percent of the app market—and its time as a neutral supporter of the industry may be coming to an end. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Lucas Shaw report that Apple is talking to media companies about buying exclusive rights to podcasts. This isn’t a surprising revelation. Podcasting is an…

HOW TO BUY A USED MAC WITHOUT BEING LOCKED OUT One of the great selling points for Macs has been a combination of their longevity and resale value. I know plenty of people with decade-old Macs. In the last two decades, I’ve easily gotten seven or eight years out of some Macs I’ve owned, and then sold them to folks who kept them in service. There’s a lot to consider when buying a used Mac to make sure that it will keep working. But something that you might overlook is that security decisions made by the previous owner could conspire to lock you out in certain circumstances. This could happen on a restart, when trying to erase and reinstall macOS, or even on logging in, depending on what state the…

With macOS Catalina, Apple is providing a tool for developers (called Catalyst) that makes it really easy to take an existing iPad app over to the Mac. Apple started testing the technology in macOS Mojave last year, by porting over some of its own iOS apps—News, Home, Voice Memos, and Stocks. This year, Apple expands its list of iOS apps on Mac with Music, Podcasts, TV, Screen Time, and the new Find My app. Those first four apps introduced last year are getting an upgrade, too. While these are welcome changes, I can’t help but think Apple is missing a huge opportunity. Two of macOS’s most important apps—Maps and Messages—are so far behind their iOS counterparts that we would all be better-served by Apple just porting the iOS app in…

iLIFE SHINEBOT W400 The iLife Shinebot W400 is a welcome departure from the typical robotic floor mop. It diligently scrubs floors, providing the agitation needed to lift up stubborn stains and leave the surface spotless. The Shinebot W400 uses a rapidly rotating microfiber brush and a scraper to scrub and remove dirt. Inside the robot, a pair of tanks with individual inlets and outlets keeps clean and dirty water separated. Its four-step scrubbing system is extremely effective, and it comes pretty close to replicating the results of a push mop. Its ability to navigate independently and without requiring much hands-on intervention is also a big plus.—MICHAEL ANSALDO AWAIR GLOW C The Awair Glow C is a small air-quality monitor that also acts as a smart plug to automate “dumb” appliances…

Games have been the top app category since the App Store’s inception. They’re so popular that, in iOS 11, Apple actually split Games off into its own tab, separate from other apps. But, with few exceptions, the top games today are of a single type: freemium, or free-to-play (F2P) titles that cost nothing to start, but will suck your money away a few dollars at a time, seemingly forever. We don’t know exactly what games will be included in the Apple Arcade subscription service when it launches this fall, nor what it will cost. But with the weight of Apple behind it, its own tab in iOS 13’s App Store, and plenty of top-tier developers on board, it may finally save us from freemium gaming hell. (A clarification: A game that…

HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER Hyper Light Drifter ($4.99) is an action RPG that’s only three years old, although its pixel art style makes it look like a relic from my childhood. It’s almost as timeless as those digital ’80s adventures, and it combines artful minimalist storytelling about a “drifter” suffering from a mysterious illness with gameplay that was pulled straight from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It’s also famously intense, but the touch controls translate well (aside from some annoyances such as having to reach too far to trigger health boosts). SKY: CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT Sky: Children of the Light (free) is a visually striking game about empathy, cooperation with other players, and lightweight puzzle solving that’s framed as a tale about restoring spirits to their…

The Keychron K1 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard may as well be the anti-butterfly keyboard. It’s thicker than Apple’s MacBook and Magic Keyboard. It has wild RGB lighting. It has an 87- or 104-key layout. And most importantly, its keys don’t get stuck. I’ve been using the Keychron K1 Mechanical Wireless Keyboard with my MacBook Pro for a couple of months and it’s hard to switch back. I’m not generally a fan of the clickity-clack noise that mechanical keys make, but the Keychron K1 made me a believer in Blue switches. I imagine that in a quiet office I’d get a few dirty looks, but I actually grew to like the sound. Typing on it is way more pleasurable than it is on the cramped and noisy MacBook keyboard, and its function row…

For all the advancements Apple has made over two decades with the Mac operating system, it’s surprising how little attention core features like menu-bar audio control have received. Traditionally little more than a convenient way to adjust volume without opening System Preferences, beginning with macOS 10.12 Sierra the basic slider was embued with the ability to also switch between output devices—and inputs too, by first holding down the Option key. If you’re thinking, “there must be a better way,” you’d be right. Rogue Amoeba, the creators of awesome audio solutions like Audio Hijack and Fission, have taken the wraps off SoundSource 4, a more powerful way to control sound coming and going from your Mac, no matter which application you’re using. SUPERIOR CONTROL SoundSource resides in the menu bar, summoned…

Plantronics has a reputation for churning out well-made, reliable hands-free Bluetooth communications gear that drivers and corporate IT types adore. Its headphones and earphones, however, tend to fly under the radar of most music lovers. It’s a shame, as their consumer audio gear not only sounds great (for the price) but also comes packed with features typically reserved for headphones that cost significantly more. As such, I expected great things from Plantronics’ first stab at a pair of true wireless earphones, the BackBeat Fit 3100. After a week of testing I can tell you that, while the company got a great deal right with these earbuds, there’s still room for significant improvement. DESIGN The size of the Fit 3100 make them look heavy. This is a deception: Pick up one…