Table of contents for May 2018 in Macworld

Along with an updated 9.7-inch iPad with Pencil support and new classroom-based tools for students and teachers, Apple had one more surprise up its sleeve for its Chicago event. A space gray–colored surprise. Apple is now selling its too-cool-for-school space gray iMac Pro accessories as an option along with the standard silver color. As you might have expected, they cost more than the ones Apple gives out with regular iMac purchases, but they’re still less than the astronomical prices people are selling them for on eBay. The prices are as follows: Magic KeyboardSilver: $129Space Gray: $149 Magic Mouse 2Silver: $79Space Gray: $99 Magic Trackpad 2Silver: $129Space Gray: $149 Apple introduced the new accessories along with the Space Gray iMac Pro in late December. Starting at $5,000, the new all-in-one computer is the most…

With Intel’s recent introduction of its 8th generation Coffee Lake CPUs, it’s again that time of the year when the reality TV show called MacBook gets to act as a romance-seeking laptop looking for new internals. While the future of the MacBook could see a marriage with an Apple-made ARM processor, the immediate future of the MacBook sees the continuation of the courtship with Intel and its x86 CPUs. Using our knowledge of previous MacBook configurations and what other laptop makers are using, we’re willing to make a few forecasts on what to expect, and what kind of performance difference they will make. MACBOOK: MINOR CHANGES AHEAD Of all the laptops Apple currently sells, the MacBook (mid 2017) is the one least likely to undergo a major processor change. The…

There was a time when deleting your Facebook account was a pie-in-the-sky fantasy, but this week’s news might have you thinking twice. In a series of reports, we learned that an employee at Facebook erroneously handed a trove of data to a company called Cambridge Analytica, which in turn used that information to target voters and spread influence ahead of the 2016 U.S. election. So we totally understand if you’re having second thoughts about your account. The good news is, you have options. First you can limit what third-party apps and the Facebook community can see about your account. If that’s not enough, you can deactivate your account, which can be undone, or full-on delete it—and even then, you have a chance to change your mind. Here’s how it works.…

Along with the new iPad with Apple Pencil support (see page 37) that’s getting all of the attention, Apple used its recent education event in Chicago to unveil a host of new tools to allow teachers and students to make the most of their Apple devices, including the Everyone Can Create curriculum and Schoolwork app, as well as an expansion of the Classroom app. Here’s what they do and how schools can use them. EVERYONE CAN CREATE CURRICULUM Developed by Apple with input from educators and creative pros, Everyone Can Create is a free resource available to teachers and students that allows for the integration of videos, photos, illustrations, and music into lessons or assignments. Teachers can create interactive lessons, while students can make active projects. It’s part of the Everyone…

Now that we officially know the dates of WWDC 2018, we can start the countdown to iOS 12. Barring a massive change in its release schedule, Apple will unveil the next version of iOS during the kickoff keynote at 10 a.m. PST on June 4, with several rounds of developer and public betas to follow. But this year’s release might be a little different. For the past month we’ve been reading rumors that Apple is scaling back some of iOS 12’s planned features to focus on the things that matter most, namely performance and stability. Apple had a rocky start with iOS 11, as several high-profile bugs caused iPhones to type random digits, reboot without warning, and just straight up crash. Consequently, iOS 12 needs to do as much work behind the…

Shadowgun Legends The Shadowgun series has produced some of the most striking console-quality shooters on mobile, and the new Shadowgun Legends definitely continues that trend. While Fortnite and PUBG Mobile fight it out for the battle royale crown, Shadowgun Legends takes a very different blast-happy inspiration: Bungie’s sci-fi shooter favorite, Destiny. Armello Here’s another Mac favorite that just made the leap to the App Store. Armello is a video game built with the feel of a board game without rigidly following the look of a real, physical game. It’s a turn-based game in which you’ll explore beautiful lands, amass a crew, fight enemies, and attempt to rule the titular land—and you can play by yourself or online against real people. Tekken Bandai Namco’s Tekken has been a force in fighting games for…

If you don’t remember Pebble, it’s easy to write off Fitbit’s Versa as a cheap Apple Watch knockoff. It has the same square body as Apple’s dominant wristwatch. Its size strikes a perfect balance between the 42mm and 38mm sizes. You can dress it up with a similar series of metal and leather bands. And it comes in rose gold. But spend a little time with Versa and you’ll see that it’s not as much of an imitator as it is Apple Watch’s first real competitor. Granted, that’s not saying all that much. Fitbit shut down Pebble before Apple Watch hit shelves, most Android Wear/WearOS watches have been dead on arrival, and Fitbit’s own Ionic smartwatch was too buggy and expensive to seriously challenge Apple Watch. But Fitbit’s new $200 wearable…

While VyprVPN has offices in Texas, its parent company, Golden Frog, is incorporated in Switzerland. For anyone that doesn’t want their government to know what they get up to online, this is great news: Switzerland owes no allegiance to the Five, Nine, or Fourteen Eyes programs. That said, user privacy isn’t complete. The company, like many other VPN services, retains logs on each user’s source IP address, the address of the Vypr server that they connected to, connection times, and how much data was transmitted during each individual session. These records are kept for 30 days to help the company deal with billing issues and to address crimes (as required by Swiss law) performed while using the service. If any of this makes you uncomfortable, you’ll want to take your VPN needs…

SaferVPN has been around since 2013 and is located in Israel—a country with stringent privacy laws that shield companies and citizens from its many forms of government surveillance. This, combined with the company’s no-logging policy, should keep any of your online doings safely under wraps while you’re using their services. However, Israel has been known to share information with Five Eyes (FVEY) (go.macworld.com/5eye), an intelligence sharing agreement between the U.S.A, U.K., Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. That the company maintains an office in New York City compounds concerns over this point. If you live in a Five, Nine (go.macworld.com/9eye), or Fourteen Eye (go. macworld.com/9eye) s country and have concerns that regional laws may not be enough to keep your online activities from being shared with your government, SaferVPN’s services may not…

Over-ear noise-canceling headphones from Apple are hits waiting to happen. They’re also merely the subject of a rumor, but it’s a rumor from the mouth of KGI securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who might as well be the Oracle of Delphi so far as these things are concerned. Last month Kuo predicted that we’d see these headphones sometimes in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, in part because he believes they’d round out the fresh audio hardware lineup we’ve seen from Apple with the HomePod and AirPods. There was skeptical rejoicing. After all, it’s already possible to get “Apple” noise-canceling headphones through the Beats brand, so why make a separate, competing set? But just as Apple transformed the struggling Beats Music brand into a 38-million-subscriber powerhouse, Apple could work its magic…

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple Music exec and famous music producer Jimmy Iovine will transition to a “consulting role” in August, giving up his day-to-day work with the music streaming business. The WSJ report claims that Iovine has told people close to him that he plans to, “spend more time with his family while supporting Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue, who oversees Apple Music, as needed.” We first reported this back in January, along with a number of other sites. Those reports were met with statements from Iovine that he planned to stay with Apple Music as long as he is needed. He told Variety, “The bottom line is I’m loyal to the guys at Apple. I love Apple, and I really love musicians. That’s why those…

On the morning following Apple’s education event in Chicago, CEO Tim Cook sat down with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Recode’s Kara Swisher to talk about a variety of Apple-related topics. The interview was filmed in front of a live audience, and portions of Cook’s responses were released before the interview aired on April 6 at 8 p.m. EDT as part of MSNBC and Recode’s “Revolution” series. Here are some highlights. ON EDUCATION “Our view is education is the great equalizer of people,” Cook said. “If you look at many of the issues in society today, you can find the root in people don’t have access to quality education today.” Cook placed a big emphasis on learning to code, too. “I want America to be strong. First and foremost. And one base…

Keyboards are important. While speech-to-text technology has come a long way, I suspect there will always be value in writing one letter after another with your hands. Apple clearly thinks so, too, because in recent weeks there have been reports about several new Apple patents regarding keyboard technology. From those patents to the controversial innovations that drove the latest generation of MacBook keyboards, Apple’s continues to push the boundaries of text input. So what do Apple’s current technology directions suggest about where the company might be innovating in the future when it comes to keyboards? A RELIABLE TOOL I’ll admit that as a writer, I’m especially opinionated when it comes to keyboards. As a writer friend of mine told me a very long time ago, keyboards are to us what…

NEST HELLO If you’re considering a video doorbell, the Nest Hello should be on your short list. It has great video quality, a solid app, and it operates flawlessly. There’s slick integration with Google Home and Google Assistant, though it doesn’t integrate with Apple’s HomeKit. Hooking up the Nest Hello is simple and takes less than five minutes. When someone rings your doorbell, the app opens to full-screen video and you can see and talk to the person at the front door. A recently launched 5-day subscription plan for storing video in the cloud reduces the ongoing running cost.—MARTYN WILLIAMS NOTION STARTER KIT Notion is built around do-it-all sensors that are designed to give homeowners detailed information about all manner of variables in the home. A single sensor can tell…

Apple’s media event in Chicago was unique, from the venue to the laser focus on a single topic to the lack of a live video stream. But like all Apple media events, some parties walked away strengthened—and others were left looking sad by the side of the road. Here’s a look at the winners and losers from the company’s special event. THE WINNERS The iPad Apple hasn’t always shown the kind of love for the iPad that it has for its much more successful cousin the iPhone, but this day was the iPad’s day to shine, and that’s an important day in any product’s life. The iPad has gained momentum since Apple split the product line in two, and both the $329 iPad (see page 37) and the pricey iPad…

It hadn’t even been a fortnight between the time we learned that Fortnite: Battle Royale, Epic Games’ wildly popular multiplayer survival shooter, would be coming to iOS, and when it was on my iPhone and iPad, running far more smoothly than I’d expect from a freshly-minted beta. Only a comparatively small group of players currently have access, but what I’ve seen so far suggests that Epic wouldn’t have to do much to fling open the gates to the wider public. It’s hard to overemphasize how bold this release is. It’s exciting enough that we can play a game on our phones at the height of its popularity on the Mac, PC, Xbox One, and PS4, but also because Fortnite allows us to play against players on those systems from our…

FORTNITE Fortnite is the biggest game in the world right now. In February alone, the free-to-play battle royale sensation racked up $126 million from in-game purchases and gained plenty of mainstream attention all the while. Also, it’s super fun—and now it’s available on iOS. It was originally invite-only, which didn’t stop Fortnite from topping the App Store charts upon release, but as of today it’s freely downloadable by anyone with a compatible device. You’ll battle to be the last player standing from a group of 100 on a large island, and beyond simply shooting rivals, you can also build structures on the fly to aid in your survival. It’s impressive how well Fortnite plays even on a compact iPhone screen. PUBG MOBILE On the other hand, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was the…

With the internet abuzz with privacy concerns and the potential changes coming to net neutrality, you’ve likely heard about virtual private networks, better known as VPNs. When used correctly, a VPN can greatly strengthen your online privacy, assist in keeping your personal information secure, and even spoof your location in the world—allowing you to access websites or services that would otherwise be off limits due to region-locking. With the increased popularity of VPNs has come an increased number of VPN providers vying for your business. That makes finding the best one to suit your needs difficult. To help you sort out the right provider for you, we’ve committed to extensive research and testing of VPN services that cater to Mac owners. If nothing but the best will do, check out our…

First, let’s address the spooky stuff that pertains to paranoid types, journalists, and political activists. CyberGhost’s offices are located in Bucharest, Romania, a country not known for sharing online information with western intelligence concerns or law enforcement agencies. Don’t feel too cozy about it, though: The company was recently sold to Crossrider, which is based on The Isle of Man—a British Crown Dependency. England is a member of the Five Eyes (FVEY) data intelligence sharing program. If you consider using CyberGhost, be aware any sensitive information you send or receive could fall under direct government scrutiny. On top of that, Crossrider is a digital product company, and one of the products that it offers is ad server software for targeting mobile hardware. CyberGhost’s founder swears that user privacy will be maintained,…

Unsure if you’ll use a VPN often enough to warrant paying for it, or only occasionally require the security that using one provides? TunnelBear could be the service that you’re looking for. Based in Toronto, Canada, the company has a strict no-logging policy that pertains to user IP addresses, DNS queries, or information you accessed online while connected to its servers. However, TunnelBear is obliged by Canadian law to hand over user names, email addresses, the amount of data used while accessing their servers, and credit-card information should law enforcement or a federal agency come knocking. Also, because Canada participates in the Five Eye program, this information could be accessed by American agencies, too. That said, most people will have little to fear from these circumstances. (On March 8, 2018, McAfee…

MarkAudio-Sota’s Tozzi One speakers deliver modern styling and audiophile sound with a small footprint. They’re a perfect complement for apartment dwellers or anyone with a smaller listening room. I first came across the MarkAudio-Sota Tozzi One speakers at the 2017 New York Audio Show. While visiting various manufacturer demos, I saw the Tozzi One flanking a VPI turntable and a PS Audio Sprout integrated amplifier on a long dresser. The setup looked stylish and compact. Fast forward a few months and the MarkAudio-Sota team sent me a similar setup for this review. Once I unboxed the system, I appreciated its compact dimensions even more. The PS Audio Sprout is about the size of a large external hard drive, and the Tozzi One measure just 15.75 by 11.8 by11 inches each.…

What to do when Time Machine says a verification failed I’ve been a Time Machine skeptic for many years, even though I’ve used it at times (though not lately), and have been writing about how to use it better and control it for that same length of time. That’s because Time Machine lacks much in the way of solving problems when things go wrong. Apple chose that approach for simplicity, but it leaves users in the lurch. Take the case of Macworld reader Talon, who wrote in after they received a message (and not for the first time) noting: Time Machine completed a verification of your backups on “Hobson’s Choice AirPort”. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you. This dialog presents two options: Start New…

Apple has proposed nine new emoji to the Unicode consortium for inclusion in the standard set of images. If accepted, they will appear in Emoji 12.0, which is scheduled for release early in 2019. In itself, that’s not a big deal, but Apple’s focus here is laudable. All nine emoji are aimed at better representation for people with disabilities. Apple makes its intentions clear in its proposal letter to the Unicode Consortium. One in seven people around the world has some form of disability, whether that be a physical disability involving vision, hearing, or loss of physical motor skills, or a more hidden, invisible disability. The current selection of emoji provides a wide array of representations of people, activities, and objects meaningful to the general public, but very few speak…

With all the news about Facebook recently, you might be wondering, what exactly does Facebook know about me from my profile? Sure, you can peruse your profile online, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. One way to see what Facebook has on you is to download your Facebook data. The ability to download your Facebook data isn’t really new, but not many users know that you can do it. It only takes a few minutes; how long depends on how big your data files are. Here are the steps to download your Facebook data. If you’ve decided that you want to leave Facebook completely, here’s how to delete, disable, or limit your Facebook account, see the next article. DOWNLOADING YOUR FACEBOOK DATA 1. Go to your Facebook page and…

Apple recently unveiled its latest iPad: A $329, 9.7-inch model that will only cost educators $299. Apple believes that the new tablet, introduced during an education-focused event at Chicago’s Lane Tech College Prep High School, will be able to fend off Google’s Chromebooks, which have gained significant ground in the classroom. The marquee feature of the new iPad is support for the Apple Pencil, the company’s stylus previously reserved for the iPad Pro. With the $99 Pencil, users can input text, write notes, or draw directly on the iPad’s screen. The new tablet doesn’t include a connector to support Apple’s Smart Keyboard, however. The new iPad features the following specifications: Display: 9.7-inch, 2048. by. 1536, 264ppiProcessor: A10 FusionRear camera: 8MP HD video cameraFront camera: 1.2MPBattery life: 10 hours (estimated)Storage: 32GB,…

I’m a bit of a fussy writer. Sometimes I even find the mere sight of my words dropping across the screen as I write discouraging and intimidating, so I’ll drop a sheet of paper on my MacBook screen to keep from seeing what I’m writing. I’m thus always hunting for something that removes this frustration from the process. Imagine, then, my curiosity when I was told about the Tap, a Bluetooth “wearable mouse and keyboard” that lets you “type” on iPhones and iPads (and Android devices) without touching a keyboard or touchscreen. Instead, it uses a system of finger taps from a single hand that works with varying degrees of success on any surface. It looks a bit like cyberpunk brass knuckles, or perhaps a minimalist 21st-century update to the…

Xiaomi has yet to launch any of its phones in the U.S., but that hasn’t stopped the Chinese company from slowly introducing consumers to its brand and products. The latest arrival on American shores is the Mi Power Bank Pro. This 10,000 milliamp-hour battery pack is sleek and well-designed. Its sturdy housing feels like it can withstand a drop or six. There are two ports on the front of the pack: one USB-A port for charging your phone or tablet, and a USB-C port for charging the pack itself. Next to the ports is a power button that’s easy to press, along with four white LED lights. Each one represents about 25 percent of the battery’s capacity. In our testing, the 10,000mAh (38.5Wh) battery pack had an impressive 90.99…

When Apple launched its $329 9.7-inch iPad last year, it was a play for people who wanted to play with their tablets. With the latest update, Apple is showing that it’s a great tool for work too. That’s because Apple is adding support for the Apple Pencil to the entry-level iPad, letting users write and draw on their new tablet just like they can on the Pro models. With the same tilt support and pressure sensitivity, Apple has turned its cheapest iPad into a device that’s darn close to the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, which costs nearly twice as much. Here are five reasons you might want to buy a $329 iPad instead of a $650 iPad Pro. 1. IT HAS APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT The big news, obviously, is support for the Apple…

Launched in 2008, NordVPN is arguably one of the more popular, high-profile VPN service providers operating today. While payments for service are processed through CloudVPN—a company based in the United States—NordVPN is based in Panama (a country that doesn’t participate in the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, or Fourteen Eyes communications interception/sharing agreements). Accordingly, users should be safe from untargeted government data trawling. SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SERVERS, AND SPEED NordVPN takes security seriously. The company’s Mac client defaults to IKEv2/IPsec security, and other industry standards are also supported. IKEv2/IPsec utilizes AES-256-GCM encryption—if it’s good enough for the military, it’s likely good enough for you. Anyone with a good reason to be paranoid will be happy to know that the company offers a number of connections that employ double encryption. That option pushes your data…

It’s tempting to believe that VPN provider TorGuard is in cahoots with the internet privacy-oriented Tor Network. But it isn’t. If anything, the “Tor” in TorGuard likely stands for “torrenting.” Hooking the VPN’s raison d’etre to torrenting may raise eyebrows, as the technology is often used to illegally download copyrighted media from a peer-to-peer network. But the fact remains that TorGuard offers extra layers of privacy protection for not just torrenting, but for all types of data transfers, and that’s a selling point for anyone concerned about being surveilled. SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SERVERS, AND SPEED TorGuard claims to have 3,000 servers located in 51 countries. The company’s VPN servers support a number of connection protocols including PPTP, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec and IKEV2. If you prefer using an open source VPN client such as…

Over the past year, Apple has been stockpiling talent and content for what seemed to be the imminent launch of a new video service packed with choice programming from Reese Witherspoon, Steven Spielberg, Kristen Wiig, and M. Night Shyamalan. But a new report suggests they might not be coming as soon as you think. In a sprawling article on Apple’s streaming video ambitions, The New York Times reports that Apple is targeting “somewhere between March 2019 and the summer of that year to roll out its slate of new programming.” It’s unclear from the report whether multiple shows would be airing at once, or if episodes would see a staggered release like Apple has previously done with Carpool Karaoke and Planet of the Apps. The report also details the size and ambition…

The Astell&Kern AK70 MKII delivers a number of refinements that easily makes this powerful, flexible, and sweet-sounding hi-res digital audio player the best in class. When I reviewed the original Astell&Kern AK70, it checked off all the right boxes: Sleek styling, compact size, superb audio performance, and a robust feature set. Now Astell&Kern is back with an updated version of the AK70, designated as MarkII or MKII. Die-hard music lovers who want to squeeze every ounce of fidelity from their music won’t mind shelling out the additional $100 commanded by the new model’s numerous refinements. EXTERNAL REFINEMENTS The player itself is the same 3.81-inch height, but measures a hair thicker (0.59 inches) and wider (2.47 inches). It’s still highly portable and fits in a front or back pocket with ease,…