Table of contents for July 2020 in Macworld

For a company with a reputation for sudden bursts of industry-shaking creativity, Apple’s pretty conservative most of the time. The company has a years-long product pipeline, and while we’re beginning to anticipate the 2020 iPhone, its hardware engineers are finishing work on the 2021 model while its component designers are pondering the chips and sensors that will power the device into the mid-2020s. For so many of Apple’s product choices, a decision now is likely to be a decision that sticks for years to come. Think of how many years it took for the company to backtrack on the butterfly keyboard in the MacBook line, even after it was obvious that it had made a mistake. More to the point, consider the continued existence of the low-end, two-port version of…

Audio quality via a Bluetooth device can be a great mystery, partly because Bluetooth only mandates in its basic audio standard, A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile), a low-quality audio encoding algorithm. An audio encoder takes a data stream and transforms it into whatever the best or agreed-upon quality both sides can take, often limited by the particular chips on each device and bandwidth available. That means that the lowest-common denominator may prevail, even when both the sending and receiving devices have a variety of higher-quality options available that don’t match up or aren’t correctly invoked. Depending on a host of factors, both a Bluetooth streaming device (sending or receiving audio) and a Mac may agree on an encoder that makes music sound like it’s playing over a landline telephone call.…

After first being introduced as the “Wastebasket” in 1982 with the Lisa, Apple forever cemented the concept in the hearts of personal computer users by porting it onto the Macintosh two years later. Renamed as simply Trash, this unassuming file directory has helped users with file deletion for nearly four decades. But for such an important feature, relatively little has changed over the years—most notably, a Finder preference introduced with macOS Sierra gives the option of automatically deleting Trash after 30 days. Should that not go quite far enough, there’s now a third-party app to answer the call. Semibits’s theBin can be configured to automatically take over managing your Trash. Instead of temporarily moving files to the invisible. Trashes folder in macOS, theBin intervenes, migrating unwanted content to its own storage…

In the argument between people who embrace the iPad to get work done and people who stick to their Macs, I’m firmly Team Both. For a few years now, I’ve used an iMac at my desk and an iPad Pro everywhere else. Committing to the iPad to get work done has always involved some compromise. There are moments when I’m working away on my iPad and I realize that there’s something I need to do that would be done far more easily on my Mac. Those moments are a lot less frequent than they were even a couple of years ago, but they do exist. What’s funny is that in the last year or so, I’ve noticed an increasing number of incidents when I find myself sitting at my desk,…

The iPhone 11 models feature unprecedented hardware for capturing and processing better photos and videos. But you may want to opt out or control two of those features: Deep Fusion and Smart HDR. (HDR stands for high dynamic range.) The two features both attempt to use many images captured continuously over very short periods to synthesize a photo with a large dynamic range, especially to avoid blown-out highlights and muddy shadow detail, while also preserving fine detail, like hair, fur, or textile textures. Smart HDR is an improvement on previous HDR approaches built into iOS for years. It requires more processing power than previous forms, and can be used on all iPhone 11 models as well as the previous generation: iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. Smart HDR…

Apple Arcade is a gaming subscription service for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS that features over 100 games. Apple handpicks the games that you get with the service and works with highly regarded game developers such as Hironobu Sakaguchi and Ken Wong. Apple Arcade games have no in-app purchases, are downloadable for offline play, and can be played across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. If you like playing games on a regular basis, you should definitely look into Apple Arcade. In this guide, we answer the most common questions people have about the service. And once you decide to sign up, we have a few game reviews you can read to get started. WHAT DOES APPLE ARCADE RUN ON? BY MACWORLD STAFF Apple Arcade offers games that you…

When it comes to software, five years between major releases can feel like an eternity. But that’s precisely how long it’s taken Flexibits to unleash a third version of popular macOS calendar app Fantastical, which is also available for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. (Read the Fantastical for iOS review.) Given there was already much to love about Fantastical 2, the logical question would be, “Is the third time a charm, or is this an unnecessary cash-grab sequel?” The answer ultimately depends on how you feel about paying a subscription for apps. ALL TOGETHER NOW The big news with Fantastical 3 is that you no longer have to purchase separate versions for macOS, iPhone, and iPad. The previous business model was always frustrating and a little confusing, because how many people…

I liked the Cleer Enduro 100 headphones the moment they emerged from their slightly complicated, but classy packaging. The styling and colors are unique and attractive, and more importantly, they sound very, very good. The feature set is also state of the art. My one caveat is that one tester—the one with the big head, aka me—found them somewhat uncomfortable to wear for very long listening sessions. DESIGN AND SPECS The Cleer Enduro 100 are packed with the latest tech features, including Bluetooth 5 with its longer range, greater bandwidth, and native handling of Apple’s AAC codec; aptX HD codec support for high-resolution and low-latency audio playback; and Google Fast Pair 2.0 for quick connections with Android devices. You can also invoke Siri on iOS devices with the push of…

HOW TO COPE WITH A FILEVAULT RECOVERY KEY DISAPPEARING WHILE YOU WRITE IT DOWN FileVault is an extraordinary bit of macOS technology. Introduced years ago, it encrypts the entire contents of your startup volume so that when the data is at rest—when your Mac is powered down—the drive is effectively full of garbage nonsense to anyone who doesn’t possess either the password to an account authorized to log in via FileVault or the special recovery key set when you turn FileVault on. When you use the Security & Privacy preference pane’s FileVault tab to enable this encryption, macOS prompts you with two choices: > Allow my iCloud account to unlock my disk > Create a recovery key and do not use my iCloud account In both cases, a recovery key…

If the Apple Store near you has reopened, it won’t be business as usual. Apple has implemented a series of guidelines to keep customers and employees safe as it navigates a world still reeling from the effects of the coronavirus. First and foremost, Apple is requiring face coverings “for all of our teams and customers,” which will be provided if needed. Additionally, temperature checks will be conducted at the entrance and “posted health questions will screen for those with symptoms—like cough or fever—or who have had recent exposure to someone infected with COVID-19.” Apple will also be following social distancing guidelines, so the stores will be a lot less crowded than they usually are. Apple will be limiting occupancy and giving everybody lots of room, while adhering to strict “one-on-one, personalized…

Security researcher Björn Ruytenberg with the Eindhoven University of Technology recently published a report detailing a series of serious security vulnerabilities in Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt 3, collectively called “Thunderspy.” They affect every single computer with a Thunderbolt 2 or Thunderbolt 3 port, including old-style port connectors and new Type-C connectors, whether the computers are running Windows, Linux, or macOS. How badly does this security flaw impact Mac users? Should you freak out about someone hacking into your MacBook the next time you get up from your desk to refill your coffee? SEVEN THUNDERSPY VULNERABILITIES Ruytenberg describes seven vulnerabilities in his paper. They are as follows. 1. Inadequate firmware verification schemes. 2. Weak device authentication scheme. 3. Use of unauthenticated device metadata. 4. Backwards compatibility. 5. Use of unauthenticated controller configurations.…

WYZE BULB The Wyze Bulb is a tunable-white (no color here) bulb that connects to your network via Wi-Fi, so it doesn’t need a smart home hub. Rated at 800 lumens of brightness, the bulb draws 9.5 watts of power and offers a respectable color temperature range of 2700K to 6500K. The Wyze mobile app can be used to turn the bulb on or off, provides access to a dimmer slider and a color temperature slider, and control A timer. There’s also a vacation mode to turn the bulb on and off when you’re away.—CHRISTOPHER NULL SIMCAM 1S The SimCam 1S is a relative rarity: a home security camera chockablock with advanced AI features, no cloud subscription requirement for them to work, and a modest price tag. The camera…

We spend more time than ever communicating via our devices and, given the current state of world affairs, that’s only likely to increase. And while some of that happens via email, social media, or—heaven forbid!—even the phone, the bulk of that communication probably happens in messaging apps. So it only makes sense that Apple may be considering updates to its Messages app in iOS 14, especially given that the last statistic we heard about iMessage volume was that 200,000 were sent every second—and that was four years ago. (Not much has changed since then, right?) A report this past week, which originated at MacRumors, mentioned several new and updated Messages features that could appear in iOS 14, many of which seem to borrow ideas from other communication apps. And as…

Apple’s keyboard cases for the iPad tend to emphasize protection. The keyboard itself often feels like an afterthought. Even in the best cases, it comes off as a grudging concession to those of us who really don’t want to use the digital keyboard for long typing sessions. But Apple’s new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is the first one that actually feels as though you were meant to work on it. The backlit keys have great key travel, and they’re wide enough to recall the ones you’ll find on a MacBook. These features would have been impressive on their own, but Apple went a step further and included a trackpad and a dedicated charging port that greatly enriches the experience. Taken together, these are signs that Apple is not only…

We hoped that when the 16-inch MacBook Pro was released, an upgrade to the 13-inch MacBook Pro would shortly follow. But it didn’t. Then Apple upgraded the MacBook Air, and then we thought that surely a new 13-inch MacBook Pro was imminent. Over a month after the MacBook Air update, the much-anticipated new 13-inch MacBook Pro finally dropped. The new models feature new CPUs, faster RAM, and new GPUs to boost its speed, and the new Magic Keyboard will bring back customers who decided to stay away from the version of the laptop with a butterfly keyboard. If you currently have a high-end 13-inch MacBook Pro that you bought within the past four years, you might consider sticking with that laptop a little while longer. While you’ll see nice speed gains…

As an iCloud user, Gmail isn’t my primary email service, but millions of others faithfully depend on it. Although Google created a capable mobile app for smartphone and tablet users, the search giant has long neglected the desktop, where Gmail fans must settle for the inherent limitations of traditional IMAP client software or a second-class, web-based experience. Or do they? What do you get when you extract the Google experience from a web browser and integrate it into a standalone app? Kiwi for Gmail 2.0, the closest we’ll likely ever come to a native Gmail client for macOS. At first glance, Kiwi looks like little more than the web-based G Suite disguised as an application—which it technically is—but small details make a big difference. GOODBYE WEB BROWSER For starters, Kiwi…

Last spring, Apple officially took the wraps off the service we all knew was coming: Apple TV+. The premium streaming service clearly had designs on competing with Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and the rest of an increasingly crowded market. The first handful of shows were available on November 1, 2019, and a new show or movie has been released every few weeks since then. So how is Apple doing? Half a year in, is Apple TV+ a must-have streaming service, or can you ignore it without missing much? So far, Apple has landed somewhere in-between. If we were giving Apple a letter grade, it would get a “C” with a special teacher’s note: “shows potential.” Apple is doing as well with overall content quality as any of its competitors, has expanded…

Recently, Apple unveiled what it’s calling “the biggest update to Logic since the launch of Logic Pro X” in 2013, bringing it more in line with GarageBand while also adding powerful sampling, sequencing, and editing tools. Most notably, the X.5 update brings “a professional version” of GarageBand’s Live Loops that debuted in January 2016. As one of GarageBand’s most popular features, Live Loops let musicians “play, edit, and arrange musical ideas in real-time” by either selecting from a library of instruments and pre-recorded cells or creating their own sounds. Live Loops works the same on Logic Pro X as it does on GarageBand, though tracks can be “further refined using all of the professional production features in Logic.” To complement Live Loops, Apple is also rolling out a feature called Remix FM,…

Free third-party antivirus software often involves a trade-off. You receive only basic protection—a term that means different things to different companies—as well as semi-regular “encouragement” to upgrade to a paid suite. AVG AntiVirus Free for Mac offers very basic protection, but isn’t too terrible about encouraging upgrades. The suite protects against viruses, secures your desktop email, your web browsing, and that’s it. Those are the essentials, however, which go a long way toward keeping your computer safe. AVG’s protection is top notch. AV-Test looked at it in December, and it had a 100 percent protection rate from 145 samples. AVG for Windows had the same score from AV-Test’s 0-day, web and email threats, as well as the widespread and prevalent malware test. AV Comparatives’ most recent Mac test was in June…

It’s been a big few months for the iPad. Apple didn’t just release a (mildly updated) iPad Pro (see page 89), but a whole new accessory, the Magic Keyboard (see page 55). And surprise—tossed into a minor mid-cycle software update, iPadOS was updated to support pointer support, an upgrade many iPad users have been wanting for years. But as Apple’s annual developer conference looms, what’s next for the iPad? Last year, Apple introduced the concept of iPadOS as a separate variation of iOS devoted just to the iPad. This year at WWDC, that bill comes due: Apple could once hide a lack of iPad updates inside a larger iOS release, but this year we’ll all be wondering what’s new in iPadOS. With the pointing device stuff taken care of, what…

Rumors of an Apple augmented reality headset have been around for years, but recently speculation has rapidly begun to ramp up, alongside suggestions that the product could be shown off as early as this year, and might even ship as early as next year. On the one hand, maintaining skepticism is still healthy. Though Apple has had its share of product leaks over the years, it’s still a company that plays things extremely close to its chest—especially when it comes to prototype hardware. (Unsurprisingly, after the infamous incident in which a pre-release iPhone 4 was left in a bar nearly a decade ago, it’s been extra cautious.) But the sheer number of rumors and amount of speculation are probably based on something, so it’s not a bad time to take a look…

RSS reader apps have come and gone, but few have experienced such a bumpy roller-coaster ride as NetNewsWire. Making a splash in 2002 from developer Brent Simmons, the popular Mac version was ultimately acquired by not one but two different companies before finally finding its way back home in 2019. Along the way, NetNewsWire found its way onto iOS—and even Apple TV for a brief time—but the marriage never quite flourished. Thankfully, Simmons has rectified this situation with an all-new universal iOS version that faithfully mirrors the desktop experience I reviewed last year, and even bests it in some ways. OLD FAITHFUL Those who use NetNewsWire 5 for Mac to stay current with the news already know what to expect from the new iOS and iPadOS version. The words “stable”…

In 2018 the new iPad Pro was bold and sleek, and just what Apple needed to shake up a product line that was starting to show its age. Unlike its predecessors, it featured Face ID, a new and improved Apple Pencil, a USB-C port, thin bezels, and a blazing fast processor. The 2020 model looks and performs much the same, but now much of the initial excitement has settled. Instead of going for a new design, Apple used this updated model to test-drive some technology that may become more important to other Apple products down the line, although it’s not particularly exciting or even well-suited for this particular device. This is unquestionably the best iPad ever made, but the real question is whether all of its flashy features make it…

Catalina marked the end of 32-bit apps for macOS, something Apple had provided over a decade of transition help with and two years of warnings about for consumers. Nonetheless, people with older apps they hadn’t launched in a long while were still taken by surprise, judging by email from readers and forum posts. Macworld offers a guide on how to find outdated apps to figure out what to get (if anything) to replace them, both before you update to Catalina and afterwards. However, if you no longer need an app that can’t launch in Catalina, you’re not obliged to get rid of it. Apps, launch agents, daemons, helpers, and other components no longer work, but they won’t do harm. And it might be a mistake to delete apps that only have…

When I settle in for some quality headset time, a pair of wireless earbuds generally isn’t the first thing I reach for. But Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro earbuds are making me rethink my listening preferences. Armed with a unique coaxial configuration of dynamic and balanced armature drivers, the Liberty 2 Pro earbuds give you the best of both worlds: finely detailed treble and deep yet controlled bass, not to mention an impressively wide soundstage. There’s also a HearID feature that generates a custom EQ preset tailored to your ears, aptX support for CD-like sound, and plenty of extra eartips and ear wings help to ensure a comfortable fit. That’s all pretty impressive for a pair of $150 earbuds, but there are some compromises you’ll have to accept, including the lack…