Table of contents for August 2021 in Macworld

Apple has unveiled macOS 12 Monterey, the first major update to macOS since the big shift in macOS 11 Big Sur. There are a bunch of new features, and we’ll cover everything you need to know about the update before it arrives in the fall: the top features, system requirements, availability, and more. Let’s start with the key features. UNIVERSAL CONTROL Apple users often switch between devices, and with Universal Control, you can now use a single mouse and keyboard between your Mac and iPad. If you’re using a MacBook, you can use its keyboard and trackpad with the iPad. You can even drag and drop files between devices and perform gestures on the MacBook trackpad to navigate the iPad. Additionally, Universal Control can do something that Apple’s Craig Federighi…

When that new 24-inch iMac arrives, you don’t want anyone or anything getting in your way as you unpack it and set it up. It’s an exciting moment, so go for it! But (of course there’s a “but”) after you’re done placing it perfectly on your desk, plugging it in, turning it on, and then sitting back to gaze upon it admiringly, take a little break. Pause for a bit, because now it’s time to set up your Mac for the work you want to get done. To get the most out of your Mac experience, there are a few things you should do before anything else. Many of these tasks are the type you need to do only once. When you’ve set things up, you will rarely need to…

Fledging has redesigned its Shell Thunderbolt SSD to excellent effect. With a new larger form factor, an honest-to-goodness fan, plus plenty of venting to circulate the extra air, it no longer feels startlingly hot to the touch after heavy use. Running cool means no thermal throttling and consistent 2GBps-plus speeds. The Shell Thunderbolt is also cheaper than Samsung’s popular X5 once you reach 1TB of capacity. DESIGN The Fledging Shell Thunderbolt is all-metal and colored in approximately the same hue as your average late-model Mac. It measures approximately 3.75 inches long by 2.5 inches wide by just over 0.5 inches thick, and weighs a few ounces. I personally like the feel and heft—if you want something flimsy and plasticy, look elsewhere. You access the motherboard and M.2 NVMe slot by…

Apple unveiled the next generation of iPadOS during the WWDC keynote, and it brings a lot of welcome changes. For the most part, Apple is simply catching up with iOS 14 features such as widgets wherever you like and the App Library, but there are also a few new features geared toward power users. Here are the most important features Apple is bringing to our iPads with iPadOS 15. WIDGETS Apple introduced a completely redesigned Home Screen with widgets in iOS 14, and it’s finally bringing them to the tablet. They function much as they do on the iPhone, offering small boxes that live among the icons on your screen and provide at-a-glance information about things like weather, photos, and stocks. Widgets have been available in a side menu, but with…

Apple wants your iPhone and iPad to anticipate your needs, particularly for information, and to suggest or promote ideas and information before you even know you wanted it. One method is via Significant Locations, a feature in iOS and iPadOS few people even know exists. As you move around with either device, the places you dwell are tracked. That includes your home and work, as well as restaurants you may frequent, other people’s houses, medical offices, and the like. These are called Significant Locations, and you can find the list buried deeply at Settings → Privacy → Location Services → System Services → Significant Locations under My Places and History. Before you start to fret, Apple doesn’t collect and use that information centrally. (I mean, it’s not Google.) Apple says…

During its WWDC keynote presentation in June, Apple took the wraps off iOS 15. While new hardware is always exciting, iOS is maybe Apple’s most important and impactful product of all, as it gets installed on over a billion iPhones around the world. Due to release this fall with a beta test starting right away, it’s full of new features and changes both big and small. These are the big features that will have the biggest impact on iPhone users with iOS 15’s release. FACETIME FaceTime is getting a big boost in iOS 15. Spatial audio will separate out voices so group chats sound more natural. A new grid view shows everyone the same size and highlights the person talking. New microphone modes make it easier for others to…

Phishing is a cute name for a malicious practice. An attacker sends millions of emails (or even a billion) that try to convince someone they are from a legitimate source. Phishing sometimes relies on the billions of account compromises that have occurred over the last several years to include telling personal details, like your mailing address or an account name associated with a site. The mail convinces you something is wrong with your account, or there’s a great promotion underway, and urges you to click a link that looks correct. Clicking brings you to a website that wants your account credentials. Proceed—and you may have given away the keys to your kingdom. This kind of attack is insidious because most of us receive so much email from companies and organizations we…

The AmazonBasics 8-outlet uninterruptible power supply (UPS) supports up to a rated 360 watts of attached equipment, which it can provide with enough battery power to run a modest computer system with a smaller monitor for about 3 to 10 minutes. This delay lets a computer shut down automatically using built-in features in the operating systems or software provided for macOS and Windows if electrical power isn’t restored fast enough. This is a standby UPS that produces a simulated sine wave—the change in voltage from negative to positive and back in alternating current (AC) power—so it’s not recommended for most modern computer systems that use a power supply requiring a smoother or “pure” sine wave output from a UPS. Standby UPSes also have a short delay in cutting over from…

Ever since 1946, when Paul Klipsch began selling his patented Klipschorn speakers, the company that bears his name has been inextricably linked with horn-based designs. As he discovered a decade earlier while comparing horn-loaded and cone-based speakers, horns offer greater efficiency and more controllable dispersion. Now, almost 75 years later, the company continues to implement that philosophy in a wide range of speakers, including The Fives, a pair of powered, wireless bookshelf speakers that bespeak high quality in their construction and performance. FEATURE SET The Fives are fairly large bookshelf speakers that measure 12x6.5x9.25 inches (HxWxD). The primary speaker weighs in at 11.8 pounds, while the secondary speaker is a bit lighter at 10.7 pounds. As with most such wireless bookshelf systems, the primary speaker houses all the electronics, while…

It’s been six years since Microsoft unveiled a new version of Windows. Now Windows 10 users with eligible PCs can upgrade to a brand-new version of Microsoft’s OS called Windows 11. And whether Microsoft wants to admit it or not, the new Windows looks a lot like macOS. Microsoft has changed a lot about the way Windows looks and works, but it’s hard to deny that its “modern, fresh, clean and beautiful” interface borrows heavily from Apple’s style, with rounded corners, subtle transparency, and an overall fluidity that would feel right at home on a MacBook. Along with these familiar interface elements, Windows 11 brings plenty of features that Mac users don’t have. It leverages the touch-friendly nature of many PCs, introduces new ways to type and talk, taps into…

It’s hard not to look at the new 24-inch iMac, which I recently had the chance to use for a week, and not feel at least a little pang of nostalgia for the original iMac. Introduced in 1998, not only did the iMac G3 save Apple, it injected a blast of color into the cold beige world of personal computers. That sense of nostalgia lessened when I picked up the new 24-inch iMac and carried it around my house. (The original iMac weighed about four times as much as the new model!) And yet, for all that has changed over the past 23 years, you’d be surprised by some of the similarities between the original iMac and these new models. It’s not all about the color. But let me be…

When it comes to creative design work, Adobe Photoshop has been a go-to for Mac users for nearly three decades. But the times they are a-changing, and in recent years a new generation of developers has released apps that are easier to use, have more comprehensive features, and, most important, are much cheaper. Art Text 4 is one such app. This app makes it a snap to create whatever kinds of typography and 2D or 3D text effects you can dream up for social media posts, website graphics, or company logos. Rich, colorful graphics complete with customizable backgrounds and textures are just a few mouse clicks away. Now with support for Metal 2 and Dark Mode, version 4.0 introduces the Spray Fill tool, which uses images of real-world materials like Lego…

At long last, iPadOS 15 brings many of the features iPad users have been patiently waiting for: Home Screen widgets, App Library, better multitasking, Stickies-style Quick Notes, and a desktop-caliber Safari tab bar, to name a few. Once the update rolls out to iPads this fall, it’ll give the tablet a much-needed overhaul that will make it seem a bit more modern than it does now. But if you just bought one of the new 12.9-inch iPad Pros, it won’t seem much different at all. Sure, if you squint, the new Home Screen is a bit more Mac-like. The new multiwindow shelf makes you more productive by bringing systemwide multitasking. And keyboard navigation and expanded shortcuts give the Magic Keyboard a bit more purpose. But at its core, it’s still…

Back when the iPhone 12 launched with the magnetic MagSafe connector last year, Apple warned that people with pacemakers and other medical devices should keep their handsets “a safe distance away” to avoid potentially life-threatening interference. Now Apple has added a whole bunch more products to that list—and it’s basically everything the company makes. While anyone with a sensitive medical device knows to stay away from magnets, they might not realize that nearly every product Apple makes contains magnets or components and radios that emit electromagnetic fields and could interfere with medical devices. Among the devices on the list are every model of AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, HomePod, and Mac it sells as well as several Beats headphones (though not the new Beats Studio Buds). Apple says these and medical devices…

There’s no denying that the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is a gorgeous and incredibly powerful piece of hardware. It’s easily one of the nicest pieces of tech I’ve ever held and the fastest iPad ever made, and it’s hard to imagine any tablet released in the next five years doing much to top it. Of course, I could have written the same thing about the 2020 model. The 2021 iPad Pro doesn’t look all that much different than the model it replaces or the 2018 iPad Pro before that. And the upgrades the new model brings—most notably, the Retina XDR display, 5G modem, and M1 processor—won’t be immediately noticeable to anyone using it. Unless you’re comparing it side by side to the 2020 model, in fact, you probably won’t be able…

Should you worry about remaining logged into websites on your computer or mobile device when you’re not using the site? Whether you’re sitting in front of the computer or holding the mobile device or not? Generally, no. Someone would have to intercept or extract the tokens used to manage your login session, and if you have malware on your device that’s allowing that, other steps won’t matter, except removing the malware. (There’s no known active malware for any Apple platform that would extract this kind of data.) But some people are nonetheless concerned that they remain exposed. Others may share access to a computer in a family or with roommates or in other scenarios and want to ensure they don’t leave themselves open to “friendly fire”—which can be as innocuous…

It didn’t take long for Apple’s acquisition of Beats in 2014 to pay off for iPhone users. Apple’s associating the Beats line with iPhones in ways that make sense, such as using the W1 and later the H1 chip in many Beats headphones and earbuds, comes with a lot of advantages, essentially turning the Beats line into a sort of side-AirPods brand with different styling and sound characteristics. The new Beats Studio Buds have a lot going for them but do not include the H1 chip you’ll find in the Powerbeats Pro or the Solo Pro. You still get some Apple ecosystem features, but you’ll miss out on others. The comfort and sound quality are tremendous for the price, but Apple enthusiasts may want to consider whether the trade-offs are worth it.…

If you already have an Apple TV 4K, it’s not worth replacing. Sure, the second-generation Apple TV 4K can play back 4K HDR content at 60fps, but there’s not much need for that yet. And there’s eARC support, too. If you’re an edge case where those features really matter a lot to you, then you might consider buying the new model. For everyone else, just hang on to the Apple TV 4K you’ve already got. (If you have Apple TV HD, however, it’s probably time to upgrade). The Siri Remote, on the other hand, may be worth your money. You can buy it alone for $59, and it works with existing Apple TV HD and 4K units. That price tag inspires a bit of sticker shock for a fairly simple remote,…

The privacy issues associated with our location when we’re carrying an iPhone or iPad have gotten a lot of attention. But a Mac can reveal to apps where we’re located as well. No Mac includes a GPS or cellular modem, but between Wi-Fi positioning and cues and information retrieved by associated and nearby cellular devices of your own and those of other people, a Mac can often approximate its position fairly well. Open the Security & Privacy pane in System Preferences, click the Privacy button, and select Location Services from the list at left, and you can see all the apps to which you’ve given permission and for which you’ve revoked access. To remove permission to retrieve your location: Uncheck the box to the left of the app or service.…

We like simplicity when it comes to VPN services. Even if they stuff a ton of extra features into the app, it’s important that regular users can still navigate it. That’s one of the attributes that we like about FastestVPN. It also supports 10 simultaneous connections instead of the usual five. SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SERVERS, AND SPEED When you first open FastestVPN for Mac, it has a large connect button on the right side of the app, while the left contains a list of its 32 country connections. At the very top of the app, it shows the current IP you are using and its location, and then in the upper-right corner, you have access to the app’s settings. To connect to a location, you just click the large button or…

NUVYYO TABLO DUAL HDMI Nuvyyo’s over-the-air DVR plays and records local channels at native broadcast TV quality. It uses an antenna to receive local broadcasts and hooks up to your TV with an HDMI cable, but it can also stream video over Wi-Fi to Roku, Fire TV, and Android TV devices. Either way, broadcasts look the same as they would with an antenna plugged directly into your TV, and you can play or record from up to two channels at the same time. You also get lots of useful recording features to justify its optional subscription fee. —JARED NEWMAN PANASONIC KX-HN4101W BABY MONITOR Resembling a cute, Wall-E style robot with a two-eyed, rectangular camera head on an egg-shaped body, this Panasonic camera and parent unit kit comes with pan-and-tilt…

In iPadOS 15, Apple is making another round of changes to iPad multitasking. It would be easy to consider this yet another spin on the merry-go-round as Apple struggles to figure out how to break the iPad out of the iPhone’s fundamental one-app-at-a-time interface. But I think Apple is finally assembling all the pieces of the puzzle that will allow the iPad to become more Mac-like than ever before—all the while retaining its unique position in Apple’s ecosystem. Is Apple waiting for the right moment to unveil proper external-display support on the iPad, perhaps alongside the release of a new Apple display? I’m not saying it will happen, but I want to believe. So let’s look at the evidence. A WINDOW INTO THE FUTURE Apple has been flirting with the…

If you have a family of three or more where everyone has their own iPhone, Apple Watch, and maybe a pair of AirPods or two in there, you probably have a pretty messy countertop or table somewhere in a common area, with tangled snakes of charging cables and lots of plugs occupied by power adapters. Multidevice wireless chargers can help reduce this mess, but they don’t necessarily conform to your family’s needs. RapidX has a nice solution in its Modula5 wireless charging system. It’s a flexible set of charging “pods” that magnetically snap together on either side. The company makes a phone-charging pod (that works for AirPods with wireless charging cases) and an Apple Watch pod, so you just mix and match what you need for your family’s device makeup.…

In June 2021, Apple Music got a big update, and it’s free to all subscribers. The entire catalog of over 75 million tracks will be available in a lossless audio format using ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Compression), starting with 20 million tracks and expanding to the entire catalog by the end of 2021. Eventually all tracks will be available in a hi-res lossless format at a maximum of 24-bit and 192kHz. In addition, some tracks will gain Dolby Atmos support, which can be played with lots of Apple and Beats headphones. You’ll see labels on albums that show you which formats are available (1). But not everyone will be able to enjoy these formats; you’ll need specific hardware for each of them. (And specific software: Your Apple device must be…

This fall, Apple is upgrading all paid iCloud accounts to something it calls iCloud+. It includes several interesting new features on top of the existing iCloud storage, sync, and cloud features, but the most interesting might be something Apple calls iCloud Private Relay. At first, it sounds like a VPN: Your web-browsing traffic is encrypted and sent through a relay to hide your exact location, IP, or the contents of your browsing traffic. It’s not a VPN, though. Not quite. There are important differences, which we’ll describe here. But iCloud Private Relay may be enough for most people, giving the most obvious benefits of a VPN to millions of users who would never consider signing up for one. Here’s what this Private Relay feature is, how it works, and how…

Focal produces some of the best headphones in the world, with prices to match. Bentley holds a similar position in the automotive industry, and Focal’s sibling company, Naim—also a well-respected luminary in high-end audio—has been supplying sound systems for Bentley cars since 2008. So it’s no surprise that Focal and Bentley have teamed up to bring a new headphone into the light of day: the Radiance. At $1,299, the new model sits squarely between Focal’s $899 Elegia and the $2,990 Stellia, deriving features from both. Soundwise, it’s a bit different from its siblings, but still excellent. FEATURES Like the Elegia and Stellia, the Radiance is a circumaural (around-the-ear), closed-back design that connects to the source device with actual wires—no Bluetooth here! It comes with a 4-foot OFC (oxygen-free copper) 24 AWG…

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR NAME ON YOUR MAC’S USER ACCOUNT People wind up with a new name, often one that better reflects who they are or have become, for all sorts of reasons. You don’t have to keep staring at your past identity indefinitely—macOS can keep up with the name you use now. It’s not obvious, but you don’t have to dig into the guts of macOS, either. Just take care to follow these steps carefully. There are a couple of requirements: > You can’t change the name of an account while you’re logged into that account, so you have to have least two separate accounts set up on the Mac. > You must have administrative access from the account that you log into in order to change the other…