MacworldNovember 2018的目錄

Over the last year we’ve seen several rumors from reliable sources stating that Apple plans to introduce a new low-cost MacBook. Basically, it’s aiming to replace the beloved (but aging) MacBook Air, and probably make the MacBook obsolete in the process. This makes a lot of sense: both the MacBook and the MacBook Air are in need of an update. The rumors say the new product will launch this year; we think that’s likely to happen at an as-yet-unannounced October event. Without further ado, here are our predictions as to what we can expect from a low-cost (for Apple) MacBook Air replacement. THE NAME: MACBOOK (NO AIR) From a product positioning standpoint, Apple has dropped the “Air” moniker from its core products. AirPorts are gone, the iPad Air is gone, and…

Realmac Software’s RapidWeaver is a WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) website development application designed to do most of the heavy lifting for you. Its easy-to-modify templates make it a snap to create a modern, custom website design through the comfort of a user interface that feels like it came straight out of Cupertino. WYSIWYG web apps aren’t as novel as they once were—online services like Wix offer to do the same thing for free or dirt cheap, often bundled with bargain-priced web hosting. And to be fair, even the latest version of RapidWeaver will get you only so far on its own, which is why Realmac continues to foster a community chock full of add-ons including themes, plug-ins, and stacks that users can purchase to accomplish…

ORECK CORDLESS VACUUM WITH POD TECHNOLOGY Oreck’s Cordless Vacuum with POD Technology has a self-sealing and disposable container that locks in dust and debris, so it doesn’t escape into the air when you remove it from the cordless vacuum. Instead of emptying the pod into the trash can, you drop the whole thing in and replace it with a fresh one for your next vacuuming. Oreck sells a pack of five refill PODs for $15. Unlike a conventional vacuum, this Oreck is light in weight and easy to push around and maneuver. Its low-profile head slips easily between chair legs and under couches and cabinets. Using it overhead to grab cobwebs and to clean curtain tops won’t strain your back either.—MICHAEL ANSALDO WISENET SMARTCAM N2 Of all the AI features…

Apple showed off many new features of the new iPhone during its “Gather Round” event in September, but there’s one major update that didn’t make it to the main stage. It was an update to the iPhone’s NFC (near field communication) support, the tech that lets you scan your iPhone to checkout through Apple Pay. Before iOS 12, users of NFC-equipped iPhones needed to open an app to access this feature. But the day after its event, Apple told developers that iOS 12 would support NFC “background tag reading” on the new iPhones, meaning once these iPhones are unlocked after booting up they constantly scan for NFC tags. With the new NFC implementation, as long as an iPhone XS or XR is within 1.6-inches of an NFC tag, it displays a…

When I got the Mofuu Portable Charger for Apple Watch, the timing couldn’t be better. I have an original Apple Watch, and it’s over three years old. As you’d expect, the battery doesn’t last as long as it used to. I need to charge the watch during the day, and I try to do so when I know I’ll be sitting at my computer for a while. The watch includes Apple’s Magnetic Charging Cable, and I could buy another one to stash in my backpack, but I think Mofuu’s charger is a better product to carry. Its magnetic charging base is embedded in a plastic case that also serves as a cable holder. The cable itself is three inches, and you can wrap the cable around the case and tuck the…

The latest version of macOS, called Mojave (and officially, it’s version 10.14), is now available. It’s not a major revamp of the operating system (it’s been a while since the Mac has had one of those), but it does add new features that can help you be more productive with your Mac. That being said, you may be hesitant to upgrade. After all, what you’re using now works fine, and why risk the potential for problems? We hear you, and if you don’t want to upgrade right away, you’ll be fine. But in case you’re on the fence, here are a few reasons why you should upgrade to macOS Mojave now. 1. DARK MODE IS EASIER ON THE EYES The first new feature Apple discussed at the 2018 Worldwide…

When typing is a large part of how you make a living, the muscle memory you develop while typing with your keyboard can be hard to shake. Before reviewing a new keyboard, I like to take some time with it to ensure that my impressions of how it performs aren’t colored by my personal preferences. Only after my typing is up to speed, which usually happens after a few weeks of using a keyboard, do I dig in. With that in mind, the Qwerkywriter S mechanical keyboard is very pretty and types beautifully. Unfortunately, its design (as its name suggests) contains a number of quirks that keep it from achieving perfection. BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN The Qwerkywriter S is exceptionally built. Its rounded, matte black aluminum body and chrome accents absolutely…

Apple formally announced that it has completed its acquisition of Shazam, the song-identifying app that has become so synonymous with “identifying songs” that it has its own game show on a major network. Apple first announced it would acquire the company back in December 2017 for an undisclosed price (rumored to be around $400 million). Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music, had the following to say: Apple and Shazam have a long history together. Shazam was one of the first apps available when we launched the App Store and has become a favorite app for music fans everywhere. With a shared love of music and innovation, we are thrilled to bring our teams together to provide users even more great ways to discover, experience and enjoy music. It’s not yet clear…

Iam always skeptical about nostalgia-branded products, including Bluetooth speakers modeled after famous guitar amps. But I found myself quite liking the $300 Marshall Kilburn II. I like its simplicity; I like its sound, which is well above average; I like its rugged construction; and I like the comfortable carrying handle. All that said, I’d like it more if it were a bit cheaper. DOWN MEMORY LANE The Marshall Kilburn II measures approximately 10 inches wide, 6 inches high, and 5 inches deep, and it weighs around 5.5 pounds. It differs a bit in appearance from its predecessor. The first Kilburn’s tweed speaker cover goes hand in hand with the Marshall image, where the Kilburn II has a more practical metal grill. I think the new model looks even better. And…

You may think you own that application you just downloaded, but chances are good you merely license it. If Apple has anything to say about it, that fact may soon have a much bigger impact on your wallet. Recently, Business Insider reported on a “secret” meeting last year between Apple and some iOS app developers. Apple apparently encouraged the developers to switch from one-time, stand-alone purchases to a subscription-based model. The move is reportedly intended to give developers a more stable source of recurring revenue. It would also, of course, provide that recurring revenue to Apple as well, which takes a 30 percent cut on the first year of subscriptions, and 15 percent thereafter. Services have become a big part of Apple’s revenue stream. In Apple’s last earnings call, it reported a…

Why buy a headset when you could just buy a great pair of headphones and a good microphone for the same price? So goes the conventional wisdom in comment sections around the world, every time someone dares to suggest that a gaming headset might not be so bad a purchase. But what if the self-professed audiophiles are right? And what if you could get the same form factor as a headset, but with any top-tier pair of headphones? Wouldn’t that be a better deal? We went hands on with the ModMic to find out. HAND IN HAND ModMic isn’t new by any means. Since 2011, Antlion Audio has done one thing and done it well: It’s allowed gamers to take their high-end headphones, attach a microphone on the side, and…

In the aftermath of Apple’s recent announcements, it’s so easy to refer to the $749 iPhone XR as a low-price, bargain model, in contrast to the $999 iPhone XS and the $1,099 iPhone XS Max. But just three years ago, $749 was what Apple charged for the most expensive new iPhone in its product line, the iPhone 6s Plus. It’s never been more expensive to walk into an Apple Store and walk out with an iPhone. Changes in the way wireless carriers approach their customers have led, unsurprisingly, to changes in the buying behavior of those same smartphone users. The change in buying patterns then affects Apple, which makes its own changes to compensate. There’s a lot going on here, and while the end result is that Apple is very…

MacOS Mojave is here, and with it, Apple is now officially shipping four Mac apps that were written for iOS and run using a translation system that Apple’s planning on rolling out to app developers next year. But while it’s fun to consider what apps from the iOS App Store might come to the Mac App Store in 2019, it’s also worth asking what else Apple might bring to macOS next year—and whether it might have some unexpected benefits for iPad users in the process. THIS SYSTEM NEEDS TO IMPROVE Let’s start with the obvious: This entire project of bringing iOS apps to the Mac is a work in progress. As Apple said on stage at WWDC in June, perhaps the best way for Apple to understand the scope of…

Pocket City If you want to play the classic SimCity on your iPhone or iPad, you’re stuck with SimCity BuildIt, the company’s free-to-play rendition. As we explored a few years back, the freemium approach turns the game into a series of nagging annoyances rather than an engrossing urban simulation. Luckily, indie game Pocket City is here to fill the void and pick up EA’s slack. Shooting Hoops What do you get when you pair a basketball with a Nerf gun? You get Shooting Hoops, apparently, although that’s not a premise that had previously crossed our minds. Shooting Hoops might be the ultimate example of a pun-based game concept, as you attempt to launch the ball into the net via the propulsive boost from firing the attached dart gun. Legend of Solgard…

So that $1,000-plus sticker shock didn’t put you off from upgrading to the poorly-named iPhone XS or even-worse-named iPhone XS Max. I don’t blame you—I bought one, too. I know you want to dive right in the moment you get the box in your hands, but take a beat and do a little prep first! We have a little setup advice you’re going to want to pay attention to. Sure, it seems like an unnecessary drag, but this stuff is going to really save you a lot of time and frustration later. 1. BACK UP AND RESTORE That’s right, you’re going to want to back up your old iPhone after you have your new iPhone XS in hand, so the backup is as up-to-date as it can possibly be. You…

My first impression on taking delivery of the iMovR ZipLift Patriot standing desk converter was “Yay! I don’t have to put it together!” Assembling the Evodesk XE Pro desk that I reviewed early this year was a genuine pain in the neck. But after living with the Patriot for several weeks, I’ve concluded that it’s no better—or worse—than the Evodesk, it’s just different. The biggest difference, and I consider it to be in favor of the Evodesk, is that the Patriot operates on a mechanical lift where the Evodesk has a motorized lift. The Evodesk’s motor not only makes it easy to position the desk at a precise height, it also enables the desk to reach a lower position on your existing desk. That’s important, because you can’t adjust the height…

When Yevo released its first true wireless earbuds, the $249 Yevo 1, the headphones were widely criticized for offering a mediocre listening experience at such a high price. Less than a year later, Yevo is back for round two with a new product, the far more reasonably priced $129 Yevo Air true wireless earphones. And it seems like the company listened to the feedback—though as you’ll see, it could go further with improvements. DESIGN The Yevo Air comes in two colors: white and a matte black, the latter of which I was sent for review. I loved the look of the matte black color scheme, but I did find that both the headphones and their battery case attract fingerprints. The earbuds themselves weigh just 4.6 grams a piece, putting the…

WHAT’S THAT WEIRD APP FOLDER DOING IN YOUR iCLOUD STORAGE? There’s nothing more disturbing than finding files on your hardware that come from an app you are sure you never installed. Macworld reader Kevin wrote in asking about a video-management app. It’s an app he is positive he never installed on his iOS device, and he was shocked to find a folder in the iCloud Storage view in iOS (Settings → Account Name → iCloud → Manage Storage). He noted that the information seemed quite personal, as it had images that seemed to represent all his network devices. I suggested this might be something related to an app he purchased and forgot, but the explanation Kevin uncovered is only slightly related. After examining other apps he purchased, he discovered that…

“The Mac keeps going forever.” So said Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller in an interview in this very publication on the occasion of the computing platform’s 30th anniversary in 2014. With this month’s release of macOS Mojave, the modern version of the Mac’s operating system hit its fifteenth major release, and celebrated its seventeen-and-a-half birthday—quickly closing in on outliving its predecessor, the classic Mac OS. Mojave charts some new directions for the Mac, most notable of which is the ability to run iOS apps with little to no modification. That feature has its fair share of shortcomings and has also caused a degree of consternation from some longtime Mac users who don’t want peanut butter in their chocolate. But it seems unlikely Apple’s going to back away from the idea…

“Do be warned, detective…some men find this place hard to leave.” It’s meant as a threat, but I laughed. Even for the Rusty Lake series, this is one hell of a wink-nod, fourth-wall-breaking moment. Yes, one of the most prolific game development teams is back for its second game of 2018, Cube Escape: Paradox—and perhaps the most ambitious of the series, thanks to a 20-minute short film that’s integral to the plot. Just when you think Rusty Lake can’t get any weirder, it does. EMPTY THE MIND You’ll note of course that this is titled Cube Escape: Paradox, not Rusty Lake: Paradox. A bit confusing, no? To recap, the Rusty Lake games (Hotel, Roots, Paradise) spun out of a series of browser-based escape rooms, titled Cube Escape. Until now the…

In a financial conference call during the last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook described the iPhone X as setting up the next ten years of smartphones. It’s easy to see now what Cook meant by that: recently, the company updated all of its iPhones to follow the design example set by the iPhone X. But even as it unveiled the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR, the company ran into a struggle when it came to the iPhone X’s successor, the iPhone XS. How do you take what was formerly your most advanced iPhone and distinguish it from the rest of your now equally advanced lineup? That’s one reason why during Apple’s event, about halfway through Apple’s description of the iPhone XS, I started to get a bit antsy and,…

Crayon, if you don’t know, happens to be the French word for “pencil.” It’s a fitting name for the Logitech Crayon, which takes the concept of the Apple Pencil and approaches it from a different angle, specifically one centered on the rough-and-tumble playfulness we associate with “crayon” in English. When it was originally announced, sales of the Crayon were to be only to schools using the 2018 9.7-inch iPad. But on September 12, Apple and Logitech opted to let the rest of the public in on the party, and it’s a useful tool for the right kind of iPad user. It’s a little more pragmatic than the Apple Pencil. It’s certainly tougher. But most importantly, it only costs $69.99—nice, considering that the Apple Pencil costs a full $30 more. It’s…

DONUT COUNTY Donut County is offbeat, to the say least, but this wonderfully weird game is a real delight. While the core stuff-swallowing mechanic remains thankfully simplistic, the levels add little puzzle elements that help set them apart and the dialogue is hilarious. It’s also on Mac, but Donut County plays well on touch and you might as well save the extra $8. EVERGARDEN Evergarden is, as the title suggests, a game about plants—although it’s not like Stardew Valley or even Farming Simulator. Instead, it’s a relaxed match-three puzzler about bringing a forest back to life. You’ll do so by combining like-sized plants on the grid, while also splitting off seeds to create new plants and continue the cycle. It’s a little bit like Threes in puzzle design with a…

Whenever Apple releases a new version of macOS, I like to create a bootable USB installation drive. I test different Macs, and when I need to upgrade those machines, it’s a lot more efficient to plug in the USB installer drive and run the installer, than to log into the App Store, download the 6GB OS installer, and then run it. Because it’s so easy to create an external installation drive, it’s my preferred means of installing the OS. I keep it around for those time when I would rather use the drive than rely on booting in Recovery mode. In this article I’ll go over the different ways you can create a bootable macOS Mojave installation drive. But before I give instructions on how to create the drive, I’ll…

HomePod and I were going through a rough patch. It wasn’t a great relationship to begin with, admittedly, but in the beginning there was at least that thrill of attraction; that admiration for the way it could fill a room with ravishing sound. We didn’t do much else together, though, and so we drifted apart. She was kinda messy. For months, we didn’t even talk. But that was until iOS 12 came along and reignited the flame to burn brighter than it had before. It’s been great. It’s too bad it wasn’t like this months ago. After all, many of us believed at launch that the HomePod’s worst failings could be fixed with a beefy software update; one that would complement the undeniably impressive audio technology with secondary features that…

Some speakers are criticized for their overt personality, for exaggerated (or undernourished) tonal characteristics that can misrepresent the music. But it’s hard to imagine anyone taking Q Acoustics to task for what they’ve wrought with the personable 3020i bookshelf speakers. These speakers’ special distinction is a focus on soundstage optimization and unwavering clarity that serves almost every musical master exceedingly well, from classical to folk, rock to hip hop to jazz. These speakers will send you running for your favorite recordings, so you can hear what nuances will be revealed. They imbue studio performances with such presence, depth, and bounce as to create a sort of sonic hologram that pinpoints musicians’ spatial placement in the mix, not just in the horizontal plane but also forward and aft, high and low.…