Apple Releases Four iPhone 12 Models and the HomePod mini

For the second time in less than a month, Apple has made a splashy announcement. In its “Hi, Speed” event, the company unveiled the expected iPhone 12 — four of them! — along with a new HomePod mini. HomePod mini As Apple did in its event, let’s discuss the HomePod mini first. The HomePod mini is […]

Remember to Enable Text Message Forwarding When You Get a New Mac or iPad

If, like us, you’ve long had text messages forwarding from your iPhone to your Mac and iPad, then after you get a new device, it might be a while before you realize that it’s not receiving texts sent to your iPhone. When you get a new Apple device, you need to specifically enable it to […]

When Should You Upgrade to macOS 11 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14?

As we get into October, our thoughts turn, of course, to operating systems. Apple previewed their new OS versions at its Worldwide Developers Conference back in June, and they’ve been in public beta for a few months. As Apple makes macOS 11 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14 available, the […]

Beware iCloud Phishing Phone Calls!

We’ve been hearing reports of an uptick in the scam phone calls that claim to be from Apple. If you answer, an automated message tells you that your iCloud account has been breached and asks you to call a provided 1-866 number. Do not do this! Apple will never call you unprompted. Unfortunately, the criminals […]

What’s the Deal with All the Privacy Requests in Catalina?

Over the last few releases of macOS, Apple has been beefing up the Mac’s privacy controls so they more closely resemble what the company has done in iOS. You’ve undoubtedly noticed that when you first launch a new app on your iPhone or iPad, it often prompts for access to your contacts or your photos, […]

Apple Updates the 27-inch iMac

Apple’s iconic desktop Mac, the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display, hasn’t seen an update since March 2019 — nearly a year and a half ago. Happily, the company has finally released a new version of the popular iMac, outfitting it with 10th-generation Intel processors, increasing its RAM and storage capacities, and improving its audio […]

Need to Merge Photos Libraries? Here Are Your Options

Photos makes it easy to create and switch between libraries. That’s good when photos need to be kept completely separate. For instance, an interior designer might want to keep personal photos separate from photos taken for work. But too much separation is annoying — you have to keep switching between libraries, and it’s easy to […]

The Early Word on macOS 11.0 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7

Every year at its Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple previews the next releases of each of its operating systems. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Apple to record its keynote presentation ahead of time rather than having it live, but the company doesn’t seem to have tempered its ambitions for macOS 11.0 Big Sur, iOS 14, iPadOS 14, […]

Macs Switching from Intel Chips to Apple Silicon—Answers to Your Questions

At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, the company made a major announcement: in the future, Macs will no longer be powered by Intel chips. Instead, they will run custom-designed Apple chips. As massive as this is, the company has made such transitions twice before: first in 1994 with the move from Motorola’s 68000 chips to […]

Do You Use Dates in Filenames? Try This Format for Best Sorting

There are plenty of situations where it makes sense to put a date in a filename, but if you don’t use the right date format, the files may appear out of order when you sort them a list view. Using the names of months doesn’t work, since they’ll sort alphabetically, putting April before January. And […]