Table of contents for 161 in iPad & iPhone User

Apple has just taken the wraps off the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. Each are available in two sizes (the regular iPhone 12 now comes in a 6.1in model and a 5.4in ‘mini’), but as was the case with the iPhone 11, the ‘Pro’ models have some differences that set them apart and help justify their higher price tag. 1. A NEW, SLIGHTLY LARGER DESIGN THAN BEFORE As with the iPhone 11 Pro, the iPhone 12 Pro comes in two sizes. This year, the display on the two models measure 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches, up from 5.8 inches and 6.5 inches. (Bear in mind that a 6.1in display is the same size as the regular, non-Pro iPhone 11.) This means the phone bodies themselves are a bit…

Apple has added a new member to its smart speaker line-up. The HomePod mini is a smaller version of the HomePod speaker Apple released in 2018, and if it takes off, it will help Apple grab a bigger piece of the burgeoning smart speaker market. The HomePod still has the mesh grill exterior available in Space Grey or white, but it has an entirely different shape. It’s round, not a cylinder like the full-sized HomePod. It reminds us of the mesh-protected apples you might find at the supermarket. While we haven’t seen it in person, the screen at the top of the HomePod mini seems more prominent, even brighter. Here are the top six things you need to know about the HomePod mini. 1. SIZE, SPEAKERS AND MICROPHONES The…

i Pad Pro, you’re on the clock. Last month’s announcement of the new iPad Air continues Apple’s aggressive importation of iPad Pro features into the lower ends of the iPad product line. But it also brings the £579 iPad Air surprisingly close to the £769 iPad Pro in numerous ways – perhaps too close for comfort. That’s why the announcements are great for the iPad product line in two ways. Not only is there a cheaper, more powerful iPad with a bunch of features that were previously limited to the highest-end models, but it’s now clear that Apple will need to supply new high-end features to the iPad Pro in short order. PRO FEATURES MIGRATE FAST There was a time when Apple had a real iPad problem. Sales were lagging…

For the first time since its launch in 2016, there are three Apple Watch models to choose from that all look very similar at first glance. But upon closer inspection, you’ll find that there are very distinct differences between them that go much deeper than their price differences. Here’s how they stack up. DESIGN AND DISPLAY Apple hasn’t strayed very far from its original square design over the seven generations of Apple Watch, so there’s not a huge difference between the three watches. Apple hasn’t shared exact dimensions for the Series 6 and SE just yet, but they will presumably be a bit larger and thinner than the Series 3, just like the Series 5: Series 3: 38.6x33.3mmx11.4mm Series 5: 40x34x10.74mm But your wrist won’t notice the difference. Apple has…

Price: Free (in-app purchases) from fave.co/33zGH8B With all the emphasis about making high-quality video on mobile devices, it’s a shame so little attention is paid to audio. Slick visuals can do the trick, but without the right soundtrack videos you’ll only make half the impact. Mauvio is the first mobile app from Accusonus, makers of professional audio plug-ins for Mac and Windows. Fuelled by industry-leading algorithms, Mauvio improves sound on iPhone or iPad videos without tweaking dozens of knobs or settings, making it easy for anyone to use. The first step is to select a video from your camera or Photos library, which you can preview (but not trim) before importing. Mauvio automatically improves audio by applying under-the-hood magic while loading, so it’s ready to play with just a tap.…

The people have spoken. Apps such as Widgetsmith (free from fave.co/3iKdLzq) and Color Widgets (free from fave.co/3d7d5mv) sit at the top of the App Store charts. iOS 14 has provided users with the ability to customize the look of their devices like never before. Apple isn’t dumb. It has to be considering how it can take advantage of this trend. It’s got a bunch of options, and I have a few ideas. WHY SHOULD APPLE CARE? Now, you may be thinking, why does it matter to Apple that people are using iOS 14 widgets and custom shortcuts to make over their iPhones? These are trivialities and Apple should be focused on matters of substance. I’ve got news for you: what you consider a triviality, Apple considers an opportunity. Consider Apple’s…

With iOS 14, Apple has finally given you the ability to customize the layout of your home screen to some extent. Instead of just repositioning icons, you can totally remove them thanks to the new App Library. With the new Widgets, you can finally fill your home screen with something other than just apps. But the new ‘aesthetic’ iPhone trend goes a lot further. By combining Shortcuts with custom icons and highly-customizable widgets, you can give your iPhone a dramatically different look. Here’s how to get started making your iPhone ‘aesthetic’. FIRST, GRAB SOME ICONS Before you do anything else, you’ll want to grab some images to use as icons. There are lots of designers with matching icon packs on the web, just search for what suits you. Some are…

It took a little longer than usual, but the iPhone 12 is finally here. And just like we expected, there are four phones this year, with Apple adding a new ‘mini’ model to the lower-end of the line-up. But even with an extra option, the choice of which one to buy might not be so difficult this year. That’s because the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini are closer than ever to the higher-priced Pro models that cost hundreds more. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini might not have all the same features, but when you break down the differences between the standard and Pro lines, they’re a lot closer than you’d think. Here are the surprising iPhone 12 features that make the baseline iPhones a lot more pro.…

Price: £329 from fave.co/3jBr5Y3 The new iPad was comprehensively outshone by the new iPad Air at Apple’s Time Flies event on 15 September, offering only a dull (albeit significant) spec bump while its costlier sibling got a redesign and raft of new features. But the Air isn’t ready to buy yet, so while we wait for the big show, here’s the warm-up act. What Apple is calling the eighth-generation iPad is in almost every respect the same as the 10.2in iPad Apple launched in 2019. It differs only in having a processor that’s two generations newer – thereby promising a handy boost in speed – and being very slightly heavier. Is that enough to justify the cost? Almost certainly not if you’re thinking of upgrading from the 2019 to 2020…

Price: £379 from fave.co/3jFEcYa While there are plenty of decent options out there, including Apple’s own SE, the Apple Watch Series 6 is the only real choice when buying a smartwatch. You might not need all of the things it does right now, but if you’re going to spend a few hundred pounds on a smartwatch, it pays to future-proof your wrist. I’ve been testing quite a few watches and bands recently – the Fitbit Sense, Apple Watch SE, Fossil Carlyle Gen 5, Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, even the Amazon Halo band – and the Apple Watch Series 6 is the undisputed leader of the pack. Yes, you’re paying more for a Series 6 than any of those devices, but the extra money is so well spent you’re better off…

Six years in, the Apple Watch is at a bit of a crossroads. After a few years of explosive growth in terms of improving the hardware, Apple seems to have hit a bit of a lull. Last year’s Apple Watch Series 5 only added a single major feature, the always-on display, but it was a huge milestone. This year’s Series 6, though? It’s clear that even Apple knew how incremental this update was. An oxygen sensor is good, but since it’s not approved as a medical device, Apple’s implementation feels a little bit weak. A brighter always-on screen? Great, but the very definition of incremental. You know an update is feeling a little bit lacklustre when Apple throws in a bunch of new colours to stir some excitement. In six…

Price: £349 from fave.co/3iz9QoH DALI (Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries) was founded in 1983 to create ‘loudspeakers with outstanding performance and natural sound at competitive prices’. Since then, the company has upheld that mandate with many wonderful-sounding speakers. Now, DALI has entered the headphone arena with its IO-4 and IO-6 models. When I tried on the IO-6 at CES 2020, I was impressed with what I heard, so I requested a review sample. After more extended listening, I’m even more impressed than I was in Vegas. (Editor’s note: In case you find our font confusing, DALI’s IO branding is eye-oh, not one-zero.) FEATURES The IO-4 and IO-6 are both Bluetoothenabled wireless headphones available in two colours: Iron Black and Caramel White. Their over-ear, closed-back design uses replaceable memory-foam earpads covered with…

Services: they’re so hot right now. Earlier this year, Apple beat its self-stated goal of doubling Services revenue in 2020 with time to spare, and the company has not only recently announced that it will be launching a new service, Apple Fitness+, but also finally elected to offer a competitively priced bundle of its many services to consumers. With all of that said, there are some elements of Apple’s services that are still a bit lacklustre, and more than a few of them are parts of the very systems on which the company and its users rely. In the same way that you might want to look to patching a foundation before worrying about painting the walls, there are a few places where Apple might want to shore up its…

If you’ve got smart home gear hooked up to HomeKit, you know how convenient it is to control from your iPhone or iPad. But it’s also a little annoying to have to leave whatever app you’re in, then find and launch the Home app, just to check the status of something or turn off a light. In iOS 14, Apple has made this a lot easier. You can add HomeKit to Control Centre to see a selection of your favourites right there, one swipe away, without having to leave the app you’re in. Here’s how it works. ADDING HOME ITEMS TO CONTROL CENTRE To add HomeKit items in Control Centre, you’ll need to flip a toggle in Settings. 1. Open the Settings app. 2. Tap Control Centre. 3. Toggle the…

Remember MagSafe? The charging plug for MacBooks was given the boot when Apple moved to USB-C charging, but the company just brought it back as a new standard for iPhone charging and accessories. With a ring of magnets around a new charging coil design, along with improved shielding and NFC, you can sort of ‘snap’ the iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro to a new MagSafe wireless charger, just like you do with the Apple Watch. The more precise alignment and improved internal components allow for faster charging – up to 15 watts instead of 7.5 on earlier iPhones. That’s about as fast as charging previous iPhones plugged in. This doesn’t make existing Qi chargers are useless. The new iPhones still support existing Qi-enabled wireless charging at rates up to…

Apple has revealed the newest iterations of its iPad line-up, with a significant performance boost for the standard 10.2in version and a completely new design for the iPad Air. Over the following pages, we’ll see how the two compare and offer advice on which one you should buy. PRICE The iPad (2020) comes in two storage variants, each with either just Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and cellular configurations. Here are the prices: 32GB: £329 128GB: £429 32GB, cellular: £459 128GB, cellular: £559 This is good news for UK consumers as it means the entry-level model is now £20 cheaper than the previous version, although sticking with 32GB of storage does seem a particularly mean move from Scrooge McApple. Prices see quite a sharp increase with the new iPad Air models, presumably…

Price: £269 from fave.co/3d3eQRn The Apple Watch SE isn’t quite the iPhone SE of Apple’s wearable line. While it does have a starting price tag that’s about 30 per cent lower than the flagship Series 6 watch, the Apple Watch SE doesn’t have the latest processor or an outdated design, nor is it the cheapest Apple Watch you can buy. That puts it kind of in no man’s land for now, an unenviable position for a product expected to move the needle. But you’ll be very happy with the Apple Watch SE if it is your first smartwatch. It has all of the features you want in a modern smartwatch – a big screen, next-gen sensors, swappable bands, good battery life – at a price that probably won’t break your…

Price: Free (in-app purchases) from fave.co/2Gvl8NY For decades, major software versions were guaranteed to debut new features and fresh eye candy in the form of user interface enhancements. With the current subscription trend, developers have less incentive to wait for the next big release, instead choosing to roll out incremental updates as they’re ready. But what happens when an app works so well that UI improvements are unnecessary? Such is the conundrum with Unread, an attractive RSS news reader client for iPhone and iPad. After changing hands in 2017, developer Golden Hill Software has finally debuted the long-awaited sequel with almost no changes to the sultry, gesture-based look and feel that made it a hit in the first place. MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS Despite lacking visual alterations, Unread 2 has plenty going…

Price: £375 from fave.co/3iD1FYK Shure has been a mainstay in recording studios and on concert stages for 95 years. The company’s latest contribution to its rich legacy is the Aonic 50 active noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones. These £375 headphones promise audiophile quality, exceptional comfort, superior ANC performance, and some of the deepest Bluetooth codec support you’ll find anywhere. BUILD QUALITY The Aonic 50 are beautiful headphones. Imitation leather dominates the headband and ear cups, while soft-brushed aluminium arms connect the two. The click-adjustable arms open and close with ease; yet once locked in place, they’ll stay exactly where you placed them. You’ll often face a trade-off with easy-to-adjust headbands; not here, I found the pressure on my head to be near goldilocks perfect. The imitation leather wrapped around the Aonic 50…

The great joy of technology is in what it can do for us – especially those tasks that we don’t want to spend our own precious time on. Over the past few years, Apple has taken strides to bring automation capabilities to iOS in a variety of forms, including HomeKit and, more recently, Shortcuts. But, as good as those options are, there are still places where they fall short of what we could have. Certainly, there are third-party offerings that can help bridge the divide, but given what Apple has already built into its operating system, it seems like a few improvements could go a long way to making its innate automation more capable right out of the box. Recently, I’ve been spending more time exploring the powers of Apple’s…