Table of contents for October 2019 in Macworld UK

Last month, Google’s Project Zero security research team posted information about a serious vulnerability in iOS – see fave. co/2HV1NmM. The security exploit (or group of exploits, really) allowed a ‘small collection of hacked websites’ that would, when visited, install code to monitor certain activity on the iPhone. The security holes were patched in iOS 12.1.4 on 7 February 2019, and there were even news reports right after the patch about the holes that were closed. The sites that exploited the vulnerabilities were targeting an ethnic minority in China – the Uighur – and also sought to exploit holes in Android and Windows. Apple has taken exception with the recent report, calling it out not for its technical inaccuracy, but for misrepresenting the scope and scale of the security flaw…

Primate Labs has release a major new update of its popular Geekbench performance measurement tool. Geekbench 5 fave.co/2HXEU2c) comes three years after the release of Geekbench 4 and features all-new test methods, workloads, and a new measurement scale. As such, it should be a much more accurate representation of modern workloads on modern hardware, and the scores are not at all comparable with those from Geekbench 4. We often use Geekbench to give an overall picture of the CPU and GPU compute performance of iPhones, iPads, and Macs. It’s one of the few cross-device and cross-operating-system comparable benchmarks available; while it doesn’t paint a perfect picture of the difference in performance between an Intel chip running Windows, an Android phone with a Qualcomm processor, and an iPad with Apple’s custom…

When it comes to smartphone features, photography reigns supreme. The new iPhones’ cameras were the main focus of the most prominent product images in Apple’s event, and consumed the most overall time on stage. The latest handsets feature major upgrades to the camera system across the product line, which is good, because the perception among smartphone-market watchers is that Apple’s photography game had fallen behind competitors such as Google, Samsung, and Huawei. After the event I got to spend some time with an iPhone 11 Pro and its Camera and Photos apps, both of which have been modified to support the new features of the iPhone 11 line. Here’s a look at what’s new and how it all fits together. Adding the ‘ultra wide’ camera All iPhone models gained a…

This autumn, Apple will make a risky venture outside its familiar spheres of hardware and software when it launches Apple TV+. The new service will offer a wide assortment of TV shows funded by Apple’s mountainous cash pile, and the Cupertino company is sparing no expense in its attempt to lure viewers with some of the best-known actors, writers, and directors. Below, you’ll find a round-up of everything we know about the ambitious service. Availability Apple TV+ will be available from 1 November in over 100 countries, including the UK. Price Like Apple Arcade, the TV+ streaming service will cost £4.99 per month. Plus, when you buy an Apple product such as an iPhone or iPad, you’ll get a year of the service thrown in for free. How to get…

RATING: Price: £34.95 (inc VAT) from fave.co/2A4lgwX MacPaw has shot for the stars with its new version of CleanMyMac X, its catch-all Mac utility that serves as a software gunk remover, as well as a malware scanner, macOS extensions manager, and a universal updater for your installed app. Since my initial review of CleanMyMac X, MacPaw made some nice improvements, although some features still fall short of what they could be. Handy modules MacPaw set out to make its Menu Bar utility much better and has succeeded. A quick click on the icon reveals handy information such as how much space is left on each of your drive partitions, your Mac’s CPU load, how much RAM is available, your computer’s operating temperature, and other useful information. This is a nice…

Apple’s Q3 2019 financial results caused a bit of a hubbub because iPhone revenue was – for the first time in seven years – less than half of Apple’s overall revenue. The cause is a slowdown in iPhone sales combined with dramatic growth in two other areas: wearables and services. But this is hardly the first time Apple has experienced a major change in the shape of its business. In fact, Apple is a company that’s rarely stood still in terms of its evolution. To prove the point, let’s step through 20 years of Apple’s business, five years at a time. 1999: The Mac comeback Steve Jobs came back to Apple in 1997 and we all know what happened next. But that transformation took a while. Look at a…

In July, a report in The Guardian exposed the fact that third-party contractors have been listening in on a small percentage of Siri requests as part of a ‘Siri grading’ programme. Apple promised to halt the programme while it conducts a “thorough review”, which left us wondering how the company would move forward, as human grading of any machine-learning process is an essential part of training the algorithms to improve them. Apple now appears to have finished its review and has issued a statement apologizing for the way this programme had been carried out so far. The company plans to reinstate it later this autumn after making some important changes. The apology begins with a familiar statement: “At Apple, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right.” It then describes…

At long last (and after months of rumours), the first ‘pro’ iPhones are here – the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have arrived. As the first iPhones with the Pro designation, they mark a real sea change for Apple’s iconic handset and join a lineage of devices that carry an expectation of not just greatness, but also productivity prowess and cutting-edge performance. But exactly what kind of pro device is the iPhone 11 Pro? It doesn’t have a USB-C port or a Smart Connector like the iPad Pro. It doesn’t stand alone as the fastest in its class like the Mac Pro, nor does it reinvent basic functionality like the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar. In fact, to look at them, you might not see much that’s pro about…

We normally expect Apple to focus on iPhones during its September event, but this year we also got to see the new 7th generation entry-level iPad. The internals haven’t changed much, but Apple tinkered with enough features to make this an enticing buy if you haven’t upgraded your iPad in a few years. Here are the features we’re most interested in checking out. Price 32GB: £349 32GB (Cellular): £479 128GB: £449 128GB (Cellular): £579 Apple’s latest iPad is available to buy now. Specifications • 10.2in (2,160x1,620; 264ppi) IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen • iOS 13 • Apple A10 Fusion (16nm) processor • Quad-core 2.34GHz (2x Hurricane + 2x Zephyr) CPU • PowerVR Series7XT Plus (six-core graphics) GPU • 2GB RAM • 32GB/128GB storage • Rear-facing camera: 8Mp, f/2.4, 31mm (standard), 1.12µm,…

Apple surprised everyone by kicking off its ‘By Innovation Only’ event not with the traditional rundown of corporate achievements, but with more information about its Apple Arcade service. Not only was it strange to see the Cupertino company start off with releases from third-party partners, but it also showed how just how much of an emphasis Apple is placing on its new services. Here’s what you need to know. Release date The good news is that it’s available now. Price We’ve been worried about Apple being able to compete with all the subscription services out there, considering Apple’s association with higher prices. But Apple Arcade will only cost £4.99 per month, which is reasonable considering that the service has over 100 mobile games that are exclusive to Apple. You’ll get…

RATING: Price: £39.99 (inc VAT) from fave.co/2UO4Nqu Malwarebytes began life as a complement to antivirus suites. It was a backstop to catch and remove particularly troublesome malware that your primary security program couldn’t. That all changed in December 2016 when the company announced its paid version, Malwarebytes Premium, was capable enough to be your primary security program. “With the launch of Malwarebytes 3.0, we are confident that you can finally replace your traditional antivirus,” the company said in a blog post. Malwarebytes comes in two flavours. The first is the free version that is only capable of removing malware infections during a scan. Upgrade to Malwarebytes Premium at an annual cost of £39.99 for a single device or $60 (around £56) for 10 devices, and it adds real-time protection, adware…

Don’t be scared by the word ‘complication’. The ones you find on the Apple Watch can make your life much simpler, as they’re basically bite-sized versions of the full apps you normally open through the home screen grid. You can have anywhere from one to eight complications on the tiny screen depending on the watch face (or watch), which makes it easy for you to figure out what the weather’s like outside, when your next appointment is, or even translate a question into another language. A good Apple Watch app doesn’t necessarily have a good complication, although there’s a lot of overlap). A good complication relays enough information that you won’t even need to open the app. If you do, it’ll get right to business without requiring any other steps.…

Ahead of the launch of the iPhone 11, Apple announced a new programme that might let you keep your out-of-warranty iPhone a little longer. Instead of taking your broken iPhone to a high-priced Apple Genius or roll the dice with third-party parts, you’ll now be able to go to an independent repair shop and get the same high-quality parts that you’d get from the Apple Store. That’s a big change. Previously, Apple kept its tools under lock and key, but under the new programme, it’s promising “the same genuine parts, tools, training, repair manuals and diagnostics” as an Apple Authorized Service Provider. The programme is limited to out-of-warranty iPhone repairs at launch. That means repair shops big and small will be able to take advantage of the new programme without…

At its ‘By Innovation Only’ event, Apple revealed its newest entry-level iPhone – though you can’t necessarily tell it’s entry-level from its name. The iPhone 11 starts at £729, which is £20 less than the introductory price for the handset it replaces, the iPhone XR. It’s also significantly cheaper than the new chart-topping iPhone 11 Pro. Here we reveal five standout features of the new baseline phone, but first we’ll look at its price and specifications. Price 64GB: £729 128GB: £779 256GB: £879 The iPhone 11 is available to buy now. Specifications • 6.1in (1,972x828; 326ppi) Liquid Retina IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen • iOS 13 • Apple A13 Bionic (7nm+) processor • 4GB RAM • 64GB/128GB/256GB storage • Dual rear-facing cameras: 12Mp, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/2.55in, 1.4µm, PDAF, OIS; 12Mp,…

Last year’s Apple Watch Series 4 was perhaps the first major revision for Apple’s marquee wearable. Apple changed the size and shape of the watch (while keeping band compatibility), upgraded all the sensors and, of course, made the watch a lot faster. All that, plus it was the first smartwatch with a built-in ECG. So it’s no surprise that the Apple Watch Series 5 is a much more iterative upgrade, akin to the leap from Series 2 to Series 3. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing in the new watch to get excited about. Here are five of the most important new things to know about Apple Watch Series 5. It’s got an always-on display Finally, Apple’s smartwatch has a display that stays lit at all times. Thanks to a new…

There can be no denying that Apple’s ’By Innovation Only’ event was packed full of rapid-fire announcements. We got a new 10.2in iPad, Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 11, and 11 Pro (in two sizes), along with pricing and release details for Apple Arcade and Apple TV+. That was a busy event. But we didn’t get everything we expected or hoped for. The rumour mill was abuzz with lots of leaks leading up to the event, and it painted a picture that, as usual, didn’t quite match reality. Here are some of the things we heard about and hoped to see, but didn’t. Apple Tags The most obvious omission (if you can call it that) was Apple’s Tile-like trackers, which most have taken to calling “Apple Tags”. There were multiple…

If you own a Mac and are wondering which antivirus software you should choose, or even whether you need antivirus at all, you’ve come to the right place. Over the following pages we reveal the best Mac antivirus software available. Do Macs need antivirus? Plenty of Mac aficionados will tell you that Apple computers are inherently secure and don’t require protection. We’d argue that they are wrong – or overconfident, at least. Across 2018, there were 14 new instances of Mac malware, with some finding new and innovative ways to infect their targets. Macs are generally more secure than their Windows brethren for two reasons. On the technical side, macOS is a Unix-based operating system. As a Unix-based operating system macOS is sandboxed. Sandboxing is like having a series of…