Indice dei contenuti per May 2020 in Macworld UK

Apple isn’t cancelling its annual Worldwide Developers Conference this year, but it is changing the format. According to a statement, Apple will hold WWDC 2020 online in order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. In the statement, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller referred to the pandemic as the “current health situation”. He also said Apple aimed to create a “new WWDC 2020 format that delivers a full programme with an online keynote and sessions, offering a great learning experience for our entire developer community, all around the world”. Schiller did not specify the actual dates, but he confirmed that the event would be held in June as usual. In our event calendar, we speculate that the most likely dates for the event are June 1-5 or 8-12 in…

There might not be any retail stores to visit for a while, but that’s not slowing Apple’s roll. It has launched a brand new MacBook Air with more storage, more speed, and a better keyboard, all for hundreds of pounds less than the current model. With a 10th-generation Intel Core i3 or i5 processor, Apple claims the new MacBook Air delivers “up to two times faster CPU performance and up to 80 percent faster graphics performance” than the previous MacBook Air. Both base models have lower clock speeds than their predecessors (1.1GHz vs 1.6GHz), but the new chip architecture, Intel Iris Plus Graphics and LPDDR4X memory should deliver a noticeable boost. In addition to the faster chip, Apple has also doubled the storage across the board to 256GB and 512GB…

If there was any doubt that Apple had an event planned for March, Apple’s surprise announcement of the new iPad Pro confirms it. With a slew of new features and enhancements, the new tablet is more than just your usual refresh. It charts a whole new course for the iPad and draws a clear line between the consumer and the pro iPad. The new iPad Pro brings over all of the ‘pro’ features from the prior model – USB-C, second-gen Apple Pencil support, ProMotion display, Face ID – but it also comes packed with a bunch of next-gen features that take it to a whole new level and make it ever closer to becoming the hybrid device we’ve always wanted it to be. 1. A focus on graphics Apple…

We live in strange times. I’d wager that a lot of you are now working from home, either for the first time or for a lot longer than you’re used to. I used to work in an office more or less every day, but for the past five years I’ve been working in my garage every day. As a result, I’ve learned a lot about the tools, techniques and behaviours that can help you work more efficiently on your Mac or iPad from home. I hope what I’ve learned can help you be more productive and healthier at home. Give your Mac more screen space If you’re used to working from a Mac with a big monitor and are now working from a laptop, you may be frustrated by a…

If you worked in an office before the coronavirus pandemic, there’s a good chance you’re now working from home. It can feel limiting, especially if you only have a MacBook. Fortunately, you can drastically improve your productivity by hooking up an external monitor to your workstation, usually by using one display as a reference and doing your actual work in the other. (Less wholesomely, you could work in one and watch a movie in another, but I didn’t say that.) An HDMI-compatible TV should do the trick if you don’t have an extra monitor sitting around, but the pixel density and refresh rates likely won’t be as satisfying. First off – here’s the bad news. It’s a lot easier to hook up an external monitor to a PC rather than…

We’re all concerned about diagnosing the coronavirus, so it’s a shame Apple Watch can’t take our temperatures. Neither can a WearOS smartwatch or the Fitbit Versa. During a time when more people than ever are concerned about having a fever, it’s a shortcoming that seems particularly glaring. It’s not your watch’s fault, however. Skin readings, particularly on the wrist, are less than ideal for monitoring body temperature due to stress, sweat, and other external oscillating factors. For now, any attempts to do so would be inaccurate at best. If you’re worried about whether a lingering cough could be caused by a coronavirus infection, you’ll need to track your temperature the good old-fashioned way and then input your results manually in Apple Health or Google Fit for now. Then you can…

Apple still has plenty left in store for iOS 13 before moving on to iOS 14. iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4 add significant new features. For iPad users, you’ll get new support for bluetooth keyboards and trackpads, making productivity tasks a lot easier. Developers can now publish apps and in-app purchases as ‘universal purchases’ that work across Mac, iPad and iPhone. And iCloud folder sharing is finally here. Mouse and trackpad support In an unexpected surprise, Apple is adding mouse and trackpad support to all iPads starting with iOS 13.4. The feature was widely expected to be a part of iOS 14 in the autumn, but it’s already ready to go. The feature is marketed for the new iPad Pro and it’s Magic Keyboard (which will be available in May),…

When we reviewed the 2018 MacBook Air – a newly renovated version of what had been an aging laptop – we found it to be good, but not great. It brought the venerable ultraportable up to modern times with a Retina display and Thunderbolt 3, but it also ratcheted up the price, switched to a disappointing CPU, made the keyboard a lot worse, and tossed aside USB-A and MagSafe. With the revision of the MacBook Air, it seems that Apple is listening... at least a little. It addresses several of our biggest gripes with the previous model, though not all of them. An important CPU leap In reviewing Apple’s 2018 MacBook Air, I lamented that the company went from a CPU with a 15-watt TDP (thermal design power) to one…

The first reviews of the 2020 iPad Pro are in, and the results are – clear: it’s an awful lot like its predecessor from 2018. While there are a few notable updates – a new ultra-wide camera and a LiDAR scanner – it’s not really any faster than the old model. Which is fair enough. The 2018 iPad Pro was so far ahead of the game that even now I never feel like it’s too slow to handle anything I throw at it. I can see why Apple didn’t feel the need to upgrade the A12X processor much at all. But, then, here’s the big question: Why did Apple upgrade the iPad Pro at all? I have some theories. Open the LiDAR floodgates It’s rare that Apple rolls out a…

With concerns about the novel coronavirus outbreak in full swing, many employers (including Apple itself) are advising their employees to work from home to minimize the risk of transmitting COVID-19. But even with a world-spanning crisis to worry about, personal tech devices still break down and need attention. Fortunately, as we live in the age of the Internet, there are multiple ways to seek help for fixing devices like iPhones, Macs or Apple Watches before deciding to venture into crowded public spaces. If you’re working remotely or just don’t want to take the risk, here are the options you should try out first. Try ‘home remedies’ for resetting and repair Before we venture online, here are a few things you should always try before assuming the worst. Let’s start with…

We’ve been waiting for iCloud folder sharing since Apple announced it in June of 2019. With iOS 13.4 and macOS Catalina 10.15.4, the feature has finally arrived. Now you can invite several other people to a single iCloud folder, where they can access or add files. You can give people permission to make changes to the folder (adding, changing or deleting files) or give them view-only permission. On iPhone or iPad Open the Files app and navigate to iCloud Drive. Don’t tap on the folder you wish to share – that will open the folder. Instead, tap Select in the upper right, then choose the folder you wish to share. With the folder selected, tap the share button (the box with the arrow coming out of it) in the lower…

Home sweet... augh. Yes, even as someone who’s worked from home for almost a decade and a half, having to stay indoors is starting to drive me up the wall. Thank goodness for technology. It’s a lot harder to imagine what we all would have been doing with all this free time in an era before the Internet: probably watching a lot of terrible TV and maybe, I don’t know, reading books. Chief among the many technologies that Apple brings to the table in our socially distant present is FaceTime: it’s great for catching up with family, friends, and other loved ones in these trying times. Though the feature was a revelation when Apple added it back in the iPhone 4, video chatting has become old hat these days –…

Even in these trying times, it’s good to have something to look forward to. The recent release of new models of the iPad Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini and Powerbeats may be small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, but they at least give us a distraction from everything else that’s going on. More than that, though, they may be the first real indication of Apple’s behaviour during this current world situation. Not just in terms of the products that the company is delivering, but how it’s prepared to deliver them. Because the Apple that we’ve all become accustomed to watching, the one that has the business of product releases down to a science, has to deal with these major upheavals like the rest of us, and that means…

The Mac mini is Apple’s smallest desktop Mac. It may not be as fast as Apple’s other desktop computers – the iMac and the Mac Pro – but it remains fast enough for general-purpose use, and even for pro apps. The Mac mini not only appeals to first-time Mac users, but long-time Mac users like the price and use the Mac mini as a server or an entertainment Mac connected to a TV. Apple increases the storage Apple updated the Mac mini on 18 March with increased PCIe-based SSDs in the standard configurations. The £799 model now includes 256GB (up from 128GB), and the £1,099 model has 512GB (up from 256GB). Everything else about the new Mac mini is the same as when it was released in October 2018. If…

While the release of its own over-ear headphones may be in doubt due to the coronavirus, Apple has launched a new pair of Powerbeats with a longer-lasting battery, Siri support, and super-fast charging over Lightning. But the best enhancement may be the price: £129, 25 percent less than the Powerbeats 3. The new model is technically the fourth generation of the iconic earphones, but Beats has dropped the number from the name, so they’re simply Powerbeats now. The look has also changed to match the Powerbeats Pro true wireless earbuds that released last year. The earbuds also shift volume and playback controls from the neck cord to the right earbud for less fumbling. The new Powerbeats offer a slew of enhancements over the prior generation, including up to 15 hours…

If you really want to make the best use of your laptop, tablet, and phone in today’s always-connected world, you need a cloud storage service. Storing files in the cloud may have started as a way for consumers to back up their data in case of disaster, but today’s best services offer so much more. A good cloud storage solution backs up your important documents, photos and videos, but it also helps keep all your devices in sync. It’s a great way to make sure your desktop, laptop, phone and tablet all have instant access to all your digital content. It should also allow you to access and edit documents from a web browser and easily share files and folders with others. If you primarily use Apple products – whether…

It’s not difficult to do, but keeping a clean Mac can help it run smoother, and keep you from getting sick as well. Here are a few ways you can keep your Mac looking new and fresh. Clean that keyboard It’s fair to say that the dirtiest part of your Mac is its keyboard. Even if you wash your hands every time you sit down to type, the keyboard collects the germs and sweat from your fingers and the dust in your room or office. This can make for sticky keys and transfer viruses, or worse. First, unplug your keyboard from your computer or, in the case of a wireless keyboard, remove its batteries. (If you’re cleaning a laptop keyboard, shut down the computer and unplug the power adapter.) Blow…