Table of contents for April 2026 in MacLife

APPLE’S PAGES IS a free word processing and page layout application that you may well already be familiar with on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad. However, do you really know how to get the very best out of it when it comes to making your documents look super–professional, visually appealing, and highly polished? In this tutorial, we will take a detailed look at how you can improve any document using Pages on Mac and its friendly interface — whether you’re writing an essay, a résumé, or even a book — and how you can add those extra touches that show you know what you are doing when it comes to layout and presentation. Over 90 Apple–designed templates make the perfect starting point, for everything from reports to newsletters to brochures…

BACK IN 2017, Apple made a bold gamble, intended to forever change how people interact with mobile technology. The idea was to bring physical and virtual worlds together, making augmented reality (AR) mainstream, rather than a plaything for the wealthy or a futuristic fantasy locked firmly in the realm of science fiction. The technology that would underpin this vision arrived in a blaze of glory at WWDC 2017. ARKit was designed to give app creators the tools to “build detailed and compelling virtual content on top of real–world scenes” with relative ease. According to Apple, this combination of exciting new tech and developer smarts had the potential to revolutionize mobile apps across fields like gaming, shopping, education, and design. The tech was impressive — assuming you had a powerful enough…

$49.99/year for one device; Ultimate (as tested) $179.99/year for five devices From www.eset.com Needs macOS 11 or later THE FIREWALL IS EASY TO CONFIGURE, AND IS ONE OF ITS STRONGEST FEATURES COMPARED WITH THE security features ESET offers for Windows, its suite for Mac might appear meager, but that reflects the extensive protection against phishing and so on already built into macOS. Installation negotiates the inevitable obstacle course through multiple privacy and security alerts, helpfully guided by its installer. Depending on subscription level, separate Windscribe VPN and new VPN for Router installations may be included. Once installed, ESET runs a full scan for anything suspicious. This will keep the Efficiency cores in an Apple silicon Mac well occupied for a good hour or more, but runs in the background, so…

$129 From https://ifi-audio.com Features Portable digital–to–analog converter (DAC) with support for AAC and aptX Adaptive audio codecs, Bluetooth 5.2, 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone jacks, MEMS microphone, up to 10 hours’ battery life, 2.11x1.33x0.77 inches, 1.09 ounces WE REALLY LIKED the original GO blu portable digital–to–analog (DAC) converter, although its $199 price tag was aimed at hi–fi buffs rather than casual users who just wanted to listen to music on a smartphone. So we were pleased to find that the new GO blu Air kicks off with a big price cut, down to $129, while also fine–tuning the design to make it smaller and more portable. The GO blu Air measures just 0.77 inches thick, 1.33 inches wide and 2.11 inches long and weighs 1.09 ounces, so it will easily slip…

$49.99 From https://us-shop.nanoleaf.me Features 75 multicolored LEDs, 16 million colors, USB-C data and power, editable 2.5m length with sticky coating; color mirroring, music mode, power and color cycle buttons; desktop app THE CONCEPT OF dynamic backlighting is fairly well known, with a number of TVs and third-party kits available that are able to replicate and expand your on-screen colors using extra lights. Nanoleaf is a smart lighting specialist whose PC Screen Mirror Lightstrip has been designed to attach to your computer monitor and enhance your viewing experience, especially when gaming, watching movies, or listening to music. The Lightstrip is 2.5m long, and you fix it to the rear of your monitor in a rectangle, having first cleaned the rear panel of dust. Peel the tape off the Lightstrip, and it…

JUST AS THIS issue was going to press, Cupertino announced a “special Apple Experience” taking place on March 4. While the invite to the event is typically vague, there have been enough rumors and leaks in recent weeks to suggest the kinds of things we can expect to see, both now and in the months to come: iPHONE 17e Apple’s entry–level iPhone 16e launched in February 2025, and its successor is expected soon. The iPhone 17e is said to have the latest–generation Apple A19 processor inside (like the iPhone 17), plus Apple’s C1X modem and N1 wireless chip, promising reliable connectivity, low power consumption, and excellent battery life. The design is not expected to change much, but the screen borders may be thinner, and the display may feature a Dynamic…

FOR THOSE OF you who just heard a faraway “boing!” it wasn’t your Mac starting up; it was the sound of spring, er, springing. And now that spring has sprung, it’s a great time to give your Mac a digital detox. A digital detox is a silicon spring clean that will make your Mac cleaner, leaner, and keener to respond to your every command. Macs are really reliable and generally quite speedy, but over time, computerized clutter can start to get in your way. This can fill up your folders, take liberties with your Photos library, and make your Music app messy. Redundant files, duplicated documents, and other unwanted items can take up so much of your Mac’s storage that there’s no room for the things you actually want to…

SAFARI IS ONE of the fastest web browsers around, but you can improve its performance and your experience further. Delve into Safari’s settings, and you can make browsing smoother and safer. Got something you’d love Safari to do? Chances are there’s a setting to enable it. It’s worth visiting Safari > Settings and checking the tabs. In General, you can decide when your browsing history is removed. In AutoFill, you can choose the information you want Safari to use when filling out online forms, while in Privacy, selecting Manage Website Data can remove information used to track your browsing. You can also manage settings on the go. Click the icon to the far–left in the Smart Search field, and you can strip away clutter by using Reader View. You can…

YOU CAN DO all sorts of things with a 3D printer. You can create toys and tools, items for your home and garden, and even design your own problem–solving inventions. It’s also possible to take work projects to another level, with 3D printing often used for prototyping and the creation of products that can make a real difference to people’s lives. 3D printing technology has come on in leaps and bounds. There have been significant advances in speed and the variety of material that can be used. It’s also begun to be used for direct manufacturing. In fact, if you have an Apple Watch Ultra 3 or a titanium Apple Watch Series 11, you have proof of that on your wrist. The chassis of these devices have been 3D–printed with…

THE OPENING SEQUENCE of last June’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) offered a vivid demonstration of Apple’s new love affair with Formula 1. Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, was visualized at the wheel of an F1 car, lapping at high–speed on the circular roof of the company’s Cupertino headquarters. The high–pitched engine note reverberated around Apple Park, much as the shockwaves of Apple’s involvement with Formula 1 have rippled across the sport. Although the driving was simulated, Federighi — who joked that he was pleased CarPlay was a feature of his 200mph machine — was at the wheel of the same liveried car that featured in last summer’s Hollywood blockbuster, F1: The Movie. Since its release, the film based on the high–speed world of Grand Prix racing,…

$249.99 From www.razer.com Features Full-size USB keyboard, mechanical keys, customizable backlight effects, Command Dial, five macro keys, three macro buttons RAZER MAKES A wide range of keyboards and mice, but they all rely on the company’s Synapse app to control important features such as the programmable Function keys on its keyboards. Razer recently launched a new Mac version of Synapse, but it’s still in its early “preview” phase, and only supports a limited range of Razer products. Among the first keyboards supported by Synapse on the Mac is Razer’s Black Widow V4 range. This consists of several different keyboards, but we tested the top-of-the-range Black Widow V4 Pro, which costs a rather hefty $249.99. That price makes it even more expensive than Apple’s own Magic Keyboard models, but the V4…

Back in 1987, Apple released a manual for developers aimed at creating visually consistent apps. They called it Human Interface Guidelines: The Apple Desktop Interface, and it laid the foundation for Apple’s principles of interactive design. Written by designer and engineer Bruce Tognazzini, who had begun drafting the guidelines in 1978, it explained the rationale behind every decision, putting consistency at its heart. The basic principles of the document are said to remain relevant today. Over the years, Apple has continued to steer developers. In 1992, it published the Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines, focusing on the Mac range. The company followed that with a 1995 edition; fast–forward to today, and the Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) can be found online at https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines, still claiming to help devs “design a great experience…

KEEPING UP TO speed with all the latest news can be difficult, but RSS feeds are a handy way of ensuring you see stories that interest you as they’re published. If you’re looking for an app to help you do that on your Mac, ReadKit is a great option. The beauty of ReadKit is its simplicity, and it’s incredibly easy to get set up with just a few clicks. It’s tied together by an attractive, intuitive interface, plus it has a few clever extras lurking under the surface. Managing the feeds you follow to is as straightforward as right–clicking an article in the app and selecting Manage Subscription. You can view stories in a pared–back reader view or as they originally appeared online, and the handy search feature is just…

THE WEB–BASED APP STORE CAN BE ACCESSED VIA A BROWSER ON ANY PLATFORM YOU CHOOSE WHILE YOU CAN easily find new apps and more using the App Store on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Vision Pro, you can now do so using the new web version as well. Launched without fanfare, the web–based App Store can be accessed via a web browser on any platform you choose, even on Android and Windows. It enables you to view and discover apps across Apple’s devices while providing the opportunity to read more about show premieres, new releases, and awards. Although it has limitations, it is better than what was on offer before. Prior to November 2025, anyone seeking to learn more about particular apps would need to use…

$1,799 From www.benq.com/en-us Features 4K resolution (3840x2160), 3,000 lumens brightness, 600,000:1 contrast, 2x HDMI 2.1 ports, 1x USB–C ports, 1x 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth, remote control; 6.62x9.02x9.83 inches, 8.4lbs BENQ MAKES A number of Mac–friendly monitors for professional and creative users, but it also has a range of projectors that are designed for movies and gaming at home. Its latest release is the TK705i, a high–end projector with 4K resolution, priced at $1,799. That’s a relatively modest price for a 4K projector, but it provides excellent image quality, with a bright display that doesn’t require you to completely black–out your lounge with heavy curtains first. The TK705i is a fairly chunky device, measuring 6.62 inches high, 9.02 inches wide, and 9.83 inches deep, and weighing 8.4lbs. It’s smartly designed, though,…

$12.99 per month / $129 per year (as part of Apple Creator Studio) From www.apple.com Needs iPadOS 26 or later, iPad with M–series or A16 or later chip YOU MAY BE quite content with using Apple’s free iOS Photos app to tweak your pictures’ colors, tones, and composition. So why should you consider paying for another Apple photo–fixer? Well, that’s like asking, “Why should I pay for Final Cut Pro when I can edit videos for free on iMovie?” As you’ll see, Pixelmator Pro for iPad enables you to work much more creatively than you can with Photos alone. Pixelmator Pro has been around since 2017, but Apple acquired it (along with its sister app, Photomator) in 2025, releasing Pixelmator Pro 4.0 in January 2026 as part of Apple Creator…