Table of contents for April 2016 in MacFormat

USB-C portable displays Second screens add millions of pixels to the MacBook The MacBook looks set to get a major productivity boost after January’s CES 2016 event, where Asus announced the first USB-C external display for Apple’s newest MacBook. Since the MB169C+ makes use of USB-C for both power and data, it’s very easy to set up and use. Its screen measures 15.6 inches diagonally and has a 1080p resolution, and at 800g the display is light and portable enough to carry around without being a burden. It’s an IPS panel, too, so you can expect brilliant colour accuracy and wide viewing angles. It’s available to buy right now. £185 INCLUDES Asus Smart Case, USB-C cable WEBSITE asus.com WORKS WITH MacBook (Early 2015)…

What’s inside 8–10 RUMOUR & NEWS The core Apple news you need to know about 11 APPS & GAMES Our top picks of the month for Mac and iOS 12 APPLE FACTS Amazing stats from the world of Apple 14–15 NEWS FEATURE Is how you use your Apple kit harming you? 16 OPINION Adam Banks discusses second-guessing Apple 18 SPLIT VIEW The team’s views on the latest Apple tech Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com Keep up to date by following us on Twitter @macformat Join the conversation at facebook.com/macformat Alan says… Thunderbolt 3’s USB Type-C plug may help shave off a little bit of thickness 1 BUTTERFLY KEYBOARD Some complained that the butterfly keyboard mechanism was a little cramped on the 12-inch MacBook. The 15-inch…

TIM COOK apple.com “We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.” Apple CEO opposes building a ‘back door’ into iOS for the FBI NORMAN FOSTER fosterandpartners.com “The building is an echo of the ethos of Apple.” Apple Campus 2 architect on the parallels with the company it was built for JOHN GRUBER daringfireball.net “Apple has higher standards for hardware design and quality than it does for software.” The commentator feels Apple is dragging its feet  on software design JONY IVE apple.com “[It is creating] something that was the dream of the company from the very beginning.” The Apple Watch is making technology much more personal, says the famed Apple designer…

What about 4K? Apple TV’s lack of 4K video output is a little disappointing, but there’s very little 4K content available at the moment. Few people actually own a 4K TV, let alone have the mega-fast broadband needed to stream 4K video from the internet. We think you’ll have to wait until big-name 4K films reach the iTunes Store before Apple TV is updated to support it. Why doesn’t the Remote app work? Apple’s Remote app for iOS didn’t work with the latest Apple TV at first, but a recent update fixed this. However, make sure you also update the tvOS software on the Apple TV itself. Go to Settings > System > Software Updates to check you have the latest software. Also enable Home Sharing in Settings > Accounts,…

Apple’s online service is the glue that binds together everything you do on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. While sitting quietly in the background, it’s the conduit apps use to keep your data up to date everywhere: Photos sends your shots from your iPhone back to the library on your Mac; your Pages documents are always ready to work on, whichever device you’re using; and notifications from Reminders pop up on your Mac even if you set them elsewhere using your iPhone. This makes iCloud the ultimate timesaver, providing a seamless working experience as you switch devices. The above uses are almost entirely passive: you don’t need to explicitly copy photos to your Mac or save your reminders in a particular folder. However, many apps require you to be more…

Check iCloud service status 1 If anything seems to be broken, the problem may not be your end, in which case you’ll need to wait. Point your browser at bit.ly/applservstat for a rundown of every Apple service. Syncing takes time 2Be patient. We’ve found changes made on one Mac or iOS device don’t always immediately sync to every other device immediately. Give it time to filter through, particularly if you’re using the iCloud Drive app for iOS. If one of your Macs is running OS X Server 5, it can cache personal iCloud data so that your other devices can obtain it from your network rather than downloading it from the internet. Force an update manually 3If you’re still not seeing timely updates in apps that sync data or documents,…

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to use BetterTouchTool to create new Multi-Touch trackpad gestures and enhance existing ones. YOU’LL NEED OS X 10.6 or higher. A Magic Trackpad (either model) or a MacBook trackpad. BetterTouchTool. Unleash your trackpad’s full potential by defining your own gestures Modern Mac trackpads have learned a lot from iOS devices. The gestures you can perform have become increasingly elaborate and useful, making it possible to more easily trigger commands and manipulate on-screen content. Though it all seems clever, your trackpad’s actually even smarter than you might realise, which becomes clear on installing BetterTouchTool. This app unleashes the full power of your trackpad by enabling user-defined gestures. You decide in each case how many fingers to use, the gesture they should perform,…

Peripherals quick-fire questions Which display with FaceTime support works with an early 2009 Mac Pro? > The only display with full audio and video – is Apple's Thunderbolt Display, which requires that your Mac has a Thunderbolt port. To get these features on your older Mac Pro, you’d either have to replace your Mac, or buy a separate display, a USB camera, an external mic and a speaker kit. Would a 43-inch 4K LG display work with my Mac Pro? > The late 2013 Mac Pro supports up to two 4K displays over HDMI (one of which you’d connect using a Mini DisplayPort adaptor). LG’s 43-inch 4K Smart TV seems an excellent choice. Ensure you see it in use, and are happy with its picture quality, before buying one. Why…

NEW SECTION! Inspiring ideas for revamping old Apple kit What’s inside 76–77 MAINTAINING AN iMAC G4 It still looks great, and it can run surprisingly modern software 78 FORCE LEOPARD ONTO A SLOW POWERPC MAC It’s a workaround, but you can get OS X 10.5 to run on PowerPC Macs Contact us Email your queries and your questions to lovemac@macformat.com Keep up to date by following us on Twitter @macformat Join the conversation at facebook.com/macformat Get the latest subscription offers at macformat.com The iMac G4 is a design masterpiece, but can this old beauty be made useful again without adding any new hardware? This month I’ve bagged myself an iMac G4. Technically, it belongs to MacFormat’s IT department, but it wasn’t being used for anything… shh, it’s fine. They probably…

NEW SECTION! Our revamped reviews help you make more informed choices What’s inside 90–95 MAC HARDWARE A flexible wireless hard drive and other great kit 96–99 GROUP TEST Get wild photos with a rugged action camera 100–101 MAC SOFTWARE A tool to improve your Wi-Fi signal, and more 102–103 iOS SOFTWARE Project management and colour manipulation Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com Keep up to date by following us on Twitter @macformat Join the conversation at facebook.com/macformat Get the latest subscription offers at macformat.com Manifesto – our ratings explained Our reviews are totally independent; we’re not affiliated with Apple or anyone else, nor are we influenced by advertisers. You can trust us to give an honest assessment of a product’s worth. The prices quoted for products…

£250 FROM Parrot, parrot.com Features Bluetooth, Noise cancellation, touch controls Parrot was onto a winner with its Zik 2.0 headphones designed by the renowned Philippe Starck, which were probably the most tricked-out cans around. So what’s changed? Well, the plush over-ear, closed-back ear cups now come in several stylish looks, such as crocodile-skin leather. Going beyond cosmetics, it’s Qi-compatible wireless charging that Parrot’s touting as the new must-have feature, but you’ll need a charger. The left ear cup holds the rechargeable battery, which still offers a disappointing five to six hours’ listening in wireless mode, although the supplied USB cable now lets you charge and listen at the same time. The right ear cup is where the touch controls live, while a handy ‘head detection’ feature pauses playback if the…

Video quality is so similar among our contenders that it alone isn’t enough to distinguish our winner We’re used to video quality being the deciding factor in group tests like this one, but the difference between the lowest-ranked Polaroid Cube+ and the top-ranked Sony X1000V, while detectable, is small enough that most hobbyists won’t appreciate the extra visual oomph afforded by Sony’s 4K wonder. Being able to shoot above 1080p – on all here except Garmin – gives you room to crop. Sony’s camera is particularly impressive. Its admittedly high price also gives you GPS, a waterproof case and advanced recording options. In this company it excels, but you need to be sure you’ll use all its bells and whistles. Garmin’s VIRB X makes a good case for itself, if…

MONITOR ViewSonic VP2772 £569 viewsonic.com If you’re not fussed about 4K but still want exceptional image quality, this IPS display is truly superb. It offers 99% coverage of the Adobe RGB colour space, 10-bit colour and a 2560x1440-pixel resolution. It has HDMI 1.4, DVI and Mini DisplayPort connections, and four USB 3.0 ports for expansion. NETWORK STORAGE Western Digital My Cloud Mirror £255 wdc.com Winner of MF294’s NAS group test, the My Cloud Mirror provides Apple-like ease of use – but it’s no Time Capsule knock-off; with top performance (thrashing its group test rivals when it came to writing large files), whisper-quiet operation and a good range of features, it’s great if you want more from a NAS. PRINTER Samsung Xpress SL-M2026 £50 samsung.co.uk For simple home printing at an…

Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com INTERNET OF FEAR I was rather surprised to see that your new Apple Home section extolling the virtues of devices all over the house broadcasting over Wi-Fi ignored the danger of home firewall breaches this can involve. A few years ago, a neighbour’s IT advisor pointed out that our HP printer was broadcasting open access to our otherwise protected home Wi-Fi network. We turned off that feature on the printer straight away! Now we are being urged to have our kettles and thermostats do the same thing. Worse, this idea that my network advertises “empty house” to the outside world or “quick, he’s coming back soon” is particularly frightening. Isn’t there an option of convenience and security in the ‘smart…

$150 MILLION MICROSOFT’S INVESTMENT IN APPLE On 6 August 1997, Bill Gates joined Steve Jobs on stage during a keynote address to announce Microsoft would buy this amount in non-voting Apple stock, that Mac OS would include Internet Explorer, and to commit to future versions of Office for Mac. 50,000 NEWTON MESSAGEPADS UNITS SOLD IN NEWTON’S FIRST THREE MONTHS Apple’s ultimately doomed personal digital assistant didn’t get off to a great start. Today, it’s two million early iPad Pro sales that have analysts concerned. 20MB THE AMOUNT OF STORAGE IN iDISK Apple unveiled iTools, its first suite of internet services, five days into the 21st century. It included iDisk, iCloud Drive’s precursor.…

For our latest subscription offer see page 46! The easiest change you can make is to buy a separate mouse and keyboard There’s no doubt that MacBooks and iPads have completely changed the way we work and play on the go, but often that’s come at the cost of aching backs and stiff necks from hunching over our devices for too long. They’re productive and beautiful machines – but ergonomic, they are not. Unfortunately, the main problem lies in the way that laptops in general are designed. According to Jim Taylor, Head of Design and Wellbeing at ergonomics firm Orangebox, your display should sit at arm’s length away from you, with the top of the screen parallel to your eyes, as this helps keep your head level and your neck…

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 3 ISSUES FOR £5! * Turn to page 46 *INCLUDES PRINT AND DIGITAL EDITIONS “IS THERE MUCH OF A FUTURE FOR THE MAC APP STORE?” Alex says… I noticed the other day that there isn’t much in the way of new ideas on the front of the Mac App Store. Mostly it’s games, writing tools and productivity apps.zzz Alan says… Yeah, I find myself visiting the store less these days. There are some gems in there but many well-known developers have a negative outlook and have pulled apps. I can see why some developers have done that, often citing sandboxing and other restrictions as key reasons for leaving. I understand why these constraints exist, but they get in the way of what some developers want to do. I…

Notes Follow up on bright ideas anytime, anywhere Keep a note on one device 1Notes you don’t want to sync can be stored locally on your Mac or iOS device. In iOS, go to Settings > Notes and turn on the ‘On My iPhone/iPad’ account. On a Mac, choose Notes > On My Mac Account from the menu bar. You can later move local notes to iCloud. Multiple accounts 2Notes can sync with other services. On a Mac, choose Notes > Accounts, and on iOS go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, then work your way through your various online accounts enabling or disabling syncing of notes. Other services don’t support all of iCloud’s features. So, if you move a local note with an interactive checklist to a Google account,…

iWork for iCloud > The online iWork apps help you to stay productive with just a web browser You can roll back to older versions of documents, just like on a Mac By saving iWork documents to iCloud Drive rather than your Mac or iOS device’s storage, you have the option of working on them in a web browser on a computer that isn’t yours. There are some limitations, such as the fonts you can work with, but the web apps gracefully substitute others, and your original choices are reinstated when a document is reopened on a Mac or iOS. The browser-based versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote also enable you to work on shared files: click the centre icon at the top of the Document Picker to see files…

What’s inside 50–51 SECURE YOUR APPLE ID Protect your account with a second level of identity verification 52–53 POWER UP YOUR TRACKPAD Create your own gestures to speed up working with your Mac 54–56 EXTEND YOUR MAC’S DESKTOP Boost your workspace with Chromecast, Apple TV or an iPad 58–59 MASTER AFFINITY PHOTO Learn how to lift your photo’s subject out of its background 60–61 SEND BIG FILES WITH MAIL DROP Bust through the size cap for attachments to share files the easy way 62–65 BUILD YOUR OWN AIRPLAY RECEIVER Wirelessly send music to your hi-fi system using a Raspberry Pi NEW SECTION! Your new-look guide to getting more from your Apple kit Understand iOS gestures A tap is a brief contact of (usually) one finger on your device’s screen. To…

Software quick-fire questions How can I tell whether my Mac has the right codec installed to play a video format? Codecs are mostly stored in the QuickTime folders within /Library, /System/Library and the Library folder hidden in your user account’s folder, but files there don’t reveal which formats they handle. Open OS X’s System Information app, click System Report, then select Components under Software on the left; video codecs are types imco and imdc. Where can I get a codec that will play a particular video? Apple lists sources of a few major ones at bit.ly/qtcodecs. Sites such as bit.ly/codecguide offer downloadable packs; enter 'quicktime codec' and the name of your video’s format in that site’s search bar. My Nokia’s old AVI clips freeze iMovie Q I have been using…

Hardware quick-fire questions Can I fix a blank iMac G4 screen? > If the iMac makes the usual startup sound (which indicates general good health) but the screen looks blank or very faint, you may have a fault with the LCD backlight. This could be a hardware fault with the inverter board, but it can also sometimes be due to a glitch in the Power Management Unit. You can reset the PMU by unplugging all the cables from the iMac, removing the bottom cover and then pressing the reset button behind the plastic cover, next to the AirPort card socket. Be careful to only press it once though, or you can crash the PMU. How do I tighten a loose neck? > G4 iMacs often end up with wobbly screens,…

$2,599 (body only) from Sony, sony.com Features 42.4MP full-frame sensor, five-axis image stabilization, 4K video recording Christian says… Despite its tiny form factor, this camera can do a lot. I’m considering upgrading my camera, and this little number is giving me pause for thought. The lack of lenses bothers me a tad, but I’ll wait to see what Sony brings to the table when it finally releases compatible optics. Sony followed up 2012’s RX1, an impressively small compact camera, with the Alpha 7 and 7R models in December 2013. That’s when we really started paying attention: these were the world’s first compact system cameras to feature a full-frame sensor. The latest addition to the range is the Alpha 7R II, the highest resolution model yet, trumping its predecessor’s 36 million…

£7.99 from Peter Szwach, useproud.com Made For iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Apple Watch Here we go: another list-making app – but this one is different. Yes, its first tab, Lists, resembles countless other apps. Here you create tasks, which can optionally be broken down into sub-tasks and reordered. Ho-hum. But things get interesting when you assign a deadline to a task and Proud’s line of thinking becomes clear: you don’t set a precise hour but a more human ‘tomorrow’, ‘evening’ or ‘next week’. The app also endows you with ‘superpowers’. Seriously. Double-tap a tab and a secret dashboard is revealed. In the Lists tab there’s a de-stress breathing tool. Reminders houses a work/rest Pomodoro Technique-style timer, and a superb ‘Give me more time!’ button that defers all tasks by a…

Alan Stonebridge Production Editor Alan is anxiously awaiting Apple Watch news – well, at least news of the black Milanese Loop that briefly appeared online a while ago. Alex Blake Commissioning Editor With winter over, Alex is breaking out his shades and sun cream in rather eager antipation of summer. A bit early, perhaps? Paul Blachford Managing Art Editor This month, Paul’s excited about the rumoured ultra slim MacBook Pro, iPad Air 3, Watch 2, and maybe a Mac Pro update, not much then… Seth Singh Digital Art Editor Seth has been creating ginormous posters of Sci-Fi characters using rasterbator.net – it’s really not a waste of paper! macformatuk.tumblr.com facebook.com/macformat twitter.com/macformat youtube.com/MacFormatUK…

[MOVIE] STEVE JOBS £9.99 If you can overlook this film’s artistic liberties, it’s worth watching for Kate Winslet’s BAFTAwinning portrayal of exec Joanna Hoffman. [APP] ZINC £2.29 Zinc makes it easy to bookmark content from the internet, then watch it from the comfort of your Apple TV. It’s like an Instapaper service for videos! [GAME] ZEN PINBALL FREE This classic pinball sim for iOS now looks better than ever on the big screen. Marvel, Star Wars and other movie franchises abound.…

ABOUT ADAM BANKS Adam is Apple to the core, having reported on the world of Macs since the 1990s. As a writer, designer, art director and print production contractor, he divides his time between the Northern Powerhouse and the Creative Cloud. Some theorised that Apple was trying to kill off the screen replacement market Plenty of other people, however, are happy to take on this task free of charge. Not just in the Huffington Post, but all over social media. The wisdom of crowds says this should enable us to figure out more accurately than ever what Apple’s up to. Nope. It just means we can be wrong faster. This month’s example is error 53. A few people reported that when they tried to update iOS on their iPhone 6…

What’s inside 22–25 APPLE TV Make the reimagined box the heart of your entertainment system 26–27 TUTORIAL How to stream audio, video and more from other Apple devices 28–29 HOME GADGETS Essential kit to elevate your abode from ‘home’ to ‘smart home’ Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com Keep up to date by following us on Twitter @macformat Join the conversation at facebook.com/macformat Get the latest subscription offers at macformat.com NEW SECTION! The smart home is here – live the Apple dream today! A t last, Apple is getting serious about Apple TV. The device’s App Store looks set to kick-start a new generation of apps and games, and the Siri Remote shakes things up by making it easier to find films, TV shows and other…

Web-based applications and online storage are nothing new, and Apple was a Johnny-come-lately to both, just as it was to mobile phones and music players. As with so many things, though, it has zeroed in on what matters: ease of use and a strong set of core features, so these days iCloud is one of the best cloud services going. iCloud is an integral part of OS X and iOS, and you can add support for it to Windows PCs, too. Many apps, including Pages, Numbers and Keynote, use iCloud Drive as their default location for saving documents, so your work is automatically kept in sync between your Macs and iOS devices. Developers who sell in Apple’s app stores can make use of iCloud’s capabilities, too. Better yet, if you…

You can store any type of file, up to a max size of 15GB, on iCloud Drive Rather than carry files on a USB thumb drive, you can save things to iCloud Drive to make them available on all of your Macs and iOS devices with no extra effort. To use iCloud Drive, you’ll need at least OS X Yosemite, iOS 8, or Windows 7 or higher with the iCloud for Windows software installed. On the Mac, iCloud Drive is found in Finder’s sidebar. Similarly, it appears in File Explorer’s sidebar on Windows. On iOS devices, most apps simply save to their own folder at the top of iCloud Drive. You can add an app for browsing Drive and sharing files from it; if you rejected iOS 9’s initial offer…

Dropbox > Fast, simple, and with great OS X integration Dropbox (dropbox.com) integrates with a wide variety of Mac and iOS apps. Like iCloud Drive, a shortcut to it sits in Finder’s sidebar, and ≈-clicking a file in that folder lets you create a link to share the file. A free account gives you 2GB, while Dropbox Pro gives you 1TB for £7.99 a month/£79 a year. See bit.ly/dbboost for ways to boost a free account’s capacity. Livedrive > Backup, syncing or both – it’s up to you LiveDrive’s (livedrive.com) Briefcase package gives you 2TB for syncing files between Macs and PCs for £8 a month, plus £1 monthly for each computer you add. Upgrade to its Pro Suite (£12 per month) to also back up five computers and for…

IT WILL TAKE 15 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to boost protection of your Apple ID and iCloud account by using two-step verification. YOU’LL NEED At least one Mac or iOS device with an internet connection. In addition to a password, access to your Apple ID will require a code that‘s sent to a trusted device A while ago, Apple received criticism when a number of celebrities claimed their iCloud accounts had been hacked, leading to personal photographs being published online. Apple’s response was to remind people to keep their passwords safe. However, security experts argued that this couldn’t have happened if Apple had adopted a security technique known as two-factor authentication. This adds a second layer of security to your Apple ID, sending an extra security code to your…

IT WILL TAKE At least an hour YOU WILL LEARN How to draw paths to make selections. How to refine selections to make high-quality cutouts. YOU’LL NEED Affinity Photo NEXT MONTH! Learn how to use cutouts creatively. Being able to remove (or add) elements to an image is one of photography’s oldest tricks – look up the Cottingley Fairies to see how long cunning photographers have been pulling wool over people’s eyes. Being able to select parts of an image has a virtually limitless list of benefits – your eBay photos will look more polished, and you’ll be able to seamlessly merge images together. For example, in a group shot where one person is blinking, you can excise them altogether or drop in a better snap of them. There are…

What’s inside 67 MAC SOFTWARE Fix the Mac App Store when it won’t receive software updates 68–69 PERIPHERALS Enlightening answers to your questions about external devices 70–71 MAC OS X Sage advice to help you overcome the worst Mac maladies 72 iOS SOFTWARE Swipe away your touchscreen troubles and love iOS once again Contact us Email your queries and your questions to genius@macformat.com Keep up to date by following us on Twitter @macformat Join the conversation at facebook.com/macformat Get the latest subscription offers at macformat.com NEW SECTION! Our resident expert solves your Mac and iOS problems Q Since my iMac was upgraded to El Capitan, it has had problems with the Mac App Store. That app’s Dock icon appears stuck with one update, but when I open the app I…

iOS software quick-fire questions Does Office 365’s Outlook for iOS support message categories, like the Mac version does? > Currently, Outlook for iOS provides no way to view or sort messages by category. However, you can filter messages by entering something like 'Category:personal' in its search box to see only messages in that category, but it’s a kludgy workaround. I am going sea fishing soon. Which is the best set of tide tables for my iPhone? >The better commercial products like AnyTide require annual licences or tables, which can get expensive. Tides UK runs in perpetuity, but it’s UK only. AyeTides covers the world and also has no time limit. Don’t be surprised to find your mail service provider’s site contains out-of-date settings Why won’t Mail on iOS stick with…

John Sculley, Apple’s CEO from 1983 to 1993, was president of Pepsi when Steve Jobs famously lured him to Apple by asking him, “Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life or do you want a chance to change the world?” It’s exactly 40 years since Apple Computer was incorporated on 1 April 1976, and over the course of those 40 years Apple has changed the world many times over. Let’s be clear: we’re not talking about accomplishments such as the first 17-inch notebook, or the biggest, smallest or fastest whatever. No, we’re talking about new ways of doing things. Paradigm shifts. Rewriting the rules. So, we’ll begin by seeing how Apple laid down many of the foundations of personal computing as we know it.…

£120 FROM Arcam, arcam.co.uk Features DAC, headphone amp, Micro-USB (sync and charge) Arcam’s MusicBoost is an iPhone case with a built-in DAC (digital-to-analogue converter). And if that isn’t enough, Arcam has also found room to fit a spare battery in there. It claims the 2,800mAh battery will double the life of your iPhone between charges. Slot your iPhone into the case and the Lightning port connects to the MusicBoost, allowing it to take over digital audio decoding duties, as well as providing power to your iPhone when it needs it, and acting as a headphone amp. There’s a Micro-USB port on the bottom to charge your iPhone as well. We tested MusicBoost using Onkyo ES-HF300 headphones and noticed a significant difference in the audio played from both the Music app…

£2.29 FROM Wanman, maxcurve.net MADE FOR iPhone, iPod touch, iPad Editing an image using Photoshop’s Curves palette is the sort of thing that can put people off ever doing it again. But in MaxCurve, almost everything is a curve, so you’d better get used to them. Curves let you tweak how images look across a range – say, from blacks to highlights – by raising or lowering sections of a line, literally creating curves. In MaxCurve, many adjustments come in ‘kits’. The familiar colour curve adjustment is referred to as an ‘RGB kit’, and this is complemented by a Lightness Kit for exposure, gamma and colour temperature. There are also kits for editing colour saturation, and for working in the LAB colour space. The kits are further broken down into…

Welcome to MacFormat’s revamped Store Guide, the new place to go to find out about all the Apple kit that matters. We’ve chosen our top products from Apple’s product line-up, plus the best third-party kit that meets our quality and value standards. Whether you’re a recent convert or a seasoned Apple user, we highlight a model in each product category that’s ideally suited to your needs. So, if you’re looking for a new Mac, iPhone or iPad, just head to our handy tables to see exactly which model is best for you. We’ve also highlighted the gold standard in audio, storage, cameras, and many other categories so you can complement your Mac or iOS device with only the best accessories. Who’s it for? ENTRY LEVEL You’re just getting started in…

ALSO INSIDE… Make more of Photos for the Mac Discover the joy of Smart Lighting Improve Contacts with Smart Groups Rescue poor quality iPhone videos ISSUE 299 ON SALE 12 APR 2016 DON’T MISS IT – SUBSCRIBE TODAY! IN PRINT & ON YOUR iPAD Our print and digital bundle gets you the paper magazine as well as our iPad edition myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/macformat ON YOUR MAC Read on the big screen: subscribe with Zinio at zinio.com/macformat Zinio subscriptions do not include a print copy of the magazine. 22,457 Print 12,821 Digital 9,636 Jan–Dec 2015 A member of the Audited Bureau of Circulations © Future Publishing Limited 2016. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited (company number…

GET INVOLVED! The iPhone is the world’s most popular camera, but it takes a bit of work to get a truly excellent shot. Why not show us your creations? Simply email us at photos@macformat.com and your work could be showcased on these pages! Winter Sun EQUIPMENT iPhone 6 I’d gone to Bude for the day to pick up an iPhone 5c for my son – he’d never had one before so I said I’d show him some features. I went through the basics, then we went for a walk along the path above the sea pool, and I said I’d show him the camera. I used my iPhone; it was just one of those moments where everything falls into place. When I got home, I used Google Photos and Snapseed…

1 Depth of field Open your photo in Snapseed, then tap the pencil icon to edit it. Add the Lens Blur filter and pinch to set the elliptical focus to an oval shape, then swipe horizontally to set the blur strength to around 30. 2 Pastel wash Now you’ve softened parts of the pic, saturate and warm it up. Tap the pencil, pick the Brush tool, select Temperature or Saturation, then swipe over the areas to affect. The brush is applied on a new layer. 3 Stylised border With the picture taking shape, finish its vintage feel with a darkroom-style border. Tap the pencil, pick the Frames filter, and select number 10. This perfectly complements the style we’re after.…

The Gold 5K iMac After the MacBook, Midas touches the desktop Even a new iMac from Apple isn’t quite as shinily ostentatious as this 24-carat beauty! Luxury goldsmiths Goldgenie started gold-plating iPhones, iPads and MacBooks a few years ago, and now you can get a real gold iMac too. Okay, a 27-inch Retina display model will cost you at least £6,000, but that hasn’t stopped one Chinese web development company, which has ordered 50 of them to take centre stage in its new offices! If gold iMacs really take off in the Far East maybe Apple will seriously consider a gold colour for the next iMac. It worked with the 12-inch MacBook, on which it looks great with the black keyboard and screen bezel. £6,000 website goldgenie.com Dimensions 51.6x65x20.3cm NEXT…