MacLife

The Mac, iPhone, iPad, & Everything Apple Magazine

MacLife2 min read
AI For The Rest Of Us
THE OPENING KEYNOTE of this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) positively whizzed by in June — despite it lasting two hours — chiefly because Apple’s breakneck–paced presentation packed so much in. For not only were we treated to previews
MacLife1 min read
The Team
Andy’s mission to improve his Insta shots (every poor dog that crosses his path), continues — George Cairns advises how to take our photos up a notch (p52). Rachel has been wishing for a while that Siri had many more useful capabilities, and is excit
MacLife2 min read
IOS & IPadOS Updates
iOS 18, COMING this fall for iPhone Xs and newer, delivers new customization options on the Home Screen and Lock Screen. In Control Center, you can add supported third–party app controls, and customize controls’ layout and sizing. Photos is redesigne
MacLife1 min read
MacOS Sequoia
ALL THE ENHANCEMENTS mentioned are also coming to the Mac, including major updates to Safari, Photos, Maps, and other apps; Apple Intelligence, with all it offers; an updated Calculator app; new Passwords app, and more. In addition, iPhone Mirroring
MacLife1 min read
News In Brief
AirPods (2nd gen) gain Siri Interactions — nod yes or gently shake your head no to respond to Siri announcements. On AirPods Pro, Voice Isolation will help make your voice clearer in windy or noisy environments. Personalized Spatial Audio makes for e
MacLife6 min read
Should Apple Make A Touchscreen Mac?
One of the most pertinent questions now asked by those looking to buy new Apple gear is whether they should splurge on an iPad or a Mac. Or, if you’re lucky, both. But the either/or dilemma became just that little bit harder to answer after Apple’s r
MacLife3 min read
Introducing Apple Intelligence
LAUNCHING THIS YEAR’S Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced its own take on AI, dubbed Apple Intelligence, coming later this year in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. It requires the computational power of Apple silicon, however, so wi
MacLife2 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
The Shift
YOU MAY HAVE noticed recently, as many have, that Google search is increasingly ropey. Unsurprisingly, the first result for any given Google search query eats up the majority of clicks from that search, and anything that’s not on the first visible se
MacLife3 min read
Letter Of The Month
I have for years been asking Apple to do two things: first, in the voice and speech settings. It is time that they release an English Canadian voice. As a blind person who uses Voiceover, it is imperative that this be done; Americans, dare I say it,
MacLife2 min read
ICloud Secrets
APPLE’S ICLOUD SERVICE is awesome. It can sync settings across your Apple devices, and files and folders saved to your iCloud Drive are accessible on all your Apple gear, as well as any device with a web browser and an internet connection. No need to
MacLife4 min read
What Is ICloud?
THE ICLOUD SERVICE stores your important data such as photos, files, backups and more on Apple’s servers. All this can then be accessed using any of your Apple devices, or on the web at iCloud.com. You can also use iCloud to sync information such as
MacLife3 min read
ICloud Photos
You can save storage space by keeping previews on your local devices. On a Mac, open the Photos app and in the Photos menu, choose Settings/Preferences. In the iCloud tab, choose Optimize Mac Storage. On mobile devices, do this through Settings > [yo
MacLife4 min read
Master Safari, Mail & Messages
THE ICLOUD SERVICE offers more than cloud storage for files and media. By switching on the iCloud option for key Apple apps on both Macs and mobile devices, you can keep this data in sync between your gear. Make a change on one device, and it’s refle
MacLife3 min read
Go Further With ICloud Drive
YOU CAN SET up iCloud Drive on a Mac, mobile device, or Windows PC. On a Mac, open System Settings/Preferences, go to [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Drive and turn on “Sync this Mac”. On an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, open Settings and tap [your name]
MacLife1 min read
Make The Most Of ICloud.com
FIRST THINGS FIRST. On a Mac, open System Settings/Preferences, and click [your name] > iCloud, and turn on “Access iCloud Data on the Web”. On a mobile device, in Settings, tap [your name] > iCloud and do the same. This makes your data available on
MacLife1 min readInvestments & Securities
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MacLife3 min read
Sharing With ICloud
If you subscribe to iCloud+, as opposed to only using the free 5GB you get with your Apple ID, you can share storage with your family. After setting up Family Sharing, you can then invite family members to join your shared iCloud+ plan, so the extra
MacLife3 min read
Make And Use Aliases On Mac
THERE WILL HAVE probably been many times when you’ve wanted to access a file or folder on your Mac without having to rummage around inside your computer to locate it. On occasions like that, aliases can be invaluable. In short, an alias provides a sh
MacLife2 min read
Boost Your Display Brightness
MODERN MAC DISPLAYS can go super–bright, but only when HDR content is involved. Fortunately, you can get 1,000 nits of brightness whenever you want by using an app called Vivid. Vivid uses your Mac display’s HDR capabilities to push its brightness be
MacLife3 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
Improve Your Images With AI
AI (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE) is changing the way we edit photos. For example, Adobe Photoshop 2024 uses its Adobe Sensei AI tool to perform common photo fixes — such as removing unwanted background objects from a photo or making a pouting model smile
MacLife3 min read
Clean Up Your Mac With Hazel
IF YOUR MAC’S messier than a teenager’s bedroom after a wild weekend sleepover, it may be time to call in a supernanny — and that’s where Hazel comes in. Now on Version 5, this brilliant utility from Noodlesoft will help tidy up and then keeps things
MacLife3 min read
Make Healthier Choices
WOULD YOU LIKE to avoid food additives, potential allergy triggers and other unpleasantness — such as hazards that might be lurking in your makeup? Then Yuka (https://yuka.io/en) may be the app for you. It uses your iPhone camera to tell you what’s i
MacLife3 min read
Create Collaborative Playlists
MUSIC’S A SOCIAL thing, which is why we flock to small clubs or big stadiums to be with our fellow fans. Obviously, listening to your favorite bands and artists solo on your AirPods is great, but music is even more enjoyable when it’s a shared experi
MacLife3 min read
Get Creative With Canva
CANVA IS ONE of the most useful art and design apps on the iPad, thanks to its ease of use and sheer flexibility. Available for free or with a Premium subscription for $14.99/month or $119.99/year for more elements, Canva is the perfect app to create
MacLife3 min read
Tailor Your Apple News Feed
APPLE NEWS IS one of the less talked–about iPhone apps, but plenty of us use it daily; it’s a brilliant way to follow not just your favorite topics but your preferred publications too. If you subscribe to it, either as an Apple News subscriber or wit
MacLife4 min read
OLED Displays
ORGANIC LIGHT–EMITTING DIODE (OLED) display technology has only ever been used in a limited way in Apple products, being chiefly found on the iPhone and Apple Watch. That looks set to change. With the new iPad Pro sporting an Ultra Retina XDR display
MacLife1 min read
Microled Vs Oled
As we’ve mentioned, current IPS/LCD displays that use LED or miniLED panels to provide a backlight are very similar. The only real difference is that the smaller light–emitting diodes in a miniLED display provide greater control over contrast and bri
MacLife3 min read
ASK TECH SUPPORT & TECHSPLANATIONS
THUNDERBOLT 3 HASN’T met with the success it deserved for SSDs. Ready–made drives remain unusual and expensive, while assembling your own often fails to deliver full performance. However, this now looks set to change with the arrival of USB 4 drives
MacLife4 min read
Mac Software
Now I’ve upgraded to Sonoma I can no longer upload CDs to my Music library stored on an external drive. How can I fix what my Mac says is error –54? This error code normally results from permissions, or a related control, preventing access to the par
MacLife3 min read
MacOS
When my Mac finished updating to Sonoma 14.4.1, I was asked to create a new FileVault Recovery Key. Why? Many who updated to macOS 14.4 or 14.4.1 reported this odd behavior, although Apple doesn’t seem to understand why. When you enable FileVault, yo
MacLife2 min read
Give It Your Best Shot
SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE — and the nicer weather and longer days mean it’s the perfect time to get outside and get the most from your iPhone’s fantastic camera. For most of us, taking a photo on our iPhone is a simple “point and shoot” operation, but t
MacLife3 min read
Perfect Your Portraits
YOUR IPHONE’S PHOTOS library will be crammed full of shots featuring people pictures. To make sure that you’re capturing friends and family looking their best, it’s worth tinkering with your iPhone camera’s settings and finding the most appropriate s
MacLife3 min read
Picturesque Panoramas & Marvelous Macro
NO SUBJECT IS too big or too small for your iPhone to capture. When it comes to landscapes (or cityscapes) the iPhone’s Ultra Wide (13mm) camera can capture a wide field of view in Photo mode. Ironically, the Ultra Wide lens is also used to take macr
MacLife3 min read
Master Composition
WHENEVER WE TAKE a picture, we tend to shoot first then notice problems later — such as a lamppost poking out from behind a subject’s head. By taking the time to capture a more considered composition, we can take better–looking shots and avoid the ne
MacLife7 min read
Gaming On The Mac
IT’S ONLY TAKEN about 40 years, but it’s starting to look as though Apple is finally getting serious about gaming on the Mac. For most of its history, Apple has simply ignored gaming altogether — in fact, there have been times when it actually made l
MacLife1 min read
Games In Store
THE MAC APP STORE is the obvious place to look for games — especially casual games that are available on the Apple Arcade subscription service. However, the Mac App Store can be pricey, so it’s not the best place to buy A–list titles. Steam is the bi
MacLife1 min read
Games That Run Well On Apple Silicon
> $59.99 > bit.ly/3VoM7hY The critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 hurls you into a war against the monstrous Mind Flayers. It runs natively on Apple silicon, but its 3D graphics are quite demanding, so you might need to lower the resolution on an M1
MacLife1 min read
Spatial Gaming On Vision Pro
IT’S NO COINCIDENCE that Apple developed a sudden interest in gaming just as it was preparing to launch the Vision Pro. Apple has been careful not to pitch the Vision Pro simply as a gaming device — it’s way too pricey for that — but it also knows th
MacLife1 min read
Crossing Over To Windows
THERE ARE HUNDREDS of great Windows games that have never been released for the Mac, but there are a couple of options that make it possible to run the original Windows versions on your Mac. Parallels Desktop is a "virtualization" program that allows
MacLife4 min read
iPad Pro 13–inch (2024)
From $1,299 From www.apple.com Features Tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR display (2,752 x 2,064) with True Tone, Apple M4 chip, 256GB of storage (512GB, 1TB and 2TB of storage available), 8GB of memory (256GB and 512GB models)/16GB of memory (1TB and 2TB
MacLife1 min read
Magic Keyboard For IPad Pro
Reimagined for the M4 iPad Pro, the new Magic Keyboard really does live up to its name. Available in black or white finishes and costing $299 for the 11–inch model and $349 for the 13–inch, it comes with a proper function key row for the first time a
MacLife2 min read
Apple Pencil Pro
$129 From www.apple.com Features Tilt and pressure sensitivity, wireless pairing and charging, Squeeze, Barrel roll, Haptic feedback, Apple Pencil hover, double tap, Find My, compatible with M4 iPad Pro (11–inch and 13–inch), M2 iPad Air (11–inch and
MacLife4 min read
iPad Air 11–inch (2024)
From $599 From www.apple.com 11–inch Liquid Retina display (2,360 x 1,640) with True Tone, Apple M2 chip, 128GB storage (256GB/512GB/1TB available), Wi–Fi 6E (aka 802.11ax Wi–Fi), Bluetooth 5.3, 1x USB–C (USB 3) port, Landscape 12MP Ultra Wide front
MacLife3 min read
Topaz Gigapixel AI 7
$99 From www.topazlabs.com Needs macOS 11 or later THE IPHONE 15 Pro’s 48MP sensor produces super–high resolution photos measuring 6,048 x 8,064 pixels. This enables you to produce a 20 x 26–inch image with a detail–packed resolution of 300 DPI (dots
MacLife1 min read
Restore Clarity To Blurred And “Noisy” Facial Features
You can test Gigapixel AI 7’s tools by clicking the Free Demo icon. The only thing you can’t do is save the restored results. A pop–up menu suggests which AI model should produce the best results with different media. Experiment with AI models. The H
MacLife2 min read
Razer Seiren V3 Chroma
$139.99 From www.razer.com Features Supercardioid polar pattern, volume dial, touch–sensitive multi–function top button, 20Hz to 20kHz response rate, 96kHz sampling rate, 24–bit rate, built–in shock absorber, 6.5ft USB–C to USB–A cable, detachable ba
MacLife2 min read
GameSir Nova Lite
$24.99 From www.gamesir.hk Features Hall effect thumb sticks, Xbox button layout, customizable buttons, rumble motors, plastic case, compatible with iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android, Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch GAMESIR OFFERS AFFORDABLE controllers
MacLife1 min read
Next Month MacOS Sequoia
Your in–depth guide to your next free Mac upgrade PLUS: What’s coming to iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch later this year! + ALSO INSIDE… Make your devices even more secure Top tips to help you stay safe both online and offline ISSUE 222 on sale 16 JUL
MacLife1 min read
MacLife
EDITOR Nick Odantzis PRODUCTION EDITOR Rachel Terzian CONTRIBUTORS Paul Blachford, Alex Blake, Matt Bolton, George Cairns, Andrew Cottle, John-Anthony Disotto, Charlotte Henry, Cliff Joseph, Carrie Marshall, Rob Mead-Green, Howard Oakley, Ian Osborne

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