Mac - page 11

It’s easy to zoom in on your Mac screen and get a closer look at your display. If the text is just too small to read, or perhaps you’re making some graphics and you need pixel-perfect alignment, a simple tweak to your Mac settings is all you need.

Using your Mac’s zoom feature, you can hit a keyboard shortcut or use a multitouch gesture on your trackpad to zoom in on your screen. I’ll show you how to use this handy feature. Plus, I’ll cover Hover Text and Display Scaling, two more features that help you embiggen the words on your Mac screen.

As a longtime Mac power user, I’ve come to rely on a handful of essential apps that supercharge my workflow. These Mac productivity apps not only streamline my daily tasks but also simplify complex jobs, making my work faster and more efficient.

Check out my favorite Mac apps that I can’t recommend enough as a power user.

Apple offers end-to-end encryption for many more types of iCloud data than it once did. Advanced Data Protection encrypts iCloud Photos, Notes, iCloud Backup and more. But you have to activate the feature to take advantage of the data protection. It is easy … once you find the switch buried in Settings.

We can save you some time. Here’s how and why you should activate it.

The Apple M5 processor is reportedly now in mass production in Korea, ready to improve the performance of Macs and iPads later this year.

With production already taking place, it’s possible the M5 will launch as an Apple product in the middle of the year, and not wait until autumn. As Apple continues to integrate AI capabilities into its chips, many users are looking for insights on how to use Apple AI to enhance their workflows.

We went through Apple CEO Tim Cook’s earnings call with investors on Thursday, and found some genuine surprises during the discussion of the financial results of the holiday 2024 quarter. We also turned up impressive figures showing just how well the company is doing.

Financial details don’t have to be boring. Here are the high points from the call as quickly and as interesting as we can make them.

iPhone Mirroring on the Mac lets you control your phone using your computer — a handy convenience when your iPhone is in your pocket, purse or backpack. All your iPhone notifications can be mirrored onto your Mac as well, letting you triage them and take care of business without touching your phone and interrupting your workflow.

This feature also could come in handy if you shatter your iPhone screen. You can mirror an otherwise unusable iPhone to your Mac to make sure it’s backed up. You could even factory-reset your broken phone before sending it in for repair or replacement.

Here’s how iPhone mirroring works. Keep reading or watch our video.

Mac shipments in the last three months of 2024 rose sharply, hitting 17.3% in year-over-year growth according to a market research firm. Apple enjoyed a better growth rate than any of its top rivals, some of which saw their shipments decline.

The company also experienced growth in Mac shipments for the entire year compared to 2023.

You can back up your text messages (and iMessages) with iMessage Exporter, a free tool for the Mac. Whether you want to preserve your family message history for sentimental reasons, or need to keep conversation records for business, iMessage Exporter will get the job done.

You might already back up your messages in iCloud, but Apple charges an arm and a leg for space. You can save space (and money) by making a local backup and clearing out your cloud storage.

Keep reading or watch our video to see how.

Safari on the Mac feels a lot faster to use than Google Chrome. It is also more battery efficient and takes fewer resources. Yet, I prefer using Google Chrome on my MacBook.

Despite its faults, Google Chrome trumps Safari in many key aspects. There’s a reason why Google’s browser is the most popular choice worldwide.

With some careful modding, you can use an iMac as a display — and save more than $1,300 to get a high-end monitor similar to Apple’s pricey Studio Display.

Apple’s Studio Display is one of only a small handful of 27-inch Retina 5K displays on the market, boasting a resolution of 5,120 × 2880. Unfortunately, it costs quite a handful — $1,599. If you have an old iMac 5K sitting around, you already have a computer with the exact same display panel inside. So if you are willing to spend about $190 in parts and can convert it to a Studio Display, you can save a big chunk of change.

Here’s how you can mod it yourself — but be warned, it’s not for the faint of heart.

It’s a safe bet that the Apple M5 processor will start replacing the current M4 in 2025, and it might even happen in the first half of the year.

That’s according to a roadmap of when the various versions of the chip will go into production leaked Monday by a reliable source of insider Apple information.

What does Apple have planned for the Mac in 2025? For the last couple of years, Apple’s been killing it with its desktop and laptop computers. The chips scream, the industrial design has never been better, and the Mac lineup is undoubtedly the best in Apple’s history. Just look at the amazing new Mac mini.

But can Apple keep up the pace next year?

A little-known feature in macOS lets you share your Mac’s screen to someone else’s Mac directly from the Messages app — no third-party apps or downloads required. It’s great if you need to give tech support to a far-off family member in a pinch. Often, you just need to see what’s happening instead of counting on what your dear old father is trying to describe over the phone.

Get him to share his Mac’s screen with you, and you likely can solve his problem quickly. Even better, it’s not complicated setting up screen sharing on a Mac like it is on a PC. It takes only a few clicks in the Messages app. Let me show you all around this awesome hidden feature.

The Mac pointer (also called the cursor) is black with a white outline by default, but you can change the pointer color if you want to make it more prominent. Plus, you can even change the Mac pointer size. 

You might lose track of the small cursor if you have low vision — or just a really big monitor. Making the pointer larger can make it easier to see. 

Changing the pointer color to, for instance, bright red can make it easier to see, too. You can choose any color, like light purple or green, to fit the aesthetic of your setup. (This is especially cool if you have a matching colorful iMac.)

Here’s how to change your Mac pointer size and color.

Designer Basic Apple Guy started the last month of 2024 by releasing yet another fresh and interesting set of wallpapers for your Apple devices. They’re the “vibrant and minimal cubist-inspired” Liminal Spaces series, released December 2. They might be the best new wallpapers I’ve seen this month.

And they’re certainly an interesting alternative to holiday themes. For me, the light, colors and shapes composed in the wallpapers brought to mind not only cubist art, but abstract expressionist Richard Diebenkorn’s landscape paintings.

A MacBook capable of directly connecting to 5G cellular wireless networks is one potential result of the modem that Apple intends to introduce in 2025, according to a reliable source of insider information.

The 5G modem will supposedly go first into iOS handsets, including the extra-slim one dubbed the “iPhone 17 Air” that Apple is allegedly preparing to launch next year.

Apple named the finalists Monday for its annual App Store Awards. These awards honor “exceptional user experience, design, and innovation,” according to the Mac-maker. App awards come in a range of categories, like iPhone App of the Year, Mac Game of the Year, and many more.

The nominations aren’t just kudos for developers — they’re a great way for users to find high-quality software.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The rumored “iPhone 17 Air” supposedly will delete major features to become Apple’s thinnest smartphone ever — and sell at a premium price. We debate the pros and cons of such a scenario. Plus, Apple reportedly plans to make AirTags even better … and might be reconsidering making an actual TV set.

It’s a rumor-packed podcast!

Also on The CultCast:

• We discuss the possibility of Apple selling SSD upgrades for Mac mini.
• Apple slipped a surprise feature into the M4 MacBook Pro.
• Image Playground produces some truly ridiculous images. See a sampling below. Is this the best Apple Intelligence can do?

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

I always use Apple’s privacy-focused Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email services whenever I get the option.

 The Sign in with Apple feature, which lets you log into third-party accounts using your Apple ID while keeping your personal info private, is so easy to use that I utilize it everywhere. But that also means my disguised logins pile up, accumulating in the digital junk drawer that is iCloud Settings. If you ever need to manage or transfer your Apple purchases history, Apple now offers an option to migrate digital purchases between accounts.

I’ll show you where you can find, manage or delete these accounts. Perhaps you’re jumping ship from iPhone to Android, and you want to make sure you still have another way of signing into your Chipotle account.

The Hide My Email service is similar. It creates a temporary email address that forwards to your real one — handy if you’re signing up for a shady website, or if you need a public contact email. I’ll show you where you can create new ones and delete the old ones.

In a surprise move, the M4 Mac mini includes a removable, swappable SSD. Apple really should give customers the option to buy high-capacity versions of these as storage upgrades for the tiny desktop. It would be a win for both the Mac-maker and its customers.

The option would be welcome addition even if the SSDs only came from Apple at fairly high prices.

Sick of apps constantly asking you to rate them? There is a way you can block App Store rating requests completely on iPhone, iPad and Mac so that the pesky popups no longer appear. We’ll show you how.

Apple’s new M4 iMac is available with a hefty $149 discount within weeks of its launch. The model with a beefier M4 processor — with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU — drops to just $1,349 on Amazon in this early Black Friday deal. You can save even more if you opt for the nano-texture glass upgrade available on this midrange model.

Other models receive similar discounts. Just be sure to check the coupon box.

Anyone considering the newly launched Mac mini and iMac with the speedy M4 processor needs to watch our video reviews of these new desktops. We talk design and performance… just what you need to know to make a buying decision.

As a bonus, don’t overlook our video review of Apple’s USB-C Magic Trackpad, keyboard and mouse.

Watch them now:

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: So … many … M4 Mac reviews! Griffin tells us why the new Mac mini and the updated iMac make him go gaga. And the faster MacBook Pros are no slouches, either.

Also on The CultCast:

• The “updated” Apple accessories — Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse — pack exactly one new feature. It’s not exactly magical.
• Apple reportedly plans to launch an inexpensive touchscreen device for managing smart home gear. But what purpose would it serve, really?
• Apple Music turns its ridiculous 100 Best Albums list into an even more ridiculous $450 coffee-table tome.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

November 17, 1995: Apple releases the first beta version of its new Mac OS Copland operating system to approximately 50 developers. Not so much a Mac OS update as a totally new operating system, it offers next-gen features designed to help Apple take on the then-mighty Windows 95.

Sadly, Copland OS will never reach the public.