macOS - page 11

Edison Mail makes the leap to Mac for the first time

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Edison-Mail-Mac
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Photo: Edison Mail

Edison Mail, a popular third-party email client on iOS, is finally making the leap to Mac.

It ships with a number of nice features that give it an edge over the built-in Mail app. And it sports a cleaner, more modern user interface with a number of customization options.

There’s just one catch.

Sidecar is the closest we’ll get to a touchscreen Mac, and it’s good enough [Opinion]

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Ableton on Mac and iPad.
Ableton on Mac and iPad.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

We will never see a touchscreen Mac. Apple has made this clear over and over. Whenever one of its executives is asked about a touchscreen Mac in an interview, the answer is always the same: macOS is for trackpads, and iPadOS for is for touch. Combining them would compromise both.

I agree. While I do catch myself tapping the Mac’s screen from time to time, there’s no way I’d want the Mac redesigned for touch. For one thing, you’d lose all the accuracy of the mouse, because clicking targets would have to be big enough for your fingers. But it doesn’t matter, because Apple has already made a touch option for the Mac. It’s Sidecar, and it’s amazing.

Mac makes IBM employees more productive and happier

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IBM
Once rivals, IBM later embraced the Mac, and now thousands of its employees are users.
Photo: Apple

Research by IBM found that its employees who use a Mac are more likely to exceed expectations on performance reviews than co-workers with PCs. Mac’s users also make larger high-value sales deals.

Long-time Mac users should find this delightfully ironic, as IBM helped popularize the PC back in the 1980s.

macOS Mail bug exposes portions of encrypted emails

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MacMail
Your encrypted emails on Mac might not be as private as you think.
Photo: Apple

Apple failed to kill a bug in the Mail app for macOS for months despite its potential to expose private details in emails that the user thought was encrypted.

Security researcher Bob Gendler first discovered the flaw in July and notified Apple of it. Despite releasing four updates for macOS since that time, the privacy flaw still hasn’t been fixed. Apple says it’s working to resolve the issue soon though.

16-inch MacBook Pro leaks again in macOS Catalina

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16-inch-MacBook-Pro-keyboard
Are you ready?
Photo: Apple

Another image of a new 16-inch MacBook Pro (above) has been leaked by macOS 10.15.1 Catalina.

The photo reveals a redesigned keyboard layout, with a Touch ID sensor separated from the Touch Bar. But it does not confirm rumors of a return for the dedicated escape key.

It’s also hard to tell whether this keyboard uses the dreaded butterfly switches that MacBook Pro fans want Apple to abolish. And we could be waiting a long time to find out.

CleanMyMac X is all you need to maintain a healthy Mac

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CleanMyMac X
All the tools you need to make your Mac speedy and safe.
Photo: MacPaw

Are you maintaining a healthy Mac? It doesn’t have to be difficult. CleanMyMac X offers all the tools you need to ensure your machine is always speedy and safe.

The latest version of the app stops malware in its tracks, ensures your apps are always up to date, and keeps your Mac running as fast as it can be.

It also helps you weed out system junk from the darkest depths of your machine, and it’s three times faster than its predecessor.

iPad is catching up with Mac, but it will never be as easy to use [Opinion]

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It’s not rocket science... oh wait, it is: Opening two files on an iPad.
Opening two files in the same app on an iPad requires rocket science.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Thanks to the recently launched iPadOS, I can finally do simple things on my iPad that I’ve always been able to do on my Mac. Like opening multiple documents in the same app, or installing fonts.

Trouble is, while these things are easy to do on a Mac, they’re fiendishly difficult with an iPad.

In the early days, everyone celebrated the iPad for being easier and more intuitive to use than a Mac. But as Apple crams in more features, that is no longer true. iPad is still easier to use for simple things, but it is much harder and more cumbersome for performing advanced tasks.

Pocket Casts goes free with optional ‘Plus’ subscription

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Pocket-Casts-iPhone
Download it today!
Photo: Pocket Casts

Pocket Casts, one of the best third-party podcast apps on iOS, is now available for free.

It won’t cost you anything to download the app anymore, and you’ll get to enjoy some of its best features — like cross-platform syncing and the dark theme — for absolutely nothing.

An optional Pocket Casts Plus subscription, priced at just $0.99 a month, gets you even more.

Two brilliant Mac features that will never come to iPad

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Mac desktop
A nice big desktop makes everything easier.
Photo: Michael Soledad on Unsplash

Recently, I’ve been using my old Mac more and more, even thought I’ve long preferred using an iPad for both work (writing) and play (making music, and all the other dumb stuff you do on a computer when you’re goofing off).

And It’s gotten me thinking. Why do I prefer the Mac for some tasks? And I mean, strongly prefer. I’m so used to using both iOS and macOS that it’s not a questions of familiarity. Nor is it that I’m trying to squeeze the Mac way of doing things into the iPad, and vice versa — a common problem for new switchers.

No, my preference comes down to two small yet fundamental differences between the iPad and the Mac. These two features are present on the Mac, and will probably never make it to the iPad. What are they?

How to radically customize your Mac’s display

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Mac customize display
Tweak your Mac's display with macOS' amazing accessibility options.
Photo: Wesson Wang/Unsplash

Just like iOS, the Mac has some great features hidden inside the accessibility section of the System Preferences (aka. Settings) app. Today we’re going to see how to tweak the Mac’s display to make it easier to use, for anyone. You can adjust the colours, make page elements easier to see, and even turn everything B&W. Let’s see what’s what.

Check out these secret (and super-useful) settings for your Mac

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JPG screenshot location
Dust off your Terminal to use these great hacks.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

By using commands in your Mac’s built-in Terminal app, you can quickly change settings you probably didn’t even know existed.

Some of these Mac settings are just shortcuts — you can enable them in the usual way, using the mouse. But Terminal makes things simple. Instead of opening the System Preferences app, then finding (or remembering) a setting you want to change, and then searching further until you actually find the right checkbox, you can just type (or paste) a command, then  hit return.

Most of these are secret settings, though. They are impossible to change without Terminal. Let’s check them out.

Apple’s USB-C AV dongle gets a 4K HDR upgrade

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Apple-USB-AV-dongle
It's finally fit for 2019.
Photo: Apple

Apple this week upgraded its official USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter to support 4K HDR video at up to 60Hz.

The newest model, numbered A2119, boasts HDMI 2.0 connectivity. That means you can enjoy HDR10 and Dolby Vision content when outputting video from a compatible Mac or iPad Pro.

Apple expands bug program with monstrous $1 million bounty

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The CIA has a team of more than 5,000 hackers.
Hackers can get PAID for finding bugs now.
Photo: Brian Klug/Flickr CC

Apple is ready to pay a bigger bounty than any other tech company when it comes to finding bugs on the iPhone or other Apple products.

The iPhone-maker revealed today at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas that it will now pay up to $1 million for some discovered vulnerabilities, up from the $200,000 it offered when the bug bounty program began three years ago.