Содержание выпуска: January 2024 — MacFormat

Scan here to get the latest tech news in your inbox! This month’s cover stars are the brand new iMac and MacBook Pro, which suprisingly arrived at the tail end of October with a completely new generation of Apple silicon chips: the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max. While anyone hoping for a 27-inch or bigger iMac will come away disappointed (we know we did), the direction of travel is fascinating, with the new MacBook Pro in particular showing not only just how far Apple silicon has come – but where it might go next. You can read our in-depth reviews of both the iMac and the MacBook Pro starting on p78, while we also look at how Apple silicon is progressing in MacFormat Investigates on p16. Whether you plan…

Apple is on the brink of switching up the displays in its entire iPad and MacBook ranges, Korean outlet ET News has claimed, with every device getting an OLED screen over the next few years. It’s a change that could help elevate these devices to new heights – if the report is accurate, of course. The article argues that the iPad Pro will get OLED tech first, pairing it with ProMotion in 2024. That will be followed by the 16-inch MacBook Pro in 2025, with the iPad Air and iPad mini following the next year, alongside the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air and the 14-inch MacBook Pro. From 2027, Apple will apparently upgrade the 12.9-inch iPad Pro to a secondgeneration OLED screen. This could reduce battery drain, perhaps by up…

Loewe radio.frequency >£199 > From int.loewe.tv > Marking the 100th anniversary of Radio Frequenz (the company started by the Loewe brothers in Berlin in 1923), Loewe has brought out this celebratory ‘smart radio’. With a few nods to the company’s original Loewe OE33, the radio is made beautifully made with Canadian oak inlays – so each one is unique – and basalt-coloured acoustic fabric. There’s also plenty of good tech on offer with DAB+, Bluetooth 5.0 and USB-C charging. You also get an easy-to-read, monochrome 2.6in high-contrast LCD display, and up to 14 hours of playtime. Despite its size (21.1x13.2x6.8cm) and portablility, the radio packs two full-range speakers for an impressively wide stereo soundstage and a bass radiator for some gutsy audio, as well as 28W of power.…

Apple’s latest macOS is packed with all kinds of features great and small, but many of them aren’t documented, are hard to remember, or are so new you might not have come across them just yet. From things that save you time, effort and maybe even money, to those that cause you to smile and let out a ‘Eureka!’ shriek when you discover them, these are the secrets of Sonoma. Did you know, when you place widgets on your macOS 14 desktop, you can have them sit there in full colour instead of reverting to monochrome when they’re not in use? Or that you can bring exciting effects to a video chat using hand gestures? Or that also in video chat, you can decide where to appear when using Centre…

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to get the most out of the Messages app on your Mac YOU’LL NEED macOS 14 or later Although many of us have switched to WhatsApp and Signal, there is still a whole heap of life in Messages. In fact, there’s more than ever before now that Apple has spruced it up with the arrival of macOS Sonoma. With the updated app, communication is a little faster thanks to the ability to reply more quickly. You can also find information within Messages with greater speed due to more advanced search filtering, and you can save time when you receive an audio message – by avoiding having to listen to it and reading a transcript instead. Messages also helps you to feel…

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to use Paste to get a much better clipboard experience YOU’LL NEED Paste (Free, IAPs), macOS 12 or later Your Mac’s clipboard has always felt like it could be way better, yet here we are with the same feature-limited tool, year after year. You can only copy one item at a time, and if you copy something new, the old item gets overwritten for good. For such an advanced operating system like macOS, it feels like a feature that’s stuck in the past. Luckily, you can fix it with a brilliant little app called Paste. It has an unlimited clipboard history so you never lose anything you copied, and it enables you to easily control how and where everything is pasted.…

From £1,699 FROM apple.com/uk FEATURES M3, M3 Pro or M3 Max chip, 16GB unified memory, 512GB storage, 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display (3456x 2234), MagSafe 3, 3x Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports (M3 Pro and M3 Max only), 1x HDMI port, SDXC card slot, Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3. Model tested: £4,099 M3 Max with 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 48GB unified memory, 1TB storage While the M2 series saw modest gains, the M3 family is a different beast entirely– scary fast indeed Well, here’s a surprise – just 10 months after Apple updated the MacBook Pro with M2 silicon, here comes its successor. Unveiled at the company’s Scary Fast event in October, the new version marks the arrivals of the latest chips in the Apple silicon family – the M3, M3…

£249.99 FROM aoc.com/uk FEATURES 15.6-inch LCD IPS display, Full HD (1920x1080 pixels) resolution, 4ms response time, 144Hz refresh rate, 250cd/m2 (nits) brightness, 1x USB-C (DP Alt mode) port, 1x USB-C (power) port, 1x microHDMI 2.0 port, 2x 1W speakers, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack, 6x18x15cm, 2kg The screen is bright enough for day-to-day use when gaming or watching movies Mac FORMAT VERDICT A great-looking portable display that’s ideal for use as a second screen for your MacBook. ★★★★★ +Stylish and portable +Onboard HDMI port -Default contrast -Weak-sounding speakers O n-the-go gaming might not be the first thing that springs to mind when looking for a portable monitor, but AOC’s Gaming 16G3 offers exactly that, and so much more besides. Team its 15.6-inch WLED-backlit display with a 144Hz refresh rate and 4…

Really Simple Syndication or RSS R feeds became hugely popular in the first decade of this century but there’s even more of a need for them today. As the web continues to feel cluttered, algorithms attempt to decide what you may want to see and social media remains awash with noise, RSS helps to bring order to chaos. With an RSS reader, news feeds can be curated in one place so that you don’t need to hop from one website to another to remain up-to-date with the latest goings on. As such, a reader puts you in total control, enabling you to decide which content appears and how. The best apps will also give you the opportunity to discover, organise and filter articles. They’ll strip away adverts and enable you…

Can you ensure that ‘heartbroken spouses are reunited’ with the wedding, death and revive scenes? Mac FORMAT VERDICT Regrettably brief, Storyteller has you spinning classic yarns to your heart’s content. ★★★★★ + Great visual style + Simple to play - Very short - No hint system ome stories craft masterful epics through enchanting dialogue, but S not so Storyteller. This short but sweet game contains a little text but no audible speech, instead relying on its distinctive illustrations to do the talking. The aim of the game is to weave a tale from start to finish across a set of comic strip panels: fill each box with settings and characters, then rearrange them until your scene depicts the name of the story. Can you ensure that ‘heartbroken spouses are reunited’…

Gather round, and I’ll let you into a little secret – until quite recently   I was thinking about ditching my Apple Watch altogether. I’ve got an old Series 7, which is still perfectly good to use, but I found I was using it less and less. It was useful for reading text messages when I couldn’t pick up my iPhone, but apart from that I didn’t seem to be getting much out of the old thing. Then Apple released watchOS 10 and everything changed overnight. Now I use my Apple Watch all the time. What was the secret sauce that Apple added to watchOS 10 that changed everything, I can hear you ask? Well, it made the icons bigger. As daft as that sounds, that was all it took.…

Despite constant prodding and pleading from Google, Apple has long refused to add support for Rich Communications Services (RCS) to its messaging platforms. Yet in a highly surprising about-face, the company recently told TechRadar and 9to5Mac that it would support RCS after all. As TechRadar’s headline blared, “Hell freezes over”. In a statement, Apple announced that “Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe the RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.” RCS is a messaging standard meant to replace the SMS (Short Messaging Service) and MMS…

Apple recently announced it would add RCS support to its Messages app (see p6), but just before that happened, phone maker Nothing claimed it had its own solution. In theory, Nothing Chats would have allowed greater text interoperability between iPhones and Android devices. Unfortunately, Nothing Chats turned out to be a privacy and security nightmare. In order for it to work, you had to sign over your iCloud login details to Nothing and app developer Sunbird on the promise that they were well protected. That idea was undermined by what Android developer Dylan Roussel discovered when investigating the app. According to Roussel, Sunbird had access to every single text, image, video, contact card and other media file sent using the service. In fact, anyone could access these files if they…

APP OF THE MONTH Adobe has launched Photoshop Elements 2024, weaving artificial intelligence (AI) technology ever deeper into its one-off purchase photo-editing app. The latest version aims to make your edits quick and easy. You can match colour and tone from any image into the picture you’re working on, or pick from a range of predefined looks for your photos – and create shareable photo reels. In addition, there are new stylised text options, a tool to select a sky or background in a single click, and more. The app’s look and feel has also been refreshed, with options for light and dark mode plus a quick actions panel housing popular one-click edits. The fonts and icons, meanwhile, have been given a fresh lick of paint. Adobe has also updated…

Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com LETTER OF THE MONTH! 9:41am STANDBY YOUR BEDS! iOS 17 has arrived with several tasty little morsels and some really good tweaks, eg video messaging for FaceTime. But StandBy? It’s a great idea, you plug in your charger, prop your phone on its side, and voila, you get a clock (and other widgets). Fantastic, I thought – that’s a perfect replacement for the ageing bedside clock I have. But then, 10 seconds later the display goes back to black. You have to tap it to bring it back up. Like probably the majority of Apple users, I do not have the latest, always-on-screen phone. Anyway, let’s think how this feature will be used: The office? There’s likely to be a…

In association with Whether you’re streaming movies and TV shows, online shopping or moving work files around, your Wi-Fi network needs to be able to cope – especially if you have family members and multiple devices at home. Luckily, Synology makes a great range of routers that will help. Choosing the right router for your needs is easy with Synology, which has four models in its line-up to choose from: the MR200ac, which comes with Wi-Fi 5 and offers up to 2,000sq ft of wireless coverage; the Wi-Fi 5 RT2600ac, which offers 3,000sq ft of wireless range; and two Wi-Fi 6 models – the WRX560 and RT6600ax – which offer 3,500sq ft of wireless coverage apiece. Best of all, you can easily combine any of Synology’s routers to give even…

NEW IDEAS Your in-depth guide to getting more from your Apple kit Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com Master Apple shortcuts macOS Cmdis the Command key. Altor Optis the Option key. Ctrlis the Control key, also shown as ‘^’ in shortcuts in the menu bar. The thick, outlined up arrow is the Shift key. The thin, left arrow or outlined pointer with ‘X’ inside is the Delete key, which deletes to the left. Pressing the Function key (Fn) and the Delete key deletes to the right. The thin, right arrow key with a small vertical line at the end is the Tab key, which shifts the focus between somecontrols. iOS Atapis a brief contact of (usually) one finger on your device’s screen. To dragis to move…

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to use nifty tricks to make Focus work more seamlessly YOU’LL NEED iOS 15 or later, iPadOS 15 or later, or macOS 12or later Genius tip! Choose a Lock and/or Home Screen for a focus to make mode changes clearer. Use them to reduce distractions and look pro/fun depending on the situation. Focus modes are a great way to reduce distractions but rather than manually switch between them, you can automate the process instead. By setting up multiple focuses and thinking about the circumstances in which you’re going to want to make use of each one, you can ensure that the relevant mode is ready to kick in at all times of the day and night. As you will see there…

YOU WILL LEARN How the forthcoming Thunderbolt 5 offers improved performance and features Key fact Thunderbolt and USB cables now look almost identical, as they both use the same USB-C connector. However, Thunderbolt 4 introduced a new logo, showing the zig-zag Thunderbolt symbol with the number ‘4’ beneath it, so that you could tell the difference between Thunderbolt and USB devices. Thunderbolt 5 will have a similar logo, with the Thunderbolt logo and the number ‘5’. The timing of Intel’s announcement of Thunderbolt 5 was surely no T coincidence – 12 September, the same day that Apple launched the new iPhone 15, and finally brought USB-C to the iPhone range as well. There’s an irony there, though, as Intel’s announcement was obviously overshadowed by Apple’s iPhone extravaganza, even though…

The Health app has been a staple of iOS since 2014 and, as of iPadOS 17 released in 2023, it’s now available on iPad too. The app works in much the same way on both devices, bringing a host of health-related data from various sources together in one place. The big difference is that you now have the option of viewing your health data and metrics in an app that’s been optimised for at-a-glance viewing on a larger screen. In either case, there are some major benefits to using the Health app. The main one is that it gives you a better picture of your overall well-being, both physically and mentally, allowing you to spot problems and seek help and advice from professionals if need be. You can also motivate…

From £1,399 FROM apple.com/uk FEATURES M3 chip, 256/512GB storage, 8GB unified memory, 23.5-inch 4.5K Retina display (4480x2520), 2x Thunderbolt/ USB 4 ports, Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3, Gigabit Ethernet option.Model tested: £1,799 M3 with 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 1TB storage, 24GB unified memory, 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, 2x USB-C ports Inside, the new M3 chip gives the machine a timely performance boost Mac FORMAT VERDICT The M3 iMac retains all the features that made the M1 version great – but comes with its fair share of limitations too. ★★★★★ +Good-looking design +Still the best all-in-one -Lightning accessories -Limited screen size and upgrade options F inally! Two and a half years after Apple unveiled its all-new iMac, it’s finally been given an upgrade, with the latest Apple silicon M3 chip replacing…

The AAT feature definitely improves the clarity of sound Mac FORMAT VERDICT The large earbuds won’t suit everyone, but the sound quality will appeal to audiophiles. ★★★★★ +Good sound quality +EQ in app -Expensive -Large earbuds D enon mostly tends to operate in the higher regions of the hi-fi market, but it recently released two sets of relatively affordable earbuds as part of its new ‘PerL’ range – which stands for ‘Personalised Listening’. The standard PerL earbuds cost £189, which pits them right against Apple’s AirPods, while the high-end PerL Pro that we review here cost £299. The two models look very similar, with large, circular earpieces that look – and feel – rather chunky compared to the more streamlined AirPods. The main difference between the two models is that…

W hile all of the RSS readers here are worth considering and have their own merits, Reeder 5 reigns supreme. It’s beautifully designed (despite its greyness), easy to navigate and packed with features that you’ll use over and over again. What’s more, as well as being a wonderful RSS reader on Mac, it has equally fantastic iPhone and iPad apps. It’s going to take a lot to beat it. Yet some readers are pushing it close. lire throws curve ball after curve ball with little nuances not found elsewhere and it’s brilliant for offline reading – if only the articles were presented better. NetNewsWire has been totally overhauled in recent years and, as a free reader, there’s no better choice so long as you don’t mind being unable to include…

iOS SIDELOADING APPLE TO LOOSEN GRIP IN 2024 > Apple has been feeling the pinch from the EU recently, and it could lead to the company opening up iOS to allow the installation of apps from third-party stores. According to Mark Gurman, this could happen in the first half of 2024, with Messages and payment apps also changing. Still, it won’t be a free-for-all, as Gurman believes Apple will use a “highly controlled system” – whatever that entails. HEADSET EARLY IN 2024 VISION PRO’S MARCH LAUNCH > When Apple revealed the Vision Pro headset in June 2023, it said it would launch in ‘early” 2024. The first rumours claimed that meant January, but now Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the date has been pushed back to March. That’s because Apple “still…

For our latest subscription offer see page 34! Back in June 2020, Apple announced it was transitioning the Mac to what it broadly referred to at the time as ‘Apple silicon’. Instead of Macs containing chips made by Intel or another third party, Apple itself would create the hardware. In November that same year, we saw the first iteration of this – the M1 chip. Apple has always insisted the move away from previous provider Intel would allow it to make more rapid progress in improving the Macs. “There has never been a chip like M1, our breakthrough SoC for the Mac. It builds on more than a decade of designing industry-leading chips for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and ushers in a whole new era for the Mac,” said…

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes YOU WILL LEARN How to customise your Mac’s wallpaper and screen saver YOU’LL NEED macOS 14 or later Genius tip! You can use your chosen wallpaper photo as a full-screen screen saver too: just select Show As Screen Saver in Settings > Wallpaper. One of our very favourite things about macOS Sonoma is that more than ever before, you can make your Mac perfectly you. So you can have iPhone-style (or for older Mac users, Mac OS X Tiger-style) widgets on your desktop and Apple TV-style aerial screen savers to turn your display into an atmospheric view of incredible landscapes, dramatic skylines and beautiful natural scenes. If you tap on Add Folder or Album, you can choose from the People smart album as well as…

£169.99 FROM uk.soundcore.com FEATURES Spatial Audio, hi-res audio, 40W stereo, nine-band EQ, Bluetooth 5.3, IPX7, USB-C to USB-C cable It’s the sound quality that’ll bowl you over, and Spatial Dynamic offers the most expansive sound T outed as the ‘world’s most portable Spatial Audio speaker’, the Soundcore Motion X500 is Anker is also one of the best, thanks to its incredible build quality and great sound. Standing at just under 23cm tall, including its fixed carry handle, the Motion X500 includes two-front firing speaker drivers, plus a third upwards-firing one to make its sound feel more expansive, while the sloping top also includes power, playback and Bluetooth 5.3 pairing controls plus a Sky Light. The speaker, which is waterproof to IPX7, offers up to 12 hours of playtime via its…

Features make editing feel more natural and seamless Mac FORMAT VERDICT A solid app with some promising AI experimental features that help it stand out from the crowd. ★★★★★ + Intuitive note taking + Notebook options - Handwriting feels clumsy - Cheaper alternatives oodnotes 6 is the latest version of the popular note-taking app and PDF editor and the big question for many will be whether it’s worth an upgrade from the previous version. G If looks alone were to make that decision then, yes. The first big upgrade in four years feels fresh thanks to a new interface that remains intuitive to use. But the most important thing is whether or not the many extra features are going to prove useful, particularly if you’re using the Mac version. The…

RichCast has plenty of tools to help you create scenes and stories. The biggest pitfall is that there just isn’t that much interesting content out there Mac FORMAT VERDICT A powerful way to create stories, albeit one with its fair share of issues. ★★★★★ + Wide variety of interactive games + Flexible creation tools - Mixed content quality - Frequent errors and irritations E ver dreamed about creating your own interactive games and stories? RichCast could be the way to get started. It allows you to write detailed tales full of different characters, choices and settings, and control them with your thumb or voice. Once finished, you can upload them to the app’s servers for other users to download. Is it any good? To answer, we need to look at…

There’s support for the new Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models Mac FORMAT VERDICT A solid and easy-touse app for manual shooting that focuses on the basics. ★★★★★ + Very easy to use + Manual controls feel natural + Raw and JPEG - No Portrait shooting mode photon is the latest iOS camera app from LateNite Soft, developer P of Camera+, and appears to have replaced it as the company’s main photography app. Where Camera+ was quite feature-heavy, Photon strips things right back to provide a straightforward experience and as an entirely new app it’s better able to harness the power of more recent iOS hardware. The idea is to provide access to manual shooting controls that Apple still doesn’t allow in its own Camera…