Indice dei contenuti per December 2024 in MacFormat

Just as we were going to press on this issue, Apple revealed an ‘exciting week of announcements’ that began with the arrival of Apple Intelligence with updates for macOS Sequoia, iOS and iPadOS and continued with even more welcome news for Apple fans – the arrival of the next-gen iMac, Mac mini and MacBook Pro, along with a refreshed MacBook Air. Most of the new Macs get at least an Apple silicon M4 along with increased memory, while the MacBook Pro gets either an M4 Pro or an M4 Max. The MacBook Air, though, is sticking with M2 and M3 chips – at least for now. But it’s the new Mac mini we’re most excited about. Not only is more powerful than ever before (with an M4 Pro version also…

Apple has seemingly pointed a shrinking ray at its smallest desktop Mac, reducing its size from the 19.7cm square of the previous generation to just 12.7cm now – or just 5-inches square in old money. But it’s not just smaller, it’s been comprehensively redesigned, looking more akin to its stablemate, the Mac Studio, complete with two 2x USB-C ports on the front, plus a 3.5mm headphone jack, while the rear now gets three Thunderbolt 4 ports on the M4 model and three Thunderbolt 5 ports on the M4 Pro. Both versions also offer an HDMI 2.1 port and Gigabit Ethernet (upgradeable to 10Gb Ethernet for an extra £100). Luckily, the Mac mini remains as affordable as it ever has with prices starting at just £599 for an entry-level model version…

Revealed on the third day of Apple’s ‘exciting week of announcements’, the MacBook Pro got a slew of updates, starting with an M4 chip on the entry-level 14-inch and with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips on the step-up 14-inch and by default on 16-inch models. The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at £1,599 and comes with a 10-core CPU/10-core GPU M4 with 16GB of unified memory and 512GB of storage. And the 16-inch starts at £2,499 and gets a 14-core CPU/20-core GPU M4 Pro with 24GB of unified memory and a 512GB SSD. The top of the range 14-inch gets a 14-core CPU, 32-core GPU M4 Max with 36GB of memory and a 1TB SSD for £3,199, while the range-topping 16-inch gets a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU M4 Max, 48GB…

Ruark R610 & Saber-R > £1,200 (R610), £699 (Saber-R) > From ruarkaudio.com > For old school hi-fi with a modern twist, this elegant combo from British audio maker Ruark could be right up your musical alley. Sitting in the middle is the R610 Music Console, which combines 70s music centre aesthetics with modern functionality, working with AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect wireless streaming, plus you get built-in Internet, DAB/DAB+ and FM radio, as well as aptX Bluetooth. Capable of supporting hi-res audio up to 32-bit/384kHz, the R610 is easy to control too, thanks to Ruark’s bespoke RotoDial, plus a Bluetooth remote control. Completing the set up are a pair of Saber-R Bookshelf Speakers, clad – like the R610 in either Fused Walnut veneer or Black Laquer – and which…

For years, Google has been an important tool for anyone looking to find answers on the web, In recent times, however, artificial intelligence (AI) has also begun to play a key role. Search Google today and you’ll likely see an AI overview delivered using the tech giant’s custom Gemini model which is capable of multi-step reasoning to help with even the most complex of questions. More and more people are also turning to Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT but such actions are not entirely without consequence. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a ChatGPT query requires nearly 10 times as much electricity to process as a standard Google search: some 2.9 watt-hours (Wh) of electricity compared with 0.3Wh. It’s a startling statistic which leads to questions about the sustainability of artificial…

Apple abandoned its iWeb HTML editor over a decade ago, but this doesn’t mean you can’t create great websites on your Mac, quickly and easily. These days, it’s not about code. Instead, you can design and upload a modern website from your web browser. One of the most respected sites for designing websites is wix.com. It offers some great tools for building all sorts of websites, and if you’re busy, you can use its AI features to help you along. Also helpful is its range of templates that are great for getting you started. IONOS (ionos.co.uk) is a great option for the novice web builder. It also offers some great templates covering themes such as personal site, business site, photography, travel and more. An IONOS subscription also includes a free…

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With the launch of macOS Sequoia, Apple has made many of macOS’s security features easier to find and easier to use, and there’s more consistency between macOS, iOS and iPadOS too. Sequoia’s System Settings has been given a significant redesign, and the previous Passwords features have been taken out and put in a new app. System Settings has two key places for privacy: under Apple Account > iCloud, and in Privacy & Security. But it’s not the only place with privacy protection. In the Mail app, you can use Settings > Privacy to hide your IP address and block remote content such as hidden tracking images. Safari can also hide your IP address from websites, and there’s a useful option to prevent cross-site tracking. You can also massively expand Safari’s…

Following the release of the iPhone 16 range, you can now apply a new generation of Photographic Styles to photos on iPhone and Mac. In effect, Photographic Styles are in-camera filters that change the colours and tones of a photo to flatter different skin tones, alter a shot’s mood or make it look more eye-catching. On older iPhones, you can tap the Photographic Styles icon in the Camera app and swipe to choose between Standard, Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm and Vibrant Warm. You can also customise each style to change its look by tapping on Warmth and Tone then adjusting a slider. Next generation If you own an iPhone 16 model, you can enjoy a larger collection of Photographic Styles that are also easier to modify. These are divided into…

GarageBand is an incredible app for amateur and pro music makers alike; it may look simpler than its professional sibling Logic Pro, but it still has lots of pro-level features. Like Logic Pro, you can expand the selection of built-in instruments and effects with third-party ones. Those extras are plug-ins called Audio Unit Extensions (AUE), and they literally plug in to GarageBand; they’re bits of software that install themselves into your instrument and effects libraries you can then use in your songs. There are synthesisers and reverbs, virtual instruments and filthy distortions. Whether you’re making scuzzy rock, soulful beats or shimmering electronica, third-party plug-ins and instruments can expand your audio options and help you make interesting things happen. Less is more Many Audio Unit Extensions are paid-for, require a subscription…

Well, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… and that means it’s time to start thinking about sending and receiving gifts. With that in mind, we’re here to help you discover some seasonal surprises because, while there’s sure to be lots of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches neatly wrapped and placed under the tree this year, there are so many other gadgets you should consider. Over the next 10 pages we’re sharing some of the most eye-catching gift ideas – products that are sure to go down well with any Apple fan. We’ve split the products across various categories. You’ll find ideas for fans of music and television, items that will make office life infinitely more exciting and productive, gifts that will enhance any home and products which will…

The new Vitals app is designed to give you the big picture of your key health metrics. To do that it combines your respiratory rate, your blood oxygen, and your wrist temperature with related health data such as your alcohol consumption and medications (if you want it to). There’s more integration between the different health and fitness apps on your watch, including third-party apps, than ever before. And that means that collectively they can deliver a more detailed, more personal and more useful guide to your health with really useful contextual information. It takes seven nights of sleeping before Vitals can deliver your data, but from then on it shows you any variation in your vital metrics and can warn you if there’s anything you might want to talk to…

From £799 FROM apple.com/uk FEATURES 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR Display (2556x1179 pixels), A18 chip, 128GB, 256GB or 512GB of storage, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, 5G, USB-C port The iPhone 16 has plenty of power on tap, and not only for Apple Intelligence While the iPhone 16 Pro (MF410) continues to get the flashiest new features, the gap between Apple’s ‘pro’ phones and the regular iPhone isn’t as big as it used to be – and the iPhone 16 is a case in point. Like the Pro, the iPhone 16 gets the new Camera Control, which gives easy access to your iPhone’s camera features, and gains the Action button from last year’s iPhone 15 Pro, although you’ll be mainly using to get quick access to apps and shortcuts than the camera,…

£249 FROM loewe.tv FEATURES Bluetooth 5.3, IPX6 waterproofing, 24 hour battery, 3.5mm audio input At lower volumes the sound is decent but crank it up and things really take off Loewe’s We. HEAR Pro Bluetooth speaker comes in three colourways of which Black is the most subtle, blue Denim the more neutral and Neon green the most striking – even if it might be a bit much for some. Weighing 2.2kg and at a shade under 30cm long, it’s in the middle ground size-wise for this kind of portable speaker. There are no handles but it does come with a strap you can attach, which you are likely to want to if you plan on carrying its 2.2kg weight around. The speaker is waterproof to IPX6, which means it’s resistant…

Group test Reviewed by GEORGE CAIRNS ON TEST… > Lightroom Classic > Luminar Neo > Photoshop 2024 > Photoshop Elements 2025 > Pixelmator Pro > Topaz Photo AI Your iPhone’s camera can capture perfect pictures, but some shots will benefit from AI-assisted tweaks to overcome a range of problems. For example, in low light a moving subject’s face may appear blurred due to the camera’s slow shutter speed setting. Traditionally, motion-blurred shots would be destined for deletion, but thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) powered tools, previously unfixable photos can be sharpened and shared! Other shots may feature unwanted objects (such as a cheeky photobomber in the background). In the past, you would manually sample suitable pixels and spray them over an unwanted subject to hide it. But AI-assisted tools can seamlessly…

After first making its debut inside the iPad Pro 2024 in May, Apple’s next-gen M4 has finally made it to the Mac – and how. Based on a 3nm process, the M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max chips are both not only power efficient in terms of performance per watt, they’re also powerful period, featuring both 16-core Neural Engines to help with things like machine learning and Apple Intelligence, and a Media Engine for fast video encoding/decoding. Graphically too, the new Mac chips should be great when gaming, supporting mesh shading and ray tracing in the latest AAA games.…

Do you find yourself tearing your hair out over the little annoyances that come with using the web? Autoplaying videos, notification banners, websites that disable your keyboard shortcuts, and so much more… They’re enough to drive you crazy. StopTheMadness Pro (underpassapp.com) can, well, stop all that madness and make web browsing enjoyable once more. Its powerful controls can skip YouTube ads automatically, force links to open in a new tab or a current tab, and protect your privacy by removing tracking parameters and beacons from the websites you visit. The Pro version adds extra features to StopTheMadness, from iCloud syncing and animation blocking to custom rules and presets that you define. That all combines to make StopTheMadness Pro one of the best tools for regaining control over your web browsing…

Remember that now-in-famous Apple advert, showing an entire creative studio suite being crushed and replaced by an iPad? It proved controversial among content creators, but its underlying message was clear; your iPad – and other Apple gear – can do an amazing amount of things. In this feature, we’re going to explore exactly this (the creation bit, not the crushing), as well as throwing in a few general tips and tricks you might not know about. Whether you’re making a podcast, or recording a meeting of lecture for later perusal, writing a letter to your bank manager in Pages or working on your first novel in Scrivener, making a ringtone for your iPhone or recording the next chart hit, your Apple devices can get the job done. So let your…

Who do you think you are? Who are your ancestors? Is there anyone famous (or infamous) in your family tree? We’ve all asked these questions at some time or another, and with your Apple gear – especially your Mac – you can begin to research the answers. There are some great websites for the amateur genealogist. Arguably the most famous is ancestry.co.uk. Depending on your subscription tier, you can access a huge range of information using Ancestry’s databases. There are UK birth, death and marriage records going back to 1500, census and birth, death and marriage records, and for those who subscribe to the highest tier, over three billion international birth, marriage, death, census, military, church and other records. It’s all relative Genesreunited.co.uk was originally a sister website to the…

Just to be clear, we’re not talking about Microsoft Windows here. We’re looking at proper, stylish Apple-designed windows and the new ways you’re now able to organise them in macOS Sequoia. By exploring the many options available to you in Apple’s latest Mac update, you can wave goodbye to desktops cluttered with myriad open apps. Instead, you’ll be welcoming windows that are neatly arranged in a grid which should allow you to work and play much more productively. Window tiling builds on Split View which has been a well-used feature of Macs since 2019, but it goes further by allowing you to choose a layout that works best for you. It suggests tiled positions and enables you to have windows side-by-side or in corners. While dragging the windows around does require…

WatchOS 11 is the most beautiful watchOS yet. But in addition to its good looks there’s tons of substance to match its style – so while the three new watch faces and the redesigned widgets can make your Apple Watch even prettier, the big news is in the range of new health and fitness features that are designed to help you live even better. From new workout types, improved fitness goals and a brand new Training Load feature to new health trackers, sleep health checking and features designed specifically for pregnant people, watchOS 11 is a really big deal. As ever with watchOS, almost all of the new features are available for all supported Apple Watch models rather than just the very latest ones: that means the Series 6 onwards,…

IN PRINT ON iPAD & iPHONE ISSUE 410 NOVEMBER 2024 iPhone 16 Pro: the definitive verdict macOS Sequoia – 82 tips and tricks Do more with iPadOS 18 On test: AirPods 4 with ANC ISSUE 409 AUTUMN 2024 iOS 18 superguide: 50 tips and tricks M4 Macs – what we know so far Edit to perfection with iMovie Surf safely! 6 of the best VPNs on test ISSUE 408 OCTOBER 2024 Pick your perfect Mac and more with our Ultimate Apple Buyer’s Guide Restore your vintage photographs What’s next for Apple CarPlay To order back issues of the print magazine, go to bit.ly/macformat_backissues or phone +44 (0)330 333 1113 and we’ll post them out to you. Download back issues onto your iOS device at any time and keep them forever…

£86.99 (three-year licence) FROM adobe.com/uk NEEDS Intel 6th generation or newer processor; Apple silicon M1 or newer processor, macOS 13, macOS 14 (14.4 or later), macOS 15, 8GB of memory Improved colour and tone tweaking tools enable you to grade your footage like a pro Adobe Premiere Elements 2025 is a non-linear editor (NLE) that enables you to trim down long rambling video clips to showcase the best bits and rearrange the order in which they play to tell a slick story. Film-makers use NLE’s such as iMovie to create entertaining videos for their YouTube channel or rustle up a reel to elicit ‘likes’ on Instagram. Apple’s free NLE – iMovie – is quite capable of creating video sequences complete with post-production enhancements such as titles, transitions and music –…

£1.99 FROM crescentmoongames.com NEEDS macOS 10.14 or later It’s worth forgetting most of what you know about pinball before you start Video games were meant to have killed arcade games like pinball, but From Eva with Green gives the cabinet classic a new lease of life with a tale of loss and remembrance. But while it’s a minimalist visual treat, its lightweight story can’t keep up. It’s worth forgetting most of what you know about pinball before you start. Far from the stress-inducing pressure of traditional pinball, From Eva with Green is set to a soothing musical backdrop and decorated with attractive colours and decorations. It’s a brief affair – it took us less than 90 minutes to finish – but its gorgeous graphics and affordable price make it a…

iMac From £1,299 In October 2024, Apple updated its 24in iMac with the M4 chip, and the iMac now has the wonders of Apple Intelligence built in. You can choose between an 8-core CPU/8-core GPU at entry-level, or an 10-core CPU/10-core GPU on the mid-range and top-tier versions. The entry model now comes with 16GB of memory as standard, configurable to 24GB; the mid- and top-tier versions are configurable to 24 or 32GB (32GB only available with 512GB or more of storage). The solid-state drive (SSD) storage starts at 256GB on entry-level and mid-range versions, and 512GB on the top-tier iMac, although you can add up to 1TB on the entry-level model and up to 2TB on mid-range and top-tier models. You still get a 4.5K (4480x2520) Retina display, with…

Apple AirPods Pro 2 are the first over-the-counter hearing aid software device authorised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States, but the Hearing Health features work on both the AirPods Pro 2 with Lightning charging case (released in September 2022) and the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C charging case (released in September 2023). You need to make sure you update your firmware to get the upgrade, then you can use them to take a hearing test in a quiet place at home to see if they’ll work for you. Now, a family member of ours recently received a pair of the modern NHS hearing aids, which were incredibly discreet – things have come a long way since the hearing aids I remember from my youth. But that…

Rather than hold an attention-grabbing, special event like it did for the iPhone 16 reveal in September, Apple took the unusual step of holding an ‘exciting week of announcements’ with the Mac and Apple Intelligence at its core. First trailed by Apple’s marketing chief Greg Joswiak on X (formerly Twitter), the announcements took place in the final week of October, with Apple Intelligence finally making its debut in macOS Sequoia 15.1, iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 on Monday 28 October, followed by the all-new M4-powered iMac (see p8) on the same day. Then on Tuesday 29th, Apple revealed the all-new Mac mini (p7). The final reveal, of the new MacBook Pro, took place on Wednesday 30th. While the arrival of Apple Intelligence was highly anticipated, it remains limited in scope…

Apple has updated the iMac for the Apple Intelligence era, giving its all-in-one desktop computer even more superpowers. Available in Green, Yellow, Orange, Pink, Purple, Blue and Silver, all iMacs get the latest Apple silicon M4 chip with an 8-core CPU/8-core GPU available on the £1,299 base model, and with a 10-core CPU/10-core GPU on the mid-range £1,499 and top-tier £1,699 and £1,899 models. Apple says the new M4 chip offers up to six times the performance of the last Intel-era model or up to 2.1x the performance of the M1. However, it’s not just the iMac’s power that’s increased. The 12MP front camera on the new models all now support Centre Stage (where the camera follows you as you move around) and Desk View too. Plus the £1,499, £1,699…

Regular readers of our reviews section shows will know that you can buy all sorts of gadgets and gear for recording podcasts. But if you’re a complete beginner, you already have everything you need to make your first show. GarageBand is free on Mac, iPhone and iPad and is a great way to get started. Open GarageBand on your chosen device, and start a new project. On a Mac, when asked to create a track, choose Mic or Line for recording audio for a podcast. Click Create, and you’re away. The controls you need, such as Record, Stop, and Play Back, are all in the app’s menu bar. Then, when you’re done, choose the Share option in the menu bar, then ‘Export Song to Disk’ to save it in a…

Which word processor do you need? In short, it depends what you want to do with it. If you want to write a novel or a screenplay, there’s only one contender; Scrivener (literatureandlatte.com). Unlike other word processors and text engines, Scrivener is built especially for big projects. You can store your research in the same place as your work, and templated character sheets let you make notes on the people in your work, so you don’t contradict yourself as you go. If you’re planning something less heavyweight but more visual, such as a newsletter, a flyer or a poster, Pages (apple.com/uk) is the app for you. It’s excellent for both writing and layouts, with some great tools for placing pictures, flowing text and more. If you want to use all…

Sequoia’s new Passwords app takes the previous features split between Safari and System Settings and houses them in a dedicated password manager. The app automatically accesses passwords and passkeys stored in the keychain you can share in iCloud, sparing most of us from having to import or add anything to get started, and syncing across devices when enabled in iCloud. Menu commands can import from other password managers using CSV files that won’t overwrite existing entries, and export in the same format. By default, Passwords suggests strong passwords in Safari, and automatically creates passkeys where supported. Codes for two-factor authentication (2FA) are generated for sites that support them within Safari like passkeys, as listed separately. It also detects and reports compromised, weak and duplicated passwords and helps you change them…

iPhone Mirroring is one of the standout features of macOS Sequoia, and it makes it easier than ever to quickly access apps and features of iPhone without ever leaving your Mac – and it’s super-easy to do. To use iPhone Mirroring, you’ll need a Mac running macOS Sequoia with Apple silicon or a T2 Security Chip on board as well as iOS 18 on iPhone. You’ll also need to have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled on both devices, and they must also be logged into the same Apple Account with two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled. Finally, your iPhone will need to be locked – unlock your iPhone at any point and iPhone Mirroring will stop working. With all that in place, there are all kind of things you can do – from…

Apple is very much focused on making the Apple Watch a class-leading health and fitness device, and there are a host of improvements to those features in watchOS 11. The new Effort and Training Load features enable you to track the intensity of your activity, even in activities that the watch can’t automatically track from monitoring your heart rate. And you can adjust your Activity goals to schedule different goals for different days – great if you prefer to take it easy at the weekend or if you want to do different kinds of training activities on different days of the week. There are other improvements too. When you pause a workout and forget to tell your watch when you return to it, the Workout app will ask if you…

Our ratings Our reviews are totally independent; we’re not affiliated with Apple or anyone else, nor are we influenced by advertisers. A truly exceptional product. Award given solely at the discretion of the editor. The best example of its kind when pitted against comparable products. A brilliant thing Strongly recommended Worth considering Notable flaws A waste of your money BUYING ADVICE Our authoritative reviews help you make more informed choices Contact us Email your queries and your questions to letters@macformat.com…

£129 FROM apple.com/uk FEATURES H2 chip, up to 5 hours’ battery life (AirPods)/up to 30 hours (Charging Case) Listen in spatial audio and the results are even more impressive You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to buying Apple-made wireless earbuds these days, with the AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and AirPods Pro 2 all vying for your attention. Deciding which to buy obviously depends on your needs and budget, but for fuss-free listening, the revamped AirPods 4 remain a great option – especially at the £129 asking price. While you lose active noise cancellation, the AirPods 4 are identical in almost every respect to their £179 AirPods 4 with ANC siblings (#MF410). You get the same, stylish redesigned earbuds for a super-comfortable fit and with…

From $329 (about £300) FROM hidock.com FEATURES Ethernet, 2x USB-A, 3x USB-C, dual HDMI 2, Bluetooth 5.2, microSD, SD4 You can upload recordings from the dock and have the AI service transcribe them The HiDock H1 is an interesting hybrid of two types of device that are both useful and all the more so when combined into a single unit. Sporting a retro design, the dock element consists of 11 ports and a power supply which can send a total of 118W – up to 100W PD to a notebook and 18W to a phone or iPad over USB-C. The port selection consists of 2.5Gbps Ethernet, two USB-A at 5Gbps and a USB-C at 10Gbps, dual HDMI 2 ports at up to 4K 60Hz for extended desktops and that 100W…

£144 per year FROM flowvoice.ai NEEDS Mac with an Apple M1 chip or later, macOS 11 or later Wispr Flow is a dictation tool for today’s multi-app world, and it’s incredibly accurate The promise of computer speech recognition has never quite delivered. Whether it was IBM ViaVoice hearing “new paragraph” and printing ‘uterus’, macOS’s dictation being almost but not quite good enough for us to quit using keyboards, or Siri putting all kinds of strange-sounding products into our shopping list in Reminders, dictation software has had issues with reliability. And apps aren’t context aware either, so they work the same in direct messages as they do in dissertations. Artificial intelligence (AI) has brought about a sea change in speech recognition. Large language models (LLMs) such as OpenAI’s Whisper deliver exceptional…

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