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Look Up Apple Device Details in Mactracker

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It’s difficult for even those who work with Apple devices daily to remember all the details. What processors were available with the 2020 iMac? What resolutions did the Apple Thunderbolt Display support? What are the differences between the fifth and sixth generations of the iPad mini? To find the answers to these and many other questions quickly, turn to Ian Page’s free Mactracker app, an indispensable repository of information about Apple products. Versions are available for the Mac and the iPhone and iPad.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/Shahid Jamil)

Social Media: If you ever need to look up technical details about an Apple product, look no further than the Mactracker app, which provides specifications for every Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod ever made. It’s an indispensable free download.

Use the Hidden Album in Photos to Hide Private Images

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We’ve recently heard from people who have been embarrassed when they gave their iPhone to someone to swipe through some innocuous photos of a vacation, only to have the person swipe too far and end up at some NSFW (not safe for work) images. Ouch.

Embarrassment might be low on the list of problems such photos could cause. It’s not hard to imagine a male supervisor innocently sharing photos with a female employee but ending up embroiled in a sexual harassment situation if she were to stumble across the kinds of NSFW photos that regularly land politicians in hot water.

It’s safest to avoid taking NSFW photos to start, especially if the iPhone is a work-managed device. If that’s unrealistic, we recommend deleting any NSFW images from the iPhone as soon as feasible. A third option may be the best solution in the modern world—the Hidden album Apple provides in the Photos app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. On the iPhone and iPad, you’ll find it with other albums in the Utilities collection. On the Mac, it appears in the sidebar under Photos. (If you don’t see it, you may have hidden it—we explain how to unhide it below.)

There are four essential things to know about the Hidden album:

  • You don’t add photos to the Hidden album by dragging or using an Add to Album option. Instead, you choose Hide from a contextual menu. On the iPhone and iPad, touch and hold a photo (or a set of selected photos) and tap Hide in the menu that appears. Or tap the ••• button and choose Hide. On the Mac, select one or more photos, Control-click them, and choose Hide X Photos. To remove a photo from the Hidden album, use the same approach with the Unhide command.
  • Unlike regular albums, whose photos also appear in All Photos, photos in the Hidden album won’t appear anywhere else, including in searches. That’s the point of the feature.
  • You can hide or show the Hidden album on each of your devices independently. On the iPhone and iPad, control whether it shows up in the Utilities album collection with Settings > Photos > Show Hidden Album. In the Photos app on the Mac, control whether it appears in the sidebar using View > Show/Hide Hidden Photo Album. Obviously, if you’ve hidden the Hidden album, you must show it to look inside.
  • If you use the Hidden album, we strongly recommend protecting it (and the Recently Deleted album) with Face ID or Touch ID so only those with biometric access to your device can view it. On the iPhone and iPad, enable Settings > Photos > Use Face/Touch ID (see above). On the Mac, go to Photos > Settings > General and select “Use Touch ID or password.” Again, these settings are per-device, so what you set on the iPhone won’t automatically carry over to other devices. But really, turn it on everywhere.

Overall, the Hidden album is a welcome feature, and if you have any photos that could embarrass you if someone were to stumble across them, put them in the Hidden album and turn on the biometric protection.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/AlexZabusik)

Social Media: Although it’s safest to keep all NSFW images off your iPhone entirely, if you have photos that could be embarrassing or legally troublesome if the wrong person were to stumble across them, protect them using the Hidden album in Photos.

Consider Moving Your Mac’s Dock to the Side of the Screen

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For most of us, our Mac’s screen is wider than it is tall, so longer Web pages and documents often benefit from more room from top to bottom. To maximize the amount of usable vertical space and reduce the need to scroll as much, you can set the Dock to hide automatically and appear only when you move your pointer to the bottom of the screen. A better approach is to position your Dock on the side of your screen where it’s less likely to use space you’d prefer to have available for content. Many people prefer the right side, but you can also try the left to see how it works for you. The easy way to move the Dock is to Control-click its separator bar and choose the desired side from the Position on Screen menu.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/MikeLaptev)

Social Media: The default location of the Dock on the bottom of a Mac screen isn’t ideal because it takes valuable space that could contain content. Try hiding the Dock automatically or moving it to the side of the screen.

Convert Image Formats Directly in the Finder

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If you need to convert images to JPEG, PNG, or (unlikely) HEIF, try this hidden Finder feature: Control-click an image in one of those formats or other common image formats like TIFF, GIF, or PSD, and choose Quick Actions > Convert Image. A dialog lets you choose the destination format, the image size, and whether you want to preserve metadata. For straight conversions, stick with Actual Size, but if your goal is to shrink the file as well, you can choose a smaller image size. Leave Preserve Metadata selected unless you want to remove things like location metadata for privacy reasons. You can even select multiple files to convert them all at once.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/marekuliasz)

Social Media: A hidden feature of the macOS Finder lets you quickly convert selected images from their original format to JPEG, PNG, or HEIF. If you regularly need to convert images between formats, it could save you some time.

The Hardware You’ll Need to Run Apple’s 2023 Operating Systems

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At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June, the company unveiled the upcoming versions of its operating systems: macOS 14 Sonoma, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17. They won’t be available until September or October of 2023, and even once they ship, we recommend waiting a few weeks before upgrading your smaller Apple devices and holding off on macOS upgrades for a couple of months.

Regardless, it’s worth considering how these operating systems might impact your plans to buy new hardware in the next six months. Any Apple device you purchase now—or have bought in the last five years—can run the new operating systems. But some devices that can run the current macOS 13 Ventura, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16 won’t be upgradable to their replacements later this year. More importantly, some older devices that can be upgraded won’t support all the new features.

Here’s what you’ll need and compatibility gotchas to keep in mind.

macOS 14 Sonoma

For macOS 14 Sonoma, Apple has dropped support for Mac models released before 2018. That works out to five models across the iMac, MacBook Pro, and MacBook product lines. If you rely on one of those Macs and want to run Sonoma, think about when it would make sense to buy a new Mac, perhaps in early 2024. By then, all new Macs will likely ship with Sonoma. These Macs can run Sonoma:

  • iMac: 2018 and later
  • iMac Pro: 2017
  • MacBook: None
  • MacBook Air: 2018 and later
  • MacBook Pro: 2018 and later
  • Mac mini: 2018 and later
  • Mac Pro: 2019 and later
  • Mac Studio: 2022 and later

The specific 2017 Mac models that are stuck at Ventura are:

  • iMac: 21.5-inch and 27-inch
  • MacBook Pro: 13-inch and 15-inch
  • MacBook: 12-inch

Unsurprisingly, some new features in Sonoma require sufficient processing power that they work only on Macs with Apple silicon—one of the M1 or M2 chips.

  • Game Mode: This special mode automatically gives games top priority on the CPU and GPU, lowering usage for background tasks. It also reduces latency for wireless accessories, like game controllers and AirPods, for improved responsiveness.
  • Just “Siri”: Although dropping “Hey” from the “Hey Siri” trigger phrase works on all iPhones with iOS 17 and iPads with iPadOS 17, it requires a Mac with Apple silicon or when using the AirPods Pro (2nd generation).
  • Made for iPhone hearing aids: Apple-compatible hearing aids can now be paired directly with Macs, but only those with an M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, or M2. That works out to the MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021), MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021), Mac Studio (2022), and all Macs with the M2.
  • Presenter Overlay: You can keep your image visible while sharing your screen on a video call, either in front of the shared screen or in a small movable bubble.
  • React with your hands: During video calls, 3D augmented-reality reaction effects like hearts, confetti, and fireworks can be triggered with hand gestures, but only on Macs with Apple silicon or when using Continuity Camera with an iPhone 12 or later.
  • Screen Sharing performance improvements: Apple has radically improved the performance of the Screen Sharing app over high-bandwidth connections, but it requires the advanced media engine in Apple silicon.

If you’re unsure which Mac you have, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu.

iOS 17

With iOS 17, Apple has maintained the same cutoff date as Sonoma, supporting all iPhone models released in 2018 and later. That means you’ll be able to run iOS 17 on these iPhones:

  • iPhone 14/Plus/Pro/Pro Max
  • iPhone 13/mini/Pro/Pro Max
  • iPhone 12/mini/Pro/Pro Max
  • iPhone 11/Pro/Pro Max
  • iPhone SE (2nd generation or later)
  • iPhone XR/XS/XS Max

Practically speaking, these iOS 16-compatible devices won’t be able to upgrade to iOS 17:

  • iPhone X
  • iPhone 8/8 Plus

Several new iOS 17 features have more restrictive system requirements.

  • Enhanced autocorrect: iOS 17 enhances autocorrect so it works better (and yes, it will let you use curse words), and it temporarily underlines autocorrected words so you can see which ones were changed. It requires an iPhone 12 or later.
  • Inline predictions: Similarly, inline predictions of what you’re going to type—so you can just accept the suggestion rather than tapping out all those letters—require an iPhone 12 or later.
  • Point and Speak: Those with vision disabilities might appreciate the Point and Speak feature that makes it easier to interact with physical objects that have text labels, but it works only on the Pro models of the iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14.
  • React with your hands: The hand-triggered video call reactions require an iPhone 12 or later.

If you can’t remember which iPhone model you have, go to Settings > General > About and look next to Model Name. This works for the iPad, too.

iPadOS 17

It’s more involved to determine whether your iPad can upgrade to iPadOS 17 because there are four different iPad model types with varying capabilities. These models can run iPadOS 17:

  • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd–6th generation)
  • iPad Pro 11-inch (1st–3rd generation)
  • iPad Pro 10.5-inch
  • iPad Air (3rd–5th generation)
  • iPad (6th–10th generation)
  • iPad mini (5th & 6th generation)

While that list encompasses a lot of iPads, a simpler way to look at it is that only three iPad models that can run iOS 16 won’t be able to upgrade to iOS 17:

  • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation)
  • iPad Pro 9.7-inch
  • iPad (5th generation)

Because Apple extended overall iPadOS 17 compatibility somewhat further back than it did with iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, quite a few iPadOS 17 features work only on select models:

  • Back-to-back Siri requests: Although all iPhones will let you issue multiple requests to Siri without reactivating it, on the iPad, the feature works only on an iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), or iPad (8th generation and later).
  • Enhanced autocorrect: This improvement to typing requires an iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad (10th generation), iPad Air (4th generation and later), or iPad mini (6th generation).
  • External display cameras: If you want to take advantage of an external display’s camera while it’s attached to the iPad, you’ll need an iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), iPad (10th generation), iPad Air (4th generation and later), or iPad mini (6th generation).
  • FaceTime with Apple TV: Using an iPad’s mic and camera for FaceTime on an Apple TV 4K (2nd generation) requires an iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), iPad (8th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), or iPad mini (5th generation and later).
  • Inline predictions: Getting suggestions about what to type next on the iPad requires an iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad (10th generation), iPad Air (4th generation and later), or iPad mini (6th generation).
  • PDF AutoFill: iPadOS 17 will use machine learning to analyze PDFs, and if it detects a form, you can fill it out automatically using your contact information. But only if you’re using an iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), or iPad (8th generation and later).
  • React with your hands: As with the iPhone and Mac, only some models let you trigger reactions with gestures: the iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad (10th generation), iPad Air (4th generation and later), and iPad mini (6th generation).
  • Screen Distance: This health-related feature is supposed to encourage kids to hold the iPad farther away to reduce the likelihood of developing myopia. But how many kids read on an iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) or iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation and later)?

watchOS 10

The Apple Watch has a simple upgrade story: every model compatible with watchOS 9 can also run watchOS 10. That means everything from the Apple Watch Series 4 up through the Apple Watch Ultra, including the Apple Watch SE. (Look in the Watch app on your iPhone if you can’t remember which model you have.)

Two of the new features promised for watchOS 10 work only on specific models:

  • The NameDrop feature that lets you transfer contact information wirelessly with just proximity works with all iOS 17-compatible iPhones, but it can communicate only with an Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 6 or later, or Apple Watch Ultra.
  • The Time in Daylight feature that helps parents track whether their kids are spending the recommended 80–120 minutes per day outside requires an Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), Apple Watch Series 6 or later, or Apple Watch Ultra.

tvOS 17

As with the Apple Watch, the Apple TV upgrade situation is easy to understand: tvOS 17 will run on the Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K (1st and 2nd generation), just as with tvOS 16.

However, note that the promised option to let you use the mic and camera from an iPhone or iPad for FaceTime calls on the Apple TV works only if you have an Apple TV 4K (2nd generation). That might be the first real reason to upgrade from an older Apple TV.

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: Later this year, Apple will release macOS 14 Sonoma, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17. Here’s the hardware you’ll need to run these operating systems—and to support some of the whizzier features.

Apple Is Shutting Down My Photo Stream—Switch to iCloud Photos

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Apple has quietly announced that it is shutting down the My Photo Stream service, the company’s first iCloud-based effort at helping users sync photos between devices. My Photo Stream had numerous limitations but was free and didn’t count against iCloud storage quotas. If you’re still using My Photo Stream, note that photos will stop uploading as of June 26, and all My Photo Stream photos will be removed from iCloud on July 26; they’ll remain on your individual devices. Apple is encouraging all remaining My Photo Stream users to switch to iCloud Photos, which is more capable in every way but might require you to pay for additional iCloud+ storage to hold your photo library. Those who don’t want their photos in the cloud might check out Mylio Photos+. Contact us if you need assistance migrating to iCloud Photos or ensuring all your various photos are backed up securely.

(Featured image by iStock.com/mpiokpee)

Social Media: Still using My Photo Stream to sync photos between your Apple devices? Apple is shutting down the service in late June, and the path of least resistance is to switch to iCloud Photos, though that might require an iCloud+ subscription.

Need to Mask Nearby Noise? Try Ventura’s Background Sounds

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Do you have trouble concentrating at work because of a loud office environment? Or do you work at home and want to block out the sounds of kids or appliances? In macOS 13 Ventura, Apple added background sounds you can play to mask what’s going on around you. Go to System Settings > Accessibility > Audio and enable Background Sounds. You can pick a sound, set the volume, and select an option to turn the sound off when your Mac is inactive. Next time you’re mentally stewing over it being too loud to work, try this feature. A pair of AirPods (Pro or Max, in particular) might be helpful, too. If you find background sounds helpful but want more variety, look for websites like A Soft Murmur or apps like Noizio.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Apiwan Borrikonratchata)

Social Media: It can be hard to concentrate on your work in a loud office environment or with kids playing in the next room. In macOS 13 Ventura, Apple added background sounds that can help mask the noise around you—give them a try!

Make Sure to Back Up iPhone Photos on Your Mac

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If your iPhone were to be stolen or suffer an unfortunate accident, would you lose all your precious photos? Those using iCloud Photos are probably shaking their heads smugly, thinking that all those baby and vacation photos are backed up securely in iCloud. iCloud Photos does indeed store a copy of all your photos, but you shouldn’t assume that everything in it is completely protected. Although it’s extremely unlikely that Apple’s systems would fail so that you’d lose anything, the contents of your iCloud account aren’t as safe as would be ideal.

An Aside to Explain Why iCloud Isn’t Perfectly Secure

Recently, Wall Street Journal reporters Joanna Stern and Nicole Nguyen covered a troubling form of crime aimed at iPhone users in an article (paywalled) and accompanying video. Thieves hang out in bars, looking for users who tap in their passcodes instead of using Face ID or Touch ID. Once they’ve learned someone’s passcode with surreptitious shoulder surfing, they grab the iPhone and run. As soon as they’re clear, they use the passcode to change the user’s Apple ID password and enable or reset a recovery key, which prevents the user from employing Find My to locate and lock the iPhone. Worse, with the passcode, they can make purchases with Apple Pay, access all passwords in iCloud Keychain, and use other information on the iPhone to facilitate identity theft. It’s a disaster.

But it gets worse, as the reporters detail in a new Wall Street Journal article (paywalled) and video. By enabling a recovery key, the thief disables Apple’s normal account recovery process for resetting the Apple ID password. In other words, if this were to happen to you, along with all the financial losses and headaches, you would lose access to your iCloud account, possibly forever, and with it, all your photos in iCloud. With luck, Apple will block this attack soon.

For now, follow this commonsense advice to reduce the chances of being victimized:

  • Pay attention to your iPhone’s physical security in public.
  • Always use Face ID or Touch ID in public.
  • If you must enter your passcode in public, conceal it from anyone nearby.
  • Never share your passcode beyond highly trusted family members.

Backing Up Your iPhone Photos

As with so many other modern ills, good backups go a long way toward minimizing the pain of problems. They won’t prevent someone from stealing your iPhone or locking you out of your account, but if that were to happen, at least you won’t lose all your photos!

There are two possible backup scenarios. Using iCloud Photos and downloading originals to your Mac is easiest but requires that you pay Apple for more storage if you have more than a handful of photos. If you don’t use iCloud Photos, you can just back up your iPhone to your Mac or, better yet, import images into Photos on the Mac and then sync them back. It’s more work and fussier, but doesn’t cost anything.

  • iCloud Photos: When using iCloud Photos, the trick to protecting your pictures is to sync the originals with your Mac. In Photos > Settings/Preferences > iCloud, select Download Originals to this Mac. The only downside of this approach is that you need enough disk space on your Mac to hold them all; if that’s not the case, you may need to move your system Photos Library to an external hard drive.
  • iPhone-only photos: If you aren’t using iCloud Photos, the best approach is to connect your iPhone to your Mac using a USB-to-Lightning cable or Wi-Fi and then import new snapshots into Photos on your Mac manually (select the iPhone in the Photos sidebar). It’s helpful to remove the original photos from the iPhone with the Delete Items checkbox after importing so you can manage them solely on the Mac.

    Then you can sync all the photos (or just desired ones, if your iPhone is low on space) back to your iPhone using the Finder. First, select the iPhone in a Finder window’s sidebar. Then click Photos in the button bar at the top, and select “Sync photos to your device from Photos” along with “All photos and albums” and “Include videos” in the options below. Finally, click Apply or Sync.

    Technically speaking, backing up your iPhone to your Mac without syncing to Photos also backs up your photos, but the only way to get them back is to restore a backup onto an iPhone. It’s much better to have all the photos accessible in Photos too.

Either way, once the photos are on your Mac, you should back up all your data using Time Machine, an Internet service like Backblaze, or a third-party app like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper. If you’re concerned about the quality of your backups for preserving photos, contact us for advice.

(Featured image by iStock.com/metamorworks)

Social Media: With new reports of iPhone theft victims being locked out of their iCloud accounts, it’s all the more important that you copy your iPhone photos to a Mac and then back up that Mac.

How to Turn Mail’s Rich Website Previews into Plain Links

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Sometimes apps can be too helpful. Apple’s Mail on the Mac likes to turn pasted URLs into graphically rich previews, and sometimes that’s OK. But other times, the preview is confusing or takes up too much space. Or you may want to send a plain link so the recipient can see its text. There are three ways to avoid rich link previews:

  • Before pasting a URL into your message, type a space or any other text. Mail converts URLs to rich previews only when they’re on a line by themselves.
  • Hover over the preview, click the down-pointing arrow that appears, and choose Convert to Plain Link from the pop-up menu.
  • In Mail > Settings > Composing, change the Message Format pop-up menu to Plain Text. Although this eliminates rich link previews, it also prevents you from including formatting and images.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

Social Media: Annoyed by how Apple’s Mail on the Mac turns pasted URLs into rich link previews? We offer three ways to avoid them.

Reveal Your Desktop Quickly with a Keyboard Shortcut

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The Mac’s Desktop is a remarkably useful place. It’s a good spot for in-progress documents, screenshots, images dragged out of Web pages, and more. However, app windows tend to obscure the Desktop, making it harder to use. There are two quick ways you can temporarily hide windows, making it easy to access icons on the Desktop. In macOS 13 Ventura, in System Settings > Desktop & Dock, click the Shortcuts button at the bottom and assign a keyboard shortcut to Show Desktop (we like the Right Option key). Or click Hot Corners and choose Desktop for one of the corners. (In macOS 12 Monterey and earlier, look in System Preferences > Mission Control.) Then, press that keyboard shortcut or put your pointer in that corner to move your windows aside temporarily. When you’re done, press the key or move the pointer there again to put the windows back.

(Featured image based on an original by iStock.com/AmnajKhetsamtip)

Social Media: The Mac’s Desktop is a great place for in-progress documents, screenshots, and other things you’re working on, but only if you can get to it easily. Read on for two little-known tricks for temporarily pushing windows aside.