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Apple Silicon Macs Can’t Boot from the DFU Port

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Booting from an external SSD (hard disks are too slow) provides a convenient way to test specific versions of macOS or troubleshoot problems with your Mac’s internal storage. However, a little-known gotcha has caused untold hair loss among those trying to boot from an external drive. Macs with Apple silicon cannot start up from external drives connected to their DFU (device firmware update) USB-C port. The only way to determine which port this is on a given Mac is to look it up on Apple’s website. If your Mac won’t boot from an external drive, connect it to a different USB-C port.

(Featured image by iStock.com/ardasavasciogullari)

Social Media: If your Apple silicon Mac won’t boot from an external drive, the issue may be related to which USB-C port you’re using—the special DFU port cannot be used for booting from external drives. Learn how to identify that port on your Mac.

Make Sure to Check Settings on Multiple Devices

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We recently helped someone having trouble with 1Password requesting their password repeatedly on their iPad, but not on their iPhone. Since 1Password’s data syncs between devices, this person didn’t realize they needed to configure the app’s security settings separately for each device. It’s appropriate for 1Password to separate security settings—one device could be used in a much more sensitive environment than another—but it’s also easy to see how a user might be confused about the difference in behavior. All this is to say that if you are annoyed by an app or operating system behaving differently depending on the device you’re using, compare the settings and ensure they’re set appropriately for each device.

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

Social Media: Is your app behaving differently on different devices? The culprit might be device-specific settings. To avoid frustration, check and synchronize your preferences across all devices to ensure consistent behavior where appropriate.

Share Wi-Fi Network Passwords Using QR Codes

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A neat feature built into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS is that when you are connected to a Wi-Fi network, your devices will offer to share the Wi-Fi password if others near you try to connect to the same network. However, for this feature to work, they must be in your Contacts, and at times, it doesn’t activate as quickly as you’d like. Apple’s new Passwords app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac provides a manual alternative that may work better. Tap the Wi-Fi collection to see all your remembered networks, select the desired network, and tap Show Network QR Code. When others scan the QR code using their phones, they will instantly join the network.

(Featured image by iStock.com/PrathanChorruangsak)

Social Media: While Apple’s automatic sharing of Wi-Fi passwords feels like magic, it doesn’t work in every situation. For a more reliable manual approach, use the Show Network QR Code feature in the new Passwords app.

Don’t Assume That Top Google Search Results Are Guaranteed Safe

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We hate to encourage paranoia, but all is not well with Google Search. Recently, we’ve heard of multiple instances where people were nearly taken advantage of due to relying on the top result in a Google search. In one case, a user called a purported HP support phone number directly from the search results but ended up speaking with a scammer. In another, a user thought they were downloading the latest version of Dropbox but got malware instead. In neither case could we reproduce the error, but they may have resulted from “SEO poisoning,” a malicious technique in which cybercriminals manipulate search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to elevate harmful websites in search results. In short, don’t assume that a site at the top of Google search results is guaranteed safe when downloading software or contacting a company. It’s best to navigate directly to a company’s official website before trusting that corporate information and software downloads are legitimate.

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

Social Media: You know that the phrase “I read it on the Internet, so it must be true” is absurd, but you should extend that skepticism to Google search results. We’ve seen two recent instances of malicious content bubbling to the top of searches. Trust but verify.

With iOS 18.2 and Later, You Can Share the Location of Lost Items in Find My

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In iOS 18.2, Apple enhanced the Find My app, enabling you to create a temporary Web page that shares the location of a lost AirTag or other Find My-tracked item. You don’t need to know the person’s email address or share any other information, and the link automatically expires after a week. It’s a great way to enlist others in the search for a lost item, but the big win is sharing with an airline to help them track the location of misdirected luggage. It’s easy: open the Find My app, tap Items, select the desired AirTag or other item, tap Share Item Location, and then share the provided link via text message, email, or any other method. The item’s location automatically stops being shared if it’s reunited with you, or you can end sharing manually.

(Featured image by iStock.com/yacobchuk)

Social Media: The new Share Item Location feature in Find My enables you to share the location of a lost AirTag or another item tracked by Find My with anyone, including airline reps who can use it to locate lost luggage for you.

Apple Says More Personalized Siri Will Be Delayed

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As we’ve been covering Apple’s staged rollout of Apple Intelligence, one announced feature that has remained tantalizingly in the future is the enhanced version of Siri that would have onscreen awareness, understand your personal context, and be able to interact with apps. The company has quietly admitted that this new version of Siri isn’t ready yet and now says it anticipates rolling it out in the coming year. That probably means in conjunction with some version of iOS 19 and macOS 16, expected to debut in September 2025 and receive updates through early 2026. In short, don’t expect this new Siri anytime soon. We’d prefer to see Apple get Siri to succeed at all the tasks it’s supposed to handle now—too many of the things we try to do with Siri fail.

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

Social Media: If, like us, you’ve been eager to try the Apple Intelligence-enhanced version of Siri that Apple announced at its Worldwide Developer Conference in 2024, we’re sorry to say that we all have longer to wait.

Create Links to Selected Text in Long Web Pages

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If you have Control- or right-clicked on text in a Web browser in the last year or two, you may have seen an oddly named command: Copy Link to Highlight. When you choose it, it puts a URL on your clipboard, not just to that page, as Copy Link Address would, but also to the selected text. You can use this URL to make a link or share it directly, and when someone follows it, their browser scrolls to the selected text, simplifying navigation on a long page. For example, compare this link to Apple’s long Apple Watch faces page with this one that points directly to the Unity watch face most of the way down. All Web browsers can follow these links, but Google Chrome was the first to let you make them, and you’ll also find the feature in Arc, Microsoft Edge, and Vivaldi. Apple recently got on board with Safari 18’s Copy Link with Highlight command. The Link to Text Fragment extension adds the feature to other Chromium browsers and Firefox.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Arkadiusz Warguła)

Social Media: You can now create a link directly to text anywhere on a Web page with the handy Copy Link to Highlight command in many Web browsers. Here’s how to invoke the command and an example of why it’s so useful.

HomePods Can Alert You of Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms

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Although we think about HomePods as being useful for playing audio and responding to Siri commands for HomeKit devices, they can do more. HomePods can send a notification to your iPhone if their built-in microphones recognize the piercing squeals from smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. If you are away from home, that notification could help you alert neighbors and call 911, shaving minutes off response times. To turn the feature on, open the Home app, tap the ••• button in the upper-right corner, navigate to Safety & Security > Sound Recognition, and turn on the switches for Smoke & CO Alarm and any HomePods you have.

(Featured image by iStock.com/BrianAJackson)

Social Media: Apple’s HomePods can recognize the sound of a nearby smoke or carbon monoxide alarm and notify your iPhone, alerting you when you’re away and allowing you to inform emergency services and neighbors.

Apple Speed Bumps iPad with A16 and iPad Air with M3

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Apple has updated the iPad and iPad Air and introduced a new keyboard for the iPad Air.

The primary change to the 11th-generation iPad ($349) is the move from the previous model’s A14 Bionic chip to the A16, which is nearly 30% faster but still won’t support Apple Intelligence or some recent games. Apple also increased the base storage from 64 GB to 128 GB, dropped the Nano-SIM slot from the cellular models, and updated the wireless capabilities to support current protocol versions. Although the screen remains the same 10.9-inch diagonal size, Apple now refers to it as the “11-inch iPad.” It remains an excellent and affordable entry-level device.

The 7th generation of Apple’s flagship 11-inch ($599) and 13-inch ($799) iPad Air sees only a single change—swapping the previous model’s M2 chip for the M3 to increase performance, particularly for gaming and video creation. Separately, Apple introduced a less expensive Magic Keyboard for iPad Air that adds a 14-key function row and sports a larger trackpad, though it lacks the previous model’s backlit keys and trackpad haptics. The keyboard costs $269 for the 11-inch iPad Air or $319 for the 13-inch model.

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: Apple’s latest iPad and iPad Air updates make them faster and more appealing without increasing prices. If you’re in the market for an iPad, the iPad remains a steal and the iPad Air offers all the performance most people will ever need.

Apple Updates Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips

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In the first update to the Mac Studio since 2023, Apple has refreshed its professional powerhouse with new chip options and support for speedy Thunderbolt 5 peripherals. Previously, the Mac Studio was powered by the M2 Max and M2 Ultra; Apple has now replaced them with the M4 Max, which debuted last year in the MacBook Pro line, and the new M3 Ultra, which melds two M3 Max chips for the ultimate performance. According to Apple, the M3 Ultra version of the Mac Studio ($3,999) is up to 2.6 times faster than the initial M1 Ultra version and nearly twice as fast as the M4 Max configuration ($1,999) for workloads that take advantage of high CPU and GPU core counts. The M3 Ultra Mac Studio starts with 96 GB of unified memory and can be configured with up to 512 GB, plus up to 16 TB of storage, both more than ever before. If you need the fastest Mac possible, look no further.

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: Apple has updated the Mac Studio by swapping the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips for the M4 Max and new M3 Ultra. The M3 Ultra version also offers a new memory ceiling of 512 GB and a new storage max of 16 TB. It’s a monster machine.