"Open to Club Members and their accompanied guests!" 

This Week @ MacsWest
Teaching, Helping, Learning and Having Fun! 

 • Monday, FEBRUARY 24, 2020
     9:30AM — “Messages in iOS,” taught by Marcine Fennel. Learn how to create and send a text message and then how to add some spice to your texts. Until 11:30 AM in Computer Center Room C @ Palm Ridge Rec Center. To sign up, click here —> Class Signup, then click on the cute little mouse

 • Tuesday, FEBRUARY 25, 2020
     1:00 PM – MacsWest TIDBIT TUESDAY, hosted by David Morin,  until 2:00 PM, in the Computer Center Meeting Room D @ Palm Ridge Rec Center. These weekly sessions offer a short report on What’s New from Apple, followed by a quick lesson on the effective use of your Mac or iPad/iPhone, and then provide an opportunity for Club members to ask ANY question about their Apple devices or Apple apps. Our attitude is: “The only dumb question is the one you didn’t ask!”
     2:15 PM – macOS SKILLS: “SYSTEM PREFERENCES,” led by Bruce & Bill, until 3:00 PM or so, in Computer Center Room C @ Palm Ridge Rec Center

 • Wednesday, FEBRUARY 26, 2020
     10:00 AM – SENIOR GENIUS BAR until 11:30 AM in Computer Center Room C @ Palm Ridge Rec Center. Hosted by the usual suspects, these sessions are a local alternative to Apple’s Genius Bar. We’re here to help solve your Apple device and Apple app problems. Drop in for a one-on-one session with a “Genius” [insert quiet chuckle here] and get all the help you need. Be sure to bring your list of IDs and passwords
     12:30 PM — PC General Meeting, in Summit A  

 • Thursday, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 
     9:30 AM — CLASS: iOS Pages (intermediate level), taught by Marcine Fennel.In this class we will dig deeper into the powerful Pages app by manipulating Text, Shapes, Tables and Media. You must know the basics of iOS Pages before taking this class. Until 11:30 AM in the Computer Center Room C @ Palm Ridge Rec Center. To sign up, click here —> Class Signup, then click on the cute little mouse

 • Friday, FEBRUARY 28, 2020
   1:00 PM – MacsWest REGULAR MEETING led by MacsWest Chair Nick Gruin,followed by “What’s New In Catalina” by Marcine Fennel.  Until 2:00 PM in the Computer Center Meeting Room D @ Palm Ridge Rec Center
   2:15 PM – iOS SKILLS: “FILES,” led by Nick Gruin, until 3:00 PM or so, in Computer Center at Room C @ Palm Ridge Rec Center

Apple has announced that soon you’ll be able to plug thumb drives, external disk drives, and SD cards directly into your iPad. The functionality, which was announced onstage at WWDC 2019, will be particularly useful for photographs, allowing you to import photos into an app like Lightroom directly from your camera’s SD card without having to use a Siri Shortcut.

The functionality is coming with Apple’s new operating system for the iPad called iPadOS, which also includes an improved Files app that will make files easier to manage once they’re on the tablet. If you want to transfer it onward from the device, then iCloud has been updated with support for folder sharing. 

The iPad’s file management has been a key sticking point as Apple has transitioned its tablet toward becoming a laptop replacement. When we reviewed last year’s iPad Pro, for example, the only support it had for external storage was to import photos directly to the camera roll. Native support for external storage will go a long way in making the iPad feel like a genuine laptop replacement rather than just a capable tablet

Apple is making a huge change to its new iPadOS, introducing mouse support for both USB and Bluetooth devices. iOS developer Steve Troughton-Smith discovered the new mouse support in iPadOS today, and it reportedly works with USB mice, devices like Apple’s Magic Trackpad, and wireless Bluetooth mice.

Apple adding mouse support to iPadOS is significant, even though it’s an accessibility feature for now. Apple has implemented this support as an AssistiveTouch feature, and the cursor looks like a typical touch target you’d find in iOS. It’s designed to simulate a finger touch, so you can use a mouse to do this instead. Many iPad owners have been asking for some type of cursor support for years, and this could be the start of Apple supporting this more broadly across its new iPadOS.

The next version of macOS will be called Catalina. Apple officially unveiled the new update onstage at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) today. The biggest new feature for macOS 10.15 is the addition of iPad app support. The project was previously codenamed “Marzipan,” but it’s now called Catalyst. It’s a new way for developers to port their iPad apps over to the Mac. Developers will be able to use Xcode to target their iPad apps at macOS Catalina.

Twitter is planning to bring its iOS Twitter app to the Mac, and Atlassian is also bringing its Jira iPad app to macOS Catalina. It’s not clear how many developers will support this app porting initially, but Apple is certainly encouraging developers to bring their iPad apps to the Mac. Apple only showed 3 apps on stage today, though.

Apple is also introducing new Apple Music, Podcasts, and Apple TV apps in macOS Catalina, replacing the aging iTunes app. These apps work mostly as you’d expect. Podcasts gains local indexing support, and Apple Music looks a lot like iTunes without all the extra features. The Apple TV app has no sidebar, and it supports 4K HDR playback with HDR 10, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos. 

If you were hoping to use your iPad on a Mac, then Apple is introducing a new Sidecar feature that lets you use your iPad as a secondary display. Popular third-party options like Luna or Duet Display have long supported this on macOS, but Apple is introducing this natively now. 

An iPad can now be used as an extended display for Mac, and you’ll even be able to use the Apple Pencil and iPad as a drawing tablet on supported Mac apps. Apps like Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Illustrator, and iWork will all fully support Sidecar, and it all runs wirelessly so it’s easy to use on the go if you want to combine a MacBook and an iPad as a secondary display.

Catalina also introduces a new way to control a Mac entirely with your voice. It’s designed as an accessibility feature, but you can use it to control macOS by just sitting back and speaking.

Alongside these bigger features, Apple is also combining its Find My Friends and Find My iPhone apps into a single “Find My” app on iOS and macOS. An activation lock is also coming to Macs, so if your laptop gets stolen it’s useless. Even Photos is getting updated with a new browsing view, and Notes has a new gallery view. Reminders is also being improved with some design tweaks and updates.

This new 10.15 update comes a year after Apple unveiled macOS 10.14 Mojavewith a new dark mode, Apple News, and a redesigned App Store. macOS Catalina certainly has a lot more refinement, especially on the app side. If developers use Apple’s new Catalyst support to bring iPad apps to macOS Catalina, then this will be one of the most important macOS updates ever released.

Today at WWDC, Apple introduced a new single sign-on (or SSO) tool called “Sign In with Apple,” designed to authenticate users to apps while sharing a minimum of personal data with third parties. It’s a direct competitor to simpler services offered by Facebook and Google, which were called out by name on stage, and part of Apple’s broader effort to brand itself as a privacy-conscious alternative to those companies. The new system will be available across apps as well as on the web.

As described onstage by Apple software chief Craig Federighi, users would encounter the service as a simple sign-in button, presented as an alternative to setting up a persistent username and password for a given service. But where Google and Facebook use those buttons to link you to your broader advertising profile, Apple’s service is designed to give the minimum necessary data.

The system won’t even share your email, instead directing each app to a different redirect email address operated by Apple. With a different redirect for each app, it would be far more difficult for third parties to correlate information by comparing emails. And when a user wants to cut ties with an app, breaking the redirect will sever the connection entirely.

It’s unclear how or if Apple plans to make money from the system. But simply presenting a new sign-on tool could present serious problems for Google and Facebook, which have often used SSO systems to bundle their own code and API calls into outside apps, gaining a wealth of ad-tracking data in the process. For anyone switching over, that data will largely rest with Apple, which will oversee the tool — but executives are betting you trust Apple with the data more than ad-funded companies like Google and Facebook.

It’s part of a broader push toward services from Apple, which came to a head at the Show Time event in March. That event saw new subscription services offered for TV, games and news, as well as the Apple Card in finance, a notable shift from the company’s traditional focus on hardware. In many of those cases, Apple has attempted to position itself as a “privacy provider,” a trustworthy alternative to its scandal-plagued competitors.

Apple’s iOS 13 is getting a dark mode, the company announced today at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose. Confirming an earlier leak, the new dark mode will be system-wide and can be turned on or off from iOS’s Settings or through a new Control Center toggle. Once enabled, Dark Mode will change the color of the Home screen dock, the background colors of iOS screens, and Apple’s built-in apps like Apple Music, Notes, Messages, Photos, Calendar, Music and more.

Other system features have also been prepped for Dark Mode like the dock and share sheet, so it’s a seamless experience.

Meanwhile, Apple iOS developers will be able to customize their own apps for Dark Mode by way of Apple’s newly announced framework, SwiftUI, also announced today.

Dark themes for apps have become fairly popular, thanks to the rise of OLED smartphones in recent years. Because a dark mode lights up fewer pixels, it can help conserve battery life on phones’ OLED screens. Dark themes may have other benefits as well, in terms of decreasing device addiction and improving sleep, some claim.

Apple is not the first to launch a system-wide dark mode, however. At Google’s developer conference in May, the company introduced Dark Theme for Android Qwhich will work across its mobile OS and in first-party Android apps, with developers able to code for it in their own applications.

Several third-party apps today support darker themes of their own, including Twitter, YouTube, Google, Medium, Reddit, Wikipedia, Instapaper, Pocket, IMDb, iBooks, Kindle, Google Maps, Waze and Opera Mini.

As the iPad comes up on ten years since its introduction, the hardware has reached bold new heights but the software has been the limiting factor. Onstage at WWDC in San Jose, Apple announced that iPad’s software will now exist inside its own vertical OS.

iPadOS.

The new OS doesn’t look dramatically different from iOS 12, this actually might be the most low-key update that they’ve had in a while, but the name change undoubtedly makes it easier for Apple to introduce functionality to iPads that won’t exist in any capacity on the iPhone.

It’s all about focus and the fact that the company’s tablets are getting even more powerful than their macOS counterparts. It didn’t make a ton of sense for the iPad to be held back by the iPhone.

What’s new in iPadOS that you’ll get kind of excited about?

• Chances are the best update is that desktop sites are now the default in Safari, hallelujah!!
• You’ll be able to bring widgets to the home screen that are just a swipe away. You’ll also be able to fit more app icons on each screen.
• Changes in iPadOS include an update to the Files app which will allow you share folders in iCloud drive, there’s a new column view and you’ll be able to grab files from USB-C flash drives.
• You’ll be able to bring up multiple windows of the same app, which wasn’t previously possible and there are a lot of small interface changes that make it easier to multi-task with your larger screen real estate.
• Apple Pencil latency is dropping from 20ms to 9ms, Apple is bringing a PencilKit developer API so that third-party app developers can integrate some new controls.

Again, these changes aren’t too wild, but the unshackling from the iPhone is really going to spell good things for tablet computing moving forward.

It’s honestly a little odd they chose this year to make this name change given how subtle many of the changes are, but for developers the changes are going to undoubtedly grow more important as the bifurcation of iOS and iPadOS allows them to bring more robust gestures and inter-app functionality to what they’re building.

Apple is bringing a number of new tools to the Apple Watch as part of watchOS 6, many of which will help the watch run more independently of the iPhone. The Watch will have its own App Store, a calculator with tip tools, an audiobooks app, and Apple's Voice Memos app, for more subtly recording audio (check local laws). It's also adding a pair of new health tools. Cycle Tracker adds tools for tracking periods and fertility -- tools that are also being added to the iOS Health app. A new Noise app uses the built-in microphone to measure environmental sound and warn you when the decibels are too high and could hurt your hearing. Apple says it does this by sampling audio and does not record anything.

Apple has today unveiled tvOS 13, the newest Apple TV operating system, on stage at its WWDC 2019 keynote. Earlier on today’s keynote, Apple previewed one of its original shows, “For All Mandkind”, that’s coming to Apple TV in the Fall.

 The new version of tvOS will have support for multiple users, every user gets their own “up next” queue. Switching between users can be done through a brand new Control Center that’s available in tvOS 13. Other content that’s personalized includes Music, which will also display lyrics in sync with the music that’s being played.

Apple is also extending support for Xbox One and Playstation DualShock 4 game controllers that will be able to control games on Apple TV, including those available in Apple Arcade, to be launched later this year.

Apple TV is also getting beautiful underwater HDR screensavers produced in a partnership with BBC Natural History.

As expected, Apple is replacing its once groundbreaking, often bemoaned audio and video app, iTunes. 

After 18 years, the app will be phased out and replaced with three separate apps that are familiar to iOS users: Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Podcasts. The iTunes Store app will still exist on iOS, and Apple says the store will also continue to exist on Macs as an entry in the Finder's sidebar. 

iPod touch fans, your day has finally come. Apple just announced an updated version of the iPod touch that bumps up the processor to an A10 Fusion chip (for reference, that’s the same one that’s found in the iPhone 7) along with a new 256GB storage option. 

It’s the first update to Apple’s iPod product since the sixth-generation iPod touch was released in July 2015. Aside from those two changes, it appears that Apple is leaving the rest of the iPod touch alone: it has the same bezeled 4-inch display, home button, and cameras. 

While today’s refresh announcement only brings the iPod touch in line with the iPhone 7 — the least-powerful iPhone that Apple currently sells — the A10 chip does provide enough firepower for a few new features, including Group FaceTime calls and Apple’s ARKit augmented reality apps, both of which were previously unavailable on the iPod touch. The company says that, compared to the older model, the updated version will offer up to two times faster CPU performance and up to three times faster graphics. 

Apple is highlighting its upcoming Apple Arcade gaming subscription service as a key part of the device, which is likely a reason for the spec boost: to make sure that the new iPod touch can still run all those games. It makes sense, given Apple’s recent focus on subscriptions as a new revenue source going forward. 

Is it a true next-generation iPod touch that some may have hoped for with the hardware and design of the latest iPhones? No. But the spec bump means it’ll run the next few versions of iOS without too many issues, and the recycled design will keep the price low, making it a good entry-level option. 

The updated iPod touch starts at $199 for the 32GB model, $299 for 128GB of storage, and $399 for the new 256GB option.

Have you been waiting for the public release of iOS 12.3? If so, today is your day. Apple has released iOS 12.3 to everyone after six developer betas. Read on for a roundup of all the new features you’ll get with iOS 12.3.

In addition to iOS 12.3, Apple today is also releasing watchOS 5.2.1, macOS Mojave 10.14.5, and tvOS 12.3. The third-generation Apple TV 3 is also getting a new 7.3 software version.

Headlining today’s releases is the new TV application on iOS 12.3, tvOS 12.3, and Apple TV Software 7.3. The new TV app includes Apple TV Channels, a feature that simplifies streaming video subscription services by bringing them all into a single app. The billing is handled by Apple, and all of the content is hosted by Apple and viewed in the TV application itself.

At launch, Apple TV Channels supports the likes of HBO, Showtime, Stars, Cinemax, Epix, Smithsonian, Acorn TV, and more. As time progresses, we can expect more services to be added. Most of the services include free trial periods, as well. HBO specifically is unique because it includes support for downloading content offline.

Other changes in the new TV application include a refreshed interface with a focus on curation and personalized recommendations, as well as a new dedicated Kids section with handpicked content safe for viewers of all ages.

iOS 12.3 also features bug fixes and improvements for Apple News+, Apple Music, Apple TV Remote, AirPlay 2, CarPlay, and more. In conjunction with today’s update, Samsung has also debuted the TV application and AirPlay 2 support on compatible smart televisions.

In addition to iOS 12.3 and the Apple TV updates, Apple today is also releasing watchOS 5.2.1. That update will further expand the ECG and irregular heart beat notifications of Apple Watch to Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Croatia, and Iceland.

Apple has also released HomePod OS 12.3 today, which includes support for joining “some types of enterprise networks that require unique credentials.”

Lastly, Apple is releasing macOS 10.14.5, which focuses primarily on bug fixes and performance improvements. The Mac won’t gain its own TV application until later this year with macOS 10.15.

With these releases now out in the open, attention will now shift to iOS 13, watchOS 6, tvOS 13, and macOS 10.15. Apple will officially unveil each of those updates at WWDC in just a few weeks.

Complete Article HERE

Apple has canceled the AirPower product completely, citing difficulty meeting its own standards.

Matthew Panzarino@panzer

“After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward,” said Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering in an emailed statement today.

After a delay of over a year since it was first announced in September of 2017, the AirPower charging mat has become something of a focal point for Apple’s recent habit of announcing envelope tickling products and not actually shipping them on time. The AirPods, famously, had a bit of a delay before becoming widely available, and were shipped in limited quantities before finally hitting their stride and becoming a genuine cultural moment.

AirPower, however, has had far more time to marinate in the soup of public opinion since it was announced. Along with recent MacBook keyboard troubles, this has functioned as a sort of flash point over discussion that something isn’t right with Apple’s hardware processes.

Everything I’ve personally heard (Apple is saying nothing officially) about the AirPower delay has been related to tough engineering problems related to the laws of physics. Specifically, I’ve heard that they ran too hot because the 3D charging coils in close proximity to one another required very, very cautious power management.

Obviously, it would do Apple very little good to release a charging mat that caused devices to overheat, perhaps even to the point of damage. So, it has canceled the project.

Today we see updates for all your Apple devices — Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and even Apple Watch. 

 Almost all of Apple’s big announcements today were software-based — the titanium Apple Card and the new TV shows were the exceptions — but very few of those announcements will be available today, or even soon. In the U.S. and Canada, you’ll be able to  sign up for the new Apple News+ subscription today, but that’s about it.   

Let’s see what else is new.

iOS 12.2

There are a bunch of new additions to iOS 12.2, including adding Logitech Crayon support to the 2018 iPad Pro, which is petty wild. But in terms of today’s news and TV announcements, here are the highlights:

• AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support for third-party TVs.
• Support for Hey Siri with AirPods 2.
• New Apple News+ app.
• Apple Pay for transit in some U.S. cities.
• Apple Card support, and new Apple Pay Cash interface.
• Air Quality display in the Maps app.
• Way better-sounding audio messages.
• Four new Animoji.

macOS 10.14.4

• Safari Autofill using Touch ID
• Automatic dark mode activation in Safari (for websites that have dark themes available).

tvOS

• Ask Siri to play specific media from an iPhone or iPad.

watchOS 5.2

• New Hermès watch faces

Apple has finally refreshed its regular iMac desktops, offering new processors and graphics chips for the 21.5-inch and 27-inch models.

The 21.5-inch iMac now features either an 8th Gen quad-core i3 or six-core i5 processor and either a Radeon Pro 555X GPU or a Radeon Pro 560X by default. But customers who want more power can configure a custom model with up to a six-core i7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and AMD’s Radeon Pro Vega 20 GPU (with 4GB of memory). It’s similar spec options to what Apple already has on the refreshed Mac Mini — just with a 4K display built-in.

The 27-inch iMac can gets Intel’s six core i5 processor to start across the board — 8th Gen on the two lower configurations, and 9th Gen on the highest, $2,299 prebuilt option, although Apple is also offering upgrades to Intel’s latest 9th Gen, eight-core i9 processor processors (for a price.) Graphics on the 27-inch models are Radeon Pro 570X, 575X, and 580X GPUs for prebuilt models, although AMD’s Radeon Pro Vega 48 GPU (with 8GB of memory) is available as custom option for the highest configuration.

Adobe really wants you to know that the upcoming Photoshop CC for the iPad, which was announced today and is set to be released sometime in 2019, is “real Photoshop.”

The phrase “real Photoshop” came up several times during my week-long preview of an early version of the software giant’s long-awaited app. The underlying code is the same as desktop Photoshop, and although the interface has been rethought for the iPad, the same core tools line the edges of the screen.

But the biggest change of all is a total rethinking of the classic .psd file for the cloud, which will turn using Photoshop into something much more like Google Docs. Photoshop for the iPad is a big deal, but Cloud PSD is the change that will let Adobe bring Photoshop everywhere.

Bringing a program like Photoshop to the iPad is a monumental task. The project started 18 months ago when two Adobe engineers asked to carve out time to bring the Photoshop codebase to the iPad. “There was just a lot of doubt until what we call the “proof of life” moment,” says Scott Belsky, Adobe’s chief product officer. Senior director Pam Clark agrees: “We fully admit we were surprised when the engineers showed up, and it was quite powerful and smooth.” That “proof of life” product inspired the design team to start focusing on the app’s user experience, with each new build focusing on a different Photoshop workflow.

Read the full story here: 

How Apple’s Safari browser will try to thwart data tracking

NEW YORK (AP) — New privacy features in Apple’s Safari browser seek to make it tougher for companies such as Facebook to track you.

Companies have long used cookies to remember your past visits. This can be helpful for saving sign-in details and preferences. But now they’re also being used to profile you in order to fine-tune advertising to your tastes and interests.

Cookie use goes beyond visiting a particular website. As other sites embed Facebook “like” and “share” buttons, for instance, Facebook’s servers are being pinged and can access your stored cookies. That means Facebook now knows you frequent celebrity gossip sites or read news with a certain political bent. Ads can be tailored to that.

Here’s how Safari is getting tougher in dealing with that.

NO MORE GRACE PERIOD

Safari used to wait 24 hours from your last visit to a service before blocking that service’s cookies on third-party sites. That effectively exempted Facebook, Google and other services that people visited daily. Now, Safari will either block the cookie automatically or prompt you for permission.

Apple says Safari will still be able to remember sign-in details and other preferences, though some websites have had to adjust their coding.

THWARTING FINGERPRINTING

Browsers typically reveal seemingly innocuous information about your device, such as the operating system used and fonts installed. Websites use this to make minor adjustments in formatting so that pages display properly.

Browsers have historically made a lot of information available, largely because it seemed harmless. Now it’s clear that all this data, taken together, can be used to uniquely identify you. Safari will now hide many of those specifics so that you will look no different from the rest.

It’s like a system that digitally blurs someone’s image, said Lance Cottrell, creator of the privacy service Anonymizer. “You can tell it’s a person and not a dog, but you can’t recognize a person’s face,” he said.

For instance, Safari will reveal only the fonts that ship with the machine, not any custom fonts installed.

MASKING WEB ADDRESSES

When visiting a website, the browser usually sends the web address for the page you were just on. This address can be quite detailed and reveal the specific product you were exploring at an e-commerce site, for instance.

Now, Safari will just pass on the main domain name for that site. So it would be just “Amazon.com” rather than the specific product page at Amazon.

CLOSING A LOOPHOLE

Some ad companies have sought to bypass restrictions on third-party cookies — that is, identifiers left by advertisers — by using a trick that routed them through a series of websites. That could make a third-party cookie look like it belonged to a site you’re visiting. Safari will now try to catch that.

The changes come Tuesday as part of the iOS 12 update for iPhones and iPads and a week later in the Mojave update for Mac computers.

Many of the safeguards will be limited to cookies that Apple deems to be trackers. That’s being done to reduce the likelihood of inadvertently blocking legitimate third-party cookies.

The new smartwatch is set to bring a series of new features to your wrist and a 30 percent larger screen.

If your heart's beating faster, the new Apple Watch Series 4 will be able to tell. The latest Apple Watch packs several new features, with the most obvious change on its surface: a redesigned face to put much more screen on your wrist. 

It's about time. 

The tech giant on Wednesday unveiled its new Apple Watch Series 4 from the Steve Jobs Theater in its Apple Park headquarters. The new watch has a larger face, and features its own Electrocardiogram and Fall Detection. It'll also have new speakers and a processor chip that boasts much faster speeds for the watch. 

It'll start at $399 for the Series 4 model, $499 for the LTE model. Preorders will start on Sept. 14, and the watches will be available on Sept. 21.

Apple has an entire section dedicated to helping you take great photos with your iPhones. Each video tutorial is under a minute.

Click here to go to the Apple Video Site.  

(Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on Friday said component failure in a limited number of MacBook Pros has caused built-in battery to expand, adding, it will offer worldwide free replacement for such batteries. 

Apple said the flaw, reported in some 13-inch Macbook Pros without touch bars, is not a safety issue. 

The affected units were manufactured between October 2016 and October 2017, Apple said on its support page, without giving the actual number of MacBooks affected. 

The iPhone maker previously came under scrutiny after it confirmed in December that software to deal with aging batteries in iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE models could slow down performance. The company later apologized and lowered the price of battery replacements for affected models to $29 from $79. 

Want a new Apple device but don't want to shell out for a full-priced version? Consider a refurbished model instead.

Read the complete article here. How to shop at the Apple Certified Refurbished store online and save money 

It only takes a minute or two to set up.

If you aren’t using two-factor authentication to protect your Apple ID and iCloud account, you really should do it today. Hackers who claim to have millions of stolen iCloud credentials are demanding Apple pay a ransom or they’ll release them—and ZDNet obtained a sample set of credentials and determined they’re real.

But guess what? Using two-factor authentication should protect you completely. It’s easy to set up, so take a minute and do it now.

You used to be able to set up two-factor on the account settigs page at appleid.apple.com, but now this has to be done on a Mac or iOS device. (Apple ID users who don’t have a compatible device can still use an older two-step verification system—see below for more.)

iOS

Follow these steps on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch running iOS 9 or later. The iOS device must be protected with a passcode (Settings > Touch ID and Passcode).

IDG

1. Launch the Settings app, and go to iCloud. Obviously you need to be signed in with the account you want to protect with two-factor authentication
2. Tap your Apple ID. It doesn’t really look like a button, but it is. Then tap Password & Security in the next menu.
3. Tap Turn on two-factor authentication. You’ll see an explanation screen, and tap Continue.
4. You may be asked to verify your identity by answering the security questions you set up when you created your Apple ID.
5. Next, enter a phone number where you can receive a text message or a phone call with a two-factor code. You can also specify if you want a text or a call. Then you’ll get that text message or call, and enter the six-digit verification code on the next screen.
6. That’s it! Two-factor is on, and this is your official Trusted Device. The next time you sign on to iCloud.com, or set up your iCloud account on a new device, you’ll have to first enter your username and password, and then be prompted to enter a code. That code will come in a pop-up on your trusted device, texted/phoned to the number you provided, or, you can come back to this screen and tap Get Verification Code.

Mac

Setting this up on a Mac is nearly the same steps as on an iOS device. The Mac must be running OS X 10.11, El Capitan.

IDG

1. Open System Preferences and select iCloud. Click the Account Details button, and sign in if prompted.
2. In the Security tab, click the button labeled Turn on two-factor authentication. Read the message and click Continue.
3. Verify your identity by answering your security questions.
4. Enter a phone number you can use to receive verification codes, and choose if you want to get text messages or calls.
5. Enter the code that’s sent you to right away to finish up.

IDG

What if my device is too old?

If your Mac isn’t running El Capitan, or your iOS device isn’t running iOS 9, you can still use two-step verification, which is slightly different than two-factor authentication, mostly because it relies on a text message being sent to a phone number, while the newer “authentication” is baked more seamlessly into the OSes. Plus, the older verification method requires you to hold onto a Recovery Key in case you ever lose your password.

IDG

You can read more about the differences from Apple as well as from our own Glenn Fleishman.

Apple still provides a way to enable two-step verification, by following this link, signing in, and following the instructions.

Susie is an Apple-obsessed writer and editor, thrill seeker, and burrito enthusiast.

Another new wrinkle for Apple TV, is the ability for Siri to tune into live video streaming apps, and control third-party apps. Live tune-in with Siri is available now, while single sign-on and the TV app will arrive through a software update in December.

Update: Now that the feature has been officially revealed, Netflix confirmed last night's rumor that it won't be included. According to a spokesperson that it is "evaluating the opportunity, so this could change in the future, but for now it looks like you won't find Stranger Things, Luke Cage or the new season of Black Mirror in Apple's refashioned TV guide.

Key Features Within the TV App Include:

• Watch Now: Watch Now is where viewers will see their collection of available shows and movies from iTunes® and apps. From Watch Now, viewers can then go to Up Next or Recommended to choose what to watch.

• Up Next: Users can enjoy the shows and movies they are currently watching, including recent iTunes rentals and purchases — all presented in the order they are most likely to watch first. For example, when viewers finish an episode, the next one will automatically appear at the start of the Up Next queue, as will any new episodes as they become available. At any time, users can simply ask Siri to continue watching a show and immediately pick up where they left off.

• Recommended: Viewers can explore a great selection of curated and trending shows and movies, including collections handpicked by Apple's curators, and dedicated categories and genres such as kids, sci-fi and comedy.

• Library: Viewers can access their entire collection of iTunes movies and TV shows that they have rented or purchased on iTunes.

• Store: If users are looking for something new, they can check out the Store to discover great new content across video services that they have not yet downloaded or are not yet subscribed to, along with the latest releases on iTunes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOtTfwHFvYE

Apple CEO Tim Cook has called 2015 “the year of Apple Pay," referring to the company’s highly successful mobile payments system, which was developed across several years.

Step 1: Set up Apple Pay on iPhone

Apple Pay works with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and an Apple Watch that’s paired with an iPhone 5 or later series device.

Launch the Passbook app (soon to be called Wallet).

Tap Set up Apple Pay

There are a couple of ways to set up Apple Pay for your card.

Add the credit or debit card you already use for iTunes to Passbook by entering the card security code

Or:

Use your iSight camera to scan your card in order to enter your card information.

Or:

Do it manually. Choose Enter a new Credit or Debit Card

Enter the Name, Card Number, Expiration Date and Security Code from your card. Tap Next.

In some cases, your card will be verified with your bank, which may require you make or receive a call and/or enter a code sent to you via SMS.

Your verified card will appear at the top of Passbook & Apple Pay section of settings.

Step 2: Set up Apple Pay on Apple Watch

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and select Passbook & Apple Pay. Tap ‘Add a Credit or Debit Card."

To add the card you already use with iTunes just enter the security code.

You can also add a card using the iSight camera on your iPhone or type details manually (as above).

Step 3: Using Apple Pay

In theory, Apple Pay works in any store that accepts NFC payments, usually shown by the ‘Contactless’ (tap and pay) symbol on the payment machine. You can already use it internationally if you have an account with a supporting bank.

You can also use Apple Pay to pay with a single touch within apps – just look for the Buy with Apple Pay icon.

To pay with a phone: Just hold your iPhone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID

To pay with Apple Watch: Double-click the side button and hold the face of your Apple Watch up to the contactless reader. A gentle tap and a beep confirm that your payment information has been sent.

If you have multiple cards, you can browse through all available payment cards in Passbook on your iPhone or Apple Watch.

Step 4: Update and remove

If you want to remove a card from Apple Pay to go to Settings>Passbook & Apple pay, tap the card that you want to remove and then select Remove Card.

You can change the address email, or phone number you use for paying within apps Settings > Passbook & Apple Pay to update your information.

Step 5: Is it safe?

Apple likes to say its system is safer than existing chip-and-pin system, and may have a point. Whenever you use a card to pay, your card number and identity are visible. Apple Pay uses a a unique Device Account Number to replace your actual credit and debit card numbers, so your real identity and card number details are not shared. And if you lose your iOS device, you can use Find My iPhone to suspend Apple Pay or wipe your device.

You can also remove your cards from Apple Pay on iCloud.com. Just sign in, click Settings, choose your device, and remove your cards in the Apple Pay section.

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a list of the best technology to buy. Read the full article below at TheWirecutter.com.

After researching 57 different cable modems, the $90 ARRIS / Motorola SurfBoard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 remains the cable modem we recommend for most people. If instead of renting from your ISP, you buy your own cable modem, you can get a better device and recoup the cost in as little as a year—and then start saving anywhere from $6-$10 each month, depending on your ISP's rental fees.  Yes, you can probably find a slightly cheaper cable modem that only works with your ISP. We prefer our pick because its flexibility makes it a better long-term investment if you change service during the lifetime of the device. Unlike the competition, the SurfBoard is compatible with almost all of the fastest Internet plans from seven of the eight biggest cable Internet providers, including Charter, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable. You can move almost wherever you want and be assured that this buy-once, use-for-awhile device will still work. And you get the flexibility to switch providers if there's a better deal in your area.

Read The Complete Article Here.

Want to have the Macswest calendar appear in your iCal calendar? Do the following.

Open iCal on your Mac, Click on Calendar then Subscribe. A window will open, copy and paste the following URL then click Subscribe. That’s all there is to it.

    http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/macswestscw%40gmail.com/public/basic.ics