I’ve previously recommended using the System Information utility to look up MacBook battery usage details. Both Battery Health & Repair and Maximize Battery Life made reference to this. However, the application aggregates a wealth of additional information about your Mac, from details about connected audio, video, and storage hardware; to applications that have been [...]
Time Machine is backup software built into your Mac that copies all of the information on your computer to a connected storage drive. This feature is the easiest way to initiate a backup strategy. Apple introduced it in 2007 and its functionality remains largely unchanged. Next Monday, March 31, is World Backup Day! If [...]
How often do you speak with friends about Internet security and wonder if you need to install an antivirus utility on your Mac? Your workplace might even require this of you. There aren’t really any “viruses” on Macs as self-propagation requires administrative approval. However, there’s malware, which may seem more agreeable to folks, especially [...]
Apple makes it easy to see the warranty status of all of your devices signed into the same Apple Account. Since most of our modern Macs do not have upgradable storage, yet may have longer lifespans than their predecessors, it’s important to consider whether an extended warranty such as AppleCare might be worthwhile. In [...]
An ancillary security feature in the Apple ecosystem involves Apple Watch and its ability to authenticate a Mac. With a few prerequisites, the device has the power to serve as a secure token in place of your password or other biometrics. As I mentioned in Biometric Boons, Part 2 — Face ID, Apple Watch [...]
iOS 18 makes much of the prior data in Keychain Access, including website logins and Wi-Fi networks, more accessible in a new app called Passwords. This app also makes it easy to help others join Wi-Fi networks by sharing a QR code. As I wrote in iOS 17 Hot Tips #3, it’s so simple [...]
Earlier this month, in an unexpected twist, Apple launched an online tool to transfer purchases from one Apple account to another. First, a little history… Since Apple launched iTools in 2000 and the iTunes Store in 2003, users have been able to maintain an account identity with Apple for purposes of syncing data and/or [...]
When taking a photo on iPhone, you can easily add a caption to label the image. This can be especially useful when you’re on a nature tour, your device is offline, and you want to later upload the image to iNaturalist to validate its identity. In Costa Rica, Kimberley took thousands of photos, using [...]
Sometimes websites malfunction and the provider’s tech support or your own Google-fu recommends you delete cookies. If updating your web browser or restarting your device doesn’t help, this is a viable option, with one caveat: Don’t delete cookies for all websites. As I discussed in Are You a Cookie Monster?, there are various types [...]
Did you get a new Mac this holiday season? Are you hoping to clean up your old one before migrating a lot of crud? Even if you just want to clean house, check your storage for iOS Files, which I previously mentioned in Tech Check. The category is mentioned ever so briefly in this [...]
