macOS

441 'macOS' stories July 2011 - May 2019

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Making The Grade: Is macOS really less stable than it used to be?

Bradley Chambers May 18 2019 - 6:00 am PT

macOS stability

I’ve been managing macOS in an enterprise environment since 2009, so I was around during the “stable” periods of Snow Leopard, as well as what others would call unstable periods. One of the common themes I’ve heard in my technology circles over the past few years is that macOS has become less stable. I manage 100s of Mac laptops at the moment, and I would estimate I’ve been responsible for 1,000+ devices over the past ten years. So, I think I’m qualified to discuss the current state of macOS stability.
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Apple celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day with top featured apps, user and developer profiles, more

Michael Potuck May 16 2019 - 8:00 am PT

Apple accessibility

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day and Apple is celebrating and promoting accessibility in a few different ways. The App Store has multiple features highlighting developers, athletes, and creatives, and also has feature for the top accessibility apps for vision, hearing, speech, learning, physical and motor, and more.

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Apple posts instructions on how to enable full mitigation against Intel CPU attacks on Mac, up to 40 percent performance penalty

Benjamin Mayo May 15 2019 - 7:17 am PT

MacBook Pro

Following the announcement of new speculative execution exploits that target Intel CPU architecture, Apple has posted a new document on its website that explains how customers with computers that are ‘at heightened risk’ of attack can enable full mitigation. Full mitigation is not enabled by default as it is probably an excessive amount of security for the average user, and it comes with big performance penalties.

In its tests, Apple recorded up to a 40 percent drop in performance with full mitigation activated. This is because enabling MDS protection involves disabling hyper-threading entirely, and adds additional barriers when the processor switches contexts.

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Optimus Player macOS AirPlay 2

New iTunes and VLC alternative for macOS includes experimental AirPlay 2 support, multi-touch gestures, more

Michael Potuck May 9 2019 - 10:25 am PT

Optimus Player is a new media player designed just for macOS that includes some compelling features. The clean and simple app offers users AirPlay 2 (in beta), multi-touch gestures, support for over 250 file formats, and more.

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New macOS 10.15 Music app code based on iTunes, not iOS

Guilherme Rambo May 9 2019 - 9:30 am PT

Music app macOS 10.15

We previously discovered the new standalone Music app to be included in the next major version of macOS, 10.15. In that post, we mentioned the new Music app would be made using Marzipan, that lets iOS apps run on the Mac. Recently, sources familiar with the development of the OS reached out, correcting that information.

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macOS 10.15 concept envisions rumored Screen Time feature with ambitious design [Gallery]

Chance Miller Apr 24 2019 - 12:42 pm PT

Screen Time Mac

Last week, 9to5Mac reported that Screen Time, and many other iOS features, are coming to the Mac this year. Following our report, designer Jacob Grozian has imagined what Screen Time might look like on the Mac when macOS 10.15 is released this year.

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check Mac software compatibility

How to apply OCR to PDFs on Mac

Michael Potuck Apr 18 2019 - 12:00 am PT

Do you have a PDF document, but the text isn’t searchable? You can change that with optical character recognition (OCR) software. Read on for some options to apply OCR to PDFs on Mac.

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Apple planning Luna Display-like desktop extension feature for macOS 10.15, codenamed ‘Sidecar’

Guilherme Rambo Apr 16 2019 - 6:21 am PT

new Mac display feature

It’s undeniable that one of the best characteristics of every Apple product is its display. Apple ships computers – from iPads to iMacs – with great quality, well calibrated displays that can be used for professional work which requires a great level of fidelity. Now, it appears Apple is working a new Mac and iPad display feature to launch with macOS 10.15.

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‘Clicker’ is a unique Netflix app for Mac with Touch Bar controls, customization tools, more

Chance Miller Apr 14 2019 - 7:01 am PT

Netflix app mac

Clicker for Netflix is a new app for macOS that aims to improve the experience of watching Netflix on your app. The app enables powerful Touch Bar controls, Menu Bar control, and more. Unfortunately, some of the inherent limitations of Netflix on a Mac – such as 4K playback – remain.

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With Music for macOS coming soon, legacy iTunes features will disappear or spread to iOS

Zac Hall Apr 11 2019 - 9:53 am PT

apple music student

The big news this week is that this fall may finally be the beginning of the end for iTunes. 9to5Mac’s Gui Rambo independently confirmed that the next major version of macOS will introduce standalone Music and Podcasts apps on the Mac. iTunes is expected to stick around for now, which suggests Apple’s new apps won’t include every legacy feature, but iPad-based versions of Music and Podcasts would actually introduce features to the Mac that aren’t available yet.

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Concept video shows a macOS/iOS hybrid that will give me nightmares

Ben Lovejoy Apr 11 2019 - 6:33 am PT

This macOS/iOS hybrid concept loses the desktop metaphor

A German video editor has created a concept video (below) showing what he describes as ‘a simple and efficient macOS.’ What is depicted is a macOS/iOS hybrid, in which traditional app windows are largely replaced by iPad-style split-screen views.

Thomas Weinreich argues that the old desktop metaphor is no longer relevant today …

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Next major macOS version will include standalone Music, Podcasts, and TV apps, Books app gets major redesign

Guilherme Rambo Apr 10 2019 - 6:18 am PT

macOS 10.15 new apps

During the “It’s show time” event in late March, Apple announced that the TV app would be coming to the Mac soon. This naturally sparked discussions about whether Apple would be bringing its other media apps to the Mac, finally splitting up iTunes into distinct applications.

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macOS

Apple releases first beta of macOS 10.14.5 to developers

Chance Miller Mar 27 2019 - 1:16 pm PT

mac in K-12

Apple this afternoon has seeded the first beta of macOS 10.14.5 to developers. The update is available to developers through the System Preferences app on macOS.

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PSA: Many users reporting issues signing into Google accounts through Mail on macOS 10.14.4

Chance Miller Mar 26 2019 - 8:05 pm PT

Apple yesterday released macOS 10.14.4 to the public with features such as automatic Dark Mode in Safari, Apple News+, and more. On the other hand, the update also seems to include one frustrating bug related to authenticating Gmail accounts through Apple Mail.

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iOS
macOS

Apple announces iOS 12.2, macOS 10.14.4 coming today [Now available]

Guilherme Rambo Mar 25 2019 - 10:24 am PT

During its “It’s Show Time” event at the Steve Jobs Theater today, Apple announced that the latest versions of its operating systems will be released later today. The updates will include support for the new services announced during the event, including News+, with the magazines and exclusive content offerings.

Update: iOS 12.2 is now available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

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final cut pro legacy

macOS

Apple details process for converting legacy media format in pro video apps before macOS 10.15 update

Chance Miller Mar 22 2019 - 10:28 am PT

Apple yesterday updated Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Compressor for macOS with new features to detect media files that may be unsupported on future versions of macOS. Today, Apple has updated a support document with additional details about incompatible media files for Final Cut Pro X and Motion projects.

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Apple says macOS developers can now release app updates in phases through the Mac App Store

Chance Miller Mar 19 2019 - 5:24 pm PT

Alongside iOS 11, Apple introduced the ability for developers to release app updates in phases. Now, Apple has expanded that feature to the Mac App Store, announcing in a blog post today that developers can release updates over a 7-day period.

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check Mac software compatibility

How to check your Mac’s software compatibility

Michael Potuck Feb 28 2019 - 12:00 am PT

Want to upgrade your Mac’s software, but aren’t sure about what operating system it will work with? Read on for how to check your Mac’s software compatibility.

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mac eject drive

Ejector is a new macOS app that makes it easy to manage drives w/ your keyboard & Touch Bar

Chance Miller Feb 21 2019 - 4:05 pm PT

As macOS has transitioned away from the SuperDrive and the use of physical media has declined, the eject key on Mac keyboards has become essentially useless. A new app from developer Dave DeLong, however, aims to add some functionality to the key – and to your MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar.

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eGPU
macOS

Apple updates compatible eGPU list for macOS with details on RX 560 support

Chance Miller Feb 21 2019 - 3:15 pm PT

macOS eGPu

Apple today has made small change to its eGPU support document. The company has updated the page to reflect official support for the Sonnet Radeon RX 560 eGFX Breakaway, the first RX 560 eGPU to be officially supported.

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Apple reportedly plans to debut first iPad/Mac cross-platform app SDK at WWDC, new Mac Pro preview

Benjamin Mayo Feb 20 2019 - 3:07 am PT

WWDC Marzipan

Apple is planning a multi-year roadmap for its cross-platform app project. First previewed at last year’s WWDC with the launch of the News, Stocks, Home and Voice Memos app, Marzipan makes it near-automatic for developers to port iPad apps to macOS.

A third-party SDK for Marzipan will launch at this year’s WWDC for iPad and Mac universal apps. According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to add Marzipan-esque conversion of iPhone to Mac apps in 2020. The publication also says that Apple has ‘weighed previewing’ a new version of the Mac Pro at the conference.

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macos 10.14.4 beta 3

Apple releases third macOS 10.14.4 developer beta, no new iOS beta yet

Zac Hall Feb 18 2019 - 10:18 am PT

Apple has released the third macOS 10.14.4 developer beta for testing before its official release for all customers. The new build is available as an over-the-air update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app on the Mac.

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macOS keychain exploit

Security researcher demos macOS exploit to access Keychain passwords, but won’t share details with Apple out of protest

Benjamin Mayo Feb 6 2019 - 2:32 am PT

Security researcher Linuz Henze has shared a video demonstration of what is claimed to be a macOS Mojave exploit to access passwords stored in the Keychain. However, he has said he is not sharing his findings with Apple out of protest.

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macOS

Hands-on: macOS 10.14.4 beta 1 streamlines Safari AutoFill with support for Touch ID

Chance Miller Jan 25 2019 - 3:38 pm PT

Apple yesterday released macOS 10.14.4 beta 1 to developers. We’ve already run through all of the changes in iOS 12.2 beta 1, and now it’s been discovered that macOS 10.14.4 includes support for Safari AutoFill with Touch ID.

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