OS X

This week Zac and Benjamin talk about the new versions of iOS and OS X along with some changes for iAds and iTunes Radio plus how Beats 1 can be improved. The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.

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Siri percolated throughout all of Apple’s platforms in 2015. It started with iPhone in 2011, iPad in 2012, debuted on Apple Watch in early 2015 and Apple TV with the new model a few months ago. It’s quickly becoming a premier feature on these platforms, with live-as-you-speak transcription and radically new features like ‘Remind me about this’ contextual tasks when inside apps. Except for one platform of course. Mac OS X has been ignored and left abandoned with regards to true voice searching and Siri. It’s 2016, and I want Apple to bring Siri to the Mac.

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Heads up to all El Capitan users: OS X 10.11.3 is now available through the Mac App Store. Apple released the first developer beta version of the software update in mid-December after shipping OS X 10.11.2 earlier in the month. The second OS X 10.11.3 beta followed at the start of January. Apple has since started testing OS X 10.11.4.

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The security researcher who identified a serious flaw in Apple’s Gatekeeper reports that the vulnerability remains despite two security patches applied by the company. Each, he says, only blocks the specific apps he used to demonstrate the method.

Gatekeeper in theory allows users to ensure that their Mac will only run apps downloaded from the Mac App Store – or alternatively, signed by a known developer if you opt for a lower level of protection. But Patrick Wardle last September found a major vulnerability in this protection which would allow any malicious app to be run no matter what Gatekeeper setting was chosen.

Wardle informed Apple, which issued a security patch in response, but Wardle has now reverse-engineered the patch and found that it provides only extremely limited protection …

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Sharing and viewing Live Photos shot on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus on the Mac has been tricky if not impossible until now. Previously the enhanced photos could only be viewed in Apple’s Photos app on the Mac, which limited sharing to iCloud Photo Sharing. Starting with the new OS X 10.11.4 beta released earlier this week, Live Photos can now be shared and viewed over iMessage using Messages on the Mac for the first time.

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Yesterday, Apple released the first beta of iOS 9.3 and with it comes a new feature called Night Shift. Apple says that Night Shift uses your iOS device’s location and clock to automatically adjust the colors in your display, making them warmer and easier on the eyes at nighttime. In the end, Apple says this should make it easier to fall asleep as the bright blue light normally emitted from a display has been found to disrupt your circadian rhythms, making it harder to sleep. While Apple has solved this feature on iOS, it remains an issue on OS X…

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Tim Cook teased Apple’s product pipeline to investors back in October 2013 by saying the company would enter new categories with releases that fall and “across 2014.” This set the expectation that the next year would include new releases in each quarter rather than staying mostly quiet until WWDC in June, then saving new iPhones, iPads, and Macs for the fall.

Perhaps that was a promise better made a year later as most new products in 2014 were once again kept for the fall, but 2015 has been one where Apple has truly released new products all across the year. So many, in fact, that it’s probably difficult to recall every single new hardware and software product without referencing the history books.

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As it’s done with past releases, Apple today released the open source code of OS X 10.11 El Capitan. The release comes after Apple made good on its promise to open source its Swift programming language last week.
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If you’re running the latest OS X El Capitan Update Beta on your Mac, head over to the Mac App Store to grab today’s Update Beta 5 release. OS X 10.11.2 is currently being developed alongside iOS 9.2 for iPhone and iPad as well as tvOS 9.1 for the new Apple TV. If you’re already running the OS X 10.11.2 beta, launch the Mac App Store and open the Updates tab to download and install the new release, then restart your Mac. The update is available for both developers and public beta testers.
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Tim Cook has consistently spoken out against the possibility of converging iOS and OS X devices, most famously saying that “you can converge a toaster and refrigerator, but these things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user.”

He repeated this line earlier this week, stating that Apple wants to make “the best tablet in the world and the best Mac in the world – and putting those two together would not achieve either.”

However, some of your comments suggest that not all of you agree, so we’ve adopted the suggestion of one commentator and posed the question … 
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Apple is continuing to develop the upcoming OS X El Capitan 10.11.2 update, and today released the latest test version. OS X El Capitan Update Developer Beta 4 is now available in the Mac App Store. Public beta testers can also find the new version today. Check the Updates tab to download, install, and restart your Mac if you’re testing the latest beta version. 
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Apple CEO Tim Cook has ruled out the possibility of Apple merging iOS and OS X to create a single category of device. Speaking to the Irish Independent, Cook said that such a device would be too compromised.

“We feel strongly that customers are not really looking for a converged Mac and iPad,” said Cook. “Because what that would wind up doing, or what we’re worried would happen, is that neither experience would be as good as the customer wants. So we want to make the best tablet in the world and the best Mac in the world. And putting those two together would not achieve either. You’d begin to compromise in different ways.”

He said that some were reading too much into the way Apple has brought the two platforms closer together …

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A day after releasing the third public beta of OS X 10.11.2 to developers, Apple this evening has released the third public beta of the operating system to public beat testers. Beta 3 of OS X 10.11.2 comes just a week after Apple released beta 2 to testers.

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Feature Request is a new regular 9to5Mac series where authors offer their opinions on how to improve popular hardware or software products.

Apple’s AirPort wireless routers aren’t cheap, but many people — including me — keep buying them because they “just work” most of the time. Connect an AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express to your cable modem and you’ll get a consistently great wireless connection across all of your Macs, iPads, iPhones, iPod touches, and accessories, as well as non-Apple products. But the AirPorts could do more, and Apple knows it. Four years ago, the company was openly working on some cool next-generation router features that apparently didn’t wind up in its devices. These days, with Apple TVs and AirPlay streaming at the peak of their popularity, Apple’s routers need to be smarter about streaming high-bitrate video and audio. Here’s how AirPort routers should take the next steps forward…

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Several months ago, I wrote a three-part guide to making amazing wall art from your Mac’s photos (part 1, part 2, part 3) — a popular series that readers told me they’d really enjoyed. The premise: as photography has gone digital, most of the pictures we take have become trapped on our computers, rarely seeing the light of day. Turning your favorite photos into large-format wall art is a great way to decorate your home or office, and with the recent introduction of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, higher-resolution photos and ultra-high-res panoramas are possible, increasing the image quality of even your everyday snaps.

Even though Apple’s OS X Photos app focuses on making small prints, photo books, and calendars, there are some great third-party photo-to-wall art services out there. Previously, I looked at how to turn your photos into large-sized metal, acrylic, and canvas wall art. This brand new part 4 explores three additional services, looking for the first time at photo prints on wood, as well as spotlighting several nice variations on prior themes…

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Apple today released the second iOS 9.2 beta for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to registered developers. iOS 9.2 beta 2 follows the initial iOS 9.2 beta release just one week ago. The update is available over-the-air through the Settings app for developers already testing the release. The prior release contained few changes including extension support on Safari View Controller. The release notes only highlight bug fixes and improvements.
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Apple and Intel’s Thunderbolt 2 standard has given Mac users — particularly professional Mac users — a premium, high-speed connector option for situations where bandwidth and speed are necessary: hooking up big, fast hard drives, high-resolution monitors, or even external graphics cards. The latest iMacs, Mac Pros, MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs all feature at least one Thunderbolt 2 port, a boon for expandability.

This year, Thunderbolt 2 docks have really taken off. Long-time Mac accessory makers have come up with a few different riffs on the same basic idea, leveraging a single cable to connect a bunch of Thunderbolt, USB, and audio/video accessories all at once to a Mac. This enables MacBook users to return home and make one connection to everything from an external monitor and speakers to external hard drives and card readers; it can also allow iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac mini users to connect devices built with connectors not found on their machines.

Here are the best Thunderbolt 2 dock options out there — and my suggestions as to which of them are best-suited to various usage scenarios…

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Apple has published the first update to OS X El Capitan since it launched last month. The update introduces a collection of new emojis and fixes many bugs, including problems with Microsoft Office, Mail, and Audio Unit plugins.

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