Professional Documents
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A P R I L 20 1 6 N O.1 1 3
116
PAGES OF
ADVICE FOR
iOS AND
MAC
22
New ways to use your Mac
38
Shoot and edit 4K videos
48
Make your own Fusion Drive
You might be a Mac user, but are you With iPhones shooting 4K, and iMacs The economic way to give your Mac more
getting the most out of your machine? boasting 4K and 5K Retina displays, now’s drive! We show you how to put together a
We bring you 63 tips and tricks to help the time to discover how to create movie DIY core storage unit to boost processing
push your Mac to its full potential. masterpieces with this new format. power without compromising on storage.
56 74 59 76
93
Smarter
iKettle 2.0
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION MANAGER Mark Constance
PRODUCTION CONTROLLER Fran Twentyman
PROJECT MANAGER Clare Scott
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FUTURE PLC
Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1225 442244 (Bath) • Tel: +44 (0)2070 424000 (London)
Seth Singh
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Seth’s making scrapbooks
in the Notes app. His Josh
Groban one is… detailed.
EMAIL: letters@maclife.com
SHARE WITH US! FACEBOOK: facebook.com/maclife TWITTER: twitter.com/maclife
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Why it’s time applications, but perhaps his most telling comment was that
it isn’t niche anymore. We could be reading too much into
for Apple to it, but perhaps Cook was preparing investors for what’s to
come. He made similar comments 18 months before the
Watch’s launch. Regardless of Cook’s intentions with his
get into VR comments, though, now is the perfect time for Apple to
get into virtual reality for a number of reasons.
A device like the Samsung Gear VR that uses the iPhone
Virtual reality is coming, and Apple could help reinvigorate Apple’s slowing handset sales. Or
can’t let the future pass it by if it does a standalone VR device, that would likely be put in
Apple’s small yet growing “Other Products” group, which
BY MICHELLE FITZSIMMONS
includes devices like the Apple Watch and Apple TV. Revenue
is paltry when compared to the iPhone, but it’s home to
WE’VE DONE THIS dance before: Will Apple enter the some of Apple’s most innovative products.
[insert whatever product category you like here] market,
or won’t it? It happened with the Apple Watch, and it’s VR IS STILL maturing, but it’s sitting on the cusp of breaking
happening right now with virtual reality. During Apple’s through in the public imagination. Microsoft’s HoloLens is
quarterly earnings call in January, CEO Tim Cook said this wowing people in demonstrations. We’re waiting for Oculus
about VR: “I don’t think [VR] is niche. It’s really cool and Rift, PlayStation VR and HTC Vive Pre to hit the market, and
has interesting applications.” though signs point to Google building its own VR hardware,
GO
See Mac|Life’s APPLE HAS MANAGED to deliver to be producing them in a few
latest subscription
offers big advances in its own processors years, while Intel is aggressively
p112 every year, pushing its iOS devices pursuing them. It’s possible that
ever closer to its desktops. This Intel may end up manufacturing
gets harder and harder to do over an Apple-designed processor.
time, but Apple does have options
to keep on the cutting edge. THE GRAPHICS POWER of the
TSMC is a chip-manufacturing A10 could also leap forward, with
company that currently makes PowerVR (the company behind
30-40% of Apple chips, but that Apple’s mobile graphics) unveiling
might increase in the future. It has a new, more powerful design at the
developed integrated fan-out start of 2016, known as Series 7XT.
(InFO) packaging, which allows The most interesting aspect of this
chips to be mounted directly on top design is how it might reduce
of each other, without requiring a energy use: it will include a
substrate. This takes up less space separate processing unit called
than the A9 chip, and so could lead the Image Processing Data Master,
to a thinner and lighter iPhone – which can handle 2D graphics at
the perpetual Apple dream. low power. This could mean less
However, it’s also possible that battery use when you’re just
Samsung – Apple’s primary chip flicking through iOS or browsing
it could be years before we see the fruit manufacturer – might take over all the web – a bonus for everyone.
of that labor. Apple could jump in soon of the A-series chip production if
with a premium headset to lead the it’s able to make chips at the
Ľeld. Tied to the rich iOS ecosystem, smaller size of 10nm. The A9X is
Apple would have a head start on Apple’s most advanced chip, and is
enabling those “interesting manufactured at 16nm. Making the
applications” Cook referenced. chip at the smaller size means that
At this year’s Sundance Film the components can literally be
Festival, VR was featured heavily. It’s smaller, so the chip’s overall size
where content creation is headed - can simply be reduced, or more
even Samsung is opening its own VR complex chips can fit in the same
Ľlm studio - and by sitting out, Apple space – we could see future iPads
is letting the future pass it by. go up to as many as six processor
We don’t doubt Apple is actively cores. Chips at 10nm would also
developing a VR headset. We’re not use less power than those at 16nm
expecting Apple to reveal its headset for equivalent tasks.
tomorrow, but WWDC in June would be Samsung isn’t the only game in
perfect for an unveiling of hardware town when it comes to making
and a development platform. 10nm chips, however. TSMC expects
EARLY
ACCESS
MAGICAVOXEL FREE
Voxels are pixels in 3D (so, cubes),
and this tool lets you build
sculptures out of them. You start
with a large cube of voxels, which iOS 9.3 brings multi-
you can remove or add smaller
cubes to, to make fun shapes. You
can add color to your creations,
user support to iPad
and then render them with Well, for schools. But is that just the beginning?
diļerent material eļects applied.
BY MATT BOLTON
Get it from ephtracy.github.io
VERSION TESTED: 0.97
FOR FAMILIES WHO their apps, with all their “Managed” IDs, which
share an iPad, one of data. The data is stored are unable to buy apps.
the most requested in the cloud, so they can This system may be
features for iOS is multi- use a different device a bit over-the-top for
user support, so your each time. home use, then, but the
kids can get to their On top of that access exciting thing behind it
games quickly and have and flexibility, teachers all is that the technical
age restrictions turned can monitor what apps foundation for multiple
on, while you can have the kids are using via users is in place –
easier access to just the their own iPad. On the everything else is an
GIFROCKET FREE
apps you use, and full face of it, it looks like implementation detail,
This is an easy, low-touch tool for
access to the App Store the ideal interface for and so the software side
turning your videos into GIFs, so
and so on. Intriguingly, home users too. could well be adapted
you can share them easily online.
iOS 9.3 includes a Inevitably, there’s a for home use.
Just drag a video into its window
feature similar to this, bit more going on in iOS 9.3 does bring
to start the conversion, or use the
but only for schools. the background than plenty of other features
conĽguartion tool at the top right
Children will be able that, though… too: a new Night Shift
before you start to specify only a
to pick up iPads with All these accounts mode to ensure the
small portion of the clip, the GIF’s
their accounts on, tap are managed from a screen doesn’t disrupt
size and its quality setting. It’s
an icon showing their new Mac portal that your sleep patterns;
prone to freezes, but works well.
face, enter a password makes it easy to create private notes; an
VERSION TESTED: 0.1.2
and then use the device new Apple IDs for the improved News app;
as if it were theirs – kids – but these Apple new Health options;
they’ll have access to IDs are special and more.
C
HANCES ARE, you and most of want to dive into entrepreneurship, learners, and we need these new
the people you know, think of Reboot for accelerated leadership education options in response.
adult education as a traditional training, and Mobile Makers Instead of students and aspiring
university. It’s probably an Academy to learn how to become employees cramming all of their
endeavor involving at least four an iOS developer. In just a couple education into a single period of
years, probably longer, but that’s of months, and for much less than four (or six or 10) years, you have
all changing these days. a four-year education, you can be a growing number of new options
A variety of schools and up and running with these and an to learn the skills you need to meet
“bootcamps” are drawing new lines increasing number of other skills. My new challenges, grow your career,
around teaching people new skills wife runs Mobile Makers Academy, or simply pick up a new hobby,
and education, and it’s going to and I’ve seen the diļerence these whenever and as often as your
change the way we learn, do kinds of bootcamps can make to journey calls for them.
business, and grow as a culture. people Ľrst-hand. These new options do not
Trade schools are nothing On one hand, a fast track to a new necessarily replace traditional
new, but they typically involve skill is a great way to improve your
a commitment of a year or two. job or kickstart a new career, if that’s Learn the skills to
A newer approach to skill training what you want. But the larger trend
are these bootcamps: short-form, going on here is the diversiĽcation
meet new challenges,
intense courses that focus on a of education and a renewed grow your career, or
speciĽc skill for a speciĽc industry. incorporation of skill-based training. pick up a new hobby
Some are part-time or online, while Think about it: the industrial
an increasing number are full-time revolution made skill-based training
periods of around 8 to 12 weeks, all the rage. But thanks in no small
usually learning from and working part to a new obsession with national education, they complement it. The
with practicing professionals. Some security after World War II and a call ability to be ľexible with learning
examples are Startup Institute if you to a greater good, a college education skills can fundamentally change
became our societal North Star. The the game for people at every end
problem is, after some time, many of the economic spectrum to enter,
developed a perception that they advance through, and stay current
were “done with education” after in their industries. And, of course,
getting their golden graduation ticket it gives them a way to enter new
– that their learning was complete. industries, and bring new viewpoints
to create diverse, original ideas for
BUT LIFE and most careers these everything from business to apps
days evolve too quickly for this and services. You never know who
mentality. Many industries now the next killer app might come from,
Education has moved on from the classroom,
with iOS development bootcamps, and more. call for their players to be life-long and that’s a great thing.
>>> David Chartier is a content strategist and writer with vast experience analyzing the tech world.
He runs the website Finer Things in Tech (finerthings.in) and hosts its podcast, The Finer Things In.
6 brilliant free
games for Mac
Want to have some fun on your Mac? You don’t need to pay to play these gems
BY MATT BOLTON
E
XPERTS SAY virtual reality will but something that’s frankly technology like Oculus. Oculus CEO
be an 150 billion dollar market embarrassing to wear. In contrast Palmer Luckey recently quipped,
by 2020. Augmented reality, Apple is best positioned to make VR “Mac support is on the Oculus
products such as Microsoft hardware that looks and feels great. roadmap, post-decent Apple
HoloLens that project 3D on top of But hardware alone is not enough hardware release, whenever that is.”
your Ľeld of vision, will only add to to compete in VR - you have to also With the power of the Mac Pro,
this number. Clearly – as discussed have development tools. The this seemed implausible to me, so
on page 12 – this is an area Apple intuitive, snappy feel of the average I reached out to macvidcards.com,
should be exploring, but how iOS app isn’t a coincidence - it’s a site that specializes in selling top-
prepared is it? because Apple currently has the of-the-line graphics cards for Macs.
The biggest challenge of VR is best development products in the They told me that while you can
getting hardware into consumers’ industry. Unfortunately, Apple 3D purchase hacked high-end graphic
hands. If people don’t have VR technology lags far behind the rest
devices, developers have no way to of the tech world. And this would
make money from making content. devastate its ability to compete in
Unfortunately, VR hardware that virtual reality and augmented reality.
doesn’t make you nauseous is
extremely expensive. The consumer I RECENTLY interviewed Dona Sarkar
version of Oculus will cost over $600 of the Microsoft HoloLens team.
and will require a $1,200 PC. The HTC She told me she welcomes Oculus
Vive is expected to cost more than developers working on HoloLens
$800 at launch, and Microsoft’s because the expensive part of VR/AR
HoloLens dev kit will cost $3,000. development is creating 3D assets
This is an opportunity for Apple, - while porting code is more trivial. Oculus Rift requires the graphics power of an
Nvidia GeForce 970 – way beyond Mac GPUs.
because its customers have always This is a smart strategy for Microsoft,
been willing to pay for top-notch but something Apple is not currently
hardware. The Oculus and Touch prepared to support. cards for legacy Mac Pros, it seems
controller are unwieldy, clumsy Porting 3D content to Apple to be accurate that no Mac CPU is
devices - excellent at what they do, devices is needlessly expensive, currently powerful enough. “There
ineĿcient and diĿcult. For the last is no way to hit both the GPU and
The biggest challenge three years, Apple has been playing CPU requirements,” they told me.
catchup with its 3D tools. Obviously, If true, this is a very serious barrier
of VR is getting technology such as Metal is a step in to developing VR content for Apple.
hardware into the right direction, but there’s plenty The iOS App Store may be the best
consumers’ hands of work left to do. around, but for Apple to compete in
Worse still, there is no Apple the developer marketplaces that are
hardware that can currently run VR yet to come, things need to change.
>>> Brianna Wu is the head of development at Giant Spacekat, developer of Revolution 60 on iPhone and iPad,
and is a regular speaker at industry events, as well as host on the podcasts Isometric and Rocket.
Audeze Sine
audeze.com
$499
G-RO
g-ro.com
$599
WORDS:
NICK PEERS
N
NIK RAWLINSO
NEW
WA Y S T O
US E Y O U R
MAC
HOUGH THE MYTH that we only use a tiny former case, we’re thinking speciĽcally of Force
5 things to
phrases such as “documents
I worked on this week” to
pull up recent Ľles.
H OW TO U S E T WO A P P S S I D E BY S I D E
El Capitan lets you run a pair of apps in tandem in fullscreen
Mac could do
tab, and check the box beside
“Show Keyboard, Emoji &
Symbol Viewers in menu bar.”
Click the new menu bar icon
and pick “Show Emoji and
With every refresh introducing
Symbols”to call up the viewer,
great new features, it’s easy to Ľnd the character you want and
forget about some of OS X’s drag it into your document or
double-click it to enter it at the
existing and invaluable tools
insertion point’s location.
H OW TO E N C RY P T I N T E R N E T CO N N ECT I O N
Protect yourself when online by using a free VPN service
Mac apps
apps have this). From the
Share sheet that pops up, you
can add the selection to a new
note, or you can tack it onto
the end of an existing note
Discover some neat tips
(you can then change its
and tricks that help you get position by editing the note).
more from Apple’s free apps Notes can store PDFs, movies
and audio recordings, and its
Attachments Browser lets
SOUPED-UP NOTES you view by type all objects of the app, then click the
Notes has been you’ve added: photos & videos, bulleted list icon at its top
reinvented in El Capitan, sketches, maps, website right corner. Drag items up
enabling you to incorporate links, audio, and documents. or down the list to tweak their
data from other apps into your order, or click the clock icon
notes, from selected text and CASUAL PLAYLISTS to reveal recent tracks played;
photos to maps and web page iTunes’ Up Next feature listen again by putting the
links. When you’ve found lets you line up tracks for pointer over a track, clicking
It’s easy to
set up a one- something you want to note, one-oļ playback. It’s easy to the “…” button next to it, and
off playlist
look for a Share button in its manage too: put the pointer then choosing “Add to Up
using Up Next
in iTunes. app; if it exists, click it and over the status area at the top Next” or “Play Next.” To turn
your set into a playlist, select
File > New Playlist. Name it,
then open Up Next. Select all
of the tracks in it (or its history
view) and drag them onto the
new playlist.
GROUPED
CONVERSATIONS
In El Capitan, you may Ľnd
that conversations in Mail are
no longer grouped. Many mail
apps automatically ad “Re:”
to the beginning of the subject
line when replying. If it’s
missing, Mail doesn’t
recognize the connection
between messages, even
if their subjects match.
MULTI-EDIT IN PHOTOS
The latest version of
Photos makes it easier to
work on multiple pictures
63 new ways to use your Mac
H OW TO C U T O U T P H OTOS
Decorate Pages and Keynote docs with objects and characters
1 THE INSTANT ALPHA TOOL 2 SELECT AN AREA TO REMOVE 3 ERASE AND REPEAT
Place an image in your document Hold the mouse or trackpad button When you’ve selected the right
then select it. Open the Format and drag in any direction – the area amount, release the mouse or
inspector (click the paintbrush in that will be made transparent trackpad button to remove it. Now
the toolbar) and click the Image increases, and changes color. Drag click elsewhere on the background
tab, then “Instant Alpha.” First, put too far and the foreground will be and repeat until you’ve cleared the
the crosshairs over an area of the included; drag back in the opposite background. Click Done when only
background you want to remove. direction to fix it. the bit you wish to keep remains.
H OW TO A D D M I SS I N G A L B U M A RT I N i T U N ES
Fill gaps to make your iTunes library more beautiful
PUSH EVERYTHING
TO ONE SIDE
The swiping & pinching you
Place three Ľngers and your
already know from iOS also thumb on the trackpad and
helps you fly through OS X spread them out to move all
your windows out of the way
and reveal the desktop below.
You can now work with icons
on the desktop – for example,
dragging them into folders, or
onto Dock icons to open Ľles.
Reverse the gesture to bring
the windows back into view.
With your windows in view,
that reversed gesture –
starting with three Ľngers
and a thumb wide apart and
pulling them together –
opens Launchpad, which
shows your installed apps in
a grid across multiple pages
in a very similar manner to
the Home screen on iOS
devices. Click an app to open
Reaching WAYS TO REACH it, or perform the gesture in
Mission MISSION CONTROL reverse or press œ to close it.
Control
should be It can be diĿcult to keep track Learning this lets you reclaim
easy – and of things when you’ve got too space by removing Launchpad
it can be!
many windows, which is why from the Dock.
the Mission Control key is
useful (that’s the one that LOOK UP A WORD Open in Dictionary to
has several rectangles inside Press on a Force Touch open the dedicated app.
a larger one, and labeled F3). trackpad while the pointer
This spreads out your windows is over a word in a webpage or FORCE TOUCH
so that each is fully visible, and a document, then press harder With a Force Touch
you can quickly switch between to feel a second click and get trackpad, you press once to
them – or the diļerent virtual a deĽnition of the word. click and then harder to call
desktops (spaces) across which If applicable, you’ll see various up extra info and features in
they’re organized. options on the bottom of the compatible apps. You can
However, it’s often quicker pop-up window containing adjust the amount of pressure
to use a trackpad gesture; lay extra information retrieved that’s required to trigger the
three Ľngertips on the from resources such as web deeper click by going to System
trackpad and swipe up to videos, helping you to gain a Preferences’ Trackpad pane:
achieve the same thing. broader understanding. clicking the Point & Click tab,
Swiping three Ľngers left or For word deĽnitions, click and dragging the “Click” slider.
TAKE A PEEK AT
NOTIFICATION CENTER
Clicking the bulleted list at the
far right of the menu bar opens
NotiĽcation Center, but if you
just want to take a quick peek
at what you’ve missed while
away from your Mac, you can
bring it in by sliding two
Ľngers left from the very right
hand edge of your trackpad.
You’ll be familiar with this
action if you have an iPad as
it’s a lot like sliding one Ľnger
in from the left to reveal the
mailbox list when using Mail
in portrait orientation. To
dismiss NotiĽcation Center
again, simply place two
Ľngers at any position on
the trackpad and swipe right.
FORCE TOUCH
IN OTHER APPS
Force Touch provides shortcuts
to many useful actions. When
you press harder on the
trackpad in TuickTime and
iMovie, you’re able to scrub
forwards and backwards more
Pinching in quickly. Do the same in Maps
four fingers to zoom faster. Force-click an
from the
desktop event in Calendar to see its full
will open details, or force-click an app
Launchpad…
icon in the Dock to see only
that one’s windows, spread
out, so you can quickly switch
to the one you need to use.
Check out apple.co/1XIMjG4
for more examples.
… while a
two-finger
SWIPE YOUR WAY
swipe from
the right AROUND THE WEB
opens
Browsing with Safari inevitably
Notifcation
Center. requires a lot of scrolling, but
gestures can help here, too. Ľngers again zooms back out. Trackpad pane, where you’ll
Swiping two Ľngers up or down Provided “Tap to click” and also Ľnd short but clear demo
moves the page up and down, as “Secondary click” are enabled videos that show how each of
with a regular document, but in Trackpad preferences, them works.
swiping left and right with two tapping a link with two Ľngers
Ľngers moves backwards and reveals a context-sensitive USE APP EXPOSÉ
forwards through your history menu, from which you can open Turn on App Exposé in
(pressing ç with [ or ] the linked resource in a new tab Trackpad > More Gestures, then
does the same if you don’t have if you don’t want to lose your swipe down with three Ľngers
a trackpad). Double-tapping with position on the page you’re to focus on the various windows
two Ľngers while the pointer is currently reading. of the foreground app. So, if
over an image or a column of text you have several Numbers
zooms the page to better Ľt that ADVANCED GESTURES documents and several Pages
content into the window’s width, If any of these gestures Ľles open, and Pages has focus,
after which you can pan in all aren’t working for you (or you’re this gesture will arrange the
directions by sliding two Ľngers inadvertently triggering some), Pages windows so they’re each
on the trackpad to move the select which ones are active visible, while hiding Numbers’
page). Double-tapping two through System Preferences’ windows away.
M AG I C K EY B OA R D
Common keyboard shortcuts and cross-platform controls
APPLICATION ERRORS
If an app isn’t working
and you haven’t found a
solution online, try repairing
Ľle permissions (on Yosemite
or earlier; El Capitan does this
automatically during software
updates). Permissions tell OS X
which accounts can access throw at it in high-end apps at Make sure you have Always keep
a few GB free
what. Open Disk Utility, select any one time. It therefore uses plenty of free storage for
on your Mac
a partition on a disk and click its storage as a temporary the operating system to play – keeping at
least 10%
First Aid, then Run to check staging post, brieľy swapping with – 10%, or at least as much
clear is a
everything is set as it needs to out data from its fast RAM to as you have RAM – or you’ll good level.
be. It’s also worth selecting the the slower hard drive or SSD. start to notice your Mac
drive on which the partition is When that information is slowing down.
located (even on El Capitan) required, something else You can also keep it running
and running First Aid to verify may be swapped out to disk well by regularly emptying the
the way the disk is conĽgured and it’s then read back to the Trash and archiving unused
has not become damaged. main memory. Ľles frequently.
FINDER’S DEFAULT
LOCATION
By default, Finder windows
open with a view of all Ľles,
but if you routinely work in one
folder this isn’t necessary. Set
Finder to open new windows
on your favorite folder by
opening the Finder menu,
picking Preferences and
selecting your folder from
the “New Finder windows
show” menu, under General.
YouTube, its resolution oļers a way to reframe Obviously, it makes sense to regularly oŀoad
a shot by cropping into the image, much like a some of your recordings to your Mac to edit
digital zoom, but without loss of image quality. in iMovie (unless you use the iPhone version).
The iPhone can record 4K video at the standard 30fps – as indicated in the top-right corner here.
4 EDIT YOUR FIRST CLIP 5 CHANGE THE ORDER 6 UNDO AND PREVIEW
Tap a clip to select it. You can drag its Press and hold on a clip and you’ll be Don’t worry if anything goes wrong – tap
ends to trim it. Alternatively, drag the able to move it around. You can drag the upside-down U-shaped arrow on the
clip so the white line is where you want it through the timeline to find a new right to undo anything, or tap and hold it
to cut, then tap Split at the bottom, and spot – other clips will move over to to redo. Tap the Play button above the
delete the part you don’t want. accommodate it. Let go to drop it. timeline to watch your edit as it is.
Editing 4K on a Mac
Ensure your Mac can cut through pixels like a knife through butter
>>> Feature
M AKE
YOUR OW N
FUSION
DRIVE
BOOST A HARD-DRIVE-BASED
MAC’S RESPONSIVENESS
WITHOUT COMPROMISING
ON DISK CAPACITY
The two parts of your Fusion Drive will show up as a single drive in Disk Utility, but you can verify your setup in Terminal.
JARGON >>> APPLE’S FUSION Drive technology is HOW DOES A FUSION DRIVE WORK?
BUSTER
intended to bring the beneĽt of fast ľash Fusion Drive is really just a friendly
Fusion Drive uses Apple’s Core storage to desktop Macs in an economical name for a technology called Core
Storage technology to pool way, and without compromising on the Storage – speciĽcally, it’s Core Storage
two disks together. One disk large storage capacity you would expect Logical Volume Group – which is
failing will affect the whole to be built into such a computer. available in OS X 10.8.2 or higher. As long
drive, so it’s more important
This is useful because even now, more as you’re brave enough to enter a few
than ever to back up.
than three years after Fusion Drive’s commands in Terminal, you can
introduction, ľash storage is still Ľguratively “fuse” your Mac’s internal
disproportionately expensive per hard drive and an external SSD
gigabyte compared to traditional hard (connected over USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt)
drives. If this weren’t the case and you together to combine their capacities into
had enough spare cash to throw at what looks like one drive. To the user,
upgrading your current Mac, you could this then appears as a single drive that’s
just buy a 1TB solid-state drive to both fast and capacious.
connect externally and run your Behind the scenes, OS X is smart
computer from that. enough to recognize that one part of a
Although a 1TB bare SSD will cost Fusion Drive is much faster than the
you far less than what Apple charges other. Whenever new information
for ľash storage, you’re still looking at needs to be written to a Fusion Drive,
GENIUS
TIP a price of anything between $200 and it’s written to the faster storage. This
$450 depending on the make and model makes your Mac feel more responsive
If you have a 2011 iMac, of the drive. So instead, we’ll look at the to use than one that’s equipped solely
you can use a Thunderbolt
more aļordable option of making a with a standard hard drive, even though
enclosure in place of a USB
3.0 one. However, they are home-made Fusion Drive for well in reality that still makes up a large part
a lot more costly. under that amount. of its storage capacity.
When free ľash storage falls to a Machine’s status icon in the menu bar –
$
certain amount – we’re talking a few turn this on in its preferences if you
gigabytes – OS X consults its long-term don’t see it – and choose Back Up Now.
assessment of which data you use most While that process takes place, you can BEST
often to determine what it can relegate prepare some other essentials. B U YS
to the hard drive without aļecting you The image over the page shows the
too much, if at all. (OS X itself remains three things you need. If you already This is the hardware we
on ľash storage to ensure top have a spare 8GB USB ľash drive, you’ll used to create our Fusion
performance.) A minimum amount of only need to buy an SSD and an enclosure Drive. You might be able
free space is maintained on the ľash to put it in (our recommended model in to save a few bucks on
storage so that the operating system Best Buys to the right here even includes the SSD price (different
always has space to store information. a USB cable). The USB ľash drive – the brand/capacity), but our
If you repeatedly use data stored on thumb drive, not the SSD – only needs to pick is a good deal.
the hard drive, OS X recognizes this be 8GB, because that’s all that’s required
and will move other data to the slower to store the OS X installer.
storage, replacing it on the faster storage Originally, Apple’s Fusion Drives
with the information you’re using more included 128GB of ľash storage (recently
often. For eĿciency, OS X doesn’t always reduced to 24GB on 1TB models).
move entire Ľles (which may be very big) However, the diļerence in price between
between a Fusion Drive’s two sections. a 120GB and a 250GB SSD is only about SANDISK CRUZER FIT
Instead, it works at a lower level to move $20 or so. Doubling up means more Any USB 2.0 or 3.0 flash
only the parts that are necessary. information can be kept on the faster drive can be used to
storage medium at any one time, create an OS X install
SENSIBLE PRECAUTIONS delaying the need for OS X to shift disc. Its capacity only
Before we get down to work, back up your data to the hard drive at all. needs to be 8GB; this
entire hard drive. Setting up a Fusion one cost us $7.
Drive requires temporarily erasing it, so LAY THE GROUNDWORK
save yourself any hassle by making a Disconnect all other external storage
complete backup of it. You’ll be able to from your Mac so you don’t accidentally
restore this to the Fusion Drive later. erase an incorrect drive at any point
Time Machine is the simplest way to do during this process. Now, connect the
this, of course. In its preferences, ensure USB ľash drive (the thumb drive, not the
system folders and others containing SSD) to your Mac and ensure it doesn’t SAMSUNG 850 EVO
important personal Ľles are not excluded contain anything you want to keep. Open The 250GB version of this
from its backups. Next, click Time Disk Utility, select the entire ľash drive drive sells for just $90.
That’s almost double the
flash storage capacity
used in Apple’s largest
Fusion Drives!
STARTECH
S2510BPU33
This USB 3.0 enclosure
requires no tools to open
and fit an SSD, for $19.
There’s also an option
with integrated cable
You can set up a Fusion Drive without affecting Boot Camp, but it’s sensible to back up OS X and Windows. for a mere $25.
3 4
E X P L A I N E D … | T H E H A R D WA R E YO U ’ L L N E E D
JARGON (not just the partition on it) and from the left pane into the Source
BUSTER
then click the Erase button on the box, and the partition on the USB
A Logical Volume Group is the toolbar. Use the OS X Extended ľash drive into the Destination
glue that binds a Fusion Drive’s (Journaled) format, and set its box. Click Restore and, if asked for
parts together. A Logical partition map type to GUID so your them, enter your account details. It
Volume is then created across Mac can start up from it. takes a while for the OS X installer
all drives in the group.
Download the installer for your to be copied to the ľash drive.
version of OS X from the Mac App With your OS X install disk
Store – it needs to be OS X 10.8.2 prepared, restart your Mac and
or higher. When it’s downloaded, hold down Alt from the moment
use it to create an OS X install disk, you hear the startup sound until
which will be your USB drive. For you see a list of partitions that your
OS X 10.9 or higher, follow Apple’s Mac can start up from. You should
guide at bit.ly/osxinstalldisk. For see the install disk you just created.
GENIUS
TIP OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), right- Use the arrow keys to select it,
click the installer, choose Show press ® and then wait for a while.
On OS X 10.10.4 or higher, Package Contents, browse to You’ll eventually reach a menu
consider turning on TRIM Contents > SharedSupport and with four major options. Ignore
(bit.ly/trimforce) by entering
double-click InstallESD.dmg there. that and choose Utilities >
sudo trimforce enable
in Terminal. This helps maintain Open Disk Utility, click the Restore Terminal instead. We’re Ľnally
an SSD’s integrity over time. tab, drag “Mac OS X Install ESD” ready to build your Fusion Drive.
H O W T O | S E T U P YO U R F U S I O N D R I V E
1
Gather some 2
Protect partitions 3
Logical volume group
information To avoid wiping the partition that Type diskutil cs create Fusion
In Terminal, type diskutil list and press contains the Recovery system and, if it followed by a space, then the identifier
® to list partitions, grouped by disk under exists, one for Boot Camp as well, examine of your SSD, another space, and then the
rows starting /dev/diskX (where X is a the output for a row that lists the name identifier of your OS X volume. Press ®
number). Two rows below, use the Size of the partition that contains OS X. Note to create a logical volume group that
column to work out which disk identifiers its identifier to the right, which will be identifies the storage that will be used
refer to your internal HD and your SSD. in the format diskXsY. by the Fusion Drive.
4
Gather information 5
Prepare a volume 6
Finish, restore data
Next, type diskutil cs list and Type diskutil cs createVolume Press ® to make the volume.
press ® for a summary of what was then a space, then press ç+v to paste When done, look for a line that says
created. In the row that starts “+-- Logical the code you copied. Type another space, “Finished CoreStorage operation.” Quit
Volume Group” drag the pointer through then jhfs+ "Macintosh FD" and a space. Terminal. Your Fusion Drive, named
the long alphanumeric code to select it, Divide the capacity you noted by 1,000 Macintosh FD (or whatever you want to
then press ç+C. Make a note of the free three times and type the result (we’ve call it), is waiting for you to install a fresh
space listed five lines below that one. done to three decimal places) and then g. copy of OS X or restore your backup to it.
MaxCurve
If you like histograms, you’ll love MaxCurve
$2.99 Developer Wanman, maxcurve.net
Platform Universal Requirements iOS 7 or later
Proud
The productivity app with “Superpowers!”
$4.99 Developer Peter Szwach, useproud.com
Platform Universal Requirements iOS 9 or later
Everyone could use more the second focuses only on what’s coming,
time in their day, but most the third shows everything accomplished so
productivity apps feel like they far. New tasks are added with a swipe down,
weren’t designed for people. and the app offers similarly convenient The Destress “Superpower” provides users with
Proud takes a more flexible approach, gestures acting on items as well. a brief but welcome break whenever needed.
encouraging downtime to catch your breath What really makes Proud unique are
when there’s too much to do. “Superpowers,” little productivity boosters doesn’t sync with iOS Reminders, but
That’s not to say Proud doesn’t work like tucked away beneath each view. In Lists, there’s iCloud sync with other iOS devices
traditional to-do apps, but here lists and Destress provides a bit of breathing room; and Apple Watch support; a Mac version
tasks work the same. Tasks can include under Reminders, users can move upcoming is currently in beta.
unlimited sub-tasks, so busy users can pile tasks to make room for last-minute THE BOTTOM LINE. Proud is the first
on as much as they want and trust Proud obligations; and History provides a “time task management app made with the user
will have their back. machine” to reflect on what’s done. in mind, encouraging productivity as well
Proud offers three views: Lists, Proud has a learning curve coming from as peace of mind. J.R. BOOKWALTER
Reminders, and History. The first shows a traditional to-do apps, although fans of
complete picture of what needs to get done, Clear will feel right at home. The app GREAT
HeartWatch Sidefari
$1.99 Developer Tantsissa, heartwatch.tantsissa.com 99¢ Developer Francisco Cantu, macrecon.com
Platform Universal Requirements iOS 8.4 or later Platform Universal Requirements iOS 9 or later
HeartWatch uses showing how long you’ve spent Split View on the apps. Sidefari works with
data collected by in each zone. Notifications warn iPad Air 2, iPad installed content blockers and
Apple Watch’s when your heart rate exceeds mini 4 and iPad retains its own history. There’s
sensors to keep or drops below a level you Pro puts two apps a “modal” view in apps that
track of your pulse. It splits specify. You can zoom out to side by side. Unfortunately, it support it, which loads a page
the day into four categories: a max of 12 weeks to see your doesn’t enable you to run two in an overlay window without
waking, workout, regular (for average heart rate, with daily instances of the same app next exiting the current app (even
most of the day) and sleep (if high and low figures. Health to each other, such as two on iPhone), though this is less
you wear your Watch in bed). data geeks will love the Safari tabs. useful than Split View mode.
Data is well presented, making visualizations. You can see how Sidefari gets round this Note: Sidefari isn’t Safari. It
it easy to detect “triggers” of beneficial your gym visit was, using Safari View Controller, lacks tabs, can’t access Safari’s
increased pulse. Commute to if a meeting was stressful, or the “in-app” browser Apple bookmarks, and doesn’t enable
work on the train? A quick look how your heart responded provides to developers. Fire you to edit its address bar.
will show how that journey during a football game. up Safari, then open Sidefari THE BOTTOM LINE. An
affects you, stress-wise. THE BOTTOM LINE. in Split View, activate Safari elegant and affordable way to
Workout data splits your Discover what’s stressing “Send to Sidefari” Share sheet view two web pages at once on
heart rates into four colored you out. KENNY HEMPHILL extension, and you can view your iPad. CRAIG GRANNELL
zones of increasing intensity two web pages side by side, as
(green, blue, yellow, and red), GREAT well as send links between the GREAT
Auxy
Tap out your next chart-topper
$4.99 Developer Auxy, auxy.co
Platform iPhone, iPod touch Requirements iOS 9 or later
Auxy attempts to get more scale, octaves are restricted to seven notes.
people making music on Loops can be expanded from one to four
mobile, primarily by rethinking bars, and Auxy helpfully copies existing
interface design conventions. notes when you do so. Sounds can be A very welcome addition to mobile music
This results in an app that’s approachable switched and adjusted, and the selection making, offering a fresh and friendly approach.
and usable, whether you’re a relative is impressive, if very electronic in nature.
newbie or an old-hand to composing. Smartly, you can record an arrangement which don’t afford you precision control. It
New projects begin life as a blank grid, of your creation by tapping Record could do with more diverse sounds and the
comprising four tracks of 16 empty loops. and triggering individual loops live. option for a fuller note grid when editing
When editing loops, you tap out notes Alternatively, to use your Auxy work loops, but as an iPhone tool for songwriting
on a piano roll note grid, much like in as the start of something bigger on sketches, it’s a success.
GarageBand, but the playhead moves the desktop, MIDI export is an option. THE BOTTOM LINE. A nicely conceived,
vertically, which is optimal for an iPhone Much like its free iPad forebear, Auxy stable iPhone music-making app that’s a
in portrait. For bass and leads, this works is a pleasure to use on iPhone. It neatly real pleasure to use. CRAIG GRANNELL
well, although drums lack labels, which is fills a space between fully fledged studios
awkward. Also, while you can pick a key and like GarageBand and the likes of Figure, GREAT
Power Hover
Marty McFly would be sick with envy
$3.99 Developer Oddrok Oy, oddrok.com
Platform Universal Requirements iOS 7 or later
ROUNDUP
From the smallest apartment to the screen so it’s more blue in the
biggest mansion, every home can do daytime and more yellow in the
with a bit of TLC. A few little changes evening, and of course that will
can make an enormous diļerence to aļect the way colors appear on
your home, and a few little apps can your screen – as will artiĽcial
make an enormous diļerence to how lighting or dark days. It’s still
much fun you’ll have doing it. worth getting a tester pot when
HOUZZ (Free, Universal) is a good you’ve found the colors you want.
place to start. It’s packed with design So that’s the interior covered.
ideas ranging from the sensible to Let’s move outside… Do you want
the spectacularly unrealistic, and you to improve your garden? iSCAPE
can use it to scrapbook your favorites ($4.99, Universal) enables you to
and Ľnd products that’ll look just visualize the perfect garden. Its
great. It’s a fantastic app for Ľnding library includes not just plants and
Floor plans without measuring? MagicPlan
design inspiration. uses your phone’s camera to make its maps. trees but features such as swimming
If you’ve ever ordered furniture pools, lighting and even yard art.
only to discover that it was too big to enables you to try out light Ľttings, You can start your design from
Ľt in or just looked plain weird with rugs and mirrors too. scratch or overlay items on a
the rest of your furnishings, you’ll One of the best ways to ensure photo of your existing space.
appreciate the value of the excellent everything Ľts is to draw up a ľoor Once you’ve decided what you
HOMESTYLER INTERIOR DESIGNER plan, but of course that can be a real want inside or out, the next step is
(Free, Universal) from Autodesk. pain involving endless measuring to actually do it – and there’s an app
The app enables you to take a photo and scribbling. Use MAGIC PLAN for that too. Sadly, SNAPGUIDE
of your room and then digitally (Free, Universal) instead: it enables (Free, Universal) doesn’t actually
remove existing items and/or add you to create your plan by taking a do the work for you, but it oļers the
3D models of real furniture items bunch of photos and letting the app next best thing: user-created how-
to see how they’ll look. It’s not just piece them all together. Once the to guides for DIY projects and
about furniture, either. The app plan’s done you can use it in the home improvement tasks.
app or export it in a range of
standard Ľle formats for use
in desktop apps or online.
Now for some color. TAPPAINTER
($2.99, Universal) is one of the most
user-friendly ways to Ľnd colors,
enabling you to take a photo of your
space and try out diļerent ideas
without going anywhere near a
paintbrush. It has various paint
Ľrms’ color swatches to help you
Ľnd the right colors for your room,
but we’d suggest using it as a guide
rather than an oracle, especially if
Looking for inspiration? Houzz has several
you’re on iOS 9.3: iOS’s Night Shift Try colors without reaching for a paint brush:
million images to give you great ideas. changes the color gamma of your TapPainter can “redecorate” in virtual vision.
To-do apps are everywhere, but and your tasks that need
since this one costs signiĽcantly actioning now will show up
more than most others, and in a Today view, while others
especially since the App Store will be in Upcoming. Usefully,
is stuļed with apps like the tasks can have sub-tasks
powerful, free Wunderlist, it assigned to them (and they
had better be pretty special. can have sub-tasks assigned
Happily, it is. to them, and so on) – though
A quick overview of the the fact that ticking oļ all
iPhone app Ľrst. You can have sub-tasks marks the main task
multiple lists, grouped into as done automatically might not
folders, jobs can be tagged (as always be welcome. It syncs with
you go, or by assigning them to the Mac equivalent too.
tag trees you’ve already built), On the Watch, you get more
and you can view jobs by tags. than just some dumb, check-
Set due dates and start dates oļ-able list of tasks. Launching There’s a Glance, which
it shows you Today, and tapping shows progress through to-dos
one task lets you mark it as in Activity-style rings (a bit of
completed, shunt it to tomorrow, coarse approach, granted, but
WATCH TIP
or get more information. This it may well work for some).
Clearing notifications screen shows you notes, sub-
tasks, and a clever, Ľnger-
Annoyingly though, there’s
no Complication – yet.
Clearing of notifications, friendly system for changing THE BOTTOM LINE. A really
notifications from then press firmly the start and due dates. useful addition to your Apple
your Watch one for a Clear All “X”. New events can be added Watch. CHRISTOPHER PHIN
by one is a pain, using dictation, though only
especially if they’ve to the Inbox; you can set dates
been stacking up afterwards on the Watch, but THE HIT LIST
for a while. Happily, not assign to tags or lists. You Can do lots from the Watch app
you can nix them have to switch to iPhone for Simple adding of new tasks with dictation…
all at once; swipe these – but that’s kinda okay
… but limited options for adding metadata
down the Watch since you wouldn’t want to be
face to get the list Ľddling with the Watch for No Complication
ages to do that anyway. GREAT
How to
Mapstr Play music from
Build a personal map of important locations
your Watch
Free Developer Hulab, mapstr.com
Platform iPhone, watchOS Requirements iOS 7 or later
Canon PowerShot G5 X
A high-end compact cam with an impressive sensor and screen
$749 Manufacturer Canon, canon.com
Features 20.2 megapixels, f/1.8-2.8 lens with 4.2x zoom, Wi-Fi, vari-angle flip-out touchscreen
T
he G5 X offers enthusiast-oriented controls aperture range of f/1.8-2.8, which ensures
in a pocket-size camera with an electronic reasonable control over depth of field.
viewfinder. Its styling is pretty old-school Meanwhile, the OLED electronic viewfinder has
and retro, with an angular design that probably 2.36 million dots and shows 100% of the scene,
won’t be to everybody’s taste, but the dials with a 120fps refresh rate making it easy to
and buttons feel sensibly arranged and thus follow moving subjects. There’s also a three-
within easy reach. inch, 1,040,000-dot touch-sensitive screen
Pushing the retro theme is a control dial mounted on a vari-angle hinge. The screen is
around the lens. This can adjust a number of very responsive and moving your way through
different settings, which you can customize menus with it feels natural, especially if you’re
within the main menu. There’s also a dedicated used to using an iPhone or iPad.
exposure compensation dial on top of the For those who want to dip into video shooting,
camera, within easy reach of your thumb. Just there’s Hybrid Auto mode, which shoots two
below the shutter release is another smaller seconds of video before each shot is taken,
dial, which can also be customized for different compiling them together as a “digest” movie.
settings such as aperture, ISO or white balance. There’s also a Creative Shot mode which shoots
Once you have the controls set up, they allow an image and then applies five different crops,
quick and fluid settings changes. digital filters, or a combination thereof, although
The one-inch sensor, covering 20.2 million weirdly you can’t actually specify which of these
pixels, is larger than can be found in most you want to use.
compact cameras, and it’s coupled with a fast Tiny niggles aside, the G5 X has a fantastic
f/1.8-2.8 lens which is great for creating shallow sensor, and the lens is versatile with a wide
CANON depth of field effects with wide apertures, and maximum aperture throughout its range. It
POWERSHOT G5 X in low-light shooting. Directly from the camera, boasts raw format shooting and manual control,
Large sensor JPEG images display a lovely amount of and the screen, being fully articulating and
saturation and warmth. Raw files can be touch sensitive, is great for shooting from
Built-in Wi-Fi
opened in Adobe Camera Raw/Photoshop, or awkward angles.
Lack of control over you can download Canon’s free Digital Photo THE BOTTOM LINE. The G5 X is an excellent
Creative Shot filters
Professional software to open and edit raw files. compact camera for anyone looking for a first
Fairly short zoom range The lens offers a 4x zoom with a focal range “serious” camera, or as a backup to an existing
AWESOME equivalent to 24-100mm and a maximum SLR or CSC. AMY DAVIES
Stacks
Welcome to the gentle organization art of Kanban
$9.99 Developer Cristian Barlutiu, stacks.one
Requirements OS X 10.10 or later
Launchey
Who needs the Dock?
$2.99 Developer Nice Apps, getniceapps.com
Requirements OS X 10.10 or later
SCHEDULER
Easy-to-use task manager for Mac
Icons and color tags for individual entries
No iCloud sync
Offers little over built-in OS X Reminders
WEAK
iMail
iMail makes email simple. Too simple, we think
Free Developer Eltima Software, eltima.com
Requirements OS X 10.8 or later, 64-bit processor
No templates or even
RocketCake is a WYSIWYG app for creating The app ignores many Mac text-editing
responsive websites – those that optimize conventions, such as using modiĽers and
for varied viewport sizes. If you’ve ever arrow keys for jumping to words and
narrowed a browser window and watched paragraphs, or using ç+B to bold. There’s
web page content shift about, chances are it also an Internet Explorer logo for the
was responsive. And so RocketCake helps browser preview button, and the app oļered
you to make your own. to publish our work to the C: drive…
Unfortunately, RocketCake won’t open RocketCake also falls short on the claim
existing sites, so you’ve got to start from it “spits out clean HTML/CSS code.” On
scratch or select from a handful of uninspiring opening exported documents in BBEdit, we
themes. Either way, it’s daunting to found overly complicated mark-up, a lack of
newcomers; although the interface initially attention to semantics, and separate CSS
appears user-friendly and feature-rich, it docs for every page, making for slow sites,
has problems. The Toolset and Properties and designs that are hard to keep consistent. ROCKETCAKE
panels are Ľne, enabling you to drop All this makes us wonder who RocketCake A few good interface
components onto the page, and update a is for. Beginners will Ľnd it complex, and elements
selection’s property values. Meanwhile, a should head for RapidWeaver or WordPress. Ignores many
slider provides a quick means of changing Pros won’t Ľnd anything here to better Mac conventions
the page’s width to judge how it might Dreamweaver or BBEdit and Coda. Has a tendency to
appear in various viewports. THE BOTTOM LINE. We can’t fault create messy code
But dragging elements around doesn’t RocketCake’s ambition, but unfortunately Won’t work with
work as you’d expect, and RocketCake we can fault a lot else about this existing websites
appears oblivious to marking up typography. disappointing program. CRAIG GRANNELL POOR
E
xtensions for Photos are pretty few and far between, a search of the App
Store only turning up enough to fill a single row. While apps such as Affinity
Photo add their own, it’s good to see a big name like DxO getting involved.
Don’t go expecting too much, though: unlike last year’s DxO OpticsPro 10, this
Extension doesn’t feature palettes and ranks of sliders, but just five quick settings.
First off is Optical Corrections, which fixes distortion and chromatic aberration
(“and more,” although there’s no clue as to what this might be – vignetting
perhaps) in a similar way to Lightroom’s Lens Corrections palette in its Develop
module. That is, if it can detect the make and model of camera and lens from the
image metadata and find the appropriate DxO Optics module to perform the
correction. As with the rest of the Extension, there’s no manual control.
Next is White Balance, which bucks the trend by offering a slider, and also a
dropper tool for sampling whites and neutral colors in your image. The As Shot
button allows you to snap back to your original color balance at any point. Moving
down, we get to something more interesting: DxO Smart Lighting attempts to
maximize the dynamic range of an image and, while the Extension will happily edit
JPEGs, is best applied to raw image files. It analyzes your image, and its effect can
be applied in three strengths, depending on which looks most realistic to your eye.
We found Strong was able to be used in most circumstances, boosting photos well,
only stepping back if we were pushing into unnatural HDR-style territory.
Noise Reduction, the next item on the toolbar, is equally impressive. You’re
given a choice between the faster “HQ” option or the better-quality “PRIME.” In
our tests there isn’t a lot between them, but even the slower option isn’t that slow.
DXO OPTICSPRO Modern Macs are powerful enough that waiting for PRIME to finish is hardly taxing
FOR PHOTOS – and the results are excellent. Finally, DxO Clearview is a dehazing tool aimed
Good image quality at landscape photos, parts of which may be softened or understaurated by the
Easy to use scattering of light. It’s a local contrast enhancement, essentially, and is actually
worth a go on any kind of photo if you like the effect.
Excellent noise reduction
THE BOTTOM LINE. If you’re a Photos user who wants editing sessions to
Very few options be over within a minute, then OpticsPro is a good choice, but look elsewhere
GREAT for high levels of manual control. IAN EVENDEN
Documents Pro
More of an amateur approach than a Pro solution
99¢ Developer Candles Inc., candle-inc.lofter.com.com
Requirements OS X 10.6.8 or later; 64-bit processor
Arriving
This app hasn’t quite arrived
$4.99 Developer It’s About Time Products,
helloiat.com
Requirements OS X 10.8 or later, 64-bit processor
iCOLLECTIONS 2.5
Easy to create and organize Collections
Smart Drop Well feature
Can’t make Collections in existing folder structures
The look isn’t quite 100% OS X
GOOD
Synology RT1900ac
A powerful router from a surprising source
$225 Manufacturer Synology, synology.com
Features 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, USB and SDXC ports
P
reviously known for its network-attached your most important devices always get the
storage devices, Synology has branched into bandwidth they need.
new territory to launch its first ever wireless Another standout is the Synology Router
router – and it’s a good one too. It’s robustly Manager software, which is similar to Finder in
designed and setting it up couldn’t be simpler. layout, making your router’s configuration tools
The router has all the top-notch specs you’ll easy to navigate and tweak. There’s even an app
SYNOLOGY want, with four Gigabit Ethernet ports together center, allowing you to add extra goodies including
RT1900AC with the latest 802.11ac wireless standard, plus media, VPN and DNS servers.
Top-of-the-line a USB 3.0 port for printers, 3G/4G modems or The RT1900ac is an expensive solution, but
performance extra storage, and an SDXC card slot, too. you will at least feel the benefit from its blazing
Good-looking interface Our tests showed excellent wired transfer performance and extra features.
rates up to 950MB/s, and wireless rates of 140MB/s THE BOTTOM LINE. It’s expensive, but the
Useful app center
and 420MB/s on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, RT1900ac checks all the right boxes with its
Expensive respectively. A feature called beamforming claims performance, feature set and ease of use.
GREAT to prioritize wireless traffic, so that up to six of NICK PEERS
Transcend
StoreJet 500 1TB
Exposes a Thunderbolt weakness
$590 Manufacturer Transcend, transcend-info.com
Features Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports
Sugr Cube not only matched its write speeds (289MB/sec), but
actually outperformed Thunderbolt in the read tests
(421MB/sec and 435MB/sec versus 387MB/sec and
A tiny, pretty, portable AirPlay speaker 391MB/sec, respectively).
$229 Manufacturer Sugr, sugrsugr.com We’ve seen this difference between the two port
Weight 1.3 lb Dimensions 4.1x4.1x4.3 in types before, with a portable drive from Elgato.
However, this just serves as encouragement to avoid
the Thunderbolt premium if your Mac has USB 3.0,
This little portable speaker is really nicely made, and comes and to buy or build a USB-only SSD.
packed with features. Its wood-Ľnished shape mimics iOS app These speeds are much quicker than traditional
icons (and its own app matches the look of the speaker), it hard drives, but are eclipsed by our 2012 Mac mini’s
connects to Wi-Fi networks for wireless audio streaming, and it 256GB SSD. And that’s the rub: performance is good
has cute gesture controls: when music’s playing, you can tap its enough to run apps and even virtual machines, but
top to pause or play, or tilt it 45° to skip tracks. It’s easy to set it’s not worth the hefty premium just for Thunderbolt.
up via its accompanying iOS app, which also gives you access to THE BOTTOM LINE. Fast, but most people could
some of the streaming services it supports, including Pandora go for a less expensive USB-only SSD. NICK PEERS
and internet radio station options. These are Ľne – the app
works well enough (though we’re not sold on swiping to
navigate through its services), but won’t win any design awards. TRANSCEND STOREJET 500 1TB
But the key thing is that it supports AirPlay, so you can play Smart, sleek, sturdy design
pretty much anything to it. (It also supports Spotify Connect.) Fast transfer speed
All this combines into a seemlingly great package, with one
A premium price over USB options
problem: the sound isn’t impressive. It’s good in the mid-
range, and especially for speech, so works well for talk radio, Performs less well over Thunderbolt
but the bass is weak, and the treble is severely lacking in detail. SOLID
You simply don’t get the most out of your music when listening
on this – and that’s a problem when you’re spending over $200.
THE BOTTOM LINE. A Ľnely made, well featured speaker,
but best if you stick to voice playback. MATT BOLTON
SUGR CUBE
Lovely design and finish
Great range of features
Music quality isn’t very good
Not cheap
OKAY
Arcam MusicBOOST
Improve your iPhone’s music output. A bit
$189 Manufacturer Arcam, arcam.co.uk
Weight 3.6 oz Connectivity 3.5mm jack, micro-USB, Lightning (to iPhone)
T
his is two products in one, really. It’s $150 mark up to the $1,000+ Oppo PM1s –
a battery pack case for the iPhone 6 (or to both lossless music (in the Apple Lossless
6s, at a squeeze, which we’ll come to), as format) and standard tracks from iTunes and
well as a headphone amp and digital-to-analog Apple Music. And while we could discern a
converter for your music. Stick your iPhone in difference, we were really listening, and testing
(it connects via the Lightning port), then plug for it in optimal conditions, and we just didn’t
your headphones into it, and it aims to make feel like we were missing out without it.
your music sound better – and acts as a You do hear a bit of extra punch in the bass
headphone amplifier. and percussion, and there’s a tad more richness
As a battery pack, it’s fine. It claims and warmth to the overall sound – but the
to supply 120% of an iPhone charge – we difference is minimal, and only discernible
measured a 95% charge (over the course of in some songs. If you’re someone who cares
about two hours), but while lightly using the about wringing every possible drop of sound
phone, so you’ll certainly get one full charge quality out, though, then you might be happy
from it. You can charge the case (and your with that improvement.
phone, while it’s in it) using micro-USB. But Our bigger issue was that the case is
you can buy battery cases that do this for incredibly tight on the 6s – getting it off is
much less money. No, it’s the music part an ordeal. We’ve been told it relaxes over time
that might make you buy this. (which seemed to start happening for us), but
The idea is that the iPhone’s digital-to- better is that a dedicated 6s version is coming.
ARCAM analog converter chip is okay, but a better However, while the case’s soft-touch matt
MUSICBOOST one offers more precise audio reproduction, material is very pleasant and well finished, it’s
Full charge of an iPhone allowing for more faithful playback of lossless a bit too slippery for us, and it’s not really that
Small audio boost… music especially – and the amplifier supports protective as a case. It also stops in-line mics
headphones the iPhone doesn’t on its own. and controls working on headphones.
… but emphasis on “small”
So, is the effect worth it? THE BOTTOM LINE. Just about does what it
Very tight on iPhone 6s We’d have to say: not really. We listened with sets out to do, but we think most people simply
OKAY different headphones – ranging from around the won’t find it worth the money. MATT BOLTON
W
e had high hopes for Logitech’s iPad Pro screen, and so on, which are absent from Apple’s
keyboard case – Logitech’s other iPad keyboard. The last of those is better than the
products are great, and it’s a first-class Pro ç+H shortcut, because it can also return you
citizen thanks to its use of the Smart Connector. to the first Home screen when you’re on a later
Between it and Apple’s Smart Keyboard, it has by one. Three-level backlighting is also welcome,
far the more traditional feel to its keys, and so despite being uneven across the keys.
you can just start using it without retraining your It’s not all good, though. Compared to the Smart
muscle memory. There’s not as much travel and Keyboard, it’s notably heavy and bulky. Worse, it’s a
bounce as from Apple’s non-Magic Mac keyboards, pain to fit and remove from the Pro, though it does
but it’s eminently useable. The layout is pretty cover the iPad’s back, too. It’s fine if you always
LOGITECH CREATE similar between it and the Smart Keyboard – both want to have a hardware keyboard attached to the
Great typing action use the extra size to avoid having to squeeze in Pro, but tiresome if you want to be more flexible.
Useful function keys punctuation keys – but we like that the Create has It covers the speakers as well, which isn’t ideal.
its arrow keys in an inverted “T,” while Apple’s THE BOTTOM LINE. We want to love this comfy,
Awkward to fit and remove
keyboard just fits them into an awkward rectangle. feature-packed keyboard, but it’s a hassle to fit.
Covers the Pro’s speakers Perhaps the biggest advantage the Create has is Good if you’ll use your iPad Pro more often as a
GOOD its dedicated keys for playback, volume, lock, Home laptop than a tablet. CHRISTOPHER PHIN
iQunix Zand
A sticky iPad stand
$29 Manufacturer iQunix, iqunix.com
Dimensions 3.9x3.9x7.1 in
STM Grace Deluxe doesn’t take much effort) and it will stay right there
– and this means it works with any iPad, including the
Pro. Getting your iPad off easily requires learning a
A sharper notebook sleeve bag bit of a technique (pulling from one corner first,
$59 Manufacturer STM, stmbags.com basically), but is no hassle. It’s also got a pad on the
Sizes 13-inch, 15-inch Weight 0.68 lb stand’s base, keeping it firmly in one place on your
desk (this takes a solid pull to dislodge, resulting in
a pleasing/alarming ringing sound). The stand can
There are loads of nice, functional and aļordable notebook bag also lie with the main pad down to hold the iPad in a
options for men, but women have been rather underserved if flatter position, for typing and so on, again with the
they want something that’s practical and looks good, but isn’t sticky area keeping it stable. You will find that the
from a designer name. STM is one of our favorite bag brands, pads becomes less sticky over time as they pick up
and the Grace is its attempt at redressing this balance. dust, but just a wipe with a wet cloth fixes that.
It’s a fairly minimal bag - it has a main section for a 13-inch THE BOTTOM LINE. A really nice iPad stand
notebook (15-inch version available), and a zipped pocket that option – smart looking, well made, secure and
runs the length of the bag’s side. The notebook section is lined versatile. MATT BOLTON
with a soft non-scratch material, and is well padded against
bumps. Its top ľap is only held closed by magnets, so might not
seem that secure, but if you have the straps over your shoulder, iQUNIX ZAND
they eļectively make the ľap inaccessible. The zipped section Great aluminum build
has a few little pockets for pens and your phone, and can take Sticky pad works well
your laptop charger cable, but it’s not very big, so taking the
Good price
cable will spoil the bag’s clean lines. It comes in a range of cool
colors, though we have concerns about keeping the light suedey Needs wiping every so often
material clean over time… As in, we’re pretty certain it would EXCELLENT
be impossible. But it looks great until then!
THE BOTTOM LINE. A nice notebook bag that oļers more
color and style than most - but not the most practical option
out there in terms of material and storage. MATT BOLTON
Thief
Robbed of its potential
$29.99 Developer Eidos Montreal, eidosmontreal.com
Requirements OS X 10.10.5, 1.8GHz processor, 4GB RAM, Nvidia 6xx series/
AMD HD 5000 series/Intel Iris Pro graphics with 1GB VRAM
E
ven without this series’ legacy looming like of trinkets and baubles to snatch – silver cutlery
a specter – the astonishingly atmospheric in birds’ nests, candlesticks in the gutters –
original pair of Thief games almost quickly becomes tedious, but they finance
singlehandly kicked off the stealth genre 18 Garrett’s arsenal of poison bombs and
years ago – this reboot of the first-person steampunk flash-bangs, as well as the upgrade
sneaking and stealing sim would be under-tuned, purchases that improve his stealth abilities.
cobbled together, and incohesive. The game’s While Thief’s larger structures never gel, the
po-faced seriousness is undercut by the arch game fares much better in its main missions, set
silliness of its plot and the absurdity of its pieces that give players more freedom while
interactions: in Thief, you can pummel a man limiting the scope to one particularly important
five feet from his sleeping daughter without artifact. Garrett is almost always outgunned, but
disturbing her. Guards have farcically short tête-à-têtes against enemy soldiers provide the
memories, too – even a crashing chandelier only bulk of Thief’s creative spark. Stealth is the
warrants a few seconds’ investigation. most obvious option, but Garrett can also set
These may be acceptable quirks of the fires, snuff out lights, and pick off stragglers
so-called “immersive sim” genre, but Thief’s (so long as he hides the bodies).
worst offender is the City, a grimy shantytown There is a giddy thrill in flitting through the
covered in industrial murk and comprising shadows, snuffing out candles, and snatching
dead-end alleys and tightly packed buildings. coin purses. Garrett’s swooping dash gives him
THIEF As hub worlds go, the City is cramped, a feeling of lithe athleticism, and even simple
Missions have a variety claustrophobic, and a chore to navigate, navigation is satisfyingly lively. The alternate
of stealth, navigation, and some districts arbitrarily restricted by transfer routes through each level are perhaps too
combat options points and loading screens. Storyline missions clearly marked – a rope arrow here, a ventilation
Mods and customizations (and some of the larger quests) are quarantined duct there – but that doesn’t diminish the fun of
can fine-tune difficulty into discrete areas, however, being replayable actually using them.
The hub world is and scored for thoroughness and efficacy. THE BOTTOM LINE. Thief suffers from tonal
a chore to navigate Unsurprisingly, Thief involves all manner of dissonance, an obstructionist structure, and
Enemy AI and combat pilfering and plundering. You play as Garrett, a abundant busywork, but provides a suite of
are fairly rudimentary begrudging Robin Hood figure who spends most engrossing and variable tactical challenges.
OKAY of his time stealing from the poor. The avalanche JOSEPH LERAY
Tharsis
“Yahtzee in space!” Only quite a bit harder. And bloodier…
$14.99 Developer Choice Provisions, totallychoice.com
Requirements OS X 10.10 or later, Intel Core i5, 2GB RAM, Intel HD 5000/Nvidia GeForce 400/AMD HD 5000
series graphics, 2GB storage
Incompetence abounds in
MULTIROOM
WIRELESS
AUDIO
Music has long driven Apple tech, and now
multiroom sound makes more of your tunes
BY CLIFF JOSEPH
< Pure’s
Connect app
works with
MP3, AAC,
WMA and
RealAudio
streams, and
it provides
bass and
treble control.
> Bose’s
SoundTouch
20 Series III
can even
receive Apple
Lossless
audio, and it
has a built-in
OLED display.
FIVE OF
THE BEST
Our best buys in multiroom sound systems
1 2 3 4
BOSE SOUNDTOUCH 20 PHILIPS IZZY PURE JONGO T4X SAMSUNG WIRELESS
SERIES III $129 $329 AUDIO R6
$349 philips.co.uk pure.com $369
bose.com samsung.com
> The Bluetooth-powered > Pure’s “caskeid” audio
> This compact speaker Izzy’s sound quality is syncing system, which > This gorgeous space-pod
still manages to produce respectable rather than combines Bluetooth and Wi- design sounds just as good
a big, room-filling sound. It impressive, but if you want Fi, is a little confusing to set as it looks, producing 360°
features Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to buy several speakers for up, but it works well and audio that really lives up to
streaming, so you can play different rooms then it’s the allows the speakers to play a that billing. It’s also portable,
music from most apps and most affordable option in wide range of music services with six hours of battery life.
services. The Mac version of this group. It’s also the – including Apple Music, The iOS app works well, but
the SoundTouch app works easiest to set up and use, happily. Its 50W output isn’t there’s no support for Apple
well too, and there’s even a thanks to its simple two- subtle, but it’s sufficiently Music, and the Mac version
30-day free trial. button control panel. loud for most rooms. is pretty poor.
APPLE
MUSIC
When you use Bluetooth to connect to
a single speaker, that connection allows
you to stream audio from most apps,
including Apple Music and rival services
such as Spotify and Deezer
nfortunately, the Wi-Fi
U connections used by
multiroom speakers are
a bit more complicated
than the well-established wireless
standard of Bluetooth audio.
The Wi-Fi link has to be controlled
by the apps provided by each individual
> HOW TO
GR O U P MULT I ROOM S P EAK ERS
BLUETOOTH
OPTION
JARGON
BUSTER
OUT
NOW!
DoorBird D101
doorbird.com
$360
>>> The DoorBird can be installed using the The video camera boasts night vision, and
wiring from an existing doorbell or intercom, there’s a 180° motion sensor that can scan the
but includes a microphone and video camera. area around your front door and alert you if
The DoorBird also includes Wi-Fi and Ethernet someone’s hanging around. Accessories include
so you can connect it to your home network. It the BirdGuard camera, which enables you to
can use the DoorBird app to link the intercom remotely open the door so that couriers can
to up to eight iPhones or other mobile devices, drop parcels – but which sounds an alarm if
allowing you to speak to the visitor even when they step beyond the doorway. The company is
you’re away, and if your iPhone has an internet even working on a software update that will add
connection that’s fast enough, the DoorBird can face-recognition, so that it knows to trust your
send a video image of the caller as well. postman when he needs to drop something off!
Zinc
Bookmark videos, watch later
$2.99
ISS SpaceWatch
Live from space, it’s planet Earth!
99¢
The unfortunate truth is that there was used to check it, and some apps could
probably nothing wrong with them. When not cope with that. Unfortunately,
you start an app bought from the App sporadic problems continued, but these
Store, it checks an Apple security should have settled down by now.
certificate. Late last year the certificate The problem with that alert is that it is
expired, and a new one replaced it. incorrect, as the apps were not damaged
However Apple changed the type of hash in any way. But if you ignore it, you You can’t make the system font bolder – but
key (a component of the encryption) cannot run them. If you trash the apps Finder can be set to use it at a larger size.
EMAIL: letters@maclife.com
SHARE WITH US! FACEBOOK: facebook.com/maclife TWITTER: twitter.com/maclife
THE TODAY VIEW in NotiĽcation become a repository for all kinds of widgets
REQUIRES Center was Ľrst introduced in OS X from Apple and third parties. To some extent,
> OS X 10.10 or higher Yosemite to mirror the one that’s it’s taken the place of the deprecated (but not
become so useful and popular in iOS. yet defunct) Dashboard, which, while no longer
LEVEL Not a lot has changed in El Capitan, but are shown in Mission Control by default, can be
> Easy you using it properly? reinstated in System Preferences.
The Today view is reached by clicking on The broad range of widgets that have found
IT WILL TAKE
NotiĽcation Center’s icon, which is right-most a home in the Today view means its name is now
> 15 minutes in the menu bar, then clicking the Today tab a little misleading, though we doubt it will change
at the top of the slide-out pane that appears. any time soon. Among the widgets that keep
While originally intended as a place to go to within the name’s remit are options for checking
Ľnd out what’s happening today, it has the weather, Reminders, and your Calendar.
Others, such as Calculator and World Clock are
very useful but not really about today’s agenda.
Some of the best widgets for the Today view are
made by third-party developers. These include
one for James Thomson’s venerable PCalc app,
one for the to-do manager Wunderlist, and one
for Deliveries, the Mac version of Junecloud’s
excellent delivery tracking tool.
JARGON
BUSTER
TAKE
CONTROL
NOT EVERYONE USES password in the app’s settings. It can also wake the Mac up
REQUIRES protection to lock their Mac, but when you come back to it, again with a setting for
> OS X 10.10 or higher, everyone should. With so many distance. Another clever option is the ability to
iOS 8 or higher, sensitive details like bank accounts tap out a unique pattern on a Mac’s trackpad in
Bluetooth 4.0 in accessed online, the last thing you want is anyone order to unlock it. This is handy if you don’t have
both devices, peeking at your private data. The only bugbear your iOS device with you, and tapping a pattern
Touch ID
about locking and unlocking your Mac repeatedly takes only a second or so.
LEVEL is that you end up typing your password over and MacID can do other useful things, such as
over again. Apple’s newer iPhones and some iPads control iTunes or Spotify playback or copy the
> Easy
have Touch ID, a Ľngerprint scanner that you can contents of a clipboard between devices, which
IT WILL TAKE use to unlock the device and authorize actions, is something Apple should really bake into its
> 10 minutes such as Apple Pay. MacID is a clever app that operating systems.
harnesses the power of Touch ID to streamline If you own an Apple Watch, MacID provides you
the process of securing your Mac. with a convenient way to lock or unlock multiple
Macs or start screensavers from your wrist. You
CUSTOMIZE YOUR LOGIN - MacID makes things can add MacID’s Glance to the Watch to easily see
simply by pairing over Bluetooth and then giving how many Macs you are connected to, which could
you the option of remotely locking or unlocking be handy if you manage a number of computers at
the Mac’s screen from your iPhone, iPad or even home or in an oĿce. You’ll need a Mac and an iOS
Apple Watch. Even more usefully, it can be set up device with support for Bluetooth LE, which
to trigger automatically. You can, for example, includes iOS devices as old as the iPhone 4S and
make it lock the screen as soon as you move away MacBooks from 2011; if your gear is recent you can
from your Mac, with distance being conĽgurable probably run MacID okay. HOLLIN JONES
looking how you want it to with a few quick the image below. For example, you might want JARGON
BUSTER
clicks, then use the app’s more powerful tools to insert a human Ľgure into a landscape, or
to remove elements, add objects from other drop a car onto a photograph of a sweeping
images, touch up individual areas of a shot road. Alternatively, you might cut out the
and, Ľnally, export your Ľnished work in sky from a landscape and add a more dramatic
a multitude of diļerent formats. one from elsewhere.
AĿnity Photo enables you to use thousands
LAYERING IT UP - AĿnity Photo’s other big of layers to build up your compositions. As with A per-pixel editor is
improvement over apps such as Lightroom Photoshop, whether these layers are preserved one that allows you to
and Apple’s Photos is its ability to work with when you save your Ľle depends on which format move and edit individual
layers. Layers are just as they sound: “sheets” of you use. If you choose not to “ľatten” an image pixels, unlike Lightroom
or Apple’s Photos app.
extra pixels that can be overlaid or blended with before saving it – that is, merge all its layers into
the layers beneath them. You might use a layer one – you’ll end up with a very large Ľle size, and
to superimpose text, or to add a component to can’t open the image in other software.
JARGON Adjustment layers will be familiar to anyone It’s a little non-obvious that AĿnity Photo
BUSTER
who’s used Photoshop. They work in a similar provides Ľve “personas,” each designed to help
way to standard layers in that they sit on top of you with speciĽc jobs. Of these, the default is
your original image, but instead of containing Photo, which is the closest to Photoshop.
new components, they change elements of Liquify enables you to pull pixels around, while
the layer below. For example, you might use the Develop persona is akin to Photoshop’s
an adjustment layer to change the exposure or Camera Raw plug-in, and is the perfect place
Lossless images, such saturation of an image. Of course, you could to start, particularly if you’re dealing with raw
as those saved in always change exposure or saturation on the Ľles straight from your camera – enabling you
Affinity Photo’s native original image itself, but the adjustment layer to correct things like exposure or sharpness
format, don’t throw doesn’t permanently aļect the information it before beginning more advanced work.
away any information
changes. This is known as non-destructive The Export persona lets you generate Ľnished
when they are saved,
preserving their quality. editing: no matter what you do to your original versions of your Ľles. It’s worth pointing out
shot, you’ll always be able to remove those that the app can open Photoshop’s PSD Ľle
changes wholesale. format, including its layers, as well as oļering
its own format. Your Ľnal format for most images
LEARNING CURVE - If you’re coming from will be JPEGs – small, high-quality Ľles used
Photos, Lightroom, or another one-hit-Ľx app, by most commercial photo printers. If you’re
AĿnity Photo, like Adobe Photoshop, seems working on images with lots of layers, it makes
fairly daunting at Ľrst. Not only are the tools sense to use AĿnity’s own format, which will not
somewhat abstractly arranged in the toolbar, but only preserve those layers but is also lossless, so
there are hundreds more options buried in the that the image quality is not degraded. You should
menu bar. Some of these tools – such as Levels only create JPEG Ľles when you’re sure you’ve
and Curves – you’ll use all the time, while others Ľnished working on a picture, and even then,
will see only the most occasional use in general storing a high-quality backup is a great idea.
photo editing, if you use them at all. Don’t be A recent, free update to AĿnity Photo added
put oļ, though: AĿnity Photo’s tools hide a a Ľfth persona, Panorama, but you won’t Ľnd
vast amount of power and ľexibility, and that with the others. Instead, it’s activated when
learning to use them will quickly yield some you’re stitching together multiple pictures
incredible results in sprucing up your photos. as a panorama. DAVE STEVENSON
QUICK
TIP
Most of Photoshop’s
keyboard shortcuts
work in Affinity Photo
too, so moving over
from Adobe’s software
should be a relatively
smooth transition. Affinity Photo uses its own file format, but it can also import and export layered Photoshop files.
ONE PROBLEM WITH shooting Find videos to add in the Videos album, found
REQUIRES videos is that the world can be within the Albums tab. In Photos for OS X, instead
> An iOS device uncooperative. You might capture start by selecting a video. Click the share button
running iOS 9 or a perfect moment, only to later and choose iCloud Photo Sharing. You can then
later, VideoGrade discover it looks like your video was Ľlmed in add your video to an existing album or create a
4.0.3 or later, some a cave, or that a serene living-room scene was new one. Again, a Videos album is found in
video clips
set on the surface of the sun. Albums, in the toolbar or sidebar.
LEVEL VideoGrade (Universal, $5.99) is a color editor If a video imported this way produces an
for HD video, for applying color grading that can error message when you export it, there is an
> Medium
radically alter your clips. But along with going all alternative import method. Upload said video
IT WILL TAKE “Hollywood,” you can use the app for subtler from your Mac to Dropbox. Select it in Dropbox on
> 30 minutes changes: brightness, contrast and vibrance your iPad and tap the share button, Save Video,
settings, removing color casts, and improving and OK. It will export to your Camera Roll, which
footage by way of adjustments to shadows, can then be accessed by VideoGrade.
highlights and sharpness. Note that regardless of how you get videos
This is a Universal app, but you’ll most likely on to your iPad, sharing and downloading them
shoot video on iPhone and edit on iPad. That can take time when they’re longer than a few
means you’ll need to transfer videos between seconds, especially if you don’t have a fast web
devices. One way of doing so is shared iCloud connection. Don’t throw a load of videos to a
albums. Create one in Photos for iPhone: tap + cloud service and expect them to be immediately
(plus) in Shared, choose a name, and tap Create. available to work with. CRAIG GRANNELL
Main menu
On the left are buttons to export/
cancel, load and save presets, and
toggle the video navigator.
Preview menu
On the right are buttons for
toggling the histogram, clipping areas
and comparison previews.
Filters
There are 13 filter buttons. The selected
one is yellow; used ones get a green marker.
Filter settings
Tap a filter and controls appear
above. (For some, a reset button for
the settings appears at the right.)
iPAD
Choose your
perfect package
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Macintosh IIfx
Adam Banks remembers when the Mac went pro
IN 1984, THE Mac was launched as a Quietly, engineers Michael Dhuey $8,970. (For comparison, the average price
personal computer for everyday tasks. and Brian Berkeley were working on an of a car in the US that year was $8,691.) A
By the end of the decade, it was the basis IBM-like two-piece system. After catalyzing 40MHz Motorola 68030 32-bit CPU with
of industries. Aldus PageMaker and the boardroom coup that ousted Jobs, floating-point coprocessor arrived with up
QuarkXPress in publishing. Macromind their manager, Jean-Louis Gassée, took to 128MB of RAM and an 80 or 160MB hard
Director in multimedia. Mark of the over the Mac team, and in 1987 the disk. NuBus cards from the likes of Radius,
Unicorn’s Performer in music sequencing. Macintosh II appeared. RasterOps, SuperMac and Pro Tools added
Pro Tools in digital audio. 3D modeling and The modular interior allowed for various video and audio input and output.
animation from Silicon Beach and Strata. RAM and storage options, and of the six There was nothing a IIfx couldn’t do,
In 1990, Photoshop. NuBus expansion slots, one came occupied and designer Hartmut Esslinger’s neatly
Much of this would have been impossible by a color graphics card, making this grooved cuboid became a staple of the
within the original sit-up-and-beg all-in-one the first personal computer to display creative workplace. With a IIfx on your
design. Steve Jobs had been unwilling to photographic images as standard. desk, you’d arrived.
depart from the vision of a computer that The iconic Macintosh 128K had promised
just worked: users shouldn’t have to open a new age in computing. The Macintosh II
the box. But the Mac was opening up too delivered it. The series peaked with the
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9000
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