How Tos

Like the Apple Pro Display XDR, Apple's 2021 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models offer professional-level display performance and customization options. This article focuses on how to change the refresh rate of the display on the new MacBook Pro. For its redesigned MacBook Pro models, Apple pulled out all the stops to make the new Macs more attractive to professional users. In doing so,...

Thanks to the release of macOS Monterey, Apple has introduced full AirPlay support on Mac, which means you can now ‌AirPlay‌ content from an iPhone or iPad straight to your Mac, or even from one Mac to another Mac. With Monterey installed, your Mac can also function as an ‌AirPlay‌ 2 speaker source, allowing you to wirelessly stream music or podcasts from an Apple device to a Mac or use the...

Apple's 2021 MacBook Pro models unexpectedly came with a display notch, or as Apple calls it, a camera housing, which sits dead center at the top of the screen. This article covers all the ways you can conceal the notch or at least make it play nice with your apps using software-based solutions. The inclusion of a notch on the redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro allowed Apple to slim...

When Apple unveiled its new MacBook Pro models with a notch to house the camera in the thinner display bezel, many users saw it as a potential problem for third-party apps that place additional content across the menu bar, such as menus that extend from the left or menu items that extend from the right. However, it turns out Apple was wise to the potential issue of having menus or menu items ...

Apple's latest 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Max Apple silicon chip features a new High Power Mode for intensive, sustained workloads. This article explains what it does and how to enable it. The new 16-inch MacBook Pro with ‌M1 Max‌ chip includes a new High Power Mode that is designed to optimize performance to better support resource-intensive tasks, such as color grading 8K ProRes video,...

In macOS Monterey, you can use an animated Memoji as your Mac user profile instead of a standard static image. Of course you could always use a still photo of yourself to welcome you at startup and on the Lock Screen, but where's the fun in that? Keep reading to learn how it's done. Click the Apple () symbol in the menu bar and select System Preferences.... Click Users & Groups in the...

Following in the footsteps of the iPhone and iPad, Apple silicon Macs and Intel Macs with a T2 security chip (2017-2020 models) now have an "Erase All Content and Settings" option available in macOS Monterey. This article explains what the option does and how and when to use it. Traditionally, wiping a Mac and returning it to factory settings involved manually signing out of a range of...

Alongside the iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 updates for iPhone and iPad, Apple has introduced a new 15.1 software update that's designed for the HomePod and the HomePod mini. The ‌‌HomePod‌‌ update introduces Lossless Audio and Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio to Apple's smart speakers, bringing them in line with other devices that have supported the features since early 2021. The spatial audio...

Apple today released macOS 12 Monterey, and whenever a new operating system is released for the Mac, some users prefer to perform a clean installation. This article explains how to perform what is effectively a clean install of Monterey using a brand new option that's available on Apple silicon-powered Macs and Intel Macs with a T2 security chip. Clean installing macOS is often done to...

WhatsApp end-to-end encrypted backups are now rolling out for iPhone users, Facebook has announced. Until now, WhatsApp let users back up their chat history to ‌‌iCloud‌‌, but the messages and media contained in the backups weren't protected by WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption while in ‌‌Apple's cloud servers‌. End-to-end encryption ensures only you and the person you're...

After updating to iOS 15, a number of users have discovered that they are no longer hearing notification sounds for the Mail app. To fix this issue, you may need to adjust your Mail notification settings. Open the Settings app, tap Mail, and then tap Notifications. At the bottom of the Notifications screen, tap Customize Notifications. Tap the desired email account. Turn on or off the...

Apple's second fall event is coming up and is set to take place on Monday, October 18 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. As with Apple's last several events, "Unleashed" will be digital only and streamed online. It is expected to focus on the MacBook Pro models, which many Apple fans are eagerly awaiting. This how to offers details on how you can watch the event and when it will take place in your...

Losing your Apple ID password can make your digital life a misery, because it can leave you locked out of the account that you use to manage your Apple devices, unable to access your iCloud data and manage your app and service subscriptions. In this scenario, Apple can't just reset your password for you, especially if your have two-factor authentication enabled. Setting up a recovery is one ...

On the Apple TV, if you prefer not to input text using the Siri Remote you can use a nearby iPhone or iPad to type. Whenever a text field appears on the ‌Apple TV‌, a notification appears on the ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌, and after tapping the notification, you can use the on-screen keyboard on your iOS device to enter text on the ‌Apple TV‌. It used to be the case that you could disable these...

In iOS 15, Apple added separation alerts to the Find My app, which let you know when you leave an AirTag or other Apple device behind. Thanks to an October 2021 firmware update, AirPods Pro now also support separation alerts. This article explains more about how they work and how you can set them up. Called "Notify When Left Behind," the ‌‌Find My‌‌ separation alerts in ‌iOS 15‌ let you know ...

Apple in October 2021 updated the firmware on ‌AirPods Pro‌‌ to enable the wireless earphones to take advantage of the ‌Find My‌ network and allow them to be located through connections with the Apple devices owned by other people. This article explains how to make sure your ‌AirPods Pro‌ have the latest firmware and how to find your ‌AirPods Pro‌ using the ‌Find My‌ Network. Prior to...

Notifications in iOS 15 got a design overhaul on iPhone and iPad, and one of the marquee feature additions is notification summary. This article explains what it is and how to use it. With the notification summary, you can schedule select app notifications to be delivered alongside others as a bundle at a specific time of the day. The idea is that by bundling non-urgent notifications and...

Apple's AirPods Pro in October 2021 received a software update that adds a Conversation Boost feature to the wireless earphones. This article explains what Conversation Boost does and how to enable it. Designed to help people with mild hearing challenges hear conversations better, the Conversation Boost feature uses the beam-forming microphones on the ‌AirPods Pro‌ to boost the volume of a...

In iOS 15, Apple has added a much-requested feature to the Notes app in the form of tags. This means you can now include hashtags in your notes which can help you organize your notes and find stored notes more easily. Let's take a look at how they work. Launch the Notes app and create a new note or select an existing one. Add a tag anywhere in the note by using the hash (#) symbol and...

iPhone 13 Pro models feature an upgraded Ultra Wide camera that enables macro photography, allowing users to take close-up photos of flowers, insects, and other objects that are as close as 2cm to the camera lens. While Apple's Macro Mode is limited to ‌iPhone 13 Pro‌ models, owners of older iPhones can also take close-up shots, thanks to popular third-party camera app Halide. Halide's Macro...