| | | | | |  | | | Rogue Amoeba developer Quentin Carnicelli recently penned a discussion-generating piece on the "sad state of Macintosh hardware," pointing to our own Buyer's Guide to emphasize how outdated every single Mac model is with the exception of the iMac Pro. Aside from the iMac Pro, every Mac in Apple's lineup hasn't been updated in at least 365 days, with some like the Mac Pro, Mac mini, and even the MacBook Air having gone multiple years without any true updates. Carnicelli's piece was published just hours before Apple launched a new "Behind the Mac" ad campaign featuring creators like music artist Grimes, photographer Bruce Hall, and app developer Peter Kariuki and how they all use Macs as major parts of their creative processes. | | | | | | |  Today, we’d like to talk about Setapp — a large collection of selected apps from trusted Mac developers in one suite. For $9.99/month you get a full-pack for advanced Mac maintenance, with apps like iStat Menus, Disk Drill, CleanMyMac, Spotless, Get Backup Pro, and Gemini. Setapp has software for nearly any job on Mac, but right now we’d like to focus on what it can do for your hard drive and system.
With the right apps for monitoring and file management, you can protect your Mac from unexpected failure, overheating, and hardware issues. Plus, you can get rid of the junk left by long periods of use, such as old files, system trash, duplicate files, cluttered desktop and so on. And the best thing is, to keep your Mac safe you don’t need to clean and maintain it yourself — the apps in Setapp will do it for you. It’s free to try for 7 days, so give it a go.
Visit Sponsor | | | | | | Popular Stories | Jun 21, 2018 | | | |  Apple announced its AirPower wireless charging mat alongside the iPhone X, 8, and 8 Plus last September, but over nine months later, the product has yet to ship. Apple had said it would launch sometime in 2018, so i technically isn't late yet, but it certainly feels like something has gone wrong with the product for it to remain unreleased this long. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says AirPower has seen technical challenges with both hardware and software as Apple tries to make it easy to charge iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watches by simply dropping the devices anywhere on the AirPower mat. Gurman says Apple is aiming to "put it on sale before or in September," which we really hope will be the case as that's when we expect the next iPhones to be introduced. | | | | | | |  Apple this week released the second developer beta versions of iOS 12, macOS Mojave, watchOS 5, and tvOS 12, just over two weeks after their unveiling at WWDC. This second beta of iOS 12 in particular has some tweaks, including some new options for the Screen Time feature, redesigned battery usage charts, a new look for Password AutoFill, and more, so be sure to check out our summary of what's new. We should be seeing the first public beta versions of iOS 12, macOS Mojave, and tvOS 12 very shortly, and the final public releases are likely to come in September alongside new iPhones. | | | | | | |  In his report on Apple's AirPower difficulties, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also noted that Apple had considered completely removing the Lightning port on the iPhone X, with wireless charging being the only method of charging the device. Apple ultimately decided not to do away with the port, and it seems like it won't be going away this year either, but don't be surprised if it does disappear in a few years as Jony Ive pursues his ideal vision of the iPhone as a "single sheet of glass." Removal of the Lightning port would pose a number of other challenges beyond charging, including iTunes syncing, restoring after system difficulties, connecting to accessories, and more, so it's not a decision to be made lightly. | | | | | | |  One of the key features Apple is touting for watchOS 5 is Walkie-Talkie, a new app that will let you easily talk to others from your wrist using push-to-talk functionality. The app wasn't available in the first beta, but as of the second beta this week, Walkie-Talkie is now working. Also make sure to check out our hands-on video walking through many of the changes that were present in the first beta. We'll have many more videos to come in the weeks ahead as we preview what's new in Apple's upcoming operating system versions. | | | | | | |  Apple this week announced that starting with iOS 12 later this year, users who call 911 in the United States will have their precise location data automatically shared with first responders to assist in reducing emergency response times. With the advent of mobile phones, tracking down the location of 911 callers has become much more difficult compared to fixed landline locations. Current systems can estimate mobile 911 callers' locations based on cell tower proximity, but the new system Apple is rolling out will leverage cell towers, Wi-Fi access points, and on-device data like assisted GPS to much more precisely pinpoint locations. | | | | | |
