Apple’s prices for Thunderbolt, USB-C, and Lightning cables often seem unnecessarily high. $69 for a Thunderbolt 4 cable or $19 for a simple USB-C to Lightning cable? Unfortunately, when it comes to cables, you often get what you pay for. Happily, other reputable hardware manufacturers like Anker, Belkin, and OWC sell quality cables for less…
A side effect of the pandemic is that online videoconferencing improved drastically. Video calls happened before 2020, but videoconferencing wasn’t an everyday activity for most people. Now, with many people working remotely or in a hybrid model, it’s a fact of business life. To support videoconferencing tools, Apple has extended macOS’s basic webcam and microphone…
QR codes, those square, blocky codes you scan with your iPhone’s camera to load a Web page, have become ubiquitous. So much so that we seldom pause before scanning any QR code we see. But if you think about it, that’s the same as clicking random links in emails or texts, which is a terrible…
In the early days of the Internet, saving bandwidth was crucial due to slow modems. Watching images load on web pages and waiting for large email attachments was common. Today, with average Internet download speeds in the US nearing 250 megabits per second, these issues are largely behind us. Most web pages load instantly, emails…
Prepping for a trip used to mean jsut making sure you had your plane tickets, books, magazines, and a snack. Today, travel preparation involves a new set of tech-related tasks that shouldn’t be left until the last minute. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you get your tech ready for your next adventure. Identify Devices,…
Struggling to read a tiny serial number or fine print can be incredibly frustrating. Thankfully, Apple introduced a magnifier mode in its accessibility options and later turned it into a standalone app with iOS 14. How to Access and Use the Magnifier App Find the Magnifier App: Locate it in the Utilities folder within your…
Is your child heading off to college soon? Now is the perfect time to consider getting them a new Mac, especially if their current computer is old, unreliable, shared with family members, or a school loaner. If you’re unsure which Apple Mac model is the best choice, this guide will help you decide. Check College…
Are you looking to create documentation to help colleagues use Preview to edit images, sign PDFs, and convert graphics? Including the Preview app’s icon in your documentation can make it easier for users to locate the app in the Applications folder and Dock. Here’s a simple guide to copying and using a high-resolution version of…
Artificial intelligence dominates the tech news, but it’s hard to separate the hype from the reality. Every large company seems to have some significant AI initiative in the works. Even Apple, which tends to stick to its own path, has started to tout features previously described as relying on “machine learning” as being “AI.” If…
Take a moment and look behind your Mac. Do you see a tangle of cables? The main downside of a mess of cables is that it can be a cluster of chaos that attracts dust bunnies. However, it’s possible for power cables—especially when tightly bundled or looped—to emit electromagnetic interference that can disrupt or degrade…