Apple Updates Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Hardware, Macintosh
dimly lit room with a woman in a green shirt sitting in front of three large monitors and a Mac Studio computer in the middle, along with two keyboards and a mouse.

In the first update to the Mac Studio since 2023, Apple has refreshed its professional powerhouse with new chip options and support for speedy Thunderbolt 5 peripherals. Previously, the Mac Studio was powered by the M2 Max and M2 Ultra; Apple has now replaced them with the M4 Max, which debuted last year in the MacBook Pro line, and the new M3 Ultra, which melds two M3 Max chips for the ultimate performance. Read More from “Apple Updates Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips”

Apple Invites Simplifies Social Event Planning

Posted on by Tim Hannon in iCloud or AppleID
three generations of a Black family at an outdoor birthday party. everyone is wearing a pointed hat. gifts and food are abundant in front of them.

Apple has launched the new Apple Invites iPhone app for planning social events with friends and family. Apple Invites requires iOS 18 on the iPhone, and you can also use it at iCloud.com/invites on the Mac and iPad. Event creation is limited to iCloud+ subscribers (those who pay for extra iCloud storage), but anyone can RSVP for an event, even if they don’t have the app, an Apple Account, or an Apple device. Read More from “Apple Invites Simplifies Social Event Planning”

Apple Brings Back the Calculator App’s Repeat Feature

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics
close up diagonal view of an old-school handheld calculator with raised buttons

In iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 Sequoia, Apple removed a standard feature of the Calculator app that allowed users to press the = button multiple times to repeat the last mathematical operation. Following user complaints, the company reinstated this feature in iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS 15.3. Now, to calculate the compound interest from investing $1,000 at 5%, you can multiply 1000 by 1.05 and press = repeatedly to see how your investment would grow. (To open the history sidebar on the Mac, choose View > Show History; on the iPhone, tap the hamburger button in the upper-left corner.) Read More from “Apple Brings Back the Calculator App’s Repeat Feature”

Apple Speed Bumps iPad with A16 and iPad Air with M3

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Hardware
Scene with Japanese lamps and a Japanese woman holding an umbrella. Text at top left reads "Apple M3. Light it up."

Apple has updated the iPad and iPad Air and introduced a new keyboard for the iPad Air.

The primary change to the 11th-generation iPad ($349) is the move from the previous model’s A14 Bionic chip to the A16, which is nearly 30% faster but still won’t support Apple Intelligence or some recent games. Apple also increased the base storage from 64 GB to 128 GB, dropped the Nano-SIM slot from the cellular models, and updated the wireless capabilities to support current protocol versions. Although the screen remains the same 10.9-inch diagonal size, Apple now refers to it as the “11-inch iPad.” It remains an excellent and affordable entry-level device.

The 7th generation of Apple’s flagship 11-inch ($599) and 13-inch ($799) iPad Air sees only a single change—swapping the previous model’s M2 chip for the M3 to increase performance, particularly for gaming and video creation. Separately, Apple introduced a less expensive Magic Keyboard for iPad Air that adds a 14-key function row and sports a larger trackpad, though it lacks the previous model’s backlit keys and trackpad haptics. The keyboard costs $269 for the 11-inch iPad Air or $319 for the 13-inch model.

(Featured image by Apple)

Social Media: Apple’s latest iPad and iPad Air updates make them faster and more appealing without increasing prices. If you’re in the market for an iPad, the iPad remains a steal and the iPad Air offers all the performance most people will ever need.

Apple’s January 2025 Releases Enhance Apple Intelligence Features

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics
Apple provided image of a Mac laptop, iPad, and iPhone. iPad has information about doric, ionic, and corinthian column styles

Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence in October 2024 and expanded its extensive collection of AI-powered features with its December updates. The company’s January 2025 releases of macOS 15.3 Sequoia, iOS 18.3, and iPadOS 18.3 enhanced the feature set in several notable ways. Remember, Apple Intelligence features operate only on a Mac with Apple silicon, an iPhone 15 Pro or any iPhone 16, or an iPad with an A17 Pro or M-series chip.

Although Apple still considers Apple Intelligence to be in beta, the January operating system releases enabled it by default. Read More from “Apple’s January 2025 Releases Enhance Apple Intelligence Features”

New M4 MacBook Air Features Faster Performance and Improved Video Calls

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Hardware, Macintosh
Apple stock photo of two sky blue MacBook Airs, both slightly open, one on top of the other.

Apple has unveiled an update to the MacBook Air, which it touts as the world’s most popular laptop. While the MacBook Air has long been a compelling option for many consumers, the new 13-inch and 15-inch M4 MacBook Air models improve performance, boast a new 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, and fully support two external displays, making them even more appealing. Read More from “New M4 MacBook Air Features Faster Performance and Improved Video Calls”

How (and Why) to Use iPhone Mirroring on Your Mac

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
diagonal left side of an open laptop with a phone screen side down next to it, all on a dark background

One of the flashiest features of macOS 15 Sequoia and iOS 18 is iPhone Mirroring, which allows you to use your iPhone in a window on your Mac. You might think, “But I can just pull my iPhone out of my pocket if I need to use it!” While that may be true, not everyone has their iPhone so readily accessible, even if it’s close by. Read More from “How (and Why) to Use iPhone Mirroring on Your Mac”

When Purchasing a Fireproof Safe, Pay Attention to the Details

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Backup, Security/Privacy
AI image of a safe with binary code (ones and zeros) streaming out of the left side. a small red badge at the bottom right shows a drawing of a flame and the word fireproof

The devastating losses caused by the Los Angeles wildfires have underscored the need to protect data from catastrophic events. A traditional offsite backup—periodically moving a hard drive to another location—might not have sufficed in areas affected by wildfires, where many structures were destroyed. An online backup using a service like Backblaze or CrashPlan is often a better solution, although it can become costly for multiple Macs, and some individuals and organizations are uncomfortable storing their data online, even with encryption.

What about a safe? Would storing one or more backup drives in a safe provide adequate protection? Read More from “When Purchasing a Fireproof Safe, Pay Attention to the Details”

Alternatives to Photoshop

Posted on by Jim Emery in Graphic Design, Software
diagonal view of the bottom of a Mac laptop screen and the keyboard. Icons in the dock are mostly Adobe and photo editing related.

This is a guest blog post by Jim Emery of Elakha Consulting.  He also helps support the operations of Sound Support.  Jim is a Mac and iOS consultant in Port Townsend, Washington.  He can be found at www.elakhamac.com. 

On the Mac, Apple’s Photos is the default photo storage and editing application. Among professional photographers, Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom are the leading photo editors, both of which require a subscription costing between $12 and $23 per month. These are excellent applications and, for many users, well worth the cost. However, what if you want to edit your images with capabilities beyond those of Apple Photos yet do not want to pay a subscription for Adobe’s applications? Read on for some alternatives to Apple’s Photos and Adobe’s Creative Suite that allow one to use advanced photo editing techniques on the Mac.

Raw Power 

If you ever used Apple’s prosumer photo editing application, Aperture, RAW Power will feel very familiar. This is because the developer, Nik Bhatt led the Aperture team at Apple.  RAW Power is both a standalone application and a plug-in for Photos, meaning that it can be used from within the Photos app. It required macOS Mojave and is available from the Gentlemen Coders website or Apple’s App Store for $49.99. The iOS version is available on the iOS App Store for $12.99.

Nitro 

While RAW Power brings the editing capabilities of Aperture back to the Photos app, it lacks some of the more advanced features of modern photo editors. To address this, Gentlemen Coders created Nitro, which includes all of the features of RAW Power and adds features such as brushes, gradients and AI.  Nitro works as a standalone app and a plug-in for Photos. Nitro requires macOS Ventura and is available from the Gentlemen Coders website or Apple App Store for $99. The iOS version is available on the iOS App Store. Both can also be purchased as a subscription for those who prefer this model. If you’re not sure if Raw Power or Nitro is a better fit for your needs you could check out the comparison chart at the bottom of the Nitro page.

Acorn  

Acorn is a Mac application that should make Photoshop users very comfortable.  It includes layers and filters as well as more current features like AI powered subject selection and super resolution image resizing. Acorn does not function as a plug-in for Photos but can be chosen as an external photo editor in Photos. Of particular note with Acorn is the extensive documentation and tutorials that are included that feel like an electronic version of the detailed manuals of the past. Acorn is available from the Acorn website or from Apple’s App Store for $19.99.  

Photomator

Photomator has been one of the most popular photo editing apps on the Mac. Perhaps because of this, Photomator’s creator, Pixelmator, was purchased by Apple on November 1, 2024. Photomator feels like an enhanced version of Apple’s Photos and brings significant editing capabilities that Photos does not have. Photomator is available for the Mac for $149.99 or with various subscription options.  

Affinity Photo

Affinity Photo is part of the Affinity Suite that includes Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher. These apps feel like solid alternatives to Adobe’s Creative Suite. Affinity Photo includes a vast array of editing tools complimented by an extensive help collection to assist users in learning how to use these tools. Affinity Photo 2 is available from the Affinity website or the Apple App Store for $69.99.

All of the above applications are available to demo before purchasing. This gives you the chance to try them out to see which photo editing application best meets your needs.

(Photo by Martin Faure on Unsplash)

What You Can Do with the December Wave of Apple Intelligence Features

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics
person reclined holding an iPhone and using Apple's Image Playground generative AI image app to create graphics.

The first set of Apple Intelligence features appeared in macOS, iOS, and iPadOS in October. Apple has now debuted the second set in the December releases of macOS 15.2 Sequoia, iOS 18.2, and iPadOS 18.2. Apple still considers them to be in beta, which is a nice way of saying that they may not work perfectly. However, they usually do what they promise. Read More from “What You Can Do with the December Wave of Apple Intelligence Features”

Add Weather to Your Mac’s Menu Bar with This Sequoia Tip

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
wooden board with today and tomorrow's weather forecast on it. included both the weather of cloudy and the high and low temperatures for the days.

In macOS 15.2 Sequoia, Apple added the option to display the current weather conditions in the menu bar but hid the switch deep in the bowels of System Settings. To turn this option on, open System Settings > Control Center, scroll to the bottom, and in the Menu Bar Only section, for Weather, choose Show in Menu Bar. A new item with the current conditions at your location will appear in the menu bar; click it to see the forecast and access other locations in Apple’s Weather app. Read More from “Add Weather to Your Mac’s Menu Bar with This Sequoia Tip”

How to Convince Microsoft Office Apps to Save Files on Your Mac

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Macintosh
sky blue background with one puffy white cloud. logo of OneDrive over cloud with a large red circle with a line through it over top of that.

By default, Microsoft Office apps—Word, Excel, and PowerPoint—try to save files on Microsoft OneDrive as a way of promoting the company’s cloud storage. If that’s undesirable, you can easily keep your files locally on your Mac or in a different cloud storage location. In the Save dialog, click the On My Mac button to switch to a standard Save dialog showing all your other storage options. There’s no way to set On My Mac as the default location, but the Save dialog automatically remembers your last saved location. That should be sufficient most of the time, although it’s not unheard of for an Office update to flip the Save dialog back to OneDrive. Read More from “How to Convince Microsoft Office Apps to Save Files on Your Mac”

Is Your Business Data at Risk? How to Protect Your Information When Using ChatGPT

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics
two people standing against a painted brick wall wearing sunglasses and looking up at the large grid of security cameras pointed at them

This is a guest blog post by Charlie Kelson of Zyopic AI Consulting, a former Mac IT professional turned software engineer who has now directed his attention to helping integrate AI solutions into small and medium-sized businesses. Reach out to him at at for more information about how he can help grow your business. 

Did you know that every time you input data into ChatGPT your confidential business information could be exposed to others? If you’ve been using ChatGPT’s free, Plus, or Pro versions for your business your data might have been used to train OpenAI’s models—unless you’ve opted out. This means sensitive information could potentially appear in other users’ AI-generated responses, putting your business at risk. For instance, if you uploaded a spreadsheet containing customer details to ChatGPT for analysis, that data becomes part of the training set. Inadvertently, personal details like names, contact information, or purchase histories could surface in responses generated for other users. This not only breaches customer trust but may also violate data protection regulations. Let’s turn off this “feature” so that you’re not putting your business data at risk.

The steps to opt-out are clearly stated in the Data Control FAQ’s. And check out additional information about how your data is used to improve model performance. If you have any trouble with this please reach out to me.

Ready to discover where AI fits into your business?

I invite you to schedule a free 1 hour in-person consultation. Together we’ll assess your current use of AI tools and develop strategies to maximize efficiency and growth. Email me at to schedule your consultation. 

About Me

I’m Charlie Kelson, founder of Zyopic AI Consulting. With over 15 years of experience in IT and software engineering, I specialize in helping businesses navigate the fast-paced world of AI tools securely and effectively. My expertise lies in integrating AI solutions that drive growth while prioritizing data privacy and compliance. Understanding where AI can fit into your business can be challenging. That’s where I step in to provide tailored strategies that give your business the edge it needs to thrive.

Mail on the iPhone Can Categorize Your Messages in iOS 18.2

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Computer Basics
a wall of physical inbox slots filled with papers. A hand reaches in from the left to get papers out of one of the slots.

Apple slipped a significant new feature into Mail in iOS 18.2 that has nothing to do with Apple Intelligence: Categories. Like Gmail and other email apps, Mail can now automatically categorize messages into four buckets: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. The idea is that categories make it easier to pay attention to important messages while collecting other messages for later processing. Tap the buttons at the top to switch between categories. Read More from “Mail on the iPhone Can Categorize Your Messages in iOS 18.2”

What to Expect when in Contact with Apple Support

Posted on by Tim Hannon in Apple, Companies, Passwords, Security/Privacy
Scammer calling victim

It is increasingly difficult to distinguish between legitimate phone calls and scam phone calls. Scammers use ever more sophisticated deception methods to convince people to reveal personal information such as an account password or credit card details. One example of these sophisticated methods is described in this Krebs On Security article about phone phishing.

To help you avoid being tricked by a scammer, Apple details what to expect when you interact with a member of Apple’s support team. This article outlines how Apple might ask you to confirm your ownership of your Apple Account. It also outlines what Apple will not ask you to do. By learning what Apple will and won’t ask you to do, you’ll be more tech-savvy and thus less likely to fall for a scam.

Read More from “What to Expect when in Contact with Apple Support”