I explain what matters in plain English, with practical steps you can use and recommendations based on my experience helping clients.
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Erasing your iPhone or iPad completely is dead simple (Settings app > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings). But not so much on Mac. Intel Macs required a particular series of steps that were not obvious . That's also true with the new Apple Silicon M1 Macs , though it's an en
On the Mac, nearly every file has an extension , a set of characters after a period that indicates what type of file it is and which app opens it. So, .jpg indicates a Jpeg graphic that opens in Preview by default, .pages denotes a Pages document, .docx identifies a file as belonging to and o
A few weeks ago macOS Big Sur was released. It's an exciting new update and I've heard of many fewer issues than in years past, but I do urge people to wait for a few months before they jump in. As with any upgrade, make sure your computer is backed up and your apps are all compatible before you upg
Starting with macOS 10.15.5 Catalina, Apple introduced a battery health management feature that improves your battery’s lifespan by keeping your computer from charging to 100% if it suspects you will be leaving it plugged into power. It is enabled by default but you can turn it off in System Prefe
A significant new feature in iOS 14 is Home screen widgets, information-rich tiles that share space on a Home screen with app icons. iPhone users familiar with Google’s Android smartphone operating system have long clamored for widgets because they provide quick information at a glance, without havi
Learn how to review Mac app permissions for your camera, microphone, files, screen, location, and other private information in System Settings.
Many of my clients and friends have started receiving a new phishing scam via text message. This scam is particularly tricky because they greet the recipient by name. The message purports to be from a mail or parcel service such as the USPS and claims that there is a problem with a shipment, asking
Announced months ago and finally rolled out, Apple Pay with Express Transit Mode has finally come to the Washington DC Metro joining the ranks of many other cities that support it . But incredibly, it appears at first inspection that WMATA's implementation doesn't suck. Anyone who rides Metro wil
It’s all too easy to end up with more Bluetooth devices connected to your Mac than you can shake a stick at. Apple devices will likely have sensible names, like Magic Mouse 2, but what if someone has given you a device with their name in it? Or you’ve ended up with a device called something really r
People whose iPhones or iPads have relatively little free space have long struggled with the fact that iOS likes to download updates so they’ll be ready for installation. “Who wants to wait for a long download?” Apple thought. Unfortunately, plenty of people with older devices don't have that luxury
On the Mac, scroll bars are essential for both orienting yourself and navigating within a Web page or document window. But they may not appear unless you hover the pointer over the right spot or start scrolling with a gesture on a trackpad or a turn of a mouse scroll wheel. This has been the default
If you have 20/20 vision or are still wondering why your parents have reading glasses, count yourself lucky. But if you’re like many people—over 60 percent of the population by some estimates, including most people over 45—reading the tiny text on your iPhone or Apple Watch might be impossible if yo
Batteries are pouches of active chemicals. If it sounds concerning it should. Generally, battery manufacturers do a really good job of keeping us safe. But occasionally batteries begin to degrade. This can be from over-use, non-use, environmental effects, age, defects, or simply bad luck. One
With the generally increased levels of anxiety many of us have right now, scammers are taking advantage. I'm hearing about a lot more of them from my customers lately. Please don't think you are immune. Scammers can be extremely convincing, finding out a lot of information to build your trust or t
At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, the company dropped a bombshell: in the future, Macs will no longer be powered by Intel chips but will instead rely on custom-designed Apple chips. As surprising as this is, the company has made such massive transitions twice before: first in 1994 w
If you have access to multiple printers, you probably know that you can choose one from the Printer pop-up menu at the top of the Print dialog. But macOS has a feature that should make it so you don’t have to switch printers manually as often. Open System Preferences > Printers & Scan
This isn’t about periscopes or mouthwash—when it comes to searching, a scope is the area in which a search takes place. When you use the Search field in a Finder window to look for files and folders, you have the choice of two scopes: This Mac or the current folder. You can always switch the scope
Need help with something? On occasion, we all need tech support. Even me. Speaking as the person who is often on the other end of those requests for help, I have some suggestions on how to get the support you need as quickly as possible. This isn't just to help me. If you provide the information to
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