Mac world UK imac buying guide best backup software for mac march 2018

LATEST MAC GAMES THE WORLD’S BEST-SELLING APPLE MAGAZINE MARCH 2018 FROM IDG iMAC BUYING GUIDE Best backup software for Mac REVIEW: HomePod EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW CONTENTS 65 NEWS Apple’s latest results Apple releases iOS 11.2.5 with HomePod support NEWS ANALYSIS 10 What we learned from Apple’s record results REVIEW 16 Apple HomePod PREVIEW 28 Mac Pro Macworld • March 2018 75 16 CONTENTS FEATURES Guide to the HomePod 44 How Apple can establish its new video service 50 Help Desk 56 94 BUYING GUIDE Which iMac should you buy? 65 Mac backup software 75 ROUND-UP Latest Mac games 94 HOW TO Use Apple Pay Cash in the UK 105 OPINION Apple should take a new approach to launches 111 March 2018 • Macworld NEWS Apple’s latest results iPhone and iPad sales are surprisingly flat, but Apple still soars to record revenue in first quarter Michael Simon reports I f iPhone X is slumping, it’s sure not affecting Apple’s bottom line In the quarter ending December 31, 2017, Apple reported a record revenue of $88.3 billion, a 13 percent increase over last year’s $78.4 billion (which was also a record) Additionally, Apple posted an all-time record quarterly earnings per diluted share of $3.89 And that’s with one less week of sales over last year’s first quarter Macworld • March 2018 NEWS Leading the way was the iPhone, but not due to unit sales Apple moved 77.3 million iPhones in the three-month holiday quarter, about a million less than last year, but revenue grew by more than $7 billion to $61.6 billion While Apple didn’t break out the different models of iPhone, it’s clear that the higher price of iPhone X contributed to the gains Tim Cook said the redesigned handset “surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November.” Apple sold 5.1 million Macs and 13.2 million iPads during the period, versus 5.5 million and 13.1 million over the previous period Apple’s stock jumped more than percent on the news Despite somewhat weak sales, the iPhone X was seemingly a stronger performer overseas, with all of its operating segments posting year-over-year revenue growth In the all-important Greater China region, revenue grew 11 percent, and Japan was particularly strong with 26 percent growth Another big seller over the holiday quarter was Apple Watch and AirPods While Apple doesn’t specifically release numbers for these products, revenue in the “Other Products” category (of which they are a part) surged more than 35 percent to $5.5 billion Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said revenue from wearables was up 70 percent year over year, with the product category contributing more revenue than any other product besides iPhone Additionally, Cook said sales of Apple Watch were up 50 percent for the fourth consecutive March 2018 • Macworld NEWS quarter, and Series sales were more than twice that of Series a year ago In January, Apple topped 1.3 billion active devices for the first time, a 30 percent jump in two years The influx of new users helped push its Services revenue to $8.5 billion, an increase of 18 percent over the 2017 but slightly down from the previous quarter For the second quarter, Apple projects revenue between $60 billion and $62 billion, the first quarter the includes sales of HomePod, Apple’s first smart speaker That would represent an increase of roughly 15 percent over last quarter’s $52.9 billion Macworld • March 2018 NEWS Apple releases iOS 11.2.5 with HomePod support watchOS 4.2.2 and tvOS 11.2.5 have also been released, addressing minor bugs, writes Jason Cross I t’s time to update all your Apple gear! A relative minor point release update has just been released for iOS, tvOS, and watchOS When you get the time, you should update all your iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs, and Apple Watches What’s new in iOS 11.2.5 You won’t find dramatic changes or really big new features in iOS 11.2.5, but it does add support for March 2018 • Macworld NEWS HomePod (coming February 9th) and the ability for Siri to play audio news That last one is a little odd, because the feature went live last week and worked fine on earlier versions of iOS Here’s what Apple lists in the release notes: HomePod support • Setup and automatically transfer your Apple ID, Apple Music, Siri and Wi-Fi settings to HomePod Siri News • Siri can now read the news, just ask, “Hey Siri, play the news” You can also ask for specific news categories including Sports, Business or Music Other improvements and fixes • Addresses an issue that could cause the Phone app to display incomplete information in the call list • Fixes an issue that caused Mail notifications from some Exchange accounts to disappear from the Lock screen when unlocking iPhone X with Face ID • Addresses an issue that could cause Messages conversations to temporarily be listed out of order • Fixes an issue in CarPlay where Now Playing controls become unresponsive after multiple track changes • Adds ability for VoiceOver to announce playback destinations and AirPod battery level To update your iPhone or iPad, open Settings, go to General, then Software Update Macworld • March 2018 NEWS tvOS 11.2.5 You won’t find big new features in tvOS 11.2.5 It’s just the standard ‘bug fixes and performance improvements’ You can update your Apple TV by opening Settings and going to Software Update watchOS 4.2.2 As with tvOS, the latest release of watchOS focuses on improvements and bug fixes and has no outwardly visible changes Still, bug fixes are good and you should probably grab this update To update your Apple Watch, you’ll need to have at least 50 percent charge, have the watch on its charger, and within range of the iPhone to which it is synced Then, on the iPhone, open the Watch app, select General, then Software Update March 2018 • Macworld NEWS ANALYSIS What we learned from Apple’s record results Jason Snell takes a deeper look into Apple’s record quarter T hree months ago, Apple boldly asserted that the holiday quarter of 2017, its first financial quarter of this fiscal year, would be the company’s biggest in history They weren’t wrong In fact, Apple’s holiday quarter generated $88.3 billion in revenue, blowing past even the high side of Apple’s estimates By just about any way you measure it, this was a great quarter for Apple But of course, the devil’s in 10 Macworld • March 2018 ROUND-UP Warring States: Tactics Price: £19.49 from Steam (fave.co/2BKnSmN) Set during the titular period (475-221 BCE) in Ancient China, Warring States: Tactics is a turnbased strategy game that spotlights battles between the various feudal states Commanding the forces of Qin, you’ll fight across the hexbased battlefields as you attack, utilize tactical manoeuvres, bash through castle walls, and try to emerge victorious in the end It packs in 15 singleplayer story missions along with a dozen maps for online/local multiplayer or AI skirmishes It’s pretty well under the radar, but Steam user reviews largely call it a diamond in the rough, with the full version just releasing following an Early Access period 102 Macworld • March 2018 ROUND-UP Tesla vs Lovecraft Price: £10.99 from Steam (fave.co/2BilcLU) Developer 10tons has a knack for top-down shooters, wherein you look at the action from straight above and then blast the heck out of wave upon wave of enemies – and Tesla vs Lovecraft is their latest creation As the title suggests, this arcade-style experience has quite the interesting premise Here, you’ll take the role of legendary inventor Nikola Tesla, who finds a surprising threat in the monsters created by horror author H.P Lovecraft To mow them down, you’ll hop into your own Tesla-Mech robot – armed with Tesla-Miniguns, of course – and show them that technology trumps wicked fantasy That’s the plan, at least, but you’ll surely have fun trying March 2018 • Macworld 103 ROUND-UP 10 Mobile Empire Price: £7.19 from Steam (fave.co/2BNnJyS) Mobile Empire is a smartphone-maker simulation, challenging you to guide an upstart company in 2001 into a tech juggernaut over the years You’ll design handsets starting in those early days and progress through the eras, stretching all the way up until 2035 All the while, you’ll direct employees, maximize profits, and attempt to crush your competitors That sounds great, although it comes with a caveat: Steam reviewers suggest the original Chinese game has been haphazardly translated into English… and not all of it was translated Luckily, Steam will let you get a refund if you play less than two hours and request it within two weeks of purchase, so keep that in mind 104 Macworld • March 2018 HOW-TO How to: Use Apple Pay Cash in the UK Set to launch in the UK soon, Jason Cross explains how to make person-to-person payments on an iPhone or Apple Watch A pple Pay Cash has now launched in the US and looks set to launch in the UK soon, lets you pay your mates over iMessage, or by using Siri Here’s everything you need to know Requirements For starters, both the money sender and receiver need to be running iOS 11.2 or later Apple Pay Cash was added in iOS 11.2 beta 2, and is in the final March 2018 • Macworld 105 HOW TO release as well According to Apple’s support page, you’ll need to meet the following requirements: • A compatible device with iOS 11.2 or later • Two-factor authentication for your Apple ID • An eligible credit or debit card in Wallet, so you can send money • Be at least 18 years old Setting up Apple Pay Cash Before you can send or receive money, you’ll need to set up the Apple Pay Cash card It’s essentially a special prepaid card with some financial services provided top Apple by Green Dot Bank First, you may need to head into the Settings menu and make sure Apple Pay Cash is enabled Go to Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay and look for the Apple Pay Cash toggle at the top of the screen Then, head into the Wallet app, tap on the Apple Pay Cash card, then tap on Set Up Apple Pay Cash. You’ll have to agree to some terms and conditions, but that’s it This process will set off automatically if someone sends you money before you get a chance to set it up How to send money with your iPhone or iPad Sending money with Apple Pay Cash is incredibly simple It’s just an iMessage app Launch Messages and then start a new message, or open an existing one Tap the Apps button and then the Apple Pay button Press the ‘+’ or ‘-’ buttons to adjust the amount, or tap 106 Macworld • March 2018 HOW-TO Show Keypad to enter an exact amount Tap Pay If you want to add a message here, you can Tap the send button You’ll get a summary screen that you’ll need to approve with either Touch ID or Face ID That’s all there is to it The money will be sent immediately, and will be available on the recipient’s Apple Pay Cash card Send money with your Apple Watch Open Messages on your Apple Watch and either start a new message or open an existing one Scroll down past the message and tap on the Apple Pay button Turn the digital grown to adjust the dollar amount If you need to be more exact, tap the dollar amount to show the decimal places, then tap the value after the decimal and rotate the digital crown to adjust Tap Pay You’ll be prompted to double-click the side button to confirm Ask for money You can ask your friend to send you money, too When they get the request, they can tap it, and the payment amount will be filled out automatically (they can adjust it if they want) Open Messages, go to a conversation, and tap the Apple Pay iMessage app like you would when sending money Enter the amount, and instead of tapping Pay tap the Request button There’s no Request button on Apple Watch, but you can use Siri with a phrase like, “Ask Jason for £15 for pizza.” March 2018 • Macworld 107 HOW TO Cancel payment If you sent money to someone and they haven’t yet accepted it, you can cancel payment Go to Messages and tap on the payment, or find the payment in the Transaction History of your Apple Pay Cash card in the Wallet app or Settings Tap the transaction and look for the status field Tap Cancel Payment If you don’t see that option, they’ve already accepted the payment It may take up to a day for the payment to show up back on your account After the first transaction, most users will have Apple Pay Cash set to automatically accept payments (that’s the default), so you probably won’t have much opportunity to cancel Using Siri You can use Siri to both send and request money Try saying “Send Jane £14 for pizza” or “Apple Pay Greg £12 for pizza.” Or to request money, maybe, “Ask Glenda for £18 for pizza.” About that Apple Pay Cash card When you receive money, it goes onto your Apple Pay Cash card That money is then used by default whenever you send anyone else money with Apple Pay Cash If you don’t have enough in there, you can pay the balance with a debit or credit card You can also use money on your Apple Pay Cash card to pay for things using Apple Pay Apps and in-app purchases, retail, online, it’s just another source of money to use within Apple Pay Just 108 Macworld • March 2018 HOW-TO tap on your payment card whenever an Apple Pay summary pops up on screen for you to confirm, or if you’re buying something at retail, switch to the Apple Pay Cash card before tapping to the terminal The maximum balance you can have on the card is $20,000 You can only send or receive up to $3,000 per message, and $10,000 within a sevenday period The UK limit has yet to be announced Adding money to your Apple Pay Cash card or transferring it to your bank account You can add money to your Apple Pay Cash card, although you will automatically add any missing balance from a debit or credit card when paying someone Just open the Apple Pay Cash card in the Wallet app or the Wallet & Apple Pay settings menu Then tap on the Info tab Then tap Add Money Enter the amount you’d like to add, tap Add, and confirm Taking money off your Apple Pay Cash card is just a little more complicated You’ll need to add a bank account In the Apple Pay Cash card info (in Settings or the Wallet app), go to the Info tab Tap Transfer to Bank The first time you this, you’ll have to tap Add Bank Account and enter your bank’s sort code and your account number Enter an amount, tap Transfer, then confirm with Touch ID or Face ID March 2018 • Macworld 109 HOW TO If you want to transfer money from your Apple Pay Cash virtual card to your bank, you’ll need to enter an account number Cost of using Apple Pay Cash If you use a debit card, Apple Pay Cash is free But if you use a credit card, there’s a percent credit card transaction fee every time you use your card to add to your Apple Pay Cash balance 110 Macworld • March 2018 OPINION Apple should take a new approach to launches It could be time for Apple to move beyond annual release cycles, argues Dan Moren W e’ll fix it in post It’s a long-standing joke in the podcast community – when somebody fluffs a line or stutters during recording, we just kick the can down the road and repair it in editing (For programmes that actually do editing, anyway.) March 2018 • Macworld 111 OPINION But lately it’s started to seem like a more common occurrence across the tech industry, and even Apple’s jumped aboard the train We’ve seen a number of places where Apple announced a particular feature shipping in a product – whether it be a new hardware device or a major software update – only to eventually release the product without said feature, promising it in a subsequent software update The most recent example is the HomePod, which will lack support for multiroom audio, stereo pairing, and AirPlay when it ships next month But before that, we had iOS 11’s promised Messages in iCloud, Apple Pay Cash and, again, AirPlay These sorts of things happen, of course, and while you can chart examples back into earlier eras, the high number and profile of these situations recently has me looking back to what might be the root of the issue Underpromise, overdeliver Part of the problem with these technologies seems to be that they’ve just been harder than anticipated From what little I’ve heard, AirPlay 2, for example, has been a big challenge that has necessitated going back to the drawing board Even though it was announced at WWDC last June, it’s only recently appeared in developer versions of iOS Underpromising and overdelivering is usually something Apple is pretty good at Part of the company’s driving force has always been a dedication to targeting what it believes to be the 112 Macworld • March 2018 OPINION most necessary features, and concentrating on those Take, for example, the first iPhone, which shipped without third-party apps, as well as without key features like cut-and-paste The problem comes when Apple goes in reverse, overpromising on features and then not being able to deliver them promptly In some instances, the company cops to this, as it did when it had to push back the ship date of the HomePod because it needed more time But sometimes those delays just happen, and Apple doesn’t explicitly acknowledge them, as with the Messages on iCloud feature that was much touted during the company’s keynote last year, only to vanish from Apple’s website after the release of iOS 11 (Reports suggest that it’s made its way into the first iOS 11.3 beta.) At that point, it starts to feel a little more like the company is a bit out of its depth The wheel keeps on turning If I had to lay these challenges at the feet of one particular factor, I think it might have a lot to with Apple’s current yearly update schedule You don’t have to look very closely to see that a lot of Apple’s eggs are in one, maybe two baskets: the June WWDC keynote, where it announces plans for its major software updates for the year Messages on iCloud could finally be released to the general public in iOS 11.3 March 2018 • Macworld 113 OPINION as well as often some hardware, and the September event, where it reveals a new iPhone and more often than not some new or revamped devices as well That’s a lot of pressure, especially on the software side Managing two different major platform releases – not to mention ancillary platforms like watchOS and tvOS – is a tall order, and doing it every year only compounds that Bugs are still being worked out and features finally added even as the next update is already being prepared In and of itself that’s not unusual for software development, but the scale of the operating systems and of the number of devices they apply to can’t be discounted Expectations play a big part into the everturning wheel, as well Users, developers, pundits, and the market all expect to see big announcements out of Apple in June and September That puts even more pressure on the company to deliver on that schedule And though Apple famously backed out of Macworld Expo so it didn’t have to be beholden someone else’s out timetable, the company has ended up tethered to the very timetable that it created for itself It also means that if we don’t see a major new feature or enhancement at WWDC, we know that we’ll likely be waiting another year before there’s a chance of new features – in essence the clock resets and starts over This adherence to a once-a-year revamp of Apple’s software platforms certainly seems difficult to sustain as it stands now Perhaps it might help 114 Macworld • March 2018 OPINION We’ve all come to expect big announcements at WWDC Could that be working against Apple? were the company to shift to an update schedule with smaller, but more frequent updates Or maybe it simply needs to be more reasonable about not overpromising on features it can’t deliver on schedule Either way it certainly feels like the company is biting off more than it can chew And while that’s frustrating for users in the short term, I worry that in the longer term, it might point to Apple’s plate being overly full March 2018 • Macworld 115 HOW TO ... Mac Pro Macworld • March 2018 75 16 CONTENTS FEATURES Guide to the HomePod 44 How Apple can establish its new video service 50 Help Desk 56 94 BUYING GUIDE Which iMac should you buy? 65 Mac backup. .. the new Mac Pro: the current iMacs are upgradable, at least to a point: It’s possible to access and update some components in 32 Macworld • March 2018 PREVIEW iMac Pro the standard iMacs, although... the Windows of Linux workstations that have left Apple’s Mac Pro? ?for dust 30 Macworld • March 2018 PREVIEW Apple’s plans for the new Mac Pro There were only two things Apple could Either it had