Mac Power Users 600: Mac Migration & Settings



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The Apple silicon transition continues to march on, so Stephen and I sit down to talk about how to migrate to a new Mac, and what settings and preferences we recommend changing from the defaults on the latest episode of Mac Power Users.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

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Field Guide Price Increase Starts Next Week

I’ve decided to raise the price of the MacSparky Field Guides starting next week to $49. There are a few reasons why I’m doing this.

First, I Think They are Worth It

I pour a ton of effort into the Field Guides. Nearly all of them are more than five hours of content with transcripts and downloadable materials included. My goal for every Field Guide is to turn anyone interested in a topic into an expert and give them everything they need to get there. Moreover, many of the Field Guides get ongoing support and free updates for several years. For example, I’m currently working on a free update for the Shortcuts for iPhone and iPad Field guide that will likely result in an hour of additional content for existing customers. This is the second major free update this course will receive.

So, in short, I think they are worth it.

Second, The Field Guides are Expensive to Produce

Every Field Guide I produce requires me to spend over 200 hours of my time and thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses. I’m thrilled with the way the Field Guides have evolved into such a well-produced product. But if I’m to keep making them at this level, I need to charge more.

I hope you understand I did not make this decision lightly. This price increase is to make the business more sustainable so that I can put more time into new titles and updates for existing ones.

The price increase will not start until August 16, so if you’d like to purchase anything before the prices go up, now’s the time.

Thank you for all of your support.

Apple Needs to Get More Aggressive with Scam Apps

Recently in Australia, Apple featured some scam apps in one of their App Store promotions. It’s not surprising that even App Store marketing folks can get confused by scam apps.

Last week a non-geek friend called me about his iPhone. He wanted my opinion about what podcasting app to buy because he “heard” that “most apps are scams now”. The whole point of users dealing with the limitations of a single app store is to avoid that kind of nonsense, and the rest of the world is now waking up to the fact that Apple has let a pack of wolves into the walled garden.

I understand that policing the App Store with its millions of apps isn’t easy, but whatever they are currently doing, it is not enough. Putting new laws and regulations aside, I think the failure to clean up the App Store will lead to a crisis in confidence by Apple’s customers, and once more people start thinking like my friend, the App Store is in real trouble.

Work Faster on Your Mac with Better Touch Tool (Sponsor)




This week MacSparky is sponsored by one of my favorite Mac utilities, BetterTouchTool. Apple’s built-in gestures for its mice and trackpads are great, but they don’t go far enough. With BetterTouchTool, you can add an entire suite of gestures to your mouse and trackpad for just the apps and actions that you need.

Do you want to move between tabs in Safari by swiping or tapping your trackpad? BetterTouchTool does that. want to put your Mac to sleep with a custom trackpad gesture? BetterTouchTool does that to. BetterTouchTool lets you hot-wire your trackpad and mouse. BetterTouchTool additionally contains some handy features like window snapping, a clipboard manager, a screenshot editor, and much more. This app is an absolute game-changer. Also, you can now join the BetterTouchTool Community at community.folivora.ai to learn how to get even more from BetterTouchTool. Users have shared some amazing presets there, including some very advanced custom Touch Bar setups that you should check out.

BetterTouchTool comes with a 45-day trial after which you can choose between a license that includes all updates for two years and a lifetime license. BetterTouchTool has been around for ten years, and I’ve been using it the entire time. With BetterTouchTool, I can make my Mac dance. You should too. MacSparky readers can purchase BetterTouchTool for 15% off at checkout by using the coupon code MACSPARKYBTT for a limited time. So don’t delay. Go to folivora.ai to learn more and take advantage of the special limited-time, 15% discount on BetterTouchTool.

Private Relay Data Slow-Down

I had an interesting issue with my Monterey Mac. Since I bought my fancy new EERO routers, I’ve been dripping in Internet. But suddenly the party was over. My connection was noticeably slow and laggy. After a bit of troubleshooting, I discovered Private Relay is the culprit.

Here’s my speed with Private Relay turned on.


Here’s my speed just minutes later on the same machine with Private Relay turned off. From 55 to 890! (Interestingly, upload got slower.)


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I’m submitting a bug to Apple, and I’m sure they’re already onto this. Monterey hasn’t shipped yet and I expect when it does, it will not crush your Internet speed. But in the meantime, if you are thinking about running the public beta, you’ve been warned.

New External Magic Keyboards with Touch ID

Yesterday Apple also announced the release of the new magic keyboards (with or without a keypad), mouse, and trackpad for Apple Silicon Macs. These are the silver versions (no other colors!). When paired with an Apple Silicon Mac, you can get Touch ID on your Apple Silicon laptop or Mac mini. These products showed up earlier than I expected. When the new iMacs were first released, I figured it would take at least six months for Apple to get around to releasing the new accessories for other Apple Silicon Mac customers. (However, I also thought there’d be more colors.)

If you’ve never used a Touch ID laptop, they are pretty great. Not only can you unlock your Mac with it, but you can also do things like unlock system preferences and 1Password. I expect it’d be just as useful in front of a Mac mini and a monitor, provided you like using Apple Keyboards.

This release also makes me wonder about the likelihood of Face ID in a future Mac. It’d be nice just to sit behind your Mac and have it unlock, but those laptop screens are very skinny and it’s sounding like the big Apple Silicon iMac won’t show up until 2022.

If you’re not looking to buy a new keyboard but you do wear an Apple Watch, you should turn on the unlock with Apple Watch feature in the Security & Privacy preference. I wear my Apple Watch every day and while this feature is not reason enough alone to wear an Apple Watch, it’s a heck of a perk.


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Focused 131: Liminal Thinking



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We’re all a lot less objective than we give ourselves credit for. Join Mike and me on the latest episode of Focused as we attempt to figure out why by considering limiting beliefs, learning loops, and the slippery slope of self-sealing logic.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

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Mac Pro Updates

Yesterday Apple released some new gear for the Intel Mac Pro. I’ve been telling anyone that will listen to only buy Apple Silicon Macs going forward, but the Mac Pro does remain the easiest exception to the rule. There are folks making motion pictures that need massively powerful computers and use custom software that won’t immediately get updated for Apple Silicon. For those people, there is the Intel Mac Pro.

If the folks who study Apple rumors are to be believed, we’re probably a year (or more) from an Apple Silicon Mac Pro. So Apple updating the Intel Mac Pro at this point makes sense.

Mac Power Users 599: A Man of the People, with Dr. Drang



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Dr. Drang returns on this episode of Mac Power Users to discuss his recent Mac renaissance, the way he manages notes, and some of his favorite utilities.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

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