SuperDuper is Catalina Friendly


Dave Nanian, of Shirt Pocket Software recently announced that his well-respected backup utility, SuperDuper, is good-to-go on Catalina. I always appreciate Dave’s blog posts concerning updates. He has a new post concerning this update and it helps to get the perspective from someone working with the file system updates and Dave always functions as the canary in a coal mine. 

With Catalina, your drive is divided into two separate volumes, a system volume and a data volume. These changes were made for security reasons, but created a ton of work for guys like Dave Nanian. Reading about how much work he put into this new version validates my purchase of his app.

If If you don’t have a way to mirror your drive (you should!), my SuperDuper recommendation remains in effect.

Focused 87: Nerds Like Us, with Myke Hurley



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Relay co-founder Myke Hurley joins Mike and me on the latest episode of Focused to talk about the power of yearly themes, becoming more intentional, and working with other humans.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code FOCUSED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

  • FreshBooks: Online invoicing made easy.

  • UpHabit: The app that makes connecting with people you care about part of your routine. Try it for free or take advantage of 25% off for new subscribers.

iOS 13: Maybe Too Much Awesome?

We’re now seeing reports of Apple trying to slow things down in future software releases to avoid the bugs and multiple patches we’ve been getting with iOS 13 and macOS Catalina. This signals a pendulum shift we’ve seen many times before between conservative and aggressive software releases. We need go back only a few years to see that the very stable, but relatively conservative iOS 12 release followed on the more aggressive (and buggy) iOS 11 release the year before. In terms of new features, this year was awesome. I argued earlier that it was just the right amount of awesome but given the number of patches we’ve had, maybe it turns out it was a little too much awesome.

Either way, I expect things will be dialed back a bit next year so they don’t have so many patches. I continue to believe that Apple should be pushing the envelope. As things stand, particularly with iPad, the software has not matched the hardware and there still is plenty of catching up to do.

Mac Power Users 511: 2019 Developer Roundtable



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Ken Case of the Omni Group, Greg Scown of Smile, and Dave Teare of AgileBits join us on the latest episode of Mac Power Users to talk about Apple’s year and the changes it brought for developers. Then, a conversation about app subscriptions, venture capital funding, and more.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.

  • TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile.

  • Linode: High performance SSD Linux servers for all of your infrastructure needs. Get a $20 credit.

  • FreshBooks: Online invoicing made easy.

Automators 37: Mac Maintenance and Management Magic



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In the latest episode of Automators, Rosemary and I set our sights on Mac maintenance and how to automate it, from clearing your trash to managing duplicates and even handling those pesky .ics files. Nothing is safe from our automation!

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

  • ExpressVPN: High-speed, secure and anonymous VPN service. Get 3 months free with a 1-year package.

  • Flatiron School: Launch a career in tech with Flatiron School’s modern curriculum paired with one-on-one support from dedicated Career Coaches, all just in 15 weeks.

  • FreshBooks: Online invoicing made easy.

The New MacBook Pro Keyboard Initial Impressions and Thoughts

I had the opportunity to spend some time typing on the new MacBook Pro Keyboard. As someone that uses the iMac Magic Keyboard on a daily basis, I can report that it feels identical, with slightly less travel. The initial tear down reports they are built exactly the same. That’s good news on the reliability front. I beat up on my iMac keyboard often and I’ve never had a problem. I was perfectly comfortable typing on the new laptop keyboard and I fully expect Apple to be moving this new laptop Magic Keyboard down the line soon.

A few interesting bits stand out for me in the responses to the release of this new MacBook Pro Keyboard. First, is the general fixation on it. It seems nearly all the initial reviews are centered around this new Keyboard. iFixit related it to Stockholm syndrome. I disagree. I think the reason for this reaction is closer to the boiling frog. As, year after year, the broken keyboard stories kept piling up and Apple kept making more MacBooks with the latest butterfly keyboard iteration, all of our frogs got well and cooked. A real turning point for me has been the way so many of our MPU guests start out their interview with a recitation of the number of keyboard repairs they’ve needed. The fact that this new keyboard is using a tried-and-tested keyboard released a lot of tension about Apple and the way they make things. But not without a cost.

My second observation is that most of the reporting about the new keyboard has been qualified by some variety of, “I really like this change, but we’ll have to wait and see if it is more reliable.” If you look at MacBook reviews in years past, before the butterfly keyboard, there are no such qualifications. This whole mess over the butterfly keyboard has cost Apple a degree of trust and it is going to take some time for them to recover. Not only that, we still aren’t out of the woods here because a lot of the butterfly keyboard Macs are still in circulation and many are still being sold. This bad keyboard reputation is going to linger for years as those butterfly keyboard machines remain in circulation.

All that said, given that these new keyboards are built the same way the iMac Magic Keyboard is put together, I fully expect them to be just as reliable. If you are in the market for a laptop that is anything but the big MacBook Pro, I’d encourage you to hold off until the new keyboard makes it to your machine of choice.

Mac Power Users 510: The 2019 Holiday Gift Guide 



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It’s that time again: the annual MPU Holiday Gift Guide has returned on the latest episode of Mac Power Users.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

  • The Omni Group: We’re passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone and iPad.

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.

PowerPhotos 1.7 Update



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I’m hard at work on the new Photos Field Guide but wanted to share one bit that I’ll be covering concerning PowerPhotos. This Mac app solves a bunch of problems for Apple Photos power users. They recently released an update to version 1.7 that adds Catalina support and adds some new features, my favorite of which is the ability to preserve reversible edits when copying photos between libraries. Also, loading libraries into PowerPhotos is now much faster.

This is a free update to previous owners. If you find yourself banging your head into Apple Photos’ limitations, particularly concerning library management, you’ll want to check out PowerPhotos.