The Apple lovers’ gift guide: fun and useful gifts for anyone! p38
iPad mini 4 review: is there a place for the small iPad? p62
Keep up to date with iOS 9: master Apple’s new News app p94
MAC
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iPAD
d ec e m b e r 20 1 5 N O.1 0 9
Plus
4K iMac revealed!
El Capitan h i d d e n f e at u r e s Get more from your Mac with 75 must-try tips for Apple’s OS X update p22
HOW TO : Customize Finder for faster use Schedule timed emails for free Design photo albums with Pages Discover Dropbox’s hidden power
d ec e m b e r 20 1 5 N O.1 0 9
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El Capitan hidden features
The Apple lovers’ gift guide
Third-party Watch straps
We delve into OS X 10.11 to reveal the latest improvements, such as better searching in Spotlight, smarter Notes, side-by-side apps in Split View and more…
Looking for the perfect gift for someone who loves their Mac, iPhone or iPad? We’ve got fun and practical ideas for everyone (and every budget).
Apple itself offers many variations of strap for your Apple Watch, but we take a look at some desirable (and economical) wrist-wrapping alternatives.
Get a cheaper new look for your Watch with these bands…
maclife.com DEC 2015 3
>>> Contents
60
76
Need for Speed: No Limits
DxO One Upgrade your iPhone’s camera
Can this racer live up to its name?
06
54
Daytime
62
Apple iPad mini 4
55
ReBoard
64
Apple Magic Trackpad 2
55
Launch Center Pro
65
Apple Magic Keyboard
56
Tweetbot 4
65
Apple Magic Mouse 2
Email: letters@maclife.com.
57
Musiclock 2
66
Start
57
Riffstation
Steve Jobs is a good movie, but is it a good movie about Steve Jobs…?
58
Digital|Life
82
Head over to techradar.com.
08
10
12
14
Make Finder more productive
Reeder 3
88
Automate your emails
67
DaisyDisk 4
90
Create photo book layouts in Pages
Spellstone
67
iCloudStatus 92
Make more of Dropbox
59
Cavernaut
68
Acorn 5 96
59
SPL-T
70
Swift Publisher 4
Keep up with the iOS News app
60
Need for Speed: No Limits
71
iA Writer
98
Random Apple Memory
71
Fileloupe – Media Browser
72
Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac
73
Tembo
73
PGPTools
74
Seagate Personal Cloud 2-Bay 8TB NAS
75
Netgear Arlo
76
DxO One
78
B&O BeoPlay H2
79
JustMobile TimeStand
79
Manfrotto KLYP+
80
Satellite Reign
81
Company of Heroes 2
Early Access
The Shift David Chartier says TV apps need careful thought.
16
86
Share
Plus, Apple is now nearly all-Retina in its line-up.
15
61
The 6 best story-driven iOS games
The 6 weirdest… iPhone accessories.
18
Game Loop Brianna Wu thinks Apple TV gaming is off to a bad start.
20
Crave The gear we’re lusting after.
22
Our Apple experts answer your burning hardware and software questions.
Consider Editor-in-chief Chris Slate on hoarding Apple classics.
Ask
$50 iTunes card
78
B&O BeoPlay H2
What would you buy…?
4 dec 2015 maclife.com
Apple’s first home games system: the Pippin. Plus… what to expect next month!
79
JustMobile TimeStand
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EDITORIAL EDITOR-In-Chief Chris Slate MANAGING EDITOR Chris Hoffman Editor Matt Bolton operations EDITORS Jo Membery, Ed Ricketts CONTRIBUTORS Adam Banks, Graham Barlow, JR Bookwalter, David Chartier, Emma Davies, Ian Evenden, Cameron Faulkner, Dan Grabham, Craig Grannell, Christian Hall, Lucy Hattersley, Kenny Hemphill, Steve Jarratt, Joseph Leray, Gary Marshall, Nick Peers, Christopher Phin, Adam Smith, Alan Stonebridge, Matt Thrower, Jordan Erica Webber, Brianna Wu ART ART DIRECTOR Paul Blachford aRT editor Mat Gartside Contributors Apple, Thinkstock BUSINESS vice president sales Stacy Gaines, sgaines@futureus.com Vice President Strategic Partnerships Isaac Ugay, isaac.ugay@futurenet.com account director Michael Plump, mplump@futureus.com account director Tad Perez, tperez@futureus.com account director Austin Park, apark@futureus.com account director Jessica Reinert, jreinert@futureus.com account director Brandon Wong, bwong@futureus.com account director Brandie Rushing, brushing@futureus.com MANAGEMENT Content & marketing director Nial Ferguson HEAD OF CONTENT & MARKETING, TECHNOLOGY Nick Merritt GROUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paul Newman GROUP ART DIRECTOR Steve Gotobed PRODUCTION PRODUCTION MANAGER Mark Constance PRODUCTION controller Frances Twentyman Project Manager Clare Scott PRoduction assistant Emily Wood
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Volume 9, Issue 13
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Ringing in the New Year I’m feeling a little sentimental this month. The gang here at Future US is moving into a snazzy new office in San Francisco, so I’ve spent the past week rummaging through old Mac|Life storage cabinets, deciding what to take and what to trash. Storage space at our new spot will be at a premium, but while I know we’ll never need most of our old, obsolete Apple products, I’ve found that letting go of them is damn near impossible. How do you chuck an original Bondi Blue iMac G3? We’ll never turn it on again, but c’mon – it’s in a translucent case! It’s shaped like an egg! It was the original iMac, the first modern all-in-one computer! Then there’s the box filled with iPods of various shapes and sizes, from the stick-shaped, clip-on shuffle to the original scroll-wheel iPod. And don’t get me started on the Apple IIe sitting at the bottom of the cabinet – I’ll find a place for that at the new office even if I have to sit on it. I’m not usually this reluctant to toss stuff out. I’ve ditched Windows PCs without hesitation, but I thought of those only as tools; as equipment I needed to get a job done. Once they’d served their purpose, I couldn’t care less what happened to them. Not everyone would feel the same way, but there’s definitely something different about Apple that brings its fans together and binds us. What is it about Apple products that not only appeals to people, but makes the Apple brand something we identify with so strongly? In looking back at such a wide array of the company’s creations, I think I’ve found the answer. Apple products have always stood for something; there’s a vision behind them, a goal. The iPod wasn’t designed to be a standard music player; Macs were never made to be just another personal computer. Apple reaches for something big with everything it does, and even when it falls short, the passion is evident. Any old beige box can go in the trash, but this stuff? Decades of crazy, world-conquering genius? It stays.
>>>the team
Matt Bolton Editor Thinner. Lighter. Sleeker. And the new iPad mini looks pretty good too.
Mat Gartside Art Editor Mat wonders how many dimensions he used his iPhone in before 3D Touch.
Jo Membery Operations Editor Jo is disappointed. Turns out you can’t pull rabbits out of the Magic Keyboard.
Chris Slate, Editor-in-Chief Twitter: @ChrisSlate
8 DEC 2015 maclife.com
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Your opinions, rants & raves
“Boost notebook battery life” (issue 107, p96) was a good article, but it’s missing a big tip: adjusting the backlights. Dimming the light behind the keys and, especially, dimming the screen, has a huge effect on battery life. I keep the screen just bright enough to where it’s still comfortable to use, and set the keyboard backlight at one (or no) bars depending on the light where I am. FLOYD F. Thanks for the extra tips, Floyd! I recently realized that I don’t miss anything if my screen isn’t at full blast, and now that I’ve gotten used to a lower setting, the maximum brightness makes my eyes hurt. Dimming the light is a pain-free trade-off for better battery life.
Not that complicated The word “complications” is used in the Apple Watch ads, and I’m totally confused. Shouldn’t the word be “compilations?” BOB LORENZ I’m not normally a watch guy, so that word stumped me at first, too. But yeah, Apple has it right: “complications” is a long-standing watch term that refers to any feature beyond telling time, such as the date, calendar, moon phase, and so on. Clearly, Apple's really keen on the heritage of watches!
Disappointed with iOS 9
Loyalty cards need a Walletcompatible iOS app to work.
I am disappointed with iOS 9. The updated Wallet app was supposed to incorporate store and loyalty cards, right? Well, only if the merchant has developed a Wallet-compatible iOS app. I was expecting to be able to import my loyalty cards so I’d have everything I need when shopping. And why won’t Apple let me decide which toggles and apps go in Control Center? With any Android phone you can pick what to put in your pull-down shade. Come on
SHARE WITH US! 10 DEC 2015 maclife.com
In the world of watches, additional features are known as “complications.”
which was my first, is probably going to be my last. MATTHEW G. CALABRESE Apple, let me make the phone my own. While you’re at it, let me arrange the app icons on my Home screen so I don’t have an app sitting over my wife’s face. Multitasking works pretty good on an iPad, but only with the apps Apple allows you to use with Split View. I don’t remember reading anywhere that this feature was limited to certain apps, most of which are just the default iPad apps. While I’m on the iPad, the advanced text-selection and cursor movement options are awesome — so why can’t I have them on my iPhone? Until iOS 9, I had my phone jailbroken. I wish I hadn’t upgraded now, but I digress. I had a mod that allowed me to swipe my finger across the keyboard to move my cursor. So, it can be done on iPhone and it’s a much easier way to move the cursor than pressing, holding, and moving. Why can’t those of us without a new 6s and 3D Touch still get a popup menu with a long press of an app icon? Beside the obvious fact that Apple wants us to buy a new phone, of course. I think my current iPhone,
I hate to say it, but an Android might be a better fit for you, Matthew. Mods, nuanced customization, a DIY interface – that stuff is more in line with an Android/PC mentality than Apple’s more restrictive adherence to its own design sensibilities. But to be fair, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that some of the new initiatives in iOS 9 take a little time to ramp up. I mean, of course merchants need to design their apps to work with Wallet – how else could your loyalty cards get in there? Similarly, any app can use the iPad's split-screen option, but the developers need time to add in support for it. And you couldn’t use a long press in place of a 3D Touch because a long press is already used to move apps around the Home screen.
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Steve Jobs: full of fact and fiction The biggest and best movie about Steve Jobs is in theaters now: here’s what we thought BY Matt Bolton
This is the first film about Steve Jobs we took seriously: after all, it was written by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, The West Wing), directed by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours), and starring Oscar winner Kate Winslet and Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender. Its concept is intriguing, too – it’s based around three scenes, each running in real time depicting the half hour or so before one of Jobs’ big keynotes. The first is in 1984, before the unveiling of the Macintosh; the
12 dec 2015 maclife.com
second in 1988, with the introduction of the NeXT “cube”; and the last in 1998, with the reveal of the iMac. The result is more like a play than a traditional movie (compounded by the fact that everything is set in theaters and opera houses), and is sharp and energetic. It’s a great movie on its own terms. But we’re not as sure whether it’s a good Steve Jobs movie. In some ways, it’s Jobs’ mythos distilled to its purest parts, in its simplest narrative: the rise and fall and
rise. We see a man who’s capricious, terse, and impactful. One who lashes out with cruelty, but is prone to his tender moments. One who demands perfection, and doesn’t let up on it even when impossible. From the stories of Jobs, this sounds like a reasonable portrayal – but while the broad strokes are fine, it’s the details where it stumbles. We see Jobs being an asshole because he just has to be right, but we don’t see much evidence of him actually being right when he’s being demanding. It feels like the myth of the Reality Distortion Field sometimes takes over the film – that he’s in a state of self-delusion all the time, rather than someone who sometimes is pushing for the harder path because he’s certain it’s the best one. For example, there’s a scene about Jobs having looked through dozens of photos to find the ideal shot, with the joke being that no one but him can tell
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