Win! An iPad Pro 9.7-inch with Apple Pencil p49
iPhone SE and new iPad Pro reviewed: in-depth verdict p62
Master Photos on Mac: its key tools explained p40
MAC
iPHONE
iPAD
m ay 20 1 6 N O.1 1 5
Wi Fi secrets
116
pages of advice for iOS and mac
Create the perfect home network and banish the wires from all your Apple devices! p22
HOW TO : Add new gesture controls to OS X Boost security for your Apple ID Learn to use Mail Drop like a pro Keep cloud-stored files private
m ay 20 1 6 N O.1 1 5
w w w. m ac l i f e .co m
22
40
86
Wireless superguide
Do more with Photos
Smart lighting guide
Step into the future with this ultimate guide to wireless networking! Stream music and movies, control your home, and ditch those irritating cables…
The Mac’s built-in photo library and picture-editing app has come a long way since its release. Discover how to make the most of OS X’s tool for photographers.
Discover the home lighting systems that let you control the color, brightness and timing of your lights using your iPhone, Apple Watch, or your voice!
Photos for OS X has useful organization options and powerful tools via extensions.
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maclife.com may 2016 3
>>> Contents
56
06
78
58
52
Day One 2
62
Apple iPhone SE
53
Doo – Get Things Done
66
Apple iPad Pro 9.7-inch
53
Grid
70
Cloud Outliner 2 Pro
54
ReVu
71
iRSS 3
Email: letters@maclife.com.
55
Transcribe+
72
Studies
Start
55
CornerTube
73
Tick Task Pro
Apple looks to Windows users to grow the iPad, plus Intel’s next-gen storage.
56
Assassin’s Creed Identity
73
Fluid Browser
74
Capture One Pro 9
Meet the first iOS esport
57
The Light Inside Us
Esports are big business, and now they’re on iPad.
76
Tyme 2
57
Patchwork 77
MacScan 3
Digital|Life
80
86
Head over to techradar.com.
08
09
And then there was light. And then there was clever, iOS controlled light.
Consider Matt Bolton on Apple’s ability to surprise.
94
12
14
15
16
17
18
Early Access
58
Retro City Rampage DX
Pre-release software and Apple News opens up.
77
Mini Screen Recorder
59
6 brilliant strategy games on iOS
78
Fitbit Blaze
The Shift David Chartier looks at improving the App Store’s user review system.
60
Lookout
79
DiskStation DS216+
61
Episodes
79
WD MyPassport for Mac 3TB
6 of the most…
62
Blue Asteroid
… transformative features in the evolution of iOS.
80
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-RX1R II
Game Loop
82
Parrot Zik 3
Brianna Wu looks at harsh free-to-play practices.
83
Razer Leviathan Mini
Crave
83
360fly
84
The Flame in the Flood
85
SUPERHOT
$50 iTunes card What would you buy…?
82
Parrot Zik 3
4 may 2016 maclife.com
Apple TV Apps and hardware for your Apple TV.
98
Ask Our Apple experts answer your burning hardware and software questions.
102
Secure your Apple ID
104 Power up your trackpad 106 Secure your files in the cloud 108 Affinity Photo Part 3: Isolate a photo’s subject 110
Send big files with MailDrop
112
Create a custom ringtone
114
Random Apple Memory
The gear we’re lusting after.
20
Get smart Lifestyle-enhancing gadgets for your home.
Share 96
10
Smart Lighting
Apple’s first, ill-fated USB mouse. Plus, what to expect next issue…
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The beautifully designed software control panel works like a traditional M/E style switcher, so it’s easy to learn. You can switch cameras, change transitions and adjust key settings on the fly. Load graphics and even key them over live video, mix audio, and control cameras, all from your Mac or PC laptop! For larger productions you can even add a broadcast grade ATEM hardware control panel!
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ATEM Television Studio features upstream chroma keying for green and blue screen shots and 2 downstream keyers for overlaying graphics! There’s even a built in multi view so you can see your cameras, preview and program output all on a single SDI or HDMI display. You get an incredible amount of broadcast technology packed into a design that’s small enough to take anywhere!
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Learn more
Visit techradar.com The march of technology never stops, so neither do we. Mac|Life’s website is now part of the new and improved TechRadar, so you can grab your fix of Mac and iOS news over at www.techradar.com.
You’ll get all the latest news and tutorials for Mac, iPhone and iPad, as well as other trusted reviews, news, and how-tos that have made TechRadar one of the world’s top tech sites. We’ll see you there!
Read more news, reviews, and tutorials at techradar.com
EDITORIAL Editor Matt Bolton operations EDITORS Jo Membery, Ed Ricketts CONTRIBUTORS Adam Banks, Gareth Beavis, JR Bookwalter, David Chartier, Amy Davies, Emma Davies, Craig Grannell, Kate Gray, Christian Hall, Tim Hardwick, Spencer Hart, Ali Jennings, Cliff Joseph, Sarah LeBoeuf, Joseph Leray, Gary Marshall, Rob Mead-Green, Howard Oakley, Nick Peers, Nick Pino, Christopher Phin, Matthew Richards, Max Slater-Robins, Dave Stevenson, Alan Stonebridge, Matt Swider, Jordan Erica Webber, Brianna Wu ART aRT editor Mat Gartside Digital aRT editor Seth Singh Contributors Apple, Jamie Schildhauer, Thinkstock, Jonathan Zufi BUSINESS vice president sales Stacy Gaines, stacy.gaines@futurenet.com Vice President Strategic Partnerships Isaac Ugay, isaac.ugay@futurenet.com East coast account director Brandie Rushing, brandie.rushing@futurenet.com East coast account director Michael Plump, michael.plump@futurenet.com mid west account director Jessica Reinert, jessica.reinert@futurenet.com west coast account director Austin Park, austin.park@futurenet.com west coast account director Brandon Wong, brandon.wong@futurenet.com west coast account director Tad Perez, tad.perez@futurenet.com director of marketing Robbie Montinola director, client services Tracy Lam Director, retail sales Bill Shewey MANAGEMENT Editorial Director Paul Newman GROUP ART DIRECTOR Graham Dalzell PRODUCTION PRODUCTION MANAGER Mark Constance PRODUCTION controller Fran Twentyman Project Manager Clare Scott PRoduction assistant Emily Wood
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Setting the tone I have become a convert. Totally and completely. This column is basically me turning up at your door holding an iPad Pro 9.7-inch out in one hand and asking: “Excuse me, have you heard the good news about True Tone displays?” When Apple announced this feature of the iPad Pro – which shifts the color temperature of the screen to match the ambient light in the room, so a white page on the iPad’s screen would match the tone of a piece of white paper left alongside it – I shrugged it off. I thought it looked cool, but what’s the problem with just looking at its actual color? The brilliance of it hit me while I was sitting at my dining table late on a Sunday. Someone had sketched me some rough outlines for a design on paper, and so I was copying them into a notebook app on the new Pro with the Pencil. Looking back and forth to the paper, it suddenly struck me: True Tone was working seamlessly. The white balance of the screen perfectly matched that of the iPad’s white bezel and paper alongside. So, naturally, I immediately turned it off, as an experiment. The change was astonishing – and awful! Suddenly the iPad was harsh and grating in the soft light, and so much less pleasant to use. I turned it back on and marveled: with this one feature, Apple has made a demonstrable improvement to the iPad’s usability. You might have thought that after years and years of following Apple, I’d have known better than to be caught not expecting this. As has been the case countless times before, the maestros at Cupertino came up with something that may not have seemed that revolutionary at first, but that immediately became something I didn’t want to live without. The iPad Pro has myriad other great things to recommend it, as you can see in our review on p66, but this is the one I’ll be breathlessly talking about when I’m asked if it’s a worthy upgrade or not – and probably also when I haven’t been asked, to be honest. I think it’s a great sign, too: Apple hasn’t hit a plateau for ideas on how to improve and enhance its products yet. Not all advancements need to be great leaps. Some of the best are subtle shifts.
>>>the team
Jo Membery Operations Editor Jo’s loving the improved camera on iPad Pro – she’s that person…
Mat Gartside Art Editor Mat’s been blasting Carly Rae Jepsen non-stop on the iPad’s new speakers.
Seth Singh Digital Art Editor Seth loves the small size of the SE so much, he’ll carry two around! Wait…
Matt Bolton, Editor Twitter: @matthewbbolton
8 may 2016 maclife.com
Your opinions, rants & raves
When Apple finally made a slightly larger phone, I gladly bought the 6 and loved it for a day or two. Then an old bugaboo I’d forgotten about showed its ugly self. Before ranting about it, let me ask if, perhaps, I’m really weird because I want (and need) to be able to name or rename pictures I’ve taken? I cannot in my wildest imagination come up with any reason why someone would think it wise to prevent me from naming my pictures. Is there a logical explanation? I’m happy with my Android phone but would really love to be able to use my iPhone. Yes, I can use my computer to get the job done but, to be completely honest, I don’t believe Apple has ever advertised the iPhone as a computer accessory. My phone is a standalone hand-held device… period. Help? Tim Mathews You can’t rename your photos in the Photos app, but you can download (and sign up for) Dropbox, have your photos auto-import to your Dropbox account, and then rename them inside the Dropbox app. Right now, it seems that Apple believes you don’t need to worry about naming your photos, instead it helps you to organize them by time, location, and faces.
Scanning options In the April issue (#113), you advised a reader that those fine old Nikon and Canon slide scanners don’t work with modern Macs. But that’s wrong. All your reader needs to do is purchase software that makes those scanners behave under OS X. Two of the best are VueScan (from Hamrick software) and SilverFast (a more costly pro-level product). I’m no expert on scanning, but I would have thought that Mac|Life would look into an issue more closely before giving advice. By the way, I’d also recommend buying the scanner on Amazon rather than eBay — more costly, but also more reliable goods. Michael Steinberg If you’ve got an old, officially unsupported scanner, thirdparty software could help.
Thanks for recommending VueScan, Michael. We didn’t recommend any software solutions like these because
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we were unable to test it, and we can’t suggest people spend big money on old hardware without being certain that it will work with their Mac. As for Amazon versus eBay to buy these scanners, that’s your choice: Amazon Marketplace sellers (Amazon itself doesn’t have any) are charging many thousands of dollars more than most eBay sellers, but our advice is always that you should buy from wherever you’re most comfortable spending money.
Bluetooth blues I read the tip about playing music on the Apple Watch (Mac|Life 113) and see I have been doing it correctly but it doesn’t work for me as easily as you suggest. I sync a playlist, I pair my Bluetooth headphones, pair my Polar Heart Rate monitor and
Bluetooth issues with your Apple Watch? Pop to a Genius Bar for advice.
start my workout. However, I keep losing the connection to my headphones or heart monitor. They reconnect but again it is soon lost. I’ve tried everything but the only solution has been to use the Watch to control music from the phone. Then the monitor, music and workout app work perfectly. I just can’t do all from the Watch alone. Am I missing something here? John Harrington It's hard to say exactly what the problem is without knowing a little more, but there are two likely causes: one is that the Watch is having trouble maintaining all the necessary Bluetooth connections simultaneously – that the headphones and heart rate monitor are interfering with each other. The second is that you're experiencing an issue with Watch Bluetooth audio that other people have had too. Do you still get the playback stuttering if you play music from the Watch without the heart rate monitor attached? If so, and your software is all up to date, take a trip to your nearest Genius Bar to get it checked out.
Email: letters@maclife.com Facebook: facebook.com/maclife Twitter: twitter.com/maclife
maclife.com may 2016 9
Start FEED YOUR MIND. FEAST YOUR EYES.
win
A brand new iPad Pro 9.7-inch with Pencil! p49
To grow iPad, Apple looks to Windows users iPad sales are weakening, but is going for Windows upgraders the right approach? BY Max Slater-Robins
“This is an amazing statistic: there are over 600 million PCs that are over five years old in use today,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of marketing, at the company’s event in March. “This is really sad,” he continued, to applause and laughter. One of Apple’s most visible executives had just made the case that the iPad Pro is looking to attract old Windows users to Apple’s platform. Apple has been adopting this angle for a while now. In an interview given around the time of the original 12.9-inch iPad Pro’s launch, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook explicitly questioned why anyone would want a PC in 2016. “I think if you’re looking at a PC,” Cook said, referencing the iPad Pro, “Why would you buy a PC anymore? No really, why would you buy one?” The repositioning of the iPad from a device Steve Jobs used while sitting in an armchair on stage to a powerful, capable computer moved another step forward when Apple unveiled the 9.7-inch version of the iPad Pro. The iPad has undoubtedly had an effect on the overall PC market, but its grip is far from firm. Apple has failed to drum up increased appetite for the iPad in recent years and sales have
10 may 2016 maclife.com
Feed your mind. Feast your eyes.
Intel’s Optane is next-gen storage Faster, more durable flash memory is coming to Macs BY Christian hall & Matt Bolton fallen as a result, peaking in 2013. Sales of 2-in-1 computers – a combination of a laptop and a tablet – have increased during the same period. Microsoft and Lenovo have both released successful hybrids, and the iPad Pro was widely accepted to be a response to that. Apple has been building features into iOS to make it more PC-like. Splitscreen multitasking made its way into iOS 9 and the company has been working on multi-user support, though this is currently limited to educational establishments. Deals with companies such as IBM and Box also bring attractive enterprise applications to the platform. Wowing entrenched Windows users is going to be an uphill struggle, but the overall trends in the PC industry are working in Apple’s favor, as touchscreens, apps, and a lighter experience become the norm. The majority of work done on PCs, especially by students, is text input and editing, and these are tasks that can be achieved on a tablet just as well as a “proper” laptop. Microsoft has actually helped this future along by providing the Office suite on iPad. This set of applications, which require a subscription to Office 365 to work fully, goes a long way to cover all the needs of a typical educational user. So if all the tools for Windows users end up on the iPad, maybe Cook is right: why not choose an iPad? Maybe we’ll see more from Apple on this in the near future.
Macs could be set for a major storage-speed boost as early as next year, after reports emerged that Intel’s new Optane solid-state drives could be included in MacBook models or the Mac Pro in 2017. Optane drives contain Intel’s new 3D XPoint (pronounced “crosspoint”) tech, which allows data to be read and written in small sizes far more quickly than on current SSDs, thanks to the “stackable” architecture of the drive – featuring new technology that doesn’t rely on transistors at all. In practice, that could mean dramatically improved speed over current NAND flash storage, and a 1,000-times increase in durability. Interestingly, optane is so fast that it can even be used in place of RAM in computers. It’s slower than the DRAM tech used currently for memory, but is much, much more dense, so can store more data in the same physical area – Intel has shown Optane sticks that offer 512GB per stick, which is a huge increase over the current 64GB. That means up to 6TB of RAM in a single server board, which could eliminate the need for other kinds of storage – an advantage in particular for quickly feeding data to complex, multi-core processors. This might make it ideal for a future version of the high-end, 12-core Mac Pro.
Even for storage on everyday computers, there should be a notable boost. Optane is reported to be making its way to Apple’s MacBook range first, before coming to PCs at a later date. Apple has often been an early and enthusiastic adopter of advanced technology in its machines, such as Thunderbolt and its switch to PCIe‑based flash storage in recent years, and Optane is another innovation that will keep MacBooks at the head of the portable computing pack. It was also recently announced, at the Open Compute Project’s summit in San Jose, California, that Optane is compatible with the NVMe protocol used in the latest Retina MacBook storage – so that’s one less obstacle in the way of Optane-equipped MacBooks.
3D XPoint memory cells could mean much faster data transfer in the future.
maclife.com may 2016 11
>>> Start
Meet the first iOS esport Esports are big business, and entertaining watching – and now anyone can try them on iPad and iPhone BY Matt Bolton
12 may 2016 maclife.com
There’s something of a stigma around the idea of video games as a sport – many people think of sports as demonstrations of considerable physical prowess, so watching someone sitting playing with a computer won’t satisfy them. But what we really watch for is to see skilled people pull off brilliant feats, and esports absolutely satisfies that criteria – you just watch fantasy characters run around a field instead of footballers. Lots of people are coming round to esports, and tournaments for some of the most popular games are turning into major spectacles. Over 32 million people watched the League of Legends’ World Championship finals alone last year, and there are other tournaments of a similar size for other games. In the past, esport games have always been
PC or Mac titles, but now the iPad has its first contender. Vainglory was released in late 2014 to much excitement, having been featured by Apple at one of its events. It’s a top-down team battling game, known as a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena), which are hugely popular in the esports world. It offers stunning graphics, you can watch other people’s games right through the app itself, and it attempts to bring something close to the full desktop MOBA experience to touchscreens – not just for people who know that type of game, but for new players, too. “One of the biggest barriers to this style of gaming is the mechanical complexity of controls,” explains Kristian Segerstrale, COO of Vainglory’s developer Super Evil Megacorp. “The fact that you have to