M1 Chips

You're probably aware that Apple recently started using their own-designed, M1 chip, in some of their Mac computers instead of an Intel chip. The new chip is measured in nanometers, which didn't mean a lot to me till I read the following statement I was reading in an article about Apple's new chip. How does any company manufacture, handle and use something that small? Almost unbelievable!.

Jim Hamm

"Much has been made of Apple’s earthshaking switch from Intel processors to its own, designed-in-house M1 chip. Produced for Apple by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), M1 semiconductors use a vanishingly small 5-nanometer (5nm) transistor size, less than 1/10,000 the width of a human hair. M1 processors have figured prominently in Macs since November 2020."

To give you another perspective of how small a nanometer is, take a read on the following:

"a typical virus is about 100 nanometers wide. A bacterium is about 1000 nanometers"

AirPods Pro as Hearing Aids?

If you use a hearing aid and have an iPhone, this brief article may be of interest.

Jim Hamm

AirPods Pro as Hearing Aids?

Apple has always had a commitment to accessibility, and hearing is one area that they have spent quite a bit of time upon. With the release of iOS 14, Apple added Headphone Accommodation to the accessibility feature.  This feature does a lot to deal with noise reduction and focusing the microphones for conversation to the person in front of you.  But it is the Transparency Mode that really makes the AirPods Pro useful as a hearing assistant.

To set up your AirPods Pro as a hearing aid you must go to Settings on your iPhone and then Accessibly->Hearing->Audio Visual-> Headphones Accommodations.

There you can upload your audiogram from your audiologist or from an app like Mimi. One thing to keep in mind when using Mimi is that you need to be in a very quiet environment to get an accurate measurement.  The dogs barking and doors opening here at home just didn't make it.  Luckily, Costco will  test  your hearing for free and give you an audiogram which can then be imported to your AirPods Pro through a picture.

Apple Event

Probably many members of this forum watched the Apple event -- as I did -- and have formed opinions on the new offerings. A tech writer for the TidBITS Newsletter, and an 'Appleholic', wrote some brief notes on his initial opinion of the event, and I thought I'd share them with you, FWIW.

Jim Hamm


"Hi folks, I watched today's Apple event and I'm in between writing and editing coverage for TidBITS, so I thought I'd give you a quick rundown and my first impressions.

  • iPad Air: The Air now features an M1 processor at $599, which is $200 cheaper than the base iPad Pro. That's with 64 GB of storage. I'd pay $749 for the 256 GB model. The iPad Air is now a compelling upgrade to the base iPad, which is still what I recommend for most people. I'm not sure there's any point in buying an iPad Pro at this time unless you need a large screen. You can order on March 11th and it'll be available on the 18th.

  • iPhone SE: The third-generation SE is compelling, with the same A15 Bionic as the iPhone 13, but starting at $429. It also works with 5G. I would spend the extra $50 to upgrade to 128 GB of storage at $479, which I think is a no-brainer. The tradeoff is an older Home button design and a smaller screen. Those may be bonuses for you. The iPhone SE may become the new "best for most" pick. I'll have to think on it, as we say in the south.

Where things get really interesting is the new Mac Studio (starting at $1999) and Studio Display (starting at $1599). These two products replace the 27-inch iMac, which is no longer available (I always knew it was too good to be true). And no, this is not a new Mac Pro, Apple said there would be one in the future, though the Studio can be configured with an M1 Ultra, which is two M1 Max chips paired together.

The Mac Studio is more of a Mac Mini+. In many ways, it's the medium-end professional machine some of us have wanted for years. But at a combined minimum price of $3,598 (without a keyboard and mouse), it's a lot to spend.

I'm going to have to chew on this for a while and if you're a fellow 27-inch iMac fan, I'm sure you will too. At the moment, my Mac recommendations for most people are still the 512 GB MacBook Air for a portable machine and the 512 GB 24-inch iMac for a desktop."

Antivirus (AV) Software

The question often arises, is it worthwhile to pay for antivirus software for your computer, or use a free version, or, if on a PC, just use the built-in free Windows Defender program? The following article has, I thought, a very good discussion of this question: Is Antivirus Software Worth Paying For? – Review Geek


As for myself, I've used the free version of Avast AV for years when on a computer (I don't use an AV program on my iPad or iPhone), and it seems to offer decent virus protection, but there are fairly frequent pop ups wanting me to upgrade to the paid version, which is understandable -- these companies need income to survive. So, the 'price' I pay is a minor aggravation from pop ups. A point to consider if you're on a PC -- Windows Defender only works on the Edge Browser, so if you use another browser, Windows Defender won't protect you.


Jim Hamm

Why I Use Sophos Home

If a flash drive that you purchased or if an email attachment had malware, then it would only infect your computer. And if it was malware, I suspect the only purpose of it would be to extract data from your computer.

If there is malware (malicious software) on your computer, then it won’t matter one bit whether you use email, iCloud Drive or any other method to share files. The files you share could be hiding the malware—which then makes it a virus.

The point of malware is to only infect the computer it is on to just be malicious. Malware can be something as simple as packaging an app with additional harmless apps that you didn’t know you were getting.

The point of a virus is to spread the virus from one computer to another by either inserting the virus into a file that the user then unknowingly sends to someone, or by accessing the Internet and passing the virus to other computers, or by using your contact list and sending bogus messages with the virus to people.

Both malware and a virus can extract data from the computer. Both can destroy the files on the computer.

And then there’s spyware. This is actually malware.

The new type of malware is called a PUP, Potentially Unwanted Program. These are apps that you download from the Internet.

And finally, there is ransomware. Again, this is a virus.

So if you suspect that you have a virus or malware, your first action should be to install Sophos Home on the computer and run a complete scan, and that should be done with any flash drive or other external drive installed (including your Time Machine drive) so it can also scan them. If it finds nothing, you're safe. If it finds something, Sophos Home will either automatically remove it, or the file will be quarantined for manual deletion. And then you’re safe. If it does find something, there’s a chance that your data has been collected and you should then change ALL of your passwords. Note: if a file in Time Machine drive is found to have something, that file should not be deleted manually or otherwise modified. That means the only way to be rid of that file is to delete the entire backup that it is found in.
Once Sophos Home is installed, it will protect you from malware, viruses, and PUPs in real time. Anything it finds will get deleted or quarantined and nothing bad can happen to your computer. PUPs might only be flagged and leave it up to you to install or delete. If you install a PUP, you are taking a risk. If it installs malware or a virus, Sophos Home will likely detect it. If Sophos Home doesn’t detect it, the consequences could be really bad.
I have been using Sophos Home for over a decade. It does not slow my computer down. It has only found problems with attachments that have come in an email message, and then maybe once or twice a year. Other antivirus apps that I have used either impose unnecessary restrictions by prompting me to be wary of downloading something or flat out prevent me from downloading something because it “thinks” it could be malware. They have also slowed my computer down. And they pop up constant messages to upgrade—and I consider that to be malware.
Sophos Home just works and only bothers me when it can’t properly deal with what it finds. As to how efficient it is, it is rated at the top with others that are declared to be the best in finding bad stuff. No antivirus or malware app is 100% perfect because new stuff is created by the hour and they have to be discovered before they can be protected against. Some antivirus apps use AI to find new viruses. If you don’t have a supercomputer, that process can slow down your computer.
I have been told by Apple support that Sophos Home and CleanMyMac X are malware. In my mind, it is not true. Apple support will insist that those apps be removed before they will continue with their troubleshooting. I have followed their instructions only to discover that removing them did not change the problem I was having. They will also insist on using Malwarebytes to check for malware and viruses. Fine. Do it just to make them happy; then delete it.
We have noted in the past that you should not use two antivirus apps at the same time as they tend to fight each other. Sophos Home and CleanMyMac X get along fine together. CleanMyMac X only does a scan for malware and viruses on demand. I only use that feature if I feel unsure.
When I checked for reviews on the best antivirus apps for Mac in 2022, Sophos Home wasn’t even listed by many. TechRadar listed Sophos Home as #5 with the only reason to not use was that additional features have to be purchased. The only useful additional feature in Sophos Home that only comes with the purchase is protection against getting your computer hijacked by ransomware. Comparing the annual cost of Sophos Home with others that provide additional features at a cost puts Sophos Home as the least expensive.
Check out the TechRadar reviews: https://www.techradar.com/best/best-mac-antivirus-software

https://home.sophos.com/en-us

John R Carter, Sr.

Is the Safari Browser Losing Its Edge?

9to5Mac reports that Apple is slowly losing it’s rank as the second most used browser.

https://9to5mac.com/2022/02/21/safari-is-about-to-lose-its-place-as-the-worlds-second-most-used-desktop-web-browser/

Here is 9to5Mac’s reasoning for the ranking.

"Last year, Apple introduced a completely redesigned version of Safari that unified the address bar with the tab bar. However, the update left some users unhappy, which made Apple revert Safari back to its old design and make the new interface optional for users. This, of course, wasn’t enough to stop many users from switching to other web browsers.

"At the same time, Safari also lacks some important features that are added first in other web browsers, and some developers even call Apple’s web browser “the new Internet Explorer.” And since Safari is tied to iOS and macOS, Apple takes some time to release updates with new features and security fixes.”
As to the changes in the Safari browser, I must be really flexible to not be bothered by layout design changes or the addition of new features. What bothers me most is the disappearance of features that I’m accustomed to using. And I don’t see that anything like that has happened to Safari.
As to not including features that appear in other browsers, it is a difficult task to include things that are copyrighted without paying a goodly sum. The developer either has to wait for the patent to run out or discover a way to create a similar feature that doesn’t impinge on the copyright. And yes, Apple is slow in turning out updates to Safari. But part of that is due to the “missing link” of independent developers offering changes to Apple’s software, which is kind of discouraged by Apple insisting that developers follow the Apple Rules for Software Design.
However, there are times when either Firefox or Chrome wins out over Safari, and that’s usually when visiting a site that insists on popping up a Javascript window when clicking on a link. I’ve yet to figure out how to make Safari work with that feature. I think it’s something to do with a default option wherein Apple thinks that such behavior is a bad thing. If all the webmasters kept to HTML 5, then nothing would “break.”

John R. Carter, Sr.

A Mac Tip

I just read the following on the TidBITS Newsletter and am sending it to you FYI and possible interest....Jim

Virtualize a Newer macOS Version on an Older Mac

Let’s say you have an older Mac that can’t be upgraded to macOS 12 Monterey—like a 2014 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina display—but you would still like to run Monterey for testing or documentation purposes. You’re seemingly stuck. Or are you?

On TidBITS Talk, user jk2gs shared a workaround that took me by surprise—you can use VMware Fusion to virtualize Monterey even on Macs that don’t support Monterey. This trick presumably also works with any other virtualization app that’s compatible with your Mac’s current version of macOS. Once you have VMware Fusion, which you can get for free after creating an account, you can install Monterey or an older version of macOS.

I haven’t tried using VMware Fusion in this way, and I’ll bet there are various gotchas, but it’s worth investigating if you want to run a newer version of macOS than will install on your Mac.

Jim Hamm

How to Use an AirTag to Steal a Car

Apple launched the AirTag back in March. It’s a small circular disk that you can put into bags or attach to objects to keep track of your stuff using Apple’s extensive Find My network. I put an AirTag into a piece of checked luggage and was able to see that it got loaded on the plane of a connecting flight before we took off.

Apple isn’t the first company to make a Bluetooth tracker and it’s certainly not the first deal to with the issues around privacy and unwanted tracking. But its Find My network has over 1 billion active iPhone and Find My devices on it making the scale of Apple’s Bluetooth tracking unlike that of any other company.

Currently Apple offers a number of ways to prevent unwanted tracking and has promised to improve the AirTag’s anti-tracking measures.

In Canada, carjackers used the trackers to attach to a luxury car, track it and then steal the vehicle while the owner was away. Clearly, this would be nearly impossible for any driver to detect. Having an iPhone could help but what if your phone runs on Android? Well, this week, Apple launched a Find My detector app for Android to help non-Apple customers improve unwanted tracking detection.

Apple launches AirTags and Find My detector app for Android, in effort to boost privacy

Apple AirTags become useful tool for Canadian carjackers


John R Carter, Sr.

Block Cookies?

If you might want to block 'cookies' in your browser, the following article -- from the Kaspersky AV newsletter -- describes how to do so for popular browsers. Are 'cookies' on websites a good or bad thing, you might ask? The answer is, it depends. Read on and you'll see why..

Jim Hamm

What are cookies and why bother with them?

When you visit nearly any website, it creates and stores on your computer a cookie — a small file with data about your system and actions you take on the site. Cookies can be created and used both by sites you visit and by third-parties, such as advertisers.

Very often, website cookies are needed for the site to work properly or to improve the user experience. For example, they might help an online store to remember your city or automatically switch an international website to your language. Perhaps most usefully, they can remember your login credentials, so you don’t need to fill them in every time you visit a site on which you have an account.

But those from other services (commonly referred to as “third-party cookies”) are used mostly for targeted ads or analytics. For instance, they can be used to find out which banners you clicked on or what products you look at in online stores. This kind of attention is not welcomed by all, so most browsers give you the ability to block them.

What cookie settings do browsers have

Most popular browsers offer two ways to limit the impact of cookies on your privacy: by completely erasing them from the device, or by blocking certain types of cookies, for example, third-party ones. The delete option may seem simpler and more reliable, however it’s far from convenient.

Let’s start with the fact that cookies can be removed in two ways: manually and automatically. The first approach lets you selectively delete cookies for each individual site. That doesn’t sound so great when you consider that in just a couple of hours online most of us visit dozens of different pages, each of which is eager to leave a trail of cookies on the device. Sure, there’s the “Delete All” button, but in this case, even useful cookies — those that store automatic login information, currency and delivery addresses in online stores, etc. — will get swept away.

It’s the same problem with automatic deletion: in this case, the browser itself will have a clear-out with each restart, munching up all cookies for all visited sites. This means you will have to re-enter login credentials and form details that usually get auto-filled.

So the best option is to block only third-party cookies in the settings. If, after that, some website starts playing up, you can always add it to the exclusions list. This way you will get rid of advertising, tracking and other non-essential cookies without putting useful data at risk. Here’s how to do it in Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge.

How to block third-party cookies in Google Chrome

To block all third-party cookies in Google Chrome in one fell swoop:

  • Click the three dots icon in the upper-right corner, select Settings and go to Security and privacy → Cookies and other site data.

  • To block all third-party cookies, select Block third-party cookies.

If you want specific sites to collect both first-party and third-party cookies (some services, with a notable example of Microsoft Teams, do not work if third-party cookies are turned off), or, on the contrary, if you don’t want certain websites to store anything:

  • Go to Settings → Security and Privacy → Cookies and other site data.

  • Scroll down to the Customized behaviors section.

  • Select Add next to Sites that can always use cookies or Sites that can never use cookies.

  • Enter the URLs in the relevant fields.

  • If you want the exclusion to apply to all cookies, check the Including third-party cookies on this site box. This checkbox must be set at the start; in editing mode, it will no longer be there.

Instructions for Safari

Safari blocks third-party cookies by default. To make doubly sure, in your Safari for macOS:

  • Go to the Safari menu and select Preferences → Privacy.

  • Check that Prevent cross-site tracking is enabled.

  • For more precise settings, under Privacy, select Manage Website Data. Here you can see which sites store cookies and other information on the computer, and also delete cookies and data for individual sites.

Where to find cookie settings in Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox offers users three levels of privacy protection: Standard, Strict and Custom. In the first case, third-party cookies are blocked only in private windows; in the second, as the developers themselves admit, there is the risk that some sites will not work properly. Therefore, we advise taking a closer look at the Custom option, which allows you to choose which cookies to block.

  • Click on the three bars icon in the upper-right corner, and select Settings → Privacy & Security.

  • Select Custom.

  • Go to the drop-down menu to the right of the Cookies option, and select All third-party cookies.

You can also prohibit or allow specific web resources to store all types of cookies and site data.

  • To do so, under Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to Cookies and Site Data.

  • Select Manage Exceptions….

  • In the window that opens enter the URL of the site you want to block or allow to use cookies.

  • Select Block or Allow, followed by Save Changes to finish.

How to disable unnecessary cookies in Microsoft Edge

To block third-party cookies in Microsoft Edge:

  • Select the three dots icon in the upper-right corner and select Settings.

  • In the left-hand menu, select Cookies and site permissions.

  • Go to Manage and delete cookies and site data.

  • Enable Block third-party cookies.

To create an exclusions list:

  • Go to Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Manage and delete cookies and site data.

  • Select Add next to Block and/or Allow.

  • Enter the URLs in the relevant fields and check the Include third-party cookies on this site box. As in Google Chrome, this checkbox is only available when you create the exclusion; in editing mode, it will no longer be there.

10 iPhone Tips

Here is an article with 10 iPhone tips that might be useful. I could have used the "Markup" tip yesterday to sign a pdf document -- if I had known the tip. Some of these may be handy, some not so much, but it is amazing that the iPhone has so many different functions built into it.

Jim Hamm

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/komando/2022/02/03/10-iphone-tricks-learn-how-draw-photos-check-your-heart-rate/9317802002/

Video of Camera Comparison of Current iPhones

This video gives a good side by side camera comparison of all the current iPhones. It is amazing to see how good The iPhone 12 Pro computational camera performs and the 13 Pro is even better. Only the PRO cameras take RAW photos that capture 10x more data than JPG and process it in the camera for great pictures, You don’t need Adobe or Affinity processing, its done in the camera. It also has LIDAR and HDR for taking the original picture. Sure makes memorable picture taking easy.

Mike Skapik

https://www.jeffontheroad.com/iphone-12-pro-vs-nikon-d850-dslr-camera/



Why Is My Computer So Slow?

This is a question I often ask myself. There are many tricks and tips to improve the performance of any computer, but what is often overlooked is that it isn’t the computer that is slow, and it’s not even the fault with the Internet Provider - sometimes it is the website that is being accessed.
Case in point, I recently got an email from my bank telling me that I have a new monthly statement that I can access. So I jumped in Safari and clicked on my favorite link to load up the bank website. And it hung while trying to open the website. This sometimes happens with different websites. When I refresh the page that is hung, it often starts up immediately - but not always. Doing a speedtest at the time shows that I have full speed available.

Similarly, I wanted to download a 25MB PDF file from a website to my computer. The download progress bar showed very little activity, and the time remaining showed almost an hour. A speedtest showed that my download speed was 41 Mbps (typical for my IP), so a 25MB file (equivalent to about 200 Mbits) should take about 5 seconds. Restarting the download didn’t help. That’s not a computer problem. That’s a web server problem - at their end. In another case, a 161MB file from a different website downloaded in less than 20 seconds which calculated to a 28 second download time.

Aside from a website problem, there was a time when my Internet was iffy at best, and almost always a speedtest showed half or less than what it should be. This turned out to be a faulty Wi-Fi mesh network system that was three years old. Replacing mesh network with a new one returned my Internet to normal.

So just because your Internet experience isn’t what you would like it to be, a way to determine if it is your computer is to do a performance test on the computer first.

Geekbench 5 (https://www.geekbench.com) is a useful app for measuring the CPU performance. There is a free version, but the full version is available in the App Store. The Geekbench website provides a handy reference chart of what score to expect for your computer. I ran the trial version on my M1 Mini, and I am very impressed with the app. It performs both a single core and a multi core test and recognized my computer type automatically. It allows for saving the test (in a free account with Geekbench) as a baseline which can be used to compare future tests against. You can also compare your computer test against others with the same computer type. People are reporting performance tests almost hourly.

CleanMyMac X (https://cleanmymac.macpaw.com) is the simplest way to clean out the junk from your computer. It is not free, but for me the price is worth the peace of mind. It also performs scans for viruses, adware, malware, and spyware. It is also available in the App Store.


John R Carter, Jr.


Resetting M1 Machines

The following information is excerpted from MacWorld.co.uk.

Resetting NVRAM on M1 Mac
In November 2020, Apple launched its first Mac with the M1 Chip. With Apple’s new system it is not possible to reset the NVRAM.

Unlike SMC, which no longer exists on M1 Macs, NVRAM exists, but it works differently.

The new Macs still have a kind of parameter memory whose settings you can view and change with the terminal command NVRAM, but there is no longer any command to reset the contents of NVRAM.

According to several sources, including the accessory manufacturer Caldigit and comments on Apple's support forum, which claims to have talked to Apple's support, the M1 processor tests NVRAM when the computer is started from shutdown (i.e. not after a normal reboot). If something is wrong with the memory, it is reset automatically.

[NOTE: After a full shutdown, wait at least 10 seconds before powering back up.]

We have so far not been able to test whether this means that the M1 Macs can "save themselves" from incorrectly set NVRAM values. We recommend that you take extra care if you make manual changes with the NVRAM tool.

An alternative [to performing an NVRAM reset] is to start the Mac in recovery mode, [then] start Terminal from the Tools menu and [then] enter the command:

NVRAM -c

How to start M1 Mac in Recovery Mode
If you have a new Mac with an Apple processor, such as the M1 Macs introduced in November 2020, you need to enter Recovery a different way [than is done with an Intel Mac].

  • Turn off the Mac. [and wait 10 seconds]

  • Press the on button and keep it pressed.

  • Eventually the Apple logo will appear with text below it informing that if you continue holding the power button you will be able to access startup options. Keep pressing that button.

  • Eventually you will be able to select Options > Continue, and this will open up Recovery.

There is also a so called 'fallback recovery mode', that is detailed by Apple here. In this case you double press the power button: first press it, release, and then press and hold down the power button.


Fallback recovery mode accesses a second copy of the recoveryOS on the SSD of the Macs with M1 Chip. Apple says the second copy is there for resiliency.

https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/reset-nvram-mac-3801373/

https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-recovery-mode-3674052/



John R. Carter, Sr.

AV Not Needed?

The following article suggests that third-party AV (anti-virus) software is no longer needed on one's computer or iPad or smartphone:

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/still-paying-antivirus-software-experts-say-probably-dont-need-rcna6335

For years I've used the free version of Avast AV on my computers and fortunately haven't picked up a virus. Whether this program has protected me or not, I'm not sure, but I plan to continue using it for a while as I don't see a significant downside to doing so. Having said that, on a Windows PC the built-in Defenders program is considered quite adequate, and a separate AV program isn't needed.

If you're using and paying for an AV program, you may no longer need to do so.

Jim Hamm