September 2013 MSS Newsletter
Apple announcements
iOS 7 shipped on September 18. Free and available for iPhone 4 or later, iPad 2 or later, iPad mini, and iPod Touch (5th Gen). Note that for speed/performance reasons we do not recommend iOS 7 for iPhone 4 or for iPad 2 even though it is possible to run iOS 7 on these devices. Ty will be giving a presentation on iOS 7 at the October general meeting of the Salem Macintosh Users Group (SMUG). See the SMUG web site,
www.realsmug.org, for details.
For iOS, iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), iPhoto, and iMovie are now free with the purchase of any new iOS device. Sweet!
Two new iPhones. First, the iPhone 5C. Same as iPhone 5 but more colorful. Available in green, white, blue, pink, or yellow. Slightly bigger battery than the 5 with a better front facing video camera. $99 for 16 GB model or $199 for 32 GB model with two-year contract. Stylish cases are $29. In essence, what we have here is a very slightly improved iPhone 5 that costs $100 less and comes in colors.
Second, the iPhone 5S. Available in gold, slate, or silver (aka "space grey"). Brand new, 64-bit A7 chip inside. Only 64-bit smartphone in the world, and all of Apple's apps and iOS 7 itself has been rewritten in 64-bit. (Older 32-bit apps work too, of course.) What does that mean? 40x faster than the original iPhone, 56x faster in graphics. One developer claims the 5S performance is about 5x faster than the iPhone 5. Also, better battery than the iPhone 5. (250 hours of standby.) New camera sensor with 15% greater active area and F2.2 aperture. New camera actually takes 15 pictures and picks the best one when you snap a pic. New flash has two LEDs, one cool and white and the other warmer and amber. The camera can combine the two flashes to get the right color balance from the flash. Also auto stabilization, 10 shot per second burst mode, and 120 frames per second slo-mo video at 720p HD. New fingerprint sensor (Touch ID) in the home button. Unlock your iPhone by touching the home button. Also authenticate for buying via iTunes. No more typing in your AppleID to buy apps or music! 16 GB model = $199, 32 GB = $299, 64 GB = $399 with two-year contract.
iPhone 4S (8GB) available for free on two-year contract.
Pre-order for the iPhone 5C started on September 13; both models formally go on sale September 20th. If you're buying in person, expect long lines and product shortages. Historically, even with factories running 24/7, Apple can't make enough iPhones to meet demand at launch.
Buying an App or iBook or iTunes song?
If you're looking to buy a new app for your Mac or your iOS device or an iBook or a song or a movie—anything from Apple's online stores, really—we would love to have you use our affiliate links. These affiliate links let Apple know that we're promoting their products to our clients and they give us a small commission to boot. Your support of MacAtoZ is much appreciated, and of course helps us provide the best service we can to you.
To use an affiliate link, simply go to our web site (
www.MacAtoZ.com) and start typing the name of the app, song, book, etc. that you're looking for in the appropriate box in the lefthand column of our site. (If you're using the Adblock or Ghostery extensions in your web browser, you may need to whitelist or not block our domain.) Thank you!
Privacy & Security
The dreaded MacKeeper, a so-called utility for Mac OS X, continues to rear its hideous head. Most every official Apple consultant will tell you to run not walk as far away from MacKeeper as possible. We've had several clients in recent months experience problems ranging from apps not working to "slow-downs" when attempting to do something. Interestingly, uninstalling Mac Keeper solves a lot of those problems. Particularly vexing is when MacKeeper reports a virus or malware problem on your Mac then offers to "clean it" for $19.95. We cannot say enough bad things about this horrible program and the company that makes and markets it.
If you've purposefully or accidentally installed MacKeeper—and they make it easy for you to "accidentally" install—and would like it removed, don't hesitate to give us a call. We'll be happy to help you make the world a better place.
Tip o' the Day
One of the best new features in Mac OS 10.8 "Mountain Lion" was the addition of Dictation & Speech. Go to System Preferences > Dictation & Speech to turn it on. Then go to any text field—a Word document, an email, etc.—and double tap the function key on your keyboard. A little microphone will appear. Say whatever it is you want the computer to type. Click "done" or press the Function key again to end. Your speech will be converted to text. In our experience this process not only works well, it also works incredibly fast. Give it a try!
If you need assistance with this or any other Apple-related technology, please call MacAtoZ at 503-507-0410. We'd be thrilled to help.