Early Tuesday evening, Apple’s 2019 iMacs began appearing on the company’s online Refurb Store, offering savings of approximately 15% off retail pricing. For example, an 8-core, Intel Core i9, 27″ iMac with 8GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and Radeon Pro 580X graphics card runs US$2,999 at retail. On the refurb store this same iMac sells for $2,549, comes with the same as-new warranty, and is eligible for AppleCare+ (just $169). Why only 8GB RAM? Because Amazon sells a Crucial 32GB kit for just $128. Availability on the refurb store is always in flux, so keep looking for what you want. Happy shopping!
Dave Hamilton
Dave Hamilton co-founded both The Mac Observer and <a href="https://www.backbeatmedia.com" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank">BackBeat Media</a>, and he is producer and co-host of the <a href="https://www.macgeekgab.com" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank">Mac Geek Gab Podcast</a>. He has worked in the computer industry since the early 1990s, doing time as a consultant, trainer, network engineer, webmaster, and programmer. He has worked on the Mac, all the various Windows flavors, BeOS, a few brands of Unix, and it is rumored he once saw an OS/2 machine in action. Before that he ran some of the earliest Bulletin Board Systems, but most of the charges have since been dropped, and not even the FBI requests that he check in more than twice a year. Dave's reachable for paid consulting at <a href="https://www.davethenerd.com" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">DaveTheNerd.com</a> and you can find links to him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ here, too.
Articles by Dave Hamilton
Happy U.S. Independence Day
We here at The Mac Observer are taking Thursday and Friday to spend with our friends and families while we celebrate Independence Day here in the USA.
Because I love the way perspective skews each of our individual realities, I’ll share this related anecdote: three years ago – to the day – Billy Beefeater wished me a “Happy Treason Day” while giving us a tour of the Tower Of London. I wanted to quote Game of Thrones and point out it would only be treason if we had lost, but I figured maybe that was better left unsaid… at the time.
In any event, happy Independence Day to everyone in the USA, and wishing a glorious weekend to everyone everywhere!
We’ll return on Monday, July 8th, resuming not only our news, tips, and Cool Stuff Found, but also publishing episodes of three of our podcasts: Background Mode, Daily Observations, and Mac Geek Gab. See you Monday!
macOS Catalina Moves Us From User Consent to User Intent – TMO Daily Observations 2019-06-11
John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join Dave Hamilton to talk about Apple’s march forward towards security-with-flexibility in macOS Catalina. And then it’s time to look at Apple TV’s future… by the numbers.
How to Choose the Best Mesh Wireless System For Your Home
Sorting through the mesh wireless systems available today can be tricky. Read on, and we’ll teach you how to decide which one is best for you. [Update: Anti-malware is a theme of this update, with Plume SuperPods, Orbi, and Linksys Velop all joining the club with solid offerings in this regard. eero and Plume both solved their LAN persistence problems, keeping your Wi-Fi alive even if your Internet connection goes down. AmpliFi is doing some cool things for IoT users with regards to setting up separate SSIDs for that, too. See Changelog – Dave]
How to Use Alexa to Control Apple Music on Sonos
Late last year, Alexa gained the ability to control Apple Music. At that point, only Amazon-branded devices would work. As of today, April 17th, 2019, Alexa on your Sonos One or Sonos Beam can now control Apple Music. You can also use any Echo device to control your connected Sonos system. We’ll show you how!
The TL;DR on Apple's macOS Mojave 10.14.4 Gmail/G-Suite Issue: It's Fixed
Earlier this week many folks began experiencing an issue where macOS Mojave 10.14.4 could not properly log in to some Gmail-based accounts, mostly those using G-Suite for custom domains. The good news is that, as of late last night, this problem appears to have been eradicated.
SXSW: CLEAR Expands Identity Verification from AirPort Security Lines to Point of Sale
CLEAR, the company whose members we all enviously gaze upon at the airport as they breeze past those of us in the TSA Pre-Check lines, is expanding their identity verification technology to point of sale. Testing in some Seattle sports stadiums, CLEAR’s ability to use biometrics to confirm that you are definitively you is helpful for age verification for alcohol sales, but could also just make point of sale simpler, in general. Part of their mission all along, they figured if they could get approval for their tech to be used to confirm identity at airports, it was certainly going to work to add convenience to point-of-sale while also increasing the security of the transactions. Of course, Apple’s introduction Touch ID at point of sale with Apple Pay starting in 2014 has helped the masses understand the usefulness of this technology. That rising tide lifts all boats, including CLEAR’s. Look for CLEAR to roll out more instances of this tech in the coming year.
SXSW: Wi-Charge Uses Infrared to Wirelessly Charge Your Devices
On Sunday at the SXSW Innovation Awards Finalist Showcase, Wi-Charge was showing off their infrared-based wireless power technology. They’re not the only company aiming to deliver wireless power to our devices, but they are the first we’ve seen to use infrared (IR) to do it. Using IR comes with a couple of advantages: power doesn’t degrade over distance, a thin beam can be aimed at the device to ensure full power, and IR is something we’ve found to be extremely safe. Of course, the major downside to using IR is that it only delivers over line-of-sight. Their demo at SXSW was delivering a full 1 watt of usable power, but they say their tech could eventually deliver “several watts” of power up to 15 feet away. Wi-Charge was demoing their tech with LED strip lights, an electric train, and a custom-case for an Amazon Echo Dot, all of which could be powered from an overhead IR transmitter. For your IoT devices or even your phone at your desk, this could someday offer a ton of convenience. Wi-Charge is seeking integration partners to help bring their tech to market.
CES - Scosche BaseLynx Modular Wireless Charging Station Organizes and Charges Your Devices
Scosche’s CES booth was again full of great new devices for managing your devices in both your home and car, and the highlight to us was their new BaseLynx modular wireless charging station. Available modules include a Qi fast-charge dock, an Apple Watch dock, powered end-cap, and a vertical power station which holds three wired devices. The end-cap has a 12V USB-A and 18W USB-C PD outlet, and the power station has that plus a second USB-A port. You can mix-and-match modules to serve your needs – including just using one if you like – and BaseLynx is engineered to prevent over- or under-voltage, surging, and overheating. Pricing has not yet been announced, and BaseLynx is due to be available this coming spring.
CES - Ultrahaptics Uses Ultrasound for Touchless Gesture Control, Haptic Feedback, and 3D Viewing
One of the coolest things I found at CES this year was Ultrahaptics technology, allowing for gesture control and haptic feedback using only ultrasound. Touching nothing, I was able to control and manipulate an on-screen “object”, and even feel it all through the magic of ultrasound waves. They also had a demo using their tech that tracks your face and eyes to project and focus a 3D image without the need for any glasses. I talked a bit about it on the show floor:
LG's CES 2019 Curved OLED Screen Booth Display [Video]
Every year at CES one of my favorite things is to visit the Central Hall to see all the new TV technology. This year LG again won my vote for most impressive display (no pun intended!) with its array of curved OLED screens. Showing a rotating series of nature videos, this array of curved displays was both immersive and astounding. The video doesn’t do it justice, of course, but it’s worth a quick look just to get an idea of what the future looks like. Enjoy!
CES - QDOS Infinity Glass Encases your iPhone in Tempered Glass
At CES Wednesday, QDOS was showing off Infinity Glass, a case unlike any I’ve ever seen: both the front and the back are made entirely of tempered glass, and the two halves fit together with magnets to completely encase your iPhone. The case snaps on quickly and without any alignment required, and the metal edging fits perfectly together around your phone. Once on your iPhone, the seams between the two halves disappear, and everything feels smooth and silky, just as you’d expect from tempered glass. QDOS Infinity Glass cases are priced at $49.99 and are available for all current iPhones.
CES - Hyper's New Wireless AirPods Charging Case
At CES 2019 on Wednesday, Hyper was showing off the new version of their AirPods charging case. Due to be made available imminently, the case completely encompasses your current AirPods charging case, and contains a Lightning connector in the bottom. Simply place your existing AirPods charger inside the Hyper case and lay that down on a Qi pad (or mat, like the one coming in Q2 shown in the picture here) and, boom, your AirPods wirelessly charge. Retail price is said to be just US$20.
CES - Netgear's Nighthawk AX12 Brings Wi-Fi 6 and Enhancements to Wi-Fi 5
Netgear took the opportunity Monday at the CES Pepcom event to show off its latest dual-band router, the Nighthawk AX12. Billed as a 12-stream router, this device includes some significant Wi-Fi enhancements over its predecessors. First, of course, is support for 802.11ax, a.k.a. Wi-Fi 6. This operates over the same 5GHz band as Wi-Fi 5 (a.k.a. 802.11ac), but uses OFDMA signaling to fit more bandwidth into the spectrum. Full utilization will require Wi-Fi 6-compatible clients, and nothing from Apple currently supports that. However, this 5GHz radio also supports Wi-Fi 5, and has a couple of benefits: first, with 8 streams for that antenna your chances of getting connected to the best streams double over even the top-end routers out there. Second, the Nighthawk AX includes the very latest Wi-Fi chipset which now truly supports full, 160MHz connections, delivering real-world speed and range increases to existing Wi-Fi 5 devices. Pricing hasn’t been announced, but we expect it to be north of $400. Interested users can sign up to learn more through NETGEAR’s upcoming Premier Beta program.
Add Four Displays To Your Mac with Targus USB-C Universal Quad HD Docking Station
The beauty of our new USB-C docking station world (don’t say dongles!) is the flexibility and expandability it provides for our Macs. Targus highlights this perfectly with their new USB-C Universal Quad HD Docking Station that they were showing off Sunday at CES Unveiled. In addition to four USB 3.0 ports, an audio in/out port, and a USB-C port with 15W of power, this dock includes four (yes, 4!) HDMI ports, each connectable to a 1080p display. MacOS sees each of these connected displays individually, meaning you could just as easily have four separate screens for your day-trading delights as you could build a multi-screen video “wall” and spread your image across all four of them simultaneously. At US$275 this is a no-brainer if you need those kind of display options. A unit supporting four 4K screens will be out later this year, due to be priced at US$375.
Speck's GrabTab Offers Wireless-Charging-Friendly One-Handed iPhone Grip
Speck was showing off GrabTab, their latest iPhone accessory, at CES Unveiled in Las Vegas on Sunday. Think of GrabTab as serving the same function as a PopSocket — allowing you to get a better one-handed grip on your iPhone — but GrabTab collapses much flatter to allow for better Qi charging, car mounting, and travel in and out of pockets. For US$9.95 this is a no-brainer. Buy one, stick it on the back of your iPhone, and you’re good to go. Bonus: you can slide it open to use as an iPhone stand for watching all of your favorite videos, too.
Nahimic Brings Enhanced 3D Audio To Your Mac’s Movies and Music
Nahimic, long-time makers of enhanced audio for video games, on Sunday launched Nahimic for Mac. Built to enhance music and movies, Nahimic brings real-time processing of your Mac’s audio from any app. They demoed it with movies and music and the results were impressive. Their 3D Sound truly made a noticeable difference out of MacBook Pro speakers at CES Unveiled, a very noisy environment. Tests on our own back at the hotel confirmed what we heard earlier: this sounds fantastic, there’s no noticeable latency, and the app performs well. A free trial is available and one-year subscription will set you back just US$35.
Hidden Setting: Enable Three Finger Drag to Move Windows with Ease
Today’s Quick Tip comes from Forum user Alphaman, who teaches us that the best trackpad gesture in macOS is hidden inside the Accessibility prefpane. Check out how to use this to enable three-finger dragging and never click-and-drag again!
How to Post 3D Photos to Facebook on iPhone
Facebook recently started rolling out 3D Photos for iPhone users. Problem is, not everyone has it yet and you want it. Thankfully, Apple-industry legend, Sam Levin, found a path and posted the instructions for us all.
![Representing the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR in Plain Text [Update]](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/iphone-Xs-XR-type.webp)
Representing the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR in Plain Text [Update]
With its upgrades and expansion to the iPhone X product line Wednesday, Apple has again led the public – and the press – on a confusing path when deciding how to represent these new iPhone models in plain text.
Sonos Further Expands Wireless Speakers with New APIs, IFTTT Integration, and new Sonos Amp
Wireless speaker pioneers Sonos today announced the upcoming availability of their first-ever set of public APIs available to all Sonos speakers, as well as the Sonos Amp, a new piece of hardware aimed at allowing folks to use their own speakers within a Sonos system.
Sonos Beam: Wide Home Theater Sound for Your Living Room, Great Music Sound Anywhere
Sonos recently announced a new soundbar they call the Sonos Beam. I’ve had some time to test it and simply to use it, and this might be the most impressive speaker I’ve tested from Sonos yet, especially considering its US$399 price tag.
AirPlay 2 Coming to Sonos in July
Sonos announced on Wednesday that AirPlay 2 will be coming to all compatible Sonos speakers in July. As previously noted, AirPlay 2 will work on the current generation Play:5, Playbase, Sonos One, and the newly-announced Sonos Beam.
