Faster chargers, ODB2 dongles, Mac vs. Windows File Paths, MacBook Pro specs, Dropbox, macOS Sierra and the Spotlight Clone Wars are all topics discussed in today’s Mac Geek Gab. In fact, they’re not just topics, they’re your questions answered! Plus, Dave and John go on a good photoanalysisd rant for good measure!
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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Hits Mac and Linux
Good news for Mac gamers: Feral Interactive announced the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II for Mac and Linux. This real-time strategy powerhouse is set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe (obviously), where you are a Force Commander of the Blood Ravens Chapter defending the Imperium of Man. This game has very high system requirements—Feral Interactive specifies a number of video cards that aren’t supported. Make sure your Mac can cut it before buying this game. It looks very fun, and was a big success on the PC. The video included below shows off some game-play. There’s a theatrical trailer on the game’s site, too. It’s available on the Mac App Store, Steam, and directly from Feral. It’s $19.99.
Evidence is Mounting: Apple Will Convert the Macs to ARM CPUs
The time since most of the Macs have been updated can now be described as geologic. Is that because Apple doesn’t care about the Macs? Or, more likely, could we be in for another major architectural change? Evidence is mounting that Apple will abandon Intel and take the Mac lineup to ARM. John looks at the evidence and makes the case.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-09-30: iPhone Lightning Headphone Adapters, Listener Comments
Third party Lighting to 3.5mm headphone adapters are starting to make their first appearances for the iPhone 7. John Martellaro and Dave Hamilton join Jeff Gamet to look at the headphone adapter market and whether or not most people will really need one. They also respond to listener comments on yesterday’s show where we talked about the limitations of Apple’s Airport Extreme Base Station.
A Game of Thrones Gets Enhanced Edition Exclusive to iBooks
ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG FANBOY SWOON! Apple announced A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition on Thursday—an iBooks exclusive. The new version of the massively popular (and utterly brilliant) book includes new artwork, a glossary, more information about the houses, and more. The entire A Song of Ice and Fire series is getting these Enhanced Editions, but A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition is available now for $8.99. You can preorder the others for $11.99. Apple has a video on the iBooks landing page for these new versions. It includes comments from George R.R. Martin about the series, as well as a great look at some of the new artwork. This is a huge score for Apple’s iBooks.
macOS Sierra: Fast Sound Settings from the Menu Bar
Apple gets that we’re always looking for ways to make the routine things we do on our Macs easier and some of the subtle changes in macOS Sierra really show that off. The Sound menu bar item is a perfect example because now switching audio input and output sources is even simpler.
Get 8 Mac Utilities for Free
Our friends at Stack Commerce have put together a collection of eight Mac utilities, including: CommandQ, Export for iTunes, UnDistracted, SuperTab SE 1.4, Screenie, Total Video Player for Mac, iFotosoft Photo Viewer, and SQLPro for Postgres. And they’re all free. The details are on the deal listing, but grab them while they’re hot.
CW Shows Come to Apple TV, No Cable Subscription Required
The CW made good on its promise to bring shows like Supergirl, The Flash, and iZombie to Apple TV for free. The network’s Apple TV app is available now, and doesn’t require a cable or satellite subscription to watch, or need any sort of login.
Safari 10: Hide Flash from Every Website Except Some
Safari 10 allows you to have Flash installed, but to control which sites know it (or access it). For many users, this would be the best compromise between having flash and not installing it all. Bryan Chaffin shows you how to do it.
Use 3D Touch in LINE to Read Messages without a Read Receipt
The LINE Corporation has done something very useful with 3D Touch, and I thought I’d tell you about it. When you’re looking at your Chats view, you can view recent chats, as shown below, without sending a read receipt. Bryan Chaffin shows you how.
How to Make macOS Sierra Empty Your Mac's Trash for You
macOS Sierra is loaded with cool new features, but sometimes it’s the little things that make your life easier, like not needing to remember to empty your Mac’s trash. You can set the Trash to auto-delete after 30 days, and it’s easy to do. Read on to learn how.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-09-29: John's Apple Product Wish List
Word on the street says new Retina MacBook Pro models are coming in October, and TMO’s sources say they’ll be announced on the 11th. Dave Hamilton and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to talk about John’s wish list for new Apple products, and Jeff disagrees with John’s take on Apple TV.
Smartphone Photo and Video Certification Bundle: $29
We have a training bundle for you today designed to teach you how to use mobile devices to take better photographs, and modern video gear (including your mobile device) to make better videos. Both courses last one month, with 8 lessons and 12 hours of content each. You can get this package through our deal for $29.
New Retina MacBook Pro Models Expected in October
That new MacBook Pro you’ve been holding out for may finally be only a few weeks away. A new report claims Apple plans to release updated models in the second half of October.
ACM 378: Life Without a Headphone Jack, More Apple Watch, Siri on the Mac
We’ve had our iPhone 7s for a week and a half, and Bryan and Jeff talk about life without the headphone jack. They also discuss the differences between Apple Watch (Series 0) and the new Apple Watch Series 2. They close out the show talking about Siri on the Mac, using it, and the lack of “Hey Siri” support. Plus, Bryan is punchy from a lack of sleep, so silliness runs rampant.
MyMac Spotlight Interview on Bryan Chaffin
The good folks at MyMac were kind enough to put my through one of their Spotlight interviews. They asked me 7 questions and I gave them mostly meandering, far-flung answers that explored life, the universe, and everything. There’s some what-makes-Bryan-tick stuff in it. If you’re into that sort of thing. I don’t advise it. Thanks to Tim Robertson and MyMac for putting me in the Spotlight!
iOS 10 and Swift 3 Starter Bundle: $45
We have a tutorial bundle for developers today, called the iOS 10 and Swift 3 Starter Bundle. It includes five video tutorials designed to teach you Apple’s Swift 3 programming language and iOS 10 development. That’s more than 82 hours of video content and hundreds of lectures, and you can get it through our deal for $45.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-09-28: Blackberry Ditches Smartphones, Apple's Think Different Ads
Blackberry is giving up on making smartphones. John Martellaro and Kelly Guimont join Jeff Gamet to discuss Blackberry’s long downward spiral, plus they look back on Apple’s first Think Different ad from 19 years ago.
iOS 10: Managing Siri's Third Party App Voice Control
iOS 10 opens Siri to third party apps so you can say things like, “Hey Siri, get me an Uber.” If you don’t want Siri calling rides for you—or Siri says it can’t—it’s time for a trip to your iPhone’s Settings to manage which apps Siri can control. Read on to learn how.
Fujitsu Plans ScanSnap Fix for Sierra by Middle October
Futjitsu issued another update for ScanSnap customers and macOS 10.12 Sierra. The company narrowed down the circumstances and features of ScanSnap that cause a problem in Sierra to three (below). More importantly, Fujitsu said, “A fix for the above problems is expected to be made available in the middle of October, 2016.”
iOS 10: Save a File as PDF to iBooks
In iOS 10, you can now Print to PDF, just as we’ve been doing with OS X/macOS. But there’s also another nice trick in the Sharing option. “Save PDF to iBooks.” It’s simple and fast. John likes this feature a lot.
How Do You Export Multiple Albums in macOS Sierra Photos?
You can export multiple albums in one fell swoop in Photos in macOS Sierra (this may work in previous versions). Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun explained how in Mac Geek Gab 623, and this is what you do.
TMO Daily Observations 2016-09-27: HealthKit for Diagnosis, Roku vs Apple TV
Apple wants HealthKit to track your overall health and become a diagnosis tool. Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to discuss whether or not Apple is ready to expand HealthKit, and they also look at the state of Apple TV compared to Roku’s latest home entertainment appliance offerings.Bonus: Bryan lost his Apple Watch battery life bet with John.
Pay What You Want for The Award-Winning Mac Bundle
We have a new Pay What You Want deal called The Award-Winning Mac Bundle. It’s 13 Mac apps, including Drive Genius 4, The Hit List, DeltaWalker 2 Pro, Nisus Writer Pro, Aurora HDR, WinZip 5 Mac, VPN Forever: 3-Yr Subscription, Project Planning Pro, Letter Opener for macOS Mail, Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro, Screen Grabber Pro, eXtra Voice Recorder, and PhotoStitcher. That’s a quality list of apps (and services). Pay anything, even a penny, and you get three of them. Beat the average price—$11.12 and rising as of this writing—and get all 13. Beat the leader’s price, and you’ll earn an entry in an iPhone 7 giveaway. You can read all the details on the deal listing.