Your Mac prompts you to confirm a lot of stuff. Are you sure you want to empty the trash? Positive you want that picture deleted? Is now a good time to restart? But there’s a relatively new confirmation that you may be getting sick of that comes up when you try to delete a file from your Desktop or Documents folder with iCloud Drive syncing on. We’ll tell you how to stop your Mac from asking that!
Mac
How to Decipher Apple's Conflicting Messaging About Macs
Mixed messages are coming out of Cupertino. On one hand, Apple failed to say the things it needed to say about the Mac during a recent Mac event. Now, Tim Cook said he’ll fix that. Meanwhile, the community has spoken with a loud and unmistakable voice that the Mac is not yet dead. Tim Cook seems to have gotten the message, but now we wait for products in 2017 to certify Apple’s change of heart. John analyzes the issues and conflicting messaging.
Firewatch Comes to Mac App Store
When Firewatch launched on Steam back in February the internet pretty much went crazy over the game, and now it’s available as a native Mac title. The game tasks you with solving a mystery while working as a firewatcher in Wyoming. The graphics are beautiful, the story is intriguing, and the only help you get comes from another firewatcher talking over your portable radio. Firewatch costs US$19.99 on Apple’s Mac App Store, and if you haven’t played it yet get ready to have a very unproductive weekend.
Cool Stuff Found
![This List Proves Apple (Still) Hasn’t Accomplished Much in 2016 [Update]](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/apple-2016-down-wide.jpg)
This List Proves Apple (Still) Hasn't Accomplished Much in 2016 [Update]
Few people were thinking 2016 has been a great year for Apple, but…well, look at this list of things Apple released in 2016. There’s just 13 14 items on it, now that AirPods have shipped. That’s still depressing. Worse, Bryan Chaffin argues, it’s boring.
Ken Segall: What Has Apple Been Doing All These Years?
“That’s it? You could have done this one day after our last meeting. What have you been doing for the past two weeks?” That’s Steve Jobs after many presentations from his employees, according to Ken Segall, an ad exec who worked with Apple and Steve Jobs. In a blog post, Mr. Segall used that to succinctly and accurately (to me) capture the frustrations many Mac fans have about Apple.
A Fascinating, Realistic Glimpse: What Would Steve Jobs Have Done?
It’s seldom convincing to pretend to know what Steve Jobs would have done in any situation were he alive today. We have general ideas, but invoking him as a cloak of authority is fraught with problems. On the other hand, when someone intimately familiar with Steve Jobs makes an astute observation, it’s worth a read. John Martellaro found one of those insights and highlights it.
How Apple Might be Our Last Hope Before the Internet Dies
Companies exist to make money. But when wealth beyond dreams, at any cost, is the driving force behind internet business, chaos results. Big tech companies have great power. How they use that power and their own sense of what constitutes ethical, disciplined behavior might all that’s left before the free internet and its free people are no more. Apple is leading the way, but cannot do it all.
Apple's Intent Isn't the Same as Committing to Mac Automation
Last week Sal Soghoian announced his job as Apple’s Manager of Automation Technologies had been eliminated, and this week senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi says Apple intends to continue supporting scripting technologies on the Mac. That’s a little reassuring, although “intending to support” is a far cry from “committed to continue developing.”
Matias Wireless Aluminum Keyboard: The Apple Keyboard You've Been Looking For
John Kheit has been searching for a wireless keyboard with a numeric trackpad that he likes, and he’s finally found it, the Matias Wireless Aluminum Keyboard. He put it through its paces and fell in love. Check out his full review for more.
Apple’s Mac Lineup: Judge, Jury and Execution
This week, there has been a boatload of commentary about Apple’s October 27 “hello again” event. And then Apple SVP Phil Schiller responded in an interview. John takes a look at the most persuasive arguments both for (defendants) and against (prosecutions) of Apple’s approach to the Mac and the event presentation itself. Finally, he offers his verdict.
Dear Apple: Your Products Are Thin Enough Already. Stop it
It is possible to obsess too much over a single tree at the expense of the forest. David Chartier argues Apple has done this when it comes to making devices thinner, and that it’s time for that to stop.
Cool Stuff Found
Who Wants to Be a Mac Dictator?
Did you know that macOS Sierra (and Mac OS X El Capitan) have pretty good dictation built-in at no extra cost? Dictation can be faster than typing and a nice change of pace; discover how to enable and use it in this week’s thrilling episode of Dr. Mac’s Rants & Raves, only here at The Mac Observer!
Apple Will Reportedly Announce New Macs with October 27th Event
Apple will finally announce new Macs on October 27th, according to Re/code. Unnamed sources said the company will hold a media event in Cupertino. It’s not yet known which Macs will be refreshed.
What Will We Do When Siri Picks Our Pocket?
A major problem with Artificial Intelligence (AI) development is that a time might come when AI’s are able to learn and teach themselves faster than humans can manage them. Recently, President Obama suggested AI’s that aren’t properly constrained and regulated could be unleashed on unsuspecting citizens and severely disadvantage them. Figuring out when to step in will be the great 21st century challenge for governments.
Get Detailed CPU Info From Mac's Command Line
It’s easy to get hardware information about your Mac from “About This Mac.” But the command line data can provide some extra tidbits that the GUI leaves out. John shows you how to reveal detail of your CPU from the Terminal app.
Cool Stuff Found
This May be The 4K UHD Apple TV We've Been Waiting For
An Apple filing with the FCC looks very much like it might be a new 4K UHD, 5th generation Apple TV just in time for the December holiday period. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that the old 4th generation Apple TV from October 2015 had been delayed. And now we may be getting what we really wanted all along just one year later.
