SMUG meeting, January 18, 2022
Meeting notes by Kathleen Charters
Our January program was devoted to trying to remember that it is 2022. On the one hand, we aren’t writing checks dated “2021” anymore because we don’t write checks. On the other hand, we still don’t know what year it is. Surely it can’t be 2022…
After asking for suggestions for programs, we got suggestions! Lots of them. The most common one was: what should you upgrade, and when, and how. Upgrading your devices is, in many respects, quite easy, but given how computers now can talk to your appliances, your phone, your TV, and many other things, it is somewhat daunting. On the other hand, not upgrading can invite evil-minded individuals to attack your computer, appliances, phone, TV, and much of your life.
Our topic, then: What, when, and how to upgrade. This may take more than one (or even two) meeting, but it will also touch on several other topics offered for discussion.
Q&A
Mac OS Update – asks for the computer administrator’s password to make sure the update is authorized
2 backups on iMac: Time capsule, hard drive, alternate for backing up; hard drive disappears from the desktop; when unplug and plug it back in it comes up; energy saving software tells the drive to go to sleep; log out of machine and log back in and the drive will wake up; USB-C drive is radically different, looks for a signal that tells it to not go to sleep; not necessary to reboot the machine; connecting drives is easy on the Mac compared to the Windows world
Apple News app robot collects stories, one story about fake reset programs; malware has a hard time getting into an iPhone; if in memory can turn the phone off and on again; malware fakes a reboot, this was only done in a lab, a simulation
5 G – THE AIRLINES HAVE NOT TESTED THEIR EQUIPMENT; not a concern; conspiracy theorists’ noise; history parallel with trains moving faster than a horse, speculation that people will suffocate at speeds faster than a horse can run
Hidden email for an account? If use an alias for creating an account for a site, purpose to sign up for email notification and if email coming in is too much delete alias and will not see any more email; if using alias to create an account then a valid account but if delete alias that will also delete the count; Alias is meant to be disposable; if use Alias then delete it will not get spam; if unsubscribe that action tells the scammer that this account is real; has the opposite effect; dealing with junk email – flag it with Junk to teach device to look for that; if never contacted the email source then do not unsubscribe or will get more spam; if a vendor have an account with it is safe to unsubscribe otherwise mark as Junk and delete
Block is for phone or messages – all they have is a phone number, they do not know who you are
Lawrence uses different Gmail accounts for business interactions and Apple email for family communication
Blocking Junk Messages – example of junk message, Ⓘ button at the top, can select “hide it” and will not see messages from that number; not recommended to block relatives due to hate and discontent from family
When downloading an application, asked to “allow to track” on iPhone; it depends on what you want; if there is no reason for tracking, say “Don’t track”; it makes sense for Google Maps, Apple Maps; most apps do not need this
Robocalls – if block may block from someone you need to talk to; example of calls from the hospital but no way to know that; potential spam blockers – potential and known spam; if from a different area code may be OK to ignore; difficult to tell when uses the same area code; contracted services may not show a number you recognize; spammers send calls to unregistered phone numbers;
An FCC proposal requires phone services to block phone numbers not in use; the telecommunications industry makes money off unused numbers; write to the FCC and complain; write to your congressman and senator, and say it is a priority to stop the robocalls
If you do not recognize the number, then let the call go to voicemail
Formal Welcome to 2022 Strait Mac
26 attendees – Lawrence took a screenshot of attendees
Dues for 2022 – send checks to the treasurer
Why is there no SMUG Bulletin Board – the old one was infected with malware; there is no free software for this; SMUG would need to pay to host the software; for example, “Discuss” costs $100/month for a chat function; the power of stored knowledge for trusted information; do not recommend Apple Support Forums
Action Item:
**OlyPen lists old SMUG as an Apple resource**
Treasury Report
1 member paid dues for 2022: $1526.40 balance in account
Recommend an annual reminder to pay Strait Mac dues; can use Calendar or the Reminder app
Useful to use the location option on reminders
What, When, and How to Upgrade
Go to About this Mac; will show what machine and processor, memory amount, and Operating System (OS) version; useful to know how powerful machine is and how well the machine can use memory; “Show Status Bar” shows how much room is free on hard-drive;; can slow machine down if do not have enough free space on hard-drive; can make machine current if upgrade OS
Upgrades for security and new capabilities; take advantage of this
Recommend Free App: Mactracker, https://mactracker.ca/
Recommend downloading this, has a database of Macs and other machines/devices spanning 25 years, will let you know how old your machine is, and will show how many machines have been released since then
Machine and components age; average age 3-4 years for lifecycle on a hard-drive; things do wear out; consider when to buy a new machine vs when to upgrade components; if no longer supports current OS then not enough life left to invest in the old machine; also true of iPhones – if current OS will not run then replace the phone; carriers stopped supporting the spectrum the oldest phones used; use of Apple Menu system report to see what software will not be supported; look at applications to get a list
Recommend Go64 for Mac, free software- https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/
Download and launch; searches installed applications for non-64-bit programs; Mac only runs 64-bit programs on new machines for security; will find incompatible programs, can sort by what the software is designed to run on; example: Intel only programs will work under Rosetta technology to map to new Silicon M1 Macs; will show what will not run on the machine – gives a solution: look for a new version; may need to buy a new printer/scanner if driver will no longer work; printers are a backlog item right now
Apple does provide similar information, but not as easy to interpret
No incentive for vendors to update some things; Adobe used 12 GB of space for unsupported software
Recommend App Cleaner by Freemacsoft – https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/
Download and install, select what you want to remove (rather than put the application in the Trash Can, which leaves bits and pieces)
How to upgrade when you do not have a fast Internet connection? Go someplace with a faster connection; may use NOLS WiFi for downloads; use phone as a HotSpot; visit someone with a faster connection
Things are in various folders; Mac expects things to be in the documents folder
Do not put everything on the desktop, or the machine will be very slow to load
Messages – remember to clean Messages
Apple site: It costs developers money to put things on the App Store
IF you need a new machine, consider:
MacBook Air – low end
MacBook Pro – different sizes, 13-inch costs more and same specs as MacBook Air; 14 and 16 inch comparison; M1 Pro processor (twice as fast) vs M1 Max processor (4X as fast); number of cores; accelerator capability; M1 Pro most useful unless doing a lot of video then M1 Max is better; pay attention to color you want, .5 vs 1 TB drive (cannot upgrade later so go for 1 TB) and 16 MB memory (cannot upgrade later); select chip and cores required e.g., 16 core – know what is required for what you do; can get storage later
Kathleen got a MacBook Pro 16-inch, with 1 TB storage and 16GB RAM
Video in the field – a more powerful machine is a good choice
Consider a USB-C port, 1 TB external drive for fast transfer;
Lawrence uses Mini for experiments and uses half the space; 1 TB better choice, 15 GB RAM is enough; a basic processor is enough for most people; consider the needs of the future, not just the needs of now
Windows 11 needs more room to boot than Windows 10 needs
VR takes more resources – consider technology of the near future
Q&A
Desktop recommendations
Look at the Costco M1 Macs on display
New machines are much brighter, and the screen does not look small
M1 Mac mini can use giant screens, will have to supply keyboard, screen
Wait or buy now?
Cannot do work on a machine you do not have
If no compelling reason to act now, wait to see the next Apple release in a few months
Tesla has had no decline in sales since it has its own chip maker, so increased sales where others declined since competing for chips in short supply
High-end desktop – why wait for what does not exist if not need it
When to upgrade? IT security folks upgrade immediately to see how it works and find what will break
Lawrence tests first, then Kathleen updates a few days later; fix security flaws
Apple indexes mail and Spotlight reindexes everything – this takes time; do not be alarmed, be patient; the machine will be faster when this is complete
Lawrence does not run Beta versions anymore – too much work
Download the beta to a virtual machine to test, no help or tutorial until the release version
Do not install Beta on an Apple Watch since you use Watch all the time and don’t want to experiment with it
iPhone 7+ = will not work much longer; iPhone 13 Pro Max (for camera) took 3 months to get; new iPhone SE least expensive but has outstanding photo capabilities, the price of the phone plus subscription fee over 2 years will be the plan is more expensive than the phone
Do not pay for messages; use Apple iMessage from one iPhone to another goes out as data, so it does not count. makes a difference if put in contacts as iPhone rather than mobile; green bubble is message and blue bubble is data; can create hate and discontent when sending messages over the limit, and creates a series of messages
Consumer Cellular – order an unlocked iPhone so you can use it with any plan
The US only country to sell phones locked to a vendor; all others make this illegal; lobbyists for telecommunications 3rd largest in the US
Voice over IP – if constrained bandwidth, get “tinny” voice, if walking around will cut radio reception
Older USB-3 DVD drive and M1 Mac do not talk – sometimes must reboot with a disk in the drive to get the machine to recognize; when logging in, the machine polls devices then will forget what is not awake and connected
A DVD player and a browser are used to connect to the TV set
If you send a message iPhone to iPhone the message will be sent as data, which is free; if not known will send it as SMS which may be charge as a text message
Google search “Starlink astronomers” to see the science community’s concerns about the way this was done
One rocket has launched more satellites than all the others combined
Old meeting notes are on the Strait Mac Website (Lawrence is behind in doing this)
Next Month’s Potential Topics
Air Print
Scanners, Printers, and other peripherals; e.g., slide scanner vs service
March topic: Accessibility features for devices: e.g., Voice-activated light and Apple HomePod or Amazon Dot; pointer size, voice over; tools for persons who are blind, e.g., magnifier and flashlight; can have phone flash instead of vibrate
Car safety features to extend the ability to drive safely longer
Security issue: spoof of email
E-mail clean-up
How to set up a poll on Google