SMUG meeting, November 16, 2021
Meeting notes by Kathleen Charters
Apple updated almost every operating system in September and October, sometimes multiple times. The Apple TV and Apple Watch got upgrades, the iPhone got upgrades, Macs got upgrades, iPads got upgrades — there were even some updates to Apple’s software for Windows. Many of the updates and upgrades (there is a difference between an “update” and an “upgrade”) focused on privacy or security, but several feature additions were also made. It was a busy month.
Possibly the most significant upgrade was macOS 12 Monterey. Named for the picturesque peninsula and bay of the same name, Monterey is the second version of macOS designed to run on Apple Silicon chips as well as Intel chips, and adds several privacy, security, and functionality changes. Many of these changes will be invisible to the user, as Monterey will work in the background to protect your identity and security without asking anything of you. Some, such as more advanced integration with the iPhone and iPad, are only notable if you have both a Mac and an iPad or iPhone. Still other features require a paid (as opposed to free) iCloud account.
Possibly the most important “feature,” however, is: Monterey runs on Apple Silicon as well as Intel chips. It will run on Macs dating back almost a decade (here is a list of Monterey-compatible machines) as well as the Apple Silicon M1-equipped MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and M1 Pro and M1 Max-equipped MacBook Pros. It should be clear that Apple’s experiment with “Apple Silicon” is a success, and Monterey is both a confirmation of that success and a bridge between the Intel past and the Apple Silicon future.
Q&A
What are smart mailboxes, and how are they used? Thy are a set of rules you set up for a mailbox, done by conditions rather than content, handy to have unread messages in a smart mailbox and they disappear from there when they are read; see sidebar, look at plus, offers options (conditions) as a set of rules; do not be too clever, story of person who had a smart mailbox for unread mail and as soon as opened it it disappeared
Bought a new iPad, older iPad works, who will take a working iPad? Schools are desperate for iPads, as well as senior centers, when give it away reset to factory and activation lock for modern devices with a security chip (T1 or T2) if registered with an Apple ID can track it even if erased; follow Apple instructions to get rid of private information and make sure the person who gets it can use it (reset activation lock); if Apple Watch used to unlock the device then must unpair; based on Apple ID and security structure to decrease theft of devices; follow the Apple step-by-step guide in order or it will be harder to do
Please use the electronic form to register so we know who has participated
Monterey split-screen shortcut – getting an error message
Monterey’s focus starts with a security profile – set devices to make it difficult to make bad choices
Lawrence is using a new iPad, with the screen displayed on a Mac with Monterey; he played with shortcuts briefly now on iPhone, iPad, and iMac; Lawrence is used to writing his own scripts, and will get to this feature eventually
Is there an advantage for Apple TV to hook up with a router and bypass WI-FI setup? Depends on configuration of the home; Lawrence uses WI-FI to run Apple TV since do not have a wire network where the TV is; WI-FI fast enough for 4K TV; no advantage to Ethernet – Consider security and speed, no issue with running Apple TV over WI-FI, advantage of paying for 64 MB instead of 32 MB, Advantage if have a large number of apps; Lawrence uses 64GB Apple TV, app and data buffer are what need on the device, rest is on the Cloud, therefore will not run out of room for movies, can run out of room for apps
WAVE performance issues, upload is a challenge; Lawrence care about upload for Websites; download is easy to max out if have lowest tier of service; depends on level of service from WAVE; there are download gaps in WAVE plans – they throttle speed when get near cap on plan; can be unusable; speed testing tool checking streaming speeds, paying for 100 MB and sometimes get 100 MB on download and sometimes get 50 MB, upload 5 or 5.5 MB, testing companies are subsidized by cable providers and give preference for testing cable speeds; WAVE broadband uses a place in Seattle to test and the site is a partner; smoke and mirrors, speed has to do with how network is set up; example of Comcast model where bundle things and has a lot of variation in speed; lack of competition on the Penninsula; Australia has fiber to the curb, speeds are consistent for 50 MB download and 18-20 MB upload; can control home in Sequim from Australia 8K miles away; in Korea , Japan and Taiwan more advanced technology; Canadians not happy with their broadband experience
Monterey and the 2014 iMac may not be compatible; it has to do with the video card and the presence of a security chip. It needs a robust video card; if you try to download and not compatible will either not appear as an option or will start and then stop and tell you it is not compatible
Business meeting
President Sabrina – welcome, please sign in on the form provided electronically. If you owe dues, please send them in, as the dues pay for the website, Zoom license, and other expenses.
Treasurer report – no changes
Chris – thank you for posting things on Next Door, superb research skills
Demo of Monterey
M1 Pro, M1 Max processors count the same, but video compression processors are doubled, and a staggering amount of RAM can be added; used for digital recording and editing in Final Cut Pro, able to do rendering; chips aimed at the video industry
If you have a keyboard, screen, and mouse, then the M1 Mini is good; the M1 MacBook Air is faster; it works for most people
M1 Pro can add memory, enough for most higher-use people
M1 Max is overkill unless you are a photographer or videographer
Example of Siri – able to process using an M1 machine with AI chips built in (machine learning chips)
QuickNotes – lower right-hand corner; uses Notes app through a shortcut
Shortcut to get to Disk Utility
Example of Emma – split in 2, partition with OS folder so cannot touch OS to prevent hackers from attacking OS (Big Sur and Monterey both do this) 17 GB; Data partition – everything the user does
AppleMail Preferences – privacy – can hide IP address by default; prevents people from using personal location; Does not allow private mail relay for free demo account; comes with paid accounts
Apple ID settings in System Preferences; can see in Apple ID; Apple announcements; Password and Security; must have a mobile phone; what to sync? Just select everything except photos and iCloud Drive; Lawrence recommends that all have a Google paid account; the advantage of sharing photos with other devices registered with Apple ID can share across devices: keychain, Hide my iCloud; Safari services use next to no space; iCloud Drive and Photos use up a lot of space
Can remove the device so no longer allowed to use it; clean up other devices; example of unchecking the box and deleting data from the device; do not need to sync every device; go to the device to remove
Safari can set a start page – can use suggested homepage; new feature: tab sets; example of checking in the morning – select news and get subscriptions in one tab set; techie tab example; sites you routinely use in a set, can switch between sets; they do not use a huge amount of memory
Question about losing sites – may not have been added properly, click the plus sign to add tabs or drag site to the set; reading view -> show reader: eliminates all but text and photos, gets rid of clutter including ads, uses less memory; Safari will provide a warning if using a significant amount of memory or processing power
Add to the reading list items to read another time, will see the titles in the reading list, select to see, select again to close it
Uncheck the box for Safari opening files; for security, download then look at the files
Password – will flag weak passwords, compromised passwords, and make sure checked
Privacy – check to prevent cross-site tracking, check to hide IP address so businesses cannot locate you
Advanced – check to show full Website addresses so you can see where information is coming from
Change in widgets – can select what shows up, e.g., use of world clock; edit widgets gives a dashboard which guides the user through setting up
System Preferences Control panel – makes it easy to do things, on docks and the menu bar
Voice memo – app on laptop; can give the sound file a name; cam mail, sent as a message, Airdrop, etc.
Display – Mac will interpret the sign; it works in Preview, Photos, and MacBook Pro
If the location is not turned on will not get information about the location on the photo
Google does not know but guesses at the person and their related images
Photos may get confused by the image, but the right idea, run the mouse over the text and copy it
Translate feeder, an example of scouse accent
Can ask to look up a spoken word, use Spotlight to look up in the Oxford American Dictionary
Apple TV app on MacBook or iPad, with spectacular graphics
Maps with enhanced 3D view, major strides, and walking directions are best
Find My now includes the ability to find things in addition to people; much more advanced. Mac has a full user guide built in; it pulls information across the Internet
Q&A
Machines 5-6 years old pushing it, if sluggish, consider a new machine; Apple moving away from Intel, consider moving from Intel chips to a new device; Apple M1 series a huge success
Apple announced Monterey, and Intel did a press release saying they will move to their own SOC (System On a Chip) processors
Machines running I3 – I4 – I5 processors are not good candidates for Monterey, already pressed to do things
Control Panel – voice mode? Accessibility feature? Run Mac by voice commands
Calendar view of the month at the top and day events – view is gone? Miss this view, confusing new interface; at the top icon for bulleted calendar or list view; when in the month, go to the bottom left has today option for this preferred layout
Next topic
Safari and extensions, when told to switch to Firefox or Chrome; Meta is the company over Facebook; Lawrence uses Chrome rather than Firefox lagged in support, held back for a decade, and drove away developers
1.8B iOS users
Banks use other browsers than Safari, which has the best security
Banks are doing a terrible job of electronic security, for example, of credit cards without chip and pin, even those with a chip are not secure since not tied to a pin
Apple Mastercard – nothing on the card other than a name, very secure
Australia has had chip and pin for 8 years
Businesses had to buy readers from banks
Apple Pay works well anywhere in Australia
Navy Federal has strong protections, for example, of the call
Camera location services
If a financial institution cannot properly design a web service, leave
Duck-Duck-Go limited range of resources that Google has
Google Search based on 200 M servers worldwide
Location services on iPhone under privacy; Lawrence turns off location services other than maps, smoke detection; can select while using but many collect location all the time to sell to advertising agencies; example of person setting location to France – tell where located in slower way phone overheating cell tower sees where located regardless of what tell physical location is; sky view app needs location to show correct map of the sky
Lawrence – meeting in December? Most people are not up for a December 21 meeting, so no December meeting
People to send suggested topics for January