Macworld February 2016

BEST GAMES FOR THE NEW APPLE TV THE WORLD’S BEST-SELLING APPLE MAGAZINE | APPLE: Ww =IDG FEBRUARY 2016 PAGES INSIDE Smart Keyboard & Pencil We try out Apple’s iPad Pro tools Become an expert with these tricks Contents 3 Welcome... News 4 Apple to hold event in March 7 Apple’s hits, misses and surprises of 2015 16 Smart Battery Case extends iPhone's life Mac Features 19 Guide to the Retina display 24 Best Mac for graphic design 32 Guide to Apple’s Magic peripherals 35 Set up an iTunes library on a server 95 Predictions for 2016 104 Best Apple TV games Reviews 42 Six months with the Apple Watch 46 iPad Pro Smart Keyboard 51 Apple Pencil Group Test 57 Speakers Opinions 78 Apple TV won’t revolutionise gaming 84 Questioning Apple’s battery case 88 Apple should ditch 3.5mm headphone jack iOS Features 117 20 tips for your iPhone 134 40 tricks for your iPad Macworld Welcome... s is customary at this point in the year, this issue we are looking at what we think Apple has planned for 2016. With an event rumoured for March, we might just be seeing a new Apple Watch, the long awaited 4in iPhone 6c, and rumour has it, anew MacBook Air. We don’t think we'll be seeing the mythical Apple iCar any time soon, though. Find out what to expect on page 95. We also have an overview of the biggest wins, fails and surprises of 2015 (page 7) including the arrival of the iPhone 6s, the new Apple TV, the Retina MacBook, the Apple Watch, Apple Music. It’s was actually quite a busy year for Apple, can the & company maintain the momentum in 2016? If you have already got yourself a new Apple TV you'll be wanting to take a look at our round up of best Apple TV Games on page 104. This month we've been testing the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard and Pencil. We're a bit disappointed by the keyboard which typically has a US layout, but we are impressed by the pressure sensitive Pencil, just frustrated that it can’t be used with the other iPads. Finally we have amassed some iPad and iPhone tips because let’s face it, no matter how well you think you know how to use your device there are always handy tricks that can make your life easier. Find out more on page 117. We hope you've enjoy the issue. Feel free to send us your feedback via facebook.com/ MacworldUK or email karen_haslam@idg.co.uk. — Lill Macworld @ Apple Watch 2,iPhone6c = «¢ and iPad Air 3 launch event Rumours suggest Apple to unveil new products in March pple will hold its next event in March 2016, A at which it will unveil the Apple Watch 2, alongside the rumoured iPhone 6c and the iPad Air 3, according to reports. Rumours suggest that the Apple Watch 2 will appear at that event but that it won’t ship until April, a year after the first Apple Watch went on sale. Apple has held events in March over the years, including the launch of the Apple Watch and MacBook in 2015 and the launch of the iPad 3 back in 2012. It seems likely that the Apple Watch 2 won't be the only new product to launch at the March event. A number of Apple products are due Macworld an update around that time. We think we may see the following new Apple products at the rumoured March 2016 Apple event. Apple Watch 2 In April it will be a year since the Apple Watch launched, so perfect time for a new model to appear. The new Watch is said to offer sleep tracking and better health sensor technologies. It may also offer better battery life, a FaceTime camera, and crucially that it will be less reliant on the iPhone. iPhone 6c According to a Macworld survey, 20 percent of people polled want a smaller 4in iPhone and it looks like they may get their wish. Rumour has it that an 6c is coming and that it could arrive in the spring. & With this in mind, it seems likely that an Apple Watch event would also include a launch of the new 4in iPhone, which is said to come in a colourful metallic case (rather than the iPhone 5c plastic case). It’s also expected that the new phone will offer an improved camera compared to the iPhone 5s. The A8 processor is likely to be Apple’s choice for powering this new iPhone, rather than the AQ in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. While it’s not thought that it will include 3D touch found in the IPhone 6s and 6s Plus, it is expected that the 6c will include Touch ID for use with Apple Pay. iPad Air 3 The iPad Air wasn’t updated in September 2015, so we expect to see an update soon, and the rumoured March event would be perfect for this launch. Macworld Rumours suggest that the iPad Air 3 will be even thinner than the iPad Air 2, that the aluminium it is crafted from will be even stronger than the current model, that a rose gold version might make an appearance, and that the megapixel count on the camera might improve. We also expect that A9X chip (as found in the iPad Pro) might appear in the new iPad Air 3. MacBook Air Another product rumoured to be in the pipeline is an update to the MacBook Air with the 11in model disappearing from the line up and a new 15in model being added. There have been some rumours it may gain a Retina screen, but it seems unlikely as that would & put it in competition with the MacBook Pro and the & MacBook, and we imagine Apple wants to keep the price down. It is likely the new MacBook Air will gain Force Touch features, however. Karen Haslam Apple’s hits, misses and surprises of 2015 ® We round up the company’s biggest moments of 2015 s Apple makes more and more money by A selling more and more iPhones, it seems like the company barely has to try to remain at the top of the heap. And yet 2015 was one of Cupertino’s biggest years ever in terms of innovation, with product refreshes almost across the board (sorry, Mac Pro), a new device category (hey, Apple Watch), and a streaming service to rival Spotify (Apple Music). But the shiny patina of new devices didn’t distract anyone when Apple missed the mark this year, as it sometimes does. From the weird staggered rollouts of the Apple Watch in spring and Apple Pencil in fall to Apple Music’s iCloud disaster, Apple wasn’t without its missteps in 2015. Macworld Then there were the head-scratching rumours, the indecipherable product decisions, and more moments that made us go, “Wait, what?” Let’s recap Apple’s big year. Record-breaking iPhone sales Apple made $32.2 billion by selling 48 million iPhones in the last quarter of 2015, capping off what CEO Tim Cook called Apple’s “most successful year ever.” The company’s revenue grew to almost $234 billion in the fiscal year, which included just two days of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus sales. Apple sold 13 million iPhones during that launch weekend, and is expecting to make between $75.5bn and $77.5bn when it reports holiday quarter earnings at the end of January. The iPhone has been on the market for eight & years, so how does Apple continue to sell so many? It’s thanks in part to China — the Chinese continue to buy iPhones in droves, and this time around, the country was one of the latest model’s launch day markets. (Almost) everything is new Apple didn’t just put out new iPhones, as it does every fall. Practically every product in the company’s lineup was refreshed in 2015. We got new MacBooks, including a 12in gold model, iMacs, the long-awaited 12.9in Pro and a high-powered iPad mini, a completely overhauled fourth-generation Apple TV, an entirely new product category with the Apple Watch. These hardware updates weren’t minor ones, like the lackluster iPad mini 3 released last fall. The new iPhone’s flagship features include 3D Touch and a revamped camera; the iPad mini 4 is now as powerful as an iPad Air 2, the new MacBook is the most portable laptop around; and the Apple TV has a full-fledged App Store and Siri integration. This year was huge for Apple hardware. Apple TV’s long-awaited reboot The new Apple TV deserves a separate shout-out for being a really, really good set-top box. Apple waited three years to overhaul the TV, and in that time it was left in the dust by rivals Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and even Google’s Chromecast streaming stick. That ended in November with the new Apple TV, which has its own App Store and a healthy roster of must-have apps, plus a brand new touchpad remote DEE Macworld with Siri integration. It can even support games, with the touchpad remote substituting for a game x controller (unless you want to shell out more for an MFi game controller like this one). The Apple TV isn’t perfect — although it’s gotten better after a key software update — and more tvOS apps are desperately needed. Plus, we still have hope that Apple will cut through the red tape and pull off a live TV streaming service that will let us finally cut the cord. But the fourth- generation TV is better than ever, and its £129 starting price tag isn’t too bad, either. Apple wins over Taylor Swift Apple Music ran into trouble before it even launched (and then some more trouble afterward, which we'll get into later), but the company managed to get the world’s biggest pop star on its side. Apple was planning to withhold royalties during the free three-month trials offered to Apple Macworld Music subscribers, and when Taylor Swift caught wind of this, she took to Tumblr to post a gently admonishing open letter to the company. They listened, promising to pay royalties during the free trials after all, and Swift endorsed the service by offering up her 1989 album to stream for the first time, then giving Apple the exclusive rights to her 1989 World Tour Live documentary, which aired on 20 December. (Apple paid Swift for that pleasure.) It was a win for all involved. Apple Music and the scrambled libraries Apple rolled out Apple Music on desktops with iTunes 12.2, bundling its streaming library with your iTunes purchases with the help of iCloud Music Library. But when iTunes users enabled iCloud Music Library to merge streaming tracks & with purchased ones, they watched iTunes mangle their existing libraries. In some cases, there were minor problems like album artwork gone wrong. In other, more serious circumstances, iTunes wiped or corrupted thousands of tracks from some libraries, resulting in hundreds of angry Apple support forum complaints and one very high-profile rant. Apple Music managed to rack up 15 million listeners in spite of the ruckus, though who knows how many more subscribers would've stuck around if their libraries had remained intact? Where’s the Apple Pencil? The 12.9in iPad Pro launched in November with two complementary accessories, the new Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil, the company’s first |Proweesteinas 2 iPad stylus. Without the stylus, the new tablet is just a really, really big iPad. With it, creatives have a tool that makes the most of all that screen real estate. So when the iPad Pro went on sale and its accessories, specifically the long-awaited Pencil, were in short supply, Pro buyers were more than a little unhappy. While the Smart Keyboard was also on back order, Apple was also selling an excellent third- party option, Logitech’s Create. Apple Pencil has no equivalent, so its absence was a frustrating one for Pro users who had to wait weeks to use the giant tablet to its full potential. For its most personal device ever, Apple restricted purchases to online only. Buyers couldn’t line up at Apple stores to snag an Apple Watch at the height of ovoveo16 144 | the hype, and some watch models were on back- order for weeks after launch. Not being able to buy Apple’s latest device anywhere but online at Apple.com was a bit of a shock for buyers used to finding the latest gadgets in retail stores, too. In fact, as Macworld columnist Jason Snell said, the real Apple Watch party didn’t start until six months after its release, when Apple finally was able to fulfil demand in launch countries and widened the watch’s availability to include third-party retailers. Malware hits iOS App Store 2015 will be remembered as the year malware finally penetrated the iOS App Store, proving that Apple’s walled garden isn’t impervious to infection. Before this year, you mainly had to worry about malware on jailbroken devices, because Apple’s App Store approval process is notoriously tough. But this year, the iOS App Store was hit twice with malware scares, both times in China. Apps infected with malware managed to bypass the company’s security safeguards by using a modified, sketchy version of Xcode, the code used to write apps for Macworld iOS, OS X, watchOS, and tvOS. Developers in China downloaded XcodeGhost, an infected version of the code, from Chinese servers because the process was faster. Then those apps distributed the malware after gaining entry to the App Store. YiSpecter, another malware strain, popped up just weeks later, also in China, but was less severe than XcodeGhost. XcodeGhost didn’t have a huge impact on apps, but it proved that ‘ sometimes developers will take shortcuts that Apple didn’t foresee, jeopardizing the safety of your devices in the process. The going rate for hacking iOS is $1 million, so Apple’s software is still incredibly secure, but the scares this year prove it’s not perfect. The new MacBook Apple’s lithe 12in MacBook combines technologies that aren't yet standard, but could be one day. The Force Touch trackpad, super thin keyboard with reduced key travel, and lone USB-C port make the new MacBook a truly next- generation laptop, which is awesome in theory. In reality, the keyboard isn’t the easiest to type on, and the USB-C connector makes the new MacBook incompatible with basically every other device you own. It’s frustrating for now, because the USB-C ecosystem is still so small. That will change in the future, but people who drop £1,049 on the 12in MacBook will face struggles that buyers of other MacBook models don't, at least for awhile longer. The Apple Car rumours This one is a head-scratcher for sure. Earlier in 2015, rumours began to swirl that Apple was recruiting a slew of car experts to join the company. At the same time, Apple CEO Tim Cook and design chief Jony lve began hinting in press interviews that the automobile space was an interesting one. Of course, Apple hasn't come out and said, “Hey, world, we’re building an electric car.” But all signs point to a secret auto project in the works at 1 Infinite Loop. Let’s review the evidence: Apple has hired not just car experts, but specialists in deep learning and artificial intelligence. It’s unclear if Apple is exploring an electric car or a self-driving one, but over the summer, documents revealed that Apple was on the hunt for a private facility to test something — presumably a car, since that facility is a former naval station where other self-driving vehicles have been tested. Then in August, Apple execs met with California Department of Motor Vehicles reps to discuss the state’s self-driving vehicle regulations. Apple has been interested in cars for some time — that’s why the company developed CarPlay, which puts the iPhone experience in your car’s dashboard. We wouldn't be surprised if lve designed the coolest car on the block — we're just not expecting it anytime soon. Caitlin McGarry Macworld |Proweest6inas se Case boosts iPhone’s battery life by 80 percent ure, it’s just an iPhone battery case, but what marks this one out from the many others is the manufacturer: Apple. The £79 iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case is the first sign that Apple is ready to acknowledge that its phones are too thin to contain adequate batteries. The case adds 80 ovoveo16 144 | percent to the battery life — and about 100 percent to the thickness — of an iPhone 6 or 6s. Unlike most third-party battery add-ons, the back of the case isn’t flat, but has a bulge in the middle housing the battery. Apple claims the iPhone 6s allows you to surf the Internet on LTE for “up to” 10 hours, a figure that could reach up to 18 hours with the external battery. The battery could also boost talk time from up to 14 hours to around 25, while video could play for up to 20 hours rather than 11. The catch is in the words “up to”— and Apple is by no means unique in using them: Pretty much every electronic device manufacturer does the same. If you spend your days in an office & with subdued designer lighting in hyper-connected Silicon Valley, where the nearest cell tower is no more than a few hundred meters away, you’re going to get something close to the maximum theoretical battery life as your screen dims and the phone whispers to the nearby network. For the rest of us, lighting is harsher and cell towers more distant, so our phones crank up the brightness and shout to the network, draining their batteries all the faster. That “all-day” battery can often be empty long before it’s time to go home. It used to be possible to keep a spare phone battery for situations like that, but one of Apple’s innovations with the first iPhone in 2007 was to make the battery non-removable, a feature it has replicated in every model since, and which other manufacturers have since adopted, too. One justification given for using non-removable batteries is that without the need for a removable protective cover and clips to hold it in place, the phone can be made thinner — or the battery can be bigger for a given thickness of phone. Until now, Apple has chosen the former course (as have other manufacturers), making phones ever thinner, frustrating many who would like to be able to use their phones for longer and who would barely notice if their phones were a millimetre thicker. They'll certainly notice the additional thickness of the iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case, which appears to add about 7 mm to the 71 mm iPhone 6s, to judge by the photos Apple has released. Had Apple chosen to make the iPhone 6s that much thicker to begin with, it may well have been able to boost the phone’s battery life by 400 percent, not 80 percent. Maybe it just wants a slice of the profit that the many other manufacturers of external battery cases are making — or maybe Apple is testing customer acceptance of a thicker new phone. Peter Sayer — EPwecsteines 18 ovoveo16 144 | a Macworld @ Guide to the Retina display «¢« We reveal the pros and cons of Apple’s Retina display ut simply, a Retina display is any display to _ which Apple has decided to apply the name. Retina is an Apple brand for which there’s no specific definition. There are however, features that set Retina displays apart from non-Retina screens. The first, and most important is pixel density. When Steve Jobs launched the iPhone 4, and with it the first Retina display, he described it as having a screen with so many pixels packed closely together that they were imperceptible to the human eye at a distance of twelve inches. He went to great lengths to explain that, because the iPhone 4’s screen packed in 300 pixels per inch, most people wouldn’t see them at all when the phone was a foot from their eyes. Macworld Since then, Apple has launched several devices with Retina displays. Some have pixel densities of more than 300 pixels per inch, some with less. How can they all be called Retina? Because there are two crucial elements to whether or not pixels are perceptible: density and distance. The further your eyes are from the screen, the lower the pixel density needed to make the pixels ‘disappear. Generally speaking, the bigger the screen, the further your eyes are likely to be from it and so the lower the pixel density required to ‘qualify’ as a Retina display. So, for example, iPhones from 4 to 5s had a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch, while the current 27in iMac has only 218 pixels per inch. Given that, for most of us, the distance we sit from a 27in screen is more than one and a half times the distance at which we hold an iPhone from our eyes, & the lower pixel density is irrelevant. How does a Retina display compare to non-Retina? In simple terms, Apple ‘converts’ a device’s display to Retina by doubling the number of pixels vertically and horizontal, meaning it has four times as many pixels as its non-Retina counterpart. If it did that and nothing else, however, there would be a problem. User interface elements like menus and icons would look tiny. To compensate for this, Apple created what it calls HiDPI mode, where each interface element is doubled in size vertically and horizontally and so appears at the same size as it would on a non-Retina display. The effect of a Retina display is to make everything look more crisp. Text, especially, ] sl Macworld Dear Reader, Dear Reader, You may already know Félix You may already know Félix nationally bestselling debut. nationally bestselling debut, largely inspired by The Time largely inspired by The Time In The Map of the Sky,the st In The Map of the Sky, the st Time, Palma again draws f Ti P cain me alma aca AN Non-Retina (left) and Retina iPad displays: a small but noticeable difference on text benefits from Retina — it looks smoother, with the curves on characters looking like curves instead of jagged steps. What’s Retina HD and Retina 4K/5K? & Steve Jobs painted Apple into something of a corner & when he described the pixels in the iPhone 4 as imperceptible to the human eye. Where do you go from there? How do you describe a screen that’s even better? Apple’s answer has been to borrow terminology from the video and broadcast industries. When the iPhone 6 came out in 2014, it hada vertical resolution of 750 pixels, a little more than the 720 pixels which forms one of the standards for HD video. The 6 Plus had a vertical resolution of 1080 pixels, exactly the number of pixels needed for the higher of the two HD video standards. Never one to miss an opportunity for a catchy label, Apple labelled the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus’ displays ‘Retina HD.’ It did the same in 2015 with the 6s and 6s Plus when they launched in 2015 with the same screen resolutions. HD, however, is relatively old news in the world of video. Today, the highest quality TV screens have DEE Macworld 4K displays, which have 4000 pixels horizontally. So when Apple launched a 27in iMac with 5120 horizontal pixels in 2014, it used the same naming convention and called it ‘Retina 5K’ In October 2015, it launched a 21in iMac with a horizontal resolution of 4096 pixels (and a pixel density of 218ppi), and called its display ‘Retina 4K’ Which Macs, iPads and iPhones have Retina displays? As of the end of 2015, the only Apple device (iPod nano excepted) with a built-in display that doesn’t have Retina, at least as an option, is the MacBook Air. That may be rectified in 2016, or it may be that, following the launch of the MacBook earlier in 2015, the MacBook Air is phased out. There are also a 21.5in non-Retina iMac and the now-ancient MacBook Pro with SuperDrive (which hasn’t been updated since 2012). What about the Thunderbolt display? Sadly, despite having launched a 27in iMac with a Retina display in 2014, Apple has yet to upgrade Macworld its Thunderbolt display to Retina. Its resolution is 2560x1440 pixels. To put that in context, it has the same number of pixels horizontally as a 13in MacBook Pro and horizontally as the 12in MacBook. While Apple still sells the Thunderbolt display on its website, it’s failure to upgrade it in more than four years would seem to indicate that it has no enthusiasm for promoting it, making it unlikely it will be upgraded to Retina soon, if at all. Do other manufacturers use Retina? No other manufacturers use the name Retina — Apple’s lawyers would soon have something to say if they did. But several makers of smartphones and tablets, in particular, have displays with pixel densities which are at least a match for Apple’s devices, and in some cases far exceed it. & Examples include Sony's Xperia Z5 Premium which has a resolution of 3860x2160 pixels — just shy of 4K — on a 5.5in screen, giving it a pixel density of a monstrous 806ppi. And Samsung’s Galaxy S6 has a resolution of 1440x2560 pixels — known as Quad HD or QHD — ona 5.lin screen, giving it a pixel density of 577ppi. Whether there’s any point in having 4K and QHD resolutions on a smartphone is debatable. If Steve Jobs’ assertion was right and 300ppi on a smartphone is enough to make pixels invisible, then squeezing in more pixels would seem to be redundant. A Retina display then is not one with the highest resolution available, but may be the optimal balance between image sharpness and the power needed to provide those images. Kenny Hemphill DEE Macworld Buying advice: Best Mac for graphic design How to pick the right Mac for creative design work acs were at the forefront of the desktop publishing revolution, bettering PC rivals when it came to colour accuracy and typography. The differences between OS X and Windows systems are less pronounced these days, and file compatibility is typically strong when using suites available on both systems, such as Adobe’s Creative Cloud. Nonetheless, the Mac still finds favour with the majority of designers. This is down to several factors: reliability; excellent niche apps only available for Mac (such as Sketch); and, frankly, Macs looking a lot nicer than PCs. (Designers aren’t shallow, but they do like style.) So you want a Mac, but is right for you? We’ve gone through Apple’s range and figured out the best Macworld machine for certain types of designers, but first want to cover some general tips you should be mindful of when buying a new Mac. What you design affects the Mac you buy The further you go back in time, the more defined and focussed creative roles were. But these days, a designer may work across many fields. That’s not to say there aren’t still people solely working up magazine layouts in InDesign, but the modern designer is just as likely to be delving into illustration, interface design, and 3D. The extremely rapid shift towards digital further complicates matters. A decade ago, perfect colour reproduction might have been the main concern for a designer when it came to buying new kit. But today, designers are increasingly likely to be working & on screen-based design. The nature of employment may also require them to be more mobile. RAM and storage for graphic design Macs Two things that haven't really changed over the years is the tendency for design applications to be RAM-hungry, and for the majority of design projects to require a fairly hefty amount of storage. In both cases, you need to be careful, because Apple now largely considers Macs sealed units. In most cases, you can no longer later add extra RAM or storage. With storage, you can at least utilise external drives for housing weighty folders and archives. With RAM, there’s nothing you can do; our advice is to order extra RAM with your Mac, even if Apple’s pricing for this is akin to having your wallet mugged. (If you buy a Mac where you can still add RAM at Macworld a later point, such as the Mac Pro or 27in iMac, go third-party instead.) The best displays for graphic design We touched on this earlier, but design has become more complicated of late from a displays standpoint. Once, you'd have wanted a high-end matte display from a company like Eizo, with almost perfect colour reproduction. Some traditional graphic designers reel when confronted by the glossy displays found on an iMac (although it has to be said that these displays aren’t as glossy as they were a few generations ago). But things aren’t so simple. Many designers work primarily on projects intended entirely for screen, including digital magazines, websites, & and app interfaces. High-res displays are a further & consideration. Apple’s mobile devices all now boast Retina displays, as do a great many Android and Macworld Windows Phone equivalents; on the desktop, the rise of ‘Retina’ is slower, but seemingly inevitable. You therefore must consider whether your role will primarily entail creating content for such displays, and buy a Mac accordingly. (Also consider future- proofing. If your Mac’s going to last a few years, buy for the present and future, not the present and past.) Desktops vs portable Macs for designers What kind of designer are you when it comes to the jobs you do? Are you the type that never leaves the office, in which case a desktop system might suit? Are you a roving freelancer, augmenting a different in-house team on a month-to-month basis? If so, you probably don’t want to be lugging a 27in iMac around on a train. Often, notebooks are seen as the best & compromise regardless, due to providing flexibility. Even if you only rarely visit clients or work away from an office, you can take a portable Mac with you. But they're also more expensive than broadly equivalent desktops. For example, the mid-range 13in MacBook Pro (2.7GHz i5; 256GB SSD; 8MB RAM; Intel Iris Graphics 6100; 2560x1600 resolution) costs £1,199, the same as the priciest 4K 21.5in iMac (3.1GHz i5, 1TB HDD; 8GB RAM; Intel Iris Graphics 6200; 4096x2304 resolution). But now let’s get down to business: the best Macs for specific kinds of designers... Best Mac for print design: 27in iMac 5K Once you get beyond business cards and tiny flyers, print projects tend to benefit from a large canvas on which to design. If you’re working on magazines, Macworld you want to be able to have a double-page spread before your eyes, as close to full-size as possible. When designing larger fare, you don’t want to be navigating it on a tiny notebook display. You don’t get bigger than the 27in 5K iMac, which boasts a screen resolution up to a mammoth 5120x2880. Some designers might still be a bit sniffy about the glossy display, but those in modern iMacs are vastly improved over previous generations, and can be successfully colour-calibrated if you’re not happy with what you get out of the box. Any of the existing models will do the job for print design. Pay more, you get processing power boosts and improved graphics cards, but the £1,449 model should be fine. For a more responsive system, you might consider swapping out the hard drive for an SSD, though. RAM can & be upgraded at a later date. Best Mac for web design: MacBook Pro with Retina display Web design canvases now vary wildly (in the sense responsive sites must support anything from a watch face up to a massive telly), but so too do work environments. While it’s undoubtedly advantageous for web designers to have a big display, it’s even more important to be mobile, in order to take on new jobs at a moment's notice. A MacBook Air would be sufficient for web design tasks, but if you’ve got the money, go for the MacBook Pro with Retina display. The high- res screen gives you a better impression of how your work will look on mobile devices and modern notebooks, a Pro isn’t much heavier than an Air, and Macworld a Pro can be configured to be far more powerful. We'd recommend going for the mid-range 13in model (£1,199), which has a 256GB SSD - anything smaller is miserly. Consider increasing the RAM to 16GB on purchase, too. Best Mac for interface design: ® 27in iMac 5K ¢ Interface design can of course encompass web design, but with this option we’re thinking more in terms of apps. Many designers these days are creating interfaces for iPad, iPhone and Android apps, along with content for smart televisions and games consoles. The ideal Mac here would give you a 1:1 impression of what you’re designing, at full size. The 27in 5K iMac’s 5120x2880 display just about manages that, even enabling you to squeeze in an iPad Pro interface in portrait (2048x2732). A cheaper alternative would be the 21.5in 4K iMac (from £1,199), which boasts a resolution of 4096x2304 — enough for an iPad Air display in either orientation or an iPad Pro in landscape. With the 21.5in model, be mindful you cannot upgrade the RAM at a later date, so start with 16GB. Macworld Best Mac for 3D design work: Mac Pro The Mac Pro is colossally expensive. At its cheapest, with no added extras, you're talking £2,499, for which you could buy two 21.5in 4K iMacs and still have change. But for certain kinds of work — notably high-end 3D design — you need all the power you can get, and the Mac Pro has that in spades. Do be mindful of the small amount of internal storage (256MB SSD) — the unit is primarily designed to be used with external drives. And since the Mac Pro hasn’t had a refresh in two years, it might be worth hanging on, if possible, to see what transpires update-wise in 2016. Best Mac for designers on a budget: oe Mac mini & Realistically, any modern Mac is broadly suitable for the majority of design work — it’s just less powerful machines will slow you down. Any Mac is also an investment in your career, but if you’re just starting and really can’t afford to splash out on the more expensive fare recommended elsewhere, a Mac mini will do. Macworld The low-end model is best avoided, but the mid- range Mac mini 2.6GHz i5 with 16GB of RAM will set you back £729. You can then add a perfectly decent third-party display from the likes of Dell for around £150. The advantage with this kind of system is its modularity — should one component fail, you can replace just that part rather than everything. Best Mac accessories for graphic designers There are far too many specific accessories to recommend in a feature like this, and so we’re going to offer some general tips. Regardless of the Mac you buy, ergonomics should be a priority. Designers tend to burn the midnight oil, and that can wreck your back and neck if you don’t have a decent working position. Get & a good chair, and ensure your eye meets a point roughly a third of the way down your display. If using a notebook, do not sit hunched over it for hours — consider buying a separate display, keyboard and pointer device when working in an office. Alternate input devices are worth checking out. Apple’s Magic Trackpad 2 is fine for the occasional bit of doodling, but really you want a stylus- based tablet system for drawing. Even the smaller consumer-oriented Wacom tablets are fine as a starting point — an A6 will be small enough to use alongside a keyboard, and can also double as a general pointing device, enabling you to ‘snap’ the cursor across a large display (rather than mouse or trackpad ‘scrubbing’). For illustrators, though, a larger tablet will be more beneficial in terms of precision and responsiveness. Craig Grannell Macworld Buying advice: Guide to Apple’s Magic peripherals « We explain which Macs are compatible with Apple’s extras pple updated its iMac lineup, and a set of A new peripherals alongside: a new Magic Mouse, a Magic Keyboard and an updated Magic Trackpad 2. These peripherals can be bought as part of the new iMac bundles, but they are also available separately, and work with some older Macs. The question is, how old can your Mac be and still work with the Magic Trackpad 2? In fact, the important factor is the version of Mac OS you're running rather than the age of your hardware. We’ll look at the system requirements of the three new peripherals individually, but they’re pretty much the same: we just find that the Magic Trackpad 2 is a little stricter about the version of Bluetooth that it requires. Macworld Magic Trackpad 2 The official documentation warns that the Magic Trackpad requires a “Bluetooth 4.0-enabled Mac with OS X v10.11 or later.” That’s El Capitan, of course — the most recent version of Mac OS X. It’s a free upgrade from Yosemite — and from any version of OS X going back to Snow Leopard — but a fair few people haven't made the update yet, so this is something to bear in mind. So you need El Capitan. Here’s a list of the Macs that can make the upgrade: iMac (mid-2007 or later) ° MacBook (13in Aluminium, late 2008), (13in, early 2009 or later) * MacBook Pro (13in, mid-2009 or later), (15in, mid/late 2007 or later), (17in, late 2007 or later) © MacBook Air (late 2008 or later) & ° Mac Mini (early 2009 or later) ° Mac Pro (early 2008 or later) ° Xserve (early 2009) To see how strict the requirements are, we tried pairing the trackpad with a Mac running Yosemite (OS X 1010) and sure enough, it didn’t work properly — although, oddly enough, it did work with a wired connection, so you’ve got that option in a pinch. It was only when we unplugged the Lightning cable that it stopped working. Clearly the problem is related to the wireless pairing process — and this isn’t simply an issue with the version of Bluetooth, which was 4.3 on this particular Mac. In other words, expect to have to upgrade your Mac to El Capitan, if you haven’t already, in order to be able to use this device. Macworld Magic Mouse 2 Like the Magic Trackpad 2, the Magic Mouse only works with Macs running El Capitan. If you’ve not upgraded yet, take a look at the list of El Cap- compatible Macs above to see if your machine is able to do so. Beyond that, you just need to have Bluetooth to be able to set up a wireless connection with the Magic Mouse 2. Whereas the Magic Trackpad 2 specifies Bluetooth version 4.0, the mouse isn’t anywhere near as fussy: it just requires a “Bluetooth- enabled Mac computer with OS X v10.11 or later”. & Magic Keyboard The system requirements are the same as those for the Magic Mouse 2: any Mac that’s running OS X El Capitan (check the list above for Macs that are compatible with El Capitan) and equipped with some version of Bluetooth. It doesn’t need to be Bluetooth 4.0. David Price | Macworld MUMEDRD & ¢ Setup an iTunes library on a network-attached server Free your iTunes media from the shackles of your Mac reached the point where you need to offload some of your media files to another drive. There are several ways you can do this. You can connect an external hard drive to your Mac, and use that to store your iTunes Media folder. If you use an iMac, this is probably the easiest choice. However, if you use a laptop, you may not want the hassle of connecting and disconnecting an external drive whenever you want to use iTunes. Another option is to use a network attached storage device, or NAS. This is a storage device that your Mac connects to over your network — usually f you have a large iTunes library, you may have DEE Macworld via Wi-Fi, but you can also use ethernet — and that can give you vastly more storage, especially if your Mac has an internal SSD. If you use both iTunes and another network device or app — such as Plex, a hi-fi media streamer, or Sonos’ wireless home audio system — you can use the NAS to store media that other devices can access too. You won't need to ensure that your Mac is always on. In this article, I'll discuss how you can set up iTunes to use a NAS, and I'll point out some issues you need to be aware of to ensure that iTunes works correctly. Choosing a NAS There is a plethora of NAS devices available, from simple, single-drive units to larger, multi-drive RAID- x capable storage devices. Depending on your needs, you may spend a couple hundred dollars for a simple NAS without drives (you may have some hard drives you can recycle), or much more for a unit with five drives and RAID capabilities. Remember that if you get a simple NAS with a single drive, you still need to consider adding an additional external hard drive to back up the files on the NAS itself. | recently bought a WD MyCloud Ex2 NAS. This two-bay device is available without drives, selling for around £130, and it allowed me to use two 2TB hard drives | had in a closet, having upgraded another storage device to 4TB drives. (The MyCloud Macworld is also available in versions with drives, with capacities from 4- to 10TB.) If you’re going to choose a NAS to store your iTunes library, first consider what other way you can use the device. | use one of the hard drives on my NAS for my MacBook’s iTunes library, and the other for Time Machine backups. Many NAS devices support Time Machine backups, so if you want a device for this purpose, check its specs. The MyCloud, like some other NAS devices, also has an iTunes server feature, which lets you stream music from the device to a computer running iTunes or to an Apple TV. This means that any computer in your house can stream your media files, without the Mac whose library is stored on the NAS running. Moving your iTunes library & When you've chosen your device and set it up, it’s time to move your iTunes library. There are two ways you can do this, and each option has pros and cons. « You can move just your media files to the NAS, and keep your iTunes library files on your Mac e You can move all your iTunes files (media and library files) to the NAS Move just your media files In your home folder is a Music folder, and, in that, an iTunes folder. This contains a number of files, such as your actual iTunes library file, and some support files. There’s also an Album Artwork folder (which caches artwork from your media files), and an iTunes Media folder, which contains sub-folders for different types of media: Music, Movies, TV Shows, and so on. owsar = Site « | mcaean se eae —— These are the files i your iTunes folder If you move just your media files, then your Mac retains your iTunes library file, as well as some other files; all those in the screenshot above, other than the iTunes Media folder. The advantage to keeping these files on your Mac is that when iTunes updates & its library file - which happens any time you make changes to any files in your iTunes library — this process won’t be slowed down by your network. However, if you have a fast Wi-Fi router, such as a recent AirPort Extreme, you shouldn’t notice any lag. However, if you move just your media files, you must ensure that your NAS (or any external drive) is mounted when iTunes launches. If iTunes doesn’t see that drive, it will search in your Music folder for your media, and won't find it. It will then switch the location of the media folder in its preferences to that local folder, and copy any new files there. And this gets messy. If you want to move just the media files, you'll need to follow these steps: 1. Back up all your files; because accidents happen. 2. Ensure that the NAS is mounted in the Finder. ©) Keep iTunes Media folder organized ‘Places files into album and artis folders, and names the fies based on ‘the disc number, track number, and the song tte. © Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library (@ Share iTunes Library XML with other applications: Reset all dialog warnings: _ Reset warnings Reset iTunes Store cache: Reset cache Keep MiniPlayer on top of all other windows Keep movie window on top ofall other windows Gi Check for new software updates automatically 2 coc & Change the location of © your iTunes Media folder in the iTunes preferences ba Create a new folder on the NAS; call it iTunes, or something similar. . Launch iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences, and then click Advanced. . In the iTunes Media folder location section, click Change. . Navigate to the folder you created in Step 2 and click Open, and then click OK. 7. Choose File > Library > Organize Library, and check Consolidate files. This tells iTunes to copy all the media files currently on your Mac to the new location. This may take a while, depending on how many files you have, and how fast your network is. This may mean allowing the copy to run overnight. rs fo) fo) Macworld Organize Library Consolidate files Puts copies of all media files used by iTunes in the iTunes Media folder, and leaves the original files in their current locations. ) Reorganize files in the folder “iTunes” Your iTunes media files are already organized into subfolders (Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Audiobooks, and so on). When the copy is finished, you can play music, watch movies, and listen to podcasts from your copy of iTunes as if the content was on your Mac One tip for this scenario: when the NAS is mounted in the Finder, open System Preferences > Users & Groups, and click your account. Click Login Items, and drag the NAS volume to that list. This ensures that your Mac mounts the volume when you start up your Mac and log in. Move your entire iTunes folder This is a simpler process. Just copy the iTunes folder in your home folder’s Music folder to the NAS. As above, this may take a long time. The first time you launch iTunes after the move has completed, press the Option key immediately after clicking the iTunes icon. Click Choose Library, and then navigate to the iTunes folder on the NAS. iTunes will then use this library, and, if it’s not Macworld available on the network, will alert you. It won’t revert its settings to your local drive. However, if you have a slow network, you may have issues with searches and you may see a bit of lag when making changes to files or their tags. Also, you need to ensure that not only your media files but your iTunes Library file gets backed up regularly. Leaving the non-media files on your Mac ensures that Time Machine backs them up; putting all these files on the NAS means that you need to set up another backup routine. What’s next? Once your iTunes media files (or all your iTunes files) are on the NAS, you use iTunes exactly as before. As long as the NAS is mounted, iTunes uses that library. The only difference you'll see is & when you copy files to your iTunes libraries. You won't notice much delay with music files, but you'll definitely see that movies take a lot longer to copy to the NAS over your network. Syncing to iOS devices will also be slower. Again, you won't notice this if you’re only syncing some new music, but if you set up a new iOS device, and sync a lot of content, this will take quite a while. Using a NAS, you can have a large iTunes library accessible from a laptop with a compact SSD, and, as | pointed out earlier, also access that content easily from other hi-fi streaming devices that can read files from a network volume. Just remember to back up your iTunes library on the NAS, especially if you’ve moved all your files to the device. If not, and you lose files, you may have trouble rebuilding your iTunes library and playlists. Kirk McElhearn Review: Apple Watch oe We reveal how watch has integrated itself into our lives ce From £299 inc VAT - apple.com/uk KAKA n all the hubbub of the iPad Pro, Apple TV, and iPhone 6s launches, you could be excused for forgetting about this year’s previous Apple darling, the Apple Watch. There’s been a lot of discussion of late over the Watch, in particular how it’s doing and whether or not it’s a flop. As someone who’s been wearing one pretty much daily for eight months now, | feel like I’ve finally integrated it into my life enough that I've got a good idea of both its capabilities and its limitations. And believe me, it’s got plenty of both. Watch this I've worn watches on and off for my life — | even went through a brief phase, and I’m not proud of this, HW Macworld where | toted a pocket watch. | know. It was the late ’90s, a lifetime ago. The Apple Watch wasn’t even my first foray into the smartwatch arena; that came with the original Pebble, of which | was a Kickstarter backer. But by the time the Apple Watch came around, I'd already consigned my Pebble to the pile of outdated gadgets and gizmos in my office for a year or more. All of this is to say that in its use as, first and foremost, a watch, the Apple Watch has been a success. | wear it pretty much every day, it tells the time: done. But when it comes to the smart side of the equation, well, that’s a different story entirely. Let’s take one of the Apple Watch’s core pieces of functionality: notifications. This is ostensibly the simplest smart feature on the Watch: your phone gets a notification, it pops up on the Watch with & a subtle vibration. Most of the time, this feature is great. It’s nice to get notification unobtrusively, rather than having a phone buzz or chime, and I’ve found that it actually tends to not disrupt personal conversations that much, because | can generally check my Watch later at a less obtrusive time. But it’s not without problems. The other day | got a notification on my watch of a text message I'd received the previous night, which had already shown up on Messages on my Mac. And which I'd already responded to. Since notifications are routed through the Watch, | frequently see an email pop up on my iPhone or my Mac twenty or 30 seconds before seeing the notification for that email on my watch. And in a bizarre glitch — my friend, Panic designer Neven Mrgan, dubbed it The Black Plague Bug — one of my conversations constantly shows Macworld the same two really old message bubbles at the top when | receive a new notification. And this is all in regards to one of the Watch’s simpler features, one which | use pretty much every single day. Aside from telling the time, it’s the least of what the Apple Watch does, because the Apple Watch does a whole lot. The sad part is most of it not very well. Looking smart At this point, I've removed most of the third-party apps and glances from my Apple Watch. Even with the native apps ushered in by watchOS 2, launching an application and waiting for it to load data is just too slow to be useful except in cases where | can’t get to my phone. (The speediness of the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 6s, in particular, & has made a mockery of how much faster it is to unlock my phone and launch an app than wait for it to load on the Watch.) Glances are likewise kind of sluggish, and having more than a few has made it largely unmanageable: there’s no indication of which Glance is where, which means swiping through a bunch of them to find the one you want, only to have to wait for it to update. In watchOS2 2, you can use Siri to open a Glance, but that feels a bit like using a crowbar to open a jar of pickles. Third-party complications, another of watchOS. 2’s hallmark features, was something | was looking forward to greatly, but it’s ultimately ended up being a bit underwhelming. | installed Dark Sky’s, but most of the time it looks much like the built-in weather complication, and it doesn’t seem to update Macworld consistently, which means | have to load the app to get an accurate temperature reading... and then we're back to waiting for that to load. Time will tell Eight months into the Apple Watch, it seems clear to me that it’s a cool device, but it’s got a long way to go. I’m looking forward to seeing what watchOS 3 brings, but I’m starting to think that it will take until the second-generation Apple Watch for the whole thing to really come into its own. Because performance is definitely the biggest impediment right now, and there’s only so much that software engineering can do to make up for slow hardware. Despite all of my complaints, nitpicks, and criticisms, I’m still bullish on the Apple Watch. & As smartphones and tablets become more and more people’s primary computing devices, smart wearables are going to start taking over some of the more casual uses that those categories have abandoned. The slope of technology tends towards the more personal: from desktop, to laptop, to smartphone. Wearables strikes me as the next logical progression, the Apple Watch is already stakina out around on the wrist. Dan Moren Review: Without a UK layout, it’s hard to justify the price tag £139 inc VAT - apple.com/uk he iPad Pro launched on 11 November, and with it came a new and Apple Pencil stylus and Smart Keyboard accessory designed specifically for the iPad Pro review. We've spent time with all three, but here we’re focusing on the Smart Keyboard, which is not only a keyboard to help bring laptop functionality to the 12in iPad, but also acts as a stand and a case to protect the iPad’s screen. |P enweesr6inas 46 ovoveo16 144 | Macworld Typing experience I'm writing this review using the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard, and am surprised to find that it’s suitably speedy once you get the hang of it. To begin with, | was making mistakes in almost every word, but it only took a few paragraphs to figure out the positioning of the keys and the amount of pressure required, after which my typing speed came back naturally and | almost forgot | was using it. That’s while I’m sitting at a desk though. One of the big issues with the iPad Pro keyboard is that it can’t be used on your lap. It’s not sturdy like the keyboard on a MacBook, so you'll need to find a solid surface to rest it on. Each letter key is slightly concave — the centre of every individual key is a tiny bit lower than the outer edges. This helps your finger find the its place & on the key quickly and easily, to prevent you from making mistakes and to help speed up your typing. The bigger keys like the shift and delete keys aren't dipped, but you'll still find that they’re easy to tap when required, and you'll find that there are all of the keys you’d expect from a normal full- size keyboard. You'll also find a dedicated key for switching to other iOS keyboards like the emoji keyboards or a third-party option you've installed. What's surprising, though, is that there are no dedicated iOS keys on Apple’s Smart Keyboard. Third-party keyboard makers have been including buttons as shortcuts for the Home button, search, brightness and media controls. Apple has designed iOS 9 to work with the Smart Keyboard, meaning you can use several shortcuts to get things done faster like you can with your Mac. Macworld You can find out what the shortcuts are in any app by holding down the Command, Option or Control key. Design You'll find that the Smart Keyboard can hold your iPad at an ideal angle for use while typing, and that it’s sturdy even when you need to use the touchscreen of the iPad itself. It’s also ideal for watching movies or FaceTime calls even when you don’t need to use the keyboard itself. The stand can only be used in landscape mode, of course, as the keyboard is connected to the longer edge of the cover, but that should suit most users. | really liked feel of the Smart Keyboard’s material, too. It’s smooth to type on but it’s also durable, made with custom-woven fabric that we imagine & will hold up against grimy fingers small spillages & thanks to its seamless design. When being used as a case, all parts of the Smart Keyboard that touch the screen are covered in a soft microfibre material, and the outside is a polyurethane material. It’s a bit disappointing that it’s not made with leather considering the price of the case, and we know from experience that the polyurethane looks well-worn after a few months of being carried around in a bag. It’s also only available in a dark grey colour at the moment — we'd have liked a navy blue option too. Plus, the cover only protects the front of the iPad so the back is vulnerable to dents and scratches. You'll need to invest in an additional Smart Keyboard compatible shell case to protect the aluminium back. Apple’s own offering costs £65. Where the Smart Keyboard’s design does shine is in its low profile. It’s only 4mm thick, which is pretty Macworld impressive, so you'll hardly be adding any bulk to & the iPad. It does weigh 336g, though so you'll find that it adds a bit of weight. One of the biggest downfalls of the iPad Pro’s Smart Keyboard for us here in the UK is the lack of a UK keyboard layout. The only option you'll get is a US English keyboard layout, which means no pound key. That’s disappointing when you consider how much money you'll be spending on the keyboard. It costs a whopping #(there’s an example of the problem with that lack of a pound key)139, which is a hefty sum once you've already shelled out for the iPad Pro itself, which will set you back over £600. Battery You'll never need to charge the iPad Pro’s Smart Keyboard. Instead, it connects to the tablet using magnets in the Smart Connector and uses Macworld conductive material to pass data from the keyboard to the iPad and power from the iPad to the keyboard. Price As mentioned, the iPad Pro will cost you £139. That’s a lot of cash to spend on an iPad accessory, particularly when you consider that you can get the Magic Keyboard for £79 from Apple and that’s compatible with your Mac as well as iOS devices, and offers an overall better typing experience. Of course, the Magic Keyboard isn’t as convenient to carry around and lacks the stand and cover functionality, but if the Smart Keyboard was around that price point we’d be much more likely to buy it. For £139 we'd like to see a back cover, backlit keys and the butterfly key design, as well as colour & options and a UK keyboard layout, too. Maybe we're & asking a bit much, but Apple is asking for a bit much from us, too, we think. Additionally, you'll find it tricky to get your hands on a Smart Keyboard at the moment. On Apple’s online store it’s suggesting you'll have a wait of three to four weeks at time of writing. Macworld buying advice We're torn about the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard. It has potential, but there are things that need to be sorted before we’d recommend spending £139 on it. We need to see a UK layout, more colour options and protection for the back of the iPad Pro. For now, there are third-party options like Logitech’s Create case, which is not only cheaper at £110 but also includes dedicated iOS keys, backlit keys and protection for the back of the iPad. Ashleigh Allsopp ° Review: Much sharper than the average smart stylus £79 inc VAT - apple.com/uk pple’s pressure-sensitive Pencil is a home run, exhibiting remarkable performance ‘on the new iPad Pro, but that should not come as a shock. The two were engineered to work together and only with each other. The iPad screen recognises when you are using the Pencil, and in response, dynamically boosts its scan rate to 240 times per second (twice the speed it scans for your finger) to minimise latency, the time between the Pencil’s point touching the glass and a mark appearing on the canvas. __s | MWEEBIGinds 51 Oviosre016 Hc84 | Macworld Simultaneously, the Pencil’s sensors work with the display to detect its position, force, and tilt via APIs in iOS 9.1 that not only register current location but predict future movement. Press lightly to get a thin stroke, press harder to get a thicker stroke, and rub lightly with the side of the Pencil’s tip to get shading action, just like using a regular pencil, though the quality of that shading depends on the app and the brush you choose. Sketching and writing Straight out of the box, Apple’s Pencil is a joy to use. You don’t need to do any elaborate pairing or visit the Settings app — just plug the Pencil in to the iPad Pro’s Lightning port to pair it, then go to town. It works as a stylus with any app, letting you launch, & navigate, scroll, and complete basic operations. You & can even trace over a regular sheet of paper. But Pencil doesn’t do everything. Edge gestures to access Notifications or the Control Center don’t work, and you can’t use it to open a second app in Slide Over or resize apps in Split View. You must still use your finger for those functions, and I’m good with that because it’s not necessary, and you don’t want to accidentally invoke functions with Pencil. | tested the Pencil with Evernote, Notability, Adobe Photoshop Mix, Fix and Sketch, Complete Anatomy, LiquidText, Pixelmator, Procreate, Paper, Notes, Apple Photos, and iMovie, along with the iPad’s built-in apps. Remarkably, each app performed as advertised, and in accordance with its own conventions, including Notes’ nifty onscreen ruler that helps you draw a straight line. The only anomaly was the reference app Complete Anatomy, aimed Macworld at medical students, which suffered from a slight lag time when | used the Pencil to annotate the text. Cursive handwriting and printing can be a heartbreak with many styluses, and performance varies widely. However, | have yet to see a handwriting function that works quite as well as Pencil. (It reproduces my poor penmanship flawlessly.) Pencil is a totally natural notetaker and such a pleasure to use, that I’m almost tempted to lug the iPad Pro around for the sheer joy of writing with it. And just for the record, | thoroughly enjoyed sketching with it too, though I’m far from a freehand artist. Use and handling Styluses are a personal thing. What feels right to one paw doesn’t necessarily translate to another. & Apple’s Pencil has just the right amount of balance and heft so that | can use it for long periods of time without feeling hand strain, just like a traditional pencil. That’s actually a bigger deal than it sounds. Only one other stylus I've used competes, and that’s Adobe's Ink. Most other styluses wear out my hand in a surprisingly short period of time. me | Macworld That said, | would have appreciated the instrument to have more of a matte feel, as opposed to the slick plastic surface. It was not hard to grip, nor did it slip from my fingers, but it would feel even better with an ever-so-slight degree of velvety friction on the surface. That’s also related to the diameter. Being a pencil, it’s thin. And for drawing, that’s great. But & when I’m taking notes with it, I’m reminded of how & | tend to go for pens with a bit of a thicker barrel to ease the strain on my hand as the words fly from by brain to my fingertips. I’m not advocating Apple make the Pencil barrel thicker, but rather expressing that the variety of tasks the Pencil affords will offer different experiences. The Pencil is pencil-like in length, so my small hand was just about able to handle it in a natural way. It edges toward being a bit too long, and I’m glad Apple decided not to use the end tip as an eraser, like traditional pencils, because at that length, it might feel awkward. Most styluses are an either-or affair: You’re using your finger or you're using the stylus. Thanks to a new touch subsystem in the tablet, the iPad Pro can recognize both inputs simultaneously and accurately differentiate between the two. Macworld Automatic and accurate palm rejection makes the Pencil convenient because | can actually park my fist directly on the iPad’s glass while writing, drawing, or painting without having to worry about errant marks showing up on the canvas. And that brings me to the screw-on tip. Most high-quality styluses advertise their presence with a clicky little sound that gets old really fast. When I’m stressed or frustrated with a project, the last thing | want to hear is a clickety-clack. The Pencil has a point, but its materials make a very muted sound, which is much more agreeable. Apple thoughtfully includes a replacement tip in the box, just in case. The only problem is losing tiny things. The second tip can stay in the box until you need it, but take care not to lose the adapter that connects the Pencil to your Mac or an AC power adapter for charging, or & the little cap that covers the Lightning connector, as you cannot park both on the Pencil at the same time. Limited use cases To use the Pencil, which at £79 | consider reasonably priced, though on the high end of the spectrum, you also need the iPad Pro, which starts at £679 and goes up to £899. The Pencil is totally useless on any other iOS device. It’s a little disappointing that Apple limits the Pencil to iPad Pro users, when it could potentially engage a larger audience of late-model iPad users. Apple appears intent on creating a uniquely superior experience with the Pencil, so that a different kind of interaction, with perhaps more latency and less pressure sensitivity and tilt awareness, would defeat the purpose. Nonetheless, some people will stick Macworld with their laptops and smaller iPads and never need the iPad Pro. Depriving them of the Pencil doesn’t seem quite fair. Both the Pencil and the iPad Pro hold up well in terms of battery life, and the when the Pencil’s charge does drain, it takes almost no time to get it up and running again. The initial charge lasts about 12 hours, but 15 seconds plugged into the Lightning connector of the iPad Pro gets you back to work for another half hour. Getting a quick battery boost directly from the host device — without having to get up out of your chair to hunt for a cord or charger — is the way we all should work. Charging the Pencil is easier and faster than sharpening a regular pencil. Battery life, in this case, is academic, and the Pencil has no onboard indicator. However, you can & check the battery level by enabling a Batteries widget in Notification Center; plus, an onscreen alert flashes when the battery hits 5 percent. Macworld buying advice If you’re an iPad Pro owner, should you buy the Pencil? That’s a no-brainer — Apple hit it out of the ballpark in terms of ease of use and performance. Even those who feel they have no specific use for it right now will likely find it makes life easier in various, unexpected ways. If you are an iPad owner that does not need an iPad Pro, it’s okay to be annoyed that you can’t use the Pencil with the rest of the iPad line-up. | think Apple should democratize the Pencil, upgrading the next generation of iPads to take advantage of at least some of its charms. Jackie Dove TTT TT) 6 | Group Test: Give the audio on your iPhone and iPad a boost he iPhone 6s and 6s Plus provide up to 128GB of storage, which makes them ideal for home entertainment and storing all your music and video files — even those with 16GB devices can stream the latest music through the likes of Apple Music and Spotify. With music becoming more easily available, you'll need a good speaker system to go with them, and you're really spoilt for choice these days. There are dozens of speaker manufacturers fighting for a slice of the Apple pie, with speakers in all shapes and sizes, designed for both indoor and outdoor use. Many speakers talk the talk — but — Fo wecsteines 57 ovoveo16 144 | Macworld do they walk the walk? Here we explain various features you should look out for when in the market for a new speaker for your device, including the compression technology used by the speaker, and 360-degree audio. Compression technology By default, every Bluetooth audio-capable device must be able to use an agreed basic compression system, known as SBC. Sub-band coding is a psychoacoustic lossy codec — that is it discards music information deemed not so important to our ears, to greatly reduce the number of bits that must be sent in a digital music stream. The quality of SBC varies and it runs at various bitrates, depending on how fine and deep the slices are made into separate frequency bands & known as ‘bins’. Actually quality depends on how the sending device has been configured by its maker. But SBC typically runs at around 200kb/s, and has the subjective quality of MP3 at 128kb/s - which is to say, not at all good. Alternatives are now in use thankfully. Top dog is aptX, a British invention that forms the basis of DTS cinema sound. It’s still lossy and compressed sound but amazingly nearly transparent to CD resolution at its fixed bitrate of 350kb/s. Samsung invested heavily in current aptX license holder CSR plc and now fits aptX compatibility into most of its Google phones. Apple does not include aptX in any of its iOS devices, although Macs since Snow Leopard can use aptX Bluetooth audio. Instead, the iPhone and iPad will try to beam out Bluetooth audio using the Macworld AAC codec, which is part of the MPEG-4 standard. Results are always better than SBC, but not quite so good as aptX. Amp classification The second hindrance to Bluetooth speaker sound is the current reliance on low-fidelity amplification technology, in common with other budget consumer electronics. While natural sounding hi-fi amplifiers still use a linear system known as Class A or Class B (more typically both, to form Class AB), cheap and portable audio devices use a fast-switching PWM system to drive speakers, known as Class D. Class D is a clever way to make amplifiers far more efficient, turning more precious mains or battery power into usable amp output power. That’s particularly noteworthy in a mobile age dependent & on batteries. Class D amps run cold so don’t require massive heatsinks to vent unwanted heat. A complete powerful 2OW amp module can be built around a small microchip, saving much space and cost. The technology has everything going for it — except sound quality, which is typically grainy, harsh, lifeless and stripped of the natural essence of music. The smallest of speakers with a single mid-range speaker and limited volume can hide some of these issues; the challenge for the designer is to make a full-range speaker system that makes you actually want to listen to it. Battery life and additional capabilities So, what should you look for when in the market for a Bluetooth speaker? A popular feature of Bluetooth speakers is “360-degree audio” — but what is Macworld 360-degree audio? Generally speaking, speakers that offer 360-degree audio are usually cylindrical or circular in design and feature drivers facing every direction, opposed to the traditional front-facing speaker setup. This produces ‘room filling audio’ which waves goodbye to the audio ‘sweet spot’ that you'll find on traditional speakers, where audio will sound best when facing a certain direction. Though it's not a deal breaker, it’s usually something we look for when in the market for a new speaker. What about battery life? While not too long ago, the standard battery life for a Bluetooth speaker was a slightly disappointing five hours, we’ve come along way with regards to Bluetooth accessory battery life and with many budget speakers offering upwards of 10 hours per charge, we wouldn’t recommend & buying a speaker that offers anything dramatically & less. Also, it’s worth keeping an eye out for speakers that double up as portable battery chargers, as it'll probably come in handy when using your smartphone to play music. Some Bluetooth speakers also offer Wi-Fi connectivity, so which connection should you opt for? Traditionally, using a Bluetooth connection gives you a 10m range, which means that you'll only be able to play music from a speaker in the same room as you - any further and you'll probably experience the audio cutting out. However, Wi-Fi has a much wider reach, and could allow you to play music from anywhere in the house. With this being said, the Wi-Fi setup process can be quite stressful and require users to install a specific app on their smartphone in order to operate the speaker, whereas Bluetooth setup takes 30 seconds. Macworld GEAR4 SoundWave portable Bluetooth speaker Price: £40 Another great Bluetooth speaker for the money is the GEAR4 SoundWave, the company’s latest portable Bluetooth speaker. Black in design with a smooth-to-the-touch silicon finish, the SoundWave certainly doesn’t fall into the category of ugly Bluetooth speakers, though it is pretty bulky when compared to other portable Bluetooth speakers, measuring in at 22.5x6x8cm and weighing 496g. However, with this being said, its larger- than-usual size means it can pack some serious audio equipment under the hood, which provides surprisingly decent audio — but we'll come to that. On top of the Bluetooth speaker, you'll find a number of controls that not only allows you to change the volume, but also allows you to skip to the next track, skip back to the previous track and even pause the music completely. Though these buttons may not sound ground-breaking, a number of manufacturers are moving away from physical Bluetooth controls in favour of exclusive control via Macworld the device playing music, but that’s not always ideal and we like to have the option to control playback via the speaker. The GEAR4 SoundWave features twin speakers that, when coupled with a passive radiator for additional bass, produces audio that’s both room filling and full of bass. However, the bass isn’t too overpowering — it’s subtle enough to make its’ presence known without drowning out the midrange. The power of the SoundWave is pretty impressive as it can reach high volumes without the distortion that you'll find with many other budget Bluetooth speakers, making it an ideal companion for those trips to the beach or the park. With regards to battery life, you should get around six hours on a single charge of its rechargeable & lithium-ion battery. You can connect to the speaker & via Bluetooth with a range of 10m, although it also has an auxiliary input to be used with older devices that don’t feature Bluetooth connectivity. UE Boom 2 Price: £169.99 Ultimate Ears’ UE Boom 2 is the second generation BOOM, bringing with it a number of improvements when compared to the original (and hugely popular) UE Boom. The main selling point of the UE Boom 2 is its 360-degree audio, providing truly room filling audio and waving goodbye to the speaker audio ‘sweet spot’. It’s not just audio projection that makes the UE Boom 2 the speaker that it is though, it’s shock and dirt proof with IPX7 rated water resistance, meaning it'll survive any journey you take it on. Macworld The UE Boom 2 also boasts a 15-hour battery life, has a 100ft wireless range and can connect to two devices at once, providing a musical switch-over without having to disconnect from the speaker and stop the music from playing. It helps to make listening to music a more sociable experience, rather than having one person deciding what’s played. Users can also download the UE Boom app to tweak the EQ of the speaker and even pair up with a second UE Boom 2 fora true stereo experience. It’s available in a range of colours, from a rather modest black and grey to a more outlandish orange and purple combo. The best part about the UE Boom 2 is that the company is constantly updating the speaker and adding new features, all of which can be installed via regular OTA updates, making the speaker future-proof (to a certain extent, anyway). Marsboy Orb portable Bluetooth speaker Price: £38.99 Marsboy’s Orb, the 5W Bluetooth-enabled budget speaker will turn your bedroom into your own private disco, thanks to its built-in colour changing LEDs. Circular in design, this black plastic speaker is half mesh and half soft-touch plastic. Below the meshed surface a series of LEDs can transmit a range of colours, creating a disco-like effect in your bedroom. Rather than pulsating to the music, the LEDs are controlled by choosing one of seven programmes. The button to control this is found on the speaker's rim. Also here are the various controls: — DEE $ EZ _ Macworld play/pause, skip track, volume up/down and answer call when the speaker is connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone. You can also hook it up using an AUX & cable, or take advantage of the built-in microSD card slot - the Marsboy supports MP3, WMA, WAV, APE and FLAC. Removable memory card support is not at all a given on cheap Bluetooth speakers. There’s also an option that allows you to pair two Marsboy Bluetooth speakers to create surround sound from your iPhone or iPad — which is handy, as the Orb isn’t the loudest Bluetooth speaker we’ve ever heard. While audio isn’t of the crystal clear variety you'd find in true audiophile equipment — and neither would you expect it to be at this price — the Marsboy was able to handle everything we threw at it, from rock to pop and everything in between. For the money, you certainly can’t complain about the performance. And with a built-in 3000mAh battery, you should see around 12 hours of battery life ona single charge. Macworld Cowin Ark Price: £149.99 The Cowin Ark is unlike many other Bluetooth speakers as its formed of two parts; a portable Bluetooth speaker/soundbar that sits on top, nicknamed Cruze, and the wired base, nicknamed Ark. The mixture of brushed metal sides and a mirror finish on top means that the Cowin Ark demands attention — if you’re looking for a Bluetooth speaker system that'll be ‘invisible’ in its surroundings, the Ark isn’t the best option for you. Though the Cowin Ark comes as a two-piece Bluetooth speaker system, the Cruze can be taken to the beach or the park and be used by itself, thanks to its built-in rechargeable battery. The Ark features Magnatec technology, which syncs the two parts of your system ready for playback, while & Macworld also keeping the Cruze securely attached to the Ark whenever its placed on top — but that’s not its only functionality. The Magnatec technology also provides wireless charging for the soundbar, which means the Cruze is fully charged and ready to go whenever you are. Oh, and the Ark can also be used to charge up your smartphone too, if it supports wireless charging. We were really surprised by the audio quality of the Cowin Ark, especially with regards to its bass output. The levels of bass are nothing short of phenomenal and when paired with a soundbar that can produce 35W of room-filling audio, the result is a well rounded sound perfect for a variety of tasks, from background audio when you're relaxing to playing tunes full blast in your living room with your & mates. This is thanks to its two speaker drivers, two & passive radiators and a 5in ported subwoofer. Edifier Bric Connect Price: £65 on Amazon The sophisticated design of the Edifier Bric Connect is suited more to the home than outdoors in our opinion, especially with no kind of water, dust or shock resistance provided with the speaker. It certainly isn’t on a par with the likes of the UE Roll in terms of its indestructibility, but with this being said, it'll suit many users both at home and away — as long as you don’t plan on going swimming with it! Unlike many other Bluetooth speakers, the Bric Connect offers two ways to power the speaker, one suited for home and one suited for the outdoors. The first option is to plug the speaker directly into the mains, which is ideal for those of us that want Macworld to use the Bric Connect as a stationary Bluetooth speaker within the home. But what happens when you want to venture out with the Bric Connect? The good news is that the speaker can also be powered via batteries, but not the lithium-ion rechargeable ones that you’re probably expecting. Instead, the & Bric Connect requires six AA batteries to power the & speaker wherever a plug isn’t available. The Bric Connect produces well rounded, room filling audio that we think is well above the Bric Connect’s £65 price tag. The main cause of shock was the levels of bass produced by the speaker (thanks to its bass reflect port at the rear), as we’d only heard a similar level of bass produced by two- piece systems. It doesn’t drown out the mid range either, which is an issue we've experienced with Bluetooth speakers in the past. Vocals sound rich, and the speaker performs as well playing acoustic music as it does playing Dubstep. Cambridge Audio Bluetone Price: £199.95 The Bluetone’s matte black casing isn’t much to look at, but it packs a serious punch for speaker DEE Macworld costing just under £200. With 100W output, the Bluetone is powerful enough to really fill a room with sound, and provides a more solid bass sound than 24 many compact speakers of this size. It measures 182x354x118mm and weighs 4.1kg so isn’t quite as portable as some of the other speakers in this round-up. It only runs off mains power, but there’s a carrying handle built into the back of the speaker and it’s light enough to easily carry from room to room at home. It uses Bluetooth for wireless connectivity — with the option of Apt-X for devices that support it — and there are two inputs for non-wireless devices as well. Denon Envaya Mini Price: £99. The Denon Envaya Mini is a gorgeous little Bluetooth speaker ready for use with your iPhone, iPad or Mac. It measures in at just 20.9x5.4x5.1cm, but it weighs a surprisingly hefty 558g, which makes it a little less portable than we'd like. But where this speaker really excels is the audio, so there’s a bit of good news for you. It boasts dual 40mm full range drivers with a 40x83mm passive radiator, which produces both crisp sound and impressive bass. Maxell MXSP-BTO3 Price: £44.99 This petite portable speaker from Maxell will appeal to those who value style, ease of use and true portability above audio quality. It’s by no means a bad little speaker set for your iPhone or iPad. It comes in a variety of colours including DEE Macworld white, blue and black. Weighing just 278g and just 154x59x46mm in size, it’s well put together and should survive most tumbles thanks to its durable build. It’s a 6W output wireless speaker set with two cones and no subwoofer so don’t expect amazing audio quality, but for its affordability and portability it’s a price some will be willing to pay. There’s Bluetooth 4.0 or you can plug in via the 3.5mm cable, and it’s loud enough to fill a room. There's a built-in DC 6V 12000mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery, too. Bayan Audio SoundBook Go Price: £62.99 Third in the series, the Bayan Audio SoundBook GO is a Bluetooth portable speaker worth reading about. 24 It’s an affordable little speaker that bucks the trend for many of its Bluetooth breed by being a delight to listen to. Plus, it’s a neat design that provides some protection to the front perforated grille if you should travel with it. Inside the SoundBook Go is a pair of 35mm full-range drivers powered by a 7.5 watt stereo Macworld Class D chip amplifier. You'll get reliable Bluetooth connection or the option of a 3.5mm minijack for improved sound performance. Scosche BoomBOTTLE Price: £119 The Scosche BoomBOTTLE is a portable speaker ideal for those who enjoy the outdoors. As the name suggests, it’s designed in the shape of a drinks bottle, which is actually designed to fit in the bottle holder on your bike. It’s able to pair with an iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth, USB or 3.5mm jack. Using the BoomBOTTLE in your bike’s bottle holder is not exactly ideal, but thankfully it’s not limited to just that. It lends itself to other outdoor situations and it’s robust, too. The cylindrical speaker shape means it offers omni-directional sound, & provided by two 3W 40mm speakers. Plus, it weighs a surprisingly light 443g and is 70mm across and 205mm long. aa Macworld Pure Jongo S3X Price: £129.99 Pure’s Jongo speakers have been really popular, & and the company recently added the portable S3X & model to the range. Admittedly, the S3X is a little heavier than many of its portable rivals — at 1.25kg it weighs almost as much as the 13in MacBook Air — but its rechargeable battery lasts for up to 15 hours and its 20W output is powerful enough to get things going at an outdoor party or BBQ. The S3X includes both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for streaming your music. And, like all the other Jongo models, the S3X can be used on its own, paired with another Jongo for two-channel stereo, or as part of a multi-room system that beams music all around your home. Bowers & Wilkins A7 Price: £699.99 The Zeppelin from Bowers & Wilkins was one of the first speakers to support Apple’s AirPlay, but the company has released a number of other AirPlay speakers since then and the A7 is its current flagship model. The £699 price tag is pretty steep, but the A7 can earn its keep, with five separate drivers — including a proper sub-woofer — that provide terrific clarity and detail, along with a good, firm bass sound. And with 100W total output the A7 can fill a small hall with sound, let alone your front room at home. There’s no Bluetooth but, as you’d expect, the A7 supports AirPlay for your iOS devices, and provides both Wi-Fi and Ethernet for connecting to your home network. Creative Roar Price: £129.99 It's a while since we’ve heard from Creative, but its Roar speaker deserves to get your attention. It’s a relatively compact speaker, about the size of a thick paperback, and finished off with a smart metallic grille. However, Creative’s engineers have managed Macworld to cram in five separate drivers and two amps, including a proper sub-woofer that gives it a nice firm kick in the bass. Creative doesn’t quote a figure for the amp & output, but it really does create a big sound for such & a small speaker system. It’s a little heavy at 1.1kg, but the sound quality, eight-hour battery, and extras such as a microphone for voice calls make the Roar one of the best portable speakers we’ve seen in this price range. There’s Bluetooth, 3.5mm line-in, Micro- USB and a microSD slot to boot. Jabra Solemate Max Price: £249.99 The rugged design and attractive sound of the original Solemate speaker earned it a lot of fans, so Jabra recently followed it up with the larger Solemate Max. Admittedly, a weight of almost 3kg means that you probably won't be carrying the Solemate Max around in your backpack, but it does have its own carrying handle to help you out, and the extra size Macworld and weight means that it can include a big battery that lasts for up to 14 hours. It produces a big sound too — the bass could be a bit stronger, but its 9OW output is powerful enough & to get the party going when you're on holiday or out & in the garden. The £250 price tag is a bit steep, but it’s dust, dirt and water-resistant, so it'll earn its keep if you need a speaker system that can cope with the British weather. Monster Superstar Price: £99.99 Most speakers of this size sacrifice sound quality for portability, but the modestly named SuperStar claims to be the ‘world’s smallest audiophile’ speaker. It really is a pocket-sized little speaker, measuring just 48mm thick and 206mm long. However, it’s splash-resistant and sturdy enough to cope with life on the move. The sound quality, inevitably, isn’t up to true audiophile standard, but the bass radiator gives it a firmer sound than many of its ultra-compact rivals. It kicks out a decent volume too — noisier rock |Praweest6inas 76 and dance music can distort a bit at high volume, but it'll still do the trick for listening to a few tunes when you're out and about with your friends. Price: £124.99 It’s not as portable as its little brother, the Trax, but the Max makes up for it with really good sound quality and a competitive price. The Max measures almost a foot long and weighs about 2kg, so it’s a oveve0%6 1442 | Macworld bit big and heavy for a backpack. However, it’s light enough to carry around indoors or to take out into the garden, and big enough to pack a decent punch as well. The 30W output won't have the roof rattling, but it’s more than loud enough for listening to music in your bedroom, or for a dinner party or BBQ, and the inclusion of a bass radiator lends it a firmer, fuller sound than you normally get from mid-size speakers such as this. iClever IC-BTSO2 Price: £22.99 iClever’s Bluetooth Wireless Speaker is one of the best cheap Bluetooth speakers we've tried. It looks great and it’s affordable. It’s surprising just how much sound emanates from this tiny zinc-alloy box. Given that you can easily fit the 64.5x64.5x70.1mm & 261g iClever in a single hand, the 5W speaker hidden inside does a much better job than we should reasonably expect from such a portable speaker, both good on bass and free from distortion at high volume. Lewis Painter Opinion: Games are just a small part of its overall appeal y the time Apple began its event on Wednesday, we already knew most of the basics: leaks had soured the surprise of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the iPad Pro, and certainly the long-awaited Apple TV refresh. However, one pre-show rumour didn’t come true, which left some people disappointed: The new set-top box isn’t a gaming powerhouse. It plays games, certainly. The addition of the App Store means that the new Apple TV is designed to ovivense 142 | — Ewwecsteines 73 Macworld run big-screen games, with Apple demonstrating a multiplayer version of Crossy Road, a new Rayman, and a rhythmic, family-oriented sports game from Rock Band maker Harmonix. And with the touchpad remote, iOS devices, gamepads, and other peripherals all supported, there’s some versatility to what developers can do with it. But the idea that the Apple TV could challenge the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 in any serious way seemed off-base, and Apple’s brief presentation didn’t inspire belief that gaming will be a tent pole focus for the device. Does that make it a “major bust,” as gaming site Kotaku said? Well, no: there’s still plenty of upside to the Apple TV’s gaming capabilities, even if rumors undercut the impact. What it is (and isn’t) & The Apple TV is not a £350 to £400 console packed with high-end gaming guts; it’s a tiny, £129 box with an iPhone 6 processor in it. And it’s not designed to run the kinds of £50 games that are built by hundreds of people and showcase the latest in graphics technology. In fact, many of the games you'll play probably started life on the iPhone, and most will be free-to-play offerings. In truth, the new Apple TV is quite similar in capabilities to a few other boxes on the market. Amazon’s Fire TV, for example, is all about media and games, while Android TV-powered boxes (like the Nexus Player) can likewise run apps, games, and more. Ouya is perhaps the most high-profile failure of the bunch, as it Kickstarted millions of dollars, built up a lot of hype, and then botched the landing. We probably needn’t worry about a messy launch Macworld with the Apple TV. There’s an incredible selection of iPhone and iPad games on the App Store that can be tweaked and revised for tvOS, and both the company and platform are a known quantity by now. Also, Apple sold more than 25 million of the boxes when it was just a “hobby” for the company — imagine what might happen now that Apple thinks it’s important. That said, the gaming capabilities of the Apple TV aren't strong or central enough to be a big selling point. Apple realizes that, which is why games got a few minutes in the middle of the TV demo. It’s part of the overall appeal of the new box, but not the hook. But that’s the same deal with the iPhone and iPad — you buy these devices for apps, communication, media, and more, and you also happen to gain access to a vast array of great games along the way. & In that sense, the Apple TV is the perfect complementary gaming device for an avid iPhone or iPad owner. The ability to buy or download a game on your touch device and also have it available on your TV (assuming the developer has made it Apple TV-compatible) is a wonderful perk, particularly with the ability to pick up a saved game on any device. And with iPhones and iPads used as secondary controllers for Apple TV, it makes the box that much more compelling. Stumbling blocks Granted, control is a possible point of contention with the Apple TV. The bundled Siri Remote is interesting — it’s like the halfway point between a laptop trackpad and a Wii Remote, letting you tap and swipe for basic interactions, as well as tilt Macworld SteelSeries Nimbus and move with the built-in motion controls. That a means easily steering your sports car in Asphalt 8: & Airborne, or maybe swinging the remote like a bat or golf club — and whichever other examples seemed new and interesting when the Wii hit in 2006. But between the small touchpad and the lack of gaming- specific buttons, the Siri Remote isn’t going to work well for all types of games. In some cases, your iPhone or iPad might be an able substitute, although developers will have to contend with the fact that a (likely small) number of Apple TV owners won't also have an iOS device. Because there’s no traditional gamepad included with the box, advanced gaming will be limited to those who seek out additional peripherals. Apple isn’t even making its own controller for the TV; that'll be left up to third-party makers through the MFi program. SteelSeries is first up with the Nimbus, which looks like a cheaper version of its Stratus XL iOS controller and also Macworld works with iPhones and iPads. There’s another limitation in play: it appears that apps and games are limited to 200MB of storage apiece. That may not be a problem for many casual games, but high- performance titles may need to turn to the cloud to house their data — or grab chunks as needed for progression. But it also means developers may need to condense or compress assets, which isn’t going to make games look any better on your 50in flat screen. And still... Despite those potential complications, | see a lot of value to gaming on the Apple TV. It’s ideal for existing iOS device owners, and playing games ona box directly connected to your TV is a lot easier than using AirPlay streaming or one of those awkward & HDMI connectors from years back. The Apple TV could be a great living room console for family and party multiplayer experiences, such as a trivia game like You Don’t Know Jack. Get a few friends with iOS devices, crowd them around the TV, and you've got easy, instant fun. The Siri Remote has a built-in microphone, so why not bust out some karaoke party games, for that matter? It’s also encouraging to see developers embracing the option to bring grander console experiences to Apple TV. You'll be able to play this fall’s Guitar Hero Live on the device with the same plastic guitar peripheral — but no need for a dedicated gaming console. And popular toys-to- life games Skylanders Supercharged and Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars will both launch starter kits for Apple TV, as well. Macworld As far as smaller games go, I’m not sure that every game will thrive in the living room setting. I'd rather play Crossy Road on my phone and be right there in the tense tapping action, rather than several feet away from a TV. It reminds me of buying mobile gem Threes! on Xbox One last year — I'd played hours and hours on iPhone, so | paid £3.99 to grab the console version and only played for a few minutes total. It just didn’t click with me the same way. But bigger, deeper games will make a lot of sense on Apple TV. Apple featured Transistor prominently during the demo, and it’s one of the games that will really benefit from the grander experience of playing on a TV. Same with Bastion, XCOM: Enemy Within, The Walking Dead, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. & While all work well on an iPad, those are the kinds of games | want to play on a big screen while slumped on the couch at the end of the day. And since Apple TV games can require a full gamepad (unlike iOS games with MFi controllers), the console experience can be recreated without compromise. And what about retro games that started on a controller before moving to touch? Sonic the Hedgehog will be a lot sweeter on your TV when you don’t have to dig out a dusty old Sega Genesis. No, the Apple TV probably won’t stop anyone from shelling out for an Xbox, nor will the option of television play likely kill your iPhone gaming habits. But the option for living room play within Apple’s mobile ecosystem is a huge perk of the new set- top box, and another reason why it seems like a seriously entertaining upgrade. Andrew Hayward Macworld Opinion: Questioning Apple’s battery case Why now? Why the bulge? Is it an Apple product? 4 (4 What's with that Apple battery pack?” If you’re the resident Apple know-it-all in your family/ office/school, you probably heard this question more than once this week. It’s an appropriate one to ask when the biggest company in the world dropped one of its strangest releases: a battery case with a weird hump that promises to extend the life of your iPhone 6 or 6s by 25 hours. | won't say it’s awkward, but had it been released by a company like Griffin or even Mophie, it would have a hard Macworld time finding someone to sit with in the cafeteria. But since it’s Apple, the whole world noticed. The timing of the release was curious in itself - on a random Tuesday, just 17 days before Christmas — but even if it had been unveiled alongside the iPhone 6s in September, it would have been no less of an oddity. It might be the most un-Apple product ever released, and | have to wonder if Jony lve even saw it before it was sent to production. And each time | was posed the above question, | struggled to answer it. Worst case scenario When the first image of Apple’s battery case popped up in my Twitter timeline, | scrolled right past it. It wasn’t until | saw the same image up three or four more times in near succession when | realized it & wasn’t someone’s joke mock-up. Now Apple hasn’t exactly had a stellar record when it comes to cases. There were the funky iPhone 5c covers that showed unsightly bits of words through the holes. The iPhone 4 bumpers that were more about reception than protection. And who can forget the utterly bizarre iPod Socks? But something troubled me about the battery case even more than the design. It’s not just that it's cumbersome and goofy; rather, it seems to be trying to address a specific customer complaint with the iPhone 6. Of course, you can argue that the iPhone 6 itself is an answer to specific complaint about the size of the screen compared to its Android foes, but the battery case feels different. When Apple designed the iPhone 6, it was a natural progression and Macworld design evolution. Every decision — the size of the battery, the protrusion of the camera, the placement of the power button — was made to create the best product, warts and all. The battery case doesn’t look like it went through the same process. It’s as if Tim Cook or Phil Schiller read a bunch of disparaging iPhone posts and called a meeting. And that’s not how Apple operates. Losing focus There’s no way to know whether Steve Jobs would have signed off on Apple’s first battery case, but we do know that he despised knee-jerk products: “It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” But if there was ever a focus & group product, it’s this one. While there’s still some cool innovations inside that make it smarter than the average battery case — the Lightning connection is a nice addition and the live status updates are particularly clever — without the Apple symbol on the back it would never be mistaken for a Cupertino product. And at £79, | can’t imagine it’s going to fly off shelves. The iPhone battery case is a solution to a problem, but | just don’t think it’s one Apple strongly believes needs solving. People have been — comparing it to the Magic Mouse’s charging port or the Apple Pencil’s Macworld built-in Lightning charger, but those are design compromises made for style and convenience. The Apple Pencil might look funny sticking out the end of the iPad Pro, but the care and detail put into its design is obvious. With the battery case, not so much. Cause and effect Apple doesn’t need to create reactionary products. It has an army of third-party partners that are happy to fill specific needs that arise as people discover things that Apple chose to overlook. Some smarts aside, the iPhone battery case doesn’t really offer much that the Mophie Juice Pack doesn’t, and it’s hard to understand its reason for existing, other than the occasional upsell to an unscrupulous iPhone 6 or 6s buyer at an Apple Store. a Of course, this could all just be an : overreaction. A £79 accessory is basically a rounding error on Apple’s bottom line, and after a few weeks it’ll just blend into the others on the shelf at the Apple Store. By the time the iPhone 7 comes around we'll probably forget it ever existed. It’s no secret that Apple does its best work when it’s giving its customers products they want,