Apple Newsletters

Greetings and happy end of summer to all! Apple had a bunch of announcements this week, which I’m here to report on. I feel like writing this newsletter a little differently — rather than a top-down roundup, instead I’ll zero in on what I think was neat, if not necessarily the marquee items, and then… Read more

Before we get to those: Upgrading to macOS 14 Sonoma (and iOS/iPad OS 17, if you’re not yet on it) is fine at this point. We are not seeing any problems with it. As always, we recommend that you have a full Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, or Backblaze backup before you do it, just… Read more

Apple snuck out a surprise announcement last night! Before we go there, I’ve been asked whether it’s a good idea to update to macOS 14 Sonoma or not. The answer is: yes, it appears safe to do so at this point, though the more cautious thing to do is remain on macOS 13.6.1 Ventura, or 12.7.1 Monterey,… Read more

Hello friends, and happy end of summer to you. Apple made some announcements yesterday and we’re here to share them with you. New macOS and iOS Versions First up, and important: the next major version of macOS, called Sonoma, will be released in two weeks. Our usual guidance applies: if given the choice, don’t install… Read more

Hello friends, It’s been a long time. Too long! But we are here and we think about you. And today I’m here to review all of Apple’s big announcements at their annual developer conference. There’s really so much to go over that I’m going to do it in two parts, rather than make you read… Read more

Hi everyone! New year, new tech! Apple had their first new product announcements in a few months. Here’s what’s new. But first, the eternal question: is it safe to upgrade to macOS 13 Ventura yet? Yes, it is. We have seen no significant problems with machines running Ventura. As always, please be sure you have… Read more

Apple introduced their new version of macOS today, called macOS Ventura (13). While it has many new and interesting features, it’s also likely to have its share of bugs, as every major new release does. Therefore, we’re recommending that you not upgrade until the dust settles a bit — we’ll advise when we think that… Read more

Hey kids! As usual, the end of summer brings Apple’s announcements of new iPhones. We’re here to tell you about them, as well as new Watches and AirPods Pro. Not gonna lie: everything’s better, but nothing blew my mind. It was, however, the first tech demo I’ve seen that talked openly about period spotting and… Read more

Hello and I hope you’re keeping cool during this hot summer. Apple hasn’t announced any big news recently, so instead I’m going to do some quick hits for you. IvanExpert has a new website! We’ve been quietly working on a new website for quite a while, and now it’s been launched and we’re excited about… Read more

Apple’s yearly developer conference started yesterday, and they announced new hardware products and software features in a presentation dense with information. First off: I’m now recommending that you upgrade your Mac to macOS Monterey, if you haven’t already done so, presuming your Mac is eligible for it. Make sure you have a full Time Machine… Read more

Hello everyone! There has not been much new product news from Apple since the last time we checked in, until yesterday. We’re here to share the details with you! But first: If you want to go ahead and update to macOS Monterey, it is fine for most people at this point. We still very strongly… Read more

As we mentioned last month, Apple has released their new MacBook Pro models, meaning all their laptop models (MacBook Air and MacBook Pro) have transitioned to the new Apple silicon processors. (The iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro desktop computers still have some configurations with Intel processors, which will likely be gone in 12-18 months’… Read more

It’s that time again — Apple has announced new products, and we’re here to tell you what we think about them. First off, a bit of caution: on October 25th, Apple will be releasing the next version of macOS, called Monterey (aka 12.0). As usual, if your Mac is eligible for it (most models prior… Read more

Greetings fellow Mac people. We bring you the latest news from Apple. But first: IMPORTANT: If you’ve got an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, update right now to iOS 14.8, which fixes critical security issues. If you’re already on iOS 14, you won’t notice any difference. You will only be able to perform this update until… Read more

Hello everyone, we’re here with a little (ok, long) teaser, since Apple will likely be making new announcements at their WWDC conference on June 7. We don’t know what they’ll have to say, but rumors suggest new 14-inch and 16-inch high-end MacBook Pro models with Apple processors. We’ll report on that when it’s official! In… Read more

Greetings to one and all! We’re here with the latest news from Apple, following their special event Tuesday. They announced a bunch of stuff. AirTags Let’s start off with an entirely new product! Apple is extending their Find My technology (which you can use to locate your iPhone) to all of the small items in… Read more

Hello everyone! This is it! The last IvanExpert newsletter of 2020! I wanted to close things out with some first impressions of the new Apple silicon (M1) MacBook Air, and mention Apple’s new luxury product, the AirPods Max headphones. But, before I get there, I just wanted to share how much it’s meant to us… Read more

First off: Apple will be introducing macOS Big Sur next week, and it will bring with it some significant changes. Your Mac may ask you to upgrade, but we recommend you not do so until some of its inevitable problems shake out. We’ll advise when we know more. (If you are not yet on macOS… Read more

Apple has been busy! We’re here to bring you the latest of what Cupertino’s been up to. First off, our guidance on OS updates. macOS Catalina appears to be reliable at this point. If you’re still on Mojave, and you want to update, it’s very likely safe to do so. However, as always, we’d highly… Read more

Hello, and happy post-Labor Day to you. We’re here with another edition of the IvanExpert newsletter. Not too surprisingly, with everyone spending so much time at home, we’ve been getting a lot of questions about Wi-Fi, and whether it can be made to perform better. It usually can. First off, where does Wi-Fi come from? It… Read more

Welcome to the latest IvanExpert newsletter. We’re going to take a look at a much-overdue new update to Apple’s popular desktop computer, the iMac. But before that: Did you know we have a blog? It’s at https://ivanexpert.com/blog if you need a more frequent fix than our monthly newsletter, or enjoy diversions into slightly more esoteric topics…. Read more

Apple held their annual developers conference a couple of weeks ago — all online, for the first time. They announced major under-the-hood changes for Mac users, but if Apple does their job well, you won’t really notice. Macs change their CPU: A computer’s CPU (which stands for Central Processing Unit) is where most of its… Read more

I don’t think anyone would deny that these are interesting times, and that we’re all making adaptations, and one of the largest ones has been working remotely. We’ve been doing that here at IvanExpert, because, as it turns out, everyone needs their home computers to work well now more than ever. As we are doing… Read more

We’re all in the same boat, so when we’re not working, we’re just like everyone else — a new cocktail regimen, kids to occupy, time to fill. Fortunately, we live in an age of technological wonder, so we have a few advantages over our ancestors who had to read books and play bridge. Not that… Read more

Well, we may all be in lockdown, but Apple has been busy, and we’re here to tell you about it. Please remember we are working by remote control and are here to help you in these strange times.   Catalina: Here’s our current guidance about macOS Catalina: At this point, most people using it aren’t… Read more

Hello. First things first: Everyone on the IvanExpert team is safe and well, and we wish you the same. We are ready and able to help you remotely with whatever your needs may be through these unprecedented times. We can log into your computer and control it from afar as though we are sitting in… Read more

First off: Is it safe to upgrade to macOS Catalina? With the release of Apple’s latest update, 10.15.3, we think the answer is yes, but with caveats: some bugs do still remain in Mail and elsewhere. Further, a lot of older software will stop working entirely, such as Photoshop CS6, Microsoft Office 2011, FileMaker 11,… Read more

Before we get started, we’d like to answer a question we are often being asked: Is it ok to upgrade to macOS 10.15 Catalina? We think you should still hold off, unless you really want it, or you have a specific need (such as you depend heavily on Notes, and they no longer synchronize with… Read more

Can’t think of anything to give to friends and family? Got some store gift cards? Planning on returning those ugly sweaters? Here are our suggestions of favorite tech items to buy for yourself this season! Apple AirPods Pro$249If your original AirPods are starting to lose their ability to last through an average phone call, it might… Read more

Hello again. As you have probably noticed, Apple has been busy releasing major updates to its operating systems in the last couple of months, so we’re here to tell you what’s new in iOS and iPadOS 13. But before we dive into that, a few things:   Don’t update to CatalinaIf you haven’t yet updated… Read more