Our long national nightmare is over. Apple’s new MacBook Pro models—powered by impressive new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips—ditch the Touch Bar for F-keys, add more ports, and bring back MagSafe charging. Apple also unveiled third-generation AirPods, new HomePod mini colors, and an Apple Music Voice Plan that we’re still trying to figure out. macOS 12 Monterey, along with updates to its other operating systems, will appear next Monday. We wrap up the issue with a tip on ungrouping notifications so you don’t miss them and Adam Engst’s tale of helping an elderly neighbor recover a missing iPad with Find My. Notable Mac app releases this week include TextExpander 7.0, Bookends 14.0.1, Default Folder X 5.6, SpamSieve 2.9.46, Transmit 5.8, Audio Hijack 3.8.8, Alfred 4.6, VMware Fusion 12.2, and Microsoft Office for Mac 16.54.
Apple’s next wave of operating system updates arrives 25 October 2021, including macOS 12 Monterey and iOS 15.1.
iOS tends to stack notifications on the iPhone’s Lock screen to prevent them from taking up too much space. But that can be a problem for critical apps like Reminders where missing an obscured notification can be problematic. Thankfully, you can turn off notification grouping on a per-app basis.
Apple used its “Unleashed” event partly to focus on music. It revealed third-generation AirPods with a host of improvements, unveiled new colors for its HomePod mini speaker, and announced a new Apple Music Voice Plan for access to the music service via Siri voice commands.
Apple has redesigned the MacBook Pro, with 14-inch and 16-inch models powered by new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, along with impressive new screens, improved battery life, and a welcome return to the era of ports, MagSafe charging, and F-keys. The only downsides? Weight and a camera notch that cuts the menu bar in half.
Faced with a panicking elderly neighbor who thought she had left her iPad Pro at a faraway hotel, Adam Engst saved the day with judicious use of Find My.
Watchlist
Major update that brings improvements and a streamlined interface to the text expansion tool. ($34.95 new, free update, 38.9 MB, macOS 10.14+)
Maintenance release with improvements and bug fixes following the reference management tool's recent major upgrade. ($59.99 new, free update, 98.8 MB, macOS 10.13+)
Adds support for macOS 12 Monterey and brings several improvements to the Open/Save dialog enhancement utility. ($34.95 new, free update, 15.5 MB, macOS 10.10+)
Improves the spam-filtering utility's support for macOS 12 Monterey. ($30 new, free update, 19.7 MB, macOS 10.9+)
Adds support for macOS 12 Monterey and brings several S3-related improvements. ($45 new, free update, 38.1 MB, macOS 10.15+)
Improves compatibility with macOS 12 Monterey and updates the Audio Capture Engine. ($49 new, free update, 27.9 MB, macOS 10.14+)
Mac-based keyboard-driven launcher adds compatibility enhancements for macOS 12 Monterey. (£23 new, free update, 4.9 MB, macOS 10.11+)
Brings a variety of bug fixes related to macOS 11 Big Sur and now requires Big Sur or later. (Free/$149.99/$199.99 new, $79/$99 upgrades, 612 MB, macOS 11+)
Brings a more modern commenting experience to Word. ($149.99 new for one-time purchase, $99.99/$69.99 annual subscription options, free update, macOS 10.14+)
