Mac
How to Use Your iPad as a Second Monitor
Matt Cone August 14, 2021
Using a second monitor with your Mac can really increase your productivity. Whether you use another monitor as a dedicated display for your web browser, text editor, or word processor, having a second monitor around can make a big difference. Thanks to Sidecar feature built in to macOS, you can use your iPad as a second monitor. You don’t even need to use any cables to connect them — it’s completely wireless!
How to Enable Lossless Audio on Your Mac
Matt Cone August 7, 2021
Apple recently announced a feature that allows Apple Music subscribers to listen to lossless audio on their Macs. This is a free feature and improves the sound quality of the music you listen to. What is lossless audio? According to Apple: Most audio compression techniques lose some amount of data contained in the original source file. Lossless compression is a form of compression that preserves all of the original data.
How to Set File Permissions on a Mac
Matt Cone July 24, 2021
Your Mac uses permissions to restrict access to applications, files, and folders. Utilizing this security control can help protect your data from unauthorized access. Whether you use your Mac in public places or share it with other users, you may want to change the permissions on your documents to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of your data. Of course, it can be difficult to strike a balance between convenience and security when using permissions.
How to Find Your Mac's Serial Number
Matt Cone May 4, 2021
Every Mac is assigned a unique serial number. This isn’t something you’ll need to know under normal circumstances, but if you ever need to check your AppleCare status or have Apple repair your Mac, you’ll need to provide them with your Mac’s serial number. Here’s how to find your Mac’s serial number: From the Apple menu, select About This Mac. Your Mac’s serial number is displayed in the window, as shown below.
How to Check Your MacBook's Battery Health
Matt Cone May 2, 2021
If your MacBook’s battery life seems to be getting shorter and shorter, it might be time to check your MacBook’s battery health. All MacBooks ship with batteries that are designed to last for years, but depending on how you typically recharge your MacBook’s battery, the battery’s capacity can be reduced early leading to shorter battery life. Checking your MacBook’s battery health can help you keep an eye on things and make sure your MacBook’s battery isn’t defective.
How to Share an Apple Music Playlist on a Mac
Matt Cone April 21, 2021
If you use Apple Music, you should know that there’s a quick and easy way to share your playlists with friends and family members. Sharing a playlist lets others see your music and play the songs that you’ve collected. Here’s how to share an Apple Music playlist on your Mac: Open the Music application on your Mac. From the sidebar, select the playlist you want to share. Click the … button, as shown below, and then select an option from the Share menu.
How to Change the Default Search Engine on Safari on Mac
Matt Cone April 20, 2021
If you use the Safari web browser on your Mac, you can quickly and easily change your Mac’s default search engine from Google to another search engine like DuckDuckGo or Ecosia. Here’s how to change the default search engine on your Mac: Open the Safari web browser. From the Safari menu, select Preferences. Click Search. The Safari search preferences appear, as shown below. From the Search engine menu, select the search engine you want use.
How to Add the Bluetooth Menu to Your Mac's Menu Bar
Matt Cone April 19, 2021
Your Mac has the ability to connect to Bluetooth devices, but it can be a pain to connect those devices. For quick and easy access to the Bluetooth settings, you can enable the Bluetooth menu in your Mac’s menu bar. The Bluetooth menu allows you to connect and disconnect Bluetooth devices with one click. Here’s how to add the Bluetooth menu to your Mac’s menu bar: From the Apple menu, select System Preferences.
How to Add an App to Your Mac's Dock
Matt Cone April 16, 2021
Your Mac’s Dock is an application launcher that lets you quickly open applications and see at a glance which applications are already open. Your Mac automatically displays the icons of open applications on the Dock, and it also displays the icons applications that were put there by you (or Apple). You can add application icons to the Dock for easy access. Here’s how to add an application’s icon to your Mac’s Dock:
How to Find Software Optimized for M1 Macs
Matt Cone April 9, 2021
Newer Macs use Apple’s M1 processor, a giant upgrade in terms of performance and power consumption. Since this processor is substantially different from the previous Intel chips that were used, developers will need to essentially rewrite their applications to take advantage of the M1 processor. Applications that haven’t yet been rewritten for the M1 processor can run very slowly, so it’s important to find applications that run natively on the M1.