macOS Big Sur

I just now finished upgrading to Big Sur, and so far it's fine, with minor visual changes noted. I asked myself a couple of rhetorical questions: why did I do this, and why did Apple do this? For myself, I think curiosity is the best answer. For Apple, I did a bit of web research and came up with the following answer for Big Sur:


"MacOS Big Sur comes with a simpler design, new app icons, smoother animations, refreshed app design for all pre-installed apps. MacOS Big Sur also has a new menu bar as well. The Mac will now also have a control centre, like iPhones."

On the menu bar, which is now black with white lettering, I noticed a new icon, and clicked it. It opens up a control center, which gives one the option to do a few things like change screen brightness, sound level, etc. At first glance it doesn't appear to be particularly useful, but I'll see as time goes on.
My overall impression? Meh! .

Jim Hamm

MacLife Magazine

.Today on the AZ-Apple Zoom meeting we discussed tips on using a Mac, gleaned from the October 2020 issue of MacLife Magazine. This issue contains 100 useful tips and keyboard shortcuts for both the Mac and an iOS device. If you'd like to read about these, a single issue of the magazine can be found here or in the link below for only $5.99. Highly recommended.

Jim Hamm

https://www.magazinesdirect.com/az-single-issues/6937019/maclife-magazine-single-issue.thtml

Apple's New M1 Chip

If you're a Mac user you're probably aware that in their "event" yesterday, Apple announced a new chip, called the M1. For your possible interest, following are two articles with a discussion on what this means for Apple, and why they did this.

Jim Hamm


Apple's M1 chips inside latest Macs offer fresh opportunities. Here's what you need to know.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2020/11/11/apple-new-m-1-chip-what-to-know/6228264002/

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/11/apple-unleashes-m1/

About Big Sur, When To Do the Upgrade

If we can trust what Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) has to say, then wait for the third update after the initial release. But, if you have already done the upgrade, then you may have noticed a few advertised features aren’t yet installed, and possibly a couple of minor annoyances. Welcome to the Early Adopter Club.

I have been using the Public Beta release for quite a while, and I am pleased with both the performance and the features. However, I can’t honestly tell you anymore what’s different without turning on my other computer that is still running Catalina and place the apps that I use side by side. Yeah, what a difference! Subtle, to be sure.

CCC also has a dire warning. If you expect to clone your system after doing the upgrade, and have a bootable clone afterwards, forget it. There’s a serious problem with part of Apple’s internals that prevents CCC from creating a bootable drive. CCC has every confidence that in time this will be corrected. Until then, you can still create a clone for use as a backup, and the drive can be used with Migration Assistant to restore from - with the caveat that you will be restoring to a fresh install of the operating system if what you need to restore is the entire package.

So if you want to be proud that you’re running the latest software, go ahead and do the upgrade - after you make a clone of the current operating system to restore from if you really want to go back. You might also want to use a separate Time Machine drive with Big Sur so that you can be sure that the old Time Machine drive will be compatible with Catalina should you revert back.

Given the precautions that one must take to feel safe about doing the upgrade, then maybe it would be better to wait until the Early Adopters are saying nothing but nice things.

And now, here’s what CCC has to say in detail:

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macOS Big Sur and Carbon Copy Cloner backups
Apple will be shipping a major new operating system in the near future, and I wanted to take a moment to explain how this change affects your CCC backups.

• We recommend waiting for a few updates before upgrading to Big Sur because important components of the OS aren't working yet.

• Early adopters can install macOS Big Sur onto the CCC backup volume to make it bootable. (NOTE: What this means is that you will be booting up from the external drive to run Big Sur. Make sure that it is an SSD to avoid running s-l-o-w-l-y.)


What's changing in Apple's next OS upgrade?
With the announcement of macOS Big Sur, Apple has retired Mac OS X (10) and replaced it with macOS 11. As with every OS since the original release of Mac OS X, CCC has been adapted to accommodate the changes to this new OS. As the numeric change would suggest, though, this is the biggest change to macOS since Apple introduced Mac OS X roughly 20 years ago.

The system now resides on a "Signed System Volume". This volume is cryptographically sealed, and that seal can only be applied by Apple; ordinary copies of the System volume are non-bootable without Apple's seal. To create a functional copy of the macOS 11 System volume, we have to use an Apple tool to copy the system, or install macOS onto the backup.

Will CCC 5 work on macOS 11 or will I have to upgrade?
CCC 5.1.22 is compatible with macOS Big Sur, and that update is free for all CCC 5 license holders. Choose "Check for updates…" from the "Carbon Copy Cloner" menu and follow the instructions provided to apply the update.

When we have an update that includes support for cloning the System volume, we’ll make a blog post and post an update to CCC. In the update notification, you’ll see a statement at the top of the release notes indicating that we’ve added that support. You can set the interval at which CCC checks for updates in CCC’s Preferences window.

Can CCC copy the macOS 11 System volume?
CCC will be able to use Apple's APFS replication utility ("ASR") to copy the System volume (we field-tested that functionality for the flawed 10.15.5 update). As of the latest Big Sur release, however, Apple's APFS replication utility is not working correctly with the Signed System Volume. As a result, ASR-created copies of the System volume are not bootable. Apple is aware of this issue and is currently working to resolve it.

Can I still make bootable backups on macOS 11?
Yes. There are two approaches to making your backups bootable on Apple's new OS. When Apple works out the problems in its APFS replication utility in an future update to macOS Big Sur, CCC will leverage that directly to copy the System volume and produce bootable backups. In the meantime, you can install macOS Big Sur onto your APFS-formatted CCC backup volume if you would like to make it bootable.

Does CCC back up all of my data, applications, and system settings?
Yes, absolutely. This part of CCC has not changed — CCC continues to provide complete backups of all of your data, applications, and system settings. Additionally, CCC offers support for snapshots, giving you access to older versions of your files. We design CCC to be a complete and more flexible replacement to Time Machine.

Does my CCC backup have to be bootable for me to restore data from it?
No. Bootability is a convenience that allows you to continue working if your startup disk fails, but it is not required for restoring data from a CCC backup. You can restore individual folders and older versions of files (i.e. from snapshots) using CCC while booted from your production startup disk. CCC backups are also compatible with Migration Assistant, so you can use Migration Assistant to restore all of your data to a clean installation of macOS (e.g. on a replacement disk).

Should I upgrade my Mac to macOS Big Sur?
Major system upgrades are often disruptive, so we have always recommended a very conservative approach to applying them. Consider the following:

• Is the upgrade required for my Mac?
• Will this upgrade improve the performance of my Mac, or degrade performance?
• Does the upgrade provide some functionality that will make me more productive, or otherwise greatly increase my enjoyment of using my Mac?
• Does the upgrade fix a problem that is preventing me from effectively using my Mac?
• What software will no longer work after applying the upgrade?
If the upgrade turns out poorly and you have to downgrade, you certainly may downgrade using a CCC backup from an earlier OS. These sorts of procedures require time and effort, though, so you should weigh that potential hassle against the potential gain of the OS upgrade.

Lastly, we recommend that any users that rely heavily upon the availability of their Mac for work or other productivity consider waiting for several OS updates before making the upgrade. Early adopters inevitably find some shortcomings and bugs which are resolved in minor OS updates.

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I will be doing a thorough walkthrough of Big Sur in the November and December general meetings.

John R Carter Sr

iOS 14

If you've upgraded to iOS 14 on your iPhone or iPad, here is a video, courtesy of tech blog "macmost", that shows 25 features you may want to try out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_kifjcolp8

If that isn't enough, you've also got a new App Library to play around with. Here is a short video that explains how to use this new feature, again, courtesy of "macmost":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfLPR1EaX1Y&feature=youtu.be

All this should keep you busy for awhile.

Jim Hamm

Mac Sales

If you're a 'Mac' person, you may enjoy the following two articles. The first one describes how Apple had a strong quarter on Mac sales, even with the pandemic. The second one is a transcription of Apple's quarterly conference call with analysts, and may be a bit lengthy to read for some of us. To summarize on Mac sales: strong.

Jim Hamm

https://www.macworld.com/article/3586160/the-mac-has-its-best-quarter-ever-and-tim-cook-teases-the-future.html

https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/10/this-is-tim-apples-q4-2020-call-with-analysts-transcribed/

5G Cellular

As you are probably already aware, Apple has updated their new iPhone releases so that all the new iPhone12's have 5G capability, whether you wanted it or not. Does it matter? Not really, according to this article. When/if 5G is available in your area, the iPhone 12 will handle it just fine, but it will also work well with the existing 4G network, which probably is what most of us have now.

If your only reason for a phone upgrade is just to get 5G capability, it probably isn't worth it, according to the article. But the iPhone 12 has other new features which may make this an attractive purchase right now, 5G notwithstanding.

Jim Hamm

Is Your VPN Really Secure?

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/barnes-noble-restores-nook-services-after-notifying-customers-about-cyberattack/

Recently, Barnes & Noble had a ransomeware attack that disabled access to customer’s books and exposed their email address, phone number, and shipping address.

From techrepublic:

'Millions of Barnes & Noble customers received a worrying email around 1 am on Thursday morning notifying them that the company suffered from a cyberattack on Oct. 10, which brought down its Nook services and led to the "unauthorized access" to "certain Barnes & Noble corporate systems."'

The attack seems to have centered around the use of VPN. A cybersecurity firm, Bad Packets, also shared even more details with BleepingComputer that indicate the attack may have originated from the CVE-2019-11510 vulnerability, which can be found in the Pulse VPN servers that Barnes & Noble uses.

Jeff Hussey, CEO of Tempereed, had this to say about VPN: "Visibility is not security, and VPNs are brittle, 25-year-old technology. They weren't built to scale to the connected world of 2020 and beyond. And using a security approach based on location, instead of identity, is a bad idea. These outdated approaches need to be modernized and recognizing that is the first step,"

HuH? VPN is outdated, 25-year-old technology? So maybe we’ll be seeing some new VPN technology now that Barnes & Noble has been hit - no one wants to know that their VPN isn’t really secure.


John R Carter Sr

iPhone Shortcuts

If you have the iPhone and would like to add a shortcut to it, the following article explains how. Although the article is a bit dated (January 2019), hopefully the app and shortcut method outlined in this article still work. As for me, with iOS 14 installed, with a new 'tap' shortcut feature, I set up a single tap and a double tap for two shortcuts that work well for me, so I haven't needed to try the shortcut app feature mentioned in the article.

If you do decide to try the shortcut app, good luck.

Jim Hamm

https://www.howtogeek.com/368465/what-are-siri-shortcuts-and-how-do-i-use-them/

Apple Event

FYI, here is a notice of an Apple event on October 13th.

Jim Hamm

At long last, Apple has sent out invitations Tuesday to a “special Apple event from Apple Park” on October 13, when the long-awaited iPhone 12 is almost certain to make an appearance along with a few other surprises. Like all of Apple’s 2020 events, the event will be virtual and streamed to everyone via Apple's YouTube channel, Apple TV, and Apple's Events website at 10 a.m. Pacific.

iPhone 5G Capability

It is rumored that perhaps soon Apple will announce the iPhone 12 with 5G cellular capability. What does that mean, you might ask? Here is an article discussing 5G, its capabilities and limitations. Although 5G will be faster than the 4G wireless transmission most of us are probably using now, I, personally, don't care so much for 5G. More cell towers will be needed, closer to one's home, and the 5G signal is easily blocked. But, I suspect it is coming whether I like it or not.

Jim Hamm

iPhone Claim

Here's an article describing how Apple has set aside $500 million (wow!) to settle a class-action lawsuit on diminished performance on the iPhone 6, 7, and SE. If you owned one of these iPhones you can get $25 from Apple. Is it worth the effort? Read the article, and see what you think.

Jim Hamm

Apple Engineers Designed a Custom Face Mask for Employees

Although it is presently only available for Apple employees, Apple has designed a face mask for their employees to wear.


Apple engineers designed a custom face mask for employees — take a look
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/28/apple-engineers-designed-protective-face-mask-for-employees.html

It appears to be quite effective. Apple is trying to help in these trying times, and here's a quote from the article:

"Apple has announced other Covid-19 prevention measures recently. For example, the latest software update for the Apple Watch includes a handwashing feature that automatically detects when the wearer is washing their hands, and starts a 20-second timer. And the new Apple Watch Series 6 announced on Sept. 18 includes a blood oxygen monitor."

My wife, Zee, has an Apple watch, and she found the timer on the hand washing feature to be quite handy.

Jim Hamm