jjmarcus tech solutions

Got a MacBook Pro 13-inch 2018 2.7 MHz i7 with 16 gigabytes of ram. The battery dies crazy fast running programs like Ableton and Logic. Like in less than an hour.

I wish that were surprising, but activity like audio production is going to drain any computer’s battery a lot faster than typical use does. Also, as the Mac will scale down the performance of its processor when it’s on battery, you will find it to be a lesser experience in other ways as well.

With all that said, if you have to or just really want to do that work without being jacked into power, you’ll want to take steps to optimize the pull on your battery. Here are some good tips for that.

The suggestion of restarting is crucial. And in the special case of a focused production session, I uncheck the box to “reopen windows when logging back in,” so that I start with a very fresh system that has less stuff churning in the background. Then I only open up the apps I absolutely need to run to do that particular work.

I’ll also highlight turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Web browsing and email consume more juice than you’d think, so avoid even opening those apps at all if you can do that stuff on your phone or tablet.

Try that and let me know if you still run into issues. It’s not impossible, but real real unlikely your battery is bad, and we’d need to try these other things first before we hollered at Apple.

Why does Maps on my iMac need WiFi? I’m plugged in to the router with Ethernet.

It seems goofy, right? Here’s the scoop: Your internet connection doesn’t give away your exact location. (Your ISP knows your address and could reveal it to the po-po, but it’s not public info.) So Apple uses wifi to triangulate the position of your computer based on the location of wifi networks that the Mac can detect.

They did the same thing on the iPhone before it had real GPS.

I really prefer writing about fun things, but I want to address this to a) allay your fears, but b) make you worried if you still use the same password for all your online accounts.

Here’s the latest scam. You get an email like this:

From: Jerky von Intertroll
To: You
Subject: I know your password
I’m aware that is your password.
You don’t know me and you’re thinking why you received this e mail, right? Well, I actually placed a malware on the porn website and guess what, you visited this web site to have fun (you know what I mean)…Send me money via BitCoin or I will lock your computer and release your browsing history to the world…

I have heard from a handful of people who have received these emails. The illustrious Brian Krebs and others have written well about the scam, but here’s the nut of it:

It’s a new plague and is almost totally bogus. “Almost” because if they’ve included a password that you know you still use, you need to take some actions.

With all of the information breaches in the last few years, many of the passwords that we — like, all the users of the Internet — have used on various websites have been leaked. As long as you are diligent about using good passwords, and different ones on every site, you can ignore these messages.

So let’s say this message reveals a password that you have indeed used at some point. If you see it and think, “Oh, I still use that one all over the place,” then that’s a good prompt to go around and set up new passwords wherever pertinent.

If any of y’all don’t already use a password manager, please allow me to introduce you to one. It can provide instant relief for any concern a message like this might engender.

 

How do I figure out how much iCloud storage I need?

Nearly everyone with an iPhone or iPad should be using some features of iCloud, and the sine qua non of those features should be iCloud Backup. You can back up your iOS device to to your Mac via iTunes, but that means you have to remember to do so. iCloud Backup is automatic, so please: just do it.

Another feature of iCloud that too many people overlook is iCloud Photo Library. Turn it on, and all your photos—in their full-resolution glory—will be synchronized between and available on all of your devices, including your Mac. It’s the best thing going.

With all that stuff on the service, most people will need more than the 5 GB (gigabytes) of storage that Apple includes with every free iCloud account. The tiers are: 50 GB for $0.99/month, 200 GB for $2.99/month, and 2 TB (terabytes) for $9.99/month.

The amount of iCloud storage you need is a combo of:

1. Size of your photo library (often the biggest component)
2. Storage used on your iPhone and iPad.

For #1, from Apple: On the Mac, open Photos and choose Photos > Preferences > General. Click the Show in Finder button to go to your Photos Library. After Finder opens, select your Photos Library, then choose File > Get Info. The number you want is “x GB on disk.”

For #2: On each device, go to Settings > General > Storage. Add the number of GB used to your total for iCloud. Apple’s article.

Add ’em up, then pay for the appropriate tier, and revel in knowing your data is safe and synced!