At our 6th March meeting, we talked about Apple’s recent hardware announcements including the MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e and new Studio displays. We also discussed other topics raised by members.
Apple Hardware Announcements
We talked about Apple’s recent set of hardware announcements, concentrating on the new low cost MacBook Neo. Here is Apple’s introduction video. Mac Rumours have a useful article summarising the Neo’s differences compared with the MacBook Air to meet the price point. Robert recommended this article by John Gruber with his very positive first impressions of the new model.
We also discussed the other announcements:
- iPhone 17e
- New Studio Display and Studio Display XDR
- MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and Max chips
- MacBook Air M5
- M4 iPad Air
Member Topics
- DaveK mentioned receiving spoofed emails (appearing to come from friends but not using their email address). We discussed this and what to look out for.
- DaveK also asked about managing aliases in iCloud Mail.
- Liz asked about USB data blockers (a small adapter for use when charging via USB that disconnects USB data lines to allow only power as a security measure) and we discussed the security features in place when connecting an iPhone to a computer. Robert mentioned that he found having the personal hotspot enabled caused his iPhone to prompt to “Trust” everytime he connected it to his Mac. We also looked at the options for what happens when you connect other USB accessories.
- We discussed Onyx, a Mac utility for performing maintenance operations and accessing hidden preferences that would normally require using terminal commands. Note that this is an advanced tool and should be used with care.
- Alan asked about using an old iPhone as an iPod, we advised how to sync tracks from the Music app on Mac.