The best way to expand your Mac’s lifespan and obtain a significant speed boost is by replacing the hard drive with a solid state drive (SSD). You’ll notice the huge performance improvement right from the first time you boot up and immediately praise yourself for making this investment. However, you shouldn’t stop at installing a new SSD. There is one tiny command line you must type into Terminal to enable a feature meant to expand the lifespan of the newly installed drive; this feature is called TRIM. Read More…
Mac Optimization Articles
How Can Mobile Time Machine Save The Day?
Along with the launch of macOS High Sierra, due in the fall of 2017, Apple has tweaked a nice, little-known feature by the name of mobile Time Machine. This shouldn’t be confused with Time Machine, though, which is an essential tool for backing up your data at a given frequency. While most Mac users are aware of this, the same can’t be said of mobile Time Machine. Despite being available since MacQuest and Lion, this feature – known as local snapshots – wasn’t a feature that Apple highlighted much, although Time Machine does inform users that it kept these snapshots whenever space permitted. Read More…
When Safari Database Cookies Keep Coming Back
Have you ever wondered why Safari retains data from websites even if you instruct it to remove all website data? If yes, you are not alone with your question. If you have ever removed cookies manually from your preferred web browsers, you must have noticed that sometimes it may take a few “Remove All” clicks for the cookies to disappear from your Mac, and yet still some ‘stubborn’ database files remain. In this article we will show you how to erase those stubborn files that keep coming back. Read More…
How to Connect to PPTP on macOS Sierra Despite Apple’s Support Withdrawal
Starting with macOS Sierra and iOS 10, Apple has withdrawn support for one of the methods of implementing a virtual private networks (VPN), the point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP). Even though the protocol is still available in earlier versions of its mobile and desktop software, Apple has dropped support for PPTP for security reasons. In other words, if you have set up a VPN server using PPTP, iOS and macOS Sierra users will no longer be able to connect to it. iOS and macOS will display an error message informing users about the security risk that a connection via PPTP represents, and the only option users have is to select “OK”. That, however, doesn’t mean they will connect to the VPN server. Read More…
When Your Mac Gets Hot and Overheats: Optimal Working Temperatures
The older your Mac gets, the more likely it is that you’ll start hearing its fans making noise. Of course it does matter whether or not you hear that noise during heavy usage, such as when processing a large video file or compressing images – which is at least to be expected to a certain degree. If you notice that your Mac is overheating and the fans are spinning at higher speeds than usual, even during light usage, then you might need to investigate the problem. The solution could be to reset the SMC (System Management Controller), but if not it’s time to start troubleshooting to find the cause of the problem. Read More…
Why, When and How to Reset NVRAM on Mac
One of the most frequently mentioned Mac troubleshooting tips is resetting PRAM or NVRAM. But this doesn’t mean, however, that every time you notice an issue that the NVRAM needs to be reset. This advice usually comes from people who have no idea about the purpose of NVRAM, so we recommend taking a different approach rather than jumping on the first advice available. Using a speculative ‘let’s see if this helps’ method is not the right way of handling this situation, especially if the solution to a problem isn’t obvious. To correctly identify the right time to reset NVRAM, you should first understand what it does and why it needs to be reset. Read More…
Mac Troubleshooting: Isolating Issues
Discovering the cause to a computer problem is usually the hardest part of any resolution, so when you first notice unexpected software or hardware behavior try to take steps to isolate the issue and find out what is causing it, or at least determine the sequence of events that is causing it. Luckily we can help you adopt the right approach to Mac troubleshooting.
The very first step is to ensure that your Mac is running the latest software and firmware: check software versions and update the system, including third party apps, to the latest version available. Read More…
The Best VPNs for Mac According to Reddit
It might be something of a sad truth we have to live with these days, but regardless of whether you are tweeting, writing a Facebook post or just browsing the web, companies are monitoring your activity. No one would admit to enjoying being spied on, even if they’ve nothing to hide. The thought of being monitored is deeply unpleasant, but invisible internet companies are recording all your movements and collecting data about your online activity each time you connect to this wonderful world wide web. Read More…
Saved by the Bell: Turning On/Off the Startup Sound on Your Mac
One of the most notable features to vanish with the launch of late 2016 Macs was the startup chime. This short sound, as we know it, was composed by Jim Reekes and first played on the 1993 iMac G3 and became the iconic noise of a Mac computer booting up, regardless of the computer line – desktop or portable – until the fall of 2016. The launch of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and the introduction of the automatic boot feature marked the end of this startup noise for all new Macs except for the 13-inch MacBook Air of 2017. Read More…
Understanding RAM Speed Differences and Upgrades
So you’ve decided to improve your Mac’s memory? While upgrading iMac RAM is a very simple process, picking the right hardware – and to have it all work together – isn’t quite as hassle-free. For example, though it is technically possible for different models and speeds of memory to work together, doing so can sometimes cause inexplicable compatibility errors. With so many options available (not to mention technical jargon to translate), it can be a minefield trying to figure out exactly which is the right choice for your computer. Mercifully, there are a few guidelines that can be followed to ensure the best results when upgrading. Read More…
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- Next Page »