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When did you last do a backup of your Mac?
If your answers is 'what is a backup?', 'never' or 'ages ago', you are putting yourself at serious risk of losing irreplaceable photos and files if something happens to that Mac. An iTandCoffee client I visited this week can attest to to the stress that can result from a damaged computer. My very own iMac suffered a major problem just recently, and had to be restored from a backup. It can happen to any of us.
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In the last newsletter, we discussed the question Should you upgrade your Mac to Mojave yet?
If you read that article and have decided that you are ready to take the plunge (after, of course, having backed up your Mac) the steps involved are relatively simple - and upgrading is free (as long as you are currently running OS X Mountain Lion or later). We have recorded a detailed video that describes how to perform such an upgrade and it is now available as part of the new Mastering your Mac - Troubleshooting and Housekeeping video tutorial set (which are always available to all Premium members of The iTandCoffee Club). For the month of December 2018, this set of videos is available to all iTandCoffee Club members. Watch the How to Upgrade your Mac video by selecting the button below.
(Not yet a member of The iTandCoffee Club? Find out more here.)
Set a New Year's Resolution to learn about your Mac!7/10/2018 0 Comments MacOS Mojave has arrived - but it might be worth waiting to download and install Big new for Mac users is that MacOS Mojave has now arrived - an upgrade from the previous MacOS operating system, High Sierra.
This new MacOS arrived on September 25th, and its new features are described in the articles below: Those of you who watch this blog or read the iTandCoffee Newsletter will know that there have been several articles recently about the upgrade to iOS, iOS 11. What hasn't had much coverage is the upgrade of Macs to the latest version of the Mac operating system, MacOS Sierra (10.13)  I must say that I held off on downloading and installing MacOS High Sierra for several weeks, because I am so reliant on my Mac for my work. I wanted to wait for the early 'glitches' to be ironed out. I finally installed High Sierra a couple of weeks ago, and can report that I have not had any issues so far with it. For most people who install High Sierra, the changes will be barely noticeable. A few areas where you may notice differences are
Here's an article from Macworld that provides more detail about what High Sierra delivers. On Wednesday this week, Apple released the awaited update to fix the recently reported KRACK Wi-Fi security flaw (see New Wi-Fi flaw leaves nearly every internet-connected device vulnerable). Here is the Macworld article with details of the content of MacOS 10.13.1. Is it time to upgrade to High Sierra? For anyone who has a Mac that is capable of being updated to MacOS High Sierra, it is a good idea to install this latest upgrade, especially so that you 'plug' the major Wi-Fi security flaw. Of course, this upgrade is only available for certain Macs - here's the list:
How to upgrade to MacOS High Sierra As always, make sure you do a backup of your Mac - and that the backup has completed successfully - before you install any upgrade or update. If you are not sure how to do this, we have a separate article that covers this topic. Once you have a valid backup, visit the Mac App Store App to find the High Sierra download option. In the past, the latest upgrade has shown up in the Updates area of the Mac App Store. This time, you will find the High Sierra download option in the Featured area. Or you can use the Search bar at top right to search for it. (I only realised it had moved to Featured after I had already used the Search to download it.)  Do you need help with the upgrade or backup? As always, iTandCoffee can assist you with the processes of backing up and upgrading your Mac. Just call 1300 885 420 or email us at booking@itandcoffee.com.au to book an appointment. If you are an iTandCoffee Member with Plus, Premium or Online membership, why not arrange a free support call or drop-in appointment to get help with your backup or update? Your memberships entitles you to FREE support - Plus and Online members get 3 support calls or drop-in appointments (of up to 15 minutes) per subscription year, and Premium members get 10! All* Club members are welcome to come along to our next Free Friday on November 17th at 12pm and bring along your questions about upgrades, backups or anything else! *Limits apply to these free sessions, depending on your level of membership. We'll let you know if you have exceeded this limit. Special Offer for November 2017 Drop your Mac to us, and we will back up and upgrade your Mac for the fixed cost of Only $60** If you are Plus, Online and Premium member of the iTandCoffee Club, you will pay only $20 (by using one of your 'free support' entitlements). Become a Plus or Premium Member before November 30th to go in the draw to win a NEW iPad - and to take advantage of great offers like this. **Cost shown assumes that an external hard drive is provided by the owner of the Mac for the backup. Seagate external hard drive available for purchase at iTandCoffee for the additional cost of $89. Cost only covers backup and upgrade activities - any consultation or support will be charged at standard applicable rate for a private appointment. Call 1300 885 420 to book in your Mac, or for more information (If your call cannot be taken at the time, please leave a message with your details and we will return your call). 22/9/2017 0 Comments Which iPhone should I choose? Apple has made the task of choosing a new iPhone that much harder this year, with the announcement of the release of 3 new phones - the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X (where the X is pronounced 'ten').
Normally I would upgrade to the latest iPhone as soon as it arrives, so that I can provide informed commentary on its capabilities. So I could order the iPhone 8 Plus now, to replace my 12 month old iPhone 7 Plus. I'm just not sure that the iPhone 8 is a big enough improvement on the iPhone 7 for me to justify the expense so will skip this upgrade. Here's an article from Macworld that compares these two phones: So the next question then is whether I will purchase the iPhone X, which will be available for pre-order on October 17, and available from November 3? Is it a good idea to get the 'first generation' version of this new type of iPhone, or should I wait until they refine it and then get the next version. The price difference between the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X will be about $350 (for the 256GB model that I would get) - $1579 vs $1829. That makes the iPhone X only $150 cheaper than what I would pay for a 256GBN MacBook Pro 13in at JB HiFi today. (JB has a 10% discount on Macs until Sunday July 24th.) Here's an article from Macworld about these two phones, and why you might consider the 8 instead of the X. It's such a lot of money to spend on a phone! I'm glad I have a few more weeks to think about this!
iOS 11 was released a few days ago, on Tuesday September 19th, and it is full of fantastic new features. We will be providing more details on many of these features over the next weeks and months, so keep an eye on this iTandCoffee Blog. I have downloaded and installed iOS 11 and have been using it for on my iPhone 7 Plus for the past few days. First impressions For those keen to upgrade at this early stage, iOS 11 does seem relatively stable (so far - touch wood!). Everything seems to be working well on both my iPhone 7 Plus and iPad Pro. I did find that the Notes app kept crashing on the iPad last night, but a forced reboot fixed this. And I must say that I LOVE so many of the new features on the iPad - the new Dock, the changes to multi-tasking and split screen functionality, the ability to drag and drop, the new iPad keyboard and more What is in iOS 11? I have compiled a very long list of the new features and changes that have arrived with iOS 11. iTandCoffee Club members can view this list by selecting the button below. (If you are not yet a member of the iTandCoffee Club, find out more here.) We discussed these new features and changes at the club's Free Friday on Friday 22nd September at iTandCoffee. (We may probably repeat this season in October as well, depending on level of interest.) If you are interested in seeing a short video of what a session like this is like, watch the start of the September Free Friday session here: The full video of the Free Friday session is available below, for iTandCoffee Club members* who were unable to attend and would like to learn more about iOS 11. * Plus, Online and Premium plan members only Should you upgrade to iOS 11 yet My recommendation to most iTandCoffee clients and subscribers would be to wait a couple of weeks (at least) for the 'dust to settle' on iOS 11, and to see if an early update is released to fix problems found by the 'early adopters' (like me!). I will report again in the next newsletter (around Oct 8) on whether the 'coast is clear' to go ahead with the upgrade. If you ARE thinking about going ahead with the upgrade before then, here are some things to consider. Do you have Exchange, Office 365, or Outlook.com If you have an Exchange, Office 365 or Outlook.com mail account, you may want to hold off. There is a known problem with sending mail and replying to mail in the native Mail app - a problem that both Microsoft and Apple are aware of, and working on. See support.apple.com/en-us/HT208136. Battery performance issues after upgrade If you do upgrade, you may notice degraded battery performance at first, as your device busily does a heap of 're-indexing' and other background processing and updates following the upgrade. My battery is definitely draining faster than usual at the moment - but I am hoping this will settle down in the next couple of days. Have you done a backup? As always, make sure you have a complete, recent backup before you proceed with this upgrade. This can either be an iCloud backup, or an iTunes backup. iTandCoffee can help you with this if you are not sure how. Need help with updating your device?Come along to an iTandCoffee 'Helping Hand' session, where you can update your device using iTandCoffee's Wi-Fi and get assistance with the update if needed. The next scheduled 'Helping Hand' sessions are shown below. iTandCoffee Club Members who book online can attend for free (depending on your free session entitlement), or for $20 (if you have run out of free sessions). (Cost is $35 for non-member and for bookings not done online.) Become a member of The iTandCoffee Club
 You have probably seen all the press recently about the big event that Apple has scheduled for September 12th (or 13th Aussie time). At this event, Apple will be launching the next iPhone, or series of iPhones. The rumour mill is predicting a brand new phone that will be called the iPhone 8, iPhone X, or iPhone Edition. Also predicted are updated versions of the iPhone 7 (perhaps a 7S and 7S Plus). Other rumours suggest there may be a new Apple Watch launched as well. So if you are thinking of purchasing an Apple product, it may be worth waiting to see what is announced on Wednesday - and to hopefully get cheaper pricing for the superseded devices. Operating systems are also about to be updatedAlso expected to be launched on that date (or shortly after) will be updates to all of the Apple operating systems -
Will all existing devices be able to be upgraded?Not every iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac will be able to be updated to the latest version of the applicable operating system. Here is the list of compatible devices: iOS 11 will be able to run on
macOS High Sierra will be able to run on
How to find the year and model of your Mac, iPhone or iPadIf you are curious to find out the year your Mac was made, you can enter your device's serial number on this Apple page: https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do If you don't know how to work out the serial number, here is an Apple Support page that tells you where to find it: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1349 For iPads and iPhones, here are another couple of pages that help identify the model of your device Should you install the upgrades straight away?While these new operating systems will be available for free shortly after the announcements on Sept 13, I would recommend 'holding fire' on downloading and installing these upgrades - for a few weeks at least. The first release of an operating system upgrade will often be a bit 'buggy', so it is best to let others discover those problems and wait for fixes to be released. Needless to say, iTandCoffee will download and install the upgrades as soon as they are released, and will let you know via the fortnightly newsletter when 'the coast is clear' to download and install. 
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