We use our devices to store all kinds of things – photos, videos, messages, documents, health data, settings, accessory setups etc. Your memories, your information and your preferences are valuable and important, and no-one wants to run the risk of losing them. But too often many of us fail to back up our devices, wrongly believing that it happens automatically. This is not quite true. For instance, your iPhone only backs up a maximum of 5GB of data unless you pay for an upgrade. What this means is that if your iPhone is lost, damaged or stolen, you’re likely to lose all of your precious information and files.

Unless of course, you have a backup plan in place.

 

Maintain a regular backup routine

The only way to protect your data against damage or loss is to back it up somewhere. This is also useful when you want to transfer your settings and information from an old device to a new one. You need to have a plan and a routine for how and when you’re going to back up your devices – and stick to it.

For businesses, at least once a week is the bare minimum to back up your data. Any less and you’ll run the risk of significant data loss and disruption to your business.

For home users, you can afford to go a bit longer between backups. Every few weeks is a good minimum, but more often is better, especially if you’re a big photo taker. It’s the only way to ensure complete peace of mind that your precious memories and information are safe.

 

How to back up your iPhone or iPad

You have a few options when it comes to backing up devices such as iPhones and iPads. The only truly complete options are backing up with iCloud and iTunes, as these can back up all your different kinds of data and settings. Time Machine backups add an extra layer of protection for your data and are well worth doing too.

 

Back up with iCloud

iCloud stores your backups in a cloud-based storage system that you can access from anywhere with an internet connection. Here’s how you do it:

• Make sure the relevant device is connected to a Wi-Fi network
• Go to your settings and select iCloud
• Select iCloud Backup
• Choose Back Up Now and make sure you stay connected to the Wi-Fi network to complete the process

 

To check that the backup has successfully completed, do this:

• Go to Settings (your name)
• Choose iCloud
• Choose iCloud Backup
• If you look under Back Up Now, you’ll be able to see the date and time of your last backup

 

Choose automatic backups with iCloud

If you don’t want to worry about when and if you’ve backed up, choose to set it up automatically:

• Go to Settings (your name)
• Choose iCloud
• Choose iCloud Backup and make sure iCloud Backup is turned on
• Connect your device to both a power source and a Wi-Fi network
• Make sure that the screen of your device is locked, and that you have enough iCloud space for the backup (iCloud provides 5GB of storage for free, but you can buy more if you need to).

 

Back up with iTunes

An iTunes backup stores your backups locally on your Mac, and you have to be using that computer to access them. Do this:

• Connect your device to your Mac
• If you’re running Catalina, open Finder. If you’re running Mojave or earlier, open iTunes
• If a message asks for your device passcode or to Trust This Computer, follow the on-screen steps
• Locate your device on your Mac (generally it will show up on the left side bar on iTunes. If you are having trouble locating it, please refer to https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT203060)
• Choose Back Up Now
• You will be able to see if the backup was successful once the process has finished

 

Back up with Time Machine

As a further layer of protection, back up all of your files to the built-in backup system of your Mac. Time Machine ensures all your photos, music, apps, documents, emails and system files remain safe, accessible and easily able to be restored in the event of a catastrophe. Time Machine works by making hourly, daily and weekly backups to an external storage device, and deletes the oldest backups once the device is full.

You’ll need to connect an external storage device to your Mac, such as a USB, USB-C or Thunderbolt drive, AirPort Time Capsule or Network-attached storage device that supports Time Machine over SMB. You can even use your Mac shared as a Time Machine backup destination.

 

If your Mac asks to use this drive to back up with Time Machine:

• It is recommended that you select Encrypt Backup Disk, to ensure your backup is only accessible via a password
• Click Use as Backup Disk

 

If your Mac doesn’t ask to use your drive, you can add it manually by doing this:

• Go to the Time Machine menu in the menu bar and Open Time Machine preferences
• Click on Select Backup Disk (or Select Disk, or Add or Remove Backup Disk, depending on your operating system)
• Choose the external drive you want to use from the list of available disks
• Select Encrypt Backups
• Click on Use Disk (you’ll need to make sure your external drive is erased of all other information and formatted before you can use it)

 

And it’s as simple as that! The first backup may take quite a long time, but after that, Time Machine will make periodic backups automatically, and these will be faster, as only the files that have changed since the previous backup will be backed up. And you can continue using your Mac as normal while the backup is taking place. You can enjoy the convenience of automatic protection for your files with an extremely safe and secure system.

MacOS Catalina, Apple’s most recent operating system for Mac, launched in October last year, with a host of new features and functionality. Catalina offers some significant changes and improvements, but it’s important to note that the new operating system will not work on all Macs. If your Mac was able to run macOS Mojave, chances are it will be able to run Catalina – but some applications will no longer be supported.

One of Catalina’s features which has been causing some confusion is the fact that Catalina only supports 64-bit applications. This is a problem for users of AccountEdge software, as this has 32-bit architecture and will not function on Catalina.

MYOB Australia, the provider of AccountEdge software, recently released the following statement:

“We regret to tell you it will not be possible to make AccountEdge Catalina-compliant. Despite exploring a range of options to meet the requirements of the Catalina upgrade, we have been advised it will not be possible to deliver a solution which will allow AccountEdge to operate as it does today.

“If you have not upgraded to Catalina, no immediate change is required. We will actively support AccountEdge for the foreseeable future, providing all the same updates, including fresh tax tables, to enable those on previous operating systems to proceed as normal.”

 

Your options are as follows:

• If you are happy to go Cloud-based, Xero is a really good and popular option.
• If you want to stay on-premises, consider Moneyworks.
• If you insist on staying with MYOB, they have recently launched a hosted subscription service allowing you to access your AccountEdge file from a Catalina environment. You’ll need to pay a monthly fee for this service.

So, the takeaway for Mac users is to be careful with updating your operating systems to Catalina, as you first need to make sure that the operating system is compatible with your Mac or the apps you’re running on it. If you’re running older apps such as AccountEdge, you will need to check their compatibility before upgrading.

If you’re unsure, don’t go ahead with anything, but give us a call here at Mac Aid first. We’ll be able to advise you on whether you are able to update to Catalina safely, or what options you have if an upgrade is not recommended.

It’s that time of year when the summer holidays are nearly upon us, and everyone is starting to think about winding down for the end of the year. During the Christmas period, many of our Mac Aid technicians will be enjoying a much-needed break from the rush and hustle of the year.

We’ll still be available to help if you need support; however, we won’t have a full team of technicians on board over the Christmas and New Year period. The Mac Aid office will be staffed by a partial team of technicians between 20^thDecember 2019 and 5^thJanuary 2020. If you know you’ll be needing support during this period, we encourage you to get in contact with us now, so that we can make sure you get the support you need during the holiday break. This helps greatly to enable us to manage all our client’s needs while we’re operating with a skeleton staff.

We will return to normal on Monday 6^thJanuary 2020, with our technicians back on board, and feeling refreshed, rested and ready to go after the holiday!

Wishing all our valued clients a wonderful holiday! We hope you enjoy a happy, healthy and safe break.

Apple has recently launched the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, and this overhauled device offers some heavy-duty improvements over the previous model. As well as giving you a larger 16-inch screen, the new MacBook Pro offers more power, better internal cooling, a bigger battery, an improved keyboard, louder speakers plus the potential to add on massive amounts of extra storage if needed.

 

The specs

The new MacBook Pro delivers a range of specs that customers have been seeking. Being touted as the world’s best professional notebook, the MacBook Pro offers:

• 16-inch Retina display
• 8-core processors
• New Magic Keyboard
• 100Wh battery
• Six-speaker sound system
• Next-gen pro graphics
• Upgraded thermal design
• 64GB of fast memory
• Up to 8TB of storage
• Wide colour (P3) and True Tone
• Aspect ratio of 16:10
• Brightness of 500 nits
• Custom refresh rates
• Four Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Turbo boost up to 4.5GHz
• 96W USB-C Power Adapter
• Weight of 4.3 pounds
• Measurements of 14.1 x 9.7 x 0.6 inches

 

Features

The new MacBook Pro features the same unibody aluminium design that will be familiar to past users, as well as a Touch Bar and a spacious trackpad. Available in silver and space grey, the MacBook Pro features a resolution of 3072 x 1920, which is equal to a density of 226 pixels per inch (PPI). The microphone is “studio quality” with high signal-to-noise ratio, and provides amazing sound quality without the distortion and vibration that can be common in other laptops.

The massive 100Wh battery will give you up to 11 hours of wireless use and provides plenty of endurance. While it’s not considered a gaming laptop per se, it’s certainly powerful and fast enough to use for most gaming purposes.

The display is one of the brightest and most colourful around and offers slimmer borders to help users feel more immersed in the experience. The new Magic Keyboard offers more key travel, improved reliability and a more stable feel – meaning your typing experience will be much more comfortable. Plus, it includes a physical escape key. The keyboard alone represents such a vast improvement on previous versions that it is probably enough to push many users into upgrading.

While the 16-inch MacBook Pro is highly functional with the base level configuration, you can also choose custom build-to-order configs, including greater turbo boost, memory and storage.

While the new MacBook Pro is already widely considered to be one of the best Apple laptops in years, there are a few small negatives. In terms of size, it’s a bit heavier and thicker than the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

 

The upshot

Apple has clearly listened to its customers and provided them with a laptop that delivers on many fronts. If you’re looking for a decent amount of power and sheer storage volume, you can’t go past the new 16-inch MacBook Pro. Although it’s slightly larger, heavier and more expensive, the benefits far outweigh any slight drawbacks. Its great battery life means you can use it anywhere, and it’s very, very fast. It’s one of the best laptops around for power users.