Mac Pro gets a graphics update ↦

It’s not dead yet! On Tuesday, Apple rolled out three new graphics card modules for the Intel-based Mac Pro, all based on AMD’s Radeon Pro W6000 series GPU. (Apple posted a Mac Pro perf… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Magic Keyboard with Touch ID now available for purchase ↦

For those who want the benefits of biometric authentication for their existing Mac, good news: the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, recently introduced alongside the M1 iMac, is now available for indi… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

New York Times Crossword to third-party apps: Drop dead ↦

Everdeen Mason of the New York Times, with an abrupt announcement: Starting Aug. 10, we will no longer support crossword play on Across Lite. This means we won’t provide downloadable .puz files for… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Google debuts its own chip on the Pixel 6 ↦

Google SVP Rick Osterloh unveils the new Tensor System-on-a-Chip designed by Google to power the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones: Tensor was built for how people use their phones today and how peopl… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 364: Content Arms Dealer

Myke and Jason discuss last week’s record Apple financial results, and then Jason welcomes special guest Julia Alexander for a mega-Upstream about ScarJo v. Disney, the future of movies, and … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Quick Tip: Delete that pesky un-deletable folder

You put something in the trash in macOS, you empty the trash, it’s gone. That’s how it’s supposed to work. Sometimes, though, you run into an odd hiccup. Upon my recent updates to… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

A Back Page: The Absurd Analyst Call (Member Post)

Once every three months, I have the self-inflicted privilege of producing a complete text transcript of Apple’s post-results conference call with a gaggle of financial analysts. I used to typ… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

6C Podcast: July 30, 2021

Stephen Hackett’s Mac hardware calendar, old hardware, the Mac’s golden era (it’s now!), and picking at the thread of the tapestry that is Safari 15. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Cutting the cord: Apps, savings, and a networking headache

Fubo TV on an iPad. I cut the cord this week. After several years of very slowly inching my way toward the precipice, it all happened in a hurry this summer: A discovery that I preferred to watch s… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 409: Well A-Cancelly-Doo

What services we’ve added (or subtracted) during the pandemic, our Twitter bits that deserve to be shows, what companies we would de-IPO, and the travel tech we find indispensable. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

This is Tim: Apple’s Q3 2021 call with analysts (transcript)

Here’s a transcript of Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri’s call with financial analysts. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Apple posts $81B quarterly results: Charts

Apple posted record third-quarter results today, featuring $81 billion in revenue. There will be a lot more to say about it momentarily, but here are the charts…. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Live Text comes to Intel Macs in macOS Monterey beta 4

Selecting and dragging some live text from an image on macOS Monterey. In a surprise twist, a macOS Monterey feature previously advertised as being available only on M1 Macs will now be available o… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 363: Our App Is a Game Now

Football is Life! This week Myke and Jason join Netflix in pretending to understand games, ponder a smarter Apple display, and then discuss “Loki” and the return of “Ted Lasso.… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

6C Podcast: July 23, 2021

Listening to users, rejecting innocent apps, and self-inflicted Safari wounds. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

iDOS emulator may be removed from the App Store ↦

Chaoji Li, developer of iDOS reports that the app has fallen afoul of Apple’s prohibition on executed code, and will probably be removed from the App Store (though it’s still available … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 350: That’s the Way Time Works

The big 3-5-0. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 408: TikTok Tech Talk

How we manage email spam, the tools we use that have changed how we complete tasks, tech decluttering, and how we fix privacy problems like Pegasus. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Getting a handle on outdoor air quality (Member Post)

Last year, I wrote about how I built a bunch of scripts to notify me about my local air quality. Well, it’s summer again, and wildfires are back–and with wildfires comes polluting wildf… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

How concerned should you be about Pegasus, the latest iOS spyware?

A few big stories in the news over the weekend disclosed the existence of a piece of spyware called Pegasus, developed by NSO Group, which has hacked a number of phones—including iPhones—belonging … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

The right Mac laptop for students (2021 edition) ↦

I updated my perennial “The right Mac laptop to buy for a student” story today, two years to the day since I last updated it. It’s funny how that story has evolved since I first p… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Coming home to Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City

Sliding down a string of lanterns in the Lost City. On July 16 Team Alto1 released Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City on Apple Arcade. It’s a sequel of sorts to Alto’s Odyssey, release… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

BBEdit 14.0 arrives with Notes and LSP support

Bare Bones Software has released BBEdit 14.0, a new version with a whole bunch of new features. (Even the oldest software dogs are fully capable of learning new tricks.) BBEdit notes are persistent… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 362: He’s Posting More Chickens!

Jason’s back, and Myke has a lot of questions about his vacation. They also discuss a load of Apple TV+ news, new Safari betas, the MagSafe battery pack, and a bunch of Apple hardware rumors. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

HomePod 14.7 improves timer control, but doesn’t go nearly far enough

Amongst Apple’s latest spate of updates today is HomePod 14.7, which brings as its biggest feature the ability to view and control timers set on the HomePod from the Home app. Which all HomeP… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

In praise of the Siri Suggestions widget (Member Post)

Those apps? They’re a widget! 🤯 Siri gets a lot of flack from Apple device users—and it’s often well deserved. The voice assistant’s performance is generally spotty, sometimes dow… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Apple Podcasts reliability problem is turning into an image problem

Podcasting has been an important part of my life for more than a decade now; these days, I make roughly half my income from the various shows that I host and produce. That’s why it’s so… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

6C Podcast: July 16, 2021

We’re back from vacation and in need of network administration. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) The Rebound 349: That’s The Horse I’ll Die On

We’re mainly a show about old technology now. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 407: It’s Gonna Work This Time

The input devices we use, how much of our work happens in the cloud, form vs. function in our tech purchases, and the details that Apple sweats (and the ones it doesn’t). | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Apple releases MagSafe Battery Pack ↦

Apple’s continuing to build out its MagSafe accessory market by releasing a $99 battery pack that uses the company’s magnetic charging feature. Just slap it on the back of your iPhone 1… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

The retro design of Loki’s technology ↦

I’ve been watching and enjoying Loki, but one of the most fun parts of the show is the design and aesthetic of the Time Variance Authority offices. It’s just dripping with a ’60s … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Consumer Reports is collecting internet bills ↦

Like many of you, I generally feel that I pay a lot for internet access and it’s not as good as I’d like. But it’s tricky sometimes to draw data from that feeling. Which is why Co… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Windows 3.1 on an iPad ↦

After a few tips from Harry McCracken on Twitter, retro tech genius Benj Edwards has created detailed instructions on how to run Windows 3.1 on the iPad: Thanks to a MS-DOS emulator called iDOS 2 o… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 361: It’s Not an Artistic Exercise

For the first time Jason is (mostly) off this week! After discussing who’s winning the streaming wars, Myke challenges John Siracusa to describe his ideal Mac, asks Merlin Mann to share what he’s e… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

The FBI’s smartphone trap ran on ‘ArcaneOS’ ↦

Ars Technica’s Ron Amadeo has more details on the fake phones the FBI seeded amongst criminals: Two different interfaces would launch depending on what PIN you typed in on the lock screen. PI… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Feedback: iPad Mail should provide single-tap paste

FB9299101 Recent Similar Reports: None Resolution: Open Please provide a descriptive title for your feedback: Mail toolbar should provide single-tap icon for clipboard paste. Please describe the is… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Broadband in the Boonies 2021 ↦

Longtime MacUser and Macworld contributor Chris Breen works at Apple these days, and so he can’t write about tech anymore. Mostly. But for years, first at Macworld and now on his own blog, he… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

6C Podcast: July 9, 2021

We’re both sitting on a beach drinking a cold beverage this week. (But not the same beach.) | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) Clockwise 406: Ostensibly on Vacation

Pokémon Go, our biggest tech gear ROI, the tech we take on vacation, and whether we’d rather have a time machine or a transporter. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

The life cycle of Apple Watch backups (Member Post)

I recently had to go back to my Series 5 Apple Watch after my Series 6 met an untimely end when I slid down a waterfall at a state park on family vacation. I was fine, but my watch’s glass fa… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

A future for extending Apple Mail? ↦

David Sparks finds a glimmer of hope for the future of Apple Mail in Apple’s new MailKit plug-in interface for the Mac: There is already a rich ecosystem of Apple Mail plugins, but I’ve… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

You’re not backing up enough

I know you’ve heard it a million times before, so many times that you skim past it when you read it. And you’ll probably do it again this time, but I’ve got to try. I’m look… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Podcast) Upgrade 360: Big Minimizers

Presenting Upgrade 360, where YOU choose the audio quality! (The quality of the actual content was up to us.) The podcast bubble keeps expanding, and the macOS Public Beta has arrived. It’s a… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Gurman: Apple thinks about decentralized work ↦

In the second edition of Mark German’s excellent Bloomberg newsletter, he details that Apple is actively exploring new ways of work that don’t circle around Cupertino: Just a few years … | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

Migrating 2FA codes from Authy to Apple’s system

One of the features I’m most excited about in Apple’s latest platform updates is the ability to save two-factor authentication codes into my iCloud Keychain. That means (hopefully) no m… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

(Sponsor) Loopback: Powerful cable-free audio routing

My thanks to Rogue Amoeba for again sponsoring Six Colors, this time for Loopback. Loopback has become an essential tool in my Mac audio toolbox. Loopback passes audio between Mac apps, so if you n… | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago

6C Podcast: July 2, 2021

A week of public betas: Safari, Shortcuts, Focus, and more. | Continue reading


@sixcolors.com | 3 years ago