The purple icon on the left indicate that my screen is being shared. Further confirmed by this:
But the thing is that I am not mirroring the screen. The Mac mini is only plugged into a TV via HDMI. There are no secondary monitors in play here as confirmed by this:
Pressing “Stop Extending” doesn’t do anything. I am not running any third party software to do anything with monitors. My only thought is that the Mac mini is seeing this display as a TV, which it is, and for reasons that I do not understand is offering to extend to this TV even though it is the only display connected.
Now I initially thought it was just me. But it turns out that there’s a Reddit post that has other people with the same issue. That implies a bug unless there is evidence that says otherwise. Thus I will continue to research this and post any new findings that I come across here in the form of updates. But I wanted to put this out there in case that you had the same issue. Also, if you know what this is and why it’s happening, along with any fixes if this is a bug, I’d love to hear from you as well.
I swear, macOS Sequoia is not a good release at all. Apple may have been better off letting it bake in the oven a bit longer before releasing it to the public.
Posted in Commentary with tags Apple on December 12, 2024 by itnerd
A reader of this blog pointed me towards a Reddit thread and a MacRumors thread where people are complaining about this:
Given that Apple Intelligence and a better Siri experience are part and parcel of macOS Sequoia, and the Mac mini is Apple’s gateway into getting more Macs into the hands of more people, this is really bad.
Another data point. The same reader who tipped me off to this has confirmed that on his M4 Mac mini, when Apple Intelligence is on, he has to click on the Siri/Apple Intelligence button, then the mic icon, and then he can talk to Siri. If Apple Intelligence is off, he clicks Siri and he can talk right away. That implies bug to me.
What I am guessing is that Apple only likely tested this on the Studio Display and figured that it was job done at that point. I say that because some people with Mac mini’s and Studio Displays have confirmed that this is working as intended. Clearly Apple needs to do better QA before releasing stuff to their customers. The bottom line is that you can add this to the growing list of bugs with macOS Sequoia which includes Time Machine issues, and display issues which appear to be a design choice that Apple didn’t tell anyone about.
Apple really has lost the plot when it comes to software quality.
Posted in Tips with tags Apple on November 30, 2024 by itnerd
Something that has generated a lot of email in my inbox is which M4 Mac mini should people buy. It seems that there is a fair amount of confusion around this computer. And this hasn’t been helped by people noticing that depending on the upgrades that you choose, you can easily spend the price of two Mac mini’s without trying too hard. That prompted me to write this post to try and answer these questions as best as I can.
M4 or M4 Pro?: To be honest, most people should go for the M4 model. The only reason why anyone should go for the M4 Pro model is that you need the performance for 4K (or higher) video editing, 3D rendering, or anything that will take advantage of the extra graphics and performance cores that the M4 Pro has. If that’s not you, save your money and go for the M4 model.
Does Thunderbolt 5 matter?: I wrote an article on Thunderbolt 5, which by the way is only available on the M4 Pro model, here, but the short answer is that it doesn’t matter for anyone with the exception of the three people on planet Earth who have Thunderbolt 5 accessories. It will matter in a year or two when more accessories such as drives, docks and monitors appear that leverage Thunderbolt 5. I should also point out that the people who would care about Thunderbolt 5 are the same ones who would be in the target market for the M4 Pro model.
About that power button: To me, the whole discussion about the power button is a total non issue. Modern Macs are incredibly power efficient that leaving it on would not make any noticeable difference in your power bill. Besides, when was the last time you turned off your computer? Rarely if ever I suspect.
Should I Upgrade The RAM and Storage?: Here’s some random thoughts on this before I get to my recommendations. Upgrades from Apple are expensive, largely because you cannot upgrade after the fact. And before anyone mentions it, the fact that the storage in the Mac mini is removable does not mean you can upgrade it for less by going aftermarket. In fact, no aftermarket upgrade options exist as far as I am aware. Apple knows that so they get you for as much as they can get away with. The flip side of that is that Apple’s storage is way faster than it has any right to be. Ditto for their RAM because it’s basically packaged up with the CPU. That makes it very difficult to compare against say a garden variety PC with upgradable RAM and storage where neither is as fast. Now having said that, here’s my recommendations:
16GB of RAM is fine for most people. Unless you are doing something really RAM intensive, there’s no logical reason for most people to upgrade the RAM.
Storage is another matter. The fact is that 256 GB of storage isn’t enough in my opinion. So, besides giving Apple your money to upgrade to 512GB, you might want to consider external storage such as a Thunderbolt 4 or USB 4 drive as that’s going to be way cheaper per gigabyte versus what Apple charges.
If you really must upgrade both because you have a use case that demands more RAM and more storage, the M4 Pro variant is what you should be considering.
Hopefully I’ve answered all of your questions regarding the M4 Mac mini. If I missed something, please leave a comment below and I will help you as best as I can. Or if you’re still not sure which Mac mini you should get, leave a comment below with your specific use case and I will help you as best as I can.
When I get a phone call from a client from a client to assist them with some sort of tech issue, I need to grab a handful of things that I know that I will usually need on a job and go. For years, I’ve sort of scrambled to find what I need on a moment’s notice. To make my life easier, I have built up a tech sling bag that has my commonly used items that I need when I go to see a client. By doing this, I simply have to do a “grab and go” and I can add it to my backpack if I need to as it doesn’t take up a lot of space. Let’s start with the bag itself:
The is the tomtoc Explorer-H02 EDC Sling Bag in the 8 inch size which has an outer compartment that holds miscellaneous items, a compartment in the back that holds one item that I will get to in a moment, and a middle compartment that holds the majority of my gear. Because it is a sling bag, it goes over my shoulder which is handy if I am just using it by itself. But it will also fit inside my laptop bag or backpack.
Inside the sling bag is this OWC Envoy 1 TB SSD which recently was added to the sling bag. It doesn’t take up a lot of space, but it is quick. That makes it ideal to travel with and use with my clients.
The Victorinox Cyber Tool on the right the next item in my sling bag I find this to be extremely handy to do everything from open boxes to disassembling computers. Attached to that is Olight i3E EOS flashlight which makes life easier for me when I need light in a dark corner of a computer case or a room as it gets pretty bright.
I usually have a few random USB sticks with utilities on them. Such as malware scanning or unlocking utilities. But I also have a SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO flash drive which occasionally comes in handy with clients. Though with the 1TB OWC drive, I have to admit that I am rethinking whether I need to have that in my tech sling.
I’ve got an Apple AirTag in it so that if I misplace the tech sling, I can find it easily. Because I have left a customer’s site a few times without it, and then had an alert pop up on my iPhone telling me so. It’s inside a Belkin AirTag holder which makes sure that I can attach it to a loop inside the sling bag.
I have a plastic bag with batteries. Specifically some AA, AAA, CR1632, and CR2032 batteries. Because there have been numerous times where a customer had an issue that was solved by a battery, and the customer didn’t have any spare ones. Thus I cover myself for that eventuality.
I also carry a bag with some Woosh Screen shine and a microfibre cloth as I never know when I might need to clean a computer’s screen or keyboard. Be it mine or somebody else’s. This stuff works really well and it’s currently my go to for my computer cleaning needs. I also have some Q-Tips in the bag to get to those hard to reach places.
I have a small bag with a bunch of USB-A to USB-C and USB-C to USB-A adapters as they come in handy for customers who need to plug something into a computer and don’t have the right adapter.
Another recent addition to my tech sling is this Anker Ethernet to USB-C adapter that runs at 2.5 Gbps. Ideally, I would want to have a 10 Gbps adapter in my sling, but those are still pretty pricy. Thus this will work for me until prices drop.
To cover off any charging needs that I or others might have, I have a UGREEN Nexode 100W charger that has three USB-C ports and a single USB-A port. I can charge anything from phones to my MacBook Pro to my iPhone. Most of the time, I’ve used it to charge my client’s stuff quickly.
I have a variety of cables in my tech sling, starting with this Anker 100W USB-C power delivery cable for charging purposes only.
I also have an HDMI cable that comes in handy when I have a MacBook Pro and I need to plug into a projector or TV at a client’s site.
I also have a flat Ethernet cable which comes in handy when I need to plug into something using the Anker Ethernet adapter that I spoke of earlier.
The key cable that I carry is a RollingSquare InCharge XL which is my one cable to rule them all. I say that because it will cover any use case that I may need when at a client’s location as it is good for data transfer and for charging.
I also have that cable’s little brother the RollingSquare InCharge X as it it sometimes is handy to have a second cable that doesn’t take up a lot of real estate. It’s beaten up as it once was on my keychain. But it works just fine.
The second last item is this GearAid HeroClip. What this is for is to allow me to hook, hang, and carry my gear. I have it because if I have to use a public restroom, there is often no place to hang a jacket, or the sling bag, or a laptop bag. Thus making this piece of kit extremely handy. I got the large size to make sure that I could hang anything that I needed as it has a 100 pound weight limit.
The last item is this pen. Because everyone needs a pen.
So that’s what is inside my tech sling bag. This works for me, but I would be interested in hearing from you in terms of what you think I should add to it or change. Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
My every day carry or EDC has evolved slightly since the last time that I covered what my EDC consists of. I’ve tweaked some of the items that I carry not only for meeting my daily needs but to add some style as well. So let’s have a look at what my EDC consists of the following:
I am still using the iPhone 14 Pro as it’s a fast phone and none of the Apple Intelligence stuff or the camera upgrades have enticed me to switch to the iPhone 16 Pro. I have a dbrand Grip Case on it and I protect the screen with a dbrand Prism 2.0 screen protector. The only thing that I have done to the phone is have the battery replaced under AppleCare when the battery health went below 80%. Now for formal occasions I have been known to switch my case to this one from Mujjo, but I might be able to get away with not having to do that as the dbrand case is something that I might be able to roll with for any occasion. We’ll have to see the next time I have to do something super formal.
I now use the original Apple Watch Ultra as that fits with the sports and other athletic activities that I do. I’ve had this for over 2 years and the battery health is currently at 94% which is outstanding after two years. While you see it here with the Apple Nike Sport band, I do have a selection of bands that I can swap to if the need arises. Including this recent addition. I’ve also customized the watch with apps that make it close to a Garmin watch as that fits with the fact that I am a very athletic person.
Next up is the Ekster Carbon Fibre Cardholder which is made of 3K carbon fibre. All the cards and ID that I need are in this slim and light package that I barely notice in my pocket. It does have RFID blocking capabilities which is a good thing. One thing that I should point out is that if I am wanting to slim down what I carry, I can switch to either this MagSafe wallet for formal occasions, or this MagSafe wallet if I am going for a bike ride. In either case, I just take my ID out and place it in the MagSafe wallet of choice and the wallet on the back of my iPhone 14 Pro.
I make sure that I know where my wallet is at all times by having this Zike Smart Tracking Card inside the wallet which integrates with Apple’s Find My network. One thing that I really like about this tracking card is that unlike a lot of them, this one is rechargeable. So when the battery goes dead, I just toss it onto a wireless charger and I get a charge that lasts about six months as opposed to having a card that works for about two years that you then have to replace when the battery goes dead.
If I want to listen to music while I am on the go, my Apple AirPods Pro is my go to as they allow you use active noise cancelling to shut out the outside world, or use transparency mode to stay aware of what’s going on around you. I have been wanting to replace them with the AirPods Pro 2 but these won’t die. They are wrapped up in the dbrand AirPods Pro Grip case to make sure that I don’t drop and damage them. I should also mention that I did replace the stock silicone ear tips with the Comply Foam Tips which not only make the AirPods Pro feel more comfortable in my ears, but they allow the AirPods stay in my ears better. They also sound better and noise cancelling works better.
When I am not driving, my sunglasses of choice are the Rudy Project Zyon’s. My wife originally got them with the prescription inserts. But she then moved onto a different Rudy Project model. Thus I took them, removed the inserts and have been using them ever since. I really like these as they provide a great amount of coverage, which means better protection for my eyes.
My keys are the next things that I grab. My keys are in a KeyPort Pivot 2.0 key holder which on the inside I have a 64GB USB stick, a multi-tool that in a pinch can open an Amazon box, a SIM card ejector tool, and a pen. Oh yeah. It also has my keys as well. One thing that I appreciate about this setup is that keys don’t dig into my thighs and they don’t jingle. I also have my key fob for my condo along with an Apple AirTag on them to find them when I misplace them. Since you can’t directly mount an AirTag to anything, I use the Belkin Secure Holder with the AirTag as it’s secure and cheap relative to the cost of what Apple wants you to pay for their products.
If I am driving I take my car keys with me as well, and they too have an Apple AirTag along with a Belkin Secure Holder on them.
The Groove Life Groove Belt is a great addition to my EDC as I can use it for formal occasions or just wearing jeans. It comes together using some really strong magnets and you feel like a superhero when you put it on. I’ll also point out that you can resize it at will which is handy as I have steadily been losing weight over the last couple of years.
The last item is some Blistex or some other form of lip protection as I get really dry lips.
That’s my EDC or every day carry. What do you think? What do you think I should add to it or change? And were you able to spot the theme? Drop a comment below and share your thoughts. In the meantime, stay tuned for a look at my Tech Sling that I carry with me when I see clients as that has a lot of interesting things in it.
Posted in Commentary with tags Apple on November 10, 2024 by itnerd
TechCrunch is reporting that law enforcement is apparently concerned over a new feature that Apple seems to have added that makes it way harder for them to get into iPhones that are in their possession:
404 Media reported Thursday that law enforcement officials were warning each other that phones being stored for forensic examination seemed to be rebooting themselves — something that security experts confirmed in a follow-up story. After the reboot, it’s harder for those phones to be unlocked by password-cracking tools.
Apple did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
This reboot appears to take place after iPhones with iOS 18.1 have not been unlocked for a set period of time. According to Chris Wade, founder of mobile analysis company Corellium, iPhones seem to reboot after their fourth day of in a locked state.
So if you’re running iOS 18.1 right now, you have this feature. Now, am I surprised that Apple not only hasn’t commented on this, but also has seemingly slipped this feature in under the cover of darkness? Not really. Apple has had a bit of a history getting into fights with law enforcement over unlocking iPhones. And given the current climate in the US where there is a massive potential for the surveillance state to really ramp up, some people might consider this a feature. I for one am fine with this because the data on my iPhone is my data. And nobody that I don’t want to have access to it should have access to it. That doesn’t make me a criminal. It makes me someone who wants their privacy to remain intact.
Apple has recently released a bunch of new computers. And some of them come with Thunderbolt 5 which Apple promised “up to 120 Gbps” of speed among other things. But I’m here to say that it’s not that simple. Let me explain why by going back to what Thunderbolt 4 does.
Thunderbolt 4 ports and cables are capable of transmitting power, data and video signals. In terms of video, it will handle a single 8K, 6K or 5K external display. Alternatively it can support dual external 4K displays at up to 60Hz. In terms of speed, it will do up to 40 Gbps. And in terms of power, it will do anywhere between 100W and 140W depending on the implementation. Here’s what Thunderbolt brings to the table according to Intel:
Thunderbolt 5 is promising speeds of up to 120 Gbps.
Thunderbolt 5 can support up to three 4K displays running at up to 144Hz, or you can do two 6K or 8K displays. It can also handle a single external display as fast as 540Hz.
Thunderbolt 5 can support from 140W to 240W of power
But let’s get to the elephant in the room. Which is the 120 Gbps speeds that Apple promised. If you dig into the details, Thunderbolt 5 has double the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 4. So that’s 80 Gbps not 120 Gbps. So how does Apple advertise speeds of 120 Gbps? Well, Thunderbolt 5 has the ability to sacrifice receive speeds to get to 120 Gbps on the transmit side of the fence. So the only scenario where that would make sense is on the graphics side of the fence. Specifically for high resolution and high refresh rate monitors. You won’t see that shuffling files from an external hard disk for example.
As an aside, if you also have concluded that Apple will likely come out with a new version of their Pro Display XDR or Studio Display that supports their Pro Motion variable refresh rate tech because Thunderbolt 5 exists, you get a gold star. Because with Thunderbolt 4, it wasn’t technically possible for Apple to have a 5K or 6K display with anything more than 60 Hz. But with Thunderbolt 5, it is technically possible.
One other thing to consider is that you need to have Thunderbolt 5 compatible devices to get these speeds. Right now there’s not a whole lot of them out there. But I am sure that they will start to appear over the next year. That makes having Thunderbolt 5 a “sometime later” thing for most people. But when it does become a practical for most people, it will be a game changer.
Posted in Commentary with tags Apple on November 9, 2024 by itnerd
I was recently asked by a friend what he should look out for when buying a used Mac. His main concern was that the Mac would be stolen as there are a lot of cases that have popped up online where someone buys a used Mac and it turns out that it was stolen. I had to think about that for a second because I have never been asked that question before, nor have I bought a used Mac. But I did come up with two things that anyone wanting to buy a used Mac should watch out for:
Is it Activation Locked?: Activation Lock is a feature that Apple introduced with the iPhone, but has since expanded to pretty much every Apple device, where the device is “locked” to an owner via their iCloud or Apple Account. As a result, if you wanted to factory reset it for example, you’d need the password of that account. Here’s how you tell if the Mac that you want to buy is still Activation Locked:
If the Mac boots and you see the “Hello” screen, that usually indicates that macOS has been reinstalled. You should go through the setup to get to the point where you are able to enter an iCloud/Apple Account to make sure it isn’t activation locked to ensure that it isn’t Activation Locked
If you see a login window, be aware that the Mac is still likely linked to the old owner. This means that macOS Activation Lock is likely still enabled. If the owner of the Mac can’t or won’t deactivate Activation Lock on the spot, you should run in the other direction.
Is it MDM or ADE locked?: MDM stands for Mobile Device Management and corporations, schools among others use MDM software to not only manage the Mac, but remotely access as well in some cases. Finding out if MDM software is installed can be difficult, but this Reddit thread has some really good advice on that front. There’s another version of this called ADE or Automated Device Enrolment. This used to be called the Device Enrolment Program but in either case, this was a program run by Apple themselves to allow companies to manage their Macs in a variety of ways. And this can be really problematic as this will be present even if you erase and reinstall macOS. If you want to check this for yourself, this Reddit thread can help you with seeing if the Mac that you want to buy is ADE locked. Why this matters is that if you come across a Mac with either of these installed, the Mac has likely been stolen. And if you buy it, you might not only be completely out of luck as it might be locked down in whole or in part. There’s also the possibility that some forms of MDM do location services, meaning that someone may end up knocking on your door looking for their stolen Mac as they could hunt you down.
There’s some other things to consider beyond the question of if it is stolen or not, like is the Mac in perfect working order for example. For that I will point you towards the Rocket Yard blog as that blog post has a lot of good tips in it. Another thing that you might want to consider is that you might want to go the refurbished route from Apple. I spoke about that here and I have personally used that route to save a few bucks. Not as much as you might save by going used, but any cash saved is a good thing.
Do you have any additional tips that I might have missed? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Posted in Commentary with tags Apple on November 7, 2024 by itnerd
Over the last few days, I’ve been poking around trying to figure out what is going on with variable refresh rates on macOS Sequoia. And I have come across something interesting. In previous versions of macOS, Sonoma for example, variable refresh rates would be available throughout the operating system. So no matter what you were doing, you would benefit from having a refresh rate that fit the situation. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Sequoia. I’ve observed the following:
Simply being in the Finder which for those of you who are on the Windows side of the fence is the macOS version of Windows Explorer, won’t trigger variable refresh rate support.
Being in a full screen video on YouTube on Safari will trigger variable refresh rate support.
Being in a full screen Microsoft RDP session will trigger variable refresh rate support.
Not all applications seem to support variable refresh rates when in full screen mode. For example, my copy of Microsoft Office 2019 doesn’t seem to trigger variable refresh rate support. I need to update it to the latest version as it is end of life, so if I can get around to doing so in the next few days, I’ll retest this scenario.
When variable refresh rate isn’t supported, my display is locked at 144 Hz.
In case you’re wondering how I can tell that it’s working, I turned on the FPS counter on the monitor so that it would report what refresh rate that it was getting from the computer.
Thus this implies that what Apple has done is made a conscious decision to alter how variable refresh rate support works in certain scenarios within macOS on external monitors. I say that because everything that I have written above is somewhat consistent with how I understand Apple’s version of variable refresh rate support which is called ProMotion works. Let me go into the weeds a bit on that.
The way ProMotion works on a MacBook Pro with its built in screen for example is that when the MacBook Pro is performing tasks that don’t require a high refresh rate, such as reading a static webpage or viewing a photo, the refresh rate can be scaled down to conserve battery life. However, when engaging in activities that benefit from a high refresh rate, such as gaming or watching videos, ProMotion ramps up to provide the best possible experience. Or it can vary on the fly to provide the best possible experience. What I am observing is that there’s no attempt to scale back performance in scenarios that don’t require a high refresh rate. As a result, you’re locked in to 144 Hz or whatever the max refresh monitor of your monitor happens to be. Which makes sense as you’re typically using an external monitor while your laptop is plugged in, or you’re using a desktop. Thus there’s no battery life to persevere.
Why they have done this? I have no definitive idea. While you can make an argument that this is a regression, I don’t think that’s the case. I am thinking that that this is a “refinement” of sorts by Apple. It would be nice if Apple came out with a support document that explains this behaviour in greater detail than this one that I found that simply provides a top level overview of variable refresh rates, or as they call it “adaptive sync”. But that’s not the type of company that Apple is and I’ve given up expecting them to do something different a long time ago. Regardless, I consider this to be a closed issue and I will move on with my life unless Apple changes this behaviour again. Which in turn forces me to write about this again.
Posted in Commentary with tags Apple on November 5, 2024 by itnerd
I am beginning to think that I should have stayed on macOS Sonoma. I say that because that hot off posting this issue with Sequoia comes a new issue. If you have a monitor that has the ability to do variable refresh rates, this may not work on Sonoma. For example my new BenQ MOBIUZ EX321UX Monitor which had no issues doing variable refresh rates when I was running Sonoma can no longer do variable refresh rates in Sequoia. Instead, I found it to be locked to 144Hz in my case.
Now I know that it’s not the monitor because I grabbed a PC laptop that I had in my office and tested variable refresh rate support, and it worked fine. I also tested the same scenario on my wife’s Mac which runs Sonoma, and that worked fine as well. And while researching this, I found a single post that sounds similar to what I am experiencing.
And:
Reading through this, it seems like this is some sort of regression as this apparently worked in Sequoia 15 and 15.0.1 which implies that this might be a regression. But it could also be Apple deliberately limiting support for variable refresh rates and HDR along with it as described here and here. At this point, it’s not clear which it is. But as more people discover this, more people will not be happy. Especially if they have a MacBook Pro and are used to ProMotion which is Apple’s implementation of variable refresh rates. To work around this, I have set my refresh rate to 100 Hz at 2560×1440 resolution which gives me the added advantage of being able to use the option of having my MacBook Pro render slightly sharper text while using HDR. And I will be retesting this when Sequoia 15.2 comes out as I am hoping that it will address this issue.
Have you experienced this issue? If so, post a comment below and share your experience.
macOS 15.2 Is Making My Mac mini Think That The Screen Is Being Mirrored… Why?
Posted in Commentary with tags Apple on December 12, 2024 by itnerdAdding to Time Machine issues, and display issues which appear to be a design choice that Apple didn’t tell anyone about, along with “Hey Siri” Functionality On The Mac Mini Apparently Not Working comes a new issue that appeared when I installed macOS 15.2 which dropped yesterday. After the install of that update, my Mac mini which is plugged into a TV now shows this:
The purple icon on the left indicate that my screen is being shared. Further confirmed by this:
But the thing is that I am not mirroring the screen. The Mac mini is only plugged into a TV via HDMI. There are no secondary monitors in play here as confirmed by this:
Pressing “Stop Extending” doesn’t do anything. I am not running any third party software to do anything with monitors. My only thought is that the Mac mini is seeing this display as a TV, which it is, and for reasons that I do not understand is offering to extend to this TV even though it is the only display connected.
Now I initially thought it was just me. But it turns out that there’s a Reddit post that has other people with the same issue. That implies a bug unless there is evidence that says otherwise. Thus I will continue to research this and post any new findings that I come across here in the form of updates. But I wanted to put this out there in case that you had the same issue. Also, if you know what this is and why it’s happening, along with any fixes if this is a bug, I’d love to hear from you as well.
I swear, macOS Sequoia is not a good release at all. Apple may have been better off letting it bake in the oven a bit longer before releasing it to the public.
2 Comments »