Macworld - 01.2021

is the number of

camera lenses on

the rear. The 12 Pro

has three of them

back there, plus the

new LiDAR scanner;

the 12 has just two.

Of the 12 Pro’s

three lenses, the

12 misses out on

telephoto. (Both

12-series handsets The iPhone 12’s camera performance in the majority of
get wide and shooting conditions is impeccable.

ultra-wide lenses.)

This means, among other things, a intuitive, user-friendly auto settings

reduction in optical zoom capabilities. that help the non-expert to get good

The LiDAR scanner, meanwhile, is shots without especially knowing what

a slightly mysterious new component they’re doing.

that may find its true calling when AR But the same could be said of the

features – its speciality – are more iPhone 11, and of the XS before it:

widespread. But it also enables 12 Pro we have to seek out difficult shots in

owners to combine Night and Portrait order to see the differences between

Modes, allows for faster autofocus 11 and 12, and between 12 and 12 Pro.

in low light, and generally helps the If you just want to take easy snaps

phone to construct an accurate 3D in pleasant light you’re unlikely to

model of the surrounding environment get your money’s worth, at least

– something that should come in photographically speaking, from the

handy when assessing where objects 12-series handsets.

end and begin when applying bokeh. The most common of those

Much as I said in the iPhone 12 Pro difficult shots is when you have

review, the 12’s camera performance multiple lighting conditions in the

in the majority of shooting conditions same frame. When shooting a subject

is impeccable. It offers excellent detail with the sun behind, for example,

and colour reproduction, along with which on a less sophisticated

January 2021 • Macworld 51

iPHONE

camera would result in either a lack and you’ll notice that the colour and
of detail on the shaded subject or detail of the tree trunk is handled with
overexposure on the light source. great sensitivity without blowing up
the exposure on the sky.
iPhones of recent vintage have
Smart HDR, a feature that uses their The 12 does a great job – although
processors’ power to analyse multiple it’s worth pointing out the greater
exposures and combine the best contrast and depth the 12 Pro draws
aspects for each area of the photo. from the tree, making the 12’s tree
On the 12-series handsets Smart HDR look flat by comparison. (You’ll have
has reached version 3, which offers to take my word for it on a lot of these
the finest analytical processes yet, comparisons. The difference is more
and uses machine learning to deduce obvious when viewing the photos at
what a photo is of and apply the full size on the phones’ own screens.)
appropriate settings.
Let’s take the lighting challenge
That’s a lot of words to say that a step further. Opposite is a shot
the iPhone 12 makes unwisely or of a child with the bright unclouded
recklessly composed photos look sun directly behind them (a handy
good. Here’s a shot (Image 1) I took option to have, incidentally, based
against diffuse but bright sunlight, on how hard children find it to pose

1. for pictures
with the sun
in their face)
– see Image
2. You’ll see
that both
phones
managed to
achieve an
admirable
amount of
detail on
the face,
although the
12’s effort

52 Macworld • January 2021

2. Night Mode,
which activates
is a touch darker, losing some of the automatically,
warning you
sunniness. Still, a great effort. with a small
number in a
Shooting against bright light is one yellow circle
that it’s going
of the challenges the 12 is designed to to extend
the exposure
for multiple
seconds,
is frankly
miraculous in
its ability to turn
night into a sort of uncanny half-day.
Elsewhere I’ve speculated about its
honesty as a photographic form, given
that the results rarely look anything

deal with;

another

is when

there’s

almost no

light at all.

This is when

Night Mode,

which

debuted

last year on

the 11-series

iPhones,

comes into 3.
its own.

January 2021 • Macworld 53

iPHONE

like the scene as viewed with a naked suggest that Night Mode Portraits are
eye, and you’re likely to see some rather hit-and-miss, especially when
shake during the longer exposure if using the front camera.
you don’t use a tripod or brace against
a wall; but it’s indisputably impressive One final challenge I set for
from a technical point of view. the iPhone 12’s rear camera was
a Portrait Mode shot with a busy
The next shots (see Image 3) were background (Image 4). I wondered
taken at roughly 10.30pm, and I don’t if the LiDAR scanner would make
remember it looking like this at all. The this job easier for the 12 Pro, but
12 Pro seems inclined to lighten the both models got confused about
sky more than the 12, but in this case I the same thing, misjudging the line
feel that’s the wrong decision; I prefer around the subject’s hand.
the 12’s effort, very slightly.
The 12’s front-facing camera,
Night Mode on the 12 is slightly meanwhile, is by all appearances
less versatile than on the 12 Pro, specced identically to that of the
which this year gains the ability to iPhone 12 Pro – the only question
combine it with Portrait Mode, even is whether the 12’s lower allocation
on selfies. I’m not sure that’s a huge of RAM could have any bearing at
miss for 12 buyers; my experiences all on the processing capabilities
with the more expensive phone of Smart HDR 3.

4. Opposite is
a Portrait Mode
selfie (Image
5) that the
12 and 12 Pro
both handled
extremely well,
with none of the
malfunctions
we saw around
the edge of
the previous
test subject.
Subjectively I

54 Macworld • January 2021

5.

think the skin tones look nicer in the 5G
12 Pro’s shot, but the 12’s colours are
probably more realistic. The iPhone 12’s flagship feature is
support for 5G, but I’ve left it until now
On the video side, my experience to discuss because it’s likely to affect
with the 12 was pleasing, achieving your day-to-day experience with the
crisp, smooth footage with a minimum device less than the updated design,
of effort and expertise. Just like last improved screen and Smart HDR 3
year’s 11-series phones it can record camera feature. There simply isn’t the
4K video at up to 60fps, but a new coverage yet for this to be a game-
addition is the ability to capture 4K changing feature for most customers.
Dolby Vision HDR video up to 30fps.
(The 12 Pro makes another effort If you’re giving this serious thought
here to justify its higher price tag by as a factor in the buying decision,
offering Dolby Vision up to 60fps.) it’s worth doing your research. Look
up your location on a coverage map
Dolby Vision is a relatively – such as those provided by EE and
niche but technically sophisticated O2 – and speak to your network about
proprietary video format that the the practicalities. You will probably
iPhone 12 also supports for playback; have to upgrade your contract, and
it uses metadata to tell a screen how may have to pay extra.
best to show the video. The iPhone
12’s presence on the market should But a lack of current excitement
ensure that Dolby Vision becomes far doesn’t mean it isn’t important: this is
less niche over the coming months. about future-proofing (and, through
Apple’s market clout, making the

January 2021 • Macworld 55

iPHONE

future happen sooner). When more of single core and slightly outperformed
us can access 5G coverage it will be it in multi-core – an unexpected victory.
essential to own a 5G-ready phone. If
you can get past the obstacles – aside The iPhone 12 was up around 19 per
from finding coverage and upgrading cent and 21 per cent on the 11 Pro in
your contract, you’ll have to live with the two tests respectively.
higher battery drain – you can expect
connection speeds in the region Geekbench 5 (single-core)
of 50 to 100 per cent higher than
current 4G LTE. iPhone 12: 1,594
iPhone 12 Pro: 1,595
That’s not a small thing, and I iPhone 11 Pro: 1,335
don’t want to minimize the effect
of achieving something closer to Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
Wi-Fi speeds away from home. But
it’s worth managing expectations iPhone 12: 4,116
about how much of a change you iPhone 12 Pro: 4,032
can expect right away. iPhone 11 Pro: 3,390

PERFORMANCE Benchmarks are all about
establishing the limits of a device’s
The iPhone 12 gets the new A14 Bionic theoretical speed, but you won’t need
processor, the latest and fastest (and, anything like this power in your day-
thanks to the 5nm process, one of to-day phone use. Subjectively we
the most power-efficient) of Apple’s didn’t notice any difference, in fact,
proprietary chips. In this respect it between performance on apps and
exactly matches the 12 Pro, although games with the 11 Pro, 12 and 12 Pro:
the Pro accompanies the A14 with all three devices remain uniformly
6GB of RAM, to the 12’s 4GB. quick, slick and smooth.

It would have been nice to have Again, we have to use that phrase
that extra RAM up your sleeve for ‘future-proofing’: you’re not paying for
the more demanding apps and tasks performance now, you’re paying for
of the future, but for now you won’t performance in 2021 and 2022, when
notice a difference between this and the apps will be more demanding.
the Pro. In our speed benchmarks,
in fact, the 12 matched the 12 Pro in A strong showing in the general-
speed tests, then, but graphical
benchmarking was less conclusive

56 Macworld • January 2021

about the gains

from the previous

generation. Our

GFXBench Metal

tests showed no

improvement at all,

in fact, although our

US colleagues were

able to detect small

gains in 3DMark’s

Wild Life and the Ice

Storm test. The iPhone 12, like the 12 Pro, is compatible with Apple’s

new range of MagSafe charging accessories.

GFXBench Metal

Car Chase gives for last year’s iPhone 11, despite

iPhone 12: 51fps battery capacity having dropped from

iPhone 12 Pro: 46fps 3,110mAh to 2,815mAh.

iPhone 11 Pro: 51fps Lasting 6 hours and 36 minutes

in the battery segment of the

Geekbench 5 Manhattan Geekbench 4 benchmark, the iPhone

iPhone 12: 60fps 12 performed pretty well for an iPhone

iPhone 12 Pro: 60fps – somewhere between the 5:33 of the

iPhone 11 Pro: 60fps iPhone 11 and the 7:22 of the 12 Pro –

but is well behind the average for an

Geekbench 5 T-Rex Android handset. One Android phone,

iPhone 12: 60fps the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, lasted more

iPhone 12 Pro: 57fps than 14 hours in that test.

iPhone 11 Pro: 59fps Bear in mind that the Geekbench

BATTERY LIFE test is designed to push phones to
their limit, and real-world usage will

Apple claims the iPhone 12 is good for be far less demanding. As ever with

11 hours of streamed video playback, battery estimates, it’s important to

or 17 hours of non-streamed. That’s stress that Your Mileage May Vary,

the same estimate the company depending on whether you spend

January 2021 • Macworld 57

iPHONE

most of your phone time browsing the in an objective sense, only cheaper
web or playing graphically demanding than the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max.
games. But you ought to expect the
iPhone 12 to comfortably last from Here’s the full price breakdown:
wake-up to bedtime without having to
be topped up. 64GB: £799
128GB: £849
In one fairly busy day of testing, I 256GB: £949
took the 12 off its charger at 7.15am
and used it for photography, speed VERDICT
benchmarking, music, web browsing
and a variety of apps and games. The iPhone 12 is a compromise choice
By the time I went to bed at 11pm it for those whose budgets don’t stretch
was still on 18 per cent – pointing to the Pro models, and it can be hard
to a total projected span, based on to get excited about compromise. But
that day’s level of use, of something you should try, because there’s a huge
in the region of 19 hours. That’s not amount to like here.
outstanding, and of course battery life
will worsen as the components age, The biggest step forward
but it’s decent enough. is the screen, which brings the
standard iPhone closer than ever
The iPhone 12, like the 12 Pro, is to its Pro equivalent. OLED and
compatible with Apple’s new range of the substantially higher resolution
MagSafe charging accessories (see make this an elite display that’s a
page 72). I tested charging speed with pleasure to use.
the basic MagSafe charger and a 29-
watt USB-C plug and it went from 0 to The camera set-up is superb too,
21 per cent in 30 minutes: not exactly capturing colourful, detailed shots in
lightning-quick. some of the most difficult conditions
I was able to find. You’re missing out
PRICE on the 12 Pro’s superior optical zoom
and more versatile Night Mode, but
The iPhone 12 is available right the photographic differences between
now, and as mentioned above it’s the two devices are minor.
the second-cheapest of the new
generation of Apple phones, starting Like the Pro, this is a phone with
at £799. That doesn’t mean it’s cheap one eye on the future, and those
of us who buy an iPhone with the
expectation that it will last us two

58 Macworld • January 2021

This is a phone with one eye on the future.

years or more will appreciate its 5G money is very rarely no object, and
readiness and the processing power considering how close the 12 comes
that feels like overkill on today’s to the 12 Pro in the key areas (design,
apps. MagSafe compatibility, too, speed, camera performance) while
will become more valuable as the costing £200 less, we’d recommend
third-party accessories market grows. this as the best choice for most
iPhone buyers right now. This year
The only fly in the ointment, really, it’s all about the inbetweeners. David
is the relatively disappointing battery Price
performance, but it suffers only by
comparison with the market-leading SPECIFICATIONS
Android phones. Battery life is solid,
rather than dazzling, and it should • 6.1in (2,532x1,170; 460ppi) Super
get you through a day of typical use Retina XDR OLED, HDR10
without any worries. touchscreen

If money is no object, then of • iOS 14.1
course you should buy one of the Pro • Apple A14 Bionic (5nm) processor
models and good luck to you. But • Hexa-core (2x 3.1GHz Firestorm, 4x

January 2021 • Macworld 59

iPHONE

1.8GHz Icestorm) CPU
• Apple (4-core graphics) GPU
• 4GB RAM
• 64GB/128GB/256GB storage
• Two rear-facing cameras: 12Mp,

f/1.6, 26mm (wide), 1.4µm, dual pixel
PDAF, OIS; 12Mp, f/2.4, 120-degree,
13mm (ultra-wide), 1/3.6in
• Dual selfie cameras: 12Mp, f/2.2,
23mm (wide), 1/3.6in; SL 3D,
(depth/biometrics sensor)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6,
dual-band, hotspot
• Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS,
GALILEO, QZSS
• NFC
• Lightning, USB 2.0
• Face ID
• Non-removable 2,815mAh
lithium-ion battery
• Fast charging 20 watts; 50 per cent
in 30 minutes (advertised)
• 146.7x71.5x7.4mm
• 164g

60 Macworld • January 2021

Review: iPhone 12 Pro Max

Price: £1,099 from fave.co/2UPKVUA

The iPhone 12 Pro Max is big. the expansive display and incredible
Just slightly taller and wider battery life make it worth every penny
than the iPhone 11 Pro Max of its price premium.
(which was already more
than a handful), it is most certainly not DESIGN

for those who insist on one-handed The iPhone 12 Pro Max is

operation. If you’re a big phone kind essentially just a larger iPhone 12 Pro.

of person, you’ll probably find the It’s exactly the same phone in the

Max version of the iPhone 12 Pro to be same colours with the same thickness

worth its £1,099 starting price. While and style, same display, same A14

its new camera is only a tiny bit better, chip, same LiDAR, same MagSafe

January 2021 • Macworld 61

iPHONE

support... just

stretched out

to a beautiful

6.7in display.

It’s a lot of

phone. If you like

really big phones,

you’ll feel right

at home, but

if you insist on

one-handed

operation you will

be overwhelmed

by this almost

tablet-like slab.

Along with the

larger size comes

a larger battery, The iPhone 12 Pro Max is quite a bit larger than the 12 Pro.

and it makes a

big difference. To measure battery The iPhone 12 Pro Max lasted

life we calibrate the display to 200 considerably longer than any other

nits and run the battery from full to iPhone we’ve ever tested.

empty using the Geekbench 4 battery Other performance metrics track

test. In this test, the iPhone 12 Pro right along with the iPhone 12 and

Max lasted 26 per cent longer than 12 Pro. There are some infinitesimal

the 12 Pro – over 8.5 hours. It’s by far benefits to the larger size of the Max

the longest battery life we’ve ever reducing thermal throttling of the A14

measured in an iPhone. chip, but you’d never notice it.

Battery life Geekbench 5 (compute)

iPhone XS Max: 314 minutes iPhone XS Max: 4,521
iPhone 11 Pro Max: 427 minutes iPhone 11 Pro Max: 6,370
iPhone 12 Pro: 412 minutes iPhone 12 Pro: 9,383
iPhone 12 Pro Max: 521 minutes iPhone 12 Pro Max: 9,542

62 Macworld • January 2021

Geekbench 5 (single-core) be more detail and less noise in low-

iPhone XS Max: 1,114 light environments.

iPhone 11 Pro Max: 1,334 In addition, the telephoto lens is

iPhone 12 Pro: 1,591 just a little bit more telephoto. The 12

iPhone 12 Pro Max: 1,601 Pro has a 2x telephoto (equivalent to

a 52mm focal length), while the Max

Geekbench 5 (multi-core) variant is 2.5x (about 65mm).

iPhone XS Max: 2,774 There’s been a lot of talk about the

iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,463 difference the new wide sensor will

iPhone 12 Pro: 3,942 make for low-light photography, but

iPhone 12 Pro Max: 4,089 try as I might, I could just not produce

PHOTOGRAPHY convincingly better shots than the
iPhone 12 Pro. Apple’s multi-exposure

There is one small hardware change computational photography is so

between the iPhone 12 Pro and the 12 good that I have a very hard time

Pro Max, beyond the obvious size and distinguishing shots between the

battery capacity. In a change from last old sensor and the new one.

year’s iPhone model line-up, the Max You can find some edge cases

version this year has slightly different where it matters, but even then you’ll

camera hardware.

The standard

wide-angle lens is

still 12 megapixels

but the sensor is

47 per cent larger.

This larger sensor

is stabilized with a

more sophisticated

sensor-shift image

stabilization system

rather than the lens-

based stabilization of

the other cameras. The The camera module looks the same as that on the iPhone
result is supposed to 12 Pro, but two of these cameras are a little different.

January 2021 • Macworld 63

iPHONE

I took a lot of low-light and Night Mode shots trying to get the iPhone 12 Pro Max to
look a lot better. It just never really happened.

have to zoom in and pixel-peep to means it’s easier to hold steady, and
spot the slight improvement in detail you’re more likely to get a good shot
or texture from the Max’s improved with a subject that’s moving. Even so,
sensor. What I did notice is that the it’s not a night-and-day difference.
Max regularly takes Night Mode shots
with shorter exposure times, and You’ll immediately notice that the
shots in low light without Night mode telephoto lens is a bit longer, though.
that have somewhat faster shutter When shooting Portrait Mode shots
speeds or higher ISO settings. That you have a choice between 2.5x and
1x, instead of 2x and 1x on the non-Pro

The longer telephoto is useful, but produces slightly grainier shots in low light.

64 Macworld • January 2021

The longer telephoto definitely changes the character of Portrait Mode shots.
Charlotte has never looked more glamorous.

model, and that closer crop creates it. The expansive 6.7in display makes
a totally different feel. But in being videos pop, games more immersive,
longer, the telephoto lens has a and web pages easier to read. Most
narrower aperture, which means a bit of all, the absolutely epic battery life
more grain and noise when you use it alone is worth a 10 per cent increase
in low light. in price. That battery life alone could
convince some users to carry around
If you were considering the a bigger iPhone. But the improved
iPhone 12 Pro Max over Pro just camera is not a reason to buy this
for its superior camera, I wouldn’t model. Simply put, the improvements
bother. There is a difference, but it’s over the iPhone 12 Pro are so seldom
minuscule; Apple has done such an seen, and usually so minute, that it
amazing job with 12 Pro photography shouldn’t be a factor in deciding what
that it’s not worth lugging around a to purchase. Think of the improved
huge phone (if you don’t want to) just camera as a nice little bonus on top of
to get a slightly better shot in some a phone with crazy performance and
very particular situations. battery life. Jason Snell

VERDICT SPECIFICATIONS

The iPhone 12 Pro Max costs £100 • 6.7in (2,778x1,284; 458ppi)
more than the iPhone 12 Pro. If you Super Retina XDR OLED, HDR10
like really big phones, it’s totally worth

January 2021 • Macworld 65

iPHONE

touchscreen
• OS 14.1
• Apple A14 Bionic (5nm) processor
• Hexa-core (2x 3.1GHz Firestorm, 4x

1.8GHz Icestorm) CPU
• Apple (4-core graphics) GPU
• 6GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB/512GB storage
• Four rear-facing cameras: 12Mp,

f/1.6, 26mm (wide), 1.7µm, dual pixel
PDAF, sensor-shift stabilization
(IBIS); 12Mp, f/2.2, 65mm
(telephoto), 1/3.4in, 1.0µm, PDAF,
OIS, 2.5x optical zoom; 12Mp, f/2.4,
120-degree, 13mm (ultra-wide),
1/3.6in; TOF 3D LiDAR scanner
(depth)
• Dual selfie cameras: 12Mp, f/2.2,
23mm (wide), 1/3.6in; SL 3D,
(depth/biometrics sensor)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6,
dual-band, hotspot
• Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
• GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS,
GALILEO, QZSS
• NFC
• Lightning, USB 2.0
• Face ID
• Non-removable 3,687mAh
lithium-ion battery
• Fast charging 20 watts; 50 per cent
in 30 minutes (advertised)
• 160.x78.1x.4mm
• 228g

66 Macworld • January 2021

MagSafe myths debunked

Everything you need to know. Michael Simon reports

MagSafe might be an old But since Apple isn’t including
name to Apple veterans, a MagSafe connector or even a
but it has a whole new compatible power adapter in the
purpose. Apple slipped iPhone 12 box, you probably have

a brand-new charging and modular some questions about MagSafe. And

accessory system into the iPhone 12, depending on where you find the

resurrecting the charging connector answers, they might not be all that

Apple retired when it switched to accurate. So forget about what you’ve

USB-C charging on the MacBook. read: here’s the truth about MagSafe.

January 2021 • Macworld 67

MAGSAFE

will charge the iPhone 12,

12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max at a

maximum of 15 watts (only 12

watts for the iPhone 12 mini),

but to get those speeds

you’ll need to use Apple’s

new 20-watt charger.

Otherwise, you’re going to

get 12-watt charging.

That sounds worse

than it actually is. I tested

When you pop on the MagSafe charger, you get a MagSafe with several
nice animation on the front. chargers and MagSafe

MYTH: SPEEDS ARE TOO worked fine with all but
SLOW WITH A THIRD- one, Choetech’s 100-watt charger.
PARTY CHARGER And while it’s true that none of them
REALITY: AS LONG AS IT’S charged quite as fast as Apple’s
20 WATTS OR HIGHER, IT 20-watt charger, they all filled up my
DOESN’T REALLY MATTER iPhone at roughly the same pace.
WHICH CHARGER YOU USE
Apple 20-watt charger

Highest: 17 watts

Charging is tricky. Depending on Battery life after 10 minutes of

the phone you buy, there are several charging: 12 per cent

different protocols out there –

QuickCharge, Warp Charge, and so on Aukey 65-watt charger

– but the most common is USB Power Highest: 12 watts

Delivery, which is what Apple uses. Battery life after 10 minutes of

But if you buy a MagSafe charger charging: 11 per cent

for £39, you’ll need to bring your own

power adapter, since Apple doesn’t Apple MacBook charger 60 watts

provide one with the iPhone 12 or Highest: 12 watts

the MagSafe cable. That’s where Battery life after 10 minutes of

things get a little tricky. MagSafe charging: 12 per cent

68 Macworld • January 2021

Anker PowerPort Atom III 60 watts under 10 watts once it reaches 50 per

Highest: 12 watts cent charged when all of the chargers

Battery life after 10 minutes of levelled off. So we’re talking minutes.

charging: 11 per cent MYTH: THE MAGSAFE
CASES SNAP ON EASILY
Samsung Fast Charger 40 watts USING MAGNETS
REALITY: THE CASES
Highest: 12 watts ARE JUST AS HARD TO
Battery life after 10 minutes of REMOVE AS THE IPHONE
charging: 12 per cent 11 ONES

RAVPower 90 watts

Highest: 11 watts

Battery life after 10 minutes of I was somewhat mistaken when I

charging: 12 per cent ordered the clear MagSafe case with

the ostentatious circular magnetic

Apple’s charger might hit higher ring on the back. I was under the

speeds and would probably win in a impression that the case served two

zero-to-100 test using the MagSafe purposes: bringing the MagSafe

charger, but it’s not going to be a magnet to the back of the case for

noticeable difference. With every a stronger contact and connecting

charger I used, speeds slowed to to the phone so the case could be

easily removed.

Only one of those

things is true. While

the MagSafe adapter

connects extremely

well to the back of the

MagSafe Clear case,

which I tested, putting

it on is just as difficult

as the previous hard

silicon case. Taking it

off repeatedly leaves

Apple’s MagSafe clear case isn’t easy to put on. the same compression

January 2021 • Macworld 69

MAGSAFE

creases in the

bottom corners

where the case

needs to be

forcefully pushed

away from the

phone, and the

buttons are

just as rigid as

with previous

clear cases. As

it stands, your

best bet is one

of the silicone

cases, though The magnets on the MagSafe charger and case are strong.

you’ll cover up the

colour you choose for the iPhone 12. If convenient uses. In my testing, the

you want a clear case, look for a very magnets are as strong as they need

thin one, like Totalee’s line of cases, to be. When I attach the MagSafe

which are available in frosted clear or charger to my fridge, for example,

fully transparent. I need to pry it off, so the magnetic

MYTH: THE MAGNETS capabilities are there. When using
AREN’T STRONG ENOUGH it with my iPhone 12, the charger is
REALITY: WHILE THE strong enough to stay attached to
WALLET ATTACHMENT the back with a bit of jostling but will
ISN’T IDEAL, THE still detach when slightly pulled. The
MAGNETS ARE PLENTY same goes for the wallet accessory,
STRONG FOR DOCKS AND which won’t fall off unless pushed
MOUNTS off (though it can be accidentally
detached when sliding into a pocket).

Once more accessories come out,

While the MagSafe accessories Apple I think we’ll see the magnetic strength

is selling are somewhat limited, the increase as warranted. For example,

mechanism lends itself to all sorts of a car vent mount will need to be

70 Macworld • January 2021

The current crop of accessories are only scratching the surface of what it can do.

stronger to keep the iPhone attached USB-C power adapter. Add to that
when driving over bumps and curves, the £129 Duo Charger, £129 Leather
and based on what MagSafe is Sleeve, and £59 Leather Wallet,
capable of, they should be. and the cost of entry is definitely
high. But as with all things Apple,
MYTH: MAGSAFE IS the early adopter tax will come down
EXPENSIVE AND DOESN’T and the utility will go up. MagSafe
DO ANYTHING NEW does solve a persistent problem with
REALITY: MAGSAFE IS wireless charging – making sure
EXPENSIVE AND DOESN’T the proper contact has been made
DO ANYTHING NEW YET before walking away – and third-
party car mounts, cables, and docks
There’s no denying that MagSafe is are already on the way. Granted it’s
expensive and not all that worth it. entirely  possible MagSafe never
Cases are £10 more than their iPhone takes off and quietly goes away with
11 counterparts across the board, and the iPhone 15, but I’m willing to bet it’s
the required charger costs £39 on going to be a success.
its own without the required 20-watt

January 2021 • Macworld 71

MAGSAFE

The best MagSafe
cases for the iPhone 12

Get amped up for Apple’s charging system. Michael Simon reports

If you’ve bought an iPhone 12, you CLEAR CASE WITH
know all about the new design, MAGSAFE
display, camera and iOS 14
enhancements, but there’s one Price: £49 from fave.co/2J9cmWP
Should you buy it: If you want to show

new feature you might not have tried off your iPhone 12’s natural colour and

yet: MagSafe. Apple’s new charging still keep it in an Apple case, this is

system doesn’t quite work out of the your only option. It’s a fine case in that

box – you’ll need to pay for some extra it’s sturdy and should protect your

equipment to get it to work. Here’s phone from bumps and bruises, but

where you should spend your money. it’s still very hard to remove, very easy

72 Macworld • January 2021

to smudge, and has a giant MagSafe past, you know that they’re very
target on the back surrounding the well made and come in a variety of
Apple logo. The buttons are a little colours. It feels very luxurious to
stiff, particularly the power button, hold and the Baltic Blue model looks
but overall, it doesn’t add all that great with an embossed Apple logo
much bulk or weight to the iPhone in the centre. The metal buttons are
12. However, even with the MagSafe a nice touch and feel great to press,
component, it’s still a very simple case while the bottom has clean cut-outs
with a pretty high price tag. for the speakers and Lightning port.
It’s a little pricey, but Apple’s leather
SILICONE CASE MagSafe case is definitely the best
WITH MAGSAFE of the bunch.

Price: £49 from fave.co/3l60iTm There are several other
Should you buy it: If you want a thin accessories available from Apple as
case that offers a bit of protection and well, including a Leather Wallet for
a slew of colour options, the Silicone £59, Duo Charger for £129, and a
Case with MagSafe is your best bet. Leather Sleeve for £129, as well as
It comes in eight varieties and is thin third-party options from OtterBox
enough to slip on and off with nice cut- and Belkin.
outs for the speakers and Lightning
port on the bottom. There’s no visible
MagSafe markings and the charger
and other accessories easily connect
to the back. It’s not the cheapest
silicone case you can buy, but if you
want an Apple case that’s sure to work
with MagSafe and keeps your iPhone
safe, this is the case to get.

LEATHER CASE WITH
MAGSAFE

Price: £59 from fave.co/3q8sAAL
Should you buy it: If you’ve owned
an Apple leather iPhone case in the

January 2021 • Macworld 73

BUYING GUIDE

Best wireless chargers

Here’s what to look for when picking out a charger for your iPhone,
AirPods or Apple Watch. Jason Cross reports

Over the past few years is being steadily replenished, and
wireless charging has ready for your next outing. A wireless
gone from novelty charger by your bed makes it easy to
concept to being a grab and go in the morning, or just
conventional function of any modern to ‘check one thing’ without fussing
iPhone. We won’t pretend that with the lightning cable. We’ve tested
wireless charging is always an ideal a wide range of different wireless
substitute for plugging in, but it’s a chargers. Here are our favourites.
very hassle-free way to keep your
phone topped off throughout the day. AIRPOWER TERMINATED
Freed from the bother of plugging and
unplugging, a wireless charger on On 29 March 2019, Apple officially
your desk is as good a place as any to acknowledged that AirPower will
set your phone, knowing the battery never see the light of day. The wireless
charging mat was announced in the

74 Macworld • January 2021

autumn of 2017 and was expected to a good stand with a steep angle will
be released early in 2018. It was an point your phone at your face enough
attempt to do something no other for Face ID to work. This makes it a
wireless charging pad can: charge lot easier to unlock your phone to
up to three devices on a single pad quickly check something without
of different shapes and sizes. Apple taking it off the charger.
simply couldn’t get it to work reliably.
Stands are great for reading your
“After much effort, we’ve phone while it charges, but sometimes
concluded AirPower will not achieve you want it to lie flat. It’s less
our high standards and we have conspicuous on your desk or bedside
cancelled the project,” said Apple table, and easier to just plop it down
hardware engineering chief Dan in any direction. Wireless charging
Riccio in a statement. “We apologize pads tend to be a little less expensive
to those customers who were looking than stands, too.
forward to this launch. We continue to
believe that the future is wireless and Now that AirPods have an optional
are committed to push the wireless wireless charging case and the Apple
experience forward.” Watch is so popular, we’ve also
seen an explosion of 2-in-1 and 3-in-
Now, your only option to use 1 chargers meant to charge several
the wireless charging capability of Apple devices at once.
your iPhone or the AirPods Wireless
Charging Case is to buy a third-party These are our picks for the best
Qi-compatible product, like the ones pad, stand, and multi-device charger,
in this buying guide. but there are a great many such
products out there; you may find a
WIRELESS CHARGERS different device at a different price
better suits your priorities.
Wireless chargers tend to come in
three variants: stands, pads and LOGITECH POWERED
multi-device chargers. A pad is 3-IN-1DOCK
great for your bed-side table or lying
inconspicuously on your desk, but Price: £139 from fave.co/374TDUJ
there are times when a stand makes Most iPhone users don’t really need a
more sense. In particular, they’re 3-in-1 wireless charging dock. It’s only
useful for iPhones with Face ID, as of use if you have an iPhone, Apple
Watch and AirPods with the wireless

January 2021 • Macworld 75

BUYING GUIDE

charging case, and you really want to The angle of the stand makes it easy to
charge them all in the same place. use your phone while it charges.

If you want something clean and DC barrel connector, which is more
simple to put on your bedside table or annoying than USB-C or Micro-
desk to charge all that stuff at once, USB, but not uncommon on these
Logitech’s Powered 3-in-1 dock is multi-device chargers. The cable at
a quality solution, though at least is thin and flexible, with a nice
£139, it’s going to cost matte finish, and a built-in cable
you. management tie.

The dock is a Logitech basically gets everything
little on the large right about a dock that combines an
side, but with clean iPhone charging stand, Apple Watch
lines and a nice matte charger and charging pad for AirPods
finish that keeps it from being an (or other devices). The only real gripe
eyesore. It also includes its own Apple I have is the price. If you see it listed
Watch charger – many similar docks for less than £100, it’s a good buy.
require you to insert your own. Otherwise, there are other options
that might not be quite as nice, but
The steep angle of the phone stand are a lot easier on the wallet.
make it easy to use your handset
while it charges, and is well-placed
to ensure Face ID works without
requiring you to pick up your phone.
The wide flat area to the left of the
stand can charge any Qi-compatible
device, including other phones or
AirPods (with wireless charging case).

I had no trouble charging my
phone with a thick case on it, either
on the stand or the pad area. And
you don’t have to be too precise with
the placement, either. The charging
lights are tiny and dim, so as not to be
distracting next to your bed at night.

The charging cable is a proprietary

76 Macworld • January 2021

MOSHI OTTO Q The subdued grey fabric and slim profile
will look good on almost any nightstand.
Price: £44 from fave.co/3fxKAPM
Moshi’s Otto Q is meant to look like that (we don’t test charging speed of
furniture. Moshi says it’s “inspired all wireless chargers), but it definitely
by Danish furniture” and the charged up my iPhone 11 Pro quickly
name is meant to invoke and reliably, even with a relatively
its purpose: an ottoman thick case on it.
for your phone with Qi
wireless charging. It’s a great wireless charger, it just
needs to cost a little less given that it
That might be a bit of a doesn’t come with a power adapter.
stretch, but the subdued grey
fabric and slim profile does BELKIN BOOST CHARGE
look good on almost any end WIRELESS CHARGING
table or nightstand. STAND

The charger uses a USB-C Price: £29 from fave.co/2UZgmfp
connection (yay) and Moshi supplies Belkin’s Boost Up wireless charging
a USB-A to USB-C cable (yay) that stand always worked well, but we
is about a foot shorter than it really
should be (boo). The price – £44 – is
reasonable but as there is no power
adapter included, you’ll have to
either use one of the many USB-A
power adapter you probably have
lying around or add the price of
buying a new one.

With the right adapter (one with
9-volt output like most Quick Charge
adapters), the pad supports fast
7.5-watt charging for iPhones and
10-watt charging for supported
Android phones. In fact, Moshi says
it has been tested to be the fastest
wireless charger by the German
magazine Mac&I. I don’t know about

January 2021 • Macworld 77

BUYING GUIDE

Unfortunately, the design is

nearly identical. A couple of small

LED charging indicator lights

are gone, and the finish is

matte instead of glossy,

but that weird retro-future

circular pod design is the

same as it ever was. It’s

comfortable and easy,

but it doesn’t exactly look

good on your desk.

The stand supports

7.5-watt charging on

iPhones, so you get

the fastest charging

available. I had no

trouble getting a solid

charging connection with

The Belkin has a retro-future circular design. a relatively thick case on my

iPhone XS Max, too.

weren’t really fans of its high price and The price is a lot more reasonable

proprietary AC adaptor. Also, it was this time around at £29. That’s still

sort of ugly. more than we’d like to pay for a basic

With the new Boost Charge plastic wireless charger, but it’s a lot

wireless charging stand, Belkin has more reasonable.

made a couple of welcome tweaks. MOPHIE DUAL WIRELESS
Instead of a proprietary power CHARGING PAD
adapter that ends in a barrel plug, it

uses a standard USB power adapter Price: £79 from fave.co/3nNogVs

with Micro-USB cable. That’s a great The closest we may get to the

shift – there’s no real need for devices long-lost AirPower experience may

like this to give us yet another cable be something like Mophie’s 3-in-1

and plug we can’t use with any of our wireless charging pad, which has a

other gear. spot for your phone, AirPods, and

78 Macworld • January 2021

Apple Watch. That charger, and The closest we may get to the long-lost
many others like it, are not AirPower experience may be something
quite the ‘place anything like Mophie’s 3-in-1 charging pad.
anywhere’ experience that
AirPower was going for, but preferred. Second, there are two
it’s the next best thing. distinct charging spots, marked with
a thin silver line, and you have to be
With Mophie’s Dual quite particular about placing your
Wireless Charging Pad, devices right on them. Put them in the
the company took the middle, and they won’t charge.
base of its 3-in-1 pad
and put it in a different When charging a single phone, I
shell to make a charging found myself often readjusting my
pad that can charge placement in order to get the phone
two phones, or a phone to start charging. That’s not what you
and AirPods, at once. It’s want in any wireless charging pad;
available exclusively from Mophie and you want to drop it down and get a
Apple, but the firm makes a slightly reliable charge. When charging two
more squarish-shaped version with devices, one’s natural tendency to
a soft felt top surface that you can place them apart makes it easier to
buy on Amazon for the same price. be ‘casually accurate’. You may think
Beyond those cosmetic differences, it
seems functionally identical.

For its intended purpose, it works
well enough. Place two phones on
either side and they charge reliably.
It supports Apple’s 7.5-watt charging
rate and I successfully charged phones
with average-sized cases on them.

There are two annoyances,
however. First, as with many other
Mophie products, the pad is powered
by a rather large wall wart and a
proprietary barrel connector. Either
Micro-USB or USB-C would be

January 2021 • Macworld 79

BUYING GUIDE

this is fine, because you’ll have your We had no trouble charging our iPhones
AirPods on one side all the time, in portrait or landscape orientation.
but there’s no little divot for their
placement like there is on Mophie’s The new stand looks good. A small
3-in-1 charger, and I found myself blue charge indicator on the front is
sometimes knocking them out of subtle enough to use on your bedside
alignment by accident. table. The angle is steep enough to
make it suitable for unlocking your
The dual-charging pad has an iPhone X with Face ID while your
extra USB-A port in the back. If I had phone is resting on your desk.
to guess, I’d say this is the circuit
for the Apple Watch charging pad in Anker includes a Quick Charge
the 3-in-1, rerouted to a USB-A plug. 3.0 compatible power adapter and
This lets you plug in another cable, a matching Micro-USB cable. The
such as your Apple Watch charger, charger supports 7.5-watt charging
when necessary. on Apple devices and the 10-watt fast
charge mode on the latest Samsung
If you have a side table, kitchen flagship phones.
counter, or some other area where
multiple people often place their
phones to charge at the same time,
this is a good solution. It’s a single,
elegant, attractive pad that easily
charges two phones at once with a
port for another when needed. I think
most wireless charging pads sit on
desks or bedside tables where they
are used by a single individual, and
this is not the best solution for that.

ANKER POWERWAVE
7.5 STAND

Price: £25 from fave.co/3nVjuW2
Anker’s new PowerWave products
greatly improve quality over its older
wireless chargers.

80 Macworld • January 2021

The power coils inside cover the stand isn’t much of a looker. The
entire back of the stand, so we had no round shape is all wrong for a stand,
trouble charging our iPhones in either as it sticks out awkwardly to the sides
portrait or landscape orientation. A when you put your rectangular phone
little cooling fan blows air out a vent in on it. Still, at least it loses the clear
the rear to keep the charge coils cool, plastic coating in favour of a uniform
which keeps the charge rate from glossy black finish.
slowing down. If it’s especially quiet
and you put your ear up next to it, you This stand is a good deal at around
can hear the gentle whirring sound. £34. It supports fast charging and
it comes with a Micro-USB adapter
SAMSUNG FAST CHARGE that’s powerful enough to enable it.
WIRELESS STAND There’s even a little fan inside that
keeps the charging coils cool. Don’t
Price: £34 from fave.co/33gGVRy worry, you can’t hear it unless you
Like its flat charging pad cousin, really strain in a very quiet room.
Samsung’s fast-charging wireless
The angle is appropriate for
activating Face ID, and the stand
resists tipping well enough that a
little gentle phone use won’t cause

it to wobble.

Samsung’s stand supports fast charging and
has a Micro-USB adapter that enables it.

January 2021 • Macworld 81

HOMEPOD

Review: HomePod mini

Price: £99 from fave.co/39aysmW too far? What corners have been cut
to hit that price point?
Apple’s HomePod smart
speaker is widely admired We’ve been trying out a pair of
– for its attractive design minis for around a week, and our
and exceptional audio HomePod mini review reports on their
quality, if not for the sophistication design and portability, audio quality,
of its smart features – but many ease of use and smart features. We’ll
potential buyers are put off by its price help you decide if this is the best
tag. At £279 the 2018 HomePod is a option for your home.
serious purchase. This year Apple has
come up with a solution: a smaller and DESIGN
cheaper mini edition of the HomePod,
which costs a vastly more budget- The HomePod mini lives up to its
friendly £99. But is this a compromise suffix with a petite design. It weighs

82 Macworld • January 2021

just 345g – the full-

size HomePod is

2.5kg, about seven

times as much – and

is 84.3mm tall with a

diameter of 97.9mm.

(The big HomePod

is 172mm high with a

diameter of 142mm.)

That’s small, then

– but it can be hard

to grasp exactly how The HomePod mini is a lot smaller than its big brother.

small unless you’ve

got the thing in front of you. to give it a stable base, and the top

In size terms the comparators are to make space for the touchscreen

all fruit or balls. It’s about the size of a interface (of which more later). Other

grapefruit, and in sporting terms it’s a than the glossy top and matte bottom

little bigger than a cricket ball (roughly areas, the device is covered in the

70mm in diameter) and a little smaller same attractive mesh material used

than a lawn bowls ball (120 to 130mm). on its larger sibling. This can be

The closest equivalents are a softball white or black.

or a croquet

ball, but most

of us don’t

have much

experience

of those.

The mini

is roughly

a sphere in

shape, with the

top and bottom

chopped off:

the bottom, The mini is spherical, with the top and bottom chopped off.

January 2021 • Macworld 83

HOMEPOD

It’s a good-looking and highly Set-up, at least, is straightforward.
portable device, all told. Portability Plug in a HomePod and then bring an
might not seem important for a unlocked iPhone close; a dialog box
product that has to be plugged in, but will pop up inviting you to pair and set
don’t undersell it: you may want to up, a process that takes little time and
tote the mini from study to living room user interaction. Similarly, bring two
to kitchen depending on what you’re HomePod minis close together in one
up to (although bear in mind that after room and they will prompt you to unite
being unplugged and then plugged them as a stereo pair.
back in, it will need a moment to
prepare itself for further duties), and These kinds of auto interactions are
being small makes it much easier to great when they work, and generally
site on a bookshelf or end table. they do. But their behind-the-scenes
mysteriousness can work against
USING THE HOMEPOD them when something goes wrong,
MINI: SOME HEADACHES for whatever reason; it’s harder to set
something up manually when you’re
Apple products are known – at least not used to it, and when the system
by Apple itself – for being easy is not designed to accommodate that
to use. The HomePod mini tries level of user involvement.
to follow this tradition but I hit a
number of headaches in testing. So, when the stereo pair acted up,
it wasn’t immediately obvious where
The HomePod mini is easy to set up.
to go to sort things out
because it had all been
set up through pop-up
dialogs. Sometimes I’d
start up a song on the
iPhone, stream it to the
pair via AirPlay, and
only one would play.
What was the issue?
It wasn’t obvious
where to begin with
diagnostics, so I ended
up waiting for the

84 Macworld • January 2021

AirPlay in practice I experienced pauses of
is not in variable length when transferring
general as from one speaker to another, and
user-friendly occasionally it wouldn’t transfer at
as it could all. And sometimes it spontaneously
be. changes the order of the speakers in
the list, so you end up tapping, and
second one to join in eventually, or if it turning off, the wrong one.
didn’t, closing Music and restarting.
I like to stream to the HomePod
Similarly the Wi-Fi settings are mini via AirPlay because it doesn’t
automatically imported from the depend on either voice control (which
paired iPhone when you set up, and I’ve never completely learned to trust)
when the HomePod claims it’s not on or walking over to the speaker, and
the right network and therefore can’t allows for more accurate song search
send across image search results (I’ll and selection because you can see the
explain that shortly), it’s not obvious full track listing on-screen. But long
where you go to correct this. experience of both the mini and its
larger sibling makes it clear that Apple
AirPlay is not as user-friendly as doesn’t want you to use it in this way.
it could be. Open the AirPlay options
from the iPhone’s Music app and it HomePods, I would suggest,
looks easy – make sure there’s a tick are principally designed to be used
next to the speaker(s) you want to without reference to an iPhone – as
play, and not next to the others. But hubs in their own right, connected
to Wi-Fi (and Apple Music) and
commanded by voice. So much so
that I sometimes found the devices
would take this into their own hands
by separating their playback from
what was playing on my phone. I
would start a playlist in Music, then
several songs in notice that there
were no playback controls on the
phone’s lock screen. The HomePod
had started to play independently.

January 2021 • Macworld 85

HOMEPOD

(It’s possible that this mysterious sometimes I find it can’t respond

separation is related to the HandOff because of web connection issues.

feature, which ‘jumps’ the music from Finally, I’d better point out that as

phone to speaker when you move the ever, the HomePod is a plant from a

former towards the latter. This often walled garden. It can’t be set up or

activates when I don’t want it to, and used with an Android device – it has

I’d advise turning it off in Settings > onboard Bluetooth, but cannot act

General > AirPlay & HandOff.) as a straight Bluetooth speaker –

My preference, for the reasons and Apple Music remains, for now,

given, is control by iPhone, but by far the best option for streaming.

the alternatives are not wholly Others services such as Spotify can

unappealing. The control panel on the be streamed via an iOS app and sent

top of the device is limited – volume to the speaker via AirPlay, but it’s not

up and down, plus a central area you quite as convenient.

tap to play or pause or skip, or hold SMART FEATURES
down to activate Siri – but has the

advantages of simplicity. And I must Common knowledge holds that Apple

point out that Siri is pretty reliable is behind Google and Amazon when

these days; it rarely mishears, even it comes to the ‘smart’ part of smart

when loud music is playing, although speakers. Common knowledge is

probably

right, but

Apple is

catching up.

The

HomePod

mini has a

decent range

of smart

features up

its sleeve.

Aside from

The control panel is limited – volume up and down, plus a central the obvious
area you tap to play or pause or skip, or hold down to activate Siri. music stuff

86 Macworld • January 2021

– telling it to play a particular song, three times; the first and third times it
or an artist, or songs that are like claimed to be sending the results, but
an artist, or a genre, or even moods then couldn’t find my phone (which
such as “play some cheerful music” was nearby, and on the same Wi-Fi
– you can ask it for a weather report, network – but maybe my Wi-Fi simply
sports scores, jokes and the answer isn’t very good); and the middle time it
to general-knowledge questions. In said it had found pictures, but I’d have
general these functions worked well, to search again from my iPhone.
but occasionally it gets confused,
or relays the information in a way Finally, there’s a new feature which
that’s not easy to understand – you need iOS 14.2 or later to access.
saying football scores in an awkward It’s called Intercom, and enables
American format, for example, or you to speak a message into one
listing every global league currently HomePod and have it broadcast from
playing rather than applying some one or more others around the home.
location-based common sense. It will also appear on family members’
iPhones as a voice recording. This
The HomePod can set reminders should be handy in family homes
and timers, read out your messages containing teenagers who have to be
and send new ones... although this called down for dinner.
was the point in testing where it
decided this wasn’t possible, and told AUDIO QUALITY
me it might not be on the same Wi-Fi
network as the iPhone. (I’m fairly sure The full-size HomePod offers
it is, but as mentioned above, it’s not exceptional audio quality, and the
easy to check this.) mini, unsurprisingly, cannot quite
match that. But for its size and price it
In the demo Apple showed me how is surprising how close it comes.
to do an image search on the mini,
which seems odd given its lack of I started by testing out bass-
a screen. But when you say, to give heavy recordings, which is where
Apple’s example, “Find me pictures the difference is most pronounced.
of narwhals”, it will try to send the On Perfect (Exceeder) by Princess
results to your phone. Superstar the mini managed
respectable bass punch, but you
This is a nice approach, but it hear it more than you feel it: on a
sadly didn’t work for me. I tried it full-size HomePod that bassline

January 2021 • Macworld 87

HOMEPOD

gets you right in the stomach. for comparison I’d be thoroughly

On Supernature by Cerrone bass impressed – but the larger device

performance was closer between the gives a sense that you’re in the studio

two HomePods, but at higher volumes with the band that its smaller sibling

I could again hear the difference in cannot match. There’s more of a sense

power at the lower registers. of distance with the mini.

While we’re talking volume, the I tried a little jazz, and the pattern

mini is far more powerful than a was the same: I played it on the mini

device of this size has any right to and thought it was great, with strong

be. At 85 per cent volume it’s getting mid-tones and a rich smoky feel, then

to the limits of what you’d want in switched to the full HomePod and

any reasonable size of room, yet no discovered depth to the bass that

distortion is apparent. And you can hadn’t been apparent on the smaller

hear it well in every part of that room – unit. That doesn’t mean the mini has

there’s no sweet spot to worry about. bad audio quality; it means the big

I next tried Pink Floyd’s The Great HomePod is exceptional.

Gig in the Sky, and enjoyed the mini’s Finally I tried some Glenn Gould

rendition for richness and detail. If I piano recordings and there was

didn’t have the big HomePod there little difference between the two

HomePods. Both

combined clarity

with power at the

upper registers.

To sum up, the

HomePod mini

– which is a third

of the price and

a seventh of the

weight – largely

matches the full-

size HomePod

for treble and

When it comes to volume, the mini is far more powerful than a mid-tones, and

device of this size has any right to be. while its bass

88 Macworld • January 2021

output is noticeably thinner it is still music at 2am, you probably need the
very creditable for the speaker’s size. full HomePod. But for most of the
rest of us a pair of HomePod minis is
But what if you’ve got two a cheaper and more versatile option,
HomePod minis? A stereo pair of giving you a stereo pair for special
minis still can’t give a bass punch occasions and a multi-room set-up
like the larger model, but it’s great the rest of the time. David Price
for filling the room with immersive
sound. Space them apart properly SPECIFICATIONS
and suddenly you’re in the studio or
concert hall. • Full-range driver and dual passive
radiators
VERDICT
• Four-microphone design for far-field
Ease of use is not an area where we Siri
expect Apple to fall down, but that’s
the HomePod mini’s weakest suit. • Multi-room audio with AirPlay 2
This is despite an admirable facility for • Stereo pair capable
setting things up automatically; the • 802.11n Wi-Fi
problem is that when one member of a • Direct guest access4
stereo pair declines to play, or the mini • Bluetooth 5.0
can’t see its paired iPhone to send • Ultra Wideband chip for device
a message, it’s not easy to work out
what’s gone wrong. proximity
• Siri control
But once you get past those • Touch Control panel
occasional headaches, this is a • 97.9x84.3mm
terrific smart speaker. Its audio • 345g
quality is far better than we have
any right to expect at this size and
price – bass isn’t quite as punchy as
the full-size HomePod, but it’s still
very respectable – and Apple has
implemented an impressive array of
smart functions that mostly work well.

If you want to deafen your
neighbours with aggressive dance

January 2021 • Macworld 89

HELP DESK

Help Desk

Solutions to all your Mac problems. Glenn Fleishman reports

USE YOUR MAC TO GET it effectively impossible to figure out
MORE INFO ABOUT YOUR what’s occupying your iCloud storage
iCLOUD DRIVE STORAGE if you need to remove it to make room
for other files.
While the Files app for iOS and
iPadOS gives you access to browse Launch the Files app and you can
iCloud Drive, some parts of local see for yourself. Tap iCloud Drive
storage, and third-party cloud and any file at the top level is listed
storage, it omits a critical piece of with a name, date and size. Folders,
information that’s been a useful part however, just tell you how many items
of file navigation since the start of they contain – and that’s only at the
computing: the storage occupied by top level, not including any nested
a folder (or directory) and everything items layers of folders deep. iCloud.
contained nested within it. This makes com is even worse. You have to click

90 Macworld • January 2021

an ‘i’ info button on

a file to see its size.

The way around

this is to use

macOS. iCloud

Drive in macOS

is subject to the

same kind of Finder

controls as other

folders. While

viewing the folder,

choose Finder iCloud Drive’s Finder folder can be set by the Get Info dialog
> Preferences (inset) to show the nested total storage of any folder.

and check the

Calculate All Sizes box near the By default, this temporary macOS

bottom. In the Size column next account will try to download a lot of

to folders the entire nested sum material connected to your iCloud

appears; if you have a large number account. Make sure in the iCloud

of files in iCloud Drive (or in any preference pane (Mojave and earlier)

folder), it may take a moment. or the iCloud section of the Apple ID

You can use these totals to help preference pane (Catalina) that you

find and discard unwanted files. Apple uncheck everything but iCloud Drive

could bring Files for iOS and iPadOS in the list of services to sync. Then

and iCloud Drive for iCloud.com into click Options and check the Optimize

the mid-20th century by adding an Mac Storage box. This will minimize

easier way to see these totals. any downloads, while still allowing you

If you don’t have a Mac linked to calculate nested folder sizes and

to your iCloud Drive account, you delete files and folders.

could find someone who would let EXPORT AND DELETE
you borrow their machine to set up ATTACHMENTS
a macOS account. You can then log FROM MESSAGES
in to that account, link your iCloud

account, and see totals and manage Syncing Messages via iCloud lets you

iCloud Drive storage directly. have access to all your conversations

January 2021 • Macworld 91

HELP DESK

and associated pictures and files Storage > Messages > Top
on all the devices you’ve connected Conversations. There you’ll see a
with your iCloud account. However, list by descending order of storage
Messages storage can really add consumed of all your Messages
up if you send and receive lots of conversations. You can swipe left
images or videos. and tap Delete to remove that
conversation or swipe all the way from
Delete attachments along the right to left – but be wary. There’s
with conversations no confirmation prompt, and all the
texts and attachments are removed
In iOS or iPadOS, you can find on all connected devices.
conversations that contain the
proportionately largest collection In macOS, select the conversation
of attachments. Go to Settings > in Messages, and then select File >
account name > iCloud > Manage Delete Conversation.

Top Conversations in iOS lets you Complete removal is probably not
delete all texts and attachments desirable, unless you want no record
from an entire conversation. (Images of those communications. (Hey, some
blurred intentionally.) breakups are bad.)

92 Macworld • January 2021 Delete the biggest attachments
and optionally export them in
iOS/iPadOS

You can pick off the lowest-hanging
fruit via iOS and iPadOS in reducing
storage by going to Settings >
General > iPhone/iPad Storage >
Review Large Attachments. The
Review Large Attachments link shows
beneath the tap target how much
storage files occupy.

In the Attachments view, tap the
attachment and tap the Share button
to save or export the item first. There’s
no way to select and export multiple

items. You can

swipe left on any

attachment and

then tap delete or

swipe all the way

from the right to

left to delete it.

There’s no prompt,

so be careful. You

can also tap Edit,

select items, and

tap the trash can

icon to delete

multiple files In Messages for macOS, you can save images out to Photos.

at once.

You would think you would be able In iOS and iPadOS:

to review attachments in the same

iPhone/iPad Storage view by tapping 1. Open the Messages app.

Messages and then tapping links 2. Tap on a conversation.

below the Documents heading, which 3. Tap the avatar or name at the top

shows a total of storage consumed of the conversation.

next to each item. However, at least 4. Tap the ‘i’ info button.

in the version of iOS at this writing, 5. Swipe down to Photos and tap See

almost nothing appeared in the lists All Photos.

by category when I tapped them. 6. Tap Select at the top of the view.

There may be an issue in what’s 7. Now you can select multiple photos

stored locally on the device and and tap Save to store them in the

what’s in iCloud, but I’d expect the device’s camera roll.

two to be linked.

You can repeat that action

Export attachments via for Screenshots (by tapping the

Messages on all platforms Screenshots button at the top of

There’s an easy way to export the view), but there’s no way to

attachments in bulk, too. access files.

January 2021 • Macworld 93

HELP DESK

In macOS: watts of power – but may be limited
to USB 2.0 data transfer speeds or
1. Open the Messages app. might handle anything built into the
2. Select the conversation. Thunderbolt 3 specification including
3. Click the Details link in the upper- 100 watts of juice.

right corner. Let me break this down as to why:
4. Under Photos or Files, you can
• USB-C is a broadly defined
select one or multiple items. connection and cabling format,
5. With Photos, you can Control-click rather than a protocol for defining
specific kinds of data that passes
and choose Add to Photos Library. over it. Hardware devices – like the
With Photos and Files, you can drag 2015 to 2018 12in MacBook and some
the selection to the Finder. non-Apple smartphones, tablets and
laptops – use USB-C to carry USB
HOW TO TELL WHETHER A 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1, as well as Ethernet
USB-C CABLE CAN CARRY networking and DisplayPort/HDMI
HIGH-WATTAGE POWER video signals (and even DVI and
AND THUNDERBOLT 3 DATA VGA) via adapters.

USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are no • Thunderbolt 3 is a data-transfer
longer new technology. But the standard that can carry up to
similarities and differences can still 40Gb/s of information. It was built to
confuse even long-time users of the work only with the USB-C connector
Mac. Where this tends to manifest style and specification. It can also
itself these days isn’t so much with carry all the kinds of traffic noted
connectors and adapters, but with above for ‘plain’ USB-C devices.
power. Some cables with USB-C
connectors can carry data, video and The trouble intrudes when we talk
networking traffic while also supplying about power delivery, a separate
low-wattage power to USB devices part of the USB specification and
if they have a USB Type A connector incorporated into USB-C and
on the other end. They’re capable of Thunderbolt 3. Before USB-C,
charging iPhones and iPads, but not even though it was possible to carry
maintaining or recharging a MacBook. laptop levels of power over a USB

Others cables with the same
connectors can pass up 29, 30 or 100

94 Macworld • January 2021

Apple labels its USB-C cables only with tiny characters.

cable designed for that purpose, manage USB 2.0 data (480Mb/s)
manufacturers generally avoided this plus no more than 15 watts (5 volts
– probably to avoid cable confusion. at 3 amps), which is enough to
charge smartphones and tablets.
USB-C allows up to 100 watts of These cables may have USB 3.0
power by incorporating the Power SuperSpeed (SS + a USB logo) or
Delivery 2.0 specification from the similar branding or logos on one tip.
USB trade group. (The spec has been
updated to 3.0 with additional smarts High-wattage USB-C: Higher-
about multiple connected devices, but wattage USB-C cables come in
it’s fundamentally the same.) many varieties. Even Apple has
three: 29 watts (for the original
The trick is that you have to have 12-inch MacBook), 30 watts (2018
the right cable for the right voltage. MacBook Air), and 100 watts (all
You won’t harm a device by plugging other USB-C models); the 29-watt
in a cable that’s rated for lower and 30-watt cables are effectively
wattage – unlike an AC cord, which interchangeable. But if you use
can overheat – because USB-C a 61-watt laptop with a 30-watt
negotiates power usage and prevents cable, it won’t charge quickly or
passing voltages above the level the may slowly lose charge while you
cable ‘says’ it can carry. use it. Apple doesn’t put icons
on these cables connectors, but
But you will find many different there is information printed in
cables with seemingly identical very, very tiny characters on the
USB-C connectors. cable itself. See Apple’s power-
cable identification guide (fave.
Low-wattage USB-C: Some cables co/2V2mseQ) for details about
with USB-C connectors at one end figuring out which cable is which.
and a different kind of USB connector
(like Type A or Micro Type B) can’t
pass a lot of power. They mostly

January 2021 • Macworld 95

HELP DESK

Despite Apple’s listing of varieties, will always have the Thunderbolt
all cables that have a USB-C lightning-bolt logo on each USB-C
connector on both ends are supposed tipped cable end.
to carry up to 60 watts (20 volts at 3
amps), according to the specification. You can use a Thunderbolt 3 cable
At Apple and other manufacturers’ with a non-Thunderbolt 3 USB-C
sites, I’ve seen cables listed that are device, and it should correctly carry
rated for a lower maximum. Check the power and no more than the maximum
details on anything you order to be either side can handle. It won’t hurt
sure they’re promising anything, but it’s overkill given the
higher cost of Thunderbolt 3 cables
Some non-Apple cables may compared to USB-C cables. If it’s a
sport the USB SuperSpeed logo on more-expensive active Thunderbolt
their plug ends, but with the logo 3 cable, which allows for 40Gb/s of
reversed out of a stylized battery to throughput among Thunderbolt 3
indicate they carry more power than devices up to about six feet, it also
an old-style USB cables. However, can’t handle more than USB 2.0 rates.
that doesn’t reveal the maximum
wattage. You will have to consult the MUTE AUDIO ON YOUR
manufacturer’s website and Google if MAC BROWSER WHEN
you didn’t retain packaging material. YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE
IT’S COMING FROM
And some of these cables will only
carry USB 2.0 data rates – but a few Unusual times prompt unusual
are designed to handle USB 3.0 and occurrences. A friend was watching a
3.1 speeds, like the Anker PowerLine II science museum presentation and the
(fave.co/3m9F2O7). presenter was flustered because of a
recurring loud sound. They ultimately
Thunderbolt 3 cables: From the tracked it down: a tab on their browser
specification, all Thunderbolt 3 cables was playing back an eagle video. You
carry either 20 Gbps or 40Gb/s of know: normal.
Thunderbolt 3 data rates and pass
along power as high as either 60 It’s easy to have mysterious
watts or 100 watts, depending on the sounds playing from browser tabs.
cable design. Apple sells such a cable This often occurs because of auto-
(fave.co/378IEcV). These cables playing video on a page load, the
auto-play feature in YouTube that

96 Macworld • January 2021

seems to re-enable

itself on my devices

all the time, or

pages that after

being idle for a while

reload themselves

and start playing

video you’d paused In Safari, a mute and auto-play menu helps sort out where
– or even redirect sound is coming from.

the browser to a

new page with auto-playing video. speaker icon or the blue one in the

Whatever the cause, all major bar and it mutes all other tabs.

desktop browsers often a simple way • You can even Option-click the

to see which tabs are playing sound speaker icon on another tab than the

and quickly mute them. frontmost one and it will keep that

background tab’s audio playing and

Safari mute other tabs.

Every tab that’s producing sound will

show a speaker icon in blue at the tab And, finally, you can Control-click

title’s right. Additionally, the Address any speaker icon, and a drop-down

and Search bar shows a blue speaker menu lets you select (depending on

icon if any tab in any window is playing how many tabs are playing audio)

sound. You can mute sound in a Mute This Tab, Mute Other Tab, Enter

number of ways: Picture in Picture and Auto-Play. It

also shows a list of all tabs that are

• In a tab playing sound, click the blue playing sound and their titles.

speaker icon and it mutes that tab.

• Click the speaker icon in any tab, Chrome

and it mutes that tab’s audio. Chrome offers more information

• In a tab not playing sound, click about audio and video playing in tabs

the blue speaker icon and all tabs via its music icon in the upper-right

playing audio are muted. corner. Click it and a drop-down menu

• In a tab with active audio, hold down shows all currently active audio and

Option and you can click the tab’s video, offers playback controls and

January 2021 • Macworld 97

HELP DESK

Chrome offers a full-blown media controller for
active audio and video in tabs.
a picture-in-picture button. Each
tab with actively playing audio also
shows a speaker icon. However, unlike
Safari, you can’t click or Option-click
the icon. Instead, Control-click and
select Mute Site.

You can also create exception or
mute sites automatically via Chrome
settings at chrome://settings/
content/sound?search=sound

Firefox

Firefox offers the simplest controls.
Any tab playing audio has a speaker
icon in it. Click to mute that tab,
whether it’s frontmost or not. You can
also Control-click a speaker icon to
select Mute Tab.

98 Macworld • January 2021

The M1 Mac’s most
disappointing feature:
iOS apps on the Mac

Apple and app developers have work to do. Jason Snell reports

If there’s a single disappointment in a massive expansion of the Mac
the release of Apple’s first wave of software base is, instead… kind of
M1 Macs, it’s the lacklustre launch a non-event.
of iOS apps running inside of
Running iOS apps on the Mac can

macOS. What should be an amazing be a little weird, it’s true. But it can

unification of Apple’s platforms and sometimes be good. Unfortunately,

January 2021 • Macworld 99

OPINION

a lot of interesting iOS apps just wild without first giving them a try on

aren’t available at all, because their a real M1 Mac. A lot of them opted

developers have removed them from to just stay on the safe side and opt

the Mac side of the iOS App Store. their apps out.

It’s not a great situation. It needs But I hope it’s a temporary

to get better. Here are some ways that situation. While iPad and iPhone

might happen. apps have some quirks in a Mac

WHAT APP DEVELOPERS context, they honestly work better
CAN DO than I expected. And I think users are
probably more forgiving of quirks than

Though iOS app developers with the perhaps developers are. I hope that

Apple silicon Developer Transition Kit perfect won’t be the enemy of good,

could build their iOS apps for Mac and and that users won’t be deprived of

run them to get an idea how they’d apps they love from iOS just because

perform on macOS, I understand they’re not quite up to a developer’s

that many developers didn’t do this, very high standards.

and others didn’t feel comfortable What I’m hoping is that developers

letting their iOS apps out into the will look at how their iOS apps

perform on the Mac

and decide that they

do want them there

– and will be driven

to improve them.

Improving support

for iPad features like

cursors and keyboard

shortcuts will make

an app better on

the Mac, too. And

developers can

go even further by

Catalyst was introduced in 2019 as a way for developers embracing Catalyst,
to make iOS apps work as a full Mac app, complete with which lets those

macOS UI implementations. iOS apps run as full

100 Macworld • January 2021