We've had a slew updates recently for macOS, iOS, tvOS and watchOS. We'll spend some time talking about not only some of the cool new features in macOS and iOS, but we'll also cover the significant new Apple File System (APFS) that snuck in right under your nose in iOS 10.3. This is a precursor of things to come in macOS and you should know what it is and how it will affect your Mac. We'll also talk about the end of 32-bit apps in iOS and how you can identify which older apps will no longer work...
Apr 17, 2017•2 hr 12 min
A little early spring cleaning and some amuse-bouche! What are we talking about here? This month, we'll cover some really important techniques for cleaning out your Mac of old crud, how to restore some of the zip it used to have and how to maintain it better. There are a lot of quick and simple things you can do to free up space and get your Mac's speed back after having used it for so long. In addition, we'll be talking about a ton of smaller apps (hence the "amuse-bouche reference) that are ma...
Mar 15, 2017•2 hr 6 min
Allison Sheridan, from the NosillaCast podcast, will be at our meeting to present a few great tidbits when it comes to managing and editing photos on your Mac. Adobe Photoshop is the big 800 pound gorilla but it's probably overkill (and way too expensive) for most normal folks. There are other alternatives out there and Affinity Photo is one of the great ones. Allison will present how you can use AffinityPhoto as it's a powerful and capable application for not only most Mac users but for profess...
Feb 14, 2017•1 hr 47 min
Happy New Year! CES will have just wrapped up the before our meeting and we'll cover some interesting product announcements that might interest Apple users and portable computing enthusiasts. The Apple Airpods are starting to trickle in and we'll have some on head to demo and show you how they work. We've talked about Siri on macOS and iOS in the past and we've dabbled a bit with dictation. This month, we'll spend a lot more time talking about the uses of dictation along with many commands you c...
Jan 11, 2017•2 hr 15 min
The new MacBooks are here, the new MacBooks are here! Well, some of us have received the new MacBook Pro with TouchBar and we'll spend some time talking about it. For those of you that want to know what having a TouchBar is like, we'lll also talk about a utility that will simulate that for you on your existing Mac. We're going to continue our discussion on some of our favorite utilities for both macOS and iOS and of course, since it's the holiday season, we'll spend the rest of our time socializ...
Jan 11, 2017•1 hr 45 min
Utilitiy City! This month, we'll spend some time talking about some of our favorite utilties that make life eaiser on macOS. Of course, there are a few popular ones like 1Password and TextExpander but there are so many more very powerful utilities that aren't as well known. We'll show you what you've been missing that will save you lots of time while you work. If you've got a favorite utility you like, feel free to tell us about it. Also, the new MacBook Pro notebooks have been announced and we'...
Nov 15, 2016•2 hr 19 min
macOS Sierra is here. Apple has been working hard at releasing a new operating system and there's lots to learn and lots to like. First off, it's now called macOS Sierra (Apple has dropped the "OS X" moniker). Since there are some Macs that can run El Capitan but now can't run Sierra due to some changes in the OS, we'll go over all the system requirements and we'll spend out time talking about all the new, really cool features. Not only will we review the major features that Apple demonstrated a...
Oct 23, 2016•2 hr 8 min
Become that power user you've always wanted to be! You know how to flex your Apple muscle when using certain apps...but what about the app you use the most...the Finder? Getting around the Finder and taking advantage of the many power user features will be some of the focus of our next meeting. Many long time Mac users still do things the same way even though Apple has given us some tools to make things quicker and easier. We'll go over lots of shortcuts and review some features you're not using...
Sep 11, 2016•2 hr 39 min
-- Some more info about what we know about macOS Sierra and iOS 10. -- With iOS 10 allowing users to remove built-in apps from their iPhones & iPads, it might be a good time to start looking at alternative apps that can replace or enhance what Apple's built-in apps (like Mail, Safari, Notes, Weather, Stocks, etc.) do. -- We'll review some tips and tricks about managing photos on your iPhone/iPad once you've imported them (but didn't delete them) from your iPhone. -- We'll review new features...
Jul 14, 2016•2 hr 24 min
The Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) kicks off on the morning of our June meeting. That means that the Keynote announcements made that morning will be fresh in our minds and we'll be excited to talk about them. New OS for Mac and iOS? Absolutely! New laptops and desktops? Maybe.... and maybe even more... We will spend our time analyzing and distilling those announcements and we'll spend our time talking about what it all means to Mac users like us. And, of course, we'll go over some...
Jul 14, 2016•2 hr
We've got a variety of Mac and iOS Apps to talk about this month. These are apps in categories such as Scanning, Screen Sharing, Alarms, Online (Mac & Other) Communities, and Food among others. We'll also have some in-depth discussion on really taking advantage of online storage like Dropbox, iCloud Drive, SugarSync, etc., to maximize access to your data on devices with modest amounts of local storage (like iOS devices, 128 GB MacBooks, etc). Just because you have a lot of stuff doesn't mean...
May 10, 2016•2 hr 35 min
40 years! On April 1, Apple celebrated their 40th anniversary at a great bash on their campus with Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe broadcasting live from the party. In its 40 years, Apple has created lots of products that have really changed the world and inspired other companies to copy or follow -- Macintosh , iPod , iPhone , iPad . They've also created a few products that haven't done so well -- Apple III , Lisa , Macintosh Portable , Pippin , MacTV , Quadra with DOS Card , hockey puck Mouse , Apple HiF...
May 10, 2016•2 hr 1 min
These are a few of my favorite things...my favorite iOS apps! At almost each meeting, we get asked about an app that does this or an app that does that or whether we know about an app that does something specific. Although Ben, Pat, and Phil do indeed buy and test lots of apps, many LAPUG members do too. So, our next meeting will be your opportunity to share your favorites. Even if they're just silly little games or utilities like an egg timer, come show us your favorites. We're always looking f...
Mar 27, 2016•1 hr 55 min
For photos and music, we've got Apple's Photos and iTunes but what about a library for your videos? Over the years, you've probably collected a bunch of videos (maybe even some of Ben's fun videos shown at meetings) and you might not have an organized way to access them. With iPhones, iPads and Apple TV along with other TV accessories like Amazon Fire, Roku and Google Chromcast, wouldn't it be great if you had a single way to access them all no matter where you are and what device you're using? ...
Feb 18, 2016•2 hr 23 min
A brand new year with a new set of resolutions. Maybe it's time to really learn about some of the cool stuff that's buried in OS X El Capitan or iOS 9. Maybe it's time clean off your desktop and make your Mac a little zipper. Maybe it's time to setup a second, offsite backup (what...you don't have a backup at all?...). Maybe it's time to really take advantage of cloud storage and understand what it is and what it isn't (and no, there isn't one single service called "The Cloud"). We'll spend some...
Jan 25, 2016•2 hr 25 min
We've talked so much about security and passwords and the importance of using a password manager rather than that little black book or the Post-It notes you stick near the computer (you're not really doing any of that, right?). Well, the time has come. This is a MUST ATTEND meeting to finally get your head around using a secure password management application. Khad Young from AgileBits will be leading a discussion on 1Password to show you not only why you would need a password manager but also a...
Dec 24, 2015•2 hr 34 min
Lots of new stuff from Apple this month...we'll be showing and talking about the new Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, new iMacs, and, of course, the new Apple TV. We'll demo the new Apple TV and we'll go over the setup process including the using App Store. If you don't yet have an Apple TV, come see what it's all about. If you have one and are considering upgrading, we'll let you know if it makes sense for you. (edit: Apple TV setup was not successful at the meeting. That particular device was f...
Nov 16, 2015•2 hr 32 min
OS X El Captian is here! For those of you keeping score, this is officially version 10.11 of the venerable Mac OS. It promises to be an exciting (free) successor to Yosemite and most reviewers have noted it's faster, cleaner and more refined. Rather than going to a whole new name, Apple selected "El Capitan" to reflect that it's a better version of Yosemite. We'll spend our time discussing how to upgrade, whether your Mac is capable of running El Capitan, and what major features this new OS will...
Oct 15, 2015•2 hr 34 min
The new iPhones are here...the new iPhones are here. Well, if you were to look at them, you wouldn't see anything new -- except for the new Rose Gold color. But, as Apple has said, "the only thing that has changed is everything". With the new, really cool 3D Touch, a new 12 MP camera, Live Photos, 4K video, the faster A9 processor, and more, the new iPhone 6S is a compelling upgrade. We'll talk about it as well as the new iOS 9 that going to be available September 16. That day will also bring Wa...
Sep 16, 2015•2 hr 23 min
Practical security changes you can make TONIGHT that will make you safer. Recommendations have changed for how to protect your data and we’ll go over the latest recommendations as well as the latest concerns for Mac and iOS with an emphasis on giving you control and clear ideas of what to do. And, of course, we'll go over some other current events in the OS X world as well as review some cool Mac & iOS apps and leave some time for Q&A.
Aug 12, 2015•2 hr 23 min
Apple Music is here! Apple has made an about-face from over a decade ago when Steve Jobs said that people want to own their music. With Spotify, Pandora and other apps sharing their part of the streaming music market, Apple has now added an all-you-can-eat feature to the iTunes Music Store. We'll spend some time going over how it works and what's different than the competition. We'll also talk about how it compares to Apple's other music service, iTunes Match, and how they can work together. We'...
Jul 15, 2015•2 hr 33 min
WWDC! The annual Apple Worldwide Developer Conference is the week of June 8 and, luckily for us, we’re meeting the evening of first day. That means we’ll have a wrap up report of the keynote that will have taken place earlier that morning. Traditionally, this is the time of year Apple makes announcments about new versions of OS X, iOS and any new technologies they plan to introduce soon. Perhaps there will be a few hardware announcements, too. There have been a ton of rumors about what’s to come...
Jun 12, 2015•2 hr 28 min
The Apple Watch is real and it’s finally here! But, is it all it’s reported to be? We’ll have a few watches on hand to show and talk about. We’ll review what the Apple Watch is and, equally important, what it’s not. There are many features of the watch that make it an extension of an iPhone and we’ll review what those are. We’ll also talk about how popular apps from the App Store have added functionality to the Apple Watch to make it even more useful. Come on by and let’s enjoy some Watch time t...
May 14, 2015•2 hr 6 min
RIP iPhoto & Aperture. Apple has just release Yosemite 10.10.3 which not only includes the usual set of bug fixes and optimizations, it includes a brand new application, Photos. Photos is the new application that replaces both iPhoto and Aperture. Although both of those applications will no longer be updated, they will continue to work for the foreseeable future. We’ll review some of the features and requirements of Photos and we’ll discuss the consequence of moving to the new program. If yo...
Apr 16, 2015•2 hr 12 min
Apple is planning an announcement from Cupertino the morning of our meeting. Being a Monday, it is a rare occurrence for us to discuss announcements just made rather than speculate on a presentation that might happen the next day or later in the week. We’ll have a full rundown on what Apple talks about! Yosemite is pretty solid since it came out in the fall and it brings with it lots of new and hidden features. We’ve talked about the main “tentpole” features of Yosemite, but now we’ve had some t...
Mar 16, 2015•2 hr 12 min
In 2014, Apple announced a few new products coming in early 2015. Well, it’s now early 2015 and these products are getting closer to being released. The Apple Watch is reportedly in production and the upcoming Photos application for OS X (replacing iPhoto and Aperture) hsa been reported to be in the next update to Yosemite. We’ll talk about these upcoming releases and show you what we know (including some videos of Photos). Since there are a lot of utilties to help you clean up your iPhoto libra...
Feb 11, 2015•1 hr 25 min
January is CES month! Ben, Phil and other LAPUG members that attended will review what was shown in the iLounge area as well as the coming trends in consumer electronics for 2015. We’ll also focus on Sandvox. This is a really easy to use web site development tool. We’ll show you how to create a web site and how to upload it to a web server. We’ll also how you how easy it is to post updates and we’ll do it live with our own LAPUG web site. And one more thing….Are you a slow typist? Are you tired ...
Jan 16, 2015•2 hr 22 min
OS X Yosemite has been out for a while and we’re discovering new things it can do every day. This is a great release and it promises to be the best version of OS X yet. Join us at our next meeting as we review not only some great new features in Yosemite but also some must-have Yosemite add-ons you can use to supercharge your Mac. Bring your Yosemite questions and we’ll enjoy some Q&A to cap off a great 2014 in the Apple world. And, of course, we'll go over some other current events in the O...
Dec 10, 2014•2 hr 27 min
OS X Yosemite is here! Not only that, we’ve got an update to iOS 8 that enables the collaborative functions of Yosemite and iOS working together even more closely. New iMacs and Mac Minis have been released, too! We’ll review all this news and we’ll spend the most of our meeting going over lots of new Yosemite features and how they work in conjuction with iOS. This will be the Mac meeting of the season as we all dive into two new operating systems! Don’t miss this meeting! And, of course, we'll ...
Dec 01, 2014•2 hr 34 min
Wow! Lots of cool new stuff this month. iOS 8 has finally been released and we’ve got a pair of gorgeous new iPhones. Apple promises that Apple Pay will replace our credit cards and be the future of digital payments. Also, the mythical Apple Watch has been announced and we’ll talk about what features we can expect from it. We’ll spend a good portion of our meeting going over a bunch of new features found in iOS 8 and how you can take advantage of them! We'll also talk about why some graphics and...
Oct 17, 2014•2 hr 34 min
