Senior Contributor, Macworld
With images and videos that you want to index, note, modify, and manage, Photos for macOS has a powerful option that lets you store that media in its original locations, rather than copied into the Photos Library. In Photos > Preferences, in the General tab, simply uncheck Copy Items to the Photos Library.
Any media that’s referenced instead of copied will appear with a special confusing little icon that looks like an arrow pointing outside of a rectangle.
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Senior Contributor, Macworld
When it’s time to give up a Mac, you typically don’t want to give up its secrets—your private and personal data—when it goes. This can be at the time you sell it, or, in the case of Macworld reader Dane, when you leave a job and you need to return the Mac to your employer. (You might be asked to return a computer even while you keep a job, too, of course.)
Not preparing a computer before you return it can sometimes have consequences. A friend returned a work machine and was eventually paid a visit by police. His previous employer had examined the web history of the computer returned, and found a set of searches about news and travel they decided were suspicious but that had been conducted innocently and separately by different members of the household.
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Senior Contributor, Macworld
Apple introduced two high-efficiency multimedia formats in iOS 11 and macOS 10.13 High Sierra: HEIF and HEVC. They take up substantially less storage for the same quality of image as comparable JPEG, PNG, and H.264 video. However, they’re not very useful outside the Apple ecosystem of apps.
Right now, these formats get employed exclusively when you take pictures or shoot video in iOS 11. By default, you’re using HEIF for images and HEVC for video. However, whenever you export images or share them from iOS or the Photos app in macOS, they’re converted into a compatible format. It’s only when a non-Apple app (or an older version of Apple’s apps) tries to work directly on the original file as stored that you can run into trouble, as Macworld reader Nik has found.
The solution is straightforward: stop using those formats. In iOS, open Settings and go to Camera > Formats, and set Camera Capture to Most Compatible instead of High Efficiency. This will consume more of your storage, but eliminates compatibility problems. (A couple of higher speed/resolution video options require HEVC.)
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Senior Contributor, Macworld
I woke up on a Friday morning, groggy with allergies, a mild cold, and a message on my iPhone. I needed to enter my password to proceed. I did so, but only after checking that it wasn’t some kind of phishing message—the message was generated on the home screen and using iOS, not in a browser or an app.
After entering my password, my iPhone said, “This Apple ID has been locked for security reasons.” I needed to go through an unlock process. I presume my account was locked because someone had attempted to log in and had too many password failures.
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Senior Contributor, Macworld
The loss of a loved one is devastating. When this gets tied up with a technical support issue? Even worse. Mac 911 recently received several emails from Macworld readers who inherited, purchased, or were given computers or iOS devices by people who have passed away. They have enough password information to use the Macs successfully, sometimes for years. But then an event occurs that requires resetting the machine.
Macworld reader Andrew has a Mac given to him a few years ago by a now-deceased acquaintance. He attempted to disable FileVault after upgrading to High Sierra. After restarting, the Mac presented a lock screen and asked for a code to enter. It that didn’t resemble anything he’d previously used. (It’s unclear from his email whether it was a Find My Mac style lock (which seems unlikely as it would seemingly require someone with that account to mark it as lost) or the firmware password.)
If you can prove you’re the rightful and current owner can Apple and authorized resellers can unlock Macs with the firmware password set, and Macs and iOS devices that are locked via Find My iPhone or the activation lock. (Apple doesn’t advertise this fact on its site, but I’ve heard from many readers who have availed themselves, and you can find accounts of people who have done the same all over Apple-related forums.)
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Senior Contributor, Macworld
The “digital shoebox” was a 2007 coinage of Steve Jobs, who intended the Mac to become a digital media hub in which Apple’s programs would help you organize everything. That’s the notion that makes an analogy to having all your negatives, prints, and slides in shoeboxes in the days of film photography, and never being able to find anything.
The digital shoebox metaphor remains accurate in 2018 for the wrong reason, as it’s very easy to wind up with images, videos, audio, and other kinds of files all over your Mac. If you’re supremely organized and single-app oriented, perhaps you manage to import everything into iPhoto (then Photos) and iTunes. But for the rest of us, we have files all over the place.
Macworld reader Todd wrote in asking if there was a good way to consolidate all his photos in one place? His account is far from unusual:
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Senior Contributor, Macworld
With iCloud Photo Library you can take endless photos on an iPhone or iPad, or upload endless images on a Mac or via iCloud.com, as long as you’re paying for the right quantity of iCloud storage. And Apple simply manages it for you.
This trick comes through optimized storage, which is enabled by default in iOS when you turn on iCloud Photo Library. On the Mac, you have to turn it on: In the Photos app, go to Preferences > iCloud, check the iCloud Photo Library option, and then pick either to Download Originals to the Mac or Optimize Mac Storage. (I use full-resolution downloads on one of my Macs, a desktop machine, so I have a local copy that I can also backup elsewhere.)
Macworld reader John has a common request. While he’s using optimized storage on his iPad, he wants to always have some media locked at full resolution to show other people. The images he wants to show seem to be dumped routinely by iOS. Retrieving them is tedious—not to mention redundant—unless he has a high-speed internet connection.
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