For Apple enthusiasts who want to use Microsoft’s Office software on a Mac, iPad, or iPhone, you can easily download the full Office 365 bundle, or any of its individual apps, from the Mac App Store. The Office 365 bundle includes six apps: Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook, and Word, each of which can also be downloaded individually. There is a free one-month trial for Office 365, after which the subscription  is $69.99 a year, or $6.99 a month. If you already have an Office 365 subscription, you can use it here. As part of the subscription software updates are applied automatically as they’re rolled out. 

Here are direct links to the apps in the Mac App Store.

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Reports about what will be in the 2020 iPhones are hitting the wire. We’ve compiled the most notable ones here, but take these with a big grain of salt. Even if these reports are accurate representations of what suppliers are saying, or come from moles within Apple itself, the company’s plans can and do change. There’s still plenty of time before the design and features have to be totally set in stone.

Update 08/25/20: Noted leaker Jon Prosser tweeted a screenshot of some iPhone 12 Pro test settings. They verify testing of 120Hz displays and multiple new camera features.

120Hz display and new camera features

Jon Prosser, who has accurately leaked several Apple devices and features in the past, tweeted screenshots of some test settings pages for PVTs (product validation devices). 

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Apple’s processors are exclusively made by TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation), and Apple pays top dollar to make sure its A-series chips in the latest iPhones and iPads (and soon Macs) are manufactured with the very bleeding edge of what TSMC has to offer.

So when TSMC announced the improvements it is making to its chip manufacturing processes at its annual Technology Symposium, we gain some insight into what to expect from Apple’s future chip roadmap.

Naturally, the actual design of Apple’s silicon is the primary indicator of performance and efficiency. But manufacturing process technology plays a huge role; it helps determine how large and complex a chip can be, how fast it can run, and how much power it uses at a given speed.

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We’ve told you about the many big changes and new features in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, including an awesome new redesign of the home screen with Widgets and the App Library. For the last several years, Apple has made its operating systems available in a public beta, so you can kick the tires and help find bugs before its release in the fall.

If you’re interested in running the iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 public beta, here’s how you get it.

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Apple on Tuesday released updates to iMovie for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The update includes new comic-based filters that give your video a “hand-drawn look.” There are three comic filters on the iPhone and iPad, and five on the Mac.

The release notes for the iPhone and iPad update details the other updates:

• Give your videos a hand-drawn look with 3 new filters: Comic, Comic Mono and Ink

• Choose from 25 new soundtracks — in genres including action, chill, and sentimental — that automatically adjust to match the length of your movie

• Addresses an issue that could prevent the viewer from updating after duplicating a photo in the timeline

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Apple has announced significant upgrades to its popular Mac-only video editing software Final Cut Pro X, along with companion apps Compressor and Motion. 

The new features are primarily designed to streamline and speedup the workflow of video editors, particularly those who work with proxies (lower-res versions of source footage meant to speed up editing) and create footage meant for social media in vertical or square formats.

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With Season 4 Chapter 2 just days away, the battle of Fortnite is down to its final few days. But Fortnite players might have just suffered their biggest defeat: In a district court ruling, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said Apple didn’t have to immediately let Fortnite back into the App Store, but games using Epic's Unreal Engine can stay.

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The Apple Watch will soon be able to detect when you start washing your hands, but if you want to stay on top of mental and physical warning signs in a risk-heightened world, Fitbit wants its newest smartwatch to be the only thing on your wrist. Equipped with stress, heart rhythm, and skin temperature scanners, the Sense might be the most ambitious device Fitbit—or any other smartwatch maker—has ever made.

While it might look a lot like the Versa 3 with a square design and 1.58-inch display, the Sense is loaded with an array of next-gen sensors and algorithms the likes of which you won’t find on any other smartwatch. There’s an ECG app for assessing your heart rhythm for signs of atrial fibrillation, an EDA sensor that detects electrodermal activity, and a skin temperature sensor that logs your skin temperature each night to check for subtle variations. Add a second-gen PurePulse heart-rate sensor and the usual fitness features and you’ve got a device that can understand your body like no other consumer wearable on the market today.

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Alongside its brand-new biometric tracking Sense smartwatch, Fitbit on Tuesday also unveiled updates to its Versa and Inspire devices, bringing new features, including onboard GPS and 10-day battery life–but there’s a catch. Fitbit has eliminated both lines’ low-end models, so where the Inspire previously started at $70 and the Versa 2 at $200, prices have been bumped to $100 and $230, respectively.

Most notably, the Inspire 2 no longer has an option without a heart-rate sensor, so you get advanced fitness features and all-day tracking just like Fitbit’s other devices. In fact, Fitbit will no longer sell a tracker that isn’t equipped with a heart-rate monitor, so $100 is the cheapest adult Fitbit you can buy now.

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Are you excited about the upcoming transition? Macs to Apple silicon? No! All the Mac users switching to Windows!

[Insert the “It’s happening!” gif]

Writing for the Forbes contributor network and Institute for the Study and Understanding of the Works of Lou Bega, Ewan Spence says “Apple’s New MacBook Pro Hides An Awkward Problem.” (Tip o’ the antlers to Nick.)

Adult acne? The heartbreak of psoriasis? Unable to hit the high notes in “Someone Like You”?

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When it comes to quickly taking care of daily tasks, the command line can be both powerful and dangerous. Take today’s commands as an example: the rm command allows you to remove (or delete) files. The rmdir command does the same to directories (also know as folders). But be careful: Unlike when you move files to the Trash from the Finder, there’s no way to get them back if you use these commands. Still, if you want to tap into Terminal’s powers, this is a command you can’t overlook. I’ll show you how to add a safeguard to ensure that you only delete files you really want to delete.

Why bother deleting files with the command line?

Deleting files with the Finder isn’t too difficult, plus you can always fish files out of the Trash if you change your mind. So why bother using the command line? Here are some reasons:

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Apple is planting its own flag in the streaming wars with Apple TV+, its in-house streaming service that focuses almost entirely on original programming rather than an extensive library of existing TV shows or movies.

Though the service has been available less than a year and and doesn’t yet have a lot of shows or films available, there’s a lot in the works. This is a list of all the Apple TV+ content we know of so far, along with details about prominent stars, directors, producers, and release dates.

Updated 08/24/20: Deadline reports that Apple ordered The Essex Serpent, a period drama starring Keira Knightly. Learn more. 

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Achievement badges are a funny thing. You know they’re just a simple little bit of visual flair, they don’t even do anything, and yet for some reason you just have to collect them. Achievements are great motivators, and the achievement badges for the activity tracking on the Apple Watch have inspired many users to get more exercise.

If you want to maximize your badge count, you’re going to want to chase down as many activity achievements as you can. Most are available year-round, but there are also some time-limited special events to grab, too. Here’s a list of all the activity achievements for the Apple Watch and how to unlock them.

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The full-disk encryption system called FileVault, introduced way back in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, keeps the data on your drive encrypted at rest. If your Mac is shut down, a malefactor can’t get at your data—they have to have a password to an account that can start up the system to unlock the encrypted data. That password must be provided when a Mac is booted, and it unlocks a key that in turn unlocks your drive’s data. Otherwise, villains are foiled.

However, FileVault is managed on a per-Mac basis, as it is tied to hardware. If you migrate your data to a new Mac, either through Migration Assistant, restoring from a Time Machine backup, or Disk Utility or third-party cloning software, you can wind up in a state in which macOS thinks FileVault is enabled, but it’s not. The copy or migration is all of unencrypted data, not the underlying encrypted format, because you need the unencrypted data to populate the new computer.

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Anyone looking for a simple, straightforward antivirus suite should consider G Data’s Antivirus for Mac. This simple antivirus app offers protection without overcomplicating itself. There are no extra frills like a VPN, encrypted cloud storage, or system maintenance utilities, for example.

Protection tests

If simplicity is what you’re looking for then G Data is worth looking at. Currently, there are no third-party tests pitting G Data against Mac malware. In our spot tests, however, we found that G Data was able to detect malware once it was unzipped. It wasn’t quite as fast at detection as other suites, but it always threw up an alert by the time we’d opened the infected folder.

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This could be it, you know. There’s a pretty good chance this is the last version of the iMac as we know it, with its iconic all-in-one design and Intel processors. Maybe there’s a chance that those Intel processors get a speed bump upgrade before switching over to Apple silicon, but regardless, they’re on their way out.

The iMac isn’t going out quietly, though. The 2020 27-inch iMac gets your attention by being a top performer with a CPU boost, SSD storage, and updated graphics. It has other features to take into consideration—namely, a new nano-texture glass front—but the emphasis is on speed. If you rely on software that takes advantage of multiple processing cores (video editors, graphics software, databases, etc.), the new iMac will satisfy your need for speed.

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Earbud makers have been busy doing away with wires—a good thing whether or not your phone still has a headset jack. At most, Bluetooth earbuds might have a wire that connects the buds themselves to each other—a nice option if you’re prone to misplacing small objects, or you want in-line controls. This is often the more affordable option too, although that is changing over time.

So-called true wireless earbuds are just that, free of any wire whatsoever. Apple AirPods are the standard bearer of this category, but there are plenty of alternatives—some more worthy than others.

That’s just one decision you have to make. Wireless earbuds also vary on price, sometimes greatly, and some might be better for audiophiles while others are better for sports. Our picks for best wireless earbuds run the gamut, so you can easily find a pair that meets your needs. Read our guide on what to look for in wireless earbuds below our recommendations.

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Updated 08/21/20: Apple's YouTube page ran a couple of brief live-streaming tests with a future date of September 10. It could be indicative of the timing for Apple's next online event.

Apple doesn’t often participate in big industry-wide events like CES or E3. The most valuable company in the world holds its own events, thank you very much. Several times a year, Apple invites the press and industry professionals out to a theater to hear all about its latest products and services. Apple calls these “Special Events,” and streams them online to its millions of fans.

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Apple Arcade is here, and you can play some of the subscription service’s many games with select models of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 controllers as well as Mfi (Made for iOS) controllers like the SteelSeries Nimbus+.

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Apple’s new Apple Arcade subscription-based gaming service is basically Apple’s way of helping customers sort through the chaff in the App Store, as the highly curated service features premium games that are untainted by in-app purchases and ads. If all goes well, it could elevate the perception of mobile gaming in general.

Got questions? We've got plenty of answers. 

Updated 08/21/20: Added Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time to the list of available games. 

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Newer Macs come with a T2 Security Chip with its own Secure Enclave, a tamper-resistent bit of silicon that allows high levels of security just like on an iPhone and iPad. It’s used to enable Touch ID and allow Apple Pay on laptops, but it also handles a number of other tasks, including full-disk encryption. (The T2 chip began appearing in Macs with the iMac Pro in very late 2017; see this list to check if you’re not sure if yours is one of them.)

On pre-T2 models, macOS uses a combination of software and hardware-accelerated encryption to encrypt all the data on your disk using FileVault, which can be turned on and off via the Security & Privacy preference pane’s FileVault tab. It can take an extremely long time for FileVault to encrypt a drive completely the first time on these older Macs and bog down a system while it is underway. Afterwards, Macs generally handle live reading and writing at almost the same speed as if the data weren’t encrypted.

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