MacLife UK – August 2019

Feed your mind. Feast your eyes.

ANNOUNCED AS PART of watchOS

6, the Noise app will measure

ambient sound level. It’s a small

thing, but if Apple Watch users

take it up, it has the potential —

like heart monitoring — to deliver

notable public health benefits.

There are increasing concerns

that noise–induced hearing loss is

more common than assumed. While

ear protection is recognized as

essential in some industrial settings,

it’s not always adequate, and the

rest of us may not even think about

using it. Musicians are among the

groups at high risk, but their

audiences can also be affected, and

not just in obviously loud genres or

venues. Even using headphones or

earbuds at high volume can

contribute, as Apple recognizes by

limiting levels and warning when

they’re higher than recommended.

Rarely, bursts of sound can

instantly rupture the eardrum or

deform bones behind it that

transmit vibration. Less

dramatically, noise can damage or

kill tiny hair cells in the inner ear,

progressing irreversibly over time.

As Apple points out, hearing loss is

not only distressing in itself but is

linked to cognitive decline. A large

study by Brigham and Women’s

Hospital, and Harvard Medical

School, looked at over 10,000 older

men across eight years. Published

in 2018 in the journal Alzheimer’s &

Dementia, it found hearing loss was

associated with a substantially

higher risk of subjective cognitive

function (SCF) decline.

The National Institute for

Occupational Safety and Health

(NIOSH), part of CDC, already offers

a free Sound Level Meter App for

iPhone, encouraging users to “make

informed decisions about their

noise environment”. Some sound

meter apps, including Decibel X,

also work on the Watch. By making

it a standard feature, however, and

with the hardware design access to

achieve optimal default calibration,

Apple could make a significant

impact on hearing loss among

Watch users over the coming years.

For guidance on sound levels and

recommended exposure limits, see

bit.ly/2XJfE5m.

APOGEE JAM+

This tiny USB audio interface for

MacBook, iPad or iPhone has

a quarter–inch guitar/synth input

with preamp and digital overdrive.

$159.95 from apple.com/shop

MUST HAVES

RAVPOWER 18W QUICK CHARGER

This 18–watt wall charger has

both USB–C PD and USB–A Quick

Charge outputs to suit all iPhones

and iPads (cable not included).

$16.99 from amazon.com

HYPERDRIVE PRO 8–IN–

Fitting the two left USB–C ports on

a 2016 or later MacBook Pro, or 2018

MacBook Air, it adds 4K HDMI and

MiniDP, 2x USB–A, SD and microSD.

$119.99 from hypershop.com

Image rights from top: Apogee Electronics, Ravpower, Hyper.

Start

10 AUG 2019 maclife.com

What the heck?

Could Apple Watch save your ears?

BY ADAM BANKS

WINS & FAILS

DEBATE Apple criticized for $1,000 price of stand for $5,

Pro Display XDR monitor

NIXED Multiple user accounts come to Apple TV, but not

iOS 13 or iPadOS

DARK CLOUD Google data centre outage breaks cloud

services for millions of users

REBATE Just think of it as a $6,000 monitor with $1,000 off

if you don’t need the stand

FIXED Buy devices for all the family with the cash you save

on your monitor stand!

ILL WIND If Skynet had been this flaky, Sarah Connor could

have stuck to waitressing