MacLife UK – August 2019

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If you have been having

any issues with Apple

Pencil, let us know at

[email protected]

All image rights: Apple.

Last November, I replaced my

trusty 2011 21–inch iMac with the

27–inch version from 2017 and,

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critical of an Apple product. I’ve

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beachball” many more times in

the last four months than in over

six years prior.

Admittedly, I had doubled the

memory to 16GB in the old Mac.

Even so, I cannot believe how

much slower the new model is

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I have also used Force Quit

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freeze. I assumed 8GB of memory

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ashamed of such a small amount

of memory — so I put in another

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helped a little, the iMac is still

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Maybe it’s my individual Mac

that’s the problem. If not, Apple

should review its specs and, at

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Sadly, prices for pure SSD upgrades

remain high, especially at the

lower end of the iMac range, where

they start at $100 for 256GB.

This doesn’t help you at this

point, Trevor, but for readers

eyeing up a new desktop, our view

on buying an iMac is that an SSD

upgrade — even of modest capacity

— is one of the best things you can

do for the computer’s day–to–day

performance. That’s where we

most want to see Dpple’s oļ–the–

shelf iMac specs improved

memory to 16GB. If only I’d

waited for the replacement

rumoured for this year; c’est la

vie! TREVOR ELLIOTT

The bad news is that updated

models were recently released. The

“good” news is there isn’t a big

diļerence in the memory and

storage oļerings. Memory is still

8GB by default on the whole range.

That ought to be enough

memory that the wait cursor

shouldn’t impact heavily on basic

tasks like web browsing. We

recommend doing a complete

backup, then erasing and

reinstalling macOS to see if a

clean installation helps.

All 27–inch iMacs have a Fusion

Drive as standard. The way that

tech works should ensure the data

you use most often is on the fast

SSD portion of the drive. However,

since Fusion Drive’s introduction

in 2012, Apple reduced the capacity

of the SSD component from 128GB

to as small as 24GB in some cases.

Picking an iPad

After the recent Apple

announcement there are now

five iPads in the range. This fact

alone means it is difficult for the

typical consumer to make a

buying decision.

However, the Apple Pencil

support is even more confusing.

While all five iPads support it,

the 2019 iPads only work with

the first–gen Pencil, while the

t

after the announcement.

We’re all in agreement that

it’s something of a strange

tactic. As for choosing an

iPad, we have a comprehensive

buyer’s guide, similar to our

recent iPhone one, coming

soon. Got a friend who’d

benefit/want to avoid running

through options with them?

Point them our way!

2018 iPad Pros only support th

second gen. Not a marketing

strategy we’d have witnessed in

the Steve Jobs era, I feel.

Maybe the names should be

changed to Apple Pencil Classic

and Apple Pencil Pro for the

regular and Pro models

respectively. DAVID BRIDDOCK

Funnily enough, the same

point about Pencil naming

shelf iMac specs improved.

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maclife.comAUG 2019 13

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