On Sunday's Tech Guy show, Jason Snell of SixColors.com was filling in for Leo Laporte and shared a tip about managing your Apple ID. Not many people are aware that Apple has a page for doing this at appleid.apple.com. You can change the email addresses and phone numbers associated with your account, add/change your trusted phone number for two factor authentication, change your Apple ID password, change payment and shipping info, and more.
James says that on his Mac, Apple has taken away the color icons in the sidebar. Jason says that sometimes Apple just decides to break stuff because they know better, or it fits into their overall plans for the software — removing features while bringing in others.
Jason recommends checking out an application called DragThing. This would allow James to have a separate dock where he can put more applications. Then he can stop using the Finder sidebar for that.
Steven has an old MacBook Pro that has Windows 8.1 installed with Boot Camp. He'd like to dump Windows now and get that space back. Jason says he can open Boot Camp Assistant and click through to the partition utility and use it to remove the partition. He'll just need to click "restore." That will allow him to restore his Mac to its original configuration. Sometimes that doesn't work, though, so he can delete the Windows partition in Disk Utility as well.
Dan has 2 factor authentication, and he keeps getting a notification that someone is trying to log in using his Apple ID and he gets knocked off his sign in. Can he change his login ID to eliminate it or will he lose all his purchases? Jason says that he's had that issue and it's very annoying.
Steve has a 2009 iMac and he's been waiting to upgrade. Now he's ready to get a 27" model, but it says he can only upgrade RAM to 32GB with the midrange models. Steve has read that he can go up to 64GB and it will work. Jason says that the midrange can go up to 64GB, but the lower end is only up to 32GB from Apple. Third party RAMs chips are available, but Apple would rather he spend $200 more to get the next level iMac. He advises buying the iMac with the least amount of RAM available and then upgrade the RAM from a third party. OWC and Crucial are good places to get them.
As Leo is winging back home from his South American Adventure, Jason Snell of SixColors.com pinch hits! Jason is the former Editor in Chief at MacWorld, and is all about Apple, so if you have any questions about iOS, macOS, WatchOS or anything Mac, give us a call!
Henry is annoyed with Apple and its latest MacBook Pro. He's not a fan of the touch bar. He's also annoyed that Apple hasn't updated the MacBook Air. Leo says it's because the MacBook Air is too thin for a Retina display. But in reality, the MacBooks are nearly as thin now.
Elena wants to get an iPad Pro for teaching. Should he buy the current version or wait until later this year? Leo says that Apple is due to refresh the iPad Pro, but who knows when they'll come out with them, and when they do, will it be that much more powerful? If she can wait until they come out, it'll be worth it to wait. Even if she doesn't want the newest version, the current model may go down in price.
Andy has an iPhone SE and he noticed that he can text phones from his PC using the email address provided by the carrier. Another option is to use a texting app that has a desktop app as well. Options include WhatsApp and Telegram, but he'd only be able to use it with people who use those apps. Facebook Messenger is an idea though. It works in the browser as well as mobile device.
Nabeel has a first generation MacBook Air and he can't turn it on, even when plugged in. Leo says that it's likely that the battery has died and that it blocks the current going to the computer. He can remove the battery and use it as a desktop, but to replace the battery is only about $99. So why not just get more use out of it by replacing it? Apple can do it.
