Macworld

We’ve got 5 hidden (but great) iOS 14 features you have to try. How to make your iPhone ‘Aesthetic’ with iOS 14.3. Make a bootable macOS Big Sur installer drive. Fitbit Sense and Nord VPN reviews.

Macworld

The case for a 12-inch MacBook Air • Go M1 and go smaller.

How to upgrade from an older Mac operating system to macOS Catalina or Big Sur • Apple supports macOS migrations back several releases, but you can wind up with too big a gap.

Apple launches a new education and innovation hub in pledge to fight racial inequity • Apple outlines numerous initiatives as part of its $100 million investment in the Racial Equity and Justice Initiative.

SABRENT HB-SIMC THUNDERBOLT 3 HUB: THE FRONT iMAC PORTS YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED

TREND MICRO ANTIVIRUS: OFFERS GOOD PROTECTION BUT NEEDS REFRESHING

Hot Stuff • What we’re raving about this month

Apple VP Dan Riccio to focus on ‘new project’ and step down as leader of hardware engineering • John Ternus is the new senior VP of hardware engineering.

Apple gets ready for a new reality • Reports of the company’s AR ambitions suggest that it may soon take the next step to making them a reality.

Will 2021 be the year Apple’s U1 chip goes wide? • Apple has been building its ultra wideband technology into devices for a couple years now, but it still doesn’t do much…yet.

Add HomeKit items to Control Center in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 • Get fast access to your smart home stuff at any time.

Caller ID verification could be coming to the iPhone soon • STIR and SHAKEN finally result in some truly identified Caller ID.

FITBIT SENSE: AMBITIOUS TO A FAULT

iOS 14: 5 GREAT HIDDEN FEATURES YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT • SOME OF THE BEST PARTS OF iOS 14 AREN’T IMMEDIATELY OBVIOUS!

iOS 14: HOW TO MAKE YOUR iPHONE ‘AESTHETIC’ • BY USING SHORTCUTS TOGETHER WITH CUSTOM WIDGETS AND THE APP LIBRARY, YOU CAN BUILD A TOTALLY UNIQUE HOME SCREEN LOOK.

MACOS BIG SUR: HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE INSTALLER DRIVE • PUT THE MACOS BIG SUR INSTALLER ON AN EXTERNAL USB THUMB DRIVE OR HARD DRIVE AND USE IT TO INSTALL THE OPERATING SYSTEM ON A MAC.

How to format a thumb drive for both Mac and Windows • The Mac- and Windows-compatible ExFAT format allows larger file sizes than FAT32.

Migrated your FileVault-enabled Mac? Clean up and regenerate your Recovery Key • You might be unable to turn on FileVault and stuck with outdated information in your iCloud account or other records.

NordVPN: Speedy, loaded with features, and greater transparency • NordVPN’s leadership is starting to go public, and the services it offers are getting better.

AmazonBasics 450-watt Standby UPS: Amazon’s affordable standby backup power delivers too little • Once a competitive option, Amazon’s 450-watt UPS doesn’t match up head to head.

JBL Live 300TWS: Feature-rich earbuds for the not-so-rich • These true wireless earbuds’ many features, equalizer, and good sound quality (with tweaking) make them worth consideration.

How to add a podcast by URL feed to Podcasts app and other apps • While it usually takes a click or tap, you may wind up with a URL you want to add manually.

Razer Opus: Solid midrange ANC headphones • These cans are priced to compete, but don’t expect magic.

Mac 911 • Solutions to your most vexing Mac problems.