Monthly Mini-Bytes - March 2025

 

The M4 Chips are Out! Do You Need to Upgrade? The new slate of Apple Silicon chips is super confusing. With an M1 iMac you may be thinking that with the M4s out you need a new machine since you're falling behind, but that is not the case. Maybe you spent a ton of money on an M1 Ultra Mac Studio and you are thinking an M4 Max may be better. The truth is not so simple, but let's see if we can make it so. All M-Series chips no matter what series or type are vastly superior to any of the old Intel machines. Even the humble M1 is immensely powerful and more than capable to handle what you initially purchased it to do. Any of them will handle Apple Intelligence if and when it is released. It can edit hi-res photos and even handle 8K video editing. So what about the Pro, Max, and Ultra variants? It's all about the cores. More processing cores mean a faster and more capable chip. The Max has more than the Pro, and the Ultra is basically two Max chips fused together. That means an M1 Ultra is faster and more capable than an M2 Max, and the new M4 Max is pokier than the M3 Ultra. Trying to explain this makes me sound like a crazy person. So how do we distill it down to something that is actionable and can save us all time and money. Well, look at it like this: If you have any M Series powered Mac computer there is no reason to upgrade unless you want a new machine, need more storage, physically broke the thing, or started using software that needs a bit more power. That being said, if you have an Intel-powered Mac you absolutely want to consider upgrading. Apple desperately wants to leave those machines in the rear view. The newer systems like macOS Sequoia are optimized for Apple Silicon. With the vast array of options, if you do think of replacing that old Intel, it's important to look at what you will need. There is no reason to overbuy since the new chips are so powerful, but storage and the proper number of "cores" in your use case are extremely important. And since everything is now integrated on the chip itself, don't forget the AppleCare+.

Apple Intelligence Delayed Until 2026

And with that, the never-ending beta will continue... Yes, you read that right. Apple has promised and missed a major benchmark with the release of Apple Intelligence. Siri's advanced contextual awareness that is the hallmark of Apple Intelligence is not ready and won't be ready until sometime in 2026. Sure, there are a bunch of AI-ish feature that are live (in beta) like rewrite and photo cleanup, but Advanced Siri is promised to be that all knowing AI assistant that the future, and Tim, promised. So, we are just going to have to wait and just be satisfied by creating our own emojis.  To learn more, visit: https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/what-went-wrong-with-apple-intelligence/

iCloud Private Relay

Trying to protect our privacy and data is probably the most important thing on the minds of many of us these days. It's particularly important when surfing the web. VPNs are a great solution, but Apple has built-in its own VPN-ish solution within iCloud called Private Relay. The feature effectively hides your location and browsing activity when using Safari. It does not work with Chrome or Firefox, so if you want to take advantage of this feature you will need to use Safari. To turn it on, go to System Settings -> [Your Name] Apple Account -> iCloud. Scroll to iCloud+ Features to find it and turn it on. To learn more about Private Relay visit: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102602

The Micro-Byte: March 2025

 

Apple vs. the UK: The Battle for Your Privacy

Of all the tech companies out there, Apple does take the lead and is genuinely concerned about their users privacy. It's what gives Apple a leg up on the competition. It's why a lot of people and businesses choose Apple products over other options. And I would argue to say that privacy is becoming a larger concern for most users, no matter what platform they use.  But the Redcoats are coming... again. This time it's for your data. They want in and Apple is fighting hard to stop that from happening. It's because of a law passed in the UK called the Investigatory Powers Act. This law has global reach, meaning that for a company like Apple that operates in the UK, all data from any user around the globe could fall under the IPA. Apple has consistently fought against putting in back doors or weakening encryption. They have even enhanced ways where users can further protect their data. And the way that you can do it is with Advanced Data Protection. This is the service that is at the root of the conflict. It adds end-to-end encryption to your iCloud data. With Advanced Data Protection enabled you hold the encryption keys, not Apple. It is a setting that we highly recommend using.  To enable Advanced Data Encryption go to Settings -> [Your Name] -> iCloud and scroll down to Advanced Data Protection to access it and turn it on. To learn more about Advanced Data Encryption visit: https://support.apple.com/guide/security/advanced-data-protection-for-icloud-sec973254c5f/web To lean more about the spat between Apple and the UK check out MacRumors: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/03/04/apple-legal-complaint-uk-backdoor/