In this bumper issue;

• November Meeting
• macOS 10.15 Catalina review
• How does Catalina work on old Macs?
• Data loss worries in Catalina
• Everything you need to know about the new iPhone
• Add-on lenses for iPhone 11
• Is your iPhone hacked?
• New details on the history of the iPhone
• What can you connect to iOS13?
• Control your smart home with Siri shortcuts
• Battery recall on 2015 MacBook Pro
• Members Special Offers

November meeting

Our next meeting is on Monday November 11th from 7pm at the Sir John Balcombe. This month we Focus on the Mac. Our technical editor will review the latest Mac hardware and provide us with tips and insights.

We will have a great raffle as usual, a USB protector and various connectors to get the best out of your Mac hardware.

If you missed our October meeting, a Newsbyte Extra on Apple announcements, you can watch it here. Many thanks to the Washington Pi user group for joining us. Visit their website here.

macOS 10.15 Catalina review

Have you upgraded your Mac to the latest version yet? Are there any compelling reasons why you should? Ars Technica are the go to source for deep reviews of macOS. Now they have dropped this encyclopaedic review of Catalina, read more here.

How does Catalina work on old Macs?

Catalina will of course work great on new Macs, but not many of us are in that fortunate position. As we well know, many of us have older machines that still seem to work OK. But when Apple says they work with Catalina, do they work well? Watch this test to find out.

Data loss worries in Catalina

News arrives of data loss problems when upgrading to Catalina. This story concerns your email in Apple Mail. LMUG’s advice is clear on this: backup your data before considering a macOS upgrade. Read about the issue here.

Everything you need to know about the new iPhone

Are you thinking about getting the new iPhone or iPhone Pro? Which one? The Verge has devised this page to guide you through the decision making process and everything you need to know to get the best benefits from upgrading. Have a look here.

Hat tip to our friends at Washington Pi for sharing this video with us from their esteemed local paper, the Washington post. A quirky review of the iPhone 11 Pro.

Add-on lenses for iPhone 11

Are you are creator? In this case I mean have you tried to create proper videos with your iPhone? If so, you might be excited at the new wide angle lens on the iPhone 11, enabling cinematic films. Does this mean you can toss all of the previous clip-on lenses from older iPhones into the recycling? Moment, one of the top lens makers for iPhone, thinks not. Watch to see why.

Is your iPhone hacked?

Bad news for some iPhone owners. A new exploit was found which could compromise iPhones. This is the number 1 reason to keep your iPhone up-to-date with Software updates. Apple is taking this seriously and increasing the rewards for researchers who find flaws in iPhone that hackers could exploit. Watch this to learn about the latest exploit:

New details on the history of the iPhone

Are you interested in Apple history? There is not a lot of history available about the more recent products like iPhone. Luckily for us, various patent lawsuits have opened up the Apple vaults a little and some former engineers are happy to talk. Watch here to learn some details about how the iPhone really came about.

What can you connect to iOS13?

If you have an iPad, this is for you (bonus tip – also works with iPhones!). We’ve seen a video before about how hard drives can be connected to iPads with iOS13. Now, let’s test to the max! What else works? You might be surprised.

Control your smart home with Siri shortcuts

We have had a few raffles with smart home devices like light bulbs, but how do they work with our Apple devices and what about other smart home devices that do not work with Home Kit? We will have to have a meeting going over all of this as it it complicated, but this video (some explicit words in this, apologies) contains the essential details on how to control various devices from an iPhone:

Battery recall on 2015 MacBook Pro

Finally , a sober reminder (or alert if this is the first you are seeing this), that there is a battery recall on the 2015 MacBook Pro. There is a risk of damage and fire, so please take this seriously. Read about what can go wrong here. Check if your MacBook is affected via this Apple website.

Members Special Offers

After a hiatus I must apologise for, here are the current special offers for members. You can find how to access these offers in the members section of the website.

• Special Offer – Eve Products: 25% Discount
• Special Offer – MacCleanse 8 Software: 20% Discount
• Special Offer – TechTool Pro 11: 50% Discount
• Special Offer – TidBITS Content Network: Trial Offer
• Special Offer – EverWeb by RAGE Software: 50% Discount
• Special Offer – Take Control Books: 30% Discount on All eBooks
• Special Offer – Teams ID, a Password Manager for Teams: 33% Discount
• Special Offer – Eltima Software: Up to 60% Off OS X Apps
• Special Offer – Opus ][ Complete Collection: 25% Discount
• Special Offer – AgileBits 1Password 7 Subscription: 25% Discount
• Special Offer – Noteboom Tutorials: 33% Off Annual Memberships
• Special Offer – Que Publishing Products: 35-45% Discount

December Quiz – Special Offer

If you bring a new member to our members-only Quiz and Buffet on December 9, they can join with a discount of £5 off their membership fee (£10)