Selling my iMac

I’m selling my late 2013 21.5” non-retina iMac. It’s getting old and tired, lots of beach balls these days. I’m also having some issues with Bluetooth. At times the keyboard and mouse get all wonky since upgrading too Mojave.

My early 2015 13” MacBook Pro is in great shape and way faster than the old iMac. The only thing I think I’ll miss is the extra screen space of the iMac. But, I figure I can use my iPad as a second screen in the event I need more screen space.

I usually sell my stuff to Gazelle but as of the first of July, they are no longer buying Macs. That was actually quite a surprise since I had just gotten a quote for my iMac from them in June. So instead, I’m selling it to Sell My Mac. They are actually paying a little more than what Gazelle offered me back in June.

I’m looking forward to not having to keep 2 Macs up to date and in sync any longer.

1Password 6 will stop working with Safari 13

It was very disappointing to read that 1Password 6 will stop working with Safari 13.

On Monday, Apple released the macOS Catalina public beta that includes a preview of Safari 13, which is set for release this fall. We’ve discovered there’s lots to love about Safari 13, but we’ve also learned that it will no longer work for customers using 1Password 6.

I moved from LastPass to 1Password when LastPass had a security issue a few years ago. Another thing with LastPass, I didn’t like having my passwords on LastPass’ servers. At that time the 1Password vault was locally stored which is what I was looking for.

Now, here’s my dilemma. One, 1Password 7 is a subscription, which I don’t want, or I could buy the upgrade for the standalone version at $49.99 which I don’t want to do either since 1Password 6 does everything I need.

Here are my options:

1Password 6 will continue to work in Firefox and Chrome so I could switch to Firefox.

1Password 6 will continue to work with other browsers. Safari lovers like myself won’t want to hear this one, but if you’re stuck and really can’t upgrade, you can still use 1Password 6 in Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Vivaldi.

Or I could switch password managers and continue using Safari as my preferred browser. I have Enpass installed on my Macs, and iOS devices but haven’t used it. One thing I like about Enpass is vaults are locally stored and can sync via iCloud. I also like that Enpass is a purchase and not a subscription.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to experiment with my options.

Jon Gruber on Jony Ive leaving Apple

If you’re into this type of thing, John Gruber’s take on Jony Ive, Apple’s longtime design guru, leaving Apple is a good read. Gruber is the designer and inventor of Markdown. He also writes Daring Fireball, an Apple-focused blog and hosts a related podcast The Talk Show.

Jony Ive Is Leaving Apple

I don’t worry that Apple is in trouble because Jony Ive is leaving; I worry that Apple is in trouble because he’s not being replaced.

Further reading:
Apple’s stock took an $8 billion hit after the news that design chief Jony Ive will be exiting the company

Apple will be just fine without Jony Ive — sorry, Jony

Ive Moves On

2018 and newer MacBook Pro and MacBook Air now included in Apple’s Keyboard Service Program

I meant to write about the changes to Apple’s Keyboard Service Program a few weeks ago but I never got around to it. So, here it is now.

These changes were particularly good news for me because I bought my wife a 2018 MacBook Air for Christmas and I have been hearing rumbles that some folks are having problems with the keyboard.

Here’s the good news. As of May 21, 2019, Apple extended the Keyboard Service Program for MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro to include the 2018 MacBook Air and the 2018 and 2019 MacBook Pro. I have also heard that in order to speed up the repair process the repairs are now being made in Apple Stores with next day turnaround.

This is Apple’s statement about the keyboards:

Apple has determined that a small percentage of the keyboards in certain MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models may exhibit one or more of the following behaviors:

Letters or characters repeat unexpectedly
Letters or characters do not appear
Key(s) feel “sticky” or do not respond in a consistent manner

Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will service eligible MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro keyboards, free of charge. The type of service will be determined after the keyboard is examined and may involve the replacement of one or more keys or the whole keyboard.

No more subscription apps

I’m on a mission to eliminate all my subscription apps. I only have two more to go. Those would be Bear and Ulysses.

Why? I just don’t want to pay for an app over and over year after year especially when I already have other free and paid alternatives that work just as well for me.

Bear moving to Apple Notes
I’ve been using Bear as my notes app since leaving nvAlt a couple of years ago. Back then the Apples Notes app was very basic at best. Over the last couple of years, it’s been much improved. Don’t get me wrong, Bear is a great app. But, I’ve come to realize that I can do all that I need to do in Bear in Apples Notes. For now, I’m running both apps parallel until I’m absolutely positive Notes is going to work for me.

Ulysses moved to iA Writer
I’ve written about Ulysses a lot over the last few years. In my effort to eliminate subscription apps I recently moved all my writing to iA Writer and deleted Ulysses from all my devices and I will not be renewing my subscription.

Apple listening

I love the Mac. It’s my preferred computing device. What makes the Mac great are all the apps that increase productivity. I’m thinking about Alfred, Keyboard Maestro, PopClip, Moom, and Hazel to name a few. You won’t find these in iOS or iPadOS

So, my Mac’s are getting old. Up to today, I have been concerned with what I would replace them when the time comes?

If you care about the Mac as I do you’ll want to read Marco Arment’s article Apple is Listening. After WWDC and reading Marco’s article I’m encouraged about the future of the Mac and that I will be able to continue to enjoy the Mac and the apps that I love using.

But there has clearly been a major shift in direction for the better since early 2017, and they couldn’t be more clear now:

Apple is listening again, they’ve still got it, and the Mac is back.

Alfred 4 Is Here

My Mac launcher app has gotten an update.

Although I didn’t see much reason to upgrade from version 3 I did so anyway. I want to support the developer so I also upgraded my Powerpack license.

Alfred is an indispensable part of the daily use of my Macs. I use it at least 20 to 30 times every day. You can find all the articles that I’ve written about Alfred here.