O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: utility

  • Apple releases statement that iPhone Battery Warning utility might not function as intended

    This probably calls for a software update in the near future.

    Following news that a new iOS feature warned users if an iPhone battery can’t be verified as genuine, Apple released the following statement defending its stance.

    “We take the safety of our customers very seriously and want to make sure any battery replacement is done properly. There are now over 1,800 Apple authorized service providers across the US, so our customers have even more convenient access to quality repairs. Last year, we introduced a new feature to notify customers if we were unable to verify that a new, genuine battery was installed by a certified technician following Apple repair processes.

    This information is there to help protect our customers from damaged, poor quality, or used batteries that can lead to safety or performance issues. This notification does not impact the customer’s ability to use the phone after an unauthorized repair.”

    The warning indicates that users can’t check their iPhone’s battery health upon going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health. This is due to Apple batteries featuring a special chip that allowed for it to run diagnostics.

    Batteries that don’t come from an Apple authorized service provider or from Apple itself may feature this chip. The warning appears in iOS 12 and iOS 13, affecting the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer

  • Initial tests show 2019 MacBook Air features slower SSD than its 2018 counterpart

    This might not be the best news if you just snagged a 2019 model MacBook Air.

    Per the mighty Consomac, the 2019 MacBook Air released last week features a slower SSD than its 2018 counterpart.

    After running the trusty Blackmagic Disk Speed test, it turns out that the read speeds of the 2019 MacBook Air’s SSD are slower. The utility reported write speeds of 1GB/s and read speeds of 1.3GB/s. The 2018 MacBook Air had write speeds of 920MB/s and read speeds of 2GB/s.

    The read and write speeds of the 128GB SSD model proved similar to the equivalent 2018 model, with write speeds of 500MB/s and read speeds of 1.3GB/s. Models with higher capacity SSDs weren’t tested. The slower speeds could be a result of Apple lowering the price of the 2019 MacBook Air.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer and Consomac

  • Comcast could be readying paid priority lanes should net neutrality laws be eliminated

    After years of promising that it won’t violate the principles of net neutrality, Comcast appears to be gearing up for an instance in which net neutrality laws could be revoked. The company’s stance has changed and while Comcast has stated that it has dropped its promise about not instituting paid prioritization.

    The new policy now states that Comcast won’t “discriminate against lawful content” or impose “anti-competitive paid prioritization.” The change in wording suggests that Comcast may offer paid fast lanes to websites or other online services, such as video streaming providers, after the Federal Communications Commission eliminates the net neutrality rules next month.

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  • OnyX updated to 2.8.6b2

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    You can’t knock a new beta of a really useful program.

    OnyX, Titanium Software’s popular freeware multifunction utility for Mac OS X, has been updated to version 2.8.6b2. The new version, a 13 megabyte download courtesy of MacUpdate, adds the following fixes and changes:

    – New preferences pane.

    – Deleting the Cache improved.

    – Deleting the obsolete items improved.

    – Disk verification routine improved.

    – New option: Turn on/turn off App Nap.

    (more…)

  • Apple releases AirPort Utility 6.3.1 update

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    Late Thursday, Apple released AirPort Utility 6.3.1, a 21 megabyte download which offers the following fixes to the AirPort Utility software:

    – Fixed an issue that caused some AirPort Base Stations not to be recognized by device apps.

    The update requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.7.5 or later to install and run. The AirPort Utility update can be located, snagged and installed via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature or via the update feature in Airport Utility itself.