Nothing, as they say, lasts forever – and that includes your MacBook’s battery. Every time you use or charge your laptop, it suffers a level of battery degradation and has an impact on the battery’s lifespan. However, there are a few things that you can do (and perhaps more importantly, should NOT do!) to keep your MacBook’s battery healthy and increase its lifespan. Read on to find out more…
 
Charging
 
We get it – a MacBook is a portable computer, not a desktop, and often spends a proportion of its life on the move. That means that when you get it back to the office or home, you want to put it on charge… and then possibly leave it there until the next time you pick it up and whisk it off on its next little adventure! But that can be a problem for your MacBook’s battery. Leaving your MacBook on charge for long periods of time (overnight, or for 8 or more hours when not in use) can negatively affect its battery’s lifespan.
 
An alternative scenario is those of us who have our MacBook set up in a similar way to an iMac, only occasionally taking it off our desks. In this case it is even easier to just leave your MacBook on charge. This is even worse, and a new battery can degrade almost entirely in as little as 3 MONTHS!
 
However, the other extreme – leaving your battery to run right down – can be equally damaging. Allowing your MacBook battery to regularly get down to critical levels (anything below 10%) can lead to it being unable to hold charge in the future.
 
So what should you do?
 

• If you carry your MacBook around during the day, put it on charge when you get it home or back to the office, but take it off charge once it’s charged to around 80%.
• If you mainly use your MacBook as a desktop, get into the habit of putting it on charge ONLY whilst you are using it, and then unplugging the charger when you finish using it.
• Try not to let your MacBook battery run down lower than 10% on a regular basis (the occasional below 10% run-down is fine).
• Battery settings: on newer Macs, you have the option to use ‘Optimized Battery Charging’, which you can access through System Preferences > Battery > Battery. This is a ‘smart charging system’ that learns your daily habits, and waits before charging your device fully so that the battery spends less time at 100%. This gives you another layer of protection against over-charging your battery.

 
One final point to mention is temperature. Whilst less of an issue in the UK than in other parts of the world, it is still worth being aware that your MacBook has a ‘comfort zone’ for usage of between 10 and 35 degrees Celsius, and can be safely stored between -20 and 45 degrees Celsius. In practice, this means avoiding leaving your laptop in a hot car, or storing it in a place that gets particularly cold. Also, keep in mind that the device emits its own heat when in use, and particularly when charging, so keep an eye on how hot it is getting. We see a lot of laptops that have sustained damage from overheating, and one of the biggest culprits is leaving the device snuggled up on a duvet on the bed whilst charging!
 
Lastly, if you have a MacBook that is struggling with poor battery life, it may be time for a new battery. Give us a call on 01403 753666, via email on [email protected], or pop in and see us at our office in Alfold – visit Contact Us for the address.
 
Look after those batteries!

Periodically tidying up your Mac can help to free up storage space, potentially improving the performance of your machine, as well as making your desktop a nicer place to work! And the basics are easier than you might think. So let’s get started!

1. Clear your desktop

Is your Mac desktop tidy, or can you no longer see your desktop image beneath the clutter of icons? If it’s the latter, here’s how to tidy it up.

Right-click (ctrl + click, or 2-finger tap on trackpad) on any open space on the desktop which brings up a menu. Scroll down to ‘Clean Up’ and your icons will be neatly laid out on the desktop.

You can also select ‘Clean Up By’ to order the icons by name, kind, date modified, etc.

Alternatively, if you have lots of files of the same type, you could tick ‘Use Stacks’, which will neatly stack all files of the same type on top of one another.

Finally, click on ‘Manage’ and a window will open up with a list of recommendations for optimising your storage. Work through these to see how much space you could save!

The first time you open the Photos app on your Mac, your entire library is scanned to identify different ‘faces’ in the photos, and they are then grouped together. Once done, you can open the People album to see the groups of photos, and assign names to each group. The next time you take a photo of one of these people, Photos will automatically assign that ‘face’ to the relevant group. And if it doesn’t, you can identify the faces in your photos manually.

• In the Photos app on your Mac, click on People in the side bar. Double click on one of the faces to see all photos that have been assigned to that name.

 

• In the top right hand corner of the screen there are two options: Photos or Faces. Toggle between the two to either see entire photos containing that person, or the zoomed in version of that person’s face within the photo.

 

• To name a person’s photos, click ‘Add Name’ in the toolbar, type and press return. If the wrong name has been assigned, control-click the photo and choose “[name] is not in this photo” or “This is not [name]”.

 

• To find other photos that contain a previously identified face, scroll to the bottom of the window and click Confirm Additional Photos. Click Yes to confirm relevant photos, and then click Done. Alternatively, a message may appear inviting you to review additional photos that the app believes it may have identified. Click Review and then Done.

 

• If you don’t like the photo that has been chosen to be the ‘key photo’, you can control-click the photo you prefer, then choose Make Key Photo.

 

• To make a person a Favourite, scroll to the bottom of that person’s photos, and click Favourite This Person (or Unfavourite This Person to remove them as a favourite).

 

• If there is more than one group of the same person’s photos, you can combine the two groups: click and drag one group and drop into the other group - you will be asked ’Is this the same person?’ - click ‘yes’.

 

• To manually name faces in a photo: click the ‘i’ (info) in the toolbar, then click the ‘+’ (add) button and drag the circle to position it over the face. Then click on the name field, type and press return. You can repeat this for as many faces as appear in the photo.

 

• If you want to remover a person entirely from the People album, double-click on that person in the People album, then scroll to the bottom of the window and you will see an option to ‘Remove from People Album’. (Note: this will not remove any photos from your actual photo library).

There’s a Mac for everyone, but how do you decide on which model will work best for you? Take a look at our short guide below, to help you decide.
 
Apple makes 6 different types of Mac, each with a range of different specs, so it can get a bit confusing! Read on to find out more...

​As you can see, there’s a Mac for everyone! And at Blue Apple Systems, we can supply all Macs, either to buy outright, on lease to free up working capital, or even second-user (only ever supplied and maintained by ourselves). So contact us to find out more!

Apple’s iCloud lets you sync and store data across all your devices, so you can access what you need, where you need it, when you need it!
 
iCloud is a ‘cloud-based storage service’, which means that information is stored securely on a remote computer, known as a ‘cloud server’, rather than locally (on your computer, iPhone or iPad).
 
You can use iCloud to store pictures, music, documents and folders across all your Apple devices – iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac – as well as syncing your emails, contacts, calendars, etc using one Apple ID. You can also access the information from any internet-connected device – even Windows PCs.
 
iCloud is free – at it’s most basic level. However, you will probably find the 5GB limit insufficient if you wish to store significant numbers of photos, videos or other large documents. But the good news is that iCloud storage is relatively cheap! At the time of writing, 50GB costs £0.79 per month, 200GB is £2.49 and 2TB is £6.99 (50GB will usually be sufficient for the ‘average’ user).
 
For further pricing information, please see: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201238
 
In order to set up iCloud, you’ll first need an Apple ID. You may also need to update the OS on your device to the most recent version.
 
Once set up, iCloud works quietly in the background, seamlessly syncing calendar events, photos and contact details across all your Apple devices.
 
If you would like some help setting up iCloud across all your Apple devices, contact us at Blue Apple Systems, and we will be happy to help.

We all know that Apple Macs are the best computers money can buy. But the best costs! And businesses can’t always afford the equipment they really need. Leasing Apple Mac desktops and laptops is an affordable way to get the equipment you need, without any upfront expense – you don’t even have to pay a deposit – AND the taxman effectively foots the bill!

Here are 4 reasons why leasing your Apple Mac equipment makes sense:

1. Leasing doesn’t tie up your capital.

You can of course buy your Apple Mac technology outright. But most businesses have plenty of other demands on their cash flow.

And when you’re buying outright, you are often restricted by a budget, meaning you can’t always afford the higher specification equipment that you really need.

Spreading the cost with leasing makes sense financially.


2. The taxman is paying!

The cost of leasing an asset is deductible as a business expense, so this can reduce your overall tax bill – the taxman is effectively paying the bill.

Unless of course you don’t pay tax. But in that case, cash flow is going to be an issue, and you probably don’t want to be making any major capital outlays at a time when your business needs support in other areas.

Spreading the cost with monthly payments eases pressure on your cash flow.


3. You can afford better equipment

In an ideal world you would plan ahead, getting the very best Apple Macs to ‘future proof’ your IT requirements for the next two to three years, rather than simply buying what’s adequate now or what you can afford at the time.

With leasing, you can afford to get what you really need – both for now and in the future.


4. You can upgrade to new equipment before the end of the lease

When you buy your equipment outright, you get to keep it. But do you really want to? Computers quickly become outdated, depreciate rapidly and need to be disposed of carefully and securely (to avoid data breaches).

When you lease your IT equipment, you have the flexibility to upgrade any time after 18 months – usually with an overall reduction in the lease price – meaning you always stay up to date.

If you’d like to know more about leasing your Apple Mac equipment from Blue Apple Systems, just give us a ring on 01403 753666 or email [email protected]

We’ve all been there. You sit down with a drink, open your Mac and settle down to go through your emails. Then all hell breaks loose as your drink is knocked over and the contents go everywhere!!!
 
First things first:

1. Breathe...
2. If the Mac was turned off at the time of the spillage, DO NOT TURN IT ON! (Not even ‘just to check if it’s still working’ - many a Mac has been lost, that could have been saved, because the user turned it on after a spillage).
   
3. If it was already turned on, then you need to turn it off. But this has to be done carefully – you don’t want to get an electric shock! Disconnect the laptop from the power, then press and hold down the power button until it powers down (if you have a pen or pencil handy, use this rather than your finger, as it won’t conduct electricity).
4. Next turn the laptop upside down in an attempt to drain the liquid out.
5. Once the liquid has drained off, use some absorbent cloth to dab the exterior of your Mac dry.
6. Bring it in to Blue Apple Systems where we can assess the damage for you and let you know if a) your Mac is salvageable and b) whether your data can be recovered.
   

Approximately 80% of Macs brought in to us with liquid damage are fully recoverable.

But time is of the essence - the speed of corrosion of the internal components can be rapid, so don't delay!

​You get home after a hard day’s work, flop onto the sofa with a cup of tea, and open up your Mac. You wait patiently….nothing happens. Mmm… You check the charger, the plug socket, press the start-up button again. Zilch! Mild panic starts to set in.
 
Then you remember your local IT guys at Blue Apple Systems – phew! Everything’s going to be fine. Next morning you make a quick phone call and pop down to Alfold to see Richard, pass him your precious laptop, confident that all will be sorted in a jiffy.
 
Then the question: “You do have a back-up of this machine, don’t you?” “Erm… well… I keep meaning to, but... It will still be okay, won’t it?”
 
Your life flashes before your eyes – wedding photos… kids’ birthday parties… years’ worth of company accounts... ARGHHHHHH!!!!
 
So – let’s talk about back-ups!

​External Wi-fi Drive
 
A second option is an external wi-fi back-up drive (such as Apple Time Capsule). Once set up on your network, the system will back-up your files automatically. Sounds great! However, such systems can be notoriously unreliable, and you won’t necessarily know that the back-ups have stopped working until it’s too late and you really NEED the back-up… not so great!

​This solution is not expensive, with hardware starting from around £60 to £70, and we can talk you through the process, show you how to use it, and offer on-going support as and when required.
 
If you would like to know more about a reliable back-up solution for your Mac, please contact Richard on 01403 753666 or [email protected]. We look forwards to hearing from you!