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Apple

Recently, I wrote about giving my friend’s MacBook Air from Mid-2013 (A1465) a new life by installing macOS Ventura (13.4.1) on it.

Although this laptop was still working well, it was not compatible with the latest macOS from Apple. However, the OpenCore Legacy Patcher gave it a new lease on life by allowing it to run the latest macOS.

After installing any OS updates on unsupported hardware, you should be prompted to install post-install volume patches (also known as root patches) on your first boot.

By installing Rapid Security Response Update 13.4.1 (c), the system froze at the Apple logo and progress bar at approximately 35% of the loading process during the first reboot.

Thankfully, the solution was not too complicated.

Probably some of us have friends who have MacBook computers. Some of them purchased them some time ago and, despite still working, have been made obsolete and stopped from further support from Apple.

When the device is out of support life, it does not receive any further software updates. This is putting their users at risk of unpatched variabilities but also causing problems using outdated software like Internet Browser.

I got friends who purchased MacBook Air 11th-inch Mid-2013 (A1465) at a very similar time when I purchased my first MacBook Pro. Since then I updated and I am currently on my 3rd with an M1 processor.

If you follow my page, you’ve probably already come across my post Blocking Ads in Safari on iOS, iPadOS and macOS. In it, I described how to use the built-in Firefox Focus feature to block trackers and ads without unnecessary configuration.

This method won’t work for everyone. Others may opt for AdBlock Plus, which can be set to block ads in Safari similarly to the method described using Firefox Focus. Daily I use Firefox Focus and AdBlock Plus in my Safari browser on my phone.

No matter what you choose, every solution is good with one but…

Everybody is writing down about the latest Apple TV 4K 2022 model as a perfect premium box for streaming movies. Due to the upgraded main chip and (already) wide support for controllers, everybody is forgetting that this is quite a decent gaming box as well.

I purchased my Apple TV 4K (2021) with the idea, to get back to playing games on a big screen. I don’t have time to invest in game consoles anymore and, for occasional playing, Apple TV as a game console would be a good alternative.

Privacy in recent years is something that everybody is talking about. Some companies undersell their own devices just to gain the information that they will harvest. The others say it aloud that they put privacy on the pedestal, and that includes their devices. This is Apple.

Even if you decided to move away from devices and companies that violate your rights and decided to buy an iPhone, remember, that in the whole of this the weakest link, the hole in a privacy matter is you!

Not so far ago I wrote down about how my Apple Watch didn’t last as long as I expected.

I recalled my Apple Watch 4th generation that had been with me for two years before I changed to the newest model at the time. The S6 didn’t do that well.

I have been using Apple Watch since series 4 when my wife made me a gift and presented it to me. It was Apple Watch Nike Edition 42mm.

As a Mi Band user at the time, it was an upgrade in functions but a downgrade in battery life. However, the battery of the Series 4 hasn’t been so bad and allows me to easily last the whole day.

We are living in a world, where everybody is trying to commercialise almost everything. If selling products and services does not bring desired income and users have had already too many subscriptions to pay for another one, there’s comes Ads.

Nobody likes Ads. They can ruin the reading experience on the website, cause our computer to choke due to excessive use of resources, or put your device or ourselves at risk due to privacy matters.

I used to use, back in 2020 ads, that display dynamically on my site, through Google AdSense. This does not even bring the return of the costs, that I put into it. What’s more annoying, using Google Ads has a huge negative impact on my website performance. Ironically, my site has been penalised by Google in their ranking, due to using their solution!

Once I migrated to Hugo and start using Netlify in their free plan, I reduced costs significantly, and because of that, I decided to banish Ads altogether. My site doesn’t have millions of visitors per month, hence it does not cost me a lot to maintain it. At the time, when I will be somehow noticed, I will gain a decent number of visitors, can imagine that I will be facing other opportunities to gain profit, and hopefully this will not be from Ads.

When I appreciate Ads system like EthicalAds, Privacy-preserving Ad Network or BuySellAds, there are still Ad systems that cause me a headache. If they annoy me, they annoy others as well.

On my devices, I am using Safari as my default browser. You may say what you like about it, but definitely, it’s not the new Internet Explorer.

I am using a dual approach. To preserve my privacy and to remove annoyances from the websites that I visit every day. Here is how I am doing that on my devices.

Unlike iOS devices where we install (and update) all applications from the App Store, when it comes to macOS, the situation is a bit more complicated.

As a person who likes technical innovations, I like to play with the latest equipment. When it comes to Apple equipment, if changing the device to a newer one right after its release is not part of our work, a typical upgrade is usually expensive and not always profitable.

Having owned an iPhone 6 a few years ago, I was in no rush to upgrade until the iPhone X came out, which I had for two years. When the iPhone 11 Pro was released, I moved towards purchasing the iPhone XS (yes, one generation back). As the item (an exception to the rule) turned out to be inconsistent with the description, I had to return it, and in order not to be left without a phone, I decided to buy the iPhone 11 Pro 256GB.

As Apple offers 0% installments, the total amount was £49.99 per month with the first payment of £20 and the last payment of £29.23. It’s not some kind of deal, but I don’t overpay at all, as is the case with operators in the UK (especially for individual customers).

I have been looking at Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Programme1 for a long time. For a fixed monthly fee, you get a new phone, which you can replace with a newer one after a year (without having to pay the remaining “installments”). Apple Care is included in the total, which additionally encourages you to think: is it worth it?

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