The display notch on the new MacBook Pro has been somewhat controversial with occasional odd behavior, but rather than try to hide the Notch through creative wallpaper tricks or using a dark menu bar, the amusing Notchmeister app decides to do the complete opposite by emphasizing and decorating the Notch.

You can hang Christmas lights from the Notch, or you can make it glow, spit bright plasma lights, show a goofy radar, and more.

And if you don’t have a MacBook Pro with Notch? No problem, because Notchmeister will add a software notch to any display, so you pretend you have a Notch, or just test out the Notch experience to see how much you love it, or hate it.

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Need to check the sha256 hash of a file? You can easily check the SHA 256 checksum of any file in macOS from the command line.

We’ll cover two different command line tools to verify a sha256 checksum on the Mac, and both come preinstalled with all modern versions of MacOS.

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Apple’s two-factor authentication system adds an extra layer of protection to your Apple account and ensures that only you have access to your account, even if your password gets leaked in a data breach. For security reasons, it’s a good idea to set up two-factor authentication if you haven’t already.

But what if you’re using 2FA, and you don’t get a code? If you’re waiting for the two-factor prompt to show up, we’ll show you a method to manually get two-factor authentication codes on your Mac.

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Apple has released the first beta version of MacOS Monterey 12.2 to users enrolled in the beta testing program for MacOS system software.

Presumably the new macOS Monterey 12.2 beta will focus on resolving remaining issues and problems with MacOS Monterey including bug fixes and enhancements to the operating system, and will likely not include any major changes.

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Do you want to keep a copy of all the reminders in a list as a PDF file? Perhaps, you want to share a soft copy of your shopping list with your roommate who doesn’t use an Apple device? Thanks to a recent addition, you can finally save reminders lists as PDF files easily from iPhone or iPad.

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Some Mac users may see a “USB Accessories Disabled” error message when using their computer. This is often encountered with a USB-C hub that has many devices attached to it, but it can also occur when a Mac has connected an external USB drive, disk, camera, keyboard, controller, USB-C power cable, or other device to the computer, and then the USB devices are no longer usable or accessible.

The full text of the error message is “USB Accessories Disabled : Unplug the accessory using too much power to re-enable USB devices.”, which basically informs you the device is trying to draw too much power, and when this happens USB becomes disabled. The error message also offers a possible remedy to the error message.

If you encounter the “USB Accessories Disabled” error message, try the troubleshooting tips below to resolve the problem.

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If you use Firefox or Opera web browsers on iPhone or iPad, perhaps even as your default browser, you may eventually want to clear the cookies. Fortunately, the procedure is pretty simple for both Firefox and Opera browsers in iOS and iPadOS.

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Ever wished you had advance notice that it’s going to rain or snow? Thanks to the Weather app for iPhone, you can now get weather notifications pushed to your iPhone, letting you know if it’s going to rain or snow soon.

This is a useful feature as the weather turns, particularly for those in areas where weather can be a significant factor in decisions. Now you’ll know whether you need to grab a rain jacket, umbrella, snow coat, or whatever else you feel like gearing up in to endure the inclement weather.

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Have you ever wanted to check how long it’d take for your iPhone or iPad to charge completely? Maybe, you don’t like to frequently check how much your device has charged? Well, this particular iOS shortcut intends to do just that. It’s pretty simple to set up and use on your device.

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Apple has released macOS Big Sur 11.6.2 for users continuing to run the Big Sur operating system. The 11.6.2 update was issued alongside the release of macOS Monterey 12.1 for Mac users running Monterey.

The macOS 11.6.2 update includes important security updates and is therefore recommended for all Big Sur users to install.

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Apple has released iOS 15.2 for iPhone, and iPadOS 15.2 for iPad.

iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 adds an App Privacy Support feature to show what data apps can access and share, new child safety features for Messages, and support for a voice-only Apple Music plan. iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 also include various bug fixes that may help to address issues with iOS 15 experienced by some users.

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Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.1 to all Mac users running macOS Monterey. Mac users running Big Sur and Catalina will find Security Updates available as options to install as well.

This is the first point release update for macOS Monterey, and it includes a handful of new features as well as addressing some of the known problems with macOS Monterey that were experienced by some users.

macOS Monterey 12.1 includes support for SharePlay, a feature that allows for sharing content like videos over FaceTime calls. MacOS Monterey 12.1 also resolves the tap-to-click problem experienced by some trackpad users, an issue with MagSafe charging on new M1 Pro and m1 Max computers, some issues with the MacBook Pro Notch on M1 Pro and M1 Max, and more. A variety of other bug fixes and small improvements have been made to macOS Monterey 12.1, with the full release notes available further below.

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Do you have multiple kids in your Family Sharing group? If you’re sharing your payment method with members of your family group, you may want to use “Ask to Buy” to keep all those purchases in check, and to make sure your children aren’t buying anything without your permission.

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Anyone can enjoy the fancy new iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 wallpapers without having to buy the brand new iPhone model.

Below you can grab any of the new iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 wallpapers, in both light mode and dark mode versions. There are nine different wallpapers, so in both dark/light mode variations it makes a grand total of 18 wallpapers available. Perhaps these will arrive in a future iOS 15 release too, since iOS 15 was devoid of new wallpapers aside from the default wallpaper which.

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Want to add some funds to an Apple ID right from your Mac? It’s possible, and it serves as a nice way for anyone who wants to set a budget to manage their account balance.

With this approach, you can make transactions on iTunes and App Store without having your credit card or PayPal account always linked to your Apple ID. Instead, you can use your Apple ID balance for purchasing apps and subscribing to Apple services such as iCloud and Apple Music.
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Apple has issued a second Release Candidate build of iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, and macOS Monterey 12.1 to all users who are enrolled in the beta testing programs for Apple system software.

RC, which stands for Release Candidate, typically is indicative of the finalized version of software that gets shipped to the public. The release of a second release candidate build likely means a notable bug or security issue was discovered and thus the RC build was updated, and it’s unlikely the RC 2 build includes any major changes or features.

With the RC 2 build being issued, it is reasonable to expect macOS Monterey 12.1, iOS 15.2, and iPadOS 15.2 to be released to the general public in the near future, possibly next week.

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Did you get a HomePod or the HomePod Mini recently? If you’re new to the smart speaker, you may be wondering how to handle basic operations of the devices, including using the physical controls on the device. We’re here to help you get started with using the controls on HomePod and HomePod Mini.

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Need to take a full web page screen shot on the Mac? There’s a very easy way to do it, but it does not include using the Mac screenshot tools since the feature is not currently available in macOS. Not to worry though, as we have a very easy approach to capture full page screenshots of websites.

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