About macOS High Sierra Upgrade APFS conversion, Apple TV 4K HDR/DV Info, iTunes 12.7 Changes, CCC 4.1.19, more - xlr8yourmac.com
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Archive of September 11th to 15th, 2017 News     Go to Current News Page

Mac Upgrades/Mods | CPU Upgrades | Storage | Video | Audio/HT | Tips/OS Updates/WiFi
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( Your Tips, Upgrade Reports, Questions to news at xlr8yourmac.com)

Important Info on Apple's APFS File System Conversion in macOS High Sierra
Apple/products related News and Software Updates
Apple Support/Troubleshooting/How-To Article Updates
  • About 4K, HDR, and Dolby Vision on your Apple TV 4K (new)
    (Also see footnote about HDR10 and Dolby Vision refresh rates. Some TVs (like 2016 LG OLEDs) don't support 4K/UHD Dolby Vision at 60Hz and Apple TV doesn't support 24Hz, so 30Hz would be used - or 25Hz for PAL TVs. (In those cases Apple recommends 1080P at 60Hz/50Hz instead, for UI performance reasons.) Not sure why they don't just play the video/movie at 24P (source rate) and revert back to 60P when done. (And ditto for audio bitstreaming - I know they want to mix in their Interface sounds and Siri (resulting in LPCM), but during movie playback, why not allow a bitstream option? (On many people's wish list.)
    Update - reportedly Apple favors refresh rate over all else and considers mode switching (24Hz for movies, 60Hz or Interface) as "Inelegant", so everything runs at 60Hz (or 50Hz or PAL TVs). And for TVs like the 2016 LG OLED models that support Dolby Vision at up to 30Hz (not 60Hz), Apple TV 4K will use HDR10 mode (at 60Hz) instead. Why not give the user a choice? I think 2016 LG owners would prefer an option to watch the movie in 4K/UHD Dolby Vision (dynamic HDR) rather than (static) HDR10, even if the initial change to 24Hz caused a short display flicker/re-sync. Otherwise, is 1080/60P DV from Apple TV possible? (The TV will upscale 1080P to UHD.)
    Update 2 - Early owners report that under "Other Formats" there are 4K options for 24Hz HDR, 24Hz SDR and when connected to a Dolby Vision compatible TV, 24Hz Dolby Vision.

        Apple's doc recommends cables with a "Dolby Vision mark" (tested with 4K Apple TV they say). Their example 2M Belkin Ultra High Speed cable is $29.95 at Apple's store and the specs list "up to 48 Gbps" - that's the (future) HDMI 2.1 spec rate. (The Apple TV 4K's specs show an HDMI 2.0a port - which is up to 18Gbps. I don't know of any retail HDMI 2.1 spec products yet. Hopefully a 4K Apple TV teardown shows what chip they're using.)
    I've never seen a 'Dolby Vision' marked (or 48Gbps) HDMI cable (yet), but for current HDMI 2.0x 4K/UHD HDR/DV, a (HDMI 2.0x/18GHz) Certified Premium HDMI cable (6ft/as short as possible) worked reliably with a 4K/UHD HDR10 60P movie disc - Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. (The only UHD/60P movie disc to date and a good stress test for cables, as other HDR10 and all DV discs to date are 24P.) IMHO Apple should have included a cable. (Some 4K UHD Players do, as it helps minimize returns due to cable related problems.) 6ft Certified Premium HDMI 2.0/18Gbps cables are under $10 retail at some sellers. There's also a free HDMI Premium Cable Authentication App to verify the code on the box label.)

  • How to Use Display Accommodations on your Apple TV (4th generation)
    (Vision aids with tvOS 10 on Apple TV, like Color Filters, Reduce White Point, Invert Colors, and more.)

  • How to Prepare for APFS in macOS High Sierra

  • Changes in the new iTunes (Apps, iTunes U, Internet Radio, more) (new)

  • Manually manage content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iTunes

  • Locate and organize your iTunes media files

  • Apple Web Server notifications (revised again Sept. 13th)

Page of How-To, Troubleshooting & Tips for Mac/OS X/iOS Users from Airplay to Thunderbolt.
 

iTunes 12.7 Update (release notes)
Info from the iTunes 12.7 release notes page:
Mac:
The new iTunes focuses on music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and audiobooks. It adds support for syncing iOS 11 devices and includes new features for -

Apple Music. Now discover music with friends. Members can create profiles and follow each other to see music they are listening to and any playlists they've shared.

Podcasts. iTunes U collections are now part of the Apple Podcasts family. Search and explore free educational content produced by leading schools, universities, museums, and cultural institutions all in one place.

If you previously used iTunes to sync apps or ringtones to your iOS device, use the new App Store or Sounds Settings on iOS to redownload them without your Mac."

They later posted an article on changes in the new iTunes including Apps, iTunes U, Internet Radio and more. (On Sept. 25th, they finally posted info on security content of iTunes 12.7 (Mac) and Windows.)
Available via software update (for compatible OS's) or full download at apple.com/itunes/download/. (See system requirements on linked page.)
  
Carbon Copy Cloner v4.1.19 Release Notes
Available as an in-app update for current 4.x users. Info from the CCC v4.1.19 release notes:
- Improved the reliability of restarting a backup task to or from a remote Macintosh when the connection is dropped.

- Addressed an error related to updating the kernel extension cache at the end of a backup task that was specific to macOS High Sierra.

- Made some minor modifications to CCC's global exclusions list that resolves a startup delay when booting from the backup volume.

- Clicking the Close button on a user notification presented as an alert will no longer open the CCC application on macOS High Sierra.
For info on the latest CCC version 5, see bombich.com.

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Recent Updates, Tips, DIY Upgrades and Repairs:
List of Updates, DIY Upgrades, Repair Articles, Tips and more you may have missed. (Topics range from OS/software updates and troubleshooting, to hardware upgrades and repairs.)
Previous News Archive Summary:
    September 4th to 8th, 2017 News Archive
  • Things To Do Before Upgrading to High Sierra
  • Safari Technology Preview 39 Release Notes
  • How to Automate Tasks on Your Mac
  • Mac Civilization VI v1.0.5 (for OS X 10.11 or later)
  • iOS Firefox web browser v8.3 (for IOS 9 or later)
  • iOS iMovie 2.2.4 update improves sharing to YouTube
  • iOS YouTube App 12.34 supports Apple's ReplayKit live streaming
  • Apache Struts 2.5.13, Struts 2.3.34 Security Updates
  • Samsung UBD-K8500 4K/UHD Player Firmware Update
  • Apple Support/How-To Article Updates:
    - Combing multiple Mac audio interfaces by creating an Aggregate Device
    - Use single sign-on with your iOS device or Apple TV (4th generation)

For links to older news pages, see the Archives.
  


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