Try Quick Start for new iPhone/iPad migration

You have a new iPhone or iPad—congratulations! When transferring your data to the new device, you have three options: Quick Start, an iCloud backup, or a Mac backup. All will work, but they don’t quite provide the same end result (particularly if you didn’t encrypt your Mac backup).

Our advice—backed by this post from Apple expert John Gruber—is to try Quick Start first because it transfers everything directly from your old device to your new one, maintaining app logins in most cases and allowing you to transfer your Apple Watch pairing. It may seem like it’s taking a long time before you can use the device, but it’s worth it to avoid logging in to numerous apps and unpairing and repairing your Apple Watch. 
 

Beware the bulging battery

We’ve been seeing a spate of bulging batteries of late, both in Mac laptops and iPhones. A bulging battery is a Very Bad Thing™ and must be dealt with immediately because it could catch fire or even explode. As lithium-ion batteries age, the chemical reactions that produce power no longer complete fully, resulting in the creation of gasses that can cause the battery to swell. Additionally, manufacturing errors or damage to the membranes that separate the internal layers of the battery can also lead to swelling.
 
What to Look For
With Mac laptops, a variety of problems—some rather subtle—can indicate that the internal battery is swelling, including the screen not closing properly, a gap between the upper and lower parts of the case, a failure to sit perfectly flat, problems clicking the trackpad, or keyboard keys malfunctioning. Usually, the system will report the problem and, assuming you're in Sentinel, we'll alert you before this becomes too serious. 

With an iPhone or iPad, a swollen battery is usually obvious because it starts to warp the case and can even crack the screen—it all depends on where the swelling takes place and what part of the device gives way first.

What to Do
When you discover a bulging battery, unplug the device immediately and turn it off as soon as you can. Continued charging or use could lead to a fire or explosion. However, if the device is still functional and you need to copy data off or let a final backup run, try to put it in a place where it’s less likely to cause problems—on a concrete, stone, or tile surface, for instance, and preferably outside as long as it’s not wet, hot, or in the sun.

In some cases, as with older MacBooks, it’s relatively easy to disassemble the case and remove the battery. If you feel comfortable doing that—it's not crime if you don't—you may be able to reduce the chances of further damage. It’s much harder to work on iPhones and iPads.

Make sure you’re somewhere well-ventilated and safe, with easy access to outside and preferably a foam-based fire extinguisher at hand. If a fire does start, water will also put it out—make sure to have plenty on hand. Be sure to wear eye protection and gloves. Also, make sure you have somewhere safe to store the battery once removed, such as a metal can with a lid or with sand in it. Finally, be super careful around the battery, and whatever you do, do not puncture the swollen cell—some of the gases could be harmful.

Once you’ve removed the battery from the device, you must take it somewhere for recycling. Under no circumstances should you send it via the mail or put it in the regular garbage. Although various companies—including Apple, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowes—recycle batteries, call your local store first to see if they take swollen batteries (they may not be equipped to do so safely). Better yet, check with your county or municipality to see where you should take hazardous waste.

For additional details and advice, see iFixit’s guide and the many comments.

Getting Your Device Fixed
The best-case scenario is that you have AppleCare+ on the device such that Apple will fix it for you. However, that’s a bit unlikely because batteries usually bulge only on older devices. Regardless of AppleCare status, Apple offers battery service and recycling. Apple Bridgeport Village is a good option as is Best Buy, which is an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Independent repair shops can also likely do this work; make sure they have plenty of experience with your device and offer a warranty for their parts and labor.

Although it’s possible to replace batteries yourself—refer to the iFixit site for instructions and links to replacement batteries—it can be finicky work, particularly in iPhones and iPads, and you may not save that much money in the end.

Because Apple has made it difficult to open up their machines MacAtoZ rarely does direct battery replacements anymore. There are other folks who do it regularly and in this circumstance we can't really add any value beyond what they offer. That said, if a client comes to us with a device that has a battery issue and says, "I want this solved," we will solve it. It just may not be the most cost-effective solution. 
 

A personal note

I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support I've received since my accident last month. Truly, you people are all right. I kid, because it's hard for me to express the depths of my gratitude. I am buoyantly optimistic by nature, and that attitude has been tested in the last few weeks. Your thoughts and kind words of support have sustained me, and I am grateful. 

I'm also happy to report that my recovery proceeds apace. I'm expected to be pain-free in a couple more months and back to playing soccer by March. (Moral of the story: Do not break your ribs or puncture a lung.) I will not be mentioning my health here again unless it significantly impacts MacAtoZ's service. I think we're about caught up, but I'm still moving slowly and I appreciate your understanding. 

Finally, I want to mention that I will have a special announcement on October 15. It's good news about the completion of a music project I've been working on unrelated to MacAtoZ. I'm excited about it, so I'm telling everyone I can think of, but fear not, I'll only bother you about it this once. 

Thank you all again! 
 

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Reaching out to MacAtoZ

A secure operating system
See Software Recommendations for details. If you're not running a secure operating system, it will be difficult to impossible to protect your data. 

Encryption
We recommend using Apple's built-in whole disk encryption, FileVault. It can be turned on in System Preferences > Security & Privacy. 

Backups
We recommend and use Apple's built-in Time Machine backup system. You'll need an external hard drive so that the data is automatically saved to a second location. Off-site backup remains important in mitigating the risk of fire or theft. We use and recommend Backblaze. At a cost of $6 a month per Mac, Backblaze will encrypt then backup an unlimited amount of data from your Mac. Data has a 30-day retention window, though longer time periods are possible for an additional couple bucks. 

Sentinel, Sentinel+, Sentinel Ultra, Sentinel AM [warning: we are tooting our own horn here]
Sentinel provides professional 24/7 oversight of the health of your Mac. We're monitoring all kinds of things (RAM, hard drive, Time Machine backups, battery, etc.)—150 different data points every hour.  

Sentinel+ adds maintenance and security to Sentinel's 24/7 monitoring. Sentinel+ will handle most software updates so you don't have to and run maintenance routines to keep things tip-top. This is includes basic scanning and quarantine of malware. 

Sentinel Ultra is our top-of-the-line, four-in-one service that includes everything in Sentinel and Sentinel+. Ultra blocks malicious web sites, filters objectionable content, protects against email phishing threats, and even increases the speed of your web surfing. It's proactive security. Ultra represents our best effort and the best tool in our arsenal to keep clients safe on the web. 

Sentinel AM is our anti-malware offering. It's a $5/mo add-on for Sentinel+ or Sentinel Ultra services. 

A secure web browser with ad blocking
Firefox with the free open source content blocker uBlock Origin is our first choice. Safari with AdGuard (and blocking cross-site tracking turned on) is another fine option. AdGuard is no longer free, but Safari extensions are getting enhanced in macOS 11 Big Sur, so we're hopeful that getting uBlock Origin (our favorite) back on Safari is just a matter of time. 

DuckDuckGo
There's really no good reason to use Google, Bing, or any of the other search engines. Not only does DuckDuckGo return excellent search results, you can use commands in the search bar (like "!g"—that's exclamation point plus the letter g) to search Google anonymously. You can search other search engines anonymously too via DuckDuckGo, and DuckDuckGo won't track you. In the search engine preferences for either Safari or Firefox, you can set DuckDuckGo as your default search engine. 

A Virtual Private Network
A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is an encrypted tunnel between your Mac (or iPhone or iPad) and another computer run by the VPN company. It protects your internet traffic so that anyone who might want to spy on your traffic locally can't. We use PIA VPN which covers multiple devices (Mac, iPad, iPhone) for about $75 a year. 

A Password Manager
We consider password managers like 1Password indispensible. Instead of having to remember lengthy passwords or reusing the handful that we can remember, we remember one password to unlock 1Password, and the program takes care of the rest. 1Password can be a little complex to set up, so we typically will help clients with that. Actual use isn't too bad though and is typically within the reach of even basic users.  

A Spam Filter
Apple's built in Junk Mail filter works for most spam assuming your email address isn't widely dispersed on the internet. If you're swamped with spam email, though, SpamSieve can rescue you.

Avoid Social Media
If you're posting to social media like Facebook, you're not just telling your friends something. You're telling Facebook, and Facebook is hardly keeping your information top secret. Want to say something privately to a friend? Use Apple Messages or Apple's FaceTime. Both are end-to-end encrypted, and not even Apple has the keys.