Apple This

Apple macOS: Big Sur has arrived. 

Named after the picturesque mountainous section of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise dramatically from the Pacific, the latest macOS promises to elevate one of the world’s most advanced operating systems to a new level of beauty and power.

But how can you get the most out of Big Sur? Find out what version 11 of Apple’s Mac operating system offers by perusing these tips and features.

Updating to Big Sur

Are you just finding out about Big Sur? If you haven’t already updated your Mac, navigate to the Apple icon in the upper-left corner and select About This Mac. At the next window, select Software update. Then click the Update Now button and follow the prompts to install the update.

Big Sur Control Center

Apple now gives you quick access to several settings by bringing the iOS/iPadOS Control Center to Macs. Apple even added a Control Center icon to the Menu Bar in the upper-right hand corner — click the Menu Bar to manage your settings in the control center.

Now you can quickly access different controls for:

• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• AirDrop
• Do Not Disturb mode
• Keyboard Brightness
• Screen Mirroring
• Display
• Sound
• Music

Click what you’d like to control to expand and edit your settings.

To add more options to the Control Center, go to System Preferences > Dock & Menu Bar. On the left pane, scroll down to Other Modules and select options like Accessibility Shortcuts, Battery, Fast User Switching, and check the Show in Control Center box.

Pinning Controls to the Menu Bar

For even quicker access, Big Sur allows you to pin controls to the Menu Bar from the Control Center. 

One way to add controls is to click the Control Center icon and drag and drop a specific icon to the Menu Bar. Another way is to go to System Preferences > Dock & Menu Bar. In the left pane, select a particular control and then check the Show in Menu Bar box.

Extra Tip: To hide the Menu Bar, so it only appears when you navigate your cursor to the top of the screen, go to System Settings > Dock & Menu Bar and check the Automatically hide and show the menu bar box.

Viewing Widgets and Notifications

Much like the latest Control Center, Apple borrowed another feature from its mobile and iPad operating systems.

Now displayed in the same section, click the date and time in the Menu Bar to view any notifications and see default widgets like date, weather, World Clock, and Screen Time. Select a widget to open the corresponding application.

Customizing Your Widgets

One of the biggest reasons for Apple finally adding widgets six years ago was the ability to customize its size, details, and more.

To edit or remove from your screen, right-click on any widget. For example, the weather widget allows you to change location or to update based on where you are. You can also reorder your widgets by dragging and dropping them to the appropriate spots on your desktop.

To add more widgets, right-click any widget, and select Edit Widgets. Alternatively, you can click the Edit Widgets button at the bottom of your screen.

You can even download third-party widgets by searching Widgets in the Mac App Store. Now you’ll be able to use third-party widgets in the Notification Center or Menu Bar.

Quieting your Startup

Are you tired of hearing Apple’s built-in chime every time you open your Mac? You can now disable this sound by going to System Preferences > Sound and unchecking Play Sound on Startup box. Now you’ll have a quiet startup until you recheck the box.

More Options for Your Mac’s Battery

Now offering a dedicated system preference for your battery, click the Battery Icon on the Menu Bar to explore your battery preference options.

Big Sur offers more options to either preserve — or get the most out of — your battery. Some examples include tuning options for:

• How long until the display shuts off battery power
• Enabling Power Nap in Battery Mode
• Optimizing Video Streaming on battery power
• Optimized Battery Charging so Big Sur won’t charge your Mac past 80% until you need the extra boost (saving your battery life)
• Managing Battery Longevity — select this option to reduce the rate at which your battery chemically ages.
• Usage History — see your battery level and usage for the last 24 hours or ten days.

Hearing What You Type

Do you have eyesight problems? Apple created this feature for individuals who need to listen to words aloud as they are composed. To set up Speak Typing Feedback, go to System Preferences > Accessibility. In the Spoken Content Section, check the box for speak typing feedback. 

Now, any letter typed is read aloud by the speak typing feedback feature. After you’ve typed a word, that word also reads out loud with Spoken Content. If you enter punctuation, space, new paragraph, or other characters — these are read aloud as well.

Color Adjustments

Now you can change which colors appear in buttons, menus, and other elements. Or you can select the multicolor option, which changes the accent color of an app based on the developer’s preferences — each app will have a unique color.

To set up different color options, go to System Preferences > General. For Accent Color, choose the first icon.

Mac’s default setting for wallpaper tinting is annoying to some as it changes the shading of many items in macOS. To change the windows’ display to a more neutral tone, go to System Preferences > General and uncheck allow wallpaper tinting in the windows. 

Trying macOS Wallpapers

Mac has always done that little bit extra when it comes to aesthetics, and Big Sur is no different.

Big Sur adds several stunning new images you can set up as your wallpaper. Just like previous versions, you can choose a dynamic wallpaper that changes between light and dark as the day and night progress.

However, Big Sur offers a wider variety of pictures and cool variations on the usual scenic Apple Themes.

Big Sur Mac Rentals with Rentacomputer.com

Are you thinking about renting one of the latest available Macbooks, iMacs, or Mac Pros? Tech Travel Agent Mark Gillaugh specializes in Apple rentals, laptop rentals, hotspot rentals, tablet rentals, and much more. Mark will handle any questions you have about the Apple product rentals featuring Big Sur OS. Contact Mark today at 1-800-736-8772 ext. 249 or fill out a fast, easy online quote form.

Subscribe to our blog today to stay up-to-date with Rentacomputer.com and follow us on social media. Join the discussion by commenting below.

Are you thinking about an Apple rental in New York City? We’ve delivered and installed rentals to hundreds of NYC customers already this year, let us show you what experience in New York and event technology can do for your business.

With Apple’s WWDC 2020 Conference scheduled to take place in June, announcements for innovations and upgrades of Apple’s operating systems and products are right around the corner! While the physical conference itself has been canceled in favor of a digital conference format thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple is slated to release new physical products that should scratch the itch of people wanting something new from Apple, which includes the upcoming release of a 2020 model of the iPad Pro.

From the information available from product tester reviews and which has been given to us directly from Apple, it appears that the multinational technology company is still pushing mindset that tablets should replace your laptop. The 2020 iPad Pro is certainly the closest Apple has come to making a tablet capable of standing in for a MacBook or laptop. But does the new iPad Pro pack enough features to truly replace a laptop? Let’s look at some of the hardware specifications of the 2020 iPad Pro to find out.

Screen Sizes and Display

The 2020 iPad Pro comes in two model sizes. There is an 11-inch model that provides more portability, and a 12.9 inch model for people who want a combination of high performance and a larger display for easier reading and additional screen space. Since Apple no longer manufactures or directly sells 11.6 inch MacBook models–and the next smallest MacBook is 13.3 inches–these two iPad Pro models will easily be the most modern and most portable devices in Apple’s stock.

In terms of display quality, the 2020 iPad Pros will be equipped with the latest in Apple’s lightweight display technology, with both the 11’ and 12.9’ models coming equipped with the Liquid Retina display previously only used by the iPhone XR. 

Accessibility, Accessories, and Ports

For the first time in the history of Apple’s iPad line, the iPad Pro will have full built-in trackpad support through iPadOS 13.4. This means when combined with a smart keyboard, the 2020 iPad Pro will have similar functionality to a Chromebook. Something Apple does not seem keen on adding to the iPad Pro line, however, are USB ports. Besides the USB-C charging port, the new model of iPad Pro does not support any additional USB ports due to Apple’s desire to maintain the sleek profile of their mainline tablet. While trying to keep a tablet portable is an entirely understandable endeavor, the lack of ports can prove to be a fairly inconvenient drawback for someone who would want to use their 2020 iPad Pro for work purposes.

Battery Life

Undoubtedly the feature that I think is most impressive about the 2020 iPad Pro line is its battery life. Apple has always excelled at making its devices have longer battery lives than most devices made by their competitors–the newest rendition of the iPad Pro is no exception to this. When the iPad Pro 2020’s battery life was tested through a continuous trial of wireless web surfing, the device stayed on for over 10 hours at a screen brightness of 150 nits!

Can the 2020 iPad Pro replace your Laptop?

While the 2020 iPad Pro is undoubtedly more powerful and more capable than any model of its predecessors, the question still begs to be asked: is it worthy of replacing your laptop? Honest answer: probably not yet.

While Apple has made great strides towards making their iPad Pro line more functional and versatile–the trackpad functionality is still a work in progress, the screen sizes may not be ideal for people who are actually using their iPads for work purposes, the battery life is not any better than the 2019 MacBook, and some quality of life improvements will likely need to be made to the iPad OS before working on it is as quick and efficient as working with a macOS device.

That being said, the 2020 iPad Pro will easily have a place for itself in the market as soon as it releases. Businesses often rent iPad Pros for short term event needs, and now that Apple is getting more into trying to turn the iPad Pro into more of a miniature laptop, businesses will likely find more uses for them. If you need a 2020 iPad Pro rental, technology rental companies like Rentacomputer.com and Rentourtablets.com will be able to provide these rentals very soon!

…Don’t forget to sanitize–and stay safe!

Deciding to run for office has never been an easy decision, and in today’s hotly contested political arena with financial and personal costs of running soaring ever higher, the decision is only getting tougher. That’s why so many potential candidates launch exploratory committees to help them make a final decision about running for office. Voter surveys and data collection used to mean hours of phone calls or weeks spent pounding the pavement and then entering responses for days on end. Equipping your field teams with iPhone rentals and iPad rentals allows your campaign workers to quickly and easily gather data from likely voters and report it back to the candidate, making his decision to run or not a little easier. Here are just a few ways that iPads and iPhones can make your exploratory committee and campaign field operations run a little smoother.

Testing the waters

With national and statewide campaigns frequently running into hundreds of millions of dollars, it’s not surprising that some candidates choose to test the waters before diving into a campaign. Candidates thinking about running for a major statewide or national office often launch exploratory committees to get a feel for what voters think of them or where voters in specific districts stand on the issues as they start putting together their campaign platform.

With a push for more authentic connection with potential voters and the best data possible, many campaigns are using grassroots efforts to conduct surveys and polls. Using iPhones and iPads to gather the responses of potential voters increases confidence that responses have been accurately recorded and allows review of data in real time rather than waiting for responses to be entered at a later time.

Get Out the Vote

Most campaigns and exploratory committees integrate Get Out the Vote efforts into their canvassing strategy. With most states now allowing online voter registration, equipping your team with iPads or iPhones allows them to help people register to vote during their conversation, rather than asking citizens to register at a later time. Many voters will remember that your campaign is the one that helped them register and that could influence their decision when they enter the ballot booth.

Get voters on your side

With campaign costs growing year over year, candidates rely heavily on donations from individual donors to help fund their run for office. Giving out handbills, sending out emails, and putting up flyers seeking donations can result in low return on investment of your time and efforts. Door-to-door canvassing is one of the best (and cheapest) way to reach and gain voters – and it’s also one of the most effective for fundraising. Once you’ve set up your online campaign and fundraising, your canvassers can use iPads and iPhones to tell people about the candidate and get people to sign up to support the candidate and even to donate money to the campaign all at the same time!

Tell a story

Voters love to feel like they’re a part of the campaign beyond the voting booth. Outfitting your field team with iPads and iPhones lets them offer voters and supporters the opportunity to record their story about why they support your candidate. These stories make compelling social media content and create excitement around your candidate. The bonus? It’s free content and grassroots!

Equip your campaign with the best

Whatever version of the iPad or iPhone you need, we have the right technology solution to fit your needs and budget. We offer the most current iPhones including the iPhone X, XS, and XR, as well as current iPads including the iPad Pro and iPad Air. If you’re looking for iPad and iPhone rental solutions on a budget, we also offer older generation equipment like the iPhone 6 and iPad 2 at a lower rate than new models.

Need to rent iPhones or iPads for your exploratory committee or campaign field team? Our sister company,  Rentacomputer.com, proudly provides a wide array of iPhone and iPads rentals to suit all of your campaign technology rental needs. No matter where your event is, Rentacomputer.com can help. Get a quote for all your equipment needs today!

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