Peripherals
Thinking inside the box to refresh the parts other tips can’t reach
Quick-fire questions
Should my new hard disks use 512e or 4Kn sectors?
> There’s nothing to be gained from opting for the ancient 512e format. macOS and its disk formats moved to 4Kn years ago, as it has many advantages. In any case, neither HFS+ nor APFS would now use logical storage blocks smaller than 4KB.
How to print a PDF that asks for a password?
> When someone creates a PDF document, they can opt to limit what can be done with it without entering a password. Among those controlled features is the ability to print. It’s best to ask the document’s creator for that password, although there are clumsy alternatives using screenshots to reconstruct the document’s contents.
Why does my iMac sometimes display a watermark?
> Older displays can start showing faint after-images when static items like widgets and wallpaper are visible for long periods, and that worsens with age. Turn the display off in Lock Screen to avoid this.