Dear Friends,

Which passwords are the most important to remember? I cannot tell you how many times we are faced with a customer needing help on their Mac or iOS device and when we ask for their password a confused look crosses their faces and immediately we know we are into a password recovery situation. Sometimes, the customer will pull out a dog-eared notebook with passwords written down and crossed out and more written in. Other times they mutter under their breath about passwords and use some unique language.

There are really only a few passwords that are essential for you to remember. Number one is the main password to your Mac or iOS device to unlock them. You use that password all the time, presumably, so it should not be too hard to remember but I do recommend stashing that someplace safe so you can get it when you forget. Second most important is probably your Apple ID. Your Apple ID is used for everything Apple from iTunes, to the App Store, to setting up iCloud and new devices. You can reset this password but that is time consuming and frustrating as you try to remember the answers to your security questions, i.e. my first dog was Skippy.

Email passwords and banking passwords are next but if you use Apple’s keychain or other Password programs like 1Password you should not have too much trouble retrieving those. In most cases, however, when we are called for technical support it is either the main administrator’s password for a Mac or Apple ID that stops the help in its tracks and starts the clock on our paid password recovery services.

I think Apple made great strides with Touch ID and they have brought that to the Touch Bar Macs but they need to make it even more useful to identify yourself. Why go through a complicated password recovery situation when you have biometric security. I don’t believe that I still have to enter my Apple ID and password every time I buy a book from iBooks, for example.

Okay enough of my password rant for today. Here’s an exclusive for Kibbles & Bytes readers that goes along with my review of the BenQ PD2710QC display. I am bundling the BenQ USB C display with an Apple Factory Reconditioned MacBook Pro 13-inch with Touch Bar. This MacBook Pro has the 2.9GHZ i5 Dual Core processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD drive and is Space Gray. It has been refurbished by Apple and has a 1-year Apple Warranty. We are also bundling Applecare+ which now has become almost essential as it also covers accidental damage (like spilling that glass of wine on your Mac) with a deductible. It covers this MacBook Pro for 3-years and provides 3-years of free Apple technical support, too. So, you get the MacBook Pro, AppleCare+ and the BenQ PD2710QC display for only $2099.99. That is $200 off for Kibbles & Bytes readers while supplies last!