Hello Tech Tails readers!

The temps dropped down quite fast here in South Burlington as we complete the final push of holiday traffic. We’ve been busy all week, and we’re all looking forward to the New Year! In particular, I am looking forward to seeing the iMac Pro ship out, and AirPods return to normal stock levels. The last few weeks, we’ve seen a dramatic shortage of these handy little headphones, and I can totally see why! A lot of our techs have been using the AirPods this year, and the employee reviews have been outstanding.

The other thing we’ve been getting a lot of calls about is Malware. If you’ve recently added virus protection software to your Mac, like “MacKeeper” for example, you may want to stop by the store to have it removed. This is something we’ve always strongly advised against, as it tends to cause more problems than necessary. I always tell my customers, the weakest link in your Mac OS is the end user. Like it or not, a virus can occur if you surrender your password at the wrong time. Always verify the source of your downloads, and ensure that when Apple asks “is this a trusted source?” you are answering with confidence.

Around this time last year, we were seeing a fraction of this type of malware, somehow it has increased in popularity. Nevertheless, our tech department remains at a 2-3 business day turn around time for hardware repairs. This time of year is usually slower for repairs, but I remind folks that Christmas gifted Apple products mean this could be the last week of your warranty!

Anyway, I’m headed back out to the sales floor to restock those stocking stuffer products, everyone has a great week and enjoy this edition of Tech Tails!

Patrick McCormack
patrickm@smalldog.com