The classic spinning HDDs (hard disk drives) has been replaced by SSDs (solid state drives) in ALL Apple computer models except for one lone holdout - the iMac. SSDs are far superior to HDDs - they are between five and ten times faster for read and write speeds, they are less susceptible to damage or failure, and they consume less energy. If you are considering the purchase of a new iMac, we can custom build it with an SSD straight from Apple, but if you already have an iMac, we can still upgrade you. The cost is a variable depending on how much storage you need.

Visionary Watchdog Monitoring Service uses a single, light-weight piece of software installed on your Mac, which the Visionary technical team uses to monitor for many common issues, and notify you by email when necessary. For years now, we’ve seen a change in technology support, shifting from a reactive, “break/fix” model to a more proactive, monitored model where issues can be identified and corrected before they cause a loss of productivity. The tools have matured, the process has simplified, and the costs have plummeted, and so we’ve rolled out a comprehensive bundle of services at a price anyone can afford.

Every Mac has built-in software called Time Machine that can oversee making full, regular backups of everything on your computer. All you need is an inexpensive external drive. Once you tell Time Machine to backup, it will manage itself, only alerting you if there is a problem.

General advice is to buy a new computer every three years (and a new iPad or iPhone every two years). This advice stems from the old “Moore’s Law” which basically said computers doubled in power every 18 months. While we are no longer keeping up with Moore’s Law, technology still moves at warp speed and a lot of change is happening every two or three years. Replacing your hardware with that frequency will ensure you always have modern technology at your side and potentially have AppleCare+ coverage keeping you safe.

AppleCare+ is an optional warranty extension and enhancement. With AppleCare+ you get extended warranty coverage for three years on the Mac (two years for an iPhone or iPad). You also get free phone support direct from Apple during the coverage period. The new (and great!) feature included in AppleCare+ is coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage with a small service fee.

On Monday (October 7th 2019), Apple released the next-generation of the Macintosh computer operating system called macOS 10.15 Catalina. This new OS represents the biggest change in the underlying mac OS software technology that we’ve seen since 2011. As a result, this new OS will cause far more incompatibilities than the past few releases. Upgrading your Mac’s OS is a major endeavor which should never be taken lightly. There can often be serious consequences and expensive side effects.

Apple recently announced a recall on some 2015 15” MacBook Pro Computers. We at Visionary Computer would like to present you with three options for having this essential service performed because we know it must be done as soon as possible, and we’re committed to making it as easy for you as we can.

We all know how busy life gets this time of year; it’s easy to miss important notices or emails, so we thought we would send a quick reminder of a few things we can do to assist you. As always, if you’re not sure if this applies to you, just reach out via phone, email, or come on by, and we will be happy to help.