Apple – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

Apple’s Slew Of New Products Bode Well For A Broader Based Future Built On Niches

Choices are always a good thing

You can’t say Apple hasn’t been busy. That’s certainly the case given the slew of new products announced and released this fall, with some yet to still hit store shelves later this month. In some ways it feels like it’s an inventory clearing of hardware products that have been waiting for the software side of things to catch up. In some ways it points to a more diversified product lineup and broader user base in the future.

Apple PR Image of a young woman using a touch screen MacBook Pro with a city skyline at night in the background c8gxlalyqeie large 2x.

Either way I’m glad to see products like the iPhone Duo and the insanely named MacBook PROLED XDR Display (I wonder if they used Apple Intelligence for that — I hope that’s the excuse) even though they aren’t products I’m interested in. I’m also glad to see familiar hardware form factors continue to receive incremental improvements. Although the price increases for some of the familiar home products will put them further out of the reach for many.

As for the iPhone Duo and… I’m just going to call it the MacBook Touch, these both look like specific niche products that time will tell if their respective niches will be big enough to warrant the initial investment. Regardless of what the bottom line future holds, my hunch is that they will each develop an ardent and passionate user base.

And that is as it should be.

Apple is not only broadening the number of products it sells, it is also broadening the number of ways users can interact with its products and its vision of computing. Apple is often criticized for its narrow and opinionated view of how computers and technology should work. That will still happen because Apple is indeed still opinionated and critics will always be critics. But it will happen within a larger universe of product possibilities that doesn’t feel quite as one size fits all or how one device in a category has to cater to every possible type of user.

As to the price point problem everyone in consumer tech is facing, I don’t think you have to look any further than the introduction of the NEO last spring to understand where Apple is headed. While those initial NEO prices have increased due to chip costs, and the next version will probably do the same, it looks to me that Apple is further segmenting, while still expanding its customer base by including a larger array of price point options.

I am thoroughly puzzled by the $299 price point of the Apple TV though. It seems oddly out of place. I, and several others I know were looking forward to upgrading that device this year. But at that price point most I’m talking to are, like me, sitting tight with what they currently have.

Going forward, a lot of the coverage is going to focus on the new and shiny iPhone Duo and MacBook Touch. That’s understandable. But I think the bigger story is going to be about the entire lineup and how those new products fit in and expand Apple’s user base.

Thanks for reading. You can subscribe to this blog if you care to. You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. This site does not use affilate links.

Fondling Apple’s Folding iPhone Duo

First impressions leave a mark.

Anticipating Apple’s now released iPhone Duo I spent a morning earlier this past summer checking out Samsung’s latest folding smartphones. I’d never been interested in the folding form factor before and thought it was time to feel them out for myself. I wrote about that here.

The iPhone Duo in close mode Yesterday on a series of errands I convinced my wife to join me in doing some hands-on time with the iPhone Duo in a local Apple Store. Not only did I want to check the device out myself, but my wife is unflinching in her response to all things tech. Her responses are always genuine, occasionally surprising, and often unflinching. With her it’s a quick like/don’t like, and her first impressions rarely change even as she slowly adopts something new.

She was a reluctant iPhone user, only coming on board once manual keyboards disappeared from the scene. And her favorite iPhone was the iPhone mini. Even though she’s using an iPhone 17 now, she still curses Apple for discontinuing that form factor. Daily. Sometimes multiple times a day. I distinctly remember how unhappy she was the day she traded in the second of her iPhone 13 minis.

Back in the day when video reviews of gadgets began to be a thing I’d put her in front of a camera for GottaBeMobile to see how she responded to things. The results were often hilarious as she’d make up her own terms for things, but in the end, always telling.

Before I get to my initial reactions to fondling the device, let me say straight up my wife was not impressed. When she first picked up the device she emphatically said, “This is too heavy. I wouldn’t put that in my purse.”

Almost immediately followed by “What kind of case do you put on this thing?” She drives the tech she uses hard. So hard, I’m glad Apple Care exists.

I encouraged her to fold and unfold the device, check out its different orientations and open a few apps. Her negative impression of the device’s weight paled in comparison to her reaction when she realized she couldn’t fully reach across the screen in the closed position to type on the keyboard with one hand. She could get close, but not close enough to feel comfortable.

She was surprised at how difficult it was to open and close. “You have to use two hands to do anything on this,” she exclaimed. “I feel like I’m going to break it. For something so solid and heavy it feels too fragile.”

First impressions leave a mark. Hers were as indelible as a tattoo.

I have to admit mine were only different by degree.

Even though I’d read about how heavy the iPhone Duo is, I was surprised at the weight in my hand when I picked it up. Opening and closing the device needed more heft than I wanted it to, much like the Samsung devices I checked out this past summer.

While the premium builds of these foldable devices feel solid when you pick them up, the central premise and promise of unfolding the screen feels far too adventurous in my limited hands on time. I’ve noticed that some reviewers are searching for the right place to put your thumb on the larger screen when you close the device after the news of some screens cracking due to a hinge fault. To a degree it smacks of “you’re holding it wrong.” Or is that folding? There’s a Kenny Rogers gambling joke in there somewhere.

I very much like the larger display and can see its attractiveness. So much so that my gut feeling after reading and watching reviews was confirmed once I held the device. I wish Apple had released a folding iPad mini.

Though as someone who uses an iPad as a primary tool in theatre rehearsals, without a good case solution I find it hard to image using what is a very nice thin display in what can be a bit of a hectic and chaotic environment of tech tables filled with other equipment. But a suitable case solution defeats and diminishes the effect of this very nice smaller screen. At least in my mind.

I’m not as enamored of the closed face. Again, in limited hands-on testing I agree with those who say there’s too little screen real estate when a keyboard is on the screen to feel comfortable. Everything feels crowded. Certainly not pleasing to the eye.

All of that said I’ll say what I said about Samsung’s foldables. I can see the attraction for this category of smartphones. But it’s not something I’m interested in. Even ignoring the price points they feel more like luxury devices, than they do everyday practical devices. They require too much hands-on effort for those of us who’ve gotten used to the grab-and-go way we use our smartphones. I’m sure I could get used to quickly taking a photo with practice, but I bet it would still take longer than doing so on my current iPhone. My grandkids move too fast for that kind of action.

I also can’t imagine quickly folding and unfolding an iPhone Duo to take notes or review a script in rehearsals to avoid those chaotic tech tables. Moments move too quickly for an action that feels so painstaking.

These are first impressions. First impressions leave a mark and you don’t often get a chance to change them. Samsung and others have been attempting to reverse that trend for years now, and I imagine they hope Apple’s entry into the foldable market will be a big enough boost to help the entire segment. That may prove to be true down the road, but I think foldable smartphone makers still have some distance to travel before everyday users feel comfortable wrapping their hands around folding phones.

One other quick note. Talking to an Apple store employee I’m familiar with they said interest quickly waned after a small rush on release day last Friday. My wife and I were the only two people anywhere near the two iPhone Duos the store had on display for the hour or so we were in the store, though admittedly it was on a Monday afternoon.

The iPhone Duo and Lack Of Liquid Glass Seem Confusing To Me

A curious design choice or a clueless observer?

It’s been interesting to watch coverage of the new iPhone Duo. Regardless of how you feel about the device it is certainly something different and I dare say exciting to talk about.

Siri ai hero c59xcl4s2n2a large 2x. I haven’t seen or fondled the device in person as of yet. I’m planning a trip to a local Apple Store at some point early this week to see and touch it for myself. I’m sure my reactions will be similar to most. It’s a cool new piece of tech that has some first generation issues.

Regardless of how that visit pans out, I still don’t think the device is something I’m interested in. Perhaps in a future evolution. Perhaps one that is a folding iPad mini without all of the phone guts. I’d find that appealing. I’m guessing we’re at least a couple of years off from Apple and the carriers finding a way to make the Handoff feature, that seems obviously designed to attract folks who might want to own both a traditional slab phone and a folding phone, work as smoothly as Apple wants it to be. I certainly don’t want to pay for another phone line even as an add-on.

One thing I’ve noticed in reading and watching reviews is the right margin separation that Apple has segregated for the dock and controls, which I believe is the case in most orientations. I have seen images of some apps that also have controls on the left side when the device is open and showing two apps side-by-side. But that’s certainly not the case on the closed front screen. Even so, those I’ve seen seem to adhere to that separate toolbar (for lack of a better descriptor) approach. Apple chalks this up to a lack of vertical display space requiring these controls being located on the margins.

(See the update on the above below.)

When I look at it and hear complaints from others about how that leads to wasted space, it makes me wonder why the choice. Certainly in the context of what the original promise of Liquid Glass was all about. It just seems natural to me that any of those controls could overlay content in a liquidly-glassy sort of way. I’m not saying that would be ideal, but to my eye it sure seems logical.

I could be off base completely and there may be some tech or design reason I’m not understanding. Although I do note that there is talk (rumors?) that Apple is working on ways to make Safari feel less cramped, and give developers more freedom in designing their apps.

There’s an interesting article by Lavande that relates to this that might be worth your time if your’e as curious or clueless as I am.

The only thing I’m sure of is whatever the second generation of the iPhone Duo turns out to be, I bet we’re in for some changes given the excitement around the new device and both the positive and negative feedback Apple has received so far.

Update: I did take that trip to the Apple Store. And at least one Apple app, Maps, does look more like what I would expect apps (at least Apple’s) to look like with Liquid Glass with the controls overlaying the content. I’ll write up more about my iPhone Duo fondling experience in the next day or so.

Previews, Pre-Season, Betas, and Opening Nights

Some more thoughts on the iPhone Duo release with a dash of theatre and sports tossed in the mix

There’s an old saying in the theatre biz. No show is ever really ready on opening night. It’s a cliché that has seen it’s time pass in the big money commercial circuit because so many producers run lengthy preview weeks, charging essentially, but not quite, full price to avoid reviewers publishing their criticisms until the show is officially open. The preview process began lengthing after the days of out-of-town tryouts came to an end, although we see that still happening occasionally as larger regional theatres will debut a work, allowing it to still be worked on, hoping that it will one day make it to Broadway.

Apple iPhone Duo closed and open_big.jpg.large_2x.

There was a famous production of Eugene O’Neil’s play Hughie, starring and directed by Al Pacino, that ran in previews for almost a month before finally opening. That led to a critic from Daily Variety breaking the only after opening night embargo a week early since the announced limited run would end up with less “real” performances than those in previews after the show officially opened. The show would go on to extend the run a couple of times.

In smaller circuits the cliché still lives on, simply because of a lack of resources to run many preview performances in front of audiences to really gauge reaction before it officially opens. A show can look great in final dress rehearsals, but it’s never complete until there’s a paying audience of strangers sitting in the dark to tell if it works or not. The ever-present lack of time still breathes life into the cliché in ways that offer both hope and anxiety behind opening night curtains around the world.

In the professional sports world teams play in a pre-season or spring training games that don’t matter while the players tune up for the real thing. Although in most of those types of meaningless games it’s really more like watching players audition than it is anything else. Occasionally a budding star emerges, but that’s atypical. Early “real” season games that do count (at full price) are when teams find out what they have, leading knowledgeable sports viewers knowing when it is time to pay real attention to a team’s chances or not.

Those are two interests in my life. I’m a theatre professional (and geek) and I watch sports. Another is my interest in tech. In tech we have betas. Or we used to, when that was mostly for software. Now we’re just in previews, pre-season, or perpetual betas forever for both software and hardware. Which is somewhat understandable, yet weird, perhaps ironic, but ultimately a joke on the paying public, given the pace in which things are always advancing in tech, including the pace and price of advancement.

We never seem to reach opening night, opening day or the end of a beta period in tech. Instead products and software are released incomplete, occasionally followed immediately by “leaks” that suggest the company that just took your money for it’s latest best product ever is working on fixing the things they knew were wrong for the next version when they released the product you just payed for.

But you’re going to love it.

It’s easier to swallow with software. It’s a bigger pill that sticks in the craw with hardware.

It used to be that betas were for working out bugs. They still are to a degree, but now they’re just the next show in a never-ending season, or the latest minor-league call up. But you still pay full price for the game when the team needs to put a not ready for the big leagues pitcher on the mound just to fulfill its obligation to play the announced season.

You can argue that there’s nothing wrong with the way things have evolved in tech because the financial equations are different. It requires a substantial upfront investment to create, produce and deliver new technology. You’d be mostly wrong, but you can argue it. Most of the costs in show biz happen upfront before a show even gets close to an audience, hopefully a large enough one in a long enough run to recoup the initial investment. It is a different equation in sports.

The release of Apple’s iPhone Duo strikes me as an interesting entry in this evolution of consumer dynamics. Soon, perhaps too soon, before the product was released to the general public, leaks popped out that Apple was working on tweaks to two of the major criticisms of the device for the next generation — a larger model and adding FaceID. That followed criticism from reviewers.

In general, most tech reviews I read, watched, or listened to made it very clear that the iPhone Duo was a first generation device with some rough edges that wasn’t for everyone, especially at the entry price. I can’t judge those reviews myself since I haven’t seen the product, but they mostly seemed very similar and to my mind fair. Some, sounding more like theatre critics or sport writers I’ve known, were more harsh, delivering criticism that might have prompted a closing notice being posted before intermission or an early game benching.

Here’s where my three interests diverge a bit. In theatre the show can close early if it’s savaged or not enthusiastically endorsed by reviews. In sports a pro team can retool a bit by trading or signing free agents midseason. Tech companies have to play out the run with tech hardware until the next generation is ready.

Given the leaks following the reviews I find it sort of funny that I’m in a place of feeling a bit sorry for the carriers that are offering great deals on the iPhone Duo subsidized by a three year contract. That’s a tough sell to anyone who pays attention, though admittedly most won’t if they’re hot to trot for the new shiny folding phone from Apple.

It’s my hunch, and only a hunch, that Apple knew these criticisms were coming. Even so, it’s one thing to prepare the next version hoping to make changes that advance a platform, it’s another to make them in reaction to negative press once the product is unveiled. It sets you up in the next round for being congratulated for fixing what was wrong the last time.

In the theatre if a joke doesn’t land, you can replace the joke in previews. In sports you bench a player or fire a coach. With tech hardware it’s not that easy changing things before it becomes a punch line. (See the Vision Pro.)

My second hunch, only a hunch, is that the iPhone Duo will eventually become a successful part of Apple’s lineup and get past what feels like a rough opening. I don’t think it will enter into Vision Pro punchline territory. Critics of all human endeavors need something to criticize as much as companies need to produce the next thing. It’s a symbiotic relationship that feeds on itself. And the always distracted general public has short-term memory bordering on amnesia.

It’s my wish that tech companies, like theatre companies and sports teams, would figure out a better path to the success they seek. Sure, you might be able to fool some of the people all of the time. But for the most part folks figure it out on their own. Some of the time. And that some of the time is what everybody on the producing end of things counts on.

iPhone Duo Reviews Yield Few Surprises and A Preventable PR Faux Pas By Apple

The jury is still out after the early reviews break

When Apple introduced the iPhone Duo in September I called it “the ultimate wait and see device.” Folks have waited, and now some folks have seen, fondled, written and talked about it. Those who got lucky in the preorder lottery will see iPhone Duos tomorrow and quite a few will be waiting a bit longer given supply and demand issues. From most accounts I’d say there’s still a bit of waiting and seeing to come.

Apple iPhone Duo optimized apps Netflix 2_big.jpg.large_2x.

Generally reviewers were excited by the new device. Even if their comments about certain aspects were scathing. Of course none of them paid $2000+ for the review units. It will be interesting to see which ones do. But the excitement was tempered with many of the same questions folks had immediately following the introduction and the initial hands on impressions: The weight, reachability for left-handers, the small cover screen, the button placements, no FaceID, cameras, etc…

One of the big questions then and now, was how third party apps would work given the short lead time for developers to get their apps updated for the multiple screens and new layouts. More than a few weren’t ready for reviewers when they received their review unit. Several I read complained about this and warned that it was going to take a while for developers to catch up, leading to some subpar experiences. Again, that’s been said over and over since the Duo was introduced. Those reviews also mentioned how updated apps continued to roll out during the week that they had to check out the devices.

Intriguingly the day after the reviews dropped Apple popped out a press release touting the apps that will be ready when these devices make it into consumers’ hands or shortly thereafter. If you ask me that’s a sloppy unApple-like PR move that could have been avoided by having that info ready for reviewers. It wouldn’t have avoided all the words and talk about the issue, but it would have cast it in a different light. Apple never looks good when it’s playing catch-up. If that was a strategy, it was a poor one.

But that’s largely inside baseball in the way the gadget reviewing game is anyway. The real test will come when real users get their hands on the device and figure out how to hold it and work with it.

Below is a list of reviews I found interesting, mostly for their similarities. Again, pointing out questions or issues easily surmised after the Duo’s initial introduction.

That said, one interesting theme emerged in these reviews, from some subtextual, while others stated it bluntly: folks like the iPad-ness of the Duo’s larger unfolded screen quite a bit, with some wishing Apple had just created a folding iPad mini.

I find that thinking fascinating given my history with the iPhone. I stayed away from the first iPhone and didn’t get into what would become iOS until Apple released the iPod Touch later in 2007. I got on board the iPhone train with the 3GS. Keep in mind that the iPhone, as exciting as the early models were, didn’t really take off until the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 generations.

The Verge: The iPhone Duo Is A Messy, Expensive Good Time.

The Wall Street Journal: iPhone Duo Review: Too Much IPhone, Too Little iPad

Tech Radar: I Spent A Week With the Apple IPhone Duo — And Yes, It Was Worth The Wait

Wired: Review: Apple iPhone Duo

9to5Mac: iPhone Duo Review: The Future Is Foldable

New Things With Joanna Stern: The Good, The Bad, and the Buggy

Daring Fireball: The iPhone Duo

As I’ve previously stated, I’m sitting on the sidelines and watching this all unfold. It’s still too early for me or anyone to draw any real conclusions. But based on what I’ve been reading and listening to, it sounds like next year’s Duo might be less of an expensive prototype than this first edition. We’ll understand better how the first iPhone Duo will fare about the time we start hearing rumors about the next one in January. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even see that folding iPad mini in a year or two.

Apple’s Coming Attractions

Will Apple deliver beyond the hype?

We’ve seen the trailers. We’re in the swirl of they hype storm. What the real story wil be is yet to unfold. Even so, some are declaring success before the first reel even kicks off.

It’s not hard to see the excitement around the iPhone Duo, Apple’s folding iPhone, and the Homeview gadget meant to be used in your home by you and all of your very loud family members. Even so, Time Magazine’s cover story about The Best Inventions of 2026, featuring new Apple CEO John Ternus feels a bit premature.

I’m not poo-pooing what these new Apple devices may offer. No one knows. And that’s the point. I’ve got questions about both I want to see answered once the devices are in real users’ hands and how that all fits in with Apple’s philosophy about making the iPhone the center of your universe.

I especially have questions about the Homeview after seeing Apple’s video trailer for the device. That’s based on the fact that nothing I’ve seen so far in any OS with a 27 at the tail end of it works as fast as that bit of video makes you want to believe. Much less fast user switching. Siri AI may be improved, but it’s still feels slower than the non-AI version of a year ago. Perhaps an OS update will fix that at some point in the future. But these devices roll out sooner than that.

I’d love to see these new gadgets be winners and live up to the hype and the promises. That may indeed happen. I actually hope it does.

My hesitancy and skepticism is that I’ve yet to see Apple’s software come close to living up to that hype, much less the speed or efficiency I believe everyone wants. In fact, given that much of this is somehow connected via Apple’s flavor of AI, Apple Intelligence, I’ve yet to see any chatbot of any stripe deliver on that kind of promise consistently. And consistency is the key. Or at least should be.

But then again, all the world’s a beta these days.

John Gruber Thinks I’ve Lost My Mind

Looking for a world of like, yet lost minds

There’s a weird and depressing continuation of folks moving back to X, formerly Twitter, currently still a cesspool.

The weirdness and my depression started when Federico Viticci and John Voorhees of MacStories fame headed back to stuffing Elon Musk’s back pocket. They’ve recently been followed by others in the tech-o-sphere, lured primarily because that’s apparently where the action is when it comes to talking about AI. Or talking to bots. I’m nor sure it matters. I expect them to all start calling it super intelligence any day now. Why not go all in?

The latest, and the most puzzling return is John Gruber. In a lengthy post he explains why. He also throws Musk-like insults at those who of us who don’t see his point by saying we’ve lost our minds.

If you have stayed away, or even just mostly away, from X for years and then come back, people just say things like “Hey, glad you’re back!” On the other networks, especially Mastodon, they tell you you’re “feeding Nazis” — by going to the platform where Tim Cook posts Pikachu videos. These people have either lost their minds or refuse to check their prior assumptions. (Most of the ones who chime in about it publicly are the lost-their-minds types.)

Perhaps I have lost my mind, John. I don’t think so, but perhaps I have. My grandson accuses me of that now and then, typically when I’m reminding him about what’s right and what’s wrong, given that he’s young enough not to know better.

Where my mind may have been misplaced, if it has, is a simpler location. That’s a place where I choose not to give money or participate in Elon Musk’s empire of depravity, where he thinks and spends money defending the so-called free speech right to create non-consensual pornography of pictures that are on his social network or wherever he can grab them Including those of children. To be clear, he’s done much more certainly and I’m not in favor of any of that either.

To be clearer, whether you pay for X or just lurk and scroll, you’re giving Musk money to do what he does. It’s out of your bank account into funding his depravity dumping on the world.

That’s my personal line in the sand that doesn’t shift. I will say the same things I say to relatives who still support MAGAts and Trump. If you condone sexual abuse of children because you think there’s a greater good somewhere being served by the perpetrators of that sexual abuse, you need to reframe how you think about the greater good. You may not have lost your mind, but you’re on your way to losing someting greater. And that’s not good.

Look, I miss Twitter. But that social network no longer exists. Gruber comes so close to swearing that what followed it once Musk took over has changed and is now a kinder, gentler place. So much so that on a quick first read I thought his post was a parody. Sadly, it’s not. X may have indeed changed somewhat. I don’t care enough to find out. Yes, big brands, celebrities, and sports reporters still rely on Twitter for reasons that are beyond me. Again, that’s their choice. For better or worse, whatever wisdom or lack thereof eventually filters out into the world eventually, so it really doesn’t matter.

Gruber, like the others who seem to be meandering back to Musk-land, are entititled to their opinions and to particiapte with any social network they choose. The fact that they need to justify their choices by smearing those who think differently, and dare I say how they themselves once were so outspoken with their thinking, to some extent proves just how much Musk and the MAGAt crowd have perverted and damaged the world we live in and the world online. Smearing others is like breathing in that world. I’ll admit I wouldn’t mind seeing them choke on it one day.

At least Gruber made his choice clear, unlike the MacStories duo. I have no doubt they’ll be calling Artifical Intelligence by its new Trump anointed and Musk approved branding soon.

Super.

(Image by Lutz Stalknecht on Unsplash)

Thanks for reading. You can subscribe to this blog if you care to. You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. This site does not use affilate links.

To Deny Full Disk Permissions Or Not?

That is the question

If you think Hamlet twisted and turned too much trying to make a decision, the Apple technorati are tying themselves into knots over the latest AI brouhaha visited upon us by Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s Dots like the ghost of the young Dane’s father.

Muse ai meta.jpg.

The issue at hand initially came to light via a post by Jason Aten that I linked to last week. Aten claimed he caught Meta’s Muse agent apparently delving into his Messages even though he says he did not permit such access. Apple, presumably in response to Aten’s post, issued a statement saying it was going to put in additional controls for permission to grant Full Disk Access. Apple calls that access “extraordinary” and claims this is a forward looking move given what most assume will be more agents with more capabilities proliferating. Here’s a quote:

Some developers are using Full Disk Access in ways that could put users at risk, exposing everything on their systems—including files, mail, messages, and even browsing history—without users’ full knowledge and understanding. For communication apps, this can also compromise the privacy of the people users are communicating with.

Going forward, we will introduce additional controls to ensure that users who genuinely wish to grant an app this extraordinary level of access can only do so with very explicit user action. Addressing this is critical. As AI agents become increasingly capable and autonomous, the risks associated with this level of access will grow substantially. We are committed to ensuring users clearly understand these risks before granting such access, so they can make informed decisions about their own data and privacy.

On the one hand it’s easy to see that some sort of additional controls would be a good thing for the vast majority of users who probably still don’t know what an agent that might be requesting Full Disk Access is. On the other, there are some well trusted developers with apps that actually require that access to function. If there was a third hand, it would be the largely more tech-literate tech press who are seeing the challenge before Apple and concerned developers. The apprehension is that this might further lock down Mac computing and make it look more like iOS/iPadOS computing. Nick Heer has a good piece on the matter here.

Whether Aten’s claims are true or not, I think the writing is on the wall in bold strokes that most who pay attention to these matters have trouble trusting any and all of the participants in the race now running in what often feels like the beginning of a wild west stampede. Remember Apple has a dog in this hunt also, even though it may be bringing up the rear.

As someone who supports a number of Mac users, many of them blissfully unaware of potential threats, the thought of talking to them about what Full Disk Access might or might not mean is a bit daunting. At this point no one knows what Apple’s plans entail or to what degree. I would safely bet that Apple has the less tech-savvy category of users firmly in mind however those plans turn out. My guess is the thinking is that If they’re smart enough to see and understand the problem, one would assume they’re smart enough to work through and beyond it.

In a way, we’ve been here before with aggressive popups requesting permissions on both Macs and Windows. Reactions and overreactions begat more reactions and overreactions. In my mind, as serious as those past episodes seemed, what we’re now facing feels more fraught with potential peril. Especially for those who don’t have the time or inclination to pay attention in a fast moving tech era that has leaders stating that “the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology.”

And keep in mind, those of us old enough to remember those past reactions and overreactions aren’t the targets the Metas and OpenAIs are aiming at. All you have to do is see the cute little Muse’s and Dots to understand a long game that might not take that much longer to unveil itself further.

Quell The Outrage Over Apple Intelligence Taking Up Storage

Why the surprise?

I apologize in advance for being derisive in this post. But Lordy, do folks deserve a shake now and again.

Hands of an older person counting out coins. Landsmann zxKlxvN5ZSg unsplash.

Not a day goes by that I don’t see complaints about Apple Intelligence taking up storage space on iPhones, Macs, or iPads. Some of it from so-called leading Apple blogs and websites. It begs the question, were people just not paying attention?

Apple’s entire pitch for Apple Intelligence is that most of it happens on your device, and is thus supposedly more secure than relying on other AI chatbots and the like that send every request to some data-slurping cloud or the other. At what point in that pitch did you not assume the index of your data wasn’t going to end up on your device and consume storage?

Granted one might be surprised by the amount of storage Apple Intelligence is taking up, but if you use your devices constantly, don’t purge older data like Messages and emails occasionally, the size of the index Apple is going to create, apparently every time the folks in Cupertino update the OS, is going to only grow.

I get the problem. I don’t get the outrage over it. Especially from websites that should know better and should have prepared their readers better. The reason I get it is that many users, especially in this age of spiraling costs, go for the least expensively configured device. Settling for 256GB of storage might have been a solid purchase decision two years ago. That’s no longer the case. I also get the surprise and the outrage from those who weren’t preparing to upgrade hardware in this or any immediate future cycles. That said, this writing has been on the wall for some time now.

The same is true with memory. Everyone was pleased when memory configs jumped to 16GB for the base of most of Apple’s computers. 16GB these days is what 8GB was just a short while ago. It’s the bare minimum you need to run Apple Intelligence effectively, especially if it’s only paired 256gb of storage that’s crammed with other data.

When Apple first started promoting its on-device Apple Intelligence approach quite a few were excited, thinking they might be able to reduce some of those $20 a month subscriptions they paid for other AI services. That may prove true for many, but in the end, it’s really just a transfer of costs.

Artificial Intelligence, regardless of flavor, is changing all aspects relating to purchasing decisions as rapidly as the technology itself is changing. If you think it’s hard for consumers to keep up, here’s a hint: the companies can’t keep up with it either. We would all be well served to think ahead given the unpredictability.

I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t buy into what I consider to be way too optimistic predictions that memory and storage costs are going to settle back in the next couple of years. And if we’ve learned anything at all about any kind of digital services, it’s that prices inevitably go up on that front. The money to pay for all the debt service on that financing for data centers has to come from somewhere.

In this day and age, 256GB of storage and 16gb of memory may be the minimum with a price point that makes it easier to get you in the door. But it’s as cramped and curmudgeonly as the free 5GB of iCloud storage that still comes with new iPhones.

Update: A number of folks reached out to comment that their issue was that they didn’t want to use Apple Intelligence features and thus their frustration with the loss of disk space for a feature they weren’t interested in. I can understand that point of view.

That said, at the moment the reality is that Apple’s path is to inject Apple Intelligence deeply into the operating systems, offering on-device access to some of those features along with its Private Cloud Compute and access to other Internet based options. That’s a part of Apple’s security and privacy approach to just about everything it does. I don’t see that direction changing in the near future, which turns this into a broader discussion than just reclaiming storage space.

Even so, those looking to reclaim that storage space are exploring ways to do so and there’s even an open source tool that apparently lets you do just that.

(Image from – Landsman on Unsplash.)

Optimizing Search and Siri Is Going To Become Old Really Quick

Sign of the Apple Intelligence times?

I guess we all knew this was coming. Apple released operating system updates ending in 27.0.1 (as well as for OS 26 and macOS 15) today for iPhones, iPads, and Macs, bringing something it looks like most will have to get used to, spending more time while devices reindex Siri AI.

There’s no telling if this will happen every time there’s an OS update, but Apple last year said that it will be speeding up the pace of security updates going forward in response to the risks now visited upon us from AI-powered hacking. Certainly the pace of AI development continues to rapidly increase, which can only mean the same for AI hacking.

Defending against hacks, fixing bugs, and updating operating systems are facts of life these days. Always have been. Even so, when something new, or a needed bug fix is eagerly anticipated it’s largely viewed as an inconvenient chore by most. Adding time to the process for reindexing the info on a device certainly makes it more of a chore.

There’s already a sour taste in many users’ mouths about AI in general. If this is an ongoing and every OS update type of thing, I’m betting this might just increase the pucker over time as the price users pay for using Apple’s on device brand of AI.

For what it’s worth, and for what it means, I’m seeing the Optimizing for Search and Siri notification on an iPhone and iPad, but not on a Mac after updating. It will be interesting to see how long the process takes after the updates compared to the initial process when the OS’s 27 were first released.