Mac – Page 2 – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

Random Thoughts and Links Looking Ahead to an Apple Beta Summer

A summer of viewing betas from the sidelines.

We’re already several weeks deep in Apple’s beta season for all of its operating systems. As of this writing the second developer betas have been released. We’re due to see the first public beta this month and that’s when things will really heat up. I’m not a developer and I no longer run betas on any of my Apple hardware, choosing to live vicariously until the official releases this fall.

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I have to admit though that I was tempted to pick up another iPad given the changes to iPadOS 26 and the general early positive reactions to it. But I stuck to my guns and will look forward to what some trusted sources have to say over the course of the summer.

Speaking of, if you’re interested in following how the new operating systems develop and evolve over the summer, I’m going to list several links to sources you might want to follow, if you don’t already. That list will come at the end of this post.

As to my random thoughts I have three.

First, it looks like Apple’s big Liquid Glass design change will indeed garner most of the focus this year. That was certainly the intent, and from what I’ve seen Apple is on the way to pulling it off, certainly on the iPhone and the iPad. The jury is still out for the Mac at this early juncture in the beta season. Even so, it appears Apple has managed to add a shiny new coat of paint that won’t confuse most users when it comes to familiar functionality of their devices.

Second, as I said previously I’m excited to see the changes in iPadOS 26. Depending on the job at hand, and whether or not I’m home or away, I jump between Macs and iPads frequently. I’m looking forward to what these changes mean when I’m primarily working on an iPad away from home.

Third, the deeper integration of Shortcuts with Apple Intelligence (whatever that may come to mean) and also with Spotlight has me intrigued. I don’t use a ton of shortcuts and currently rely on Raycast as a launcher for those I do use. If I had two wishes on this I would hope that this plays out the way it proposes to do, and I would hope Apple could finally find a way to keep what happens behind the scenes with Shortcuts from constantly breaking. Giving app developers access to the App Intent Framework and the Foundation Models Framework promises good things, if Apple can avoid the infrastructure hiccups of the past. Although I’m sure that will usher in a different sort of hiccups going forward.

Good Apple, Bad Apple

On another note, I, like many this year, have had a hard time reconciling my views about what I consider wrong moves from Apple the corporation with my preference for Apple hardware and software. I’ve thought long and hard about it and at the bottom of that deep well of thought the decision to stick with my current Apple tool set comes from the fact that I support a lot of friends, family members, and a few small businesses that use Apple products. I have no desire to abandon that part of my life personally, even if Apple’s actions pisses me off to the point where I’m occasionally ready to chuck gear into the trash. Convincing those I support to shift gears would mean saying goodbye to that part of the relationship for the most part (I’ve explored this) and neither they nor I am ready for that.

Is that a trap? Perhaps, depending on your point of view and I won’t argue against that. Am I talking out of both sides of my mouth? Also, perhaps. But I think using and enjoying products of a company gives you a bigger license to criticize.

So, I’m sticking with things for the moment, but I will say that I’m paying close attention to folks like Denny Henke who’ve made different choices than mine. I admire their approach and am always learning. I’m also paying close attention to how Apple handles things going forward. I despise this dilemma.

Links

I’m going to link to a few specific articles from which you should be able to get back to the homepages of the various sources, some are just the homepage links.

Michael Tsai’s Blog always contains an excellent collection of links to various sources worth following. In fact, it may be the one stop source for quite a bit of Apple News.

Six Colors is an excellent source for information and reviews. This is one source to look to when the first public betas drop for good reviews of what we will know at that time. Jason Snell, Dan Moren, and now with Glenn Fleishman as a contributor, always provide excellent coverage.

Speaking of reviews, MacStories is another go to site when reviews of software drop. While they cover a range of gadget topics beyond Apple, the coverage there is quite good, even if it sometimes is aimed more at advanced users.

Parker Ortolani has recently started blogging and his thoughts are always worth a look.

If you’re looking for a developer’s perspective check out Craig Hockenberry’s furbo.org. Craig is a founder of the iconfactory, which is responsible for a number of apps including, Tapestry, Wallaroo, Linea Sketch, Tot, and more including the original Twitterrific for Macs and iPhones.

Craig Grannell’s blog, Stuff, is also a good source to add to your reading list or RSS reader.

Myke Hurly has also started blogging in addition to his many podcasting chores. Check out his blog, The Enthusiast.

Louie Mantia, Jr. is an artist and designer who lends that perspective to his writings about Apple and its designs.

John Gruber’s Daring Fireball is always a must read.

There are certainly more that are worth your time, but the ones I’ve linked to here continue to provide me with not only good information, but some good and deeper thoughts beyond the surface news. It’s going to be an interesting beta season viewing it from the sidelines.

You can 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.

Apple Opts Out of John Gruber’s Talk Show Live at WWDC

Is Apple simply missing an opportunity or heading into the bunker?

This is significant. Apple — under fire from many directions — is opting out of having executives participating in a now decade-long tradition on John Gruber’s The Talk Show Live podcast. Gruber made the announcement on his blog, Daring Fireball.

On the one hand, given the number of fires the folks at Cupertino are fighting at the moment, it’s easy to say you can’t fault the decision. To my way of thinking though, that’s an injured hand you’re afraid to show. If it were my decision — and granted I certainly do not know what the folks at Apple know — I’d use the other hand, with a whip in it.

Here’s why.

There’s nothing that each of the audiences Apple plays to at WWDC aren’t aware of. Who are those audiences? There are the fans, the developers, the media, and Wall Street. Like it or not each of those audiences already have enough awareness of Apple’s problems delivering Apple Intelligence, tariff battles, developer relations, and court and regulatory actions. They each come in with their own set of expectations and agendas.

I would also suggest that those paying attention at WWDC — and who have read Patrick McGee’s new book Apple in China — will be approaching whatever Apple announces this year and going forward in a new context. That book not only alters the Apple narratives; in my opinion, it forces a reset.

Already I’ve seen several in the community respond to the news that Apple is forgoing an opportunity to put on a human face and connect in the midst of all that’s going on. Here’s Marco Arment and Parker Ortolani to link to two.

These Talk Show Live events have indeed been a welcome side show — an opportunity to catch a glimpse of a bit of the humanity behind the corporate front. By and large I think the history of the Gruber’s event has been a net positive. Think of it like seeing the filmmakers on stage after a screening. To a certain degree I also think those days are over with the current leadership.

In this moment of high stakes on so many fronts, Apple has obviously calculated that not putting its executives in the relatively warm seat — no offense to Gruber, but the past questions and follow up have usually not been too tough — is the better bet than attempting to meet things head on.

Again, I’d argue for the head-on approach. If you ignore what your audience is already thinking you essentially ignore (and further offend) them. If ever there was a crowd that might be receptive to some honesty (admittedly PR-coached,) Gruber’s forum would be the place to find it. Does Apple need to issue some mea culpas? Maybe, maybe not. But even well coached honesty in a discussion can go a long way to creating good will. If you ask me, Apple needs more than a little of that presently.

In my professional life I’ve faced some high-stakes presentations. None on this level certainly. I may have been working to save a theatre or two, but my success or failure never had a large piece of the world’s economy depending on it. Still, the minute stakeholders assemble for such an event you only have several choices. Distract. Deny. Or be honest.

WWDC is going to happen. Arms among the audiences will be crossed, waiting for answers and clues. Apple will certainly have enough well-packaged announcements to distract at WWDC. They can’t deny their way out of the problems they brought on themselves. Being honest, however, can’t cause any more damage than has already been done.

I certainly wouldn’t want to be involved in the planning or presenting of this year’s WWDC event — even if it is pre-taped and packaged within an inch of its life. Apple has made its choice for The Talk Show Live. While the big packaged show always takes precedence, this year seems very ripe for a side show that clears the air a bit. As Parker Ortolani says, not having that will speak volumes. It is already a very loud signal about how things might play out going forward.

You can 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.

Decorate Your Mac For The Holidays with Festivitas

Decorate your Mac for the holidays with Festivitas.

In case you hadn’t noticed, ’tis the season for holiday decorations. (Although we’ve put up our tree without decorating it yet.) For those who might feel a bit grumpy after staring at their screens all day and want a little holiday distraction on their Macs, Simon B. Støvring has created a clever little app that allows you to bring a little holiday cheer to your Mac. It’s called Festivitas.

Festivitas allows you to string some lights on your screen by adding strings of blinking lights along your Menu Bar and/or dock. You can configure various settings including the size of the lights, the cable thickness, the distance between lights, and the patterns and speed that the lights do their blinking, as well as the colors. You can hang the lights from your Menu Bar and have them float above your Dock, or choose one or the other.

You can check out the App at this link and pick it up for a song.

Clever stuff from Simon and a nice little holiday treat, because we could all use a little whimsy and a bit of delightful distraction this holiday season.

You can 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.

Sunday Morning Reading

From deep in the heart of the frozen South here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share. A slimmer list of links this weekend as we head into the final week of rehearsals for The Lehman Trilogy fighting the cold, burst water pipes and other winter wonders. Looking forward to putting the tech touches to this show and heading home to Chicago. Oh, wait. It’s winter there too. Meanwhile stay warm and enjoy this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

As someone who wakes early, even in the crazy late night weeks of directing a play, Scott-Ryan Abt’s What Do You Do at 3am? feels very familiar.

Richard Zoglin takes on all the pre-movie promotional stuff tossed at movie goers in When Is This Movie Really Going To Start? I’ve Been Here Half an Hour. My going to the movies habit began changing long before the pandemic because of this.

NatashaMH takes us on a tour of life through a visit to a bookstore in Small Wonders In A Big World.Wonderful.

David Todd McCarty takes us the long way around in telling this story about story telling in ‘Round The Outside. He’s also wondering Where Have All The Hitmen Gone?

Steven Levy takes us through the evolution of the Mac in Apple Shares The Secret Of Why The 40-Year-Old Mac Still Rules.

Lulu Garcia-Navarro interviews Kevin D. Roberts the head of the Hertiage Foundation in Inside The Heritage Foundation’s Plans for ‘Institutionalizing Trumpism.’ If you want to know where the crazy comes from on the right, talk to Kevin.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Apple Taking Heat for 8GB Base Configs on New M3 Hardware

If you have to a discussion about whether 8GB of memory is enough in Apple’s latest M3 Mac hardware, then 8GB is not enough. And there’s a discussion going on. Apple’s latest Mac hardware comes with 8GB of memory in the starting configurations of the various machines. Quite a few folks think that’s not enough. Especially at the price Apple charges for larger memory capacities. And also in regards to our seemingly unstoppable AI future. I’m in that camp.

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Apple is touting its new GPU Dynamic Caching on the M3 machines as industry leading and why 8GB is enough. But as Jacob Roach says nobody knows exactly how it works. He’s got a pretty plausible theory that’s worth a read.

Jason Cross takes Apple to task in this MacWorld article in a piece that focuses on the marketing and the pricing and less on the tech.

But Apple is defending its choices with an interesting statement sure to keep the discussion fires burning. MacRumors quotes a recent interview with Chinese ML enginner and content creator Lin YilYi in which Apple’s VP of worldwide product marketing Bob Borchers says this:

Comparing our memory to other system’s memory actually isn’t equivalent, because of the fact that we have such an efficient use of memory, and we use memory compression, and we have a unified memory architecture.

Actually, 8GB on an M3 MacBook Pro is probably analogous to 16GB on other systems. We just happen to be able to use it much more efficiently. And so what I would say is I would have people come in and try what they want to do on their systems, and they will I think see incredible performance. If you look at the raw data and capabilities of these systems, it really is phenomenal. And this is the place where I think people need to see beyond the specs, and actually go and look beyond the capabilities, and listen to trusted people like you who have actually used the systems.

People need to look beyond the specifications and actually go and understand how that technology is being used. That’s the true test.

That may well be true on some levels and for some users. I’m not buying it big picture though. We can talk about smaller memory allocations clogging up with browser tabs and heavy duty, poorly coded applications all we want today. That’s still real. Tomorrow’s memory migraines are all about AI as its going to be the culprit gobbling up GPU cycles going forward.

From a PR perspective it’s a dropped ball by Apple. It’s like that old saying in politics, if you’re defending you’re not winning.

Apple WWDC Thoughts

Beginning June 5 Apple kicks off its annual World Wide Developers Conference, (WWDC). Apple will introduce new versions of its operating systems for current devices, but all of the excitement is focused on Apple’s AR/VR headset and the operating system that will run the thing. Mixed reality, augmented reality, virtual reality… who knows. I’m sure whatever it will be will somewhat unreal. I’ll certainly be interested to see how Apple tries to make it real, but it’s from a very backseat perspective. I just don’t see myself as being in the market for this kind of device/experience.

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Let’s face it, the next period of time is going to be focused very much on the headset and what it offers. Even though whatever Apple announces is probably going to be a years long effort towards what the product will eventually become. How that interacts with the existing ecosystem will be much more interesting for me.

To be honest, I’m not expecting much from iOS or macOS or any of their siblings. And I’m not sure anyone should. For better or worse these operating systems are quite mature. Sure there will be some new things, but for my money I’d prefer to see Apple keep tidying things up. Refining and striving for consistency are higher priorities for me than whiz bang new features.

I don’t have many big “wishes” for what I’d like to see. But I do have a few minor ones that would make my time in the orchard a bit easier.

Notifications are still problematic. Especially on the Mac. For goodness sake give us a button that allows us to bulk dismiss notifications like we can on iOS.

Last year saw some syncing up of features in Apple Mail between iOS and Mac. Keep it up. Also, make Rules work better and more consistently.

It’s time for a Clipboard Manager in the operating systems.

Bring Automations to Shortcuts on macOS.

Get rid of the consistent inconsistency with iCloud.

Fix Siri. Just do it.

The App Stores make much money for Apple and developers. It’s supposed to be a showplace. Clean it up. It should also run more efficiently than it does.

I’m hoping there will be some clarity and cleaning up of Stage Manager given that it feels very much like a building block for the AR/VR vision.

That’s it. That’s my wish list. Whatever reality we end up in after Monday I hope some of the above gets addressed.

Bloomberg: Apple Working on Touchscreen Macs for 2025

Oh my.

Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has published a rumor that Apple is working on touchscreen Macs aiming at 2025. Already the socials are filling up with excitement, consternation and predictions. This rumor/news will launch a half-zillion blog posts and fill up hours of podcast time between now and whenever, if ever, Apple does this.

Apple, Inc is working on adding touch screens to its Mac computers, a move that would defy long-held company orthodoxy and embrace an approach that co-founder Steve Jobs once called “ergonomically terrible.”

Apple engineers are actively engaged in the project, indicating that the company is seriously considering producing touch-screen Macs for the first time, according to people familiar with the efforts. Still, a launch hasn’t been finalized and the plans could change.

Already those who don’t like iPads are are jumping on the doom wagon for that class of devices. There’s room for plenty of speculation on that, but if and when this comes to be I doubt very seriously we’ll see the iPad disappear. And while Gurman talks about this defying company orthodoxy I find it a little tough to swallow that Apple hasn’t had a touchscreen Mac or two floating around its design studios until now.

But I’m not going to play the prediction game on any of this. It’s time to sit back and enjoy the show regardless of what device you’re enjoying it on.