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This week: Everyone yearns for the Apple TV, but instead, we have the $230 iPhone sling! Also: Apple’s new digital passport, Tesla gets on the CarPlay bandwagon, a question about an old iTunes feature you definitely forgot about, our favorite 3-in-1 MagSafe charger, and our first impressions of Pluribus!
More Apple news: http://www.cultofmac.com
Produced by Extra Ordinary for Cult of Mac
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:37 NordLayer
3:55 iPhone Pocket
21:24 Apple Digital ID
32:07 Tesla adding CarPlay?
39:29 CleanMyMac
41:03 Listener Question
45:09 Review: Kuxiu X40 Turbo
50:39 Pluribus
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:02
Hello and welcome to the Cultcast, the best Apple Week conversation you're going to hear all week long. I'm your
0:08
host Neander Kaney and joining me today uh from San Francisco, we have Solo
0:14
Lewis. Oh, he flips it up. Hey, how's it going? Did you just say this is a a weak Apple
0:20
conversation? Did I say that? I I heard Apple week conversation. I haven't got a clue what I said, but it
0:26
was It has been quite a week for Apple. Who's that talking? I heard. Uh, and we also have the Griffin Jones.
0:33
Hello, Griffin. Good evening. I wish it was a good Apple week, but you know, sadly, no Apple TV
0:40
to be found. Well, we did have We got a genuine surprise though from Apple. A genuinely
0:46
surprising new product that nobody predicted. Mhm. Which zero leaks on this one,
0:52
right? Exactly. I know. It's uh And I don't know, it's it's kind of storied, too, you know. It brings in one of their
0:59
most famous collaborators kind of um and
1:05
uh it's right up there with all the best Apple products. Extremely expensive and incredibly useful. Such a
1:11
productivity boon. Well, there is something going on which we should maybe we should discuss. But uh around that whole kind of um this
1:18
whole new class of accessories, I mean this is this is the second one that's kind of similar, isn't it? that they're getting into this the body the body the
1:25
sort of body strap pocket kind of thing. Cross body I think is the word you're looking for,
1:30
right? And I just I see I' I've been trying to keep an eye out for them. I've seen a lot more in use. In fact, at the
1:36
airport the other day, there was a whole bunch of them. But of course, that's exactly where you're going to see them is at the airport, isn't it? That's when everyone puts them on. Um so I don't
1:44
know if that's any kind of if there's something to be, you know, any conclusions to be drawn from that. But I've been trying to keep an eye out and see whether people are wearing these
1:49
more often in in the wild. Anyway, before we uh delve into that in
1:55
exhaustive depth, um we're also going to be talking about uh oh yeah, Apple's new
2:01
digital ID, which which is an interesting that's an interesting story. Uh Tesla is finally getting on the
2:06
CarPlay bandwagon. Uh we have a question about an old iTunes feature that everyone has definitely forgotten about
2:12
and there's only one per two people in fact two people in the entire world that are interested in it. The person who asked the question and D Griffin Jones
2:17
is going to answer it. Uh we'll get to that later. Uh, oh, and we've got the first impressions of Pluribus, which uh
2:23
the is it Vince Gilligan, the Breaking Bad creative new show on Apple TV that everyone's been raving about or
2:30
anticipating and the reviews are actually anyway, we'll talk about this in a minute, but the reviews are kind of
2:35
kind of strange. But anyway, before we get going, let's thank our sponsor Nord
2:40
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3:37
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3:45
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3:52
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4:06
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with coupon codec colcast 28. And of course, we'll put all the details into the show notes if you're interested in
4:22
this offer. So, thanks very much Nordlay for sponsoring this week's CC. All right, Louis, let's get into it. This is
4:28
the big, you know, Apple's big big product unwrapping for the year. What do they show?
4:34
Yeah. She's one of the most pretentious press releases ever. Apple takes the wraps off its latest innovation to
4:41
designed to surprise and delight everyone and it's a stretchy and colorful crossbody mini purse called the
4:48
iPhone pocket. Oh my god, I was surprised for sure. I mean I I legit when I woke up and saw that that
4:54
headline in uh the the Slack looking at it actually I think I got an email about it but uh it's like what is this? I I
5:01
actually felt like I had slept through uh like through the winter and it was April 1st. I I mean it or you know maybe
5:08
Apple somehow like their their server misfired or something like what is going on with this? It it just I immediately
5:15
read that press release and I I just could not believe it was true. Uh so I mean it
5:22
well the press release included a whole bunch of pretty funny lines, didn't it? I mean some potential stuff. Oh my god. It it just like you read it
5:28
and you just go okay so I'm just going to quote a few things in inspired by the concept of quote a piece of cloth. Its
5:36
singular 3D knitted construction is designed to fit any iPhone as well as all pocketable items.
5:42
Uh you can fit items in this pocket. You say I mean to be fair, a piece of cloth is
5:48
like part of the lingo of uh the Eay Miyak Design Studio or whatever. Uh or
5:55
they've got a constellation of brands and there's actually one that's you know centered around this uh uh piece of
6:01
cloth thing. I I for for the life of me I I don't know what it actually means but uh oh my god there's even more
6:08
gibberish and it's you know so anyway if you didn't see it I mean it basically is just like a piece of cloth that that
6:16
slings around your shoulder or hangs off your you know arm or whatever and uh you
6:22
slide an iPhone into it you know it's oh my god it's like an the famous iPod sock isn't
6:28
it with a with a long sort of uh immediately So you can stretch it over stretch it
6:33
over your arm. But they were making a big deal about how you can wear it three different ways, right?
6:38
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can wear it. Let's see. It's so an iPod sock, I guess, for the
6:44
12 people, you know, the many people who don't remember that it was like an actual like small like tube sock thing.
6:50
Kind of like the top half of a sock except, you know, it just ends because iPods aren't shaped like a foot. And then you like, you know, squeeze your
6:56
iPod into it and then it's just like a weird sort of case that's shaped like a fuzzy cute sock. And it came in like six
7:02
different colors and you could buy a whole pack for $29. This is Imagine a
7:08
really really tall sock that's like split in the middle so you can like sling your arm through it and then
7:13
insert your iPhone in like the the the quote unquote pocket at the bottom. And that's what this is.
7:19
And it's uh it's it's like stretchy. And I it says you can if you stretch it out
7:24
you can see the iPhone's face which okay that sounds fascinating. Can't can't wait to do that. And did you mention the
7:32
price tag of this amazing new item? Yeah. Yeah. Uh the short strap model uh
7:37
which you can just like wear around your arm or something costs $150
7:43
and the long strap version that's like a full cross body strap costs $230.
7:48
Woo. How many did you order? Uh yeah. I mean, of course, people immediately
7:53
start savaging it on uh social media. I my the most famous or the best one is, of course, that picture of uh I guess
8:01
what character was that now I think about it. It's Borat. Borat. Yeah, Borat with the uh the the
8:06
long thong or you know, banana hammock or whatever you call it.
8:14
But oh my god, and that press release. Oh, we didn't mention an important detail. This is from
8:20
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The design of uh goalless. Well, yeah. I mean, it's this is, you
8:27
know, when I woke up at 3 in the morning, by the way, that press release went out at 3 in the morning and which is I think that's only because it was
8:32
aimed at the Japanese market or the Asian market, but uh cuz they don't typically do press releases in the
8:38
middle of the night. That is another reason why I thought I was, you know, hallucinating or dreaming or something. You know, it's like what? Anyway, uh
8:45
yeah, it it's designed in collaboration with Eay Miake Design Studio. Uh that's the guy who uh famously designed the the
8:52
black turtlenecks that Steve Jobs wore forever, right? So, uh, you know, I mean, this is a project that has some,
8:58
you know, sort of historic heft to it, but and so, you know, I apparently they decided they were going to write the
9:04
whole entire press release like a, you know, I feeling I like I was in a like a
9:10
an art gallery reading like the pretentious writing that tells you what you're supposed to feel because there's, you know, three black blots and a streak
9:17
of red on a piece of thing that looks like, you know, a kid puked on a a canvas. Uh, so let me This is fantastic.
9:25
Apple and Eay Miyaki share a design approach that celebrates craftsmanship, simplicity, and delight. This clever
9:33
extra pocket exemplifies those ideas and is a natural accompaniment to our products. I mean, it goes on and on. Is
9:41
it clever? Is it really clever? I don't know. Anyway, uh this is the design of iPhone Pocket speaks to
9:47
the bond between iPhone and its user while keeping in mind that an Apple product is designed to be universal in
9:54
aesthetic and versatile in use. iPhone Pocket explores the concept of quote the
10:00
joy of wearing iPhone in your own way. Right. And that that one comes from uh
10:08
Yoshiuki Mane, design director of Miyaki Design Studio. And and in the press
10:13
release, it it actually instead of saying blah blah blah pretentious garbage, this person said it says it
10:21
used the word shared instead of said. So this person shared this vital piece of information. I
10:28
Oh my god. And I was just like puking in my mouth while I was reading this thing and going, "God, who's going to pay $230
10:35
for a little, you know, stretchy iPhone purse." H anyway, you know, plenty of
10:40
people will limited edition. I'm sure it'll sell out. Well, that's the thing that gets on my nerves about this sort of thing. You
10:45
know, like Apple, I think there's that famous quote from Andy Warhol about the great thing about America was that, you
10:52
know, the c the the co you can drink the same Coca-Cola that the president of the United States drinks. And it's the same Coca-Cola that the, you know, the uh the
10:59
homeless guy on the on the street corner drinks, too. And I I believe even Steve Jobs and maybe Johnny quoted this as
11:05
well. You know, one of the things I I liked about Apple products is that, you know, they're not the cheapest, but they are somewhat at universal, and they
11:12
don't make, you know, these these kind of oneoff designer objects, these luxury items, which Johnny Iv is so clearly uh
11:18
in love with. You know, one of his latest projects was a $5,000 lamp for a sailboat with a Japanese design firm.
11:26
This this is what this reminded me of. And of course, it's the most beautiful lamp you could possibly imagine and and and wonderfully crafted. But they're
11:32
probably going to sell just a few hundred of those to to to extremely rich people. And it is the the the opposite
11:38
ethos of what I think Apple stands for, which is, you know, sort of affordable
11:44
utilitarian technology for everybody. Well, affordableish utilitarian
11:50
expensive but worth expensive but worth it, right? And and yeah, and this kind of thing, I don't know. It just it rubs me
11:57
the wrong way. It gets on my nerves. I don't like it. especially and of all times this particular economic moment
12:03
like coming out like evoking, you know, a fun quirky footnote
12:09
of like iPod history with a thing that totally misses the point and costs 10 times as much is an odd message to send
12:17
at the moment. I think my favorite uh reaction to this was Guy English who posted on Masttodon referencing the like
12:23
the classic Apple line like you know there are a thousand nos for every yes he wrote at the rate Apple is saying yes
12:29
these days they've got to be clocking tens of millions of nos right
12:34
yeah god it was uh you know the thing is like okay here I am some you know old
12:40
guy living in San Francisco you know I'm not going to buy one of these but I think that this kind of thing like you were pointing out you know they they
12:46
Apple released the cross body strap not that long ago for the iPhone which I think Griffin you liked,
12:52
right? Yeah. Yeah. Returned but liked. Yeah, I liked it. Well, I had it. I I
12:57
could see I could see why a lot of people would find that useful. Yeah. I mean, it is it's a thing and
13:02
people especially women I think and probably now especially younger men who, you know, like this look or whatever are
13:09
going to be wearing. Next thing you know, there's going to be like uh you know, freaking western looking ones that
13:14
look like a holster or something, you know, like biker oriented, right? I mean, because it kind of does make sense
13:20
in in certain situations having your iPhone completely available. So, you just take a picture,
13:26
right? I mean, that's what or the dad version that's, you know, the the the belt strap,
13:31
the whole the wallet. Oh, god. Yeah. I I I mean, I don't know if those are going
13:37
to make a comeback. Every now and then I see somebody with one of those and I just shudder. Uh but uh you know
13:43
it's not the same if you don't see a Blackberry holstered in there. I I mean these things are becoming
13:49
popular though, right? I mean you remember when we couldn't even imagine anybody ever wearing an AirPods
13:55
now 10 years later, you know, it's like slightly weird when you see an original
14:00
AirPod, but I mean it's just common place. And uh yeah, I I'm I'm sure these
14:06
will be popular in certain places, you know, c certain with a certain crowd and and much younger than me and uh more
14:13
mobile and everything else. So, I don't know. How can you uh how can you question Apple's Apple's product design?
14:21
Oh my god. Well, the 3D neck construction it made made it made me immediately think, well,
14:26
you know, this the same kind of thing that they the Vision Pro headband. I bet they've got a whole bunch of machines that are just sitting there idle. um not
14:34
not making any 3D uh knitted products and so you know oh wow yeah okay maybe we can put these things to use that
14:41
we've invested millions and millions of dollars in I think that technology even even started with like the uh Apple Watch
14:46
Ultra straps the the the one that has the like all the loops on the side like
14:52
those aren't like a separate piece that's like stitched onto the base of the the the watch band it's like one
14:58
continuous piece of stitching that like loops these different layers on top of it. It's like a a genuine innovation.
15:03
And I think another reason like I was, you know, it's easy to make fun of the price because it is 10 times more expensive than the iPod socks, but we
15:09
should also acknowledge part of the reason it's expensive is because these they are being these are being manufactured entirely in Japan, which is
15:16
a fully developed country, not Vietnam, not Thailand, not China. That also has a
15:21
big impact. The other one thing about this is they're only going to be in certain stores. It's like
15:28
10 stores around the world and they're all like uh you know pretty major cities
15:33
you know Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Milan, a lot of fashion
15:38
oriented kind of places. London, Paris, New York, Munich. Everybody talk about pop music. The only one in the US is New York, not
15:45
even San Francisco. You know, New York is not available in San Francisco. I
15:51
mean, anybody can buy it from the uh Apple online store starting tomorrow. But uh you know, and I'll be buying one
15:57
for a review. Try it out. But so the the sort of you know, exclusively
16:02
in these high fashion cities kind of thing, didn't that remind you didn't this whole thing kind of remind you of the the $10,000 Apple Watch
16:09
edition? Yeah. You know, it's and and that's every time Apple does this full fashion thing, it
16:15
just I don't know. It it feels weird to me. But, uh, you know,
16:21
I'm not the only Apple customer on the planet, obviously. So, I mean, unlike unlike the the $10,000
16:26
Apple Watch, this won't be obsolete in like two years. I mean, I guess the fashion might go out of style, but, you
16:31
know, you can use this with any older iPhone or any newer iPhone in the future, except for the iPhone 16. For
16:36
some reason, on the compatibility page, the iPhone 16 isn't listed. Are you serious? Yeah. Uh, I don't know if it it just
16:44
like explodes or like burns through the bottom if you try putting one in there. You've got to be kidding. No, it it's the they may have updated
16:51
the store page because you know that people were making fun of that like a few days ago, but yeah, the iPhone 16 is
16:56
not listed. It just gets better. What about the iPad mini? It might be able to fit in there.
17:03
You know what? I don't have an iPad mini, but I do have an Apple Newton, so I'm going to test that.
17:09
Oh, right. Perfectly. I also saw a lot of people commenting like uh if you're wearing a Vision Pro, this would
17:14
genuinely be a good place to keep the Vision Pro battery if you don't have like a belt holster, you know? Yeah. Yeah, I saw that. That is that.
17:21
Yeah, very true. Very true. Yeah, it's definitely useful for that. Can of sardines. There's all kinds of things you could slide in there.
17:27
Half a banana. Does that have any internal pocket? It's just one pocket, isn't it? There's no
17:32
other internal pockets inside of the pocket. Well, that would be insane. No, a
17:37
singular pocket. That that would be the that'll be the iPhone Pocket Pro.
17:45
Comes in uh like we said short strap or long strap. Uh eight colors on the short strap one. Only three colors on the long
17:52
strap one. Sapphire, cinnamon, and black. Uh another thing about this, I mean another hint that this is aimed at
17:58
the uh Asian market. Uh this is another quote from I think from the press
18:03
release. I don't know where. No, this is from Vogue, I believe, cuz Vogue, of course, had the the big scoop on this
18:09
fashionforward uh crossbody pocket. Uh this this long frosted paper that
18:14
contains the iPhone pocket was inspired by the rice paper candy bags used for a Japanese children's festival where long
18:21
sweets are given to symbolize prayers for a healthy life ahead. So, you know,
18:28
let's see. Maybe we'll be see, you know, six months from now, we're going to be like, "What were we thinking? Everybody's wearing them." Well, it's not going to be everybody because it's
18:34
limited edition, right? So, but we'll be seeing all these pictures streets of Tokyo. Yeah. So,
18:39
well, I love behold the knockoff stuff. I was just going to say the knockoffs.
18:44
Yeah. Wait, wait until somebody makes a knitting pattern and then everybody will just ask their, you know, their board aunt to to knit one for them.
18:51
Or they could just be, you know, fruit of the loom model. Yeah.
18:56
I mean, there were people make fun of the iPod socks. There were knockoff iPod socks. Well, didn't people think that
19:01
was a a joke, too? Like they thought that that was Apple pranking them at the time? I I don't actually. It had the benefit of Steve Jobs like
19:08
actually introducing it on stage. It definitely wasn't taken seriously was or seen as like something something kind
19:13
of tongue and cheek. And I think this is Apple's first one of Apple's first Verizon iPod accessories cuz I remember
19:19
going to Mac World um you know which used to be held in January uh in San
19:25
Francisco and in New York in the summer and Apple wasn't Yeah. Uh there was a
19:30
time when Macwell just sort of switched almost overnight to iPod case makers.
19:37
Almost all of the um vendors seem to be making uh cases for iPods. And
19:42
obviously, you know, there was it was a big business. It was um and this was the launch of Belin and Griffin and a bunch
19:48
of uh sort of brand names that became more famous but were kind of smaller then. So, from what I can remember,
19:54
this was Apple's first attempt at trying to take on that, you know, like gowns into that market with the socks and it wasn't taken
20:00
seriously and but I don't know. I guess they sold a few and Graeme now says it's his favorite
20:06
iPod accessory of all time. Graeme sort of uses his. Yeah. I mean, it's easy to make fun of,
20:11
but also it's not worth getting mad over. If if you don't want it, don't buy it. Um, but it's just kind of funny.
20:19
Well, I'm sure we'll be reviewing on next week's show, right? Griffin are going to pick one up. Oh, yeah. Are you going to fly to Hong Kong or
20:25
something to get it? How are you gonna Yeah, I'll probably order it online. I was thinking, you know, would it be worth it to like drive to New York to
20:30
get it like, you know, on day one? But Oh my god. You said get in line, buddy. So, are you going to get the long one or
20:36
the short one? I mean, I'll I'll probably be buying both so I can get two colors as well.
20:41
I'm I'm thinking brown and I also like the uh the blue one, but we'll see. My god. I think the brown would be
20:49
that's probably cinnamon. Cinnamon. That's right. They don't call
20:56
it brown. All right. Cool. Well, that's very exciting. Very. And of course, everyone was waiting for the Apple TV, weren't
21:02
they? Um. Mhm. I know. That's what I was fully expected. And then I got that and I was
21:08
like, "Oh my god." Okay. A knitted sling instead. Well, uh I think my actually my
21:14
grandmother-in-law has a knitting machine. I think here. So, I wonder if I can make make my own. I might investigate that after this. It's
21:20
supposed to be like an easy to use one. So, I'll give that a try out. Well, the next thing we're going to talk about is
21:26
uh what Apple claims is a new kind of digital ID that they uh unveiled this
21:31
week. Um which is um a way of putting it's kind of a it's like your passport
21:37
but not quite a passport that goes onto your iPhone or your Apple Watch. Um, this of course is, you know, joins state
21:43
IDs and driver's licenses, which if you're a resident of about a dozen states. Um, you could add that to your
21:50
uh iPhone. Um, but everyone else is sort of out of luck. But this this takes the program nationwide. Now, anybody who if
21:57
you've got a passport, you can add it to your Apple wallet. Um, and it's the Bose
22:04
digital ID that's supposed to be uh acceptable at TSA checkpoints at more than 250 airports in the US. Uh, and
22:11
it's good for in-person personal identity verification during domestic travel. So, it makes it very similar uh
22:17
to a driver's license based one. TSA checkpoints are primary use for both versions. Um, and that's so there while
22:24
there are aspirations to get rid of Apple's physical driver's license, every state that adopted the digital version still requires motorists to carry their
22:30
little plastic card and Apple hopes that there will someday be uses for non-traers. Quote, "In the future, users
22:36
will be able to present their digital ID at additional select businesses and organizations for identity and age verification in person, in apps, and
22:44
online." This uh I found out with a quick Google um isn't exclusive to Apple
22:49
and that in fact Google did this back in September last year and no one gave a
22:55
hoot about it at all. I don't remember seeing it at all any mention of it. So you you've had this on Android for for
23:01
several months now. But of course now that Apple's done it, it's it's it's a big deal. Of course um it's a complex
23:07
area and there's definitely some a lot of advantages to this, but there's also some sort of defining downsides. Before
23:13
we get into that, uh I don't know if you want to go over it real quick. Um to do this, you just um open up the wallet
23:18
app. You tap the add button at the top, tap driver license or ID card, select
23:23
digital ID, and scan the photo page of your physical passport. From there, you're asked to take a selfie for
23:28
verification. Uh and as another security step, you'll also be prompted to record a series of facial and head movements
23:34
during the setup process. A part of verification, your digital ID is added to the wallet. Yeah. So, obviously, this
23:41
could be very useful. Um, my son's having problem getting his real ID, driver's license. There's all kinds of
23:47
complications, but you have to have real ID now to fly in this in the state. Um, and this, I think, would make it um a
23:54
lot easier uh if you could just add this to to your iPhone. But of course, you
23:59
know, there's there's worries that this is um a step, you know, another step towards, you know, draconian um
24:05
government surveillance and and digital IDs. It can open up all sorts of, you know, privacy and and and potentially
24:11
security problems. Um although there hasn't been much has there been any backlash to the to the driver's licenses
24:19
that you know that have been added? I mean that that program goes back several years now. I can't remember how old it is, but I don't remember seeing anything
24:27
any complaints about this the the digital driver's licenses at all. Nothing. Nothing. Not one thing.
24:32
I I've seen like a lot of generalized fear about that like oh privacy or oh security or stuff like that, but I I
24:38
don't think I've any seen any specific accusations that Apple's implementation is insecure because again this is stored
24:45
in the secure enclave along with all of your credit cards and stuff like that. You know, Apple Pay is incredibly
24:50
secure. it can only unlock the information that it needs with your passcode. You know, only if your device
24:56
is unlocked with like Face ID or or your passcode. I think there have been like a a few attempts at like breaking into the
25:02
Secure Enclave and on older iPhones that that might have been successful, but if you have a I think it's like after the
25:08
iPhone 11 or so, like it they they added extra layers of security. It's getting more secure more and more secure every
25:14
single year because it's like a separate chip inside of the processor that has all that runs its own internal operating
25:20
system. It's it's very complicated and you can read Apple's security white paper if you really want to get into the
25:25
weeds of it. But the the alternative is like a physical passport, right? So if you go to an airport and you have to present a physical passport to to get on
25:32
a plane, they already know where you're coming from and where you're going. So I don't know how this could be used for
25:38
any additional tracking. I think it's in other scenarios, you know, like if if states start to demand it for voting or if they, you know, to
25:44
get your SNAP benefits or uh yeah, you know, many other different scenarios. cross the bridge.
25:50
Yeah, it could. And of course, they're doing this in the UK that they're going to be debating this in uh coming up uh
25:57
adding, you know, making digital IDs mandatory for for the entire UK population. And I think tying a lot of things that you a lot of things will
26:03
you'll be you know you they they'll want to verify your your identification for this. So, you know, I think
26:09
Yeah. And that sounds much worse because it's it's not built on Apple system, I don't presume. I I I've heard a lot of
26:16
like, you know, very valid complaints about that, but I haven't seen like what an actual uh problem is with this
26:23
because again, Apple's implementing this. It only presents the absolutely necessary information at a checkpoint that it has to, you know, for the age
26:29
verification. Uh, you know, if if an app is asking you to verify your age to proceed, it doesn't receive any else
26:36
other information about you other than, you know, you're old enough to go through with this feature or you aren't.
26:42
you know, it's it's very selective. You know, I trust Apple to implement this in a good way, you know, more than I trust
26:49
the federal government to not track me. I I have a lot of trust in Apple. Um, not a lot of trust in the federal
26:55
government. Yeah. Yeah. No. No. But hey, this is not a political podcast. However, I I a
27:01
possible concern I have is that ordinary people using this system who don't know
27:06
the technical details of how it works, who don't know that it should be as simple as tap your iPhone against this
27:12
ID scanner thing and it should work exactly the same as using Apple Pay at a grocery store where you never have to
27:17
hand anybody your unlocked phone. Um, and I can also see, you know, malicious
27:23
police taking advantage of the fact that people don't know how it works by saying to people, you know, authenticate your
27:29
phone, then hand it to me. You know, you need to give me your phone so that I can authenticate you. And then they take
27:34
your phone away back to a police car and who knows what they're doing with it, you know, plug it into a computer and now that it's unlocked, pulling a bunch
27:41
of data off of it or whatever. that that's a potential security vector, but again that hasn't I don't think that's
27:49
been yeah that's more kind of so far a sort of fishing type scheme isn't it rather than than a failure of the technology
27:55
per se you know the technology is still um could be solid
28:01
um and and like you say I think you do you know that I have more trust in Apple than I do almost you know many other
28:06
companies in in its implementation and that is something that Apple could easily again overwrite in software by
28:13
releasing an iOS update, you know, iOS 26.3. As soon as you initiate the uh ID
28:20
check, it suddenly turns off your iPhone's ability to talk to plugged in computers or devices or or transmit any
28:26
data or the next time you go to use your phone, it requires a passcode, not just Face ID or there are some there are some
28:32
equity and inclusion concerns as well. Like I had a quick look at the EFF and they were saying that they were worried about, you know, households that um
28:39
where they would maybe share one phone between household members. uh you know
28:45
it it u also you know people running having to run the latest devices having to have technology to keep up to to you
28:51
know to to implement these kind of things there are issues like that but at the moment you know this is all very like you said very theoretical this is
28:57
like one of the last things that um is is hasn't been replaced digitally like you you know almost everything else um
29:05
Apple has you know you don't have to have cash anymore you can do Apple Pay you don't have to you can have your credit cards in your wallet you can have
29:10
passes in your wallet concept passes airlines buying tickets, boarding passes, everything almost uh car keys
29:17
now even, isn't it? You can unlock lock your car with your phone. So, the the one sort of last stubborn
29:22
um analog piece of documentation that has not yet been digitized is your
29:28
passport. And this is your step towards that, which I got to admit, I kind of like not carrying my keys around anymore
29:34
and like having everything on my iPhone, paying with my iPhone, like you know, I'm a little bit uh okay, you know, stop
29:40
it. the security concerns. I'm I'm all on board. I'm gonna I'm ready to take this embrace this fully.
29:47
Well, it'd be great if it actually was uh you know, acceptable around the world, right? I mean, it that's when it
29:53
becomes really useful when you can actually not carry your physical passport.
29:59
Right now, it's just it's like a proof of concept. It's like, okay, well, you can use this at certain airports in the
30:05
US. Okay. It gives you the freedom to buy pants without any pockets at all and then you can buy an iPhone pocket.
30:12
That's right. Pocket. Maybe this is why they did it. That's That's why they did it, isn't it? Obviously, there's a tie in there, isn't
30:19
there, that the two are related. Well, like I said, it's a good point. It's it's it's not, you know, given the
30:25
glacial uptake of digital IDs. You know, I can't see this happening anytime quickly with the passports that, you
30:31
know, countries accepting a digital passport rather than a a physical one. I mean, if it ever ever happens,
30:38
I mean, h how would it work? I mean, uh, you know, they're always stamping where you are and when you come in and all
30:43
that. I mean, I don't think this thing has any sort of logging mechanism like that. It's literally just your ID,
30:51
right? So, I mean, you got to have people sitting there with a, you know, stern look on their face and a big metal
30:57
stamp so they can go on your passport, right? Look, look through it. Make sure you haven't been to any of the wrong
31:02
places. I it's hilarious some of the sometimes they're just like so like ah
31:08
you know you feel like you're in a spy movie or something. Oh my god, am I going to make it through? Am I going to make it through? And
31:13
and then they they they randomly take people to like the extra like little side cubicle where they ask them the extra questions like where have you
31:19
been? How long have you been there? What were you doing? Who are you with? You know I had I got that one time. They're like
31:24
uh because I was my wife was already in Europe and they and I get there like oh so where are you going? I'm like oh I'm
31:29
going to uh whatever city it was can't remember. like, "Oh, are you traveling alone?" Like, "Well, I'm meeting my wife
31:35
there." "Oh, you're you're what? You're meeting your wife there." "Oh, when did she come here?" And it suddenly it got like super weird and I started sweating.
31:42
I'm like, "I don't know. I can't remember." Uh, okay. It's It's weird when you you're
31:48
standing there and you're just like, "Oh my god, is this going to turn into some go sideways and turn into like a an
31:54
hourong thing where I have to strip down to my underwear? What's going on? When's this going to end?"
32:03
Well, thank goodness it didn't end badly for you, Louis. All right, let's move on real quick. Let's talk about Tesla.
32:09
Tesla. So, Tesla has uh some big news this week. In fact, kind of really massive news considering we we talked
32:15
about this issue at insane depth last week. Was it last week or the week before?
32:20
Uh Tesla's Yeah. finally come out and and done something that's like is a huge shock. Huge huge shock. What is it,
32:26
Griffin? What are they doing? Tesla has begun internal testing of CarPlay integration. According to people
32:32
familiar with the matter, it's been a standard feature in many automakers vehicles for the years, but you know, GM
32:39
is trying to implement their own system to then sell you and sell you a
32:44
subscription for uh we'll see how that plays out. Uh the move represents a dramatic shift for Tesla CEO Elon Musk,
32:51
who long rejected consumer demands for CarPlay support. Tesla has relied exclusively on its proprietary
32:57
infotainment system, which has built-in apps for messaging, web browsing. I think you can stream Spotify there. And
33:03
Apple makes up a spoke Apple Music app for Tesla cars now. But if you wanted to connect your phone, you just had to use
33:09
like a regular Bluetooth connection to stream the audio, you know, just like my
33:14
2010 Toyota Prius. Uh Tesla sales have weakened with some
33:19
prospective members specifically citing the absence of CarPlay as a deal breakaker. A 2024 McKenzie study found
33:26
that approximately one-third of car buyers uh consider the lack of CarPlay or Android Auto support to be a deciding
33:32
factor against purchasing a vehicle. Not to mention uh the variety of politics that have sank US sales globally in the
33:40
past year, especially in Europe. So, I guess Tesla thinks that they can sweeten the pot and maybe get more interest in
33:48
in buyers by saying their their their cars have CarPlay. Tesla intends to implement the standard version of
33:53
CarPlay rather than the newer CarPlay Ultra. According to sources, Tesla plans to display CarPlay within a window
34:00
inside its existing interface rather than allowing it to completely replace the Tesla operating system as it does in
34:06
many other vehicles. This implementation will support wireless connectivity. Uh, so you won't have to plug your iPhone
34:12
in. and it'll be full wireless CarPlay. That'll be nice. Tesla has discussed launching CarPlay in the coming months.
34:18
The company hasn't finalized its plans. And as with many Tesla Tesla things, it
34:23
could be delayed. They have a as they have a long history for um notably Tesla
34:29
is not currently developing support for Android Auto. I can imagine, you know, a lot of the maybe like slightly more
34:35
affluent people who have Teslas probably have iPhones. Yeah, but it's that seems a bit weird,
34:40
doesn't it? If they're going to do one, why not do the other? Uh, you know, for Android users that,
34:46
you know, has the same for for them, you know. I mean, the the whole point really, isn't it is to have
34:52
you don't want to have double up your services. You don't want to be paying for another navigation system. You don't want to be paying for another messaging
34:57
system. You want to have, you know, your messaging um your phone calls, everything, you know, come in through to
35:03
your car. Why why have a separate system? And the same logic applies for Android, doesn't it, too? As well as iPhone.
35:09
Yeah, I can understand why they're not doing CarPlay Ultra because again, I I imagine CarPlay Ultra takes a long time
35:15
to implement. And because the entire Tesla vehicle is operated through the screen, they would need to do a lot of
35:22
work to make CarPlay Ultra work because in the Model 3 and the Model Y, it's the one and only screen. So that's the
35:28
screen that also has to h have, you know, not just your speedometer, not just your AC controls, but also like
35:33
their special mapping system that has to map you through Tesla superchargers, the
35:38
the whole autopilot system. Like there are a lot of bespoke functions in the Tesla interface that I imagine CarPlay
35:45
Ultra doesn't have support yet for. Um, so I can see that at least. And of course they've all got those nice big
35:51
17inch screen. So it would be probably pretty easy to put um you know a window inside of a window to have CarPlay to
35:58
display it. Yeah. Yeah. And their interface also supports having like split screen you know music on top navigation on the
36:03
bottom or you know navigation on the left half that's closer to the driver with the speedometer. So, you know, you
36:09
can you can very easily foresee like, you know, if you're familiar with the Model 3, oh, you know, the the the left side with my speedometer, the autopilot
36:16
interface and all that and the maps will will be over there and the CarPlay will be on the right that'll control the music.
36:21
Yeah. And of course, what people really want is a lowerc cost Tor, isn't it? They want to have that um $24,000 car
36:27
that Elon Musk have been promising for about what is it, a decade or more. Uh, well, I don't know if you're familiar, but they they canceled that project and
36:33
they they replaced it with the the Robo Taxi, which is uh not a very
36:39
well-designed taxi, if I say so myself. It's basically a tiny two-door car
36:44
that's entirely dependent on being fully autonomous. So, it's not supposed to have a a steering wheel or pedals or
36:50
anything. Uh, so, you know, that'll never ship. And also, like they they unveil this thing. Oh, yeah. We're going
36:56
to have full autonomy by next year. So, we're going to we're going to come out with this this robo taxi that people can buy or you can just like rent one
37:02
whenever you need it or you can buy one and it'll make money for you by, you know, because it's fully autonomous. So,
37:08
while you're just at home or sleeping overnight or at work, you know, your your your car will leave and, you know,
37:14
be a taxi for other people and it'll make you money. Uh, so yeah, it'll technically be a $24,000 car because
37:20
it's, if you think about it, a $35,000 car that pulls in, you know, a hundred bucks a day. I it'll be cheap, right?
37:28
But they're already walking back the design. They're already like retrofitting the the design to add a steering wheel back into it because of
37:33
course their full autonomy isn't a thing that'll happen very soon. Anytime soon. Yeah, just by dealing M
37:39
trillion dollar pay package. And also, this is off topic, but if you're designing a taxi, you don't want
37:45
it to be a really lowlung twodoor car. You want it to be easy to get in and out of like every SUV is. That's why SUVs
37:52
are so popular. like the British black cabs in London when you know like those those things were big you know suicide
37:58
doors and uh you could an elephant could climb in through the the door there to get into the back seat it's all high up
38:04
easy to see out big windows oh Elon what has he done how the mighty have fallen
38:10
is any of you guys interested in picking up a used Tesla that must be pretty cheap now I absolutely am I would absolutely buy
38:17
one I'm I'm fascinated by those things and if I could get one at a you rock
38:23
bottom price. I'd give it a go. I They must have They must have I mean, they were pretty good deals anyway. Are they uh cheap even cheaper now? I wonder
38:30
if they're cheap. Very cheap now. Incentive has gone away. Yeah. Well, um
38:35
the I was looking at Chevy Bolts. They're they're they're pretty inexpensive. Those can be had really quite cheaply. And um those things will
38:43
last forever. They're not very trendy looking cars and no one everyone's embarrassed to see be seen in one. The
38:48
original Nissan Leafs are, you know, also very ugly EVs, but they're they're
38:54
very easy to repair. Like I think a thing a lot of people do is you can like easily replace the batteries on those
38:59
for very cheap. You know, I I drive so little that I I can't imagine myself buying a car ever for more than like
39:06
$8,000. I've still never bought a car for more than $2,500. So I I I don't
39:12
think I'll buy a Tesla now in the future. 2500? Well, you never know. You're probably going to leave for that. I
39:17
think those are really dirt cheap cuz no one no one wants them any longer. They only have like 80 90 mile range even on a on a good day.
39:24
Um so it's good for tooting around town but nothing else. Yeah.
39:29
All right. Well, let's say thanks to um our next sponsor which is Clean My Mac. Thank you very much Clean My Mac for sponsoring this week's podcast. Uh Clean
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[Music] Cleanmy clmy.com/cultcast. [Music]
41:19
So, thank you very much Mike Paul for sponsoring this week's podcast. We have a question here which I don't know if I
41:25
want to ask. I think I'm going to turn over to you Griffin. Why don't you ask and answer the question at the same time?
41:30
Hey guys, I know all of you have influence at Apple. So much influence.
41:37
Can we start a campaign to bring back Genius mixes of our songs downloaded to our iOS or iPad devices and have them
41:43
mixed with Genius Mix and also bring back the ability to have star ratings always visible next to the tracks?
41:50
Thanks. We'll get right on that. I don't I I'm not sure how much
41:55
influence at Apple we have. have just a second set of the record straight. I I think maybe last year I savaged the the
42:02
Apple Photos app in iOS 18 for having the carousel, which is I think the dumbest part of the the the new photos
42:07
app design. And yeah, that disappeared from a few betas later. I don't know if that was entirely me though. Who knows?
42:13
Uh the feature that that uh this person is referencing, Genius Mixes, is actually still in Apple Music on the
42:20
Mac. Um, so you select a song in your library and you go to file, new, genius
42:27
playlist. The idea is that it'll scan through your library and find similar
42:33
songs to that song. So that, you know, if you want to make a a whole playlist of songs similar to your your favorite
42:40
number one jam, you can get a whole playlist of similar songs. Uh, and this this happens entirely on device. like it
42:46
it has to scan through your library in code that I imagine isn't very well optimized for modern Macs because it
42:53
takes like 30 seconds. No way. They designed this feature to run on like a Power Mac G3 and it still takes like 30
42:58
seconds to scan through my tiny library of music. That's kind of weird. But does it produce a good playlist? Is the
43:04
resulting playlist good? No, not really. Why is it grayed out on mine? Is it
43:10
because I'm not a genius? You need to select a song in your library. That sounds like one not a genius.
43:18
Who guessed? And it it does sync to to your iOS and iPad devices. If you have Apple Music,
43:24
it'll sync or I presume if you plug in and sync your music library manually. But I think it's pretty clear that uh
43:30
Apple would rather have you use their new like autoplay feature in Apple Music. So from the now playing screen,
43:37
um there's there's a few different sort of inscrutable icons. One of them has like a sort of infinity symbol. If you
43:43
tap that, then it'll just, you know, pull through Apple Music and build you a much better track of related songs
43:49
because, you know, it doesn't just pull from your library. It pulls from the whole Apple Music catalog. And I think that's where all of Apple's effort is.
43:56
Unfortunately, a lot of these old school iTunes features are sort of being left to a davine like five-star ratings
44:02
rather than just uh giving a a heart. But there's there's there's your slightly unsatisfying answer.
44:10
Yeah. So, it just works on your Mac, but not anything else. Oh, well, too bad. I think I used it once, but I can't remember uh if I ever definitely didn't
44:18
fall for it. I mean, my my favorite uh Apple Music feature that's still there is you can also like change the metadata for a
44:23
song. You can you can change a song title. You can give it custom album artwork. You still can't do that on any other device other than a Mac or PC.
44:31
H how does how does Genius playlist change? Uh how's that different from a smart playlist?
44:38
A smart playlist is a dynamic playlist that where you can set specific rules like find every song in my library with
44:46
this genre of music like find every rock song over five stars or find every song
44:53
by this artist with you know this word in the title or something like that. Every country song with the word whiskey
44:59
in the lyrics. Can it do that? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. It turns out it's every country
45:04
song. So Mhm. All right. Okay. Well, let's let's let's
45:11
talk about our review this week. Griffin has been playing around with a what is
45:16
build as the fastest charging three in one charger on the market right now. It's everything is boosted to the max.
45:23
And it's how do you pronounce that? Uh Griffin Cooksu. This is the only reason you review it.
45:28
So you get to say that over and over. Cooku. Cooksu. The Cooksu X40 Turbo. I'll uh
45:34
switch cameras here. Looks like a tiny little square. It is very small. This is the Cooksu X40 Turbo. This is their
45:41
third such uh threein-1 charger of this style. The idea is that it's kind of
45:47
like a a small metal square and uh you know from the top then you turn on the
45:52
side and you see it's like three different like little layered metal squares and they unfold sort of like a
45:58
uh an accordion shape or like a Z-shape. You know, each of the joints is adjustable. And um on the on the topmost
46:05
square, you can magnetically attach an iPhone, which I will do now. Boy, it's amazing that that's stable. It
46:11
looks like it would just topple over. Yeah. Yeah. And then uh on the middle square uh when it's unfolded, you have
46:18
like a little pop out Apple Watch charger. Slide that on. And then on the bottom most layer, you have a regular
46:24
chi charger where you can attach your AirPods. And those just sort of uh sit
46:29
on there as well. But the uh top one, the MagSafe one is Chi 2.2. So it's
46:36
fully Mags Safe compatible with, you know, iPhones and, you know, the new Android phones like the the Pixel phones
46:42
that have Chi 2.2. And that means that it also charges at the maximum power rating of 25 watts. So uh this is
46:51
actually one of the very few 3in-1 chargers that can that can make that sort of claim. There's there's not a lot
46:56
of other ones out there. I think there might only just be one or two, but this is my my favorite 3 in1 charger. I've
47:03
had the the the previous one, the X40 for years. You know, I keep it on my bedside. It's perfect for travel because
47:10
again, it looks really nice. It's really sort of subtle, fits all three of their devices, and it folds up really tiny.
47:16
Uh, and this is by far their their their smallest and lightest one. the the previous one, the X40Q,
47:23
uh relative to that, this one is 33% thinner, 30% lighter, a much smaller
47:28
footprint. That's like 12% smaller. The hinges are are the hinges solid? I
47:33
mean, do they stay solid over time? I mean, it they have to be or they wouldn't be able to work, but I mean, is
47:39
it is it how hard is it to pry that thing into shape? I mean, that's what I like about this. The build quality is absolutely
47:45
excellent that like each of these layers is uh made out of aluminum and CNC mil
47:50
just like you know your iPhone is. Each of the layers has like this uh nice really nice like rubber soft touch soft
47:57
touch rubber padding on it. They even add it like on the inside around the uh the Apple Watch charger in the middle
48:03
just because it makes it feel nice and premium. The hinges are like a a continuous piece that's like milled out
48:10
of the same layer. So they're they're all really solid. The joints feel really nice. Um, they even have, you know, a little
48:17
rubber layer on the bottom just so it doesn't, you know, slide around on your glass nightstand as much.
48:22
If you're just listening to this and you you can't see it. I mean, it really it almost looks like it defies gravity. I
48:28
mean, if you'd have just showed me that, I'd be like, how is that going to stand in place? It it looks kind of crazy.
48:33
It's super small. Even if you have a a super heavy Pro Max phone and a big heavy case, it'll it'll
48:38
stay stable. Wow. So, it's nice. looks impressive. You also get a uh braided USB cable. You
48:45
get a 40 watt GAN power adapter. And it also comes with a really nice uh travel
48:51
case that's a nice linen, really lightweight. You can unzip it and uh fit
48:58
all three of the uh the things in there. Did Did it come with a white cable? It does come with a white cable, which
49:04
is slightly annoying. Weird cuz the thing itself, it only comes in black or what? It comes in this
49:11
gray. It comes in an even darker black. And it also comes in gray, but with a
49:17
sort of fake wood pattern on the on each layer, which is interesting.
49:22
Weird. This is my favorite in the whole series that they've made because the uh you know, the the line art is really subtle
49:28
and gray. Like on the bottom layer, it sort of depicts like an AirPods case that you know to put it on there, which
49:34
I'm not a huge fan of. I I'm not sure if I need a picture of the AirPods on it, but it's really subtle because it's
49:39
like, you know, black on dark gray and it's really thin. Looks very classy. Yeah. So, this is for sale for $80 on
49:47
Amazon. We'll have a link in the show notes. Uh I highly recommend it. you know, it's it's great to have on your nightstand and it's uh super easy to
49:53
pack away and you you know, you've got, you know, that little hotel outlet. You
49:59
don't know how many you're going to have or if you're on the train and you don't know if you're going to have access to like multiple outlets, much less one.
50:06
You know, if you have one outlet, you know, you can charge up all three of your devices uh super easily.
50:11
Yeah, it looks good. It looks a really nice product. I have one of those travel chargers. I just cuz I'm traveling, I just dug it out. And then when I got
50:17
here, I discovered that somebody had stolen the the the power brick. So
50:23
awesome. I had to get a new which came in the case. So it was the only thing missing from the case, but it was like that. It was very much like that. Uh mine's an
50:30
older version, but that one looks really sweet. Looks a really nice good product. Good for traveling, good for your desk.
50:36
All right. Nice job. Good job there, Griffin. Okay, so we've got one more review as well. Uh and it's about this
50:42
new TV show that everyone's been talking about this week. um on Apple TV. Uh why don't you tell us
50:48
about this? Well, what how how far we want to go with this? I mean, we want to like talk
50:53
about spoilers. I mean, you haven't seen it, right? Let's give a little teaser at the top.
50:58
Uh talk about our broad thoughts and then we can get into spoilers. Well, that's the thing. You I'm read
51:03
some reviews and no one wanted could talk about it because without spoiling the show. So, this is your challenge,
51:09
Liz. I mean, this is Yeah, it's super challenging. I mean, if you've ever watched any of the uh the teasers, I
51:15
mean, they it's okay. Well, first off, I think you mentioned at the beginning of the show, but it's it's from Vince
51:20
Gilligan, creator of uh Breaking Bad and Better Call Saw, and it stars uh what's
51:25
her name? Ria Ria Seahhorn, who played uh she played Kim in Breaking
51:33
Bad, right? And she's the star of the show. And uh you she she seems great in
51:38
it. very uh you know, sarcastic and fun to watch. But uh yeah, so if you
51:44
watched any of the the teasers, it's all about you know, like she's like the only
51:49
happy person on earth. Like that's what it's about. And like everybody's trying to get her to be happy. Even like
51:56
there's like a you know, she's the only miserable person on earth. Yeah, she's Yeah. Oh, what did I say?
52:01
She's only She's happy. But you meant Oh, sorry. She's the only not happy person. Sorry. Yeah. And uh there's even
52:08
like a a a White House broadcast, you know, directly at her like, "Oh, we really want to make you happy, Carol."
52:14
And she's just like, "What is going on?" And and the whole show is is like, if
52:20
you haven't watched it, I mean, all the teasers are very vague, very kind of atmospheric and interesting and clever
52:27
and and all that. The first two episodes came out last week. I watched them both. Obviously, all those teaser things are,
52:35
you know, they're in there. It the the sort of like discussing it without spoiling it. I don't know how you can do
52:41
it really. I mean, how did you like it? Is it good? Is it compelling? Did you enjoy it? Uh, you know what? I I I definitely
52:48
liked it. It wasn't as completely out there as I was expecting it to be, you
52:53
know, like I I the whole sort of the way the teasers worked made it seem like what in the world is going on here? what
53:00
is this story about? And now that I watch this, it's kind of not that far
53:07
out of a sci-fi kind of trope in my in my uh my estimation. I mean, I I felt
53:14
like there were a lot of things that like not that surprising. The writing's great, the cinematography is fantastic,
53:20
the acting's good. There there's some really excellent stuff in it, but it wasn't like the whole story, what it's
53:26
about to me was not as uh sort of original as I was hoping.
53:32
I'll say I didn't watch any of the trailers. All I knew was this is Vince Gilligan's new show. I heard it's really
53:37
good. I should put it on. I'm really curious about it. Uh so I didn't have any expectations. I didn't know what it
53:43
was about. I was surprised when I saw on Apple TV that it was categorized as sci-fi because like, oh, you know, he
53:49
he's the guy from Breaking Bad and Vertical Call of Salt. Two very real, grounded shows. I wasn't expecting science fiction whatsoever. Um, and it
53:56
isn't really like, you know, science fictiony really at all. It has a it has a vague science fiction concept, but,
54:02
you know, it is still another like very realistic grounded show kind of like The Leftovers.
54:08
Um, not not really. Yeah, there there's a science fiction element to it, but the the show itself isn't, you know,
54:14
spaceships and, you know, right and blasters and the foundation. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's uh
54:21
it uses sci-fi and this is, you know, this is itself kind of a, you know,
54:27
classic sci-fi trope. It uses this sci-fi setup to talk about the human condition. And it's it's definitely
54:34
worth watching. I I just say it's not as like mind-blowingly creative. wild like you know it's it's
54:40
no severance. Let's put it that way. Severance. When I watched Severance the first time, my mind was actually blown.
54:47
It was like this is this is a amazing concept. I've never seen a story like
54:52
this. It was just completely original. This one to me is like fun and great and
54:59
well done, but the at least so far, you know, first two episodes, the concept is
55:05
not as not as, you know, surprisingly original as I was hoping. I'll be more positive than you. I
55:11
thought this was excellent. I I loved every minute of minute of it. And, you know, we've only seen the first two
55:17
episodes. Anybody can write a good first episode. Uh, not true. Well, you you can have you can
55:24
have a good first episode and then have it and then have it uh like totally fall flat on its face by the end, you know,
55:31
see the last two seasons of Doctor Who. But I I thoroughly enjoyed what I watched. The the directing was
55:36
absolutely fantastic. Vince Gilligan directed both of those episodes. I don't know how many in the whole season he's going to direct, but uh so many great
55:43
shots in the first episode, especially, you know, there there's a there's a slight like, you know, horror moment in
55:49
in a few of the scenes where, you know, you you see like the reflection of somebody like coming up behind the the
55:55
the character watching. It's like, oo, what's going to happen there? Like really really clever camera work. So
56:00
many times people either drive pretty much into or like directly away from a
56:05
camera. Like person's driving a pickup truck and like the it it stops where like you can fully clearly see their
56:11
face filling the screen and like that truck must be inches away from the camera they're shooting at. Like it's
56:17
really really impressive stuff. You know, there's a in episode two there's a lot of like really big real sets that
56:23
they had to build. Um you know they did some of it practically which is which is neat. like a a few scenes that take
56:30
place on like a like a a full-size like commercial airplane, you know, really impressive stuff. It's good to watch.
56:36
It's It's Yeah, I I really enjoyed it. I uh I wasn't trying to like down, you
56:42
know, knock it or anything. I I think it was a great I loved it. I I mean, I stayed awake for the entire two shows on
56:48
a Friday night. Well, there you go. That's that's the true measure of whether something is any
56:53
good or not. Did Did Lewis stay awake? Two eyes open. Yeah. Uh, it it was uh I
56:59
I I definitely liked it and the writing, like I said, the writing's great. There's it's it's funny. It there's a
57:04
lot of funny writing in it. And uh like I said, she's super sarcastic in that lead role and and it's
57:11
it's it's kind of, you know, her against the world really. I mean, and it's I
57:17
wish I could talk about it because it's it it is interesting. It's an interesting
57:22
Let's get into some spoilers. If if you listen to this point, uh you know, if you want to see it, you know, tune out and then if you if you want to keep
57:28
going, we'll we'll do a little spoiler talk. So, this is spoilers. Okay. All right. I'm going to tune out. Just give me the thumbs up when you're ready
57:33
to bring me back in again. All right. So, uh what the show the show starts out with a very common sci-fi
57:41
trope of scientists using radio telescopes and and here alien invasion,
57:46
very common uh hive mind. You know, they're like it it's not an actual
57:51
invasion, right? It's a virus that downloads into 99.99999% of the human population. Makes them
57:58
super happy and super nice. It's they're the world's nicest Borg. It's uh Yeah. Yeah. The Mormon Borgs.
58:06
Yeah. They they can't uh they can't hurt you. They can't do anything mean they can't even really like do anything that will upset you. It's very strange. And
58:12
they they can't kill anything. They can't even step on a fly. Right. Yeah. and uh and they they go on
58:20
this charm offensive because there's like what I don't know a dozen people on planet Earth or
58:25
that that don't there's like 12 of them that that haven't been a part of it and five of
58:31
them speak English haven't been assimilated right yeah so so they get together and they they and
58:37
of course like she's the only one who's like really like this is horrible we got to fight these aliens this alien mind
58:43
virus the other ones are just kind of like hey this is pretty cool. We got, you know, an entire world full of uh
58:50
super nice people who are going to do our bidding for everything, you know, including the one guy, the that last
58:56
character, I can't remember his name, but uh the dude who flies in Air Force One. I mean, that that got a quite a
59:02
chuckle out of me, you know, and like his whole routine is just like, "Hey, I hit the big time, you know?
59:07
I can just ask for whatever I want and they give it to me all the time." Yeah. and and the I think one of the mo
59:12
most uh I mean the whole thing of like what what is this sort of you know what
59:19
is humanity and how what part of your humanity is there if you're you know whatever sucked into this hive
59:25
mind and she's fighting back because you know he wants to maintain humanity which is you know classic sci-fi trope uh
59:32
and the rest of these have their have their families and like you know the main character is like no they're not
59:37
your family anymore like I I loved in the junior scene when she's like asking these kids all these like questions about surgery and he's like no stop and
59:44
this kid's like giving like these you know PhD like yeah to me like like one of the most uh
59:51
sort of surprising aspects you know I I found this actually really surprising was when Carol gets upset like all the
1:00:00
all the other people who've been assimilated start like shaking and going offline it like what is that about? I
1:00:06
mean that to me that's the most intriguing element of the entire show. What is going on with that? How does
1:00:12
that happen? Where's that going to lead? I mean, I don't know how how this show ends, obviously. And they've already they've
1:00:19
already uh renewed it for a second season, which is encouraging. Uh they did that before it even before
1:00:25
the first show uh ever even aired. So, they obviously Apple Apple TV obviously believes in this show. And why wouldn't
1:00:31
they? I mean, Breaking Bad is like one of the most amazing creative TV shows I ever saw. I loved that thing. Uh, and
1:00:40
that that to me is the the kind of like the thing with Pluribus.
1:00:45
Breaking Bad, I was literally gobsmacked when with that show, you know, like how
1:00:50
did anybody dream this up? this one h I feel like it's been dreamt up, you know,
1:00:56
maybe this is a the the concept is is is familiar, but I I think they're taking it in a very
1:01:01
interesting way. It's it's kind of like I see a lot of comparisons to The Good Place where um it has like this big
1:01:09
grandiose like sort of metaphysical premise of the show, you know, presented as like this weird goofy sitcom and
1:01:18
they a lot of things that you might expect, oh well, you know, this would take a a different show like an entire
1:01:24
season to get to explore every single aspect of this plot. like it moves out a mile a minute and almost changes the
1:01:30
complete premise of the show every few episodes especially in its later seasons and I can sort of see similar notes of
1:01:36
that in Plurabis where you know a different show might spend twice as long exp like showing every detail of how the
1:01:44
virus spreads it skips over a lot of that just to get to the good part and like keep keep the show moving and keep
1:01:49
it active which is which is nice. Yeah, I mean I I would definitely recommend Plurbus and not just for
1:01:54
sci-fi fans for everyone. I mean, I think it's it like you're saying, it's not it's definitely a sci-fi show, but
1:02:00
it's not like sci-fi sci-fi. It's uh it's I I call it a comedy more than
1:02:07
anything. I mean, it's pretty funny. And uh you know, right, last time I checked on Rotten Tomatoes had 100% uh critics
1:02:15
rating, like 85% with with audience members, you know, uh still pretty high.
1:02:21
I think what I read was that uh like of some of the reviews that I read they they said that Apple had provided I
1:02:27
think the first seven episodes for reviewers in advance. So these reviewers are you know they have a fairly good
1:02:35
look at the show and and the reviews are you know all around great you know. So I'm sure
1:02:40
this I'm sure it's going to be a great show and and I don't mean to dismiss it or say it's not creative. It is
1:02:46
creative. It's just not as completely how did this happen creative. Maybe it
1:02:53
gets there. Maybe it becomes even more and more uh you know original and because it's the writing is definitely
1:02:59
creative and and fun and engaging. So I have high hopes for when you were watching the first episode
1:03:04
um I almost expected them to spend much more time on the scientist. Like it's sort of like an Aplot and a Bplot where
1:03:10
you see this discovery slowly unfolding and then you keep cutting back to the author who will eventually become the main character of the show. And then,
1:03:16
you know, once the event happens, like you don't you obviously don't see the scientists anymore. Like it that was
1:03:23
just like a sort of the setup in the way that you know, the first episode of any show takes a lot of time just to explain
1:03:28
the premise and it isn't really representative of what the actual show is going to be like. Uh, you know, and
1:03:33
and that was a little sad because I really liked a lot of those characters that they had in those scenes. Yeah. And and it's true. I mean, if it
1:03:39
was a normal sci-fi show, it would have just been about those people and it would have become them trying to figure
1:03:45
out why this happened and and deal. But, I mean, you know, the fact of the matter is the way the show is, like they're
1:03:52
part of the happy crew, right? I mean, everybody on Earth has instantly been
1:03:57
turned into a, you know, kind of happy person. You know, to what effect? That's
1:04:03
the other the giant question. You know, what the hell? Why why are they doing this? Why? Why would they why would this
1:04:10
virus exist and why what's the ultimate outcome obviously is the big question. So
1:04:16
when you were watching the first episode they take until the very end when the guy in the TV explained everything to the main character to like for you to
1:04:23
understand what was happening or because for me like as soon as they said oh it's not a quadrinary sequence I was like oh
1:04:29
it's DNA the it's the thing for a virus and then that's going to spread. Oh no I I didn't
1:04:34
I feel like I clocked was Yeah. I mean I I don't know when I I I
1:04:40
don't actually remember the exact sequence of understanding how well this all so I mean what I have is this series
1:04:45
of memories of like people licking donuts which was an amazing scene.
1:04:51
It's it's deeply unsettling. Uh the uh you know the Air Force One showing up the the the meeting of the
1:04:59
five people or six people whatever it was that haven't uh haven't been assimilated.
1:05:04
Mhm. you know, and the people flopping on the ground when uh she throws a hissy fit, you know. So, I mean, uh there's
1:05:11
there's some great stuff in there for sure. So, I think Apple TV's got another hit on its hand. It's kind of weird how
1:05:17
they've uh had this string of really great shows come out that have actually
1:05:22
I don't know, fulfilled the promise of like prestige TV and a lot of it sci-fi oriented, which is awesome. So
1:05:28
they're really becoming sort of like a sci-fi network between that severance and they've they've tried so many ones you know for all mankind is another
1:05:33
popular one but they've also had constellation and invasion and silo like foundation sci-fi is yeah foundation sci-fi is
1:05:40
really becoming their bread and butter in the same way that I think like Netflix has been re uh really leaning
1:05:46
into comedy in the past few years as well. Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, I I'm
1:05:52
still curious how all this uh streaming stuff's going to pan out because uh everything just keeps getting more and
1:05:58
more expensive. I looked at like YouTube TV or something that was like $85 and I I I actually almost fell over like what?
1:06:05
$85 a month. I I I still can't believe that. I I don't know what that includes,
1:06:11
you know, but uh we recently got rid of cable and so I'm like, okay, well, I I wouldn't mind being able to watch like,
1:06:17
you know, ABC or CBS once in a while. I mean, sometimes something is on that. I mean, it's it's literally like once
1:06:23
every six months, but you know, how am I going to do it? You know, you have to like kind of reinvision your whole streaming life when you don't have
1:06:29
cable. And uh man, it's not cheap. It's kind of crazy. And Apple TV, what's it
1:06:35
13 bucks a month now, right? So, it started out at what, five? And they were giving it away to everybody as as fast
1:06:40
as they could. And now it's I mean, that's almost triple in price. It's crazy. But hey, somebody's got to pay for these
1:06:47
big production values. I mean, you see it on the screen, you know, it's it the stuff looks great. That that show, like
1:06:53
you're saying, the cinematography, I mean, it's if you ever watched Breaking Bad, you know that guy knows what he's
1:06:59
doing and uh it's for sure there in Plura. So, well, I think that wraps it up. That's all the cult we have for you this week.
1:07:06
If you want more, Lewis is on Twitter at Lewis Wallace. I'm on Masttodon at Driffinjones and Leander writes for the
1:07:12
Cult ofMacday newsletter, which you can get at newsletters.cultac.com. And you actually can now
1:07:18
it's back up. The site's back up. And by the way, we should just address this, right? I mean, our website has had some major problems in the last few days. We
1:07:24
migrated servers. We appreciate everybody who has uh alerted us to things that are broken so we can fix
1:07:30
them. Uh it's sorting itself out. I think we're close to being uh
1:07:35
right as rain, but uh you know, I'm sure you can almost read an article through all the ads. We're working on it, folks. Thank Thanks
1:07:41
for bearing with us. Send us a text using the link at the top of the show notes or in the YouTube comments to ask your questions for the show. This has
1:07:48
been the Cultcast, the best hourlong Apple conversation you're going to hear all week long. New episodes come out every Thursday night. Thank you for
1:07:54
listening and watching and we will see you all next time. Have a great weekend. Hallelujah. Plurus tomorrow night.
1:08:01
Oh yeah, episode isn't it? It say Friday, but it's actually like late Thursday night
1:08:07
at like I think 9:00 p.m. Eastern. So you can watch it tonight, right? I tried to I tried to watch it last Thursday and that was when Apple TV
1:08:13
went down. Coincidence? Probably not. Big big show watch.
1:08:20
[Music]