Up next in 10
Tons of new details on the awesome iPhones coming this fall, months-long delays are hitting the Mac mini and Mac Studio, possibly existential news for the MacBook Neo, how to get stunning space wallpapers, and the best Mac Studio setup of all time!
Produced by Extra Ordinary for Cult of Mac
Music composed by Will Davenport, arranged by D. Griffin Jones
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:51 - Folding iPhone
22:48 - Mac mini & Mac Studio delays
26:54 - MacBook Neo selling out?
33:27 - AirPods Max 2 review
36:27 - Artemis II wallpaper shortcut
41:50 - Setup of the Week
49:05 - Listener Question
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Coming up, tons of new details on the
0:01
awesome five phones coming up this fall.
0:03
Months-long delays are hitting the Mac
0:05
Mini and the Mac Studio. Possibly
0:07
existential news for the MacBook Neo.
0:09
How to get stunning space wallpapers.
0:11
And the best Mac Studio setup of all
0:14
time.
0:16
Welcome to the Cult of Mac podcast. I'm
0:18
your host Leander Kahney. Joining me
0:19
today, we have D. Griffin Jones coming
0:21
in from Ohio. Hey Griffin. Good evening.
0:23
It's a lovely lovely sunny day in Ohio.
0:25
Surprisingly cold but very sunny. Okay,
0:28
lovely. Good to hear. Lewis, how are you
0:30
doing?
0:31
Oh, it's a great day for podcasting. We
0:33
have real [music] podcasting weather
0:34
here in San Francisco. It's uh
0:37
muggy, overcast, grim. I don't even want
0:40
to go outside today. So, it's great.
0:41
It's great to be podcasting. Super
0:43
exciting show today.
0:45
Right. We're going to talk about all
0:46
kinds of
0:47
>> Sell it, baby.
0:49
Fun delays.
0:51
>> [laughter]
0:51
>> The first thing we're going to talk
0:52
about is uh is actually the this leak.
0:54
There was a really cool leak this week
0:56
about the iPhone Fold.
0:59
Um and if you think you know everything
1:00
about the iPhone Fold, you don't. This
1:03
new dummy unit actually shed some light
1:05
some new fresh new light on the on the
1:07
phone cuz it's coming up this this fall.
1:09
Griffin's going to tell us all about it.
1:11
So, Sonny Dickson posted on multiple
1:13
social media sites
1:16
uh images with three dummy units from
1:18
the iPhone 18 lineup. Uh he wrote,
1:21
"Exclusive first dummies about the final
1:22
size of the iPhone Fold, iPhone 18 Pro,
1:25
and iPhone 18 Pro Max will look like."
1:28
Uh the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max look,
1:30
you know, shocker, very similar to the
1:33
iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. Kind of to
1:37
be expected. The folding iPhone dummy
1:39
matches Monday's leak that shows a uh
1:42
slightly different camera hump or
1:45
plateau than we're uh kind of used to
1:48
seeing. Like, you know, we were kind of
1:50
expecting the iPhone Fold to have a
1:52
camera plateau at the top similar to the
1:53
iPhone Air where it, you know, stretches
1:57
all the way across. Whereas uh the one
2:00
that Sonny Dickson shows,
2:02
it it doesn't stretch all the way
2:03
across. It You have like the two camera
2:05
lenses then like a little bit extra on
2:09
the end presumably for like a another
2:11
microphone or camera flash, maybe a
2:14
lidar sensor.
2:16
Uh but it only goes like I want to say
2:18
2/3 of the way across the back of the
2:20
the half that it's on.
2:22
Uh which is an interesting look. Um I
2:26
wonder what that's for. That's that's
2:28
generous.
2:30
Yeah. Yeah. I also noticed that um you
2:32
know, on on other
2:34
current iPhones, the uh the plateau
2:37
the plat like sort of if you imagine
2:38
like the hill of the plateau on the side
2:40
like the little ramp where it goes up to
2:41
the flat section, that hill doesn't go
2:43
all the way to the edge. There's like a
2:45
little, you know, flat area around the
2:47
corner. Whereas on the iPhone Fold
2:49
mock-up that he shows, it's sort of like
2:51
one continuous
2:53
curviness all the way up to the camera
2:56
bump, which is
2:57
you know, a sort of subtle change.
2:59
Anyways,
3:00
um
3:02
another detail, while the I two iPhone
3:05
18 dummies include the MagSafe rings,
3:07
the folding iPhone one does not. So, it
3:10
could be that uh
3:12
you know, Apple's efforts to keep the
3:14
foldable hands at slim didn't leave room
3:16
for MagSafe rings on the inside. And
3:20
man, that would be incredibly
3:21
disappointing. I I was planning on
3:24
getting the folding iPhone, I will say.
3:26
But if it doesn't have MagSafe,
3:28
you know, that might actually be a
3:30
deal-breaker. Like, I can put up, you
3:32
know, with only having the two cameras,
3:33
not the telephoto camera. I can put up
3:35
with it being, you know, a little too
3:37
wide or, you know, I have to be extra
3:40
careful with it cuz it's it's more
3:41
delicate. Like, these are all things
3:43
that I I know and expect to going into
3:45
it. Oh, the button arrangement on the
3:47
edge is probably going to be like weird
3:48
and different. In fact, on the on the
3:50
picture he showed, you can kind of see
3:51
it as two buttons on the top. You know,
3:54
iPhones haven't had buttons up there in
3:56
a long time. Um
3:58
but not having MagSafe MagSafe is an
4:00
essential part of how I use my phone. I
4:01
have a MagSafe nightstand, MagSafe stand
4:04
on my desk, net MagSafe charger in my
4:06
car. I can't do without MagSafe. That
4:09
might be a deal-breaker for me. But how
4:11
would that work? What do you mean?
4:13
>> How would If let's just say that face
4:16
had a MagSafe thing on it. Okay, well
4:18
then it's folded up and it's on a
4:19
MagSafe charger, you can't see the
4:21
screen. I think the MagSafe would be on
4:23
the back one, the same side with the
4:25
cameras on it. And so, you would still
4:27
be able to see the screen uh folded up.
4:29
You know, if if the MagSafe is on is on
4:31
this side like where the Apple, you
4:33
know, then you put on a MagSafe charger,
4:35
you would still see the front screen.
4:37
Do you think it might be too heavy for
4:39
the magnet? It's not I don't think it's
4:41
going to be that much heavier. Well,
4:43
imagine Boo, you know, that the the
4:44
other leaker, he he he took one of these
4:46
um dummies and showed it
4:48
compared it to the uh
4:50
iPhone 17
4:52
and it's not much thicker than the 17
4:54
Pro.
4:56
So, it should be kind of pretty pretty
4:58
thin and light.
5:00
You know what the the problem could be
5:02
uh that it's it's too short. Because
5:05
I've got a little MagSafe battery here
5:06
from Anker.
5:08
And
5:10
there's not really that much room
5:11
underneath the camera plateau.
5:14
It sort of sticks out at the bottom.
5:17
So, that that could actually be a
5:18
problem. Maybe it won't have MagSafe at
5:20
all. Well, the other thing that people
5:21
are freaking out about is the is the
5:23
straight corner
5:24
where the fold is. Where the two Yeah.
5:28
The the the In fact, you can show it on
5:29
your dummy there, can't you? But so
5:31
there's it the one corner's rounded. The
5:33
out the outside corner's rounded but the
5:35
inside
5:36
where the fold is is square.
5:38
And so, people are losing their minds
5:40
about that. Well, how Yeah. And as
5:43
someone who holds their phone in their
5:44
left hand, I'm not looking forward to
5:46
that. Like, that that hard corner is
5:47
going to sit, you know, in the palm
5:49
where I normally hit my phone. Um
5:52
and there's not much they can do about
5:54
it because when you unfold it, it has to
5:55
be it has to be straight. Well, they
5:58
could clip the corners there. They could
6:00
round the corners, couldn't they? Uh
6:01
without it affecting it.
6:03
They could they could round it a little
6:05
bit so that it's not like a you know,
6:08
sharp three-pointed thing, but it it
6:11
can't be rounded. Like, the screen
6:12
itself can't be entirely rounded because
6:14
it has to, you know, be a continuous
6:16
shape when you unfold it. Yeah, yeah,
6:18
yeah. But the just where the, you know,
6:19
the just a a millimeter or two where
6:22
they
6:23
uh where the bezel is.
6:25
But they're they're kind of limited
6:26
there. Um I'm sure it'll be less sharp
6:28
than this uh plastic mock-up I have
6:29
where it's literally like a solid 90°
6:32
angle, but
6:33
it's it's going to be weird. And it's
6:34
all uh it's not all
6:36
good news either. The the bad news keeps
6:39
stacking up.
6:40
>> [laughter]
6:40
>> Uh so, I guess I should say
6:42
uh Sonny Dickson doesn't include the
6:44
regular iPhone 18 or iPhone 18 Air
6:47
because they're rumored to launch the
6:48
following spring. So, you know, the
6:50
mock-ups that he has right now are all
6:53
what
6:54
uh should be launching in the fall.
6:55
However,
6:57
a report by
6:59
I don't know how to pronounce this.
7:00
Nikkei Asia.
7:03
>> Okay.
7:04
Siting sources from Apple's supply chain
7:06
states that engineering issues could
7:08
delay the foldable iPhone's launch by
7:10
months. Uh quote, "More issues than
7:12
expected have emerged during the early
7:15
test production phase and additional
7:17
time will be needed to resolve them and
7:19
make necessary adjustments." Says one of
7:21
the sources.
7:23
Uh however, counter to that, again, Mark
7:26
Gurman wrote on Twitter, "Apple's
7:28
foldable iPhone is as of now on track
7:30
for a September debut with the iPhone 18
7:33
Pro. While the supply could be limited
7:35
initially, it's also on track to go on
7:37
sale at the same time or soon after the
7:40
Pro models. Nikkei report is off base."
7:44
So,
7:45
I mean, that's kind of a refutation, but
7:48
you know, it's not unlike Apple to debut
7:51
both of the phones at the same September
7:52
event and then just have one of them
7:54
launch a month later. That's what
7:56
happened with the iPhone 10, which was
8:00
I think a month late after the iPhone 8.
8:03
And it was also the case with the iPhone
8:05
11 the year after that. And the iPhone
8:07
12 the year after that. I mean, the
8:09
iPhone all of the phones in the iPhone
8:10
12 were delayed by a month because it
8:12
was the COVID year, but the
8:15
I think the Pro and the regular one
8:17
debuted [laughter]
8:18
>> this stuff? I I was just going to say
8:20
>> but then the You are Rain Man. Oh my
8:22
god.
8:23
debuted in November.
8:25
>> [laughter]
8:26
>> I don't know.
8:27
That was last time that happened though.
8:28
The 13 onwards, they've all been at the
8:29
same time, but
8:31
Well, I saw some interesting speculation
8:32
that they're going to show this off um
8:34
at WWDC, you know, because um developers
8:38
uh will need to get their apps ready for
8:40
the um
8:42
for the uh you know, for the new scr-
8:43
screen size and for the the the uh
8:46
the the mul- you know, the the
8:47
multi-window um iPadOS type interface
8:51
it's going to have when it's folded out.
8:52
I thought that was kind of interesting
8:53
speculation. I mean, um I mean, Apple's
8:55
done that before where they like with
8:58
the iPhone 5, that was the first phone
9:00
to get a taller screen. And at WWDC this
9:02
year that year, they said, "Hey, we have
9:04
a bunch of new APIs for, you know,
9:07
making your apps run at any screen size,
9:09
not just the, you know, hypothetically
9:12
if there were a different screen." And
9:14
everybody kind of read between the lines
9:15
like, "Oh, okay. Yeah, the iPhone 5 is
9:16
going to have a bigger screen." But they
9:18
didn't explicitly say that.
9:20
The everybody just read between the
9:21
lines and kind of knew it was coming.
9:24
They they've had like dynamically
9:26
dynamic screen sizes
9:29
going on for so long, especially with
9:30
iPadOS 26 where they've sort of
9:32
deprecated their old size class system
9:34
and now any app on iPad can be like
9:36
freely resized to any arbitrary size.
9:38
I imagine there might be like a little
9:41
bit of reading between the lines people
9:43
can do with like at WWDC APIs for iOS
9:46
27, but I don't think there's no way
9:48
they're going to show it off three
9:49
months early. That's crazy.
9:51
Well, it would you know, they did that
9:52
with the Vision Pro, didn't they? And um
9:55
something else fairly recently which I
9:56
can't remember.
9:57
>> Yeah, because that was an absolutely
9:58
brand new product that they didn't want
10:00
that they had to show off before like
10:01
FCC filings and all that. Isn't this
10:04
isn't this what this is too? No,
10:06
[clears throat] it's an iPhone. They're
10:07
going to show it off when it What about
10:08
things like I mean aren't they going to
10:09
be throwing any problems things like
10:10
what happens if you're using an app on
10:12
the front screen
10:14
and then you open it up
10:17
and you want to use that same
10:18
>> be exactly like if you have an app on
10:20
the iPad and then you stretch it bigger.
10:23
Well, I'm just you know I I don't know
10:24
like handing it off you know like
10:27
Mhm. You open it up and it's it's twice
10:29
as wide.
10:31
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
10:34
You know what they they could do I mean
10:35
they wouldn't have to show this off
10:36
though. I mean another thing Apple likes
10:38
to do is
10:39
get together with five
10:41
you [clears throat] know makers five
10:42
developers that have really awesome apps
10:43
and and give them special access so that
10:46
they can then showcase how amazing their
10:48
app works on this brand new phone when
10:50
they
10:51
uh
10:52
reveal [clears throat] the phone in the
10:53
fall.
10:54
It seems
10:55
I would be kind of shocked if they
10:56
showcase this thing at WWDC. Yeah, I can
10:59
put that in the prediction game if you
11:00
want so that you can get that wrong.
11:02
>> [laughter]
11:04
>> Yeah, so
11:06
yeah, I don't [clears throat] know that
11:07
would be weird.
11:09
>> [snorts]
11:09
>> I see what you're saying but uh
11:11
I bet that they could
11:13
>> Apple Apple makes the whole operating
11:14
system so they can you know lay the
11:16
groundwork for iOS to handle that sort
11:18
of thing pretty seamlessly. An iPad is
11:20
the iPad has had resizable windows for a
11:23
really long time so I don't expect this
11:25
to be an issue. I mean that's the
11:26
advantage that Apple has as the whole
11:27
platform owner you know who's already
11:30
who's reuses as much as many software
11:32
parts as they can.
11:34
It's making me dizzy just thinking about
11:35
it. I don't know. I
11:37
the more I see of this thing the less
11:38
I'm interested in it. I mean
11:40
forget the you know $2,000 plus price
11:43
tag. It just it it just seems like
11:47
a ridiculous device. I mean I don't
11:48
know. I I don't
11:50
I can't even
11:52
I can't I no no part of me is
11:53
interested. I I can't I don't know. I
11:55
don't know why.
11:56
>> [laughter]
11:57
>> You say that now Louis you're going to
11:58
be first in line to get this thing when
11:59
they show it off.
12:00
It's going to be awesome. What are you
12:01
talking about? It's an iPad and it's an
12:02
iPhone in one. It's going to be a little
12:04
productivity like powerhouse you know
12:06
you just
12:07
go to the coffee shop open it up. All
12:09
about productivity for sure.
12:11
>> [laughter]
12:12
>> So productive with my new
12:14
tiny little iPad that isn't a phone and
12:16
I have to open it every time I want to
12:17
yeah, I don't know.
12:20
I mean I get that all the time like if
12:22
I'm if I'm out and about and you know
12:24
God forbid there's like a problem with a
12:26
a story that was published over the
12:27
weekend or something you know trying to
12:29
edit that on my phone is a absolute
12:31
nightmare. Being able to unfold it and
12:33
get like an iPad size screen so I can
12:34
get like a real you know WordPress
12:36
interface would be
12:38
game changing for that. Yeah, for that
12:40
one very specific purpose and by the way
12:42
you know who wants to be editing on the
12:44
weekend when they're at a winery. I mean
12:47
>> [laughter]
12:47
>> it's uh
12:49
I mean I've done it and it's a nightmare
12:51
but
12:52
As someone who doesn't drink wine I mean
12:54
it's sometimes preferable. Well, you do
12:56
live in Ohio so hey you know what I take
12:58
that back there's some decent wineries
13:00
in Ohio.
13:01
One more note on that.
13:03
>> All right, yeah. Well, this no this is
13:04
going to change my mind this right here.
13:08
A lot of people have been referring to
13:11
it as the iPhone fold but digital and
13:15
I never really believed that because
13:18
calling it the like you know phone name
13:21
fold is how Samsung calls theirs and
13:23
Apple's not going to follow in Samsung's
13:26
footsteps. They're going to it's it's
13:28
too literal. It doesn't it doesn't feel
13:29
like an Apple style name to me. People
13:31
are just calling that because that's how
13:32
Samsung calls theirs but Apple doesn't
13:35
copy Samsung. They make Samsung copy
13:37
them. Uh
13:39
So digital chat station has apparently
13:41
wrote rumor has it that iPhone's wide
13:44
format foldable device will be named the
13:46
iPhone Ultra. That was another name
13:48
that's been thrown around. I think
13:49
Stephen Hackett said that he predicts
13:51
that. Um other people were saying maybe
13:54
iPhone Duo and I thought that was kind
13:56
of a an interesting sounding name.
13:58
>> Yeah, and it rhymes kind of with Neo.
14:01
Yeah.
14:02
>> Yeah, yeah.
14:03
You know kind of thinking of it as like
14:04
two products in one I could see that
14:06
being another name. Again like you know
14:08
digital chat station they're saying
14:09
iPhone Ultra.
14:11
I I on one hand I don't expect it to be
14:13
called iPhone fold but on the other hand
14:14
like marketing names are so hard to
14:16
predict cuz Apple can
14:18
call it whatever they want as a code
14:20
name or you know pretty much until you
14:22
know they have to make the boxes and
14:24
print the name on it. Like nobody knew
14:26
that it was going to be called Vision
14:27
Pro. Everybody was thinking reality one
14:29
or reality Pro something like that.
14:32
Well, that that that there's a lot of
14:33
wiggle room but That one was crazy you
14:36
know launching a product as a pro
14:38
product but there's no
14:40
amateur product or whatever you call it.
14:42
I mean I I still was like what okay so
14:44
that's the best it's going to get. But
14:47
you know [clears throat] Duo Microsoft
14:49
uses that so
14:51
same thing with the phone.
14:52
>> Well, they they tried using Duo but then
14:54
they never actually shipped the Surface
14:56
Duo.
14:57
They never shipped it? What?
14:59
Oh no, you're right. Yeah, they they
15:01
they shipped the Surface Duo. They they
15:03
had two foldable products the Surface
15:04
Duo and the Surface Neo. It was the Neo
15:07
the laptop size one that they never
15:08
made. Yeah.
15:09
>> had one called Neo?
15:11
They the the Neo was like the Surface
15:14
Duo except it was like iPad size.
15:16
>> jumped on it.
15:18
Huh, interesting. But then again unlike
15:21
the you know Samsung Galaxy Fold nobody
15:23
has ever heard of the Surface Duo.
15:26
>> [laughter]
15:26
>> So I don't think they'll have problem
15:28
any problem using that name. Duo's Duo's
15:30
a good name. I think Duo's better than
15:32
Ultra don't you think?
15:34
I think it it clearly it makes it
15:36
clearer what it is.
15:38
Cuz the Ultra could apply to the air
15:40
really or or any other high-end iPhone.
15:44
When I hear Ultra instead of Pro I hear
15:47
I I interpret that to mean the Ultra is
15:50
unilaterally better than the Pro in
15:52
every respect. Whereas that's not
15:54
actually true with this phone. Like it's
15:55
it's going to be more expensive and it's
15:57
going to be you know their flagship but
15:59
it's going to be worse than the 18 Pro
16:01
in a number of ways. It'll it'll have
16:03
fewer cameras so I think Duo
16:05
is like you know this is a different
16:07
product not like a better version of the
16:09
Pro. And if they they call it Ultra
16:10
they're going to set it's going to be
16:11
the you know it's they're setting
16:12
themselves up for the
16:14
iPhone Ultra expensive.
16:16
Yeah.
16:17
>> [laughter]
16:17
>> Yeah. That's what people are going to be
16:18
saying. And also if they make a bigger
16:20
foldable like you know they they they do
16:22
this foldable this year maybe they have
16:24
a bigger one the next year
16:25
>> Ultra Max. Then what do they get
16:27
they've [laughter] got nowhere to go
16:28
above Ultra.
16:30
Well, I don't know Louis just solved it
16:31
right there.
16:32
>> [laughter]
16:33
>> But that
16:34
you know that it
16:35
and it would but it would also depart
16:36
from the chip branding wouldn't it cuz
16:38
you know that the Apple silicon at the
16:39
moment they've got the the Pro the Max
16:41
and the Ultra.
16:42
Um if they started applying you know
16:44
that this would upend that logic if they
16:48
applied that to this phone. I mean then
16:50
again there's there's no logic to
16:51
Apple's naming really whatsoever. What
16:54
about iPhone Dud?
16:57
>> [laughter]
16:59
>> I think you're being a little harsh
17:00
there Louis. I
17:02
I think this is the
17:03
obviously like you know Apple's uh
17:06
It's funny cuz you know that Samsung
17:08
didn't have a hit with it did they? You
17:09
know that the bigger the bigger Apple
17:11
responded to bigger screen Android
17:13
phones with the the iPhone 6 right
17:15
Griffin?
17:16
Um
17:18
but that was a clearly a trend wasn't
17:19
it? You know there was clearly they were
17:20
clearly behind they were clearly
17:21
everyone wanted bigger phones.
17:23
Uh Apple was was a lagging but you know
17:25
foldables there's no there's no demand
17:28
for foldables really is there? It's it's
17:30
a niche for sure. But the one thing that
17:32
Apple does so well is you know working
17:33
behind the scenes in the the industrial
17:35
design studio you know figuring out the
17:38
use cases and figuring out
17:40
um you know the the experience and they
17:44
start with the experience and work back
17:45
to the tech to the technology and so I
17:47
have faith in you know Apple
17:50
you know experimenting with this device
17:53
prototyping it testing it out and
17:55
finding that it has real world utility.
17:58
It is actually really good. It's better
18:00
for a whole bunch of things than than
18:02
the current handsets and and you know
18:04
they're not chasing the market they're
18:05
chasing
18:06
this experience that they've worked out
18:10
is is useful. I mean is that wishful
18:12
thinking?
18:14
I mean I don't know if it doesn't have
18:15
MagSafe I'm not going to like that
18:16
experience. [laughter] I've been maybe
18:18
the most excited for the folding iPhone
18:19
but I mean if it doesn't have MagSafe I
18:23
I I actually don't think I'll keep it.
18:25
I you know I I'm sure that they will
18:27
come up with video demonstrations of
18:30
this thing that make you go oh my God
18:31
that's so awesome. You know they'll be
18:33
you know somebody [snorts] like they'll
18:35
get a a text message hey the the new mix
18:38
is up you know and they'll flip open
18:40
their phone in GarageBand or you know
18:42
sorry Logic Pro open on their phone and
18:45
they'll just you know oh yeah sounds
18:46
great and they'll just change a couple
18:47
things real quickly there in their you
18:49
know in their car while they're driving
18:51
down the road with a self-driving car
18:53
and oh yeah it's great you know and
18:55
you'll be like wow that's so awesome I
18:57
could do that and the reality is like
19:00
you'll you'll go oh well
19:02
you'll get it and you'll never do that
19:04
because it's it's the same as like all
19:06
the the you know look at the amazing
19:08
movie that you can make if you have all
19:09
this other equipment with your iPhone 17
19:12
Pro. Oh that'd be awesome I'd love to be
19:14
able to make a movie.
19:15
Have I made a movie yet? No no I have
19:17
not made a movie. Well, you know what
19:19
I'm really excited about is like the the
19:21
the the big 4 by 3 screen is going to be
19:23
perfect for watching all of the old 4 by
19:25
3's TV shows that I watch.
19:28
It'll be the best way to watch those.
19:29
[laughter] Yeah, old Doctor Who Star
19:31
Trek the next generation you know.
19:33
I mean and and the reality is like okay
19:36
you could do
19:38
obviously talking hypothetically here
19:41
but let's just say what I just talked
19:43
about is what they do and they make it
19:44
look really appealing.
19:46
The fact of the matter is it'll always
19:48
be easier to do it on a bigger screen
19:50
and and even easier to do it on a Mac.
19:53
And so you like trying to turn my iPhone
19:56
into a like super productivity device, I
19:58
don't know. I'm just not sold on it. I
20:00
mean I love it for connectivity, I love
20:02
it for you know, being the nerve center
20:04
of everything you do, but
20:06
>> Well yeah, but like you have to consider
20:08
everybody younger than me thinks of
20:10
their phone as base First of all,
20:12
they're one and only computer. A lot of
20:13
people have iPhones that just don't have
20:15
a Mac or any computer at all. A lot of
20:17
young people are like that.
20:19
>> Really? And you know, their their phone
20:20
is where everything happens and having a
20:22
phone that's a you know, can become a
20:25
more useful device with a bigger screen.
20:28
Yeah, that
20:29
absolutely. They'll they'll never need
20:30
to buy anything else. Maybe they'll
20:31
pitch it as connecting to
20:33
a a large screen so like you don't have
20:36
to buy a Mac. I don't know. I I just to
20:38
me it just seems like
20:40
a you know, really expensive solution to
20:42
a problem that doesn't really exist.
20:45
I mean that would be incredible. Like if
20:46
this thing is basically a tiny iPad, why
20:49
won't I be able to plug it into an
20:50
external display and use stage manager
20:52
and full free form multi windowing?
20:54
Especially now that they know
20:55
knowing that the Mac that the MacBook
20:57
Neo can run Mac OS on an A18 Pro,
21:02
you know, if this has an A19 Pro in it,
21:04
why won't I be able to use it as a
21:05
computer? I think if there's a if there
21:07
is a way that I'll be disappointed in
21:09
the productivity of this device, it's
21:11
that it won't be able to do enough. You
21:14
know.
21:14
>> Yeah. I mean if it's like the point that
21:15
it won't have stage manager and it'll
21:17
just have like, you know, split view
21:19
side by side instead. I mean, yeah,
21:21
sure, okay. It's it's a little bit
21:23
smaller than an iPad Mini and it's
21:24
already kind of tight on there, but I
21:26
want to be able to plug it into an
21:27
external display and you know, keyboard
21:29
and mouse use it like a real computer.
21:30
That would be awesome.
21:31
>> That makes it starts to make it seem
21:32
like a better value proposition. I
21:34
haven't really heard anybody talking
21:35
about this or speculating about this,
21:37
but uh
21:38
you know, if you could use it if it if
21:40
it's like a MacBook Neo in your hand,
21:43
okay, well, you know, suddenly it's even
21:45
a little bit more attractive.
21:48
>> [snorts]
21:48
>> Mhm. Well, actually that would make it a
21:49
lot more attractive I think to to
21:51
certain people.
21:52
You see, you're already coming around,
21:54
Louis. Ah, didn't take long. Such a soft
21:56
and easy sell.
21:57
>> [laughter]
21:59
>> Exactly. You're going to be capping out
22:00
you know, the month before. That's how
22:02
the Apple Come September, I'm I'm I'm
22:04
going to buy one and return it and
22:05
you're going to just own one and use
22:06
that as your daily computer. I don't I
22:09
just don't see it happening. We'll see.
22:10
We'll see. I mean, I tell you I I am
22:13
very susceptible to Apple's aspirational
22:16
marketing. I mean, it's the same thing.
22:18
I I see the Apple Watch Ultra. Oh my
22:20
god, I could climb a mountain with that
22:22
thing.
22:22
>> [snorts]
22:23
[laughter]
22:23
>> Yeah.
22:25
I haven't even gone, you know,
22:26
snorkeling with it, let alone, you know,
22:28
scuba diving or anything else. I just
22:30
like oh, I took my daily walk around the
22:32
the neighborhood. Wow, okay. Really
22:34
needed the Apple Watch Ultra for that
22:36
one.
22:37
>> [laughter]
22:39
>> Well, it didn't hurt.
22:40
You know,
22:41
exactly the same thing. I do the same
22:43
thing.
22:43
>> [laughter]
22:44
>> It
22:45
it looks good in theory, doesn't it?
22:48
All right, let's talk about these these
22:49
delays. I mean, there's been some
22:50
there's some long shipping delays facing
22:52
the Mac Mini and the Mac Studio.
22:54
Uh what's going on here, Louis? Yeah,
22:57
crazy delivery times for even like basic
22:59
configurations of the Mac Mini and Mac
23:01
Studio are like four weeks out. Uh
23:04
high-end models showing lead times up to
23:06
five months. Five months.
23:09
>> [laughter]
23:10
>> I mean, I just I I thought I read this
23:12
wrong when I read our story. I went and
23:13
checked and sure enough, five months.
23:16
Uh They're going to have the M6 by that
23:17
time,
23:18
you know, that [snorts] rolls around,
23:19
isn't it?
23:20
Well, that's probably why this is in,
23:24
you know,
23:25
like this, right?
23:26
Uh
23:27
Could be an early sign of an update
23:28
coming soon. That's the whole point,
23:29
right? Like okay, well, they're not
23:31
going to
23:32
sell you one
23:34
today
23:36
and deliver it three weeks after the new
23:38
chip comes out. One month delivery time
23:40
for an M4 Mac
23:41
I I can't I have such a hard time with
23:43
all these different Pro Mac
23:45
M4 Pro Mac Mini, 24 GB of system memory,
23:48
shipping time jumps to whopping 10 to 12
23:50
weeks if you bump the memory to 48 GB.
23:54
>> [snorts]
23:55
>> And uh Mac Studio bumping to 48 GB
23:58
pushed delivery date to early July.
24:02
>> [snorts]
24:03
>> Yeah, it's just crazy. Four to five
24:04
months. Late August,
24:06
uh well after WWDC,
24:09
close to when the iPhones are coming.
24:11
Uh 512 GB memory
24:14
uh Mac Studio was entirely discontinued
24:16
a few weeks ago. I mean, it's all has to
24:18
do with like
24:19
the shortage of of memory, right?
24:22
A [snorts] lot of this? Yes. Yes and no.
24:24
Well, I don't know. There seem to be two
24:25
two two dueling explanations. Yeah, one
24:27
it could be the shortage of memory. The
24:29
other one is like just the way that
24:30
Apple makes its you know, its chips cuz
24:32
all this all this the memory is it's not
24:35
a RAM stick anymore, you know, it's not
24:36
modular. It's it's soldered onto the the
24:39
motherboard or soldered onto the chip
24:40
and so Apple's making much smaller
24:42
volumes of these higher configurations,
24:45
you know, they they they pump out
24:46
hundreds of thousands of the standard
24:47
configurations and that's the one that
24:49
most people are buying. But if you want
24:50
something that's outside of that, you
24:51
know, then um it's a it's a custom build
24:54
and Apple's building much much
24:56
um fewer of these higher end ones, you
24:59
know, and they're in demand. And of
25:00
course everyone's running, you know,
25:02
open claw and
25:03
Llama and and all these AI tools on
25:06
these machines anyway. I mean, it's
25:08
you know, you can't this every time I
25:11
open up Twitter. I mean, it's just all I
25:13
see is just hundreds [laughter] of posts
25:15
about Mac Mini this, Mac Mini that, you
25:17
know, agent this, agent that. It's it's
25:20
it's mad. Yeah, I'm surprised you still
25:22
go on Twitter.
25:22
>> And you and you read them. That's the
25:24
crazy thing.
25:25
>> [laughter]
25:25
>> Well, I I bookmark them and then I you
25:27
know, I intend to go back and and and
25:29
set this up myself and and never do.
25:32
In fact, you can't even get the 512 Mac
25:34
512 GB Mac Studio, right? It's been
25:37
discontinued.
25:38
>> Yeah, they they stopped making it.
25:40
Doesn't Apple have a tradition of like
25:43
let's say you order the
25:44
whatever string of words it is that is
25:47
in the configuration you want. You order
25:48
that, they say oh, we'll deliver it in
25:50
two months and then the new version
25:52
comes out and they just give you the new
25:53
version instead. They just assume
25:55
>> Yeah. I think a complicating factor here
25:57
is that the new versions might be more
25:59
expensive than the ones currently for
26:01
sale. So if you put down, you know,
26:03
$5,500 on an M3 Ultra Mac Studio,
26:07
you know, they're not just going to
26:08
replace your order with an M5 Ultra one
26:10
because they'll need more money to get
26:12
the equivalent model maybe. I bet that's
26:14
why they discontinued the 512 one.
26:16
Mhm.
26:17
>> [clears throat]
26:17
>> If I had to take a guess.
26:19
We haven't heard any kind of legit like
26:22
rumors about when these new chips are
26:24
coming out, have we?
26:25
Is it kind of probably going to be
26:26
>> No, I don't think the M6 is going to
26:28
come out until later this year. So I
26:30
bet, you know, they're waiting on the
26:32
you know, M5 Ultra to be ready cuz
26:34
that's the only one left in the lineup.
26:38
And typically that's been, you know, the
26:40
summer following.
26:42
So maybe at WWDC, they'll show off
26:45
super powerful new Macs.
26:48
Yeah. Not uncommon for the Mac Studio to
26:50
come at WWDC. Yeah, that'd be cool.
26:52
That'd be kind of a treat. All right,
26:54
let's talk about the the MacBook Neo.
26:55
This is um
26:57
you know, it it seems to be a big
26:59
problem. I mean, that Apple's facing
27:01
problem is it's it's it's too popular.
27:04
It's [laughter] uh
27:05
it's only been on the market for a month
27:06
and Apple's, you know, still can't keep
27:08
up with demand. And if you ordered a a
27:09
MacBook today,
27:10
the wait times are are several weeks
27:13
and it looks like it's going to get
27:14
worse because there's a limited supply
27:17
of the A18 Pro processor that powers the
27:19
notebook. Um you know, Apple did a
27:22
clever bit of recycling with this. The
27:23
MacBook, you know, runs on processors
27:25
uh in which one of the six GPU cores
27:27
have failed. So they couldn't be used in
27:29
the iPhone 16 Pro. It's a practice
27:32
that's called binning.
27:33
Um so they're using these binned chips
27:35
and there's a limited supply. Uh and
27:38
they're running out. And TSMC has
27:41
stopped making this processor. So it's
27:43
you know, they've
27:44
the the
27:45
as soon as these A18 Pro chips run out,
27:47
that's it. There's no more.
27:48
Um
27:49
although, you know, there there are some
27:51
actually off some off and say, but I
27:53
think that what would they
27:54
this analyst who who who brought this up
27:57
uh estimate I think there was 5 to 6
27:59
million
28:00
uh binned A18 Pros
28:03
and he thinks that they
28:04
uh you know, I mean, it looks like that
28:07
that they're running out of these ones
28:08
already that initial run.
28:10
So um
28:11
Apple's options are they could pay 18
28:14
uh they could pay TSMC to make more 18
28:16
Pros. Uh but that would kind of ruin the
28:19
cost um of the of the Neo. Basically,
28:23
they were using these, you know, these
28:24
these processors. They were cheap. They
28:25
were they were basically free. They were
28:26
going to get rid of them anyway. Um
28:29
uh if they did a special run of the 18
28:30
Pros, it's going to cost a lot of money.
28:32
Uh
28:33
and um
28:36
you know, so they're kind of in a
28:37
pickle.
28:39
The the one solution is is um
28:41
you know, what about using the A19 Pro?
28:43
But that was going to be the
28:45
the upgrade path, isn't it, for for next
28:47
year's Neo?
28:49
Um I mean, presumably this they're also
28:51
sitting on a a stockpile of binned A19
28:54
Pro chips, which I guess they could roll
28:57
into the into the Neo. So I don't know.
28:59
Are we going to be looking at a maybe an
29:00
update ahead of time to solve this
29:02
problem? I I I think that's probably the
29:04
only way they can get around it, isn't
29:05
it?
29:06
I was kind of surprised that uh
29:08
they're estimating that they're going to
29:09
run out of these things because if you
29:11
think of how many, you know, iPhone 16
29:14
Pros they make it. Yeah, they only make
29:15
that chip for a year because they only
29:17
make the Pro iPhone for a year. Unlike
29:19
the entry level model that stays on for
29:21
like an extra year at a lower price. The
29:23
Pro models are discontinued when the new
29:25
one comes out. So yeah, they only have
29:26
like a year's supply of binned chips to
29:28
go through, but I was thinking like
29:31
they make so many iPhone 16 Pros though.
29:33
Like it's what? In the tens and tens and
29:35
tens of millions? Maybe
29:38
I think I think the estimation is that
29:39
they make like what? 220 million iPhones
29:42
every year, something like that. And you
29:44
know, probably like what? Half of them
29:46
are the pro models.
29:48
So, yeah, even if they're making more
29:50
MacBook Neos than they expected, you
29:52
know, running out of the
29:55
6 million that they plan to make, like
29:57
surely they must have more binned chips
29:59
than just, you know, 5 or 6 million.
30:01
Well, what's the failure rate on those
30:03
things?
30:04
That's true. Maybe maybe they they just
30:06
have an exceptionally low failure rate
30:08
and that's a problem for them.
30:09
>> [laughter]
30:10
>> You know more about that kind of stuff.
30:11
I mean, what is a typical
30:13
uh you know, percentage of chips that
30:15
could bend? I don't know that uh off the
30:18
top of my head. I feel that's that's
30:19
probably like an industry secret, I
30:21
would assume.
30:22
I'll put the yields go up as they as
30:24
they make more. So, initially I'll bet
30:26
there's more failures uh and fewer as
30:30
they get further into the production
30:31
run. So, but then they must have chips.
30:33
They must have a bunch of chips with,
30:34
you know, two failed cores, three failed
30:36
cores.
30:37
A couple with a couple of CPU cores or
30:40
whatever. I mean, they're being kind of
30:41
specific [clears throat] about which
30:42
particular
30:44
failures that they're picking up, aren't
30:45
they? I mean,
30:47
it's I wonder if there's some
30:48
flexibility.
30:50
It's really kind of fascinating, you
30:51
know, the idea that they they turned
30:54
this into like a gold mine. I mean,
30:56
there's all these chips that you can't
30:58
use. But oh, yes, we can. And I mean,
31:00
that's
31:01
that is pretty brilliant. And
31:03
you know, if anybody can figure out how
31:04
to do this, it's got to be Tim Cook,
31:05
right? I mean, that guy
31:07
he may not be the king of
31:09
you know, innovation, but boy, he knows
31:11
how to squeeze a penny.
31:14
>> [laughter]
31:16
[snorts]
31:16
>> Yeah, it's um it's very very popular,
31:19
isn't it? Apple's selling 20 to 25
31:20
million Macs per year.
31:23
They sold 20 23 million in 2024.
31:26
Um and it I think it
31:28
before they were looking at 4 5%
31:30
increase per year. But this thing is a
31:32
blockbuster here, isn't it? I mean, it's
31:33
a it's a
31:35
This is, you know, I mean, if they added
31:36
5 or 6 million a year, that seems kind
31:37
of reasonable, doesn't it?
31:39
Yeah, I mean, you have to account it's
31:40
probably going to cannibalize a little
31:41
bit into potential MacBook Air sales.
31:43
So, maybe that goes down by like a
31:45
million or so. But they're in adding 6
31:47
million to a number that floats around
31:49
25, I mean, that's a huge bump. These
31:52
are going to be record numbers in the
31:53
next quarter. I mean, it for the Mac. A
31:56
story just came out like while we
31:57
started the podcast that uh
32:00
AMD is is
32:01
estimating that Apple shipped 7.1
32:04
million Macs in the first 3 months of
32:05
2026.
32:07
Wow.
32:08
That's a huge
32:10
>> that's all
32:11
not just the Neo, all all the different
32:12
Macs?
32:12
>> Yeah.
32:14
Yeah.
32:15
Yeah, well, I
32:16
I wonder if they would pay TSMC to make
32:17
a do a special run. I mean, but TSMC
32:20
aren't they I mean, they're booked
32:23
eight ways of
32:24
>> Yeah, the fabrication process was new at
32:27
the time the A18 Pro came out. So, Apple
32:28
had booked like their entire production,
32:30
you know, line for the first year. Uh
32:34
Now, I mean, they've moved on. They they
32:35
now use the the third generation 3
32:37
nanometer process. And so, other
32:39
companies have booked up their second
32:40
generation one because Apple's moved
32:42
beyond that. And so, now they'd be at
32:44
the back of the line if they were to
32:46
request more. They'd have to pay them
32:48
extra money and, you know, starting
32:50
production, taking somebody else's spot
32:53
in line. I mean, that would
32:55
cost a lot of extra money and that might
32:57
eat into the you know, $599 price there.
33:01
So, only time will tell, I guess. I
33:03
mean, it could be that I mean, this is
33:04
I'm also just an analyst, so maybe he's
33:05
just wrong and this isn't a problem, but
33:09
>> [sighs]
33:09
>> I might just buy a MacBook Neo. I'm
33:11
tired of my MacBook Air blinking on and
33:13
off.
33:14
I will say that I think your
33:16
Well, the MacBook Neo is an excellent,
33:18
very powerful computer. I think that
33:19
your needs
33:20
are probably well suited by a MacBook
33:22
Air. I'd stick with that if I were you.
33:26
>> [sighs]
33:27
>> Since last episode, I published my
33:29
AirPods Max review.
33:31
Um
33:32
I will say if you listen to last week's
33:33
episode, there's probably not much in
33:34
there that you didn't already hear
33:35
because a little
33:37
inside secret,
33:38
the notes that I used for the podcast
33:40
last week was my draft of the review
33:42
that I then finished up the next day.
33:44
So,
33:45
but uh you know, a lot of lovely
33:46
pictures in there. I was really proud of
33:48
the pictures I took of it. Um
33:50
I I guess this this I tried after um
33:53
after we did the podcast episode. I
33:54
tried wearing both the
33:56
uh Vision Pro and the AirPods Max at the
33:59
same time. There's a picture of that in
34:01
there, too.
34:02
>> [laughter]
34:03
>> Just for anybody's curious what the hell
34:04
that looks like.
34:06
Uh it's
34:08
it's not a very cool look. I'll just say
34:09
that much.
34:10
>> [laughter]
34:11
>> Um half-price astronaut.
34:14
Yeah.
34:14
The AirPods Max fit very well over my
34:16
glasses, but obviously the Vision Pro is
34:18
a bit chunkier, to say the least. It has
34:21
like these big white sort of uh bridges
34:24
that go between, you know, your eyes and
34:26
towards your ears. And those are
34:29
much thicker and more rigid. And I did
34:31
notice that wearing the the AirPods Max
34:33
with the Vision Pro, like they don't
34:35
make as good of a seal like around your
34:37
head as they do just, you know, wearing
34:39
them on their own. Um
34:41
Also, since writing the review, if
34:43
you're watching the podcast, you'll see
34:44
that I've gone back to like my regular
34:46
old headphones. And putting these on
34:48
after being used to the AirPods Max for
34:50
a week or so, I also definitely notice
34:52
like the volume inside the ear cups is
34:55
smaller. Like my ears touch the inside
34:57
of the the headphones a lot more. Like
35:00
these AirPods Max, they're just like
35:02
physically bigger and they they they
35:04
make a much more
35:05
you know, cavernous area around my head.
35:08
Um
35:09
I'm afraid to open or take them out of
35:10
the case cuz I don't want to mess up our
35:12
audio recording
35:13
>> [laughter]
35:13
>> because of the automatic connecting, but
35:14
um How many stars did you give it?
35:16
I gave it four stars because
35:19
well, they are a very good product and
35:20
I'm happy with them.
35:22
I think Apple the way Apple has treated
35:24
the AirPods Max in the past doesn't
35:26
really instill confident a lot of
35:28
confidence in the product because
35:30
I mean, just look at the previous
35:31
AirPods Max. They were stuck on the H1
35:33
chip for so long that the H2 chip rolled
35:36
out and it was then 3 and 1/2 years
35:38
before we got this update.
35:40
Long enough that there are now credible
35:42
rumors that there might be an H3 chip
35:44
coming later this year. So, it's like,
35:46
well,
35:48
I mean, how much can I strongly
35:49
recommend them if it's possible that
35:51
within 7 months they'll be outdated
35:52
again and then
35:54
sit for exactly the same price for the
35:56
next 5 years again.
35:59
Um
36:00
You know, you have to be a little bold
36:01
to buy them, I think. [clears throat]
36:03
But if you do, I mean, you'll be happy.
36:05
They sound good.
36:06
They sound great. They sound fantastic.
36:07
Are you taking them back?
36:09
Yeah.
36:11
So, you said they're bigger. Like if you
36:12
had like pointy Spock ears, you think
36:14
the that'd be all right with the AirPods
36:16
Max?
36:16
>> Oh, yeah, you'd be good. I'm almost
36:18
there, honestly. I have [laughter] large
36:20
ears for my head.
36:20
>> Perfect for Vulcans. Great.
36:25
All right, good to know.
36:27
Let's talk about
36:28
the stunning and totally amazing shots
36:31
from Artemis 2, the moon wallpapers. So,
36:34
there's a there's a really good way
36:36
NASA's been putting out these wonderful
36:37
pictures, haven't they?
36:39
In fact, there's some some new ones
36:40
today. This is on Thursday morning
36:42
of some really detailed ones of the
36:44
craters on the moon. They were just uh
36:46
jaw-dropping.
36:47
Um but
36:49
Griffin's going to show us how you can
36:50
put these these to put them on to use
36:52
them as wallpapers on your iPhone,
36:54
iPad or Mac. Yeah, so we've got an
36:56
article on this.
36:57
Federico Viticci, shortcut and iPad
37:00
master,
37:01
made a shortcut called Lunar Wall that
37:04
takes a random image and downloads it
37:06
directly from NASA's servers and assigns
37:08
it as your wallpaper. So, you can get
37:10
this you know, done for you
37:11
automatically. We have links to like
37:13
images you can download. You can
37:14
download your favorite one. But if you'd
37:16
like to be surprised, there's a shortcut
37:18
you can install. There'll be a link in
37:19
the show notes. You just And I'm doing
37:21
this going through these steps for the
37:22
first time as well. So, I'll be
37:24
discovering it along with you. You go to
37:27
install the shortcut. You tap add
37:29
shortcut. And then you can just run it.
37:31
And
37:33
you have to
37:34
allow it to
37:36
assign a wallpaper for you.
37:39
And let's see what it does.
37:41
Oop.
37:43
There we go. A beautiful picture of the
37:45
beautiful picture of the surface of the
37:46
moon there.
37:47
Look at that thing.
37:49
I know.
37:50
Gorgeous shot.
37:52
It really is.
37:53
>> And you can run it as many times as you
37:54
want. Like if you want another one,
37:56
we'll just run it again. See what
37:58
happens.
38:00
And now we've got another shot of the
38:01
moon sort of being eclipsed
38:04
in front of the sun. And this can run
38:06
both on your iPhone, iPad, Mac. Some of
38:08
these pictures will probably do a little
38:09
bit better
38:11
wide screen.
38:12
Oh, there's a gorgeous shot. Slightly
38:15
off center. Annoyingly off center.
38:18
Yeah, yeah. It's sort of touching the
38:20
edge of the screen on one side and
38:22
a little bit off the center. Yeah.
38:24
Take take take those complaints up with
38:25
the astronauts.
38:26
>> [laughter]
38:27
>> Can you imagine?
38:29
Yeah.
38:30
Uh but the neat thing is that you can
38:32
use uh automations to make it run
38:35
automatically um at certain times of the
38:37
day. If you open the Shortcuts app, you
38:39
tap the automation tab, tap new
38:41
automation. I'm going to create one from
38:44
the time of the day
38:46
and it'll run every day at
38:49
uh 6:00 a.m. before I wake up.
38:53
Uh run it daily,
38:55
run immediately,
38:58
set next, and then I will have it run
39:01
Lunar Wall.
39:03
And so, now every day at 6:00 a.m., I'll
39:05
get a brand new brand new wallpaper.
39:09
Let's run it one more time. See what it
39:10
spits out. Oh, a beautiful picture of
39:12
the Earth. Yeah. Wow. These are stunning
39:15
images. So crazy. What a great mission
39:17
this was.
39:19
Did you
39:20
And they're splashing down tonight, I
39:21
think.
39:23
Is that right, Griffin? Yep.
39:25
Mhm. Whoa, that's a great shot.
39:29
Yeah, sort of got
39:30
surface of the moon so close you can see
39:32
all those craters and then the Earth
39:34
sort of floating up behind it. Looks
39:36
like a giant footprint.
39:38
Yeah. Look at that.
39:41
Beautiful shots. I hadn't seen this
39:43
picture. That's great. I mean, great
39:44
great example of liquid glass as well.
39:46
Like, you know, you've got the the tall
39:47
glassy clock.
39:49
Stretch it really big.
39:51
Really make this picture pop.
39:52
>> make them 3D? So, it gives you the
39:53
parallax effect.
39:56
Ooh, okay. Yeah, so you tap and hold on
39:57
your lock screen, tap customize,
40:00
and you should be able to tap you should
40:01
see a little hexagon button,
40:04
and it'll generate a spatial scene from
40:05
it.
40:06
>> Ooh, look at it wiggle.
40:07
>> There you go. You can
40:09
>> [laughter]
40:10
>> wiggle around the moon and move the
40:12
Earth behind it. I don't know if that'll
40:14
do that if I just run it again. Will it
40:15
automatically do that?
40:18
Let's see. Run the shortcut again.
40:22
Oh, it automatically generates the
40:23
spatial scene. What is that?
40:26
>> Let me get a better picture.
40:27
>> That one was a bit too cropped to see
40:28
it, wasn't it? Um
40:30
Yeah, you know,
40:31
>> [snorts]
40:31
>> it it really makes you aware that the
40:32
iPhone is a weird aspect ratio. It's
40:34
like
40:35
1:2 vertically.
40:37
There you go. That's cool. Look at that
40:39
liquid glass. I mean, that that does
40:40
look great, doesn't it? The way it
40:41
shines through the So, I should also
40:44
clarify if you're worried, oh, every
40:45
time I run this shortcut, is it going to
40:47
make another lock screen for me and just
40:49
fill them up and I'm going to have like
40:50
24 different
40:52
lock screens with Apollo pictures. No,
40:54
it seems to overwrite it every time. So,
40:56
you're not going to you know, overrun
40:58
your your lock screens there. God, that
41:01
looks so weird in the spatial scene.
41:04
>> [laughter]
41:04
>> Looks like it's throbbing.
41:08
Some of those craters are
41:09
billions of years old, aren't they? They
41:11
you know, uh Yeah, cuz there's no wind
41:13
on the moon.
41:14
Anyways, that's a that's a shortcut.
41:15
Pretty fun. Pretty good stuff.
41:18
Yeah, very nice. All right, nice work.
41:20
Very cool. I'm going to get that set up.
41:21
I like those space wallpapers.
41:24
Um and I'm too lazy to change my
41:25
wallpaper all the time. I I just you
41:27
know, and I don't even like it.
41:29
>> [laughter]
41:29
>> So, I'm going to change it.
41:30
>> You know, I've
41:32
on my Mac at least, I've stuck to just a
41:34
I used to use the solar gradient cuz it
41:35
was just like a solid, you know,
41:37
color gradient that sort of matched the
41:39
sky and the time of day. But, I've
41:41
started using just the default Mac OS
41:42
Tahoe wallpaper, and I've been kind of
41:44
happy with it.
41:45
That's what I've got, too. Yeah, that's
41:47
a nice one. Very nice. Very attractive.
41:50
All right, let's move on to um the
41:51
setup. We've got the ultimate Mac Studio
41:55
setup. This is taken from a post we
41:56
published uh the top 10 Mac Studio
41:58
setups.
41:59
Uh and this one is the best, the cream
42:02
of the crop, the best of the bunch.
42:04
Uh it is a kind of really stunning I
42:07
mean, look at that. I mean, that that
42:09
You've got your own little iMac right
42:10
there.
42:11
What do you like about it, Lewis? Mac
42:14
Studio sitting there front center. You
42:15
got the giant 49-in Samsung G9 curved
42:19
display.
42:20
I mean,
42:21
that display looks awesome. And and this
42:23
setup looks awesome. The everything is
42:25
so like neat and orderly. There's I I
42:28
don't see any cables at all.
42:30
Uh
42:31
I think the chunkiness of the Mac Studio
42:33
is maybe hiding them a little bit at
42:34
that camera angle.
42:36
You can just see you can faintly see a
42:38
cable there, just faintly.
42:40
Giant [laughter]
42:41
uh Keychron mechanical keyboard uh with
42:45
a
42:46
crazy-looking little wooden um wrist
42:49
rest in front of it. The perennial
42:52
favorite Logitech MX Master 3 mouse. Got
42:56
one in my hand right here.
42:57
Uh it looks like there's a Is that a
42:59
Oh my god. Screen blinked off again. I'm
43:02
going to I'm going to
43:03
throw this thing out the window.
43:05
>> [clears throat]
43:06
>> What is that off to the left there? Is
43:07
that a um a MacBook or a Yeah, it's a
43:10
it's a heavily bestickered Yeah, it's
43:13
I'm going to say it's
43:14
just covered covered in it. It's got
43:16
They got a JBL speaker on there, but I
43:18
mean, this this setup is so clean and
43:21
neat. I mean, I am
43:22
I mean, the hardware's awesome, but I'm
43:24
just I'm just jealous of the the
43:26
neatness of it. I You know what they've
43:29
What I like about it is that
43:32
they don't have two screens. They just
43:34
have one incredibly wide screen, and
43:36
that is absolutely the way to go. The
43:38
problem with having two screens is that
43:40
oh, your dock can only be on one of the
43:41
screens. So, oh, is it on the left or is
43:43
it on the right? If you look dead
43:44
center, you're just staring at a seam,
43:47
you know? You just want one really big
43:49
screen, and that's what they've got
43:50
nailed. Uh you know, Mac OS is most
43:52
happy with that. You don't have to worry
43:53
about, oh, the mini bar is on this one
43:55
or that one. Uh just one really big wide
43:57
screen. They're They They've got a Mac
44:00
Studio. Excellent excellent computer
44:02
just front and center. You know, they're
44:05
not hiding it. They're not ashamed of
44:06
it. They're like, yep, this is my Mac
44:08
Studio right in front of me.
44:10
>> [laughter]
44:10
>> Shamed of it.
44:12
And the resolution of that screen is
44:13
what? 5,120
44:15
by 2440?
44:18
Um and it's got a 144 hertz refresh
44:21
rate, which is very very good.
44:24
Mhm. I wonder how much that thing cost.
44:25
Probably like
44:27
way too much.
44:29
Probably My guess is $800, but I I I
44:32
don't know, so.
44:34
That sounds cheap.
44:35
>> it's not a retina screen, so I mean,
44:37
these are We're We're used to We're so
44:39
Apple brained that we're like, oh, a a
44:40
fancy monitor that should be like
44:42
$2,000, and that's just not the case
44:44
with PCs. [laughter]
44:46
Apple brained.
44:48
749.99.
44:51
Oh, okay. Look at that. Pretty close. I
44:53
mean, they have a nice wallpaper, too. I
44:54
think that's the
44:56
the sequoia screen saver wallpaper.
44:59
That's I mean, you know what? That
45:00
That's my tip to all these people who
45:02
want to take a nice picture of their
45:03
setup, when you're taking your picture,
45:05
you should you should run the aerial
45:06
screen saver because that's that's a
45:08
that's a really nice way to like show
45:09
off the color of your monitor without
45:11
like, you know, cluttering up your
45:12
windows or showing off all of your messy
45:14
desktop. You know, they've got a few
45:16
windows in the middle there, but you
45:17
know, nice clean clean wallpaper.
45:20
Um
45:21
The icons on their dock are a little
45:22
big. They've got an hourglass in the
45:24
corner of their desk, you know, so
45:26
they're always aware of the the passage
45:27
of time and how mortality is coming for
45:30
us all.
45:31
Uh
45:31
>> [laughter]
45:31
>> good daily reminder there. I would think
45:33
it's probably more of a pomodoro, isn't
45:34
it? More than But,
45:36
uh I maybe not. You know, different
45:39
strokes, different folks. Yeah, I forgot
45:40
about the hourglass. So,
45:42
uh are there tips for like like let's
45:44
just say for instance, you have your
45:46
mouse
45:47
at the far right of that 4-ft wide
45:50
screen. Uh how do you get to the other
45:52
side without burning your elbow out?
45:54
They They must have the mouse
45:55
sensitivity pretty high, I would assume.
45:58
Th- This was something that, you know,
45:59
they they they discovered early in the
46:00
Macintosh. They It It It moves the mouse
46:02
faster if you move your, you know, it
46:05
moves the cursor faster if you move the
46:07
mouse faster. So, if you do like a
46:08
really quick flick motion,
46:10
it'll move it much farther, you know,
46:11
even if you only actually physically
46:13
move your mouse like 2 in,
46:14
than if you were to move it slowly.
46:16
So.
46:17
>> [snorts]
46:18
>> It It It's weird. I mean, my I think my
46:20
screen is like a 32-in screen or
46:22
something. And And sometimes using like,
46:25
you know, some of these
46:26
stupid web publishing tools that we have
46:28
to use all the time, you know, it's like
46:30
you click over on the left side, and
46:31
then you have to like scroll all the way
46:33
over to the right side, and then up to
46:34
the top to press something, and down to
46:36
the bottom to press something else. It
46:37
It just It it almost makes a large
46:39
screen seem onerous. And it And I wonder
46:42
like I mean, I guess if you had a screen
46:44
that large, you would have,
46:47
you know, you would just basically use
46:48
the left and right for like
46:51
things that you want to monitor, like
46:52
Slack or or something, right?
46:55
As opposed to
46:56
>> Yeah, I mean, that that that's an
46:57
advantage of having a trackpad because
46:58
you don't actually have to physically
46:59
move an object. You're just swiping your
47:01
fingers on a glass surface, and I have
47:03
my trackpad sensitivity set pretty high
47:05
for that reason. I actually charged up
47:07
my trackpad recently. Haven't started
47:10
using it again, but thinking about it.
47:12
Thinking about getting back into the
47:13
trackpad action.
47:15
You could be a left trackpad, right
47:16
mouse person.
47:17
>> I'm thinking. That's what I'm thinking.
47:19
Of course, I'm going to need to clear
47:20
off space. I like the fact that that Mac
47:22
Studio sitting there, you could use that
47:23
as like a drink pedestal.
47:26
Yeah. Perfect for when you spill it,
47:29
ruin a $4,000 computer.
47:31
Th- That's an interesting question about
47:33
the window management. I wish it the
47:34
they did have the windows up there. I'd
47:35
like it to be interesting to see like,
47:37
you know, how they you know, they
47:39
how they set it up for that for that for
47:41
that regular work. Like you said, the
47:42
the
47:43
either side is good for that kind of
47:44
stuff that you monitor, Twitter feed, or
47:46
um
47:47
uh maybe messages or or I email or
47:50
something like that will always open,
47:51
and then having the center to to work.
47:53
I'd be I'm very curious about how people
47:55
set that up.
47:56
Mhm. I mean, I just have only having
47:58
like a single 27-in monitor, I just very
48:01
carefully arrange all of these windows
48:03
to be like slightly overlapping so I can
48:04
see when, you know, any Slack message
48:06
has been posted. I can click to make
48:07
that window to solve the whole thing,
48:09
but looks like absolute chaos. But no,
48:11
every single window is perfectly sized
48:13
and shaped and positioned.
48:15
I might I might set a price alert on
48:17
this
48:18
on this monitor because it's
48:20
it's kind of appealing.
48:21
>> [laughter]
48:22
>> Mhm. It'd be great must be great for
48:23
watching shows, too, TV and movies. Oh,
48:27
yeah. I wonder about the guy you know,
48:28
no fancy speakers. So, I'm guessing
48:30
they're not using it for watching shows
48:32
and movies.
48:34
>> [snorts]
48:34
>> It looks like he has like two portable
48:35
speakers like sort of sitting
48:38
like towards the right corner of the I
48:40
Yeah, I don't see any desktop speakers.
48:42
It doesn't even look like they're
48:42
plugged in. And and
48:44
the person actually says, I need to add
48:46
some desk speakers, a mic on a mic arm
48:49
arm, and a PlayStation 5.
48:52
>> [laughter]
48:53
>> There you go. Yeah.
48:55
All right, and if you want to check out
48:56
the other there's nine more Mac Studio
48:57
setups to be checked out, and we'll have
48:59
the link in the in the show notes.
49:01
Um some really nice stuff in there.
49:04
Uh let's move on to our question. We
49:06
have a We have a follow-up question from
49:07
Mark who's trying to decide whether to
49:09
get a an iPad or a MacBook, and it all
49:11
depended on what kind of thing he wanted
49:13
to do with the iPad and the MacBook. So,
49:14
Mark wrote back. He said, I'm most
49:15
grateful to you all for discussing the
49:17
question I submitted about iPad versus
49:19
MacBook. To answer your question,
49:21
Leander, I think that I'm what you would
49:23
call a casual user. So, I mostly use the
49:25
mainstream Apple apps. I'm not remotely
49:27
interested in doing any of the clever
49:29
techy stuff that Griffin mentioned.
49:31
>> [laughter]
49:32
>> The only thing that wasn't mentioned is
49:33
security concerns. So, according to
49:34
ChatGPT, quote, the iPad is a closed
49:36
system with stricter app sandboxing,
49:39
mandatory app store distribution, and
49:41
stronger default restrictions on
49:42
software installation."
49:44
I would have thought that this feature
49:45
alone would make the iPad a far more
49:47
desirable device for the majority of
49:49
Apple users.
49:50
Um
49:51
and yeah, you know, good point. I think
49:53
that's very true. Um
49:55
especially with things like Dark Sword
49:57
and all these no click no
49:59
uh
50:00
uh uh vulnerabilities now, you just
50:03
visit the wrong website and you're
50:04
totally hosed. Um and if you and you
50:07
know, if Mark's like he says, I mean if
50:09
he's not doing anything special, if he's
50:11
not doesn't have any
50:13
clever techy Griffin workflows, I think
50:16
the the iPad is the way to go. Even if
50:18
it's like it is less capable, you know,
50:20
it it is a little more restrictive, but
50:23
you know, if you're not doing anything
50:24
special, um the iPad, especially with
50:26
the keyboard and and a a Magic Keyboard,
50:29
you can't you can't go wrong. It's is a
50:32
very very
50:33
awesome computer and very very, you
50:34
know, so flexible. You can, you know,
50:36
it's
50:38
much easier to read in bed or um
50:41
watch a movie on your lap than using a
50:43
MacBook and much less likely to get
50:44
busted. So, I would I would recommend an
50:46
iPad. You guys agree?
50:48
>> that's what we were leaning uh the last
50:50
time we we
50:51
he asked this question as well. Like he
50:53
already has an M1 iPad Air, I think he
50:55
said. Uh so, you just stick with it.
50:57
Upgrade to the next iPad Air when you've
50:59
got that. But if he already has the
51:01
Magic Keyboard, then he doesn't have to
51:02
replace it. So, the the purchase price
51:04
will be, you know, kind of comparable.
51:06
It's not like you know, you're comparing
51:08
a $600 MacBook and a Neo to an
51:10
$850 iPad Air plus Magic Keyboard if
51:12
you've already got the Magic Keyboard.
51:14
Um Well, plus you can't even get the Neo
51:16
anymore anyway, so Yeah. Yeah.
51:20
I I think stick with it. I mean, yeah,
51:21
that's that's why everybody, you know,
51:23
recommends
51:24
uh you know, iPads to their, you know,
51:27
less technically literate uh friends and
51:29
family members as well because it's it's
51:31
everybody already knows how to use it.
51:33
The Mac macOS is a different you know,
51:36
completely different interaction
51:37
paradigm. Just the fundamental stuff
51:39
like when you unlock an iPad, you just
51:41
see your giant grid of apps and that's
51:43
like the the center of the world of the
51:46
iPhone and iPad, your apps. You just tap
51:48
one to launch one, swipe it to close it.
51:50
You know, when you boot up a Mac, you
51:51
see your file system on the desktop and
51:53
the finder and
51:54
you know, a lot of people just don't
51:56
think about using their devices that way
51:58
anymore. Yeah.
51:59
>> Um Yeah. So, iPad is easier to use and
52:02
yeah, it's more secure.
52:04
A lot of people will quibble about,
52:05
"Well, there are more uh
52:08
you know, malicious
52:10
things on the App Store than you would
52:11
expect, but
52:13
it's even considering that, it's a lot
52:15
harder to mess up an iPad than a
52:16
MacBook.
52:18
>> [snorts]
52:18
>> Anything to add to that, Lewis? Well, I
52:19
mean, you don't have to just download
52:22
software from the internet. I mean, you
52:23
can get stuff from the Mac App Store if
52:25
if that's what you're worried about.
52:27
I [snorts] don't know that
52:28
[clears throat] much about the
52:29
Excuse me, the app sandboxing stuff. I
52:31
mean, I think that's true, right? Yeah.
52:33
Uh apps on the Mac App Store have to be
52:35
pretty sandboxed as well and you know,
52:37
that's why there's not a lot of apps on
52:39
the Mac App Store. Oh, okay. That's the
52:41
only thing you're giving up is is is is
52:42
flexibility, isn't it really, to run,
52:44
you know, that different all that
52:45
different software.
52:47
That's the That's the biggest holdback.
52:48
In fact, I there was someone on
52:50
There seems to be there's a definitely a
52:51
growing chorus of um anti-App
52:54
Store you know, critics. Like there was
52:57
someone uh on
52:58
one of the major podcasts this week was
53:00
really ranting and raving about what a
53:03
racket the App Store is and how Apple
53:06
um is, you know, has a stranglehold on
53:09
its platform and how anti-competitive it
53:11
is and all this sort of stuff and
53:12
there's an argument to be made for that,
53:13
I think, for sure.
53:15
Um It uh but you know, I I I think
53:18
Apple's intentions to keep it safe,
53:20
secure, trustworthy, reliable
53:24
>> Yeah.
53:24
>> [laughter]
53:25
>> There's that, too, but uh I yeah, I I I
53:29
I give Apple the benefit of the doubt, I
53:30
think. I lean towards, you know, that
53:32
that
53:32
the you know, it really was I mean, it
53:34
has it did make a it revolutionize,
53:36
didn't it, software distribution. And
53:39
I think that the advantages that it
53:40
brings outweigh the out you know,
53:43
overwhelm the the
53:44
the disadvantages. I I'm willing to put
53:46
up with a little bit of restrictions and
53:48
and Apple gatekeeping to to to to keep
53:51
the things safe.
53:52
Um especially if you're doing tech, you
53:54
know, like I know for me, I have to do
53:56
tech support for a whole bunch of family
53:58
members.
53:59
Uh and, you know, if I'm going to
54:01
recommend a device to somebody, I think
54:03
I would definitely recommend the iPad
54:05
because it's a lot less headache for me.
54:06
I I think what some developer friends
54:09
would say is that yeah, they can still
54:10
have all of that security and
54:13
sandboxing that they always have had, uh
54:15
but they don't need to charge as much
54:17
money as they do or, you know, fight
54:19
every single piece of legislation tooth
54:20
and nail to refuse to give up an inch as
54:23
to the extent that they do.
54:25
One of the actually the most annoying
54:26
thing I think about the App Store is the
54:28
in-app purchases now. You know, you go
54:29
looking for something for free or some
54:31
free app that does something for free
54:32
and and they advertise it as free. Like
54:34
I was looking for a VP I I needed a VPN
54:35
real quick.
54:36
Uh I I can't remember why. There was
54:38
also some problem, but I I I needed a
54:39
VPN specifically just for a couple of
54:41
hours. I didn't want to go, you know,
54:44
buy one. Uh
54:46
I just wanted to get a free free VPN. I
54:47
ended up downloading about four
54:48
different VPNs that said they were free.
54:50
They said free in the title and they
54:51
definitely were not. Which is really
54:53
>> Yeah. you know, drives you crazy.
54:56
I mean, if
54:57
a VPN like that's that's a server, you
55:00
know, you're you're using like a server
55:01
that's running a service for you. So,
55:03
that does have like independent costs,
55:05
but I will say if I'm trying to look for
55:08
a new category of app that I know
55:09
nothing about and I want to find like,
55:11
"Okay, what's like the free open source
55:14
version that somebody has made of this
55:16
as a passion project?" I'll search for,
55:18
you know, metronome app on the App Store
55:21
and then I'll scroll and I'll scroll and
55:22
I'll scroll until I find one that says
55:24
get but doesn't say in-app purchases
55:26
below it.
55:28
Okay.
55:29
Yeah. Good tip. Good tip. Yeah, worth
55:31
keeping an eye out.
55:32
Well, thanks, Mark, for sending us that
55:34
you know, these questions and I hope
55:35
that we have helped you.
55:37
In fact, please let us know.
55:39
Um and if anyone else has any questions,
55:41
>> [music]
55:41
>> uh you can send us
55:42
questions or by texting to
55:44
cultofmacpodcast
55:46
uh at icloud.com. That's
55:47
[email protected]. [music]
55:49
Please send us your questions. So, I
55:50
think that's a wrap. Let's wrap it up
55:52
there. We have gone on long enough.
55:54
Please give us a five-star rating uh or
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56:00
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56:01
Um again, text a message at uh
56:03
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56:04
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56:06
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56:10
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56:12
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56:13
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56:15
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56:16
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56:17
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