watchOS 27 will only be available for the latest Apple Watch models: the Series 9, 10 and 11; the Ultra 2 and 3; the SE 3. Apple only updates the CPU inside the Apple Watch every few years, despite the S-series chip inside getting a new name every year. In that sense, a few years of models can be grouped into a class that all get new software features at the same time and get cut off from updates…
Friend of the show blog Eric Schwarz of ShwarzTech has an interview podcast, Magical & Revolutionary , which I joined for episode four. Listen in Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Castro and Pocket Casts . We spoke about my “origin story” — my introduction to computers, switching to the Apple ecosystem and the unlikely story of how I ended up writing at Cult of Mac. Naturally, that led to discussing my…
I was invited onto Comfort Zone , a fun podcast where Niléane , Chris Lawley and Matt Birchler bring topics and issue each other challenges. Watch episode 111 on YouTube or listen in Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify or PocketCasts . As an unfortunate side effect of being me, I wanted to talk about the Apple Newton. I gave a hands-on demo showing how my MessagePad 2000 works, cleared up some…
I didn’t have much of an opinion on Apple Upgrade when it was announced earlier this week. I prefer to buy my devices outright, use them well past their expiration date and hoard them for my “collection.” The Apple Card Monthly Installments aren’t going away, so I’ll keep using that. But then I was invited to talk about it on Tech News Weekly with Mikah Sargent. I was on episode 448, which you can…
Nico Reese wrote a great article on how Liquid Glass has evolved in iOS 27, macOS Golden Gate 27 1 and all the other platforms. Apple is maturing the design language, but largely sticking with it — for better and worse. Last year, the Liquid Glass design evolved with every beta update. But now that we’re in the second public beta (the fourth overall) without any significant changes, it seems safe…
I’m supposed to be studying for a rather technical job interview I have tomorrow ( context ), but then I saw this article from Electrek: “Survey Sunday: is Slate Auto’s affordable electric truck going to make it?” I’m personally very excited about Slate Auto — I like sedans, but boy is their design philosophy right up my alley, so I’m rooting for their success — so I clicked through and saw this…
I wonder if the current speculation on a “MacBook Ultra” is off the mark. I have a theory that might make better sense of it all. MacBook Ultra, sitting above the MacBook Pro? When we first started hearing leaks of a new MacBook Pro design coming in 2026, it felt early. The 2021 design was still three years fresh. But if you look at the record, Apple has consistently redesigned the MacBook Pro…
If you missed hearing my voice on a podcast this week, I appeared on Clockwise #664 with Mikah Sargent, Dan Moren and Sam Henri Gold. They introduced mini topics on physical vs. digital media, hoarding old computers and how we keep track of ephemeral things. None of the problems we spoke about were solved, exactly, but it was fun airing out all these grievances in a tight 30 minutes. (Unlike other…
Call to action at the top: I need a new job. If you want to hire someone with professional experience in writing, marketing, audio / video editing, graphic design or programming, you should hire me. Send me an email and I’ll reply with my résumé. And now, what happened I was finishing up an article two days ago when Leander called to let me know that I had to be laid off from Cult of Mac. I don’t…
It is time for us on the Cult of Mac podcast to lay out our predictions for Apple’s WWDC26 Keynote. Like last year, we are joined by Graham Bower and Charlie Sorrel, although Leander disappeared from the show to avoid playing. This is the second predictions game of the year; I won previously in March, although Lewis has won every WWDC event thus far. These are the rules: We have agreed on a list…
This is the second batch of short reviews as I make my way through the Patrick Troughton era of Doctor Who and its spin-offs. And here we are in the thick of it — the fewest live action episodes. Before this watchthrough, I think Patrick Troughton is the Doctor I had seen the least of, for that reason. I went from not having much of an opinion of him to finding him one of my favorite Doctors.…
I tend to go through years-long phases of playing lots of video games, and then, virtually none at all. Last year kicked off a big on-phase. I somewhat impulsively bought a Switch 2; a close friend keeps their PS5 at my house. One game stood out above all the rest I’ve played recently — Omori , an RPG for Mac and PC via Steam, Switch, PlayStation and Xbox. Omori is the most beautiful and haunting…
Reports say that Apple has stopped developing a new Vision Pro; those engineers appear to be solely focused on smart glasses . While visionOS will keep getting software updates (for now…) and more Vision-adjacent products are in the pipeline, the full-size headset form factor is done. First draft product, first draft metaphor When the Vision Pro first debuted, everyone said this was the Macintosh…
Steve Jobs built a rocket ship, stacked his best people with him on the mission, and left us about thirty seconds after liftoff. Apple’s run from 1997 to 2011 is the most remarkable story in business history and will still be studied a hundred years from now. It was 14 continuous years of unbelievable hits and revolutionary products all the way to the end. Tim Cook held steady, piloted the rocket…
And how the Mac Studio could carry on its legacy Apple has officially discontinued the Mac Pro . Unfortunately, the writing has been on the wall for, like, five years. Apple decided to start caring about the Mac Pro again at the worst possible time. The Intel Mac Pro, while excellent, arrived just six months before the announcement that the Mac would transition to Apple silicon. After which, the…
For the first time in 2026 (and on the new Cult of Mac podcast) we will lay down our predictions for Apple’s not-an-Event event, and we are joined by Casey Liss . Leander wants to try a format with only 10 questions instead of 20. So to make up for it, I made all the questions a little more devilish. These are the rules: We have agreed on a list of predictions for the event. For each prediction we…
Nikita Prokopov’s conclusion to an excellent article criticizing menu bar icons in macOS 26 Tahoe : Is an interface manual from 1992 still relevant today? The principles — as long as they are good principles — still apply, because they are based on how humans work, not how computers work. It makes me sad seeing perfectly good knowledge already accessible 30 years ago being completely ignored or…
A few weeks ago, I had a dream where I imagined an Apple Maps feature I’d actually like to see. I’m at home reading 512 Pixels . I see a post about a new housing development that’s getting a lot of negative publicity because all houses are identical. Turns out, it’s near where I live. I decide to bike over there, despite the fact that at the time this dream took place, it’s mid-November. It takes…
The guitar’s enduring presence in music has led to one major problem. Musicians making music about the music-making process (something they love to do) have to awkwardly write lyrics around the word “guitar,” which emphasizes the wrong syllable. A lyric that ends on an emphasized syllable like gi·TAR can sound a bit odd, unless it’s written in an iambic meter . Some singers have taken to…
I recently acquired an Apple USB Keyboard (M2452), the model designed for the original iMac G3 . It features curved black keycaps, translucent pinstripes on the top and blue plastic around the bottom. It’s also notable for being Apple’s only USB keyboard with a power button. The integrated power button was a staple of prior ADB keyboards; being a proprietary port, Apple could wire one pin directly…
Most things should probably just be 16:9. I will not be more immersed by 16:8 or feel anything other than irritated by 16:10. Tiny slivers of black bars aren’t captivating, they’re annoying. If you don’t want to use standard widescreen, go right ahead. But really commit to it. You want cinematic? Use 2.1:9 or 2.35:1. You want to make a weird statement? Use 4:3. Or 3:2. Use 5:4 if you really want…
It is time to lay down our predictions for the biggest Apple announcement of the year. Previously, Lewis won at WWDC, but Leander and I have the opportunity to kick him off his throne. These are the rules: We have agreed on a list of predictions for the event. For each prediction we will vote Yes or No whether we think it will happen. Votes will be placed in order of who won the previous game .…
I have filed many design feedbacks to Apple over iOS 26 and the Liquid Glass design. But to Apple marketing, I have one very simple request: Give us a term we can use when referring to all the operating systems and software updates. iOS 26, macOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26 are now all in sync and are quickly identifiable as a group. But the tech press is struggling to…
Well, most of a transcript. On the Sunday before WWDC22, which I was fortunate enough to attend as a developer, 1 invitees were taken on a tour of the new Apple Developer Center. That tour concluded in the theater, where we were given a brief presentation on its technical capabilities. While listening to Federico Viticci talk on Connected about watching F1 ® The Movie in the Steve Jobs Theater, 2…
I would like to present, in response to the widely criticized Finder icon in macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 1, the icon I created in literally fifteen minutes with Pixelmator Pro and Apple’s own Icon Composer. Apple could very easily keep the icon’s historical appearance without compromising the Liquid Glass aesthetic by just… flipping the color palette. More thoughts, after being bothered by this all…