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Developers targeting Apple platforms, particularly the Mac, are expressing frustration over TestFlight approvals that take over a week. They attribute the delays to Apple being overwhelmed by the influx of vibe-coded app submissions. Is this explanation accurate?
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Steve Jobs Talks iBook, AirPort, and More in Newly Surfaced 1999 Video — MacRumors
The talk outlines Apple’s product strategy at the time, centered on its four-quadrant lineup of consumer and professional desktops and portables. With the iBook, Jobs said the matrix was complete alongside the iMac, Power Mac G3, and PowerBook G3, and noted that several of these products were already on their second or third iterations.
Incremental updates isn’t something new at Apple. Gurman lamenting about recent updates being incremental shouldn’t know better.
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MacBook Neo review: I wish this had an M1 inside:
The MacBook Neo is a cool little computer that I like, despite the fact that, on paper, it’s a pretty irrational purchase for most people (including myself). When I take a step back from the current hype cycle, I think this product is a tale of two halves: one outstanding, and the other pretty rough.
Here is an honest review of the MacBook Neo, a review that stands out compared to everything I’ve read and heard about it. I’m not sure that I agree with all of it, like the sound quality, but I think it’s important to amplify this type of review.
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“We’re the last people in this business who give a shit about making great computers.”:
I think that this newly discovered footage of Steve Jobs congratulating Apple employees at an outdoor all-hands meeting at the Infinite Loop campus following MacWorld New York in 1999 is some of the most important that exists of him.
I just found out about this clip of Steve Jobs, recorded back in 1999. It was a fascinating thing to watch in the context of the just-released MacBook Neo, while this clip covers the iBooks launch era. I think today’s Apple is staying true to the original vision of the iBook.
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Many MacBook Neo reviewers are impressed by its ability to open 10 or 15 apps at once without the Neo feeling sluggish. Well, having some basic knowledge of operating system theory would help understand why. Launching 10 apps simultaneously will certainly stress the Neo, but once they are in memory, of course, the Neo isn’t affected; those apps become quite dormant, using very few CPU cycles and less memory (thanks to macOS memory management). Of course, if an app is exporting a video in the background, it could impact the Neo’s overall responsiveness. Big difference.
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An unexpected side-effect of the MacBook Neo release on my purchase plans is that going with an M5-MacBook Air, I would rather select a 13-inch format instead of the 15-inch, saving some money that I would rather put on more RAM, instead (24 GB or even 32 GB instead of 16 GB). I think 13-inch is the perfect size for a travel companion. I get the portability of the Neo but the power of the M5 chip. But, I’m not there yet. Still rather happy with my M2 15-inch MacBook Air.
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Gruber’s reaction to Hacker News Discussion on Shubham Bose’s ‘The 49MB Web Page’:
One of the most controversial opinions I’ve long espoused, and believe today more than ever, is that it was a terrible mistake for web browsers to support JavaScript. Not that they should have picked a different language, but that they supported scripting at all. That decision turned web pages — which were originally intended as documents — into embedded computer programs.
It’s hard to imagine the web without JavaScript, only as a collection of static, linked documents served by essentially passive file servers.
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The iPhone 5 and the MacBook Neo
One of the best iPhone design, the iPhone 5, is now obsolete for Apple, which means is no longer serviceable. It was one of my favorite design of all the iPhone partly because of the tech context it was living. But iOS 6 on this was pure beauty. As a side note, it’s funny to see reviews of the MacBook Neo where none of them mention macOS as being part of the machine. Continue reading →
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The Alan Dye leaving for Meta thing, that was unexpected, and, to some degree, turbulent. But I have yet to speak to a single person within Apple, nor a single UI designer outside Apple, who thinks it’s anything but good news for Apple that Dye jumped ship for Meta. Not just that Dye is a fraud of a UI designer. Not just that he and his inner circle have vandalized MacOS, the crown jewel of human-computer interaction. Not just that he and his team are given — or have taken — credit for innovative, high-quality work on VisionOS that really belongs to the interaction team Mike Rockwell put together for VisionOS. Not just that Dye left Apple for a rival company, period — something unheard of amongst Apple’s bleed-in-six-colors executive ranks. But that he left for Meta, of all fucking companies? That’s the proof that Dye (and his urban cowboy magazine-designer cohort) never belonged at Apple in the first place.
Ouch.
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It’s uncertain whether Apple will keep Liquid Glass unchanged in iOS 27, and it’s premature to conclude. The latest iOS 27 build reportedly doesn’t update Liquid Glass, so no definitive judgment should be made. If iOS 27 is a Snow Leopard release, significant UI changes are unlikely. Gurman should be better than that.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook Responds to Retirement Rumors — MacRumors
“I can’t imagine life without Apple.”
But can we imagine Apple without Tim Cook? Probably yes for many.
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A few notes about the MacBook Neo:
I’m not thrilled by the lack of backlighting in the keyboard. Maybe it’ll appear in the pricier model in a future iteration. The keys are white/tinted, so maybe the printing is contrasty enough to make the key symbols visible even in poor light. I was willing to put this in the ‘okay’ category, but I can’t help feeling this was an unnecessary corner for Apple to cut.
My wife also has some negative comments about the keyboard. Not only it doesn’t include backlighting, since the keycaps aren’t pure white, the contrast is lower which negatively affect the readability in low light conditions.
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Reuters: Meta Is Planning to Wreck the Lives of 20% of Its Staff Because It Is Spending So Much on Data Centres — Pixel Envy
Meta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers.
Wow, that’s a lot of people! Is Alan Dye in the bunch? 👀
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Mark Gurman in No Major Changes to Liquid Glass Expected Across iOS 27 and macOS 27 said:
Apple’s new software design chief, Steve Lemay, was “a driving force” behind Liquid Glass and was “deeply involved in its development.”
I’m not sure we are still so excited for Lemay replacing Alan Dye now. 😳
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At the Apple Store for testing the Neo. Two things: I prefer its trackpad over my MacBook Air’s. The speaker grill can easily be bended with a nail. Much faster than I thought. Nice feel in the hands. Great size. Impressed. Bought one for my wife.
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It will be interesting to see in the next 2 or 3 quarters the effect of the MacBook Neo on the Mac sales (harder to tell as low priced Mac won’t make a big difference in revenue numbers) and the IPad sales. If both move in opposite directions then we could potentially conclude on the Neo effect.
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“Neo does not mean more. It means the return to what is essential.”
— On my Om
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Halide Cofounder Sebastiaan de With Joined Apple’s Design Team in January:
When de With published his essay, it was as an idea for where Apple might go. Now that we’ve seen and been living with Liquid Glass, his essay works even better as a roadmap for the direction Liquid Glass should head.
I really hope De With was hired, not only for his talent, but for the work he did behind his essay: Physicality: the new age of UI.
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The New Apple Finally Begins to Emerge:
The MacBook Neo is a new kind of product for Apple, unveiled in a new way, with new materials, by an array of fresher faces. These new products being unveiled at the same time the faces of the company are beginning to change feels like a turning point. You could argue Neo is one of, if not the first product of this new Apple.
I hope Parker is right. I do too feel something different. Is it only Neo-related or is it more profound?
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If I were to buy a MacBook Neo, I would turn off Apple Intelligence to reduce resources consumption. But according to the reviews published this week, it appears that this wouldn’t be necessary. The Neo is really a capable machine even with only 8GB of RAM.
