Apple & Tech — Numeric Citizen Blog

My brother-in-law got a M4 Mac mini recently. The last time he used a Mac was with the Macintosh LC III, more than thirty years ago. One thing he still struggles with, then and now: the menu bar that changes when switching apps. The other thing: he doesn’t get the Stage Manager. He turned that off.

I often share photos about Apple, apparently¹.

A screen overlay with focus and notification buttons is superimposed on a background of red leaves and clear blue sky.

A settings menu with options to toggle Show Borders, On/Off Labels, and Reduce Highlighting Effects.

A gold laptop displaying a mountain landscape on its screen is set on a wooden table with a cityscape visible in the background.

A MacBook Air is open on a wooden surface, displaying a desktop with a galaxy-themed wallpaper.

A person is holding a white smartphone, focusing on the camera area with their finger nearby.

A tablet displaying a split screen with a messaging app on the left and a map on the right, accompanied by a stylus placed on the side.

Icons from MacOS are shown in three columns labeled Original, Current, and Creator Studio.

A conversation thread on a social platform shows users discussing an app update for Tapestry with mentions of sponsorship slots and a comment appreciating Tumblr.

A smartphone displays a screen with an app interface for managing transparency and tint settings, alongside icons for editing tools, on a blue gradient background.

A smartphone screen displays a variety of app icons on a dark blue-themed home screen, including widgets for fitness tracking and calendar information.

A music player interface displays Next to Me by RÜFÜS DU SOL, with a list of songs queued for autoplay.

A music player interface on a smartphone screen displays Next to Me by RÜFÜS DU SOL and suggests a playlist for continuous listening.

A computer screen displays a grid of application icons within a file management window, showcasing multiple installed apps.

A grid of 12 application icons with names like Text Workflow, Textcraft, TextEdit, and others.

Stickers resembling futuristic processing chip designs labeled M1, M2, and M4 Pro, alongside a colorful coffee cup, are placed on a textured gray surface.

A close-up of a smartphone screen displays a music library with a navigation bar and a paused track titled Not Playing.

A smartphone with a colorful gradient background screen shows app icons and widgets, including a calendar and notifications.

Colorful, gradient letters spell out WWDC25 against a light background.

A laptop with a colorful display sits on a dark table, surrounded by office furniture and an empty box.

Two screenshots of iPhone home screens display different app icons and layouts, showcasing updates between iOS versions.

A television screen displays a selection of streaming and application icons, including Apple TV, Netflix, and YouTube, in a home setting with a brick wall background.

A Mac mini is being held up, with the text Mac mini above it, featuring a pirate flag graphic on the letter i.

A group of people is gathered outside an Apple store, likely for a product release event.

A person is adjusting an Apple computer in a cluttered office filled with books and papers.

A vibrant, neon swirl in blue, pink, and orange forms the outline of an apple with a leaf against a dark background.

A top-down view of the internals of two disassembled identical compact computer units is shown, revealing their cooling systems and circuitry.

A boxed Apple iMac with an image of the computer, keyboard, and mouse is placed inside a vehicle.

A person is intently looking at an iPad which they are holding up with both hands.

A sleek, modern storefront with a large glass structure stands in a bustling urban setting, surrounded by classical architecture and people sitting on steps.

A cup of tea, a plate with a piece of cake and a fork, a laptop, and a pair of wireless earphones sit on a table.

A desk setup features dual monitors, a laptop, keyboard, microphone, and lighting, creating a workspace for content creation or broadcasting.

A transparent view of a vintage Macintosh computer, displaying its internal components and connected mouse.

A coiled cord attached to a rectangular box is positioned next to a small, textured rectangular object with an engraved symbol.

A smartphone displaying the time 11:49 lies on a textured surface next to a phone case with a circular design.

Four smartphones with metallic finishes, each featuring triple camera setups, are displayed in a row against a dark background.

A sleek iMac with a round base and a floating display is showcased on a blue background with the text The new iMac.

An Apple iMac G3 with a teal-colored translucent casing is displayed alongside a keyboard and mouse.

A laptop displaying a colorful desktop screen with various widgets and apps is placed on a wooden surface.

A person is seated indoors, wearing virtual reality goggles and smiling.

Several smartphones are displayed on a wooden table, each secured on a white stand.

Three Apple devices—a large desktop monitor flanked by two laptops—are displayed against a red background, each showing different screen content.

A sleek, cylindrical black container is placed on a wooden surface with its shadow cast on a light-colored wall.

Testing the new photo collections on Micro.blog. I like it. ↩︎

Image Playground is so underwhelming and pretty much useless for me. It’s barely a tech demo. All this for what?

According to Tim Cook, the old Steve Jobs office at One Infinite Loop is still intact and reserved for Tim Cook so he can enter it and “connect with him”? I would die myself to have a chance to see this place.

Even idle (10%-15% CPU usage), the new M4 Mac mini (with M4 Pro chip) runs much hotter than the old M1. I don’t hear the fan but according to iStats Menu, the temp inside is 56F.

Migrating From M1 Mac mini to M4 Mac mini - A Flawless Migration

Got my M4 Mac mini yesterday and completed the migration off the old M1 Mac mini. The process took me about 2.5 hours, where about 1.25 hours for data migration only using the Apple Migration Assistant¹. Upon first login, I got only a handful of security-related popups, much less than I was expecting. Many apps like Microsoft OneDrive, Synology Drive client, worked perfectly with minimum reconfiguration, which was a pleasant surprise. A few app licenses to reconfigure and hop I’m ready to go!

This is the first time that I’m using a two-monitor setup at home (Apple Studio Display + LG UltraFine 4K). It’s quite a setup upgrade. Today will be my first full work day with this setup, I’ll report back later for more impressions.

I used a Thunderbolt 4 cable between the two machines. Actually transfer speed were between 100 MB/s & 600 MB/S, while being rated at more than 900 MB/s. ↩︎

Migration in progress … 😎

In preparation to receive the new M4 Mac mini which supports at least two screens¹, I decided to rework my desk setup and bring back the LG UltraFine 4K display on my desk. Once the migration from the old Mac mini is complete, I’ll be using a two-display setup. My Synology NAS was moved to a separate table to make some room for the LG display. My Elgao StreamDeck+ was relocated too, this time on the desk shelf.

Three displays, actually. ↩︎

As I’m getting ready to receive my new M4 Mac mini¹, I’m starting to think that my decision to go with a 1TB model was not really future-proof and probably downright a mistake.

Remove unused apps, delete useless data (using Daisy Disk). ↩︎

Many tech reviewers are discussing the unusual placement of the power button on the M4 Mac mini. However, none of them, to my knowledge, mention the size of the power light. It is much larger than before. Could this be annoying? Are Apple designers failing again? Is Apple doomed once more? These are serious questions. Why am I the only one asking them?