Senior Apple executives have apparently gotten a peek at the headset every year since 2018, but these demonstrations were discreet looks at the project’s progress rather than showcases of the complete device. Situated at the Steve Jobs Theater, the latest preview was reportedly a far more significant event, being “polished, glitzy, and exciting.” Source: Apple Reportedly Demoed Mixed-Reality Headset to Executives in the Steve Jobs Theater Last Week - MacRumors

If Gurman’s report is anywhere near the reality of what actually happened at the Steve Jobs Theater, why do I think they seem to look to galvanize the troop and get convinced they need to move forward anyway? In other words: throw spaghetti to the wall and see if it sticks. Doesn’t look good to me.

Rant on. I love Apple’s Safari browser, but the lack of Safari Extensions support by many developers is starting to make me reconsider my love either of Safari or of Apple’s strict App Store policies. That is why, starting now, I’m switching to Firefox exclusively when I’m using Inoreader. Rant off.

In May 2019 I published this:

Personally, I think this year is too early for ARM-based Mac. Why? Because, my thinking is that Apple wants iOS on these ARM-Based Macs, not Mac. And they want a lot of ready-to-use, yet well-known apps to be available. For this, they are working on Marzipan (which later became Catalyst) to entice developers to write more powerful apps for iOS, especially the iPad. These are the prime candidates to run on this future ARM-based Mac. We are four weeks away from knowing a bit more about Apple’s strategy. Source: Apple Is Done With Intel - Numeric Citizen Blog

The Apple Silicon was announced more than a year later.

Riccardo Mori wrote an interesting take about the possible future of the Mac with a touch screen Why do you want to touch your Mac screen so badly? | Riccardo Mori:

the people who’d love to have a touchscreen Mac are people who prefer having the iPad and iPhone as primary devices for work and leisure. It’s the iPad-first guys who on the one hand are frustrated by the still mediocre multitasking and still limited functionality Apple is providing on the iPad, and on the other hand realize the sheer versatility and multitasking dexterity the Mac still has in spades despite the general worsening of Mac OS over the past few years. In short, they say they’d love a touchscreen Mac, but what they mean is that they’d love a hybrid iPad/Mac device that could offer the best of both worlds.

Today at work, during a Zoom call, my colleague found out by error that she could touch the screen of her Windows portable to interact with it. She was totally mesmerized. Then she continued with the conversation. I don’t think it will make a big difference in her world. What people want is an iPad when it makes sense, a traditional computer, when it makes sense. Microsoft seems to have found an enduring combo with its Surface.

Gurman said it is “plausible” that at least the next 13-inch MacBook Air will be equipped with the as-yet-unannounced M3 chip, which will reportedly be manufactured based on TSMC’s latest 3nm process for improved performance. The current 13-inch model was released in July 2022 and is powered by the M2 chip, which is based on a 5nm process. Source: Gurman: New 13-Inch and 15-Inch MacBook Airs Likely to Launch by Summer - MacRumors

I would be really surprised to see the updated MacBook Air product line introduce the new M3 so soon. Why? The MacBook Pro is based on the M2. Even if people buy computers, not chips, it would send a weird signal to have an M3 product at the entry level while the Pro machines are using M2. The 3 nanometer process will probably help reduce heat dissipation, but the last time I checked, the M2 in the 13-inch MacBook Air doesn’t exhibit any problems, even when the machine is running at full processing power.

One possibility, though, is if the M3 chip really helps make a difference from an end-user perspective enough to entice users to upgrade. We’ll see soon enough. And I can’t wait to get my hands on the 15-inch version of the MacBook Air.

As noted by MacRumors:

The second beta of iOS 16.4 that was introduced to developers today appears to have a limited number of new features, but it does have a major update for those who use Apple Books - it reintroduces an option for the page-turning animation. Source: iOS 16.4 Beta 2 Re-Adds Page Turning Animation to Apple Books - MacRumors

One quick question: who decided it was a good idea to remove such page-turning animation in the first place? What problem did it solve? Books are still a big part of our life, and this animation is a great reference to the experience of reading a book.