0:00:00(upbeat music)
0:00:02- Hello and welcome to Connected,
0:00:09episode 224, our 2018 year end review.
0:00:14It is made possible by our sponsors,
0:00:17Pingdom, Smile, and Kane11.
0:00:20I'm your host, Stephen Hackett,
0:00:22and I'm joined by Myke Hurley.
0:00:23- Happy holidays.
0:00:25- Hey, it's Boxing Day where you are,
0:00:28as we release this.
0:00:29- Yep, I'm sitting in a box, as the tradition would say.
0:00:32- You sit in the box?
0:00:34Is that the tradition?
0:00:34- That's how it goes, yeah.
0:00:36Everyone gets their own personal box on Boxing Day.
0:00:39- Yeah, well, that's, oh, and, okay.
0:00:42And Federico Vittucci, hi.
0:00:43- Hello, hi, happy holidays.
0:00:46It's good to be here, how are you, Steven?
0:00:49- I'm good, it's the end of the year,
0:00:51there's just a few days left,
0:00:52and we have this tradition on Connected
0:00:54to look back over the previous 12 months
0:00:58of news and stories, things we talked about,
0:01:00and sort of revisit them and see what was a big deal,
0:01:03what wasn't a big deal, what rumors ended up being true,
0:01:06which is like my theme for 2018.
0:01:08The rumor mill was just really bonkers this year.
0:01:11But before we do that, we have very important business.
0:01:15- I don't wanna do this.
0:01:16- Yeah, it's very important.
0:01:18It's very important business.
0:01:19- No, because we're gonna fight.
0:01:20- We should do it.
0:01:21- Wait, no, we're gonna fight.
0:01:22We're gonna fight again, so.
0:01:24- Okay.
0:01:25- No, there's no fighting. - I think there is.
0:01:27- I don't see why.
0:01:28Why?
0:01:29- Based upon the rules that you put into place last year.
0:01:32- Okay, okay.
0:01:33- The no half points rule.
0:01:35- We have our annual predictions.
0:01:37And these are the rules we put forth about a year ago.
0:01:41Two points for correct picks in the risky pick round.
0:01:45If your risky pick is wrong, you lose a point.
0:01:48This is where it gets interesting.
0:01:50The other two hosts must agree your pick is risky,
0:01:52which I guess we did a year ago.
0:01:54And there are no half points.
0:01:56So that is where I think we could get into some debate.
0:02:01- I forgot about the risky points rule, which is probably,
0:02:04that's why, okay, okay, cool.
0:02:06Then this is clean cut, this is clean cut.
0:02:08- That's why. - All right, cool, cool, cool.
0:02:10Wait, we need to do some adjudicating as we go through this,
0:02:14but I think we're probably good.
0:02:16I forgot about the risky picks rule.
0:02:18- Yeah, Myke, are you where you could keep score for us?
0:02:21- Yeah.
0:02:22- You got a pen and paper there?
0:02:23- You know I've got a pen and paper.
0:02:25round one, I'm going to read our predictions and then we can discuss the outcomes. So in
0:02:30round one, I predicted the Mac Pro would ship by the end of the year after teasing WWDC.
0:02:36Michael said there will be a bigger iPhone 10 style phone, but will not have an OLED
0:02:42screen. Federico said, there's a lot of this, iOS 12 will have a focus on quote faster speed
0:02:48and performance optimizations being a tentpole feature. It will be on a slide. Please appreciate
0:02:54all these points. I still can't believe you got a point out of this because you picked so many
0:02:59things. So many things. All of them. You're a madman. The counter, the narrative around iOS 11.
0:03:07And then he has some examples, faster animations, maybe 64 bit Swift promotion, something under the
0:03:13scenes, maybe a built in cache cleanup feature. So some of those details are sort of hand wavy. But
0:03:19I think it's pretty clear that Federico gets a point for iOS 12 having a focus on being faster.
0:03:26They preach that good news at WWDC. So I have a point I would like to bring to the group.
0:03:31So I said there will be a bigger iPhone 10 style phone but it will not have an OLED screen.
0:03:37Now at the time we were thinking max but doesn't the XR fit that exact prediction?
0:03:44I think it does. I think you get a point as well.
0:03:47Because iPhone X-styled phone will not have an OLED screen.
0:03:50Now it's like, I know that at the time, we didn't think that the XR would exist, right?
0:03:55But by like just the way that we wrote the prediction down, I think it counts.
0:04:00Yeah, I think it does too.
0:04:02Because you don't say that the only bigger iPhone X-style phone would be LCD.
0:04:07You say there will be A1 and that-
0:04:09Yeah, this counts. This counts.
0:04:11-That's cool. -To the language, you are correct.
0:04:13So I'm pleased that I've at least scored this year.
0:04:16It's like it might be the first time I've ever scored a point.
0:04:19You always get too specific, which we'll see.
0:04:23I personally consider myself the winner now. I have the moral victory here.
0:04:27What a rush, huh? Having a point. How does it feel like?
0:04:32The power I have right now.
0:04:33I did not get a point. I will tell you though, this will be my first pick for 2019.
0:04:39This exact phrase. But there's no Mac Pro this year, so I do not get a point.
0:04:44Are we gonna do this on our next episode?
0:04:47Yeah, yeah, we do at the beginning of the year.
0:04:50Oh, I got something. We have to.
0:04:51I have no idea right now. I know.
0:04:53You can't come into this off the top of your head.
0:04:55It goes poorly. No.
0:04:57We are under listener contractual obligation to do this.
0:05:01Yeah. Who signed that contract?
0:05:02Round two.
0:05:04Michael said, "Apple Watch with an always-on display."
0:05:07I feel like we were all cheated
0:05:08by losing this point, personally.
0:05:11The whole world. Yeah.
0:05:11Every Apple Watch user was cheated by you.
0:05:14I cannot believe that this is still not a thing on the Apple
0:05:17Watch.
0:05:18It boggles my mind.
0:05:19Federico said, a streaming service
0:05:21announces Apple Video one to two months for free,
0:05:24bundled with Apple Music as an option.
0:05:26I remember at the time telling you,
0:05:28that was a wild prediction, because they hadn't even
0:05:30started shooting the TV shows.
0:05:32That, I think, is another one that could be totally reasonable
0:05:37in 2019, by the way.
0:05:38That is like, that's probably gonna be one of my first picks.
0:05:41So we're all gonna have to run for that one.
0:05:44- And I make it onto the board.
0:05:46Still no new iPad Mini, and I had a parenthetical,
0:05:50if it's killed I'm not wrong.
0:05:52The iPad Mini 4 is, as it ever was, still for sale.
0:05:56So, right now we are tied.
0:05:57Myke, you have won.
0:05:59Federico, you have won.
0:06:00I have won.
0:06:01- Wait, who's keeping the scores here?
0:06:03- Well, I mean, they're in green and red now,
0:06:05so I could see them.
0:06:06but I'll let you do the final thing.
0:06:09Okay, risky picks.
0:06:11So again, if you are correct, you get two points.
0:06:16If you are wrong, you lose a point from your total.
0:06:20And we already previously agreed
0:06:22that these were all risky picks,
0:06:24so there's not any debate about that.
0:06:26Federico, Workflow 2 will appear as a system, feature,
0:06:30or app heavy on Siri integration,
0:06:33Framework for pro apps to talk to each other and you had two non graded things. I'll just say just for clarity
0:06:40There probably be a migration tool
0:06:41I guess from workflow to workflow to or now we know is the shortcut which there was
0:06:45The App Store version might be kept around for a while. It's only an App Store version. It's only one version
0:06:51So that was wrong. You should have kept your not graded things in there to be honest because this is a thing
0:06:56framework for pro apps to talk to each other that's
0:07:02That's not there. That's not there, but I think overall, like…
0:07:07But we don't do half points around here, though. So this is where it gets awkward.
0:07:11If you look at the entire prediction, Workflow 2 will appear as a season feature wrap, heavy
0:07:15on serial integration. So why does NotGraded even exist, then? That
0:07:20everything you said had to be graded? I don't know why we did the NotGraded, but
0:07:23I don't know. Because the point was, because we had this
0:07:26in the past, of everyone getting way too specific, and if you were more specific and you didn't
0:07:31all your specific points you didn't get the point like that was the reason for the not graded
0:07:35and why we thought you were wild i don't know but we decided that it was yeah i don't know why but
0:07:42at the time we decided that it was not graded so i think we give it to him yeah all right we can
0:07:46give it to him but we have to put this rule into place because this is a rule that i know exists
0:07:50which is everything that is written down has to be true for the point to be given i i think yes sure
0:07:57we could let it slide this time, but I think that all of us get zero points, because
0:08:02T2 doesn't get a half point, but I'll let it go, but...
0:08:07I mean, compared to your... but let's compare this one to your risky picks.
0:08:12I say Workflow 2, you say... Steven says iTunes rewrite or replacement for macOS.
0:08:17Myke says iOS 12 features a large-scale UI redesign across iOS, the biggest since iOS 7.
0:08:25We thought that that might happen, right?
0:08:27Like I might just be one year off.
0:08:29- Ryan tell Bloomberg said it wasn't happening.
0:08:32- But your risky picks are complete.
0:08:34- Yes, they are completely wrong.
0:08:36- Mine is only partially incorrect for one detail.
0:08:39- But we don't do half points, no half points.
0:08:43- Yeah, here's the thing.
0:08:44I don't think you can compare risky picks to each other.
0:08:47I feel like they just exist as their own item.
0:08:51- Riskiness.
0:08:52- But I think you get it.
0:08:53Even though the framework for Pro Apps,
0:08:55I think I know what you were saying then,
0:08:57but I kinda also think that the Siri shortcuts,
0:09:02that's not Pro Apps talking to each other,
0:09:03but it's Pro Apps talking to the system,
0:09:05I think we give it to him.
0:09:06- I think it is close enough to correct that I agree.
0:09:10- If you wanna be super nitpicky,
0:09:13you could argue that Siri shortcuts as in framework
0:09:16and the clipboard as a way for apps to talk to each other,
0:09:19it kinda counts. - The clipboard
0:09:20is not a framework.
0:09:21The clipboard is not a framework.
0:09:23It actually is! It actually is! It actually is a f-
0:09:27Well, but-
0:09:28Well!
0:09:29It's only- it's- it is-
0:09:31It is partially incorrect.
0:09:33This- this point.
0:09:35Alright, you know what? Kate has actually adjudicated this.
0:09:39Risky picks are worth two points, so you get one point.
0:09:43But that's a half grading.
0:09:45I think that works fine. Yeah, but whatever.
0:09:47Look, we're all trying to find ways to let Federico win this at this point, aren't we?
0:09:51So we'll just say it's close enough.
0:09:53It's the holidays, give him the two points, Federico wins.
0:09:57Federico gets three points.
0:10:00I am not surprised that I won again.
0:10:02Take the point away from him.
0:10:04This is why he doesn't deserve the point.
0:10:05Thank you, thank you Connected Listeners for supporting...
0:10:08This is why.
0:10:09He cannot be humble in his victory.
0:10:12He has to now be like, "I am the king of all predictions."
0:10:18supporting the rightful winner of this prediction. See you again next year.
0:10:23I knew we should know when I'm winning.
0:10:24Well, we can bring everybody down with round four.
0:10:28Extra picks?
0:10:29Extra picks that were not great. These are just things that we put out there.
0:10:33That we just said.
0:10:34So let's just blow Federico out of the water. Federico said two things. Apple
0:10:39Video and Apple Music have dedicated apps for Mac and iOS. Music and Video removed
0:10:44from iTunes on the Mac.
0:10:46He also said, this is maybe my favorite,
0:10:50"Reminders will get a major redesign
0:10:53"modeled after iOS 11 in files,
0:10:55"new family sharing features,
0:10:56"and integration with the HomePod."
0:10:58- Oh, boy, that's so bad.
0:10:59- When was Reminders last updated, Federico?
0:11:03- iOS 7, iOS 7, five years ago.
0:11:06- Oh, boy.
0:11:09Not that we're any better.
0:11:10- Well.
0:11:11- Not that we're any better.
0:11:12I said--
0:11:13- You were close.
0:11:14An app kit and UI kit give birth to something new
0:11:17and cross platform like Gurman said.
0:11:20It's not really true because these apps in Mojave
0:11:23are just basically UI kit apps with a little shim
0:11:27to make them work on the Mac.
0:11:29I also said an iPod touch update,
0:11:31so maybe I'm the biggest loser here.
0:11:32- That was the wildest thing.
0:11:35I can't believe you said that.
0:11:36- Just going crazy at the end.
0:11:37- That should have been a risky pick, that one.
0:11:40- If I'd gotten that right,
0:11:41I would have won it for all time.
0:11:44Myke, you set a new Apple Pencil with a button of some kind,
0:11:48with aluminum with a question mark after it.
0:11:50You got a new Pencil.
0:11:52There's the tapping thing, it's kind of the same spirit,
0:11:55but it doesn't count 'cause there are no points.
0:11:57Federico wanted a new Smart Keyboard.
0:11:59I don't know if you knew this,
0:12:00Federico doesn't really like the Smart Keyboard.
0:12:02He suggested a new material,
0:12:04backlit keys and a dedicated Siri key.
0:12:07You got none of those things.
0:12:09- I got a new Smart Keyboard,
0:12:13which is the SmartKey portfolio with a new material,
0:12:16but it was not what I was expecting.
0:12:18The new material is the texture for the key,
0:12:21wow, this is so sad. - So sad.
0:12:24- Look at this.
0:12:25- And then Myke also had something,
0:12:27Myke's interesting, you had a couple
0:12:29that Bloomberg sort of shot down early on.
0:12:31On iOS 12, the iPad home screen
0:12:33features more than just app icons.
0:12:35- So really, I should blame Federico for my loss.
0:12:40- Sure. - Right?
0:12:40- But then Federico wouldn't have gotten speed,
0:12:42like it's a give and take around here. Well that's it though right? That just helps me win more.
0:12:47So I blame Craig Federighi for me losing this year. You should just blame yourself for bad picks.
0:12:54No they were good picks. These are all things that are gonna happen. I was just wrong by maybe one
0:12:59year. That's just so upsetting about all of this. That's not how it works. Well so you're gonna just
0:13:05repeat the same picks for 2019? Look I'm not gonna say that it is impossible that I would do that.
0:13:12Alright? Just, you know, maybe I will do that.
0:13:14Copy and paste them right out of here.
0:13:16I am, as we speak, copying and pasting into my notes document.
0:13:20Okay, good luck.
0:13:21What is this? What is this good luck from you?
0:13:24You know, here's the thing, right? You keep playing it like this, everyone's gonna want you to lose.
0:13:28You know that, right? You're gonna turn everyone against you. Is that what you want?
0:13:31There's enough people who love me that I feel their support and encouragement to keep producing amazing productions.
0:13:41See what you will do to him?
0:13:42Turn him into a monster.
0:13:43He's a monster.
0:13:43I'm a monster at winning picks.
0:13:45That's what I am.
0:13:46I quit.
0:13:46No, you have to read the sponsor first.
0:13:50No, I've quit.
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0:15:14Emryley FM. So the year in review time, we will go throughout the year talking about primarily,
0:15:21I think, the things that we spoke about and we were focusing on the most in the show. How are
0:15:26we going to do this? Who's going to read them all? I feel like Steven's year, right? As the host.
0:15:32As the resident historian of the Apple community.
0:15:34That's a good point. Yeah, this is just more history. It's just more recent than you normally do, but...
0:15:39It's true. Ask me about these things again in 10 years, please.
0:15:43Okay.
0:15:43You will know them.
0:15:44Yeah, it's no problem.
0:15:45Won't be surprised.
0:15:46So this really began at the end of 2017. Remember all this? The iPhone battery gate.
0:15:54Apple is throttling your phone because it would shut down otherwise, and people were mad. The
0:15:59battery replacements were so expensive. And Apple announced at the very end of the year
0:16:04that for all of 2018, for a bunch of iPhones,
0:16:08you could do a $29 battery replacement.
0:16:13And people were mostly excited.
0:16:16I think some people thought they should be free,
0:16:18which is sort of silly.
0:16:19But 29 bucks, you get a battery put in,
0:16:21put in your old phone.
0:16:23I don't know about y'all, I have sent a ton of people
0:16:25to the Apple Store this year to do that,
0:16:26including my own parents and family members
0:16:28as recently as this week, reminding them,
0:16:30hey, this ends at the end of the year.
0:16:34And then the other price is gonna go back up. Do you guys think people will be upset about that?
0:16:38I had completely forgotten about this and now I kind of regret it because I should have told my mom to get a new battery
0:16:44And now she she will not be able to come to the Apple Store because there's a holiday. Just sitting there in silent regret
0:16:51She's gonna she's gonna she's gonna be so upset if she finds out. You've let her down. You're a bad son
0:16:55I'm a bad son. Between this and the pranks you play on her. Yeah, is this just another prank?
0:17:03I haven't actually pulled any pranks.
0:17:04You pranked her out of $30. Way to go.
0:17:07I'm planning something for Christmas.
0:17:09I still haven't decided what I want to do.
0:17:11What do you mean, like you're planning something?
0:17:15What does that mean?
0:17:16That's what I said.
0:17:18I want to do something that is fun.
0:17:20Who is it fun for?
0:17:22Me, mostly.
0:17:24(laughs)
0:17:25And the people who participate in the prank.
0:17:28Oh, you're gonna have people?
0:17:29Except for my mom.
0:17:30Yeah, usually Sylvia, she just plays along because she's also terrible like me.
0:17:35Yeah, I feel bad. This is ending on the end of the year, right?
0:17:42Yeah, the fee, thanks to Benjamin Mayo in the chat, the fee will become $49 for all products except the iPhone X, which will change to $69, which is a nice price for a battery change, I think.
0:17:57And it ends on Boxing Day instead of December 31st.
0:18:02Oh man.
0:18:03Well, that battery is gone.
0:18:05I'm not getting a new battery.
0:18:08But it's not expensive to change anymore.
0:18:1049 instead of 79.
0:18:12You could just apologize and hand her 30 bucks.
0:18:15Or you could take care of it for her.
0:18:17Say, "Hey, I'm going to borrow your phone for the afternoon and go do it as an apology."
0:18:20She thinks she's going to get a prank, but in fact, you're actually just going to fix
0:18:22her phone for her.
0:18:23You come back with a Motorola Droid.
0:18:25It's a terrible prank.
0:18:27Well you did that once. I used Android for a long time. Yeah, I've got it over here somewhere.
0:18:32Up next,
0:18:34Transmit for iOS is discontinued showing the end of pro app development on the iPad. Pack it up.
0:18:41I'm so sad that this
0:18:44This this happened. I'm still using file browser on iOS. I mean it's functional. It does its job well.
0:18:53And you could you could use a bunch of other apps. I know people use documents for FTP access and that kind of stuff
0:18:59I prefer fire browser because of some advanced features that I like like shortcuts or like you can add
0:19:04Specific folders for a remote location to your home screen as an icon, which is nice
0:19:10But I still miss the UI and like the polish of transmit and I so wish that panic
0:19:18Like I would subscribe to transmit
0:19:20This is one of those apps, especially now that I have a Mac Mini, so I connect to a
0:19:24bunch of folders that I use on my Mac Mini.
0:19:27I would pay, I don't know, a $10 subscription a year for transmit.
0:19:31You know, that kind of utility I would pay for.
0:19:34But I guess they're focused on Coda now.
0:19:37I think it's the only iOS app they still maintain.
0:19:39Oh no, and Prompt, which I also use, which is not a podcast, it's an app.
0:19:43There should be a podcast called Prompt, though.
0:19:46That's a good name.
0:19:48But yeah, it's a sad announcement.
0:19:50I wish they would actually backtrack on this decision,
0:19:54but I guess it's not happening.
0:19:56- I'm still using it, it still works.
0:19:57I sort of assume that that will not be true forever
0:20:01and then I'll deal with it then.
0:20:02But I use it actually a fair amount
0:20:04for uploading shows to our host.
0:20:06It's very handy.
0:20:07Up next, we have Apple Previews iOS 11.3.
0:20:12If you don't remember, the features included
0:20:14new Animoji and ARKit 1.5.
0:20:18Tell me how much this has changed the way I work on your iPads and iPhones.
0:20:22This is, um, this has complete a arcade.
0:20:241.5 has allowed me to use the iPad as my computer.
0:20:29Um, yes, because now I, I basically, the way that I work is I hold the iPad and I
0:20:36project a 3d graphic of a Macintosh on my table and, and I, and I touch that
0:20:43graphic with my hands, real AR.
0:20:46So this is... you cannot do real AR on a Mac, which is why I'm using the iPad as my primary
0:20:53AR computer projector. Yes. Totally game changer. No, seriously though, are you guys still using
0:20:59an emoji? I know Myke. Myke is. He sends an emoji every once in a while.
0:21:04I'm more... I'm still, as predicted at the time when Memoji came out, I still use Bitmoji
0:21:09more because of like the little scenes that Bitmoji will put your character in.
0:21:12And there are those Bitmojis that you send us all the time, like the Savage Bitmoji,
0:21:19those have become institutions of our private conversations.
0:21:22Everybody wants to get the Savage one every now and then, because that's when they are
0:21:25commended for their savagery, you know?
0:21:28Everyone wants to be Savage.
0:21:29That's perfect.
0:21:30I use it, but it's not a ton.
0:21:33This is one of those things I expect that slowly over time they just keep making better
0:21:37and better.
0:21:38I'm intrigued to see what they do to Memoji
0:21:41like over the next year,
0:21:43'cause it feels like something that
0:21:44probably does help sell the phones,
0:21:48even because people,
0:21:49whether they will or they won't use them,
0:21:51they might think that they'll use them,
0:21:52and they're kind of like a cute thing,
0:21:53it's like a demo thing.
0:21:55You know, I reckon kids love it, you know?
0:21:56Like it's a cool feature,
0:21:59it is not a groundbreaking feature,
0:22:01but it's still fun.
0:22:03- I just realized I cut my hair,
0:22:05and I need to update mine,
0:22:07because my little guy still has long hair.
0:22:09I should get on that.
0:22:11- It's a very important task. - I'm gonna do that.
0:22:14- Why is the next item in our list?
0:22:17- Because at the heart of Connected,
0:22:20you may think we cover Apple
0:22:22and related services and technologies, but really--
0:22:25- We just do that as filler
0:22:26until the next news comes up about this service.
0:22:29- Yeah, BlaBlaCar, our true calling as journalists--
0:22:34- BlaBlaCar.
0:22:35- We had some changes in its business 11 months ago,
0:22:38and I'm skimming this TechCrunch article,
0:22:40and I don't remember what they did,
0:22:41but they did something.
0:22:42- No, see, this is the thing.
0:22:43This is like the end of our coverage for BlahBlahCar,
0:22:45because they took away the blobby guy.
0:22:47- Oh, that's right.
0:22:48They did the rebranding. - They rebranded.
0:22:49- No!
0:22:50- So it's not interesting to us anymore,
0:22:52because the BlahBlahCar mascot is gone, so.
0:22:56- The BlahBlahMonster is gone?
0:22:58Oh, no.
0:22:59- I'm watching their rebranding video,
0:23:01and there's people with tiny heads in it.
0:23:03(laughs)
0:23:04Yeah, this was part of the whole wonder of everything.
0:23:07It converged.
0:23:09Tiny Heads will make an appearance later on.
0:23:12But, you know.
0:23:13- Did you know that BlaBlaCar
0:23:15is the world leading long distance carpooling platform?
0:23:18And that it's a trusted community marketplace
0:23:20that connects car drivers with empty seats
0:23:23to passengers looking for a ride?
0:23:25- It's super interesting to me
0:23:27that you can just roll this information
0:23:28just out from, like, just from your brain.
0:23:31Did you know that they have 60 million members in 22 countries and over 18 million travelers
0:23:37every quarter?
0:23:38I mean, it's an impressive company.
0:23:40I think I want a seatbelt attaching me to my empty seat, just personally.
0:23:43I don't want an app to do that.
0:23:45I want a seatbelt.
0:23:46Do you pay the cricket sound effect for your own jokes or is it just for mine?
0:23:51It's just for yours.
0:23:52It's weird.
0:23:53I try to put them in Logic after my joke and it crashes every time.
0:23:56The founder and president of BlaBlaCar, his name is Frederic, so I guess that's a sign.
0:24:05Frederic Viticchio.
0:24:07Frederic Mazzella. Sounds kind of Italian. Yeah, Frederic carries BlaBlaCar's vision
0:24:17of a people-powered travel network. We're all about the people-powered...
0:24:21You would really hope that he personally would carry the vision of the company that he's
0:24:24the CEO for, right?
0:24:26The founder and president, not even a CEO.
0:24:28He's a president.
0:24:29Yeah, they hired an adult to be CEO.
0:24:32Oh really?
0:24:33Did they?
0:24:34That happens a lot though.
0:24:37Alright, the next story I think is perhaps the most interesting for me in January.
0:24:43Rumors of the iPhone XR began.
0:24:46And so this is the beginning of what will be a multi-month story of this bigger LCD
0:24:54LCD foam, but it has a notch and it's aluminum and not stainless steel.
0:24:58Like even in these early reports, Ming-Chi Kuo had this iPhone XR just locked down, it seems like.
0:25:06I mean, this is going to come up a lot throughout this episode, I think, but Kuo has just,
0:25:11he gets a lot right, like a lot right. And it's sometimes it's very like the things he tends to
0:25:19get more right is when there's some kind of supply chain stuff, right? Like that's where he kind of
0:25:23of his information tends to live.
0:25:25But I mean, there's a reason so many people pay attention
0:25:29to what Quo has to say, I think.
0:25:30- I mean, this was like at the time we,
0:25:32I remember the reaction, like the confusion of,
0:25:35oh, Apple is making an LCD phone without 3D Touch.
0:25:38What does that mean for 3D Touch?
0:25:40They're never gonna do this.
0:25:41And like, I think we realize that,
0:25:45I don't know if Apple is slowly walking back from 3D Touch,
0:25:49but I think it's pretty obvious
0:25:52that they don't necessarily consider it to be a deal breaker at this point.
0:25:56So they just wanted to make a phone with LCD without 3D Touch.
0:25:59They just made one and whatever.
0:26:02I think looking back, this is one of those rumors that at the time
0:26:06people were losing their minds over.
0:26:08But now in hindsight, it kind of I mean, it makes the most sense
0:26:12of all the rumors that I think we we have here.
0:26:14Yeah, I remember there being so much debate about like what this would mean
0:26:19for the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, would this be the 9?
0:26:23All the marketing stuff is,
0:26:26it's rarely present in these rumors,
0:26:28'cause that's really internal to Apple,
0:26:29and sometimes decided really late in the game,
0:26:32but as Apple gets bigger and they make more of these things,
0:26:34people just know about what's coming,
0:26:37hardware-wise at least, and sort of up to the rest
0:26:40of the world to sort of fill the story in around it
0:26:42'til Apple makes it all clear.
0:26:44It's always interesting,
0:26:45and it started really early last year.
0:26:47This was January 23rd.
0:26:49That's early on in the cycle.
0:26:51We also had the first reports that began to sink
0:26:56Myke's pick boat of iOS 12 features
0:27:01being shuffled off into the future
0:27:03for a focus on performance.
0:27:05Another rumor that seemed like it held up over time.
0:27:09- Yeah, this was, I think the rumor said
0:27:12that this came from like a meeting that Apple had internally
0:27:16like a bunch of engineers participated in this meeting.
0:27:20This is, I feel like, in regard to software,
0:27:23this is sort of the rumor that shaped the narrative
0:27:26for Apple going into WWDC,
0:27:29what they were going to show for iOS 12.
0:27:31And it's pretty incredible that, basically, six months before,
0:27:35we had sort of a rough outline of what to expect for iOS 12.
0:27:40There were a bunch of surprises, of course,
0:27:43But I think, once again, Gorman had this information correct.
0:27:48And there were people-- there are always people on Twitter
0:27:52that do not necessarily believe what Gorman reports,
0:27:56or that sort of accuse Gorman of being too--
0:28:01not sharing too many details.
0:28:03But I think in hindsight, looking back
0:28:06at all the reports from Gorman, I
0:28:07think he tends to be very correct,
0:28:10even though sometimes he doesn't exactly
0:28:12get the specifics right,
0:28:14or rather, sometimes he doesn't share the specifics
0:28:18too many months before, if that makes sense,
0:28:22but the rough outline of what he's saying
0:28:25tends to be coming through all the time.
0:28:27So, German and Quo, I guess,
0:28:30are the winners of the year, if you will.
0:28:34- And it brings us to February.
0:28:37right out of the gate we had a big dramatic news story.
0:28:42Apple was going around stripping emoji out of apps,
0:28:47banning people from the app store
0:28:49'cause they used a single emoji in their UI.
0:28:52People were freaking out.
0:28:53What happened here, Myke?
0:28:55- Well, it was like there was a couple of applications
0:28:58that were being rejected,
0:29:00and as far as we could see,
0:29:03it was all they were being rejected for using emoji.
0:29:06And this was around the time where a lot of large applications, apps like WhatsApp and
0:29:11stuff had started to redesign their emoji because they had previously just been scraping
0:29:17Apple's emoji even on other platforms.
0:29:20And so there was a lot of like, "Huh, what is actually happening here?"
0:29:24And basically it turned out that some apps were being rejected for using emoji as images
0:29:31rather than as text, right?
0:29:32That was kind of one part of it.
0:29:34But then it ended up kind of looking like there were some wild app reviewers who were
0:29:41just rejecting things left and right.
0:29:43And it mostly seemed to have got sorted out, like the applications that were originally
0:29:47getting rejected ended up getting through again.
0:29:51It seemed to be one of those many situations where something weird happens at app review
0:29:56and nobody can understand why it's happening and then it gains a bit of traction and then
0:30:00just gets fixed and taken care of.
0:30:02I do not remember this at all.
0:30:05I don't know why, I think I know why
0:30:09I wasn't paying attention,
0:30:10because I was working on a story that,
0:30:15like in February I was mostly busy writing
0:30:17a couple of the in-depth stories for the next month, I think.
0:30:22So this completely like flew past me.
0:30:24I had almost no recollection of this entire saga.
0:30:29So I guess now developers can use emoji as fonts
0:30:34as long as they don't actually embed the images,
0:30:37which I think is fine.
0:30:39It was a weird controversy,
0:30:42like one of those things that I completely removed
0:30:46from memory.
0:30:47- Yeah, I think where that ended up is fair.
0:30:49I mean, like so many of these things,
0:30:52it was just awkwardly handled.
0:30:53Like the App Store review team seems to start doing stuff
0:30:56and people don't know why,
0:30:58and then Apple has to backfill with a message.
0:31:00And they could always do better at that,
0:31:02but I feel like where it finally settled,
0:31:05you can use the font, but the images are ours.
0:31:07Don't embed them.
0:31:08Definitely don't put them in another platform.
0:31:10That, I think, is pretty within Apple's right
0:31:13and pretty reasonable from my point of view.
0:31:15February saw the launch of the HomePod.
0:31:18Remember that thing?
0:31:19It was--
0:31:20- That was delayed, right? - It was, yep.
0:31:23missed the holiday, showed up in early February,
0:31:28as did the tiny head tee,
0:31:30perhaps the best connected tee shirt we've ever done.
0:31:33It was a real exciting time with tiny heads
0:31:35and giant speakers, but the hot pot was incomplete,
0:31:39wasn't it, there was something missing.
0:31:41- Airplay 2 was delayed to, it came out eventually
0:31:45with iOS 11.4, just before WWDC sometime in May.
0:31:52And I remember February because I asked our common friend John Voorhis to get me a HomePod
0:32:01in America and ship it to me with very expensive overnight shipping with FedEx or DHL maybe.
0:32:09It turned out to be very expensive with a lot of taxes for Italian customs.
0:32:15But that was my first HomePod.
0:32:18Then shortly after getting the first US one, I got a second one from a guy on eBay, like
0:32:27this random person, an Italian person on eBay.
0:32:30I think he did what I did.
0:32:32He bought a HomePod from the United States and put it up for sale on eBay, Italy, and
0:32:38I also bought that one.
0:32:40And the third one came later at WWDC.
0:32:42I bought one with you guys.
0:32:45I think it was at the Apple Park retail store, and I came back to Italy with a third HomePod,
0:32:53which I placed in the bedroom and I wanted to see how long it would take Sylvia to notice
0:32:58the new HomePod and spoiler alert, just like the new iPad Pro that I bought last week,
0:33:07it didn't take her long.
0:33:12She's got her eye on you, man.
0:33:13She knows what you're up to.
0:33:14She noticed the iPad, the 11-inch iPad Pro, which I guess we'll discuss in the next episode,
0:33:20maybe.
0:33:21She noticed the new iPad Pro the next day, and she noticed the HomePod also the next
0:33:26day.
0:33:27So, she notices things.
0:33:28I cannot hide from her.
0:33:31If memory serves, we were all a little bit skeptical about the HomePod as to whether
0:33:36it was actually going to be something that we would like.
0:33:39I think that there was a lot of like, "Eh, are we going to get one?
0:33:41I don't know, I don't know."
0:33:42we will have multiple ones.
0:33:44And you especially, Myke, you were skeptical of the HomePod.
0:33:47I was very skeptical.
0:33:49Yeah, I said I wasn't going to buy one and then I bought one.
0:33:52So I was maybe the most skeptical, but
0:33:56but that's probably why I only have two and you two have three.
0:33:59Skepticism.
0:34:01Do we know like are there things that we think Apple is going to add
0:34:06to the HomePod like before WWDC?
0:34:08Do we think there's anything they should do before like the next major
0:34:12major version of the software?
0:34:15- I don't really have any feature requests
0:34:17for the HomePod to be honest, to be quite honest.
0:34:20- It feels like all that I want is for Apple to follow
0:34:24sort of like an Amazon Echo model of like,
0:34:27you can enable a bunch of things
0:34:29and you don't need to have your iPhone
0:34:31with the app installed.
0:34:32I don't know if they're ever gonna do this.
0:34:36- Well, yeah, yeah, I would like that, like skills.
0:34:39- That and multi-user support,
0:34:41Even if it can't detect your voice, if you go to it and say, add this to
0:34:46Steven's reminder list, add this to Mary's reminder list, like just some awareness
0:34:50that most people live with other people.
0:34:52What a concept.
0:34:53Yeah.
0:34:54All right.
0:34:56What else do we have in February?
0:34:59We have the first rumors of a over ear headphones from Apple.
0:35:03Head pods, head pods, head pods.
0:35:08I would really like these because I would like some,
0:35:12some, uh, either USB-C or Bluetooth over headphones.
0:35:17Um, I'm still using the B&O H6 with a now a dongle attachment when I travel,
0:35:22but I'm kind of like refusing to buy any right now in the hopes that like Apple
0:35:27will make something amazing like AirPods level of amazing. Uh,
0:35:32but I don't, I have no idea when that would even exist like a product like that,
0:35:36but I'm kind of holding out for now.
0:35:37- Yeah, I'm still very much waiting for this.
0:35:39I do have over a year USB-C headphones from Sony,
0:35:43the MHX 1003 something, and they're amazing,
0:35:48but I also want Apple to make their own with maybe USB-C,
0:35:52but mostly the W1 chip for like longer battery,
0:35:56better performance, that kind of stuff.
0:35:57So I hope this is one of the 2019 products,
0:36:01but I'm kind of skeptical because we haven't heard
0:36:04anything else about this rumor, I think there are no more details.
0:36:08It's sort of one of those rumors that just disappeared a few months ago.
0:36:13And we don't know what's going to happen.
0:36:15Stephen, the next item in March, this is a very,
0:36:20why are we talking about this? Why did you decide of all,
0:36:26of all news, why this one specifically?
0:36:29Myke, Myke put this in here.
0:36:32I put it in there because it's one of those ones that everyone will have forgotten about
0:36:35and I think it's too fun to not mention again.
0:36:38In March there was a news report that Apple employees kept walking into the doors, the
0:36:42new glass doors at Apple Park and that there were many 911 calls.
0:36:47So for anybody who forgot or didn't see this, this article is so wonderful to read I think
0:36:53that it's worth looking back again.
0:36:55Just reading the transcripts between the security people and the 911 dispatchers.
0:37:01just wild things to read like we had an individual or run into a glass wall
0:37:07pain and they hit their head they have a small cut on their head and they're
0:37:11bleeding slightly disoriented we have on-site security with them right now are
0:37:15you with the patient now no I am NOT with the patient we are trying to have a
0:37:19secure my god this is easy awake is conscious is he breathing that we do not
0:37:24Oh no! Yes, he's conscious and breathing! Oh my god!
0:37:28[laughter]
0:37:31You see? They're great! So if you've not read these, you should just read them.
0:37:36They're very, very good. They're very fun to read. And luckily it seems like nobody was badly hurt.
0:37:42Hmm. Since the guy quit reading them, I'm being conscious.
0:37:44Why are they talking like they're talking about apps? Like, "Dispatcher, is he completely alert?
0:37:50Color unknown at this time. We're still waiting for an update
0:37:53Okay, well
0:38:02If they fix this problem, do we know if the fix this problem with the maybe with stickers?
0:38:07What didn't wasn't there a report somewhere that they were putting like I height stickers and some of the doors
0:38:12They were putting just all the black Apple stickers they made for the Mac Pro
0:38:16They got those back from the factory and you put those everywhere, okay?
0:38:20face ID iPad rumored to debut in
0:38:24June
0:38:26We were worried they were gonna put a notch on the iPad. Oh, yeah, we were talking about the notch on the iPad
0:38:32It's still but it still seemed like they were gonna put it see actually seem more likely to put a notch on the iPad after
0:38:38WWDC right because they split the status bar up. Yeah, so it still seemed possible
0:38:44Honestly, we were still wondering if it was going to be a notch up until they showed it.
0:38:49But also it didn't come out in June.
0:38:50And we were expecting, I remember we were expecting, like we were talking, are there
0:38:56going to be new iPads in June?
0:38:58And then we were very sad when they didn't show any iPads.
0:39:01It didn't happen in September either.
0:39:03It was very sad in September, right?
0:39:05Like might be more sad in September.
0:39:07Welcome to being a Mac user, guys.
0:39:09Yeah.
0:39:10Yeah.
0:39:11a lot of talk about what orientation this thing could be in, right?
0:39:14Because the iPhone's locked to portrait orientation.
0:39:16But as we know now, the iPad is effectively agnostic
0:39:20about which way you hold it for Face ID to work.
0:39:22As long as the camera's not hidden,
0:39:24or you're not like, to an extreme of an angle.
0:39:27And I don't know about y'all, but like,
0:39:29the only time I ever have trouble with Face ID on my iPad
0:39:32is if my hand's over it, you know,
0:39:34if something's silly like that.
0:39:35But it works really well.
0:39:37- Yeah, I still remain very happy with it.
0:39:39March also marked the beginning of a multi-month story
0:39:44about a cheaper MacBook Air.
0:39:47Again, we have friend of the show, Meng-Chi Kuo,
0:39:50talking about a affordable MacBook Air that would be in Q2.
0:39:56That, again, also didn't happen.
0:39:58It was basically the end of the year.
0:40:00But there was so much--
0:40:03Wasn't affordable, right?
0:40:05And not more affordable.
0:40:06Yeah, it wasn't.
0:40:07Yeah, it's still too expensive.
0:40:09There was a new MacBook Air. This product that was being spoken about here in this rumor
0:40:14did not come to pass. They didn't exist.
0:40:17No, I don't think so. Part of me still has hope that out there on the horizon there is
0:40:23a $1000 Apple notebook, but the MacBook Air is not that machine, at least what we know
0:40:28of it today. But this rumor came in the midst of a lot of conversation about what's going
0:40:35on at the low end of Apple's notebook line, and frankly, Apple hasn't done much to solve
0:40:39that. In some ways, they've made it worse with an additional machine at $1200.
0:40:44Apple acquired Texture this month as well, which is the magazine app, sort of all-you-can-eat
0:40:49magazine. You pay a subscription, you can read a bunch of stuff. I've never actually
0:40:53used Texture. I don't know if either of y'all have, but it's a thing. Apple owns it. It's
0:40:57still on the app store. It's $5 a month. It really seems like at any point, it's just
0:41:02going to get pulled into Apple News to me.
0:41:05was a Bloomberg report like two weeks ago. Oh, is there time saying that it will be?
0:41:09Yeah. Yeah, that that Apple is going to be rolling it into into Apple News, and they're
0:41:16currently struggling with getting some of the larger companies on board because at $5
0:41:23a month, how can you convince the New York Times that this is going to be cost effective
0:41:26for them compared to what they can get people to pay on their own? What was the there was
0:41:31an app or service like this years ago for like indie web publishers?
0:41:36Readability man. Yeah that's all this is. It's Readability 2.0.
0:41:39They used to send you a check. They sent you a check. Your commissions. I got one.
0:41:44Yeah. That's what everybody wants. Check. Paper checks please. In Europe. We love them.
0:41:48Yeah I bet this is gonna be one of the things of 2019. Like one of the announcements of
0:41:552019, this expansion of Apple Music to magazines with like a new subscription model. This is
0:42:04going to be part of the narrative in 2019 and it could go alongside the new Apple Video
0:42:08Service which seems like it's going to launch in 2019 at some point. So I'm curious to see
0:42:15what they do from a technical perspective. Like, will you read actual scans of magazines
0:42:22in Apple News, that seems inelegant. So I want to see, then again, will they convince
0:42:27all these publishers to turn their magazines into like actual HTML content customized for
0:42:32Apple News? I don't know.
0:42:34I think that's what it's going to be. It'll be the content from the magazines, not like
0:42:38the old timey magazine pages scanned in.
0:42:40It's like getting past the New York Times or Financial Times's paywalls in Apple News,
0:42:45right? That's probably what they're trying to build here.
0:42:47I think that's exactly right.
0:42:48So it was a very public thing.
0:42:52It was on Apple's newsroom, for crying out loud.
0:42:54A lot of times they acquire companies and you just sort of hear whispers, but they were
0:42:57very upfront about their purchase, and I think we are going to hear a lot more about it next
0:43:02year.
0:43:03Yeah.
0:43:04Allow me to surprise you all by reminding you that there was an Apple event in March.
0:43:09Yeah, the one at the high school, right?
0:43:11It was the education event.
0:43:12Yep.
0:43:13where they spoke about education, where it was basically nothing new, but they were just
0:43:18focusing on it, and they unveiled the now $329 iPad, the sixth generation iPad, with
0:43:25the Logitech Crayon, which is the Logitech branded third-party product that works like
0:43:31an Apple Pencil, but has specific technology in it that means it can just work still with
0:43:36that sixth generation iPad.
0:43:38I have one of these iPads that I bought for some doing like reading and watching video.
0:43:44It's a good iPad, but I cannot use it anymore because I cannot stand the bezels and the
0:43:49home button anymore, which is why I got an Intrepid Pro, but we'll talk about that.
0:43:55I think it was a... it's not an exciting event, but it was a bunch of old information, especially
0:44:02about the education features.
0:44:05But it was in Chicago, I think. Was that in Chicago? And John was very excited about the
0:44:10fact that it was in Chicago. And also Apple did a bunch of things at the Chicago Apple
0:44:15Store.
0:44:16Which had just opened, if memory serves.
0:44:19Yeah. And I think John was interviewed by the local television network. So that was
0:44:26cool.
0:44:27Oh, yeah.
0:44:28Yeah. Mostly, mostly boring event, unless you're a teacher. And even then, teachers
0:44:32I have some thoughts I hear from Fraser that, you know, most of the stuff they talked about
0:44:37was kind of old.
0:44:39The iPad, I think, is a great value for what you get.
0:44:43In all of Apple's lineup, it's probably the best value of any hardware they sell.
0:44:48The next item I had completely forgotten about until a few weeks ago.
0:44:53Me too.
0:44:55Well, even then, though, right?
0:44:57So do you want to say what it is?
0:44:59March Foxconn acquired Belkin and therefore also Linksys and the Wemo brands.
0:45:07Um, I, cause we were talking about this as one of them.
0:45:11Like I think this came up, I don't remember how, but we were saying, oh, do
0:45:14you remember when Foxconn bought Belkin?
0:45:16But I, I completely forgot that they also included Linksys and Wemo.
0:45:19I had, when I remembered this, I had the same reaction that I had last year.
0:45:24When I remembered that Mozilla now owns Pocket.
0:45:29I had completely removed that piece of information, and when I remembered that, I had the same
0:45:35reaction.
0:45:36So, yeah, they acquired Belkin, which is one of the...
0:45:39Belkin continues to be one of those accessory makers that Apple sort of collaborates with.
0:45:45For example, like Logitech, for instance.
0:45:47In this case, Belkin is making a bunch of, like, the wireless charging dock for the iPhone
0:45:53an Apple watch and the hdms USB C to HDMI adapter with support for 4k and HDR
0:45:59which are only available on the Apple Store so it's one continues to be I
0:46:03guess it's not surprising because it's Foxconn and they make iPhones so they
0:46:07have a relationship but they continues to be one of the the brands that sort of
0:46:11do the only at Apple type of deals for accessories that brings us to April which
0:46:20started off with a real exciting article on the second Bloomberg reporting that
0:46:25Apple will switch to ARM in its max in 2020 leaving Intel behind going to the
0:46:32future of their own chips. This seems like it's still probably the the course
0:46:38forward it feels like 2020 is totally reasonable to me. What do you guys think?
0:46:42I think this year has only added more fuel to the fire like it feels like
0:46:48things Apple's missed on plus things Apple seem to be working towards all
0:46:54only further indicate that this is a very strong possibility. I think WWDC 2019
0:47:02should be able to give us a hint if this is actually happening or not like
0:47:07depending on the scale of the project Marzipan or project sneak peek whatever
0:47:11it's called depending on how extensive that is I think we'll have a pretty good
0:47:16indication that they're actually moving forward with this idea. The only the only
0:47:21thing that is kind of strange to me is the fact that a Mac Pro is coming out in
0:47:262019 and it's not gonna be ARM based so it'd be kind of I don't know it'd be
0:47:31kind of weird to have such a major release. But that's probably always gonna
0:47:34be the last product though in in in the transition right? It was last time. I
0:47:40guess so maybe it'll come out in 2019 and the ARM version will be ready in 2023
0:47:44or something. I think to people who are going to buy the Mac Pro may be more
0:47:52comfortable staying on Intel longer. I think that was definitely true in the
0:47:57PowerPC to Intel transition that a lot of people always hung on to PowerPCs
0:48:02maybe pros are more apt to do that especially if they had you know PowerPC
0:48:07specific things and so I agree with you Federico it's a little weird but I think
0:48:12I think in the grand scheme of things,
0:48:13that'll shake out okay,
0:48:15that the Mac Pro will be the last new Intel Mac.
0:48:20And I think, the more I think about this,
0:48:23the Mac Pro has been delayed,
0:48:25again, is now a 2019 product.
0:48:28I wonder if part of that is building an Intel Mac,
0:48:32but building it, building the infrastructure
0:48:35for that machine in a way that they could move it to ARM
0:48:38without totally redoing it all.
0:48:40- Yeah, so that it doesn't require a brand new Mac.
0:48:43- Mac Pro again, you know, third time.
0:48:47- Because didn't the cheese grater,
0:48:50didn't that go from PowerPC to Intel, same design?
0:48:53- It did, and how they did it was the case stayed the same,
0:48:56but they totally redid all the guts,
0:48:58and maybe they're doing a Mac Pro with arm in mind.
0:49:01You know, I think that's a reasonable thing to expect,
0:49:04so definitely something to look for.
0:49:05I agree with you guys, 2019 just pointed me
0:49:08in this direction more and more.
0:49:10or 2018 did, I'm sure 2019 will as well.
0:49:13We also had a huge, huge iPhone release.
0:49:17The red, product red iPhone 8 came out,
0:49:21and I gotta say, like the iPhone XR uses the same design.
0:49:26It looks so good.
0:49:28- Yeah, this was confusing though, right, at the time.
0:49:31It was like, oh, iPhone 8 is the one you're doing?
0:49:35Okay, or 'cause the, it was like,
0:49:37shouldn't have been the iPhone X?
0:49:39Like it was a little bit confusing at the time.
0:49:41Still remains, still continues to be confusing.
0:49:43I don't really know why they did it.
0:49:45But now, at least, I guess we can probably assume
0:49:49there will not be a Project Red iPhone X
0:49:51because of the XR, right?
0:49:53There probably won't be one.
0:49:55- Yeah, I don't think so.
0:49:55I feel like they're happy to have just one of them.
0:49:57I don't see the XS showing up in red this spring.
0:50:01We also have a proposal from Apple in April
0:50:05for accessibility focused emoji.
0:50:09This included several items, an ear with a hearing aid,
0:50:14a service dog, person in a wheelchair,
0:50:16person with a cane, lots of emoji options
0:50:19to sort of round things out.
0:50:21I absolutely loved the story when it came out.
0:50:25I love it now and it's gonna be really great
0:50:27when these start showing up.
0:50:29- Yeah, that's 2019 by the way,
0:50:32'cause this was a proposal.
0:50:33this wasn't Apple saying like we're debuting these emoji.
0:50:37Like they had to propose them to the Unicode committee.
0:50:41So--
0:50:42- Jeremy has to approve them first.
0:50:44- Yeah, I mean, so this, for Apple though,
0:50:46this might be early 2020.
0:50:49Like it depends on when they're gonna release it, right?
0:50:52'Cause like, if you think like Apple don't always,
0:50:55they don't release the new emoji with the,
0:51:00with these like zero iOS release.
0:51:03So it could be late 2019, early 2020,
0:51:06it just depends really.
0:51:07But they're great.
0:51:08You would expect they would get these ones in
0:51:10as quickly as possible,
0:51:11considering they do already have the designs done.
0:51:13(laughing)
0:51:14Right?
0:51:15They did the designs, this was all in the blog post.
0:51:18But yeah, it's great.
0:51:19- It's really, really awesome.
0:51:21We also had big news that would have rocked 2007, Steven.
0:51:26Smug mug bought--
0:51:29It's the smug bug.
0:51:31Hello there, I've bought your Flickr.
0:51:35Smug mug, bought Flickr.
0:51:42It is not part of Oath/Verizon Media Group as it was renamed last week.
0:51:48What is Verizon Media Group? Oh my god.
0:51:51This is the new thing man.
0:51:54They have just a big capital Y as their logo, which doesn't make any sense.
0:51:58- Are you getting sense?
0:51:59- Oath was a company owned by Verizon.
0:52:02Oath was made up of Yahoo properties and AOL properties
0:52:06taped together by Tim Armstrong.
0:52:09He left, whoever was running Oath previously left.
0:52:12Now Verizon has a new CEO and he came in and said,
0:52:16"Why do we have all these dying media companies?
0:52:17"We should just build out 5G."
0:52:19And so Oath is being renamed Verizon Media Group,
0:52:22which is the most boring company name
0:52:24in the history of the planet.
0:52:25And they very unfortunately are downsizing a lot of people,
0:52:29including like friends of ours at other websites,
0:52:31which is a real bummer.
0:52:32But I am glad Flickr was sort of scooped out of this.
0:52:37Smug-a-Mug seems to be a pretty well-run company.
0:52:39I think it's a family company, which is pretty cool.
0:52:41- It is a family company.
0:52:42I remember, I know this because we said it last time.
0:52:45That's how I found that out.
0:52:46- Just like really, it's a family company.
0:52:48(laughing)
0:52:49And the, it's not really true.
0:52:54But Flickr did make some waves at the end of 2018 saying that if you had over a
0:52:58thousand photos on your free account, they were going to start like photos above
0:53:02a thousand were going to be removed unless you paid, which was not awesome.
0:53:06Some people really were upset about that.
0:53:08I mean, the truth is Flickr is, is over, you know, it's, it's glory days.
0:53:12We're 10 years ago and it's sad.
0:53:15You know, I have an account there.
0:53:16I was a pro member for a really long time.
0:53:18I let it lapse years ago.
0:53:19Uh, it's kind of a, my to do list just to, I have some pictures that I've
0:53:23reference a blog post I need to move those and then I'm gonna be done it's
0:53:26just time to go it's time in the Sun yeah well smoke smug bugs don't like the
0:53:33Sun
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0:55:24May marked the biggest story of the year.
0:55:27The iMac G3 celebrated its 20th anniversary.
0:55:31See, this is where you put in the crickets.
0:55:33That's not nice.
0:55:40By I have one memory of this which was you and Jason working together to write an article
0:55:45In Austin at my bachelor party, that's true
0:55:48We were in the hotel and Jason texted said hey come come come pro blog with me. And so we blogged together
0:55:57It's a lot of fun. You really know us nerds really know how to do bachelor pie. Yeah, it was crazy
0:56:03Blogging, podcasting, all the great stuff.
0:56:06- May also was yet another chapter in Twitter's
0:56:09slow murder of third party clients.
0:56:13So when they announced the API changes
0:56:14that now we're living with,
0:56:16that things like favorites and retweets
0:56:19and push notifications were all gonna be different now
0:56:22with third party apps.
0:56:24They initially had said, I think,
0:56:26I've read back through these,
0:56:27and I cannot tell what actually happened,
0:56:29but basically Apple, or Twitter, excuse me,
0:56:31had a date and everyone freaked out so they moved the date back to August and they announced
0:56:37that change.
0:56:38Yeah but they didn't change anything.
0:56:40Just changed the date.
0:56:42Nothing changed, just the date.
0:56:44So that was sort of part one of this.
0:56:46We're going to come back to the story in a later month when I actually got implemented.
0:56:50We also saw a class action lawsuit over the MacBook Pro keyboards.
0:56:55We all remember that a single crumb would come under a keyboard and then you'd have
0:57:00to use an iBook G3 during a live podcast recording because your MacBook Pro is
0:57:04useless. Very relatable example. And you know, Class Action Lawsuit, which I don't
0:57:09cover these, like I find them sort of gross to talk about. Like I don't know, I
0:57:13guess don't, they feel weird. But it was just a sort of a line in the
0:57:18Seine with these keyboards, which Apple has improved a little bit. The 2018,
0:57:22actually my 2018 has been pretty solid, but that old keyboard, the second
0:57:26keyboard is still present on the MacBook and the MacBook escape so if you have
0:57:31one of those don't eat a sandwich near it I guess or if you do you can join the
0:57:36section lawsuit couple of weeks ago that one of the keys on her 2017 MacBook Pro
0:57:41I started to fail so she's gonna join the class action I don't know she's no
0:57:48but we're gonna go to the Apple store so nice I think we also had Federica your second life article which is a
0:57:55a game I remember from like 2005 I guess you finally checked it out yes that was
0:58:00a story about the game Second Life and say don't give Stephen the credit he
0:58:06only knows this because of the office no that is 100% yeah you see I know I know
0:58:12where you got your references I just saw the episode like two days ago we're also
0:58:16watching the office I mean I'm watching the office Sylvia doesn't like the
0:58:20office so I'm watching about myself it's a great show this was a good article
0:58:24actually and sort of a... thank you. One of your best. About workouts and using the Apple
0:58:31Watch, good stuff. I enjoyed writing this one even though it's kind of heavy in places
0:58:35but it's one of the articles that I'm actually kind of proud of. So always, you know, it's...
0:58:42You can choose to ignore this question if you want and it's perfectly fine but are you
0:58:46still keeping it up? Mostly, yeah. It's been a rough period for, like, the month of December.
0:58:50I haven't worked out much.
0:58:52I think we've been like,
0:58:56and this is like personal stuff, but it's fine.
0:58:58We're being busy with like taking care of the dogs
0:59:02and like a bunch of schedule things that we had planned.
0:59:05And also like I was busy with the traveling and stuff,
0:59:09but it's, I'm buying new equipment for working out
0:59:14because my old indoor bike is starting to fall apart.
0:59:17So I'm gonna be jumping back into my old schedule and routine as soon as I'm done with all these things for the holidays.
0:59:26Because one of the things that I was not expecting is that when I do not exercise and when I don't do my workouts, I miss that feeling.
0:59:38And it's something that, especially in the past two weeks, as if we've been busy with Ginger, one of our dogs,
0:59:44and the site, Max Stories, has just been crazy and I haven't been able to work out.
0:59:49But I actually crave that feeling again.
0:59:52Like, I need to work out and I need to do all of these things again,
0:59:58which I guess it's a good sign.
1:00:00So, yeah.
1:00:03Looking back at this article, it kind of...
1:00:06It's funny because it sort of serves as inspiration for myself,
1:00:10which is a weird thing to say,
1:00:12But I'm very it's one of the articles that I'm really happy and that I wrote it's up there with them in my personal favorites with the I
1:00:20Made you a mixtape story from two years ago
1:00:23It's one of the articles that I constantly look up to so
1:00:28Thank you for including this in the roundup
1:00:30I'm glad that people liked it
1:00:33And that brings us to June which is the biggest month of Apple news we have
1:00:41D.C. Lots of W's in there. We had our first live show in San Jose which was a lot of fun.
1:00:49Federico taught us about Susan Hammer which was critical to the coverage we had to do
1:00:55that day.
1:00:56It's all you need to know.
1:00:57Was it tennis or something?
1:00:59Yeah, she was really into Susan Hammer, former mayor of San Jose. She was really into tennis
1:01:07and also she was a mayor in the 90s when MC Hammer was a he was a popular I guess and kids
1:01:16would stop Susan Hammer in the street yelling "it's hammer time" which was just an incredible story
1:01:23I got me again
1:01:26just imagine it's just like it's it's not like mean bullying right like it's not mean
1:01:36No, but it's like it's like the best kind of like teenager bullying, right? Where like
1:01:42they're saying a thing to you and you can't say anything back to them. It's just like
1:01:47you have no response to that. You have to kind of embrace it. So good. Such a good story.
1:01:53I love it. We thank Susan Hamer for her service to the city of San Jose and for giving her
1:01:59name to the beautiful theater where we had our live show and where most importantly,
1:02:06where we all won some trophies. I mean, mine was a good trophy, Stephen's was a decent
1:02:13trophy. Myke, how was your trophy? My toilet trophy still sits in my windowsill. Next year
1:02:25you'll get a better one, Michael. Well, will I though? The better ones will be available.
1:02:33Will I get one? We'll see.
1:02:35Depends.
1:02:37Oh yeah, I see in the show notes, this is very important, the prompt briefly returned in the month of June.
1:02:45It did.
1:02:46For a very, very complex round robin that I had completely removed from memory.
1:02:54It was like-
1:02:55Steven destroyed the tradition of the round robin in our special episode.
1:02:59It was a special episode. We had like the logo and the music I think and the follow-up sounds I miss the sound effects
1:03:06Timer quality. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna yeah. Hey timer quality
1:03:13But it was a very complex round-robin that we never attempted ever again. So
1:03:18It was very confusing Steven. Well, I think it's only never been attempted again because me and you revolted so badly
1:03:25Yes, I was it supposed to work again like round-robbing but then flipped in reverse
1:03:30It was super confusing. No every time it wasn't that hard every new round someone the next person started
1:03:38It's only fair way to do it or otherwise someone would always be last and no one wants to be last
1:03:42All right month of July. So hang on. We're just skipping over all the actual news from WWDC
1:03:49I just wanna be clear about that. We're just moving on
1:03:51I mean, what's the point in going over it?
1:03:53it right like we all know what happened like I'm fine with that my feeling is
1:03:57like WWDC and the September event like there's not really much point in cover
1:04:03in those like because I mean special shout out though to ARKit2 which and
1:04:10our artwork that was in the document we should definitely take a moment to talk
1:04:15about that I think about that moment a lot it is my Twitter banner what an
1:04:19incredible thing. Not just one of the best things of the year, one of the best things
1:04:24that has ever happened to me because I never would have believed that I, we, could have
1:04:29been in that position. Like, I have like this fracture on my wall, not a sponsor of this
1:04:35episode, but it's a true thing, of Tim Cook standing in front of an Apple Watch with the
1:04:38connected logo on it. Like, what an incredible thing to have happened. Just wonderful.
1:04:43Yeah. I think about the moment a lot too, like when I was in the audience and I actually
1:04:48saw the logo, like I couldn't believe that I was seeing the connected logo and Casey
1:04:52brought me back to reality. It was incredible. So that was very cool.
1:04:56And I guess in true, you know, just like, of course it would happen to us. Not one of
1:05:00us was in the same place as one of the other one of us during that moment. Because that,
1:05:06I guess that just feels like the way we would do things. Right? And they're just never together.
1:05:11Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Cause I didn't make it out to San Jose until the day of the live show
1:05:17and you were there and Federico was in the room. If you haven't seen this picture, it's
1:05:21the artwork for this episode. So anyway, I'm in WBC iOS 12 ARK2, which is the only true
1:05:29announcement of the show and all the demos for ARK2. Yeah, we should move on to July,
1:05:37which was a good month for you Michael, I suppose.
1:05:40Oh yeah. It was fun to go through these stories to be like, I remember that. Oh, it's because
1:05:46I wasn't on the episode. I did listen to them, but I didn't remember talking about this stuff
1:05:51because I was off for basically the whole month, which was great. Thank you both for
1:05:54covering for me. And it did result in another very connected thing where our 200th episode
1:05:59was just Steven.
1:06:03So for context, Michael got married in the month of July. And I remember this because
1:06:08at Mac Stories, we were doing a 10th anniversary series of articles and podcasts for the App
1:06:18Store that turned 10 on July 10, July 8 or something. And as we were working on this
1:06:25stuff and publishing articles and episodes of App Stories every day, Michael was getting
1:06:29married. So one of my, I think my article launched on the day that Myke, of Myke's wedding,
1:06:35which was fun. But it was like this huge effort that we had worked on for like a couple of
1:06:41months, me and John. But it was fun to look back at the history of the App Store, like
1:06:47some old apps and old games that I hadn't heard the names for a long time. I personally
1:06:55did a story about App Store preservation and sort of the future of like what happens when
1:07:01an app or a game disappears from the App Store.
1:07:04And that article had a bunch of quotes from the MoMA,
1:07:08the Museum of Modern Arts, which was very cool
1:07:10to be able to ask them questions.
1:07:12Yeah, it was this huge effort for the month of July,
1:07:16and I was exhausted after that, but it didn't matter
1:07:19because I needed to start working on my iOS 12 review
1:07:21in July, so that was fun.
1:07:25- Yeah, my story for that was 10 years of App Store changes,
1:07:29And it was hands down the hardest thing I wrote this year.
1:07:33It was so difficult to--
1:07:35I had to find devices.
1:07:37You can't install old versions of iOS very easily.
1:07:39It's like finding an iPod Touch, running iOS 3,
1:07:43and the app barely works anymore.
1:07:45This stuff is all just disappearing out from under us.
1:07:49And I'm glad we were able to capture it in that article.
1:07:51I'm really proud of that column.
1:07:53But it was really back-breaking.
1:07:56It was very good.
1:07:57What else do we have here?
1:07:58We have Mac Mini refresh rumors beginning.
1:08:03We also have with that larger display Apple watches.
1:08:07Again, two things that Ming-Chi Kuo effectively write on.
1:08:12Months in advance, you know,
1:08:16minus the low cost notebook thing.
1:08:19So I remember the time the only thing being strange
1:08:22about the Mac Mini rumor to me is that it was right
1:08:24after WWDC that it was rumored.
1:08:26and sometimes July is kind of a quiet time for Apple News
1:08:29because people are just sort of heads down
1:08:32working on stuff out of the conference.
1:08:34But here we are with rumors already.
1:08:37We also had Instapaper splitting away from Pinterest,
1:08:40which we mentioned because we all three
1:08:42have been Instapaper users in the past.
1:08:43I still am, I still use it every day.
1:08:46And it's something that, an app that I care about
1:08:49made by people who know what they're doing,
1:08:52a nice team running it.
1:08:54And I think it's fair to say that under Pinterest,
1:08:57it didn't necessarily get the attention
1:08:59someone just wanted. - Hashtag GDPR.
1:09:00- And now it's sort of, yeah, they were basically
1:09:04broken in the EU for a long time.
1:09:06But it seems like they've got that stuff behind them
1:09:08and they're pushing out nice updates again.
1:09:11And I'm optimistic about Instapaper's future.
1:09:14I really am.
1:09:15- Yeah, I don't use it, not for any particular reason.
1:09:18I just don't, I don't really read articles in this way.
1:09:21But I hope that it still exists, as it
1:09:24feels like one of those applications which
1:09:26has been around for such a long time
1:09:28that I would love to see it continue.
1:09:30Yeah, it's got a long history.
1:09:31I mean, it was in the App Store really early on.
1:09:35We also had new MacBook Pros spec-bumped,
1:09:41the revised keyboard we talked about.
1:09:43But there was an issue with the firmware.
1:09:48They were basically heavily throttling.
1:09:51and Apple had a software fix for that
1:09:53and everything was kind of okay again.
1:09:56Such a weird story.
1:09:57It's so strange that this shipped this way.
1:09:59- Yeah, super weird.
1:10:00- Oh, the next item is not fun at all.
1:10:03I remember this. - Ew.
1:10:05- Okay, so month of August. - We're into August, yes.
1:10:08- Yes, which is a very important month
1:10:11because I turned 30.
1:10:12Just, you know, the more you know.
1:10:14- Happy birthday. - Thank you.
1:10:16It's kind of late, but I'll take it.
1:10:18- I always wait for the year review episode
1:10:21wish you a happy birthday. Sure. Apple kills officially this time the app, the app affiliate
1:10:28program. So Apple used to run through a platform called Performance Horizon Group or PHG,
1:10:33an affiliate program for apps where people could earn commissions on sales for apps and games and
1:10:40in-app purchases and that kind of stuff. There were rumors that Apple was going to discontinue
1:10:48this program the previous year in 2017, but then Apple sort of said no, the announcement
1:10:54was wrong. That was a very weird story. But eventually in August 2018 they confirmed that
1:10:59yes, they were ending the affiliate program for apps in November, I think, or October,
1:11:06on October 1st. So that essentially, the consequences of that announcement, I think, are still being
1:11:15felt and through the Apple community. Luckily, Mac Stories and other websites, we moved away
1:11:23from affiliate linking as our primary source of income years ago, when Apple started lowering
1:11:29their commissions and just not paying much attention to the program. And also, with the
1:11:34transition to freemium apps and free downloads, those commissions were going down anyway.
1:11:40So Mac stories and other websites, I think, we moved away from that model years ago and
1:11:46were fine.
1:11:47But other publications, I remember Touch Arcade, for example, being impacted by this announcement.
1:11:52And also apps and utilities and other services surrounding the affiliate program had to be
1:11:58discontinued.
1:11:59For example, the Blink app by a friend John, which I still use because it's an excellent
1:12:04way to search the App Store and copy a link to an app and read its release notes.
1:12:10He was discontinued and he never came out on the Mac.
1:12:13John actually had a Mac app ready to go the next day, but Apple announced the end of the
1:12:19affiliate program and the day before John decided to never release the Mac version.
1:12:26Yeah, that was a very unfortunate series of announcements.
1:12:30I mean, I'm sad that this has happened.
1:12:34For example, I don't know if you noticed, but this year we didn't do Thanksgiving
1:12:39like Black Friday roundup for up discounts on Mac stories just because it
1:12:44doesn't make sense to do it anymore
1:12:46there's no money to be made there yeah so I don't know what's going to happen
1:12:49to max or is deals which is the Twitter account that we used to run for up
1:12:52discounts because that that just become becomes a cost because it doesn't make
1:12:58any money directly anymore
1:12:59so I don't know but it's sad that Apple did this and you know it's falling the
1:13:03right to to to end this program but it's still said for
1:13:08Indie websites, smaller publications and other services that make money off the program.
1:13:13So that was sad.
1:13:16But in better news, besides my birthday, Relay FM also had a birthday in August.
1:13:22Relay FM turned four, so happy birthday, Myke and Steven.
1:13:26You are four.
1:13:27Thank you for all the great birthdays.
1:13:28Yes.
1:13:29A new host you had a special Q&A episode of, Connected.
1:13:34That was a very good one.
1:13:37I think I was not on it because I was on vacation at the beach.
1:13:40Yep. So it just all worked out perfectly.
1:13:42Gav was the place to do our Q&A because you were on the beach.
1:13:45Yeah. To get topping up your tan.
1:13:48Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
1:13:50It's hard to believe it's been four years now, four and a half.
1:13:53Five years next year.
1:13:55So next up, third party Twitter apps had to remove their features
1:14:01because of the API changes that we spoke about earlier.
1:14:04So this saw Tweetbot and Twitterrific remove a bunch of notification features
1:14:08and one of the big kind of things that ended up being removed was
1:14:13stats and activity stuff was just taken away.
1:14:17This killed Apple Watch apps as well. I miss the ability to see the stats
1:14:23and stuff very easily but that's about it for me. I mean this
1:14:27is kind of what I said at the time because I just wasn't using the other
1:14:29types of features. The only other thing really is like
1:14:32Tweets are a bit slower, but in times when I want real-time tweets, like if I'm watching
1:14:36like some kind of event or something and want to see tweets in real-time,
1:14:39I just move over to the regular app. Like, it's fine. But it's a shame.
1:14:44Yeah, those features are still there. You can go to the web as well if you need to,
1:14:50but it's just not in these third-party apps. I kind of feel how you feel. Like it's a bummer,
1:14:55but it hasn't really changed my relationship with my Twitter client. I still use Tweetbot, and
1:15:00It's a little frustrating at times, but it hasn't been that big of a deal.
1:15:06We also have this month, again, returning to iPhone rumors that 3D Touch would be removed
1:15:14from all 2019 iPhones.
1:15:16We still don't know if this is going to be true or not.
1:15:18We know that the iPhone XR lacks 3D Touch and they are replacing with Haptic Touch.
1:15:23In fact, the most recent iOS update included more places where Haptic Touch works, which
1:15:28Which is basically just a long press that then the thing just kicks you and says, "Hey,
1:15:33I did it."
1:15:35I would be okay with it.
1:15:37As long as they bring to Haptic Touch, Peak and Pop, I do use that frequently.
1:15:43I believe that the Haptic Touch stuff doesn't support that yet.
1:15:47I think they would need to add that for me to be okay with giving up the rest of it.
1:15:52I agree with you.
1:15:53I think they've got quite a bit of...
1:15:56There's a little way for me that they would need to go.
1:15:58I think Pecan Pop seems like it would be a difficult thing for them to do
1:16:00because like so I played around with the haptic touch on notification center.
1:16:04It does not work the same.
1:16:07You have to on the tenor, you the notification pops up when you let go.
1:16:12It's very peculiar, so I can press down and let go and it pops up,
1:16:17so it still doesn't even work the same as the iPad.
1:16:20So it's kind of peculiar and I don't really get it.
1:16:23It seems like there's still some work to do on it, to be honest.
1:16:27Alright, that rounds out August, so we've just got a few more months left of the year
1:16:32and there really isn't much that we're going to talk about for the end of the year because
1:16:36it's just happened. But there's still some stuff, September and October are big months,
1:16:41but before we tell you all about those, let me take a moment to thank our final sponsor for this
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1:17:35Stephen, could you tell me about your K-11 socks, please?
1:17:38I wanna know how comfortable your feet are.
1:17:40- They're great.
1:17:41I am one of those people that the all size fits all,
1:17:44I kinda fall in between, so I have socks
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1:18:07It's really awesome.
1:18:08So I've actually ordered some additional ones.
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1:18:58Thanks to kane11 for their support of this show and Relay FM.
1:19:02September the month of new iPhones and new Apple watches and off the bat we have product
1:19:10names and images for both.
1:19:14This was such a wild day.
1:19:16This story and going through it reminded me of the year prior, right, where we had the
1:19:21HomePod leak, which gave away a bunch of information.
1:19:25This was like that.
1:19:269to5Mac were sniffing around on some URLs and they found product photography of two
1:19:32sizes of iPhone and the larger screened Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Series 4.
1:19:40the wild like "what is this Apple Watch screen? There's so much information, right? This is
1:19:47ugly!"
1:19:48The best part of this article is the image caption that says "not a mock-up".
1:19:58Just so you know, not a mock-up. And then also within 24 hours there was a lot of talk
1:20:05about what the new iPhone names would be, iPhone XS Max was the name, to which many
1:20:11people, including yours truly, believed could not possibly be the name of the larger phone.
1:20:16Yeah, again, people were losing their minds, and I thought it was very strange. The only
1:20:24argument that I sort of bought into was the idea that Plus sounded kind of like it had
1:20:30something more but max just sounded like it was bigger and that kind of turned out to
1:20:36be true because the XS and XS Max are the same phone but one is bigger. So I guess the
1:20:42change to the max name kind of made sense. It still sounds very strange to call it the
1:20:49basically the way that people call it the iPhone XS Max. They don't say XS, they say
1:20:55say "excess" or in Italy they say "ixess". So, yeah, I found "ixessemax". So, that's
1:21:03not a good couple of words to say together. But yeah, I guess it, you know, whatever works
1:21:10for Apple works for us. September also, I mean September event, 10h, 10s, 10s max, Apple
1:21:19watch Mojave which I still not sure how to pronounce. You see Mojave, you see Mojave,
1:21:25nobody knows. And iOS 12. Mojave. Is that the smug bug voice again? The smug bug. Everyone
1:21:34the smug bug knows how to pronounce product names. He's very smug about them too. Yeah,
1:21:41it's because he knows them and you don't. Yeah. He's very smug about them. He would
1:21:44never call it the iPhone XS. I'm just saying. No he wouldn't. He's too smug. Yeah, even
1:21:48never. There were more anniversaries, 10 years of Steven's website, because it wasn't, it's
1:21:56not 10 years of 512 pixels, right? It's like 10 years of Steven's website, is that right?
1:22:01Yeah, it's got to be right. It had a name change a couple years into its life. But it's the same
1:22:05same thing, right? Like same site, but just a different name. 10 years. It is continuous.
1:22:09All of the links still work is my understanding. And Club Max Stories, the Club Max Stories,
1:22:15which is the Mac stories membership newsletter that Federico has been writing. So it's third year.
1:22:21It did strike me that you two chose, I mean, I don't know if 10 years ago it was the same,
1:22:26but like just interesting times of the year, like a very busy time of the year to
1:22:30to launch such a big project. Not the case 10 years ago. No, I can imagine that. The iPhone was a
1:22:36WBC product, you know, kind of like the new phones announced in the summer. It wasn't until the 4S,
1:22:42till it was the fall. So I just started in September because that's when I left the Apple
1:22:46Store and I could block it wasn't anything to it. It was just how fast can I stand up a WordPress
1:22:51site? But yeah, a decade it really I mean, I go through the archives and we're talking about just
1:22:57a year on this show. We've forgotten things. There are things in my archives I come across
1:23:01sometimes that like, I don't remember writing. I don't remember, you know, it's like, it's just
1:23:05so much stuff. But it's one of those things like I will always have this site
1:23:11no matter what else happens, it's just a part of me at this point.
1:23:14- Yeah. Mine was just a stupid decision to launch in September three years ago.
1:23:18But I did it for one specific reason, which was... And in hindsight, I'm actually pretty happy about
1:23:25it because it worked out well, that I wanted to launch and immediately have an integration
1:23:31between the club and my iOS 10 review. So the idea was, I launched this thing,
1:23:39and there's immediately going to be benefits for members, and there's going to be the exposure
1:23:43of the iOS review that is going to drive people to the club.
1:23:47And that worked.
1:23:48So now I'm stuck, sort of, with this September, combination of events in September, but every
1:23:55time I try to make the best out of that situation by having those kinds of extras, like special
1:24:02things, be exclusive for Club Maxoris members.
1:24:06We also had of course your ios 12 review and audiobook narrated by a british person
1:24:14Mug yeah, the smug bugs
1:24:16Smug, but got him
1:24:19I've forgotten how the smug bugs sounds down which is a shame. I've forgotten how the voice went it was like three seconds ago
1:24:25go.
1:24:26[Music]
1:24:27Hello there! I've bought your flicker!
1:24:37He's gone forever now, it's just me. Yep, I did that, you did that, it's a big thing
1:24:42every year, it's much bigger for Federico than it is for me, but it's a big job.
1:24:49Why is there an AirPower link in here in September? Oh yeah, the manual. Yeah. So Apple is...
1:24:58People discovered that Apple was referencing AirPower in the instructional manual of the
1:25:05iPhone XS. And some people... I remember this on Twitter. Some people thought that it was
1:25:10fake. There was like a bad Photoshop. But no, Apple does reference the wireless AirPower
1:25:16charger in the little instruction booklet that it's inside the iPhone XS package.
1:25:20So that's awkward, but...
1:25:23I mostly included this just to note that all year we've been wondering where this product
1:25:29is, right?
1:25:30Like it hasn't made an appearance in our list, like our countdown so far.
1:25:35All year we've...
1:25:36It's a meme at this point, AirPower.
1:25:39Well September 2 was a year since they announced it, because they announced it with the iPhone
1:25:44X.
1:25:45I mean at this point, we're recording this in December, my thought is it's just dead.
1:25:51And if it shows up it'll be a nice surprise.
1:25:53But I'll tell you what, I'm not putting it as my risky pick for 2019.
1:25:57No way.
1:25:58No part of that.
1:25:59No way.
1:26:00October brought about maybe one of the best episodes of Connected, which was when Federico
1:26:06attempted to name all of iOS 12.1's emoji without ever having seen the name.
1:26:12LA1.
1:26:13Did you?
1:26:15I think I did pretty well, but it was not a contest.
1:26:20I think we all won.
1:26:22Yeah.
1:26:23Also, it marked the
1:26:25very important debut of We Are The Fish
1:26:29in our
1:26:31connected
1:26:33back catalogue of references.
1:26:35I would have said "cell",
1:26:41But also I could see some kind of weird fish being like this
1:26:47Are you thinking of like a puffer fish?
1:27:00Okay, is this weird fish the name which what are you going with weird fish?
1:27:09Fish. You really are gonna go weird fish? I don't know what else to choose. It's either
1:27:20weird fish or cell. It is a microbe. What? What is a microbe?
1:27:31So that was a very fun episode to do. I guess, I don't know, we'll probably do it again in
1:27:36the future we'll see depends on the new emoji. Maybe it should become a tradition. I don't
1:27:41know. We'll see what happens.
1:27:42I think it should. I guess at some point we will have all of the accessibility ones we
1:27:49talked about earlier, but there'll be some strange ones too to pick, I'm sure of it.
1:27:53We also saw the release of the Google Pixel 3, and it was Google's press event in New
1:27:58York, which was kind of a strange event in ways, but I think there's no arguing the Pixel
1:28:02is an excellent phone. Myke, you've got one and you seem to have enjoyed your time with it.
1:28:08Yeah, I feel like I'm never going to talk about this phone. I just feel like at this point,
1:28:12I don't even know why I have to say it. I really like it. It's a great phone and the camera's
1:28:16incredible. That's my review of the Pixel 3, I think. It's great. It's very nice. I like it.
1:28:23I get the small one. It's pink and it's nice to hold and it is a good Android phone and it does
1:28:29some cool stuff and the camera is amazing. That's my Pixel 3 review.
1:28:32I'm glad we've been waiting for that. It's good.
1:28:35We also saw Apple's
1:28:39or Adobe, excuse me, Apple invited Adobe
1:28:42to show off Photoshop for the iPad and Apple's press event where they also
1:28:46announced Macs.
1:28:47But it was shown off before. So Adobe showed off.
1:28:50Oh it was, like a week before, right? I think it was a little bit before.
1:28:54Adobe Macs, so they
1:28:58which is Adobe's conference is where they unveiled it.
1:29:00Having previously acknowledged that it would happen, which they did,
1:29:04they showed off what it was going to look like.
1:29:08And then they joined Apple on stage for the iPad Pro presentation
1:29:11to give a condensed demo.
1:29:13So June next year, but still pretty monumental news.
1:29:17And I'm very excited for it.
1:29:19We had our live show in New York with Federico's cousin,
1:29:23who was very gracious and taking time off.
1:29:25That was incredible.
1:29:27Like, I had no idea.
1:29:29Unfortunately, I couldn't join you guys in New York.
1:29:33But it was such an incredible thing for my cousin to do.
1:29:39Like, I was not expecting it at all.
1:29:42Big moment.
1:29:42He's a very busy guy.
1:29:44You know, he runs a very important business.
1:29:48He sells vinyls in America.
1:29:52So I know he's very busy with his company.
1:29:55Yeah, vinyl cast. So it was very gracious of him to fit in for me. You know, so it's
1:30:04a very good episode and Marcus makes some really good points. So you should also check
1:30:11out his company, Vinyl Cast.
1:30:13It's a snappy dresser.
1:30:15Yeah.
1:30:16Yeah.
1:30:17It was. Ming-Chi Kuo makes a return in October saying there will be a new...
1:30:21I feel like he never left.
1:30:22He's always here.
1:30:23He's here with me right now.
1:30:26I'm back boys, here's an iPad Mini.
1:30:30Saying that yeah, iPad Mini 5 late 2018 or early 2019, so this is still within the realm
1:30:35of possibility, I think this is a product that if they don't do anything in 2019 then
1:30:41it should just go away.
1:30:42Like the new, the 6th generation iPad being cheaper than this thing, being better at this
1:30:48thing in every single way except that the mini has a laminate laminated display and the
1:30:55sixth generation iPad does not. Other than that the iPad mini just outgunned and it's
1:30:58more expensive and just feels like a relic and I'd like to see him do it. I think there's
1:31:04probably still a market for it but I can understand if it goes away. And then of course we had
1:31:09the October event which brought about the MacBook Air, the Mac Mini and the iPad Pro
1:31:14which two out of three everyone's been really happy with.
1:31:18MacBook Air has had a bit of a tumultuous life so far,
1:31:22I think, including Steven being upset
1:31:24about the storage last week, so.
1:31:26- Gotta get the 1.5 terabyte version, man.
1:31:29- Can't wait for that.
1:31:30Can't wait to do it.
1:31:31- It's so expensive. - It's that .5
1:31:34that really seals the deal.
1:31:36- We spent basically the entire month of November
1:31:38debating the iPad.
1:31:40- Well, some people did.
1:31:42- We did.
1:31:43I looked at the show notes, we did.
1:31:45No, but I mean like some people get really upset about it and I don't think we do.
1:31:50Like in the sense that, you know, there's these blog posts and these videos, can you
1:31:55get real work done on the iPad?
1:31:56And I feel like we're sort of, we handle that conversation in a different way because we
1:32:02know that it's possible to get work done on the iPad, but we also know its limitations.
1:32:07And I think other blogs and other YouTubers, they make more sort of dramatic announcements
1:32:14and like claims that, you know, they go viral for like a week or so and then...
1:32:22That's just my opinion though.
1:32:25But yes, we did discuss the iPad Pro.
1:32:28I started the iPad Diaries series about the new iPad Pro.
1:32:32I started spending a lot of money on USB-C accessories and keyboards.
1:32:38It was a very productive month.
1:32:40I got a lot of writing done, the episodes were good, we had some fun discussions.
1:32:46I'm curious to see what the situation is going to be like in six months, because this iPad
1:32:52discussion, this is a point that I made on connected in the past.
1:32:56few months, this entire thing sparkles up again and people start arguing about the iPad
1:33:03for work. I bet it's gonna surface again sometime in February or March. Somebody's gonna complain
1:33:08with a tweet or with a blog post and the whole cycle is gonna spin up again. And the iPad
1:33:14Pro discussion will begin anew. So we'll see when it happens. I bet it's gonna be... It
1:33:19usually happens every 3 to 4 months. So I think we're only like 2 to 3 months away from
1:33:25cycle. Is that going to be in your 2019 predictions, predicting when people will start talking
1:33:30about the iPad Pro again? That's a point for sure. Like, that's the,
1:33:34it wouldn't, it would be unfair. It would be unfair. Nothing else of note I think happened
1:33:40in November. We just were, we were just getting work done.
1:33:43Yeah, it was a lot of conversation, like it was a lot of conversation, you know, and talking
1:33:48about the merits of the product, defending the product where we thought it needed to
1:33:52be and then as you say like talking about some of the things that you were doing you know some of the
1:33:57apps that you were excited about some of the dongles and stuff and yeah but there was news
1:34:02but news that mostly hasn't changed so isn't really worth looking back on and then December
1:34:07the biggest I think the biggest story in December at least in the Apple community I think is Apple
1:34:11Music arriving on the Amazon Echo because it's wild this is a wild story it was crazy when it
1:34:17was announced and it got even crazier when it was released. Ed has been very interested
1:34:24in it and I am really keen. Like I just saw someone sent me a screenshot of an email that
1:34:29Apple sent them talking about how to set it up and all the things like giving prompts
1:34:33about what you should say. Just goes on and on. Just won't stop. And also in December
1:34:38we all bought Mac Minis. Which is something we would never have put in our predictions.
1:34:45We're all gonna buy Mac Minis this year.
1:34:46- It's true, we're three for three.
1:34:47- Yeah, yeah, and I can tell you that writing more
1:34:52about Mac stuff is something that I wanna do in 2019,
1:34:56which is something that I haven't done.
1:34:57- Uh-oh, he's put the Mac back in Mac stories.
1:35:00- Well, John is writing about the Mac on Mac stories
1:35:04most of the time.
1:35:05I guess I'm gonna-- - You personally.
1:35:07- I personally will write about Mac automation.
1:35:10Like, I haven't written about this stuff in four, actually five years.
1:35:16So it should be fun.
1:35:17It's one of my goals for the next year.
1:35:19But we'll talk about that in our first episode of 2019, because this is a very
1:35:27important final point that I personally put in the document.
1:35:30The episode is over.
1:35:32And just like the year is over, I would say overall, do we give a thumbs up to
1:35:39Apple in 2018?
1:35:40I think yes. I mean, I would have liked to see better improvements to iOS for iPad.
1:35:49That's my only negative note, honestly. The iPad hardware is now so much more ahead of the software.
1:35:55It's kind of ridiculous to look at that contrast between the two.
1:36:00But overall, the devices are great. The XS Max and the Series 4 are great.
1:36:05Yeah, just the iPad software could have been you know could have been a nice more
1:36:09a nice thing to have but so one more thing to look forward for 2019
1:36:13If you want to find links to all the stuff we talked about head on over to relay.fm/connected/224
1:36:23While you're there you can get in touch with us via email or you can find us other places online
1:36:29You can find Myke on Twitter at
1:36:31I-M-Y-K-E. Myke is the host of a lot of shows here at Relay FM. You can find Federico at
1:36:37V-I-T-I-C-C-I on Twitter, and you can find him, of course, at maxstories.net, writing
1:36:42about Automator and Terminal and Activity Monitor, all that good nerdy Mac stuff. You
1:36:49can find me on Twitter as @ismh and I write 512pixels.net.
1:36:53A quick programming note, our next episode will be out on January 9th. We are taking
1:36:58the week of New Year's off. We hope that you have a wonderful holiday with friends and
1:37:02family. I'd like to thank our sponsors, Pingdom, Smile, and K-11. And until, I guess until
1:37:09next year, guys, say goodbye.
1:37:11Arrivederci and bonanno.
1:37:12Cheerio and happy new year.
1:37:14Adios.
1:37:15Ah, it's happy new year.
1:37:17Feliz Nuevo.
1:37:18Feliz año nuevo.
1:37:19Hey, we'll go with that one.