2025-12-18 03:22:00
The Information had a new report out this week that has a bunch of info about some upcoming Apple products. I'm not one to shy away from paying for news, but I still haven't been able to justify $1,000 per year, so thankfully MacRumors summarized the news for me. Here's my quick reactions to each item.
Specifically, the report said the iPhone 17e will support "magnetic wireless charging," which implies that the device will feature MagSafe for faster, magnetic wireless charging
I'm an iPhone 16e defender, but I think that MagSafe is the straw that broke the camel's back on this thing for a lot of people. The notch and single camera are sacrifices, but in my opinion, it's the lack of MagSafe that really pushed this over the edge to make a lot of people consider it a bad deal. The price might still be a bit high, but I strongly feel that the lack of MagSafe made this phone feel cheap.
Apple's first foldable iPhone will be equipped with a 7.7-inch inner display, and a 5.3-inch outer display
Now this is interesting. Both the Samsung and Google folding phones have 6.5" external displays and 8" internal displays. That means their external displays are very much like a normal phone (the iPhone Air is that size). Apple going with a 5.3" external display is really, really interesting. The iPhone 13 mini had a 5.4" screen, and it felt like an absolute baby, and apparently this one will be marginally smaller. Yikes! Those who love small phones for their deep pockets, this might be a dream device.
Apple is apparently considering adding a second rear camera to the device
And:
the report said Apple is considering lower pricing for the iPhone Air 2
I think both of these would help this phone immensely. The sales pitch for the iPhone Air is quite literally, "pay more to get less," and I don't think anyone should be surprised to hear that isn't the most compelling pitch to most people. And again, this is totally different than the iPhone X, which was an upgrade over the cheaper phones in literally every single spec from display to cameras to battery life: you paid more to get more.
As I I've been saying for a year now (I predicted it on Comfort Zone), I don't think the iPhone Air will be a middle ground iPhone for long, I think Apple's vision for it is to be the "normal iPhone" and they want to work the base iPhone out of the lineup. The only reason it wasn't that this year is because they couldn't get the features and price where they needed them to be (aka literally the situation the MacBook Air was in before it took over the MacBook's position as the entry-level Mac laptop). These changes would get them closer to being able to do that with the iPhone.
Apple plans to remove touch sensitivity and haptic feedback from the Camera Control on the standard iPhone 18 model, which suggests that it will be removing the button's capacitive layer. The report did not say if this change will extend to the iPhone 18 Pro models, but it seems likely for consistency.
This was already a rumor floating around out there, and the more we hear it the more likely it seems. I think Camera Control will go down much like 3D Touch: a cool, over-engineered feature that some people like, but most people find to be way too much and therefore will be retired shortly after being introduced. Cards on the table, I was a 3D Touch fanboy, and I actively dislike the Camera Control gestures.
2025-12-17 09:59:08
Quick Reviews just won the MacStories Selects Best New App award, and I'm over the moon about it! I honestly didn't seen this coming at all, and I genuinely teared up just a bit when I saw the news. Yes, yes, awards aren't the end-all-be-all and there are plenty of great new apps this year, but it's so nice to see an app that I made mostly for myself has made other people happy as well.
I like Jonathan Reed's writeup on the blog:
Like Matt’s other apps, Quick Reviews is a simple concept that’s well thought out and executed, making it a joy to use. It’s now part of my movie-watching ritual, and I suspect that’s the case for many others. It’s a pleasure to be able to name Quick Reviews the Best New App of 2025.
And I also appreciated this from Federico and John on AppStories:
Federico: I think what's especially nice about it is that it is the kind of utility that is focused, that is made by a new indie developer for Apple platforms, and is focused on people…on people enjoying art made by other people.
John: Which is a positive spin that can be shared on social media. The thing I think is too easy on social media is to share hot takes, complaints, and gripes, and with Matt's app, you can share things you love, which I really think makes all of social media a better place for everyone.
Well, this is where I remind you to check out Quick Reviews for iOS here. It's free to use, but $10/year gets you Magic Mode which autofills a bunch of metadata for you, (one-way) Letterboxd sync, and a simple year in review image generator.
2025-12-17 05:38:32
In what might be a first for the platform, Jonathan Hoefler posted an insightful thread on Threads about a topic in which he is an expert and didn't make it vapid engagement bait. It's about the Times New Roman vs Calibri debate and how asinine basically all of it is, but it ends with this bit that I love:
if there are circumstances in which one typeface is easier to read for immigrants with disabilities, chances are it will be equally beneficial to middle-aged white guys with fancy eyeglasses.
This is the message I try to share are widely as possible. I hate it when people say that "some people need accessibility," which is something I heard a lot this summer in the liquid glass discourse. Accessibility is not putting white text on a white background…how dark you need to make the text to be legible varies from person to person, but there's no point along the way where you go from "normal people" to "people who need accessibility features".
Proper text contrast lets everyone read easier.
Keyboard shortcuts allow anyone to navigate interfaces how they want.
Consistent, obvious UI helps everyone understand how their software works.
On a related note, I liked this post from Steven Aquino: Times New Rubio:
Typographical nerdery notwithstanding, however, what I take away from Rubio’s directive is simple: he cares not one iota for people with disabilities, just like his boss.
Whether Times New Roman, Calibri, or something else is the best font for the most people in official documents is interesting, but come on, inclusivity isn't exactly a top priority for this government.
2025-12-16 20:00:27
Idan Dardikman writing on the Koi blog, 8 Million Users' AI Conversations Sold for Profit by "Privacy" Extensions, documents how "Urban VPN Proxy" is potentially harvesting your chats with 10 major LLMs. The extension is used across millions of users on Chrome and has 10k reviews on the iOS App Store (the post covers the Chrome extension, but there's no reason this wouldn't work on iOS as well, they just can't inspect what's happening on iOS like they can on the web…another point for the open web 😉).
Setting aside the contrived setup they had for this post, from what I can tell, it's a good case study in what software is capable of doing on your computer. Also that you don't just get privacy just by installing a VPN…at best, a VPN just means you're trusting your behavior with the VPN company. Also, I gotta say, it's yet another example of a problem framed with AI, but it really an issue with traditional software. Just sayin'.
2025-12-16 08:35:22
The widely adored Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered (seemingly by their son) over the weekend, and this is what he said in reaction to the news:
A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!
Someone is deranged here, but it's the sad sack in the White House.
2025-12-16 04:51:43
There are some new potential leaks about the upcoming folding iPhone, and this bit stood out to me:
The leaker claims Apple has chosen not to include 3D Face ID hardware or a 3D ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor, as both systems would add internal volume and complicate efforts to slim down the device.
This was rumored before, so this isn't exactly breaking new ground, but the more I hear it, the more likely it seems to be. Depth could be the issue here, although they solved this on the iPhone Air with the camera plateau, and one would think that the folding phone would have a plateau as well. Maybe they'll be filling that one with more cameras and therefore there wouldn't be space for the full set of Face ID components? I guess it could be a cost issue, but honestly, this thing is going to be super expensive, so I don't see why they'd be pinching pennies here.
Also:
For the external display, the leaker claims Apple is using a 5.25-inch panel with a punch-hole camera implemented via a HIAA (Hole-In-Active-Area) design, a technique that minimizes inactive screen space around the cutout. It is unclear what will happen to the Dynamic Island in both instances.
Losing the dynamic island as well would be a real annoyance as well. Or would it…honestly I'm not sure. I know that the whole feature is a clever attempt to take a negative (needing a larger camera cutout than other phones because of your Face ID feature) and turning it into a positive with some neat functionality. I love having timers and sports scores up there, and it's even nice to be able to quickly get to my music/podcast app in a single tap no matter what else I'm doing on my phone, so losing it, even if it meant having a smaller camera cutout, would feel like a bit of a compromise. Does removing Face ID mean Apple gets to do the smaller cutout they've always wanted to do?
TLDR: I'm torn.
What excites me about this device combined with the rumored touch-enabled Macs coming in 2026 is that there's going to be some meaningful change in Apple hardware in a way we haven't seen in a while. iPhones that turn into iPads. Macs that turn into iPads. And iPads that…well, I guess they're just gonna be iPads for a while longer.