2025-12-19 05:50:38
I didn't really set out to do it, but my Quick Subtitles app actually makes for a pretty interesting benchmark tool. Back in October I compared sustained performance between the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air by using the app's batch feature, but it wasn't much work to tweak that feature to build a bespoke benchmarking mode into the app, so that's what I did.
This benchmark is pretty simple, you give it an audio or video file and it transcribes the file using Apple's on-device language model over and over and over again. I maxed everything out by giving it a Cozy Zone podcast episode to transcribe 20 times in a row. After each run, it logs how many words per minute it transcribed in that specific run, and begins again.
To be clear, this is a very specific benchmark that tests the performance of a combination of features of the system on a chip, including the neural engine, CPU, and memory. This is not a wide ranging, general benchmark.
But that's not what I'm using it for, I'm using it in this case to test thermal throttling. See, whatever combination of components this tests, it generates heat…a lot of heat. I wanted to know how quickly each device would thermally throttle. When it did throttle, how much performance did it lose?
This is the one you're probably least interested in, but here's our baseline.
As we can see, the first transcript hit 170 words per second, and by the 4th one we were about as throttled as we could get. Performance was around 66-70% of the max performance most of the run.
The iPhone Air is where things get more interesting.
This one was basically the same exact story, just with a higher starting point. We started at a very good 208 words per second to begin, but by the 4th run we were bottoming out around 130 words per second, or about 62% of the max performance.
Here's where we get to see the benefit of a vapor chamber.
This one starts at a highest-yet first run of 217 words per second, dropping to 151 in the 20th and final run. That's a drop to 70% of the performance, but you can see a pretty linear trend as it gets marginally slower each time. What this tells me is that the vapor chamber is doing some good work, but since it's not active cooling, it's just passive cooling, eventually we still get pretty darn hot and need to throttle.
These last two were especially interesting because back in October I did a similar test, and I suspected that the Air was indeed throttling due to worse thermals, but I didn't have enough granular data to prove it. I think this test shows pretty conclusively that its raw performance at this workload is comparable to the Pro phones, but only for a couple minutes.
Now let's get kind of unfair and bring a freaking laptop to the shootout.
There are a couple notable things with this test. First, in terms of throttling, buddy this thing doesn't throttle. Outside of the first run, which was oddly a bit slower than the rest, every single other test was almost exactly 227 words per second.
And second, while this is objectively faster than the iPhones, it's not that much faster. Its fastest time was only 5% faster than the iPhone 17 Pro's best time, which is pretty remarkable for the phone. Basically, if you need to transcribe a one-hour podcast, your phone and Mac will be about the same speed doing it, but if you need to transcribe a season all at once, do that on the Mac.
While were at it, how about an iPad Pro as well?
This looks just like the MacBook Pro chart: completely steady (besides an odd dip in the middle).
Benchmark mode will be in a Quick Subtitles update, which should be out before the end of the year. Shameless plug…More Birchtree subscribers get beta access to all of my apps, and it should be in the beta in the next day or two (depending on App Review time, which yes, also impacts TestFlight).
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.