The Keynote Story

As we head into today’s Apple “Far Out” keynote, we’ve got a pretty good idea in terms of what we’ll see in the new iPhones and at least an inkling of what we’ll see with the new Apple Watch.

What we don’t know is the narrative. Apple does have a story around its products and how they see them fitting in for their users and along with the rest of the Apple product line in general.

For the iPhone, it is the modern utility belt in your pocket doing everything from communications to photography. For the Apple Watch, it’s increasingly becoming a health-focused product there to help keep you fit and (sometimes) alive.

With each new Apple keynote, I’m always interested to see how they look at whatever they’re introducing as part of that larger narrative. If you watch the event today, pay attention to the story.

Apple Watch Pro Rumors Multiply

As we’re now a few days away from Apple’s “Far Out” event, the circle of trust at Apple is expanding, and so are the leaks.

There is a leaked CAD design that may (or may not) be the new Apple Watch Pro. It’s notably different than what we’ve seen before with a bigger and flatter screen and an extra button. This design reads rugged more than finesse. Mark Gurman now tweets that the Apple Watch Pro will have a custom series of bands and faces.

If this is what Apple intends to ship, I have to question the “Pro” moniker. This looks to me something more like an “Extreme” or “Rugged” Apple Watch. Regardless, I’m looking forward to hearing the story behind the product on Wednesday.

Mac Power Users 656: The Fundamentals Are Timeless, with Stephen Millard

Automation wizard Stephen Millard joins David and Stephen on this episode of Mac Power Users to discuss Shortcuts, Alfred workflows, and a whole host of other automation tools across Apple’s platforms.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

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Notch Evolution

The rumor mill is at it again. For some time now, it’s been apparent that the new iPhone Pro will be using cutouts instead of the notch found on previous iPhones. Leaks indicate it is something like a sideways lowercase “i”.

iPhone 14 Pro with lower case i notch.
Image from 9to5 Mac

It’s always looked a little funny to me, and I wondered what on earth they’d do with the very few pixels between the two notches.

Now we have an entirely new set of rumors that they’ll paint those pixels black, effectively connecting the two cutouts to make one long rounded rectangle. The only thing they’ll light in those pixels is the indicator lights for active audio and video recordings.

iPhone 14 Pro with single notch.
Image from 9to5 Mac

If true, this makes a lot of sense. I think it looks better this way, and the indicator lights right next to the camera lens hopefully make it more apparent what function they serve. (I suspect a lot of iPhone owners have no idea why those lights show up on their iPhones.) This is one more example of how rumors can lead Apple enthusiasts astray. So many people were upset about the two cutouts looking awkward and silly. Apple likely had the plan to connect them all along.

In terms of additional screen real estate, this new cutout doesn’t really give us much more than we had with the notch, but it does show progress and is one more step toward getting rid of notches and cutouts altogether.

Endor Studios Update: Ready for Drywall (MacSparky Labs)

Things are continuing to progress on the new MacSparky Studio space. In the last few days, the Inspector has green-lit going forward with drywall, stucco, and the roof. In this video, I share one last video of the interior space before drywalling begins…

This is a post for MacSparky Labs Tier 2 (Backstage) and Tier 3 (Early Access) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

DEVONthink: The Place for Documents and Files (Sponsor)

I often hear from listeners/readers looking for a research solution in the Mac ecosystem. My favorite app for this, without a doubt, is DEVONthink. DEVONthink is the most professional document and information management application for the Mac. It’s the one place for storing all your documents, snippets, or bookmarks, and working with them.

The Integrated A.I. assists you with filing and searching, while the extensive search language with advanced Boolean operators.

DEVONthink features a Flexible sync system that supports many cloud services – or lets you synchronize over the local network too – with everything securely encrypted. This gives you the choice for however syncing works best for you!

It has Smart rules and flexible reminders that let you automate all parts of your workflow and delegate boring, repeating tasks. Let DEVONthink automatically organize your data with rules you define!

DEVONthink’s AppleScript dictionary is one of the largest on the Mac. There’s no part of DEVONthink that can’t be automated. Extend DEVONthink’s functionality with your own commands by adding them to its Scripts menu.

Even templates can have scripts inside and you can set up new documents with data from placeholders, or inserted by your own AppleScript code.

And, of course, there’s so much more, from an iOS companion app, email archiving, scanning, or even an embedded web server for sharing your data securely with your team.

I often get email from folks who are using apps like Obsidian or Craft and trying to figure out document management in those apps. My answer is to put all that stuff in DEVONthink. While these emerging PKM apps are pretty great, they can’t hold a candle to DEVONthink when it comes to working with actual files.

I find DEVONthink’s combination of innovative features and automation support irresistible. Interested? MacSparky readers can get a 20% discount on DEVONthink..