The Peak Design Everyday iPhone Case

Peak Design is a company specializing in various bags and cases. They make some excellent (and opinionated) gear. They sell many of their new products via Kickstarter and often manage to hook me with their very polished campaigns.

For instance, a while ago, they announced they would be making an iPhone case. I was curious, and I backed the project. While the Peak Design iPhone case was going through design and iteration, Apple released a new iPhone and, thanks to a nifty email from Peak Design, I was able to change my reservation for my new iPhone 13 Pro. A few weeks ago, the case arrived. I’ve been using it ever since and wanted to share some initial impressions.

THE CASE

The case is made of a rugged rubber-ish / plastic-ish material that fits nicely around my phone. The slightly rounded back has a fabric-feeling texture that is very easy to grip and slide in and out of my pockets. The buttons are not independent of the case, like they are with the Apple leather cases, but they press easily and get the job done. The front lip of the case surrounds the front of the iPhone, which I like. There is no problem with swipe gestures with this case.

On the back of the case is a square divot that serves as a more stable mounting point with some of the accessories. More on that later. Also, the case is MagSafe compatible, and it has worked fine with my MagSafe battery, charger, and wallet. I was even able to get the MagSafe pop socket to work with it.

There are two versions of the case. One has a loop on the back to thread your finger through, like a low-profile pop socket. The other version does not have the loop. I elected the case sans loop in that my iPhone is easy enough to handle without it. If I was sporting an iPhone Pro Max, I might have gone for the loop.

THE SYSTEM

Peak Design has done an excellent job of building all of its products into its system. Different products efficiently work with other products. Moreover, they’ve been so successful over the years that a lot of third-party accessory makers also use their sizes, like, for instance, their tripod mount plate.

The new Peak Design iPhone case is no different. Peak Design has built an entire ecosystem around this case. They have a lot of options: magnetic mounts, charging mounts, bicycle mounts, and a clever creator’s mount (pictured) that lets you mount to a tripod or an action camera mount. While the magnetic mount is excellent, if you need something more stable, the locking attachment system is the best I’ve ever seen integrated into an iPhone case.

Of course Peak Design makes an excellent iPhone case system. It’s pricey, and I don’t think it’s for everyone, but if you want a complete, entirely reliable iPhone case, that you can lock into a mount with certainty it will remain stable, this is probably the one.

Get More Done with Textexpander (Sponsor)

A shoutout to TextExpander, MacSparky’s sponsor this week. I’ve been a user of TextExpander for a long time. It’s been a real difference-maker in my workflow by doing a lot of the work for me.

TextExpander supports a variety of macros, and one supported macro is the Tab key. What does that mean for you? TextExpander can insert some text, press Tab for you, then insert more text.

For instance, I regularly send my assistant emails with updates about the latest Field Guide I’m working on. TextExpander allows me to use just a couple of keystrokes and I can start the new email and then trigger a snippet.

The beauty of TextExpander is the snippet will automatically type my assistant’s email address, press tab, put in the the same email subject line, press tab, and fill in a general template for the body of the email. The cursor is ready for me and placed right where I need to start typing the new information for the week. That’s a more efficient use of time. And that’s what TextExpander can do for you: allow you to take your time back. Get 20% off your first year. Leave the boring, repetitive tasks in the past: get TextExpander and focus on what matters most.

Mac Power Users 616: The Quality Will Be Ensured, with Daniel Jalkut – Draft

Stephen and I are joined by Daniel Jalkut on this episode of Mac Power Users. After his absence is blamed on an innocent co-host, Daniel chats with us about his indie development career, the new MacBook Pro, and the many options developers face when picking a method for writing a macOS application.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.

  • TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile.

  • Electric: Stop stressing over scattered devices. Get a free pair of Beats Solo3 Wireless Headphones when you schedule a meeting.

  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

Chronosync Update

With the proliferation of cloud-based storage, it’d be easy to think you don’t need local backup anymore. I disagree. I make regular backups of my data to big, slow, inexpensive spinning hard drives that I store away from the computer (with one going offsite).

I’ve tried all the tools for this and ChronoSync is my favorite. ChronoSync is the automatic sync and backup app for your Mac, and they have just released a major beta, ChronoSync 4.10. ChronoSync can back up your data, create a bootable disk, clone your hard drive, synchronize files between two computers and store redundant backups in the cloud. This new release brings:

  1. Monterey support and optimized for M1 Macs.
  2. Simple bootable backups, like the old days, for all the new versions of macOS.
  3. iCloud support.

My congratulations to the ChronoSync team on this release.

The HomePod Mini Experiment

Recently, Jason Snell wrote about using a stereo-paired set of HomePod mini speakers with his Mac. I reported on a similar experiment on the latest episode of Mac Power Users.

Specifically, I wanted to see if AirPlay-paired HomePod minis could replace my existing wired speaker system. My current system is nice. They’re Focal speakers with a powerful subwoofer on the floor. I reviewed those speakers, along with their 30-pin connector, in 2009. Rather than sending them back to the manufacturer, I sent back a check and kept the speakers. I’ve been using them every since.

Nevertheless, the siren song of those cute little orange HomePod minis called out to me, and I bought a pair as an experiment. Everything Jason says is right. These speakers sound better than expected for something so small. When paired together, you do get separation and good sound for a minimal footprint.

They don’t match the quality of my subwoofer-enhanced Focals, but to do so would defy the laws of physics. They did, however, sound good enough that I was willing to consider using them as my new full-time speakers.

The problem, for me, was lag in the AirPlay connection. Every time I hit play, there was a slight delay between me pushing the button and the music starting. If I only needed speakers for music, that’d be fine.

Unfortunately, the lag showed up in other places too. For example, I often dictate voice-to-text on my Mac. I use the built-in Siri dictation for this. When I engage the dictation, my Mac makes a pleasing “boop” sound. When I’m done, I push the button again, and my Mac then makes the “beep” sound. The feedback from those sounds makes dictation easier. With AirPlay-connected speakers, however, I got no boop, just the beep.

To make matters worse, I also use those speakers to edit audio and video files. In those cases, I’m looking at an audio wave file while I make the edits. The audio that comes through my speakers must match with the waveform on my screen. With the HomePod minis, it did not. When I pressed play, the waveform started scrolling, and the audio lagged behind a second or two. So when I saw a gap in the waveform (indicating silence), the speakers were still making noise and vice versa. (Interestingly, I do not see a similar delay when editing with AirPods.) I could have just witched to headphones, but I’m not willing to only edit video with headphones.

So the unsurprising answer is that AirPlay is not yet ready for use in video production. I liked my tiny orange speakers with their orange cords, but they had to go back in the end.

I now have a newfound love for my Focal speakers, which I plan to keep using … at least … for now.

One last thought that occurs to me is that no matter how good AirPlay gets, the audio input port on the Focal speakers continues to serve me well. Just think how much more versatile the HomePod could be with an audio input in addition to AirPlay.

MacSparky Field Guides Thanksgiving Sale

As a lot of Americans prepare to spend some time off tomorrow, I do think the idea of setting aside time to give thanks is a good one. One of the biggest things I have to give thanks for is the success of MacSparky. The fact that you listen to my shows, read my words, and buy my Field Guides is a precious gift.

So I am doing a sale this year. I don’t run these holiday sales every year and don’t know when I’ll do one again. But starting today through Monday, the code TURKEY21 will get you 20% off any of The MacSparky Field Guides at Learn.MacSparky. That’s nearly $10 off most courses. You have my permission to go nuts.

SaneBox (Sponsor)




My thanks to MacSparky’s sponsor this week, SaneBox. My plate is full enough as it is, but I’ve got SaneBox to help me clear my plate by managing my inbox. I’ve tried using rules before, but things would slip through that weren’t supposed to, so rules didn’t work for me. What works for me, what does the work for me, is SaneBox. It takes some training, but SaneBox manages the emails that I don’t need to read immediately and moves these distractions into folders like SaneLater, and moves the unwanted and annoying ones into SaneBlackHole.

If you’re looking to manage your workflow more productively, try SaneBox with a free trial. You’ll get a $10 credit you can use towards a SaneBox subscription. Don’t waste your time on the clutter and unimportant emails. Spend time on working on what are actually your priority messages and what’s important to you. 

PIxelmator 2.3, Uses AI to Remove Backgrounds


Today Pixelmator dropped version 2.3 of Pixelmator Pro. There are a few highlights of note:

• AI-powered automatic background removal: With just a click, users will now be able to remove the background from any image

• AI-powered automatic subject selection: Again with just a click, users will now be able to automatically select the subject of an image

• A Select and Mask tool for advanced selections: This is designed to make it easy to select the most challenging image areas of all – hair, fur, and other objects with very complex edges.

These new features are powered by ML algorithms that are integrated into Pixelmator Pro using Core ML. As a resul, they are very fast on M1-powered devices. For example, background removal takes around 2-5 seconds on M1 devices and up to 30 seconds on Intel devices for an average image.

I spent some time with the pre-release version and the background removal is remarkably good with the press of just one button. I love how Pixelmator has been jumping on the use of artificial intelligence to make image editing easier (and better). In celebration of the new release, Pixelmator is 50% off starting today and for a limited time.

Mac Power Users 615: The Clipboard Manager Roundup




There is a range of applications to supercharge your copy-and-paste game. This week’s Mac Power Users has Stephen and me exploring some of the best options for macOS and even the iPad and iPhone.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

  • Hullo: A simple, natural pillow designed for comfort. Try it for 60 days.

  • TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile.

  • Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

  • Capital One: Machine learning at Capital One. What’s in your wallet?