Some Monterey Features of Note

Today marks the release of the latest iteration of macOS, Monterey. The usual disclaimers apply. If you have production software on your Mac that you use to pay for your shoes, you should seriously check all of that out before installing this update. That said, I’ve been running the beta for months, and it’s been largely stable (except for Shortcuts, explained further below). Once you get it installed, there are several features that I found delightful through the beta:

Focus Mode

Focus mode is my favorite feature this year. It lets you set contexts that control what apps show up on your iPhone and iPad, along with what apps and people can interrupt you. It’s more powerful than I could have expected, but there are limitations. With the release of Monterey, you can now have your Focus mode reflected in your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. This ability to launch a feature across the spectrum of Apple’s computing hardware is something new and a testament to their changes over the last few years to unify the experience across devices. This unification comes at a price, but also pays dividends like this. I’m putting together a free webinar on Focus mode in the next few weeks to explain how I use it. Stay tuned for an announcement in the next few days.

Mac as AirPlay Receiver

I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about this. Still, now, in addition to transmitting your Mac’s screen and audio to a different AirPlay device (like an Apple TV), you can also turn your Mac into an AirPlay receiver, which allows you to share a screen from another Mac or transmit your iPad screen to your Mac. This also works for audio, so if you’ve got some nice speakers connected to your Mac, you can play your iPhone audio through your Mac’s speakers.

The Nuke Button

Deleting your data from your Mac has always involved multiple restarts and visits to the system recovery tools. Now you just go to the System Preferences menu and choose “Erase All Content and Settings…” to get started. Deleting your data from your Mac is now as easy as it is on your iPhone and iPad.

Improved Window Management

Window management on the Mac leaves a lot to be desired. Indeed this is one of those areas where I think Microsoft has done a better job than Apple has with macOS. There has been some improvement this year, however.

Menu Bar in Full-Screen Apps

If you go into the Dock & Menu Bar preference pane, there is now a Menu Bar section with a checkbox to “Automatically hide and show the menu bar in full screen.” This was always a sticking point for me with full-screen apps. If the apps take the full screen, I can certainly afford a few pixels at the top for the Menu bar. Now I can put it there by default by leaving this box unchecked.

Better Tiled Window Support

For several years now, the Mac has been able to tile two apps on the screen at once. But it has been garbage. Assembling the tiles takes a lot of dragging, and if you minimize either window, you break the tiled window set up. The feature has been unusable for me. It just felt like the guy doing window management went out for a pack of cigarettes and never returned.

With the new Monterey release, there is a new feature where you can have the opportunity to replace a window with another application if you click and hold onto the green button. I don’t think this is ultimately going to lead me to start using tiled windows. There are still too many other problems. It is, however, better. I just wish they did more with window management on the Mac.

Safari Improvements

There are lots of things that go on inside Apple that are pretty boring. The running battle over the latest iteration of Safari is not one of them. I would love to hear one day what happened over the summer of 2021. Safari’s visual design got turned on its head and then turned back to its original position again. That wasn’t the only change of note to Safari, however.

Intelligent Tracking Prevention

One particularly nefarious practice online marketers have been doing is building profiles of you based on your online activity and your IP address, and you don’t need to sign up for an online account for them to creep on you. Apple has been engaged in a running battle with these people. This year’s Safari update added intelligent tracking prevention, making it harder for marketing companies to profile you. You get this for free, and I like it.

Tab Groups

I like to think of the new tab groups feature as bookmarks 2.0. It’s a little more intuitive and makes it easier to group tabs based on the area of research. You could set, for example, a group of tabs based on your personal life, your scuba diving habit, or your work. A lot of nerds have dismissed this, but I can see plenty of uses for Tab Groups. Moreover, I think a lot of people that don’t dream in binary will find it helpful.

Quick Note

Quick Note was a banner feature for the iPad this year, but there is also support for the feature on your Mac. Just put the mouse cursor in the lower-right corner and click. A Quick Note will appear on the screen with a link to your current focus. This is a rudimentary but zero-effort way to get started with contextual computing. You can later jump between the website or source app and the note with a click. I’m not sold on Quick Notes. (I do something far more powerful with Obsidian.) That, however, doesn’t change the fact that this is an excellent way to get started with linking contexts.

And, of Course, Shortcuts

Shortcuts for the Mac was touch-and-go for much of the beta, but made a lot of improvement towards the end. There are still some broken pipes in there, but essentially you can start automating with Shortcuts right away.

You can download the Monterey update today from the App Store.

Details on MacBook Pro SD Card Transfer Speeds

When the new MacBook Pros were first announced, it wasn’t clear what kind of SD card reader they would be getting. Ben Lovejoy at 9to5 Mac reports it will be UHS-II, which supports 312 MB/s transfer speeds. There are faster formats, but I felt like the UHS-II standard was table stakes and Apple satisfied that.

Automators 87: Email Rules Automation

Email automation is a thing, but email rules-based automation is another thing entirely. Join Rosemary and me on the latest episode of Automators to learn more.

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Eating Max Crow

So a few days ago I posted my new MacBook Pro spec and explained why I didn’t see the upgrade from M1 Pro to M1 Max as worth the $1,200 price increase for me. Then MPU Forum member MereCivilian pointed out that with my spec the actual difference in price wasn’t $1,200, but $200. (It was actually $400.) I don’ know whether to thank him or curse him.

So I slept on it.

And I woke up realizing that: 1) this will be my primary machine for years; and 2) every time I render a video (which in my case is almost daily), I’ll be reminded of the fact that if I had spent an extra $400 in 2021, it would render twice as fast. I realized that this fact will drive me nuts.

I don’t buy the fanciest cars … but I do like fancy computers. So this morning I got on the phone with Apple support and paid a few extra bucks (and managed to push my ship date back to December) with my new MacBook Pro holding an M1 Max chip. All that stuff I wrote a few days ago about me not needing this particular chip? Never mind.

The Future of Mac Reliability

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Apple silicon and its implications for Macintosh reliability. Before the arrival of Apple silicon, a typical Mac logic board included a CPU, separate RAM, an Apple W2 or some other sort of secure enclave, chips to manage inputs and outputs, (often) a discrete video card, Apple’s separate machine-learning chips, and a bunch more bits and pieces that all now exist as the single System on a Chip (SoC) that is Apple silicon. So does combining everything in one SoC make the Mac more or less reliable? A case could be made for both points. Without all the digital tethers needed to tie all those separate pieces together, Apple silicon should have less that can go wrong with it and be more reliable. On the flip side, if something does go wrong on Apple silicon, the machine is probably dead.

When trying to predict whether these new Apple silicon Macs will be more or less reliable, it is important to remember this is not Apple’s first SoC rodeo. They’ve been making SoCs for the iPhone and the iPad for years.

A few days ago, I was on the telephone with an old friend, and he commented that his wife still loves the iPad I helped him set up about nine years ago. It is an iPad 2 and still working fine. I told him, “You should buy your wife an updated iPad. They have a good one for $329.” He had me on speaker because then his wife chimed in, “I don’t need a new iPad. This one still works like new.” Her nine-year-old iPad running on an Apple SoC still runs “like new” after nearly a decade. I realize this is anecdotal, but looking at iPads in particular that have a bit more cooling (even if it is just a big aluminum heat sync) and don’t get abused as hard as iPhones, I’m aware of a lot of very old iPads still in use.

Moreover, again anecdotally, I’m not aware of anyone I’ve spoken to who told me their iPad SoC failed. I know plenty of folks who broke the screen, but nobody who had the SoC fail them. Think about your friends and family circle. I suspect you’ve had the same experience.

I take this as a good sign for the new Mac SoC designs. The Mac SoC is a successor to those early iPad chips. Indeed, the new iPad Pros run on the current Mac SoC, the M1. If I were a betting man, I’d say that old running Macs are about to become much more common in the coming years. I sure hope so.

Assuming I’m right, the problem then becomes software. Even though my friend’s wife still loved her iPad 2, I’m sure her operating system has to be years old. Apple is generally good about supporting old hardware with new software updates, but what will they do if it becomes common for Macs to run reliably for 10 or 12 years? There is just so much to this Apple silicon Mac transition that seems to be rewriting the rule book. Exciting, right?

Mac Power Users 611: Unleashed, Indeed

The latest episode of Mac Power Users is out now. Stephen and I talk through Apple’s new batch of MacBook Pros, powered by the M1 Pro and M1 Max systems on a chip.

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The New MacBook Pro

So I ordered a new MacBook Pro. Here are the specs and my thinking:

16 Inches

Over the last year, I’ve been using an M1 Mac mini and a 13″ MacBook Pro. Throughout that process I’ve learned a few things. First, with the crazy battery life of the M1 machine; it is really nice having a light, portable Mac. Second, the Mac mini is nice, but it would help me if my production machine was portable. What I mean by that is more about moving about the house than out in the world. With the big COVID shake-up hitting our house, I’ve lost my walled-off studio and instead am installed more centrally in the house. Overall, I prefer the change, but sometimes I need to go into a room to podcast or record screencasts. That really isn’t possible with the Mac mini, but a big MacBook Pro would be perfect for this. With the MacBook Pro, I can keep it connected to my big screen, but also disconnect and move with it.

Why 16″ and not 14″? I intend to keep the small M1 MacBook Pro for trips out of the house. This MacBook Pro I’m buying is expensive. I don’t want to be banging it up on the road unless I have a real good reason to take it with me. For non-production tasks, the M1 is perfect, light, and gets crazy battery life. So since I have a light machine for the road, why not the big boy for home? Also, I like big screens.

M1 Pro, not M1 Max

I’ve been getting plenty of production out of the M1. Doubling that will make things even better for me. However, quadrupling it with the M1 Max seemed like overkill for my needs and my budget. I got the stock M1 Pro processor count: 10 cores, 16 graphics cores. For what I make, this computer is going to scream.

So … umm … the above paragraph is not going to age very well.

Memory – 32 Gigabytes

I continue to believe that it is hard to get more bang for your buck than by adding memory. With modern Macs, that decision only happens at the time of original purchase. Memory makes everything run better and faster. That being said, if the M1 Pro had the option to go to 64 Gigabytes (it does not), I still probably would have stopped at 32.

Storage – 4 Terabytes

Yup, you read that right. This was the option where I spent the most money. My current data load is right at 2 Terabytes. Moreover, I continue to add more big files and media as I generate videos for MacSparky and the DLR Field Guide. I intend to ramp both of those up even more over the next year. I’m tired of shuffling storage between internal and external drives and decided this was a solvable problem if I’d just throw (a lot of) money at it. So I did. As I spend the next several years filling up 4TB, I’ll try not to think about how much it cost.

Color – Silver

Because I’m sick of space gray.

Using the Apple Trade In Program

A few days before the Apple event, I took my M1 Mac mini, an aging iMac, and a few other bits of Apple gear in the Apple Store. I sold it all back to Apple for about $2,000 in Apple Store gift cards. I could have made more selling the hardware myself, but the whole process with Apple only took 20 minutes and I don’t have to worry about hearing back from some crazy buyer. Either way, I got rid of the extra hardware and was able to get my new MacBook Pro for $2,000 less. The only hang-up was that there was a problem with the Apple Online Store at launch. It couldn’t accept gift cards for the first few hours, setting back my ship date. I tell the entire story on this week’s episode of MPU dropping later today (or tomorrow).

Anyway, that’s the specs for my next Mac.

The New MacBook Pros Screen Resolution

Today I spent the entire day recording podcasts largely about the new MacBook Pros. I have more thoughts about these new screamers and am working on some posts for tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d refer you to Benjamin Mayo’s post over at 9to5 Mac about the screen resolutions. These new machines will have native 2x Retina resolution, which means the text (and all other small objects) will be tack sharp. In my mind it’s just one more win with these new Macs.

A Few Thoughts Following Apple’s “Unleashed” Event Today

Today was Apple’s much anticipated “Unleashed” event. Apple delivered the goods, and I have a few thoughts:

The Opening

The opening Movie was fun (as always). I knew we were in good shape when they included the MagSafe connector in the movie. However, I also laughed out loud when the indie artist (working from an old garage) used a $6,000 Pro Display XDR. That probably explains why there wasn’t a car in the garage.

Apple Music Changes

More playlists sound great. That was the reason I subscribed to Beats Music before Apple bought them. This is one of those things where the proof is in the pudding. Let’s see.
The new Apple Music Voice Plan lets you subscribe to Apple Music for $5/month, but the only interface you get is your voice. It’s a mistake. To try it out, I’ve spent the whole day trying to trigger music with only my voice. Here’s a sample interaction. “Hey Siri, Play Fried Bananas by Dexter Gordon” [beep beep] “Sure things. Here’s Damage by H.E.R.” I think this service is going to make people hate Siri.

AirPods Version 3

Assuming they fit, the smaller stem is better in my opinion.
I dig Spatial Audio. So getting it in the standard AirPods is a win.
I’m assuming that with force sensor controls, I no longer have to walk around beating on my ears to play and stop like a crazy person.
1 hour of listening time with 5 minutes of charging. Yes, thank you.
I have a certain degree of trepidation about the v3 AirPods. I like the way AirPods v1 and v2 fit my ears. These are different. No matter how much better they get, I’ll be stockpiling the v2 AirPods, which are still for sale, if the new ones don’t fit my ears.
I’ve ordered a pair. Not sure if I’ll love them or return them. You’ll find out soon.
Also, here’s the new AirPods feature dump slide from the presentation, just for you.

Color HomePod minis

Yup, They have colors.
Nope. Still no word on a replacement for non-mini HomePods.
Every time I watch one of these, I make a note to try out Siri’s Intercom feature, yet I never do. Maybe this time.
There now seem to be two camps about the “Apple House” that keeps showing up in HomePod-related announcements. One group thinks Apple has trapped a family like a tribe of hamsters. The other just wants to move in. Put me in that second group. Sure, one of my walls would be plexiglass, and all of you could watch me 24/7, but look at those dining room chairs!

The M1 Pro and Max

So there was this big whoop-de-doop at WWDC when Apple “accidentally” added an #M1X tag to the YouTube video. So many (myself included) were convinced that meant the new chip would be called M1X. Turns out the chips are named M1 Pro and M1 Max. Do you think Apple gaslighted us all?
The rumor guys got the rest essentially right: 10 cores (with eight performance and two efficiency cores), 16/32 graphic cores, and up to 64 Gigabytes of RAM. So you are looking at something between 2 and 4 times more powerful than the M1, which is no slouch. This is the big thing I was waiting to learn, and I think Apple silicon is crushing it.
Apple put up a lot of graphs. To summarize them all, this chip performs like a lion but eats power like a mouse. It’s nuts.
Johny Srouji is one intense dude. If I were to let anyone down, I wouldn’t want it to be Johny Srouji. Could you imagine looking into those eyes after you drop the ball?
It was good to see some of the most prominent video production people talking about Apple silicon without the old-school style demos. Even if they go back to live events, this is the way to bring third-party developers.

The New MacBook Pros

Of course, the new MacBooks Pro had to go last
The New Cases: A bit boxier, but it doesn’t look that much different to me. That black anodization behind the keyboard = cool.
The Death of the Touch Bar: There has been a lot of anger aimed at the poor Touch Bar. I learned to like it. Either way, we can all stop talking about it now.
Touch ID: It’s still there, on the power button.
If the video is accurate, it looks like the aluminum case has “MacBook Pro” embossed in the bottom. Please let that be true.
Color: Any color you want so long as it is silver or space gray. This stung a bit after seeing so many excellent colors for the new iMacs a few months ago. I’d have loved to get one of these new MacBook Pros in orange.
Feature Parity: I dig that the choice between 14 and 16 inches is just that. Whatever features you want, you can get with either size.
The Screen: The new screen might be just as big of a deal as the Apple silicon. 120Hz ProMotion and variable refresh rate plus the iPad-style Liquid Retina XDR mini-LEDs. I need to see it, but I think this screen will be gorgeous. 7.7 million pixels on a 16.2-inch screen. Wow.
The New Camera: I laughed when Apple explained the new 1080 lens was double the prior camera. When 1080 is double, that means the old camera was garbage. (And it was.) A more accurate explanation would be, “Now we all know the old cameras sucked. These new cameras are okay and definitely don’t suck.”
MagSafe: Did you see the little green light is back? I loved that light. With a glance, you knew if your Mac was charged or not. Also, the cable is no longer fixed to the power brick. It’s USB-C on the other end, making it much easier to use with other chargers. This makes MagSafe even more convenient.
I/O: We got everything we wanted. MagSafe, HDMI, SD Card, high-impedance headphone jack, and three Thunderbolt ports. The works.
The Notch: I’m already reading people freaking out about the addition of a notch. I don’t think it is that big a deal, provided my menu bars will go around it and not under it. (I typically run a lot of menu bar apps.) I also think the size of the notch makes it a placeholder for Face ID in future iterations.
Pricing: I was curious about how they’d price the new MacBook Pros. They are no longer paying for Intel’s markup, but they also spent piles of money developing these custom chips. In the end, the pricing was about what I expected. These new MacBook Pros are incredibly powerful. You’ll pay a premium for that power, but the price doesn’t feel entirely out of whack to me. They must have got something right; ship times are already slipping to late December.
And here’s the feature dump slide for the new MacBook Pros.

Missing in Action

M1 Pro Mac mini: I expected to see one today but didn’t. If you are waiting for one though, I don’t think you’ll have to wait long. Now that the chip is out of the bag, I’d not be surprised for Apple to release an M1 Pro/Max mini with just a press release. There are rumors, however, of a new case design. That could mean they’ll wait until the new M1 Pro/Max iMacs are ready.
Consumer Grade External Monitor: I had to laugh at one point when they had one of the new MacBook Pros hooked up to three Pro XDR monitors. That was $18,000 of pixels connected to that Mac. If I had Tim Cook’s desk, I’d be pressing to get a more affordable Apple-branded monitor out the door ASAP.

The Video Keynote Format

It’s interesting how quickly these pre-canned Apple event videos have turned into the norm. I do have to wonder if they’ll ever go back to live events. If I was Apple, I’d probably not. These events are faster, and there are never any gaffes. The downside is that with no media present, you can’t have a hands-on area. But I’m not convinced Apple views that as a downside.