Mac Power Users 651: 3,041 Press Releases

In this Mac Power Users feedback episode, Stephen talks me through his workflows of the Apple History Calendar, and then we talk about the current state of Apple’s beta software. We also tackle some listener feedback and check in on the new version of Alfred.

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Automators 107: Control with your Voice, with Sal Soghoian

Sal Soghoian takes us on an epic automation adventure on this episode of Automators, starting with a look back at Automator on the Mac, and looking at the star Shortcuts developers now, before diving into Sal’s latest project of custom voice control with OmniFocus and beyond.

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

  • TextExpander: Your Shortcut to Efficient, Consistent Communication. Get 20% off.
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$83 Billion

Chart showing Apple product line percentages between 2018 and 2022.
Source: sixcolors.com

I remember when Steve Jobs went on stage, astounded that Apple had become a $50 Billion per year company. Now Apple beats that in a non-holiday quarter. There aren’t a lot of surprises with Apple’s latest quarterly earnings. It still makes half of its money from the iPhone and “Services” continue to grow. The Mac is down a bit, but last year at this time, we were in full swing on the Apple silicon revolution. I think that prompted many people to upgrade who wouldn’t have otherwise. Also, the M2 MacBook sales are not part of last quarter’s numbers. Either way, things seem just fine in Cupertino.

Jason Snell continues to be the best source for these earnings calls. He makes beautiful charts (like the one above) and even gets the call transcribed.

Hoban Cards and Stationery (Sponsor)

This week, MacSparky is sponsored by Hoban Cards, where they use a 1902 letterpress machine to make cards that your colleagues, clients, and customers will never forget. I sure love mine.

Evan and the gang at Hoban Cards are masters at the craft of designing and making letterpress calling cards and stationery. They have some beautiful templates to choose from, or you can roll your own.

I love handing out letterpress cards. It is always a conversation starter. Hoban Cards is where I go to buy them, and it is where you should too. Throw out those ugly, conventional, mass-produced, soulless business cards and reach out to Hoban Cards.

If you’re set on calling cards, I also recommend going to Hoban for your stationery. I bought stationery from them years ago, and I love sending it to friends and family. In a world full of text messages and email, personal stationery sends a whole different message altogether.

Best of all, use ‘MacSparky’ to get $10 off any order. Get yours today.

My Packing List Using Shortcuts (MacSparky Labs)

I’m going on vacation next-week (Hooray!). That means it’s time to dust off and clean up my packing list Shortcut. I’ve tried spreadsheets, apps, and even notecards, but this is the best way I’ve found to make a packing list. I walk through the entire process in this video. You can download the shortcut below.

This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

The Focus Timer

There is an existing Kickstarter for the Focus Timer and I’d recommend checking it out. The Focus Timer’s inventor contacted me a few months ago and sent me a beta unit. It took some convincing on his part because I’m not a fan of adding things to my desk. This thing really landed with me though. I run it several times a day, and it’s a great way to get yourself block scheduling. Here’s a little video explaining further.

https://youtu.be/BbCgAepau8Q

Wither iPhone Mini

The rumors all seem unanimous in their opinion that this year the iPhone mini will go away, and in its place we’ll get a bigger (non-pro) iPhone to match the size of the iPhone Pro Max.

I suspect a bigger iPhone will sell more units than the iPhone mini. Many people buy the Pro Max iPhones not for the “Pro” but for the “Max”. I’m sure there are a lot of other folks who would buy a bigger non-pro iPhone if one were available.

What makes me scratch my head, however, is why it needs to be one or the other, Max or mini? Why not both? Apple is a company that understands how to make electronic gizmos. For two years they have been making and selling iPhone minis that many people like. While I appreciate that proportionally, the iPhone mini crowd is probably the smallest number, cumulatively, that’s still a lot of iPhones.

A lot of people are passionate about smaller size iPhones. It seems a shame that they will no longer be able to buy the latest and greatest.

My question, sincerely, is why? What is the reason that Apple can’t make the entry-level iPhone in three sizes instead of two? Is it because of the global supply chain problems? Or maybe they don’t have enough manufacturing bandwidth? It seems like such a no-brainer to me that I’m curious why Apple doesn’t keep the iPhone mini and add a Max iPhone simultaneously.