Mixed signals are coming out of the rumor mill about the first Apple Silicon laptops. There are two reliable sources, one stating Apple will start with a 13″ MacBook Pro, another saying Apple will bring back the 12″ MacBook with Apple Silicon and a truly killer 15-hour battery life. Jason Snell summarized it all and weighed in at Macworld, speculating that both rumors are probably correct and the question comes down to timing.

I know I’m wish-casting here, but wouldn’t it be nice if Apple could ship both new Apple Silicon laptops before the end of the year. After all, Apple did start as a computer company, and they’ve got plenty of expertise in making computers. What a great flex it would be if they could give buyers two options, one with killer processing power and impressive battery life, and another with impressive power and killer battery life.

The thing that none of us on the outside know is just how long Apple has been preparing for this. They could be ramping up slowly with the MacBook first and then the MacBook Pro later next year. But they could have just as easily been planning this for years and holding back a new 13 (or 14!) inch MacBook Pro so it could be one of the first Apple Silicon Macs. None of us know, but a nerd can dream.

Would you like to smile this weekend? Then watch this.

Lately, Apple has been dealing with several percolating problems. Governments, at home and abroad, are interested in their business practices. Troubles between the United States and China are now threatening Apple’s business in one of its biggest markets. Big and small developers are now finding ways to exert pressure against the existing App Store model.

I have had several readers/listeners write in asking me to cover these topics more, but to be honest, I’m just not that interested. For those Apple enthusiasts who are worried, settle down. Apple has more money in the bank than most banks have money in the bank. They have a lot of smart people in control, and given Apple’s size, this scrutiny is expected (and probably appropriate). I do feel like it is going to get uglier before it gets better for Apple, but eventually they will figure it all out.

I am much more concerned about all of the families that have lost loved ones and all of the people out of work due to this pandemic than the troubles of a $2 trillion company.

My coverage on this blog, the podcasts, and Field Guides all try to lean more toward the how-can-I-help-you-to-get-your-work-done-and-enjoy-life-more category of Apple stories. That’s not changing.

This week MacSparky is sponsored by TextExpander. TextExpander is my text replacement weapon of choice for so many reasons. It’s fast, it’s powerful, and it can run scripts. But did you also know you can run TextExpander with your team?

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I have been a TextExpander for Teams subscriber now for two years. My virtual assistant and I share a TextExpander library that makes things like branding and customer support so much easier. One of our snippets includes a web link that changes monthly. My assistant updates the link and it syncs to our shared library, so when I use the snippet, it just works!

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I’ve been hard at work this week preparing for tomorrow’s Keyboard Maestro webinar. If you’d like to join in at 10AM pacific (or later get a link to the recording), sign up now.