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The World-Without-Laptops Edition Sunday, November 24, 2024

The iMac M4 Wasn’t Built For This World, by Nathan Edwards, The Verge

In a world without laptops, the iMac would be the ultimate computer. Instead of a box and a screen with a tangle of wires leading everywhere, everything you need is right there, jammed into an impossibly thin aluminum chassis. Monitor, processor, speakers, webcam, microphones, and all the ports: all built in. It’s elegant. It’s restrained. It’s lovely. It’s plenty fast enough for most people. The iMac would be in every library, in dorm rooms, in cubicles, in computer labs and living rooms. People would haul them to coffee shops.

Now imagine going to that universe and showing them a MacBook Pro. People might go for that instead.

New MacBook Pro Speakers Are Most Affordable To Repair Since 2015, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

In a memo shared with Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, Apple said it is offering speakers as standalone repair parts for the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips. This is the first time Apple has made individual MacBook Pro speaker parts available since 2015.

Coming Soon

I Tried To Use Apple Intelligence's Image Playground To Design A Thanksgiving Menu — Here's What I Learned About The App In The Process, by Philip Michaels, Tom's Guide

Right now, it seems best suited for making avatars and the occasional fun cartoon to share with family and friends via Messages or Mail. To go beyond that is going to require some greater flexibility, and that's going to take a little patience while we wait for Apple to boost Image Playground's functionality.

Stuff

'Pestle' Is The Ultimate Recipe Manager, And It Just Got A Big Update, by Michael Burkhardt, 9to5Mac

Pestle is a recipe manager for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. It offers a number of unique features, including the ability to easily import recipes from anywhere, meal planning features, and more. It makes every recipe easily achievable.

The 6 Best Apps To Find Bars And Restaurants While Traveling, by Gregory Wakeman, Wired

There are now a number of apps that give visitors the definitive lowdown on where they should go. Which ones are worthy of being downloaded? Take a look below at the six best apps to find bars and restaurants while traveling, all of which will ensure that you make the best culinary and nightlife decisions while you’re away.

SwitchBot Wallet Finder Is An Incredibly Useful Accessory To Track Your Wallet With iPhone Find My, by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac

Disguised inside a thin, credit-card form factor, the SwitchBot Wallet Finder connects to the Find My app on your iPhone, so you can follow its location, and it even houses a speaker so you can make it beep to help you find your wallet when it inevitably gets lost somewhere in your home.

Notes

Jon Watts Explains Demise Of George Clooney & Brad Pitt ‘Wolfs’ Sequel After Streaming Pivot: “Apple Didn’t Cancel…I Did, Because I No Longer Trusted Them As A Creative Partner”, by Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline

“I showed Apple my final cut of Wolfs early this year,” Watts told Deadline. “They were extremely enthusiastic about it and immediately commissioned me to start writing a sequel. But their last minute shift from a promised wide theatrical release to a streaming release was a total surprise and made without any explanation or discussion. I wasn’t even told about it until less than a week before they announced it to the world. I was completely shocked and asked them to please not include the news that I was writing a sequel. They ignored my request and announced it in their press release anyway, seemingly to create a positive spin to their streaming pivot. And so I quietly returned the money they gave me for the sequel. I didn’t want to talk about it because I was proud of the film and didn’t want to generate any unnecessary negative press. I loved working with Brad and George (and Amy and Austin and Poorna and Zlatko) and would happily do it again. But the truth is that Apple didn’t cancel the Wolfs sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner.”

Strava’s API Debacle Highlights The Messiness Of Fitness Data, by Victoria Song, The Verge

But for those of us who want the freedom of using multiple devices and apps across various platforms? It’s a sobering reminder that it only takes Strava changing the rules to break a carefully crafted system.

Bottom of the Page

All designs are compromisations, and iMac computers are compromised differently than MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops. It is great that Apple is still willing to make so many different kinds of Mac computers, and if an iMac is great for you, you don't need to justify why you are not getting a MacBook instead.

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Thanks for reading.