John Gruber’s take on the internal letter regarding Apple’s new remote work policy has sparked a lot of criticism in the community. Zac Hall, writing at 9to5Mac, offers what I think is a measured and reasonable critique of the issues at hand:

My guess is that simply choosing Thursday and Friday as optional remote days would provide too little friction for employees who choose to work this way. A more generous reading is that this formula optimizes for productivity based on data we don’t have. Tim Cook is also careful to describe the planned remote work policy as a pilot program that is subject to change. I take this to mean that optional remote work days could be reduced or eliminated if whatever metric Apple is measuring is too low.

Any condoned remote work is a big change for Apple, so I’m hopeful that the pilot period will result in more flexibility, not less. But I also can’t help but wonder if it’s truly a pilot, why not start with a majority remote days per week?

Zac views John’s dismissal of the letter as missing the point:

Next, suggesting that open communication between employees about the workforce that they make up is somehow the bigger problem is mighty off. If it weren’t Slack, it would be an email chain or groups of vocal employees who organize together. I think there’s a dangerous line being drawn when you question whether a vocal workforce is a feature or a bug.

I agree — employees having a mechanism to be heard is important, but in the end it only matters if their leadership team is listening.

Go to the linked site →

Linked

A few days ago I posted my wishes for today’s keynote announcements. Now it’s time to compare what we actually got and what I’d still like to see!

watchOS

• 🤷‍♂️ Better Shortcuts support. I haven’t seen anything big yet.
• 👍 Speak workout status over headphones. Horray!
• 👎 Widgets. No changes to the app switcher, complications, or expansion of widgets to watchOS.
• 👎 A better solution for status icons on the watch face. No change that I can find.

macOS

• 👍 Shortcuts app. Yes, in a big way, with the promise of a multi-year development with Shortcuts at the center of Mac automation.
• 👎 Fix Notification Center. While notifications themselves got new features, interacting with them and their home in Notification Center looks to be unchanged.
• 👎 Widgets on the desktop. Again, no change that I can see. They still live with notifications in Notification Center.
• 🤷‍♂️ Fix the FileVault system. This remains to be seen. I never expected it to be a consumer-facing announcement, so I’ll keep my ears to the ground.

iOS

• 👎 Better Family Sharing for Photos. Nope. They got close with other Family Sharing features and even automatic saving of shared photos in Messages, but no Family Library or the like.
• 👎 A full-on Authentication app. Very close! It looks like Apple’s made improvements here, including auto-filling one-time codes, but it’s still tucked away within the Passwords setting section.
• 👎 Multi-stop planning in maps. We got some significant improvements in Maps, and, boy, do they look pretty. But no multi-stop routes as far as I can tell.
• 👎 Support for dynamic wallpapers. A no-show for another year.

iPadOS

• 👍 A refinement, if not overhaul, of multitasking. I’d say this is exactly what we got. The iPad got new multitasking keyboard shortcuts, gestures, and flexibility, but it’s all built upon the previous foundation rather than reimagined.
• 👍 App Library and Widgets on the Home Screen. These were the lowest of hanging fruit, and Apple picked them.
• 👎 Useful external monitor support. Looks like we’ll be waiting for this until Apple’s consumer monitor makes an appearance. 🤞
• 👎 System extensions that can be always-on. This was a long shot, and I haven’t found any hint of it.

Grab Bag

• 👎 An Apple web search engine. Nope. iCloud Private Relay is a welcome addition to online privacy, but a search engine it is not.
• 👎 Overhaul the Music app across all the platforms. Disappointingly, only watchOS’s Music app got redesigned.
• 👎 In-App Purchase improvements for developers. If it were to be announced this week, I would have pegged it to be at the State of the Union. If any changes are coming, it’ll probably be a press release at another time.

Across 19 picks, I got four right (21% 👍), 13 wrong (68% 👎), and two that remain to be seen (11% 🤷‍♂️). Not a great score as far as wishes coming true, but I’m still happy with today’s announcements. And I guess this gives me a head start on next year’s wish list. 😉

WWDC

If I had to sum up the announcements that Apple made today about the next major versions of their operating systems, I’d say that seems like a quality of life year for both users and developers. And, honestly, I feel great about that! Apple picked a lot of low-hanging fruit this year, and sometimes that’s the sweetest. I like to think of the minor improvements as healing many of the paper cuts we’ve felt throughout the years.

Apple picked the right targets, too. Improvements to FaceTime and Messages will help millions of people who use them every day. Live Text and Visual Look Up may be old hat to those who have tried Google Lens before but will be jaw-dropping to those who haven’t. New Health features are always welcome, and I enjoy seeing Apple acknowledge with features like Health Sharing and Apple ID Legacy Contacts that users don’t live silos. Quick Notes aren’t flashy, but they’ll be powerful and helpful for everyone who discovers them.

That’s not to say that there weren’t revolutionary introductions today. Universal Control blows my mind and has the potential to change the way I work between devices. Shortcuts on Mac will allow many of us to use automation to make out computers work even better for us without recreating workflows or switching devices. And app development on the iPad takes a huge step forward today.

Leading up to WWDC each year, features are a bit like Schrödinger’s cat — they can exist in hopes, dreams, and concepts, but we don’t know if they’re real until Apple pulls back the curtain. So despite some contention between Apple and their developer community, the anticipation for this WWDC felt particularly amped. From my perspective, Apple delivered. If the features showed off in the Keynote and State of the Union weren’t enough, digging through all the features on the marketing webpages and staying glued to Twitter¹ have revealed so much that I can’t wait to try out. Well done, Apple engineers, designers, and everyone who made these releases possible.

I’ll leave you with hot takes on the features that caught my attention today:

For Users

FaceTime - FaceTime links are a year late but will still be useful. I trust FaceTime more than Zoom and with SharePlay (what a great name!) I think it’ll have most of the features I actually use. I’m glad they’ve given us a grid view for everyone more comfortable with that than floating attendees. And it only took 11 years for Steve Jobs’ claim that FaceTime would be open source and available to third parties to come to fruition.

SharePlay - I know that my primary use case for this feature will be tech support for friends and family, but I’m still excited about it. Rather than hoping for each app to develop its own shared experiences, they’ll be able to tap into SharePlay, which will hopefully mean it’ll appear in more places even faster.

Maps - I gasped when they showed off the enhanced map view. It’s so beautiful! I’m sure it’ll take years for that view to come to the cities that I live in, but I can’t wait!

Siri - While not the 2.0 revision Siri could use, on-device command recognition will go a long way in improving everyone’s day-to-day experience with it. Not to mention it also eliminates a huge portion of privacy concern. It took too long to return (remember when Siri could do basic commands like play and pause without an internet connection?). Still, I’m so glad that it has. Also, Siri on third-party devices! Who would have guessed?!

iCloud+ - I’m a guy who likes cohesion, so I’m happy to see Apple sync things up with iCloud’s naming. There’s now iCloud (the free version) and iCloud+ (the paid version), which adds interesting and valuable tools like email hiding, and a don’t-call-it-a-VPN.

Weather - The Dark Sky acquisition looks like it has paid off. I don’t need a ton out of a weather app, and Dark Sky was already my go-to. It looks like I’ll be able to get rid of a few extra apps now that weather maps and more alerts have been baked into the system app. Too bad it didn’t make the jump to iPad.

Health - I’ll have to dig more into this since the presentation kind of went over my head. But I’m happy to see the health sharing, and any improvements they make in this space are great to see!

Focus & Do Not Disturb - We’ll see how they turn out in practice, but these are kind of sleeper features for me. They’ll probably be great so long as they don’t require too much fiddling from the user.

watchOS - There wasn’t a whole lot here that caught my eye. Improvements to messaging and music will be nice, of course, but the focus on Photos feels like a miss. Maybe I’m not the target audience, but I don’t find myself browsing my photos on my watch, like, ever. I am, however, interested to see how the always-on display enhancements pan out. It sounds like third parties will also be able to integrate it, which will be a nice upgrade for my Series 5 watch. Right now, the always-on display is frustrating in anything but the main watch face and workouts, to be honest.

iPadOS - We were hoping for a whizzbang overhaul for iPad that didn’t quite materialize, but we got enough to satiate some appetites!

• Multitasking - By adding the App Library to the Dock and more discoverable multitasking options, I think Apple has addressed many of the main concerns about usability that we had going into WWDC. Plus, we can finally actually operate on Split View apps within the App Switcher! I’d still like to see a more versatile windowing system, but I’m happy to give them the benefit of the doubt until I try out the improvements myself.
• Shelf - Can we all give a hearty “Cheers!” to Federico Viticci on the introduction of a “Shelf” in iPadOS?
• Widgets - To no one’s surprise, widgets on the Home Screen arrived on the iPad. Though I applaud it, I have to say that the Home Screen looks a little spaced out and barren without the Today view.
• Keyboard Improvements - Apps like Things revolutionized app navigation using only a keyboard on the iPad. It looks like Apple is pushing for more apps to take a stab at this kind of navigation. Furthermore, keyboard shortcuts are getting a considerable upgrade alongside the introduction of a menu bar-like command browser. Two thumbs up from me!

macOS - macOS 12 Monterey looks gorgeous with its new purple wallpaper. It gains most of the features already covered above, but there are still a few breadwinners.

• Universal Control - This feature stole the show for me. I can’t wait to try it out and move seamlessly between my mac and iPad. I hardly ever use Sidecar, but I do jump into the iPad for tasks for which it’s better. Being able to do that without changing input devices will be awesome. I’m floored at how Apple has pulled off dragging content so effortlessly between devices. It’s like AirDrop on steroids!
• Shortcuts - Horray! We can finally create and manage Shortcuts across all of Apple’s most important platforms. As someone who has a vast Shortcuts library, and little interest in learning AppleScript or Automator, I’ll be glad to do less switching between devices to get things done. And it looks like Apple went all the way with integrations across the menu bar, finder, and more. Craig said, and I quote, “Shortcuts is the future of automation on the Mac,” so I’m predicting a long and happy life for Shortcuts.
• Safari - I’m a little wary about Safari’s redesign around tabs. Extensions that took just one click now look to be hidden behind a context menu, and I’m not sure I can get behind a non-centered and ever-moving Smart Search field. But we’ll see! I do think that the Safari window adapting to “become” the website is neat and makes it a more authentic window into the web.
• Notification Center & Widgets - One of my biggest wishes for macOS 12 was a rethink of the Notification Center and separation of widgets from that view. Unfortunately, nothing I’ve seen so far shows any meaningful improvements to interact with notifications there. There’s still hope throughout the beta period this summer, but I find that a bit concerning.

tvOS - Again not much to see here besides integrating with features introduced on other platforms (Spatial Audio, SharePlay, etc.). I, at least, expected a rebranding of tvOS into homeOS considering all the integration it does with HomePods and being a Home hub. There was even an entire home section of the keynote, but nary a mention of the OS that powers the home. I wasn’t even sure it got a version change at first.

For Developers

Despite the consumer-heavy keynote, this is a developer conference, after all. I had hoped that Apple would take this as an opportunity to address some of the criticism and bad blood between them and their developer community. It was probably too much to hope for, and I didn’t see a lot in the way of appeasing concerns like in-app purchases, payment commissions, or illogical app store guidelines.

Developers did get a new mechanism for reporting other apps that appear to break guidelines — looking at you, scam apps. But it is Apple’s job as the store curator to address those apps. So perhaps the reporting will result in meaningful change, but it shouldn’t be on developers to police each other. We’ll see.

On a more positive note, it looks to my untrained eye that developers got many APIs they’ve been hoping for, async and modal sheets as a couple of examples. I may not exactly know what those are, but developers in my timeline seem to be overall happy with their new tools. We didn’t get any significant shifts in the overall ecosystem — like with the new widgets last year — and I saw a few developers relieved that they can take more time for spit and polish than having to dive into something brand-new again.

Here are a few developer-focused announcements that stood out to me:

Xcode Cloud - I’m no developer (maybe someday!), but Xcode Cloud sure seems like it will be a boon for development teams. And if the apps are being built on Apple’s servers, it sounds like you’ll be able to develop even bigger apps on even less powerful local devices.

Building Apps on the iPad - While not the full Xcode that many were hoping for, by building app development into Swift Playgrounds Apple allows the iPad to take a big step. You can now develop apps for the platform on the platform itself! That you can upload apps directly to App Store Connect is excellent, and I think it will enable a wave of new developers who learn through Playgrounds.

Unified Graphics Platform - It sure seems like with Metal and the powerful chips that Apple is shipping in its mobile devices that games could make a splash. But I’m not holding my breath.

Interruption Level APIs - If developers implement these APIs for their notifications, it could make a big difference to cut down on noise. But that’s a big if. It seems unlikely that the biggest interruption offenders would feel any incentive to make their notifications less in your face. If users can change the priority level themselves, that will help but means more fiddling for the user.

Smarter Widgets - The Smart Stack of widgets introduced last year was cool, but I always found it disappointing since it would only contain apps when you placed the stack unless you manually added one later. Now it appears that apps using the Intents framework will automatically be added to a stack, based on how the user tends to use their apps. Neat!

Group Activities through SharePlay - I think Apple just recreated real-time Google Docs but for basically any app. Hopefully, it’s available outside of a FaceTime call. They’ve had a real-time collaboration for a while, but it’s never held a candle to what Google pulls off. We’ll see how this performs and the implementation. But it was a neat demo to share a canvas-like interface with others on a call.

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It’s been eight hours since the keynote kicked off, and I’m still reeling from everything introduced. I look forward to digging into sessions throughout the week and lapping up all the discoveries that brave souls on the developer betas find. Again, congrats and thank you to all the folks at Apple who poured themselves into these releases.

WWDC

Becky Hansmeyer with a keen take on good leadership in response to some of the recent criticism directed toward Apple’s leadership team:

I’ve said this before, but I believe one of the single most important leadership qualities is humility, which by definition requires listening. If Apple executives listen to their employees and developers, decide their requests are not in line with the company’s core values, and say as much, that is one thing, because at least it’s honest. If, however, their requests or ideas align with the company’s values, but clash with its traditions or shareholder expectations (or simply aggravate the executives’ hubris) and they dig in their heels and tighten their grips, they are rightly deserving of criticism and, dare I say, scorn. And I think they’ll find, as the winds of change continue to blow, that they’ll eventually be caught in a storm they can’t escape, driven along on a course they did not chart for themselves.

Becky’s post is much more positive and optimistic than this quote would suggest, but it was too good a metaphor not to share. Her full post is short and should be required reading before WWDC.

(Via Daring Fireball)

Go to the linked site →

Linked

After a hiatus, 7 Things is back!

1. Marques Brownlee, as usual, does a great job explaining the features and design of Ford’s new electric F-150 Lightning. I’m not a truck guy either, but I grew up around them, and everything that I see here convinces me that it’s a truck made for truck people. Which, if we’re honest, are probably the people who would likely be the last holdouts for a non-gas-powered vehicle. The F-150 Lightning’s classic design, the better towing capability with instant torque, the bonkers number of full-powered outlets (handy at a job site), the way it can be a backup generator for your home, and the solid mileage all come together to make a compelling package. Furthermore, it’s priced competitively. I think, and I hope, that Ford will get a large wave of people into electric vehicles with the F-150 Lightning.
2. Neil Cybart lays out a strong case for how Apple earned its lead in Wearables and why it’s likely to continue.
3. Congrats to Matt Birchler on the first year of his YouTube channel. I’ve followed Matt for years, always looking forward to his watchOS reviews. But I really like the premise for his YouTube channel: A Better Computer. Every video promises to teach the viewer how to make their computer work better for them, big and small, no matter the device. It gives Matt a long, long runway to work with, and I’ve been super impressed by the quality right out of the gate. Check out his videos if you haven’t already.
4. I learned about the Starling Home Hub a while back for bringing Nest devices into HomeKit, but somehow their latest update allows you to AirPlay to Google’s speakers. I never thought that’d be possible. Even though I don’t have any Nest products, I’m still impressed!
5. Maybe I lack imagination, but I’m having trouble seeing where Twitter’s weather service will go or why someone would use it. It seems like its creators didn’t exactly know either, seeing the name has already changed from “Tomorrow” to “Currently” within days of launch. But it wouldn’t be a proper Twitter launch without some confusion.
6. As if the WWDC Keynote and State of the Union presentation weren’t enough for one day, Apple has also announced a special event for Spatial Audio tomorrow at 3 PM EST. It’s going to be an exciting day!
7. This one’s been waiting in the queue for a while, but Frederic Filloux had an interesting take on Apple balancing advanced technology with artisanship for their rumored car project. One quote jumped out at me:

One route that Apple can certainly revisit is the notion of the ownership of a car. The future driver of the AppleCar is not likely to own it. They might pay a monthly fee to Apple (after a substantial down payment) to receive servicing, software updates, and all the maintenance aspects (in 2040 there won’t be such a thing as a “battered AppleCar” as there are battered Corollas today). Apple might be the first carmaker to make that leap.

Rethinking ownership? Perhaps there’s no ownership at all.

7 Things

With Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference right around the corner, I thought I’d round up a bunch of wish lists and predictions from the fine folks I follow on the web. They all think deeply about Apple’s platforms, are very imaginative, and I agree with many of their suggestions. Of course, with only a few days left before the conference, this would be a lot of content to get through, so I’ve pulled out a favorite wish list item from each to prime the pump for you.

AppStories - John and Federico at AppStories ran an excellent series laying out their wishes across several episodes of their podcast.

• macOS: John and I are on the same page about the Music app still being clunky, and the absence of Handoff is frustrating. I’m hoping that we’ll see Music completely redone with SwiftUI as proof of its enhancements.
• iOS: I would also want improvements to sharing from Safari, particularly into Shortcuts. It kills me that web views in apps don’t have the same functionality, and John is correct that the nuances between sharing from selected text and the share button are confusing.
• iPadOS: Federico is spot on that we need a rethinking for the concept of spaces on iPad.
• watchOS & tvOS (joined by Alex Guyot): Alex makes a good case for a more functional side button on the Apple Watch.

A Better Computer - Matt Birchler, who does an excellent watchOS review every year, made great suggestions for watchOS 8 on his YouTube Channel. Yes, please, for a better always-on screen experience!

Connected - Stephen, Myke, and Federico make their passionate picks on their Rickies podcast episode. You’ve got to listen to this; it’s a ton of fun. Fingers crossed for that DAC. 🤣

Upgrade - Jason and Myke draft the most likely things we’ll see during the keynote. I always have their scorecard pulled up during the show to grade it live. I don’t know what kind of things I want to see added to the Messages app, but I’m open to improvements as it’s one of my most-used apps.

ATP - Marco, Casey, and John take a less structured approach to their WWDC predictions but mix in some smart observations into the conversation. I do think that we’ll see a new MacBook Pro with the next iteration of Apple Silicon (probably M1X).

Stacktrace - John and Gui make their predictions with a poker game, betting point values on each pick. I would be down for John’s bet on a lock screen redesign, especially if it takes better use of the OLED displays to light up only parts of the screen at a time.

Those folks might be the professionals, but, as an invested and nerdy guy myself, I have my own hopes and dreams for Apple’s operating systems! So here’s what I’m hoping to see.

watchOS

• Better Shortcuts support. This should include more system functions like toggling cellular and silent mode during workouts. Or let those things be configured in the Workout app itself rather than having to build an automation for it.
• Speak workout status over headphones. The Nike+ Running app has done this for years, and I’m astounded it has never come to the Workouts app. I figured for the first couple versions that Apple just forgot it, but come on, have Siri be more useful during a workout and tell me my pace and progress at regular intervals, rather than just tapping my wrist (which is easy to miss).
• Widgets. I’m someone who misses the old Glances feature of early watchOS. I think it would be better to use the side button to bring up scrollable widgets for my favorite apps.
• A better solution for status icons on the watch face. I hate waiting for the status indicator to cycle through all the active icons: notifications, now playing, workout, walkie-talkie. Trying to tap into the right one at the right time before it cycles out is like a terrible video game.

macOS

• Shortcuts app. It’s where I’ve already built and curated a ton of automations, and I want to be able to use them on my most powerful machine.
• Fix Notification Center. The notifications themselves are frustratingly hard to manage, and the way they stack up with the widgets view makes both less usable.
• Widgets on the desktop. Most of the time, my desktop is pretty clean with tons of room for widgets. I think that it would be a better home if Apple’s not willing to bring back Dashboard.
• Fix the FileVault system. The way it works now, I cannot have both an encrypted drive and still use a non-Apple Bluetooth keyboard upon reboot.

iOS

• Better family sharing for photos. I’d really like a family library solution for sharing most, if not all, photos with a partner.
• A full-on Authentication app. It should be the home for passwords, 2FA, Sign in with Apple, and include Family Sharing. Unfortunately, shared accounts using Sign in with Apple are clunky in their current implementation. I’m a happy 1Password for Families customer. Still, I would like to see Apple’s take on a standalone app and know it would be more accessible and better overall for the security of iOS users if a complete solution were baked into the OS.
• Multi-stop planning in maps. Bonus points for a more effortless flow for finding locations along a route while navigating in CarPlay.
• Support for dynamic wallpapers that change throughout the day. I love this on macOS, but iOS and iPadOS are limited to wallpapers that change only with light and dark mode.

iPadOS

• A refinement, if not overhaul, of multitasking. It’s altogether too fiddly to get the right apps on screen together, manage the open windows (chiefly when some don’t fully support multi-windows), and determine which app is receiving input. Vidit Bhargava’s concept for a Menu Bar on the iPad could be a good solution.
• App Library and Widgets on the Home Screen. Do I need to say anything more about these?
• Useful external monitor support. I’m jumping on the bandwagon for this feature. I’m a big fan of multiple monitors, and I want to use them in a meaningful way with any app.
• System extensions that can be always-on. I’m thinking of utilities like clipboard managers and text expansion. These are workflows that I rely on when using my Mac, and I’d love to see that functionality come to iPadOS as well. I know it would take significant changes to the sandbox architecture, but they’ve been locking down macOS for a while, and these apps still work there. It would speed up so many workflows and bring more continuity when switching between platforms.

Grab Bag

• An Apple web search engine. I’m not holding my breath for this, but I think it’s time for Apple to introduce their own search engine to compete with Google. Would it be the best? Probably not, but engines like DuckDuckGo and Ecosia do well enough. Apple already has the AppleBot crawler, and I think it could be empowered to give so many of their services a boost. For instance, tvOS could have a more functional TV app if it didn’t rely on each application building in support but instead could pull episode data from the open web. Likewise, Siri could be more useful if they leveraged a knowledge graph using the search engine as a foundation, like the Google Assistant. Not to mention that Apple platform users would have another choice for more private web browsing.
• Overhaul the Music app across all the platforms. I say burn it down and reimagine each for the streaming age and the maturity of all the platforms. I don’t want to switch to Spotify, but their app is so much faster, has better discovery, collaborative playlists, listening stats, and looks better than Apple Music. Just make sure to keep the Live Lyrics, which are fantastic and beautiful.
• In-App Purchase improvements for developers. I think that Apple needs to earn back some goodwill after recent events. While I’m not a developer, I agree with Marco Arment’s take that allowing other in-app payment options would go a long way without massively impacting Apple’s core business. Furthermore, it would make them compete with better features rather than being the only way to pay in apps.

Will all my wishes come true? Almost certainly not. But I’d be happy to get a few of them fulfilled. We complain and make wishes because we care. But no matter what, I’ll be eagerly following along to see what software, and maybe hardware, goodies get announced next week.

WWDC

As I recently wrote about, I’m writing right now on a Magic Keyboard attached to a 2020 iPad Pro. While I love this new keyboard and, more importantly, the trackpad, I wanted to take a moment to recognize the Smart Keyboard, which I think goes unappreciated in the wake of the Magic Keyboard.

When Apple released the first iPad Pro in 2015, it ushered in an era of incredible modularity, enabled by innovative accessories, which continues to this day. The debut accessories at that time were the Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard. The keyboard looked so similar to the Smart Cover, which had adorned iPads for years, that you’d be forgiven for overlooking the fantastic functionality hidden within its genius design. This product not only let iPad users write anywhere with a permanently attached physical keyboard, but it also unbridled the screen from being largely blocked by a software keyboard.

The iPad, with its ultra-portable design, has been a great writing machine from the very beginning. Putting text on a page doesn’t ask a lot of a computer, and the nature of its OS to excel at using a single app at a time makes it ideal for focused writing sessions. Connecting a Bluetooth keyboard has always been possible, but the Smart Connector, which powered the Smart Cover, eliminated fiddling with pairing and battery life problems. You just opened the iPad and started typing.¹

A More Versatile Cover

Of course, this is old hat now, and readers might wonder why I’m praising the Smart Keyboard in particular since all of this functionality is still available in the Magic Keyboard. What sets the Smart Keyboard apart, I think, is its versatility. The origami-like folding of the Smart Keyboard lets it be used not only in “laptop mode,” but it also enables many other configurations.

There’s “handheld mode” when you open and flip the whole Smart Keyboard around to the back of the iPad, just like the original Smart Cover.

Folding the triangle stand and keyboard around to the back gives you both “draft table mode,” great for gaming and while using the Apple Pencil, and “movie mode” to prop the iPad up with a vastly smaller footprint than the Magic Keyboard.

And then there’s “knee mode” achieved by draping the cover over propped up knees with the iPad handing down onto the front of your legs. I used the iPad this way all the time to watch videos in bed. It made the iPad hands-free without it sliding down into my lap.

One of the other things I already miss about using the Smart Keyboard is easily opening the iPad to check an email or dive into an app quickly. With the bulkier Magic Keyboard, it is much more of a commitment to open the iPad up and use it.² The Smart Keyboard Folio and Smart Folio, introduced with the iPad Pro’s new industrial design in 2018, offer similar folding functionality to the Smart Keyboard. Unfortunately, they also add more material and weight than the original, and without the benefit of a trackpad.

Ultimately, I’m delighted with my purchase of the newer iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard. The battery life, processor speed, clicky keys, and trackpad for using the pointer make this whole package precisely what I wanted. But I will always fondly remember the Smart Keyboard as the accessory that added tremendous functionality within a deceptively simple design, and that kicked off the iPad’s modular era.

Favorites

I said goodbye this week to two of my favorite Apple purchases ever: the MacBook (2016) and iPad Pro (2017). In their place sits a new iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard. But not the new new iPad that everyone has been reviewing and enjoying. Instead, I purchased the iPad that basically no one recommended when it came out. I welcomed last year’s iPad, the 11-inch iPad Pro (2020).

Some History

12” MacBook (2016) - Before I get to why I chose this particular iPad, I want to say a few words for my dearly departed technology. The MacBook was my third Mac ever, the second one that I purchased, and my favorite of all. After accepting an internship across the country in 2016, I sold the iMac I used throughout college and got by without a computer for a few months. My computer needs at that time were minimal, and I knew I would be traveling a lot, so I saved up to purchase the lightest Mac ever, the MacBook (Adorable). Living a primarily wireless life made the single USB-C port less of an issue for me than for others, and with my basic media consumption, email, and web browsing, I rarely found that this Mac felt slow. I reveled at the sharp Retina display and the silent fanless design. I didn’t doubt Apple’s claim that this MacBook was a peek at the future of notebooks.

After my internship, I took a job that issued Windows laptops to employees, a setup which lasted all of a month. I started bringing my MacBook to work — I was more efficient and much happier. That little notebook was a trusty companion, and while it wasn’t the fastest, it did whatever I asked of it. I rendered videos, hosted multi-camera Zoom calls, powered external displays, and even tried to run Windows as a virtual machine (a task with which it did struggled, but who can blame it?). It survived summers at camp, constant travel, and precarious balancing possible only due to its impossible lightness. I loved it. Eventually, the underpowered processor and six-year-old battery showed their age, so I added an M1 Mac mini to the family but kept the MacBook for travel. I couldn’t quite give it up yet.

10.5” iPad Pro (2017) - The iPad Pro that I just sold was another well-used and well-loved device. After many years of an iPad mini 2 being my only iPad, in 2017 I was finally taken in by Apple’s product marketing and convinced that I needed an iPad Pro. I mean, just look at this ad! And it was a marvel for the four years I used it. I loved the fast Touch ID, larger high-quality screen and speakers for movies, Apple Pencil support, and the excellent Smart Keyboard. The Pencil transformed how I took notes in meetings since it was far more approachable than a laptop between me and a client or coworker, but I could still flip the keyboard around if things got serious. The iPad was my fun device that could still get work done.

Like my MacBook, the iPad Pro was used heavily, and its battery and processor issues became noticeable, then annoying. Since macOS and iPadOS are better at different tasks, I’d taken to carrying both the iPad Pro and my MacBook in my bag. With the advent of pointer support in iPadOS, I dreamed of being able to remote into a desktop Mac if needed and using only the iPad as my go-to portable again.¹ As rumors of updated iPads Pro circulated, I resisted a purchase until this spring’s announcement of the M1 iPads.

The Sirens’ Call

The M1 iPads boast considerable gains in performance, a Thunderbolt port, and a massive increase in RAM.² In addition, the 12.9” iPad Pro got a killer new mini-LED XDR display. I had hoped one of these iPads would be the ideal package, but damn are they expensive! A new setup would have cost a minimum of $1327 for the 11” iPad, which lacked the feature that I would have appreciated the most: that XDR display. I decided it was too much to spend on a device that would have felt out of date the moment that new display tech came to the smaller Pro, which is the size I prefer.

So I started searching for an older iPad that would still be an upgrade but down in price. I wanted the flat edge design introduced in 2018 to hook up to the Magic Keyboard and (vastly improved) second-generation Apple Pencil. But I didn’t want to purchase an iPad that was only one year newer than the one it would replace. In the end, I found a great deal on eBay for a 2020 iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard³ and some additional cases and protective skins. The sales of the MacBook and old iPad Pro covered the cost, so it felt like a true swap.

The Forgotten Pro

When the 2020 iPads Pro were introduced, it was rare to see a review that recommended their purchase. Instead, most reviewers concluded that the camera upgrade and one additional graphics core in the A12Z chip were too small of spec bumps to upgrade from the previous generation. Since it seemed that most people in the market for an iPad Pro had already sprung for the new design in 2018, it was a logical conclusion. But I can tell you that if you’re coming from an older generation, this iPad deserves a wholehearted recommendation.

I’m a few days into using this new setup, and I love it so far. Going from the A10X to the A12Z chip and from 4GB to 6GB of RAM was a significant upgrade, and this iPad feels zippy. The Magic Keyboard with trackpad is marvelous, and I love not having to reach up to poke at the screen all the time. However, it does lack some of the versatility of the Smart Keyboard.⁴ I’m enjoying having the Apple Pencil again as another input option, and I’m thankful that its magnetic charging means it’s always ready to use and less likely to get misplaced. Having the LiDAR sensor on the back isn’t useful day-to-day, but I appreciate having it available knowing how hard Apple seems to be charging toward an AR future.

A Worthy Upgrade

Looking forward, I have no trouble predicting that this mobile “laptop” setup will last me at least until the next major revision for the smaller iPad Pro and probably beyond. Of course, I am a sucker for new screen technology, and I’m optimistic about the rumors about OLED coming to iPad, but honestly, I’m thrilled with the 2020 iPad Pro. This setup fills the needs I had of my trusty old MacBook and iPad, and the new design and accessories satiate the technology-enthusiast within me.

I’m excited to see what Apple does with the iPad line next, both in hardware and software (fingers crossed for a great iPadOS 15 update at WWDC next week), and I hope that it keeps getting ever more capable.

Gear Reviews

BasicAppleGuy put together a fun look back at how the “Air” brand has evolved at Apple over time:

Over thirteen years, the Air suffix has taken on many diverse roles across Apple’s product lineup. Contained to Apple’s portables, the Air has represented a gamut of qualities, from Apple’s boldest & most cutting-edge tech to its oldest, most beleaguered designs. I’m most satisfied with Air’s current placement in the lineup; as the defacto best-for-most consumer device balancing specs and most sought-after features. Notwithstanding this history, Air continues to command respect as a brand within Apple, with its longevity highlighting its appeal and brand reputation among consumers.

Personally, I think “Air” as a suffix on products has been good for Apple, but it’s run its course. If it were up to me, I’d phase out the Air brand now that we’re approaching the limits of thinness for both laptops and tablets. I’d like to see Apple return to the simple regular/pro branding, which would match the iPhone lineup.

With hardware products like AirPods and AirTag (and previously AirPort), and software solutions like AirPlay, Apple has a good motif going for their wireless products, and that’s where I think “Air” should stay.

Go to the linked site →

Linked

The new Apple TV 4K came out last week, and they did rejoice. Well, I rejoiced because it meant that my year-long wait was over after purchasing a 4K television last March. It felt a little anti-climatic since the new box looks exactly the same, but at least (and most importantly) the Siri Remote is completely reimagined.

Joe Rosensteel has put together a comprehensive review on his blog, and I found myself nodding along. I recommend reading through the whole blog post. While I’m overall delighted with the new box and remote, Joe noted many things that I was feeling during setup, even though I didn’t realize I was frustrated by them at the time.

This was a little deceptive. I had all these apps, and they were arranged as they were on my prior Apple TV, but these apps were all completely blank slates. It was as if I had downloaded each one of them for the very first time. The email addresses I had used for logins on my previous Apple TV weren’t copied over either, so every login prompt expected me to use the email address associated with my Apple ID, which is not helpful, because the same email wasn’t used across all of these services. Also, this means any future logins, logouts, or password changes aren’t synchronized and need to be performed separately, manually, on each device.

It took me a good chunk of time to sign back into all of my apps and services. iOS has done a good job the past few years at preserving login state through restores, and tvOS could use some of that magic.

Despite the nitpicks you’ll see in Joe’s post, I really like the new Apple TV 4K. I’m glad that I no longer have to jump into my TV’s webOS applications to get 4K Dolby Vision goodness. I love the new remote with its clickiness, larger body, and heft, although I do need to get used to the new position of the play/pause button. With the A12 processor, the UI is speedy, and I’m looking forward to playing more games. I’d have preferred it to have gotten the latest and greatest processor, such as the A14, but I’m confident about it lasting another five years as my Apple TV HD has done.

Speaking of the Apple TV HD, that box and old remote have made their way back to our old TV. That unit has sat upstairs, lonely and disconnected, waiting for this upgrade. It’ll be nice to have a secondary screen for using with Fitness+ and for guests (now that guests in our home will soon be a thing again!). It remains to be seen if I’ll resist purchasing a second Siri Remote for consistency between the two TVs.

I’m not holding my breath, but I hope to see some meaningful tvOS updates at WWDC this year. But with a new box and a glorious new remote, the Apple TV is already well on its way to a better year-end score than in 2020.

Go to the linked site →

Linked Reviews