Apple II Company • Page 2

Considering jumping on this AppleCare One plan to cover my phone, watch, and MacBook. Seems like a good deal.

 

I need to do the math but I'm not exactly confident it'll be cheaper for me.

 

I may not update my Mac until they fire Alan Dye. JFC this is bad.

 

I believe there is zero chance Apple will ship iPhone 17’s with anything other than iOS 26, but also there’s a 100% chance we can keep our older iPhones with iOS 18.

I ended up taking the beta off. I like the idea but the execution is pretty pathetic the more and more you use it. Connected pod guys did not go lightly on beta four this week.

 

I will back this one up - the UI is unnecessarily large for some smaller windows and produces all sorts of strange experiences like this.

And I'll listen to Craig over anyone else just beause UI/UX is truly his deal.

 

Public beta is out so...here we go.

 

First Look: macOS Tahoe Public Beta

The result of this feels more like a work in progress than a finished design, and since this is a beta, that’s fair enough. But I get the sense that this really is a design that’s been thoroughly considered for iPhones, is similar enough on the iPad to be in the ballpark, but that has not really been thought through on the Mac. At least, through the first few developer beta releases, there are signs that Apple is making progress adapting this design to the Mac. I hope it continues, because it’s still in a state of disrepair.

In day-to-day use, the design issues don’t really affect how I use my Mac. I have found macOS Tahoe to be perfectly usable, and there are moments of beauty punctuated by moments where it feels like I’m using a bad Photoshop mock-up of an interface. I’m not against change at all—in researching this story, I spent some time poring over Mac OS X Tiger screen shots, and wow, I do not want to go back. But right now, this design is incomplete on the Mac, and it’s Apple’s responsibility to think it through and make it work.

Yikes.


Even without the legibility issues, the changes to music player would be a major disappointment.

The Music app has gotten an overhaul, and the best I can say about it is that this is just the first Public Beta and there are a few months before the app ships to rethink things. The old play controller, a part of the app since the earliest days of iTunes, has been replaced by an iOS-style floating window at the bottom of the screen. I don’t like it. It now floats over content rather than having its own dedicated spot. Time information and scrubbing controls are hidden until you move the cursor over the interface, and the volume controls are hidden behind a button and require an extra click to use.

YIIIIIIKKKEEEES

 

ruining the music/podcast apps is a choice i guess

 

Headache inducing.

 

I waited and installed Beta 3 last week on an old 11 Pro Max just to test the AutoMix feature in Apple Music and check out the Liquid Glass change. Last week the apps were much more legible, and it feels like they're trying to change this rapidly and getting the feedback week-by-week. Beta 3 was okay and now Beta 4 is yikes again. Impressed with the AutoMix feature and that's about it. The rest of this needs so much work and I have no idea how they're gonna release this, let alone macOS by the Fall. It's too much. iPadOS will be an immediate update at release just to get the new windowing system, but may hold off on my phone and mac updates for a while. Also not sure I'll be upgrading phones this Fall if I'm stuck with iOS 26 on it.

Never thought I'd reach the point where I'd hold off on upgrading to new iOS within 2-3 days of release. I usually wait until winter for macOS updates because I’m waiting for updates to various audio plugins I use in Ableton Live.

 

Just did the math on AppleCare One. I could save some money every year by not moving everything onto it. AirPods Max, Watch are both so cheap for AppleCare as is that I might not include them (although theft+loss on my watch might be worth it to add it).

 

I’ll keep my opinions on iOS 26 and Liquid Glass to myself but CarPlay went from good to wonderful now.



It’s the “smart display zoom” feature that makes all the difference to me. Before this update the app icons were the size of my whole hand.

 

Tfw you accidentally cmd del the entire accessibility chapter of the HIG oopsie

 

really good reddit (sorry) comment I read about Liquid Glass:

"The reason that most people dislike it is from a pragmatic sense as far as I’ve seen. To support the visual style of the glass, you have to support it with a whole bunch of work around which are applied inconsistently. This includes blurring content. it includes darkening content. It includes lightning content. It includes being reactive by selectively desaturating and saturating content, and messing with the contrast."

 

CarPlay in iOS 26 is total ass without a touchscreen. I have a knob in my Mazda and it sucks. Can’t tell what you’re selecting anymore, widgets are silly and make it harder to get to what I want.

 

have a cx5 and have not had any issues, built different I guess

 

Is yours one of the Mazda years where the touchscreen works when not moving?

 

no. it just doesn’t bother me. the spinning wheel thing is fine.

 

I fucking loved the iDrive knob in my BMW.

 

I have no issues with the knob. I have issues with CarPlay in iOS 26 not being clear regarding selections, the placement of widgets.

I see how you thought I meant the knob sucks. God no, it's better than a touchscreen forever.

 

oh. yeah it took me a bit of an adjustment but it’s just whatever is in blue now.

 

"India overtook China to become the top exporter of smartphones to the US, reflecting supply chain shifts in the face of global trade upheaval. India accounted for 44% of the devices shipped to the US in the second quarter of 2025, up from 13% last year; China’s share decreased from 61% to a quarter"

India overtakes China in smartphone exports to the U.S. as manufacturing jumps 240%, report shows

Even Vietnam is ahead of China now in iPhone shipments to the US

 

And just got slapped with a 25% tarriff so...