In this week’s episode: Find My-compatible Tracking Card from Nomad, Apple Design Awards finalists are announced, more iOS and macOS rumors ahead of WWDC, some additional thoughts on Apple and AI, and I recommend an excellent book by John Buck.
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This week, I’m welcoming a new sponsor to MacSparky, Listen Later. It’s always nice when a new sponsor arrives for which I’m already a paying customer, and that’s the case with this one. Listen Later is a service that converts stories and articles you send them to a personalized podcast feed using their AI-based (and very believable) reader. You can take that long-form article you’ve meant to read and listen to it on your next drive. It’s a great service, and I’ve been enjoying it.
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Join me as I take OpenAI’s new GPT-4o engine for a spin. I did not edit the conversation or the pauses between answers for this one.
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We’ve had some nice Vision Pro content announcements over the last few weeks. There is a new adventure experience, Parkour in Paris. I watched it and realized halfway through that I must be developing a fear of heights because many shots terrified me. We also got Demeo, a role-playing game that now works on Vision Pro, and that has several interesting twists. At some point in the next few days, Disney will release the Vision Pro version of What if…, an ongoing Marvel series that looks at alternative timelines and ideas. The Vision Pro version is supposed to be both immersive and interactive.
I’m calling all this out because it is simultaneously promising and overdue on the Vision Pro. I expected more frequent releases like this when the hardware became available, and there hasn’t been enough of it. People talk about Vision Pro as if it’s a dud, and I don’t see it this way. I regularly watch videos on it and write on it. And yet…
There has been a dearth of content taking advantage of what makes the Vision Pro special. There are many great clips in the demonstration. I expected more like that to show up sooner on the device. I think a regular diet of content like this (along with more immersive sports and concerts) would help generate excitement for the platform and satisfaction for existing owners. One of the primary reasons to buy the Vision Pro is for content, so more exclusive content that takes advantage of the hardware would be welcome. What’s unclear is how invested Apple is in paying for that kind of content. I’m not sure if WWDC is the place for such an announcement, but a public declaration from Apple and promises of regular releases of future content Vision Pro would be welcome.
There is a new rumor that Apple is working on a foldable, keyboard-less Mac for release in a few years, which will get a 20-inch display in something resembling a 13-inch MacBook Air footprint. That would be impressive, but it would also raise many questions.
First, what about the keyboard? Once you take away a keyboard, is it still a Mac? I’d say it is so long as it’s running macOS. A lot of folks tend to like their keyboards. At the same time, voice-to-text dictation is moving rapidly as artificial intelligence kicks into high gear. I also can’t help but note the irony that I am typing this out on a virtual keyboard on my 13-inch iPad Pro without any trouble.
Second, if Apple released an all-screen Mac, wouldn’t it make sense to include a touch screen and maybe even Apple Pencil support?
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