Connected

00:00:00 ◼   ► [EPISODE 523 INTRO]

00:00:07 ◼   ► Front Relay, this is Connected, episode 523. Today's show is brought to you by Fitbod,

00:00:14 ◼   ► Squarespace and ExpressVPN. I am the Ricky Benchman, Mike Hurley, and I would like to

00:00:20 ◼   ► introduce Mr Federico Vittucci. Hi Federico. Ciao Mike, how are you? I'm very good, I'm very good.

00:00:26 ◼   ► This is one of those shows today where, yesterday morning, we were like, we were texting and like,

00:00:32 ◼   ► not really sure what to talk about, and then by the end of the day, the entire show had written

00:00:37 ◼   ► itself, so. Yes, yes. Before we get into the more topical follow-up. Okay. I have some real life

00:00:46 ◼   ► follow-up. Ah, yes. In that you sent me some tea, like some actual tea to drink, because I mentioned

00:00:56 ◼   ► half-handedly that I liked drinking tea before doing the show, and so you're like, you send me

00:01:03 ◼   ► some tea from a company that sounds like a law firm, what's the name? Fortnum & Mason. Yeah,

00:01:09 ◼   ► that's where you go. Does it something and something? Yeah, they really care about your

00:01:14 ◼   ► intellectual property. So anyway, I tried the tea today, so I purchased from Amazon, because I

00:01:23 ◼   ► figured I don't have one, a little stainless steel filter. Oh, a tea strainer? You know,

00:01:29 ◼   ► so when I was buying this for you, so the tea that I bought you is called Countess Grey, which is,

00:01:36 ◼   ► because you mentioned you liked Earl Grey tea, and I was like, well buddy, have I got a tea for you,

00:01:41 ◼   ► and it's Fortnum & Mason's twist on Earl Grey, and you could buy either tea bags or the loose

00:01:51 ◼   ► leaf tea, and there was two things I was thinking, one, I'm gonna presume Federico is fancy and he

00:01:57 ◼   ► uses loose leaf tea, but now I know you are, you are now, but I am now, I am fancy now. And also,

00:02:04 ◼   ► you get a lot more for the money, and you get a nice little tin that you can. That's the thing,

00:02:10 ◼   ► that's the thing, we liked the tin so much, it's now always inside our kitchen shelf,

00:02:17 ◼   ► come on, because it looks, it looks, it actually goes, like the colors, they actually go really

00:02:22 ◼   ► nice with another, with another little box that we have there for keeping like little sugar packets.

00:02:28 ◼   ► I don't, I don't, I don't, it's, it's useful to have, I don't consume sugar anymore, but you know,

00:02:33 ◼   ► when you have people over and you offer some tea or some coffee, most people use sugar, so it's

00:02:38 ◼   ► useful, so it goes perfectly with the color of that little box, and I tried to tea today,

00:02:44 ◼   ► my god, it was incredible. You know, established in 1707, so they've been around for a bit,

00:02:52 ◼   ► isn't that an incredible thing, like older than America? Well, if you think of, I mean,

00:03:00 ◼   ► you're speaking to an Italian, right, so if you think about it, lots of things are older than

00:03:04 ◼   ► America. No, but it's like, we have that in common, right, that like our countries are very, very old,

00:03:10 ◼   ► right, and like there is a lot of established history, like you know, in London and in Rome,

00:03:15 ◼   ► you can walk around and see buildings that are just like, they're medieval, right, like it's just,

00:03:20 ◼   ► but like just this, this company who makes tea has been around for longer than the US of A.

00:03:27 ◼   ► I just find that hilarious, but, but Fontenam and Mason, I really love Fontenam and Mason. I

00:03:33 ◼   ► recommend if you're coming to London and you want to have a nice tea experience, like you know,

00:03:38 ◼   ► like an afternoon tea, this is the one I recommend because they have some, a lot of tradition,

00:03:44 ◼   ► but they're also slightly modern too, which I like that about them, and also their biscuits

00:03:50 ◼   ► are incredible, their jams, Federico, my word, they make a banana jam, which sounds terrible,

00:03:56 ◼   ► but it's delicious. Well, I don't know, send me another box. Well, now I know I can send you

00:04:01 ◼   ► products from Fontenam and Mason, you're in for a treat, alright, there might be some stuff coming to you, and next

00:04:08 ◼   ► time you're in London, I'm going to take you there, they make my favorite biscuits in the world, they're

00:04:12 ◼   ► like these shortbread biscuits with pieces of caramel in them, oh my god. Okay, alright, okay,

00:04:18 ◼   ► well the tea was incredible, it's got this, this, this taste of lemon, so good, so good. Anyway,

00:04:26 ◼   ► we now have real follow-up, actual follow-up, I've got a couple of people who wrote in about

00:04:32 ◼   ► the Moquibo, Moquibo, so this was, this is the keyboard that has a trackpad in the keys,

00:04:40 ◼   ► yes, that we were talking about, and I, we were wondering if it was real, uh, Jan said I got one

00:04:47 ◼   ► of the previous Moquibo keyboards, and it actually does work, it pairs with three devices, and you have

00:04:52 ◼   ► to touch the left mouse button while swiping the keys to use the trackpad, I wouldn't use it full

00:04:57 ◼   ► time, but as a supplement for occasional use of Vision Pro or Raspberry Pis, it's absolutely usable.

00:05:03 ◼   ► Ah, oh, okay, okay. And Cameron wrote in and said, I have a Moquibo keyboard, actually two since they

00:05:10 ◼   ► sent me a new model as a replacement, it took forever to arrive, a little sketchy, but I got it,

00:05:15 ◼   ► and it is 100% a Federico style weird tech item, it's super thin and very cool to use,

00:05:22 ◼   ► the touch surface can be a little sensitive, and there is a toggle to disable it,

00:05:26 ◼   ► it also pairs with up to three devices and has appropriate key mappings for Apple, iOS,

00:05:31 ◼   ► Android, etc, it is a nifty device for sure, Federico style weird tech item, yeah,

00:05:38 ◼   ► maybe Moquibo, huh, interesting, so you need to hold down on the left, on the left mouse button

00:05:47 ◼   ► while swiping, I think that there might be two different models here, because if you notice,

00:05:52 ◼   ► Cameron says there's a toggle to disable it, so I wonder if Cameron has a more modern one,

00:05:57 ◼   ► where like you just toggle it on and off and it will just work, but it seems like one of these

00:06:01 ◼   ► things I think where Jam put it best, like you wouldn't want to use this constantly, but every

00:06:05 ◼   ► now and again it's like helpful to be able to also just use the trackpad with the keyboard, and that

00:06:09 ◼   ► actually feels like actually perfect for Vision Pro, because eye tracking is fantastic, but sometimes

00:06:17 ◼   ► it's not so good in the compatible apps, so then you'd want a trackpad, so you're just using it

00:06:20 ◼   ► sometimes, now that you mentioned the Vision Pro, so I'm gonna check out the Moquibo, now that you

00:06:27 ◼   ► mentioned the Vision Pro, I also need to mention something, so I've been using the Vision Pro again

00:06:30 ◼   ► as we've established, but something I noticed while using obviously Vision OS 2 now, I use

00:06:36 ◼   ► the Vision Pro at night, right, mostly at night, just my personal private monitor, so I can watch

00:06:42 ◼   ► some YouTube or and you know some TV shows without bothering Sylvia next to me, however, starting with

00:06:48 ◼   ► Vision OS 2, I get these low light alerts, which are not new, but what is new is that in addition

00:06:56 ◼   ► to the alerts, now my windows, they start drifting, and it's kind of making me sick in the sense that

00:07:04 ◼   ► like very often I'm in my dark bedroom, we just have some like blue mood lighting going on,

00:07:13 ◼   ► because we don't like to sleep completely in the dark, so we have this Philips Hue

00:07:18 ◼   ► turned down very low with a blue color, and what I notice is that randomly the windows that are

00:07:25 ◼   ► in front of me with Vision OS, they start like getting away from me, and it's very disorienting,

00:07:32 ◼   ► and it's almost like the windows are escaping, and they're like getting further and further away from

00:07:37 ◼   ► me, and eventually issues with the tracking, isn't it, with the track, and eventually they stop,

00:07:41 ◼   ► and it says tracking failed, now this was not happening in Vision OS 1, and the bedroom is

00:07:48 ◼   ► always the same one, the lights are still the same ones, it's just now it's more sensitive to the

00:07:55 ◼   ► low light, and the windows that are drifting, and it's kind of like it's sort of physically

00:08:02 ◼   ► uncomfortable, because like it creates that illusion in your brain that you are moving

00:08:08 ◼   ► backwards, while in fact it's the windows that are getting away from you, very strange, very strange.

00:08:14 ◼   ► Are you on the beta?

00:08:15 ◼   ► I am, yes.

00:08:18 ◼   ► So I wonder if they're playing around with some kind of track, like anchoring or something,

00:08:23 ◼   ► a way to fix it could maybe be to turn on travel mode.

00:08:27 ◼   ► I could turn on travel mode.

00:08:30 ◼   ► I mean I know that that comes of its own disadvantages, but like I think the point

00:08:35 ◼   ► of that is to stop things from moving, right, so maybe if it's like bothering you,

00:08:40 ◼   ► maybe turn on travel mode.

00:08:42 ◼   ► Well that's an excellent tip.

00:08:43 ◼   ► This shouldn't be happening, right, because it's infrared.

00:08:45 ◼   ► Shouldn't be happening, yeah, I thought about doing like a few months ago, I saw some

00:08:52 ◼   ► recommendations on Reddit that people got some like infrared flood lights to put in their

00:08:58 ◼   ► in their bedrooms at night, and it's like it's this light that do not, like they don't emit

00:09:05 ◼   ► any visible light, they just create infrared light for the Vision Pro that in theory should

00:09:12 ◼   ► help with the tracking, but I'm just very concerned about putting this thing in my

00:09:16 ◼   ► bedroom and then having to explain to Sylvia that we have infrared lights that are invisible,

00:09:20 ◼   ► but actually yeah in the bedroom.

00:09:22 ◼   ► It's one of these things where like I don't think that's a problem with it, but like

00:09:26 ◼   ► but like why just not have it, you know, like why not just not have it.

00:09:30 ◼   ► Yeah, it's like when you're getting this like ultrasound, on Amazon I saw there's like

00:09:37 ◼   ► a few, so I need to contextualize everything I say, a few months a few months ago, okay,

00:09:43 ◼   ► no stay with me, a few months ago we had a pigeon problem on the balcony, these pigeons,

00:09:49 ◼   ► they were feasting on my plants for whatever reason, and they were making a whole mess,

00:09:54 ◼   ► right, these pigeons, they would come in and they would start, you know, using the little,

00:09:59 ◼   ► the little, what are they called, like they have paws, what do birds have, legs,

00:10:05 ◼   ► I guess, I guess, anyway they were using those, and like they were making a mess of my potted

00:10:11 ◼   ► plants, right, because they were looking for bugs or worms or whatever, anyway I had to

00:10:17 ◼   ► clean up every day, and so we considered how do we keep the pigeons away, and we considered

00:10:22 ◼   ► like one of those ultrasound machines that you can put on your balcony, and they were

00:10:28 ◼   ► saying in theory they're safe because the frequency is just for the birds, it's not

00:10:32 ◼   ► for humans or dogs, it's like but would you trust what the Amazon listing says?

00:10:37 ◼   ► I don't think ultrasound is what you're looking for, what was, ultrasound is like

00:10:43 ◼   ► what you use for like scanning people, but like I know what you mean, like the very,

00:10:48 ◼   ► like the sounds that are very low frequency that humans can't hear in theory.

00:10:52 ◼   ► Yeah, that, that, not, whatever it's called, I'm not sure, they were calling it ultrasound

00:10:59 ◼   ► or the Italian equivalent in the Amazon listing, in any case, we didn't get it,

00:11:05 ◼   ► we ended up just putting some white pebbles in the pots.

00:11:10 ◼   ► Ultrasonic.

00:11:11 ◼   ► Ultrasonic, thank you.

00:11:13 ◼   ► We put some pebbles in the pots so that the birds with their claws, talons, wouldn't

00:11:19 ◼   ► be able to access the, you know, just the dirt.

00:11:22 ◼   ► We have tried using one of these ultrasonic things because we had, we had and have a bit

00:11:28 ◼   ► of a fox problem, it doesn't work, it doesn't work, they don't care.

00:11:33 ◼   ► One day, like we was in one of our planters outside, and it had just been knocked over,

00:11:38 ◼   ► I guess they just go behind and just knock it over, and that's how they deal with it,

00:11:42 ◼   ► but maybe pigeons wouldn't be able to have that kind of strength, but I don't know.

00:11:46 ◼   ► Yeah, anyway, I didn't get the IR light for the Vision Pro,

00:11:54 ◼   ► and I guess I'll try travel mode, so thank you for the tip.

00:11:57 ◼   ► Speaking of Vision Pro, so I got the Spigen strap.

00:12:01 ◼   ► Okay.

00:12:03 ◼   ► I would say fiddly, like a lot of these things, I find it very fiddly to adjust,

00:12:08 ◼   ► like to get it tight, but I always have this problem with like any bags or anything that

00:12:13 ◼   ► has like a buckle adjustment, I always struggle with, and I ended up going to like what I think

00:12:19 ◼   ► is like as tight as it can possibly go, and I still think I might want it a little tighter,

00:12:24 ◼   ► but it's good, like I like this, it is what I was hoping Apple would make, I like it more,

00:12:32 ◼   ► it works for me in a way that the Solo Top doesn't, and I now can have the more comfortable

00:12:37 ◼   ► Solo band with the top head support that I wanted, so I'm happy that this product exists,

00:12:43 ◼   ► and I'm thankful that you told me about it.

00:12:45 ◼   ► Nice.

00:12:46 ◼   ► I also wanted to mention a blog post that you linked to on MacStories by Azad Balabanian,

00:12:54 ◼   ► which is honestly one of the best blog posts I've read in a long time.

00:12:59 ◼   ► It's incredibly good, and this is Azad talking about their experiences

00:13:06 ◼   ► of traveling with the Vision Pro, this is almost like the definitive guide for traveling with the

00:13:11 ◼   ► Vision Pro, I think that's how I would call it, it's just really well written, loads of great

00:13:16 ◼   ► photos and videos too that really illustrate his points very cleanly and understandably,

00:13:20 ◼   ► I just thought it was fantastic, like super super good, and like you it made me feel like

00:13:26 ◼   ► oh the next time I travel maybe I'll do this, but I've yet to do it.

00:13:30 ◼   ► Yeah and obviously Azad seems to know what they're talking about,

00:13:34 ◼   ► for context they're a senior product manager at Niantic,

00:13:38 ◼   ► yeah and checking Azad's bio, they've been working on VR, 3D graphics, photogrammetry,

00:13:48 ◼   ► like this sort of stuff for decades, so very cool, great blog post, lots of like very practical

00:13:54 ◼   ► advice which I appreciated, and yeah it's fun to discover someone blogging in 2024 that I've never

00:14:01 ◼   ► seen before, so that was exciting.

00:14:04 ◼   ► How'd you come across this?

00:14:05 ◼   ► Well, I think it was on Reddit, I want to say it was on Reddit.

00:14:12 ◼   ► That would make sense, I just wondered how you're plugged into the ecosystem, Reddit.

00:14:19 ◼   ► I mean you know Reddit is still and always going to be most likely the place.

00:14:23 ◼   ► And Kyle wrote in about Threads and just said I wanted to flag the missed opportunity over

00:14:31 ◼   ► the last couple of episodes to use the name Threaderico to describe Threaderico's

00:14:35 ◼   ► engagement bait persona on Threads, which is just like so good and I'm disappointed in myself

00:14:41 ◼   ► really for not thinking about this because I just think that is brilliant.

00:14:46 ◼   ► That is very good, and it is a persona.

00:14:49 ◼   ► It's a different version of yourself.

00:14:52 ◼   ► Yeah, Kyle you know me well, everything about this follow-up is perfect.

00:14:57 ◼   ► Threaderico.

00:14:58 ◼   ► Threaderico, yeah, I have definitely called you Threaderico in the past because I think

00:15:04 ◼   ► I've told you about this, where when I grew up the th sound was pronounced as an f, so

00:15:12 ◼   ► I'd be like one, two, three, like it's just the way that people who grew up in my part

00:15:16 ◼   ► of London would say that, it's more of an f sound than a th sound.

00:15:20 ◼   ► Is there a name for that type of accent?

00:15:22 ◼   ► I'm sure there is, but I don't know what it is, and so like for me one of the hardest

00:15:27 ◼   ► things for me to say is 30 day free trial, which I have to say quite a lot in my life

00:15:35 ◼   ► because I want to say 30 day free trial, which is terrible.

00:15:39 ◼   ► Sometimes I say 30 day three trial, which is completely wrong, and so I know, I know

00:15:44 ◼   ► I have called you Threaderico in the past because I just will have done this because

00:15:49 ◼   ► sometimes I'm overcompensating and instead of trying to correct the f, I correct the

00:15:55 ◼   ► th incorrectly.

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00:18:16 ◼   ► So Apple announced a new iPad mini yesterday.

00:18:20 ◼   ► Federico, can you give us the details?

00:18:22 ◼   ► Well, it's a quote unquote new iPad.

00:18:26 ◼   ► No, it's a new iPad mini three years after the sixth gen iPad mini that was in October

00:18:32 ◼   ► 2021.

00:18:34 ◼   ► This one has the same physical, like same dimensions, same size, same thickness, same

00:18:40 ◼   ► weight as the old iPad mini, same display.

00:18:43 ◼   ► But there are some new things.

00:18:45 ◼   ► It comes with an A17 Pro chip that's going to power Apple intelligence.

00:18:48 ◼   ► This is the A17 Pro from last year.

00:18:52 ◼   ► This is not the A18.

00:18:53 ◼   ► This is from last year's Pro iPhone.

00:18:56 ◼   ► Yes, it comes with Bluetooth 5.3 up from Bluetooth 5.

00:19:02 ◼   ► It has Wi-Fi 6E up from Wi-Fi 6.

00:19:05 ◼   ► It comes with faster USB file transfers.

00:19:09 ◼   ► It now has USB 3.1 Gen 2 as opposed to 3.1 Gen 1.

00:19:15 ◼   ► Basically, this means it can transfer files up to 10 gigabit per second up from 5 gigabit

00:19:21 ◼   ► per second.

00:19:21 ◼   ► It supports the Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil Hover.

00:19:26 ◼   ► The base storage has been doubled.

00:19:30 ◼   ► The 64 gigabit version doesn't exist anymore.

00:19:33 ◼   ► It now goes all the way up to 512 gigabytes.

00:19:38 ◼   ► It supports Smart HDR 4 for photos instead of a Smart HDR 3.

00:19:45 ◼   ► It's eSIM only.

00:19:46 ◼   ► It doesn't have a physical Steam tray slot anymore.

00:19:50 ◼   ► And it says iPad mini in the back instead of just the iPad.

00:19:55 ◼   ► Never done that before.

00:19:57 ◼   ► Most important change.

00:19:59 ◼   ► What it does not have doesn't have ProMotion.

00:20:04 ◼   ► So it's still a 60 Hertz display.

00:20:07 ◼   ► Doesn't have OLED.

00:20:09 ◼   ► No new accessories.

00:20:11 ◼   ► No nano texture glass option.

00:20:13 ◼   ► And it just looks the same.

00:20:15 ◼   ► And arguably, the colors, they're worse.

00:20:19 ◼   ► Not arguably.

00:20:19 ◼   ► They are worse.

00:20:21 ◼   ► They removed all of the saturation.

00:20:23 ◼   ► There's the great purple one, which I love.

00:20:25 ◼   ► I have the purple iPad mini and it looks great.

00:20:27 ◼   ► They have a new purple iPad mini.

00:20:29 ◼   ► It looks like a silver iPad mini looked at the old iPad mini and that was what happened

00:20:33 ◼   ► to it.

00:20:34 ◼   ► It looks like they finished all the paint with the iPhone 16 models.

00:20:39 ◼   ► I just don't.

00:20:40 ◼   ► I just I'm so tired of it.

00:20:42 ◼   ► Like what is it?

00:20:43 ◼   ► Like explain this to me.

00:20:44 ◼   ► What is it exactly that justifies the iPhone 16 looking ultramarine or pink and being absolutely

00:20:54 ◼   ► glorious when you look at it?

00:20:55 ◼   ► But then the iPad mini is like, you can suddenly make out a faint drop of color in there, but

00:21:05 ◼   ► it's like different slightly colored versions of the same gray.

00:21:10 ◼   ► I don't mean either.

00:21:12 ◼   ► We will never understand it.

00:21:14 ◼   ► It just feels like that there are debates inside of Apple about color and it's almost

00:21:19 ◼   ► like it's like, oh, well, we'll give you one product of a lot of color, but you can't have

00:21:24 ◼   ► another one this year.

00:21:25 ◼   ► So you have to be like, we'll give you the good iPhones, which means that the iPad mini

00:21:29 ◼   ► has to be worse.

00:21:30 ◼   ► Right.

00:21:31 ◼   ► So a couple of details I want to pick into and I think are interesting.

00:21:35 ◼   ► So the A17 Pro chip, this chip is infamously notoriously, I don't know, made on a three

00:21:46 ◼   ► nanometer process.

00:21:47 ◼   ► Like the A18 is made on a three nanometer process.

00:21:51 ◼   ► But the process that TSMC created for this chip had been abandoned by them and they went

00:21:57 ◼   ► to a more efficient with higher yield, I believe, process for the A18.

00:22:02 ◼   ► But the thing was about the A17 Pro, which I think is also the M3, I think, was like

00:22:11 ◼   ► it's the same kind of like chip design or process for the nodes.

00:22:14 ◼   ► Or I'm saying words now that I'm not sure will go together.

00:22:19 ◼   ► This process was abandoned and TSMC knew that it wasn't going to be used going forward,

00:22:24 ◼   ► but Apple needed the chips, so they made them anyway.

00:22:27 ◼   ► But I think that was one of the reasons why there wasn't a new chip in the iPhone 15,

00:22:34 ◼   ► was because of this.

00:22:35 ◼   ► So it's intriguing for them to do, like I don't understand why they didn't just go

00:22:40 ◼   ► with the A18.

00:22:41 ◼   ► Like I assume they just have a bunch of A17 Pro chips that will only ever be used here.

00:22:48 ◼   ► But it doesn't necessarily suggest a long shelf life for this iPad mini.

00:22:56 ◼   ► Because it would be weird for TSMC and I'm expecting expensive for Apple to continue

00:23:05 ◼   ► making more of these chips.

00:23:07 ◼   ► So that is a peculiar choice, but it is a choice that they made.

00:23:14 ◼   ► They needed to do this for Apple intelligence, right?

00:23:19 ◼   ► Like it had to be.

00:23:20 ◼   ► The A17 Pro was the minimum chip that it could be.

00:23:24 ◼   ► But yeah, I'm surprised that they didn't just go to A18.

00:23:28 ◼   ► It was obviously always going to be an A chip for this iPad and not an M chip because stage

00:23:35 ◼   ► manager is impossible on an iPad mini.

00:23:38 ◼   ► And technically, if they put an M chip in it, it would have to support stage manager.

00:23:42 ◼   ► I mean, technically everything is possible when you think about it.

00:23:45 ◼   ► You would not want to use stage manager on an iPad mini.

00:23:48 ◼   ► But hold on, hold on.

00:23:51 ◼   ► If you accept the reality that you're using like iPhone sized apps, let me put it another

00:23:58 ◼   ► way.

00:23:58 ◼   ► Would you do multitasking with very small windows on a phone if you could?

00:24:06 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:24:06 ◼   ► Right.

00:24:07 ◼   ► But what I wouldn't want is in the multitasking for a significant portion of my view to be

00:24:15 ◼   ► taken up by the strip on the side.

00:24:18 ◼   ► Yeah, yeah, sure, sure.

00:24:19 ◼   ► No, I get it.

00:24:20 ◼   ► Multitasking on the iPad minis is fine.

00:24:22 ◼   ► It's fine.

00:24:23 ◼   ► But stage manager would be really not good, I think.

00:24:28 ◼   ► Yeah, no, I agree.

00:24:30 ◼   ► Look, I'm just playing devil's advocate here.

00:24:33 ◼   ► Yeah, no, because like I've been using old school split view and slide over for the past

00:24:39 ◼   ► three months.

00:24:40 ◼   ► Like the only moment I use stage manager is right now when I'm recording podcasts with

00:24:44 ◼   ► my iPad plugged into an external display.

00:24:46 ◼   ► Yeah, we're going to talk about our iPad usage a bit later on in the show.

00:24:49 ◼   ► No, no, no, I'm not telling you not to talk about it.

00:24:51 ◼   ► I'm doubling down with you.

00:24:52 ◼   ► I have an 11 and a 13 inch iPad Pro and I never turn stage manager on.

00:24:59 ◼   ► I forget about it, which is hilarious because I do use it on my Mac.

00:25:04 ◼   ► But, you know, I just don't like stage manager on the iPad.

00:25:07 ◼   ► Really, it doesn't really need that for me.

00:25:10 ◼   ► I saw Jason suggest that the implementation of this A17 Pro instead of the A18 and the

00:25:18 ◼   ► fact that the three nanometer process has been abandoned.

00:25:21 ◼   ► It may suggest that we're not going to have to wait another three years for a new iPad

00:25:25 ◼   ► mini, which is a theory that's growing on me.

00:25:28 ◼   ► I think this is correct, I do.

00:25:31 ◼   ► I think that for whatever reason they have just decided that they wanted to revise it

00:25:38 ◼   ► and make it ready for Apple intelligence.

00:25:40 ◼   ► I'm not really sure why yet they felt they need to do that.

00:25:44 ◼   ► I think it's interesting because I feel like over the past year we have seen Apple sort

00:25:50 ◼   ► of having to respect two different deadlines, one of them being self-imposed.

00:25:56 ◼   ► The first deadline is go all in on USB-C everywhere.

00:26:01 ◼   ► And that was imposed by the European Union.

00:26:03 ◼   ► And the other is make sure that you have your entire device line up as much as possible

00:26:08 ◼   ► to be ready for Apple intelligence.

00:26:09 ◼   ► And this iPad mini updates, the more I look at it, the more it screams like, oh, we need

00:26:15 ◼   ► to have an iPad mini that supports Apple intelligence, even if there's basically nothing new about

00:26:20 ◼   ► it compared to the previous one.

00:26:22 ◼   ► Down to the size, it's literally the same millimeters, the same size, the same height,

00:26:28 ◼   ► the same thickness, like everything is the same.

00:26:30 ◼   ► But it's ready for Apple intelligence because they wanted to have an iPad mini going into

00:26:36 ◼   ► the holiday season, I guess, that has AI.

00:26:39 ◼   ► - Yeah, I guess it's like maybe they feel, and I would actually agree, maybe that they

00:26:46 ◼   ► feel that the price of the iPad mini is too high for it not to support these features.

00:26:54 ◼   ► - Right, yeah.

00:26:55 ◼   ► - Where the original iPad, you could say, fine, like the, you know, the iPad, oh, actually,

00:27:06 ◼   ► forget what I'm saying.

00:27:07 ◼   ► The iPad has, what does that have?

00:27:11 ◼   ► Oh, it has an A14 in it, so yes, forget it.

00:27:13 ◼   ► - Oh, okay.

00:27:13 ◼   ► - Wow, that's rough.

00:27:15 ◼   ► Yeah, but that's gonna take a while, right?

00:27:16 ◼   ► But like, you know, like the iPad Air and now, you know, and up, and then the iPad mini,

00:27:22 ◼   ► they can all support it.

00:27:23 ◼   ► And I figure, and I think rightly so, that like the standard iPad, the $350 iPad, they

00:27:29 ◼   ► can let that one go a little bit longer, like for its use case.

00:27:32 ◼   ► But I would argue the iPad mini is a niche product used by, I think, a lot of professionals.

00:27:42 ◼   ► And like Apple calls this out in their blog post that like it's used by doctors and pilots.

00:27:51 ◼   ► And this is actually a thing on the Vergecast that they talk about a lot.

00:27:54 ◼   ► It's like pilots using iPad minis.

00:27:56 ◼   ► And like it is apparently a thing that happens.

00:28:00 ◼   ► So I guess they wanted to be able to offer this product with that in it.

00:28:06 ◼   ► The other thing I found interesting, and I saw Matt Burch to write about this, they're

00:28:11 ◼   ► wrangling the Apple Pencil lineup now.

00:28:13 ◼   ► So this iPad mini supports just two Apple Pencils, and it is the Apple Pencil Pro and

00:28:19 ◼   ► the Apple Pencil USB-C.

00:28:20 ◼   ► So currently, the iPad supports the Apple Pencil USB-C and the Apple Pencil first generation

00:28:27 ◼   ► with the dongle, which is hilarious.

00:28:29 ◼   ► But you would expect that within the next 12 to 18 months, they will revise the iPad,

00:28:34 ◼   ► the regular iPad, and it will support both the Apple Pencil Pro and the Apple Pencil

00:28:38 ◼   ► with USB-C.

00:28:39 ◼   ► - Yeah, it finally makes some sense.

00:28:43 ◼   ► I still think it's kind of odd that now we have this Pencil Pro that is called Pro, but

00:28:48 ◼   ► it's not exclusive to the iPad Pro.

00:28:49 ◼   ► So why not just call it Apple Pencil 3, that part I don't understand.

00:28:53 ◼   ► But whatever, Apple Pencil USB-C and Apple Pencil Pro, that's the two pencils that you

00:28:58 ◼   ► can use.

00:28:59 ◼   ► I think it definitely starts, the pencil lineup is making more sense.

00:29:03 ◼   ► And now with this iPad mini, you're going to be able to do Pencil Hover.

00:29:06 ◼   ► So I'm not sure, if you're an artist and you're serious about illustrations on the iPad, you're

00:29:14 ◼   ► probably getting an iPad Pro, right?

00:29:16 ◼   ► Because of the better display, OLED, refresh rate, size.

00:29:19 ◼   ► But still, it's kind of nice that you can hover with the Apple Pencil, which is this

00:29:25 ◼   ► Apple Pencil feature that not a lot of people pay attention to.

00:29:28 ◼   ► I actually think it's very nice how the UI responds to the pencil hovering over certain

00:29:33 ◼   ► buttons.

00:29:33 ◼   ► Oh, I think Apple Pencil Hover is amazing.

00:29:36 ◼   ► I've only used it for the first time this year, because I didn't have an iPad that was

00:29:44 ◼   ► capable of it.

00:29:45 ◼   ► And I absolutely love it.

00:29:48 ◼   ► I think it makes the Apple Pencil significantly better to use.

00:29:52 ◼   ► And I think people forget about it because it feels very natural, because it makes it

00:29:56 ◼   ► more like a cursor.

00:29:57 ◼   ► All cursors, you see where you're going to hit before you hit it on the screen.

00:30:02 ◼   ► And that's what the Apple Pencil Pro or any Apple Pencil that supports Hover allows for.

00:30:10 ◼   ► And I think it's great.

00:30:11 ◼   ► I think the Apple Pencil Pro is fantastic in general.

00:30:14 ◼   ► I really, really like that Apple Pencil.

00:30:18 ◼   ► And I'm happy that the iPad Mini is getting that feature, too.

00:30:21 ◼   ► Can I share a theory with you?

00:30:23 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:30:24 ◼   ► So given that they have implemented Apple Pencil Hover, technically, when you look at

00:30:31 ◼   ► the tech specs, the display is the same, right?

00:30:34 ◼   ► It's a Liquid Retina LCD 60 hertz display.

00:30:39 ◼   ► It appears to be the same display, which is a shame.

00:30:41 ◼   ► But obviously, one of the problems of the original-- well, not original-- the sixth

00:30:47 ◼   ► generation iPad Mini was the jelly scrolling, which was the problem that, due to how the

00:30:54 ◼   ► LCD display was refreshing, you may or may not notice one side of the screen moving slightly

00:31:01 ◼   ► slower or faster, depending on which side you're looking at, than the other half.

00:31:05 ◼   ► And it creates this jelly-like effect when you're looking at the whole display, because

00:31:11 ◼   ► the whole thing looks like it's-- yeah, jelly scrolling is a great description.

00:31:17 ◼   ► Now, since they have obviously done something to the display to support Hover, I would be

00:31:25 ◼   ► shocked if the jelly scrolling is still here.

00:31:30 ◼   ► I think the display may look the same, but my theory is that they have done something

00:31:36 ◼   ► while they were-- like, if you're working on it, and if the single complaint from people--

00:31:41 ◼   ► aside from it's not OLED, it's not promotion, but like, the single complaint about the previous

00:31:48 ◼   ► iPad Mini was the jelly scrolling.

00:31:50 ◼   ► And so given that you're doing the work to support Apple Pencil Hover, why not do something,

00:31:55 ◼   ► anything-- I don't know, because I'm not an engineer at Apple-- but why not do something

00:31:59 ◼   ► to also address the jelly scrolling?

00:32:01 ◼   ► So a year ago, there was a selection of rumors that are out.

00:32:06 ◼   ► It was actually October last year that Apple were going to try and fix this, and they would

00:32:11 ◼   ► do it by rotating the LCD controller.

00:32:15 ◼   ► Like, that's the issue.

00:32:16 ◼   ► You've got to put the controller on one side, and whatever side you put it on, this can

00:32:20 ◼   ► happen.

00:32:21 ◼   ► This really is only a thing with the iPad Mini, though, and maybe it's because the screen

00:32:24 ◼   ► is smaller.

00:32:25 ◼   ► And so they were saying that they were potentially going to be rotating it.

00:32:29 ◼   ► I am intrigued to see if this actually fixes it or if it makes it worse the other way.

00:32:33 ◼   ► Like, it might be that just, like, in portrait-- because I would see this, and it only ever

00:32:38 ◼   ► happened in portrait-- that maybe with the screen being that narrow and the way that

00:32:41 ◼   ► it was done meant it was more obvious.

00:32:42 ◼   ► And basically, it would look like one half of the display was moving faster than the

00:32:47 ◼   ► other.

00:32:47 ◼   ► That was the way that it looked.

00:32:49 ◼   ► And so it looks like, at least, there were some rumors that they were going to fix this.

00:32:53 ◼   ► It got dated a year ago.

00:32:55 ◼   ► I will be really intrigued for when people get these to see if it has fixed it or just

00:33:01 ◼   ► changed it or what.

00:33:02 ◼   ► I mean, and I always had a theory, and I maintained this theory, that the display panel in the

00:33:09 ◼   ► Mini is worse than the Air, because I went from an Air to a Mini.

00:33:13 ◼   ► And just the clarity of the screen, to me, did not look as good, even though all of the

00:33:20 ◼   ► specs would indicate they were the same displays.

00:33:22 ◼   ► But I think that they were maybe using not as good a version of the same display.

00:33:29 ◼   ► But that's purely a conspiracy theory drummed up by me in my eyes.

00:33:33 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:33:34 ◼   ► There's been a lot of talk about-- and you mentioned, like, the things that it didn't

00:33:38 ◼   ► add, right?

00:33:39 ◼   ► And, like, you know, basically, here is a list of features which are on the iPad Pro.

00:33:44 ◼   ► None of them came to the iPad Mini, should they make a Pro version of the Mini.

00:33:50 ◼   ► Like, all of the things that you mentioned, ProMotion, OLED, nanotexture, are you actually

00:33:56 ◼   ► surprised that they didn't add any of these?

00:33:59 ◼   ► Like, irrespective of what you want them to do, are you surprised about the fact that

00:34:03 ◼   ► essentially this is the same product?

00:34:04 ◼   ► Well, I guess what I'm surprised is that they haven't done what Apple typically likes to

00:34:13 ◼   ► do, which is upsell people on an even better version of the iPad Mini.

00:34:17 ◼   ► Right, to keep the old one and then have a new one, which is a little bit more expensive.

00:34:22 ◼   ► I'm convinced that there are people who would totally buy an iPad Mini Pro.

00:34:27 ◼   ► Imagine an even nicer and more expensive-- that makes Tim Cook happy-- version of the

00:34:34 ◼   ► iPad Mini that has a nanotextured display that is cellular.

00:34:38 ◼   ► You can take it at the beach.

00:34:39 ◼   ► And, I mean, for a lot of people, goodbye Kindle at that point, right?

00:34:43 ◼   ► I mean, it's like an iPad Mini with nanotexture.

00:34:46 ◼   ► That's going to look incredible.

00:34:47 ◼   ► Did you see that they announced the color Kindle today?

00:34:50 ◼   ► I saw that today.

00:34:51 ◼   ► I saw that.

00:34:51 ◼   ► I'm just surprised that Apple is just making one version of the iPad Mini, I guess.

00:34:57 ◼   ► Because they could potentially make money, a lot of money, by having a super-- maybe

00:35:06 ◼   ► not even super-- like a high-end iPad Mini.

00:35:08 ◼   ► Or maybe another way to look at this is an even smaller iPad Pro.

00:35:15 ◼   ► But they've obviously decided that iPad Pro should start at 11 inches.

00:35:19 ◼   ► And I get it.

00:35:21 ◼   ► I'm just-- arguably, though, 60 hertz on an iPad in 2024.

00:35:28 ◼   ► And, I mean, I could also say this about the phones.

00:35:30 ◼   ► And I say this-- I say this as someone who--

00:35:32 ◼   ► I don't know, Federico.

00:35:33 ◼   ► I read an article recently that said it was fine.

00:35:35 ◼   ► So I don't know.

00:35:37 ◼   ► It's fine for me.

00:35:38 ◼   ► It's fine for me.

00:35:42 ◼   ► And I've gotten used to it.

00:35:43 ◼   ► And it's OK.

00:35:45 ◼   ► But shouldn't the baseline be higher, is what I'm saying.

00:35:50 ◼   ► You know, like a bunch of-- you can go to any Android manufacturer for phones and devices

00:35:57 ◼   ► that cost a lot less than Apple.

00:35:59 ◼   ► And the baseline is 90 hertz, at least.

00:36:02 ◼   ► So I don't know.

00:36:04 ◼   ► I think it's just a little strange to have an iPad Mini that literally looks the same

00:36:09 ◼   ► as the previous one after three years.

00:36:11 ◼   ► I mean, there's no way that you look at this model and you know that the previous one was

00:36:17 ◼   ► October 2021.

00:36:19 ◼   ► And this update is exactly the same.

00:36:23 ◼   ► And you don't think that's a little strange.

00:36:26 ◼   ► Um.

00:36:27 ◼   ► Exactly the same.

00:36:30 ◼   ► Yeah, I don't find it strange.

00:36:33 ◼   ► OK, I find it strange in, like, I know what I want.

00:36:37 ◼   ► But I don't find it strange in looking at their product lineup.

00:36:40 ◼   ► Like, think about the 2020 iPad Pro.

00:36:45 ◼   ► It's like we put LiDAR on it.

00:36:46 ◼   ► You know, they do this weird stuff every now and again.

00:36:50 ◼   ► And the idea of a Pro iPad Mini, I would love.

00:36:54 ◼   ► But also, I just don't think they can make a $799 iPad Mini.

00:36:58 ◼   ► Like, I just think that that-- I just don't-- even though I would want it, I just think

00:37:04 ◼   ► that the market can't be big enough for them.

00:37:08 ◼   ► And where, like, if they wait another three years, it probably will be OLED, right?

00:37:13 ◼   ► And, like, I know that is a really long time to wait.

00:37:15 ◼   ► But, like, I just think that that's what they're going to do.

00:37:18 ◼   ► Even though I want it, I just-- I always feel like for stuff like this, if they believed

00:37:29 ◼   ► they could make the money, they'd probably do it, right?

00:37:32 ◼   ► Like, I think that's the one thing we know about this company for sure.

00:37:35 ◼   ► Like, if they felt confident that they could charge us more money, they would very happily

00:37:39 ◼   ► do that.

00:37:40 ◼   ► Maybe this just isn't the right time for this product.

00:37:44 ◼   ► But it is sad to me, though, because I wanted a more significant update to the iPad Mini.

00:37:50 ◼   ► Because this iPad Mini form factor is incredible.

00:37:54 ◼   ► It's incredible.

00:37:55 ◼   ► And I would have loved them to step it up whenever they revised it.

00:38:02 ◼   ► Like, I am definitely-- I think they should have OLED.

00:38:05 ◼   ► Like, that's what I want them to do.

00:38:07 ◼   ► I think that that would have been, like, just a small thing.

00:38:11 ◼   ► And to be like, oh, this is great.

00:38:13 ◼   ► You know, and charge $50 more, like, whatever.

00:38:16 ◼   ► Like, I don't think you need to make an iPad Mini Pro.

00:38:18 ◼   ► But just an OLED display would have really made a big difference to this product and

00:38:25 ◼   ► would have made people really excited about it.

00:38:27 ◼   ► Where the thing that we're supposed to be excited about hasn't even begun shipping,

00:38:33 ◼   ► won't have shipped when this product starts going on sale.

00:38:37 ◼   ► And most of the product-- most of the things that they're showing in the press release,

00:38:40 ◼   ► we don't know when they're coming still.

00:38:43 ◼   ► Are you referring to Apple intelligence?

00:38:45 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:38:45 ◼   ► Oh, OK.

00:38:46 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:38:47 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:38:47 ◼   ► Because-- but, like, that's the thing, right?

00:38:49 ◼   ► Like, what is this iPad Mini?

00:38:50 ◼   ► It's the iPad Mini for Apple intelligence.

00:38:52 ◼   ► Right.

00:38:53 ◼   ► Right now, because you said that we're supposed to be excited about it.

00:38:55 ◼   ► I'm not.

00:38:56 ◼   ► Well, but you're not excited about it.

00:38:59 ◼   ► But you're supposed to be in Apple's eyes, is what I'm saying.

00:39:01 ◼   ► Oh, I guess I'm supposed to be.

00:39:03 ◼   ► Right.

00:39:03 ◼   ► Like, this is the thing that they are pushing is, like, you should be excited about this.

00:39:07 ◼   ► Like, you can-- I know you're not excited about it.

00:39:11 ◼   ► Everybody knows this.

00:39:12 ◼   ► But, like, from Apple's perspective, you should be, right?

00:39:14 ◼   ► Like, this is-- they want you to be excited.

00:39:17 ◼   ► They want everyone to be excited.

00:39:19 ◼   ► When I say A, you say I, you know?

00:39:21 ◼   ► Like, that's what they want.

00:39:22 ◼   ► Right.

00:39:22 ◼   ► They want you to be excited.

00:39:23 ◼   ► Are you?

00:39:24 ◼   ► Are you excited, Mike?

00:39:25 ◼   ► I mean, I'm using 18.1, and I like some of the features.

00:39:28 ◼   ► They do not excite me.

00:39:29 ◼   ► Right.

00:39:31 ◼   ► But, like, I find-- I find notification summaries to be a useful feature.

00:39:36 ◼   ► It's not excite me.

00:39:39 ◼   ► And the thing is, the stuff that they've got coming down the road is even-- is less exciting.

00:39:44 ◼   ► It's actually more annoying to me.

00:39:47 ◼   ► With the exception of some stuff that is still going to be in 0.1, 0.2, or whatever.

00:39:52 ◼   ► It isn't even AI, right? Like, the mail features.

00:39:55 ◼   ► Like, I'm intrigued about, like, the sorting in mail.

00:39:57 ◼   ► Like, there are features that they are going to be shipping this year that I am excited about.

00:40:02 ◼   ► But they're not the AI stuff.

00:40:03 ◼   ► And the AI stuff that they have left to ship, a lot of it I'm not excited about.

00:40:08 ◼   ► And some of it I'm incredibly skeptical of.

00:40:11 ◼   ► Like, the personalized series stuff.

00:40:12 ◼   ► Like, I am excited about the potential of that.

00:40:16 ◼   ► I am not convinced they will deliver what I'm looking for with that, right?

00:40:20 ◼   ► Like, and I think you would agree that you would be excited if Siri could actually

00:40:26 ◼   ► reach into your apps and understand stuff and do things.

00:40:29 ◼   ► Like, I know I understand the great complexity you have with Apple Intelligence.

00:40:34 ◼   ► I understand it and I empathize with it.

00:40:37 ◼   ► But you would be excited if Siri could actually do what you wanted, right?

00:40:41 ◼   ► Oh, yeah.

00:40:42 ◼   ► Oh, yeah.

00:40:43 ◼   ► I mean, it's not like-- I mean, I have an opinion on, you know, a bunch of this AI stuff.

00:40:49 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:40:49 ◼   ► How the training was done.

00:40:51 ◼   ► But I'm not going to-- like, I'm not an idiot.

00:40:53 ◼   ► It's not like I'm not going to test the things, you know?

00:40:55 ◼   ► You can have an opinion.

00:40:57 ◼   ► In fact, I think it would be a shame to, you know, form an opinion about these things and

00:41:05 ◼   ► then never change it again or, like, never actually try the thing yourself.

00:41:10 ◼   ► So I am going to try the thing.

00:41:11 ◼   ► And the contextual Siri and the new intense framework for AI, it is the only thing I'm

00:41:18 ◼   ► excited about.

00:41:19 ◼   ► I'm just very skeptical of it because, like-- I mean, we've been burned with Siri for the

00:41:24 ◼   ► past how many years?

00:41:25 ◼   ► Like, 13?

00:41:26 ◼   ► So, yeah, it's-- I mean, forgive me for being skeptical, you know?

00:41:31 ◼   ► Like, it is what it is.

00:41:33 ◼   ► I don't know.

00:41:34 ◼   ► This iPad Mini, though, it's coming out.

00:41:36 ◼   ► There's not going to be Apple Intelligence on it.

00:41:39 ◼   ► Not that if you were, I could use it because, I mean, I'm based in the European Union.

00:41:47 ◼   ► It's going to look pretty much the same.

00:41:49 ◼   ► It's going to be faster, I suppose, than before.

00:41:51 ◼   ► I am still keen to check it out, you know?

00:41:55 ◼   ► I will say this.

00:41:58 ◼   ► The one thing I'm very keen to check out is the Wi-Fi 6E and the Apple Pencil Pro.

00:42:06 ◼   ► I guess the Apple Pencil Pro, too.

00:42:07 ◼   ► But the Wi-Fi 6E, especially, like, to use the iPad Mini as a game streaming device,

00:42:12 ◼   ► I think that's going to be extra nice.

00:42:14 ◼   ► Especially when you combine this iPad Mini with a controller, that's, you know,

00:42:19 ◼   ► one of those controllers that can sort of attach to the sides.

00:42:22 ◼   ► It's easier to find those controllers for the iPad Mini than, say,

00:42:27 ◼   ► an 11-inch or 13-inch iPad Pro.

00:42:30 ◼   ► So this is the one thing I really want to check out.

00:42:33 ◼   ► But, yeah, otherwise, I mean, it is kind of a boring update.

00:42:37 ◼   ► But if you care about Apple Intelligence, it's, I guess, you're going to be able to use it.

00:42:43 ◼   ► Yeah.

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00:45:30 ◼   ► So let's talk about how we are using our iPads.

00:45:33 ◼   ► I was an iPad Mini user for a long time.

00:45:35 ◼   ► The new iPad Pro completely sold me and so now I'm in the iPad Pro camp

00:45:40 ◼   ► because of the incredible thinness and lightness of it.

00:45:43 ◼   ► We got to go together and see them in Battersea in May, I think that was.

00:45:50 ◼   ► So we got to see those together.

00:45:52 ◼   ► So how are you using your iPad right now?

00:45:56 ◼   ► How are you using the iPad right now?

00:45:59 ◼   ► So I've been working on this story for the past few months really.

00:46:06 ◼   ► The short version is that I use it for everything.

00:46:10 ◼   ► The way I look at it is that I spent a couple of years in the wilderness, if you will.

00:46:19 ◼   ► And it was necessary for me.

00:46:24 ◼   ► I tried for six months and I revealed this on the show to you and Steven.

00:46:29 ◼   ► For six months I used a couple of years ago a Microsoft Surface Pro

00:46:33 ◼   ► and then I switched to MacBook Air and basically almost stopped using the iPad really.

00:46:39 ◼   ► Then I created the MacPad and basically after the M4s came out earlier this year,

00:46:53 ◼   ► I decided this computer is so nice.

00:46:55 ◼   ► I just want to try and really go back to the iPad.

00:47:00 ◼   ► I feel like it was calling me and I needed to come home, so to speak.

00:47:05 ◼   ► And so for the past three months, especially since I decided that I was going to go with

00:47:10 ◼   ► the 11-inch iPad Pro instead of the 13-inch and with the nano texture glass

00:47:14 ◼   ► instead of the standard glass, I have fallen in love with this machine so badly.

00:47:20 ◼   ► And I use it for everything and that's going to be the angle of the story.

00:47:25 ◼   ► How I now use the iPad Pro for everything except for one task.

00:47:32 ◼   ► There is one thing that I still cannot do on the iPad because I figured out the podcasting.

00:47:37 ◼   ► I'm recording this podcast right now on the iPad, but there's one thing that I still cannot do,

00:47:44 ◼   ► which is it always goes back to that sort of problem.

00:47:50 ◼   ► I cannot record video with my external camera while being on a Zoom call at the same time.

00:48:01 ◼   ► What I love is this was the problem with podcasting.

00:48:04 ◼   ► You found a hardware solution that there's no point going into today.

00:48:08 ◼   ► Wait for the blog post because it is still complicated.

00:48:11 ◼   ► We worked together on this, I think me and you collaborated in secret,

00:48:14 ◼   ► much to the upset of John and Steven.

00:48:16 ◼   ► And we worked it out for you and we found the thing you needed.

00:48:22 ◼   ► But now you've come back to the same problem because now you do video podcasts.

00:48:25 ◼   ► Yeah, and I know if I go down that route, I know what a potential solution is going to be.

00:48:32 ◼   ► Just get a camera that...

00:48:34 ◼   ► Don't do the recording on your iPad Pro using Camera Studio.

00:48:38 ◼   ► Do the recording directly on the camera and save the recording to an SD card or something.

00:48:43 ◼   ► Well, I mean, have you looked at things like Riverside, where you kind of record in a browser?

00:48:51 ◼   ► I just actually asked a friend of the show, Chris Lawley, about it this morning.

00:48:56 ◼   ► This very question, Riverside requires a Chromium browser.

00:49:01 ◼   ► They don't have an app?

00:49:04 ◼   ► I'm not, I don't know, I'm just basing this off of what Chris said.

00:49:08 ◼   ► They have an app.

00:49:09 ◼   ► So I don't know, they have an app like to record.

00:49:14 ◼   ► I'm sure they do.

00:49:14 ◼   ► Well, this takes in investigation and entirely.

00:49:19 ◼   ► I'm looking at their app in the App Store, but I don't know how it works, right?

00:49:23 ◼   ► But like, maybe you need to have the app open or what?

00:49:26 ◼   ► I don't know.

00:49:26 ◼   ► But there is a Riverside app.

00:49:30 ◼   ► Well, I've been using Zoom.

00:49:33 ◼   ► So I mean, you know me.

00:49:36 ◼   ► The problem is now that I need to switch services, obviously.

00:49:39 ◼   ► But yeah, I need to investigate this more, which is why I've taken forever with this blog post.

00:49:46 ◼   ► I started writing in June and things have changed.

00:49:50 ◼   ► My desk has changed.

00:49:52 ◼   ► The gear that I'm using has changed.

00:49:54 ◼   ► It's been like a four month long research process.

00:49:57 ◼   ► But the gist of it is I'm not using any other computer right now.

00:50:01 ◼   ► It's my 11 inch iPad Pro for all the things and reading, for working, for watching videos.

00:50:07 ◼   ► I guess I don't play games on it because I have dedicated gaming handhelds.

00:50:12 ◼   ► But yeah, I'm back on the iPad all the way.

00:50:16 ◼   ► It's good to be home.

00:50:17 ◼   ► That's my takeaway.

00:50:18 ◼   ► I'm also big time back on the iPad, not to the level that I had been, right?

00:50:26 ◼   ► So pre 2020, basically pre M1, I was doing what you're doing or what you had been doing, right?

00:50:38 ◼   ► We were essentially at the same level where I used my iPad for everything other

00:50:43 ◼   ► than recording and editing podcasts, everything.

00:50:45 ◼   ► I had my iPad in stands.

00:50:49 ◼   ► I was using external keyboards and track pads and the whole nine yards.

00:50:53 ◼   ► And I was very happy.

00:50:56 ◼   ► But then the M1 Mac kind of blew my mind.

00:50:59 ◼   ► And then I went down that path and never changed.

00:51:03 ◼   ► One of the other things for me was when they also produced a good display.

00:51:06 ◼   ► And then at that point, I was like, oh, this actually just works easier for me to just plug

00:51:11 ◼   ► my laptop into my display and then just use my Mac.

00:51:13 ◼   ► And that was solidified when I moved into my studio, because that was easier than kind

00:51:19 ◼   ► of unplugging and replugging iPads, which I tried for a bit, but preferred this.

00:51:23 ◼   ► And then I kind of left the iPad behind.

00:51:26 ◼   ► Then I fell in love with the iPad Mini.

00:51:29 ◼   ► It was like my home computer and I was doing a bunch of stuff on it.

00:51:32 ◼   ► And then the 11-inch iPad Pro called to me, you know, with like OLED display and everything

00:51:39 ◼   ► about it, like just loved it because I had not used an OLED iPad.

00:51:42 ◼   ► I now have two iPads.

00:51:44 ◼   ► I have two iPad Pros.

00:51:46 ◼   ► This is wild.

00:51:48 ◼   ► I need to understand this.

00:51:50 ◼   ► Okay.

00:51:50 ◼   ► So the 11-inch iPad Pro is my home computer.

00:51:53 ◼   ► And it is the device that I use most when I'm at home.

00:51:58 ◼   ► Like I use it more than my phone.

00:51:58 ◼   ► I love that expression.

00:52:00 ◼   ► It's such a throwback, the home computer.

00:52:02 ◼   ► Yeah.

00:52:02 ◼   ► It's like it's in the computer room and everybody goes and they sit at it and then they use

00:52:08 ◼   ► the iPad.

00:52:09 ◼   ► And like, so it's kind of for me being what it is, like it splits into kind of two use

00:52:15 ◼   ► cases and it's usually like morning and evening because I'm typically in the middle of the

00:52:21 ◼   ► day and we're at work or I'm doing things at home or out and about on the weekends or

00:52:25 ◼   ► whatever.

00:52:25 ◼   ► So in the morning, my 11-inch iPad Pro, which I don't have a smart keyboard for, I don't

00:52:31 ◼   ► have any smart keyboards at all.

00:52:34 ◼   ► I just use my iPad in a smart folio.

00:52:37 ◼   ► So in the morning, I'm like checking messages, checking emails.

00:52:42 ◼   ► I'm starting my, maybe starting some show prep in the morning, which could either be

00:52:48 ◼   ► like, so like today, for example, Brad does the like 90 percent of the show prep for the

00:52:54 ◼   ► pen addict, but I'll go in and read what he has, the articles that he's dropped in and

00:53:00 ◼   ► the notes he's dropped in.

00:53:01 ◼   ► And I'll also bring in questions from listeners and follow up and stuff.

00:53:04 ◼   ► And I can do that all on my iPad really easily.

00:53:06 ◼   ► It doesn't take too much time.

00:53:08 ◼   ► So I'll do that in the morning.

00:53:09 ◼   ► And then like for starting connected prep, I'll just go from my RSS because it's just

00:53:14 ◼   ► kind of like a nice, easy thing to do.

00:53:16 ◼   ► I'm kind of like just going through it.

00:53:17 ◼   ► I'm not really reading articles.

00:53:18 ◼   ► I'm just like scanning headlines and scanning the first few things and then, you know, like

00:53:25 ◼   ► sending them to my Apple note to read later on because I think they might be interesting

00:53:29 ◼   ► for the show or whatever.

00:53:30 ◼   ► And then I'll also do like, I'll open Todoist.

00:53:35 ◼   ► I'll do some task triage, you know, make sure like the things that I've got in today, like

00:53:39 ◼   ► am I going to do them today or should I move things to other days?

00:53:41 ◼   ► It's like those kinds of like early in the day activities and all of those kinds of activities.

00:53:47 ◼   ► I think are fantastic for the iPad, like perfect, right?

00:53:50 ◼   ► Like I really like a touch interface for this kind of stuff.

00:53:54 ◼   ► I think it works really well.

00:53:55 ◼   ► It's very comfortable and, you know, anything where you're dealing with like text, like

00:54:00 ◼   ► the iPad is just perfect for, right?

00:54:02 ◼   ► Like the quality of the screen, all this kind of stuff like wonderful.

00:54:05 ◼   ► And then in the evening, I use my 11 inch iPad Pro for watching videos.

00:54:11 ◼   ► Like I watch a lot of YouTube on my iPad and then just like social media and what I refer

00:54:17 ◼   ► to as noodling, which is just like the expression that Gray loves.

00:54:21 ◼   ► Yes, he loves it.

00:54:22 ◼   ► Computer noodling, where you're kind of just like bouncing around from one thing to another

00:54:27 ◼   ► thing, you know, like where you're not really, you're not doing a task of any kind.

00:54:31 ◼   ► You're just kind of like, I'm checking this over here.

00:54:33 ◼   ► I'm checking that over there.

00:54:34 ◼   ► You're noodling, you're noodling around.

00:54:35 ◼   ► So that's my 11 inch iPad Pro, which is like, I don't know if you've ever heard this term

00:54:41 ◼   ► personal computer.

00:54:43 ◼   ► It's one of those for me.

00:54:44 ◼   ► This is my home personal computer and then then my 13 inch iPad Pro is a dedicated device

00:54:52 ◼   ► for Cortex brand.

00:54:53 ◼   ► So that's what this product is for.

00:54:57 ◼   ► It lives at the studio and it lives on a particular table that I have for design, like for product

00:55:06 ◼   ► design.

00:55:06 ◼   ► So I just leave it on there.

00:55:08 ◼   ► And when I'm on that, when I'm at my design table, I only use this device.

00:55:15 ◼   ► And so it has specific apps on it, which are for this work.

00:55:21 ◼   ► It's signed into specific services that are just for Cortex brand.

00:55:25 ◼   ► I don't have everything on this device.

00:55:28 ◼   ► Like I set it up fresh and I just add the things that I need.

00:55:32 ◼   ► So for this iPad Pro, what I like is a bunch of things I like about it and why I wanted

00:55:40 ◼   ► to get this because I had the 11 and I was very happy.

00:55:42 ◼   ► But the 13 inch iPad Pro gives a larger canvas for sketching.

00:55:47 ◼   ► So I do a lot of sketching and also brainstorming, which I like to do with written and is really

00:55:54 ◼   ► good to just use an Apple pencil for this stuff.

00:55:58 ◼   ► Some sketching I will do on paper and then I can also scan those with the iPad Pro as

00:56:03 ◼   ► well.

00:56:03 ◼   ► At the moment, I've actually really, a while ago on the show, I spoke about wanting to

00:56:09 ◼   ► look at infinite canvas applications.

00:56:10 ◼   ► And a lot of people recommended a few especially concepts to me.

00:56:15 ◼   ► Freeform is where I've landed.

00:56:17 ◼   ► I think that some of these applications are just way more complex than I need.

00:56:24 ◼   ► And for me, the basic set of pencil kit tools and an infinite canvas, it just works really

00:56:32 ◼   ► well.

00:56:32 ◼   ► And then Freeform also is just super good for sharing with people.

00:56:35 ◼   ► It's so built into the ecosystem.

00:56:36 ◼   ► Freeform is underrated, I think.

00:56:39 ◼   ► I think you need to have a specific task that Freeform is good at to value its quality.

00:56:49 ◼   ► Like if you're not doing something which is like this, like brainstorming or whatever,

00:56:57 ◼   ► for me, it's like I'm starting sketching an idea and then I'm drawing arrows.

00:57:02 ◼   ► What I like about these infinite canvas apps is I don't need to worry about where the

00:57:09 ◼   ► edge of the page is or I don't have to work in a linear form, right?

00:57:13 ◼   ► Like if I'm working in an Apple note, I'm just going down the whole time.

00:57:18 ◼   ► But what I like about Freeform is I can start with say sketch in the middle and I can draw

00:57:23 ◼   ► like blow up parts of it where like I want to draw a specific detail or something I was

00:57:28 ◼   ► working on recently.

00:57:30 ◼   ► Like by the time that I ended at what I thought might be a decent idea, it was very far on

00:57:35 ◼   ► the left because I just kept drawing left because what I drew in the middle and what

00:57:40 ◼   ► I drew on the right and left, I liked the idea on the left more so I just kept going.

00:57:43 ◼   ► And I really like that about Freeform.

00:57:45 ◼   ► You kind of just keep going until you're done and yeah, it's just a cool product.

00:57:50 ◼   ► I would like them to actually do more with Freeform in the Vision Pro.

00:57:54 ◼   ► I would like to be able to stand up and draw on a Freeform board in Vision Pro.

00:58:01 ◼   ► Like you can, in the meta horizons, you can kind of use a digital whiteboard, which I

00:58:08 ◼   ► think is a really cool thing and I would like them to do that kind of stuff for Freeform.

00:58:13 ◼   ► But yeah, so we use that for like product designing stuff, like sketching and brainstorming.

00:58:18 ◼   ► But also I really like it for product evaluation.

00:58:22 ◼   ► So this can take a couple of different forms.

00:58:25 ◼   ► So this can either be like I have a product that I'm working on, like I have a prototype

00:58:28 ◼   ► of it and I want to kind of write some notes down.

00:58:32 ◼   ► So I'll leave a, you know, I'll just type on the keyboard or I will speak aloud.

00:58:37 ◼   ► Something I found recently which was really helpful.

00:58:39 ◼   ► So we're working on pocket notebooks at Cortex Brand, which will be coming next year.

00:58:43 ◼   ► And I wanted to try and kind of like think, I was sitting down and thinking to myself,

00:58:48 ◼   ► like how do I describe these to people?

00:58:52 ◼   ► Like what is our marketing message for like what the product is, what it's for?

00:58:55 ◼   ► And I just opened Notion and I turned on Dictation and just started talking, which I'd never

00:59:01 ◼   ► really done before.

00:59:02 ◼   ► And it was more of just like, let me talk through my feelings of the product, which

00:59:06 ◼   ► I found to be better than trying to write them out, because I'm looking at it, I'm

00:59:10 ◼   ► holding it.

00:59:11 ◼   ► I'm like, it does this, it does that.

00:59:14 ◼   ► Like I like it because of this.

00:59:16 ◼   ► I like using it for that.

00:59:17 ◼   ► And it's just like a lot of stuff that I can go through and edit.

00:59:19 ◼   ► But I found that to be pretty cool as like a way to just evaluate a product.

00:59:25 ◼   ► And then also I take pictures and video with the iPad, which I can share, like I can take

00:59:31 ◼   ► a picture of a prototype and kind of like share that with whoever needs to see it.

00:59:35 ◼   ► But something I've also found to be really useful, like when I work with a lot of creative

00:59:41 ◼   ► people now, like designers and stuff, I'm not very good at writing design feedback.

00:59:48 ◼   ► I'm better at speaking it.

00:59:50 ◼   ► So most of the time I'll just record a video with my iPad and just be like, look, you can

00:59:54 ◼   ► see how it does this.

00:59:55 ◼   ► I would like it to do something different.

00:59:57 ◼   ► And like the designer that I work with, his name's David, he finds this to be so much

01:00:02 ◼   ► more helpful than the madness that I write down.

01:00:06 ◼   ► Like I start writing and then I like send it.

01:00:09 ◼   ► I'm like, oh wait, no, I actually mean this.

01:00:10 ◼   ► And it just sometimes like he has just said to me, he's like, I actually don't know

01:00:14 ◼   ► what you're talking about anymore.

01:00:16 ◼   ► And so this is when I started taking videos because like what can be helpful is like,

01:00:22 ◼   ► you know, sometimes I'm like, no, I want a line to be lined up with this rather than

01:00:26 ◼   ► lined up with that.

01:00:27 ◼   ► And it's helpful for me to just take a video where I'm pointing my finger or something

01:00:32 ◼   ► as opposed to trying to explain it abstractly.

01:00:34 ◼   ► So I, you know, what I actually really love about using my iPad pro this way is I feel

01:00:41 ◼   ► like I am the type of person, like I'm doing the type of work that Apple imagined someone

01:00:47 ◼   ► might do with an iPad.

01:00:48 ◼   ► Like I feel like I went for the, for the product design stuff, it feels more like the ideal

01:00:55 ◼   ► iPad customer.

01:00:56 ◼   ► You are the commercial right now.

01:00:58 ◼   ► Like sometimes I'm doing this stuff and I'm like, yes, I feel like I am the type of person

01:01:04 ◼   ► that sometimes when you go to like Apple events or whatever, they will have kind of like people

01:01:10 ◼   ► set up, like working, right?

01:01:13 ◼   ► Like, like this is them actually, when they're not really working, they're like demoing

01:01:17 ◼   ► how they work, right?

01:01:18 ◼   ► Um, I've, we've seen stuff like this.

01:01:20 ◼   ► I've been to events that Apple put on before where they're like showing, like I went to

01:01:25 ◼   ► one with the Mac pro once where they had like the people from different fields, like someone

01:01:30 ◼   ► was a photo editor, someone was a video editor, someone was a game designer.

01:01:34 ◼   ► And they're just like showing you how they use the product.

01:01:36 ◼   ► And this is how I feel when I use my iPad pro this way, where I'm like, this is how

01:01:40 ◼   ► they imagine somebody uses an iPad pro.

01:01:43 ◼   ► Like I'm doing those things, you know?

01:01:45 ◼   ► Nice.

01:01:45 ◼   ► So that's how I use my iPads.

01:01:47 ◼   ► That's great.

01:01:49 ◼   ► I'm happy for you.

01:01:50 ◼   ► It's good to have you back.

01:01:51 ◼   ► I'm back big time.

01:01:53 ◼   ► These iPad pros, man, they're good.

01:01:56 ◼   ► They're good.

01:01:56 ◼   ► They're so good.

01:01:57 ◼   ► They're so good.

01:01:58 ◼   ► I don't care that the iPad mini didn't get better.

01:02:00 ◼   ► Like, you know, if they, if they had to put all this effort in at the sacrificing of the

01:02:04 ◼   ► iPad mini, I'm happy with that.

01:02:06 ◼   ► I agree with that.

01:02:07 ◼   ► Yeah.

01:02:08 ◼   ► This episode is brought to you by Express VPN.

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01:03:58 ◼   ► I have a quick, very small surprise for you, Mike.

01:04:05 ◼   ► OK.

01:04:05 ◼   ► So you know me.

01:04:07 ◼   ► I like to try all the things, right?

01:04:09 ◼   ► I like my options, right?

01:04:13 ◼   ► And so, yeah, I decided, you know what?

01:04:16 ◼   ► It's been a while.

01:04:18 ◼   ► I kind of want to try the AirPods Max again.

01:04:20 ◼   ► Oh, you poor thing.

01:04:22 ◼   ► OK.

01:04:25 ◼   ► That's how it goes.

01:04:28 ◼   ► I want to try the AirPods Max again.

01:04:31 ◼   ► I thought, well, I'm going to get them the USB-C version in Starlight from Amazon.

01:04:37 ◼   ► And if I don't like them, I got a 30-day return window.

01:04:40 ◼   ► Sure.

01:04:40 ◼   ► That was my thought.

01:04:43 ◼   ► Apple also, you know, obviously they have a store on Amazon now, so you're buying from

01:04:48 ◼   ► Apple but via Amazon.

01:04:49 ◼   ► I got to tell you, like, obviously having USB-C is part of the reason why I sold the

01:04:59 ◼   ► previous AirPods Max was that I hated charging them with lightning so much.

01:05:04 ◼   ► Using just the one lightning cable with those headphones, like, it annoyed me so much.

01:05:13 ◼   ► And when I got them, I got to tell you, like, as someone who's not that huge on noise cancellation,

01:05:21 ◼   ► because I actually don't need to cancel noise that frequently, as pure wireless headphones,

01:05:29 ◼   ► they sound incredible.

01:05:30 ◼   ► They still sound incredible.

01:05:34 ◼   ► The Starlight color looks so elegant compared to the previous Space Gray one that I had

01:05:41 ◼   ► years ago.

01:05:42 ◼   ► I really, really like the way that it looks.

01:05:44 ◼   ► I like the color of the case.

01:05:46 ◼   ► I like everything about these headphones.

01:05:48 ◼   ► But it was a problem.

01:05:49 ◼   ► When I was putting them on, after 15 to 20 minutes, I could feel the pain on my head

01:05:57 ◼   ► because they were clamping onto my head too tight.

01:06:00 ◼   ► And I was really annoyed about that.

01:06:03 ◼   ► Like, I forgot that this was an issue with the previous AirPods Max.

01:06:07 ◼   ► I don't think the shape of my head has changed in the past year, since I sold my first-gen Max.

01:06:15 ◼   ► I don't know if it's, like, slightly different in terms of, like, the shape of the headphone

01:06:22 ◼   ► arms, you know, how they clamp onto my head.

01:06:24 ◼   ► But after 20 minutes, I could feel the pressure on the sides of my head.

01:06:30 ◼   ► Actually, you know what it is?

01:06:31 ◼   ► I'm using different glasses.

01:06:33 ◼   ► I'm using the Metaray bands that have thicker arms.

01:06:36 ◼   ► That's what it is.

01:06:37 ◼   ► Just now, I'm realizing what the difference is.

01:06:41 ◼   ► They're thicker.

01:06:43 ◼   ► Therefore, I was feeling the clamping of the AirPods Max too much.

01:06:48 ◼   ► And so, I was kind of generally kind of bummed out about this because I love the sound so much.

01:06:55 ◼   ► And rotating the dial, like, it's a small thing, but rotating the digital crown.

01:06:59 ◼   ► The digital crown on the AirPods Max is better than the digital crown on the Apple Watch.

01:07:03 ◼   ► Yes.

01:07:04 ◼   ► It's so nice.

01:07:05 ◼   ► It's so nice.

01:07:05 ◼   ► And, like, a physical control for play and pause.

01:07:08 ◼   ► Yes, thank you.

01:07:09 ◼   ► Like, one of my favorite things, because they have the two buttons, right?

01:07:13 ◼   ► So you have the play/pause, which is on the crown.

01:07:16 ◼   ► And then you have the, like, big button for noise cancellation and transparency.

01:07:20 ◼   ► When I'm on a plane, which is really the only place that I use these things,

01:07:24 ◼   ► if someone's talking to me, it just hit them both at the same time.

01:07:27 ◼   ► It pauses when I'm watching and turns on transparency.

01:07:30 ◼   ► Really nice.

01:07:31 ◼   ► Very nice.

01:07:32 ◼   ► But I was in pain, right?

01:07:36 ◼   ► It was bothering me.

01:07:37 ◼   ► And so I Googled how to make AirPods Max more comfortable.

01:07:41 ◼   ► Simple Google search.

01:07:43 ◼   ► And I landed on this Reddit thread from four years ago.

01:07:48 ◼   ► And sometimes when I reach these Reddit threads,

01:07:50 ◼   ► what I like to do is I like to scroll down to the comments.

01:07:54 ◼   ► And I like to sort the comments by date.

01:07:57 ◼   ► Because usually, when something is from a few years ago,

01:08:01 ◼   ► it's the top result on Google for these kinds of problems.

01:08:05 ◼   ► There's always the people coming in years after the original thread was posted

01:08:10 ◼   ► to say, "Four years later, this worked for me.

01:08:13 ◼   ► Thank you so much."

01:08:14 ◼   ► And so, Mike, I'm going to send you a video on iMessage.

01:08:19 ◼   ► And I want you to not get scared for what you're about to see.

01:08:24 ◼   ► So the video is sending now.

01:08:29 ◼   ► I did something that was recommended in this thread.

01:08:32 ◼   ► The title of the thread was "Finally Solved, the AirPods Max Clamping Force Tightness."

01:08:38 ◼   ► I believe you have received the video that I shot with my Meta Ray Bands.

01:08:45 ◼   ► And please describe what you're looking at.

01:08:49 ◼   ► So Federico is essentially opening the AirPods Max

01:08:56 ◼   ► to a completely horizontal degree.

01:09:00 ◼   ► Like, they are absolutely stretched past the point where they should break.

01:09:05 ◼   ► Like, they're absolutely horizontal.

01:09:08 ◼   ► This technique...

01:09:08 ◼   ► So, do not do this to your AirPods Max.

01:09:12 ◼   ► I am not responsible.

01:09:13 ◼   ► If you try this, it's your responsibility, not mine.

01:09:16 ◼   ► I'm just sharing my personal experience.

01:09:19 ◼   ► This technique is called "Super Stretching the AirPods Max."

01:09:22 ◼   ► Why do people have to name everything?

01:09:26 ◼   ► Why does this need a name?

01:09:28 ◼   ► Because, well, because humans communicate with words

01:09:33 ◼   ► and we need words to express what we do, I suppose.

01:09:36 ◼   ► So the idea is you super stretch the AirPods Max.

01:09:41 ◼   ► They're going to bend.

01:09:42 ◼   ► They're not going to break.

01:09:43 ◼   ► You can stretch them to 170, 180 degrees, 190 degrees, which is more like...

01:09:51 ◼   ► Oh, this is not what I thought.

01:09:53 ◼   ► So this is not a mod.

01:09:55 ◼   ► You just keep stretching them.

01:09:58 ◼   ► Yeah, yeah.

01:09:59 ◼   ► So you can break them.

01:10:00 ◼   ► Like, I'm expecting, like, if you stretch them the wrong way.

01:10:04 ◼   ► There is a point where they will break, I'm sure.

01:10:09 ◼   ► But if you do what...

01:10:11 ◼   ► Again, don't do this.

01:10:13 ◼   ► If you do it, it's your call, not mine.

01:10:17 ◼   ► But I followed what the person on Reddit was saying.

01:10:20 ◼   ► Like, you do this for like 30 to 60 seconds.

01:10:22 ◼   ► You do it a couple of times and it's going to make a world of difference.

01:10:26 ◼   ► Let me tell you, Mike, I've done this.

01:10:28 ◼   ► My word is it better.

01:10:30 ◼   ► Like, I can now wear these headphones for like hours and I don't feel anything anymore.

01:10:35 ◼   ► It's the most comfortable thing I've ever done.

01:10:38 ◼   ► Like, seriously, this single thing, stretching the AirPods Max

01:10:43 ◼   ► to basically be almost completely flat

01:10:46 ◼   ► to the point where you think they're not supposed to go that way.

01:10:50 ◼   ► But they do and they don't break.

01:10:52 ◼   ► You do this for like two times for 30 seconds.

01:10:55 ◼   ► It's been incredible.

01:10:58 ◼   ► And I am so happy.

01:10:59 ◼   ► I can now wear this.

01:11:00 ◼   ► I don't feel any pressure on my head anymore.

01:11:03 ◼   ► I can wear my Metarabang glasses.

01:11:05 ◼   ► They're thicker than before.

01:11:07 ◼   ► But I don't care because these are so comfortable now

01:11:11 ◼   ► and they stay comfortable.

01:11:14 ◼   ► I guess you do this and you bend the metal a little.

01:11:19 ◼   ► And I don't know what else to say.

01:11:23 ◼   ► The technique works.

01:11:24 ◼   ► And check out the comments.

01:11:26 ◼   ► Sort the comments by date in that Reddit thread.

01:11:29 ◼   ► The top comment right now, the most recent one is

01:11:31 ◼   ► thank you so much for this.

01:11:32 ◼   ► You literally saved my Max's life.

01:11:34 ◼   ► Hello from 2024.

01:11:36 ◼   ► This worked and thank you.

01:11:37 ◼   ► Again, if you try this, don't say Federico told me to do this.

01:11:44 ◼   ► Make an informed decision.

01:11:46 ◼   ► I'm just sharing my experience.

01:11:47 ◼   ► This worked and I love it.

01:11:48 ◼   ► I will say, if you do do this, you should go to this Reddit thread

01:11:52 ◼   ► and say Federico told me to do this with no context at all.

01:11:56 ◼   ► Just Federico told me to do this.

01:11:58 ◼   ► Have you ever come across the...

01:12:00 ◼   ► It's a concept in horticulture in plants called forcing?

01:12:03 ◼   ► Forcing.

01:12:05 ◼   ► It's where you convince a plant to grow in a certain way.

01:12:08 ◼   ► Oh yeah, that's what I do with my plants, yeah.

01:12:10 ◼   ► So that's what this feels like.

01:12:12 ◼   ► It feels like you're just like, you're gently stretching it over time.

01:12:15 ◼   ► Like you tell it to go in one direction.

01:12:18 ◼   ► Yes, she's supposed to be this way.

01:12:20 ◼   ► Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:12:22 ◼   ► So just, you know, I did a mod, my AirPods Max.

01:12:25 ◼   ► I did not install any weird thing.

01:12:28 ◼   ► I just, I super stretched the ad funds.

01:12:32 ◼   ► Yeah.

01:12:32 ◼   ► If you would like to find this Reddit thread, it's in the show notes.

01:12:37 ◼   ► I put it in there, which you can find at relays.fm/connected

01:12:40 ◼   ► where you can also sign up to become a member or you can go to the much better URL,

01:12:44 ◼   ► which is getconnectedpro.co.

01:12:45 ◼   ► We spoke about gamers topics for gamers once again in Connected Pro,

01:12:49 ◼   ► which I think you can probably rest assured will be the rest of Connected Pro for this month.

01:12:54 ◼   ► It will be gamers topics for real gamers.

01:12:56 ◼   ► So if you're a real gamer like us, you should getconnectedpro.co.

01:13:00 ◼   ► If you want to find Federico online, you can go to maxstories.net

01:13:04 ◼   ► and he is vittici@maxstories.net on Mastodon and vittici on Threads.

01:13:09 ◼   ► I am Imike, I am YKE.

01:13:11 ◼   ► You can find the show over at relay.fm.

01:13:14 ◼   ► You can find my work at cortexbrand.com.

01:13:17 ◼   ► Thank you to our sponsors this week.

01:13:18 ◼   ► That is ExpressVPN, Squarespace and Fitbud.

01:13:22 ◼   ► But most of all, thank you for listening.

01:13:23 ◼   ► We'll be back next week.

01:13:25 ◼   ► Until then, say goodbye Federico.

01:13:27 ◼   ► Ade vedet tu.

01:13:27 ◼   ► Cheerio.