Sill This is the second Mac app I’ve run across in the past few weeks that can stream a single Mac window or your whole desktop to an iPhone or iPad. The app supports a unique laptop mode that allows you to use a virtual trackpad and other special Mac keys on the bottom...
Apple and the Lunatic Fringe
John Ternus was profiled by Time Magazine this week. It’s a good read, even if you’re familiar with most of the details. One of my favorite parts was a quote from Greg Joswiak. As Time’s Andrew Chow wrote: In the midst of a populist AI backlash, they contend that they are building a modest but...
Interesting Links
The Museo de Historia de la Computación, a Spanish museum dedicated to computer history, built a replica Cray-1 computer powered by 30 Mac minis from the early 2010s. (Link) I’m always impressed by the lengths that Apple goes to make its devices useful to as many people as possible, including this story from Wired about...
This Week on MacStories Podcasts
This week on MacStories podcasts: AppStories This week on AppStories, Federico and John start realizing the benefits of their attempt to automate all administrative tasks and explain why Apple’s vague developer blog post about Full Disk Access and AI agents should concern all Mac users whether or not they use AI. On AppStories+, as John...
Meta Releases Muse Spark Open, an Over 800 Billion Parameter Model That Can Run Locally on Multiple M5 Ultra Mac Studios
Meta just released the weights for Muse Spark Open, a multimodal large language model with a mixture-of-experts architecture. It has over 800 billion parameters in total, with 40 billion active per token, and it can run on the latest Mac Studios.
Meta worked closely with Apple to make that happen specifically on the M5 Ultra Mac Studio with the support of MLX, the Apple-led, open-source machine-learning framework. The result is a frontier-class model that can be run locally on desktop hardware.
Apple’s Machine Learning Research blog put the M5 Ultra through its paces standalone and connected with other M5 Ultra Studios, and the results are impressive. If you’re at all interested in running LLMs locally, it’s worth checking out all the details, but a few things jumped out at me:
- The M5 Ultra’s time to first token exceeds the M3 Ultra by 4.6x thanks to the M5 Ultra’s Neural Accelerators.
- Tokens generated by the M5 Ultra beat the M3 Ultra by 1.6x.
However, thanks to MLX’s support of RDMA over Thunderbolt 5, big models like Muse Spark Open can be split across multiple M5 Ultra Mac Studios accelerating tasks further. For very large contexts that means a time to first token that’s up to 1.8x faster, but it’s also what lets the model fit onto desktop hardware because even the 4-bit version of Muse Spark Open requires 493GB of memory.
Some of Apple’s testing was done with the 512GB model of the M5 Ultra Mac Studio, which is slated for release at the end of the year. Apple hasn’t said how much the new model will cost, but for context, the 256GB model with 2TB of storage will set you back over $11,000. So the 512GB model isn’t your typical consumer purchase, even more so since running Muse Spark Open requires at least two of them.
However, that doesn’t make this any less of an accomplishment. Muse Spark Open is at the bleeding edge of models that can be run locally on computers that can sit on your desk and don’t need more power than can be delivered from a wall outlet. That’s made possible by the unique combination of Apple silicon and updates to MLX. Plus, with the pace of advancements in AI and Apple silicon hardware, what may only meet enterprise budgets today could become accessible to more consumers faster than most of us might expect.
HomeView Points to Siri AI as the Next Developer Platform
Yesterday, Wired reported that third-party apps with CarPlay functionality would be available on Apple’s new HomeView device. That struck me as odd. I was expecting, and I think many others were at least hoping, that the HomeView would be a new platform for building apps. And while strictly speaking that doesn’t seem to be the case, in an entirely different way it is. Here’s what’s going on.
Apple’s original press release caused some confusion because it doesn’t spell out the CarPlay angle. Instead, it simply says that the HomeView supports “compatible third-party audio and video apps,” and “[s]elect apps require a paired and compatible iPhone nearby,” which is also a CarPlay requirement. That press release also mentioned the HomeView’s ability to use widgets and access personal context without ever mentioning whether that applies to third-party apps.
Well, now we have some answers to most of these questions. First of all, Apple documents out-of-the-box support for audio and video apps, rather than the full range of CarPlay categories. That’s further supported by Katarina Mogus’ interview with Apple’s Cecilia Dantas, which draws a straight line between third-party video apps and CarPlay support.
Second, the Human Interface Guidelines have been updated to address which widgets can be used with the HomeView:
On Apple HomeView, people can place widgets on the Modular face and the Home Screen. Widgets on HomeView are from the small system family, and share the appearance of iPhone widgets. A person chooses widgets from among those already installed on HomeView, like Weather or World Clock, or from their individually connected iPad or iPhone.
As for whether Siri can access third-party data and actions, I suspect the answer is yes. Apple’s press release called out personal context specifically, which was confirmed by Apple’s Kaiann Drance and Lilian Rincon in an interview with Reuters. So, for example, you can presumably use the HomeView to retrieve an old message from the Messages app on your iPhone. The Q&A section on the HomeView product page also mentions taking action across apps with Siri. That strongly suggests that the HomeView’s functionality will be the same as the new HomePod mini 2’s when it gains Siri AI capabilities, even though I haven’t seen anything from Apple that addresses whether that sort of Siri integration extends to third-party apps directly.
So, as of today, Apple has documented support for CarPlay audio and video apps and small widgets. I suspect Siri AI will provide another route, too. That limited app model may disappoint some, but I think it points to where personal assistants are heading. Apps aren’t going away, but the need for a separate app on every device is.
Siri, with apps integrated through App Intents, is emerging as a new UI. Developers who have adopted that technology already give users ways to interact with their apps beyond the apps themselves. I expect HomeView will extend that opportunity even further without requiring developers to build for an entirely new device. If it does, that’s a win for developers and users alike, and perhaps just the tip of the iceberg in a world where computing extends beyond apps.
Anbernic Springs the RG DDS on Gamers
FedericoThis week on Next Portable Console, Anbernic reveals the RG DDS clamshell, more handheld news, and Federico’s lo-fi surprise.
Then on NPC XL for Patreon members, Federico has a streaming surprise and John covers about Apple’s Indie Games Week celebration.
Also available on YouTube here.
Apple Teams Up with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric to Offer the Apple Home Collection
Apple revealed today that it has partnered with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric on the Apple Home Collection, a range of smart home products including sensors, thermostats, cameras, and a smart lock that will be available beginning in December and into 2027.
LG has developed a video doorbell, a floodlight camera, outdoor and indoor cameras, a thermostat, and a temperature sensor, along with a smart lock that supports Ultra Wideband for hands-free door unlocking. Schneider Electric will offer a smart thermostat and temperature and humidity sensors. Device installation will also be available through a partnership between ADT and Apple Retail in the U.S. for an additional fee.
Standout features include:
- the ability of the cameras to pick out faces, animals, vehicles, and packages,
- iCloud+ support for HomeKit Secure Video,
- the ability for the indoor cameras to tilt down when a household member returns home,
- adaptive temperature on the thermostat that adjusts heating and cooling according to whether someone is home, and
- the ability to shift heating and cooling use (U.S. only) to when available energy sources are cleaner.
Pricing for the devices is as follows:
- LG Video Doorbell Wired: $249.95
- LG Floodlight Cam: $399.95
- LG Outdoor Cam Plug-In: $299.95
- LG Indoor Cam Plug-In: $199.95
- LG Smart Deadbolt Lock: $349.95
- LG Smart Thermostat: $199.95
- LG Temperature Sensor: $39.95
- Schneider Home Smart Thermostat: $199.95
- Schneider Home Room Sensor: $39.95
The cameras will be available in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, with other devices limited to the U.S. and Canada.
The Apple TV 4K Gets Siri AI, an A19 Chip, and a $299 Price Tag
Apple also updated the Apple TV 4K today. Last updated in 2022, the Apple TV 4K’s fourth-generation update is focused on bringing an improved surround sound experience to the Apple TV, along with Siri AI. From the outside, the new Apple TV 4K looks like the old one: a nondescript black box that sits under your TV, but on the inside, the components have been upgraded. The Siri Remote has been updated too.
The updated Apple TV features Apple’s A19 chip with an AV1 decoder and three far-field microphones. The A19 chip has a faster CPU (a claimed 50% boost) and GPU (a claimed 2x improvement), which may come in handy when playing games. The microphones allow a user’s voice to be picked up by the Apple TV despite background noise, and Apple says Siri AI will enable new ways to discover what to watch on the device. It’s worth noting that Siri AI is available on the second- and third-generation Apple TV 4K, too. Other upgraded specs that are notable include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
Apple has also expanded the surround sound capabilities of the Apple TV. It can now be paired with four Apple HomePod mini 2s or second-generation HomePods or two pairs of each HomePod type. As for the Siri Remote, it now supports Precision Finding and can play a sound when used with the Find My app.
The new Apple TV 4K is a steep $299, which is disappointing but understandable given the update and 128GB of storage and can be preordered now in the U.S. and 29 other countries, with delivery and in-store availability on November 13.