John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico.
John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.
There are thousands of things on sale during Amazon Prime Day, including a lot of my favorite gadgets, so I thought I’d highlight the deals I’ve found for the gear I’ve used, tested, and love. Here are my top picks.
I’ve had an Apple Studio Display for two years now and love it. Colors are bright, text is crisp, and having a set of additional Thunderbolt ports available on its rear panel comes in surprisingly handy.
It may be getting a little long in the tooth, but I still love my mighty iPad mini. My new 11” iPad Pro has absorbed some of the reading and video-watching I used to do almost exclusively on the mini, but the mini’s size is perfect for reading, which is what I still use it for almost every day.
I haven’t gotten around to writing about the Beats Fit Pro yet, but I picked up a pair a couple of months ago, and I love them. They’re smaller than the Powerbeats Pro that wrap around your ears, which I like, and because they use Apple’s H1 chip, they include features like fast pairing with the Apple Watch and transparency mode. They don’t have every feature of the latest AirPods Pro, but they have the most important ones that I want when I go out for a run on a hot day.
Sequoia is not your typical macOS release. In recent years, new features of all Apple OSes have been increasingly meted out over time instead of dropping all at once in the fall. That’s been true of macOS, too, but this year, the magnitude of the staged release will be more pronounced, which has trickled through to the public beta released today.
macOS Sequoia will be a phased release. That means you won’t find everything announced at WWDC in the public beta. Some features, notably large parts of Apple Intelligence, won’t be available until 2025. That’s something worth keeping in mind if you’re thinking about installing the Sequoia public beta today. The beta is generally stable, but you’re likely to run into bugs, and with many features still to come in the months ahead, the upside of running it is more limited than in past years.
Apple Intelligence promises to round out Sequoia over time, but neither I nor anyone else outside of Apple has had a chance to try those features yet. So, for now, let’s focus on what you can expect if you install the macOS Sequoia public beta today.
There are a lot of text transformation apps out there, and many of them are good. However, my current favorite is Text Workflow by Giorgos Trigonakis. The app comes in separate Mac and iPhone/iPad versions and incorporates a long list of text actions and automation options, which I’ve found myself needing more and more lately....
[[John]] Samuel Stolton and Jennifer Surane of Bloomberg reported this week that Apple has avoided EU fines by opening up tap to pay on the iPhone to other companies. (Link) On 512 Pixels, Stephen Hackett has first impressions of a brand-new smart lock from Aqara called the U200, which integrates with existing door lock hardware...
If you’ve listened to NPC: Next Portable Console or MacStories Unwind in the past couple of months, you’ve probably heard me or Federico mention Retro Game Corps, a YouTube channel by Russ Crandall with a focus on retro and handheld gaming. Earlier this week, Russ reviewed the Scuf Nomad controller for the iPhone and covered...
[[John]] Peak Version 3 of Peak is out with a day summary, goal progress, and widgets for your Apple Watch faces and Smart Stack. The app now syncs metrics across devices, and the update added a bunch of other tweaks to widget layouts, new settings, and backgrounds that match your theme. Plinky 2.0 Plinky, a...
Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:
This week on Magic Rays of Light, Sigmund and Devon spotlight the theatrical release of Fly Me to the Moon, revisit the idea of an Apple TV Pro, recap Trying season four, and highlight new Apple Original series Sunny starring Rashida Jones.
This week on Comfort Zone, Niléane has a social media surprise, Matt tries to take his email to superhuman levels, and Chris blows his hair back with Wi-Fi speeds you wouldn’t believe. Then we reflect on last week’s very chill challenge before jumping into the next one where we must be nice.
This week, I am joined by Jonathan Reed for some travel picks for my upcoming trip to London, plus a movie, TV show, and Irish band.
Federico
