Connected #289: Let Me Remember My Opinion »

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This week on the show:

This week, Myke talks about a sell on Cinema Displays, then the guys move on discuss Federico’s recent iPad article on modularity, the possibilities of widgets in iOS 14 and Stephen’s Mac Madness winner and picks.

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Apple Releases 10.15.4 Supplemental Update »

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The update addresses these issues:

  • Fixes an issue where Mac computers running macOS Catalina 10.15.4 could not participate in FaceTime calls with devices running iOS 9.3.6 and earlier or OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and earlier
  • Resolves an issue where you may repeatedly receive a password prompt for an Office 365 account
  • Fixes an issue where MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) may hang in Setup Assistant or when disconnecting and reconnecting a 4K or 5K external display
  • Resolves an issue where a USB-C port in your Mac may become unresponsive

No word on if this will fix some of the Finder issues that many users (including myself) have seen, but this is available in Software Update now.

Mac Madness 2020: My Bracket 

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As discussed on this week’s Connected, I am sharing how I picked my winners on the Mac Madness Bracket. There are some real differences as you will see. For example, I had the 2019 Mac Pro and the 20th Anniversary Mac going further than the public did. However, I was right on the money with the Cube passing the MacBook Air, and the public and I voted the Clamshell iBook along to the same round. You can see all the differences here, and click on the images to enlarge them.

The Public Final Bracket

My Bracket

My winner — the Titanium PowerBook — is my favorite Mac of all time:

Arq 6 »

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A solid update to one of the most powerful backup applications on the Mac. Version 6 includes official support for APFS, the ability to run multiple backup tasks at once and more powerful scheduling options.

Watchsmith »

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Underscore David Smith has launched a new Apple watch app that — quite frankly — blows my mind. Named Watchsmith, it makes Complications a lot more useful and flexible, as he writes on his blog:

First, it provides a wide array of complications. Each of these is completely customizable, with controls for things like font, color, hand type and location. The initial set is just over 50 unique complications, with dozens more planned down the road. My goal is to provide a complication for just about every use and let you make it look just how you want. In the absence of 3rd-party watch faces, this is the closest I can get to making my own watch faces.

A rich collection of customizable complications would be enough to check this app out, but the real magic comes when you set Watchsmith up to change out complications based on time. In his review of the app at MacStories, Ryan Christoffel explains the feature:

Based on the schedule you set for a given complication type, that complication slot on your watch face will automatically update per your schedule. So you can have certain complications occupy that slot at relevant times of day, getting the most out of each slot on your watch face. If you want to get really crazy, you can even have a different complication show up every hour of the day.

This means if you want to see a calendar on your Watch’s screen from 9 AM to 5 PM, but want to hide it after work, Watchsmith can handle that for you. If you just want to see the Weather for the first few hours of the day, no problem.

Then there’s this magic:

Smith says he is already working on new complication types, and I expect Watchsmith will continue to grow in features over time. Few people know watchOS development like he does, and it shows with this app.

Watchsmith is a free download with a $1.99/month or $19.99/year subscription to unlock all the complication types.

New Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro Available for Pre-Order on Amazon 

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I didn’t expect this, but here they are, in both 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes.1 Amazon doesn’t list a ship date, but Apple has said the new keyboard/trackpad combo will arrive in May.

These pages show the weights of the new keyboards at 1.81 pounds (822 grams) for the small one, and a whopping 2.41 pounds (1,093 grams) for the 12.9-inch model.

If we assume that these weights include the iPads in their totals (and doesn’t include the box), the new Magic Keyboards should weigh in at:

  • 11-inch: .77 pound (349 grams)
  • 12.9-inch: 1 pounds (453 grams)

The existing Smart Keyboard Folios are 297 and 407 grams, according to 9to5 Mac. Those were heavier than their predecessors as well, by 52 and 67 grams, respectively.

(For comparison, the Brydge Pro+ keyboards, which include trackpads, weigh 1.14 pounds or 550 grams and 1.51 pounds or 690 grams.)

If those Amazon numbers don’t include the iPad, but the box, the true weight may still be unknown.

No matter what the final numbers are, I think these things are going to make the iPad Pro more like a laptop than ever in terms of weight. Maybe this is why Apple hasn’t wanted to talk about this.

It’s fun to spend an evening obsessing over this instead of the news, right?

  1. Yes, those are totally Amazon affiliate links ;) ↩

Liftoff #121: Apollo 13 »

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A very important episode of Liftoff this week, marking the 50th anniversary of Apollo 13:

In the spring of 1970, NASA launched what would be the third mission to walk on the moon, but almost nothing went to plan, putting the crew in peril until the moment they splashed down.

It is a true miracle that this crew made it home alive.

My thanks to our sponsors:

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Ungeniused #102: Pink Lakes »

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This time on Ungeniused, things get salty:

Not all bodies of water are blue, and not all saltwater is the same. On this episode, Myke and Stephen belly flop into the weird world of pink lakes.

My thanks to our sponsor:

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Kbase Article of the Week: Apple Printer Utility 1.0: Can‘t See/Change Printers in Last Zone »

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Apple Support, explaining a problem no one has had or thought about in a long time:

In a multi-zone network, when you select the last zone, the list of printers in the “Printers” box does not get updated and continues to display the printers that belong to the previous zone that was selected.

The fix?

The original Apple Printer Utility v1.0 had an issue working with printers in the last zone of a multi-zone network, as well as networks that only have one zone (as that zone is effectively the last zone).

This issue is fixed in later versions of the Apple Printer Utility. To find the most recent version of this software, refer to the Apple Software Updates Library at http://www.apple.com/swupdates.