512 Pixels

If Apple stuck one of these in an aluminum case and let it run macOS, I’d be buying a new Mac mini in a heartbeat.

To answer some obvious questions:

1. Yes, I’ve seen this and the video is very good.
2. No, I don’t think I’ll be backing it.
3. Yes, they are adorable.
4. The iMac is the best one.

John Voorhees, writing at MacStories on Twitter’s removal of the old API that powered apps like Tweetbot and Twitterrific:

How these changes shake out for third-party clients remains to be seen. I’ve used the beta update for Tweetbot over the past week, and the elimination of its Stats and Activity section has left me feeling like there is something missing from the app. I still prefer it to the official app, but the removal of that section is a meaningful loss. A similar hole will be left in Twitterrific when the Today section no longer works. Both apps have also lost their Apple Watch apps and live-streaming. If those are critical features to your use of Twitter, you may want to give the official client another try.

And:

How long third-party clients will continue to be a viable alternative to Twitter’s official app is anyone’s guess, but for now, I still prefer the experience delivered by Twitterrific and Tweetbot despite their limitations. I turned off all Twitter notifications except for direct messages a few months ago, and I haven’t missed timeline streaming during the Tweetbot beta. Notification delays for direct messages, which are noticeable, will probably affect my Twitter usage the most, but I have plenty of other ways to carry on similar conversations. As a result, these changes don’t make third party clients unusable for me, but it has caused me to reevaluate which Twitter client I will use going forward, which is a process that is ongoing.

Sigh.

This week on Connected, Myke and I answer listener questions to mark Relay FM’s 4th anniversary. This wouldn’t be possible without our listeners; thank you.

This episode was made possible by:

• Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code CONNECTED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
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This week on Liftoff, Jason and I got into some recent space news:

The Parker Solar Probe is on its way to study our sun, as New Horizons is exploring what is at the outmost reaches of its influence on the solar system.

My thanks to our sponsor:

• Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code LIFTOFF at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

This time on Ungeniused:

At the height of a marketing battle with Pepsi, the Coca-Cola Corporation did the unthinkable and changed an American icon.

There is a lot more to the story of New Coke than I thought.

My thanks to our sponsor:

• Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code UNGENIUSED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

There are a lot of dead products on this list, but Samsung keeps going after the dream.

We need a word for this. It’s happened to several big features in recent years, including AirPlay 2 and Messages in iCloud.

Seems about right.

My wife has been using a first-generation 12-inch MacBook since its debut back in 2015. Despite picking one up with the best specs available at the time,¹ it is feels like Mac much older than its three years.

She uses it docked to an external display with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I don’t know the last time it was used as an actual notebook, and after seeing the SSD was nearly full, I decided it was time to do something.

While I would have gladly purchased her any Mac she wanted, I just came into possession of a 21.5-inch Late 2013 iMac. It’s got 8 GB of RAM and an Intel Core i7 CPU. In terms or raw benchmarks, this iMac is noticeably faster than her MacBook. It’s just new enough to support Auto Unlock with the Apple Watch, AirDrop and other modern features of macOS. It even meets macOS Mojave’s revised system requirements.

The problem is that it came with a pitifully slow 5400 RPM hard drive, so it was time for a little surgery.

I picked up a 1 TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD. I’ve put these in several machines, and really like them. 1 TB should give her plenty of space, and it was $80 off on Amazon Prime when I ordered.

Now, getting into this generation of iMacs is a little tricky. Back when the aluminum iMacs had optical drives, you could pull the cover glass off with suction cups, then unscrew the display. However, when they got thin in 2012, the glass and displays were laminated together and attached to the front of the chassis with adhesive strips.

Getting this off isn’t too bad, but does require a tool that looks like small pizza cutter, a replacement adhesive kit and some patience. I bought the kit and tool from iFixit for $19, and was ready to go.

This video on OWC’s site clearly shows how to use the tool to cut the adhesive and how to apply the new strips when you’re done swapping the drive.

As I write this, I am migrating data from her Time Machine drive to the iMac. It’s not the fastest computer in the world, but it should be a performance upgrade from her MacBook, despite being two years older.

I’m tempted to pick up some of the new outdoor fixtures.

I thought it’d be fun to explore part of my workflow that some may find surprising: I write a ton in paper notebooks.