I had the pleasure of joining Jason Snell on this week’s episode of Upgrade to discuss modem quirks, new iPhone rumors, cutting-edge immersive video production, and the boring march of Apple silicon.
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The Logitech MX Master 4⇢
I recently upgraded my mouse to the new Logitech MX Master 4 and have been really happy with it.
For years, I used the old Logitech Performance MX, long after it was discontinued. After my last backup copy of it died, I moved to the Logitech MX Master 3S. It was great, and the 4 builds atop it with some nice new features. After a few days, here are some thoughts:
- Using a Logitech mouse over Bluetooth, without a dongle, is pretty great. It’s nice to get a USB port back.
- The 4 weighs less weighs more than the 3S, but it feels even easier so slide around.
- The new materials are fine. Previous Logitech mice had a tendency to get a little sticky over time, and if the new plastic holds up better over time, I’m fine with it feeling a little less nice.
- I pretty quickly turned the haptic feedback off.
In the past, the Logi Options software came with lot of stuff I didn’t want to use (including some poorly-implemented AI features), but it’s easier to turn things off now. I used it to set my mouse’s buttons up this way:
Sponsor: Quip, a Supercharged Clipboard Manager With Apple Intelligence⇢
Clipboard managers are one of those utilities you don’t realize you need until you try one. And for years, they’ve all felt the same—catch-all junk drawers where your copy/paste history goes to die.
Quip takes a different approach. It’s a clipboard manager and text expander for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad, built to feel native, private, and actually enjoyable.
With the new Liquid Glass design in macOS and iOS 26, Quip looks like it belongs in Apple’s world of apps. Smooth animations, frosted transparency—it’s modern and responsive in a way most utilities never are.
Mac Power Users 820: The Apple Productivity Suite Field Guide⇢
David has published a new course covering Apple Reminders, Calendar, Notes, and more. This week, he and Stephen walk through those apps and how they can be used together. Then, a conversation about the M5 and iOS 26 changes.
The State of Nisus Writer⇢
Nisus Writer is a word processor for the Mac that dates back to 1989. It survived basically every major change the platform has ever seen, but its time as a beloved Mac app may be coming to an end, as Joe Kissell writes:
For more than a year, we’ve heard scattered complaints: problems with Nisus Software’s website, particularly the user discussion forum; slow or absent responses to support requests; assorted bugs; and other issues. But earlier this week, on 22 October 2025, the reports changed to: “Did you know the Nisus website is completely down, and that Nisus Writer is no longer in the Mac App Store? Does this mean they’re out of business?”
Connected 575: The Brooklyn iPad⇢
The M5 has landed, and Federico has thoughts on the present and future workloads it can unlock. Also: Stephen isn’t alone, Myke’s new iPhone has an unexpected accent, and Liquid Glass continues to change.
I was robbed during this week’s edition of The Quizzies. #JusticeForStephen
Steven Aquino on that Liquid Glass Toggle in Beta 4⇢
Steven Aquino, writing at Curb Cuts, bouncing off my post about the new Clear/Tinted toggle that appeared in this week’s betas:
Hackett notes Apple’s placement of the Liquid Glass control is surprising as he believed “a control like this would land in Accessibility.” However a logical presumption, it’s not really a hardcore accessibility feature. Here’s the thing about accessibility features, on iOS or Android or anywhere else: they’re a discrete, specialized—and admittedly esoteric—suite of settings intended to meet highly specific needs. While it’s true “accessibility is for everyone” for the most part, the majority of the options under Accessibility are decidedly opinionated in their target demographic.
I’m Really Starting to Think These OpenAI Folks Are No Good⇢
OpenAI reportedly asked the Raine family – whose 16-year-old son Adam Raine died by suicide after prolonged conversations with ChatGPT – for a full list of attendees from the teenager’s memorial, signaling that the AI firm may try to subpoena friends and family.
OpenAI also requested “all documents relating to memorial services or events in the honor of the decedent including but not limited to any videos or photographs taken, or eulogies given,” per a document obtained by the Financial Times.
Boring Is What We Wanted
We are coming up on five years since the first M1 Macs shipped. It was an incredible time to be a Mac user. Those first Apple silicon Macs looked like the Intel machines they replaced, but they were better in every single way.
In December 2020, John Gruber wrote:
We knew this to be true: Computers could run fast and hot, or slow and cool. For laptops in particular, the best you could hope for is a middle ground: fast enough and cool enough. But if you wanted a machine that ran really fast, it wasn’t going to run cool (and wasn’t going to last long on battery), and if you wanted a computer that ran cool (and lasted long on battery), it wasn’t going to be fast.
iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Adds Liquid Glass Transparency Toggle
If you go to Settings > Display and Brightness on iOS, or System Settings > Appearance on the Mac, you’ll find a new toggle that lets you swap between two looks: Clear and Tinted. Clear is the look of Liquid Glass since iOS 26 launched, while Tinted adds opacity and contrast.
Here’s how the options look on the Lock Screen and in Photos:
This toggle being in the display settings with things like Dark Mode is interesting to me. I would have thought that a control like this would land in Accessibility…
Magic Lasso Adblock: 2.0x Faster Web Browsing in Safari⇢
Want to experience twice as fast load times in Safari on your iPhone, iPad and Mac?
Then download Magic Lasso Adblock – the ad blocker designed for you.
As an efficient, high performance and native Safari ad blocker, Magic Lasso blocks all intrusive ads, trackers and annoyances – delivering a faster, cleaner and more secure web browsing experience.
By cutting down on ads and trackers, common news websites load 2x faster and browsing uses less data while saving energy and battery life.
Mac Power Users 819: The User Interface at 60 MPH⇢
This week on a jam-packed feedback episode of MPU, David and I discuss a bunch of listener feedback, the return of Slide Over, the state of iCloud Family Sharing, and check in on his Rivian experience.