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Apple has announced a new product I did not see coming:

Apple today announced the release of a new hardbound book chronicling 20 years of Apple’s design, expressed through 450 photographs of past and current Apple products. “Designed by Apple in California,” which covers products from 1998’s iMac to 2015’s Apple Pencil, also documents the materials and techniques used by Apple’s design team over two decades of innovation.

I’m more into this stuff than almost anyone, and I find this odd. Even after last year’s “40 Years in 40 Seconds” video, something this retrospective feels weird.

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This guest post is written by Thomas Brand. You know he can be trusted because his blog looks like a Newton.

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In an era where Apple continues to sell last year’s MacBook Pro, and the Mac Pro has not been updated in over one thousand days, I am reminded of a Mac that Apple brought back from the grave to meet the needs of desktop publishing professionals reluctant to upgrade.

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I have a little project to announce soon. It — and very occasional other goodies — get sent out via the newsletter. Go check it out.

Emails are sporadic at best; I won’t be noisy in your inbox. I respect your privacy. I won’t sell your email address or harvest your organs.

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Want to see what having a Touch Bar is like without driving to an Apple Store or spending a bunch of money? Daniel Jalkut has you covered with a new app.

(Warning: It will make you really want to touch your Mac’s screen.)

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The review embargo for the new MacBook Pros just dropped. Let’s see what people have to say.

Jason Snell at Six Colors was impressed with the personality present in Apple’s design:

But what really surprised me were the animations. The Touch Bar is an animated interface through and through. Items don’t just fade in and out, but also slide smoothly back and forth. The arrow pointing from the Touch Bar to the Touch ID sensor during a request for an unlock grows and shrinks, practically begging you to put your finger down. There’s a lot more personality here than I expected.

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I recently sat in on a recording of The Incomparable to talk about The Right Stuff:

The epic film about the early days of the space race, 1983’s “The Right Stuff,” is on the launch pad this week. What does the film say about modern mythmaking? Can you have too much Chuck Yeager? Is this peak Dennis Quaid? Why do astronauts have to be test pilots instead of demolition-derby drivers? We’ll figure it out. Let’s light this candle!

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Today Apple launched a new Apple TV app named iBooks StoryTime:

iBooks StoryTime gives your family a different way to experience classic kids’ books and discover new favorites. With Read-Aloud narration and beautiful illustrations, every handpicked title in the app transforms Apple TV into an engaging place for young readers to enjoy the stories they love.

As the Read-Aloud narration completes a page, it automatically turns to the next one. The narration comes complete with different character voices, sound effects, and is made word-for-word so kids can follow along.

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On this week’s episode of Ungeniused, things get messy:

Are you ever concerned that a loved one may burst into flames in their sleep? You probably don’t have to worry about spontaneous human combustion. Probably.

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Jason Snell on the dividing line between Retina and non-Retina Macs:

Will Apple ever sell a Retina Mac for less than $1299? It seems inevitable, but for now the company seems content to follow a similar approach to the Mac as it does with its iOS devices: Offer the latest and greatest hardware at premium prices, and offer older models at the low end in order to create a range of prices.

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A couple of weeks ago, I posed a video looking at iPod socks.

I have the complete box set:

• Green
• Purple
• Gray
• Orange
• Pink
• Blue

I thought that was it. No, there is another:

This is a very unusual little knit piece of Apple history. This red iPod sock was a giveaway to members of the public who attended the opening of the Boylston Street Apple Store back in 2008.

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Remember when dongles were simpler?

Some applications use an external hardware device that connects to the USB port to authorize the use of the software on your Macintosh. This device is commonly referred to as a “dongle.”

If your application is having trouble locating a dongle that is plugged into a display or keyboard, try plugging it into one of the USB ports on the CPU. This should allow your application to more easily locate the dongle and authorize use of your software.

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This week, Jason and I are joined by Glenn Fleishman to talk about the rising use of cubesats.

My thanks to our sponsor, Luminos: A fantastic astronomy app, 10 years in the making! Now with an Apple Watch app for skygazing!

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