Earlier today, Kerry Provenzano released the latest episode of Paper Places, a Relay show that features interviews with writers about writing. This month, Kerry interviewed me all about how I got into tech writing, running MacStories, and my writing process. It was a lot of fun, and covered a lot of ground that I haven’t talked about much elsewhere.
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Writing at and Running MacStories→
Podcast Rewind: Running Out of RAM, Tech Confessions, and Italian Movie Dubs
Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:
NPC: Next Portable Console
This week, Brendon, Federico, and John tackle the RAM shortage and its effect on the handheld industry before digging into Cocoon 2.0, an excellent Android front-end for your emulators.
Then on NPC XL, Federico brings an Android emulation surprise to the show.
Comfort Zone
Chris has a Mac-related confession to make, Matt has to admit something about his Apple Watch, and Niléane is like, “Boys, I don’t think you can even handle taking your phones off silent.” (She was not wrong.)
On Cozy Zone, we roast home screens again, and this time there aren’t any hidden codes… we think.
MacStories Unwind
This week, John and Federico debate physical versus digital media and the Italian art of dubbing movies.
MacStories Weekly: Issue 502
This week, in addition to the usual links, app debuts, and recap of MacStories' articles and podcasts:
Acme Weather: A Fresh Take on Forecast Uncertainty
Earlier this week, the founders of Dark Sky made their post-Apple debut with a new weather app for the iPhone and Apple Watch: Acme Weather. It’s a terrific 1.0 with all the details you’d expect, plus a few interesting features that set it apart from other apps in its category.
Hands-On with Claude Code Remote Control
One of the greatest frustrations I’ve had with Claude Code is feeling tied to my desk or being stuck in a macOS Screen Sharing window. Claude Code’s new Remote Control feature, which was introduced late yesterday, promises to eliminate that frustration entirely. Here’s how it works.
The Steve Jobs Archive’s Letters to a Young Creator→
The Steve Jobs Archive has published a collection of Letters to a Young Creator featuring reflections from luminaries in a wide range of fields answering questions posed by SJA Fellows.
Contributors include Tadao Ando, Paola Antonelli, Mario Bellini, Larry Brilliant, Anders Byriel, Ed Catmull, Jon M. Chu, Lee Clow, Tim Cook, Brunello Cucinelli, Es Devlin, Pete Docter, Mickey Drexler, Lord Norman Foster, Davis Guggenheim, Jenny Holzer, Bob Iger, Jimmy Iovine, Jony Ive, Rashid Johnson, Alan Kay, David Kelley, Marc Newson, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Ben Okri, Dieter Rams, Alice Rawsthorn, Arthur Rock, Ruth Rogers, Samuel Ross, Cindy Sherman, Mona Simpson, and Anna Deavere Smith, as well as an introduction by Laurene Powell Jobs.
Released on the anniversary of what would have been Steve Jobs’ 71st birthday, Powell Jobs explains:
To live a life of creativity and curiosity, one must constantly ask questions. Steve thrived by seeking out people who could offer new knowledge and fresh perspectives, and he surrounded himself with diverse voices—musicians, artists, scientists, designers, engineers, writers, and humanitarians. He would often pose a thought and then pause to listen, understanding that learning and growth can only come from having the courage to challenge our limits and broaden our horizons.
I’ve only scratched the surface of the collection, but I can tell that this is my sort of catnip. Powell Jobs captures the essence of the collection well:
This is a time to live your questions. The beauty of answers, when they do come, is that they allow us to ask new and better questions. Life is learning how much we have yet to learn.
Letters to a Young Creator is available online, from Apple Books, and as a downloadable EPUB file.
Six Colors’ Apple in 2025 Report Card
For the past 10 years, Six Colors’ Jason Snell has put together an “Apple report card” – a survey to assess the current state of Apple “as seen through the eyes of writers, editors, developers, podcasters, and other people who spend an awful lot of time thinking about Apple”.
The 2025 edition of the Six Colors Apple Report Card has been published, and you can find a summary of all the submitted comments along with charts featuring average scores for the different categories here.
I’m so grateful that Jason invited me, once again, to participate in the survey and share my thoughts on Apple’s 2025. As you’ll see from my comments – and as you know if you’ve been listening to AppStories or Connected lately – I’ve been focusing on AI agents, hybrid automation, and splitting my work between iPadOS and macOS for the past few months. The LLM takeoff in the productivity space is accelerating on a weekly basis, and modern AI tools are fundamentally changing the way I get work done. Case in point: this article was written before OpenClaw went viral, and the past month alone has seen so many of my habits and automations get upended by this incredible open-source tool. As I noted in my comments, however, one thing is not changing: iPadOS essentially gets no access to any of these modern AI tools, which are increasingly launching as Mac-only apps or features.
I’ve prepared the full text of my responses for the Six Colors report card, which you can find below.
Apple to Make Mac minis in the U.S.
Apple announced today that it is expanding its manufacturing operations in Houston, Texas where it will make Mac minis. The company also said it will expand its AI server production and training in Houston later this year. The announcement is unsurprising given the Trump administration’s plan to impose a new 10% global tariff on non-exempt imports to the U.S. in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that prior tariffs were unconstitutional.
In Apple’s press release, CEO Tim Cook was quoted as saying:
Apple is deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing, and we’re proud to significantly expand our footprint in Houston with the production of Mac mini starting later this year. We began shipping advanced AI servers from Houston ahead of schedule, and we’re excited to accelerate that work even further.
If you’re curious about what Apple and its suppliers are building in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal has a behind-the-scenes look at the supply chain taking shape in Texas and Arizona. It’s a massive undertaking that will cost billions of dollars and years to build, but it’s a tangible sign of progress that’s part of the $600 billion previously pledged to be spent on U.S. manufacturing.
App Intents and the Road to a Smarter Siri
Federico
JohnThis week, Federico and John revisit App Intents to discuss where it came from, what it can do today, and the challenges Apple faces in integrating it with Apple Intelligence.
On AppStories+, John and Federico migrated their server setups and found themselves playing IT administrator.
We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.
To learn more about an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.
AppStories Episode 473 - App Intents and the Road to a Smarter Siri
0:00
30:21
30:21
Sponsored By:
- Insta360 – Introducing the Insta360 Wave and the Link 2 Pro.