Apple has one of the richest and most interesting histories in Silicon Valley. It’s the story of a startup, a company that nearly failed, and a remarkable comeback all rolled into one that’s punctuated by some of the most beloved products in tech history, along with some duds.
Today, Myke Hurley and Jason Snell launched a Kickstarter campaign aimed at funding a podcast called Designed in California that will tell the history of Apple, drawing on their own knowledge of the company and research. Myke and Jason have promised backers at least 30 episodes in the show’s first year on topics ranging from Apple’s founding, its near-death experience in the 90s, as well as more recent events during the Tim Cook era.
As I publish this, Designed in California has already met its $40,000 campaign goal, so it looks like the show is a go. Myke and Jason have promised a taste of what’s to come during June segments of Upgrade, which will be followed by the new show’s full episodes when the Kickstarter campaign ends. If you want to support the Designed in California campaign, there are a wide variety of backer options from $20 to $1,000 with perks that include ad-free episodes, wallpapers, an enamel pin, a signed print of the show’s artwork, and more depending on how much you pledge.
This week, Federico and John share their WWDC gear guides, John recommends a quirky indie movie, and Federico continues to tear his way through a trio of great TV comedies
AppStories, Episode 486, ‘Our macOS 27 Wishes’ Show Notes
This episode is sponsored by:
Steamclock – We make great apps. Design and development, from demos to details.
NPC XL is a weekly members-only version of NPC with extra content, available exclusively through our new Patreon for $5/month. Each week on NPC XL, Federico, Brendon, and John record a special segment or deep dive about a particular topic that is released alongside the “regular” NPC episodes. You can subscribe here.
Comfort Zone, Episode 102, ‘Christopher Nolan Doesn’t Use Top Tabs’ Show Notes
For even more from the Comfort Zone crew, you can subscribe to Cozy Zone. Cozy Zone is a weekly bonus episode of Comfort Zone where Matt, Niléane, and Chris invite listeners to join them in the Cozy Zone where they’ll cover extra topics, invent wilder challenges and games, and share all their great (and not so great) takes on tech. You can subscribe to Cozy Zone for $5 per month here or $50 per year here.
MacStories Unwind, ‘WWDC Packing Lists and Weekend Watches’ Show Notes
MacStories launched its first podcast in 2017 with AppStories. Since then, the lineup has expanded to include a family of weekly shows that also includes MacStories Unwind, Magic Rays of Light, Comfort Zone, NPC: Next Portable Console, and First, Last, Everything that collectively, cover a broad range of the modern media world from Apple’s streaming service and videogame hardware to apps for a growing audience that appreciates our thoughtful, in-depth approach to media.
If you’re interested in advertising on our shows, you can learn more here or by contacting our Managing Editor, John Voorhees.
Until last fall, I was the happy owner of a first-generation Studio Display. In most respects, it was great. The screen was crisp, the colors vibrant, and it included many quality-of-life features other displays lack. Features like the Studio Display’s built-in USB-C hub, iSight camera, and array of six speakers and three microphones make it more like a Mac accessory than simply a display.
Those were all tangible upsides, but they came with their own set of tradeoffs, which Apple carried over from my original Studio Display to the updated model released earlier this year. That new model adopts Thunderbolt 5 for two of its ports – one upstream and another downstream – and improves the camera and speakers. However, both Studio Display models lack HDMI, DisplayPort, KVM capabilities for easy switching between multiple connected devices, and screen size choices.
That ultimately drove me to purchase an ASUS gaming monitor that I love. It’s OLED and bigger than the Studio Display, with a higher refresh rate, more input options, and built-in KVM. However, it lacks a webcam, microphones, and speakers, which I miss at times. It’s also 4K, whereas the Studio Display is 5K.
On balance, I’m glad I went the route I did, but it’s led me to think a lot about displays and the trade-offs among them. The good news is that there are many more choices for Mac users than ever before, even if you don’t want to sacrifice the Studio Display’s 5K resolution for more flexibility. That’s why when BenQ offered to send me their 27” 5K MA270S display to try, I jumped at the opportunity: unlike my 32” gamer-oriented ASUS display, BenQ’s display is specifically targeted at Mac users.
Let’s take a look at how it stacks up to the Studio Display and other options.
Today, I’m pleased to release my latest free and open source project: RemCTL, a power-user Reminders CLI that, unlike others, exposes all the latest Reminders features as of iOS and macOS 26. RemCTL supports reading and writing subtasks, tags, sections, rich links, image attachments, grocery lists, and even templates.
It’s available on GitHub here, and it comes bundled with a skill for desktop agents.
Mindspace is a journal for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac that pulls everything you’d normally find scattered across multiple apps into a single scrollable timeline. The app pulls your writing, photos and videos, voice notes, mood and habit trackers, locations, and tasks together to tell your story. You can even add drawings if you have an iPad and Apple Pencil.
Privacy sits at the core of Mindspace. Entries are stored locally on your device, and iCloud sync uses Apple’s encryption — end-to-end if you have Advanced Data Protection turned on. Nothing is routed through Mindspace’s servers, or anyone else’s for that matter, and a full JSON export is always a tap away in Settings.
The app makes thoughtful use of Apple platform features. A freeform Apple Pencil canvas supports the full palette of available tools, making it a natural place to sketch a diagram, draft a letter, or map out a thought. The Apple Intelligence features run entirely on-device, too. There’s a writing suggestion when you open a blank entry, automatic theme tagging, and a custom journaling prompt for every intention you set. Plus, voice notes recorded inside an entry are transcribed locally using iOS 26’s SpeechAnalyzer, and Apple Health auto-fills steps, heart rate, weight, water, distance, and calories burned into your trackers the moment you open your Today page. There are also Quick Entry, Tasks, and Tracker widgets that make adding and viewing what you track simple.
Visit Mindspace to learn more and download the app. MacStories readers get 50% off their first year automatically at checkout. There’s no code required.
Our thanks to Mindspace for sponsoring MacStories this week.
Your podcast player might say otherwise, but this is the true episode 100! Everyone is back together to do some Q&A, celebrate a birthday and a move to a new house, and offer some help as Chris abandons Safari (finally!).
On Cozy Zone, the gang gets very opinionated on Formula 1 liveries.
This week, Federico and John take listeners on a behind-the-scenes tour of how they plan to tackle WWDC and the summertime research and writing season as they look forward to their fall OS reviews.
