John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico.
John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.
Over the past 40 years Apple developed and launched hundreds of products in and supporting the Macintosh line - culminating in 2024 with the latest range of M3 powered desktops and laptops which are technological marvels of speed, power management and design.
To celebrate this milestone, mac40th.com showcases every Macintosh desktop and portable Apple has ever made with hundreds of the photos taken as part of the work creating the coffee table book ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation (3rd edition now available up to date as of the end of 2023). The site also includes photos taken by Kevin Taylor, Forest McMullin and others (including video) that I’ve collected over the past 14 years.
Zufi’s website is wonderful. There’s so much to browse here. You can easily spend hours discovering old favorites alongside obscure curiosities. It’s the perfect way to spend some downtime and mark today’s anniversary.
This week on AppStories, we kick Apple Vision Pro preparations into high gear, sharing the questions we still have about the device and discussing the apps developers are working on.
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Today, Ford announced its next-generation in-car infotainment system built on Google’s Android Automotive platform, which includes an expansion of its CarPlay support.
Chance Miller at 9to5Mac got a preview of the new system last week, which includes support for a variety of built-in apps but can also run Android Auto and CarPlay. As Chance explains, this isn’t the next-gen CarPlay Apple showed off at WWDC 2022, but it does represent an extension of CarPlay onto more screens in Ford vehicles:
As part of the new Ford and Lincoln Digital Experience, Ford is adding support for dual-screen Apple Maps for the first time. This means that when you start Apple Maps navigation on the primary CarPlay screen, the Apple Maps interface will expand into the instrument cluster display.
Be sure to catch 9to5Mac’s full hands-on video because it’s interesting to see how CarPlay has been embedded in a sort of Android Automotive wrapper, allowing drivers to access the apps chosen by Ford or the CarPlay apps are on their iPhones.
This approach makes far more sense to me than GM’s abandonment of CarPlay. However it also comes with a certain amount of visual dissonance between the design of the two systems, which I find jarring.
Also, don’t miss the end of the video where the person demoing the system breaks out a foldable Bluetooth keyboard and starts browsing the web because it has some very big in-car Viticci productivity vibes.
This week, Federico and John kick Apple Vision Pro preparations into high gear, sharing the questions they still have about the device and discussing the apps developers are working on.
When you see the mods Federico has made to his iPad Pro, it’s easy to only see chaos. I’ll grant you that the setup has a very Federico vibe, which comes with a sprinkling of chaotic energy on top, but what I saw was this: Then, as I thought about it more, I also thought...
It was a big week at MacStories. We welcomed Magic Rays of Light, Federico was busy modding his iPad Pro, I reviewed new hardware and an app, plus the Vision Pro launched. So, to close out the week, we invited Sigmund and Devon to share media-themed stories in this issue, and Marcos Tanaka generously offered...
Andy Baio chronicles the demise of Ello, a social network started nearly a decade ago that tried to do things differently, but failed. (Link) In 2022, Notion acquired Cron, a design-focused calendar app for people who use Google Calendar. This week, Notion released Notion Calendar, which is based on Cron and integrates with your...
Just like the App Store Review Guidelines, our Setups page is a living document. Federico and I are always tweaking and refining the gear we use, so it should come as no surprise that today, Federico updated his sections of the Setups page with new items, including his Asus gaming tablet from this week’s episode of MacStories Unwind and the accessories he used to mod his iPad Pro. He dropped a few items too.
Federico’s iPad Pro mods.
We’ve included a handy changelog at the top of the Setups page if you want to see the latest changes and will be linking updates here on the homepage to make it easy to follow along. I’ll have some updates soon too, but I’ve been waiting for a package for over a month that got stuck in Cologne, Germany. I’d love to spill the beans today, but what fun would that be? I’ll reveal what I’ve been up to soon enough.
Until then, here are the latest changes to Federico’s setup:
This week on MacStories Unwind, I recommend Godzilla Minus One in honor of Magic Rays of Light joining MacStories and Federico shares part two of his big gaming surprise, explaining the hardware he’s using to emulate Switch games and more.
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Federico
