“When was the last time you restarted it?” If you’ve ever worked at a service desk, you’ve probably wanted to tattoo this question on your forehead. Ditto for: “What device drivers do you have installed?” and “What do you MEAN you wrote the password on a sticky note and then you … | Continue reading
My thanks to Kolide for once again sponsoring Six Colors. Kolide takes a different approach to endpoint security and fleet management. It’s all about helping customers meet compliance goals by enlisting the support of their end users with a structured, message-based approach. Kol … | Continue reading
We discuss our favorite features of the public betas and Dan’s going on leave! (This episode also contains the complete audio of our hourlong YouTube live stream about the M2 MacBook Air.)… Become a member to listen to our exclusive weekly podcast and get more benefits. | Continue reading
The definitive Mac of the last decade was the 13-inch MacBook Air, introduced in 2010 and featuring a wedge-shaped design. It influenced all the Apple laptops (and let’s face it, a lot of PC laptops) that came after it. Its last major update in 2018 added a Retina display and shr … | Continue reading
The 400th episode spectacular! Celebrate Prime Day! Discuss the public betas! And some important news from one of our hosts.… | Continue reading
Digital lending, when to install public betas, our favorite utility apps, and how we feel about TikTok’s algorithm changes.… | Continue reading
JWST images, Apple’s public betas, the fate of the Apple Car, Lockdown Mode, and MacBook Air orders.… | Continue reading
How do the creators of TV shows know how well their shows are doing when their streaming services won’t share meaningful data? Is the Marvel Cinematic Universe tired, or getting creative? And which streamer ranked tops in Vulture’s survey?… | Continue reading
Tripp Mickle, reporting for the New York Times: Mr. Ive and Apple have agreed to stop working together**, according to two people with knowledge of their contractual agreement, ending a three-decade run during which the designer helped define every rounded corner of an iPhone an … | Continue reading
Apple’s iOS, macOS, and iPadOS betas have gone public and we have our first impressions! Also, the M2 MacBook Air has gone on sale, the new “extreme sports” Apple Watch is coming into focus, and for the Summer of Fun we’re drafting favorite app icons.… | Continue reading
If it’s July, that can mean only one thing: it’s Apple’s public beta season. As has become de rigueur for this time of year, Apple has released the preview version of its upcoming software platform updates, giving the public its first chance at seeing the latest capabilities comi … | Continue reading
Apple’s macOS Ventura, an update due to ship this fall that has arrived Monday as a public beta preview, is full of both little feature refinements and big swings at improving Mac productivity. On the small side, it’s improved search in Spotlight and Mail, expanded Handoff suppor … | Continue reading
You know the old thought experiment about the AI designed to make paper clips, that quickly decides that in order to maximize paper clips, it will have to get rid of all the humans? A lot of security teams have a similar idea when it comes to meeting compliance goals: it would be … | Continue reading
My thanks to Magic Lasso Adblock for sponsoring Six Colors this week. Magic Lasso Adblock is a great ad blocker for Safari on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. As a native content blocking extension, it blocks all intrusive ads, trackers and annoyances – letting you experience a faster, … | Continue reading
Jason bought an M2 MacBook Air, but Dan’s M1 Air is Just Fine. Public Betas are in the air. And Lockdown Mode joins Developer Mode in Apple’s new mode-centric worldview.… Become a member to listen to our exclusive weekly podcast and get more benefits. | Continue reading
Jason bought an M2 MacBook Air, but Dan’s M1 Air is Just Fine. Public Betas are in the air. And Lockdown Mode joins Developer Mode in Apple’s new mode-centric worldview.… | Continue reading
As promised, the M2 MacBook Air went on sale Friday with the first machines shipping to customers next Friday. (I got my hands on one for a little while at WWDC, but haven’t touched one since.) This product has been repeatedly delayed by supply-chain issues, and so it’s not surpr … | Continue reading
Where there’s smoke, there may or may not be fire, especially if you have a Google Nest Protect.… | Continue reading
Our coding experiences, the toys we collect and enjoy, our thoughts on new smartphones with current-gen silicon, how we feel about targeted ads, and how we manage our online privacy settings.… | Continue reading
Another year, another Apple product calendar from Stephen Hackett: The calendar features my own product photography of Apple products, with each month highlighting some of Apple’s software announcements over the years. Each calendar measures 20 inches by 13 inches (50.8 x 33.02 … | Continue reading
This is a fascinating announcement of a feature of iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura that wasn’t previewed at WWDC: Apple today detailed two initiatives to help protect users who may be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats, such as those from … | Continue reading
I recently said goodbye to an old friend – a 12-channel analog audio mixer I’ve used to produce podcasts since around 2007. It was always overkill, even when I recorded shows around my kitchen table with three or four guests. This mixer was better suited to making and recording m … | Continue reading
This July 4 Jason spends some time away from the grill to discuss charity shops, stroopwafels, and the differences between the U.S. and the UK. Meanwhile, Myke has been inspired to build his own iPad-based status board. Vive la différence, as they say in yet another country.… | Continue reading
Do you want to block all YouTube ads in Safari on your iPhone, iPad and Mac? Then download Magic Lasso Adblock – the ad blocker designed for you. It’s easy to setup, doubles the speed at which Safari loads and now blocks all YouTube ads. Magic Lasso is an efficient, high performa … | Continue reading
My thanks to Magic Lasso Adblock for sponsoring Six Colors this week. Designed from the ground up to protect your privacy, Magic Lasso blocks all intrusive ads, trackers and annoyances in Safari – stopping you from being followed by ads around the web. Along with respecting your … | Continue reading
Jason can see into the future, we ponder how non-nerds will receive some new beta features, and the great mystery of Apple’s M2 Mac roll-out.… Become a member to listen to our exclusive weekly podcast and get more benefits. | Continue reading
A prototype iOS widgetI’ve spent 17 years with a weather station in my backyard, and parsing that data in interesting ways. Everybody needs a hobby. At WWDC 2022, Apple announced that it was releasing its follow-on from Dark Sky, which it acquired in 2020: it’s called WeatherKit, … | Continue reading
Look, not everybody pays as close attention to Apple announcements as we here at Six Colors—your preeminent source for Apple news1—do. That’s understandable: most of the things that Apple showed off at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference Keynote this month won’t materialize … | Continue reading
Me, almost 15 years ago at Macworld: Apple’s iPhone is a product that’s been years in the making. Apple’s designers have been working on it for years, and the Web has been buzzing about Apple’s entry into the phone market for just as long—or maybe even longer. But now, after six … | Continue reading
Our favorite iPhones of yesteryear, how paranoid we are about our online privacy, our sleep tracking habits, and where we go to work outside of our homes.… | Continue reading
Who wants to talk about Apple stuff anyway.… | Continue reading
Mac hacker extraordinaire Gui Rambo has launched an open-source project, VirtualBuddy, that lets you virtualize macOS on Apple silicon Macs for free: VirtualBuddy can virtualize macOS 12 and later on Apple Silicon, with the goal of offering features that are useful to developers … | Continue reading
We discuss the “Lightyear” box office and the future of Pixar, finding better ways to binge through smart software, and how streaming franchises are constructed. And then, once again, there’s Sports Corner.… | Continue reading
Jason Snell returns to John Gruber’s The Talk Show to discuss the biggest threads from WWDC 2022 — in particular, Stage Manager and the M2 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook “Pro”. No sports talk (unless you count soccer).… | Continue reading
For the Summer of Fun, Jason and Myke compare their iPhones—one’s Max, one’s Mini, but which one has the most apps and which one has the most photos? Also, Mark Gurman’s got our next 75 episodes plotted out thanks to his detailed dump of future Apple product announcements, Jason … | Continue reading
Online privacy isn’t just something you should be hoping for – it’s something you should expect. You should ensure your browsing history stays private and is not harvested by ad networks. By blocking ad trackers, Magic Lasso Adblock stops you being followed by ads around the web. … | Continue reading
My thanks to Magic Lasso Adblock for sponsoring Six Colors this week. As a native Safari extension, Magic Lasso blocks all intrusive ads, trackers and annoyances, letting you experience a faster, cleaner and more secure experience across all your devices. By cutting down on ads a … | Continue reading
In an earth-shattering event, Mail Merge returns to Pages. Oh, and the M2 arrived, too! (This episode also includes the audio of our 50-minute livestream from Wednesday morning about the M2 and MacBook Pro, for those who prefer podcasts to YouTube livestreams.)… Become a member t … | Continue reading
Bjørn Karmann created the typeface Occlusion Grotesque by tracing and carving an initial typeface into a beech tree in Denmark.1 The tree is then left alone for a year, at which point the natural growth processes of the tree cause the trunk to expand, stretching the bark while al … | Continue reading
My pal Glenn Fleishman has a new book out, and it’s all about FaceTime and Messages. You’d think that there would be little information to be gleaned about these stock Apple apps. But you’d be wrong. As Glenn writes on his blog: I learned so many new tricks and hidden features i … | Continue reading
AI will soon be replacing all of your hosts on The Lex and Dan Show.… | Continue reading
Our frivolous in-app purchases, how we use tech to stay safe in the age of COVID, our thoughts on RCS messaging, and recognizing the signs of true artificial intelligence.… | Continue reading
What the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro is… depends on your perspective. If you’re taking the 1000-foot overview of the Mac market, it’s most notable for being the first shipping product to include the M2, Apple’s second-generation home-designed Mac processor. If you consider it out of c … | Continue reading
Pages’s reimplented Mail Merge feature on macOS.After almost a decade, I guess it’s time to pack in my posters, stickers, and Tim Cook and Craig Federighi phone call scripts for the “Bring Mail Merge back to Pages!” campaign1 and declare victory. Because, yes, Mail Merge has retu … | Continue reading
This week we consider Stage Manager and how it works, as well as how Apple has chosen to communicate its decision-making. Also, Apple makes a surprising deal with Major League Soccer, Myke decides that an iPad Studio and MacBook Studio sound like great new products, and we dare t … | Continue reading
We all have those tech problems that we kind of give up on. Like an annoying rattle in the car where you can’t track down the source, you just eventually acclimate to it until it feels like that’s just the way it’s always been. (Even then, you’ll find that every once in a while i … | Continue reading
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. It’s easy to setup, blocks all YouTube ads, and doubles the speed at which Safari loads. Magic Lasso Adblock is an efficient a … | Continue reading
One of the most unexpected announcements at WWDC was probably Apple’s preview of the next generation of CarPlay, which will apparently include deep integration with automotive subsystems that allow Apple to take over some, or all, of a car’s in-car interface. For a company that f … | Continue reading