I waited on this rumor so long we already know it's wrong

Joe Rossignol: Apple's Upcoming Studio Display 2 Rumored to Have an Unusual FeatureThe tipster believes that a 90Hz refresh rate would make sense due to bandwidth considerations. Thunderbolt 5 can support 5K resolution at 120Hz without any compression, but they think Apple likely … | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 4 hours ago

I'd like the less capable, more expensive computer, please

Steve Troughton-Smith on Mastodon:A $499 MacBook Neo with the brains of a couple-year-old iPhone can run Xcode, Photoshop, Blender, Terminal, and pretty much everything else you can think of, yet your $3,200 iPad Pro, with a desktop-class chip, cannot 😑What are we doing h … | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 5 hours ago

Of course it can use pro apps. It’s a computer

When I started doing YouTube in 2020, I was in the middle of my iPad era, and the only Mac in my life was a 2012 Mac mini. I don't remember its exact specs, but suffice to say it positively sucks by 2026 standards. And while it was | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 1 day ago

New wallpaper generator just dropped

ColorFlow is a really cool new wallpaper and animation generator from the folks over at ls.graphics, and it's pretty rad (and it's totally free). | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 1 day ago

Micro app 12: Benchmark Studio

This micro app is pretty simple; it's just a nice, single-page website for uploading benchmark scores and getting nice-looking charts for them, like the one above.The UI for adding tests and devices is simple, allowing you to create tests and add devices with categories, so that … | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 1 day ago

Terraink makes rad maps on demand

Terraink is a cool new website that lets you create cool maps of whatever location you want to. That's it, and that's pretty rad. | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 3 days ago

Tom Scott on AI in February 2023

From the video:I've been complaining for years that it feels like nothing has really changed since smartphones came along. And I think that maybe, maybe I should have been careful what I wished for.It's been 2 years since Tom Scott stopped posting weekly videos | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 4 days ago

+ iPadOS is getting squeezed

Tech, Apple, and the vast grey area that is AI | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 5 days ago

Apple releases the MacBook Mini

Apple's MacBook Mini is such an awesome computer. No, it's not the most powerful machine Apple makes, but it is very affordable, which makes it appeal to at least two separate groups. The first group is people who would like a desktop Mac, but would not | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 7 days ago

How to make Midnight City

M83’s Midnight City is one of my favorite songs of all time, and this video recreating it is brilliant. | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 8 days ago

My super quick process for adding chapters to podcasts

Chapters in podcasts are super important, in my opinion, and I make sure to add them to everything that I create. Here's the process I use to get them into my shows faster than ever before.0- Have your chapters ready to goThe best thing you can | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 8 days ago

When the words on the page don’t match what you’re trying to say (follow up on the Ben Thompson post)

Ben Thompson: Technological Scale and Government Control, Paramount Outbids Netflix for Warner Bros.This is a lot more complicated than the nuclear question, where government control and ownership was a given; the sort of actions taken by the government over the last week fly in … | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 8 days ago

Apple's new MacBooks: The pinnacle of the generation

Apple announced new MacBook Airs and Pros today, and they’re both boring and mostly excellent.MacBook AirThis looks like a very basic spec bump, which I’m not mad about. I would like to see this display get an upgrade one day, and I'd | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 8 days ago

Apple's new Studio Displays

Apple updated both of their monitors today, replacing the Studio Display with a new model that's very similar to the old one, and they've discontinued the Pro Display XDR in favor of the new Studio Display XDR.Studio DisplayStarting with the updated Studio Display, honestly, | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 8 days ago

"What are you going to do, stop me? I've got the guns," is a wild government argument for tech pundits to support

Over the last couple weeks, Anthropic and the Department of War have been engaged in a war of words over something very exciting: terms of use. Anthropic, as a private company, has created a product and reasonably established terms of use for it. However, the Department of War do … | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 9 days ago

Continuity Camera is so freaking cool, I wish it fit better into my work

About a week ago, I switched on my Canon R6 and went to record something on video. I have the camera hooked up to an Elgato 4K capture card, which my Mac sees as a webcam. However, in this instance, the Elgato was convinced there was no video coming from | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 9 days ago

The M4 iPad Air: an update so small, the Bluetooth version gets a shout out

In addition to the new iPhone 17e, Apple also announced a new iPad Air, now powered by the M4 processor. I could almost end the post there because we've basically reached the end of the list of differences. As far as I can tell, the literal only other | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 9 days ago

The iPhone 17e

Last year I was among the more positive people about the iPhone 16e. I spent a couple weeks using it as my primary device, and honestly, it was a pretty fine experience. No, it wasn't as good as my 16 Pro at the time, but it was also | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 9 days ago

Announcing Weave, a native iOS app for Typefully

I'm happy to announce the release of my new app, Weave. As is often the case with my apps, I built this one for myself and then decided it was worth sharing with the world. Weave is a native iPhone and iPad app for Typefully users.For those | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 9 days ago

Why killing iPadOS isn't what you think it is

In the second episode of the A Better Computer podcast, I talk more about how I think "killing iPadOS" is actually making everything more like an iPad. We look at why, from a developer's perspective, there's already literally no difference between iPadOS and iOS | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 9 days ago

Micro app 11: JXR to JPG converter

Resident Evil Requiem came out this past week, and I was very excited to start playing it. It genuinely might be my most anticipated game of the year, and I truly relish my first time playing through any Resident Evil game, so I'm trying to really enjoy myself | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 9 days ago

+ Tim Cook's "refrigerator-toaster combo" quote is irrelevant today, stop using it

In fact, making the Mac a refrigerator-toaster combo would reduce the number of things it's able to do. | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 11 days ago

Soon, everything will be an iPad

Over the weekend, my Apple will kill iPadOS article caused some feelings, to say the least. The post title was meant to catch eyes, and it did, but I also think that it brought people into the article with the wrong energy. They were ready to fight, and read my | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 13 days ago

The whole draw of the Mac is that it can do whatever you want it to do

Wesley Hilliard has a new post out which is a bit of a retort to my opinion on touch Macs and iPads: Apple could enter its toaster-fridge era with touchscreen MacBooksIt's not that I think it's a bad idea, it's just an odd | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 14 days ago

A Better Computer, the Podcast

Today I'm doing something a bit spontaneous, I'm launching a podcast! It's called A Better Computer (shocker), and it's "available anywhere you get your podcasts", as they say.Videos will appear on the YouTube channelApple PodcastsOvercastPocket Casts | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 15 days ago

Quick Notes now records in the background

Quick Notes has a new update out now with a few nice improvements.Background recordingHave you ever had your screen turn off during a longer recording? Have you ever wanted to switch to another app and look something up while you were recording a note? Have you ever wanted | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 15 days ago

Why many of us have no patience for liquid glass

Jason Snell: Apple in 2025: The Six Colors report cardIt’s time for our annual look back on Apple’s performance during the past year, as seen through the eyes of writers, editors, developers, podcasters, and other people who spend an awful lot of time thinking about | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 16 days ago

Apple will kill iPadOS

How's this for a hot take to start the weekend: I think Apple is going to discontinue iPadOS. I know, I know, it's a big swing, but put the pitchforks away and hear me out. iPadOS, as it exists now, is being stretched too thin. The | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 18 days ago

Another new model coming to Quick Subtitles

There will be a Quick Subtitles update out soon that adds OpenAI's Whisper model to the app as an optional transcription model. Why, you might ask? Well, I think each model has its own advantages.Apple's model is built into iOS/macOS already, so there' | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 19 days ago

That thing "nobody" was asking for

I watch the occasional Kyle Hill video, and his latest about data centers in space being a bad idea got my attention, so I watched it. Early in the video, he says:Obviously something is going to have to give if we want to continue to build out this infrastructure | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 19 days ago

ChapterPod and Quick Subtitles now support WebVTT (.vtt)

I live in worlds where .SRT is the g0-to subtitles format, but other people have different needs. There is an alternate format, WebVTT, which actually does some cool stuff. I've implemented a simple version of this, so don't expect anything totally crazy, but it should work | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 20 days ago

+ An app for Typefully users

Tech, Apple, and the vast grey area that is AI | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 21 days ago

+ I don't think everyone is just going to code their own apps

Tech, Apple, and the vast grey area that is AI | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 22 days ago

Micro app 10: MastoThreads

For years, I have been posting long-running threads on social media for the movies that I watch each year. I start a thread on January 1st with my first movie, and I keep it going through the end of the year. The process for this is pretty manual. After I& | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 22 days ago

2026 is going to be a very painful year in tech

As of writing, the Steam Deck is completely unavailable to purchase from Valve in the US with this note at the bottom of the page:Steam Deck OLED may be out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages. Steam Deck LCD 256GB is no longer in productio … | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 22 days ago

A passionate defense of the M Pro series of chips

On the latest episode of ATP, a show I should mention that I really love, they discussed the possibility of Apple discontinuing the Pro series in their M lineup of Apple silicon chips. One of the main arguments, which I think Marco leaned into the most, was that the performance | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 23 days ago

+ How does Birchtree Productions make money?

Tech, Apple, and the vast grey area that is AI | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 24 days ago

The Vision Pro turns 2

Did you know the Apple Vision Pro celebrated its second birthday a bit over a week ago? I didn’t. I’m sure there were a couple posts on some Apple news sites noting the occasion, but I wouldn’t exactly say there were widespread celebrations for | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 24 days ago

Nice things

I know it's not totally rational, but I sometimes like to get really nice random tools I use everyday. I've used shitty scissors my whole life, and I decided to get Craighill's Chroma Scissors, and my god, it's so nice. I use | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 25 days ago

+ Is "something big happening"?

Tech, Apple, and the vast grey area that is AI | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 25 days ago

ChapterPod 1.3 is out now

A new update to ChapterPod is out now, and it includes a couple of nice little features.The first is the ability to import your own subtitle files, if you've already generated them. If you didn't know, ChapterPod can generate subtitles for you, and after it& | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 26 days ago

Quick Subtitles 2.0 transcribes a one-hour podcast in 30 seconds on an iPhone. This is magic (and it's out now)

I'm thrilled to announce that Quick Subtitles 2.0 is now available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. This update focuses on three key improvements, all of which make the app better than ever, and I believe the best (and most cost effective) way to generate subtitles for your | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 27 days ago

I don't want to answer whether the President partied with young girls

Ted Lieu: Here's a video. Like former Prince Andrew, Donald Trump attended various parties with Jeffrey Epstein. I want to know: were there any underage girls at that party or at any party that Trump attended with Jeffrey Epstein.Long pausePam Bondi: This is so ridiculous. And | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 27 days ago

+ Full demo of that new app

I announced a new app last week and have made good progress on it since then. Here is a video walkthrough of everything I've got so far. | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 1 month ago

Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show still slaps

I don't know if there's a Super Bowl halftime show I've rewatched more than this one. Obviously it helps that Kendrick has a great library to pull from, but I also really love the production value of it. It's unquestionably less bombastic | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 1 month ago

A year in the life of MKBHD

I think The Studio, the behind-the-scenes channel for MKBHD, is always fun, but this most recent video, a feature-length documentary following the team as they go through all of 2025, is astounding. Amazing work from the team putting this together. | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 1 month ago

Renewables continue to thrive

I was looking for one of my old posts about energy, and I stumbled across this one from 2020 where it was expected that all renewable energy sources combined out overtake coal for energy production in the US. That was a huge milestone and definitely something to be excited about, | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 1 month ago

AirDrop is coming to more Android phones in 2026

Adamya Sharma: Google just confirmed what Android fans have been praying to hear about AirDrop sharingSpeaking during a press briefing I attended at Google’s Taipei office during a Pixel Labs tour, Eric Kay, Vice President of Engineering for the Android platform, confirmed that A … | Continue reading


@birchtree.me | 1 month ago