Yesterday I ordered a new Apple Silicon Mac. The 13-inch Pro, to be precise. With all the trimmings. I did this, even though: This is clearly a Mac meant to be a replacement for the entry-level 2-port model of the 13-inch Pro. Not the high-end 4-port model I am using to type this.A higher-end version (perhaps with the rumored smaller-bezel 14-inch screen) could be coming as soon as next spring.16 GB of RAM max.Aren’t we supposed to avoid first-gen hardware?Here’s why: This 13-inch Pro…

I managed to get my fingers on one of the new MacBook Pro 16-inch laptops at an Apple Store yesterday. As someone who actually likes the butterfly keyboard that preceded it, I thought I’d share my perspective. I know I’m not alone in worrying this new keyboard would be a step backward for me, despite being absolutely the right move for the company. Obviously this is a very short first impression, obtained at those ridiculous Apple Store tables that seem to be the worst possible height for typing…

A few quick takeaways from Apple’s Hello Again event: Accessibility is one of those things that makes Apple stand out as a company. They’ve cared about it for a long time, but they’ve upped their game even further in the Tim Cook era. Just as they have on environmental issues, diversity, social justice and equality, and on and on. They have a long way to go before they are perfect, but they strive to be better than what they are. And you can’t deny their impact…

Yesterday, I mentioned I could probably replace TextExpander with the built-in Mac and iOS text replacements, given that I generally don’t use the more advanced features of TextExpander, anyway. So this morning, I fired up my MacBook, opened System Preferences and TextExpander side by side, and created shortcuts for my most-commonly used TextExpander snippets in the built-in system. There were a few shortcuts I had created that could fill in forms, or put the cursor in the middle of the text replacement (two features that the built-in replacements can’…

9to5Mac claims that Helvetica Neue is on its way out as Apple’s system font for OS X and iOS. Helvetica Neue looks pretty crappy with its custom kerning in OS X, especially on non-Retina screens. (Which a majority of Mac users use and will use for years to come.) I don’t know how San Francisco will look on a non-Retina screen, but it would very likely be no worse. Personally, I never thought standardizing on one font for all of Apple’s platforms was necessary. But if they’…