Accidental Tech Podcast

401: Sandwich-Closing Force

October 22, 2020 02:21:02 • Download (136 MB)

We thoroughly broke the format of the show with HomePods, Sonos, MagSafe, a generous peppering of follow-up, and a giant stack of iPhone 12 waffles.

Pre-show:
- Dreaming in code
- Grand refactorings
- HomePod, HomePod Mini, and Sonos One (oh my!)
Follow-up:
- Apple’s Magnetic Connectors Patent
- Accessory Design Guidelines for Apple Devices (PDF) (via Michael Bettiol)
- Periscope lenses don’t have moving elements (via Timo Grün)
- iPhone 12 Pricing
  - T-Mobile joins the $30 off club
  - Chargers & earphones & old phones
- Official battery specs for Apple products (via Roland Månsson)
- Settling an old bet from episode 291 at 1:55:14 (via Tim Chaten)
- Marco’s Time Machine woes
  - The 2.5” enclosure that supports large SSDs
- Determining how many photos you’ve taken with each iPhone 11 Pro lens
  - Jason’s write-up on using Photos’ Smart Albums
  - Alex Chan’s post about using exiftool
  - Casey (summarized results) (raw results)
    - Ultra wide: 7%
    - Wide: 83%
    - Telephoto: 10%
  - Marco
    - Ultra wide: 9%
    - Wide: 75%
    - Telephoto: 16%
- Buying decisions
  - Tracking your iPhone shipment
#askatp
- Have we tried watchOS sleep tracking? (via Eduardo Berner)
  - Sleep Cycle (App Store link)
- What is taking up so much space on our phones‽ (via Jayanth Visweswaran)
  - Casey’s storage
- Is John going to get an OLED TV? (via Tobo Granyte)
Post-show:
- Ridiculousness in AT&T’s coverage maps
  - Gruber’s review
  - “Please turn off your MiFis”
- An attempted intervention regarding Casey’s 🍌 photo management setup
  - GeoTag
  - Day One

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400: Reach Is the Next Frontier

October 15, 2020 02:45:47 • Download (160 MB)

The iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, and HomePod Mini, all brought to you by the Verizon 5G Nationwide Ultra Wideband network. Oh, and Apple helped a bit.

Apple Event overview
Have you heard the good word about Verizon’s 5G?
- MVNO
HomePod Mini
No, but really. Have you heard the good word about Verizon’s 5G?
- MMX
iPhone 12 and 12 Mini
- Steve Troughton-Smith on resolutions
A14
iPhone 12 Pro
Grab Bag
- “Environmental” changes
- USB-C cable ↔ Lightning
  - Power Adapter ($20)
- $30 surcharge?
- MagSafe
  - Leather Wallet
- Ship Dates
- Leather Cases
Purchasing Plans
#askatp
- Is John going to get the new Apple sleeve? (via Lew Piper)
  - Tiff’s joke tweet
Post-show: Why is ATP worth it? A brief episode-400 introspection and retrospective.

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399: Off the Pouch Lifestyle

October 8, 2020 02:28:57 • Download (73 MB)

Who are you, Speed?

Pre-show: Marco’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week.
Follow-up:
- Facebook vs. Apple
  - Apple is not taking the 30% cut after all
- Merchants have been allowed to add surcharges for credit card transactions since January 2013 (via Jordan Ryan Moore)
- Adam’s watch battery update
- Cell tower “trees” (via Nathaniel)
  - Examples
  - “Monopalms”
- eFUSE
- Baby Monitors
  - Eufy SpaceView
    - Wirecutter
  - Previous recommnedation: Infant Optics DXR-8
iPhone 11 Exit Interview
Apple Event
- Potential iPhone 12 Sizes
  - iPhone 11: 6.1”
  - iPhone 11 Pro: 5.8” or 6.5”
  - iPhone 12: 5.4” or 6.1”
  - iPhone 12 Pro: 6.1” or 6.7”
- MacRumors 5.4-inch iPhone 12 Size Estimator
- Thursday’s child has far to go…
- John’s “code”
- Apple stops selling rival earphones/speakers
House Judiciary Committee antitrust report
#askatp
- What’s the deal with disk images, anyway? (via Andy)
  - WAD file
  - XIP file
- What’s the reasonable lifespan of a phone? (via Ian Uymatiao)
- What’s the point in a “real” camera? (via Luke Shulman)
Post-show: More on the Sony α7C
- Sony RX1
- Leica Q

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398: The State of Your Baby

October 1, 2020 01:57:41 • Download (58 MB)

Desks, cables, game discs, app stores, and first impressions of Apple Watch Family Setup.

Thank you for all your donations to St. Jude! 💙
Pre-show: Desk Reconstruction Day
- Uplift Desk V2 C-frame with magnetic cable channel and mountable surge strip
Follow-up:
- John’s Headphone Update
  - Correct pad replacements EDT 1770D
- Sony’s digital vs. plastic-disc profits
- Apple now allows returning only Watch bands
Google’s Carbon-Free Plans
Unity’s IPO filing shows the threat of app stores
- Actual filing
- Wall Street Journal calls for Apple’s cut to be halved
Apple blocks Facebook update that tells users about Apple’s 30% cut
Apple Watch Family Setup
- Schooltime
#askatp
- What’s the right way for someone who knows filesystems (🛎) to back up a Mac? (via Mike Lee Williams)
  - Carbon Copy Cloner
  - SuperDuper
- What’s the best baby monitor experience? (via Migirdich Karnigyan)
  - Infant Optics DXR-8
    Note: Modern models do not use USB power input on the receiver, as was stated on the show
- Is Marco watching Tesla competition? (via John Metcalf)
  - MKBHD’s Auto Focus on the Porsche Taycan
  - Rory Reid on the Polestar 2
Post-show: How does USB-C even work?

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397: We Can't Wait To See What You Do To It

September 24, 2020 02:13:09 • Download (65 MB)

We should all have the freedom to make our phones look like Hotdog Stand.

Please join ATP in donating to St. Jude
- Podcastathon 2020 Video
  - Casey’s appearance
  - Siracusa’s appearance
Pre-show:
- Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, 250Ω
- Light color temperatures
  - LED corn bulb
  - The Stalman Podcast #95: Time Flies Apple Event
    - Video
- Casey’s electric meter lamp
Follow-up:
- PlayStation 5 Digital Edition pricing
  - John’s savior
- Xbox One X sales up 747% at Amazon
- Solo Loop inversion
  - Gruber’s mapping onto traditional sports bands
  - Apollo Robbins
- Apple Watch power adapters
- Boring Old Menu Bar
- Deleting APFS snapshots using OnyX
- Apple One and varying logins
- Some confusion about Apple Watch Sport Band sizes? (via Ryan Fung)
  - Apple Watch band returns
- Epic and Sign In with Apple
- Car demonstration videos
  - Spinning Levers: How a Transmission Works (1936)
  - Around the Corner: How Differential Steering Works (1937)
Microsoft Acquires ZeniMax
- January 2018: Xbox One has a serious exclusive games problem
  - Chris Plante’s observation
- Future exclusives will be “case-by-case”
Widgetsmith and home screen customization
- Example TikTok
- Under the Radar #201 (if you see a 404, the episode has not been released yet)
- CandyBar
- Microsoft Plus!
- BitBar
- On Widget Shaming
Post-show: Hotdog Stand

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