In our fast-paced world, things change constantly — and errors in messaging often have significant consequences.
TextExpander lets you make new approved messaging available to every team member instantly with just a few keystrokes, ensuring your team remains consistent, current, and accurate.
Get your message right every time: expand content that corrects your spelling and keeps your language consistent with just a few keystrokes
Your team members will consistently know the right message for the right person at the right time, without relying on memory or copy and paste.
Let’s you share your Apple Card with members of your family using iCloud Family Sharing
You invite people to the card and can track each person’s spending in the Wallet app.
You can create Allow Spending Only accounts that can’t access total balance, settings, or transaction history.
Or you can set “Become Co-Owner”
Co-owners share the benefits (and I assume risks) of building a credit history.
Apple will also let you merge two Apple Card accounts and you get a higher shared credit limit while being able to keep the lower APR.
You can set spending limits for each user
Seems like Daily Cash will also be available to members of the family.
Any family member 13 or older can have a card
New features are coming in May
Apple Podcasts Updates
Updated Podcast app
Redesigned with new pages for shows
Smart Play button helps listeners automatically start episodic shows from the latest episode and serialized shows from the beginning of each series.
Save individual episodes, which are downloaded for offline playback
New enhanced search tab with quick access to top charts and categories
Apple Podcasts Subscriptions
An option for podcasters to offer content behind a subscription. Doesn’t not replace free podcasts.
Will be available in May in 170 countries and regions
Pricing is set by the creator and billed monthly by default
Annual is an option
Creators can offer free trials and sample episodes
Apple will take a 30 percent commission on the first year of a subscription, with a drop to 15 percent if auto-renew is enabled.
Manage your subscription in your Apple ID account setting
Subscriptions work with Family Sharing
To offer subscriptions creators need to enroll in the Apple Podcasters Program for $19.99 (US) per year through Apple Podcasts Connect.
AirTag
Integrates with the Find My app
Small round and white with a stainless steel back
Does have it’s own U1 chip
They are water and dust resistant (IP67)
Has a speaker built in
Have a replaceable battery.
AirTag is designed for over a year’s worth of battery life with everyday use. The CR2032 battery is user-replaceable
If you have an iPhone with a U1 chip you can use Precision Finding
Will use the sensors and chip to guide you to the tagged object
Will show distance to the item
Provides audio and haptic feedback
Pair by holding the tag next to your iOS device.
Users can put an item into “Lost Mode”
If AirTag is found by someone, they can tap it using their iPhone or any NFC-capable device and be taken to a website that will display a contact phone number for the owner, if they have provided one.
an AirTag separated from its owner for an extended period of time will play a sound when moved to draw attention to it
Have privacy protections built in
Bluetooth signal identifiers transmitted by AirTag rotate frequently to prevent unwanted location tracking.
iOS devices can also detect an AirTag that isn’t with its owner, and notify the user if an unknown AirTag is seen to be traveling with them from place to place over time
Can customize with a monogram or emoji
There are carrying cases and accessories
Key rings and loops in leather and Polyurethane. Also an Hermes line
Accessories start at $29 USD (as much as the tags themselves?!!)
The Hermès tags are USD $299 to $449?!!!!
$29 for one or in packs of 4 for $99 USD
Available to pre-order Friday and will ship April 30th
New “Purple” iPhone 12 color
For iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12
Can order this Friday and will start shipping April 30th
Also new cases and covers. MagSafe Leather Case or Leather Sleeve in Deep Violet, a Silicone Case in Capri Blue, Pistachio, Cantaloupe, or Amethyst, or a Leather Wallet in Arizona
Apple TV 4K Update
Updated with an A12 Bionic chip
Supports high frame rate HDR (High Dynamic Range) and Dolby Vision video at 60FPS
Has an HDMI 2.1 port, supports Thread and WiFi 6
Can use your iPhone to auto color balance your TV
This feature will also work on earlier models including the Apple TV HD
Required iOS 14.5 and a FaceID capable iPhone
tvOS 14.5 beta suggests that the new Apple TV model supports eARC, which offers a bandwidth and speed boost for sending higher-quality audio from the TV to a soundbar or receiver.
New Siri Remote
All aluminum enclosure
Circular “trackpad” with a touchable rind that had D-pad buttons
Can “scrub” using the ring
Separate power button and mute button
Siri button is now on the side, so accessed just like you would from your iPhone
Will work with older Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD and available for $59 USD
Pricing is USD $179 for the 32GB model and $199 for the 64GB version
AppleCare+ for an additional $29, or $4.83 per month for 6 months.
Can also get an Apple TV HD bundled with the new Siri Remote for USD $149
Ordering start April 30th and shipping in May
Apple M1 iMac
It comes in colors, again.
Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Purple, Orange, and White.
Still has the chin
Though it is reduced and glass covers the whole surface
That’s actually where the active cooling and six-speaker system is
Very quiet, less than 10Db in normal use
24-inch 4.5K Retina display
Super thin, 11.5mm profile with thin light grey (white) bezels
Same M1 chip that is powering the other M1 Macs
Makes me feel like there is still a “Pro” version with a larger display and higher powered Apple silicon processor destined for the future.
Finally has a 1080p FaceTime camera
Three microphone “studio quality” mic array with beam forming
Two “force-cancelling” woofers and a tweeter on each side. Offers Spatial audio and Dolby Atmos sound
Two USB-C ports, two Thunderbolt ports, so can connect a 6K Pro Display XDR
Has 3.5mm headphone jack on the side!
Color matched Apple Magic Keyboards, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad accessories
Three keyboard options. Two with wireless TouchID (standard and extended)
Only the extended Magic Keyboard with the number pad has an inverted-T arrow key configuration.
The TouchID Magic Keyboards are compatible with ALL M1 Macs, but you can still (for now) only get them with an M1 iMac
Color matched braided power cable that attached magnetically to the back of the iMac
The power brick and sit on the floor and has the Gigabit Ethernet port built into it.
Also come with a color matched USB-C to Lightning cable
Starting at USD $1299 for the 7-core 256GB model with 8GB RAM
$1499 for 8-core 256GB model and $1699 for 8-core 512GB model
All pre-built options have 8GB unified memory
Not clear what other build to order options will be offered
Can start ordering 4/30 and will be shipping mid-May
Apple continues to sell the Intel 27-inch iMac and the low end (USD $1,099) 21.5-inch iMac model.
Apple iPad Pro Updates
Apple has switched the iPad Pro from A-Series to M1 and added Thunderbolt USB 4
Also added 5G wireless option with mmWave support in the US
Available with up to 2GB of storage
Updated the TrueDepth camera system
12MP with a 120-degree Ultra wide lens
Added a feature they call “Center Stage” that digitally will pan and zoom the camera to keep focus on you even when you move
Will zoom out if other people enter the frame
Will be available to 3rd party apps
The 12.9-inch model has a new Liquid Retina XDR display
Uses 10,000 miniLEDs for backlighting
Has a 1,000,000:1 contracts ration and 1,000 nit full scree brightness with 1,600 nits of peak.
Just like Apple’s Pro Display XDR
Is 0.5mm thicker
There’s a new white version of the iPad Magic Keyboard
also a new version for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro because it’s slightly taller and heavier.
iPad Pro models with 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB of storage will come with 8GB RAM, while iPad Pro models with 1TB or 2TB of storage will feature 16GB RAM.g
The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at USD $799 and the 12.9-inch will start at USD $1,099
The 2TB version with 5G will set you back USD $2399
Pre-ordering starts April 30th and deliveries will start the second half of May
Odds & Ends
iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 will be released next week to support AirTag
watchOS 7.4 will also come out the the new “mask” unlock feature.
tvOS 14.5 too with support for PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X controllers
a bunch of new “Spring” colors of Apple watch bands and new Hermès woven textile band.
HomePod mini will be coming to Austria, Ireland, and New Zealand in June.
Now a 10GB Ethernet option for the M1 Mac mini for USD $100
Sponsor: Dr.
Dr. Squatch
Let’s face it, being geeks we all have probably heard the cliché about folks like us not being too savvy in the personal hygiene department.
And while that could be true for some, I think most of us care about getting some quality shower time in daily, or at least semi-weekly?
As part of my routine I know I prefer to use a soap that’s natural, is great for my skin, and leaves me smelling great and refreshed.
That’s where Dr. Squatch comes in.
Dr. Squatch’s soaps come in a huge range of natural, manly scents that are going to transform your shower. Whether it’s their best-selling Pine Tar or scents like Bay Rum and Cedar Citrus, you’re never going to have a boring shower again.
You know I have an affinity for a great craft beer, so I’ve been enjoying Dr. Squatch’s Grapefruit IPA. It’s distilled with hops, inspired by my hom e town San Diego, and I love the fresh grapefruit sent. Turns out what’s good on the inside is great on my skin too!
In addition to great soaps Dr. Squatch has a full lineup of personal care goods like deodorant, hair care, and toothpaste. Plus you can subscribe to Dr. Squatch and get fresh bars of Squatch shipped right to your door every month. Super easy.
Right now, new customers can get 20% off on orders of $20 or more when they go to DR SQUATCH dot com and enter code dscmaccast. That’s DR SQUATCH dot com, code dscmaccast for 20% off on orders of $20 or more.
Feedback, commentary, opinions
Other full page screenshots
I got a couple of great follow up tips from Al
You can use the “Markup” option under Share in many apps
Tap the Share button
If it’s available, tap Markup
Tap ‘Done’ then ‘Save File To’
Choose a location and save to PDF
In Safari on iOS if you take a screenshot you’ll see tabs for “screen” or “full page”
Why Apple leave features on the table
Marty asked be to address the issue of when to leave the Mac ecosystem vs when to appeal to apple and to influencers to get a feature integrated into the OS
This was in reference to the Calendar issue where iOS can search events back further than a year.
Marty asks, what about the dangers of going to a third party app
What if the developer gets “sherlocked” or goes out of business
What if they switch to a subscription model or change the subscription terms?
Why doesn’t Apple integrate these features to better compete or to keep users from moving away from the ecosystem?
I did have a listener, Donna, recommend [Calendar 366](https://nspektor.com) and it looks amazing for $6.99 USD iOS and $14.99 USD Mac
