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Stream of Consciousness

My Pre-WWDC ’25 Predictions

It’s less than 90 minutes before Apple’s 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference, and I’m going to put a few predictions out into the world for what I think they’re going to do differently at this year’s event:

Given the rumors that (a) all of their OS’s will be getting a redesign that has similar elements throughout them, and (b) that they’ll all be re-numbered with the year (next year) “26”, I’m going to predict that Apple will introduce a whole new name for their full software ecosystem. A name that spans iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS, tvOS – and brings them all together into a single name. I’m guessing that name will be Apple OS 26.

I think this idea makes sense because so many of the Apple services that we use (e.g., Messages, Notes, Reminders) span across the various hardware platforms and OS’s on those devices, and Apple has done well in the past few years with keeping those services at feature-parity across platforms. Being able to refer to ecosystem-wide features by the “Apple OS” version that they exist within just makes sense.

I believe that they’ll start by announcing that new name, Apple OS 26, and then they’ll break with the traditional format of the WWDC keynote, and instead of going through each OS one by one, they’ll go through everything by feature or by service. Probably starting with the design changes that are coming everywhere, but then getting into the specifics of individual apps and services. For example, discussing new Messages features, not as an iPhone feature, but as an ecosystem feature. If they’re going to get similar UI/UX updates everywhere, and they already get new features everywhere, it only makes sense to talk about them all together.

I’m sure I’ve heard some of my favorite podcasts mention this format shakeup as a possible change they could make over the past few years, but I didn’t hear anyone say it last week, so if it happens today, I’ll claim credit for it. And I’ve not heard anyone ever mention the ecosystem-wide name, so that one’s totally mine.

What are the odds on any of this happening? Easily under 30%, I’d say 😉

  • 2025-06-09
Stream of Consciousness

So you’re saying bigger things are easier to see…

I’ve been near-sighted since I was about ten years old. But here in my mid 40s, now my up-close vision is starting to falter too. I tried progressive lenses a few years ago, but didn’t really like them.

Anyway, one of the main things I have to hold farther away from my face to see all the time, is my iPhone. So, a couple days ago I activated the text-size setting, bumping it up just one level (110%), and boy, it’s a really nice quality of life improvement. So glad I’ve done it. Time to do the Apple Watch next.

  • 2024-11-28
Stream of Consciousness

My M4 Mac Mini (that’s 4M’s)

On Friday, 2024-11-08, I got a new M4 Pro Mac Mini 🙂

My intention was to use this machine as a home server, primarily for backups, but also for, idk, any servers I might want/need to run – such as Home Assistant, Octoprint, and/or any personal apps I build.

I recently picked up a 4TB Samsung T9 SSD, which is plenty big (by almost 2x) for my current backup needs.

I had been backing everything up to a Synology, and then from there, offsite via Backblaze B2… but my bill for that service keeps growing (as it does), and just past $40/month! By switching to this Mac Mini based approach, I can use Backblaze’s single-computer = $99/year plan, and … eventually the Mini + SSD will pay for themselves 😉

And in the mean time, I do have a suuuper fast new Mac here. I’m trying hard not to switch my daily-usage to be on the Mini… Build times for my main work app were about 50% of what they are on my M1 Max MacBook Pro — not that it’s ever felt slow to me. I think I’ll stay here for now, and try to just let the mini do the job it was bought for.

  • 2024-11-11