Ars Technica reports the new M2 MacBook Pro’s 256GB SSD is only about half as fast as the M1’s SSD.

Sustained disk read speeds run by Max Tech using the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test showed a drop from about 2,900MB/s in the M1 MacBook Pro to 1,446MB/s in the M2 MacBook Pro. Write speeds dropped from 2,215MB/s in the M1 Pro to 1,463MB/s in the M2 Pro, a smaller but still significant drop.

The culprit appears to be the NAND flash configuration. Both YouTubers took the bottom off of the new MacBook Pro and discovered that the 256GB versions use just one 256GB NAND flash chip, whereas the M1 MacBook Pro uses a pair of 128GB flash chips. On drives with more physical NAND chips, SSD controllers use a process called interleaving to read data from and write data to multiple physical chips at once. Use fewer chips, and you can limit your peak performance.

The Pro in Apple’s product lines hasn’t stood for professional in some time.

One of the most exciting features announced at this year’s WWDC, external display support is coming to the iPad. But according to this footnote, extended display support is only coming to last year’s iPads with a M1 processor.¹

Full external display support comes to iPad Pro with the M1 chip, with resolutions up to 6K. Now you can work with different apps on your iPad and external display.

Extended Display Support is grouped together with a new multitasking paradigm called “Stage Manager” that gives iPad users fast access to overlapping resizable app windows. Prior to Stage Manager apps were tiled, and a connected external display would only mirror the contents of the iPad’s display. Developer’s could code their apps to take advantage of the external display for specific features like video playback, but running a separate app on an external display was out of the question.

When asked “Why did Apple make an M1-specific feature for iPad?” Apple responded:

Stage Manager is a fully integrated experience that provides all-new windowing experience that is incredibly fast and responsive and allow users to run 8 apps simultaneously across iPad and an external display with up to 6K resolution. Delivering this experience with the immediacy users expect from iPad’s touch-first experience requires large internal memory, incredibly fast storage, and flexible external display I/O, all of which are delivered by iPads with the M1 chip.

And John Gruber speculates:

If Stage Manager ran well on older iPads, Apple would enable it on them. It might just come down to RAM — the M1 iPads start at 8 GB, but older iPad Pro models start at just 4 (2018 with A12X) or 6 GB (2020 with A12Z).

I wrote about this in my last post. Extended display support has been a standard feature of Apple’s pro portables since 1999; when PowerBooks rocked 64 MBs of SDRAM standard. 2018’s iPad Pro offers 62× as much memory, but is restricted from running a second app on an external display.

I understand the Stage Manager experience is all about simultaneously running up to 8 overlapping apps on a 6K external display, but at the very least Apple could throw three year old iPad Pro users a bone. Bring basic full screen external 4K app support to the 2018 iPad Pro². Anything less is just standing behind another artificial limitation iPadOS is already known for.

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1. Available on iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation), and iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation). ↩︎

2. The 2018 iPad Pro has always supported 4K video mirroring and video out. ↩︎

Back in the day of translucent plastics and PowerPC processors, Apple used to differentiate its pro line of PowerBooks by crippling the video hardware in its consumer line of iBooks. Starting with 1999's [PowerBook G3 (Bronze Keyboard)][bronze] Apple's PowerBooks could extend their Mac OS desktop to a second display, while all models of iBook were restricted to display mirroring only. This restriction turned out to be superficial; [reversible in the iBook's Open Firmware][firmware]. Which makes sense considering the lowliest iBook contained video hardware superior to the earliest PowerBooks that supported extended desktop. Still the restriction of display mirroring was enforced on all of Apple consumer computers, iBooks, iMacs, and eMacs, until the introduction of Intel CPUs in 2006.

Flash forward to 2020, and Apple is holding back the hardware of its consumer laptops again. This time by limiting external display support of the M1 MacBook Air to a single display, while the previous 2018 Intel MacBook Air supported two external displays. For some the lack of dual external display support could be excused on account of the M1 being the first Apple Silicon to make its way into a Mac. A limitation that was rectified a year later with the introduction of the M1 Pro, and M1 Max MacBook Pros which support two and four external displays respectively.

Flash forward again to 2022, and the release of the M2 MacBook Air shows that limiting the external display capabilities of Apple’s entry level laptops in 2020 was not a fluke. You read that right, the new MacBook Air with M2 processor only supports a single external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz¹ no matter how much memory you configure it with. If your workflow calls for dual external displays, skip the M2 and go with either the 14 or 16 inch 2021 MacBook Pro with M1 Pro or M1 Max processors.²

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1. Same as the 2020 M1 MacBook Air. ↩︎

2. Either that or an active display adapter like the WAVLINK USB 3.0 Universal Laptop Docking Station is in your future. ↩︎

Apple just announced the “all-new 2022 MacBook Air, supercharged by the new M2 chip.”

Apple’s newest notebook comes with a larger 13.6" Liquid Retina display, 1080p FaceTime HD camera, three-mic array/four-speaker sound system, in a streamlined chassis that resembles the 2021 MacBook Pro but available in two new mediocre colors.¹ At the heart of the 2022 MacBook Air is the new M2 chip which boasts 18% percent faster compute, and 25% faster graphics than the previous M1; while containing the same media engine found in Apple’s larger M1 Pro/Max notebooks.

Available in July, the 2022 MacBook Air is the Mac I would get provided you are not a video editor, 3D graphics professional, or need two external displays.² Just be sure to get a model with at least 512 GBs of storage, 16 GBs of RAM, and in anything but Space Grey.³

Power Adapter

As for the choice between the 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter and 67W USB-C Power Adapter, get the adapter with the higher wattage. The 67W USB-C Power Adapter can charge the 2022 MacBook Air’s battery 50% in 30 minutes, and you can always charge another device by way of one of the MacBook Air’s two USB Type-C ports.

AppleCare+

I don’t buy AppleCare+ for my computers, and you shouldn’t either. Unless you need the 24/7 expert technical support from Apple there are better extended warranties out there.

Dongles

You are going to need a USB-C to USB Adapter, but you can do better than Apple’s $19.00 option with a single port. Personally I like AmazonBasics USB 3.1 Type-C to 3 Port USB Hub with Ethernet Adapter, but other models with more ports, SD card slots, and video out are also available.

Price

Dongles aside my custom 2022 MacBook Air would cost $$1,699.00. Just don’t forget about the $120 off educational discount.

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1. Starlight is just sparkly beige. ↩︎

2. On a budget? You can still get last year’s MacBook Air; starting at $999. ↩︎

3. It is a shame the 2022 MacBook Air doesn’t come in the same colors as the 2021 M1 iMacs. ↩︎

Last week Richard Moss, author of The Secret History of Mac Gaming, tweeted:

Mini vMac author Paul C. Pratt has been MIA for the past year, and after numerous failed attempts to check that he’s okay the folks at E-Maculation are worried something might have happened to him. If you know him, or you have a lead, please chime in

Paul C. Pratt’s dedication to early 68k Macintosh emulation and software preservation is well known. In my opinion the Mini vMac collection of early Macintosh emulators, targeting the Macintosh 128K, 512K, 512Ke, SE, Classic, and SE FDHD are some of the best emulators ever produced. And while Macintosh II emulation remains a work in progress, one of the most remarkable aspects of Paul C. Pratt’s efforts has been his venerable build system and its multitude of configurable options.

I hope for the sake of himself, his friends and family, Paul C. Pratt is alive and well. His site the [Gryphel Project] has not been updated since April 4th, 2021, and if you are reading this Paul we are all very worried about you.

During the pandemic I realized I am never going to subscribe to a streaming music service. At 38 I am spending less time discovering new music, and more time listening to the music I already own.

I listen to albums, and own physical copies of most of my music. The COVID19 lockdown gave me the opportunity I needed to replace the digital albums I previously purchased with physical CDs, and re-rip my entire music collection in a lossless format.

With the help of my Kabylake powered PC, MacBook Pro, and four 32× optical drives, I was ready to rip my 500 album CD collection. I choose to rip my CDs using iTunes because I wanted my collection in Apple’s Lossless Audio Codec. For most people the popular FLAC format is more compatible and easier to error-check, but I still listen to music on older iPods and operating systems that require a format compatible with retro Apple hardware.

iTunes can’t import CDs from multiple optical drives simultaneously, but it will automatically import the next new audio CD it finds; ejecting the previously imported disc in the process. As long as I kept all four of my optical drives feed, iTunes would rip a new album every two to three minutes; automatically including track metadata and album art with no user intervention required.¹

After about twenty hours, or two weeks of off and on importing, I had my music collection ripped to Apple lossless. I consolidated the effort from both computers to a single master collection I keep on a cloud accessible server; checking out the albums I want to listen to at any time from my myriad of devices.

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1. Just remember to check “Use error correction when reading Audio CDs” for the best possible rip. ↩︎

I got my first iPod in 2003. It was the second generation model; the first iPod to include a capacitive touch wheel. I bought the 10 GB model with the included inline remote control, not only because it was cheaper at $399, but because it was thinner at 0.72 inches¹.

All through out high school I listened to my music collection via mini discs I mixed myself, using my CD collection and the family DVD player. Each mini disc could only hold an albums worth of music, and mastering them was a tedious process of swapping CDs and waiting for each track to playback in real time.²

It took me months to save up for my first iPod, but the reward was worth it. With over 2,000 songs in my pocket, my iPod was the first time I could listen to all of my music without changing discs. Thanks to FireWire I could transfer my whole music collection to my iPod in a matter of minutes instead of wasting hours swapping discs. Most importantly though, my iPod allowed me to make the most of the music I already owned. Transferring the handcrafted playlists I made on my Mac using iTunes, while simultaneously reintroducing me to my seldom played songs via shuffle. Thanks to my first iPod my music playing experience would never be the same.

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1. Back in those days the smaller capacity iPods were also the thinnest. ↩︎

2. Thanks TOSLINK ↩︎

I went to the Apple Store today to pick up a MacBook Air I had repaired under warranty. Apple requires a state ID or passport at time of pickup to prove identity. I am legally blind so I don’t carry a driver’s license, and my state ID had expired during the pandemic. I could prove my identity with my MIT employee photo ID, major credit cards, and a copy of my birth certificate I brought along just in case. Apple would not accept any of my forms of identification; including the repair ticket I was issued when I dropped off my computer.

In my pocket was an iPhone registered to the same Apple ID registered to my MacBook Air. The same Apple ID I used to sign up for my Genius appointment when I dropped off the computer. I know the username and password for this Apple ID, and could prove it with Apple two-factor authentication.

Apple wouldn’t accept their own forms of identification either, and told me the only way they would return my computer to me was if came back to the store with a government issued ID, or called Apple Support and arranged for a person with a government issued ID to pickup my computer.

So that is what I did.

Why is it more secure for me to make an anonymous call to Apple Support and arrange some rando from the food court with a state ID to pick up my computer, than it is for me to prove my identity using the Apple ID and two-factor authentication the computer is registered to?

Mark Gurman writing for Bloomberg:

A major change to the new computers will be how they charge. Over the past five years, Apple has relied on USB-C ports for both power and data transfer on its laptops, making them compatible with other manufacturers’ chargers. But the company is now bringing back MagSafe, the magnetic power adapter that means any accidental yanking of the power cable would simply detach it from the laptop rather than pull down the entire computer. It was a favorite feature of the company’s portable PC lineup that was first introduced in 2006 and most recently revived for its latest lineup of iPhones.

The return of MagSafe with the next MacBook Pros will also allow those laptops to charge at a faster rate, the person said. The connector will be similar to the elongated pill-shape design of the older MagSafe port.

I would be happy to see the return of MagSafe, but not as a replacement for the universal charging USB Type-C provides.

Universal charging means I am less likely to take my laptop charger with me on the go, when I know I can share the same USB Type-C charger/portable batteries as my PC laptop carrying counterparts. That I can choose my own charger from companies like Anker. And when I am at my desk the same dock or USB Type-C monitor that extends the capabilities of my MacBook can also charge it as well. If a proprietary MacSafe cable is the only way to charge my MacBook in the future, count me out.

Last week Apple announced a new MacBook Air and not only is it good — for most people it’s the Mac to get. The new 2020 MacBook Air costs less, comes with twice the storage, more performance, all while ditching the unreliable butterfly keyboard. If I was buying a 2020 MacBook Air today, this is the configuration I would get.

Processor

Unless you are only using your MacBook Air for web browsing and word processing, get the Intel Core i5 processor upgrade. Not only do you get double the cores, but a faster 3.5 GHz Turbo Boost for only $100 more. I wouldn’t bother with the Intel Core i7 processor upgrade for another $150. If you need more performance than an Intel Core i5 you shouldn’t be buying a MacBook Air.

Memory

I have been using a 2018 MacBook Air with 8 GBs of RAM for a little over a year and never suffered from a lack of memory. I don’t use my MacBook Air for video editing, virtualization, or 3D graphics. If you do maybe 16 GBs of RAM makes sense, but at an additional $200 I’ll pass.

Storage

Luckily this year a measly 128 GB SSD is no longer an option. The biggest problem I have with my 2018 MacBook Air is running out of storage. If a MacBook Air is your only computer spring for more storage, otherwise the $200 512 GB SSD upgrade is more than enough for most people.

AppleCare+

I don’t buy AppleCare+ for my computers, and you shouldn’t either. Unless you need the 247 expert technical support from Apple there are better extended warranties out there.

Dongles

You are going to need a USB-C to USB Adapter, but you can do better than Apple’s $19.00 option with a single port. Personally I like AmazonBasics USB 3.1 Type-C to 3 Port USB Hub with Ethernet Adapter, but other models with more ports, SD card slots, and video out are also available.

Regrets

If there is anything I wish this new MacBook Air had it would be removable storage. As much as I love Apple, their storage prices are outrageous. By soldering down their SSDs, Apple is making data recovery more difficult for their customers.

Price

Dongles aside my custom MacBook Air would cost $1,299.00, and is available at most Apple Store as a standard configuration. Just don’t forget about the $100 off educational discount.

I have been a regular podcast listener since at least April 17, 2005. Over the last 14 years I have tried a lot of podcast apps. Switching podcatchers has always been easy thanks to the freedom of the open web (RSS) and the transparency of XML (OPML).

For the last couple of years I have been using Apple’s Podcasts app exclusively, but that all changed when I learned about the latest sideloading features coming to Castro.

Castro now lets you send audio from your favorite YouTube videos into your podcast queue! Just browse to the video you want to hear and “Sideload to Castro” using the iOS sharesheet. Once the YouTube audio have been downloaded into the app, you can use all of your favorite Castro features like Trim Silence, Voice Boost and variable playback speed to enhance your listening experience.

I listen to a lot of content on YouTube, but I don’t always need to watch the video. Sideload to Castro works great with talking head videos, documentaries, or any content I want to listen to later; even without an Internet connection!

The only thing that could make Sideload to Castro better is if Castro could automatically sideload audio from my favorite YouTube channels in the background using RSS.

I did not consider an iPad. The only aspects of an iPad that interest me are its integrated LTE, and a long lasting battery life. As a systems administrator iOS’s App Store puts restrictions on the kind of applications I need to get my work done.

If you are looking for a low-cost Apple portable with all of the possibilities of a Macintosh, and none of the compromises of iOS, the MacBook Air is the one to get.

Here are a couple of my thoughts and recommendations if a new MacBook Air is in your future.

$1,299 is too much

Do not pay $1,299.00 for a new 2019 MacBook Air with 256 GB of storage. There are better offers out there. Buy the 2018 model, they are essentially the same computer. If you have to get a MacBook Air from Apple take advantage of Educational pricing or buy refurbished.

128 GB is not enough

Do not purchase a 2019 MacBook Air with only 128 GB of solid state storage. The solid state storage on all of Apple’s current portable computers is soldered to the logic board and cannot be upgraded later. You can get by using an external hard drive or saving to the cloud, but you will regret it. Apple should be ashamed for putting a 128 GB SSD in a Macintosh in 2020.

Don’t eat over your keyboard

Over the last year I lived in fear. Not that I would lose data or that I would drop my computer in a puddle, but that I would get a crumb under my MacBook Air’s keyboard. Reliability issues with Apple’s MacBook butterfly keyboards are well documented, and the 2019 MacBook Air is no exception. I learned to accept my MacBook Air’s short key travel and new keyboard layout, but I never got over the fact that the next piece of dust could do it in. Try the MacBook Air butterfly keyboard before you buy, but whatever you do don’t eat over it.

Dongletown

Buy a USB Type-C to USB adapter and carry it with you at all times. If you are in the habit of presenting get a USB Type-C to HDMI adapter too. You can buy a USB Type-C adapter for every peripheral you own, or upgrade every peripheral you own to USB Type-C like I did. Dongletown is a real place, but you don’t have to live there. I only visit when I am working with other people.

Pick your power supply

The MacBook Air was my first laptop with USB Type-C charging, and I am never going back. The beauty of USB Type-C charging is that you can choose your own charger. You are no longer beholden to the white power brick Apple shipped with your MacBook.

If you want a smaller power adapter, get a smaller power adapter. If you want a power adapter with extra USB ports and more power, get that one too. Heck, you can even get a USB Type-C monitor that charges your laptop, displays 1080p video, and provides a USB hub all over one cable. No need for a docking station!

Thunderbolt 3

I never found a need for Thunderbolt 3 on a entry level computer like the MacBook Air. I would gladly take more USB Type-C ports in exchange for Thunderbolt especially if it meant I could have the convenience of charging my computer from either side.

Battery Life

Battery life isn’t a problem on the new MacBook Air; mine can go all day without charging. I would welcome the additional performance a quad core processor would introduce, but only if battery life remains the same and my MacBook remains whisper quiet. Did I mention I almost never hear the fan on this computer?

Force Touch Trackpad

The quality of Apple’s Force Touch trackpads are legendary, but so are their size. It would be hard to go back to a PC laptop without one, but I don’t need to see the Force Touch trackpad get any larger. The size of the Force Touch trackpad on the 13 inch MacBook Pro is ridiculous.

Touch ID

Touch ID is another nice to have. I would miss it if it was gone, but it is not nearly as important on a computer that has a keyboard compared to iPhone or iPad that require you to enter long complex passwords on a touchscreen.

Watching Stupid

Have you ever visited YouTube in a new browser without logging into Google first? If you have, you probably watched a lot of stupid videos on YouTube.

The problem is the algorithm. YouTube’s algorithm works by showing you videos you are likely to watch. The algorithm does this by remembering you, which videos you watch, and which videos you skip. Google makes money each time you watch a YouTube video with an embedded ad. The more videos you watch the more money Google makes.

But what if the algorithm can’t remember you or the kind of videos you like to watch? What if you don’t have a Google account and don’t want one? What will YouTube show you then?

In an effort to keep you watching videos with embedded ads, the algorithm defaults to showing you videos designed to steal your attention. Even if those videos are some of the stupidest content on YouTube. I watched a lot of stupid videos on YouTube in 2019.

For most people watching the occasional stupid video isn’t that big of a problem because people tell Google who they are and the algorithm shows them what they want to watch. They do this by letting the Google track their browsers or by logging into Google services. But I browse the web with tracking protection turned on and never log into Google. The algorithm remembers nothing about me, and as a result I am always shown stupid videos.

Watching Less Stupid

In 2020 I am watching less stupid on YouTube by skipping the algorithm. Instead of letting the YouTube decide which videos it wants to show me, I am watching only the videos I want to see by subscribing to my favorite content creators via RSS.

1. First I find a YouTube channel I want to watch.
2. View its source code in my browser
3. Search for “channelid”
4. And append the Channel ID to the end of this URL https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=

The combined URL + Channel ID is the Feed URL of that YouTube channel, and can be added to my feed reader. For instance the Feed URL for the 512 Pixels YouTube channel is:

https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCZzXBTOSdtmOz9_VMYffr4g

YouTube used to make its videos more accessible to visitors by publishing the channel RSS feeds, but ever since the algorithm took over YouTube has obfuscated RSS in an effort to control content delivery and drive advertisement revenue. Don’t be a victim to the algorithm in 2020, subscribe to RSS feeds on YouTube and support the Open Web.

It is a shame that some of the best and brightest technology journalists to ever cover the Apple beat, have been hired away by their favorite fruit company and reduced to farming cultivated stories from within the high walls of a private orchard.

I don’t blame them for following the money, and I certainly don’t blame them for wanting to work behind the curtain of the muse that has fascinated them for so many years. (Given the same opportunity, I too might have surrendered to the mothership.)

But because I remain outside the ring, or because I don’t lean on the App Store to deliver my technology news, I will never read any editorial from these virtuosos ever again.

Technology reporting and the Open Web as a whole has suffered at Apple’s insistence to lock them away.

This post was inspired by this tweet and this link that I can”t open on my Mac. As it turns out it was my fault for running an incompatible two year old version of Apple’s Macintosh operating system.

Does anyone remember a story from the early 2000’s where a guy was trying to make a business of selling Apple Power Mac G4 repair parts in a custom molded pizza box case?

Long story short Apple Legal stepped in and persuaded the chap that he couldn’t use Apple repair parts for this purpose. I remember reading about this story while I was in college, but I can’t find an article anywhere.

Personally I would love to purchase a Mac Pro logic board and outfit it with a CPU, RAM, and and off the shelf AMD graphics card. But even if I got an Apple Certified Repair Center to see me one hooking it up to a conventional ATX power supply would be the greatest challenge.

As for a case and cooling, i am pretty sure I would just wing it, using commodity third party PC parts. Nothing elegant like an Apple Mac Pro case, but I think Apple’s professional desktop logic board would look really great on an open air test bench under tempered glass.

Obviously there are all kinds of hardware incompatibilities and economic obstacles I am not even considering at this point. But as soon as I hit up one of my ACMT friends and figure out the stock price for a 2019 Mac Pro motherboard I will let you know.

With the SeaMonkey 2.49.5 release the 2.49.x line comes to an end. Unless a catastrophic bug is discovered 2.49.5 will be the last ESR 52 based version. Backporting security fixes and at the same time working on the next, already overdue, major release is not possible with the few remaining developers.n

Plans are to do further interim 2.53 versions based on a much enhanced Gecko 56 base while working on bringing you the next ESR 60 based 2.57 version. After 2.57 we will decide about the future. The current Mozilla Gecko codebase has seen a flow of constant major changes and api removals in the last 2 years and is no longer really usable for our needs. By the end of the year the SeaMonkey project is expected to be completely independent of Mozilla. We will see how this pans out but we are doing our best and already have a new infrastructure in place where we do builds and website hosting.n

We would also like to remind everyone again that this a community project independent of Mozilla. So if you want to continue seeing future SeaMonkey releases please help by either donating money or even better help out with development. We are still committed and hope you are too. n

I first dialed into the Internet during the Summer of 1995 and Netscape 2.0 was my browser.nBesides being a great browser, Netscape 2.0 also included a full mail reader called Netscape Mail,nmaking it one of the first Internet Suites.

Since the demise of Netscape Communications and the advent of Mac OS X,nI have switched browsers several times (Camino, Safari, SeaMonkey, then Firefox),nbut the idea of a Internet Suite — a one click stop for email, RSS, newsgroups, and the Web — still sounds appealing.

I am sorry to hear SeaMonkey is suffering,nbut hopefully new sponsors and a few generous donations will turn the fate of the Internet Suite around for the few of us who still browse different.

Stephen Hackett, writing for 512 Pixels, outlines some of the differences between the entry level 2019 MacBook Air and entry level 2019 MacBook Pro.

With today’s revisions to the Mac notebook line, choosing between a new MacBook Air and a new MacBook Pro has gotten a little more interesting.

The machines are similar in many ways. They both come with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, Touch ID, 8 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD. Both can be stepped up to 16 GB of memory … [but] once you start poking around, you can see some differences.

I have been a 2018 MacBook Air owner for the better part of a year, and I can agree with Stephen’s assessment; “for almost everyone, the MacBook Air is the right notebook.” If you are willing to pay for more power and plus sacrifice some battery life, get the MacBook Pro.

That being said there are great deals to be had on last year’s MacBook Air. Microcenter is offering 2018’s MacBook Air with 128 GBs of storage for $799. Not only that, but you can get it in gold!

After reading about some of the new features available in macOS Catalina it became clear to me Apple is working towards an immutable design.

Dedicated system volume
nmacOS Catalina runs in a dedicated, read-only system volume — which means it is completely separate from all other data, and nothing can overwrite your critical operating system files.

By enforcing a read-only system volume, Apple can ensure that every installation of macOS Catalina is immutable.nThat means that every installation of macOS Catalina is identical to every other installation of the same version,nand the operating system on your Mac’s hard disk is exactly the same as the operating system on the hard disks in the Macs at Apple Park.

An immutable design comes with some big advantages. macOS Catalina should be more stable, less prone to bugs, and easier to test and develop for than previous versions of Mac OS.nSystem updates can be installed faster.nNo need to wait for patches to be applied; simply reboot to the newest version.

Mac OS Catalina’s immutable design should also be more secure.nLending itself towards the deployment of containerized apps that are kept separate from system software.nEvidence of which be seen in another one of macOS Catalina’s published features.

DriverKit and user space system extensions
nPreviously many hardware peripherals and sophisticated features needed to run their code directly within macOS using kernel extensions, or kexts. Now these programs run separately from the operating system, just like any other app, so they can’t affect macOS if something goes wrong.

Of course should anything go wrong, macOS Catalina’s immutable design makes recovery easy.

Restore from snapshot
nIf your third-party software is incompatible with an update you just installed, use macOS Recovery to restore from a snapshot of your computer taken right before the installation. macOS and all your apps will work just as they did before you installed the update.

The ability to restore your Mac’s system software from a snapshot is made even more efficient when the state of that snapshot is not only predictable, but no longer unique to your Macintosh.

Of course an immutable design comes with some drawbacks.nDeveloper’s who rely on modifying Catalina’s underlying UNIX environment will need to move to container-based software development.nAt first this may seem like a burden, but developer’s have been supplementing the Mac’s outdated UNIX userland tools for years.nDeveloping on macOS Catalina should be no different, except these tools will need to be kept separate from the system volume, increasing consistency, reliability, and security during the development process.

As a system administrator, macOS Catalina’s dedicated system volume, immutable design, and subsequent features, promise to be the most important advancements in the next version of the Macintosh operating system.

Update:

As Steve Troughton-Smith points out:

macOS Catalina still respects your System Integrity Protection setting and lets you write to to the hard disk root if SIP is off.

I don’t know if this liberty will make its way into the final version, but if it does most of the benefits of macOS Catalina’s immutable design will be lost.

Last week Apple announced the 2019 MacBook Pro, and the word keyboard did not appear in the press release.

Apple is not talking about MacBook keyboard reliability because the problem is fixed. They are not talking about MacBook keyboard reliability because they want the problem to go away.

It will take times for us to learn if the ‘new materials‘ Apple has added to the 2019 MacBook Pro keyboards will solve the reliability problems, but even Apple has their doubts. The “Keyboard Service Program for MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro“has been extended to cover not just the 2018 models, but the keyboards in last week’s 2019 MacBook Pro’s as well.

If you are aware of the risks, new materials or not, now is a good time to buy a new MacBook. Should things go wrong, Apple will cover the replacement of your keyboard for up to four years from the data of purchase. If you have already been burned by Apple’s keyboard reliability problems or want to wait, don’t expect MacBooks with a new keyboard design until at least 2020.

Seven years ago this blog post by Mark O’Connor changed my life.

On September 19th, I said goodbye to my trusty MacBook Pro and started developing exclusively on an iPad + Linode 512. This is the surprising story of a month spent working in the cloud.

Mark went from working locally on his MacBook to working in the cloud using his iPad.nWith a reliable network connection Mark could take his work with him anywhere.nFrom the office to the coffee shop, Mark’s mobility was made possible by the portability of Vim.

Perhaps the only reason this transition has been so smooth was because my favourite editor IDE looks and feels almost exactly the same running on an iSSH console as it did running locally on my Macbook. iSSH supports xterm-256color, which means you can still have pleasant colour schemes despite working in a terminal. All my plugins are there, my code-completion, quick navigation and so on.

Seven years ago I started work at MIT.nI needed to work on dozens of different systems running a variety of operating systems.nI could no longer rely on BBEdit — my text editor of choice for over a decade — to be availablenBefore long VIM became integrated into my workflow.nToday VIM is not only the best text editor available, it is my favorite text editor.