There are a handful of fun videos on Apple’s page, but these citrus ones are fun:

@apple i love limes

♬ original sound – apple

@apple

pop pop pop pop

♬ original sound – apple

@apple

hello?

♬ original sound – apple

Then there’s this little Finder character, as pointed out by Basic Apple Guy:

I can’t find any information about him beyond the fact that he appeared in Apple’s “Matcha Break with MacBook Neo” livestream on TikTok on Wednesday. I also haven’t been able to track down the video itself. The first post I found mentioning it came from user m2macmini on Twitter.

WHO IS THISSSSSSS???

Just think, I probably saved this little Finder person from a lifetime of bullying.

In the midst of the whirlwind of news this week, Apple renamed its CPU cores. At Six Colors, Jason Snell has the details:

Here’s what happened:

• Apple renamed its most powerful CPU cores, which had previously been called performance cores. As of the M5 Pro and Max, those cores are now called “super cores.”

• Surprise! Since those cores also shipped in the M5 MacBook Pro, M5 iPad Pro, and M5 Vision Pro, they have all been retroactively renamed as super cores. I am writing this very story on a device that sports four super cores, but I didn’t even know that until I heard the news early Tuesday morning.

• The M5 Pro and M5 Max chips also feature the debut of a brand-new core design derived from the super core design. (I assume the efficiency cores in the base M5 were probably the same cores that Apple used in the M4.) This new core design is still power efficient, but it can offer high performance in multithreaded tasks. In the past, the second-tier core was referred to as an efficiency core, but Apple has decided that these new ones are better described as performance cores. In other words, Batman has become Superman and Robin (or is it Supergirl?) has become Batman.

Basic Apple Guy:

All I know about Lil Finder Guy is that it’s freakin’ adorable, assuming it means me no harm. And instead of doing literally anything productive or tending to my adult responsibilities like bills, taxes, or work, I have spent my weekend tumbling down the rabbit hole trying to build a life for this mysterious little creature despite knowing next to nothing about it.

Google Gemini (aka the next Siri) has been helpful in modeling out the rest of its body from the single TikTok post. From there, I started generating what Lil Finder Guy might look like working, angry, running, jumping, laughing, and more. Of course, this is all abstraction stacked on abstraction at this point. I do not know if Lil Finder Guy can laugh, what it finds funny, or whether its short, knee-less legs are even capable of jumping.

His results from Gemini are the best use of generative AI I’ve ever seen:

If Apple doesn’t go all-in on this, it’s time for a new CEO.

dreamwieber’s video on Hypercard is one of the best things I’ve seen on the topic:

via Kottke

Yesterday, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Permit Board (MDEQ) unanimously granted xAI a permit for an expanded power plant in Southaven, Mississippi. The plant will be powered by 41 natural gas turbines.

Some of those turbines are already in place, with questions surrounding their legality now finalized.

The way in which MDEQ went about this process has left many local — and national — critics of xAI unhappy, as Kailynn Johnson writes for The Memphis Flyer:

The board’s decision to hold the meeting on Election Day, and five days after the hearing was announced, has been condemned by local and national groups.

The Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP and the national NAACP sent an open letter to MDEQ to immediately reschedule the public hearing for the following week, and requested a response by Monday.

The organization criticized MDEQ’s decision to issue their responses to public comments on Saturday, March 7, as well as for holding the hearing “nearly three driving hours from the site of the facility.”

Lora Kolodny, CNBC:

The MDEQ denied the request on Monday, writing in a response to the NAACP that its permit board “regularly meets on the second Tuesday of each month, which has been the standard practice for decades,” and that the regulator, “considers matters on a statewide basis.” A copy of the letter was shared with CNBC.

[…]
Following the MDEQ’s response on Monday, the NAACP said in a statement that by having the hearing the morning of Election Day, three hours away from the community, “their actions speak volumes.”

“They’re trying to sneak xAI’s data center into the community’s backyard and they don’t care about the people living there,” the letter said.

Despite the MDEQ’s insistence about the meeting itself, the results of that meeting are what really impact people living in south Memphis and north Mississippi.

Samuel Hardiman, The Daily Memphian:

The approval of xAI’s long-term plans for a power plant means a substantial amount of smog-causing chemicals could be added to the Memphis metropolitan area’s air.

According to the draft permit, xAI could emit 423 tons of nitrogen oxides, a smog-causing chemical, each year. That’s about the same as the two area Tennessee Valley Authority natural gas plants — Allen Combined Cycle and Southaven — combined.

Apple’s CEO:

Through every breakthrough, one idea has guided us — that the world is moved forward by people who think different.

That’s because progress always begins with someone — an inventor or scientist, a student or storyteller — who imagines a better way, a new idea, a different path. That spirit has guided Apple from the start. But it has never belonged to us alone.

Every invention we bring into the world is just the beginning of a story. The most meaningful chapters are written by all of you — the people who use our technology to work, learn, dream, and discover. You’ve made breakthroughs and launched businesses. You’ve cheered up loved ones in the hospital and captured your toddler’s first steps. You’ve run marathons, written books, and rekindled friendships. You’ve chased your curiosity, found your new favorite song, and shared stories that connect us all.

In your hands, the tools we make have improved lives, and sometimes even saved them. And that is what inspires us — not what technology can do alone, but everything you can do with it.

This sentiment is what clicked with me when I first started using a Mac for more than playing Odell Down Under after class. The idea that I could use a computer to take an idea and put it into the world enthralled me, and it’s why I still love this stuff today.

Does Apple always live up to this standard? Absolutely not. Do I still get this feeling every time I open my MacBook Pro or unlock my iPad? Absolutely.

As the company turns 50, its achievements should be celebrated, and its failures should be noted. Apple’s shortcomings in the world of politics, App Store policies, and more dim the company’s light. The value of its products is often the result of dedicated app developers doing their best work atop Apple’s platforms. In the world of big tech, I think Apple still leads in many areas, including privacy, environmental impact, and the not-so-simple matter of taste.

Mahdi Bchatnia:

Accents is an app that lets you use the iMac/MacBook Neo accent colors on any Mac.

This is really clever. The iMac and MacBook Neo come with custom accent colors that are only available on those machines. Thanks to Michael Tsai for linking to this little gem of a macOS app.

This week on a very full episode of the podcast:

Stephen and Federico have MacBook Neos (MacBooks Neo?) and share their impressions as Myke restrains himself from making a purchase. The guys explore the new set of emoji coming with iOS 26.4 via a round of The Jeremies, and try to enjoy Apple at 50.

Huge news for Apple’s biggest computer: the $699 Mac Pro Wheels Kit can be picked up for $199 on Woot for the next 13 hours or until they are sold out.

They go for about $300 a set on eBay these days and are a great place to stash AirTags.

After a week of tinkering with design files and babysitting my 3D printer, I have an adorable new coworker. The final print took 20 hours, but I’m enamored with the results:

I was thrilled to collaborate with Basic Apple Guy on bringing Lil Finder to life. We both hope the Mac community enjoys this project.

If you want to print your own, I’ve uploaded a .3mf file here.

I ran mine on my Bambu P2S, with some fuzzy skin to give the final version a softer finish. On my example, the bright blue is Bambu’s Cyan PLA; the darker color is Overture’s Gray Blue PLA+. You may need to do some adjusting to get things dialed in for your setup.

We would love to see what you do with this, so be sure hit us up on social media:

• My Bluesky
• My Mastodon
• My Threads
• Basic Apple Guy on Bluesky
• Basic Apple Guy on Mastodon
• Basic Apple Guy on Threads

To head off some feedback: We are offering this file as-is, for free, and without any support. Feel free to make your own changes as you see fit! I’m just not in the position where I can help you with your own print, nor can I print one for you. Find a nerdy buddy with some free time and a 3D printer.

I was just going about my day then James Thomson of PCalc and other fine applications dropped these images on me and said I could share them.

They are all 5K, so they’re ready to go; just click to open up the full-res image.

This would have been sick on an iMac G3.

I’m putting my thoughts together for a review of the MacBook Neo, but I think a huge part of this laptop’s story is its repairability. Unlike Apple’s other products, the Neo is put together with screws only — no adhesive. Some of these screws are pentalobes, but if you’re taking apart a computer, you’re probably the kind of person to have that sort of bit on hand, or are willing to get one.

This means the battery can be replaced without pull tabs, and for the first time in years, this notebook’s keyboard is not permanently installed into the top case. There is some tape involved there (and 41 screws to remove) but it’s a move in the right direction.

The USB-C ports, headphone jack, and speakers are all modular and come out with a handful of screws and simple connectors.

The result of all of this is a machine that should be easier and cheaper to repair.

I love this shot from iFixit’s teardown:

iPhone Repair Guru took apart a Citrus example on their YouTube channel:

The former Mac Genius in me wasn’t thrilled that they didn’t disconnect the battery first — the machine was on until six minutes into the video!

I have to stop making cursed things…

Faiz Siddiqui, writing at what’s left of The Washington Post (Apple News) about the continuing fallout of xAI’s CSAM scandal:

“When a mother from eastern Tennessee asked local police how someone had created naked photos of her teenage daughter, she recalls being told it was a company she’d never heard of: xAI, the artificial intelligence start-up run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Police alleged a person arrested in December had used Grok, xAI’s chatbot, to edit photos, including one from the teen girl’s Instagram account, removing a blue bikini from one image to “depict her without any clothes,” according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

Katie Herchenroeder, for Mother Jones:

One of the plaintiffs said she received a link to a Discord server “which contained images and videos of at least 18 other minor females, many of whom Jane Doe 1 recognized from her school,” the lawsuit alleges.

Some of the images stemmed from her homecoming or yearbook photos.

NASA’s SLS rocket program has been a mess for a long, long time. Many industry-watchers have wondered why NASA would spend billions of taxpayer dollars on its own rocket while the private space industry is working on their own heavy-lift vehicles that could accomplish similar things.

It seems that NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman may be asking the same question, according to Loren Grush, Ed Ludlow, and Julie Johnsson at Bloomberg:

Under the original plan set years ago, Boeing’s Space Launch System rocket would have launched a crew of four riding inside the Lockheed Martin Corp.-built Orion crew capsule to the moon, with the spacecraft then putting itself in the moon’s orbit. A [SpaceX] Starship lander would then meet up and dock with the capsule around the moon, before taking astronauts down to the lunar surface.

With the new proposal, SLS would no longer be used to boost Orion close to the moon — previously a key task for the rocket. Instead, Starship and Orion would dock in Earth orbit, giving Starship the pivotal role of propelling the capsule to the moon’s orbit, before taking astronauts down to the surface.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman plans to meet on Tuesday with the companies working on Artemis and human landing system program (HLS), including Blue Origin LLC, Boeing and SpaceX, to discuss their progress and the latest plans at the agency. Any changes to the mission could face Congressional scrutiny, and the agency could reverse and alter its plans, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is confidential.

Under this new plan, the SLS would fly four more missions (at an estimated cost of $4 billion each) while HLS partners got up to speed. After that, astronauts would get to the lunar surface via a SpaceX or Blue Origin rocket. This would leave the SLS as it is today, with none of its future, more powerful versions being built. Its use would be diminished to potentially be used to launch the Orion crew capsule into Earth orbit and no further.

That would be a slow, sad ending to what could have been an amazing story, but I think NASA is finally seeing the writing on the wall. The SLS is simply too complicated and too expensive to become a reliable, long-term launch vehicle.

On this week’s episode:

Stephen has been a menace all week with Lil Finder, Myke keeps thinking about the MacBook Neo, and Federico shares his most recent thoughts on foldable phones.

Tim Cook — on X (gross) — with some news:

Mac just had its best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers. We love seeing the enthusiasm!

Myke Hurley, reflecting on Apple’s 50th birthday:

It’s getting close to 20 years since I decided that what I wanted most in my life was to be a technology podcaster, and that the thing I wanted to talk about more than anything was Apple. Through many attempts, and many homes, I eventually reached the point where this could be the way I make a living.

I launched my business on a Mac. For many years, I ran it using my iPad Pro, and all the while I’ve used my iPhone for everything in between. But for me, it’s not just about using these products — my business has also depended on Apple making them. What I create is about them.

My interest in technology has always been broad, but what I’ve always cared about most is whatever Apple is making. It’s been that way since I was 18 years old and got my first Apple product — the iPod mini — and it remains that way to this day.

Apple and I do not always see eye to eye, and there are times when the thing I’m most enthusiastic about is trying to take them down a peg. But no matter how passionate I may get, at the core of it I always believe in what this company is capable of.

David Sparks is a fan of the MacBook Neo, but it’s not the Mac notebook his heart truly desires:

Think about it. Apple has covered the pro market with the MacBook Pro lineup. The Neo is about to cover the mainstream and budget-conscious buyer.

But there’s a gap at the top. A premium ultralight for people who travel constantly, who want the absolute minimum weight and footprint, and who are willing to pay for it. A MacBook that weighs two pounds or less, with a stunning display and all-day battery life. Not a compromise machine. A showcase.

The technology is ready. Apple silicon was basically designed for this. The question is whether Apple sees the market opportunity, or whether they think the Air (or whatever it becomes post-Neo) already fills that slot.

I don’t think it does. There’s a difference between a laptop that happens to be light and a laptop that’s built from the ground up to be as light as physically possible. Apple used to understand that distinction. The original Air proved it.

With the Neo handling the mainstream, there’s room in the lineup for Apple to go back to that idea.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this since the Neo was announced. In many ways, it frees the MacBook Air up to return to its thin-and-light roots, but I think that would be a mistake.

Among the many sins Apple committed with the 12-inch MacBook is that it was priced like a mid-range laptop, confusing the product line. If Apple were to return to this market, slotting in an ultra-portable machine in a more premium price point would avoid that confusion and let Apple go wild with what it could do with such a machine.

I’m not sure Apple wants to sell four laptop models¹ but if they do, I think Sparks is on to something.

I really dislike Apple’s choice to clutter macOS Tahoe’s menus with icons. It makes menus hard to scan, and a bunch of the icons Apple has chosen make no sense and are inconsistent between system applications.

Steve Troughton-Smith is my hero for finding a Terminal command to disable them:

Here’s one for the icons-in-menus haters on macOS Tahoe:

defaults write -g NSMenuEnableActionImages -bool NO

It even preserves the couple of instances you do want icons, like for window zoom/resize.

Your apps will respect this change after relaunching. I ran this a few minutes ago and already appreciate the change. I really think Apple should roll this change back in macOS 27, or offer a proper setting to disable these icons for those of us who find them distracting.