Accidental Tech Podcast
Marco Arment, Casey Liss, John Siracusa
Three nerds discussing tech, Apple, programming, and loosely related matters.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Dec 30, 2020 • 2h 8min
411: Are My Instructions Not Clear?
Follow-up:
Casey’s MMS problems and Apple’s bug-reporting black hole (FB8893003, FB8952395)
sysdiagnose
Settings → Privacy → Analytics & Improvements → Analytics Data
More on Fitness+
HDR photos
Settings → Photos → View Full HDR
Screen brightness
iPhone 12: 625 nits typically / 1200 nits max
iPhone 12 Pro: 800 / 1200
displaymate.com indicates 825 nits in full-white image
iCloud Photo Downloader (via Matthew Smith)
OWC Thunderbolt Hub requires Big Sur 11.1
Big Sur Update
SMC Reset
SuperDuper
AirPods Max audio settings (via Matthew Taylor)
Settings → Accessibility → Audio/Visual → Headphone Accomodations
Tune Audio for Brightness, Strong
AirPods Max “fat lightning” connector
Teardown
AirPods Max Shield Case
John’s iPhone 12 Pro case
Previously
Now
The ghost of Marco’s computing past
The ghost of Marco’s computing future
Siracusa’s Playstation 5 review
Destiny
John’s Windows on Mac Pro adventure
Nintendo Land
Astro’s Playroom
iOS 14.3 adds PS5 and Amazon Luna controller support
Marco’s Christmas gift
Beat Saber
Eleven: Table Tennis
Pong
Walkabout Mini Golf
SUPERHOT VR
Half-Life: Alyx
Valve Index
Post-show: More on the PS5
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Dec 22, 2020 • 2h 29min
410: The Comfort Is Killing Me
Pre-show: Living the M1 lifestyle
Follow-up:
AirPods Max
Battery situation (via Barney)
Snazzy Labs video
Smart Case ∆s
9to5mac
Apple Support
Turns out, like the Pro Display XDR, the LG UltraFine 5K does have a fan. (via Joseph Duffy)
Also, it has been revised in the past.
Tinus’s tweet
Chrome bug report and comments
Jonathan Dietz continues to school us on chip packaging
…and Thunderbolt hubs/controllers
OWC Thunderbolt Hub
OWC Thunderbolt Dock
OWC interview about TB4
Casey has tried Apple Fitness+
BeachBody on Demand
Peloton
Wii Fit
Ring Fit Adventure
All three of us are having dangerous thoughts
Ars Technica on Time Machine backup times
BitBar and SwiftBar
SF Symbols
#askatp
Why do HDR videos look so great but HDR photos… not? (via Chris Lenart)
Is there a way to prevent an application from stealing focus in macOS? (via Wes Chamness)
What’s the best way to back up your iCloud Photo Library if it can’t fit on your Mac?
EXIF data
Post-show: Living the M1 lifestyle (reprise)
The best laptop ever made
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Dec 17, 2020 • 2h 10min
409: Midrange Snob
Follow-up:
Group MMS issues persist, and Casey is over. it. (FB8893003)
AirPods Max and its competitors
Beoplay H95
Marco’s Closed Headphones Mega-Review
AirPods Max button and varying modes
Passive (powerLiss operation)
Marco’s Computing Situation
LG UltraFine 5K
Marc Edwards on External Displays
CalDigit Thunderbolt Dock
Pro Display XDR
Marco’s AirPods Max review
Planar Magnetic / Orthodynamic Headphones
ANC
Apple Lightning to 3.5mm Audio Cable
Competitors
Sony WH-1000XM4
HiFiMAN HE-6
Dan Clark Audio AEON 2
Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro
Bose 700
Bluetooth codecs
aptX
AAC
Chrome is Bad?
Guilherme Rambo’s take
Sponsored by:
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Dec 10, 2020 • 2h 11min
408: Feature Headphones
The podcast discusses challenges with recording software, frustrations with streaming platforms, and the implications of Apple Silicon. They also talk about the difficulties of browser vs. app functionality and the defense of Apple News. The release of the AirPods Max is discussed, as well as the use of different materials for headphones. They explore Apple's entry into the luxury market and discuss headband preferences and the benefits of using a VPN. The functionality of Apple's cable and headphone design are also covered, along with fixing an iMac Pro.
Dec 3, 2020 • 1h 50min
407: It Isn’t a Big Grapefruit
Pre-show: You heard it here first: Marco is really starting to justify a new Mac.
Follow-up:
You can restore stuff from iCloud here (via Ryan Fegley)
Accelerated TensorFlow for macOS probably just uses the GPU
Neural Engine can be used as well, though. (via @hishnash)
Apple did make an ECC RAM controller in the past (via Max Lein)
Lots of info about scaling the M1 via Jonathan Dietz
Die size spreadsheet
Cerebras, the big-die ML accelerator (via Andrew Bunner)
Memory bus thoughts from Wade Tregaskis
Memory interface bandwidth
Dual M1 Macs
“Low-effort” Mac Pro
TMSC Achieves Breakthrough in 2nm Manufacturing
What is “risk production”?
Alexander Graf virtualizes ARM Windows on Apple Silicon
9to5Mac
QEMU
Marco’s Mini Monologues
Smart Speaker Size Comparison (scroll down a bit)
Panzarino’s observation about Qi chargers
…and his FU
#askatp
Is it possible to disable the fan on the new M1 MacBook Pro? (via Matthew Taylor)
CoolBook
TG Pro
What’s our deal with Apple News+ anyway? (via Bryan Hoffman)
Component Motherboards : SoC :: ICE : Electric Cars? (via Kevin Doran)
VLSI
VHF / UHF
Post-show:
Yes, John is aware of breadboxes.
Tesla’s “Mission Accomplished”
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Become a member for ad-free episodes and our early-release, unedited “bootleg” feed!
Nov 25, 2020 • 2h 36min
406: A Bomb on Your Home Screen
Follow-up:
Fast resolution switching on M1 Macs
Apple engineer weighs in
Demo video
What about external monitors?
Mac-optimized TensorFlow 2.4 fork makes things fly
M1 Mac 8K render test
Running iOS apps with IPAs
iOS App Store Package
CrossOver runs Windows apps/games on M1 Macs — including 32-bit games!
Cult of Mac coverage
WINE
VMWare Fusion
Parallels
Boot Camp
Jeremy White’s explainer
Brendan Shanks’s thoughts
iOS 14.3 no longer opens the shortcuts app when launching apps from custom icons
Widgetsmith (App Store link)
HealthView
Apple Configurator
GitHub’s ICE relationship is indirect
De-duplicating Contacts
Card → Look for Duplicates...
It’s been ≈10 years since Build & Analyze #1. What’s changed?
Marco at XOXO 2013
The Incomparable
Hypercritical
Ars Technica
I Should be Writing
Scaling the M1 architecture to higher-end machines
Marco’s tweet
#askatp
Robot or Not: Cache edition (via Chris Cioffi)
Are we concerned about the longevity of M1 chips? (via Colin Devroe)
Do we believe in cable management? (via Nick)
Post-show: Marco’s ruined backpack
Peak Design Everyday Backpack 30L v1 clearance (current v2 model)
Zojirushi SM-SD36 travel mug
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Nov 19, 2020 • 1h 57min
405: The Benevolence of the Powerful
Pre-show: Why are we recording early?
Follow-up:
Casey’s watch band
youtube-dl is back on Github
Github works with ICE, which is gross and should stop
Feel free to tell Github this is gross
Github’s statement about youtube-dl
EFF’s counterargument to the RIAA’s claim
Donate to the EFF
M1 chip name predictions (Overcast link) (via Cameron Deardorff)
ARM Macs and Touch
macOS 11.1 is in Beta
McGurk effect
Explainer Video
Text-based TikTok (via Erik Berlin)
Casey’s weird discovery
Casey got new watches
Gruber’s sizing pictures
Studio Neat Material Dock
M1 Mac Performance
Initial Benchmarks
M1 emulating x86 is still silly fast
Panzarino’s unxip’ing Xcode
Nilay Patel’s tweet
AnandTech’s review
Snell’s Xcode benchmarks
M1 MacBook reviews
App Store Small Business Program
Six Colors Summary
US taxes over the years
Post-show:
Casey is begging for help on FB8893003. Please, Apple. Please.
John’s iPhone 12 Pro cases sitrep
SENA case
Sponsored by:
Squarespace: Make your next move. Use code ATP for 10% off your first order.
Linode: Instantly deploy and manage an SSD server in the Linode Cloud. New accounts get a $100 credit.
ExpressVPN: The fastest and most reliable VPN. Get an extra three months free with a 1-year package.
Become a member for ad-free episodes and our early-release, unedited “bootleg” feed!
Nov 12, 2020 • 2h 44min
404: With Four Hands Tied Behind Its Back
Pre-show:
THE ATP STORE IS BACK, BABY. Until the 14th. Act now!
Remember that members get 15% off!
iPhone 12 Mini, Max press reviews are out
Gruber’s review
MKBHD’s review
Nilay’s tweet
Panzer on the OIS
Panzer on ISO range
Halide
Casey had an oops
Apple Event
M1 Name
Apple motion coprocessors
BMW M1
BMW 1 Series M Coupé
System on a Chip [Soc]
Unified Memory Architecture
RAM on-package
Anandtech die shot article
Sky Shadow
Die Schwott
“Buzz Off”
Custom Technologies
SIMD
M1 performance
David Smith’s tweet
Reference counting
Let’s Build objc_msgSend
MacBook Air
Binning
Casey’s beloved MacBook Adorable
Mac Mini
MacBook Pro
Dithering
The future of the Mac
Longhorn’s tweet
Post-show: What did we order?
Sponsored by:
Mack Weldon: Reinventing men’s basics with smart design, premium fabrics, and simple shopping. Get 20% off your first order with code atppodcast.
Flatfile: The elegant import button for your web app. Give your users the import experience you always dreamed of, but never had time to build.
Bombas: From comfort, to kindness, and everything in between, Bombas aren’t just giveable — they were made to give. Get 20% off your first order.
Become a member for ad-free episodes and our early-release, unedited “bootleg” feed!
Nov 5, 2020 • 2h 5min
403: A VCR for the Internet
The ATP Store is back until 14 November!
Follow-up:
Casey is aware of the National Radio Quiet Zone
Verizon map
AT&T map
Apple leather case covers the bottom, which chaps John’s bottom
Moving 2-Factor Authentication to new phones
Google Authenticator’s changes (via Michael Koziarski)
Reminders and Big Sur
“Alexa” and “Siri” and using new hail words (via David Kenny)
Saoirse Ronan
John’s 2x-camera usage
iPhones and USB-C speeds over Lightning → USB-C cables
Apple extending Apple TV+ free trial to February 2021
John’s too-long Apple Maps directions
What are Xcode xip files, anyway? (via Zev Eisenbergboo)
“Small percentage” of Xbox Elite 2 controller problems
“Small percentage” of AirPod Pro problems
Earwax type: The myth
Ear candling
youtube-dl, DMCA, and the RIAA, oh my!
GitHub warns about forks
Casey’s overview
99 Percent Invisible: The Lost Cities of Geo
Concert for Charlottesville
Jack Valenti
youtube-dl History
DeCSS
Apple’s “One More Thing” Event
Bloomberg Coverage
hishnash’s tweet
DMA
Post-show:
Mario Kart Live Home Circuit
Trailer
Velan Studios
Anki Drive Demo
Lakitu
Nintendo Labo
Mario Kart 64: The Quest for World Record Perfection
Sponsored by:
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Squarespace: Make your next move. Use code ATP for 10% off your first order.
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Become a member for ad-free episodes and our early-release, unedited “bootleg” feed!
Oct 29, 2020 • 2h 22min
402: Flat-Side Promoter
Pre-show:
Please, please, please vote.
The ATP Store returns on 1 November until 14 November… in theory.
Follow-up:
Peter Pan: Arms akimbo
5G upload speeds
Verizon’s 5G lead
Photos-related updates
Apple Photos file management options
Image Capture can import HEIC files if you change a setting on your phone:
Settings → Photos → Transfer to Mac or PC → Keep originals
Google Photos
Marco is aware of the Sonos Move
HomePod tip: disable “Hey Siri” on all other devices
Marco’s laptop repair covered by credit-card warranty
Peak Design combines MagSafe & mechanical fasteners (via Michael Luís Brown)
Studio Neat’s Material Dock
Thoughts on Apple’s battery specs from Justin Scholz
iPhone 12 Pro Reviews
Upgrade #323: The Edges are More Interesting
Marco’s chamfered MacBook Pro edge blog post
Potential Apple Watch unlock fix
John’s case request and prospects:
Decoded Back Cover
Sena Leatherskin
MagSafe at 15W speeds
…requires Apple’s 20W adapter
Alvin Lim’s video
USB Power Delivery specs
Apple’s Adapters
20W: 5V@3A (15W), 9V@2.2A (20W)
18W: 5V@3A (15W), 9V@2A (18W)
87W: 5.2V@2.4A (12W), 9V@3A (27W), 20.2V@4.3A (87W)
96W: 5.2V@3A (16W), 9V@3A (27W), 15V@3A (45W), 20.5V@4.3A (96W)
Lightning Digital AV Adapter Surprise
iFixIt MagSafe Teardown
Post-show: Marco’s iPhone 12 Thoughts
Sponsored by:
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Flatfile: The elegant import button for your web app. Give your users the import experience you always dreamed of, but never had time to build.
Become a member for ad-free episodes and our early-release, unedited “bootleg” feed!


