Episode Summary
Executive Summary: The episode spans a Facebook/BGP outage discussion, a detailed analysis of Apple’s A15 and upcoming MacBook Pros, and extended follow-up on phones, cases, cars, and Apple Watch rumors. The hosts argue for more practical hardware and software design—less minimalist ideology, more user-centered features—while noting Apple and Tesla both excel at products yet frustrate in execution and support.
Main Topics: Facebook outage and BGP/networking dependence: The hosts discuss the Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp outage, rejecting the hack theory and emphasizing how a router/BGP-related mistake exposed global dependence on Facebook-owned services for communication and business operations. Apple’s A15 performance and thermal headroom: They review AnandTech’s findings that the A15 exceeded Apple’s marketing claims, with big gains in CPU, GPU, and efficiency, and note that its real potential is constrained by iPhone thermal limits. Upcoming MacBook Pro rumors and Apple laptop philosophy shift: A long discussion covers rumors of SD card, HDMI, MagSafe, removed Touch Bar, and true 2x retina displays, framed as Apple potentially reversing years of minimalism in favor of user utility. Merch store and St. Jude fundraising update: The show celebrates surpassing fundraising milestones for St. Jude and explains the new on-demand merch store, especially the M1 shirt, pint glasses, and remaining pins. Apple hardware ergonomics and accessory design: Listeners ask about ergonomic mice, keyboards, and display stands. The hosts argue Apple should build more comfortable peripherals and better desk setups, not just visually minimal products. Browser behavior, Safari energy warnings, and software quality: They critique Safari’s aggressive energy warnings and broader Apple software design choices, contrasting improved OS quality with lingering UI and usability problems. Cars, Tesla frustration, and CarPlay/watch speculation: The conversation veers into Rivian, Tesla lease/title hassles, and whether Apple Watch or future devices could meaningfully replace phone-based CarPlay, concluding that phones will remain dominant.
Key Arguments: The Facebook outage was almost certainly an operational mistake, not a hack, because hacks usually involve theft, destruction, or ransom rather than a company accidentally disabling its own network. The outage showed how deeply the world depends on Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp for business, messaging, and everyday coordination, sometimes in ways users don’t realize until those services fail. Apple’s A15 appears materially better than advertised: higher clocks, better efficiency, stronger GPU performance, and more headroom than tiny iPhone thermal design can expose. The rumored MacBook Pro redesign would represent a philosophical correction: Apple moving from ultra-minimalism and forced dongles toward actual user needs and broader port utility. True 2x Retina on MacBook Pros matters because Apple’s laptop defaults have often been slightly blurry; with Apple Silicon’s battery gains, Apple can afford sharper default displays. Apple should make more ergonomic peripherals and adjustable displays because comfort, accessibility, and usability align with Apple’s stated values better than minimal industrial design. Safari’s energy warnings are conceptually reasonable but are likely too sensitive for modern web apps, pushing users away from Safari rather than toward better behavior. The watch will never replace the phone as a primary device because the phone’s larger size allows vastly more compute, battery, and interaction capability. Tesla and Apple both make products people love, but each company can be frustrating in operations; consumers tolerate the friction because the product value is still high.
Data Points: Facebook-related service outage duration: About 6 hours - Referenced as the length of the Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp outage. Relay for St. Jude fundraising this year: Over $700,000 - The show celebrates crossing this year’s St. Jude fundraising target. Total Relay + St. Jude fundraising lifetime: $1.5 million - Total raised over three years of partnership. Large single donation: $26,922.05 - Anonymous donation discussed as being one cent more than Agile Bits. A15 single-core frequency increase: 8% - Compared to the A14, peak single-core frequency rose to 3.2 GHz from 3.0 GHz. A15 dual-performance-core frequency increase: 10% - When both performance cores are active, they run around 3.2 GHz vs 2.9 GHz previously. A15 efficiency-core performance increase: 28% - Efficiency cores are roughly 28% faster at similar peak efficiency. A15 peak energy efficiency improvement: 17% - Peak performance states are 17% more energy efficient than A14. A15 GPU improvement: Above Apple’s marketing claims - The GPU is described as “absolutely astonishing” and stronger than advertised. Rumored MacBook Pro display resolutions: 3456×2234 and 3024×1864 - These are the Monterey beta resolutions tied to the upcoming 14- and 16-inch models. Potential MacBook Pro pixel density: Around 250 ppi - Would allow true 2x Retina as the default setting. Current 16-inch MacBook Pro resolution: 3072×1920 - Used as the comparison point for the rumored new display density. Current 13-inch MacBook Pro resolution: 2560×1600 - Used as the comparison point for the rumored new display density. Current laptop pixel density: About 226–227 ppi - Existing MacBook Pro displays compared with rumored replacements. Bayer sensor color distribution: 50% green, 25% red, 25% blue - Used to explain why raw camera video data rates were overestimated. Corrected 4K camera data rate estimate: ~500 MB/s - After adjusting for Bayer pattern, not full RGB per pixel. Incorrect earlier estimate: ~1.5 GB/s - The original rough figure was said to be about three times too high. Membership discount: 15% - Members receive this on time-limited merch sales, not the new on-demand store.
Pivotal Quotes: "Maybe you shouldn't be so dependent on what is, in fact, a private company run by one douchey guy." — Speaker in discussion: Critiquing the broader lesson people should take from the Facebook outage. "The proposition put forward by the laptops where they said it's just going to have a bunch of USB-C-shaped holes in the side, and that's it, that design, that they gave that the old college try." — John/host: Summarizing the old MacBook Pro design philosophy being reconsidered. "The 2016 forward generation of laptops was a product that forced the users to adopt to it rather than adopting to what users needed." — Marco/host: Describing the core criticism of Apple’s recent laptop design direction.
Implications: Listeners should expect more pressure on Apple to prioritize practical usability over minimalist aesthetics, and more scrutiny of cloud/service dependency. The rumored MacBook Pro redesign could signal a broader hardware philosophy shift if Apple follows through.