Updated Macbook Pros, Microsoft Surface Go, and this week in Elon

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode centers on Apple’s new MacBook Pro refresh and what it reveals about Apple’s priorities: pro users, iterative hardware updates, and a growing gap in the midrange Mac lineup. The hosts also cover Elon Musk’s week of headline-grabbing behavior, Microsoft’s Surface Go as a low-cost Windows tablet, Magic Leap’s developer-facing AR rollout, AT&T/Time Warner antitrust drama, and a grab bag of web, streaming, and photo workflow news.

Main Topics: Apple’s MacBook Pro refresh and the T2 chip (Priority: 5/5): The hosts dissect Apple’s new MacBook Pros with 8th-gen Intel chips, the new T2 chip, battery changes, quieter keyboards, and the event’s emphasis on pro users and creative demos rather than the laptops themselves. Apple’s product strategy and the missing midrange Mac (Priority: 5/5): Discussion focuses on Apple’s reluctance to refresh the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook, the absence of a strong $1,000 Mac option, and speculation about whether Apple is waiting for ARM-based Macs. This Week in Elon (Priority: 4/5): Liz Lapato summarizes Elon Musk’s submarine for the Thai cave rescue, his Flint water pledge, Tesla’s China manufacturing plans, and the phase-out of the U.S. EV tax credit after Tesla’s 200,000th vehicle delivery. Microsoft Surface Go and the low-cost device market (Priority: 4/5): The Surface Go is evaluated as a possible iPad competitor, Chromebook competitor, or netbook revival, with debate over whether Windows S and its low-end specs make it viable or too compromised. Magic Leap’s creator edition and AR developer strategy (Priority: 4/5): The hosts discuss Magic Leap’s upcoming release, its secretive product demo approach, uncertain field of view, and whether the company is truly ready for consumers or still only enabling developer experimentation. AT&T/Time Warner and the super-villain media stack (Priority: 4/5): Breaking news about the DOJ appeal of the AT&T-Time Warner merger triggers a broader critique of AT&T’s strategy: owning content, distribution, data, 5G, autonomous cars, and ad inventory across the user’s day. Web, photo, and streaming service miscellany (Priority: 3/5): The episode also touches on YouTube TV outages, Apple ending photo books, improved photo workflows with Lightroom, a URL-encoded website concept, a Glitch-driven Wikipedia map app, and podcast/tech-media promotions.

Key Arguments: Apple is increasingly positioning the Mac as a pro tool and halo product rather than aggressively updating its mainstream laptops. The new MacBook Pros are meaningful mainly for internal changes like the T2 chip, not for external design breakthroughs. Apple’s refusal to meaningfully address keyboard reliability is strategically evasive, even if the company downplays failure rates. The lack of a strong $1,000 Mac is a strategic risk because that price tier was historically where Macs dominated. An ARM MacBook could solve Apple’s processor and power-efficiency ambitions, but it risks splitting the software ecosystem too sharply if introduced too early. Surface Go is interesting less as a specs play and more as Microsoft’s attempt to create a constrained, friendly Windows tablet at an approachable price. Magic Leap’s current demos are mostly about showing developers what the platform can do, not proving the consumer-ready quality of the display. AT&T’s media strategy appears designed to maximize user attention and data collection across content, connectivity, and future devices like AR headsets and autonomous cars. The web still has room for playful, composable innovation through projects like itty.bitty.site and Glitch-powered apps. Photo workflows have become fragmented enough that serious users are pushed from consumer tools like Apple Photos into pro software like Lightroom.

Data Points: Apple App Store anniversary: 10 years - Used as the opening Apple discussion point and a reason to reflect on app design changes over time. MacBook Pro price range: $1,800 to $6,700 - Quoted as the starting price and maxed-out configuration cost for the new MacBook Pro lineup. MacBook Air processor: 1.8 GHz dual-core Intel i5 - Referenced as an example of Apple still selling an older, underpowered midrange Mac. Surface Go base price: $399 - The Surface Go’s base model price before accessories like keyboard and pen are added. Surface Go type cover cost: $100 standard / $130 Alcantara - Keyboard cover add-ons significantly raise the effective price of the device. Surface Go stylus cost: $100 - Optional pen accessory that further increases the total cost. Tesla U.S. delivery threshold: 200,000 vehicles - After this threshold, Tesla’s federal EV tax credit begins phasing out. Federal EV tax credit: $7,500 - Full tax credit available before the phaseout begins. Tesla tax credit phaseout schedule: $3,750 then $1,875 then 0 - The credit falls by half for Jan-Jun 2019 deliveries, then again for Jul-Dec 2019, then disappears. Tesla China factory target: 500,000 cars per year - Planned output for the proposed Shanghai gigafactory discussed in relation to tariffs and the China market. Glitch community feature: 1-help button - Described as a button that notifies others when a creator needs help on a project. YouTube channel milestone: 2 million subscribers - The Verge announces this milestone near the end of the show. Verge Science channel milestone: 100,000 subscribers - Celebrated as a major early success for the newer science channel. Audience survey result: 86 people did not know The Verge had a website - Presented as surprising audience research to justify the survey request.

Pivotal Quotes: "everything looks like an Airbnb in a nice city" — Paul Miller: A critique of modern app and UI design becoming minimal, uniform, and characterless. "It turns out that one or two tiny grains of sand can really ruin your experience" — Nilay Patel: A metaphor for the MacBook keyboard reliability issue and how small defects can become major user problems. "this is a wild super villain plan" — Nilay Patel: A reaction to AT&T’s vision of combining 5G, autonomous cars, streaming video, and AR into one attention-and-data ecosystem.

Implications: Apple may be deepening its split between pro Macs and consumer devices, while the broader tech landscape shows tension between polished ecosystems and open, extensible tools. Buyers should expect more ecosystem lock-in, accessory costs, and platform bets that may take years to pay off.