Accidental Tech Podcast

674: A Reliable, Boring Partner

January 16, 2026 02:01:25 • Download (118 MB)

Apple Creator Studio, the Gemini deal, the NBA on Vision Pro, and how Casey should spoil himself for his 50th birthday.

Pre-show: Casey’s dreams were squashed
- Ubiquiti Travel Router
- Verizon Jetpack
- Marco’s hotspot (newer models exist; check for refurbs, they’re way cheaper than new)
- Solis Edge
Follow-up:
- The ~~Grim Reaper~~ FiOS CableCARD email came for John
  - TiVo Roamio Pro
  - Casey on Downstream
- Temporal dithering (via Kyle Foreman)
- Dagnabbit, the screen count is just too damn high
  - MSI MEG Vision X (Screen grab)
  - MSI Lightning RTX 5090 (Screen grab)
- Wi-Fi channel selection & size
- Wi-Fi 7 8
A tour of Apple- (or John-) relevant monitors from CES
- As a reminder…
  - Apple Studio Display
  - Pro Display HDR
- MSI MPG 271KRAW16
- DisplayHDR 1400 certification
- MSI MAG 271KPD7
  - Monitors Unboxed
- ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27UCWM (Photo)
  - HDTVTest
- Subpixel arrangements
Apple Creator Studio
- Icons over time
- Photomator lives on… for now (via Chris Welch)
  - MacRumors
- Apple’s defense of the icons
- Jason on iWork freemium
Apple 🤝🏻 Google
- More from The Information
Chase to become the new issuer of Apple Card
- FAQ
- Back story on the Wall Street Journal (Apple News)
Post-show: NBA Immersive
- Stratechery
- Dithering
Members-only ATP Overtime: The continuing disaster at Twitter
- Elizabeth Lopatto: Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards
- Dan Moren: Apple cowardly still has not pulled X and Grok from the App Store
- Bloomburg: Musk’s Grok AI blocked in Indonesia, Malaysia over sexual images
- Robert Hart & Jess Weatherbed: X hasn’t really stopped Grok AI from undressing women in the UK

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673: Six Impossible Things

January 8, 2026 02:23:54 • Download (139 MB)

What we're most excited for in 2026.

Pre-show: Casey has a question for Marco
Thank you, ATP Patrons!
Follow-up:
- Cord-cutting
  - Casey on Downstream
  - suppose.tv
- Multi-select in iOS Contacts.app (via many, including Simon Ljungberg)
- The Studio Display is $1600 (via Greg Seay)
  - Quinn’s video on making a 5K display
- Display flickering (via Stephen Perelson)
  - This started in late 2020 with Big Sur
  - Temporal dithering (AKA Frame rate control)
  - Stillcolor to disable temporal dithering on macOS
  - BetterDisplay for turning on and off GPU dithering
    - Docs
- PlayStation Portal
  - …works with PlayStation Plus
  - …but really needs solid Wi-Fi
  - …and doesn’t support Wi-Fi 6
  - …and requires wired or first-party Bluetooth headphones
- Double-tap title bar to Fill (via Chirag Desai)
  - Knowedge base
  - System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Window title bar double-click action → Fill
- Wi-Fi 7
  - Ubiquiti’s Wi-Fi 7 implementation is not great (via Reid)
    - WPA3
  - WPA3 is not well supported (via USB Type-Steve)
  - Alternatively, try band steering (via Patch)
  - Wi-Fi Pro Abraham Vegh weighs in
  - …as does pro Saul Sutherland
  - John’s Eero Max 7 setup
- Thread vs. Matter
  - Thread
  - Matter
  - Derek Seaman’s series
  - To run Matter in HA, you need a separate container
- Apple Fitness+ and Quitter’s Day
  - Bodi
ASML & TSMC
Tech stuff we’re looking forward to in 2026
- Gartner hype cycle
- The Trow of Disillusionment
Post-show: Casey bought something silly
Members-only ATP Overtime: Strange form factor rumors for forthcoming iPhones
- The Information
- MacRumors
- Mockup image & video
- Jason’s & Stepen’s posts
- iPhone fold display quietly debuted at CES?

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672: Wi Hyphen Fi

January 1, 2026 01:59:57 • Download (58 MB)

The truth about Wi-Fi 7, the DRAM shortage, the state of Thread and Matter, and two of the worst (or best?) proposals to improve macOS window management.

Pre-show: Comply TrueGrip MAX for AirPods Pro 3
- Pepperidge Farm Remembers
Follow-up:
- Contacts
  - Contact lists are a thing (via Dayton Lowell)
  - Some non-obvious complications (via Paul)
- Face ID & Touch ID
  - Older folks really do struggle with Touch ID (via Harrison Krebs & Kurt Schwind)
  - Strictness (via Rob Sayre)
- John’s Liquid Glass bug in macOS 26.2 (via Gui Rambo)
  - Gui’s PR
- Some more about Podcasts.app and background execution (also from Gui)
  - FB17228659
  - Developer Technical Support
- RAM shortage
- Data portability
  - Git
    - Github will still sink its talons into you (via Simon Jodet)
    - Xcode 🤝 Git (via Tom Hartnett)
  - Android ↔ iOS
- Display flicker in Tahoe
  - What does this even mean? (via Daniel)
  - One theory (via Sean Santry)
  - Some corroboration (via Philip Hofstetter)
Wi-Fi 7 is a bust
- -protonsandneutrons-
- Playstation Portal
Ask ATP:
- What’s the difference between minimizing and hiding windows on macOS? (via Michael Krewson)
Post-show: What the heck is the deal with Thread/Matter
- Home Assistant
- Nanoleaf Smart String Lights
- Lutron Caséta (former sponsor)
- YoLink
Members-only ATP Overtime: iMac Pro… phoenix?
- Previous code name discussion
- Jason on Apple’s display strategy

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671: Even Apple Can’t Beat the Sun

December 23, 2025 02:02:15 • Download (118 MB)

Celebrating the holidays with a festive deep dive on iPhone 18 and XX rumors!

Pre-show: Christmas-slideshow time
Follow-up:
- Paris Buttfield-Addison’s locked Apple ID
  - 🇦🇺 ACCC: Consumer Rights & Guarnatees
  - 🇺🇸: Remember when we had a CFPB?
- Chat math
- Metadata thread splitting & merging
- Colin spells it out for us
  - TV Everywhere
  - XMLTV
  - m3u8
  - IPTV Github Repo
  - 🚨 Proceed with caution 🚨 StreamEast
  - 506 Sports
- Custom pronunciations in iOS
  - Accessibility → VoiceOver → Speech → Pronunciations
    - See Apple support
  - Accessibility → Read & Speak → Pronunciations
    - See Apple support
  - Apple video guide
- Tahoe Studio Display flickering
- Malicious content delivery in Apple Podcasts
  - Previously 1
  - Previously 2
iPhone roadmap
- Article on The Information
iPhone XX rumor roundup
- Under-screen FaceID?
- Haptic buttons?
Apple exploring touch-sensitive iPhone cases
- Patent
Ask ATP:
- How do we manage our contacts? (via Tyler Kindy)
- How do we use version control? (via Dmitry Myronenko)
🗣️ Remember, ATP gift memberships are a thing!
Post-show: John’s bug
- FB21375029
- Sample project
Members-only ATP Overtime: RAM shortage, or the flip-side of the Apple Intelligence RAM dividend

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670: Institutionally Inescapable

December 18, 2025 01:39:56 • Download (96 MB)

We all just wish our families would be more impressed by our TVs.

Pre-show: Marco joins team snow tires
- i3: 155/70R19
- XC90: 275/40R21
- Molex
- F-150 Lightning’s demise
🗣️ Remember, ATP gift memberships are a thing!
🗣️ New ATP Members Special: ATP Movie Club: WarGames
- WarGames
Follow-up:
- Some impromptu spoiler-free follow-up about the member’s special
- John’s Cloudflare update
  - Hypercritical
- Marco’s former TV (via Wayne Morgan)
- Apple executive departures
  - Jeff Williams has been nominated to join Disney’s board
    - Press release
    - The Verge
  - Would Johnny Srouji consider Rivian? What about NVIDIA?
- Apple 2030 & carbon credits (via Zach)
- Split iMessage groups (via sirshannon)
- AI-generated voice-matched dubbing
  - Fran Besora tried the Spanish version
  - Stefanus Secundus tried the German version
  - Ben Mattison had an odd YouTube experience
- Siri and pronunciations (via Paul Zadunajsky)
- Intel ~~stealing~~ learning from chips it fabs
  - Thread by Joe Lion
    - VHDL
  - Jason Biatek points out this is all basically cryptography
    - Galois blog post
- Migrate Purchases (via James Wilby)
Paris Buttfield-Addison got locked out of his Apple ID… because of a gift card
- Casey’s tangentially-related rant
Netflix to acquire Warner Brothers
Post-show: Casey asks for programming help
Members-only ATP Overtime: The State of TV

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