Yes, I am serious about this.

David Smith: I have launched and withdrawn more than 50 apps from the App Store over the years, but never have I had a withdrawal sustain the consistent attention that Geneva Moon (and its astronomically accurate complications) has. I pulled it 6 years ago and yet I still get people asking about it on a regular basis. It broke in watchOS 27. Over the weekend I got it working again. Here it is. I hope this makes a small but highly dedicated group of people happy. Also, I made it free.

This week on the podcast: Federico has an M5 Ultra Mac Studio review unit and shares what local AI looks like on macOS today — and in the future. Myke has advice for buying iPhones in countries other than your own, and Stephen is old. We will be off next week for the Podcastathon, but will be back on October 8.

We are flying through September, and our St. Jude campaign is rocking and rolling. As of this writing, we are knocking on the door of $450,000 raised this month! St. Jude cares for some of the world’s sickest children regardless of their race, ethnicity, beliefs, or ability to pay. Its patients receive the customized care they need to treat childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases, no matter what barriers they face.

Doug Brown has dug up something previously lost to time. In working with an early Performa, he discovered a true gem on its hard drive: This Performa 410 was a store demo unit! This is the kiosk software that would have been running on a demo Mac inside a store like Sears or Circuit City. The machine was never wiped back to factory state before being sold, and the original owner kept the demo software the entire time they had the machine. Such a cool find!

One day, all iPhones could be like this.

This week on the podcast: Apple’s 27 OSes are out, but a new beta is already overshadowing them. The guys talk about both, celebrate a huge milestone in Relay’s St. Jude campaign, and dream of future Apple Stores.

Dr. Drang, bouncing off my recent post on Apple’s dimensional drawings: When I zoomed in on Stephen’s page, I was initially confused, but then I realized what seemed odd to me. You see, I’ve spent an awful lot of the past 40 years looking at engineering drawings, and I can’t think of any that looked like this. That’s because the drawings I’m used to are for making the depicted product, but the drawings Apple’s offering up here aren’t for that. These are for others—not Apple and not its suppliers—to use for making cases and other accessories. I figured it was worth a quick post on what makes a drawing like the one above so different from what I’m used to.

As is tradition, I have made and cataloged a whole bunch of screenshots of the new version of macOS. Golden Gate is the 24th version of macOS that I have documented this way. It’s a lot of work, but I love having the screenshot library as a resource for folks to use and enjoy. If you haven’t looked through the library in a while, you should check out my new-ish comparison tool. You can type what you are looking for, and the page will surface related screenshots, sorted by age. It is a lot of fun.

Mark Gurman has good news for Apple Store visitors: In many stores, Apple will replace the video walls with dedicated Genius Bars, marking a return to a familiar element from an earlier era. The design resembles the Genius Bars of the past but with an all-wood look. There will be two counter heights for accessibility, while the wall behind the bar will include storage drawers and large posters highlighting new products.

I’m speechless.

My poor, beloved iPhone Air.

It’s what’s on the inside that counts.

In the shadow of Apple’s Surprise and Shine event, we grade our predictions and talk through the news. Many picks were made. One Chairman will be named. Who will win? Who will fold? Ahhh, the dou-ality of the Rickies!

Kate Matthews has an on-going project that I just love: I’ve been sketching size comparisons for the new iPhone models since 2017, so in 2026 I’m celebrating ten years of iPhone size sketches! This is just a sample of what awaits you:

Moof!

If you have an iPhone, you’ll want to check these out. Thankfully, there’s some time between now and when the iPhone Duo ships next month.

Tim Hardwick, MacRumors: The new starting prices for the three models now look like this: iPhone 16: $799 (+$100) iPhone 17e: $699 (+$100) iPhone 17: $899 (+$100) iPhone Air: $1099 (+$100) So that’s a $100 price hike on all four existing models in Apple’s iPhone lineup. With the debut of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple has discontinued the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

...more like CLOhMy.

Creepy...

Usually, there isn’t much news in August, but this year we got new desktop Macs and Tim Cook’s last day as CEO. I’ve added both to the Apple History Calendar.

Apple’s iPhone event takes place next week, so we have gathered to make our picks.

Myke Hurley: Today is September 1, 2026 — the day that John Ternus becomes CEO of Apple. As you would assume, Apple has now updated its executives page with Ternus as CEO, along with a refreshed profile for him. I wanted to note three narratives that I spotted in this profile that I think tell the story of the kind of CEO he wants to be, and how Apple wants to communicate this to us. All three of these are very interesting to me.

Tim Cook, on X (gross): Sending lots of love to the Apple community on my last day as CEO. My title changes tomorrow, but the love I have for the Apple community never will. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration. My gratitude is endless, and I’m excited for the next chapter! This followed an “internal” memo in which he wrote: There is something truly special about Apple. I am most proud of what an annual report could never capture. This place is proof that culture triumphs over everything. We share a belief that what we build matters, and that we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. That purpose is part of what makes this place extraordinary. Apple helps nurture it, but I believe it lived within each of you long before you arrived here. It is what brought you to this company and what continues to drive the work you do every day. Together, we have created something far greater than any one of us could have imagined or accomplished alone. And that’s the secret to our success. We bring out the best in each other. We lift each other up. We have made it possible to leave our “dent in the universe,” as Steve once described it, because of who we are and what we believe, because of what we value and how we see the world. How fortunate we are. How fortunate I am.

D. Griffin Jones had me on episode 2 of his new show: This week, I’m joined by Stephen Hackett to talk about Tim Cook’s last day as CEO of Apple, Relay for St. Jude, everything we don’t know about next week’s event, and some favorite features in the OS 27 updates. All that runs out the clock before we have the chance to talk about static site generators. I hope to return to hit that last topic.

This is why indie media is important.

Thoughts on the iPad mini in a foldable iPhone’s world.

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Will the Home Hub know whose head is biggest? What will September 9th bring? Can anyone afford new Macs? Who knows Tim Cook best? All of these questions will be answered on this week’s episode.

It’s time to round up childhood cancer.

The Trump EPA has made a proposal that would lift requirements that force states to provide public notice or solicit comments on air pollution permits for data center construction projects. Maxine Joselow has more at The New York Times: The move could prevent residents from raising concerns about — or even learning about — data centers before permits are approved and construction starts. Nearly 200 advocacy groups and more than a dozen states have voiced opposition to the change, making it the latest flashpoint in the national debate over the data centers powering the artificial intelligence boom.

Apple’s iPhone event is scheduled for September 9. Prepare thy wallet.

The new version is just $9. It is compatible with these Apple products: iPhones: iPhone Air iPhone 17 Pro iPhone 17 Pro Max iPhone 17 iPhone 17e iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16e iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhone 14 Plus iPhone 13 Pro iPhone 13 Pro Max iPhone 13 mini iPhone 13 iPhone SE (3rd generation) iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 12 mini iPhone 12 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max iPhone 11 iPhone SE (2nd generation) iPhone XS iPhone XS Max iPhone XR iPhone X iPhone 8 iPhone 8 Plus iPhone 7 iPhone 7 Plus iPhone 6s iPhone 6s Plus iPhone 6 iPhone 6 Plus iPhone SE (1st generation) iPhone 5s iPhone 5c iPhone 5 iPads:

There’s big news in the land of small desktops. Jason Snell at Six Colors: In a bit of a late-August surprise while the world awaits word on the next generation of iPhones, on Tuesday Apple announced two new processors, the M5 Ultra and M6, which help power new iterations of its Mac Studio and Mac mini desktop computers. Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro The M6 is built with a new 2-nanometer process and comes with 12 CPU cores, up from the 10 found in the base M4 and M5. It packs six efficiency cores, four performance cores, and two super cores. Snell explains:

As is our annual tradition, Myke and I have published a Q&A to mark Relay’s anniversary. We took on listener questions about podcasting in general, changes at Relay over time, and whatever happened to B-Sides.

Colleen McClain and Eugenie Park at the Pew Research Center: Today, 52% of Americans say they are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life – up from 37% in 2021. Another 9% are more excited than concerned and 37% say they’re equally excited and concerned, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 22-28, 2026. Concern about AI for Americans over the age of 30 has been relatively stable, but not for people in their 20s and teens:

This week on the podcast: A bunch of future Apple hardware has leaked in a beta of macOS Tahoe. The guys go through the list and then consider the iPad mini’s place in the world and the UI changes coming with Golden Gate.

RR Auction has something amazing for sale at the moment: an Apple I built for the Byte Shop. The auction page has more details: Well-preserved and fully functional ‘Byte Shop’–style Apple-1 computer (also commonly known as the Apple I, or Apple Computer 1), complete with all components and accessories required for operation, housed in a unique Smith-Corona typewriter case modified to fit the Apple-1. This remarkable Apple-1, marked “01-0066” on the reverse side in security marker, is a highly original 8K system from the second batch of 50 Apple-1 computers produced and sold. While the marking alone does not establish that the computer was originally sold directly by The Byte Shop, the system displays several important Byte Shop–style characteristics, including its stock-number marking, its 8K configuration, and its original Datanetics Rev D keyboard with custom wired Apple-1 cable—the same keyboard-and-cable arrangement seen on known Byte Shop Apple-1 systems.

Kenneth Chang has the bad news at The New York Times (Gift Link): NASA’s high-risk, high-reward attempt to save one of its space telescopes before it falls out of orbit has failed. On Wednesday, NASA announced that a rescue spacecraft that was meant to grab onto the space agency’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and push it into a higher altitude will not proceed. With the rescue mission called off, Swift, which has observed distant, powerful explosions in the cosmos since 2004, is expected to burn up in the atmosphere later this year.

After talking for years about Things’ lack of flexibility around repeating tasks, I have some good news, via the Cultured Code blog: Repeating to-dos just got far more flexible, with two highly requested improvements: You can now complete them early, and easily reschedule them when plans change! It took a while, but I think they really nailed this.

One step forward.

Myke Hurley, marking the 12th anniversary of our company: The versions of myself and Stephen who started this podcast network in 2014 feel incredibly different to me. We’ve learned a lot, changed a lot, adapted a lot, and sought new opportunities along the way. I kind of feel like our personal journeys have mirrored Relay’s journey. There have been ebbs and flows in our business, as we have attempted to adapt and shift towards what we think the audience wants from us, what the business needs, and where we want to take things.

Do you wanna lick them?

Samuel Hardiman, The Daily Memphian: Memphis, a city known nationwide for Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI’s data centers, may finally take legislative steps to pause data center development. At its Aug. 18 committee meeting, the Memphis City Council is poised to discuss an ordinance that would declare, “a temporary moratorium on the acceptance, processing, approval, and issuance of zoning, land use, building, and other associated infrastructure permits for data center developments within the City of Memphis.”

This week on the podcast: The trio reunites to discuss Google’s new Pixel lineup, how we feel about Siri AI, and clipboard managers.

I am turning into dust.

This year’s Podcastathon is taking place on Friday, October 2. Myke is gathering answers for a new batch of questions for a “Fueding Families” segment. If you have a few minutes, we’d love your help! I am playing the game, so I have no idea what these questions entail, so don’t send me any spoilers.

This week on the podcast: Stephen and Myke are joined by Jason Snell to talk about CarPlay on boats and the new version of Pastebot, before useful consumer advice is given about weather stations and network-attached storage.