Two new small, highly effective Macs

Hi, mates! Welcome to Installer No. 142, your information to one of the best and Verge-iest stuff on the earth. (If you’re new right here, welcome, how is it virtually September already, and in addition you’ll be able to learn all of the outdated editions on the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been remembering Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen, absorbing the whole lot in Rockstar’s huge GTA VI preview, questioning if Apple will announce a foldable iPhone at its September event, getting sucked into Summoning Salt’s newest speedrunning documentary about competitive Tetris, listening to Weird Al’s new Tiny Desk concert (“The Saga Begins!”), and getting a Reuben from my favourite native spot after desirous about it for months.

This week, I even have for you new Macs, a Nokia cellphone that may cost your cellphone, a Wyze cam with a fantastic privateness function, and extra.

Programming notice: Installer is off subsequent week. I’ll be on trip. See you subsequent month for Techtember!

(As all the time, one of the best a part of Installer is your concepts and ideas. What do you need to know extra about? What are your favourite belongings you’ve watched / seen / listened to / eaten just lately? Drop a line to [email protected]. And if you realize another person who would possibly get pleasure from Installer, ahead it to them and inform them to subscribe right here.)

Today I’m that includes John Gruber of Daring Fireball. If you observe Apple and are a daily Verge reader (which, as an Installer subscriber, I assume you might be), you’re in all probability properly conscious of Gruber and his work as a author, podcaster, good friend of the location, and as a common tech individual on the web.

Ahead of Apple’s huge launch occasion arising on September ninth, I assumed it will be enjoyable to function the homescreen of one of the vital well-known folks within the Apple universe.

The cellphone: iPhone 17 Pro, deep blue, 1 TB (of which solely 200 GB is used, however that received’t cease me from losing cash on a 1 TB mannequin this yr too).

The wallpaper: My wallpaper is a refined gradient from very darkish grey to black. For years I simply caught with a flat black wallpaper, as god and Steve Jobs supposed. (You couldn’t change your homescreen wallpaper till iOS 4, and I stay unconvinced that was a good suggestion.) I just like the refined gradient now as a result of it lets the dynamic island have slightly visible distinction from the wallpaper background.

The apps: I’ve presently received three todo/activity apps on the homescreen, which I can’t suggest, but it surely’s presently working for me: Unforgetful, Finalist, and Due. (The purple “1” badge on Unforgetful is for a reminder to ship you this e mail and the screenshot of my homescreen.) I’ve additionally arguably received three notes apps, in the event you rely Journal (along with Tot and Apple Notes). Mosaic is a TestFlight-only various to the official MLB app, which has a fantastic story behind it. Rather than shutting it down, MLB employed its developer, Jason Weingardt, as a result of Mosaic is so superior. If I took the screenshot later tonight, you’d see a Live Activity from Mosaic of the Yankees sport within the Dynamic Island.

Kotoba can be TestFlight-only. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the best dictionary app for iOS, however as a result of it makes use of the system-provided dictionaries and thesauruses to behave as a dictionary app, it’s not permitted within the App Store. I search for phrases with it virtually each single day. I wrote about it on Daring Fireball a while ago.

The Siri app reveals that I’m testing the iOS 27 betas. It’s good. I have a tendency to make use of it facet by facet with ChatGPT for now, to match responses, however going ahead, I’ll use each. So having that alongside ChatGPT is in step with my having a number of todo apps and a number of notice apps (and a number of messaging apps).

I maintain the badge on Mail counting my unread messages to remind myself that the warmth loss of life of the universe is inevitable.

Oh, and my App Store app icon isn’t the precise App Store app, however as an alternative a shortcut that jumps me right to the list of apps with pending updates to install.

I additionally requested John to share a couple of issues he’s into proper now. Here’s what he despatched again:

Here’s what the Installer group is into this week. I need to know what you’re into proper now as properly! Email [email protected] along with your suggestions for something and the whole lot, and we’ll function a few of our favorites right here each week. For much more nice suggestions, try the replies to this post on Bluesky.

“Feels like this week is all Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and now Transformers for Peter Cullen in terms of what people are watching and listening to!” — Carli

“I’ve been playing A la Card and REALLY enjoying my time with it. It’s an indie roguelike deck builder game that feels like Slay the Spire and Balatro said ‘Let’s go out for food from a food truck.’ All cards can be mutated and changed via the events — their values, their effect, what triggers them. Great art and music, solid design, and it’s scratching an itch I didn’t know I had. Awesome game from a 2-person indie dev team.” — Tom

“My preorder shipped early so I’ve been reading Emo Revival by Andrew Sacher and it’s a 10/10 so far.” — @thoughtlesskyle.bsky.social

“Empire of AI, Karen Hao. Recently translated to PT-BR :)” — Milena

“Tonight I’m going to finish House of Guinness. It’s a fine show but even better if you drink when watching it.” — Nick

“I’ve been on a kick reading older sci-fi novels recently and came across Berserker by Fred Saberhagen (1967). Fantastic book but surprisingly hard to find a physical copy. Ended up purchasing an ePub. Highly recommend!” — Nathan

I received a couple of good screentime discount ideas following final week’s problem. One individual mentioned they don’t set up apps with an infinite scroll, which I assumed was a good suggestion. They even have Screen Time enabled to dam numerous issues, however their associate holds the password to unlock Screen Time if wanted. Clever! Another reader instructed zipping up their cellphone in a phone pocket.

On my trip subsequent week, to verify I really unplug, I plan to deploy my favourite hack: hiding each gadget with a browser in my daughter’s closet. My solely free time the place I may doubtlessly slip into senseless scrolling could be when she’s sleeping, however there’s no means I’m risking waking her up simply to get out the laptop computer. More time for the vital stuff — like taking part in Switch 2.