512 Pixels

512 Pixels

@512pixels.net

512 Pixels is a blog covering Apple, computer history, space, design, and other fine nerdery, written by Stephen Hackett.

543 followers0 following767 posts

512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Sponsor: Mardo, the Best Markdown Viewer Ever Made https://512pixels.net/2026/10/sponsor-mardo-markdown-viewer/

512pixels.netSponsor: Mardo, the Best Markdown Viewer Ever MadeDo you read Markdown on your Mac? Plans, notes, READMEs, the files your AI writes for you all day? Then why not make every one of them a pleasure to read? Mardo is the best Markdown viewer ever made. Select any Markdown file in the Finder, press Space, and Quick Look shows it beautifully rendered — tables, code, diagrams, math, and all. Then watch it come alive. Leave that preview open while Claude Code, Codex, or any other app rewrites the file, and every change arrives in real time, right there in Quick Look, without moving you from the line you were reading. And when a file gets enormous, Mardo doesn’t flinch. It opens a 50 GB Markdown file in about an eighth of a second and lets you jump anywhere in it instantly.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Happy 25th, iPod https://512pixels.net/2026/10/happy-25th-ipod/

512pixels.netHappy 25th, iPodJason Snell: In researching the Designed in California series, I was struck by just how quickly the iPod’s importance was overshadowed by the iPhone. There are barely more than five years between the launch of the iPod and the launch of the iPhone. While both products took time to grow into their markets, I think it’s still the case that the true “iPod era” was only a handful of years long, and it’s been entirely overshadowed by the product that came after it.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Duo Walk-In Purchases Discouraged https://512pixels.net/2026/10/duo-walk-in-purchases-discouraged/

512pixels.netDuo Walk-In Purchases DiscouragedHartley Charlton at MacRumors with some bad news for me: Apple Store employees told MacRumors that they have been advised that there will likely be no ‌iPhone Duo‌ stock available for walk-in purchases on launch day. Staff have been instructed to discourage customers without pre-orders from coming in expecting to buy the device, warning that they will be disappointed. Apple’s online store tells customers to check back on Saturday, October 24 for pickup availability. Pickup reservations were briefly available when pre-orders opened before the option was disabled.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

My iPhone Duo Pre-Order Went South https://512pixels.net/2026/10/my-iphone-duo-pre-order-got/

512pixels.netMy iPhone Duo Pre-Order Went SouthI am currently traveling, but dutifully set my alarm to order an iPhone Duo. Having multiple devices is the way to go in these situations, so I was at my laptop and had my iPhone. The Apple Store app on my phone loaded first, and that’s when I learned a terrible truth: I could only choose Apple Stores near me for pickup, and uhhh, I am not flying across the country again next week to pick this thing up.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

The iPhone Duo is Expensive to Repair https://512pixels.net/2026/10/duo-repair-costs/

512pixels.netThe iPhone Duo is Expensive to RepairiPhone Duo preorders open tomorrow. AppleCare seems like a very good idea for this product: Repair Price Cover layer damage $49 Back glass damage $199 Battery service $229 Rear camera damage $229 Outer display damage $379 Outer display damage $509 Back glass damage $509 Inner display damage $999 Other damage $1,499 I’ve been using AppleCare One for a while now, and recently moved to the AppleCare One Family. For my family, it was a good bit cheaper than all five of us having our own AppleCare One accounts.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

“I’d Just Use My Phone” https://512pixels.net/2026/10/id-just-use-my-phone/

512pixels.net“I’d Just Use My Phone”Years ago, Marco Arment said something that I think about all the time: Don’t bet against the smartphone. It’s amazing how many products have run straight into this idea, like a sprinting outfielder who hasn’t slowed down in time to avoid the wall. There are some obvious examples, especially in our AI-crazed day. The Humane AI pin never stood a chance. The Rabbit R1 is beautiful, but is at best a novelty. The friend is never going to escape the gravity of its own domain name.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Sponsor: Mojave Paint https://512pixels.net/2026/10/sponsor-mojave-paint/

512pixels.netSponsor: Mojave PaintMojave Paint for Mac is a love letter to image editing programs of the past — a time before generative AI, infinitely customizable tool palettes, and online-required subscription access. With familiar layer-based rendering and powerful typography tools, Mojave Paint works equally well for design or photography. Use masks on any filter or adjustment to get the right look on a photo, or make the best-looking flyer for a lost cat your neighborhood telephone pole has ever seen.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

“HomeView” https://512pixels.net/2026/10/homeview/

512pixels.net“HomeView”Mark Gurman, writing two days before Apple’s event this week: The centerpiece is a new smart home hub called the HomeView. Equipped with a display and an A18 chip, the product essentially serves as the Siri command center for an Apple-powered household… The HomeView comes in two versions: a countertop model with a metal speaker base and a wall-mounted version with a flat, square base that sits against the wall beneath the display. The countertop offering will come in four colors: space gray, silver, starlight and pink, while the wall-mounted version will be limited to space gray and silver.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

$756,200.97 Raised for St. Jude https://512pixels.net/2026/10/75620097-for-st-jude-2026/

512pixels.net$756,200.97 Raised for St. JudeWe just closed our annual St. Jude campaign and raised an amazing amount of money. Together, the Relay community donated $756,200.97 to assist St. Jude in understanding, treating, and defeating childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. That means that since 2019, the community has given just shy of $5.6 million for this noble cause. That number truly leaves me speechless. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Your donations mean that more families will have more tomorrows with their children, just like we have had with our son.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Apple Maps Totally Knows About Smooth Pryamids https://512pixels.net/2026/10/apple-maps-smooth-pryamids/

512pixels.netTurns Out, Apple Maps Totally Knows About Smooth PryamidsAfter my recent post about how Apple Maps butchers the Great American Pyramid, several readers sent in images of other pyramids Apple has rendered properly. One in particular is quite painful to see — Luxor Las Vegas. Here is a the hotel in satellite view, and then in Apple’s 3D rendered view: It seems that Apple does have the technology to make smooth pyramids!
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Sponsor: NAS Reborn, from the Maker of Working Copy https://512pixels.net/2026/10/sponsor-nas-reborn/

512pixels.netSponsor: NAS Reborn, from the Maker of Working CopyIn a kitchen drawer, between a key that fitted no door and a knot of charging cables, lay an iPhone 6s. It had once been the newest phone in the house, and it had taken more pictures of the cat than anyone would ever look at. Then one Christmas a bigger phone arrived, the old one went into the drawer “for now,” and for now lasted nine years. “We are retired, you and I,” said the key. “I am resting,” said the iPhone.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Apple in the Home https://512pixels.net/2026/10/apple-in-the-home/

512pixels.netApple in the HomeMark Gurman, writing about Apple’s upcoming move into more smart home devices, which we may see as early as this month: At the center of the strategy is a smart-home hub code-named J490, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple also plans to announce the first update to the HomePod mini since that device’s 2020 debut and its first new TV set-top box since 2022. … The hub’s defining feature will be its ability to serve multiple members of a household. It is designed to recognize who is speaking to it or approaching it, and then display personalized content and provide answers based on that person’s data and accounts.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Geneva Moon Returns https://512pixels.net/2026/09/geneva-moon-returns/

512pixels.netGeneva Moon ReturnsDavid 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.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Save the Date: Podcastathon 2026 https://512pixels.net/2026/09/save-the-date-podcastathon-2026/

512pixels.netSave the Date: Podcastathon 2026We 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.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

The Performa’s In-Store Demo https://512pixels.net/2026/09/performa-store-demo/

512pixels.netThe Performa’s In-Store DemoDoug 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!
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

More on Apple Product Drawings https://512pixels.net/2026/09/more-on-apple-product-drawings/

512pixels.netMore on Apple Product DrawingsDr. 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.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

Golden Gate Added to the macOS Screenshot Library https://512pixels.net/2026/09/golden-gate-screenshot-library/

512pixels.netGolden Gate Added to the macOS Screenshot LibraryAs 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.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

All Hail the Genius Bar https://512pixels.net/2026/09/all-hail-the-genius-bar/

512pixels.netAll Hail the Genius BarMark 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.
512 Pixels
@512pixels.net

iPhone 16, 17, 17e, and Air See $100 Price Increases https://512pixels.net/2026/09/iphone-16-17-17e-and-air-all-see-100-price-increases/

512pixels.netiPhone 16, 17, 17e, and Air See $100 Price IncreasesTim 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.