Linked List: July 30, 2026

Thursday, 30 July 2026

Mark Zuckerberg: ‘The AI Future Is for Everyone’ ★

Mark Zuckerberg, in an op-ed Tuesday for The Wall Street Journal (gift link; and irony isn’t lost that “everyone” needs a paid WSJ subscription to read this):

We are fortunate to live at an incredible moment in history. In the next few years, people will be able to use superintelligence beyond human capacity to create and discover extraordinary new things, build new businesses, express our ideas, learn new concepts, and improve our lives, health, relationships and careers.

Perhaps we’ll be able to use it to build a metaverse too. Or to keep our attention on a major initiative for more than two or three years.

Apple Releases iOS and MacOS 26.6, MacOS 15.7.8, and More ★

Samuel Axon, Ars Technica:

Apple has released iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS 26.6. Apart from potential security hotfixes, these are likely the last updates before the arrival of iOS 27, macOS 27, and so on.

All of today’s releases include minor bug fixes, and there are numerous security updates: more than 150 for macOS 26.6. Apple also rolled out macOS 14.8.8 and macOS 15.7.8 for older devices, also focused on security fixes.

In terms of new features, you won’t find many in these releases, as they mainly pave the way for the next major OS update, likely to hit sometime in September. Most notably, the release notes for iOS and iPadOS 26.6 say the update “optimizes the Spotlight index to prepare for iOS 27.” This update will kick off some indexing work that will then be leveraged in an ostensibly much more robust Spotlight search feature when iOS 27 launches next month.

I don’t mean to pick nits, but there’s nothing “ostensible” about it. You can use the new Spotlight index via Siri AI in the OS 27 beta releases and it’s really good. The initial background indexing took almost a full week for me on iOS, I suspect because I have so much email archived, but anyone who upgrades to these 26.6 releases now shouldn’t have to wait at all after upgrading to 27.0 in September. Or even if you wait for the 27.1 releases — you won’t need to wait for Siri AI to have your full semantic index at hand.

Rogue Amoeba: Unobtrusive Update Notifications ★

Paul Kafasis, on the Rogue Amoeba blog back in April:

Though Sparkle serves us very well, it has one notable downside. Update announcements are most likely to appear at the least convenient time: right after you’ve launched the app. You want to start recording with Audio Hijack, for instance, but the app is telling you about a new version.

We’ve long wished to avoid these disruptions. With that in mind, we’re making changes to how update notifications appear throughout our apps. In the future, when the software’s timed automated check detects a newer version, it will no longer pop an obtrusive window like the one seen above.

Instead, a small “Update Available” indicator will be shown in the app’s interface.

Such a little thing, but like I wrote earlier this week, getting all the little things right is how you get to insanely great. Every Mac app using Sparkle ought to copy this. It’s so much nicer.

Looking for the Catch in Apple Upgrade ★

Damon Beres, writing for The Atlantic under the hed/subhed: “The New iPhone Underclass: Apple’s rental program is a trap”:

The Klarna plan — “Apple Upgrade,” which replaces the iPhone Upgrade Program — is truly, legally, a lease. This is confusing! And it’s confusing in part because this is not how Klarna, a well-known buy-now, pay-later service, typically operates: When you use Klarna for clothing from Shein or lip kits at Sephora or an Xbox at GameStop, you’re paying back a loan, exactly as you were in the original iPhone Upgrade Program. Same if you use Klarna to buy a Samsung Galaxy phone. But with Apple Upgrade, you are renting: The Mac or Apple Watch is not yours until the final payment is made.

I don’t think this is confusing at all. Apple Upgrade is the primary brand for this program, not Klarna. Klarna is really only mentioned in the small print. You get into Apple Upgrade through Apple. Off the top of your head, do you remember Apple’s bank partner for the now-discontinued iPhone Upgrade Program? (It was Citizens Bank.) The Samsung program Beres links to above is named “Klarna Pay in 4”. “Apple Upgrade is a leasing program partnered with Klarna” is easily understood.

Here’s what Beres thinks is a “trap”:

Consider a student or a young professional, or perhaps an underemployed older one, who needs a new laptop. They decide on a MacBook. Apple Upgrade will appear to be the best deal: In its announcement, Apple offers the example of a 14-inch MacBook Pro that retails for $1,999 but that can be had for a monthly lease. Perhaps this person goes for the two-year term, which has them paying $54 a month. Best Buy, which currently has the same computer on sale for $1,849, offers an 18-month loan repayment with $103 installments. Apple’s deal appears to be cheaper: The 24-month lease adds up to $1,296; Best Buy’s 18-month loan lands at the store’s full retail price of $1,849.

Why does Best Buy’s laptop seem more expensive? It’s because the plan is actually designed for you to fully pay off the device. At the end of the 24-month MacBook Pro lease, meanwhile, the consumer will still owe $703, meaning that the actual total price of the Apple arrangement is $1,999 — higher than Best Buy’s offer.

This has nothing to do with the differences between Apple Upgrade’s leasing terms and Best Buy’s 18-month loan. It’s the difference between Apple’s retail price of $1,999 and Best Buy’s $1,849. Guess what? $1,849 is less than $1,999.

I generally like paying for everything I buy up front. The only thing I have a loan for right now is our home. So when Apple Upgrade was announced, I approached it with skepticism, presuming that participants would wind up paying more over time than they would buying devices outright up front. But no. There is no interest penalty. If anything, if you presume inflation is still going to run a bit high for the next few years, buying devices through Apple Upgrade might be a slightly better deal than paying up front.

Is it a “trap” that at the end of your 24-month lease you still owe $703 if you want to buy it? I would say that’s not a trap at all, given that you’d have only paid $1,296 to date on a $1,999 device. I’m not trying to be obtuse. I get it. If you pay the full $1,999 up front, or take a loan to pay the full amount over 24 months, then, after two years, you own the device outright and you might not be tempted to buy a new device for a few more years. If instead you lease it and still owe $703 after 24 months, you might be inclined to think that it’d be no fun at all to pay $703 to finish purchasing a now-two-year-old MacBook, even if the price is totally fair and carries no interest penalty. It’s just not fun. What might seem fun, at that point, is to just hand the leased MacBook back to Apple and start a new lease on a brand-new MacBook. That’s surely the appeal of this whole thing from Apple’s perspective — that leasing entices people to keep starting new leases every two years rather than just sit back and enjoy a fully-paid-for device for a few additional years. I think it’s a stretch to call that a “trap”, though.

The Differences Between the New ‘Apple Upgrade’ and the Old ‘iPhone Upgrade Program’ ★

Ryan Christoffel, writing for 9to5Mac:

Apple Upgrade launched this week, and the iPhone Upgrade Program is being discontinued as a result. But despite some similarities, the two offerings are not the same. Here are the key differences.

I wrote yesterday that there seemingly is no catch with the new Apple Upgrade program, but there’s at least one, which Christoffel’s piece doesn’t note. When you lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade, you need a cellular account on one of the big three U.S. carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. That kind of stinks, and I’m not quite sure I understand why. You’re leasing the iPhone through Apple and Klarna, not the carrier, so I don’t know why Apple cares. If you know why, shoot me a message and explain it. Is it just a simplistic credit-risk evaluation, where prepaid plan-holders and MVNO users in general are viewed suspiciously?

I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about the higher-quality MVNOs, especially US Mobile. (Quinn Nelson mentioned last week on The Talk Show that he’s on US Mobile.) But if you’re not on one of the big three you can’t lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade.

(I think the old iPhone Upgrade Program required you to have a plan on one of the big three carriers too, so that might be why Christoffel didn’t mention it — it’s the same, not a difference.)