Linked List: August 10, 2026

Monday, 10 August 2026

Zac Hall at 9to5Mac has a good rundown of new features and changes in beta 5. Some app icons got tweaks (the Siri app in particular looks much cooler now), and a bunch of the existing American and British Siri speaking voices now have the Pace and Expressivity adjustment sliders.

Also interesting: the OS 27 releases were stuck at beta 4 for 22 days. That’s a week longer than usual. Will Hains (my Kotoba friend) maintains a wonderful single-page website tracking iOS version release date history. For these summer “next big version” comparisons, it’s best to filter by “*.0” releases. Do that at Hains’s website and you can see a fairly clear pattern: betas 1 through 4 typically last about two weeks each; then starting with beta 5, Apple switches to a roughly weekly schedule until the end of the beta cycle. I wouldn’t read anything into that other than to expect beta 6 next week and beta 7 the week after that.

‘Friday Night Baseball’ Will Start Broadcasting Games Live, in Apple Immersive, on Vision Pro ★

Apple Newsroom:

For the first time, baseball fans can take in all the action of “Friday Night Baseball” live in Apple Immersive on Apple Vision Pro, leveraging 3D video recorded in 8K with a 180-degree field of view. On August 28, viewers with Vision Pro will experience the iconic Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry from unique camera angles that place viewers right in the game, immersed in the drama of each at-bat, the celebrations in the dugout after a big hit, close plays at the outfield wall, and more.

The experience features bespoke commentary from Paul Severino (play-by-play), Xavier Scruggs (analyst), and Michelle Margaux (sideline reporter); dedicated replays; and an immersive graphics package that includes team lineups and stats floating in the viewer’s space. During breaks in the action, the broadcast remains live, immersing viewers in the stadium experience from all angles as ambisonic microphones capture sounds in Spatial Audio.

Hot damn, they even picked the best rivalry in sports to kick it off.

Michael Tsai on My Retraction of the Astrology/Astronomy App Store Rejection Story ★

Michael Tsai:

I’m really unhappy about this, both for my role in spreading a false story and because I think it will hurt the cause of reforming App Review. I know there are many crazy rejections and have experienced some first-hand. This story was believable because of that well-known history and because Godier didn’t seem like a nobody trying to get attention — he was the developer of another highly regarded app. But now people are going to point to true developer stories and accuse them of being fakes, too.

Same.

‘The Problem With Vibe-Coded Flattery’ ★

Ernie Smith at Tedium:

I’m seeing email after email suggesting these users built a thing they’re truly passionate about. But if we can’t trust that this passion is real, legit, and from the heart, we’re in trouble.

Take a step back. Is this thing you built a reflection of you?

I think it’s fun and exciting that I’m getting a lot more emails about a lot more new apps. But a fair chunk of those emails are themselves clearly written by an AI chatbot. It’s so obvious. Those go straight in the trash.

The NYT and WSJ on Apple, China, and the RAM Crisis ★

Kalley Huang, reporting from San Francisco, and Ana Swanson, from Washington, for The New York Times (gift link):

Apple, which has cited the memory chip shortage for recent price increases, is working with other consumer electronics companies to push for permission to buy memory chips from China, which faces certain restrictions, seven people said.

Apple was in talks in 2022 to buy memory chips from Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation, or YMTC, but those efforts fizzled under pressure from U.S. lawmakers.

Many officials appear unsympathetic to Apple’s desire to buy Chinese chips, because the company has promised for years to move more of its supply chain to the United States but has made only small steps toward that goal, four people said. Other critics of the plan said that China was also experiencing a similar chip crunch, and had proved itself to be a risky supplier when it restricted its mineral exports last year.

Raffaele Huang and Rolfe Winkler, reporting for The Wall Street Journal (also a gift link):

Apple has been testing memory chips from China’s CXMT across product lines including iPhones and MacBooks, according to people familiar with the matter, as the U.S. company addresses a memory crunch during the artificial-intelligence boom.

Apple has held early talks with CXMT about supplying components with the goal of using them in some devices sold in China, the people said. Apple hopes to win the White House’s blessing to do business with the Chinese company. [...]

Apple often tailors components to its devices to maximize performance. Using standard CXMT memory chips could force Apple to redesign certain parts of its products. Industry analysts also say CXMT’s technology still trails its foreign competitors, in part because the company’s access to the most sophisticated chip-making equipment is restricted.

At present, CXMT wouldn’t be a panacea for Apple. The Chinese company has maxed out its production capacity this year, leaving little room for new international clients, the people familiar with the matter said.

The gist of both reports is that just like in 2022, Apple might not get permission from the U.S. government to use Chinese RAM, even for devices sold in China. And, even if they do secure permission, it might not actually help much with the supply crunch.