Hardware

USB-C accessory landscape is a mess

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Jordan Kahn, writing for 9to5Mac:

It would be fine if all of those USB-C accessories you purchased for your 2015 MacBook were firmware upgradeable and received updates like Apple’s own products, but many of them are not.

This seems like a mess, and one that is not necessarily merging towards stability.

Driving a 5K Apple display

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WWDC brings with it the prospect of a MacBook Pro refresh (likely) as well as a 5K external display refresh (less likely, but possible). Rene Ritchie explores the tree of possibilities for driving a 5K display.

Apple and the future of color

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This is a well written, understandable walk through the evolution and current state of color and Apple devices. Deep, but not too deep. A great read.

AnandTech’s deep dive look at the 9.7″ iPad Pro display

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AnandTech does their typical great job digging into the details. In this case, Brandon Chester keeps the focus on the 9.7″ iPad Pro display, looking at things like DCI-P3 gamut support and the underpinnings of True Tone.

DoBox: The wireless box for Apple devices that does a lot

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I tend to shy away from Kickstarters, purely because there is no guarantee that you’ll get the goods after you fund them. But this one might be worth a look.

The DoBox is an all-in-one device, but it does a lot. Let’s you attach peripherals (like a mouse/keyboard) to your iOS device, charge all your devices (including your Apple Watch without a cable), transfer files, make a hot spot, even more. Worth a look.

Using the correct charger or power adapter (and what happens if you don’t)

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Most of the charging you do will be with a lightning cable or MacBook power adaptor. Maybe you’ve got a few gadgets with a mini or micro-USB adapter. But this is for all your non-mainstream gadgets. Those bricks you plug in the wall with one of about 100 different types of tips on the other end.

Got one of those? Then read on.

Apple video port quick reference guide

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From S-Video, through DVI and Mini-DVI, all the way to USB Type C, this quick reference chart shows all the video ports ever used on a Mac. Anything missing?

Breaking into an iPhone using external hardware

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Quartz, writing about a black box you connect to a cracked open iPhone:

The hacking equipment is called IP Box, and can be found on eBay for about $200. It’s a black box that connects to an iPhone and systematically runs through every possible PIN combination to unlock it.

Can this be used to break into the San Bernardino iPhone 5c? It is running iOS 8.1.2. Jury still out on whether this technique will work on that particular version of iOS. Fascinating stuff.

On adding a trackpad to the iPad

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Jean-Louis Gassée, writing for Monday Note:

The iPad Pro’s last frontier is adding a trackpad to the Smart Keyboard.

The article itself is an interesting read, but this core idea struck me as one of the defining differences between an iPad and a MacBook.

My bathroom mirror is smarter than yours

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Google’s Max Braun took some of his off time to marry an HDMI display board with a two-way mirror to produce a bathroom mirror that shows you the news, weather, etc. Terrific project. Lots of details and pictures, back and front.

Turn your trackpad into a tablet

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This is a pretty interesting idea. An app that turns your pressure-sensitive trackpad into a tablet. It works with Photoshop and the like. And it’s cheap. Read on for details.

Why are Apple MacBooks more reliable?

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There’s nothing like controlling the design and build of both the hardware and the software from top to bottom. This piece has some interesting conclusions.