715: Diner Lobster
Episode
159 min
Read time
3 min
Topics
Career Growth, Marketing, Software Development
AI-Generated Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓iPhone Duo ergonomics: The Duo functions as a two-handed device regardless of whether it is open or closed. The closed form is wide enough to make lateral thumb reach difficult, while the open form distributes weight so effectively it feels lighter than expected. Users coming from a Pro Max will notice minimal weight difference — the Duo is only 5 grams heavier — but those upgrading from a standard Pro will find it noticeably heavier and pocket-unfriendly.
- ✓iPhone Duo Touch ID workaround: Touch ID on the Duo is largely a non-issue for Apple Watch wearers because watch-based unlock is now astonishingly fast, no longer waiting for Face ID to time out first. The side button defaults to a "rest to open" behavior that shows the lock screen before unlocking, preserving the ability to check notifications without triggering a full unlock. Disabling "rest finger to open" in Touch ID settings changes this behavior.
- ✓iPhone Duo Apple Pencil compatibility: Only the official Apple Pencil USB-C works with the Duo. Third-party styluses using the Logitech Crayon-style passive connection mechanism — including popular budget brands like MetaPen — do not function. Writing on a flat surface is impractical because the camera bump causes the device to rock significantly. Handheld portrait orientation is the practical posture for note-taking, making an iPad mini a better dedicated writing tool.
- ✓iPad mini OLED positioning: The new iPad mini with A17 Pro chip, OLED screen, and optional nano texture targets Kindle-style consumption use cases rather than laptop replacement. Nano texture is available starting at the 256GB tier for $800, making it far more accessible than on iPad Pro where it requires a 1TB configuration. The device is also IP67 water resistant, uses an acoustic display for speakers, and is only 1 gram heavier than the iPhone Duo.
- ✓MacBook Pro ProLED naming and screen details: Apple's new top-tier MacBook Pro carries the name "MacBook Pro with ProLED XDR Display" — a branding choice that draws criticism for redundancy and awkward capitalization. The OLED panel uses a non-RGB-stripe subpixel arrangement identical to iPhone displays, which does not cause visible color fringing on macOS since Apple removed subpixel anti-aliasing years ago. The screen sustains 1,000 nits SDR and peaks at 2,000 nits, with nano texture available for $150 extra.
What It Covers
ATP episode 715 covers hands-on impressions of the iPhone Duo foldable from Casey and Marco, the new iPad mini with OLED and nano texture, the M6 iMac and base MacBook Pro updates, and the headline MacBook Pro with ProLED XDR display featuring a glowing Apple logo, touch screen, and Dynamic Island — across a wide-ranging 159-minute discussion.
Key Questions Answered
- •iPhone Duo ergonomics: The Duo functions as a two-handed device regardless of whether it is open or closed. The closed form is wide enough to make lateral thumb reach difficult, while the open form distributes weight so effectively it feels lighter than expected. Users coming from a Pro Max will notice minimal weight difference — the Duo is only 5 grams heavier — but those upgrading from a standard Pro will find it noticeably heavier and pocket-unfriendly.
- •iPhone Duo Touch ID workaround: Touch ID on the Duo is largely a non-issue for Apple Watch wearers because watch-based unlock is now astonishingly fast, no longer waiting for Face ID to time out first. The side button defaults to a "rest to open" behavior that shows the lock screen before unlocking, preserving the ability to check notifications without triggering a full unlock. Disabling "rest finger to open" in Touch ID settings changes this behavior.
- •iPhone Duo Apple Pencil compatibility: Only the official Apple Pencil USB-C works with the Duo. Third-party styluses using the Logitech Crayon-style passive connection mechanism — including popular budget brands like MetaPen — do not function. Writing on a flat surface is impractical because the camera bump causes the device to rock significantly. Handheld portrait orientation is the practical posture for note-taking, making an iPad mini a better dedicated writing tool.
- •iPad mini OLED positioning: The new iPad mini with A17 Pro chip, OLED screen, and optional nano texture targets Kindle-style consumption use cases rather than laptop replacement. Nano texture is available starting at the 256GB tier for $800, making it far more accessible than on iPad Pro where it requires a 1TB configuration. The device is also IP67 water resistant, uses an acoustic display for speakers, and is only 1 gram heavier than the iPhone Duo.
- •MacBook Pro ProLED naming and screen details: Apple's new top-tier MacBook Pro carries the name "MacBook Pro with ProLED XDR Display" — a branding choice that draws criticism for redundancy and awkward capitalization. The OLED panel uses a non-RGB-stripe subpixel arrangement identical to iPhone displays, which does not cause visible color fringing on macOS since Apple removed subpixel anti-aliasing years ago. The screen sustains 1,000 nits SDR and peaks at 2,000 nits, with nano texture available for $150 extra.
- •MacBook Pro glowing Apple logo return: The illuminated Apple logo on the MacBook Pro lid returns after a nine-year absence, removed in 2016 alongside the Touch Bar generation. Unlike the original implementation — which used LCD backlight bleed — this version has independent dedicated lighting that syncs brightness with the display via software. The logo dims proportionally when screen brightness is reduced. This marks the first time the feature has appeared since the transition away from the controversial butterfly keyboard era.
- •MacBook Pro touch screen and OLED burn-in: The new MacBook Pro includes a touch screen but no Apple Pencil support. Apple mentions burn-in protection in promotional material without elaborating on the specific mechanism — possibilities include pixel shifting, static element detection, or compensation cycles already standard in iPhone and iPad OLED panels. A Mac's always-on usage pattern creates more burn-in risk than a phone, potentially reviving the practical purpose of screen savers to keep pixels cycling during idle periods.
Notable Moment
Marco spent 48 hours monitoring stock alerts across 12 Apple Store locations, repeatedly getting the Duo into his cart only to lose it at checkout. He ultimately secured a unit — but only the 2TB model at roughly $3,400 after tax. At pickup, a store employee casually mentioned that business reps had been quietly holding stock for customers since launch day.
Episode Transcript
Do we have a pre show, or do we wanna just jump into the administer via? I know we don't typically do that. We always have a preview. Whatever pre show we have, it has to be short. Alright. I think that was just it. No. Come on. Well done, John. Well done. Hey, Marco. I hear there's some rumors. There's some rumbling in the streets that you might have been able to come up with a toy for yourself. That sounds really, disturbing. Oh, come now. Behave. No. That's... You're not making it better. It's... Are you talking about a duo? Yes. Oh. Yeah. I I... Okay. I didn't know what he was talking about either. Golly, y'all. Y'all dirty. Gracious. Wow. Every listener is gonna... Okay. Alright. Alright. Alright. Anyway, moving on. Did you did you procure an iPhone Duo? Is that the toy that you've procured procured? I do have an iPhone Duo. I'm mad about it, but I I do have to. Do you want to expand on that, or do you wanna save it for later? Ever since Saturday morning, you know, when it said... When Apple said, like, check back on this day for in store pickup. I've had one of those stock checking sites that, like, pulls it every few seconds, and eventually like, you know, some something will pop up, it'll alert me, and it makes, you know, all my devices make sound, and everything's, you know, blinking, and sirens are going off, and Casey's garage door is closing, and like all these different things happen. Then of course, rushed to the computer and go go go, you know, I've had everything preset and then oh, it's gone. Oh, God. And then that happened all weekend. So all Saturday, all Sunday, all like that would just every every, you know, couple hours one would pop up in stock somewhere in the New York Metro Area, I had a very wide search radius that covered 12 different Apple stores, it would get to the cart and it would, you know, try it and then, oh it's gone, like and it after living like that for, know, forty eight hours and continual failures, I finally got one. Except, it had to be the two terabyte model. Oh no. For, after tax dollars 3,400. Oh my word. There was a time that I would look at a $3,500 laptop and be like, woof, that's expensive. Woah. Oh, and by the way, the the business reps, So the business rep I was dealing with is very nice, but kept saying, you know, oh, gonna see if I can, you know, hold something aside or figure out something for you, you know, and of course, like, the every day the answer was nope, sorry, nope, sorry, nope, sorry. Meanwhile, I go to pick up this phone, and it's a business expense because this is literally all of what I do, but you know in order to get …
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