Tech Brew Ride Home - Thu. 03/10 – Apple Hasn’t Forgotten About The Mac Mini

Episode Date: March 10, 2022

Apple hasn’t forgotten about the Mac Mini. Amazon’s first stock split since the dotcom era. Tinder leans into background checks as a service. Hands on with the new Magic Leap 2 AR glasses. And forget about delivery by drone, now imagine getting packages delivered to you from space. The wildest startup I’ve heard about in a while. Sponsors: Masterworks.io/ride Workable.com Links: Exclusive: Updated Mac mini to have versions with M2 and M2 Pro chip (9to5Mac) 27-Inch 'Studio Display Pro' With Mini-LED and ProMotion Could Launch in June (MacRumors) Amazon announces 20-for-1 stock split, $10 billion buyback (CNBC) Tinder rolls out in-app access to background checks, powered by nonprofit Garbo (TechCrunch) Magic Leap 2 Hands-On: AR Glasses That Can Dim The Real World (CNET) Dreaming of Suitcases in Space (NYTimes) The a16z Episode With Myself And Chris Dixon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Thursday, March 10th, 2020. I'm Brian McCullough today. Apple hasn't forgotten about the Mac Mini, Amazon's first stock split since the dot-com era. Tinder leans into background checks as a service, hands-on with the new Magic Leap 2-A-R glasses. And forget about delivery by drone. Now imagine getting packages delivered to you from space, the wildest startup I've heard about in a while. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. What was it that I said about Apple Rumors never really sleeping? the same week as the big Mac Studio and M1 Ultra Reveal. Sources are telling 9 to 5 Mac that Apple isn't forgetting about the Mini

and is in fact working on a Mac Mini with an M2 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, as well as a Mac Mini with an M2 Pro 12-core CPU. M-2 chip designs are apparently being based on the A-15, more from 9 to 5 Mac. code named J473, the new Mac Mini will be powered by the M2 chip, which is Apple's next generation entry-level chip for Macs and iPads. M2 will represent the first major upgrade to Apple's M family of chips since the introduction of the M1 in 2020. Internally known as Staten, M2 is based on the current A-15 chip, while M-1 is based on the A-14 bionic. Just like M-1, M-2 will feature an eight-core CPU for performance cores and for efficiency cores. But this time,

with a more powerful 10-core GPU. The new performance cores are codenamed Avalanche, and efficiency cores are known as Blizzard. According to 9-5 Macs sources, Apple had plans to introduce high-end versions of the current Mac Mini with the M-1 Pro and M-1 Max chips, but they were probably scrapped to make way for the Mac Studio. This time, Apple has also been working on another new Mac Mini, codenamed J-474, that features the M-2 Pro chip, a variant with eight performance cores and for efficiency. core is totaling a 12-core CPU versus the 10-core CPU of the current M1 Pro. Apple currently has no plans to release a version with the M2 Max or Ultra Chips. Until then, the company will probably keep the Intel Mac Mini in the lineup, end quote.

Oh, why not? Here's more things Apple. Display analyst Ross Young says he expects Apple will release a 27-inch mini-l LED display in June. although our buddy Ming Chi Quo says Apple may not launch mini-l-D products in 2022 at all due to cost. This is from Mac Rumors, quote. In a tweet, Young says he's still expecting Apple to release a 27-inch mini-l-D display in June and has confirmed such plans with sources within Apple's supply chain. Young had previously said that an iMac Pro would launch as early as summer 2022,

but no longer believes that to be the case. Young explains his sources weren't aware of the separation between the IMA, iMac, Mac Studio, and Studio Display, adding confusion to Apple's exact plans. The confusion likely came from the fact that the studio display and presumably the Studio Display Pro both feature a webcam and built-in Apple Silicon, making it look like an iMac when it's not. Now, it seems that earlier rumors about an iMac pro launching in June weren't referencing an actual iMac, but instead a pro version of the studio display.

Today's studio display pro rumors also add more clarity to information. shared by Apple analyst Ming Chi Quo, who this week said that, and quote, iMac Pro, would not launch until 2023. On the flip side, Quo said today in a tweet that Apple may not release any mini-l-D devices this year due to cost concerns, so it remains to be seen what exactly Apple has planned for June around WWDC. During its event this week, Apple teased an Apple Silicon Mac Pro, hinting that it may not be that far away. Specifically when talking about the transition to Apple Silicon across the Mac lineup, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternis, said that there's, quote, just one more product to go, Mac Pro,

before adding that's for another day, end quote. And a couple other tidbits about the news that was announced this week. Apple has confirmed that its studio display does, in fact, work with Windows machines, though some features like Center Stage and TrueTone are MacOS only. And to answer that question, why the studio display got an A-Eastroo? 13 bionic chip inside it, the same system on a chip that powers the iPhone 11. Well, the answer is, that's what lets Apple add center stage, spatial audio, and hey Siri to a desktop monitor. Amazon's board of directors have approved a 20-for-one stock split, and Amazon says it plans to

buy back up to $10 billion in Amazon shares, quoting CNBC. It's the first split since 1999, and the fourth since Amazon's IPO in 1997. Stock splits are cut. cosmetic and do not fundamentally change anything about the company, other than possibly making the shares accessible to a larger number of investors because of their cheaper price. Were the split to happen, as of Wednesday's close, the cost of each share would go from $2,785 to $139, and each existing holder would get 19 additional shares for everyone they own. Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO, has faced a tough start to his tenure, which began in July. The stock was the worst performer among big tech companies last year,

has dropped 16% so far in 2022, joining a decline across the sector. Amazon just reported its slowest rate of growth for any quarter since 2001. And according to a recent Wall Street Journal report, billionaire activist investor Dan Loeb, who's been adding to his Amazon holdings, told investors on a private call that he sees about $1 trillion in untapped value at the company. Distributions from the stock split will be made to Amazon shareholders at the close of business on June 3rd, and trading will begin on a split-adjusted basis on June 6. Amazon's shares are up more than 4,300% since the last split was announced, end quote. Tinder is letting U.S. users access background checks via a company named Garbo to screen matches on

Tinder for past violence or abuse. The first two searches are free, and then it's $2.50 each afterwards, quoting TechCrunch. The in-app experience, will direct users to the Garbo website where they'll be able to fill in basic information about their match. The company says users typically only need the match's first name and phone number to get started. However, if Garbo can't locate a unique match, it won't return any results and will instead prompt for more information like the match's age. When Garbo surfaces its results, Tinder users can choose what they want to do next. If the person's results indicate they have a history of violence, for example, the user

will be encouraged to report the match to Tinder. The company told TechCrunch, it removes any accounts that have been reported for violent crimes across all of Match's dating app brands per its existing policies. The Garbo site will also direct users to various mental health resources, including the option for a direct chat with the hotline, the National Domestic Violence Hotline. This hotline provides a live chat experience and resources for survivors and can direct people to more information, offer referrals, and help with safety planning. This could be useful for online daters who don't immediately perform a background check, but have already gotten involved with their Tinder match and now have further

issues and concerns. The idea to offer a background check option for online daters follows a 2019 investigative report by ProPublica and Columbia Journalism Investigations, which highlighted the issue of sexual predators on Match-owned dating apps, end quote. Yeah, my wife and I met on Match.com, and she did a full background check on me before we ever met. Cost her around 100 bucks, I think. And that was 15 years ago, so I'm sort of surprised it's taken this long for that sort of thing to be a regular part of the online dating feature set. Magic Leap is back. This is the startup that refuses to die.

CNET got its hands on the new Magic Leap 2, and they say, hey, Magic Leap is making progress. This device has a notably larger field of view, lenses that condemn the real world, and impressive spatial audio. Although it doesn't work with glasses on, you can't put them over top your glasses. And also there's the whole question of,

what do you use this for? Quoting CNET. Magic Leap's vision has changed a ton. New CEO Peggy Johnson, formerly vice president for business development at Microsoft, and before that, an executive at Qualcomm, has pivoted the company into a business-focused one, mirroring the goals of Microsoft HoloLens. Alongside this pivot, there's finally a Magic Leap 2 arriving by the end of this year. The Magic Leap 2 headset I wore is relatively similar in concept to the original. There's a pair of goggle-eyed glasses, which unfortunately don't work over my own prescription glasses. They still tether to a processor box, which is large and hums loudly as it clips onto my belt. It uses an AMD-based processor this time, which Johnson says is more powerful than the previous

invidia-based chip set, and there's still a handheld wireless pointer-style controller. It's not phone-connected like Qualcomm's upcoming AR glasses. It's standalone, but with that hip-pack as part of its package. All of these parts feel upgraded. Plus, the Magic Leap 2's field of view is notably larger, showing more holographic objects in front of me in a taller, wider area that isn't as cut off on the sides. But the most notable thing is a feature I've never seen before on any AR headset or glasses. The lenses can dim the outside world, becoming a pair of blackout sunglasses that AR can display on top of. My first demo showed a familiar holographic situation room type experience, a common style of demo for AR. I gathered at a similar roundtable for a

HoloLens 2 demo back in 2019 at Microsoft's Redmond Headquarters 2. The demo, which was made using satellite data and meant to represent a potential use for how AR can represent large-scale map data and multiple virtual monitors at once, turned the roundtable into a 3D landscape. While the monitors on the walls provided extra simultaneous streams of data, one thing I immediately noticed was that the wider viewing area allowed me to get closer to the table while still seeing everything on it. The taller viewing area also meant that the stuff on the walls would still be visible when I was looking at the table. Field of view has been a big limiter in AR glasses.

Existing hardware has a restricted zone where AR effects can appear, and outside of that box, they disappear from view. VR headsets avoid this problem because they have larger fields of view and a goggle-like blindered design, and they don't have to worry about blending the real world with the virtual. Snap's first pair of AR glasses has a very limited viewing area. The first Magic Leap was better, and the Microsoft HoloLens 2 was better still. Magic Leap 2 is the best of all, but still not perfect. A second demo showed me another spin on the dimming effect.

A giant 3D luxury watch floated in front of me in the office demo room, but with dimming activated, it created a halo around the watch and blocked out the real world from behind it. The watch face didn't seem ghostly anymore, and the whole object seemed more solid. My videographer walked behind the floating watch, and I didn't see him. AR already has a way of making virtual objects hide behind real ones, a technique called occlusion that happens by mapping the real world with depth sensing cameras. But this dimming effect allows real-world objects to slip behind virtual ones, too. Dimming had an uncanny effect at times, almost theatrical, like I was somehow entering a museum exhibit

that focused my attention to an object like a spotlight. But Magic Leap's goal for dimming is to make it easier to see essential projections in bright light or outdoors or to focus and eliminate distractions when using it for important work. The headset is positioned as an enterprise and training tool, not for entertainment this time, but Johnson says that future possibilities for installations and live performances could be next steps, similar to the way Magic Leap originally birthed a number of fascinating art and theater projects, end quote. And then quoting from the conclusion, I got the feeling that Magic Leap 2 is a small but key step for a company that, like many others,

is aiming to solve the riddle of AR glasses. Johnson sees Magic Leap 2's much narrower targeting of industries like manufacturing, medicine, and defense, as a way of testing the waters while the headset can eventually be made smaller, lighter, without needing that big processor hip pack. I do believe at some point down the road we'll circle back to consumer, but it's going to be when the devices are more fully integrated and lightweight, and we can make the field of view even bigger, end quote. As every other company tries to solve AR glasses slowly,

and Microsoft seems ready to pivot away from its HoloLens 2 to possibly phone-connected devices, is Magic Leaps tech going to seem advanced enough or trapped on its own island? End quote. And finally today, this is the most out there startup I've heard about in a while. Forget about drone delivery. A California startup company believes it can one day speed delivery of important items by storing them in orbit and then returning them to Earth from orbit. Quoting The New York Times.

Inversion is building earth-orbiting capsules to deliver goods anywhere in the world from outer space. To make that a reality, Inversion's capsule will come through the Earth's atmosphere at about 25 times as fast as the speed of sound, making a parachute essential for a soft landing and undisturbed cargo. Inversion is betting that as it becomes cheaper to fly to space, government agencies and companies will want not only to send things to orbit, but also bring items back to Earth. Inversion aims to develop a four-foot diameter capsule carrying a payload equivalent to the size of a few carry-on suitcases by 2025. Once in orbit that capsule could, the company hopes, navigate itself to a private commercial space station or stay in orbit with solar panels until someone back to Earth.

Come time to return, the capsule could drop out of orbit and reenter the atmosphere. The capsule would deploy a parachute to slow its descent and land within a radius of tens of miles from its target location. The company has planned a smaller demonstration capsule with a 20-inch diameter to be ready by 2023. If inversion is successful, it's possible to imagine hundreds or thousands of containers floating around space for up to five years, like some really distant storage lockers. The company's founders imagine the capsules could store artificial organs that are delivered to an operating room within a few hours or serve as mobile field hospitals, floating in orbit that would be dispatched to remote areas of the planet. And one day, a shortcut through space could allow for unimaginably fast deliveries like delivering a New York pizza to San Francisco in 45 minutes. Inversions founders think what seems like a pipe dream may become more realistic as launch costs drop

from current prices, which start at $1 million and increase depending on weight, to share space on a SpaceX rocket, for example. Inversion declined to offer an estimate of how much its capsules will cost. The cost of launching one kilogram, about 2.2 pounds of payload to outer space, has fallen roughly 90% in the last 30 years. SpaceX is expected to push costs even lower with Starship, its next-generation rocket still in development. Elon Musk, SpaceX's chief executive, has said he expects launch costs for the massive rocket to be less than $10 million within three years compared with the $62 million advertised price for launching the Falcon 9, the company's widely used rocket today. For space to be more accessible than it is today, inexpensively launching rockets is only one part of the equation.

Another important factor is facilities in space. Last year, NASA selected three companies to receive funding for commercial space stations as part of a plan to eventually replace the International Space Station. A fourth company, Axiom Space, was awarded $140 million in 2020 to build a habitable module attached to the ISS. Today, the main cargo for rockets is satellites that stay in space. The vehicles carrying humans or experiments from space are large, cost more than $100 million, and usually work in tandem with a specific rocket. Inversion said it designed its smaller capsules to fit into any commercial rocket so they can catch a ride to space frequently

and inexpensively, end quote. Read the whole thing for more fascinating details because you think engineering things just to get to space cheaply is hard, now factor in the engineering challenge of getting things back safely during reentry in the atmosphere. I was wondering why I got a whole slew of new Twitter followers

all of the sudden out of the blue, but it turns out that A16Z republished the episode they did with me, where Chris Dixon interviewed me when my book came out a few years ago. If you've never heard that episode, just for fun, I put the link to it at the very bottom of the show notes. As I say, my book has become something of a touchstone for Web3 people, and of course, Chris Dixon, as you know, is one of the biggest Web3 cheerleaders around. So it's interesting to listen back to this conversation and hear us almost groping our way towards that, grouping our way toward what the lessons of the first part of the internet era could impart to the next era of tech.

Give it a listen if you're interested. Talk to you tomorrow.