MacStories Weekly: Issue 505

First Look: Hands-On with Claude Code’s New Telegram and Discord Integrations

Late yesterday, Anthropic announced messaging support for Claude Code, allowing users to connect to a Claude Code session running on a Mac from a mobile device using Telegram and Discord bots. I spent a few hours playing with it last night, and desp…

A Developer’s Month with OpenAI’s Codex

An eye-opening story from Steve Troughton-Smith, who tested Codex for a month and ended up rewriting a bunch of his apps and shipping versions for Windows and Android: I spent one month battle-testing Codex 5.3, the latest model from OpenAI, since I…

Comet Is the First Agentic Browser for iOS Worth Trying

Comet for iOS. For the past three weeks, I’ve been testing Comet, Perplexity’s cross-platform agentic web browser, on my iPhone Air. The iOS version of Comet, launching today on the App Store and (sadly) lacking an iPad counterpart, follows the expa…

Hands-On with Claude Dispatch for Cowork

Claude Cowork Dispatch Today, Anthropic launched a new Cowork feature called Dispatch as a research preview that allows you to control a Mac-based, sandboxed Cowork session from a mobile device. Currently, the feature is only available to Max subscr…

A New iPad Browser and Testing Perplexity Computer

I wasn’t fully sure what to call this blog post, but I caught myself doing a few things on my iPad Pro today that I hadn’t previously mentioned on MacStories, and they seemed worthy of a mention here. Hence, the short blog post. Let’s start with thi…

The iPhone Fold Doesn’t Need iPadOS to Be a Great “Tablet”

I meant to link this at the beginning of the year, then I forgot, but I guess the story is still as timely as ever given the state of the latest rumors. A few months back, Jason Snell 3D-printed a mockup of the upcoming iPhone Fold (which I still th…

MotionVFX Team Joins Apple

Source: MotionVFX. Earlier today, MacRumors reported that MotionVFX was acquired by Apple. Based in Poland, MotionVFX has been a go-to resource for YouTubers and other creators for years with its highly-regarded plugins, templates, and tools for Fin…

In a Surprise Move, Apple Announces AirPods Max 2

Source: Apple. Apple kicked off the week with a bit of a surprise: the AirPods Max 2. The updated over-the-ear headphones feature the H2 chip, better adaptive noise cancellation, improved audio, and other improvements. According to director of Audio…

Podcast Rewind: Federico’s MacBook Neo, the Sony PC Withdrawal, iPod Touch Nostalgia, Complimenting Password Managers, and More

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: AppStories This week, Federico and John discuss Apple’s latest hardware announcements. Then on AppStories+, Federico explains Notion Agents and Workers and how he’s using them. NPC: Next…

MacStories Weekly: Issue 504

“This Is Not The Computer For You”

I loved this essay by Sam Henri Gold on the MacBook Neo but, really, about where the “wrong” computer in your life can take you: There is a certain kind of computer review that is really a permission slip. It tells you what you’re allowed to want. I…

MacBook Neo Review Roundup

Source: Apple. The MacBook Neo reviews are in and by all accounts, Apple’s new budget Mac is impressive, packing a lot of bang for the buck. The laptop, which comes in a 256GB configuration with no Touch ID and a 512GB version with Touch ID, is Appl…

Apple Announces 50th Anniversary Celebration

Apple announced today that it will spend the coming weeks celebrating its 50th anniversary. The company also published a letter from CEO Tim Cook in which he shares what the anniversary means to him. Apple’s not known for looking back, as the announ…

M5 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Review Roundup

Source: Apple. The reviews are in, and it looks like my initial impressions from last week’s press releases hold up pretty well. The M5 MacBook Pro What was clear to me from what Apple said is that the M5 MacBook Pro is an especially nice upgrade, e…

First, Last, Everything Season Two Launches Today

In September of last year, MacStories launched a brand new podcast, ‘First, Last, Everything,’ in which I interviewed guests about their relationship with technology through their first loves, last obsessions, and the piece of tech that meant everyt…

Podcast Rewind: GameHub for the Mac, a Pokémon FireRed Challenge, and Emily in Rome

Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts: NPC: Next Portable Console This week, John, Federico, and Brendon cover the news that GameSir is bringing GameHub to the Mac and chat about the ASUS’s special edition ROG Flow Z13. Then …

MacStories Weekly: Issue 503

Apple Is Working on an AI Music Tagging System

Music Business Worldwide (via MacRumors) is reporting that Apple is rolling out a voluntary metadata system for identifying AI-generated content on Apple Music called Transparency Tags. Introduced by Apple in a newsletter sent to music industry part…

Apple Takes the Wraps Off the MacBook Neo

Source: Apple. Apple today revealed a brand-new Mac called the MacBook Neo. The new computer has a 13” screen and an A18 Pro chipset, and it starts at $599. Let’s dig into the details. The fanless Neo comes in silver, indigo, blush, and citrus color…

Coming Soon: What’s Next on Apple TV and Apple Arcade in March 2026

It’s once again time to get ready for a new month of movies, shows, and games on Apple TV and Apple Arcade. Here are the highlights of what’s in store for March 2026. The Hunt (March 4) Originally slated to launch in December, The Hunt is a French-l…