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Buttongate explored
The best hacks, memes and reactions to the Mac mini's odd button position.
For many years, the launch of a new iPhone was always followed by some “gate” controversy — Antennagate, Bendgate, Batterygate.
That seems to have stopped with the last couple of iPhone releases. Potential criticisms just don’t seem to gain traction.
But the new Mac mini is currently in the full throes of “Buttongate” — an online collective meltdown over the placement of the redesigned computer’s on/off button, which has migrated from the back to the bottom.
While it remains to be seen whether this is actually a problem in real life, it hasn’t stopped the Apple community from throwing out some pretty amusing hacks, memes and reactions. We rounded up some of the best.
Also in today’s newsletter:
Recession? Inflation? Slumping economy? Tell that to Tim Cook, who’s likely to report record quarterly earnings for Apple this afternoon — once again!
No time to watch all the M4 Mac announcement videos this week? We compressed everything you need to know into just 90 seconds.
If, like me, you’ve been holding out for a refreshed 27-inch iMac, we have bad news for you.
There’s a nefarious reason for some online job postings. If you’re currently trying to land a job, this should make your blood boil.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
P.S. I think this week’s slate of Mac announcements worked really well for Apple. It allowed the press to give each machine the coverage it deserved — and gave customers time to take it all in, too. Hopefully, future product launches will follow a similar format.
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
Tweets of the day
Apple has pushed an OTA update for the Polishing Cloth, adding compatibility for the new M4 MacBook Pros, Mac mini, & iMac.
— Basic Apple Guy (@BasicAppleGuy)
2:05 PM • Oct 31, 2024
Holy COW! I provided Apple Stocks app image to ChatGPT and told it to recreate it in SwiftUI. This is the result.
My mind is blown away!!!
— Mohammad Azam (@azamsharp)
10:26 PM • Oct 29, 2024
So, this was the best I could come up with for a workplace Halloween party.
I’m Steve Jobs: the easiest Halloween costume in existence!
— Alice (@CorpsicleHearts)
9:42 PM • Oct 30, 2024
Wallpaper of the day
iPhone Wallpaper, American Eagle.
— Rodrigo Bressane (@bressane)
12:00 AM • Oct 29, 2024
One more thing ...
You're asking, “Where does aesthetic judgment come from?” With many things — high-performance automobiles, for example — the aesthetic comes right from the function, and I suppose electronics is no different. But I've also found that the best companies pay attention to aesthetics. They take the extra time to lay out grids and proportion things appropriately, and it seems to pay off for them. I mean, beyond the functional benefits, the aesthetic communicates something about how they think of themselves, their sense of discipline in engineering, how they run their company, stuff like that.
Today’s poll
Is the Mac mini button a design blunder? |
Results from yesterday’s poll: What's the most exciting thing about the new MacBook Pros?
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