MacBreak Weekly 977

This week's episode dives deep into the post-WWDC hangover, exploring Apple's remarkable software improvements across platforms. The hosts examine the first third-party immersive video production using Blackmagic's new camera, celebrate major Vision Pro persona upgrades, and discuss Apple's complete re-architecture of iPad windowing. The conversation reveals how Apple's software teams seem to have hit their stride after years of criticism, delivering substantial improvements from terminal apps to AI integration.

• Canal+ MotoGP Documentary for Vision Pro - First third-party Apple immersive video production shot entirely with new Blackmagic URSA camera, featuring French motorcycle racer Johann Zarco
• Spatial Personas Get Major Upgrade - visionOS 26 delivers dramatically improved personas that actually look like real people, though beards still cause mouth-tracking issues
• Geographic Persistence and Room Mapping - visionOS 26 features allow virtual objects to stay in place across reboots and sessions
• Apple Home Hub Smart Display Discovery - Code found in iOS 26 dev beta reveals upcoming HomePod with screen, expected by the end of year
• iPad Multitasking Revolution - Craig Federighi explains the complete re-architecture of iPadOS 26 windowing system, bringing full Mac-style window management to iPad
• Background Task Processing - iPadOS 26 introduces finite background tasks for exports and file operations, finally allowing users to switch apps during long processes
• Software Quality Renaissance - Discussion of Apple's apparent software turnaround, from improved backend infrastructure (40% improvement moving from Java to Swift/Rust) to new developer APIs
• New Speech-to-Text APIs - Apple provides developers access to on-device transcription that's twice as fast as Whisper, though slightly less accurate
• Third-Party App Integration Improvements - Apple now allows music apps to show animated artwork on lock screen and provides access to various ML models
• Terminal and Spotlight Updates - macOS 26 features the first meaningful Terminal app update in years, plus pro features added to Spotlight, including clipboard history
• F1 Movie Marketing Blitz - Deep dive into Apple's $200+ million investment in the F1 film, including custom iPhone cameras built for race cars and haptic trailer experiences

Picks of the Week:
• Leo's Pick: Classic Sega iOS games going free before delisting on the App Store, including Crazy Taxi, Sonic titles, and Super Monkey Ball
• Jason's Pick: PlugShare app for electric vehicle owners to find compatible charging stations across all networks and plug types
• Andy's Pick: Usagi Yojimbo comic collection Humble Bundle featuring Stan Sakai's acclaimed samurai rabbit series, with proceeds supporting the Hero Initiative
• Alex's Pick: Perla iOS camera app designed to give iPhone footage an authentic 16mm film look and feel

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• Tech: Apple Finally Delivers the iPad We've Been Waiting For: Inside the iPadOS 26 Revolution
• Transcripts: MacBreak Weekly 977 Transcript

Links

• Canal+ to debut Immersive doc produced with new Blackmagic camera
• An Apple Executive Publicly Showed Their visionOS Persona For The First Time
• Spoiler: The Beard Is Still a Problem
• visionOS 26 keeps pushing Apple’s newest platform toward the future
• Apple's Home Hub smart home display leaks in iOS beta code
• Apple may look late to AI but it's aiming for something different
• Apple’s Craig Federighi on the long road to the iPad’s Mac-like multitasking
• Apple Completes Migration of Key Ecosystem Service to Swift, Gains 40% Performance Uplift
• Hands-On: How Apple’s New Speech APIs Outpace Whisper for Lightning-Fast Transcription
• Apple will let third party music apps show animated artwork on the iPhone lock screen, not just Apple Music - 9to5Mac
• Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe
• Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company (Amazon Affiliate)
• How Apple Created a Custom iPhone Camera for F1
• Tim Cook Reveals Apple’s Vision for Movies and TV: Why Spending Millions on Blockbusters Like ‘F1’ Is About More Than Selling iPhones
• Brad Pitt and Tim Cook gatecrash 'Severance' event to promote 'F1'
• It’s Official: Streaming Is Now the King of TV
• PlugShare
• Download these now free retro mobile games before Sega removes them
• Usagi Yojimbo Humble Bundle (benefits The Hero Initiative)
• Panels - Comic Reader
• Pearla