“Scary Fast” Apple Event Predictions

This is a very unusual event as it’s happening at night, and I don’t think Apple has ever done a release event at night. I speculate they’re doing it so that folks in Asia will be able to live stream it at 9am in their time zone. I don’t think this event will be a live, although I’ve heard Gruber say that he got an invite by Apple…

Here are my hopes and predictions for tonight’s Apple event:

  • Updated (finally) 24” iMac with M3
  • Debut of the 32” iMac with M3
  • New 12” M3 MacBook Ultra book (I can only hope they do this one day…)
  • USB-C for Apple Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse
  • Some kind of gaming tie in with a top tier game producer
  • If there are any iPads announced, they won’t be Pro iPads
  • Tim Cook will say “Good Evening!”

Apple September 12 Event Predictions

Here are my quick hopes and predictions for tomorrow’s Apple iPhone Event:

  • Bye bye Lightning port, hello USB-C port
  • iPhone Pro will have a new industrial design and use different materials other than aluminum. Hopefully this leads to the Pro phones being lighter.
  • Better cameras (duh?)
  • Better zoom range for both Pro models
  • Less aggressive photo processing
  • AirPods Pro USB-C case released
  • iOS 17 launch, macOS 14 later
  • Phones will go on sale this Friday
  • No iPads or Macs for this event…

Weekender #121: Still Hanging Out

  • Birb watch: Beating the odds, baby myna is still hanging around, and it seems like there’s nothing that Handsome and Matey myna (parents) can do to get them to stay away. They continue to chase him away from the area, with Matey doing most of the work. Handsome tolerates baby myna for the most part and will only chase them away when they get too close to his food. I’m getting a bit worried that baby myna is spending too much time in our driveway waiting to be fed instead of wandering the neighborhood and learning about the world.

  • Thanks to Pyrmont for sending the Apple Support document with the information on Mac mini power consumption and thermal output (BTU). I knew that my new Mac Mini M2 Pro server was more efficient than my 2012 Mac Mini, but I didn’t have the specs. 7 W at idle vs. 11 W for the 2012 model. I still recall migrating my home server from an early 2008 Mac Pro to the 2012 Mac Mini and being shocked at how much lower my electricity bill was just by doing that.

This week’s Link List

Design

  • Pixabay is a searchable repository of over 4 million royalty-free stock images, videos, and music. Read their content license for more information.

  • Color and Contrast is a “comprehensive guide for exploring and learning about the theory, science, and perception of color and contrast.” A fantastic deep dive for anyone interested in this subject.

Fediverse

Software and hardware

  • Want more control of your Mac’s mouse or trackpad? Give LinearMouse a try. It offers customization for mouse and trackpad scrolling, pointer acceleration and modifier keys.

  • If you’re one of the folks that got an invite to Bluesky, Sky.app is a client for the service for MacOS, featuring keyboard shortcuts, Dark Mode, Sync, and notification badges.

  • Following up on last week’s mention of advanced macOS command-line tools, I present Mac Commands, a searchable website for exactly that.

  • bigWav.app is a free to use, completely private, audio transcription and annotation tool. Yet another “AI” powered annotation tool.

  • If you use FFmpeg for manipulating video files, you might be interested in checking out ffmprovisr. It helps users through the command generation process to make it easier to use FFmpeg.

  • Speaking of video files, I found yt-dlp, a youtube-dl fork with additional features and fixes. Use this formulae to install if you’re using Homebrew.

Miscellaneous

  • Megan Barker answers a question on the 1Password blog I’ve had for a while: is it safe to store passwords and 2FA codes together? TL;DR: “For the majority of people, storing TOTP in 1Password is well within their risk tolerance. There will always be those of you who will trade that convenience because you want or require the added protection of true 2FA.”

Media consumption

L​ü​ften is the latest album from ambient music person, Jogging House. It’s described as “A sonic stroll through the woods. By yourself, but not alone. Take your time!” and I agree! It was exactly the soundtrack I needed to get through this work week. Listen on Bandcamp and Apple Music.


Weekender #120: Birbs, Bluesky and Indy

  • Birb watch: Amazingly, baby myna is still hanging around, much to the chagrin of Handsome and Matey myna (parents). The duo is constantly flying at baby myna, and sometimes will attack them. Nothing seems to be scaring baby away, and they seem intent on learning Handsome and Matey’s tactics of getting us to come to the door and give them food.

  • Audubon has created a guide to a very important topic that is near and dear to my heart called “When Is a Bird a ‘Birb’?”

  • I finally made time to do a short write-up about installing a VESA mount on my wife’s iMac 5K external display. I skipped showing the details of gutting the display and installing the driver card since I already wrote about it earlier.

    • I did a few things differently when converting her iMac to an external display. I used a different driver board, the R1811, and added the ability to power off the driver board by using the built-in power button on the iMac.
  • A long-time online friend sent me an invite code to Bluesky. I’m @kimonostereo.bsky.social if you’d like to follow me there. As usual, most of my posts are syndicated to Mastodon, Bluesky and soon to be discontinued on Twitter from my micro.blog feed.

This week’s Link List

Machine Learning

  • The Verge did a deep dive into how people are really using AI (and what they’re afraid of). Polling 2000 people to see how they’re using “AI”, the article covers who’s using it and asks a lot of great questions of the participants. If you’re short on time, the beautifully done infographics will give you a lot of information quickly.

Design

  • CallToInspiration is a collection of UI/UX screenshots that someone put into categories. I suppose it could be used for inspiring your next project.

Fediverse

  • As Reddit burns itself down, I found another alternative called Squabbles which seems to be a cross between Reddit and Twitter. An interesting way of merging the two types of communities into one platform.

  • Lemmymap gives an overview of the alternative, federated Reddit alternative.

  • Darius Kazemi has created a simple Twitter archiver that makes the archive public and searchable.

Software and hardware

Miscellaneous

Media consumption


VESA Mounting the iMac 5K External Display

My wife recently upgraded to a new Mac Mini M2 Pro from her 27” iMac (2109). Apple wasn’t offering much for her iMac on trade-in, so we decided to convert it into an external 5K display, just like I did for my display work.

The iMac (2109) 5K display is slightly different from the iMac (2014) 5K that I converted previously. The 2019 is capable of DCI P3 Color so I wanted to try a different driver board than the one I worked with previously which required two DisplayPort cables in order to achieve 10 bit color. This will be her main display for specifically for design work, so I decided to go with the R1811 driver board which also required a separate constant power board, DZ-LP0818 to maximize display brightness.

Disclaimer: While I do have experience building electronic stuff and taking apart electronic equipment, I’m no expert. If you decide to move forward with this project, understand that you may irreparably damage your iMac in the process. I accept no responsibility for any damage that occurs to you, your iMac, or any other parts or tools you might use for this project. You accept any and all risk to yourself and your equipment by following the guide below.

Full disclosure: Purchasing any of the items using some of the links below will give a small percentage of the sale to my wife.

Note: This guide isn’t the only way to VESA mount a converted iMac external display. There are many others that have successfully done this have shared their advice, configurations, and builds using 5K iMac and LG Ultra Fine displays, so be sure to do your research before starting1.

All of this seemed easy enough, but she also wanted the iMac display mounted on her existing Ergotron VESA arm. So I needed to figure out how to convert the iMac so that it could be VESA mounted. I quickly learned that there isn’t any kit to convert the iMac (2019) to a VESA mount (although the iMac Pro has one for some reason).

I perused the MacRumors forums and saw some creative ways others were able to VESA mount their converted iMacs. One forum member did it by using a K&M VESA plate, but when I went to purchase one, it seemed like no one on the planet had them in stock. I searched everywhere and even (gasp) called shops to see if it was available. Most said it would take three months to get them in. I was just about ready to give up on this, until I had a revelation. After staring at a photo of the K&M mount (see below), I realized that I could make something similar if I could find a VESA plate that had some holes in the middle of it. The key for this to work is the two protruding bolts on the plate that need to go through the rear slot of the iMac display once all of its guts have been removed.

km-vesa-adapter.jpg

The unobtainum K&M VESA adapter plate.

After a lot of searching, measuring things out in my head, and consulting my friend who does engineering, I settled on the HumanCentric VESA Mount Adapter that was originally designed for the iMac 24 Inch (Aluminum) and iMac 27 Inch (2009, 2010, 2011). Normally, this mount wouldn’t work with iMacs made from 2012—2019 because Apple changed the way the stand connects to the display. But since I’m gutting the iMac and keeping only the chassis and display, this mount would probably work. I needed to consult my engineer friend to make sure the bolts would support the display. After explaining what I was going to do, she felt it would be fine. It had what I was looking for: it looked nice, it had some structure to it, and most importantly, it had two holes in the center of the VESA plate that I could put long bolts into.

101-1007-parts_2048x.jpg

Human Centric VESA mount for older iMacs.

Once it arrived, I took some measurements of the two holes in the middle of the VESA plate and found that they lined up and fit perfectly into the slot where the iMac stand used to be. I went to my local hardware store and picked up two long stainless steel bolts, a pair of washers, and lock nuts. Installing the mount to the back of the iMac was very easy, and the finished product looks like it was made for the iMac.

Here are some photos of the Human Centric VESA mount being installed.

VESA-01-remove-the-stand.jpg

This is the inside of the iMac chassis, where the stand is attached. The entire contraption that has three torx screws on each side was removed.

The Human Centric VESA mount lined up perfectly and allowed two bolts to pass through the chassis.

VESA-02-human-centric.jpg

I placed the Human Centric VESA mount onto the back of the iMac, then passed two long bolts through the slot of the chassis where the iMac stand used to be.

VESA-03-bolts-through.jpg

You can see the bolts passing through the chassis.

VESA-04-bolts-through.jpg

A better angle.

Here’s how the VESA mount is bolted in through the slot where the iMac stand used to be. I used two wide washers and locking nuts to secure the VESA mount to the chassis. Be careful not to over tighten the nuts or you may dent the chassis! Tighten it just enough so that it will not move.

VESA-05-bolts-inside.jpg

I used a wide washer and locking nuts to secure the VESA mount to the chassis.

VESA-06-bolts-inside2.jpg

Another view.

Here’s what the iMac display looks like attached to the Ergotron arm.

VESA-07-mounted.jpg

A little messy, but this was taken right after attaching it to the arm.

Some considerations if you’re planning to VESA mount an iMac

If you want to do something similar to this, be sure that the VESA arm you have can support the extra weight of the iMac chassis. Most displays are made of plastic and are much lighter. My wife previously purchased the Ergotron arm to use with a Wacom Cintiq, so it was made to hold a lot of weight.

After doing this, I believe you can use just about any VESA mount adapter plate that matches the VESA pattern of your arm. You could probably even make your own if you have a drill press. The most important thing is to ensure that you’re able to secure it to the iMac chassis using hardware that will hold the plate firmly.


  1. There is a lot of information and inspiration on the MacRumors Forums. Also check out Mykola’s blog for driver board and 5K screen comparisons and Luke Miani’s video. ↩︎︎


If you find this helpful and want to support me, consider buying me a coffee

Buy Me A Coffee


Weekender #119: TL;DR and Mac Mini M2 Pro

  • Birb watch: Continuing the drama from last week, poor baby myna is now getting chased away by both Handsome and Matey mynah (its parents). Baby myna is learning to dodge and maneuver in flight really well because of their attacks. I suspect that the baby will be gone by the end of the week since the parents aren’t willing to share any food anymore.

  • I finally got off my butt and turned one of my ideas into reality! I’ve had this idea for a rock and roll-inspired TL;DR logo since about 2012. Now it’s available for sale as a sticker. Check it out here, along with Audra’s stickers too.

  • After 10 years of 24/7 service, I retired my home server, a Mac Mini (Late 2012). It was purchased from Apple as a refurb back in April 2013, and it’s been plugged in and running ever since. From what I can recall, this was the last Mac Mini that was upgradeable, so I beefed up the stock configuration with more RAM and added an internal SSD. While it was still functioning fine and doing all of the duties I needed it to do, it was time for an upgrade, as I couldn’t upgrade macOS any longer.

    • A few weeks ago, Apple began selling refurbished Mac Mini M2 Pros, so I decided that it was time to upgrade. I opted for the M2 Pro over the standard M2, mostly for the additional Thunderbolt 4 ports. It arrived this past week, and I like it. It’s very fast and quiet, and it will run the latest version of macOS for a long time. Although it has a lot of ports, I need a couple more USB-A ports (I’ll dig up an old USB 3 hub for this), and I wish it had an SD card reader. I’m fairly certain the M2 Pro will use less power than the Intel Mac Mini as well.

This week’s Link List

Machine Learning

Design

  • The good line-height is a webpage that will help you calculate the optimum line-height based on the font size and grid of your project.

  • Jacob ‘Kurt’ Groß has a good write-up on the modern way of serving images.

  • I didn’t even know it was possible, but apparently you can style your RSS feed.

  • Free Faces is a curated collection of typefaces that are available under a variety of free licenses.

  • This GitHub repository features a set of dot matrix fonts in the style of TfL’s London Underground arrivals board.

Mastodonish

  • The Reddit debacle continued this week, and it seems like some Redditors are looking for alternatives to Reddit communities. Check out the Reddit Migration Directory and sub.rehab if you’re looking at abandoning Reddit.

Software and hardware

Miscellaneous

  • No Vehicles In The Park is an interesting game/quiz that allows you to compare your results to those of others who have taken the test.

Media consumption

  • Audra and I went to the opening night of the new Wes Anderson film, Asteroid City. I think Wes Anderson out-Wes Anderson’d himself with this film. As always, the cast was packed with great talent and surprises. I loved the colors and cinematography as well as the quirky story that went along with it.

  • Luke’s back with a new album! Steve Lukather’s ninth solo album, Bridges, could pass for a Toto album judging from the credits. Joseph Williams, Simon Philips, and David Paich all contributed to the tracks. Compared to his previous solo album, I Found the Sun Again, from 2021, Bridges takes Luke back to the heavier riffs his solo albums are known for. All eight tracks are amazing! Listen on Bandcamp and Apple Music.


Weekender #118: D&D, Lemmy and Kenny Logins

  • Birb watch: The baby mynah has been out of the nest for a couple of weeks, but Matey mynah has been trying to shoo it away since the start of the second week. It seems like Matey and Handsome may have yet another baby coming soon.

This week’s Link List Machine Learning

Design

  • Comic Mono is a monospace font that has the feel of Comic Sans.

Mastodonish

  • While the Reddit debacle is still ongoing, there’s been a lot of talk about alternative websites to Reddit. Lemmy describes itself as a link aggregator for the fediverse and is sort of a “Mastadonish” version of Reddit, where the communities/discussion forums are not controlled by any company. On Github, I found a comparison of different Lemmy instances if you’re interested in checking Lemmy out.

  • Speaking of Reddit, David Brownman made a tool that creates a searchable archive of your Reddit data. He suggests downloading your Reddit data before June 30, 2023, when Reddit’s API changes go into effect.

Software and hardware

Miscellaneous

Media consumption

  • I watched Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves this week and was very surprised at how good it was overall. I went in blind and not expecting much, thinking that any movie that uses the name Dungeons & Dragons is probably going to be horrible. It was an entertaining way to spend the evening, and I have no regrets. In a way, I almost wish they didn’t use the Dungeons & Dragons name for this, but I’m sure name recognition and nostalgia have a way of getting butts in seats. I wonder if it did well enough for a follow-up movie.

  • I needed some energy this week, so I relied on an early 80s favorite, High Adventure by Kenny Loggins. Back in grade school, I used to see this album sitting around at my best friend’s house. A bit later on, I bought my own copy, and I’d rock out with Steve Perry and Loggins on the opening track “Don’t Fight It”, but the whole album is solid! Listen on Apple Music.