MacVoices Episodes

MacVoices Live!

MacVoices #25184: Live! – Apple’s AI Future: Buy or Build?

MacVoices #25184: Live! – Apple’s AI Future: Buy or Build?

The debate over whether Apple should acquire an AI company to stay competitive, with Perplexity as a leading candidate, is a hot topic. Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Web Bixby, Eric Bolden, Marty Jencius, Jim Rea, and Brian Flanigan-Arthurs explore past acquisitions, Apple’s AI strategy, and the challenges of merging company cultures. PSAs about malware from screenshots and fake CAPTCHAs are discussed, along with the growing risks of AI litigation and the hype vs. reality of AI’s future.

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MacVoices #25183: Live! – Meta’s AI Power Play, WhatsApp Ad Fallout, and Trump Mobile???

MacVoices #25183: Live! – Meta’s AI Power Play, WhatsApp Ad Fallout, and Trump Mobile???

The MacVoices Live! panel explores Meta’s push to dominate AI with its new “super intelligence” team, raising privacy concerns and skepticism over its motives. WhatsApp’s move to introduce ads prompts worries about user data and ad targeting is discussed, by Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Jim Rea, Web Bixby, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, and Marty Jencius, along with the bizarre launch of a Trump-branded smartphone and its questionable specs and capabilities.

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MacVoices #25181: Live! – Alexa+, AI Power Plays, and the Rise of Social Media News

MacVoices #25181: Live! – Alexa+, AI Power Plays, and the Rise of Social Media News

The MacVoices Live! panel takes a closer look at Amazon’s Alexa+, its unusual rollout, and user experiences that raise questions about its current readiness. The panel compares AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, especially in corporate environments, highlighting their strengths and limitations. The conversation shifts to a Reuters study showing social media has overtaken traditional outlets as the leading news source in the U.S., prompting concerns over misinformation, curated content, and the erosion of journalistic standards. Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Jim Rea, Web Bixby, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, and Marty Jencius also share personal insights on AI adoption, media literacy, and the changing landscape of how we consume news.

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MacVoices #25180: Live! – Haptics, Siri Setbacks, and Why AI Isn’t Selling Phones

MacVoices #25180: Live! – Haptics, Siri Setbacks, and Why AI Isn’t Selling Phones

The panel explores Apple’s innovative use of haptics in its new F1 movie trailer and how it adds to the experience (or not). They discuss the delayed rollout of personalized Siri, developer challenges with AI integration, and why Apple may have backtracked on earlier plans. A CNET survey sparks a broader conversation with Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Jim Rea, Web Bixby, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, and Marty Jencius about how little weight AI features carry for smartphone buyers today, despite media and industry hype. 

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MacVoices #25178: Live! – PSAs You Need To Know, An Attendee Perspective on WWDC

MacVoices #25178: Live! – PSAs You Need To Know, An Attendee Perspective on WWDC

This MacVoices Live! discussion starts off with three essential public service announcements: a major recall of Anker PowerCore batteries, warnings about malicious unsubscribe links in emails, and serious privacy concerns surrounding Meta’s AI assistant. The panel of Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Jim Rea, Web Bixby, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, and Marty Jencius emphasizes the importance of staying alert to avoid real-world risks. Jim Ray then shares a developer-focused perspective on WWDC, highlighting SwiftUI upgrades, AI integration in Xcode, and Apple’s new foundation models. He also reflects on a week filled with events, developer camaraderie, and why WWDC 2025 might have been one of the best weeks of his life. 

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MacVoices Live!

Older Episodes

MacVoices #24277: Live! – Tidal & Dropbox Layoffs, and Why Apple Bought Pixelmator

MacVoices #24277: Live! – Tidal & Dropbox Layoffs, and Why Apple Bought Pixelmator

The tech industry is a dynamic business segment. Dave Ginsburg, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Marty Jencius, Web Bixby, Jim Rea, and Eric Bolden discuss Apple’s acquisition of Pixelmator and how it might affect both Apple-branded offerings as well as the legacy application. Then, layoffs at both Tidal and Dropbox are in the cross hairs. Tidal has been all but left out of the streaming music conversation, and Dropbox seems to have fumbled as they tried to diversify. The panel members have thoughts on both. 

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MacVoices #24274: Live! – A Tethered Apple Vision Pro?

MacVoices #24274: Live! – A Tethered Apple Vision Pro?

The idea of an Apple Vision Pro has been talked about as a way to make the device more affordable. Dave Ginsburg, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Marty Jencius, Web Bixby, Jim Rea, and Eric Bolden consider the implications of inking the Vision Pro to the iPhone for power and processing and how that would impact the user experience. Whether that would actually result in a significant cost savings is called into question, and the use cases it would and wouldn’t impact are discussed. 

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MacVoices #24270: Live! – Importance of The Internet Archive, UK’s USB Charging Standard, AI Resources

MacVoices #24270: Live! – Importance of The Internet Archive, UK’s USB Charging Standard, AI Resources

The Internet Archive, its importance, and a recent DDoS attack on it start off a MacVoices Live! discussion with  Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Marty Jencius, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Web Bixby, Jim Rea, Jeff Gamet, and Eric Bolden. The panel also gets a chuckle over the UK adopting a USB-C charging standard, and cover some of the little-knowing LLMs that are more specialized than the ones you might be familiar with. 

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MacVoices #24269: Live! – Bluesky’s Growth, Sonos Issues, Squarespace Acquired, The WordPress Soap Opera

MacVoices #24269: Live! – Bluesky’s Growth, Sonos Issues, Squarespace Acquired, The WordPress Soap Opera

MacVoices Live! covers several recent shifts in major tech platforms, starting with the mass migration of users from X to Blue Sky and its implications for social media competition. The panel of Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Martty Jencius, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Web Bixby, Jim Rea, Jeff Gamet, and Eric Bolden discuss the challenges Sonos faces regarding device connectivity and user experience as well as Squarespace’s $7.2 billion acquisition, the  internal turmoil within WordPress under Automatic, and the possible effect on the web site building industry. 

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MacVoices #24268: Live! – Set Lists in Apple Music, New Beats Pill, Russians Buying More iPhones, and Apple Counterfeit Product Seizure

MacVoices #24268: Live! – Set Lists in Apple Music, New Beats Pill, Russians Buying More iPhones, and Apple Counterfeit Product Seizure

MacVoices Live! panel members Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Martty Jencius, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Web Bixby, Jim Rea, Jeff Gamet, and Eric Bolden have differing use cases for Apple’s new set list feature in Music, at least a couple of which will surprise you. We also debate the importance of celebrity endorsements through the new Beats Pill, cover the reported increase in iPhone sales in Russia, and an Irish seizure of counterfeit Apple products. 

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MacVoices #24267: Live! – ApplePay at 10  and Did Tim Cook Really Call Donald Trump?

MacVoices #24267: Live! – ApplePay at 10 and Did Tim Cook Really Call Donald Trump?

Apple Pay turned 10 recently and the MacVoices Live! panel discussed its transformation and influence in mobile payments since its launch. Then, Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Martty Jencius, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, Web Bixby, Jim Rea, Jeff Gamet, and Eric Bolden detour into political territory, examining a political narrative surrounding a rumored phone call between Tim Cook and Donald Trump related to EU regulations. The conversation focused on the need for both skeptical and mixed media coverage.

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MacVoices #24265: Live! – Adobe vs. Procreate, Sonos, Locked iPhones, and More

MacVoices #24265: Live! – Adobe vs. Procreate, Sonos, Locked iPhones, and More

The MacVoices panel discusses the changes Adobe made to Fresco, apparently to go after the tablet drawing app market that Procreate dominates. How do the two compare, and how with their respective business models fare? Chuck Joiner, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, David Ginsburg, Ben Roethig, Marty Jencius, Eric Bolden, Jim Rea, Jeff Gamet, and Web Bixby have thoughts before they report on Sonos’ improvements, and laugh their way through the cell carriers’ assertion that locking phones is good for you.

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MacVoices #24264: Live! – M4 iMac, An Apple Card Promotion, Apple TV+ Successes

MacVoices #24264: Live! – M4 iMac, An Apple Card Promotion, Apple TV+ Successes

Chuck Joiner, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, David Ginsburg, Ben Roethig, Marty Jencius, Eric Bolden, Jim Rea, Jeff Gamet, and Web Bixby turn their attention to the newly announced M4 iPad. Who will be buying it, the secondary monitor support, and how it will change as Apple Intelligence rolls out are all considered. The panel also looks at a new Apple Card promotion and whether Apple or Goldman Sachs is funding it, as well as the roll that Apple TV+ seems to be on. 

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MacVoices #24263: Live! – The M4 Mac mini and M4 Mac mini Pro

MacVoices #24263: Live! – The M4 Mac mini and M4 Mac mini Pro

During a week of Apple announcements, the MacVoice Live! panel took a look at the first two Mac upgrades. Chuck Joiner, Brian Flanigan-Arthurs, David Ginsburg, Ben Roethig, Marty Jencius, Eric Bolden, Jim Rea, Jeff Gamet, and Web Bixby look at the new Mac Mini with the M4 and M4 Pro chips, and the performance boost they offer in a new, compact form factor. Design quirks, multiple monitor support, and Thunderbolt 5 are part of the discussion, as is the question over whether this should be considered a “prosumer” machine. 

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