Soundbyte 369 – November 2025

ChristopherNews, SoundByte

Welcome to Soundbyte!

In this issue:

November Meeting and our Christmas event!

Join LMUG on Monday, November 10 at 7pm GMT to talk about Apple’s 2026 operating system updates. Whether you plan to dip a toe into Mac OS Tahoe, or try some pick and mix 26, we will go over the new features, and anything you need to know or want to ask.

Check the email this newsletter came in for the Zoom link to the meeting. You can also find the link in our Slack Meetings Channel. 

To get into the Christmas spirit, Apple is hosting an art competition. The winner’s art will be projected onto Battersea Power Station. Get your iPad and pencils out to enter. Details here, the deadline for entry is November 23.

You can now follow the London Mac User Group on Bluesky! Come and say hello 👋 over there 👉🏾 https://bsky.app/profile/lmug.bsky.social. Read more about it here.

Future Shock 11: Here comes the M5 chip and there’s a new contender

It really is becoming like clockwork. New year, new Apple Silicon. Apple has released new PowerBooks with a base M5 chip. This base chip is quite something, with numerous improvements. Have a look at this quick review below about its chops:

For higher-end professionals we can expect more powerful Macs with M5 Pro, Max or even Ultra variants to come either this month or next Spring.

But why have I called this article future shock? Those following the last 10 articles will know that PC makers using slower hotter Intel chips have been scrabbling to catch up to Apple’s performance lead with its low-powered ARM chips. Microsoft has played its part with improvements to the ARM version of Windows. But Nvidia has now released a mini PC with its own Gracewell ARM chip. Given their monster reputation for performance silicon, should Apple quake?

Maybe not yet. The DGX Spark isn’t a general purpose personal computer that we might be used to. It appears to be some sort of Linux device that is purposed specifically for serious AI workloads. So it’s not quite comparable. At least not in this iteration. Still, let’s have a look.

Stand or sit to work – what’s best?

Your editor is right now typing this standing-up. How very 2020s, but standing desks or sit/stand desks have risen to some prominence lately. I myself recently suggested one as a rather expensive, life changing, Christmas present. They are supposed to address the risks associated with the sedentary lifestyle that most computer users experience. Sat at the desk all day, rarely getting up, bad back, heart disease and morbidity, oh dear.

So should we stand up all day? Well the latest science doesn’t support that either, have a look at this article from Posturite. It’s more about getting up regularly. For me I raise the desk when I’m working at home and have a meeting. Quite often I don’t put it down till much later. I also don’t stand still. Right now I’m gently swaying from foot to foot as I type. Here’s a review from a video professional who tried it.

If you already have an Apple Watch, you can probably get similar benefits by closing your Activity Rings each day, one of which is for standing.

Next level iPhone photos

Smart phones have obliterated the market for most cameras. What’s left are the higher end professional cameras and hipster variants for those looking for antique or specialised looks. A favourite is trying to replicate old Fuji film effects. And now, you can achieve the same, using the app in this video below:

Let’s not stop there though. The IPhone is more than a phone, it’s a platform. Have a look at this new product that can take your iPhone camera abilities to a new level.

Going the other way, you might be able to improve your other camera with an Apple product. Have a look at this video below to get the idea.

Advances in iPhone security

Still with the iPhone, the latest models appear to have a significant hardware improvement to its memory security. This is to defend against hackers. Here’s a blog post that goes into some detail about this important development. Meanwhile, Apple has made some big improvements to its bounty programme, intended to incentivise people to find bugs rather than exploit them. Read more from Apple here.

Speaking of security, some further progress from the Police on tackling iPhone thefts in central London. Have a look at this report for the update:

The coming storm for Apple🎃

This has come under attack from competition regulators. The concern is that effectively, if you get an iPhone, you must get AirPods to get the best experience and suffer a worse experience if you buy an alternative. A barrier to competition through features that Apple reserves to itself. 

Those of us 👨‍🦳who were using a Mac before Steve Jobs returned in the 1990s might remember something like this. Microsoft dominated business computing back then with Word and Excel, and file incompatibility was a regular complaint if you chose a Mac to do your work rather than buying an IBM compatible PC. That barrier drove good business for Virtual PC companies with the associated Windows licences for Microsoft profits. Microsoft only came a cropper when they tried to pivot that control onto the Web with Internet Explorer. 

It’s a similar pivot that I fear could hurt Apple. [get to it🙄-ED]. If the future is AI, how will that manifest? We saw last month that Meta Glasses had mostly Meta Apps on it. The most important being the Meta AI, which is the main interface for the device. Google is following suit with its glasses coming soon, powered by Google Gemini, and we also know that Elon Musk is trying to build his own solution with Grok, where the vision is to use it for everything. 

If the future is AI drafting your work and you just need to edit it, what advantages will Apple devices hold? Then if we’re still in the garden and these AI systems are outside, but Apple (without its own AI) demands 15 or 30% and we don’t get them as a result, what then? How many of us will just leave the garden?

Maybe it’s all just a Halloween nightmare. Coincidentally there’s a new book out that touches on some of this called iWar. Perhaps we should just wait to see what AI improvements Apple brings in 2026 to keep the garden fresh and inviting. 

The best mouse just got better?

Many professionals love the Logitech MX Master mouse. Ergonomic, bi-directional scrolling (here’s a great use for that), programmable buttons, lots to configure for higher productivity. And now there’s a new one.

But for garden fence reasons, there is a different one for Macs. To be fair those reasons are supporting features like side car and smooth screen switching. Apparently a different circuit board in the mouse is needed. The productivity benefits, if you use those features, might be worth it.

AirPods trouble?

Some trouble maybe for AirPods Pro 3 as users report unusual sounds when used in-flight. Read more here. First port of call is to ensure they are clean, read Apple’s guidance here.

Pillar to post, hard drive woes

You can back up your files to the cloud but what if the cloud is negligent? Always have a plan B is the best backup advice. Have a look at this report below:

There’s some more Hard Drive information this month. First is the interesting news that hard drives are lasting longer than ever. Read more on Ars Technica. But next is some disturbing news. First is about (at your own risk) SSD hard drive upgrades of new mini Macs like the Mini and Studio. The risk of disaster is confirmed in this video below:

Next is another risk should you let your Mac SSD get too full. Archive and backup your old projects before hitting this one.

How is Eurovision made?

Some of us watching Eurovision take it reasonably seriously, scoring the songs and raging at the outcome. For others it’s silly fun or time to dress up. But if I think about it, it’s remarkable that it’s possible at all. Indeed developing the technical ability to do live link-ups across Europe (and beyond) was a driving reason behind running an international song content in the first place.

So it’s now 2025 and it’s all come a long way. Have look below at this behind the scenes review of how its made today:

Steve Jobs immortalised by the US Mint

Steve Jobs has been immortalised by the US Mint! He is going to be honoured for innovation on a coin that will be released for 2026. They say “This design presents a young Steve Jobs sitting in front of a quintessentially northern California landscape of oak-covered rolling hills. His posture and expression, as he is captured in a moment of reflection, show how this environment inspired his vision to transform complex technology into something as intuitive and organic as nature itself.”

Even better the Coin contains one of his famous quotes “Make something wonderful“. We can’t know for sure if Steve would consider this coin to be wonderful…but it could be something nice to buy to remember his impact on our lives.