These pictures are amazing. They are from deep sea fisherman Roman Fedortsov’s Twitter stream. As fantastic as they are scary. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they were special effects castoffs from some sci-fi movie.

Not for the squeamish.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

Interviews with people familiar with Apple’s inner workings reveal that the Mac is getting far less attention than it once did. They say the Mac team has lost clout with the famed industrial design group led by Jony Ive and the company’s software team. They also describe a lack of clear direction from senior management, departures of key people working on Mac hardware and technical challenges that have delayed the roll-out of new computers.

Combine this with Tim Cook’s response to employees in an internal memo:

“Some folks in the media have raised the question about whether we’re committed to desktops,” Cook wrote. “If there’s any doubt about that with our teams, let me be very clear: we have great desktops in our roadmap. Nobody should worry about that.”

It’s not that I am worried. It’s more that I recognize that Macs are in the back seat now. Especially the Mac Pro.

Letting the Mac Pro languish is shortsighted thinking. As I’ve said many times, Apple developers are foundational to Apple’s success. Inside Apple, developers are building the secret future. Outside Apple, developers are building the apps, macOS and iOS, that bring life and revenue to the ecosystem. Make sure those developers have the best tools possible so they can do their work efficiently and effectively.

And don’t let elegant design be a bottleneck for the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro need not be retail store pretty. Just make it powerful as can be, let me add memory and drives, swap out video cards, VRAM, GPUs, SSDs and the like for third party options, and get it to me ASAP. It can be ugly or plain, just not loud. As long as it runs the latest macOS and is compatible with all the major power tools, like Final Cut Pro, Logic, ProTools, Xcode, Photoshop, etc.

This just made me laugh. [H/T Robert Davey]

Interesting to see what you can adjust. This list will no doubt grow over time. As I said yesterday (here, here, and, especially here), this is some great tech.

It’s just horrifying that people are still using these fire hazards.

Update: Apparently it was some asshat who changed their SSID to Note 7. There are some stupid, stupid people in this world.

Scaling our websites and applications so that they look great on every screen can be difficult. A big portion of that difficulty can be trying to get specific components, particularly ones that have pieces that have to stay a certain size (like animations), to look good regardless of the screen size. In this post, we’ll cover how to help keep our responsive animations sized the way we want them.

Fortune:

Twenty years ago today, Steve Jobs started his march back to Apple.

On Dec. 20, 1996, Apple announced plans to acquire NeXT Software, the company Jobs founded, for $400 million. As part of the deal, Jobs, who had been previously pushed out of Apple, returned to report to then CEO Dr. Gil Amelio.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of this sale, not just for Apple (I don’t think the company would still be around if this hadn’t happened) but for the entire technology industry. It can be easily argued that, if it weren’t for this sale, we’d all still be using boring beige computers and talking on flip phones.

The European Commission has charged Facebook Inc with providing misleading information during its takeover of the online messaging service WhatsApp, opening the company to a possible fine of 1 percent of its turnover.

The EU is on fire this year. Facebook, Google, and Apple have all felt the wrath.

Apple:

Apple certified refurbished, free shipping and free returns on all refurbished products. We test and certify all Apple refurbished products and include a 1-year warranty. Limited supplies, but updated frequently. Availability is guaranteed upon receipt of full payment.

Apple has a limited selection of refurb Watches now available. Don’t wait too long to decide. Even though the savings are fairly minor (but every little bit helps), refurbs tend to sell out quickly and I’d imagine the Apple Watch even more so this time of year.

Uber has admitted that there is a “problem” with the way autonomous vehicles cross bike lanes, raising serious questions about the safety of cyclists days after the company announced it would openly defy California regulators over self-driving vehicles.

It’s interesting that this was observed before the launch of the self-driving cars.

We’ve written about iStockNow before. You can use it to check if your local Apple Store stocks the specific iPhone or Apple Watch model you want.

Now they’ve added AirPods to the database. Good stuff.

UPDATE: Interestingly, when I first wrote this post, there was stock in several stores. As of this update, iStockNow shows no stores with stock.

Ben Bajarin, Tech.pinions:

Apple’s AirPods are just wireless headphones about as much as the Apple Watch is “just” a watch and iPhone is “just” a phone. Nothing makes this more apparent than the Siri experience.

And:

It is remarkable how much better Apple’s Siri experience is with AirPods. In part because the microphones are much closer to your mouth and, therefore, Siri can more clearly hear and understand you. I’m not sure how many people realize how many Siri failures have to do the distance you are from your iPhone or iPad, as well as ambient background noise and the device’s ability to clearly hear you.

And:

Thanks to the beam forming mics and some bone conduction technology, Siri with the AirPods is about as accurate a Siri experience I’ve had. In fact, in the five days I’ve been using the AirPods extensively, I have yet to have Siri not understand my request.

And:

You very quickly realize, the more you use Siri with the AirPods, how much the experience today assumes you have a screen in front of you. For example, if I use the AirPods to activate Siri and say, “What’s the latest news?” Siri will fetch the news then say, “Here is some news — take a look.” The experience assumes I want to use my screen (or it at least assumes I have a screen near me to look at) to read the news. Whereas, the Amazon Echo and Google Home just start reading the latest news headlines and tidbits.

These are just a few nuggets from a much longer piece. One core question that emerges is, should we design for the screen? Instead, perhaps we should design for the screen as an option, or somehow let the user choose, perhaps with a gesture that says, “I’ve got no screen, pipe all the info into my ears”.

Good stuff from Ben Bajarin.

The AirPods are a true engineering marvel, an astonishing array of technology jam packed into the smallest of containers. Take a minute to scroll through the pictures. Remarkable.

Daisuke Wakabayashi, New York Times:

Following directions from Google Maps on a smartphone last year, Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez turned a Ford truck, hauling a trailer, where he thought the app was telling him to go. But he ended up stuck on the railroad tracks at a poorly marked California crossing.

Soon after Mr. Sanchez-Ramirez abandoned the truck, a commuter train barreled into it, killing the engineer and injuring 32 others.

And:

On Monday, after investigating the crash for almost two years, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a safety recommendation asking technology and delivery companies to add the exact locations of more than 200,000 grade crossings into digital maps and to provide alerts when drivers encounter them.

Apple, Google and Microsoft have promised to add rail crossing data to their maps.

Want your Apple gear in time for Christmas? Get an order in the queue by 2p Friday (I’d assume that’s 2p local time) and you’ll get your goods by Saturday. Nice.

Here’s the fine print:

Free two-day shipping is available on all in-stock items purchased through apple.com. Free next-day shipping is available on any in-stock iPhone. Check your bag to find out which items are in stock and see checkout for exact delivery dates. Two-day shipping and next-day shipping are not available on customized Mac and engraved products; for certain order types, including orders paid for with financing or by bank transfer; and to some geographical areas. In-stock items ordered before 5:00 p.m. on a business day will be delivered in two business days; any in-stock iPhone ordered before 5:00 p.m. on a business day will be delivered in one business day.

Outside the US? Check this page and look for a “Free next day delivery” banner at the top of the page.

“Some folks in the media have raised the question about whether we’re committed to desktops,” Cook wrote. “If there’s any doubt about that with our teams, let me be very clear: we have great desktops in our roadmap. Nobody should worry about that.”

Look, I see why people are saying Apple might be done with desktops, but it doesn’t make sense at this point. Someday maybe, but not now.

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Quartz:

By now, you may have seen the new feel-good video making the rounds on the internet featuring a polar bear “patting” a dog on its head in Churchill, Canada. The CBC called the bear a “gentle giant.” The Huffington Post praised its “cuteness factor.” A Facebook commenter said, “We are fortunate to be able to see with our own eyes how animals of all kinds are capable of love.” The dog’s owner, Brian Ladoon, said the seemingly friendly interaction was “nature’s will.”

There’s just one problem with this heartwarming narrative: That polar bear isn’t expressing love for the dog. It’s playing with its prey.

The viral video demonstrates the dangers of anthropomorphization: the projection of human personalities on animals.

When I first saw this video, I never thought for a second the bear was “playing” with the dog.

Steve Hackett, 512 Pixels, posted a link to an upcoming collectible figure, the 3D printed Macinbot Classic.

If you are into collectible figures, take a look. There’s a reasonably detailed model of the Macintosh Classic, circa 1990, along with a font briefcase and a pet mouse. All very cute.

But the story behind the actual Macintosh Classic makes fascinating reading. The Macintosh Classic came along after Steve Jobs’ ousting, with Apple trying to find their path, exploring both openness (via the Mac II) and low cost (via the Macintosh Classic).

This is all laid out pretty well on the Macintosh Classic Wikipedia page.

Jason Snell answers some questions about the Apple AirPods. Some good info there.

Khoi, Subtraction.com, on switching from the iPhone to the Pixel:

To be sure, it’s a terrific phone. It has a world class still camera that just about lives up to its hype, and to me the operating system has never felt as united with its hardware as it does in this phone.

As much as I tried though, after living with this device for several weeks I still felt that there were several stumbling blocks to jumping entirely to Android. Whether you consider it lock-in or value-add, Apple’s ecosystem is a powerful argument for sticking with the iPhone.

Interesting read, pulls no punches.

Bloomberg:

This story is based on interviews with dozens of officials from the EU, Ireland, and Apple, though most didn’t want to speak on the record discussing sensitive tax matters.

This is a fascinating read. Meet the key players in this drama, with a peek at some of the behind-the-scenes politicking.

Reuters:

Apple has launched a legal challenge to a record $14 billion EU tax demand, arguing that EU regulators ignored tax experts and corporate law and deliberately picked a method to maximize the penalty, senior executives said.

Apple’s combative stand underlines its anger with the European Commission, which said on Aug. 30 the company’s Irish tax deal was illegal state aid and ordered it to repay up to 13 billion euros ($13.8 billion) to Ireland, where Apple has its European headquarters.

This story is far from over. Two forces are pulling hard at Apple. The EU wants maximum tax revenue, and the incoming US government wants Apple manufacturing back in the US.

Reuters:

Apple poached the technical director of Porsche’s race car program earlier this year, a company source said on Friday, hiring a project manager who helped engineer the sports car company’s victorious return to the Le Mans endurance race.

And:

[Alexander] Hitzinger helped Porsche, owned by Volkswagen, return to endurance racing and to develop the 919 hybrid sports car from scratch, much in the same way Apple is now looking into building its own vehicle.

Porsche’s new race car won Le Mans and the endurance racing world championship in both 2015 and 2016 using largely unproven technology, which beat far more established rivals.