Apple Vision Pro disappointments and beta frustrations on the AppleInsider podcast

It's been six months since the Apple Vision Pro was released and there is so much to like — yet still so much missing. Plus for all the great features in Apple's beta updates, there are some real gripes too.

Wesley Hilliard returns from vacation but despite being right back into using and relishing his Apple Vision Pro, he's now got some serious concerns. None of them regard the hardware, few of them regard the visionOS software, but we're now six months in and the lack of apps and entertainment content is hurting the platform.

But then there's word of a new device coming from Apple, a further update to the very long-lived and time-served Mac mini. It's not just that it may get an upgraded processor, it's that the whole device may be redesigned to be far smaller — and Wes thinks he knows why that would be a very good thing.

Between the Apple Vision Pro we've now had for half a year, and the Mac mini we may get some time, there are this week's beta updates. And for the first time in this year's beta test cycle, there are frustrations not because of any bugs, but because of deliberate choices by Apple.

BONUS: Subscribe via Patreon or Apple Podcasts to hear AppleInsider+, the extended edition which this time sees both Wes and William enthusing about the other podcasts that they never miss — ranging from Apple ones, of course, to business, design, and just fun.

Contact your hosts

• @williamgallagher_ on Threads
• @WGallagher on Twitter
• William's 58keys on YouTube
• William Gallagher on email
• @hillithreads on Threads
• @Hillitech on Twitter
• Wes on Mastodon
• Wes Hilliard on email

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Links from the AppleInsider Podcast

• M4 Mac mini rumored to get a redesign making it smaller than ever before
• Apple bows to EU pressure over App Store anti-steering practices
• Rumor Roundup: What the 2025 iPhone 17 family may bring to the table
• iPhone 17's front camera may double the resolution to 24MP
• iPhone Fold rumored to launch with foldable iPad in 2026
• iPhone Fold - what the rumor mill thinks is on the way, and when
• Hands on: Siri starts to get better thanks to Apple Intelligence
• Discovered Apple Intelligence prompts show Apple's attempt at preventing AI disaster
• Safari's Distraction Control will obliterate annoying website elements
• How iOS 18's Web Eraser content-blocker morphed into a distraction-hiding tool
• Photos jettisons the Carousel in fifth iOS 18 beta
• Disney+ adds Iceland immersive environment to Apple Vision Pro
• Apple removes Control-click option for skipping Gatekeeper in macOS Sequoia
• Users have to confirm screen recording permission every week in macOS Sequoia
• Judge rules Google is a search and advertising monopoly
• End of an era: Apple's SuperDrive has finally sold out after 16 years
• Another Apple ad campaign crashes and burns under pressure from viewers

Links from AppleInsider+

This week's AppleInsider+ segment for subscribers was replete with enthusiastic recommendations for podcasts ranging across topics from design to, of course, Apple.

Wes Hilliard's picks:

• Twenty Thousand Hertz
• ATP
• Upgrade
• Connected
• Roboism
• Comfort Zone
• Cortex
• Focused
• Do By Friday
• Back To Work
• Reconcilable Differences
• Jon Stewart
• Apple News Today
• Apple Music Today
• Apple News in Conversation

William Gallagher's picks:

• Automators
• Mac Power Users
• 99% Invisible
• Articles of Interest
• The Economics of Everyday Things
• Acquired
• The Omni Show

More AppleInsider podcasts

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