The iCup Specialist - Will We Finally See an Apple Smart Home Device?

Leo Laporte (0:00)

It's time for MacBreak Weekly, Andy Ihnatko's here, Christina Warren and, yes, he's back, Jason Snell. What a big month October's gonna be. We'll talk about not one, but two big product announcements. Apple's got a new smart home strategy with a bunch of new products, and it looks like, maybe, crossing my fingers, this month is the month for brand new, extra light, extra thin MacBooks with a touchscreen, and maybe even that giant MacStudio. We'll talk about it, what to expect, what to look for, next on MacBreak Weekly.

Andy Ihnatko (0:33)

Podcasts you love, from people you trust, this is TWiT.

Leo Laporte (0:42)

This is MacBreak Weekly, Episode 1045, recorded Tuesday, October 6th, 2026 The iCup Specialist.

It's time for MacBreak Weekly, the show we cover the latest news from Apple. Hello, Christina Warren from the Hub.

Christina Warren (1:00)

Hello, hello.

Leo Laporte (1:01)

Good to see you. Developer Relations at GitHub, Film Girl on the socials.

That's correct. And Tay-Tay Fan.

Christina Warren (1:12)

Well.

Leo Laporte (1:13)

Sort of.

Christina Warren (1:13)

Yes, but we're not gonna talk about the-

Jason Snell (1:15)

Not for the latest.

Christina Warren (1:17)

No.

Leo Laporte (1:17)

No, no. Sorry, folks. You know, nobody's successful forever. I'm living proof.

You know, you go as long as you can, and then it just falls off.

Christina Warren (1:30)

Look, you have good albums, you have bad albums. She had a really good album in 2024, a really mid album in 2025 We're not gonna talk about the four songs that were just released, and that's fine. Well, we will check in at a future date, and I'm sure that she will be re-vindicated, but yeah, no one needs to listen to Cleveland, do not.

Leo Laporte (1:48)

John Ashley will be relieved, I think, that he doesn't have to. Also with his Mr. Andrew Ihnatko in his own home, with his Super Heterodyne Receiver.

Andy Ihnatko (2:00)

Indeed, I decided that, you know, I've had it with the libraries, like no open containers policy, no lid, baby, no lid.

Leo Laporte (2:08)

Oh, you live in Lodge now.

Andy Ihnatko (2:11)

Freedom.

Leo Laporte (2:12)

Taking the chances.

Yeah, Burke forbade me from ever doing that again. In the studio.

Andy Ihnatko (2:18)

Yeah, none of the nonetheless, I've got it like on a different desk where if it falls, it falls down river from everything that I do believe.

Leo Laporte (2:26)

You were the one who had to emergency buy a MacBook at one point due to falling Coca Cola.

Andy Ihnatko (2:31)

That did happen the morning I have to deliver a keynote.

Fortunately, I fell asleep with a Dr. Pepper in my hand and tip over on the keyboard that I was finishing my keynote on. And then after waking up and discovering that, no, there is no way to rescue this, there was an Apple Store across the parking lot from the hotel. I said, okay, okay, okay, Senator, this is where the rubber meets the road. You're gonna need to upgrade in two years anyway. Oh wow.

Leo Laporte (3:03)

You got a good one.

Andy Ihnatko (3:04)

Also, suddenly I had a really killer opening for my talk. It was great.

Leo Laporte (3:09)

And actually, you've given a lead into the story of the week, so let me first say hello to Jason Snell.

Jason Snell (3:15)

Hello, good to back.

Leo Laporte (3:16)

Hello, sir.

SPEAKER_6 (3:17)

Sorry, I missed you all.

Andy Ihnatko (3:18)

I was on the airplane.

Leo Laporte (3:19)

How much did you raise for the good folks at the holiday end?

Jason Snell (3:23)

Say, Jude, we're over 750,000 for this fundraising period, which started in September, and we went over 700, which was our goal during our 12 hour long podcast thing that we did last Friday.

Always a good time. As you know very well, Leo, when you're on something live for 12 hours, it just gets weird. We had an Apple II, with about an hour left to go, we had an Apple II power supply give it up, and the magic smoke emerged. And let me tell you, the 40 year old magic smoke does not smell good.

Leo Laporte (3:59)

No, I know that smell. It smells like fish for some reason.

Jason Snell (4:02)

Yeah, yeah. We had to walk it outside to the loading dock because we're all going to die.

But it was, you know, weird stuff happens.

Andy Ihnatko (4:09)

It only adds legitimacy to your a-thon because that's usually the time that Jerry Lewis would have his meltdown.

Leo Laporte (4:14)

Yeah, it's perfect.

Jason Snell (4:15)

It is, it is. All the fond memories that you can imagine are there. And yeah, it was, yeah, we had a good time and we raised a lot of money and St. Jude is an amazing place. And people can still go, I mean, go to stjude.org/relay and you might be able to get in under the wire. But it's just incredible.