I Love My Mac - WAN Show April 10, 2026

The WAN show discusses a range of tech news and personal experiences. One of the main topics is the host's experience with the MacBook Neo, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses. The MacBook Neo is praised for its enjoyable daily use, web browsing, word processing, and chat capabilities, as well as its overall build quality. However, significant challenges include limited input/output (IO) options, issues with external display compatibility (specifically with a Dell 6K monitor not running at full resolution and Mac OS's poor handling of non-native aspect ratios), occasional Wi-Fi disconnects, and a steep learning curve for Mac OS, particularly regarding app installation outside the App Store. The host also expresses disappointment about the absence of popular apps like Discord and Teams from the App Store. Despite these issues, the MacBook Neo's performance is generally rated as great, with special mention of Spotlight search being "incredible." The host appreciates some pre-installed games like Chess, contrasting it with Windows' tendency to include ad-filled software. Apple is reportedly struggling to meet demand for the MacBook Neo due to a shortage of A18 Pro chips, having underestimated sales. This unexpected success is seen as a major product launch for Apple, potentially impacting the laptop market significantly, especially given its affordability and robust build quality. The idea of a cooling dock for the MacBook Neo is discussed, with the host envisioning a passive solution to enhance performance. The show also covers other significant tech news. The French government is accelerating plans to adopt Linux for digital sovereignty, moving workstations to an unnamed Linux distribution. This move is seen as potentially successful, given the significant improvements in Linux over recent years. Separately, patches to the Linux kernel and KDE are expected to boost gaming performance for users with limited VRAM, a welcome development for those with 8GB graphics cards. Another major story is John Deere settling a US right-to-repair lawsuit, agreeing to a $99 million fund for farmers and committing to provide digital tools, software, and manuals for equipment repair for the next 10 years, albeit on a license or subscription basis. This is hailed as a landmark win for right-to-repair advocates, with hopes it will set precedents for other industries. In gaming, Steam is reportedly developing a frame rate estimator feature, which will provide expected frame rates for games based on crowdsourced data from users with similar hardware. This is seen as a valuable tool for gamers and developers, offering better insights than current minimum system requirements. The host believes this could be a result of feedback given to Valve about the need for more granular hardware survey data. Netflix faces legal challenges in Italy, with a court ruling that its subscription price increases from 2017 to 2024 were illegal due to a lack of justified reasons. This could lead to over $2.3 billion in refunds and a rollback of prices to 2015 levels, with potential ripple effects across Europe. Nintendo, in a seemingly pro-consumer move, is decoupling digital and physical game pricing, potentially leading to lower digital game costs. This is considered a positive step, especially given the long-standing debate about digital game pricing parity with physical copies. Samsung Electronics is making strides away from ARM by developing a proprietary SSD controller based on the open-source RISC-V architecture. This move allows Samsung to avoid ARM licensing fees and customize chips, potentially accelerating the adoption of RISC-V in commercial products. Apple has also approved drivers allowing AMD and Nvidia eGPUs to run on Mac, specifically for AI workloads, not gaming. This is seen as a potential thaw in the long-frosty relationship between Apple and Nvidia, hinting at future possibilities for enhanced Mac performance. Keyron, a keyboard and mouse manufacturer, has made its product designs "source available," publishing CAD files for 83 models. This allows users to 3D print parts or design mods, fostering a more open ecosystem for hardware customization, although commercial use is restricted. The show also touches on personal anecdotes, including the host's recent work trip to a data center for a sponsored video, which involved building an efficient gaming PC in an unusual location. New LTT Store products, including multi-pocket leggings and flex pants, are announced, with a call to action for female viewers to support the women's product line. Finally, Google One has upgraded its AI Pro subscribers from 2TB to 5TB of cloud storage at no extra cost, a rare instance of a big tech subscription service spontaneously improving. Neural compression technologies from Nvidia and Intel are discussed, promising significant VRAM usage reduction and faster rendering by using neural networks to compress and reconstruct texture data, though concerns about potential artistic integrity issues are raised.