694: Travel Tales, Starlink Van Life, and First Impressions of Apple’s Foldable Duo

In this episode of Command, Control, Power, Jerry recounts attending Boston’s Head of the Charles, where his freshman daughter coxed a women’s varsity eight and finished despite the boat losing its skeg mid-race. Joe shares a road trip to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite, plus rainy stops in Zion and Utah’s Valley of the Gods, using a Starlink Mini powered via USB-C to work remotely and navigating flash-flood warnings and a wash crossing. The hosts discuss balancing tech work with nature travel and national park crowds. They then shift to tech: impressions of Apple’s first-gen foldable “Duo,” iPhone 18 Pro/Pro Max experiences, ongoing iOS 27 issues (weather alerts, copy/paste), and worsening Siri responsiveness. They touch on macOS “Golden Gate,” Apple Mail’s Exchange/EWS situation, and reactions to new Apple TV pricing and the HomeView product, including limited third-party integrations versus UniFi Protect.

00:00 Show Kickoff

00:11 Head of the Charles Recap

00:50 Racing Without a Skeg

02:26 Yosemite and Tahoe Highlights

03:42 Starlink Van Life Setup

05:15 Flash Floods and Wash Crossing

09:26 Remote Work Reality Check

11:36 Traveling With Other People

14:04 Crowds and Park Etiquette

18:29 Tech Transition to Apple Duo

18:43 Foldable iPhone First Impressions

23:34 iOS Glitches and Alert Bugs

25:31 Siri Beta Disappointment

27:18 iPhone 18 Pro Max Letdown

28:21 Case Free Durability Talk

29:45 Siri Workout Failures

32:52 AllTrails And Fitness Bugs

35:09 Golden Gate Upgrade Check

36:45 Apple Mail Exchange Trouble

40:59 Outlook Versus Mail Debate

43:47 New Apple TV Sticker Shock

46:55 HomeView Use Cases

50:03 HomeKit Versus UniFi Reality

53:35 Wrap Up And Community

693: Apple’s October 2026 Updates: Touchscreen MacBook Pro, M6 iMac, and a Revamped iPad Mini

Joe and Jerry discuss Apple’s October 28, 2026 product event, focusing on the new “MacBook Pro with Pro LED XDR display,” Apple’s first touchscreen Mac; it uses existing M5 Pro/M5 Max chips, adds a tandem OLED touch display, and debuts a thinner, significantly lighter chassis with improved audio, while the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac get the new M6. They note confusing lineup naming, incremental performance changes, and pricing/upgrade math (RAM and storage), including frustration that the iMac still caps at 2TB. They cover speculation about supply constraints and unlikely price drops, Apple shipping AI-ready hardware before software (Siri), and mixed enthusiasm about AI marketing. They find the updated iPad Mini compelling for its A20 Pro, Wi‑Fi 7/Bluetooth 6, OLED, and nano-texture option. They also address reports of Apple Store subscription opt-ins, briefly mention Duo device issues and ergonomics, and end with an eBay-worthy vintage Apple director’s chair.

00:00 Apple Event Setup

00:41 MacBook Pro Naming Mess

03:08 Touchscreen Arrives

04:17 New Chassis Breakdown

06:16 Touch UX and Hybrids

09:11 Screen Specs Reality Check

11:20 Pricing Creep and iMac Limits

14:06 Supply Constraints Debate

19:17 MacBook Air vs Pro Pricing

21:16 Thermals and Wi-Fi 7

24:20 AI Hardware and Siri Promises

27:07 Siri vs ChatGPT in Practice

29:21 Home View Expectations

30:09 Fixing Productivity Systems

32:55 iPad Mini Temptation

35:56 Incremental Apple Updates

38:53 Store Subscription Opt Ins

43:36 Managing Subscriptions Easily

47:44 Duo Defects And Buttons

51:03 Software Update Impressions

52:01 Apple Directors Chair Outro

Best of CCP: Ya Gotta Monitor the Monitoring

Sam Valencia, Jerry Zigmont and Joe Saponare discuss working with Apple technology and clients. Drawn from their combined experience of over 20 years in the Apple Consultants Network, thaey discuss technical support issues both with the technology and working with clients.

691: EWS Deprecation, Apple Mail/Calendar Issues, and a Jamf Conference Misadventure

Sam and Jerry record an episode of Command and Control Power without Joe, briefly discussing hiking safety, then focus on Microsoft Exchange Web Services (EWS) deprecation affecting Apple Mail on macOS and the ethical question of proactively extending EWS via PowerShell for former clients; they extended it for a few Apple Mail–using customers but wouldn’t change settings for non-clients. They describe difficult troubleshooting when business addresses were previously used for personal Microsoft 365 accounts, requiring Keychain resets and, for Apple Calendar sync issues, removing Apple Internet Accounts data. Sam notes quirks with Microsoft passkey QR logins leaving the phone camera active, shares an embarrassing “good Samaritan” story at JNUC, highlights Jamf’s AI governance tool, and recounts fixing his own Jamf enrollment by disabling SIP and repairing configuration profile folders before re-enrolling. They also discuss syncing the macOS Downloads folder via iCloud, cautious AI permissions, and AI’s usefulness and risks.

00:00 Recording Setup

00:40 Welcome And Missing Joe

01:22 Bear Safety Talk

04:13 EWS Deprecation Ethics

08:37 PowerShell Fixes And WhatIf

11:28 Microsoft Credential Hell

17:05 Apple Calendar Exchange Bugs

20:23 Passkeys QR Camera Quirk

21:33 JNUC Trip And Water Bottle

25:43 Jamf Keynote And AI Governance

26:43 Jamf Cloud And Roles

27:38 Jamf Life Updates

28:29 JNUC Meetup Talk

29:10 Patch And Bird Suit

30:51 Mascot Movie Tangent

32:19 MDM Profile Meltdown

37:33 Remote Support And Sync

40:57 Syncing Downloads Hack

44:21 Finder Mail Power Tips

45:29 AI Permissions And Risks

52:08 Wrap Up And Rental Car

54:15 Credits And Goodbye

690: AI-Powered PowerShell, and Carrier Trade-In Traps

Joe and Jerry discuss using iPhone built-in Background Sounds (rain/white noise) and Joe’s reliable Shortcuts automation: when power connects, if the time is after 9:55 PM or before 6:15 AM and audio isn’t already playing (checked via the third-party Actions app), set rain sound and volume and enable it; Siri’s shortcut generation was buggy, while Gemini helped produce working logic. They swap notes on using white noise at home and while traveling, and Joe recounts encountering a bear at night and ideas for a “bear alert” automation. They note Apple Notes lacks version history/rollback and mention the Note Export app as a workaround. Jerry describes using Claude to guide PowerShell incident response for a Microsoft 365 phishing compromise, generating reports and adding an admin-enforced outbound wire-fraud notice. They also compare Gemini/Claude/ChatGPT (including an annoying ChatGPT “pet” hotkey conflict) and praise Duolingo’s habit features. Finally, Joe explains Verizon’s AI chat helped clarify phone unlocking and trade-in financing rules versus AT&T’s device-locking and poor chat results, influencing his upgrade decision.

00:00 Show Kickoff Banter

00:23 iPhone Rain Sounds

01:42 Automating Bedtime Audio

05:44 Actions App Trick

06:20 Bear Encounter Story

10:52 White Noise Sleep Habits

13:41 Notes History Missing

17:27 Yosemite Climbing Doc

20:03 Duolingo Streak Hacks

25:00 Gemini and ChatGPT Pet

27:30 Unforgetful Reminders App

30:17 Phished Microsoft 365

31:29 Global Admin Gone Wrong

32:32 Claude Powershell Cleanup

33:08 Wire Fraud Email Disclaimer

34:25 Conversation History Scam Tactics

35:54 Best Practice Admin Accounts

37:27 Building an Incident Checklist

42:08 Proactive Audits and MFA Training

44:58 Authenticator App Switching Pitfalls

49:16 Break Glass and Defender Layers

51:08 Verizon AI vs Carrier Lock-In

53:06 Trade In Math and Unlock Policies

01:01:56 Wrap Up and Show Milestones

689: Stitches, Switches, and Sketchy Devices: A Podcast Nose Dive

Jerry describes having basal cell carcinoma removed from his nose and urges regular dermatology checkups, then shares how iOS 27 repeatedly warned him before sharing a “sensitive” stitched-and-bloody photo, even suggesting he consult a “trusted adult.” Joe discusses costly RV maintenance and how machines (including hard drives) can fail when left idle, leading into Mac maintenance routines. They debate slang like “cooked,” then talk Apple’s new iPhone lineup, including Jerry’s iPhone 13 Pro Max purchase and their mixed expectations for the first-gen iPhone Duo (weight, outer-screen constraints, camera and battery compromises) alongside improvements like cooling, battery life, and a vapor chamber. They cover Apple Watch “always listening” features, citing Gruber’s privacy rationale, and discuss practical recording/summaries for medical visits. Jerry explains how Claude helps him solve technical issues, analyze security research, navigate health insurance decisions, and produce billable security reporting; they note macOS screen sharing bug fixes and mention keychain migration and safe mode articles. They tease upcoming Patreon topics about a move and walking away from a client.

00:00 Show Kickoff Banter

00:21 Nose Surgery Story

02:30 iOS Sensitive Image Warning

04:43 Scar Care And Skin Checks

05:19 RV Maintenance Costs

06:57 Idle Vehicles And Backup Drives

07:51 Mac Maintenance Cycles

08:57 New Slang Cooked Debate

10:32 New iPhone Pro Purchase

11:09 iPhone Duo First Impressions

13:59 Upgrading From 16 Pro

15:52 Carrier Handoff And eSIM Switching

17:56 Duo Software And Fold Durability

19:26 Foldable Display Durability

20:54 Watch Always Listening Debate

23:24 Trusted Device Privacy Logic

25:53 Real World Recording Use Cases

27:43 Claude as IT Copilot

31:33 AI Summarizes Security Research

34:49 Health Insurance With Claude

39:25 Billable Security Reporting

41:45 macOS VNC Bug Takeaways

43:00 Keychain Migration Confusion

45:33 Safe Mode and Show Wrap

46:19 Patreon Tease and Goodbye