Best of Apple — September 2025

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   Hacker News·36w

   Apple has a private CSS property to add Liquid Glass effects to web content

   Apple has developed a private CSS property called `-apple-visual-effect` that enables Liquid Glass effects in web content within iOS apps. The property supports various system materials including the new glass effects from iOS 26, but requires enabling a private WKPreferences setting called `useSystemAppearance`. While this feature can't be used in App Store apps due to its private nature, it suggests Apple is using webviews with native UI integration in their own applications without users realizing it.

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   Article

   David Heinemeier Hansson·35w

   The great falls of Boeing, Intel, and Apple

   A critical analysis of how major tech companies like Boeing, Intel, and Apple have declined after appointing CEOs without engineering or product backgrounds. The author argues that it takes approximately ten years for company culture to deteriorate under non-technical leadership, citing specific examples of failed products and strategic missteps at each company. The piece advocates for technical leaders who understand the products they oversee rather than purely business-focused executives.

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   Article

   Hacker News·37w

   How did MVC get so F’ed up?

   The Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern has been misunderstood and misimplemented over the years. The original Smalltalk MVC design keeps models completely unaware of views and controllers, using observer patterns for communication. Modern implementations, particularly Apple's Cocoa version, have corrupted this by making controllers act as intermediaries and creating tightly coupled view-controllers. True MVC requires observable models that can notify multiple views of changes, with the key insight being that models should never depend on their UI components. The pattern works as a composite where views can have their own models, and even function arguments should be treated as observable models to properly enable/disable UI elements.

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   Article

   David Heinemeier Hansson·36w

   Apple has no one left who can say no

   Apple's leadership crisis is evident in failed projects like the $10 billion Project Titan car initiative and the buggy CarPlay Ultra release. The company lacks decisive leadership to maintain quality standards, with products shipping despite significant performance issues like 12fps lag and system crashes. This reflects a broader organizational problem where quarterly earnings take precedence over product excellence, contrasting with founder-led companies that typically maintain higher quality standards.

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   Article

   Hacker News·37w

   Liquid Glass in the Browser: Refraction with CSS and SVG — kube.io

   A comprehensive technical guide to recreating Apple's Liquid Glass UI effect using CSS, SVG displacement maps, and physics-based refraction calculations. Covers the mathematical principles of light refraction through Snell's Law, surface function modeling, displacement vector field generation, and SVG filter implementation. Includes interactive simulations and practical UI component examples like magnifying glass, search box, and music player interfaces. Currently Chrome-only due to SVG backdrop-filter limitations.

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   Article

   Hacker News·37w

   sam henri gold on X: "Did you know your MacBook has a sensor that knows the exact angle of the screen hinge? It’s not exposed as a public API, but I figured out a way to read it and make it sound like

   A developer discovered how to access MacBook's hidden screen hinge angle sensor through undocumented methods and created a creative audio application that makes the laptop sound like an old wooden door when opening and closing.

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   Article

   Apple Developer·34w

   Upcoming Currency Change in Bulgaria

   Bulgaria will adopt the euro as its official currency on January 1, 2026, replacing the Bulgarian lev. This change affects App Store pricing, payments, and reporting for developers with apps sold in Bulgaria. App pricing will be automatically converted using the statutory rate of 1.95583 BGN = 1 EUR, subscription billing will continue uninterrupted, and developers must display both currencies during the transition period until August 2026. Financial reports will split between BG and EU categories based on transaction dates.

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   Article

   Qt·37w

   Qt on macOS 26 Tahoe

   Qt framework announces compatibility preparations for macOS 26 Tahoe, addressing challenges with the new Liquid Glass design system. The team has updated their Apple platform support policy to clarify forward compatibility and provides workaround mechanisms for applications experiencing styling issues. Qt continues working on enabling liquid glass effects in their native styles while maintaining compatibility mode options for existing applications.

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   Article

   Hacker News·37w

   iPhone dumbphone

   A developer shares how they used Apple Configurator to transform their iPhone into a restricted device, eliminating access to distracting apps and websites while keeping essential utilities. The setup reduced daily screen time from 4 hours to 2 hours by creating real friction for changes and completely disabling the App Store. The guide includes step-by-step instructions for factory resetting the phone, setting up Apple Configurator profiles, and configuring content filters and app restrictions.

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    Article

    Hacker News·34w

    Apple's iPhone 17 chip becomes the fastest single-core CPU in the world on PassMark, beating PC chips and Apple's own M3 Ultra — passively-cooled A19 CPU catapults past power-hungry competitors

    Apple's A19 chip in the iPhone 17 achieved the highest single-core performance score on PassMark benchmarks, surpassing desktop processors from Intel, AMD, and even Apple's own M3 Ultra. The A19 scored 5,149 points while consuming only 4W of power, compared to 44W for Intel's Core Ultra 9 285K and 56W for AMD's EPYC processor. However, the chip's multi-threaded performance remains limited due to fewer cores compared to desktop alternatives.

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