This week in the labs, we covered the usual assortment of geeky topics and we’re all looking forward to the iPhone event next week.

Below you’ll find the week’s new videos and podcasts, a few of the conversations happening in the member community, and what’s coming next week. Most of those links lead straight into the Labs community on Circle, so they’ll only open if you’re a member. If you’re a Labs member who hasn’t set up your Circle access yet, send me a note and I’ll get you in. For members, this is your week at a glance. If you’re not one yet, it’s a peek at what you’re missing.

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The Week’s Releases

This Month in the Labs – August 2026

Roundup · August 31 · all tiers

The August wrap-up went up in all three tiers on Monday. Every video, podcast, and live session from the month, collected in one place.

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link | Member Link

MindNode MCP Support

Video · September 2 · Pathfinder & Insider

MindNode just added MCP support, so you can now hook your AI right into your mind maps. I gave it one dictated prompt and watched it build a full map of my MacSparky content pipeline, channels, platforms, and all.

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link

WhatCable – Free USB-C Cable Identifier

Video · September 3 · all tiers

Every USB-C cable looks the same and they are not the same. WhatCable is a free utility that identifies what a cable can actually carry, and I walk through it.

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link | Member Link

The Lab Report for September 4, 2026

Podcast · September 4 · all tiers

Tim Cook is done running Apple. After fifteen years, he’s moved to executive chair and John Ternus is CEO, effective September 1.

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link | Member Link

In the Community

I’m gently being pushed up the MacMini ladder (Labs Discussion Board)

A member set out to replace an M1 Mac mini and watched the spec climb one reasonable-looking step at a time.

Grok Bot (Labs Discussion Board)

One member asked whether anybody else has been trying Grok Bot and got back a long hands-on writeup.

If you’re a Labs member and haven’t joined the Circle community yet, let me know and I’ll get you set up.

Coming Up

Apple’s event is Wednesday and we’re getting together right after. Here’s the calendar through the middle of October.

Labs iPhone Event Meetup · September 9, 12:00 Pacific

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link | Member Link

Labs September Meetup (After Dark) · September 10, 18:00 Pacific

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link

September Deep Dive – The Mac Studio Home Server · September 17, 12:00 Pacific

Pathfinder Link

Labs Jam Session – Browsers · September 24, 12:00 Pacific

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link | Member Link

Q4 Quarter Planning Meetup · October 1, 10:00 Pacific

Pathfinder Link

Labs October Meetup · October 8, 14:00 Pacific

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link

October Deep Dive – Local and Private AI on a Mac · October 15, 12:00 Pacific

Pathfinder Link

Links of Interest

• Everything is a song. Austin Kleon’s weekly list of ten, this one carrying remembrances of Dolly Parton, Yayoi Kusama, and Tim Curry.
• Experiencing Apple’s live immersive baseball broadcast. John Voorhees on watching part of a live Yankees-Red Sox game in Apple Immersive Video.
• Apple was caught off guard by AI demand for the Mac mini and Mac Studio. MacRumors on why the new desktops arrived early.
• Ford explains why it chose Apple Maps over Google for its new EVs. 9to5Mac on how that decision got made.

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Join the Labs

The videos, podcasts, and live sessions above are inside MacSparky Labs. Join at macsparky.com/join.

The post This Week in the Labs — September 4, 2026 appeared first on MacSparky.

We got a lot of news from Apple this week, and I shipped a lot in the labs. Busy week.

Below you’ll find the week’s new videos and podcasts, a few of the conversations happening in the member community, and what’s coming next week. Most of those links lead straight into the Labs community on Circle, so they’ll only open if you’re a member. If you’re a Labs member who hasn’t set up your Circle access yet, send me a note and I’ll get you in. For members, this is your week at a glance. If you’re not one yet, it’s a peek at what you’re missing.

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The Week’s Releases

August Deep Dive – Sparky’s Analog Stack

Deep Dive · August 25 · Pathfinder

The recording from this month’s Deep Dive is up: why paper still handles the last mile in an otherwise digital workflow, the daily list scratched onto a Field Notes page or an Ugmonk card, why a wildfire evacuation didn’t change how I think about backup, and the room’s own rabbit holes on Lochby covers, Rhodia paper, and pencil sharpeners.

Pathfinder Link

Design a Cohesive Stream Deck Icon Set with ChatGPT

Video · August 26 · Pathfinder & Insider

A lot of you saw the Stream Deck tour and asked how I make the buttons. This one walks through it. I use a ChatGPT project with a design prompt saved as a resource file, which gets me icons that all look like they belong together, and I show how to pair two of them on a multi-action switch so one button toggles my recording light.

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link

Accurate Backyard Weather with Eve Weather

Video · August 27 · all tiers

Apple Weather gets close, but it has never been quite right for my backyard. So I solved it with money and put an Eve Weather sensor outside the window. Here’s the setup, what it looks like in Apple Home, and the automations I’m building on top of it.

Pathfinder Link | Insider Link | Member Link

The Lab Report for August 28, 2026

Podcast · August 28 · all tiers

Apple shipped new desktop Macs two weeks before the iPhone event. The M6 Mac mini is Apple’s first 2nm chip, the M5 Ultra Mac Studio is its first quad-die design, and both ship September 22 running macOS 27 Golden Gate.

Pathfinder Link

In the Community

Problems with USB-Drives, after Update to macOS 26.6.2 (Labs Discussion Board)

One member spent the week chasing a gnarly macOS 26.6.2 bug with USB Drives.

Meross app (Labs Discussion Board)

A member asked about the Meross app for smart plugs and started a conversation about Meross’s HomeKit-compatible plugs and best practices.

Wispr Flow — editing feature request (Labs Discussion Board)

One member flagged an annoyance with Wispr Flow, which kicked off a discussion of dictation and editing.

If you’re a Labs member and haven’t joined the Circle community yet, let me know and I’ll get you set up.

Coming Up

The calendar is loaded out through the end of the year. Here’s what’s on deck through the middle of October.

iPhone Keynote Day Meetup. September 9. We’ll be doing a meet-up of all labs members on Keynote Day. Details to come.

Labs September Meetup (After Dark) · September 10, 18:00 Pacific · Pathfinder + Insider

September Deep Dive – The Mac Studio Home Server · September 17, 12:00 Pacific · Pathfinder

Labs Jam Session – Browsers · September 24, 12:00 Pacific · Pathfinder + Insider + Member

Q4 Quarter Planning Meetup · October 1, 10:00 Pacific · Pathfinder

Labs October Meetup · October 8, 14:00 Pacific · Pathfinder + Insider

October Deep Dive – Local and Private AI on a Mac · October 15, 12:00 Pacific · Pathfinder

Links of Interest

• How The iPad Mini Fixed My Reading Habit. Joe Moyer on why a smaller, single-purpose screen got him reading more than his phone ever did.
• My Annual Performance, as Reviewed by My Dog. Erica Lies with a satirical performance review, dog edition.
• Hands-On with ChatGPT Work’s New Cloud Browser Feature. John Voorhees puts OpenAI’s new cloud browser through its paces.

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The videos, podcasts, and live sessions above are inside MacSparky Labs. Join at macsparky.com/join.

The post This Week in the Labs — August 28, 2026 appeared first on MacSparky.