This is a massive, exceptional review of the new camera in the iPhone 14 Pro.

“But above all, I found a soul in the images from this new, 48-megapixel RAW mode that just made me elated. This is huge — and that’s not just the file size I am talking about. This camera can make beautiful photos, period, full stop. Photos that aren’t good for an iPhone. Photos that are great.”

I thought that the previous generation 2-series might be the last with a six-cylinder and a six-speed, but there’s one car in the new gen that does. Sounds like this one is the last, though:

It’s also likely to be the last non-hybrid M model ever, according to previous statements by M boss Frank Van Meel.

The incredible—and incredibly swift—turn of events has Syed a free man. Amazing.

Unfortunately:

Serial won’t be covering Adnan’s case anymore, or the now-unsolved case of Hae Min Lee’s murder. But we know many other capable reporters will be, and so we’ll be watching and reading and listening.

“It’s Baltimore, 2022. Adnan Syed has spent the last 23 years incarcerated, serving a life sentence for the murder of Hae Min Lee, a crime he says he didn’t commit. He has exhausted every legal avenue for relief, including a petition to the United States Supreme Court. But then, a prosecutor in the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s office stumbles upon two handwritten notes in Adnan’s case file, and that changes everything.”

The description for the first episode back in 2014 began, “It’s Baltimore, 1999”. It’s an amazing thing that this story has been unfolding for so long, and a podcast has let us feel like we’re part of it. It all came back today with the simple, haunting intro music that I forgot I loved. As I said yesterday, the fact that the podcast can add another episode almost eight years after its last (now just previous, I guess) episode is incredible. I hope we get more, once Adnan is willing and able.

Amazing! So many years after Serial brought this case so much attention, there’s finally some progress on Syed’s case. I don’t know if he’s innocent, but there was enough questionable going on with the case to at least justify a retrial.

And how awesome is podcasting that this many years later, there will be a new episode tomorrow!

Nikkei:

Japanese camera maker Nikon will withdraw from the development of single-lens reflex cameras and shift toward digital offerings amid intensifying competition from smartphone cameras, Nikkei has learned.

An earlier version of this article said that Canon was also stopping DSLR development, but that was removed in a later update; still, it’s inevitable that they will follow suit.

The article attributes the change to “smartphone cameras”, and while those have certainly changed the face of the camera market more than anything else in decades, this change is likely more due to mirrorless formats taking over the professional market, as the title suggests. Mirrorless cameras—especially now that Nikon (and Canon) have finally put in full-throated efforts—have advanced to the point where their benefits to pros outweigh the few remaining cons.

John Gruber, writing at Daring Fireball:

The M2 13-inch MacBook Air should not be thought of as version 2 of an Apple silicon MacBook Air. It’s more like version — I don’t know — 40 of what Apple thinks a standard Mac laptop should be. Apple silicon is what’s been missing — no-compromise chips that enable Apple to make the laptops they’ve always wanted to make. It’s taken decades of iterative refinement to get to this point: a nearly perfect laptop for nearly everyone.

As an owner of the M1 Macbook Air (I’m writing this on it), I can only say that if the new M2 version weren’t out, this would be the “nearly perfect laptop for nearly everyone”, so I have no problem believing this about the M2. The Verge in particular, has been making hay of minor quibbles, throwing doubt on the amazing achievement these laptops represent.

If I were to make the MBA a better laptop for me, I’d upgrade the screen to the excellent one on the new MacBook Pros and give an option for built-in, always-on 5G, both things that keep me using an iPad as frequently as I do. As Gruber notes, the 12.9" iPad Pro with the excellent screen is quite chunky compared to the MacBook Air, so I’m always choosing which to use while on the go, and I tend towards the iPad Pro. I’d love for the MacBook Air to be that complete machine instead.

Alex Castro, writing at The Verge:

…rather than prioritize posts from accounts people follow, Facebook’s main feed will, like TikTok, start heavily recommending posts regardless of where they come from.

This is the exact opposite of what I want from social platforms. I’m interested in what my friends and groups centered around my interests are posting about. I couldn’t care less about the latest memes or what some influencers are saying. This change is as unwelcome as was moving away from reverse chronological order to an algorithmic feed, based on engagement.

I’m still a user of an RSS reader, and would encourage anyone who hates these kinds of changes as much as I do to use applications like a reader to control your consumption, rather than be subject to the whims of platforms like these.

Mike Wilk & John Watson at The Radavist have a fantastic account of the Yeti C-26 and the early days of mountain bike racing.