The delightfully messy state of Apple gadgets

is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.

The iPhone has more screens! The MacBook has a touchscreen! The HomeView does CarPlay apps! For the first time in a long time, Apple is in a period of unabashed gadget experimentation, and while the final results aren’t always perfect, it’s fun to watch the most successful product maker try some new things again. Even when, in this case, “trying” amounts to just slapping a touch panel on a lovely new MacBook Pro — just to see if you might use it.

On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay debate the merits of a touchscreen laptop, Nilay explains why he is absolutely positively going to buy the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, and David asks, as always, could this have been an iPad?

After that, the hosts discuss Instagram’s foray into long-form content, and Adam Mosseri’s increasingly complicated relationship with AI content. Instagram is at once extraordinarily powerful and under serious threat, and Mosseri’s going to have a hard time making it all work. Finally, it’s time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, news about Anthropic’s IPO and Anduril’s laptops, and much more.

In case you missed it this week: We also talked about storing files in URLs, the early days of the AI revolution, Amazon’s seemingly excellent new Echo gear, and even more on the MacBook Pro. And we want to hear all your thoughts about all of it! Call the Vergecast Hotline at 866-VERGE11, send us an email at vergecast@theverge.com, and tell us everything that’s on your mind. And make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

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