MacBreak Weekly 1005: Best of 2025

Apple shook up its device family with new models this past year, but not all the changes were obvious. If you missed these pair of episodes, find out what actually made the 2025 Apple Watch and iPhone lineup different—and why picking the wrong one could mean missing out on must-have features (or overpaying for ones you'll never use). Host: Mikah Sargent Contact iOS Today at [email protected]. Download or subscribe to iOS Today at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

Take a look back at some of our favorite interviews from the past year on Tech News Weekly! Eric Migicovsky, founder of the smartwatch company Pebble, joins Mikah to talk about exciting news with Pebble. Bloomberg antitrust reporter Leah Nylen returns to unpack the latest in the DOJ's case against Google. She explains the three proposed remedies—including a possible Chrome browser divestiture—and what testimony from tech competitors like DuckDuckGo, Perplexity, and OpenAI revealed about Google's dominance in search and AI. Leila Zia, Head of Research at the Wikimedia Foundation, outlines their new AI roadmap, which focuses on supporting Wikipedia's volunteer editors rather than replacing them. She details how AI will assist with moderation, multilingual knowledge expansion, and mentorship—all while upholding values of transparency and human agency. Scott Stein of CNET is staying busy as he joins the show to share his hands-on impressions of Nintendo's Switch 2 console, Mario Kart World, and its new features. And Consumer Reports' Derek Kravitz details Instacart's AI pricing practices. Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Our interviews with: Ray Kurzweil Alex Hanna Emily Bender Mike Masnick Pliny the Liberator Kevin Kelly Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Intelligent Machines at https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

This isn't your usual Windows Weekly. Pour a glass and settle in as Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell ditch the headlines for whisky-soaked tech stories, behind-the-scenes Microsoft confessions, and the unexpected joys (and disasters) of vintage hardware. These are the tales you only hear when the mics are (almost) off. Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

In this special holiday episode, Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte revisit their classic conversation about vitamin D—diving into the science, surprising updates, and practical tips for your health. Whether you've heard it before or are tuning in for the first time, this "blast from the past" is the perfect way to kick off 2026 with wisdom, laughs, and a little bit of eggnog recovery. Read more at https://www.grc.com/health Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Join us again as we take a look back at some of MacBreak Weekly's favorite stories and moments from 2025: The unveiling of the iPhone 16e. The UK's effort to keep Apple Encryption fight secret is block & White House blames iPhone's auto-correct contact for Signal scandal. Apple's fairly underwhelming, and hilarious, 'Celebrity Snapshot' page. Another new product announcement from Apple: the iPhone Air! MacBreak Weekly celebrates its 1000th episode! And the departure of one of the original panelists of MacBreak Weekly... Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to MacBreak Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

AI video generation TWiT turns 20 Harper Reed on vibe-coding Job loss and AI Apple's iPhone 16 event Amy Webb's crazy husband talks about his anonymous computer Host: Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: zscaler.com/security

Why are forks, desktop wars, and Linux hardware launches making so much noise? And did last year's bold Linux predictions actually come true? We settle old bets, spotlight big surprises like Valve's hardware moves, and debate what's next for desktop, gaming, and beyond. Host: Jonathan Bennett Co-Hosts: Jeff Massie, Rob Campbell, and Ken McDonald Download or subscribe to Untitled Linux Show at https://twit.tv/shows/untitled-linux-show Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

One of our favorite interviews of 2025 was with Dr. Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society and the mind behind Mars Direct, a streamlined approach to reaching the Red Planet with human beings that was later largely adopted by NASA in their mission designs. It's a fascinating story about a man who continually swam upstream against strong currents of the aerospace establishment. His seminal book, "The Case for Mars," has enjoyed multiple reprints and influenced millions. Join us for this encore of an informative and forward-looking episode! Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik Download or subscribe to This Week in Space at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

What if your smart TV and Firefox extensions were secretly hijacking your security and privacy? This episode reveals the jaw-dropping discovery of a massive TV botnet and the surprisingly clever malware lurking behind innocent browser icons. North Korea's profitable fixation on cryptocurrency. Amazon uncovers a cryptomining sneaking into customer clouds. Insecure Docker API servers are also hosting cryptominers. A new and truly massive SmartTV-based botnet discovery. DNS Benchmark's 4th release. Who, besides Let's Encrypt, offers free automated certs. Some interesting listener feedback. And how a PNG Icon was used to infect 50,000 Firefox users Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1057-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsor: zscaler.com/security