Mac Potpourri by Joe Leo

About the Author

MacPrices writer Joe Leo joined the team in May 2018 and has been writing news, features, reviews, commentaries, and editorials in his “Mac Potpourri” column all of which primarily revolve around Apple and its products, the items that are price tracked daily on this website. Leo is not entirely a stranger to MacPrices having written for its sister site PowerBook Central (since merged with MacPrices) from 2006 to 2009 which was the beginning of his career as a professional freelance journalist. A resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, he was a former educator and spent close to two decades teaching technology and journalism in the elementary school setting. Today, in addition to MacPrices, Leo also rites for the website Low End Mac and for iPhone Life magazine.

(Photo: © Lifetouch National School Studios)

Contact Info:

To contact Joe Leo, email him at: j.leo@macprices.net


Latest Articles in this Column:

Apple’s 2019 Guide To Holiday Gifts Can Help Get Your Christmas Shopping List Checked Off

FEATURE: 12.17.19- There's only one week left to get your Christmas shopping done and if Apple items are on the top of your gift list this year and you're wondering what hardware or device to purchase for either a family member or a friend, the tech giant is here to ...
Read More

Lack Of 5G Might Be Why I Pass On Upgrading To An iPhone SE 2

COMMENTARY: 12.09.19- As a current owner of the iPhone SE and a huge fan of the classic 4-inch form factor (and smaller non phablet size smartphones), the news of the impending release of its successor planned for the Spring of 2020 personally gave me pure delight but despite that sheer ...
Read More

Cyber Monday Final Opportunity To Take Advantage Of Apple 4-Day Shopping Event

FEATURE: 12.02.19- Shoppers looking for some exclusive deals directly from Apple who elected to forgo the long lines, ruckus rush, and parking problems of a Black Friday nightmare need fear not because its 4-day shopping event lasts until today, Cyber Monday, through 11:59 PM ST local time where one can ...
Read More

How tablet computers like Apple’s iPad Are Used As A Key Technology Tool In The Restaurant Industry

FEATURE: 11.28.19- On this Thanksgiving day, while some families across America decide to forgo the extra labor of preparing a huge feast centered around the turkey plus all the trimmings, choosing to eat out at a fine dining, fast casual, or quick service restaurant, instead of celebrating the holiday at ...
Read More

Is Thick The New Thin In Apple Product Design With Jony Ive Out Of The ‘Loop’?

FEATURE: 11.22.19- Every Apple user and aficionado knows that the form over function factor in the majority of products designed in California by the tech giant during the past two decades has been on the svelte side of the spectrum but with the man formerly in charge of design at ...
Read More

The ‘Mac Potpourri’ Mailbag: Edition #1- Infographic On History Of 15-inch MacBook Pro

COMMENTARY: 11.20.19- Welcome to the inaugural edition of the "Mac Potpourri" Mailbag where we take a look at correspondence received from readers of this column from all over the world who write in for a number of reasons ranging from commentary to feedback in regard to an article I've written ...
Read More

iOS Bug In Facebook News Feed Lets Device Camera Be Used Without User Permission

NEWS: 11.15.19- Users of the Facebook social media platform's mobile app running on iOS devices won't, like, this piece of news one bit in where a bug in the News Feed gave access to the camera while the unsuspecting individual simply scrolled through their daily posts unaware of the issue ...
Read More

Google’s Android Branding, Somewhat Similar To Apple’s Mac OS X, Results In ‘Pie’ On Its Face

COMMENTARY: 11.08.19- Google has been in the news spotlight lately for its extravagant expenditures, first, for a good deed done in June with its substantial donation of $1 billion towards the housing problem in the Silicon Valley where its own headquarters also calls home — although not as generous as ...
Read More

Apple Moving Forward With Production of iPhone SE 2 With Release For Spring 2020

NEWS: 11.04.19- In what feels like an eternity compared to the annual upgrade cycle of the flagship iPhone lineup, the successor to the iPhone SE may finally see the light of day four years after its original inception with the iPhone SE 2 if a new rumor circling around the ...
Read More

Time Running Out For iPhone 5 Users To Update Software To Quash GPS Glitch

NEWS: 11.01.19- As daylight savings time ends this weekend and people across the United States set clocks back one hour on Sunday at 2:00 AM DST in each one's local time zone to revert back to the universal standard used around the globe, one specific group of Apple smartphone users ...
Read More

iFixIt’s Splicing Open Of iPhone 11 Reveals More Than Just A Closer Look At New Device’s Innards

FEATURE: 10.31.19- Halloween is that time of the year to watch some horror films / slasher flicks where a deranged killer cuts open innocent people and blood and guts spill out for all its gory glory onscreen but on this particular day, the sun suspecting victim being spliced open on ...
Read More

Apple Influence Evident On Technology Devices In Use Throughout Medical Field

COMMENTARY: 10.28.19- There's been a short (or long, depending on your sense of time passing) hiatus here in the "Mac Potpourri" column and for a good reason as this writer has been out on medical leave for the past 25 days (as of Friday afternoon, October 18) and the entire ...
Read More

What New Products Will Be Unveiled At The ‘By Innovation Only’ Apple Event?

FEATURE: 09.09.19- With a media only Apple event scheduled to occur tomorrow morning at the company's Cupertino, California headquarters where the tech giant will be unveiling and showcasing a number of new devices and hardware as it does like clockwork around the same time each year (in advance of the ...
Read More

Apple Pencil Support May Be Key Feature In New Pro Model Of 2019 iPhone

FEATURE: 09.04.19- With Apple now highly expected to be releasing an iPhone Pro model for this year's lineup (or two Pro models as reported late last month by Bloomberg), one particular accessory for the new device may potentially be a newer and smaller version of the Apple Pencil which would ...
Read More

Is It Time For Apple To Streamline Its Product Branding Strategy With The iPhone?

COMMENTARY: 08.26.19- Apple over the years has made efforts to streamline its product branding, keeping its naming conventions somewhat structured across the board with some notable monikers as "mini" or "Pro" but once in awhile, especially with its strategy for the iPhone, it has strayed away from the established pattern ...
Read More

WhistleOut Paying A Grand To Find Out If Next iPhone Will Be Worth It

FEATURE: 08.21.19- One company is offering the ultimate dream job for an Apple tech connoisseur, in particular, an iPhone user who can answer the question of whether the next version of the iPhone will be worth it, and, it will pay a grand sum of money for that answer. WhistleOut, ...
Read More

People Profiles: Visually Impaired Surfer Gains Independence With Aid Of Apple Smartphone

FEATURE: 08.12.19- Surf's up for the Summer and one visually impaired military veteran who has found a new pastime for himself is making waves by showing how Apple technology as simple as an iPhone assists with daily tasks like surfing the web, and not so everyday ones such as surfing ...
Read More

Get Kids Off Their iOS Device Screens And Have Them Get Their GOYA-Move On Instead

FEATURE: 08.05.19- Screen usage is a year round issue for children but especially can be more prevalent during the Summer months when kids are out of school and have nothing better to do with their free time, spending hours on end in front of their smartphone or tablet, and if ...
Read More

A Lesser Known Visit By Dilbert To The Apple Campus At 1 Infinite Loop

FEATURE: 08.01.19- Over the decades, many celebrity figures have visited the Apple Campus at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California, its old headquarters, from singers Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder to sports great Muhammad Ali (and even yours truly, wink!), but one popular celebrity doesn't get much credit and that ...
Read More

With The New iPadOS, Apple Is Paving The Way To A Forthcoming Merger Of iOS & MacOS

EDITORIAL: 07.26.19 The advent of the new iPadOS, — a hybrid-like operating system that is part mobile and part desktop, further blurs the lines between iOS, "the world's most advanced mobile operating system," and MacOS, "the world's most advanced desktop operating system," and this latest move by Apple suggests that ...
Read More

Apple, Yet Again, Is Missing An Ultraportable Mac In Its Notebook Computer Lineup

EDITORIAL: 07.19.19 Prior to the decision made by Apple earlier this month to retire the thin and light MacBook model with a 12-inch retina display, the Cupertino, California-based company offered, as it sporadically has done in the past, an ultraportable Mac model and in its wake has left a huge ...
Read More

A Lesson Apple Can Learn From The Supervillain In Marvel Studios’ Film ‘Avengers: Endgame’

COMMENTARY: 07.12.19- As far as innovation is concerned, Apple was always the industry leader at the forefront for many decades, however, the one key aspect that has driven the company to its core seems to be the most critical factor which the tech giant has been devoid of in recent ...
Read More

Need Apple Product Service Or Repair But No Genius Bar Nearby? the Geek Squad Can Provide Assistance

FEATURE: 07.05.19- There's nothing like the peace of mind and convenience of purchasing an Apple product from any one of its 271 retail locations across the U.S. and if assistance is needed with the product, to be able to return to that Apple Store and simply make an appointment or ...
Read More

New Accessibility Features Coming To MacOS Catalina, iOS 13, & iPadOS Previewed At WWDC ’19

FEATURE: 06.30.19- While the everyday user of Apple products will have some drool worthy features to look forward to such as dark mode in iOS 13 or Sidecar in MacOS Catalina version 10.15 (which lets one use an iPad as an external display), the disabled community was certainly not forgotten ...
Read More

The Strategy Behind Why Apple Has Kept The iPod touch In Its Product Lineup

FEATURE: 06.24.19- Apple killed off all of its iPod models except for the iPod touch being the sole holdover and it finally was updated after four years late last month in May with a new seventh generation version but, with its popularity having since waned with the iPhone performing the ...
Read More

Like To Buy And Keep Your Music? Fret Not As The iTunes Store Isn’t Going Anywhere

FEATURE: 06.10.19- If you're the type of person that still prefers to purchase your music and wants to keep a collection of all of those downloaded digital sons for playback on your iPod (whichever model you might have), Mac, or other device, what are you to do now that Apple ...
Read More

Apple MP3 Music Player Lives On With Release Of New iPod touch

FEATURE: 06.07.19- Just when you thought it was safe to go back in to the water, so to speak, last Tuesday Apple quietly released a new seventh generation model of the iPod touch, extending the life of its iconic MP3 music player and showing that the iPod is not dead ...
Read More

Traveling Abroad? Prepare For Possible Search & Seizure Of Your Apple Devices Upon Returning Stateside

FEATURE: 05.27.19- Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of the Summer vacation season and if you're planning to travel internationally for either business or pleasure with your Apple smartphone, tablet, or notebook computer in tow, you might want to be prepared for possible search and seizure of your devices at ...
Read More

How Much Is ‘Solace’ Of Mind Worth When Buying A Protective Case For An iPhone?

COMMENTARY: 05.22.19- Smartphone cases give us peace of mind by providing ample protection for such a fragile gadget and the sky's the limit as far as choices go with a plethora of brands, styles, colors, and, of course, price points but how much would you spend on one piece of ...
Read More

Celebrating The One Year Anniversary Of The Rise Of The ‘Mac Potpourri’ Column

COMMENTARY: 05.14.19- Today marks the one year anniversary of the "Mac Potpourri" column here on MacPrices. Now, it didn't start right off the bat being called "Mac Potpourri": that came a few months later. Originally, it was "The Press Box" which was the name of my column from the days ...
Read More

Tim Cook Wants People To View Apple Today As A Consumer Company

NEWS: 05.10.19- Apple, Inc. has been referred to as a tech company for most of the 21st century as a maker of not just computer hardware and software but other gadgets from MP3 players to smartphones and tablets, however, things may be changing if certain words recently uttered by its ...
Read More

Apple, Inc. Ranks No. 16 In List Of ‘America’s Best Employers’ For 2019

NEWS: 04.30.19- Apple, Inc. has placed in the top 25 of the best employers in the nation coming in at number 16 out of a list of 500 total from a report recently released by Forbes magazine. The list of "America's Best Employers 2019" — separated into two types: large ...
Read More

People Profiles: Saving The Planet In Turn Through Operation To Salvage Unwanted Macs

FEATURE: 04.22.19- Earth Day falls on this day once a year but for one environmentally conscious user of older Apple computers, saving the planet is always on the back of their mind, the perfect example being when they embarked on a salvage operation to rescue an extensive collection of unwanted ...
Read More

Key Features To Expect From Forthcoming Release Of iOS 13

NEWS: 04.17.19- Details regarding a handful of key features from the forthcoming release of iOS 13, the next major version of the world's most advanced mobile operating system designed in California by Apple, Inc, have been leaked and the "Mac Potpourri" column has the lowdown on all of the new ...
Read More

iPhone SE Successor Possibly To Come In Form Of New 4.8-inch ‘XE’ Model

NEWS: 04.15.19- Current owners of the iPhone SE who are fans of the smaller 4-inch form factor in Apple's smartphone lineup may finally get their wish for a newer model to succeed the miniature device among the Cupertino, California-based tech giant's assortment of larger sized phablets if a newly published ...
Read More

iFixIt Teardowns Give Look At Repairability Of Next Generation iPad Air, iPad mini, & AirPods

FEATURE: 04.10.19- iFixIt is at it again with its exclusive teardowns of newly released products in order to teach owners how to perform their own repairs, or whether repairs can be even performed at all, and this time around it has taken apart three of the four products Apple announced ...
Read More

Image Gallery From PowerBook Central Coverage Of April 2010 iPad Product Launch

FEATURE: 04.03.19- In advance of the 10th anniversary next year of the iPad, released on this very day almost a decade ago back in 2010, we get a glimpse of hitherto unpublished photographs taken during coverage of the product launch by this writer for PowerBook Central, the sister site of ...
Read More

Apple-themed Gag Children’s T-Shirts Discovered For Sale At National Pharmacy Chain

FEATURE: 04.01.19- Today on this April Fools Day, for your amusement we take a look at a couple of gag children's t-shirts discovered for sale at a leading national retail pharmacy chain which parody two of the Cupertino, California-based tech company's products and appropriately so since this day is also ...
Read More

Is It Recovery Mode Time For Apple And Its Leadership Due To Lack Of Innovation?

COMMENTARY: 03.29.19- Apple, Inc. has become complacent over the past decade or so and for a number of years now has lacked the innovation that the Cupertino, California-based tech giant is known and famous for which elicits the question of whether it is time for the company to have a ...
Read More

A Look Back At Every New Product Apple Announced Last Week

FEATURE: 03.25.19- In case you were hibernating all Winter long and only woke up after the first day of Spring missing last week's announcements of new products by Apple, worry not as we'll take a look back at everything including features, specs, and of course, cost. Apple, which is holding ...
Read More

Learn Key Vocabulary Before Upgrading A Mac With A New SSD

FEATURE: 03.20.19- It's the first day of Spring and in addition to sprucing things up around one's living quarters, Mac users may be thinking about doing the same with their computers but whether you're upgrading the storage capacity of a solid state drive (SSD) in a newer machine or replacing ...
Read More

Breathe New Life Into Your Older iPhone With An iFixIt Battery Fix Kit

FEATURE: 03.17.19- iPhone owners wanting to replace the battery on their smartphone who missed last year's special discounted $29 battery replacement program from Apple — which was the Cupertino, California-based tech giant's response to the now infamous "throttlegate" fiasco where performance of older iPhone models was slowed down to preserve ...
Read More

10 Tips & Tricks You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Google Search

FEATURE: 03.04.19- Using Google as the default search engine for queries on the web has become a ubiquitous practice in the 21st century but whether you use Safari from Apple as your preferred internet browser or competing ones, there's a lot more that you can do beyond simply trying to ...
Read More

Forget About A Foldable iPhone, How About An iPad That Folds Instead?

COMMENTARY: 03.01.19- With Samsung recently unveiling its smartphone of the future, the Galaxy Fold, instead of Apple following suit and releasing a foldable iPhone of its own, what if it focused on creating an iPad that folds? Last week, I wrote an editorial in this column on two ways that ...
Read More

Think You’ve Got 5G On Your iPhone? Not So Fast!

FEATURE: 02.25.19- The next generation of mobile networks, 5G, is almost upon us but a handful of iPhone owners may think that they already have the new technology on their smartphones and are enjoying blazing fast internet speeds that their LTE counterparts don't yet have but the fact of the ...
Read More

Facebook “Like” Button Now Active On Articles In The ‘Mac Potpourri’ Column

FEATURE: 02.23.19- There's a new way to interact and get social after reading an article here in the "Mac Potpourri" column and all it takes is the click of a mouse on your Mac or the tap of your screen on your iPhone or iPad. **AD: Are you in the ...
Read More

Apple Needs To Get Into The Fold And See Where The Galaxy Of Computing Is Heading

EDITORIAL: 02.22.19- Apple, Inc. has long been rumored to be putting into its pipeline of possible products a touchscreen enabled computer with an operating system to boot that may (or may not) be in unified form, melding the best of MacOS and iOS, and the unveiling of a new foldable ...
Read More

Could These Be The Products That Apple Will Be Releasing In 2019?

NEWS: 02.20.19- Apple, Inc. is widely expected to be releasing a number of new products in the pipeline this year but just what exactly will those items be and who is the source of all of that information? The MacRumors website reported on Monday the news which came from a ...
Read More

New Emoji Update Version 12.0 Another Example of Commitment To Accessibility By Apple

COMMENTARY: 02.15.19- A slew of 15 new emojis reflecting people with disabilities is forthcoming in the version 12.0 update for smartphone devices including the iPhone but whose idea was it in the first place to submit those particular minuscule digital icons for inclusion as part of our way of expressing ...
Read More

People Profiles: This Apple Fan Owns A Collection Of Every iPod Generation Ever Released

FEATURE: 02.14.19- Apple fans love almost everything that the Cupertino, California-based tech company doles out to the masses and one particular fellow who has amassed a complete personal collection of every generation of the iPod ever releatsed is a great example of that affinity. About the Series

New Emojis Reflecting People With Disabilities Coming Later This Year In Update For Smartphones

NEWS: 02.08.19- The Unicode Consortium announced in a blog post on Tuesday 59 new emojis that will be forthcoming in its next release, version 12.0, and a number of those will be themed to reflect people with disabilities which exemplifies the growing trend of making the small digital icons used ...
Read More

Apple, Inc. Earns $19.97B Profit In Its Second Largest Quarter Ever

NEWS: 02.04.19- In an earnings call last Tuesday, on January 29, Apple, Inc. reported its financial results for fiscal Q1 2019 and reported that it earned a profit of $19.97 billion out of a revenue of $84.3 billion during the holiday Q4 2018 which made it, according to Macworld magazine, ...
Read More

Will The Macworld Conference & Expo, Now Five Years ‘On Hiatus,’ Ever Return?

COMMENTARY: 02.01.19- The popular Macworld Conference & Expo formerly held annually in San Francisco met its unfortunate demise a few years following the exit of its main exhibitor, Apple, Inc., which left the show in 2009 and with dwindling attendance shortly thereafter at subsequent events, IDG World Expo — sponsor ...
Read More

A Look Back At The Top 5 Most Read Stories Of 2018 In The ‘Mac Potpourri’ Column

FEATURE: 01.31.18 With 2019 now a month old, we would be remiss to not reminisce about the year that was — the very first year of the "Mac Potpourri" column — so today we look back at the past year of coverage and share the most read stories of this ...
Read More

Apple To Issue iOS And MacOS Software Updates To Fix Exploit In FaceTime Group Call Feature

NEWS: 01.30.19- "Can you hear me now?", the famous tagline once used by Verizon Wireless, is a question not being asked by unsuspecting iPhone users with a newly discovered exploit in the smartphone's software that allows another user who initiates a FaceTime group call — by including their own phone ...
Read More

People Profiles: First Responder Risks Life to Rescue Complete Stranger’s iPhone

FEATURE: 01.29.19- Would you go through extreme lengths to retrieve your iPhone if while taking pictures on vacation you accidentally dropped it down a steep embankment, what with its invaluable and irreplaceable data, from your contacts to photos stored on the device, that you would risk life and limb to ...
Read More

Is Apple Possibly Gauging Customer Preference For An Even Cheaper iPhone Model?

NEWS: 01.28.19- Amid slumping sales of the iPhone and its premium price tier seemingly a failed marketing move on the tech company's part, could Apple possibly be testing out the waters to measure customers' preference for an even lower cost handset versus the midrange priced iPhone XR, it's budget-friendly option ...
Read More

Apple CEO Tim Cook Takes To Twitter To Commemorate 3.5 Decades Of The Mac

NEWS: 01.25.19- During the early morning hours on Thursday, in commemoration of the three and a half decades of the Mac (originally the Macintosh), Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter and shared his thoughts on the anniversary of the iconic computer — unveiled back on January 24, 1984 by ...
Read More

Every Mac User’s Favorite Apple, The Macintosh, Celebrates Its 35th Anniversary

COMMENTARY: 01.24.19- Last year in October 2018 (coincidentally on the day after the seventh anniversary of the passing of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs), CBS This Morning: Saturday did a the news story about a highway accident in Silicon Valley involving a secured transport of secret Apple products ...
Read More

Apple iMessage May Soon Play Nicely With Android Devices

NEWS: 01.23.19- iMessage, the proprietary messaging service from Apple (as with most, but not all, of its technologies), is a closed ecosystem that is only compatible with iOS devices and the Mac but it soon could be compatible with Android devices if the Cupertino, California-based tech giant decides to adopt ...
Read More

Apple 4-inch Smartphone iPhone SE Makes A Return to Its Online Store

NEWS: 01.21.19- After being absent from the Apple Store online for the past four months, the iPhone SE is back on sale, now in the Clearance Products section, for a limited time and quantities are almost certainly guaranteed to be scarce as remaining inventory of the device dwindles, swept up ...
Read More

Secured Transport Of Secret Apple Products Involved In Accident On Silicon Valley Highway

NEWS: 01.11.18- An accident on a California highway Wednesday morning that involved a commercial vehicle transporting secured items belonging to Apple, Inc., which required the contents to be driven and escorted by two armed security guards, resulted in one fatality while another was seriously injured and in the process, apparently ...
Read More

Apple Expands Into The Smart Home Arena With Its HomeKit At CES 2019

NEWS: 01.09.19- Apple, Inc. was found at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, CES 2019, touting its HomeKit software platform which allows third party smart home devices made by partner vendors to be controlled on iOS devices and Mac computers using the Home app or Siri, its A.I.-powered digital virtual assistant ...
Read More

Retro Reading: PowerBook Central Live Coverage of Macworld Expo 2009

FEATURE: 01.06.19- Welcome to another edition of "Retro Reading," a series here in my column, "Mac Potpourri," where we dig deep into the archives for content written on today's date several years ago from PowerBook Central — where I served as one of its three columnists from 2006-09 — a ...
Read More

Archived Content:

• The “Mac Potpourri” Archives | 2018

• “The Press Box” Archives from PowerBook Central | 2006-2009

See our price trackers for up-to-date Apple prices. Share this post: