Touchscreen MacBook Pro and Amazon's New Alexa+ Echo Lineup: Who Are They For?
Notas do episódio
Apple's touchscreen MacBook Pro and Amazon's new Alexa+ devices arrived in the same week. Steven Scott and Shaun Preece go through the Echo Dot, Echo Time, Alexa Photo Frame, Echo Studio with Home Camera and Echo Show 16, and ask who these expensive gadgets are really for, including blind and low vision users.
Tech keeps getting more expensive. RAM and hard drive costs are pushing a decent laptop toward $3,000, and Apple's new 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pro with a PROLED XDR touch display starts at $2,899 in the US. It comes with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips and a Dynamic Island, and the glowing Apple logo is back on the lid. After an old Steve Jobs clip arguing against vertical touchscreens, the hosts look for a real use case. They welcome a new accessibility setting that turns the touchscreen off. There's also an M6 MacBook Pro and an M6 iMac, which keeps its Ethernet port on the power adapter.
On the Amazon side, Shaun is still waiting for Alexa+ on his Echo Dot Max while a new $99.99 Echo Dot arrives with a built-in smart home hub and an eero Wi-Fi extender. Echo Time is a $199.99 smart alarm clock with sleep sensing and no camera. The Alexa Photo Frame syncs with Amazon Photos and lets you attach voice notes to pictures. It's a small accessibility touch, but a useful one.
The Echo Studio with Home Camera, at $249.99, brings visual intelligence: hold something up and ask Alexa what it is, which takes the hosts back to Show and Tell. The Echo Show 16 starts at $499.99, and the stands cost extra. Coming up next: David Nason joins the show to compare notes on the iPhone Duo.
Chapters
0:00 – Intro and the rising cost of laptops and hard drives
3:14 – Apple's touchscreen MacBook Pro
19:13 – M6 MacBook Pro and the new iMac
24:41 – Amazon's new Echo Dot and the wait for Alexa+
31:13 – Echo Time smart alarm clock
35:35 – Alexa Photo Frame and voice notes on photos
44:17 – Echo Studio with Home Camera
50:31 – Echo Show 16
53:54 – Website updates and the iPhone Duo with David Nason
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Relevant Links
Apple MacBook Pro: https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/
Apple iMac: https://www.apple.com/imac/
Amazon's new Alexa devices: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/devices/new-alexa-devices-2026
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About Double Tap
Hosted by the insightful duo, Steven Scott and Shaun Preece, Double Tap is a treasure trove of information for anyone who's blind or partially sighted and has a passion for tech. Steven and Shaun not only demystify tech, but they also regularly feature interviews and welcome guests from the community, fostering an interactive and engaging environment. Tune in every day of the week, and you'll discover how technology can seamlessly integrate into your life, enhancing daily tasks and experiences, even if your sight is limited.
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