I don't think they were caught off guard. It's clear that Apple is the cheapest option, or even the only option in many cases, for running larger local models, especially with the RAM crunch. With the standard "PC design model" you have to buy RAM twice - once for the system to load the GPU and again in the GPU itself. For Apple, and a few other options like DGX Spark and some laptops, you only need to buy it once. I think the Apple/DGX Spark "unified RAM design model" is maybe the only way forward because of RAM pricing/availability over the next few years.
For my Ebay GPU, I put this into Gemini "I got a used NVIDIA GPU. How can I test the GPU memory on linux with the cli?" and ended up using "gpu-burn" from the tools it suggested.
For the record, this is the second time I myself have heard of something like this happening. The first (more minor) case I saw was Simon Willison's "Claude Fable is relentlessly proactive" https://simonwillison.net/2026/jun/11/fable-is-relentlessly-... .
This happens to everyone, very sadly. Arguably, feeling your own decay is not just sad, it's the greatest possible sadness and also what drove most mad people mad.
The author was 70 (now 75) and argues wishes he'd treated his own body better, but if he had, he would still be in the same position, but would have missed out on experiences whose memories I'm sure he now treasures. He once played in the snow too long and got frostbite? His feet would still be sore today if he hadn't, but he wouldn't have played in the snow.
Take care of your body as much as you can, but you can't treat it like a potion in a video game that you're always afraid to use in a fight because you might need it for the next fight. Eventually you get to the end of the game without using the potion.
And more somberly, every part of you can be sacrificed once or zero times to achieve something you believe is a greater purpose.
I'm still in some kind of emotional crisis as thinking about this sort of thing makes me break down crying.
> The animal is aging. Not surprising; I knew it would happen eventually, but I didn't make any provisions to deal with that eventuality. Somehow the reality crept up on me. And now it must be dealt with, day after day.
(only ~5 paragraphs left now so y’all might as well finish it :) )
I vibe coded a similar thing using a combo of launchctl commands and Apple Script (closes Music app if it's open) with MS Copilot of all things. It works pretty well.
"I have to report status at my morning scrum meeting today. After that, we have to finish an important project by Friday morning. Then we have to present on that project Friday at 3pm."
->
"I have to provide a high-level status update during our morning stand-up to ensure cross-functional alignment. Post-scrum, we need to deep-dive and execute on a mission-critical deliverable by the Friday AM milestone. We’ll then be socialising the project outcomes in a stakeholder presentation Friday at 15:00 to drive further buy-in."
