Buzz
Apple's creative teams have cleverly embedded amusing surprises in their products—you just need to uncover their locations.
1. ENGAGE IN HIDDEN MINI GAMES
Your MacBook harbors a few secret mini games tucked away in its system. While accessing them involves some basic coding, we’ll guide you step-by-step to unlock these hidden gems.
1. Navigate to the Utilities folder within Applications. This is where you’ll locate the Terminal, which is essential for accessing most of these hidden surprises.
2. After opening the Terminal, type “emacs” (without quotes) and press enter. Simultaneously press the esc and X keys. When prompted, type “tetris” and prepare to lose yourself in hours of gameplay.
3. To explore additional games, follow the same steps but replace “tetris” with “pong” or “snake.”
2. SLOW MOTION ANIMATIONS
Mac OS X’s animations create the illusion of apps moving faster than they actually are. When minimizing a window, you can observe the operating system’s “genie effect” in action. To appreciate this feature in detail, hold down the Shift key while minimizing the window to slow down the effect and admire the OS’s elegance.
3. TEXTEDIT LETTER
Apple’s meticulous craftsmanship shines through in every detail of Mac OS X’s icons. The TextEdit app icon, featuring a pen and paper, hides a subtle nod to Apple’s iconic “Think Different” campaign from 1997. Upon closer inspection, you’ll find a quote embedded within the icon. Here’s what it says:
“Dear Kate, Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes — the ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing that you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. Take care, John Appleseed”
For context, Kate refers to the “KDE Advanced Text Editor,” while John Appleseed is the pseudonym of Mike Markkula, Apple Computer, Inc.’s second CEO.
4. RECORD ICON
In the latest versions of Mac OS X (accessible via System Preferences under Users & Groups), you can select a record icon as your profile picture. Upon closer inspection, the vinyl’s song titles read "magic," "revolution," "boom," and "unbelievable." These words were famously favored by Steve Jobs during his Apple keynote presentations.
5. SOSUMI
The Sosumi sound effect, located in System Preferences under Sound, originated from the legal feud between Apple Corps (The Beatles’ record label) and Apple Inc. The conflict began in 1978 when Apple Records accused Apple Computer of trademark infringement and concluded with an out-of-court settlement in 2007. Created in 1991, the sound effect serves as Apple Inc.’s playful retort: “So sue me.”
6. THERAPY
Your Mac can even act as a makeshift therapist. Simply open Terminal (located in the Utilities folder), type “emacs,” and press enter. Then, simultaneously press esc and X, and type “doctor” to engage this unique feature.
Your Mac will prompt you to share your concerns, and Mac OS X will attentively listen—responding once you press the return key twice.
7. PC'S BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH
Given the intense rivalry between Apple and Microsoft, your Mac will showcase a bulky computer displaying Microsoft’s infamous “Blue Screen of Death” error message in the finder's network hub if it detects a PC on the shared network.
8. FAMOUS DATES IN HISTORY
To uncover daily fun facts, launch Terminal once more and paste this command: “cat /usr/share/calendar/calendar.history” (without quotes) to reveal this entertaining Easter egg.
9. STEVE JOBS' GLASSES
The “Add to Reading List” feature in iOS 7 now uses Steve Jobs’ iconic glasses as its symbol, serving as a timeless homage to Apple’s legendary co-founder.
10. SIRI'S FAVORITE MOVIES
Apple’s voice assistant, Siri, answers a wide range of user inquiries. Interestingly, Siri has a soft spot for science fiction films. When asked about the plot of Inception, Siri humorously replies, “Inception is about dreaming about dreaming about dreaming about something or other. I fell asleep."
11. STAR WARS
Launch Terminal and type “telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl” (without quotes), then press enter. Your Mac will play the original Star Wars movie in its entirety, rendered as ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) art.
12. MACINTOSH DEBUT
When an app download is incomplete or in progress on Mac OS X, the modified date displayed is January 24, 1984—the day Steve Jobs unveiled the first Apple Macintosh.
13. VULCAN
In iOS 8.3 or later, you can unlock a Vulcan salute emoji hidden in the iPhone keyboard. While it involves a lengthy process, it’s a must-have for Star Trek enthusiasts. Open this tweet on your iPhone, copy the “Live Long and Prosper” emoji, then navigate to “Settings” on your iOS device. Tap “General,” followed by “Keyboards,” and then “Shortcuts.” Press the + icon, double-tap the “Phrase” section, and paste the Vulcan emoji. Create a shortcut like "llap" (Live Long and Prosper) or “vsal” (Vulcan Salute), and finally, hit “Save.”
Now, whenever you type the shortcut, the Vulcan emoji will automatically appear.
14. LORD OF THE RINGS
Here’s a precious Easter egg for fans. To explore the detailed timeline of The Lord of the Rings, open Terminal from the Utilities folder in Applications and paste this command: “cat /usr/share/calendar/calendar.lotr” (without quotes), then press Enter. A comprehensive list of key events from The Lord of the Rings will be displayed.
15. VOICE MEMO
The Voice Memo app icon in iOS 9 features a waveform that spells out the word “Apple.”
16. APPLE WATCH “RICKROLL”
Tucked away on Apple’s support page for the Apple Watch, there’s a playful nod in the “Add a Friend” messaging section at the bottom of the site. Look closely at the initials of the smaller icons, and you’ll spot the song title “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Apple has subtly Rickrolled you!
