Ever Trend Zone In recent years, Apple has developed Presto, a system code name that wirelessly updates enclosed iPhones. This allows customers to unlock new devices that are already running the latest version of iOS, no matter how long the inventory is.
Currently, the company is working on something similar with MAC.
Presto, but for Mac
With this week’s release of the Macos Tahoe 26 Beta 3, Apple begins to lay the foundations for a sealed device update system on the Mac side, reflecting the Presto mechanism used by iPhones.
With such a system in place, Apple can first theoretically ship hardware out and then wirelessly update the behind-the-scenes system just before it hits the shelf. This is especially useful for products on a tight schedule when software and hardware teams are racing parallel to launch dates.
It also prevents future Macs from encountering situations like the launch of the iPhone 15. There, the device was shipped from a factory running iOS 17.0, but during setup I needed a one-day update to iOS 17.0.1 to avoid activation issues and data transfer bugs.
Finally, we can make way for the future where the Apple devices associated with a user’s Apple account are already coming out of the box, but is that thinking too outside?
The real question is, does Apple use a huge toaster?
In the case of Presto, Apple handles updates with its own MAC mini controlled device called “two slot toasters” with rooms at the same time of up to six iPhone boxes. This system allows you to remotely power up your iPhone, install iOS updates, and power it back without opening the box.
There are some interesting questions about bringing something like this to the MAC. how Will the update be triggered?
On iPhone, Apple appears to rely on NFC to start wireless sessions, but Macs currently do not include the NFC chips as previously Macs did.
Still, it’s no surprise to see Apple quietly reattach the hardware just for this purpose, or use the same Bluetooth features that you can find after your iPhone is turned off.
At this point, it remains to be seen whether this will become a part of the retail experience. But Apple has laid the foundation for this, and we know now.
