If real Easter eggs aren’t your thing this weekend, you may find hunting for digital ones more enjoyable. And there are some cool ones to find at your fingertips, provided you have an iPhone or Mac. Apple has packed the iOS and macOS operating systems with several fun little references, many harking back to the legacy of the company or other companies in the tech industry.
Microsoft’s Blue Screen of Death
This one’s been around for a while, and it’s a fan favorite.
The Finder on your Mac can show other computers connected to the same network. These computers are represented by icons. If the connected computers are other Macs, you’ll see icons that accurately represent the shape of the computer, such as a modern MacBook Pro or even an old G4 iMac from the early 2000s.
But if the connected computers are Windows PCs, you’ll see the same icon for them all: an ugly beige CRT monitor with the infamous Windows Blue Screen of Death—the screen PC users see when something has gone seriously wrong with the Windows operating system.
The icon choice is Apple’s subtle dig at its once archnemesis, and it has been an Easter egg in the Mac’s operating systems for a few decades now.
iPhone Voice Memo app icon
In this case, the Easter egg is an iPhone app icon itself. The waveform in the Voice Memos app icon may not be just a random glyph. Instead, SiliconRepublic says, the waveform’s shape is the one you get when you use Voice Memos to record the word “Apple.” In my tests, it’s pretty accurate, but your mileage may vary depending on how you enunciate words.
Safari Reading List icon
Apple has snuck a few direct references to Steve Jobs in its operating systems. The first can be found in the Safari app on iPhone. Open up Safari and then tap the bookmarks icon at the bottom of the screen.
See the “Reading List” icon in the center of the pop-up? Those are a pair of eyeglasses—but not just any. They look remarkably identical to the round spectacles Steve Jobs made iconic.
Record label with Steve Jobs’s phrases
There’s another reported Steve Jobs reference in Apple’s software. This one is in macOS. If you open the System Settings app, click Users & Groups, and then click on your profile picture to edit it, you’ll notice that under the “Suggestions” folder full of icons, you can select an icon of a record turntable.
Well, if you go to where the icon image file is actually stored in macOS (Macintosh HD>Library>User Pictures>Instruments) and open the “Turntable.heic” file, you’ll see the record on the turntable lists four tracks on its label: “1. Magic 2. Revolution 3. Boom! 4. Unbelievable.” These were all words Jobs frequently exclaimed during his keynote speeches and demos, notes iDropNews.
“Here’s to the crazy ones”
Next to its seminal “1984” ad, Apple’s most iconic campaign was probably “Think Different”, from the late 1990s. That campaign features a poem called “ ">Here’s to the crazy ones.”
Apple has commemorated that poem in two places in its operating systems. The first is in the System Settings app in macOS. Click on the Display preferences panel, and you’ll notice the text size adjustment icons display the opening text from the poem.
“Here’s to the crazy ones” can also be found printed on the pages of the open book emoji found in iOS and macOS.
Let It Snow (in the Apple Store app)
Finally, back in 2021, Apple snuck a little Easter egg into its Apple Store app for iPhone, noted AppleInsider. If you type in “let it snow” in the search field of the Apple Store app, the app will then display digital falling snow across your screen. While this Easter egg isn’t a direct reference to Apple, it’s a fun one to trigger during the winter holidays.
A history of Apple Easter eggs
During my research for this story, I consulted several older Apple Easter egg roundups—such as the ones published by iDropNews, MacRumors, and Mental Floss—to make sure that I had forgotten any big ones. I discovered that Apple has actually removed a fair amount of them from its operating systems.
These removals include former Easter eggs that allowed you to play Tetris in the Terminal app or watch Star Wars reenacted in ASCII. There also used to be a Bitcoin Easter egg in macOS, but Apple has now removed that, too. I also remember from back in the day that when you typed “evil empire” into the OS X Dictionary app, you would find the entry for Microsoft. But that seems to be gone from macOS now, too.
In other words, it seems like Apple has been cracking down on Easter eggs in recent years, so enjoy the above while you can.
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