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Tek With Josh

Tek With Josh

By: Joshua A. Rodriguez
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Tek With Josh delivers real talk about real tech for everyday people. From AI breakthroughs and the latest gadgets to must-have apps, software tips, and honest product reviews, Josh breaks everything down in a simple, down-to-earth way. If you want straightforward explanations, genuine opinions, and tech you can actually use—without the jargon—this is the podcast for you.

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Episodes
  • Episode 44 - GoogleBook, New SnapDragon And Josh Lied?

    Episode 44 - GoogleBook, New SnapDragon And Josh Lied?
    24 Sep 2026
    🎙️ Tek With Josh — Episode 44GoogleBook, New SnapDragon And Josh LiedGooglebook Arrives, Snapdragon Hits 5 GHz, and I Bought the iPhone AnywayJoshua said he was going to wait until next June before upgrading his iPhone. That plan lasted roughly a day. In this episode of Tek With Josh, Joshua starts with the story behind his very quick change of heart and why an $885 trade-in offer for his iPhone 17 Pro Max convinced him to order the iPhone 18 Pro Max instead of waiting. It was not simply a case of wanting the newest phone. Once the trade-in value entered the equation, he started looking at how much value his current phone would lose by waiting another year and decided the upgrade made more sense for him now.The episode then moves into Google’s new Googlebook laptops, a lineup that represents something much more significant than another Chromebook refresh. Starting at $899 and reaching $1,299 across the first five models from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, Google is putting this new platform directly into premium laptop territory. Joshua goes through the pricing and hardware while looking at the bigger story behind Googlebook: deeper Android integration, Gemini features built into the experience, stronger connections between an Android phone and laptop, desktop Chrome, Android applications, and Google’s attempt to create an ecosystem that feels far more unified than traditional Chromebooks have.Joshua also takes a closer look at Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, including its 2nm manufacturing process and Oryon CPU capable of reaching 5 GHz. Qualcomm is also pushing much harder into AI, gaming, graphics, camera processing, and professional video capabilities. Joshua talks about the claimed gains in CPU, GPU, and NPU performance, along with features such as AI-assisted graphics, advanced mobile gaming technology, 8K60 video, 4K240 recording, Wi-Fi 8, and increasingly powerful on-device AI.The bigger conversation running through both announcements is how quickly the traditional boundaries between phones and computers are disappearing. Google is making Android feel more like a desktop operating system while Qualcomm is giving phones processing power and capabilities that would have sounded absurd only a few years ago. The hardware continues getting faster, but Joshua questions what consumers are actually going to do with all of that power and whether the next stage of mobile computing will be defined less by raw speed and more by AI, ecosystem integration, gaming, cameras, and the ability to move seamlessly between devices.Topics CoveredWhy Joshua changed his iPhone upgrade plans almost immediately\The $885 iPhone 17 Pro Max trade-in offer\Why Joshua ordered the iPhone 18 Pro Max\Why upgrading made sense for him but may not make sense for everyone\Google officially launching Googlebook\How Googlebook differs from a traditional Chromebook\Googlebook starting prices from $899 to $1,299\Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo Googlebook models\Premium OLED displays and touchscreen hardware\Intel Core Ultra and Snapdragon X Elite Googlebooks\Android apps becoming more important on laptops\Android phone and Googlebook integration\Continue On and cross-device features\Casting individual Android apps to a Googlebook\Gemini Intelligence throughout Googlebook OS\Google’s attempt to build a stronger Android ecosystem\Whether consumers will pay MacBook-level prices for Googlebook\Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6\Qualcomm moving to a 2nm mobile platform\Oryon CPU reaching 5 GHz\CPU, GPU, and NPU performance improvements\AI-assisted mobile graphics and gaming\On-device AI and larger local models\8K60 and 4K240 video recording\Professional mobile video capabilities\Wi-Fi 8 and faster mobile connectivity\How much smartphone performance people actually need\The growing overlap between phones and traditional computers\Key TakeawayGooglebook and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 may look like two separate announcements, but they point toward the same broader shift. Google is trying to turn Android into a more complete laptop ecosystem while Qualcomm continues pushing smartphones toward levels of performance, AI capability, graphics, and video production that increasingly overlap with traditional computers. The question is no longer simply how much faster these devices can become. It is whether Google, Qualcomm, developers, and device manufacturers can turn that extra power into features people actually notice and use every day.And as for Joshua saying he would wait until next June for a new phone? Apparently that prediction had an expiration date of about 24 hours.Listen, read, and explore more at:👉 BooksByJosh.com
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    10 min
  • Episode 43 - Why Josh Ordered A Mac Studio

    Episode 43 - Why Josh Ordered A Mac Studio
    17 Sep 2026

    Joshua bought a Mac Studio—but the reason has a lot less to do with simply wanting a faster computer than it does with AI.

    In this episode of Tek With Josh, Joshua explains why his growing use of AI agents pushed him toward buying an M5 Ultra Mac Studio. He breaks down how he currently uses agents for editing books, publishing, marketing, business ideas, analytics, and other recurring tasks, and why running more of those workflows in the cloud started becoming harder to justify financially.

    Joshua takes a closer look at his experience using Genspark for AI-powered book editing, including how quickly a single project could burn through credits once promotional pricing disappeared. He also discusses alternatives like paying for higher-tier cloud AI plans and why spending that money every month made him start considering something different: owning the hardware and running more of his AI workflow locally.

    That eventually led to the Mac Studio. Joshua explains why he considered an M5 Max configuration with more unified memory before ultimately spending more for the M5 Ultra. He breaks down the additional CPU and GPU cores, doubled memory bandwidth, and why he believes those advantages make more sense for the kinds of local AI models and agents he wants to run—even with less unified memory than the Max configuration he originally considered.

    The conversation also looks at Hermes, the local agent system Joshua plans to experiment with once the Mac Studio arrives. His goal is to build agents that can remember his workflows, develop skills, create specialized agents for individual tasks, track publishing and website data, help manage schedules and social media, and automate work he currently handles manually. The Mac Studio will also take over some duties from his Mac mini server while becoming a machine for video editing, YouTube production, and future projects across Books By Josh and Tek With Josh.

    Topics Covered

    Why Joshua bought a Mac Studio
    How AI agents have changed Joshua’s workflow
    Using agents for book editing, publishing, and marketing
    Genspark AI agents and credit usage
    Why promotional AI credit pricing changed the equation
    The potential cost of editing books with cloud AI agents
    Cloud AI subscriptions vs. owning local hardware
    Why Joshua wanted to run AI agents locally
    M5 Max vs. M5 Ultra Mac Studio
    Why 128GB of memory wasn’t automatically the better choice
    CPU and GPU differences between the Max and Ultra
    Why memory bandwidth matters for local AI
    The Mac Studio upgrade program and monthly cost
    Running Hermes as a local AI agent
    Hermes memory, skills, and specialized agents
    Automating podcast and website workflows
    Using AI to track book rankings, reviews, and analytics
    AI agents for scheduling and social media
    Moving Mac mini server duties to the Mac Studio
    Video editing and content creation
    Plans for Books By Josh on YouTube
    Potential future Tek With Josh video content
    Why Joshua didn’t actually need a Mac Studio
    Why owning the computing power made sense for his use case

    Key Takeaway

    Joshua didn’t buy the M5 Ultra Mac Studio because his current MacBook Pro was no longer powerful enough. He bought it because the way he uses computers is beginning to change. As AI agents become a bigger part of his publishing, business, analytics, and content workflows, continuously paying for cloud computing started to look less attractive than investing in hardware he could run locally. The Mac Studio is a major expense and certainly not something everyone needs, but for Joshua, it represents an experiment in moving from renting AI computing power to owning the machine that runs it.

    Listen, read, and explore more at:
    👉 BooksByJosh.com
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    11 min
  • Episode 42 - Apple Enters the Fold

    Episode 42 - Apple Enters the Fold
    10 Sep 2026

    Apple has officially entered the foldable phone market.

    In this episode of Tek With Josh, Joshua breaks down Apple’s September event, including the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, the long-rumored iPhone Duo foldable, updated Apple Watch models, AirPods 5, and the features that actually stood out from the keynote.

    Joshua takes a closer look at Apple’s move to silicon-carbon batteries, faster charging, improved thermal management, variable-aperture cameras, and the company’s growing push toward running more AI directly on the iPhone. He also explains why features like number swapping and improved sustained performance could end up being more useful than some of the flashier upgrades Apple showed on stage.

    The biggest announcement, however, was the iPhone Duo. Apple’s first foldable brings multitasking, Apple Pencil support, Dual FaceTime, a nano-texture display, and a new passport-style design—but it also comes with compromises. Joshua discusses the $2,500 starting price, reduced camera hardware, Touch ID instead of Face ID, battery concerns, and whether Apple’s first attempt at a foldable is enough to pull him away from Samsung.

    The conversation also covers the new Apple Watch recording features that could compete with dedicated AI wearable recorders, the lack of a new Apple TV, and why the Apple product Joshua actually decided to buy this year wasn’t an iPhone at all—it was the M5 Ultra Mac Studio.

    Topics Covered

    iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max overview
    New pricing and storage options
    Silicon-carbon batteries and improved battery life
    Faster charging and 60W charger support
    Larger vapor chamber and sustained performance
    Apple’s push toward on-device AI and local LLMs
    Variable-aperture camera system
    New video tracking and cinematic features
    Number swapping between multiple iPhones
    Apple Watch recording and transcription features
    AirPods 5 updates
    iPhone Duo pricing and design
    Passport-style foldable vs. traditional foldables
    Multitasking on an iPhone
    Touch ID replacing Face ID on the Duo
    Dual-camera system and foldable compromises
    Nano-texture display
    Dual FaceTime
    Apple Pencil USB-C support
    Battery life on Apple’s first foldable
    Why Joshua still wants a new Apple TV
    Why the M5 Ultra Mac Studio was the Apple product worth buying

    Key Takeaway

    Apple’s September event finally delivered the company’s first foldable iPhone, but Joshua believes the iPhone Duo comes with enough compromises—and a high enough price—that it may not be the automatic win some Apple fans were hoping for. The iPhone 18 Pro lineup brings several meaningful improvements, especially in battery technology, charging, cooling, and AI performance, but the biggest Apple purchase Joshua made this year still ended up being the M5 Ultra Mac Studio.

    Listen, read, and explore more at:
    👉 BooksByJosh.com
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    16 min
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