iPhone J.D.

Review: LG OLED C1 Series TV -- amazing 4K HDR television for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV 4K users

I recently purchased a new television sold by LG, the C1 model.  The quality of this television is unlike anything that I've ever seen before, and it is a perfect companion to my Apple TV 4K, iPhone, and iPad.

For the past eight years, I've been using a 65" Panasonic plasma television in my home theater room.  It was a fantastic TV when I bought it in 2013.  It supported 1080p HD, and because it used plasma technology, the blacks on the screen were pitch black, resulting in very nice color contrast.  That was the last year that Panasonic made a plasma TV, and many in the industry were upset to see that TV go because the picture quality was so good.  But a lot has changed in the TV world since 2013.  Televisions with 4K have improved while also becoming more affordable.  Better yet, TVs that support high dynamic range (HDR) along with 4K can produce pictures that look truly lifelike. 

What prompted me to upgrade was actually my iPhone and iPad.  As I have upgraded those devices over the last eight years and I've seen their screen quality improve over time, I've noticed more and more what my Panasonic TV was lacking.  For example, I've been able to record 4K video on my iPhone for some time now.  Recording 4K at 30 fps was introduced with the iPhone 6s in 2015, and recording 4K at 60 fps (which looks even more realistic) was introduced with the iPhone X in 2017.  Thus, I've been taking video at 4K for my home movies for many years, but I haven't had a good way to view that video at its full quality.  That has changed recently as the screens of the latest models of the iPad Pro and the iPhone have improved to the point where you can really see the difference in 4K HDR video.  For example, when I look at these home movies on the 2021 models of my iPad Pro and my iPhone 13 Pro, they looked so much better than they did on my Panasonic 1080p TV.  And all of this made me wonder if I would appreciate the difference when watching movies and TV shows that were created to take advantage of the latest 4K HDR TV technology.

As a result, I've been in the market for a new TV for a few months, and after reading tons of reviews and talking to lots of people who use different types of 4K televisions, I finally decided to get the 2021 version of the LG C1 series TV.  And boy am I happy that I made this decision.  This TV is simply stunning.

LCD/LED or OLED

For most consumers, the only televisions worth considering right now either use LCD/LED or OLED technology for the screen.  LED is a type of LCD screen, and while LCD televisions previously used multiple methods of producing light, I believe that all current LCD televisions use LED technology.  Thus, for the purposes of buying a new television today, there is no difference between an LED or an LCD television.  The major advantage of LCD/LED over OLED is that LCD/LED is cheaper.  Additionally, in some circumstances, LCD/LED can be brighter (which is useful if you are watching TV in a room that has lots of light, such as light coming through windows).  The disadvantage of LCD/LED is that HDR is far less dramatic, with less of a difference between dark areas and bright areas on the screen. LCD/LED can still look quite good — for example, the high-end fifth generation (2021 model) 12.9" iPad Pro uses an LED screen and it is very impressive — but it is still not OLED quality.

OLED provides a superior picture.  All of the iPhone 13 models use an OLED screen.  If you look at something that should be black on both an iPad's LED screen and an iPhone's OLED screen, the iPad screen ends up looking gray by comparison.  Similarly, rich colors look better on an iPhone's OLED screen.  There is more contrast between light and dark colors on an OLED screen.

So why isn't OLED the best technology for everyone?  The problem is that it can be much more expensive, and the price difference is especially substantial with larger TV sizes.  For example, because my Panasonic TV was a 65" TV, I decided that I wanted to get the next size up for a new TV.  One of the best LCD/LED televisions is the Hisense ULED Premium 75-Inch U7G.  A 75" model of that TV costs $1,199.99.  On the other hand, the 77" LG C1 TV that I purchased, which uses OLED, costs over twice as much, about $2900.  Because I plan to use this new TV for many, many years, I decided that the price premium was worth it for me, but I know that it will not be worth it for others.

The best type of room to use for any OLED television is a room where you can control the light.  We use the back room in my house as a home theater room, and while there is a single window in that room, we have long had that window covered with a black-out shade and then covered with a dark curtain.  Thus, the only light in that room comes from the sconces on the walls, which I can dim.  (I use a Lutron dimmer switch that is HomeKit compatible, so it is easy to dim the lights from my iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple TV remote, etc.)  With this setup, I can easily get that room very dark or completely dark, so I can take full advantage of an OLED screen.

If you want an OLED television but you need to use it in a room that you cannot get completely dark, you may want to consider an OLED television that can get especially bright, such as Sony's Bravia XR Master Series A90J.  As Chris Heinonen of Wirecutter explains, "Sony added an aluminum sheet to the OLED panel to dissipate heat more effectively, a design change that allowed the company to increase the panel’s brightness. As a result, the A90J produces brighter highlights than any other OLED TV we’ve tested, so images really pop off the screen."  But you pay quite a bit for this improvement.  The 65" model costs $4000, and the next available size is 83" which costs $8200. 

Picture quality

Although not as expensive as that Sony model, this LG television is still expensive.  As a result, even though all of my research told me that this TV would be perfect in my home theater room, I still had some hesitation.  Would I decide that the substantial price was only a minor improvement over my Panasonic plasma television?

No.  Not at all.

The picture quality on this LG television is stunning.  Amazing.  Lifelike.  Incredible.  Suffice it to say that if I had truly appreciated how much of an improvement this would be, I would have started looking into a TV upgrade long ago.

Most of what I have been looking at on this LG television comes from my Apple TV 4K.  (I also have DirecTV.)  Of course, not all content is in 4K, and not all 4K content uses impressive HDR.  But one of the first things that I watched on this new TV was one of the best shows you can watch to push any screen to its limits:  the show Tiny World on Apple TV+.  I already knew how amazing that show looked in HD on my plasma television.  But the same show on this LG C1 is one of the most incredible things I've ever watched in my life, on any screen.  Everything looks ultra-realistic.  The colors pop.  The details are incredible.  But it is not just nature shows that look great; lots of other shows on Apple TV+ also look amazing, such as the show Foundation. 

I initially ran into problems viewing some high-end 4K content on other services such as HBO and Netflix, but I solved that by changing the HDMI cord that connected my Apple TV 4K to this LG television to a Belkin Ultra HD High Speed HDMI 2.1 Cable.  (I'll explain this more in a future post.)  Once I changed the HDMI cable, I was able to appreciate amazing shows that support Dolby Vision on other services.  For example, this past weekend, I started watching Cowboy Bebop and The Witcher on Netflix, two shows that look fantastic on this television.

The home movies that I take are no match for the production quality of these movie and TV shows, but they feature my family and friends, so in my heart, they are better.  And they have never looked better.  The new iPhone 13 models, including my iPhone 13 Pro, support Dolby Vision Video up to 4K at 60 fps.  I can take videos on my iPhone, load them into Final Cut Pro on my Mac to select the best clips and add some transitions and titles, and then export the final movie to my Apple TV library on the iMac in my study.  The Apple TV 4K in my TV room can stream that video so that I can watch it on the LG C1.  And the results are great.  For example, I know that I'm biased, but my videos of my daughter's 8th grade volleyball games are almost ESPN quality.  OK, maybe ESPN2.

Inputs

Whenever you get a new television, you want to make sure that you have all of the inputs that you need.  The television includes four HDMI inputs.  Three of them are on the right if you are looking at the back of the TV (the left when you are looking at the screen).  A fourth HDMI input is a little closer to the middle.

My current system setup is to have three video sources (Apple TV 4K, DirecTV, a Blu-Ray DVD player) connected to the LG TV using three of the four rear HDMI inputs.  I use the fourth input to connect to my receiver, which connects to my speakers.

Sound

If you are going to spend the money to buy an LG C1 television of any size, but especially a larger size such as the 77" I purchased, you probably won't be using the built-in speakers on this TV.  Having said that, for the first few days that I had this TV. I didn't have my sound system hooked up yet, so I used the built-in speakers.  And they were fine, with nice stereo separation.

One of the four HDMI inputs on the back of this TV supports eARC (HDMI 2).  This refers to Audio Return Channel, and it means that a single HDMI cord can send video/audio to the TV but can also send audio out from the TV to a receiver.  I have an HDMI cord running from this LG TV to an Onkyo TX-SR494 AV Receiver, a receiver that supports 4K Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos.  The speaker setup in my TV room is only 5.1 — the left, center, and right speakers, a rear left and rear right speaker, and a subwoofer (an Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System that I've been using since 2014).  Thus, I don't have overhead speakers to support some of the more advanced configurations such as 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 or 9.1.2, which I'm sure allow Dolby Atmos to really shine.  (The final ".2" on those refers to two speakers on the ceiling.)  Having said that, movies and TV shows that support Dolby Atmos sound great on my 5.1 system, and are noticeably better than shows that don't use Dolby Atmos.

Dolby Atmos isn't just good for movies and TV shows.  It is also great for music.  As an Apple Music subscriber, I have access to a huge library of songs that support Spatial Audio, which is really just Apple's version of Dolby Atmos.  I've known for some time that Spatial Audio sounds great on my AirPods Pro.  But with my new TV and receiver, I'm also appreciating Spatial Audio in my home theater, and songs sound great.  For some songs, I actually prefer using Spatial Audio on AirPods Pro with noise cancellation because the experience seems more immersive.  But with other songs, it sounds better using this TV sending Dolby Atmos to my receiver — and of course, that is better when you want to share music with someone else sitting on the couch.

Suffice it to say that while the reason to get the LG C1 is the screen, it also does a great job passing along audio to a receiver to pass along to speakers.  Whether you have a somewhat older and more simple audio configuration like I do or you have the latest-and-greatest audio gear, this television will fit right in.

The LG interface — webOS 6

The LG C1 is a smart television and contains its own interface.  I typically just ignore it because when I press the power button on my Apple TV 4K, it turns on the LG television and also turns on the receiver, so all that I see is the Apple TV interface.  But let me say a little about the LG interface because you will use it sometimes.

LG televisions use an operating system called webOS.  That operating system was originally designed for the Palm Pre, an early iPhone competitor.  When Palm went away, LG purchased webOS, and that means that something originally designed for a tiny smartphone screen is now used to control what is sure to be the largest screen that you own.

webOS 6 supports apps, just like an Apple TV.  For example, webOS includes a web browser app — and after using it for a little bit, you will likely realize that navigating web pages on a TV interface is far inferior to using Safari on your iPad and simply sharing the screen to the TV.  There are also apps for many popular streaming services such as Netflix, HBO Max, and even Apple TV+.  Because of these apps, you could use this LG TV without connecting it to any external streaming devices.  And for my first few days with this TV, that's exactly what I did.

But it didn't take me long to miss the superior interface on the Apple TV 4K, which is much faster and easier to navigate when you want to jump around from app to app.  The LG interface is also quite busy and uses lots of space to display information that I deem irrelevant.  Including ads, although you can turn many of those off if you dig down into many levels of the TV's settings. 

You cannot move or change the order of most of the interface.  That's a shame because some of the most useful elements are the apps that you use to launch services like Netflix or HBO or Apple TV+, but those app icons are very small compared to the other items on the screen.  Fortunately, you can reorder the apps to keep the most relevant ones near the front of the list.

Navigating the webOS interface using the LG remote is rather cumbersome compared to the current version of the Apple TV remote.  The LG remote has tons of buttons, but for many functions you need to control a cursor on the TV screen by moving around the remote in mid-air, something that I had never experienced before with a remote.  At first, it seemed neat.  But after a few days, it became somewhat clunky to have to move my wrist around to move a cursor.  I often found myself moving the cursor too far over or not far enough. 

I realize that I am being somewhat harsh on webOS, but that's really just in comparison to the Apple TV.  I've seen much worse interfaces on other streaming devices and cable boxes.  As noted above, I also use DirecTV, and its interface is nothing special although I've learned to live with it.  If you need to use the LG's native interface, it is fine, but it is not great.

One more note about the interface:  it supports AirPlay.  Thus, you can share the screen of your iPhone, iPad, or Mac directly to this TV screen.  Of course, if you have an Apple TV hooked up to this TV, the Apple TV itself also supports AirPlay, but it is nice to see AirPlay built-in to this device.

Price

I bought this TV from Amazon.  The buying experience was unlike anything else I've ever purchased from Amazon.  I picked a delivery window, and on the delivery day, the Amazon app on my iPhone gave me updates on how close the truck was to my house.  When they arrived (right at the beginning of my delivery window), a huge moving truck-style vehicle pulled up at my house, not a typical Amazon delivery van.  As an Amazon Prime member, for no extra charge, the folks who delivered this TV actually brought it into my house and placed the TV (still in its box) in my home theater room in the back of my house.  That was nice because this is a big TV and you need two people to move it around.

The current prices for this TV on Amazon are as follows.  55":  $1,296.99.  65": $1,796.99.  77": $2,896.99.  83": $4,996.99.  When I looked around, the Amazon price was as good or better than any of the other stores selling this television.

Conclusion

I'm not a fan of the webOS interface on this television, but if you have another streaming device such as an Apple TV, you can mostly ignore webOS.  And that's the only part of this television that didn't blow me away.  The reason that you buy a TV like this is for the picture quality, and I cannot emphasize enough how amazing this television looks.  Whether I'm watching blockbuster movies, nature shows, TV series, or my own home movies that I shot with my iPhone, everything looks incredible.  I still remember when I purchased my first HD television back in 2002 (a rear-projection, 57" Toshiba 57HDX82).  HD looked so much better than standard definition that I found myself seeking out HD content to watch, no matter what it was, just because HD looked so much better than anything I had previously seen on a television.  It's almost two decades later, and I'm once again having the same feeling.  I'm seeing content on my TV screen that is so amazing that I find myself once again seeking out more 4K HDR content just for the eye candy.

If you are like me, buying a big screen TV is a once every 8-10 years purchase.  Thus, when you decide that it is time to upgrade, you want to get something that you are going to enjoy for a long time.  I have no doubt that this is a TV that I will enjoy for a long time.  If you are in the market for a new television, I give the LG C1 my highest recommendation.

Click here to get the LG OLED C1 Series television from Amazon.

Review: Satechi 108W USB-C 3-Port GaN Wall Charger

In my recent review of the Anker Nano Pro (4oW), I explained why USB-C chargers are becoming increasingly valuable.  More and more devices support USB-C, and the connector provides much more power than regular USB.  After researching the best multi-port USB-C chargers, I recently purchased the $75 Satechi 108W USB-C 3-Port GAN Wall Charger.  I've been very happy with this device.  In a relatively small amount of space, this charger can support three simultaneous USB-C cords.  Better yet, it can provide a lot of power to each of those ports, going beyond the 20W that you get with that Anker Nano Pro and many other chargers.

For many years, iPhones, iPads, and similar devices were charged with a small 5W charger.  But as the power requirements of these devices have increased, chargers have also become more powerful.  However, more power can mean more heat, so chargers traditionally use internal circuits to control the flow of energy.  Many chargers use silicon chips for these circuits, just like the iPhone itself.  But a relatively new alternative to silicon is gallium nitride, known as GaN.  This material can conduct higher voltage for a longer period of time than silicon, and can do so more efficiently.  Greater efficiency means that the size of the charger itself can be smaller.  And the larger power means that devices can charge more quickly.  Put this all together, and you can use GaN chargers to provide more power in a smaller package to charge your devices more quickly.

The Satechi 108W USB-C 3-Port GAN Wall Charger is a compact GaN charger that can charge up to three devices at one time.

I have been using this device next to the desk at my office for the last few weeks.  Satechi says that this device works with the 2020/2019/2018/2017/2016 MacBook Pro, 2020/2018 MacBook Air M1, 2021 iPad Pro M1, 2020/2018 iPad Pro, 2020 iPad Air, iPhone 13 Pro Max/13 Pro/13 Mini/13, iPhone 12 Pro Max/12 Pro/12 Mini/12, iPhone 11 Pro Max/11 Pro/11, XS Max/XS/XR/X, and most USB-C devices.  At my desk, I use one port to charge my iPad Pro, one to charge my iPhone, and one for an Apple Watch charger.

Although I didn't purchase this as a travel charger, I may end up using it for that.  The plug flips down, making it easy to carry this charger with other items in a briefcase, purse, or other bag.

[UPDATE 11/29/2021:  We took a family trip to the beach over Thanksgiving and I did use the Satechi 108W charger as my travel charger.  It was fantastic, and the only charger that I needed for my entire vacation.  I disconnected this from the outlet in my office, put down the prongs, and wrapped my three USB-C cords around it (one of which is an Apple Watch charger).  When we got to the place we were staying, I plugged this in next to a nightstand and used the three cords to charge on my nightstand my Phone, my iPad, and my Apple Watch.  It was a fantastic combination, and it was great to be able to charge every device at full speed.]

Thanks to the GaN technology, this charger is only slightly larger than a regular Apple 2oW or 29W Type-C charger, and unlike those Apple chargers, you can three devices at one time with a total of 108W available.

I don't own an Apple 96W USB-C charger, but this Satechi device is smaller and does much more.

How much power you get for each port depends upon how many items if you have plugged in.  If you plug in just one item, this charger can give it up to 100W, enough to power a large number of computers.  If you plug in two items, if the first item can handle up to 88W then the charger provides 20W to the second port.  if the first item can handle up to 60W, then the second port gets 45W of power.

If you plug in three devices, the three possible configurations are 45W + 30W + 30W, 58W + 30W + 20W, or 65W + 20W + 20W.  The device that you plug in first will get the most power.  In other words, this adapter is first come, first served.

I don't own an Apple laptop, so the most power-hungry device I use is my 12.9" iPad Pro.  The normal iPad Pro charger is 18W, but that device can support up to 30W for faster charging.  I've seen reports that the iPhone 13 Pro can support up to 27W charging for faster charging.  The Apple Watch Series 7 supports fast charging with an 18W charger, and while you can plug it into more powerful chargers, I'm not sure if it ever takes advantage of more than 18W.  But what I do know is that when my iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch are also plugged in to this Satechi charger at the same time, they are getting the maximum power that they can handle so they charge as fast as possible.

In a comment to my recent review of the Anker Nano Pro (4oW), "Ernie" wrote a comment to note that whenever you plug in an additional device into any GaN charger, the charger will reconfigure its outputs, dropping power for a fraction of a second.  Thus, he warns that if you have a travel router plugged in to one port and then you plug something into a second port, the travel router will reboot.  Because I have only been using this Satechi charger with an iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch, I haven't noticed this.  Dropping power for a split second also wouldn't be an issue for a laptop computer because of its built-in battery.  But keep this in mind if you plan to plug in a device that requires a constant stream of uninterrupted power such as a router.

Conclusion

The Satechi 108W USB-C 3-Port GAN Wall Charger uses only one power outlet, so it is easy to find an outlet that you can use.  And while it doesn't take up much more space than other single chargers, it provides a ton of power to three USB-C ports at the same time.  If you have multiple devices that can take advantage of faster charging via USB-C, this is a fantastic wall charger.  And as a bonus, it can also serve as a powerful travel charger for up to three devices.  This device has been perfect for my needs, and I recommend it.

Click here to get the Satechi 108W USB-C 3-Port GAN Wall Charger ($74.99 on Amazon).

Sale on eero products

As we enter the holiday season, if you are looking for a great present for yourself or for one of your friends or family, one of the best ways to improve the Internet experience at a home is to upgrade to a good mesh router that can spread the Wi-Fi at the best possible speed to every room in the house.  Last year, I wrote a glowing review of the eero Pro 3-pack, which cost me $499 and was a major improvement to the Wi-Fi in my house.  It works incredibly well, and it is also very easy to use thanks to the iPhone app that explains everything.  Before the eero, I had high-speed cable Internet coming into my house, but I couldn't appreciate it throughout my house.  Since I installed three eero Pro units, every single room in my house (and all of my backyard) has fantastic, high-speed Internet.  My only regret is that I didn't upgrade sooner.

I mention this today because Amazon (who makes the eero) is having the best sale I've ever seen for this product.  First, you can get the same eero Pro 3-pack that I purchased last year for $499, but from now until November 29, you pay only $349. 

Second, you can get the more advanced eero Pro 6 3-pack for only $449. which is still less than I paid for the prior generation product.  The main advantage of the eero Pro 6 over the regular eero Pro is that the eero Pro 6 supports Wi-Fi 6, which is also called 802.11ax.  If you have very fast Internet, such as Gigabit Internet, you can better take advantage of that speed throughout your house with Wi-Fi 6.  If I was buying something today, I would probably get the eero Pro 6 just to get the latest and greatest, but to be honest with you, the regular eero Pro works incredibly well with the Gigabit Internet I have at my house.

I like the Pro models of the eero because they include Ethernet ports on the back, which is useful when you want to plug something directly into the network, and they provide a higher speed to a wider area.  Having those ports is also useful if you want to have a wired connection for part of your Wi-Fi system.  (In my home, two of my eero Pros on different ends of my house are connected to each other with an Ethernet cable, and the third one has a normal wireless connection.)  But if those features are unimportant to you, you can also save lots of money on the regular eero units.  The eero 6 is $77 (normally $129).  For multiple eero devices (which is what you really want to take full advantage of a mesh network spreading Wi-Fi throughout your house) you can get a 3-pack with three routers (which means that they all have Ethernet ports) and that eero 6 3-pack is $209 (normally $349).  Or you can get a 3-pack with a single router (with the Ethernet ports) and two extenders (without ports) for only $167 (normally $279). 

Whether you are getting one for yourself or for someone else as a gift, I highly recommend eero and eero Pro products.

Podcast episode 28: Lucky 13, Right to Repair, and Dueling Words

Episode 28 of the In the News podcast is now available for your listening and viewing pleasure.  Brett and I start by discussing 13 years of iPhone J.D., including how far the iPhone has come during that time.  Then we discuss the differences between the Microsoft Word app on the iPad and the Microsoft Office app on the iPad — which includes Word.  We finish up with a discussion of the Right to Repair movement and Apple's new Self Service Repair program, followed by a short discussion of third-party Twitter apps including Tweetbot.

In our In the Know segment, Brett discusses using AirServer on a Mac or PC to give a presentation from your iPad.  I discuss all of the information that you can now see and edit for each of your photos in the Photos app.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast.  Or you can watch the episode on YouTube:

In the News

Microsoft Word is one of the most useful apps for attorneys on the iPhone and iPad.  There are currently two ways to use Word.  You can use the app called Microsoft Word, or you can use the app called Microsoft Office which contains Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and more in a single app.  The core features are identical, but there are some things that you can do in one but not the other.  Brett Burney, my co-host on the In the News podcast, put together an informative (and high-quality) video to explain these differences along with lots of other useful information for using Microsoft Word on the iPad (and iPhone).  If you use Word on your iPhone or iPad, you should check out Brett's video.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Apple released a minor update for the iPhone this week, iOS 15.1.1.  It fixes a problem with dropped calls on iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models, as noted by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac.  I know that Apple is also doing a lot of testing of iOS 15.2 and I expect that to come out soon.
• Apple also released a minor update for the Apple Watch this week, watchOS 8.1.1.  It fixes an issue with charging on the Apple Watch Series 7 that has been experienced by some users.  Josh Centers of TidBITS offers more details.
• One of the nice new features of the Apple Watch Series 7 is fast charging, if you use the cord that comes with that Apple Watch along with a USB-C charger.  It works really well.  Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that Belkin launched a new 3-in-1 MagSafe charger this week that can charge an iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch at the same time, and it supports fast charging, along with a stand-alone fast charger.  I'm thrilled to learn about these products because they show that third party manufacturers can take advantage of fast charging on the new Apple Watch.
• Corey Gaskin of Ars Technica reviews the Apple Watch Series 7.
• Victoria Song of The Verge shows you you can control an Apple Watch without even touching the screen using the Assistive Touch feature.
• Apple's new iCloud Private Relay and Mail Privacy Protection systems are not part of watchOS 8.  Jason Cross of Macworld explains why this might make a difference to you.
• If you  own an LG smart television but you don't own an Apple TV device, you can still watch the Apple TV+ channel using an app on the television.  As reported by William Gallagher of Apple Insider, this week, LG added an Apple Music app so that Apple Music subscribers can listen to songs on an LG television, either using the built-in speakers or whatever external speakers you have hooked up to the LG television.  Unlike the Apple TV 4K, the LG app doesn't support spatial audio, but for the circumstances in which it makes sense to use your television without a streaming box, it is nice to have this feature.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors describes a new service announced by Apple this week, the Self Service Repair program.  Users of Apple products will be able to purchase official parts and tools directly from Apple to repair their own devices.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball offers some additional thoughts on Apple's new Self Service Repair program.  He notes that it may be great news for independent repair shops and the people who like the service advantages that come with those shops.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors describes another new service announced by Apple this week, the Business Essentials program.  The program offers small businesses Mobile Device Management (MDM) tools along with an AppleCare+ service that can serve as tech support along with iCloud storage.  I can see this being useful for many small businesses.
• Tweetbot is my favorite app for using Twitter.  As Federico Viticci of MacStories explained, that app got lots of new features this week, in part because Twitter is now letting third-party apps do even more with the Twitter service.
• Jason Ciprani of CNet shares some useful but somewhat hidden features of iOS 15.
• And finally, Apple released a silly and fun Shot on iPhone video this week called A Dozen Eggs by Michel Gondry.  Yes, that Michel Gondry, the Academy Award-winning French director and screenwriter known for films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  It features clever special effects and ... well, I'll just stop there so I don't spoil it.  It's only a minute long, so just go ahead and watch it and see for yourself.

2021 ABA Tech Survey shows all-time high iPhone use by attorneys

New survey results indicate that a record number of attorneys are using an iPhone in their law practice:  80% of all attorneys in the United States.  These numbers come from the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center, which has conducted a survey every year since 1990 to gauge the use of legal technology by attorneys in private practice in the United States.  If you want to know what legal technology lawyers are using, this is one of the best sources for that information.

The 2021 report (edited by Sasha Goncharov) was just released, and as always, I am particularly interested in the statistics on mobile technology.  For many years, the ABA reported on smartphone use every year, but for the last few years that data only comes out every other year.  This is one of those years, and this is the twelfth year that I have reported on this survey.  (My reports on the prior ABA surveys are located here:  2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010.)

80% of all U.S. attorneys use an iPhone

When the ABA started asking lawyers about smartphone use in 2011, only 31% of attorneys were using an iPhone.  But that use has increased every year, and in 2021, a record 80% of all attorneys in the United States are using an iPhone.  The only other player in 2021 is Android, which is used by 19% of attorneys.  (About 1% or less of all attorneys use both.)  This year, the percentage of attorneys not using any smartphone in their law practice is 2%, which is frankly higher than I would have expected. 

I traditionally show a pie chart to make it easy to see what smartphones are in use.  That probably isn't necessary at this point with only two platforms in use, but for the sake of tradition, let's do it anyway.

80% is the overall number, and iPhone use is even higher in larger firms.  In firms with 100 or more attorneys, 86% of all attorneys used an iPhone in 2021.  On the other extreme, 61% of solo attorneys reported using an iPhone in 2021.  In firms with 100 or more attorneys, 13% use Android, whereas 33% of solo attorneys use Android.

I always find the trends over time more interesting than the data from any one year.  Back in 2011, when the ABA first started to ask attorneys what type of smartphone they used, the BlackBerry was still on top at 40%, but that was a decrease from prior years. The iPhone was at 31% in 2011, and it has increased just about every year since then.  In 2012, the iPhone overtook the BlackBerry.  In 2013, iPhone use crossed the 50% mark at 57%.  In 2019, iPhone use crossed the 75% mark at 79%.  And this year, it increased even more to 80%.

Android use started at 15% in 2011, increased to a high of 25% in 2018, and has been around 18%-19% since 2019.

Who is making the decision to use the iPhone or Android platform?  For the most part, it is the individual attorneys.  Over 80% of attorneys say that they are allowed to select their own brand, model, and type of smartphone.  That percentage decreases somewhat as firm size increases, hitting 71% for law firms with 100 or more attorneys.

You cannot use a smartphone without paying a monthly service fee.  Overall, 47% of attorneys say that their law firm fully pays the cost of the mobile phone service, and another 20% get some sort of stipend.  But those numbers vary widely based on firm size.  For example, only 34% of large firms (100 or more attorneys) pay the full cost, but that percentage increases as firm size decreases to a high of 67% for solo attorneys. 

A smartphone is particularly useful for checking email, and this year, 53% say that their smartphone is the primary way that they access email while out of the office.  That's down from 70% when this question was asked in 2019.  This year, 28% say that their work laptop is their primary way used to access email while out of the office.

Attorney tablet use

Before 2019, the ABA also asked about tablet use.  From 2013 to 2018, about half of all attorneys reported using a tablet, and for those who did, between 80% and 90% reported using an iPad.  But starting in 2019, the ABA stopped asking a direct question about tablet use.

In the 2021 survey, tablet use is addressed in a few questions.  For example, the survey asks whether tablet devices are "available for use" at the attorney's law firm.  I interpret that question as asking whether the law firm purchases tablets for attorneys to use, which would not capture individual attorneys buying their own iPad to use in their law practice.  Whatever that question means, the percentage is 38% in 2021.  In 2017, the answer to that question was 61%, and it has declined every year since then.  But again, I don't think that question really captures how many attorneys are using an iPad or other tablet device because of the way it is worded.

Another question asked what type of devices are used to regularly conduct legal research while away from the office.  The top seven answers are:

1. Laptop computer — 67%
2. Home desktop computer — 32%
3. Smartphone — 21%
4. Tablet device — 14%
5. E-book reader — 1.6%
6. AI assistant – 1.5%
7. Smart wearable — 0.4%

The first two responses are not surprising.  The next two responses also make sense to me because while I think that it is easier to do legal research on an iPad than an iPhone, I suspect that the number of attorneys who use an iPad is about half the number who use an iPhone, and that alone would account for those percentages.

As for the sixth and seventh items on that list, I have a lot of questions.  1.5% of attorneys are using something like Siri to do legal research?  I have an image of an attorney saying "Hey Siri, can you please Keycite or Shepardize this case" and that seems wrong.  I'm having an even harder time wrapping my brain around the last response.  There are over a million attorneys in the United States, so a 0.4% answer means that over 4,000 attorneys are somehow doing legal research on their Apple Watch?  If any of those folks are iPhone J.D. readers, I'd love to hear what in the world you are doing, because this doesn't seem like it would work for me:

Thirteen years of iPhone J.D.

The number on the newest iPhone is "13" and now this website has hit 13 as well.  Thirteen years ago today, on November 17, 2008, I took a picture of the front of my iPhone on a legal pad to create a banner for this website, and I published the first post.  I guess that means that iPhone J.D. is now a teenager.  There have been over 2,100 posts here since 2008, and while lawyers are still using iPhones, so much of what that means has changed so much since 2008. 

A milestone always seems like an appropriate time to step back and take a look at where you have been, so let's do that.

Popular posts this year.  Every year on the birthday of iPhone J.D. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12), I find it interesting to look back and see which posts over the prior 12 months were the most popular.  The fact that these posts were so popular often sheds some light on what has been on the minds of attorneys and other folks using an iPhone or iPad.  Here, in order, are the top ten most viewed posts published in the last 12 months:

1. Review: Apple iPhone 12 leather case -- slim case to protect your iPhone.  I would never have guessed that an iPhone case review would be the most-viewed post of the past year, but that's what the numbers say.  I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised because I've always been a huge fan of the leather iPhone case sold by Apple over the years.  It is slim, it feels good, and of course, it fits perfectly.  And because it supports MagSafe, it is even more useful.  I've been buying versions of this $59 case every year with every new iPhone for as long as I can remember.  Because of the flat-edge design of the iPhone 12 and now the iPhone 13, I no longer use the case all of the time.  I find that it is easier to slip an iPhone in and out of a pocket without a case, and the flat edge makes it easier to get a good grip on the iPhone when it is in my hand.  But many times a week – and always when I travel — I use Apple's leather case to get a better grip on the iPhone.
2. How to make your Apple Watch speak the time out loud -- or not do so.  I always enjoy sharing a good tip.  Indeed, one of the things that I love about the weekly In the News podcast that I do with Brett Burney is that we always end with our "In the Know" segment in which we each share a tip, and I often learn something new from Brett.  In this post, I explain how to enable the talking clock feature of the Apple Watch that you trigger by putting two fingers on the display, and also how to turn it off if you are worried about triggering it by accident. 
3. Review: Solo Loop band for Apple Watch.  I'm glad to see that this review got so much attention because I love the Solo Loop band.  In fact, when I recently upgraded to an Apple Watch Series 7 and had to select a watch band to go with it, I knew instantly that I would get a different color of the Solo Loop.  Because this band has no buckle, it is incredibly secure.  It is also incredibly comfortable and easy to keep clean because you can just wipe it off.  I have a lot of different Apple Watch bands, but this is one of my all-time favorites. 
4. 20 iPhone tips for lawyers in 2020.  Technically, this post was not from the past year because it was posted the day before my 12th anniversary post.  But so many folks read this one during the past twelve months that it is worth mentioning here.  A year ago, I was invited by the Monroe County Bar Association in Rochester, NY to team up with the fantastic New York attorney Nicole Black, the Legal Technology Evangelist with MyCase law practice management software, to share some iPhone tips.  We had a great time doing that presentation and I shared many of our tips in that post.  Those tips are just as useful today as they were a year ago, so be sure to take a look at that post if you missed it last year or just want a refresher.
5. Review: Foam Masters Hybrid Silicone-Memory Foam Ear Tips for AirPods Pro -- comfortable replacement tips that fit.  As much as I love my AirPods Pro, the built-in tips are not great for my ears.  I vastly prefer using these replacement ear tips.  I see that the version that I purchased and reviewed has now been replaced with a new 3.0 version for $24.99, which uses upgraded memory foam, has new brackets, and has a new "NanoWeb Ultra-thin Membrane" that "coats each Foam Tip to improve hold in ear, sweat resistance, and drastically improves durability."  I may have to check those out.  For the past few weeks, I've actually been testing a different replacement tip for the AirPods Pro:  the COMPLY Foam Apple AirPods Pro 2.0 Earbud Tips.  So look out for a review of those at some point soon.
6. iPad tip: download a YouTube video using the a-Shell app.  This was a complicated tip that involved using a terminal window on the iPad.  For me, the most interesting part was just that it worked at all.
7. Review: LIT SUITE -- powerful iPad litigation apps.  Lit Software has been producing top-notch iPad apps since 2010.  Earlier this year, the company switched to a subscription model, and I used that post to explain what it all means.
8. Review: iPhone 13 Pro -- better cameras, better screen, better battery life.  It's been about six weeks since I wrote my formal review of the iPhone 13 Pro.  I started that review by mentioning the new 3x telephoto lens, and that remains one of my favorite features.  I've also found the Macro camera very useful.  I wrote in that review that I hadn't had enough experience with battery life to comment on it.  I can report now that the additional battery life is real and is very nice.  The only time I've had to be concerned about iPhone battery life is when I've filmed a lot of 4K video.
9. Reivew: SongPop Party -- compete to quickly name that tune.  I don't play a lot of games on my iPhone or iPad, and that's why I rarely discuss games on this website.  But I did enjoy SongPop Party quite a bit this past summer.  And after typing that last sentence, I just played the game again.  It's still fun.
10. Subscription services that are worth paying for.  This post gave me an excuse to talk about a lot of apps and services that I enjoy using so much that I consider them to be worth paying for, every month.

Visitors to iPhone J.D.  Every year, I use this post to share some statistical information on iPhone J.D. visitors, to the extent that I can figure it out using the tools at my disposal — specifically, the Google Analytics service.

Google Analytics reports that, during the past 12 months, about 52% of readers visited from a smartphone, and 90% of those were iPhones.  It also reports that 44% of readers visited from a desktop computer and 4% visited from an iPad, but I think those numbers are wrong.  As the Safari browser on the iPad has gotten more sophisticated over the years, I think that Google is assuming that some iPads are desktop computers.  Across all devices, the most popular browser is Safari (62%), followed by Chrome (30%) and Firefox (4%).

I know that lawyers around the world use the iPhone and iPad.  About 53% of iPhone J.D. visitors during the past year were in the U.S., which is the lowest percentage I ever remember seeing.  Over 10% of readers are in the U.K.  Canada (6%) and Australia (4%) make up another 10%.  I've never before seen many iPhone J.D. visitors from China, but for the first time this year, China was the #5 country to visit this website.  China is a huge and growing market for Apple, so I suppose it should come as no surprise that many iPhone and iPad users in China who can read English (or use translation tools) would be visiting sites like iPhone J.D. for tips and product reviews.

Every year, I also look at the top cities for the folks who visit iPhone  J.D.  New York has been #1 every year, except for 2015 and 2020 when London was on top.  And this year, London is back on top for the third time, just barely beating out New York.  But the most notable change is to see cities in China on this list for the first time:  Tianjin and Beijing, two of the largest cities in the world.

1. London
2. New York
3. Singapore
4. Tianjin
5. Los Angeles
6. Sydney
7. Beijing
8. Chicago
9. Dallas
10. Melbourne

Other cities that have previously made the Top 10 list, but did not this year, include Toronto (#11 this year), Houston (#12), Atlanta (#13), and San Francisco (#14).  I live in New Orleans, which was #41 this year.  Salt Lake City was #100, Coral Gables was #250, Naples was #1000, and Beverly Hills was #4000.  A number of cities had only a single visitor to iPhone J.D. last year, such as Powerview-Pine Falls, a town in the Canadian province of Manitoba with a population of 1,294.

AirTag protection against stalkers

Apple released the AirTag earlier this year, and for the reasons I explained in my review, it is a great device for finding lost items.  When Apple designed the AirTag, it also thought about the possibility that they would be misused as a way to stalk someone.  For example, have been incidents in the past in which tracking devices made by other companies had been hidden in a car or other object owned by a victim.  I learned a little about how this system works when my wife recently took a trip and used a piece of luggage on which I still had one of my AirTags.  Here is what happened.

Only a few minutes after I dropped off my wife at the New Orleans airport, I got an alert that my "Luggage" AirTag was no longer with me.  (And that was the first time that I remembered that it was on the luggage.)  If I had left my luggage behind by mistake, this would have been a useful reminder to go back and get my luggage.

I received that notification because in the FindMy app, I turned on an option to notify me when an item is left behind.  Of course, I wouldn't want to get an alert every time I left home without my luggage.  Fortunately, you can also create exceptions so that you won't get a notification if you are separated from your AirTag and it located at a specific location, such as your house.

When I got home, I could see in the FindMy app that my Luggage AirTag was at the airport.

Later that day, after my wife's plane had landed, my wife's iPhone gave her an alert that and AirTag belonging to someone else had been moving with her.  The alert said:  "The location of this AirTag can be seen by" and then it provided my Apple ID email address.  When she tapped that alert, the FindMy app gave her a Safety Alert.  It showed her a picture of an AirTag and then explained that the owner of the AirTag could see her current location:

The FindMy app also told her that an AirTag belonging to my Apple ID email address was first seen with her at a specific time — which was that moment that I left the airport with my Luggage AirTag near my wife and not me.  It also gave her the option to play a sound on the AirTag, which would have helped to locate the AirTag if it had been in a hidden location.  As Apple explains on this page of its website, the FindMy app can also be used to turn off AirTag detection notifications and to get directions on how to disable the AirTag.

What if a stalker places an AirTag near a victim who does not have an iPhone?  After a period of time, the AirTag will start to play an alert beep.  If the AirTag is held close to a smartphone that supports NFC — even an Android phone — the smartphone will provide additional device about the AirTag.

A dedicated stalker may be able to find ways around some of these protections, but it is nice to see that Apple designed the AirTag with privacy in mind.

Click here to get an AirTag from Amazon ($29, or four for $99).

Podcast episode 27: A Two-Factor Holler for the iDollar

I dress up, and Brett dresses down, for episode 27 of the In the News podcast, which is now available.  Brett and I cover a lot of interesting topics this week.  We start by discussing these fascinating charts prepared b y Jason Snell of Six Colors, which show where Apple is making its money, and which — I believe — provide lots of insight into what Apple is doing.  Then we discuss the latest scams that hackers are using to try to hack you, an update to the Scanner Pro app, AirPods for only $89, Apple holiday templates for Keynote cards, and two SciFi shows that Brett and I are watching right now (Foundation and Dune). 

In our In the Know segment, we discuss two useful apps:  VoiceDream Reader and When Did I...?

Click here to listen to the audio podcast.  Or you can watch the episode on YouTube:

In the News

When Apple introduced the third generation AirPods and said that it would continue selling the second generation AirPods for $129, I wrote last month:  "That makes me think that those will eventually go on sale for under $100."  And sure enough, as reported by Christine McKee of AppleInsider, Walmart is now selling the second generation AirPods for only $89 as part of an early Black Friday sale.  That is a fantastic price for a beloved product.  The second generation doesn't support Spatial Audio and lacks the longer battery life that you get with the $179 third generation AirPods, but they are only half the price.  Whether you want to get AirPods for yourself or you are looking to get a great stocking stuffer, this Walmart price is a very good deal.  And it wouldn't surprise me to see similar holiday sales offered by others over the next few weeks.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Apple announced this week that Alex Gorsky, the CEO and chairman of Johnson & Johnson, was joining Apple's Board of Directors.  As John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, this is further evidence that "Apple sees health as a major new frontier."
• Gorsky is joining Apple when it is at an all-time high.  A great way to see this is to look at graphs charting Apple revenue over the past 20+ years that were created by Jason Snell of Six Colors.  
• The first graph shows that Apple revenue in fiscal 2021 was considerably higher than ever before.  And the graph showing iPad revenue over the years is particularly interesting because the iPad hit a peak in 2013, then revenue dropped, and now it is back up again and better than ever.
• Scanner Pro, my favorite app for scanning documents with an iPhone, added a new Smart Categories feature this week to make it easier to find something that you scanned in the past.
• Mike Fleming, Jr., of Deadline reports that Finch, the new Tom Hanks movie on Apple TV+, is the most-watched movie on the service.  My son and I watched the movie last weekend, and we both loved it.  I recommend it.
• Speaking of shows on Apple TV+, every week that I watch the Sci-Fi show Foundation on Apple TV+, I like the show more and more.  It looks as good as any big-budget movie, and while it took me a few episodes to get engrossed in the story, now I'm loving it.  Episode 8, The Missing Piece, came out last week and it is probably my favorite episode so far, and there are two more episodes to go.
• If someone calls you and asks you for your two factor authentication code, of course you should not provide it to them.  But as John Gruber explains in this report, which is based on a report by Joseph Cox for Motherboard, there are sophisticated bots that might trick you into doing just that.  Be careful out there.
• Oliver Haslam of iMore explains another scheme that iPhone thieves are using to trick you into helping them disable Find My after they steal your iPhone.
• Jeff Benjamin of 9to5Mac reviews the HomePod mini, now that it comes in colors.
• Josh Centers of TidBITS explains in detail how to use the new FaceTime features:  screen sharing and SharePlay.
• I've never thought of using Keynote to create a greeting card, but Apple did.  If you visit the page on the Apple website dedicated to holiday gifts and scroll down to the Today at Apple section, you can download a Keynote template to "[m]ake a unique holiday card."  Given how easy it is to create shapes and add images to a Keynote presentation, it actually makes perfect sense to me to use that app to create cards.
• And finally, here is a new "mobile phone" that you might want to purchase that is being sold by Fisher-Price.  Yes, that's right, I said Fisher-Price.  The first telephone that you ever used now includes Bluetooth to work with your current iPhone.  And of course, it still has the eyes and the wheels.  This introduction video is cute, and you can get more information on the Fisher-Price website: