The new iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and AirPods 5 are all now available for purchase. And while that is big news, even if you don’t buy any new hardware, you still get new stuff this week because iOS 27 and similar versions for other platforms were released, featuring the new and improved Siri. It is still in beta, and you need to turn it on manually in the Settings app, but I have found it substantially better. It is much easier to communicate with this version of Siri, it can help with lots of information in my life because it has access to my key apps like Notes, Mail, Messages, Calendar, Photos, and more, and as a bonus, not only is it private, but—to quote David Pogue—”this is ethical AI: It deceives nobody, puts nobody out of work, and draws 100% of its power from renewable sources.” I am amazed at the range of questions I can now ask. Like any generative AI, it will occasionally make mistakes, but just like other AI systems, it can “show its work” by telling you what it used to provide the answer. I’ve long thought of my iPhone as an extension of my brain: a place to store information so I don’t have to remember it. With iOS 27, this is truer than ever. Check out that David Pogue post for 125 practical examples of what the new Siri AI can (and can’t) do, and here are a few more from Adam Engst of TidBITS. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Right now is the perfect time to click a single button and pay it forward, using just a little of your hard-earned money to make a difference in the world. Please click this link and donate any amount to help kids beat cancer. And if you donate $100 or more, you’ll get an awesome high-quality microfiber cloth featuring the iPhone J.D. logo—whether you use it yourself or create a wonderful gift for a loved one in your life who uses an Apple device. It’s a win-win!
- Several reviewers got early access to the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, and they posted their reviews this week. In his review, Chance Miller of 9to5Mac notes that while the new Dynamic Island can show information from three apps at once, what is really useful is when it shows information from only two apps because you can see even more information from the apps. He also noted a “dramatic year-over-year leap in performance and thermals” thanks to the new process and improved vapor chamber. He says that the new variable aperture is especially useful in low-light situations.
- For many years, Apple has given professional photographer Austin Mann early access to the new iPhones so that he can test the new camera features. His review this year is particularly helpful. He not only shows off great photographs that demonstrate what a professional can do better than the rest of us, but he also includes videos and photos that explain the new settings and when you might want to adjust them: tips that we can all use. One of his big tips is to just trust the variable aperture to do its thing automatically. The exception is when you want to adjust the aperture to achieve a specific photographic effect.
- Professional photographer Tyler Stalman also prepared a great video showcasing the iPhone 18 Pro’s new camera features.
- Marques Brownlee created a fantastic video review of the iPhone 18 Pro. For example, he does a great job showing how the infrared Face ID sensor moved to the top-left corner behind the screen, which allowed the Dynamic Island to shrink.
- The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max support the new Apple Reference Image feature, a way to establish a photograph’s authenticity. A detailed blog post on Apple’s website explains how this feature works.
- I enjoyed John Gruber’s review of the iPhone 18 Pro because he focuses on a lot of things not mentioned in other reviews, including where it stands in the history of the iPhone, the new photographic styles that can (optionally) add film texture and grain, although with a bit too much halation (bleeding of light).
- John Voorhees of MacStories reviews watchOS 27.
- Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac notes that the bezels on the Apple Watch Series 12 are slightly larger than on previous Apple Watch models. I guess the watch itself needed to be a little bit larger to fit all the new sensors.
- Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider reviews the new AirPods 5.
- Federico Viticci of MacStories has released his annual extensive review of iOS 27.
- Dan Moren of Six Colors reviews iOS 27, noting that there are lots of nice small features, plus the one big feature: Siri AI.
- Tim Hardwick of MacRumors lists 50 new features in iOS 27.
- When you call someone on their birthday on an iPhone running iOS 27, a new animation appears to celebrate their birthday (and remind you it is their birthday), as noted by Marcus Mendes of 9to5Mac.
- If you have HomeKit-compatible home video cameras, iOS 27 lets you use advanced AI to analyze what happens in a clip. But as Glenn Fleishman of Six Colors notes, you only get this feature if you pay for iCloud+.
- Although this feature isn’t available yet, the new Apple Watch models support Siri Recap, a technology that can summarize your conversations. Andrew Orr of AppleInsider discusses how Apple designed this feature to protect privacy.
- Devon Dundee discusses the best new features in visionOS 27.
- PDF Expert from Readdle is my app of choice for reading and annotating documents in my law practice. As noted on the company’s blog, there is a new feature in the app: the ability to search your handwritten notes. I’ve already used this feature this week. After I had made some handwritten notes in the margins of a PDF version of a draft of an appellate brief, I was able to subsequently search for one of my notes by just using the normal find feature in the app (the magnifying glass icon).
- I enjoyed listening to the latest episode of the podcast called The James Altucher Show. It features an interview with Ron Johnson, the former Apple executive who worked with Steve Jobs to develop the Apple Stores.
- Mike Wuerthele of AppleInsider reports that GM has changed its mind about CarPlay and is now including CarPlay support in some of its 2027 gas-powered models. The people have spoken. So many people tell me that they would not purchase (or even rent) a car if it didn’t have CarPlay.
- The Emmys were this week, and as Peter White of Deadline notes, Apple TV was the big winner. The excellent show Widow’s Bay did exceptionally well with 14 awards.
- Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac notes that the Apple TV show Slow Horses begins Season 6 this week. Better yet, Apple has confirmed that it is working on Seasons 7 and 8. This is the first Apple TV show to go beyond six seasons. That’s great news for fans of this excellent show.
- And finally, I was happy to learn this week that Rhea Seehorn—who is fantastic in Pluribus—will be in the next season of the Apple TV show Stick, which debuts on November 4. Here is a sneak peek: