It was a big week for Apple announcements. I discussed the new iPad Pro pretty extensively two days ago, but there was so much more. One of the best overviews I saw of all of Apple’s announcements on Tuesday was this article and accompanying video by Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:
- Brett Burney of Apps in Law reviews LawStack, an app that lets you access legal reviews and statutes on your iPhone or iPad. At the top of his review, Brett provides an excellent video that shows you step-by-step how to use the app. You can access some sets of laws (like federal rules) for free; others (like state laws) require a subscription. LawStack has been around for a long time; I reviewed a recent version of the app in 2019, but I also reviewed an earlier version of the app all the way back in 2010.
- Apple updated the Apple TV 4K this week. Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories describes what is new.
- One of Apple’s big announcements this week was a new product: the AirTag. It went on sale this morning. It is a small coin-sized device that you can place in, or attach to, an object so that you can find the object if you lose it — keys, a purse, a briefcase, a pet, etc. If anyone else with a relatively modern iPhone passes by your object, your own iPhone can tell you where that object was last seen. And when you bring your own iPhone (as long as it is a relatively new one) close to the AirTag, your iPhone can show arrows to help you find the precise location of the AirTag. Apple gave selected members of the press a few AirTags to try them out, so there are now a number of AirTag reviews. If you want more information on this new product, I’ll list the ones that I thought were worth reading. First, Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch does a good job explaining the features.
- Dieter Bohn of The Verge also wrote an interesting review (and a good video to go along with it) in which he had someone else hide an AirTag someplace in a city and he was able to find it after a car passed by the AirTag — a car that presumably had an iPhone in it.
- Michael Grothaus of Fast Company interviewed two folks from Apple for his AirTag review.
- Marques Brownlee prepared a good video review of the AirTag.
- I also liked the video review of the AirTag by Justine “iJustine” Ezarik.
- In an interview with Andrew Griffin of The Independent, John Ternus and Greg Joswiak of Apple discuss the new iPad Pro.
- Apple also introduced a new color for the iPhone 12 this week: purple. Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch describes it. Spoiler alert: it’s an iPhone that’s purple.
- Harry McCracken of Fast Company says that the hardware in the new iPad Pro is amazing, but it needs an updated iPad OS to go along with it. I agree, and I hope that later this year, Apple adds new features to iPad OS to reflect how powerful the iPad Pro has become.
- In an article for Six Colors, Jason Snell describes similar feelings in an article titled The iPad Pro is a killer machine but its software is killing me.
- Over on Six Colors, Jason Snell describes the new version of the Brydge Keyboard, which all but turns an iPad Pro into a laptop computer.
- If you are looking for a new band for your Apple Watch, Parker Ortolani of 9to5Mac describes the new bands that Apple released this week.
- Alexandre Vallières-Lagacé of Hipster Pixel reviews the Material MagSafe Dock by Studio Neat.
- Luke Dormehl of Cult of Mac reports that a puppy swallowed some AirPods when they were in a charging case. A vet had to perform surgery to remove them, but the AirPods still worked.
- And finally, here is Apple’s new ad for the 2021 version of the iPad Pro, which highlights the key features: