July and August are typically slow months for iPhone and iPad news, but there are still things to note this week. For example, it was 14 years ago this past week that the iPhone first went on sale, and Parker Ortolani at 9to5Mac put together a great article looking back at what a big deal that was at the time. We also started the second half of 2021 this week, which is a little hard to fathom. And for those who practice law in federal court, I saw people on Twitter noting for the first time this week that we are now done with the Federal Reporter, Third Series which means we are starting the Fourth Series. Yes, that means that you are going to be typing "F.4th" soon, which looks very weird. Or maybe it will be "F. 4th" with a space since "th" has two letters. I don't know if the Bluebook has weighed in yet, but I hope it is the former, without the space. I still remember when we started F.3d in 1993, when I was in law school. We don't know yet which case will be 1 F.4th 1, but it might possibly end up being this case that seems to have the lowest Westlaw citation number: Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. v. NP Palace LLC, No. 20-1008, __ F.4th __, 2021 WL 2324983 (D.C. Cir. June 8, 2021). [UPDATE 7/15/21: I was close. That case is 1 F.4th 12. The award for the first case in the F.4th goes to Khochinsky v. Republic of Poland, 1 F.4th 1 (D.C. Cir. 2021)] And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:
- I'm a big fan of using an eero Pro system to improve the WiFi in your house. I upgraded to three eero Pro units this time last year, and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner so that I would have had excellent WiFi throughout my house when the pandemic started. California attorney David Sparks used to have six of the older eero units in his house, and as he describes in this post, he recently upgraded to the newest eero Pro 6 system, which can provide even faster WiFi speeds with only three units instead of his original six units. Right now you can get the eero Pro 3-pack that I use for $499 and the eero Pro 6 3-pack that David uses for $599. Both are excellent. If you are paying for Gigabit Internet at your house and/or you want to future-proof, I'd probably spend the extra $100 for the eero Pro 6 if I had to do it again now. But either system is almost certainly a major upgrade from whatever WiFi you currently have in your house.
- This week, Apple released the first public beta of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. I strongly urge you not to install beta system software on a device that you use to get your work done to avoid crashes and data loss, but if you have a spare iPhone or iPad and don't mind living on the edge a bit, then you should be OK to check out the public beta version. Federici Viticci of MacStories wrote a good overview of what to expect if you upgrade to the public beta. For example, he notes: "If you’re installing the iOS 15 public beta today and want to show it off to your friends, know this: Live Text in the Camera and custom Focus modes make for the best demos, followed by the new Weather app and rethought multitasking controls on iPad. SharePlay is neat but can feel already dated now that more countries are rolling out vaccinations and returning to a semi-regular social life; the new Safari needs more work; Mail is surprisingly unchanged despite the rise of remote work in the past year."
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac also reported on Apple's release of a public beta.
- Yoni Heisler of BGR reports that one of the new features of iOS 15 is that if you ever forget your Apple ID password, you can still access your account if you have previously designated someone else as a trusted contact to help you unlock your account.
- I've written in the past about state-sponsored apps that one can use to verify that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. According to an article by David Lieb of the Associated Press, in the United States, only New York, Louisiana, and California have such apps right now. "By contrast, at least 18 states led by Republican governors or legislatures prohibit the creation of so-called vaccine passports or ban public entities from requiring proof of vaccination." Lieb reports that in Louisiana, where this function is part of a digital driver's license app (which I reviewed in 2018) 105,000 people have activated the COVID-19 verification function of the app, which is 14% of those who use the app and less than 4% of the 3.1 million people in Louisiana with a valid driver's license. Lieb also notes that even if states do not provide this function in an app, many vaccine providers are making digital vaccination records available to customers, and Apple will incorporate a vaccination verification feature in iOS 15 later this year. As Michael Simon of Macworld explains: "iOS 15 will let you scan a QR code from your healthcare provider and securely store your COVID-19 immunizations and test results in the Health app."
- If you are curious whether T-Mobile would be a better carrier for your iPhone Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac notes that there is a new test drive program that uses your eSim in your iPhone so that you can see what T-Mobile service would be like without having to cancel the other carrier on your iPhone. That's a smart way to do it.
- David Howley of Yahoo Finance discusses the new digital ID card system coming to watchOS 8 this Fall.
- Taylor Hall of 9to5Mac discusses the new Portraits watch face coming to watchOS 8 this Fall.
- Parker Ortolani of 9to5Mac shows off some of the new Apple Watch bands in the International Collection, which I discussed yesterday.
- Allison Smith of Fox 8 News in North Carolina reports that a man fell down and became unconscious, but fortunately, his Apple Watch called for help and he was saved. Afterward, he said: "The first thing I asked him was, ‘How did you guys know to get here?’ and he said, ‘Your watch sent us a message,’ and I said ‘What?'"
- If you charge your Apple Watch on your nightstand at night, you might be interested in this review by Michael Strange of The Gadgeteer of NightWatch, which uses a solid piece of lucite to magnify the clock on the Apple Watch.
- Earlier this week, I reviewed the Apple TV 4K (2nd generation). Jason Cross of Macworld explains how you can use the Channels feature of the TV app on the Apple TV, iPhone, or iPad to subscribe to dozens of premium streaming services.
- If you are looking for a wall calendar for the Apple fan in your life — which might be yourself — Stephen Hackett of the Mac Power Users podcast has a Kickstarter campaign that you should check out. I pledged for one as soon as I learned about it, and it has already doubled the pledge goal so it looks like this one Kickstarter that will definitely be produced.
- And finally, when the original iPhone debuted in 2007, David Pogue, who at the time wrote for the New York Times, produced a fun video in which he sang about the brand new iPhone. I've linked to this video in the past on iPhone J.D., but it is fun to watch again even if you have seen it before, especially if you have not seen it in a long time. It reminds me of the excitement for the original model, but it also reminds me how far we have come as we celebrate the 14th anniversary of the iPhone's debut.
