As we are all spending more time in the outside world instead of our homes, we are being reminded, once again, of what it is like to have an iPhone battery run low when you are not near a power outlet. In the past, Apple has sold a case for the iPhone which includes a battery such as this model for the iPhone 6 and this model for the iPhone 11. But this week, Apple introduced a much smaller device that simply attaches magnetically to the back of your iPhone and provides a charge. It is called the MagSafe Battery Pack, and California attorney David Sparks offers these thoughts on this $99 device, which works with all of the phones in the iPhone 12 line. Unlike a case that is made for a specific model of phone, hopefully (and presumably) this battery will work with future models of the iPhone as well. I haven't seen any information on how many more hours it adds to your iPhone (which presumably will vary depending upon which model you are using), but it looks like this is a small and light battery that you could easily slip into a pocket when you are not using it. It only comes in white, but assuming that this product is successful, I would expect Apple to come out with more colors in the future. The MagSafe Battery Pack will be available starting a week from today, and you can pre-order it now. It wouldn't surprise me if Apple gave review units of the new MagSafe battery back to select members of the press so that they can provide early reviews shortly before next Friday. Thus, I suspect we will learn more details about this product next week, but in the meantime, Juli Clover of MacRumors has some additional information on how it works. My guess is that this will be a popular product. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- In addition to that post discussing the MagSafe Battery Pack, California attorney David Sparks shared his thoughts on Spatial Audio for Apple Music, which I discussed last month (and I'm still enjoying).
- A new post on the LitSoftware blog profiles California attorney Lisa Peck and explains how she uses TrialPad on her iPad to work with exhibits in a deposition and TranscriptPad to work with her deposition transcripts.
- This article doesn't relate to the iPhone or iPad, but one of my law partners recommended it to me, and it is a remarkable story of science and technology. Pam Belluck of the New York Times reports that scientists in San Francisco have learned how to allow a man who is paralyzed speak again by putting probes on the speech area of his brain and learning how to translate signals into words. Now, he can just think about speaking something and the computer says the sentence, with decent accuracy that is improving over time. You can click here to read the story, and I used a New York Times feature called "Gift Articles," which means that, for 14 days, you can read the story using that link even if you don't subscribe to the New York Times.
- If you like the new remote for the Apple TV that I reviewed last month but you still find yourself misplacing the remote, Blair Altland of 9to5Toys reports that elgago released a new soft silicone case for the remote that includes a place to tuck an AirTag, giving you the ability to track the remote and have your iPhone point you in the right direction. It is only $14.99 on Amazon, although you also have to purchase an AirTag, which costs another $29, or $25 each when you purchase a four-pack.
- Since the pandemic started, all of Apple's Keynote events have been pre-recorded and streamed. And the quality has been excellent, down to the smallest details — even the background furniture and accessories. If you think that you may have seen something that you like, Michael Steeber of 9to5Mac spent I-cannot-even-imagine-how-many-hours to go through the last six online-only Apple events and came up with a list of "more than 100 chairs, sofas, tables, lamps, books, and accessories that fill the sets." Impressive attention to detail
- Matt Grobar of The Deadline reports that the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso received 20 Emmy nominations, the most that the first season of any comedy series has ever received in TV history. That includes nominations for seven cast members including, as Apple humorously pointed out on Twitter, every single Diamond Dog. Apple also issued a press release listing all of the nominations for Ted Lasso and other Apple TV+ shows.
- Apple TV+ also streams Peanuts movies and TV shows. Dave Mark of The Loop links to a new video from Apple that shows you how to use an iPad to draw yourself as a Peanuts character.
- If you use AT&T's $50/month unlimited data plan called Unlimited Elite, it was upgraded this week to provide no throttling, 40GB of hotspot data a month (previously 30GB), and support for 4K HBO Max streaming over 4G or 5G, as reported by Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac. AT&T has two other unlimited plans: the $40/month plan (Unlimited Extra) has 15GB of hotspot data and streams SD video, and the $35/month plan (Unlimited Starter) has no hotspot data. I use Unlimited Elite, and the other members of my family use one of the other two unlimited plans.
- It may surprise you, but there are lots of ways to use Windows on an iPad. I use LogMeIn to get remote access to the PC in my office, and my law firm also uses Citrix so I can get remote access to a virtual Windows environment. And Microsoft announced this week that it will soon release Windows 365, a service that lets you run a PC in the cloud that can be accessed from a computer or an iPad. As Chris Smith of BGR reports, it isn't yet clear what monthly cost will be, and at least at first, the product will be sold to businesses instead of individual users.
- If you want to go old school, Benj Edwards of How-To Geek explains how you can run Windows 3.1 (which was released in 1992) on an iPad by downloading the iDOS app (which lets you run a version of DOS on an iPad) and then using a Windows 3.1 installer — for which you are on your own to figure out how to acquire a legal copy. I find it interesting that, in the 1990s, I had no interest at all in using Windows 3.1. (My law firm used Macs until the very early 2000s.) But now that it is possible to run it on an iPad, I'm finding myself curious to play some Solitaire and Minesweeper.
- And finally, here is a funny new Apple commercial called Haystack in which a farmer shows off one of the things that you can do with an Apple Watch.
