In the News

Many experts are advising folks to start holiday shopping early this year.  COVID and other factors are causing product shortages and shipment delays, so you cannot wait until the last minute to get that perfect gift.  Here is a tip if that perfect gift is a product sold by Apple.  For example, I know that the new Apple Watch Series 7 is in short supply, and Alan Martin of Tom’s Guide reported this week that Apple appears to be cutting its iPad production in half so that the shared components can instead be used in new iPhones to try to keep up with large expected demand for the new iPhone 13.  If you decide to purchase an Apple product now so that you are sure to receive it in time to give it as a present next month, you’ll be happy to learn that Apple is instituting a Holiday Return Policy, something that it has done in the past.  This policy provides:  “Items purchased at the Apple Online Store that are received between November 1, 2021, and December 25, 2021, may be returned through January 8, 2022.”  Thus, you can buy something now, and you can return or exchange it for the next two months — much better than the normal 14-day return period for Apple.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Daisuke Wakabayashi of the New York Times wrote a fun article about the popularity of Apple’s new $19 cleaning cloth.  (Gift article, so anyone can read using that link.)
• Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post reports that AT&T and Verizon will delay part of the 5G expansion to address concerns that it may interfere with airplane safety systems.  (Gift article, so anyone can read using that link.)
• If you use the Apple Card credit card, you can share it with family members.  And as Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports, if you do so this month, that person will receive $10 in Daily Cash when they make their first purchase using their new Apple Card.  (Somewhat of a gift article, because it is an article about a $10 gift.)
• Miller also discusses the new Beats Fit Pro, wireless earbuds that are similar to AirPods Pro, but they feature wingtips to keep them in the right place in your ear.
• David Phelan of The Independent interviewed Alan Dye and Stan Ng of Apple to discuss the design of the Apple Watch Series 7.
• Speaking of the Apple Watch, I’m surprised I haven’t seen something like this before.  TwelveSouth introduced the ActionBand, a flexible terry cotton band that holds an Apple Watch and hugs your wrist while absorbing sweat as you work out.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors raises some questions about the new feature in iOS 15.1 of storing your vaccine card in Apple’s Wallet app.  I’ve been using an app called LA Wallet to show my vaccine status for a while now, but I like the idea of using Apple’s Wallet app.  (If you launch the LA Wallet app and you are wearing a mask, you cannot authenticate using Face ID so you have to enter a special pin that is unique to that app, which is an obstacle, albeit a minor one.)  I haven’t yet had a chance to use the vaccine card in the Wallet yet, but I hope to do so soon.
• And finally, Brett Burney and I discussed this briefly on last week’s episode of the In the News podcast, but one of the useful features of iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 is that you can now share your iPhone or iPad screen with someone else during a FaceTime call, or you can have the other person share their screen with you.  This video from Apple shows you how easy it is to use this feature.  This would be a great way to provide tech support to a friend or family member.  You can show them on your own screen how to do something, or you can talk them through what they need to tap on their screen.  It’s a great feature.