Today, the new versions of the iPhone go on sale. Well, at least three of the four models do; the iPhone 14 Plus won't be available until October 7, but the iPhone 14 and both sizes of the iPhone 14 Pro are available today. If you pre-ordered early enough last week, UPS or FedEx may have one on the truck just for you. (At least, I hope so; Chance Miller of 9to5Mac notes that some folks who were supposed to get their new iPhone today will now have to wait.) If you did not pre-order, you can sometimes find a few of the new models at the local Apple Store in your mall on the first day, if you are lucky. But even if you don't have new hardware, you can refresh the look and feel of your older iPhone by installing iOS 16, which came out earlier this week and has lots of great features. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- A number of you have donated to the fundraiser I am promoting this month for St Jude, and if you did so already, you are so awesome! If you haven't done so yet, there's still time. Don't feel bashful to toss in something small like $20. Any amount that you contribute will go directly to St. Jude and make a big difference for kids with cancer. That's a pretty great way to start your weekend on the right foot.
- A small number of professional journalists have been testing the new iPhones since last week, and the embargo on those reviews lifted on Wednesday morning. Attorney John Voorhees of MacStories does a good job of linking to some of the best of those reviews. Note that the SOS and Find My via satellite does not go live until November, so we haven't yet seen any reviews of that interesting new feature.
- For the last few years, professional photographer Austin Mann has taken the newest iPhones to exotic locations to push the camera upgrades to the limits. The pictures that he took this year with the iPhone 14 Pro in Scotland are simply stunning. He also does a great job of showing and explaining what has changed.
- Chris Velazco and Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post conclude that the cameras on Apple's newest iPhones are the best ever, but sometimes you need to look closely to see why. Their article includes some great comparison shots between many different iPhone models.
- Jared Neman of Fast Company discusses the implications of the removal of the SIM tray in the U.S. versions of the new iPhone.
- We were all surprised to learn about the "Dynamic Island" feature of the iPhone 14 Pro. How did Apple register that trademark without any of us knowing about it? Mark Gurman of Bloomberg explains how: Apple filed the trademark in Jamaica on July 12, and the only way to search for trademarks in that country is to go physically to that country's trademark office.
- Josh Centers of Reviewed reviews the new Apple Watch Series 8.
- DC Rainmaker posted an in-depth review of the Apple Watch Series 8.
- iJustine created a great video review of the Apple Watch Series 8.
- Dan Moren of Six Colors reviews iOS 16.
- The subject isolation feature in iOS 16 is extremely cool on its own, but it can also be used by app developers in interesting ways. John Voorhees of MacStories reviews Sticker Drop, a $2.99 app that lets you create, store, and organize iMessage Stickers using subject isolation.
- Another nice feature of iOS 16 is the ability to use the Photos app to find duplicate pictures in your library and then merge them, keeping the best picture and the most metadata. Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac explains how it works.
- Another nice feature of iOS 16 is the haptic keyboard. Jason Cross of Macworld explains how it works. I've been using it all this week, and so far, I like it.
- Third-party apps can now add widgets to the lock screen in iOS 16. Sarah Perez of TechCrunch is impressed with the widgets from the Flighty app for flight tracking.
- Jess Weatherbed of The Verge discusses new features in CARROT Weather for iOS 16.
- John Voorhees of MacStories describes what is new in the Mail app in iOS 16 (and what is coming soon to the iPad and Mac).
- Jason Cross of Macworld notes that a feature coming in the future to iOS 16 is Clean Energy Charging, allowing you to reduce your carbon footprint while you charge your iPhone.
- July Clover of MacRumors notes that another feature coming to iOS 16.1 is Live Activities on the Lock Screen. For example, a sports score could include live updates.
- Jeff Butts of The Mac Observer discusses some lesser known features of iOS 16.
- iOS 16 on the iPhone is getting most of the press, but there is also a very important update for the iPad that came out this week. iPadOS 15.7 fixes a zero-day flaw that is being actively exploited by hackers, according to Carly Page of TechCrunch. If you haven't updated your iPad yet, do so now.
- Alex Guyot of MacStories wrote an excellent review of watchOS 9.
- If you have an Apple Watch Series 6 or later running watchOS 9, you can take advantage of the new Waypoints and Backtrack feature of the Compass app, a way to leave digital breadcrumbs for yourself so that you can retrace your steps later. Juli Clover explains how it works. One downside of this feature is that it completely undermines the premise of a large number of horror movie plots.
- A number of people who attended the Apple keynote in person last week wrote about the experience. If you are interested in that, I recommend Jason Snell's article on Six Colors and John Gruber's article on Daring Fireball. And while M.G. Siegler just watched the event online like I did, he also has an interesting take on the announcements and more.
- In an article for Macworld, Jason Snell notes that one common theme of Apple's new products is that they have new features that can save your life.
- Apple TV+ had a nice showing at the Emmys this year. As Chance Miller of 9to5Mac notes, Ted Lasso got lots of top awards. However, Succession beat out Severance for outstanding drama. I watched a portion of the Emmy's in a corner of my iPad (while I was reading Federico Viticci's excellent and comprehensive review of iOS 16), and my main takeaway is that there were lots of really good shows up for the big awards this year, any one of which was deserving to win.
- And finally, one new feature of the newest iPhone and Apple Watch that you cannot really test yourself is the crash detection feature. I strongly recommend that you watch this short and informative video from Apple that explains all the details of how this feature works. If you find yourself in a crash, it will be extremely helpful to have prior knowledge of what is happening and why:
