iPhone J.D. is the oldest and largest website for lawyers using iPhones and iPads. iPhone J.D. is published by Jeff Richardson, an attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana. This site does not provide legal advice, and any opinions expressed on this site are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of Jeff's law firm, Adams and Reese LLP. iPhone J.D. is not associated with Apple, Inc.
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Pursuant to 16 CFR Part 255, the Federal Trade Commission's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, please note: (1) iPhone software and hardware developers routinely send me free versions of their products to review. I sometimes keep and continue to use these products that I did not pay for after posting my review, which might be considered a form of compensation for my review, but I do not believe that I let that color my review. (2) When I post links to product pages on certain stores, including but not limited to Amazon and the iTunes App Store, my links include a referral code so that when products are purchased after clicking on the link, I often receive a very small percentage of the sale. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Again, I do not believe that I let that color my review of products. (3) Some of the ads that run on this website are selected by others such as Amazon or Google. If one of these ads comes from the seller of a product reviewed on iPhone J.D., that is a coincidence and I do not believe that it colors my review of that product. Other ads are from paid advertisers, and if I discuss a product from a company that is a current advertiser, I will note that. (4) Some of the ads that run on this website are from monthly sponsors of iPhone J.D. When I discuss products from these companies on iPhone J.D., I do so to pass along information provided to me by the sponsor. Often, I will also provide my own commentary on the product, and while my goal is to be honest, please keep in mind that I was compensated to promote the product. If you have any questions about this, just send me an e-mail or post a comment on a specific product review.
For the last two months, I've been keeping an eye on legal proceedings that made big news a few days ago when Apple provided a statement to Chance Miller of 9to5Mac saying that it would have to halt selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. This grows out of a legal dispute between Apple and Masimo, a medical technology company that alleges that the way that Apple Watches shine a light on your arm to read blood-oxygen levels violates Masimo's patents. Masimo says that Apple and Masimo had initial talks in 2013 (two years before the introduction of the Apple Watch), and then instead of forming a partnership, Apple hired away numerous Masimo engineers who brought Masimo's technology to Apple. Apple disagrees, saying that its blood-oxygen feature was developed years after that and independently. Masimo first sued in federal court in California, but because that litigation took a long time (and subsequently resulted in a mistrial because of a hung jury in early 2023), Masimo filed another complaint in the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, D.C. The ITC is a special type of court in which patent litigation is tried before an Administrative Law Judge (no juries), and the process is typically much faster than federal court litigation. A successful plaintiff is not awarded monetary damages but instead can obtain an order that blocks infringing products from entering the United States. The ITC judge ruled in favor of Masimo on January 10, 2023, which led to a review before the full ITC. The full ITC upheld that ruling on October 26, 2023, which resulted in a 60-day period during which President Biden could veto the decision; otherwise, Apple could take an appeal but the ban would go into effect. The president did not issue a veto, which is why you saw news reports that Apple had to stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 right after Christmas. And it was worse than that; if you owned an Apple Watch with this sensor and your watch broke, Apple wouldn't be able to provide you with a replacement model. (The blood-oxygen sensor has been in the high-end version of the Apple Watch since the Series 6 that was introduced in 2020, but Apple no longer sells the Series 6, 7, or 8 in the United States, which is why you see news reports only mentioning the current flagship models.) Apple (represented by the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr) then filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, an appellate court that has nationwide jurisdiction over certain types of federal cases including patent disputes. Apple also asked that appellate court to lift the ban during the appeal. On December 27, the appellate court granted Apple's emergency request, providing the two sides a few weeks for further briefing on whether the ban should stay in effect pending the appeal. That is why there were only about 48 hours when the Apple Watch SE was the only Apple Watch model that you could purchase from Apple. But at some point in the future, the appellate court will decide whether to restore the ban pending the appeal, and then at some point, the appeal itself will be decided. If Masimo is ultimately successful on appeal, I'm sure that Apple will reach a settlement and pay Masimo, but for now, it appears that Apple is trying to win the case and/or keep leverage in settlement negotiations. Moreover, in the meantime, Apple might find some software solution that will allow it to argue that it can continue to sell the current Apple Watch models without infringing on Masimo's patents—which of course, Masimo will dispute, resulting in more patent litigation. I've avoided writing about this dispute for many weeks now because I thought that Apple and Masimo would have settled by now, but the story continues, and now you are up to speed. And now, the other recent news of note as 2023 comes to an end:
Apple is constantly looking for ways to improve the security of the iPhone and other devices. To see how complicated this is, I recommend this article by Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac which describes a sophisticated, multi-step iMessage exploit used by hackers from 2019 until just a year ago.
Jason Snell of Six Colors shares his favorite apps, movies, TV shows, and books from 2023, and there are some great items on his list. One item he likes is Final Cut Pro for the iPad, and I really like the app too, but it seems that whenever I edit 4K HDR video, the app crashes when I try to export my video. My solution has been to open the final package in Final Cut Pro on my Mac and export from there, which works fine, but it is an extra step involving a second device that I'd rather avoid, so I hope that Apple fixes this soon. I also agree with Snell's praise of the Mastodon client Ivory and almost all of his TV picks.
If you enjoy using Apple Pay to pay for items (like I do), it is nice that the number of stores that don't take Apple Pay continues to decrease. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that Lowe's has finally decided to roll out Apple Pay support.
It is clear that AI will have an even larger role in technology in the future. Sharon Goldman of VentureBeat reports that Apple is working with Columbia University and has released an open source multimodal LLM (large language model) called Ferret.
Greg Fink of Car and Driver reports that Aston Martin and Porsche have previewed the next-generation of Apple CarPlay, which will launch with certain models in 2024.
Considering that Apple did not introduce any new iPad models in 2023, you have to think that we will see new iPads in 2024. David Price of Macworld provides his thoughts on what he would like to see in a new iPad.
Chance Miller of 9to5Mac shares the stories of two people whose lives were saved thanks go an Apple Watch and the email exchanges that they had with Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac reports that the Lutron Caseta app added a cool new feature to Lutron devices that you cannot do with Apple's own Home app. You can now instruct a light to automatically turn off a certain amount of time after it goes on: one minute to four hours. If you often forget to turn off a light in a closet, basement, or garage, this could come in very useful. There is a Home app timer feature but it only works when HomeKit itself turns on the timer. For example, I have an outside light that comes on when it senses motion at night and stays on for only five minutes. But this new Lutron feature works even if someone just touches the button on the wall switch to turn on a light.
Jake Kleinman of Inverse interviews numerous showrunners and producers who have worked on science fiction shows airing on Apple TV+ and reveals that one of the reasons that these shows are so good is that Apple is willing to spend series money on making these shows the best that they can be.
And finally, Apple came up with a cute way to highlight the long battery life you get with an Apple 15 Plus: a video starring singing outlets. Here is Apple's newest ad called Miss You:
Comments
In the News
For the last two months, I've been keeping an eye on legal proceedings that made big news a few days ago when Apple provided a statement to Chance Miller of 9to5Mac saying that it would have to halt selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. This grows out of a legal dispute between Apple and Masimo, a medical technology company that alleges that the way that Apple Watches shine a light on your arm to read blood-oxygen levels violates Masimo's patents. Masimo says that Apple and Masimo had initial talks in 2013 (two years before the introduction of the Apple Watch), and then instead of forming a partnership, Apple hired away numerous Masimo engineers who brought Masimo's technology to Apple. Apple disagrees, saying that its blood-oxygen feature was developed years after that and independently. Masimo first sued in federal court in California, but because that litigation took a long time (and subsequently resulted in a mistrial because of a hung jury in early 2023), Masimo filed another complaint in the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, D.C. The ITC is a special type of court in which patent litigation is tried before an Administrative Law Judge (no juries), and the process is typically much faster than federal court litigation. A successful plaintiff is not awarded monetary damages but instead can obtain an order that blocks infringing products from entering the United States. The ITC judge ruled in favor of Masimo on January 10, 2023, which led to a review before the full ITC. The full ITC upheld that ruling on October 26, 2023, which resulted in a 60-day period during which President Biden could veto the decision; otherwise, Apple could take an appeal but the ban would go into effect. The president did not issue a veto, which is why you saw news reports that Apple had to stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 right after Christmas. And it was worse than that; if you owned an Apple Watch with this sensor and your watch broke, Apple wouldn't be able to provide you with a replacement model. (The blood-oxygen sensor has been in the high-end version of the Apple Watch since the Series 6 that was introduced in 2020, but Apple no longer sells the Series 6, 7, or 8 in the United States, which is why you see news reports only mentioning the current flagship models.) Apple (represented by the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr) then filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, an appellate court that has nationwide jurisdiction over certain types of federal cases including patent disputes. Apple also asked that appellate court to lift the ban during the appeal. On December 27, the appellate court granted Apple's emergency request, providing the two sides a few weeks for further briefing on whether the ban should stay in effect pending the appeal. That is why there were only about 48 hours when the Apple Watch SE was the only Apple Watch model that you could purchase from Apple. But at some point in the future, the appellate court will decide whether to restore the ban pending the appeal, and then at some point, the appeal itself will be decided. If Masimo is ultimately successful on appeal, I'm sure that Apple will reach a settlement and pay Masimo, but for now, it appears that Apple is trying to win the case and/or keep leverage in settlement negotiations. Moreover, in the meantime, Apple might find some software solution that will allow it to argue that it can continue to sell the current Apple Watch models without infringing on Masimo's patents—which of course, Masimo will dispute, resulting in more patent litigation. I've avoided writing about this dispute for many weeks now because I thought that Apple and Masimo would have settled by now, but the story continues, and now you are up to speed. And now, the other recent news of note as 2023 comes to an end:
Apple is constantly looking for ways to improve the security of the iPhone and other devices. To see how complicated this is, I recommend this article by Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac which describes a sophisticated, multi-step iMessage exploit used by hackers from 2019 until just a year ago.
Jason Snell of Six Colors shares his favorite apps, movies, TV shows, and books from 2023, and there are some great items on his list. One item he likes is Final Cut Pro for the iPad, and I really like the app too, but it seems that whenever I edit 4K HDR video, the app crashes when I try to export my video. My solution has been to open the final package in Final Cut Pro on my Mac and export from there, which works fine, but it is an extra step involving a second device that I'd rather avoid, so I hope that Apple fixes this soon. I also agree with Snell's praise of the Mastodon client Ivory and almost all of his TV picks.
If you enjoy using Apple Pay to pay for items (like I do), it is nice that the number of stores that don't take Apple Pay continues to decrease. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that Lowe's has finally decided to roll out Apple Pay support.
It is clear that AI will have an even larger role in technology in the future. Sharon Goldman of VentureBeat reports that Apple is working with Columbia University and has released an open source multimodal LLM (large language model) called Ferret.
Greg Fink of Car and Driver reports that Aston Martin and Porsche have previewed the next-generation of Apple CarPlay, which will launch with certain models in 2024.
Considering that Apple did not introduce any new iPad models in 2023, you have to think that we will see new iPads in 2024. David Price of Macworld provides his thoughts on what he would like to see in a new iPad.
Chance Miller of 9to5Mac shares the stories of two people whose lives were saved thanks go an Apple Watch and the email exchanges that they had with Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac reports that the Lutron Caseta app added a cool new feature to Lutron devices that you cannot do with Apple's own Home app. You can now instruct a light to automatically turn off a certain amount of time after it goes on: one minute to four hours. If you often forget to turn off a light in a closet, basement, or garage, this could come in very useful. There is a Home app timer feature but it only works when HomeKit itself turns on the timer. For example, I have an outside light that comes on when it senses motion at night and stays on for only five minutes. But this new Lutron feature works even if someone just touches the button on the wall switch to turn on a light.
Jake Kleinman of Inverse interviews numerous showrunners and producers who have worked on science fiction shows airing on Apple TV+ and reveals that one of the reasons that these shows are so good is that Apple is willing to spend series money on making these shows the best that they can be.
And finally, Apple came up with a cute way to highlight the long battery life you get with an Apple 15 Plus: a video starring singing outlets. Here is Apple's newest ad called Miss You:
