Apple issued updates for lots of its software platforms this week. Perhaps the biggest changes are reserved for those who live in Europe, where the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) has forced Apple to allow for third-party app stores and third-party browser engines on the iPhone. But for those of us here in the U.S., the new software provides lots of other small updates. And in light of Apple updating its MacBook Air computers earlier this week, will next week be the time when Apple finally announces updates to its iPad line, after no new iPads at all in 2023? We’ll find it soon enough. In the meantime, here is the news of note from the past week.
- Niléane of MacStories runs down what is new in iOS 17.4 and iPad OS 17.4. In addition to changes for the EU, one new feature is the addition of transcripts to Apple’s podcasts app. This is a really cool feature. If you listened to a podcast a while ago and then you want to jump back to the specific part of a podcast where something specific was mentioned, you can now do so. Open up the podcast episode, start playing the episode, tap the transcript button at the bottom left (very similar to the lyrics button in Apple Music), and then tap the word Search. Type a word and you can jump directly to the part of the podcast where that word was used and listen to it again. Cool! Or if you don’t want to listen and just want to review or search the transcript, you can do that too. The quality of these generated transcripts is not 100% accurate, but it is amazingly close to that. There are also 118 new Emojis such as the lime Emoji, a new clock widget, a new Live Activity for the stopwatch, and more.
- Juli Clover of MacRumors also does a good job of explaining what is new in iOS 17.4. For example: “Call identification in iOS 17.4 displays Apple-verified business names, logos, and department names when the information is available.” I haven’t seen that yet, but that sounds like a nice feature.
- Another reason to update your iPhone when new updates are available is that Apple’s updates virtually always improve security. Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac notes that iOS 17.4 fixes four important security issues, two of which were actively being exploited in the real world. Yikes, and I’m glad that I updated already.
- Zac Hall of 9to5Mac explains that Apple also released updates to the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and more.
- Because Apple may be just days away from announcing a new iPad and perhaps also a new Apple Pencil, now is not the time to buy a new Apple Pencil. But if I were going to do so anyway, I would be very tempted to purchase the “Apple Number 2 Pencil” from Colorware because, as noted by Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac … actually, you don’t have to pay much attention to the words in that post. Just look at the picture. Very fun, and very cool. It reminds me of the great No. 2 Pencil Stylus for Touchscreens by Griffin that I reviewed back in 2013, but alas, Griffin is now part of a different company and that product is no longer available. But mine is still on my desk and I still occasionally use it.
- Apple also released the first big update for the Vision Pro: software version 1.1. I was very excited about this update because the Vision Pro now supports Mobile Device Management, which is a requirement for many folks who work for a company. As of the time that I’m writing this, the MDM software that we use as my law firm is not yet updated to support the Vision Pro, but my fingers are crossed that support will come soon. I see that another MDM product, Jamf, was ready for Day 1 of version 1.1.
- Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that the Persona feature is much better in version 1.1. I created one, and I have to admit that it does look better than what had before.
- Should lawyers (and other professionals) use an Apple Vision Pro? In an article for Above the Law, New York attorney Nicole Black concludes probably not. As she writes: “For most lawyers, there’s no reason to rush out and invest in this device. Unless you’re an early adopter of Apple products, I would wait a year or even more until newer versions are released and more apps are created specifically for the Apple Vision Pro, especially in the productivity category.” I agree 100% with her very practical advice. Having said that, it seems clear that she, like me, is very happy that she owns a Vision Pro to have the opportunity to get a sneak peek at what this technology of the future looks like. If you also enjoy living on the cutting edge of technology, and if you have around $3500 to spend, it is a really fun product.
- Before I started using the Apple Vision Pro I would take panoramic photos only occasionally. But considering how incredibly cool they look, I wish I had taken them more often. If you do take a panoramic photo with your iPhone, you are likely to use the built-in feature in the Photos app. But Jason Snell of Six Colors points out that you can actually get higher-quality panoramic photos by just taking a series of still photos and then using Photoshop to stitch the photos together. That’s how I used to create panoramic photos when I took pictures with my DSLR camera (and I’m glad that I did so because now I have panoramic photos that date back to 2005) but it is interesting to learn that this technique remains useful today.
- John Gruber of Daring Fireball criticizes the battery indicator on the Vision Pro’s external battery. Perhaps there won’t even be an external battery in the next version of the Vision Pro, but if there is, Apple should implement the changes suggested by Gruber.
- Samuel Axon of Ars Technica explains what it was like to use the Apple Vision Pro exclusively for a week to get his work done.
- In the 1990s, Apple created and released a personal digital assistant called the Newton. The device had its fans, but it had some problems as well. Steve Jobs killed the product when he returned to Apple, but the spirit of the Newton lives on today, better than ever, in the iPhone and iPad. So let’s think about the Apple Car, which Apple worked on for 10 years but reported abandoned. Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels thinks about the good aspects of what Apple was trying to do with the car. And who knows, maybe in a decade or so, Apple will return to the automotive market.
- Dan Moren of Six Colors explains why the technology behind the Apple Car may well live on in other projects at Apple.
- David Sparks of MacSparky shares his thoughts on the end of the car project.
- Justin Pot of the Wall Street Journal recommends turning on the iPhone feature that lets you tap on the back of your device to launch an app or a specific feature such as the flashlight.
- The Apple TV is now a fantastic device for doing a video conference, thanks to tvOS 17. But you need a way to prop up your iPhone. I’ve been using a Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Desktops and Displays (my review), but Belkin recently revised that product and came up with the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K, which looks like it would work even better. It will cost $49.99 when it is released, and Roman Loyola of Macworld has a sneak peek.
- Apple spends a lot of money creating movies that often lose money at the box office, but Tatiana Siegel of Variety explains, Apple still comes out ahead financially—and not just because of the prestige of releasing these movies on Apple TV+ after the theatrical run.
- Harley Charlton of MacRumors reports that Apple TV+ recently added over 50 movies to its catalog for a limited time. Some of them are in 3D, so this past weekend I picked one of these movies, Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, and watched it using my Apple Vision Pro. The 3D did not really add that much to the movie, but the movie itself was a fun sci-fi thriller, especially because I didn’t read anything about the movie so I wasn’t spoiled about a big twist in the movie. If you decide to watch it too, try to avoid reading any descriptions of the movie.
- And finally, here is a video from Apple called One More that shows off the long battery life of the iPhone 15 Plus.