I hope that your holiday season is going well and that all of the tech-themed gifts that you plan to give or hope to receive are now delivered and ready for Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate. Brett Burney and I are taking this week off for the In the News podcast, but we will be back next week with a special podcast episode focused on the new Apple products we might see in 2025. This is likely to be the last post on iPhone J.D. in 2024, so I will tell you now that I hope the rest of your year is filled with joy and lots of great time spent with family and friends. Happy Holidays, and see you next year!
- In an article for ABA Journal, Nicole Black describes the significant trends in legal tech in 2024.
- Tim Hardwick of MacRumors reports that iOS 18.2 brings back the volume slider to the iPhone's lock screen.
- Joe Rosensteel explains why he is disappointed by the changes to the Mail app in iOS 18.2 in a post for Six Colors. He makes some good points.
- Julie Clover of MacRumors reports that the new iOS 18.2 Find My location-sharing feature now works with 14 airlines, including Delta and United. With this feature, the airline can track the AirTag on your luggage to—hopefully—locate your lost luggage more quickly.
- Federico Viticci explains how he uses an iPad Pro for all his work. Some of his methods are extreme and would be too cumbersome for others, but his descriptions of what he is doing are fascinating.
- Ian Carlos Campbell of Engadget reports that Blackmagic is now taking orders for its $30,000 camera that can record immersive video similar to the videos Apple has released for the Vision Pro. There is also an excellent and extensive discussion of this camera on this week's episode of Mac Break Weekly. Hopefully, this camera will lead to dramatically more fully immersive content for the Apple Vision Pro.
- Joe Otterson of Variety reports that Bad Monkey—the excellent Apple TV+ show developed by Bill Lawrence and starring Vince Vaughn—is coming back for a second season, but it will not be based on the sequel to the book on which the first season was based.
- Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed on Twitter that Silo on Apple TV+, now in its second season, will have a third and fourth season.
- In 2016, before there even was an Apple TV+, Apple bought the rights to Carpool Karaoke. The first episode aired in 2017. The show won an Emmy in 2018, and Apple's interest in TV shows led to the launch of Apple TV+ in 2019. The show ran for five seasons, ending in 2023, but now Carpool Karaoke is back with a Christmas Special in which Apple Music radio host Zane Lowe drives and sings with Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, and Chappell Roan.
- Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac lists some of the shows coming to Apple TV+ in 2025. It looks like a great mix of returning favorites and new shows.
- And finally, I've been having fun playing with the new Image Playground and Genmoji features in iOS 18.2. Here is a video from Apple to get you thinking about interesting things that you can do with Genmoji:
