For a long time, Ted Lasso was the most popular show on Apple TV+. Nellie Andreeva of Deadline reports that Severance is now the #1 show on Apple TV+. My podcast co-host Brett Burney revealed last week that he finally started watching Severance, so perhaps Brett was the one that put the show over the top. As one sign of the show’s popularity, there is a new commercial for State Farm Insurance set in the Severance universe. Yes, you heard that correctly. It’s pretty funny, actually, and what a bizarre juxtaposition to see Mark S. next to Jake. I’m excited to watch this week’s new episode tonight. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- The transition of iPhone J.D. to the WordPress platform is now complete, and to my knowledge, I fixed everything that broke along the way … at least, everything that I came across. If you see something that doesn’t seem right, I’d appreciate it if you posted a comment on this website or sent me an email. You should notice that this website loads MUCH faster now, and everything is far more stable. Thanks again for your patience during the last 48 hours.
- Apple introduced the iPhone 16e this week, the replacement to the iPhone SE (third generation). One of the best articles I saw about the new iPhone 16e came from John Gruber of Daring Fireball. Worth reading if you are interested in this device—even if you are not interested in buying one for yourself.
- The only new feature in the iPhone 16e is the first cellular modem made by Apple, which it calls the C1 chip. Stephen Nellis of Reuters interviewed a number of folks from Apple to discuss what makes the C1 special and what it means for the future. For example, Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, said: “We build a platform for generations. … C1 is the start, and we’re going to keep improving that technology each generation, so that it becomes a platform for us that will be used to truly differentiate this technology for our products.” Srouji noted that Apple has an advantage over Qualcomm, the company that has traditionally made the modem for the iPhone and many other smartphones, because Apple can design its modem to meet the specific needs of the iPhone and can integrate it with other processes on the iPhone.
- In an article for Six Colors and Macworld, Dan Moren discusses what the iPhone SE meant for users and Apple and how the new iPhone 16e fits into that.
- Juli Clover of MacRumors reports on some of the common iPhone features that are missing from the iPhone 16e, including some minor ones that I didn’t discuss in my post from yesterday, such as the Photographic Styles feature.
- William Gallagher of AppleInsider argues that one of the features missing from the iPhone 16e that Apple should have found a way to include is MagSafe. I understand his point; I love StandBy mode and use it every day that I am in my office by placing my iPhone on my Anker MagSafe Charger Stand. And there are lots of other useful things that you can attach to an iPhone that has MagSafe. Nevertheless, in my opinion, it is still a “nice to have” not a “need to have” feature, and I presume that Apple had a good reason for not including it, even if it was just to keep the cost lower.
- If you have a lot of bands for your Apple Watch (yep, that’s me), you need a place to store them. Back in 2023, I mentioned a new watch band storage solution called the TimePorter from a company called Twelve South that makes lots of great products. Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider posted a review of the TimePorter, and he likes it. If I had an appropriate wall space for a TimePorter, I would definiteily get one of these. I instead keep the watch bands that I use most often in the large white box that used to come with some of the early premium Apple Watch models (like the ones with stainless steel).
- Apple released a new immersive video for the Apple Vision Pro last night, and it is really impressive. It is the second episode of the Boundless series, which lets you explore new locations and trips, and it is called Arctic Surfing. We have all seen people surfing next to sandy beaches and perhaps some sand dunes. In this video, people surf in icy waters in Norway surrounded by snow-covered mountains. It is beautiful, but it made me cold to watch it.
- Andrew Orr of AppleInsider explains how you can watch an NBA basketball game in an Apple Vision Pro in tabletop mode. Interesting.
- Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac discusses some recent updates to the Tripsy app, an alternative to TripIt.
- Apple TV+ is unquestionably a great service if you like Sci-FI. Severance is amazing, and so is For All Mankind, Dark Matter, and Foundation. And Apple just announced its next one, a Sci-Fi/thriller/comedy called Murderbot. But Apple TV+ is not just for Sci-Fi. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac says that Apple TV+ is also becoming a great destination for crime thrillers thanks to the upcoming show Dope Thief and existing titles like Hijack, Presumed Innocent, Black Bird, and Criminal Record.
- And finally, here is the video released by Apple to introduce the iPhone 16e: