I love using my Apple Vision Pro, but I know that it is tough to recommend because it is an expensive, first-generation device. (I love my iPhone too, but even I didn’t own the very first one that was released in 2007.) Thus, I’m incredibly curious about where the product might go in the future, not only to make the product better but also to increase its appeal. This week, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported a rumor that Apple has two new devices in development. And while you need to be a Bloomberg subscriber to read that article, his article has been discussed extensively on other sites, such as this article by Aminu Abdullahi of TechRepublic. Rumor has it that one model will be a cheaper and lighter version of the Apple Vison Pro. That seems obvious to me. Indeed, I always assumed that this first model was called the Apple Vision Pro specifically because there would at some point be something called “Apple Vision” or “Apple Vision Air” that is cheaper and lighter. The rumor is that the second model will be a cheaper device that must be tethered to a Mac to work. I guess the idea is that you leave the two screens in the Vision Pro but that is about it, turning it into a display that is connected to a Mac. It is easy for me to understand how this would work because I routinely use my Apple Vision Pro in Mac Virtual Display mode where I use the keyboard, mouse, and brain of my Mac Mini, and the Apple Vision Pro connects (wirelessly) and becomes a huge virtual screen for my Mac. Indeed, there would be an advantage to tethering: the connection could be much faster than my current wireless connection, which Gurman says would be perfect for low-latency tasks like surgical imagining or flight simulators. These two new versions of the Vision Pro both sound like great ideas, so it seems highly likely to me that Apple has been at least trying to make these two devices. Whether either or both will ever be released as shipping products remains to be seen. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- Apple released iOS 18.4.1 this week and similar updates for its other platforms. As Marko Zivkovic of AppleInsider reports, this update fixes two security exploits that were actively being used by bad guys. If you have been waiting to update your device, I encourage you to go ahead and do so now.
- The two security flaws Apple patched have the security designation CVE-2025-31200 and CVE-2025-31201. The “CVE” part refers to the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures system, a critically important system used by everyone to identify and address security flaws. The system is maintined by a not-for-profit organization founded in 1958 called The Mitre Corporation, and it is funded primarily by the U.S. federal government. It looked like that was going to change this week when the Trump Administration inexplicably decided to stop funding the CVE program, as reported by Jessica Lyons of The Register. Fortunately, as Lyons reported in a follow-up article, saner heads prevailed at the 11th hour, and the Trump Administration reversed course. Thank goodness, but it is astonishing that this was even a possiblity this week.
- Last week, I discussed the impact of the Trump Administration tariffs on Apple. Jeff Stein, Elizabeth Dwoskin, and Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post report on how Apple CEO Tim Cook worked behind the scenes with the Trump to get an exemption for some of those tariffs, at least for now.
- Earth Day is on Tuesday, April 22. To celebrate, Apple announced that the day will be Global Close Your Rings Day on the Apple Watch. If you close all three Activity rings that day, you will earn a limited-edition award, plus 10 animated stickers and an animated badge that you can use in the Messages app.
- …but that’s not all. From now until May 16, 2025, Apple is running a 2025 Earth Day Promotion. If you go to an Apple Store and turn in an old device for recycling, you can get 10% off the cost of over a dozen Apple items such as Apple Watch bands, the Apple Pencil, iPhone cases, and AirPods 4. The discount doesn’t apply to other popular products like the iPhone, AirPods Pro, or Macs. Details are on this page of the Apple website.
- Ten years ago today, my podcast co-host Brett Burney—who was the chair of ABA TECHSHOW 2015—was on a panel to give a presentation called 60 Sites in 60 Minutes. Brett didn’t know me very well at the time, but I’m delighted to be reminded that iPhone J.D. was one of his 60 Sites. This year, at ABA TECHSHOW 2025, Brett was on a panel called 60 Tech Tips in 60 Minutes, and Danielle Braff of ABA Journal wrote about that session and shared some of the 60 tech tips.
- If you want to get a cable from Apple but you want something more exciting than the color white, Malcolm Owen of AppleInsider reports that this week the Beats division of Apple has launched a line of colorful, premium cables featuring a woven design to avoid tangles and fraying. The colors offered at this time are Bolt Black, Surge Stone, Nitro Navy, and Rapid Red.
- Speaking of colors, ColorWare has long offered the ability to sell Apple products painted with vibrant colors. Marko Zivkovic notes that ColorWare is now selling a custom-painted Apple Pencil Pro that looks like a crayon. They are very cute. I certainly don’t need one, and I suppose that it wouldn’t look very professional to use one in court or in a deposition. But I cannot deny that a part of me really wants one.
- David Sparks of MacSparky has used some interesting home screens for his iPhone in the past, but his latest home screen is particularly interesting and unlike anything I have seen before. He created it using the great Widgetsmith app. Check it out.
- The staff of Wirecutter, part of the New York Times, identified 18 iPhone tips and tricks that you might not know about.
- Last year, Apple released a beta version of Apple Maps that you can access using a web browser. Filipe Espósito reports that Apple Maps on the web is no longer in beta, and it now works on many new devices. You can also now use the service on an iPhone (maps.apple.com), but I’m not sure why you would do so when you can just use the native Maps app. But it is nice that you can share an Apple Maps link and know that someone else can open it, even if they are not using a device with an Apple Maps app.
- Speaking of Apple Maps, I just noticed that the the Look Around service of Apple Maps (which is similar to Google Street View) came to New Orleans in January 2025—just before the Super Bowl took place in this city, although maybe that is just a coincidence. So if you cannot come visit me in the Big Easy, you should now feel free to take a virtual look around. You can tell when Look Around is available for a location because a binoculars icon appears at the bottom left of the Maps app. The images of New Orleans in Apple Maps seem to be from 2023 and 2024, which, for now, makes them a little more recent than the images in Google Maps. But Google Maps has the advantage of including multiple images taken over one or two decades. In my law practice it is sometimes more useful to see what a location looked like many years ago.
- Along with adding Look Around, New Orleans now has the Apple Maps Detailed City Experience, which means that when you are using the Maps app (not the web browser version), there is considerably more detail, such as 3D buildings, trees, crosswalks, turn lanes, etc. And many landmarks have detailed 3D models, such as the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square in the French Quarter. There is a page on the Apple website that identifies 27 cities with a Detailed City Experience, but it doesn’t yet include New Orleans on that list, nor does it include Amsterdam, which was added in October 2024, according to Bogdan Popa of Autoevolution.
- One of the new hit shows on Apple TV+ is The Studio. Russ Milheim of The Direct interviewed co-showrunner Alex Gregory to discuss the show. One thing Gregory noted is that while Apple has yet to pick up the show for a second season, the creators of the show have no specific endpoint in mind, and they can see the show going on for many seasons. Gregory says “I think we’d like to keep doing it indefinitely.”
- I’m a fan of the Apple TV+ show Mythic Quest. The fourth season just ended, and while a fifth season had been planned, Apple apparently decided that four seasons were enough. However, as reported by Joe Ottreson of Variety, an alternative version of the last episdoe of Season 4 was filmed, and that different version of that epside is now being released to provide more finality to the series. I plan to watch that tonight. A four-episode anthology series called Side Quest was also released in 2025, and it is also quite good.
- And finally, certain Apple devices such as the iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro provide the option of purchasing a nano-texture display, which reduces glare. I’ve never felt the need to add it to any of my devices (it is rare for me to use them for long periods of time in the bright sun or a bright light that I cannot avoid), but many people tell me that they love this feature. Apple released a new commercial this week called Low Glare that emphasizes the advances of a nano-texture display. (And for another funny commercial released by Apple this week, check out Up to 24 hours.)