Twenty-four years ago this week, on May 19, 2001, Apple opened its first retail store. That original store was at Tysons Corner Center in Virginia. Tim Hardwick of MacRumors relives that day and shares a video of Steve Jobs showing off the store. John Gruber of Daring Fireball points out that, at the time, there were some who thought that the stores were a dumb idea. Of course, the Apple Store eventually became the most successful store in the United States in terms of sales per square foot, twice as much as the #2 store (Tiffany’s). And the Apple executive in charge of the Apple Store, Deirdre O’Brien, is on Fortune‘s 2025 list of the Most Powerful Women in Business. I’ve seen the Apple Store in the New Orleans area move to larger locations in the Lakeside Shopping Center multiple times, and no matter how big that store gets, it always seems packed with people. If you live in a place that has access to an Apple Store, you know how useful and convenient these stores are. Long before the first iPhone and even before the first iPod, Apple did a great job executing on this idea. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- In an article for Six Colors, Joe Rosensteel explains that while CarPlay Ultra sounds great, Apple ought to also focus on improving and fixing the regular CarPlay. As much as I love CarPlay and use it every day, I agree 100% with this.
- John Voorhees of MacStories reports that with the new version of the Airbnb app, you can not only book a place to stay but also “a chef, personal trainer, hair stylist, manicurist, photographer, and more,” even if you are in your own hometown and not staying at an Airbnb.
- HomeKit News reports that new projectors from Epson have built-in support for AirPlay 2 and the Apple Home app. AirPlay support seems like an obvious and useful feature for a projector.
- Joe Hernandez of NPR reports that starting on May 28, if you use a portable battery to charge a device such as an iPhone during a flight on Southwest Airlines, the charging device will need to remain visible at all times. No putting the charger in a bag or the back of the seat compartment and having a cord snake out to your device. This is being implemented as a safety measure to help crew members respond more quickly if a lithium-ion battery overheats and catches fire.
- Juli Clover of MacStories reviews Satechi’s OntheGo Foldable 3-in-1 Charger, a portable charger that she says is great for travel. It is $99.99 on Amazon.
- Joe Rossignol of MacRumors reports that Amazon will soon be using drones to deliver iPhones, AirPods, and AirTags. The service will only be available in Phoenix, Arizona, and College Station, Texas, at first, but the idea is that Amazon can deliver to a specified location, such as your backyard, in less than an hour.
- I first spent any significant time using a Mac was when I was freshman in college at Emory University in Atlanta. The computer labs had Macs and Apple LaserWriter printers, making it easy to produce documents that looked great. I used the money I earned from a summer job to purchase a Mac Plus from the Emory bookstore at the beginning of my Sophomore year, and I’ve been a Mac user—at my home, at least—ever since then. So I was happy to see Apple announce yesterday its deep relationship with Emory Hospital, including the extensive use of Macs, iPhones, and iPads at the Emory Hillandale Hospital in Lithonia, Georgia. I also see on the Emory website that the computer lab in Cox Hall is still full of Macs.
- Apple also recently announced a collaboration between Apple Music and Universal Music Group to introduce Sound Therapy, a collection of playlists designed to promote clearer focus, deeper relaxation, or better sleep. These are special versions of songs that embed “special sound waves designed to enhance users’ daily routines, while retaining the artist’s original vision” based on “scientific research” to harness “the power of sound waves, psychoacoustics, and cognitive science to help listeners relax or focus the mind.” Does it work? I’m not sure myself, but Devon Deundee of MacStories says that he thinks it does.
- Kevin Purdy of Ars Technica explains how an AirTag on a lost dog—combined with Purdy having an extra battery on hand—helped man’s best friend to get back to his home.
- If you are considering purchasing a refurbished iPhone from a company other than Apple, Dave Gershgorn of Wirecutter shares some helpful advice.
- Jennifer Ouellette of Ars Technica interviews the creators of the new Apple TV+ show Murderbot to discuss that quirky and entertaining show.
- As the Peanuts characters are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year, Apple announced this week that on July 18, 2025, it will air the first Peanuts musical in over 35 years. (I believe that the last one was the TV version of the 1975 stage musical Snoopy! The Musical, which aired on CBS on January 29, 1988, and can be found on YouTube.) The new show is called Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, and it features original music from one of my favorite artists, Ben Folds.
- And finally, John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes that Jony Ive—the former design chief at Apple—has assembled an incredible team of former Apple designers, and they have joined with Sam Altman and OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT) to create a new company that will create … well, they haven’t quite told us yet, but it will be a brand new product in 2026 that, if you believe them, will be as great as the iPhone. Will this be a dud or the next big thing? I have no idea, but it will be fun to watch and find out. I agree with this take from Adam Engst of TidBITS: “Years of hearing overblown promises have made me inherently skeptical, but Jony Ive and his team have done important work in the past, and OpenAI has the resources and the chutzpah to bring a product to the mainstream market.” Here is the slick and interesting video released in which Ive and Altman explain why they are so excited to be working together:
Regarding that new device with Jony Ive, I am with Justine Bateman on avoiding it. Paraphrasing, she posted on X – If something is fully aware of a user’s surroundings and life, it will be nothing more than a massive surveillance device that violates the privacy of everyone around it.
Jay, you raise an interesting issue. Whether we are talking about the terms one enters for search, personal medical information that is managed in ahealth app, or information about your surroundings that is perceived by devices like an iPhone, an Apple Vision Pro, or whatever this io company comes up with, privacy is such an important concern in the world of technology. I like that Apple seems to have more respect for privacy than other companies, in part because of company philosophy, and in part because Apple doesn’t make its money by selling information about its users.
Open AI is a fascinating company, and what they have done with ChatGPT is amazing. But this is also a company that moves quickly often without regard for possible consequences. It remains to be seen whether this is a company that we can trust with whatever new device that they come up with, and it remains to be seen what influence the ex-Apple people like Ive have on issues like respect for privacy.
It will certainly be interesting to watch and see what comes out of this. Maybe something wonderful. Maybe it will be a huge flop like the Humane AI Pin.