On June 9, Apple will begin its annual developer conference called WWDC. We are close enough that there is lots of speculation and rumors about what Apple might announce, and Mark Gurman of Bloomberg says that he has heard that Apple is going to announce a change in how it numbers its operating systems. Right now, we are using iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 for the iPhone and iPad, watchOS 12 for the Apple Watch, macOS 15 for the Mac, visionOS 2 for the Vision Pro, and tvOS 18 for the Apple TV. With all of those different numbers, it is difficult to remember which release number is the current one. Gurman says that Apple is going to instead adopt the typical approach used by car manufacturers: use a year number. So instead of iOS 19 being announced in 10 days and released this Fall, it will be iOS 26—an indication that this is the current iPhone operating system until the year 2026. I hope that this prediction is true. As John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes, this would make a lot of sense and would “certainly be helpful to anyone trying to figure out what’s up-to-date or not.” Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac argues that if Apple is going to do this, the number ought to be the year that the operating system comes out (so the next one would be iOS 25) instead of the year in which that version ends. I disagree. While the next version of iOS is likely to come out three months before the end of 2025, it will remain the current version for much longer, nine months, in 2026 (assuming that Apple holds to its traditional schedule). And we also use this numbering convention in other contexts, not just cars. My daughter is about to start her Senior year of high school, but we don’t call that the class of 2025 (when she starts becoming a Senior) but instead it is the class of 2026 (when she finishes). Of course, maybe none of this will happen, but I hope that Gurman is correct and that Apple does make this change. We will all find out in only 10 days. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- A big story in the news this past week was that upcoming iPhones might become much more expensive because President Trump said that he would impose a 25% tariff unless Apple starts making them in the United States, even though that is about as realistic as Trump demanding that Apple start making them on the moon. Lisa Eadicicco of CNN explains the numerous reasons that it is impossible for Apple to start making iPhones in the United States.
- Tripp Mickle of the New York Times reports that the real reason for that announcement was simply that Trump was throwing a hissy fit because he invited Apple CEO Tim Cook to join him on a recent trip to the Middle East, but Cook declined. Whatever the reason, it is clear that Cook (once again) faces the delicate task of navigating the landmines.
- The courts may provide Apple with a solution. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled this week that Trump overstepped his authority when he asserted that there was any national emergency that justified invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. But as reported by Tony Romm of the New York Times, just hours ago as I type this, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed that ruling while it considers the merits.
- If the courts don’t resolve this, the crack reporters at America’s Finest News Source, the Onion, have come up with another solution to Apple’s dilemma. As has Joy of Tech.
- iPhone apps can do lots of different things, and one of those is promoting mental and physical health. Law Technology Today surveyed a large number of folks to get their recommendations for the best of these apps—Alan Klevan, Debra Bruce, Michael Goler, Allison Johs, Michele Carney, Sarah Gold, Mark Rosch, Michael Eisenberg, and my podcast co-host Brett Burney—and it resulted in this article.
- Last week, I noted that Jony Ive and a bunch of other former Apple employees (mostly designers) have teamed up with Sam Altman and OpenAI to work on a new product that is different from the iPhone and uses AI. I was excited by the announcement because whether they release something great or a flop, I’m sure that it will be interesting given the folks involved. But Jason Snell of Six Colors explained why he thinks it highly unlikely that this will result in a good product. We will see.
- Adam Davidson of How-To Geek shares hidden features of the Apple Watch Control Center, many of which I didn’t know.
- If you have a lot of Apple’s watch bands for the Apple Watch, or if you just lust over them, the best app for managing your collection and seeing what else has been released is the Bandbreite app. Joe Rossignol of MacRumors notes that the app was recently updated to version 2.0 and has lots of new features.
- Marcus Mendes of 9to5Mac reports that the Instagram app now supports the iPhone’s native 3:4 aspect ratio for photos, meaning that you no longer have to crop a picture that you post.
- Joe Rossignol of MacRumors reports that you can now buy a cute, tiny, working replica of the first Macintosh. Or, at least, you can get on the waiting list as there is a backlog of orders.
- The movie Bono: Stories of Surrender is now available on Apple TV+, and I watched it last night. It is a fascinating one-man show in which Bono tells stories from his life and weaves into those stories some of the most famous songs from U2. I recommend it. But if you have an Apple Vision Pro, the immersive version of the movie is so much better that it is a must see. Parts of it feature immersive video, mostly the songs. Other parts feature the normal 2D movie, but there is 3D animation on top of and around the 2D movie, and the animation is really incredible and adds a lot to the experience. I was surprised to look at the regular version afterwards and see that there is virtually none of that animation because the animation is such a big part of what makes the show so interesting. I am so glad to have experienced this in the Vision Pro, and I hope that Apple gives us lots more like this.
- Ethan Shanfeld of Variety interviews Ben Stiller and Adam Scott to discuss the show Severance. Stiller notes how happy he is that Apple was the only studio that showed interest in the project when he first tried to sell the idea.
- And finally, the month of June starts on Sunday. Here is a preview of what is coming to Apple TV+ next month.