If something goes wrong with an Apple product—such as if you drop it—fixing the product can be easier and cheaper if you have AppleCare. But just like any type of insurance, if nothing goes wrong, you may feel like you didn’t need it. I have gone back and forth over the years about whether I purchase AppleCare, but for the last few years, I have started to purchase it to provide peace of mind. There are many different kinds of AppleCare services, as noted by Hartley Charlton of MacRumors. Most recently, Apple released AppleCare Family, a service that costs $49.99 per month and covers every eligible device owned by the subscriber and five other family members. I recently realized that my family and I were already paying close to that much every month anyway, so by spending just a little more on AppleCare Family, we now have coverage for many more devices for a single monthly payment. In a perfect world, nothing would ever go wrong with an Apple product owned by me, my wife, and my two kids. But the world is not perfect, and I sleep a little better at night knowing that we have protection just in case. And now, the news of note from the past week:
- Jason Snell of Six Colors wrote an initial review of the Apple Watch Series 12.
- Michael Burkhardt of 9to5Mac discusses the new Apple Watch Series 12.
- Wesley Hilliard of AppleInsider reviews the Apple Watch Ultra 4.
- Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac discusses how Face ID is hidden beneath the iPhone 18 Pro screen.
- Glenn Fleishman of Six Colors discusses the ethics of products that silence the speaker on an Apple AirTag.
- Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac discusses the new and improved actions in Apple’s Shortcuts app.
- In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Jason Snell reviews the book Shop Different by Ron Johnson, the former Apple executive who invented the Apple Store.
- There has been a lot of recent discussion about the future of the Apple Vision Pro, mostly because of some articles by Mark Gurman of Bloomberg suggesting that Apple may be giving up on the project. I don’t think that is true at all, based on what we have been seeing from Apple lately. Instead, I think that Apple is just taking a slow-and-steady approach to this technology that is still in its early stages but has enormous potential. I agree with much of what Wesley Hilliard of AppleInsider says in this article on the topic.
- Husain Parvez of Engadget discusses whether a travel router is worth using.
- Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac notes that Apple has added some additional classic movies to the Apple TV service, including Good Will Hunting, Taxi Driver, Tropic Thunder, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and more.
- Apple built a music venue, Apple Music Hall, inside of its Battersea Power Station building in London. The first artist to perform was Elton John, and you can click here to watch him perform Your Song in the Apple Music app.
- And finally, in this video, Joanna Stern tests the improved battery life in the iPhone 18 Pro, with the help of a pickle.