Jeff Richardson

5G is one of the marquee features of the latest models of the iPhone and iPad, but I often find myself wondering how much of an improvement it really is.  Here in New Orleans, I get good 5G download speeds (typically 50 to 100 Mbps).  But I get similar speeds on 4G LTE, so I wonder how much of an advantage it is to keep 5G turned on.  Nicole Nguyen of the Wall Street Journal (who lives in San Francisco) reported that she also sees similar speeds on 5G and LTE, but she also ran some tests and noticed that devices ran an hour or two longer when 5G is turned off and the device uses only LTE.  So 5G provides no speed increase but it does drain your battery longer?  John Gruber of Daring Fireball suggests “try turning off 5G to save battery life and see if you miss it at all.”  That’s not a bad suggestion.  I rarely have low battery problems with my iPhone 13 Pro, so for now I’ll probably keep 5G on just in case I am ever lucky enough to be in one of the rare locations that uses the incredibly fast version of 5G.  But if you are ever looking to extend the battery life on your device, switching from 5G to LTE seems like one of the steps you should take, along with reducing the screen brightness.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• I mentioned last week on the In the News podcast that I’ve been enjoying the new Universal Control feature, and at that time all I discussed was using my computer keyboard and mouse to control my iPad.  But another advantage of this feature is that you can drag files between a Mac and an iPad.  The Lit Software blog provides a great explanation of this feature and shows off in a video how you can select a bunch of documents on a Mac and simply drag them into TrialPad on an iPad.  I couldn’t help saying “wow” out loud when I saw that video.  This works with other apps too.  I had a digital notebook open in GoodNotes on my iPad, and I drug a picture from my Mac over to the iPad and dropped it in the middle of my notes, and it appeared there.  Very cool.  I can also drag a PDF file from my Mac to PDF Expert on my iPad and it copies the file over so that I can annotate it using my Apple Pencil and my iPad Pro.  That feature makes me wish that I was still using a Mac in my law practice because I would be using that one all the time.  (My law firm switched to PCs about 20 years ago.)  As I continue to discover new things that can be done with Universal Control it is truly the gift that keeps on giving.
• Josh Centers of TidBITS offers great advice on using Universal Control.
• California attorney David Sparks reviews MaskerAid, an app that can hide a face in a picture by covering it with an emoji.
• Massachusetts attorney Bob Ambrogi of LawSites reports that Hawaii is now the 40th state to adopt a duty of technology competence for lawyers. 
• On June 22, 2020, Apple announced that iOS 14 would allow you to store a digital car key in the Wallet app on an iPhone.  That feature did come out in 2020, but it has only worked with select BMW models.  Joe Rossignol of MacRumors reports that the feature now works with certain car models from Kia and Genesis.  (Both Kia and Genesis are owned by Hyundai.)
• A more recent addition to the Wallet app is the ability to store a digital driver’s license.  Rossignol also reports that Arizona is now the first state to support this feature.  In Louisiana, where I live, we have a great app called LA Wallet that stores a digital driver’s license, COVID vaccination status, and a wildlife/fishing license.  There have been many times when I have gone out with just my iPhone, knowing that it contains both my license and my credit cards (thanks to Apple pay), and that’s really nice.  It definitely feels like living in the future.  I hope that every state has a digital license soon, whether it be via Apple’s wallet app or some other solution.
• David Price of Macworld reviews the new iPad Air (5th generation), and he says that there is a lot to like about it, calling it Apple’s best iPad.
• I’m also a fan of the new iPhone SE because it is the right iPhone for many mainstream users, even if it is not the right iPhone for me.  Jason Snell of Six Colors wrote a useful article explaining what is new if you are considering upgrading to an iPhone SE from an iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, or one of the prior generations of the iPhone SE.  Whether you use this information yourself or share the relevant part of the article with a friend, this is a very useful guide.
• Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac reviews the Eve Motion Blinds, window blinds that work with HomeKit so that you can have them raise or lower automatically plus you can control them with your Apple devices.
• The newest version of Wi-Fi is Wi-Fi 6E.  In an article last year in Macworld, Jason Cross explained why Wi-Fi 6E is faster and more reliable.  The iPhone and iPad do not yet support Wi-Fi 6E, but I expect that they will soon—perhaps later this year.  I mention all of this because I see that the eero now includes Wi-Fi 6E support in the new eero Pro 6E ($499 for a 2-pack; $699 for a 3-pack).  I purchased an eero Pro almost two years ago and I have been incredibly happy with the purchase.  I no longer have problems with Wi-Fi anywhere in my house or my backyard.  But if I was upgrading my home Wi-Fi today, I would get this new 6E system to have something that is great today and will be even better whenever the iPhone and iPad add support for Wi-Fi 6E.  If you don’t need the fastest possible speeds and just want a solid system, the new eero 6+ looks to be an excellent option ($299 for 3-pack).
• Wendi Lane of ABC Action News in Saint Petersburg, Florida tells the story of 71-year-old Raylene Hackenwerth.  She fell down and become nearly unconscious, but fortunately her Apple Watch called 911.  Not only did that cause paramedics to rush to her house, but once she got to the hospital, the doctors discovered that she has lung cancer, so now she can start treatment before it is too late.
• And finally, here is a cute new video from Apple called Election in which the new iPad Air plays a role in a high school campaign.

Two years ago, I encountered a problem when I clicked on certain CM/ECF notices from federal courts with links to new filings.  When I clicked the link, instead of receiving a copy of the PDF file, I saw a webpage that displayed only the first page of the document as an image.  And as you know, if you don’t successfully download the PDF document the first time that you get a “free” link, you often need to pay on PACER or Westlaw or some other service to download a second copy.  I found several solutions and shared them on March 16, 2020.

This week, I’ve started to have the same problem again, although not all of the time.  I realize that many of you may not remember everything from two years ago when the COVID pandemic first ramped up and stay-at-home orders were issued—we were all in a bit of a fog back then—so this is just a friendly public service announcement reminder.  If you encounter this issue, try this:  hold down your finger on the image of the first page, select Copy, and then paste that URL into the top of Safari.  Additional details are in my original post.  This solution has worked perfectly for me every time I used it this week.  Thanks again to Boston attorney Jake Walker for sharing his solution with me.

This week’s episode of the In the News podcast begins with a public service announcement in light of the increase in phishing attacks on mobile devices.  Next, Brett and I discuss three new items from Apple: iOS 15.4, the iPad Air, and the iPhone SE.  We finish up with some topics relating to the Apple Watch and the Apple TV.

In our In the Know segment, Brett and I go to deep on two of our favorite new features in iOS 15.4: using Face ID with a mask (and glasses), and Universal Control.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just use your podcast player of choice.  You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

I’ve been a fan of the screen on the 27" iMac for many years.  Yes, it would be even better if it supported HDR like the LG OLED C1 television that I love, but it is still a fantastic 5K screen.  Since it is the basis for the new 27" Apple Studio Display, I expected the reviews of that new monitor to be very positive.  And they mostly were when it came to the screen itself.  For example, attorney Nilay Patel of The Verge wrote in his review that it is the only decent 5K monitor on the market.  But Patel and many others, such as Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal, have reported that the built-in webcam does a poor job, with lots of noise in the video.  Apple has responded that an update is coming, and John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes that he is told that this is actually something that Apple can fix in software.  Hopefully, it won’t be long before the webcam in the Apple Studio Display works as it should.  But I mention it today because I find it so strange that Apple would ship a monitor that has these problems, and would even provide pre-release units to reporters, without realizing that the webcam was going to result in poor reviews for what otherwise should be a great product.  I’ll be curious to watch out for further developments.  Mistakes like this from Apple are not unheard of, but they are fairly rare.  And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:

• Virginia attorney Sharon Nelson of Sensei Enterprises warns of a sharp increase in phishing attacks aimed at folks checking email on their smartphones.  Be careful about what you click—and if you do click, be careful about what information you provide!
• Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories discusses the new Universal Control feature of the Mac and iPad.
• When I reported on Apple’s announcement of the 2022 version of the iPad Air, I said that it seems to be so good that it will be the best iPad for many attorneys and others.  The initial reviews are now out, and it seems others agree.  One of the reviews I found informative was this one by John Gruber of Daring Fireball.
• My recommendation is that the new iPad Air is a better purchase for most attorneys than the 11" iPad Pro, but that is based on the assumption that the best capacity for most attorneys is 256GB.  Dan Moren of Six Colors discusses his decision to instead get the iPad Pro.  A big reason for his decision was that 128GB was the right capacity for him, and he liked some of the unique features of the iPad Pro.  It is an interesting article if you are similarly trying to decide between the two models.
• For a power user’s perspective on the new iPad Air, Federico Viticci of MacStories wrote a review.
• Viticci also wrote a good article on the top new features in iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4.
• There are also now a number of reviews of the new iPhone SE.  Once again, I enjoyed reading John Gruber’s take.  He concludes: “There is a profound thoughtfulness and longevity to this design. Like an all-time great athlete, years past their prime, but still pulling their weight on the team, contributing something essential. This is backward compatibility Apple-style—not technical compatibility, but experience compatibility. The iPhone SE is the comfort iPhone.”
• Matthew Panzarino of TechCrunch also wrote a good review of the iPhone SE.
• If you want to see the new green versions of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, Marques Brownlee shows them off in a 59-second video.
• Now that we have seen the new iPhone SE, when do we get to see the next iPhone?  I presume Apple will introduce it this Fall as it normally does, but I see a report by Tiffany May of the New York Times that Foxconn (who manufactures the iPhone) has temporarily shut down its factory in Shenzhen, China due to COVID.  On this week’s episode of the Mac Break Weekly podcast, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg predicted that this hopefully will not delay the introduction of the next version of the iPhone because most iPhones are made in other Foxconn factories in China.  But you never know.
• Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac explains how you can now use an Apple Watch to authorize purchases on an Apple TV. 
• You can currently get a 41mm Apple Watch for only $339 on Amazon, a $60 discount.
• You can now use an Apple TV or HomePod when you are on a captive Wi-Fi network, one that requires using a webpage to start access—such as what you often see at hotels.  José Adorno of 9to5Mac notes how it works.
• Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reports that the show Severance on Apple TV+ became one of the most-streamed TV shows.  I’ve been enjoying that quirky show very much.
• For fans of Severance, today Apple is releasing a free e-book about Lumon, the company that is the focus of the TV show.
• Julie Strietelmeier of The Gadgeteer discusses an interesting product called the Emerald Adjustable TV Clip Mount Holder.  It is only $10 on Amazon, and it creates a shelf at the top of your TV so that you can place an Apple TV there.
• William Gallagher of AppleInsider reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook has been speaking out against legislation such as the despicable “Don’t Say Gay” bill that is awaiting signature by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—legislation that will discourage Florida teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with their students who are at very age at which many are most in need of information on this topic.  Chance Miller of 9to5Mac discusses this topic as well.  The societal progress on LGBTQ+ over the last two decades has been refreshing, but bills like this are designed to reverse course and bring back discrimination.  I’m glad that many companies like Apple are trying to do something.  Hopefully, it will have an impact.
• And finally, after the original iPad was introduced in 2010 but before it went on sale to the public, David Letterman had a Top 10 List of Questions to Ask  Yourself Before Waiting in Line for the iPad.  It’s a very funny segment, and you can watch it here on YouTube.  The pre-release iPad was provided to Letterman by Andy Ihnatko—who was at the time the technology reporter for the Chicago Sun Times—and he wrote a very funny story about the experience five years later.  Twelve years later, Letterman is still using an iPad, and in a video released on his YouTube channel this week, longtime Letterman producer Barbara Gaines sat down with Letterman to discuss some funny photos taken by Letterman that are on his iPad.  There are not quite as many laughs as the segment from his show 12 years ago, but I still enjoyed watching this:

Yesterday, Apple released iOS 15.4 for the iPhone along with updates for most of its other devices, including the iPad.  This is an action-packed update with a lot of new features.  Here are the new features that jumped out at me the most, but there are also many smaller new features.

• New Emoji.  There are 123 new emoji in iOS 15.4.  This includes seven new smiley faces: Melting Face, Face with Open Eyes and Hand Over Mouth, Face with Peeking Eye, Saluting Face, Dotted Line Face, Face with Diagonal Mouth, and Face Holding Back Tears.  Other additions include empty nest, beans, mirror ball (a disco ball), low battery, an ID card, many different types of hands, and much more. Click here for a more complete roundup from Keith Broni on Emojipedia.
• Use FaceId with a Mask.  If you are wearing an Apple Watch, you have been able to unlock your iPhone even while wearing a mask since April 26, 2021.  But now, you can (optionally) tell your iPhone to unlock while wearing a mask just based upon your eyes and other facial features outside of the mask.  It seems like this is even faster than using an Apple Watch.  I don’t yet know how much of an impact this has on security.
• Password Notes.  If you store passwords in the iPhone’s keychain, you can now add a note to your password when you go to Settings -> Passwords.  And then you can search those notes from the same screen, which can make it easier to find and update the correct password.  I still prefer using 1Password to manage my passwords, but Apple continues to improve the built-in password capabilities.
• New Siri Voice.  If you select the American variety of Siri voice, there is now a fifth voice to select, a high-quality voice that is more gender neutral.
• Apple AirTag Changes.  When you first associate an AirTag with your account, you now get new information including a warning that law enforcement can learn details about you if you use an AirTag improperly. There are also new alerts for when an unexpected AirTag has been near you for a while.
• SOS Changes.  Speaking of security changes, when you first install iOS 15.4, you will see a screen prompting you to review your SOS settings. This serves as a reminder of the different ways that you can use your iPhone to call for help, and it also lets you set certain features such as whether your iPhone makes a noise when you call for help.
• EU COVID.  The Apple Wallet app now supports the EU Digital COVID Certification format.
• Podcasts App.  The built-in Podcasts app now lets you filter episodes by seasons, played/unplayed, saved, or downloaded.
• Shortcuts Notifications.  You can now turn off notifications for personal shortcuts in the Shortcuts app, which means that you can run some shortcuts with fewer interruptions.
• Apple Card Widget.  You can now add an Apple Card widget to your home screen.
• SharePlay Access.  If you are using an app that supports SharePlay—a way for different people to share an app experience by using FaceTime, such as watching a movie at the same time—there is now an option to activate SharePlay directly from the share sheet, making it easier to start.
• TV App Artwork.  You can choose what type of artwork you want to see associated with a show in the TV app.  One option is the traditional poster art, but another option is a still frame from when you were last watching the show.  Switch between the settings in Settings -> TV -> Up Next Display.
• Bigger AirPods Info.  When you open up your AirPods case next to your iPhone, the card that pops up is now bigger and easier to read.

If you are using an iPad, there are some additional updates in iPadOS 15.4.  Perhaps the biggest one is:

• Universal Control.  If you have both a Mac and an iPad signed in to your iCloud account, you can now use a single keyboard and cursor to control both devices.  To turn this on, after you update your Mac to macOS12.3, go to System Preferences -> Displays, and then click the Universal Control button.  Then turn on each of the features.  (You will see several warnings that this is still just a beta feature.)  I used this feature for a short period of time last night, and Universal Control worked incredibly well.  It is immediately apparent to me that this is a feature that I will find very useful.

iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 are major updates with lots of big and small improvements.  I’m looking forward to using all of the new features.

There were so many interesting topics to cover in this week’s episode of the In the News podcast!  We spend most of the time talking about Apple’s recent announcements, including Apple’s new Mac offerings (and what is missing), the fabulous new iPad Air, the fan-favorite iPhone SE, and baseball coming to Apple TV+.  We also discuss the some of the smaller announcements from Apple last week, plus we discuss the warnings from Wirecutter about using the Gas Buddy app.

In our In the Know segment, we talk about the services offered as a part of the Apple One Premier, the $30 bundle from Apple.  Brett has starting using Apple Fitness+ and shares his experience using it to run in Central Park.  I discuss why Apple News+ has more to offer than you might think at first.

Click here to listen to the audio podcast, or just use your podcast player of choice.  You can also watch the episode on YouTube:

I focus on the iPhone and iPad on this website, not the Mac, but I find myself continuing to think about Apple’s Mac announcements during the event it held earlier this week because of what was not announced:  a larger iMac.  Since 2003, the iMac has come in two different screen sizes.  Originally those sizes were 15" and 17", but they increased over the years to 21.5" and 27".  I’ve used four different versions of the larger iMac during the last 16 years, and they have been fantastic home computers.  As iPhone photography has improved over the years, it has been especially nice to take photos and videos on my iPhone and then manage and edit them on my iMac’s large 27" screen.  Last year, Apple introduced a 24" model with an M1 chip, and I assumed that this year, Apple would introduce a 27" (or larger) model with one of Apple’s new M1 chips.  Instead, Apple completely stopped selling the 27" iMac this week and instead announced the new and powerful Mac Studio (which is the size of a Mac mini but about 2.5x as tall) and a separate 27" Studio Display (a display that actually includes the same chip used in the iPhone, the A13, so the display can support features like Center Stage, Spatial Audio, and “Hey Siri”).  There is always a chance that Apple will eventually introduce another iMac with a larger screen, but many Apple experts think that is unlikely to happen (such as John Gruber).  Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica wrote an article speculating that a larger iMac was coming, and then subsequently updated it with a contradiction of his entire article, appending to the end:  “Apple confirmed to Ars that the 27-inch iMac has reached end of life.”  I’ve enjoyed using the largest iMac model for so long that I’m sad to see it go.  Having said that, I suppose can see the logic in folks purchasing a 27" Studio Display along with either a Mac mini or Mac Studio, and then after a few years, keeping the same display while updating to a newer Mac mini or Mac Studio.  But with the Studio Display starting at $1600 and the Mac Studio starting at $2000, even before you upgrade the internal storage, that gets to be very expensive.  The Mac mini is cheaper, and hopefully will be updated this year to offer even more at the same price point, but at this point it is difficult to come up with a Mac mini + Studio Display combination that is similar to a 27" iMac.  Over time, I’m sure that there will be more clarity on the best computers for former users of the 27" iMac, but for now, it’s unclear.  As Dan Moren of Six Colors notes, he is ready to replace a 2017 27" iMac, and he is “a little at loose ends right now.”  Progress is often difficult.  And now, the news of note from the past week: 

• ABA TECHSHOW was last week, and Lyle Moran of ABA Journal discusses some of the tips discussed during the final “60 in 60" session.  You can also view all of the slides from the presentation, and because Ivan Hemmans (Senior Manager of Technical Development at O’Melveny & Myers) was unable to attend in person, each of his slides contains the full 60-second video in which he describes each of his tips.
• Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories discusses all of the small announcements from this week’s Apple event.
• Similarly, Michael Simon of Macworld discusses some of the Apple updates from this week that have received less attention.  For example, Apple has updated the colors of its iPhone 13 cases and Sport Loop Apple Watch bands (adding Lemon Zest, Blue Fog, Eucalyptus, and Nectarine) and Braided Solo Loop Apple Watch bands (adding Starlight, Abyss Blue, Bright Green, and Flamingo).  If one of the new Apple Watch band colors seems perfect for you, don’t wait too long to get it.  Apple routinely updates the band colors, and once a color shade is discontinued, it is often gone forever.
• Kermit the Frog tells us that it’s not easy being green, but Apple figured out how to give us two new shades for the iPhone this week.  As Arnold Zafra of The Mac Observer explains, you can now get the iPhone 13 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max in alpine green, or the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini in green.  See also Jeffrey E. Richardson, Note, It’s Not Easy Being Green:  The Scope of the Fifth Amendment Right to Counsel, 31 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 145 (1993) (Westlaw link).
• Jim Gresham of iDownloadBlog shows Apple’s new wallpapers that come with the new green iPhones.
• Yesterday, I compared the new iPhone SE to an iPhone 13.  Hartley Charlton of MacRumors that there is another option: you can still purchase an iPhone 11, and he compares the iPhone 11 to the new iPhone SE (third generation). Michael Potuck similarly compares the new iPhone SE to other models.  When you are ready to buy a new iPhone, I typically recommend staying away from older models because a new model, even a less-expensive new model, tends to last longer and work with more new features than a model that was introduced years ago.
• Josh Centers of TidBITS argues that the new iPhone SE is a great bargain.
• Sheena Vasani of The Verge compares the new iPad Air to other iPad models.
• Apple announced a new deal with Major League Baseball, and Jason Snell of Six Colors provides all of the details.  The headline feature is two Friday night games on Apple TV+, but that’s not all.  There is also a live show every weeknight, on-demand videos, and more.  The rumor is that Apple also wants to add NFL football to Apple TV+, and if it does so, it may use its MLB blueprint for the NFL.
• In another article for Six Colors, Snell also notes that Apple does a great job of using the same component in multiple products:  “I’m more struck by the fact that the iPad Air’s specs show just how efficient Apple can be about standardizing hardware and re-using it across multiple devices. Its 12-megapixel wide-angle camera (with Center Stage software) is now available on every single iPad as well as the new Apple Studio Display. Its M1 processor is in every iPad Pro plus the iPad Air, the MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the 24-inch iMac, and the Mac mini. I’m not saying Apple is like Taco Bell, making many different meals out of the same ingredients. But… maybe a little? Anyway, I’m hungry. Did someone mention tacos?”
• Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac reports that Apple will release iOS 15.4 next week.
• Jeanne Whalen of the Washington Post reports that Putin is considering a plan to nationalize foreign-owned businesses that left Russia after Putin invaded Ukraine.  I’m not sure what impact this would have on a company like Apple with a limited physical presence, but every McDonalds might become a McVladimir.
• Speaking of the impacts of the war in Ukraine, as gas prices increase in the United States, Thorin Klosowski of Wirecutter explains why he doesn’t recommend the GasBuddy app—he calls it a “privacy nightmare”—but he has some other suggestions.
• Allison McDaniel of 9to5Mac shares tips for using Apple’s Notes app on the iPhone.
• If you want an iPad stylus but consider the Apple Pencil too expensive, Julie Strietelmeier of the Gadgeteer reviews the MKQ iPad stylus, which looks somewhat similar but costs only $35 on Amazon.
• Andrew Heinzmn of ReviewGeek offers a good overview of some of the most useful categories of smart home devices.
• And finally, in 2019, Apple created a cute video called The Underdogs about a scrappy team of office workers with a chance to sell their great idea—using Apple products to do so.  In 2020, Apple brought back the team for a very funny pandemic-themed video called The whole working-from-home thing.  Yesterday, Apple released the third installment to coincide with workers returning to their offices.  This one is called Escape from the Office, and like the prior installments, it is quite funny and features a lot of Apple products:

Almost exactly six years ago in 2016, when Apple’s flagship phone was the iPhone 6s, Apple introduced the iPhone SE.  The 2016 version of the iPhone SE took most of the insides of the iPhone 6s (which has been introduced six months earlier) and put it in a smaller and cheaper device ($399 for the base model) that was about the size of an iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s (which had been released in 2012 and 2013).  If you wanted a smaller iPhone, it was an excellent product at the time.  Apple continued to sell the iPhone SE for four years, and near the end of that time, it was far less powerful than the flagship iPhone models.  Nevertheless, people still bought the iPhone SE because of its size and price.  On April 15, 2020, Apple introduced the iPhone SE (second generation).  The second iPhone SE took most of the guts of an iPhone 11 (which had been introduced seven months earlier) and put it into a body that was similar to the iPhone 8 (introduced in 2017).  This second version of the iPhone SE was sold by Apple for almost two years, when it was replaced this week by the iPhone SE (third generation).

With the third version of the iPhone SE, Apple is following the same playbook that it has used in the past.  First, take an older iPhone design—one that some would call dated, and others would appreciate as a classic.  Second, add most of the insides of the current flagship iPhone.  And third, sell it all for a lower price.  The 2022 version of the iPhone SE uses the same iPhone 8 model as the 2020 iPhone SE, a smaller model that includes a home button with Touch ID.  However, the guts of the new iPhone SE are similar to the current top-of-the-line iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, the A15 chip—a very fast processor.  And the price is nice, starting at $429 (a $30 increase from the first and second generation iPhone SE models, which started at $399).

The new iPhone SE comes in three colors:  midnight, starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED.

There is a lot to love about the latest iPhone SE.  The A15 chip is incredibly fast right now and should continue to seem fast and responsive for many years to come.  The latest iPhone SE has longer battery life than many older iPhones.  For example, Apple advertises two hours more video playback time than the iPhone SE (second generation), iPhone 7, or iPhone 8—three devices from which many purchasers of the new iPhone SE will be upgrading.  It supports 5G, which is still not very important today but should be more important in years to come.  And like many other modern iPhones, it is reasonably durable if you drop it or spill water on it.

You can get the 64GB version for $429, spend another $50 for a 128GB version, or spend $579 for the 256GB version.  The 128GB version seems like the sweet spot for many.

• The iPhone SE has a smaller 4.7" screen, versus the 6.1" of the iPhone 13, and the iPhone 13 screen looks better and brighter with far more colors.
• The iPhone 13 adds a second camera: an Ultra Wide camera.  (But not a zoom lens; you need the iPhone 13 Pro to get that one.)  And the iPhone 13 has more photography capabilities, such as Night Mode and the ability to record Dolby Vision HDR video at up to 4K at 60fps, which will look amazing if you have a new 4K television.
• The iPhone 13 has about four hours more of battery life than the iPhone SE.
• The iPhone 13 works with MagSafe accessories—the ones that use a magnet to connect to the back.
• The iPhone 13 supports a much faster version of 5G (sub-6 GHz and mmWave), but currently it is hard to find areas that support that.
• The iPhone 13 has an Ultra Wideband chip that you can use with the Find My app to locate lost items with even more precision.
• The iPhone 13 supports spatial audio / Dolby Atmos for 3D sound.

Another important difference is the home button with Touch ID versus Face ID.  I prefer Face ID because it is faster and easier to use.  For a long time during the pandemic, Face ID was a problem when you were wearing a mask, but Apple has recently fixed that.  And since you don’t need to devote space on the front of the iPhone for a home button, you get even more space on the front of the iPhone for a larger screen when you use an iPhone that supports Face ID.  On the other hand, I know that some folks grew up using a home button on an iPhone and that is simply what they prefer.  (For example, my wife still prefers the home button, and she uses a second generation iPhone SE.)  Suffice it to say that reasonable minds can disagree over whether a home button with Touch ID is better or worse than Face ID, but it is certainly an important difference to consider.

As for the other differences I noted in the bullet points above, those are all very nice advantages of the iPhone 13.  But depending upon how you use your iPhone, you may not care about many, or perhaps all, of those features.  If they don’t make a big difference to you, why spend an extra $320 for them?  That’s almost the price of a second iPhone SE.

Conclusion

I know that I will always be a person who appreciates the latest and greatest features of a top-of-the-line iPhone.  But I also know that a large number of folks don’t care about most of that.  They just want to check their emails, use Messages, use a few apps, etc.  They may take pictures with their iPhone, but they don’t feel the need to have the best possible picture using the latest mobile camera technology; they just want a simple picture that can be shared on social media.  And they want to spend as low a price as possible for an iPhone.  If there is a chance that you are going to drop and break or lose your iPhone, it is much better to have spent less than $500 on an iPhone SE versus over $1000 for an iPhone 13 Pro.  For all of these folks, the iPhone SE has always been a great product. 

Now that Apple has once again refreshed the processor and other internal features in the iPhone SE, you can buy an iPhone SE today and know that it will remain dependable and responsive for many years to come.  And for folks who prefer the home button with Touch ID, this is the best device you can get.  As Apple says, it is “a powerful smartphone in an iconic design.”

You can pre-order an iPhone SE (third generation) starting tomorrow, March 11, at 5am Pacific / 8am Eastern, and the new iPhone SE will be available in stores a week later on March 18.

Yesterday, Apple announced a number of new products including a new iPhone SE, a new monitor, a new Mac, and more.  Today, I’m focused on the new iPad Air, the fifth generation of this device that debuted in 2013.  This looks to be an excellent iPad Air, one that will be perfect for most attorneys.  In fact, Apple did the same thing yesterday that the company did in 2020 when it announced the 4th generation iPad Air: Apple has created a mid-level iPad that is so powerful that it provides almost all of the advantages of the more expensive iPad Pro.  There are some differences, and those differences will be important for certain types of users.  But for many lawyers looking to get a new iPad, this is the one to get.

Design

The new iPad Air shares the same design as the 2020 iPad Air fourth generation, and that is great news.  It includes a 10.9-inch screen, which is the traditional iPad size, and it weighs a pound, the traditional iPad weight.  It has a flat edge that works with the wonderful second generation Apple Pencil.  It works with the Magic Keyboard and other external keyboards.  The power button includes a Touch ID sensor, so you unlock it with your fingerprint.

The new iPad features a USB-C connector.  Unlike the USB 3.1 Gen 1 connector on the prior iPad Air that supported 5Gbps transfers, this one supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 and thus supports 10Gpbs transfers.  That higher speed means that it works with the new 5K Studio Display that Apple announced yesterday, should you ever want to do so.

It comes in five colors: Space Gray, Starlight, Pink, Blue, and Purple.

Speed

The prior iPad Air included an A14 chip.  That was an excellent processor when it was introduced in 2020, but Apple introduced a faster A15 processor in the iPhone 13 that was announced last September.  I expected Apple to use the A15 in this iPad Air, but instead Apple used the M1—the same processor used in the iPad Pro and some models of the Mac.  The M1 provides a little more performance than the A15.

Compared to the fourth generation iPad Air, Apple says that this new fifth generation iPad Air provides 60% faster performance and up to twice the graphics performance.  Suffice it to say that this new iPad Air will be plenty fast and should seem very responsive for all of the typical tasks that attorneys will want to do with an iPad, even working with very large PDF documents.

Other improvements

The front-facing camera is a 12-megapixel Ultra Wide, up from the prior 7-megapixel camera.  It also supports Center Stage, so if you walk around during a video conference or if someone else enters the frame with you, the iPad will zoom and pan to keep up, almost like you had a professional camera operator. 

The new iPad also supports 5G, if you purchase the cellular model. 

iPad Air versus iPad Pro

The iPad Pro is the most expensive iPad model, and it is the best overall iPad model.  But given all of the power of the new iPad Air, which model is best for attorneys?

If you want the larger screen of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, then you need to get the iPad Pro.  I love that larger screen for reading documents, and the additional screen real estate means that there is enough space to run two apps at once without being too cramped.  Plus, a larger tablet is wonderful for taking handwritten notes, watching videos, viewing webpages, etc.  Yes, the larger iPad weighs more and takes up a little more space in your hand or a briefcase.  However, it wasn’t very long after I started using the 12.9-inch size that I realized that I would never want to go back to a smaller 11-inch size. 

I could go on forever about why I love the 12.9-inch size, but there is also another extreme: the iPad mini with an 8.3-inch screen.  For some uses, like simple reading, the iPad mini size is perfect.  But for many attorneys, the mini is too small to get serious work done.

For most attorneys, 11-inch is the sweet spot between the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the 8.3-inch iPad mini.  If that applies to you, one other consideration is how much storage space you need on the iPad.  The new iPad Air (like the prior model) comes in a 64GB size for $599 and a 256GB size for $749.  (Add another $150 if you want a model that includes cellular.)  I don’t recommend the 64GB size for most attorneys because once you start to add a lot of large PDF files, pictures, videos, and other documents, you can easily run out of space.  But the 256GB size is perfect for most attorneys.  Of course, some attorneys will want even more space, and that’s where the iPad Pro comes in with its 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB sizes.  I use a 512GB model and I love never having to worry about running out of space.  (Even with the large number of documents on my iPad Pro, I’m still only using 333GB out of the 512GB available.)  But I’m sure that most attorneys will store far less than I do.

So let’s say that you want the 11-inch size and you believe that 256GB is large enough—statements that I suspect would apply to the vast majority of lawyers.  Then you need to choose between the $749 iPad Air or the $899 iPad Pro 11-inch (third generation) that was introduced in April 2021.  Is it worth spending the additional $150 for the Pro model that is virtually the same size and the same storage capacity?  Probably not.  Here are the advantages of the iPad Pro so that you can decide for yourself.

• A slightly better version of 5G (if you get the cellular version) because the iPad Pro can support mmWave.  I don’t think that this matters for most folks because mmWave is still pretty rare, and you are likely to be using Wi-Fi most of the time.
• A slightly better USB-C connector that supports Thunderbolt/USB 4.  Most attorneys will never notice the difference.
• A very slight difference in the display size:  11-inch instead of 10.9-inch because of a slightly thinner bezel.  Unless the iPad Air and iPad Pro are side-by-side, I doubt you would ever notice the difference.
• A second camera on the back, a 10-megapixel Ultra Wide camera, with a flash, a LiDAR scanner for improved augmented reality (for apps that support it), and a few other minor improvements.  Except for occasionally taking a picture of a physical document to convert it to a PDF, most attorneys have no need to take a picture or a video with an iPad.  That’s what the iPhone is for.  So the better cameras on the iPad Pro won’t make a difference.
• A slightly better display.  While the iPad Air has up to 500 nits brightness, the 11-inch iPad Pro has up to 600 nits brightness.  Note that there is a difference between the 11-inch iPad Pro and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro; the larger iPad Pro has 1000 nits brightness and can go up to 1600 nits for a portion of the screen, which makes a big difference. But I am assuming that you have already decided that the 11-inch size is right for you, so the 100 nits difference between the iPad Air and the 11-inch iPad Pro won’t be very noticeable.  All models of the iPad Pro also support ProMotion, which allows for a higher frame rate so that motion on the screen is smoother.  This is a nice feature on the iPad Pro and it makes it a more premium product, but you can certainly live without it.
• Four speakers on the iPad Pro, versus two speakers on the iPad Air.  More speakers sound better, but this isn’t a big deal.
• Face ID on the iPad Pro, versus Touch ID on the iPad Air.  Face ID is more convenient (if you are not wearing a mask), but this isn’t a big deal.

I like Face ID.  I like ProMotion.  I like having four speakers.  But I’d be lying if I said that any of those features made much of a difference to my law practice.  You know what makes a huge difference when using an iPad in my law practice?  My Apple Pencil, which costs $120 on Amazon.  For most attorneys who want the 11-inch size and 256GB capacity, you should get the iPad Air and use the $150 savings over the iPad Pro to purchase an Apple Pencil.  A new iPad Air with an Apple Pencil is the perfect combination for annotating documents, taking notes, and more.

Conclusion

For attorneys like me who want a larger iPad, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is the way to go.  But for just about everyone else, I think that the new iPad Air with 256GB is the best iPad for a law practice.  The impressive M1 processor will make this device incredibly responsive, the size and weight are great, the support for the second generation Apple Pencil is fantastic, and it will work with lots of accessories such as Bluetooth headphones, speakers, and keyboards, Apple’s own Magic Keyboard, USB-C peripherals, etc.  I’m very happy that Apple introduced this product, and a huge number of attorneys are going to love using it.

You can pre-order the new iPad Air starting at 8am Eastern on Friday, March 11, and the new iPad Air will ship and will be available in stores starting Friday, March 18.

Today, Apple will announce its first new products of 2022.  The tagline for the event is “Peek Performance,” and there are lots of rumors circulating about a new iPhone, new iPad, new Mac, and more.  It appears that, like all of Apple’s events since COVID started, the event will be a prerecorded video that is streamed.  The quality of Apple’s video production is top-notch, so no matter what Apple announced, I expect the introduction to look very good. 

If you want to watch the event, you can do so at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern.  One way to stream the event is to go to this page on Apple’s website.  Additionally, you can stream the event on YouTube using this link or by clicking the below embedded video.  Hopefully, it will be an interesting presentation.