Jeff Richardson

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.

In this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney and I talk about what we might see when Apple announces new products on Tuesday.  We also talk about new solutions for wireless charging of an iPhone, smarter smart doorbells, the last place that you want to discover a lost iPhone, and more.

In our In the Know segment, we share tips for using weather apps.  Brett discusses the notification features of the built-in weather app, and I discuss the ability to change the weather forecast source in the CARROT Weather app.

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

In the Fall of of 2005, I was living in New York City for a few months after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina and I was using a Palm Treo 650.  The device slipped out of my pocket when I was in a taxicab, and—no surprise—I never saw it again.  Although I ultimately bought a replacement, I hesitated to do so because at the time I thought that there was a chance that Apple might have been working on a smartphone.  The first iPhone wasn’t introduced until 2007, but I was right that Apple was working on it in 2005.  John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote an interesting account of the origins of the iPhone, including a timeline of its development.  One of the sources he cites in that article is Ken Kocienda, who developed the original touchscreen keyboard for the iPhone, and Kocienda also talks to Gruber on the latest episode of The Talk Show podcast.  If you have any interest in the early history of the iPhone, I recommend both Gruber’s article and that podcast episode.  I especially enjoy hearing about the past when we are just a few days away from the future, considering that Apple will announce new products next week.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Jason Snell of Six Colors discusses what Apple might announce on March 8.
• I mentioned a few days ago that Apple has halted all exports into the sales channel in Russia because of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and I wondered what effect this might have on re:Store, the largest seller of Apple products in Russia.  Now we know the answer.  Steven Warwick of iMore reports that, according to the website iPhones.ru, reStore announced that it is temporarily closing all of its stores in Russia.
• Readdle, one of the leading developers of iPhone and iPad apps, was founded in Ukraine.  This week, Readdle thanked all of its users for their support and provided a number of links that you can use to support Ukraine right now.
• In a post for Macworld, Jason Snell explains why it is so much easier for Apple to take a stand against Russia than against China.
• Twelve South previously introduced an interesting product called PowerPic, which works like a picture frame but doubles as a wireless charger for an iPhone.  The company introduced a similar product called PowerPic mod, and Adam Oram of iMore posted a review.  It seems like an interesting product that would look good and work well on many desks.  The PowerPic mod costs $59.52 on Amazon.
• Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac reviews another interesting wireless charger, the BaseOne charger from Nomad, which features a glass and aluminum design and costs $130. 
• Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider calls the BaseOne charger “the most luxurious MagSafe charger to hit the market yet.”
• Josh Centers of TidBITS discusses the pros and cons of getting a version of the Apple Watch that has cellular.
• In the year 2000, the album “1" by The Beatles was released, a collection of every song released by The Beatles that reached the top of the charts.  It was one of the last CDs that I ever purchased; not long after that, I started using an iPod and purchasing my songs from iTunes.  Igor Bonifacic of Engadget noted that the album is now remastered for Apple Music spatial audio.  Unlike some songs remastered for spatial audio, in this case, it doesn’t mean that instruments surround you in a 3D space.  Instead, it means that the music appears to be coming from your iPhone, most noticeable as you move your head back and forth.  I’ve been listening to it as I write today’s post, and it sounds great.
• While I’m discussing The Beatles, I’ll mention that I watched the Get Back documentary on Disney+ back in December, and it was amazing.  I don’t watch documentaries very often, especially if they are almost eight hours long, but I was memorized by Get Back.  I highly recommend it to anyone who likes music.
• Speaking of music, if you like the idea of an HomePod mini but want it to be portable, one option is to use it with a portable charger, as I explained in my review.  Another option is to get a portable speaker that works with AirPlay.  Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac discusses the new Roam SL from Sonos, a $159 device that does just that.
• Last week, I linked to a review of Chipolo Card Spot, a tracker that fits in a wallet and works with Apple’s Find My service.  Glenn Fleishman wrote an even more comprehensive review of this device for Macworld, worth checking out if you are interested in it specifically or this technology in general.
• One of the unfortunate results of COVID is that Apple stopped doing its excellent “Today at Apple” demonstrations in its retail stores for two years.  Killian Bell of Cult of Mac reports that Apple is now bringing them back.
• Have you ever found yourself wanting to post a picture on social media, but then you stop yourself because the picture shows the faces of one or more people who should remain private, such as children, protestors, etc.?  One solution is to cover the face with something, like a yellow emoji face.  MaskerAid is a new app by Casey Liss that does this one task very well.  It’s a clever idea for an app.
• Apple gets patents on many ideas that never see the light of day, so I don’t report on them very often.  But Tim Hardwick of MacRumors discusses an Apple patent for a computer that is built-in to a keyboard, and as someone who used the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX81 back in the 1980s, this one makes a lot of sense to me.
• Federico Viticci of MacStories discusses the new Tweetbot version 7.1, which adds background notifications for follows, quotes, and user tweets.
• Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac discusses the new Smart Door Lock A100 from Aqara.  Not only does it work with Apple’s HomeKit, but it also provides Home Key support (which is something very few developers currently support).
• Thomas Hobbs of Time Out London reports that the area in Richmond where Ted Lasso films outdoor scenes (Ted Lasso’s home and the nearby pub) has seen lots of tourists thanks to the success of the show.  The pub that is called The Crown & Anchor in the show is actually called The Prince’s Head.
• Abigail Wilson of the U.S. version of The Sun shares the tale of Maryland resident Becki Beckmann, who lost her iPhone in 2012 on the night of Halloween.  Ten years later, she heard a banging sound when she flushed her toilet and … you guessed it … her husband plunged the toilet and up came the iPhone 4S.  Read the story for more details and pictures (which, fortunately, are not gross, unless you start thinking about what that iPhone has been through for the past decade).
• And finally, while I still remember the early days of Apple TV+ when it only had a few shows, Apple now has a very large number of shows being released and in development.  One that looks interesting to me is Slow Horses, a TV show that tells the tale of British intelligence agents who are stuck in a dumping ground department of MI5.  It looks like a spy thriller with comedic elements.  The show is based on the well-reviewed series of Slough House novels by Mick Herron, and it stars Gary Oldman.  It debuts on April 1, and I’m looking forward to this one because it looks like it could be quite good.  Here is the trailer:

Apple occasionally has events in March or April to announce something new.  Sometimes, Apple introduces new products.  For example, on April 20, 2021, it was a “Spring Loaded” event to announce the 2021 version of the iPad Pro, the AirTag, and updates to the iMac and Apple TV. Sometimes, Apple introduces new services.  For example, on March 25, 2019, the tagline was “It’s show time,” and Apple announced Apple TV+, Apple News+, Apple Arcade and the Apple Card.  Yesterday, Apple revealed that it would hold its next event on March 8, 2022, at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern.  This will be yet another online-only event, which means that Apple has been putting together a series of video introductions, and the recordings will be streamed on Tuesday.  The tagline for this event is “Peek Performance”:

What will Apple announce?  Only Apple knows for sure, but I have some guesses.  We know that Apple will introduce additional Macs at some point in 2022 that take advantage of Apple’s powerful M1 chip, and perhaps an M2 successor, and the reference to “performance” makes me think that new, more powerful Macs, could be announced.  The word “peek” suggests that maybe we are just seeing a preview of something that is coming later.

There are also rumors that Apple is ready to announce a third-generation iPhone SE.  (The second-generation model was introduced in 2020.)  There are also rumors of a fifth-generation iPad Air.  (The fourth-generation iPad Air was introduced in 2020.)

Perhaps Apple will also devote some time to iOS 15.4, which will add lots of new features.

And just maybe, Apple has something new up its sleeve that nobody has predicted yet.  We’ll see.

Yesterday, Apple announced that it has responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a number of ways.  Here is Apple’s statement, as released to John Gruber of Daring Fireball:

We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence. We are supporting humanitarian efforts, providing aid for the unfolding refugee crisis, and doing all we can to support our teams in the region.

We have taken a number of actions in response to the invasion. We have paused all product sales in Russia. Last week, we stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country. Apple Pay and other services have been limited. RT News and Sputnik News are no longer available for download from the App Store outside Russia. And we have disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens.

We will continue to evaluate the situation and are in communication with relevant governments on the actions we are taking. We join all those around the world who are calling for peace.

As confirmation of the limitation on the use of Apple Pay, I saw yesterday that Moscow-based reporter Jason Corcoran tweeted that Apple Pay no longer works with Moscow’s metro system:

Apple Pay and Google Pay no longer work on Moscow’s metro system, leading to long queues as people fumble about for cash pic.twitter.com/ezaLZneKiJ

— Jason Corcoran (@jason_corcoran) February 28, 2022

Apple operates an online store in Russia, and people in Russia can no longer use it to purchase Apple products.  Apple does not operate any physical stores in Russia, but it does work with a number of third-party retailers.  The biggest of those is the chain re:Store.  Here is a picture that I took of a re:Store location in a mall in Moscow when I was there in 2009:

Considering that Apple has halted all exports into the sales channel in Russia, I expect that the supply of Apple products in re:Store and similar stores will soon become incredibly limited.

Hopefully, Apple’s actions, combined with the actions of countries and companies around the world, will put sufficient pressure on Putin to end the invasion.

Today is Mardi Gras day in New Orleans.  Perhaps it is just that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it seems that the parades and other celebrations have been particularly good this year after COVID resulted in the cancellation of Mardi Gras last year.  The weather has been excellent, and folks have been gathering with friends and family to have a wonderful time enjoying the festivities.  Hopefully, some of you had the opportunity to enjoy it as well, but if not, I encourage you to plan a trip to New Orleans in the future.  Happy Mardi Gras!

In this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney and I discuss masking at Apple Stores, Apple’s MagSafe battery, the new gender-neutral voice for Siri, and more.  We also discuss Rene Ritchie’s interview of Dr. Sumbul Desai, Vice President of Health at Apple.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a practical tip for getting files from a USB drive to an iPhone or iPad.  On the other hand, my tip is just for fun.  If you like Wordle, I explain why you should try Dordle, Quordle, and Octordle: they sound ridiculous at first, but the use of multiple boards results in a different type of game with new strategy considerations.

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 don’t know what is going on where you live, but here in New Orleans, we are starting the big weekend leading up to Mardi Gras day on Tuesday.  Mardi Gras was canceled due to COVID last year, and that is a pretty rare occurrence.  There was no Mardi Gras during the Civil War, in 1875 (violence during reconstruction), 1879 (yellow fever outbreak), 1918 (World War I), 1919 (the so-called Spanish Flu), 1942-45 (World War II), 1951 (Korean War), and 1979 (police strike).  But many folks celebrating Mardi Gras this year were either very young or not born yet the last time it was canceled, so not having Mardi Gras last year was a very big deal.  As I noted last year on Mardi Gras day, the streets were eerily quiet.  My family and friends have been enjoying parades since last weekend (last night, the Muses parade was particularly good), and hopefully, the weather will cooperate and give us many more good days.  But most of you are not here for a carnival update, so let’s move along to the news of note from the past week:

• On a much sadder note, my heart is with all of the people in Ukraine right now, and that definitely includes all of the folks who work at Readdle.  Readdle makes a number of incredible apps, including PDF Expert (an essential iPad app for me and many other lawyers) and Scanner Pro (an essential iPhone app for me and many other lawyers).  Denys Zhadanov, a board member of Readdle and the former Vice President of Marketing for Readdle, noted on Twitter that there are a number of well-known companies with Ukranian roots including Readdle, Grammarly, MacPaw, and more.  (According to Allison Prang of the Wall Street Journal, Brad Hoover, CEO of Grammarly, says that the company has contingency plans for various scenarios—whatever that means.)  I cannot imagine what all of those folks are going through right now.  I hope that, somehow, they make it through this sad chapter in history.  For one good take on life in Ukraine, I recommend this short Twitter thread by Sofiya Alexandra, a comedian from Odessa.
• California attorney David Sparks explains why he is still enjoying the Apple MagSafe battery.
• If you are not living in New Orleans and thus won’t be celebrating Mardi Gras this weekend, Apple announced that its CODA movie is returning to many theaters this weekend with free screenings featuring open captions for accessibility.  CODA has a number of well-deserved Oscar nominations.  If you haven’t seen it yet, I encourage you to do so, either in the theater or on Apple TV+.
• Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported this week that Apple is dropping the mask mandate at most of its retails stores in the United States.  As I’ve noted in the past, how Apple has responded to COVID has often been a good barometer of the severity of the epidemic, so hopefully, this is another good sign that we are getting to a much better place.  We still have a mask mandate here in New Orleans through Mardi Gras—no surprise there considering that New Orleans was an early COVID hot spot due to Mardi Gras 2020—but hopefully we are now moving to a much better phase of the pandemic.
• Jeff Benjamin of 9to5Mac discusses some of the new features that could be coming in iOS 15.4 including one that I didn’t know about, a new optional voice to select for Siri.
• Ina Fried of Axios reports that one of this new voice for Siri coming in iOS 15.4 is more gender-neutral and was recorded by a member of the LGBTQ+.  I’ve always thought of Siri as having a female voice, but I know that many people prefer a male voice, and I think that it is great that soon we will have another option.
• Michael Simon of Macworld provides a sample of the new Siri voice.
• If you want an iPhone without the phone, get an iPod touch.  At least, that used to be the advice.  As Hartley Charlton of MacRumors notes, the seventh-generation iPod touch hasn’t been updated in 1,000 days, and the the last time that there was a major redesign was almost 10 years ago.  It is interesting that Apple is still selling this device without updating it in any way.
• Juli Clover of MacRumors reviews CARD Spot from Chipolo, a $35 device that is the shape of a credit card and the thickness of about three credit cards.  It is designed to be stored in a wallet so that you can locate a lost wallet using the Apple Find My app.
• Eve continues to add Thread support to its home automation products.  I recently reviewed one such product, the new Eve Weather.  Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac discusses another one coming out soon: Eve Water Guard, which can provide water leak notifications.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors reviews the Level Bolt, a smart lock for your door that works with HomeKit.
• If you are looking for advice on which Apple product to buy, Josh Centers of TidBITS announced this week the launch of his new Apple Buying Advice site.  I don’t agree with all of his recommendations on that site, but I agree with many of them, and he does a good job of explaining the choices so that you can decide if the product is right for you.
• Graham Bower of Cult of Mac explains the blood oxygen sensor on the Apple Watch.
• And finally, this week, Dr. Sumbul Desai, Vice President of Health at Apple, was interviewed by Rene Ritchie to discuss Apple’s health initiatives.  It is an interesting interview.  She talked about how Apple tries to use devices like the Apple Watch to provide “actionable information and insights to take the steps to stay healthy.”

The Apple Watch Series 7 was released just a few months ago, and it is a fantastic device for all of the reasons that I explained in my review: a larger screen than ever before, faster speeds so that it feels much more responsive, faster charging, lots of sensors, and more.  I have always purchased the stainless steel models of the Apple Watch because I think that the stainless steel looks and feels better than the aluminum, plus it comes with a more durable screen.  The stainless steel models always come with cellular built-in, but you can decide whether or not you want to pay the monthly service charge to activate the cellular radio.

The reason for this post is that the smaller 41mm version of the stainless steel Series 7 normally costs $699 (when paired with the least expensive band), but I see that there is currently a big sale at Amazon.  It currently lists on Amazon for $489.99 plus you get a $40 discount once you put it in your cart, so the final price is only $449.99.  That’s a massive $250 discount, and almost completely covers the $300 price difference between the cheapest aluminum model (without cellular) and the stainless steel model.  And if you were going to get the cellular version anyway, this discount means that the $449.99 stainless steel version from Amazon is actually less expensive than the $499 that Apple charges for the aluminum model with cellular.  Note that you have to select the Starlight Sport Band to get this big discount, but if you are upgrading from an earlier model of the Apple Watch, the bands that you previously used will work with this model too.

Unfortunately, this massive discount only applies to the 41mm model, which is designed for a smaller wrist.  If you want the larger 45mm stainless steel model, the Amazon price is currently $100 less than what Apple charges ($699 at Amazon versus $799 at Apple, for the model with the least expensive band).  $100 is a nice discount, but not nearly as good as this $250 discount on the 41mm model.

If you have been thinking of getting a 41mm stainless steel Apple Watch for yourself or as a gift for someone else, this is an excellent deal that you might want to grab before it goes away.

[UPDATE:  I posted this late Tuesday morning, but I see that as of Tuesday night, the models with the $250 discount are sold out.  So unfortunately, if you subscribe to iPhone J.D. via email and are seeing this post for the first time on Wednesday morning, this sale is now over.]

In this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney and I discuss the differences between Apple’s AirTag and GPS tracker devices, wireless CarPlay options and the pros and cons of using them, the possibility of purchasing apps outside of Apple’s App Store on the iPhone, an Apple Watch that you have to work for, and more. 

In our In the Know segment, we focus on Microsoft Word for the iPad.  Brett has a tip for selecting text, and I share a tip for converting to PDF format.

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