Jeff Richardson

This week, Apple introduced two new Apple Watch models, the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE.  Both look like excellent devices.  Since Apple is continuing to sell the Apple Watch Series 3 that it introduced three years ago as a low-cost alternative, and since there are lots of options within each of the three Apple Watch lines now being sold, you now have lots of choices at lots of different prices points if you are looking to purchase your first Apple Watch or upgrade from an older model.  Here are the features that jumped out at me for Apple’s newest models of the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch Series 6

Ever since Apple introduced the original Apple Watch in 2015, and since then, through a series of updates, the device has become even more useful.  Often there are only one or two major new features in each new model, but when you look at all of the improvements over time, it is impressive how much the device has evolved.  In 2016, Apple introduced the Series 2, which added GPS, the ability to get wet, and a somewhat faster processor so that it wasn’t painfully slow.  Series 3 in 2017 added cellular and even more speed.  Series 4 in 2018 introduced a slightly larger screen that could show a lot more because the unused space on the edges got thinner (the same thing that Apple has been doing with the iPad over the years), fall detection, an EKG, and was the first Apple Watch to be fast enough that you no longer really thought much about the speed of the device.  The Series 5 in 2019 added an always on display so that you can just glance down at your watch to see the time and other information without having to lift your wrist to turn on the display.

This year, the major new feature in the Apple Watch Series 6 is a blood oxygen sensor.  By shining red and infrared light on your arm and measuring how it bounces back, the sensor can determine the color of your blood, which indicates the amount of oxygen in your blood.  Blood oxygen has become a bigger topic during the COVID-19 pandemic because a pulse oximeter — a small device that you place on your fingertip to shine lights and measure blood oxygen — can be helpful for folks who are asymptomatic or have mild COVID-19 to watch for early signs that the disease is getting worse.  Apple notes that this sensor is not being added to the Apple Watch as a medical device — its website says that “[m]easurements taken with the Blood Oxygen app are not intended for medical use and are only designed for general fitness and wellness purposes” — but it can be a key indicator of your breathing and blood circulation, and thus your overall cardiac health.  By measuring your blood oxygen throughout the day (and night if you sleep with the watch), the Apple Watch Series 6 has the potential to give you an early warning if something doesn’t seem right.  It reminds me of the EKG added to the Series 4 in that it is yet another sensor to give your Apple Watch an even better overall sense of how you are doing.

The Series 6 also charges 20% faster.  It adds an Apple U1 chip that helps other devices to know more precisely where your Apple Watch is located.  (Apple has been mostly quiet about the U1 chip in the past, but at some point soon, perhaps next month, I expect Apple to announce new features for devices with a U1 chip.)  Like the Series 5, the Series 6 features an always on display.  But now the screen is 2.5x brighter when your wrist is down, making it easier to glance and see the time and other information when you are outdoors.  Series 6 also has an altimeter that is always on to sense your elevation throughout the day.  (For someone like me who lives in the flat, and in some cases, below sea level City of New Orleans, I don’t need this feature to tell me that my average elevation is zero.)  And the new S6 processor is up to 20% faster than the S5 used in the Series 5.  And the Wi-Fi in the Series 6 supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, whereas all earlier models only support the 2.4GHz band.

You can get the Series 6 in Aluminum in five different colors starting at $399 for 40 mm / $429 for 44 mm, or if you add cellular, for $499 / $529.  Or you can get the Stainless Steel (which includes cellular) in three different colors starting at $699 / $749, or Titanium (with cellular) in two different colors starting at $799 / $849. 

I currently use, and love, my Apple Watch Series 5.  The additional new features in the Series 6 are not enough for me to upgrade this year, but whenever I do next upgrade, it will be nice to have those new features plus whatever comes next.  If you currently use an old model of the Apple Watch and are ready for an upgrade, you are going to love having an always on display — I’ve appreciated that new feature every day for the past year — and I’ll be slightly jealous of you when that your always on display works even better for you when you are outside.

Apple Watch SE

If you want to spend less money, I suppose that the Apple Watch SE is currently the mid-range model considering that Apple is continuing to sell the Series 3 without cellular for $199 / $229, but I do not recommend that you purchase the Series 3 because you lose out on so many features that have been added since 2017.  On the other hand, I do recommend that you consider the Apple Watch SE as an alternative to the Series 6.  The Apple Watch SE is only available in Aluminum and costs $279 / $309, or if you add cellular, $329 / $359.  Thus, you are saving $120 off of the price of a similar Apple Watch Series 6 if you get the version without cellular, or $170 if you are getting the version with cellular.

Here is what you miss out on when you save $120/$170 to get the Apple Watch SE versus the Series 6:

• No always on display.  So in this way, it is similar to the Series 4
• You get the S5 chip used in the Series 5, not the 20% faster S6 chip in the Series 6
• No EKG, like the Series 3.
• No blood oxygen sensor, like the Series 5.
• No U1 chip, like the Series 5.
• No 5GHz Wi-Fi, only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi like the Series 5.

I certainly don’t consider any of these to be essential features, so Apple did a good job of pulling out less important features to reduce the price.  But as noted above, I really love the always on display; it is one of the best features of the Apple Watch for me.  If I were buying a new Apple Watch today that I was going to wear for the next few years, I would think long and hard about paying the extra money to get the always on display, with the other extra features listed above just being a bonus.  For me, the always on display is one of my favorite features of the Apple Watch Series 5.

New Watch Bands

The new watch bands this year are the Solo Loop and the Braided Solo Loop.  They don’t have buckles — you just slip them on your wrist — but this means that you need to measure your wrist to select the right band.

Conclusion

It is nice that there is so much choice in the Apple Watch line.  I recommend that you ignore the $199 starting price for the Series 3 and instead focus on the $279 starting price of the Apple Watch SE as the minimal Apple Watch to consider purchasing.  From there, you can decide what features you want, whether you want cellular, pick a case, pick a band, etc., which may cause the price to increase from $279 up to $1249 — or $1,499 if you get an Hermès band.  But whatever model you pick, you will get the core features that make the Apple Watch so useful, such as the notifications (including silent notifications by discretely tapping on your wrist), fitness features, and the information that is most important to you available by just glancing at your wrist.  If you are ready to get a new Apple Watch, both new models are available starting tomorrow.

The iPad Air is the mid-range of the iPad line — more powerful than the entry-level “iPad” but typically lacking the latest-and-greatest features of the iPad Pro.  Although the iPad Pro was last updated on March 18, 2020, the third generation of the iPad Air was announced a year earlier on March 18, 2019.  That is a nice version of the iPad Air (my wife uses hers every day), but after 19 months, Apple decided it was time for an upgrade.  And boy did the iPad Air get an upgrade.  Yesterday, Apple held an online event in which it had lots of new announcements such as two new Apple Watch models, a new entry-level iPad, new services, and more.  I’ll be discussing these announcements in the coming days, but today I want to focus on one that will be of interest to many lawyers:  the new fourth-generation iPad Air.  It has a lot more in common with the current version of the 11″ iPad Pro than it does the third-generation iPad Air that it replaces, and it will be a great device for many lawyers.

Screen

The physical size of the new iPad Air is virtually the same as both the 11″ iPad Pro and the third-generation iPad Air:  9.74″ x 7″ x .24″.  And all three of those devices weigh a pound.  I think of this as the traditional iPad size and shape.  It isn’t huge like the 12.9″ iPad Pro.  And it isn’t small like the iPad mini.

Because of larger bezels, the third-generation iPad Air had a 10.5″ (diagonal) display.  The new iPad Air has a 10.9″ display — almost as large as the 11″ display on the iPad Pro.  Like the iPad Pro, the new iPad Air has a Liquid Retina display — which is excellent, although not quite as good as the OLED display on the most expensive iPhones.

The new iPad Air isn’t quite as bright as the iPad Pro (500 nits versus the iPad Air’s 600 nits), and the iPad Air lacks the ProMotion technology that makes moving items on the iPad Pro screen seem even smoother.  Thus, side-by-side, you will almost certainly be able to tell that the iPad Pro screen is better.  But the iPad Air screen should still be so good that most people won’t notice the difference in regular use.

Touch ID

The larger bezel on the third-generation iPad Air provided space for a home button with Touch ID.  The iPad Pro uses a thinner bezel without a button to provide more screen, so it uses Face ID to unlock.  The new iPad Air uses a third technology:  a Touch ID fingerprint scanner built-in to the power button.  Some Android phones already feature a fingerprint sensor in the power button, and my understanding is that people like them.  Hopefully that means that Apple has a good solution here.

Indeed, every time I try to unlock my iPhone while I am wearing a mask, I wish that I had a fingerprint sensor on it somewhere.  Hopefully, it will not be too much longer before we can safely return to a life without masks, but in the interim, I find myself somewhat jealous of devices that use Touch ID instead of Face ID.

Pencil

The Apple Pencil is a fantastic accessory for attorneys.  You can annotate documents, take handwritten notes, and more.  The prior iPad Air supported the original version of the Apple Pencil, but the new iPad Air now supports the second-generation Apple Pencil, which is a big improvement.  It adds the ability to tap on the side to switch tools, a flat side that you can use to magnetically attach the Pencil to the iPad to charge it (and to stop the Pencil from rolling off a desk), and even more precision.  Apple Pencil 2 compatibility used to be an important reason to splurge for an iPad Pro, but now you can get that same power with a mid-range iPad.

Performance

Apple’s newest processor is the A14 Bionic, and the first device announced by Apple to use it is the new iPad Air.  You cannot even buy an iPhone with an A14 yet, although I expect that to change within a few weeks.  Apple says that this new processor will provide a huge leap in performance, and I’m sure that is true.

How will the A14 in a new iPad Air compare to the A12Z in the version of the 11″ iPad Pro that came out earlier this year?  That’s a good question, and we should have an answer just as soon as folks gets these new devices in their hands.  The A12Z has a few features that may make it better for some uses, such as some graphics, than the version of the A14 in the new iPad Air.  Nevertheless, it wouldn’t surprise me if tests reveals that the two devices have similar performance — or maybe the iPad Air will be better.

Accessories

I already mentioned the Apple Pencil 2, but the new iPad Air also works with another accessory that used to require an iPad Pro:  the $299 Magic Keyboard for iPad.  This is the new keyboard introduced earlier this year, which includes an excellent trackpad and uses magnets to let your iPad float above the keyboard.  This Magic Keyboard is a little costly and a little heavy, but I’ve heard from many attorneys who really love this device for typing on their iPad.  It is nice that you can now use this accessory without having to purchase an iPad Pro.

The new iPad Air also features a USB-C port on the side instead of a Lightning port, another feature that used to be unique to the iPad Pro.  Apple moved to USB-C on the iPad Air in late 2018, and until now, the iPad Pro had been the only iPad/iPhone sold by Apple to use USB-C.  After using USB-C for two years, I’m a big fan of the technology.  It is easier to find USB-C accessories than it is to find Lightning accessories, and the port is just as small and useful as a Lightning port.

iPad Air versus iPad Pro

If you are an attorney looking to get an iPad, should you get an iPad Pro or the new iPad Air?  If you want the larger screen of the 12.9″ iPad Pro, then you will definitely want to get the iPad Pro.  I love that larger screen for reading documents, and the extra space means that there is enough space to run two apps at once without being too cramped.  Plus, the extra space is wonderful for taking handwritten notes, watching videos, viewing webpages — more is better.

But if you prefer a more traditional iPad size, then you need to compare the fourth-generation iPad Air with the second-generation iPad Pro 11″.  Although you can buy a 64 GB iPad Air for $599, I don’t recommend that size for professional use because you are going to run out of space as you load it up with documents.  But the 256 GB size is a great size, and at that size, you can get the iPad Pro for $899 or the iPad Air for $749.  (If you want even more space — 512 GB or 1 TB — then you will need to get an iPad Pro.)

The additional $150 for the iPad Pro gets you a slightly better screen, an additional ultra wide angle camera that is compatible with portrait mode pictures along with a better flash, four speakers instead of two, and a LiDAR scanner which improves augmented reality.  I suspect that none of those will make a big difference to most attorneys.  And while I would normally think that any iPad Pro would be faster and more responsive than any iPad Air, with the new A14 processor in the iPad Air, I’m not so sure about that … and we’ll have more information when the new iPad Air becomes available in October.  Plus, you get more color choices with the iPad Air.  In addition to the silver and space gray available for the iPad Pro, the iPad Air is available in rose gold, green, and sky blue.

If you can wait a few weeks before you buy, let’s see what the hands-on reviews say before you choose between these two devices.  Nevertheless, at this point, I suspect that I will recommend that most folks wanting an iPad that is around 11″ get the iPad Air for $150 less and use the savings to get a $129 Apple Pencil — unless you know that 256 GB won’t be enough space for you.  But I’ve been using a 256 GB iPad for a long time now, and while I sometimes have to delete some large items that are unnecessary to make space, such as a movie that I downloaded, 256 GB is big enough for me and I load lots and lots of things on my iPad.  (I see that I currently have 10 GB free.)

The fourth-generation iPad Air will be available in October, and it looks fantastic.  It is an iPad that a lot of lawyers will love, whether they are being productive with, or being entertained by, their new device.

The Apple world was relatively quiet this week as everyone is looking forward to the Apple Event scheduled for September 15.  The prevailing speculation continues to be that we will see a new Apple Watch and a new iPad Air.  Will there be anything else?  Yesterday, Kyle Bradshaw took a look at the code for the latest update to the Apple Music app for Android and saw a reference to “Apple One,” which is rumored to be a new subscription service from Apple that allows you to pay one price for multiple Apple services.  But you never know what Apple has up its sleeve.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• California attorney David Sparks reviews the Eufy line of wireless cameras, which work with Apple’s HomeKit.  Unlike many other home security cameras, this one doesn’t try to get you to pay for an online subscription.
• Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac warns of a recently discovered flaw in Bluetooth that would potentially allow a hacker to connect to a device without authentication.  Fortunately, built-in protections on Apple’s mobile devices protects against this sort of flaw — for example, your iPhone asks for your permission before connecting a Bluetooth device — but this is still something to be aware of.
• Joe Wituschek of iMore reports that Google Maps is once again available on the Apple Watch.
• Speaking of maps, Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac has lots of details on the modified cars that Apple uses to get the information used to update Apple Maps.
• I mentioned on Wednesday that you can see an Augmented Reality version of Apple’s invitation for its event next week if you load the event page using an iPhone or iPad and then tap the blue graphic.  If you want to see more high-quality AR examples, Apple has a page on its developer website with lots of 3D models that you can play around with.
• If you have the Apple TV+ channel and you are not watching Ted Lasso yet, do yourself a favor and start watching it now.  The penultimate episode of the first season came out a few hours ago, and the first season wraps up in a week.  I was afraid that it would be like other silly comedies inspired by SNL skits, and boy was I wrong.  The show is genuinely funny and has a great heart that will leave you smiling after every episode — something that all of us can use in 2020.  I cannot say enough good things about this one.
• And finally, here is a short video walk-through from CNA, an English-language news channel based in Singapore, of Apple’s stunning new Apple Store Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, an Apple Store that floats on water and opens to the public today.  Just like the iconic Apple Store Fifth Avenue in New York, this store seems destined to become a big tourist attraction.

Two days ago, Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac reported that Apple seemed to be running out of Apple Watch Series 5 models at the various places that you can buy an Apple Watch.  It appears that now we know why.  Yesterday, Apple announced that it will hold an Apple Event on Tuesday, September 15, at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern.  In a normal year, I would think that this is an announcement of a new iPhone.  From 2012 to 2019, Apple announced a new iPhone every September.  But remember, Apple announced over a month ago that this year would be different (presumably because of COVID-19, although Apple didn’t say) because this year the new iPhone will go on sale “a few weeks later” than normal, which likely means that the new iPhone will also be announced a few weeks later — perhaps October 2020. 

So what will Apple announce next week if not a new iPhone?  The tagline that Apple is using for next week’s event is “Time Flies.”  As John Gruber of Daring Fireball speculates, the word “time” almost certainly indicates that Apple is ready to announce the next version of the Apple Watch.  The Apple Watch Series 5 was announced this time last year (and the Apple Watch Series 4 the year before that), so Apple may now be on a yearly refresh cycle for this product.  Also, there is a rumor that Apple is close to releasing a new version of the iPad Air (last updated in March 2019), so that could be part of next week’s event as well.

Because of COVID-19, this will not be a typical event in which members of the press are in the audience and Apple executives are on stage.  Instead, Apple will stream video of the event for anyone to watch. 

As we wait for the next Apple Event, if you want a cheap thrill, use an iPad or iPhone to load the event page and the tap the blue graphic to see an animated AR version of the graphic.

 

Calum Leslie of the BBC reports that when a penguin — now named Pierre — was found washed up on a beach in Australia, he was brought to the Perth Zoo.  But he was the only penguin there, so to stop him from getting lonely, they let the penguin watch penguins from other zoos on an iPad.  In other words, the penguin was forced to social distance, and the only way he could see and hear others was to use video streaming.  Trust me, Pierre, we can all empathize with you right now.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Apple released iOS 13.7 this week.  It adds COVID-19 exposure notifications that work without you having to first download a special app.  However, you still need to be in a region in which the government supports the Apple-Google notification system.   As Igor Bonifacic of Engadget explains, there are currently only a few states in the United States that support this system.
• Bradley Chambers of 9to5Mac recommends apps to extend the features of HomeKit.  One of the apps that he recommends is HomeRun, an AppleWatch app that makes it simple to turn devices on and off from your Apple Watch.  I use that app almost every day, and it works very well for me.
• Margaret Barthel of DCist reports that in the Washington D.C. area you can now use your iPhone as a Metro Card.  I used to ride the Metro every day when I went to law school in D.C., but that was in the early 1990s, so I wasn’t getting much use out of the iPhone at the time.
• As Apple’s website explains, the latest version of the iMovie app can add a song to a video project, and then iMovie will automatically adjust the song to fit the length of your project.  The Memories part of the Photos app can do this as well, and it is a pretty slick feature.
• Using an iPhone to take pictures underwater may damage your iPhone.  It is safer to use a waterproof case, such as the Catalyst Waterproof Case.  But if you want to risk it anyway, Erin Brooks offers some very helpful tips for underwater iPhone photography in an article for The Sweet Setup.
• If you are looking for some good music to listen to this weekend, WWOZ in New Orleans is hosting Festing In Place: The Next Fest Thing featuring seven days of recordings of live performances from Jazz Fest and other music festivals in New Orleans.  The lineup is very impressive.
• And finally, here is a clever new video from Apple emphasizing privacy as an advantage of the iPhone.

I was the guest on the latest episode of the Tech Savvy Lawyer Podcast, hosted Washington, D.C. lawyer Michael D.J. Eisenberg.  Eisenberg’s practice areas include federal employment issues, military appellate law, social security appeals, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, and Veterans’ Benefit Appeals.  In other words, he represents veterans, military members, and federal employees.  On the Tech Savvy Lawyer Podcast, he talks to lawyers and other legal professionals about using technology in a law practice.  I’ve enjoyed listening to the other episodes of this podcast, and I enjoyed being his guest for this episode.

The episode that was released yesterday was actually recorded on April 28, 2020.  Although I’m now back to working in my office in downtown New Orleans, at that point I was very much in the work-from-home mode while my kids were doing school-from-home.  Thus, some of what I said in that podcast about using an iPad and iPhone in a law practice came from the perspective of using those devices for remote working.  Nevertheless, everything that we talked about four months ago remains 100% relevant today.  We talked about some favorite iPad apps, using an iPad and using a PC at the same time, videoconference apps, and more.

You can click on the link below to listen to this episode in your podcast player of choice, or click here to listen on the web.

• Overcast
• Apple Podcasts
• Castro
• Pocket Casts

If you were to ask either one of my kids, they would tell you that there was only one story in the news this week that matters:  the dispute between Epic and Apple over whether Epic should have to pay Apple the same 30% for in-app purchases in the Fortnite game that other app developers pay Apple.  So far, both sides have drawn lines in the sand as they battle in court, and as a result, my kids and countless others have lost cross-platform play and the ability to experience the new features of the game.  As Jason Snell notes in his good analysis of how this all effects users, there are arguments to be made on both sides.  And now, the other news of note from the past week:

• As California attorney David Sparks notes, the GoodNotes app was updated this week to version 5.5, and one of the new features is the ability to share a notebook with someone else so that you can both take notes in the same notebook.  Unfortunately, there are some limitations.  First, as Sparks notes, when you write something in a notebook, it takes about 20-40 seconds for the other person to see the change.  There is a second problem that Sparks does not note but which limits the usefulness of this feature for attorneys.  As GoodNotes itself explains in this article posted on Medium:  “Please note that shared documents are currently public, which means that everyone with the link can open and edit a shared document with GoodNotes. For now, we recommend sharing links with trusted people only or making sure not to include any sensitive data.”  I wouldn’t be comfortable with putting confidential information in a notebook that anyone in the world can access if they just guess or somehow gain access to the URL.  But GoodNotes had to start somewhere, and hopefully this feature will be improved in the future in a way that makes it more useful for attorneys who want to collaborate.
• Every year, Fastcase announces the Fastcase 50, a group of lawyers, judges, and other folks who have something to do with the law who Fastcase believes made important contributions to the law — often, but not always, the legal technology side of the law.  The 2020 class was announced this week, and I was happy to see that Ian O’Flaherty was honored.  Ian is the founder of LIT Software, which makes essential iPad apps for lawyers including TrialPad, TranscriptPad, and DocReviewPad.  Congratulations, Ian!
• On Tuesday, September 29, 2020, at 1 Pacific / 4 Eastern, I’ll be the guest on the Tech Talk Law Happy Hour with D.C. attorney Melissa Kucinski and Florida attorney Brian Karpf.  In this live video presentation, I’ll answer questions and provide tips for using an iPad (and iPhone) (and probably Apple Watch too) in a law practice.  You can sign up for free, and you’ll be able to submit questions using the chat feature.  I hope to “see” some of you there.
• Speaking of appearing via video, Jim Calloway of the Oklahoma Bar Association offers some good tips for lawyers appearing on videoconferences.
• Here’s one useful tip for participating in a videoconference:  don’t take a shower while you are attending a Pittsburgh school board meeting.  Or for that matter when attending a Spanish council meeting.
• In an article for OneZero on Medium, David Pogue discusses one of the newest Fitbit watches, which has lots of sensors — even more than the Apple Watch.  And as Pogue explains, with these sensors, the watch was sometimes (about half of the time) able to sense that the person wearing the watch was infected by COVID-19, a day or two before symptoms began.  Just a few weeks ago, I mentioned a similar story from Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal.  It will be interesting to see if Apple uses some of these additional sensors on future versions of the Apple Watch.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball warns that if you only have a six-digit passcode on your iPhone or iPad, there are devices available like GrayKey which are made for cops but are likely also in the hands of criminals that can crack your passcode.  And then once your device, they can access all of the passwords in your iCloud keychain.  Yikes.  The moral of the story:  it is safer if you have a longer numeric passcode or if you use an alphanumeric passcode.
• This week, Apple updated its free iMovie app for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.  There are new soundtracks, performance improvements, and there are even new filters to give your videos a hand-drawn look — perfect for when you want to create your own version of the a-ha Take On Me video.
• If you ask either one of my kids, they would tell you that by far the most important news of the past week was the dispute between Apple and EPIC over Fortnite on the iPhone/iPad.  In an article for Macworld, Jason Snell offers a good analysis of the dispute regarding the App Store.
• And finally, Apple is about to open a new Apple Store in Singapore called Apple Marina Bay Sands.  According to Nick Statt of The Verge, it is the “only Apple retail shop on the planet that floats on water.”  The colorful orb on the water looks cool during the day but even better at night, as you can see in this video from Singapore photographer SG Yap:

[UPDATE 11/5/2020:  Apple has now started an official service program to address this issue.  Read this post for the latest information.]

Apple started selling the AirPods Pro on October 30, 2019, and due to limited supplies, many of the early adopters did not receive them for many weeks.  I received mine in mid-December of 2019, and I wrote a review a month later on January 14, 2020.  In mid-April 2020 — about four months after I started using my AirPods Pro — I started to experience a problem with the left AirPod:  every once in a while, I would hear some bizarre sounds.  It sounded almost like I was listening to a traditional speaker and there was something slightly touching the tweeter and occasionally making a vibrating sound.  It was more pronounced when I was moving around, such as using a treadmill.  I would especially notice it if I was eating something crunchy while wearing them — as I would bite down, I would hear a bizarre crackling or static sound.  I was convinced that it was some sort of hardware issue.  It didn’t happen all of the time, but when it did happen, it was annoying.

I finally reached out to Apple support near the end of April, using the feature where you use the Messages app on the iPhone to text with a support professional.  (That process, by the way, works incredibly well and is so much better than talking to someone on the phone and dealing with hold times.  There are often delays between me typing something and Apple responding, but I can do something else at the same time and just deal with the text messages whenever they arrive.  Great system.)  The support professional asked me for my serial number (here is how you find that), asked me to reset the AirPods Pro to see if that fixed it (here is how you do that), and then asked me if the issue persists in all three modes.  I had noticed it in the noise cancellation and the transparency modes, the only two modes that I use, so I enabled the off mode to see what happened.  To my surprise, that “fixed” it.  It was at that point that I realized that this bizarre noise was not a hardware issue but instead a software issue associated with the noise cancellation/transparency modes.

I’ve seem some speculation that the microphone plays a role.  The AirPod seems to think it hears a noise and tries to cancel the noise (in noise cancellation mode) or pass through the noise (in transparency mode) but something goes wrong in doing so.  This would be consistent with my experiences.  I don’t think that the problem ever occurred for me when there was complete silence around me.

But for the pandemic, the next step probably would have been for me to go to an Apple Store.  But with all of the stores closed, the support professional instead sent me a replacement left AirPod via FedEx.  There was no charge for this.  (AirPods Pro have a one-year warranty.  Or you can pay $29 for AppleCare+, at the time that you purchase the AirPods Pro or within 60 days, to increase that to a two-year warranty.)  However, Apple did put a $99 hold on my credit card — the cost of a replacement AirPod — which was removed after I received the replacement AirPod and then used the same box with a self-addressed return label to send the broken left AirPod to Apple.  It only took a few days to receive the replacement left AirPod from Apple.  I’ve now been using that replacement unit for almost four months, and I’ve had no problems with it.

Then I went through the whole experience again with right AirPod in mid-August — about eight months after I started using it.  I started hearing the same bizarre noises, but of course this time, I knew what was going on.  I contacted Apple using the Messages app, and a few days later, I received the replacement right AirPod.  I’ve now been using that replacement right AirPod for about 10 days.  So far, the replacement works great.

Apple has a page on its support website that describes this issue, but it doesn’t say very much other than to contact Apple if it happens.  From my research online, I see that the problem I experienced has been happening to a large number of people.  If it happens to you, now you know what to do about it.  Some folks even say that they went through all of these steps, got replacement units, and then those replacement units had the same problem so they had to get a second replacement.

I use my AirPods Pro every single day, multiple times a day.  I use them to listen to podcasts and music.  I use them when I’m on the treadmill.  I use them connected to my Windows work computer when I do videoconferences in my office.  I use them with my iPhone and iPad when I don’t want to disturb others.  And I really like both the noise cancellation and the transparency features, which are a big improvement over the non-Pro AirPods.  Because I get so much use out of them, it is annoying to have something go wrong.  Fortunately, for now, at least, Apple is making it easy to get a replacement AirPod if this happens to you.  As for what Apple will do after the warranty ends, I’m not sure.

The Apple Music app on the iPhone has a Radio tab where you used to be able to listen to a station called Beats 1.  Apple has now rebranded that station to Apple Music 1, and also launched two new radio stations:  Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country.  The “Hits” station features favorite songs from the ’80s, ’90s, and 200s.  It also features some specific shows that you can listen to on demand — which, unlike live radio, gives you the ability to skip ahead if you don’t like a song.  As someone who graduated high school in 1987, I enjoyed the first episode of ’80s Radio with Huey Lewis.  The songs are great, and it is interesting to listen to the information about the songs that Huey Lewis provides between tracks.  Other folks you might recognize with shows on Apple Music include Billie Eilish, Elton John, Frank Ocean, the Backstreet Boys, Alanis Morissette, Snoop Dogg, Meghan Trainor, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, and many, many more.  If you are looking for something new to listen to during the pandemic, check out one of these offerings on the new Apple radio stations.  And now, the news of note from the past week: 

• I mention this periodically, but it is always worth saying again:  if you don’t use a password manager, you really should.  Scott Gilbertson of Wired discuses some of the best password manager options, and names 1Password the best overall password manager.
• Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post describes the new COVID-19 exposure notification app available in Virginia that uses technology from Apple and Google.
• Jason Cross of Macworld describes some of the accessibility features coming in iOS 14 that everyone may found useful.  I’m looking forward to trying out the Back Tap feature.
• Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac describes how you can hide photos from your iPhone camera roll in iOS 14.
• Sean Endicott of Windows Central notes that the Microsoft Teams app was updated this week to let you see six people at one once on the iPhone (2×4) and nine people at once on the iPad (3×3).
• I seriously doubt that Apple would do something like this with the iPhone, but former Apple employee David Shayer wrote an interesting article in TidBITS about how he helped the U.S. government create a top secret iPod back in 2005 that was used for … well, he’s not exactly sure, but he has a theory.
• And finally, at some point in the future, we will have an iPhone that supports 5G.  How useful might that be?  Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal explores that question in this interesting (and amusing) video:

A USB-to-Lightning cable is probably the most essential accessory for an iPhone.  For many years, I used the white cords sold by Apple and included with the iPhone, but they seemed to wear out far too quickly, especially on one of the ends where this is a lot of wear-and-tear.  After trying some of the different third-party cables, a few years ago I started using the cables made by Anker.  I’ve been very happy with them, and over the years I have purchased quite a few of them for me, my wife, and my kids.  Like the Apple cables, some of my Anker cables have worn out over time after a few years – especially the ones that get a lot of abuse by my kids — but they have worked better than the Apple cables and they are cheaper.  And over the years, Anker has created even more durable versions of its cables.  The latest generation is the Anker PowerLine+ III line, and I recently purchased one to replace a PowerLine+ I cable that is starting to occasionally lose its connection with my iPhone if I move the cable around.  This is the cable that I’ve been using in my car for about three years to connect to a CarPlay system.  That cable has an 18-month warranty, and since I leave it in my car, it gets exposed to a lot of high temperatures and gets a lot of use.  For example, my kids sometimes use my iPhone in the back seat to select music to play while I am driving (which is one of the reasons that I use the 6-foot length), and that can result in a lot of tugging on the connectors at the end of the cable.  In today’s post, I’ll talk about not just this specific cable but the entire Anker cable line because Anker’s own website doesn’t do a great job of explaining the differences between the different lines of cables.

In this post, I’m providing prices for the 6-foot version of each cable as a point of comparison.  You can pay a little less for a 3-foot version and, for some models, a little more for a 10-foot version.  Also, note that the prices change from time to time.

PowerLine versus PowerLine+

One series of cables from Anker is called PowerLine.  Cables in this line have a PVC coating that feels sort of rubbery, similar to the standard white Apple cable.  A 6-foot version of the first-generation PowerLine costs $14.99.  Anker says that a typical cable sold by other companies will last for about 1,000 bends, whereas its first-generation PowerLine will last for 6,000 bends and comes with an 18-month warranty.

Another series of cables from Anker is called the PowerLine+.  It features a double-braided nylon coating to make it more durable.  The first-generation PowerLine+ also has an 18-month warranty, and Anker says that it will last over 6,000 bends.  A 6-foot version of the first-generation PowerLine+ costs $16.99.

For many years, I’ve typically purchased a PowerLine+ for myself, but my kids sometimes preferred the bright colors that are available in the PowerLine series.

I versus II versus III

The original PowerLine and PowerLine+ don’t have “I” next to them, but I’ll use that roman numeral in this section just to distinguish between the I, the II that was reviewed on iPhone J.D. in 2018, and the III that I’m reviewing today. 

Anker says that the PowerLine II is twice as durable as the PowerLine I — 12,000 bends versus 6,000 bends.  And it currently costs the same, $14.99 for a 6-foot version.  Instead of an 18-month warranty, Anker gives it a lifetime warranty for all quality issues.

Anker says that the PowerLine+ II is about five times as durable as the PowerLine+ I — 30,000 bends versus over 6,000 bends.  As I described (and showed in pictures) in my 2018 post, the PowerLine+ II cord is just a hair thicker than the PowerLine+ I cord, and the plugs on the ends of the PowerLine+ II are a little bit larger and are more tapered than the PowerLine+ cord.  It costs $20.99 for a 6-foot version. 

Although I’ve had two or three first-generation Anker cords wear out over the years (after the 18-month warranty), I haven’t yet had a PowerLine+ II cord wear out.  For example, my wife uses a PowerLine+ II cord that I bought about 19 months ago in the kitchen, and it still looks and works just like new.  Thus, I have never had a reason to investigate making a warranty claim with Anker.

That brings us to the latest line, the III-series.  Once again, you can get it either in the PowerLine or the PowerLine+ depending upon the coating for the cord that you prefer.

Anker says that the PowerLine III is about twice as durable as the PowerLine II — 25,000 bends versus 12,000 bends.  It is also thinner than the PowerLine II, so it takes up less space in your briefcase, purse, etc.  This image from Anker’s website shows this:

You can get a 6-foot version of the PowerLine III for $17.99 for the black version or $15.99 for the white version.  I have not yet tried a PowerLine III cable, but if you prefer this style of coating for the cord, I would recommend getting the PowerLine III over the original PowerLine or the PowerLine II.  Not only do you get something more durable for just a few dollars more, but it is always nice for a cable to take up less space.

That brings me to the current top-of-the-line Anker cable that I purchased, the PowerLine+ III.  Anker says that the PowerLine+ III is slightly more durable than the PowerLine+ II — 35,000 bends versus 30,000 bends.  It also comes with a lifetime warranty.  You can get a 6-foot version of the PowerLine+ III for $25.99.  I bought the black one, but you can also get it in silver.

In addition to having a more durable cord, there seem to be two other major changes for the PowerLine+ III.

First, the plastic on the USB and the Lightning ends utilizes what Anker calls a premium design and material.  It certainly feels stronger and durable.  And considering that the connectors on each end of a cord are the stress points, you want them to be as strong as possible.  Every time I plug my iPhone into this cable, the connection seems incredibly secure, better than I’ve ever experienced with any other Lightning cable.

In this picture, you can see the USB connector end of three PowerLine+ cables.  The top is the PowerLine+ III, the middle is the PowerLine+ II, and the bottom is the original PowerLine+ I.

The next picture shows the other end of the cable with the Lightning connector.  The top is the PowerLine+ III, the middle is the PowerLine+ II, and the bottom is the original PowerLine+ I.

A second difference is that the PowerLine+ III cord is a little bit thinner than previous generations. Anker says:  “PowerLine+ III has an ultra-slim design with a 35,000-bend lifespan for a cable that is slimmer, yet stronger than ever before.”  The difference in cord circumference is minor in the PowerLine+ series (not as dramatic as the new PowerLine III series).  In the following picture, the new PowerLine+ III is at the top and the original PowerLine+ I is at the bottom.  You can only barely see the difference in the below picture, but trust me, when each cord is wrapped up, I can definitely feel the difference between the two.  And I find the slimmer cord easier to work with, so this is a nice new feature.

No case

When I purchased previous generations of the PowerLine and PowerLine+ cables, they came with cases, pictured in my 2018 post.  The 6-foot PowerLine+ III that I purchased did not come with a case, just a small Velcro strap that you can attach to one of the ends of the cable.  Over the years, I’ve only rarely used the cases so I don’t really miss it.  And a Velcro strap that you can (optionally) keep attached to the cord seems more useful.  I guess that omitting a case is one of the ways that Anker is keeping the price lower on the new model.

Conclusion

Although Anker has come out with three different generations of PowerLine cables, the company continues to sell all three, in two different lines, and I think that this makes sense.  For a kid that is going to abuse the cable, you might want to get one of the cheapest models and know that it will need to be replaced in the future.  If you prefer the feel and additional durability of the double-braided nylon coating, then the PowerLine+ series is the way to go. 

The top-of-the-line PowerLine+ III is the most expensive model, but the difference between $15 for the cheapest model and $26 for this newest 6-foot cable isn’t really that big of a difference.  Since I plan to use this cable in my car — which as I noted above, puts a lot of stress on the cable — I figured that it was worth it to spend just a few more dollars for the best cable that Anker sells.  Whichever model you decide is right for you, I can definitely recommend Anker’s line of cables.

Click here for the PowerLine+ III from Amazon ($25.99)

Click here for the PowerLine+ II from Amazon ($20.99)

Click here for the first-generation PowerLine+ from Amazon ($16.00)

Click here for the PowerLine III from Amazon ($17.99)

Click here for the PowerLine II from Amazon ($14.99)

Click here for the first-generation PowerLine from Amazon ($14.99)