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Yesterday, Apple introduced its new iPhone 12 line, and one of the taglines used was:  “It’s a leap year.”  Give the marketing folks some credit; I agree with that one.  Apple introduces a new iPhone every year, and every few years it releases a model that is a major improvement.  For example, when I reviewed the iPhone X in 2017, I said that it had advanced so much from the prior year — thanks to the large screen and thin bezels — that it felt futuristic.  In 2020, I think that Apple has once again taken a great leap forward.  Here are the features of the iPhone 12 line that I think that lawyers will love.

Four new models

Apple introduced four different models of the iPhone 12 yesterday.  The standard model is the iPhone 12, which starts at $799.  If you want the same design in something smaller, the iPhone 12 mini starts at $699.  If you want the same design and size as the iPhone 12 with more professional features, you can get the iPhone 12 Pro, which starts at $999, or you can get the iPhone 12 Pro Max, the largest iPhone that Apple has ever made, starting at $1099. 

Apple is still selling the entry-level iPhone SE (second generation) that it introduced earlier this year at $399, the 2019 iPhone 11 at $599, and the 2018 iPhone XR for $499.  Apple showed this slide during yesterday’s presentation to show the range of prices and sizes:

Note that, for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini models, the price reflects a $30 discount provided by AT&T and Verizon.  If you purchase an unlocked version or a version for Sprint, T-Mobile, or other carriers, you’ll have to pay an additional $30.  The prices for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are the same for any carrier or for an unlocked version.

That’s seven different iPhone models that you can currently purchase from Apple, four of which were introduced yesterday.  The variety is impressive.

In the rest of this post, I’ll discuss the differences between the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro.  The other two models are essentially the same, except that they are smaller or bigger. 

For example, the iPhone 12 mini has all of the same features of the iPhone 12 in a smaller package.  The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are 5.78" x 2.82".  At 5.18" x 2.53", the iPhone 12 mini is the smallest iPhone that Apple has introduced since the 4.87" x 2.3" iPhone 5 design that Apple first introduced in 2012.  (That same design was used again in 2013 for the iPhone 5s and in 2016 for the iPhone SE (first generation)). 

Similarly, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has almost exactly the same features as the iPhone 12 Pro except that it is bigger at 6.33" x 3.07".  (There are some minor differences in the camera, discussed below.)

New design

There are lots of great features in the iPhone 12 line, but I strongly suspect that my favorite new feature will be the shape.  One of my all-time favorite iPhone designs was the iPhone 4, introduced in 2010, because of its flat sides.  Unlike the curved sides that Apple used before and afterwards, a flat side is easier to hold securely in a hand.  Apple used the same design in the iPhone 5 introduced in 2012 except that the screen was taller, and I loved that design too.  The iPhone 12 is larger than the iPhone 4/5, but my hope is that the flat sides will feel just as good.

When I reviewed the iPhone 6 in 2014, I noted that the curved sides felt nice, but I warned that “as good as those curved sides feel, the one downside is that it makes the iPhone 6 (without a case) more prone to slipping out of your hand.”  And sure enough, I’ve been using a case on my iPhone since 2014.  My hope is that the iPhone 12 feels more secure in my hand, much like the iPhone 5, and that as a result, I won’t feel the need to use a case all of the time.

The iPhone 12 uses aluminum on the edges and comes in blue, green, red, white, or black.  The iPhone 12 Pro uses stainless steel on the edges and comes in Pacific Blue, Gold, Graphite, or Silver.

Ceramic Shield

There’s another reason that I may be more comfortable not using a case on my next iPhone.  Apple is introducing a new technology that it worked on with Corning called Ceramic Shield.  Here is how Apple’s website describes this new technology:

It’s made by introducing nano-ceramic crystals — which are actually harder than most metals — into glass.  Sounds simple, but it’s incredibly difficult because ceramic isn’t transparent.  By controlling the type of crystals and degree of crystallinity, we developed an exclusive formula that maximizes the toughness of the ceramic while remaining optically clear.  This was the breakthrough that made Ceramic Shield ideally suited for the display.  It’s a first in any smartphone, and it’s tougher than any smartphone glass.

The Ceramic Shield certainly sounds good, but another difference in the iPhone 12 line is that the screen sits flush to the edge of the phone, which protects it even more.  Put it all together, and Apple says that the new iPhone 12 line has 4x better drop performance, which Apple says is the largest ever year-over-year improvement for the iPhone.

Although I do not plan to test this new feature myself — at least, not intentionally — I’m sure that professionals will run scientific drop tests and many folks seeking YouTube stardom will run unscientific drop tests.  Assuming that their experiences are consistent with what Apple claims — and I seriously doubt that Apple would make this claim if it couldn’t back it up — then this will be a significant improvement in iPhone durability.

More screen

The iPhone 12 line follows a trend that started with the iPad Pro in 2018:  a smaller bezel with a squared-off edge.  This has been a fantastic improvement to the iPad, allowing the device to be smaller and easier to hold while the usable screen size is larger.

For the iPhone 12, the usable screen size (measured diagonally) stays at 6.1", the same as the iPhone 11, but the phone itself is smaller,  5.78" high instead of 5.94", and 2.82" wide instead of 2.98".  It is also a better screen; unlike the LCD display used on the iPhone 11, the iPhone 12 gains a Super Retina XDR OLED display (just like the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro).

For the iPhone 12 Pro, the usable screen size increases from 5.8" to 6.1".  There is a slight increase in the size of the device, but hopefully it won’t be very noticeable.  The iPhone 12 Pro is 5.78" compared to the 5.67" of the iPhone 11 Pro, and the width is only a tiny bit larger at 2.82" versus 2.81".  You are more likely to notice in your hand a change in width versus a change in height, so that’s why I hope that the iPhone 12 Pro will feel essentially the same as the iPhone 11 Pro while also providing more usable screen space.

For the iPhone 12 Pro Max, the usable screen size increases from 6.5" to 6.7" — getting even closer to the 7.9" screen size of the iPad mini.  Once again, there is a slight height increase of 6.33" for the iPhone 12 Pro Max versus the 6.22" iPhone 11 Pro Max, but the width is very similar:  3.07" for the iPhone 12 Pro Max versus 3.06" for the iPhone 11 Pro Max. 

More usable screen space is always appreciated.  In the past, I’ve taken advantage of increases in screen space to see more of a document on my screen, to see more items in a list at a single time (such as more emails in an Inbox or more items on a to-do list).  And all of this allows me to be more productive in my work.  Providing just a little more screen size while making an iPhone a little smaller and easier to hold seems like an improvement that many lawyers will appreciate.

Faster

Apple designs its own processors and as a result, for many years now, has had the best smartphone chips.  This year, the iPhone 12 line gets the A14 Bionic.

For folks interested in the technical aspects, the A14 is certainly an improvement.  It is the first smartphone chip built on a 5-nanometer process, and since the chip itself is so small, it can do more while using less power.  It also has a faster CPU and GPU, a better neural engine for faster machine learning, and much more.  This is the same chip that Apple showed off last month in the new iPad Air (4th generation).

But most folks don’t care about the technical aspects.  They will just notice that the new iPhone is more responsive, performs tasks even more quickly, and can do things that simply were not possible with the prior models of the iPhone.

5G cellular networking

When Apple introduced the new iPhones yesterday, the first thing that Apple emphasized is that this is the first 5G iPhone.  From a marketing standpoint, it certainly sounds good to have the latest-and-greatest cellular technology.  But I’m reserving judgment until I see how it works.  5G has been available in other smartphones for a while now, and the reviews have been rather meh.  If you are in the right spot, it has the potential to offer much faster communications, but often at the cost of running down your battery much more quickly.  And 4G LTE is more than fast enough for most tasks.

Moreover, not all 5G is the same.  For example, AT&T (my current carrier) touts that it has nationwide 5G, but what AT&T calls 5G is not much faster than 4G LTE.  AT&T also has 5G+, which is closer to what most folks think of when they say “5G” because it uses millimeter wave (mmWave) technology, which can provide much faster speed.  But AT&T’s 5G+ is currently only available in certain parts of 35 cities (Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, King of Prussia, Las Vegas, Louisville, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Miami, Miami Gardens, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Ocean City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Waco, and West Hollywood).  Verizon calls its version of mmWave “Ultra Wideband,” and it is currently available in 55 cities, 43 stadiums and arenas, and seven airports.  Note that the iPhone 12 line only supports the mmWave type of 5G in the United States.

If you are in a location in the United States where mmWave technology is available, it can in theory offer 4 Gbps of performance, and in practice can often deliver 1 Gbps, which is as fast as the fastest consumer Internet available in many parts of the country.  That’s fast.  However, you only get that speed when you are close to a cell tower and have a relatively clear line-of-sight to the tower.  Even rain can significantly interfere with performance, and it often does not work well when you are indoors.  During yesterday’s presentation, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said that some NFL football stadiums will feature 5G, and I can imagine that being an environment in which your iPhone might be able to make a good connection with a milometer wave antenna.  Vestberg explained that this much higher speed in a stadium means that you could watch up to seven camera angles on your phone at the same time.

Although 4G LTE is often fast enough for lawyers and other professionals, faster networking can be useful in some situations.  For example, if you are using remote access software to access your computer from your iPhone while you are out of the office, you want to have the fastest connection possible.  If you are downloading huge exhibits or documents, it is nice to minimize delays.  But in light of all of the current uncertainty about how well 5G works and how much it can drain your battery, perhaps my favorite part of Apple’s description of 5G in the new iPhone is that Apple is using something it calls Smart Data Mode.  This means that the iPhone 12 models will normally stay in 4G LTE mode and only switch to 5G if it is going to make a noticeable difference.  Hopefully, this will mean that battery life won’t suffer too much as a result of the new iPhone supporting 5G.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m sure that at some point in the future, not having 5G will seem archaic.  Thus, it is nice that the iPhone 12 is more future-proof than earlier models.  But I’m not going to get too excited about 5G until I test it, and I’m not expecting much.

Camera

The camera on the original iPhone was pretty pitiful, but Apple has improved the camera every year to the point where it is now one of the best cameras you can buy.  For many years, the iPhone has been my favorite device for taking video, and it is getting even closer to making my big and bulky SLR camera obsolete — all in a package that I can slip into a pocket.  I love taking pictures to preserve memories, so I’m always a big fan of the annual improvements to the iPhone camera.

The default lens on the iPhone 12 line (which Apple calls the Wide lens) features an f/1.6 aperture.  (Last year it was f/1.8, which is smaller.)  The larger aperture in the iPhone 12 line means that the sensor gets even more light, which reduces the shutter speed time.  That means that there is less blur when objects are moving and less noise when you are in a low-light situation.  Apple says that it is a 27% improvement in low-light conditions.

All of the iPhone 12 devices have both a Wide lens and an Ultra Wide lens.  Just like last year, the Pro models add a Telephoto lens.  (In this post from 2019, I showed you why it is nice to have the three different lens sizes.)  If you get the iPhone 12 Pro Max, you get an even better telephoto lens — 2.5x versus the 2.0x that the 2019 pro models offered and the 2020 iPhone 12 Pro offers.  The Pro Max also offers better optical image stabilization.

Both iPhone 12 Pro models include a LiDAR scanner, which uses lasers to scan the outside world so that the iPhone can sense where objects are located around you.  This improves the camera by providing faster autofocus, especially in low-light conditions.

Because of the power of the A14 Bionic processor, all iPhone 12 models are even better at taking video.  All models offer 4K HDR video with Dolby Vision — a first for a smartphone camera.  The iPhone now captures 700 million colors, a 60x improvement.  And by recording in Dolby Vision, Apple says that each frame of the video looks more true to life. 

Finally, if you like to take digital pictures using the RAW format — which gives you more ability to manipulate the photo after you take it to make it look just right – later this year, Apple will add Apple ProRAW in a software update, but only for the Pro models.

MagSafe wireless charging

All of the new iPhones support a new version of wireless charging that Apple is calling MagSafe.  The new wireless MagSafe charging is twice as fast as last year, supporting 15w charging.  Also, MagSafe supports magnetic attachments.  For charging, this is a good idea because it helps to ensure that the wireless charger is lined up correctly to get the best possible charge.

Additionally, other accessories can take advantage of a magnetic connection.  Apple introduced new cases that attach with magnets to the back of the iPhone.  Additionally, a new leather wallet accessory from Apple will probably be very popular, allowing you to store a photo ID, credit card, etc. in a small, shielded sleeve attached by magnets to the back of the iPhone.

Third parties can also take advantage of MagSafe to create their own magnetic attachments.

What’s missing

Although the new iPhone 12 line looks great, there are some items that will be missed.  First, the new iPhones don’t include a button with Touch ID, like the new iPad Air.  That will be fine when the pandemic is over, but it would have been nice to be able to unlock my iPhone while wearing a mask without having to type in my passcode.

The new iPhones come with a Lightning-to-USB-C charging cord, but not the charging brick that plugs into a wall.  Apple hopes that folks already have a bunch of those, and said that it wants to protect the environment by not including unnecessary items in the box.  But if you need one, you can buy one from Apple for only $19.  Similarly, the iPhone no longer comes with wired EarPods headphones.  Again, if you need another pair, you can buy them for $19.  Both of those items cost $29 before yesterday, so it’s nice that Apple slashed $10 off of the price.  Of course, there are many other options from other companies that are cheaper and/or have additional features.

Which to get?

Although the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max won’t go on sale until November 13 (pre-orders on November 6), you can pre-order an iPhone 12 or an iPhone 12 Pro this Friday, October 16, and those devices will be available a week later on October 23.  If you are ready to get a new iPhone, which one should you get?

The first decision is size.  If you want a really small phone, get the iPhone 12 mini.  If you want a really large phone, get the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  If you want the medium size, then you need to decide between the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro.

The second decision is the camera versus the cost.  Although you can purchase an iPhone 12 with only 64GB for $799, that’s not a lot of space for an iPhone.  I encourage you to get at least the 128GB model so that you have ample space for photos, videos, documents, etc.  The 128GB model is $849 for an iPhone 12 and $999 for the iPhone 12 Pro.  (Add $100 to either model for 256GB.)  The extra $150 is worth it if you care about iPhone photography, but if that isn’t important to you, then just get the iPhone 12.  With the more expensive Pro model, you gain a Telephoto lens, LiDAR to improve autofocus (especially in low-light conditions), ProRAW (when it comes out later this year), and a few other camera improvements.  And if you want the best camera possible and don’t mind a larger device and higher cost, the camera on the Pro Max is slightly better than the camera on the Pro.

For me, the decision is pretty easy.  The mini is cute but the screen is too small.  The Pro Max would be great to use, but I think I would find it too big to carry around all of the time.  And iPhone photography is important to me, so I want the better camera on the iPhone 12 Pro.  I cannot even count the number of times that I’ve used the telephoto lens on my current iPhone to take a better picture or video of my daughter playing soccer, volleyball, etc., not to mention all of the other interesting pictures I’ve taken with the telephoto lens.  And I’m curious to try ProRAW.  Although I’m tempted to get the largest 512GB size to be able to carry around even more of my photos and videos, I don’t think I can justify the additional $200 for that, so it will most likely be the 256GB iPhone 12 Pro for me.

Conclusion

I’m very excited about the new iPhone 12.  It includes the types of improvements that we expect to see every year, such as a better processor and camera.  It adds a new design with flat sides, something that we haven’t seen on an iPhone in a long time, and this may be the new feature that I notice and appreciate the most.  And MagSafe is not only a wireless charging improvement but also a new way to add accessories.  I can’t wait to try out this new design, and if it is as good as I think it will be, I suspect that this is what iPhones will look like for many years.

Today at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern, Apple will introduce the 2020 version of the iPhone.  Technically, one new iPhone was already released this year.  The second-generation iPhone SE was released in April, and it is a nice entry-level iPhone.  The SE is especially nice for those who prefer a Touch ID button versus a larger screen with Face ID.  (Before the pandemic, I considered that just a way to save money; now — in the age of wearing a mask —I consider it a feature.)  But this is the time of year when we get to see Apple’s new flagship iPhone.

Lots of websites have rumors on what Apple may announce today, but since the event is just a few hours away, I recommend that we all just wait to see what Apple announces.  If we are lucky, perhaps Apple will find a new way to amaze and delight its customers.

You can watch a live stream of the event at this page on Apple’s website.

If you received a free one-year subscription to Apple TV+ when you purchased an iPhone a year ago, the free period was supposed to end next month.  However, Jason Snell of Six Colors reports that Apple decided to extend the free subscription until February 2021, presumably because some of the new shows that should have been available right now to entice you to renew your subscription are delayed due to the pandemic.  Apple could have made this announcement on Tuesday at the next Apple Event; the fact that Apple released this news before then makes me hope that Apple has a huge list of exciting announcements on Tuesday and didn’t have room for this one.  Here are the shows that I have watched so far on Apple TV+, listed roughly in order of how much I enjoyed them:  (1) Ted Lasso, (2) For All Mankind, (3) Trying, (4) The Morning Show, (5) Mythic Quest, (6) Dickinson, (7) See, (8) Home.  To be clear, I enjoyed all of those shows, even the ones near the bottom of my list, just not as much as the ones near the top.  I also enjoyed Greyhound, the only movie I’ve watched on Apple TV+.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• I mentioned yesterday that I expect to lots of new apps released that are specifically designed with the widgets feature in mind.  Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac reviews one such app, an app called Hidgets that displays selected health data on your home screen.
• Here is another one.  Brent Dirks of AppAdvice reviews Sticky Widgets, which adds sticky notes to your screen.
• On the other hand, I absolutely, positively, cannot in any way condone doing this to your iPhone screen with widgets.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reviews the Wi-Fi Smart Lock from August, a smart door lock that works with Apple’s HomeKit technology.
• Michael Simon of Macworld reviews the Apple Watch Series 6.
• Nicole Wetsman of The Verge explains why Apple needed to get U.S. FDA approval for the EKG feature that it included with the Series 4, but not for the blood oxygen monitor that it included with the new Series 6.
• Tim Hardwick of MacRumors offers tips and tricks for the Apple Watch.
• In the latest episode of the Same Brain video/audio podcast, Justine “iJustine” Ezarik and her sister Jenna interview Apple’s Bob Borchers and John Temus to discuss the new iPads.  I’m always amazed at the quality of the videos produced by iJustine.
• And finally, this post started with Apple TV+ so let’s end with it too.  Here is a trailer for the upcoming Apple TV+ show The Snoopy Show.  It brings back so many happy memories of me watching the Charlie Brown specials near the holidays that I’m a little bummed that my kids are too old to watch cartoons with me, so I’ll have to find some other excuse to tell myself that it is OK for me to watch a Peanuts show.

When I first discussed iOS 14 on June 23, 2020, I guessed that the new widgets feature would be one of the more noticeable improvements.  What I didn’t realize was how popular it would become and how I much I would enjoy the feature.  People like me who use their devices to be productive are finding lots of great uses.  And folks who just want to change the appearance of their iPhone are also loving this feature, evidenced by all of the pictures I’m seeing of creative iPhone screens and the buzz surrounding them.  For example, when Kat Mogus posted a short video on TikTok to show how she was using the fantastic Widgetsmith app to create what she says is her “aesthetic af” pink homescreen, it went viral and already has 3.5 million hearts.  It also helped to push David Smith’s Widgetsmith app to the #1 spot on the App Store.  If you haven’t started to explore the widgets feature yet, I encourage you to do so because I find that it makes my iPhone and iPad even more useful in my law practice.  Plus, widgets are fun.

Creating a widget

Apple has a helpful page on its website that explains how to create, edit, and delete widgets.  In short, you press down on an empty area of the screen to get into “jiggle mode” where you can move apps around.  In that mode, you will see a plus sign at the top left corner.  Tap the plus sign to bring up a screen with some suggested widgets at the top followed by a list of all of your apps that have been updated to take advantage of iOS 14 widgets.  You can simply browse to find something useful or use the search bar at the top to search for something specific.

For example, let’s say that you want to place a calendar widget from the built-in Calendar app.  Tap on Calendar and this brings up a screen where you can see each of the possible sizes of the widget.  In this case, there is a 2×2, a 2×4, and a 4×4.  Tap on one of them, and then drag it to your home screen.

You can either place a widget in its own space on your home screen or you can place a widget on top of another widget in a stack — more on that below.

Making space for widgets

If you are like me, you have considered the 24 app spaces on your first home screen to be prime real estate, second in importance only to the four apps that live at the bottom of all of your home screens.  So at first, I was reluctant to place even the smallest 2×2 widget on my screen because I didn’t want to give up four different apps for just a single widget.  But I soon realized that I was wrong to be clinging to my old ways.  Here is why.

First, when you place a widget for an app on your home screen, you really don’t need the app icon any more.  For example, if you place the Calendar widget on your home screen and you tap it, it will launch the Calendar app.  Place a widget for a to do app and you no longer need that app icon on the main screen.  Thus, you are taking up the space of at least four app icons, but you no longer need one of those app icons on the home screen.

Second, as noted above, you can stack multiple widgets.  If you stack four widgets in a 4×4 widget space, you are using the same screen real estate that the four apps themselves would have used.  You can switch between the widgets in a stack by just swiping up or down on the stack.

Third, I realized that it really wasn’t that hard for me to select a number of apps that used to be on my first home screen that worked just as well on my second screen.  For example, on my iPhone, there are apps like Dropbox and Facebook and eero and Files that I do use frequently, but it isn’t really a big hassle to swipe over once to a second screen to get to them.  The slight inconvenience is outweighed by the usefulness of using widgets on the first screen, as discussed below.  Plus, it has given me a new reason to go to the second screen of my iPhone, which is now a perfect place for me to place even more widgets — or, for now, one of the large 4×4 widgets.  As for the apps that used to be on my second screen, they are now on my third (and final) screen organized into folders.  The apps that are not important enough to be on any of those three screens are now on hidden screens.  If I want to use any of lesser-used apps, I use the new App Library feature of iOS 14 to keep track of all of those.

Note that I’m only talking about screen real estate for the iPhone because, unfortunately, you cannot currently place a widget on the main portion of an iPad screen.  They have to live on the left side of the screen, which means that there is actually less space for widgets on a large iPad screen than on a small iPhone screen.  And that just makes no sense.  I still find widgets to be incredibly useful on the iPad, but with all of the additional space on the iPad screen I would love to be able to place widgets anywhere, just like the iPhone.  This is so obvious that I have to imagine that Apple is working on adding this in a future update to iPadOS.

The usefulness of widgets

Now here comes the fun part:  using widgets to improve your life.  I love widgets because they display the useful information that I need the most, often making it unnecessary to open up the app to get the information that I need.  For most widgets, you get to select what information is displayed, so the information that you see is the information that is most useful to you.

For example, although I sometimes use the built-in Calendar app, I prefer to use Fantastical (an app I most recently discussed in this post), and it has some great widgets.  There are currently 12 different widgets to choose from.  In the smallest 2×2 size you can get choose to see what is up next, a list of upcoming events, the entire month, or just today’s date (in two possible formats).  Larger widget sizes can display even more information.

I use Things to keep track of my “to do” list for work — the motions, appeals, discovery, and other projects that I am working on.  The 2×2 version of the Things widgets is big enough to display the three items at the top of my list, which are the items that I am most likely to be working on each day.  I find it very useful that when I am on my home screen I am gently reminded of the most important tasks for me to be working on.

Another app with fantastic widgets is Carrot Weather (which I reviewed in 2018).  It has twelve widgets.  These widgets update throughout the day to show you the weather, and if you pay for a Tier 3 subscription, there is a widget that shows a weather radar so you can see if rainclouds are close.  The Carrot app also has an optional personality.  It can be serious and just give you the facts, or you can turn on the snarky feature for the app to provide silly (and often timely) comments along with the weather.

The built-in Photos app has three widgets in 2×2, 2×4, or 4×4 sizes, which display a special moment selected by the Memories part of the Photos app.  The photo selected changes throughout the day, and it often brings a smile to my face to glance at a picture of my kids when they were younger (and cuter!) as I am doing work on my iPhone.  If you want more control over photos, the Widgetsmith app will rotate through pictures that are within a specific album in the Photos app.  Thus, you can use Widgetsmith to display a picture of your spouse, child, pet., etc. that changes over time – whatever you make the subject of one of your albums.

Any of these widgets would be useful on their own, but as I mentioned above, if you drag a widget on top of another one, you can create a stack of widgets.  As I noted above, you can swipe up and down to manually swap through the widgets in a stack.  Better yet, if you hold down your finger on a stack for a second or two, you will see an option to edit the the stack and use the Smart Rotate feature.  (You can also use that feature to rearrange or delete widgets in a stack.) 

 

The Smart Rotate feature is one of the best part of widgets.  Throughout the day, the iPhone rotates the widgets with Smart Rotate turned on, often trying to show you the widget that might be most useful at that point in the day.  I love this feature because I look at my iPhone and iPad home screen frequently, and over a relatively short period of time as the widgets rotate I end up seeing all of the widgets in a stack.  Thus, in a 2×2 space that would normally be devoted to four static app icons that need to be tapped to see any useful information, a 2×2 widget gives me a way to launch an of the four apps while also showing me useful (or fun) information that often makes it unnecessary to launch the app.  By frequently seeing information such as my upcoming schedule and the weather, with some pictures thrown in to give me an occasional smile, the space that used to hold four static app icons is now making me much more productive and happy.

For example, I currently have the Fantastical widget and the Things widget in a single stack.  As they switch back and forth throughout the day, I get subtle reminders of what is coming up and what I should be working on.  With just two widgets in a stack, if the one that I want to see is not currently being displayed, it just takes a quick swipe to see the other one.  And then I can tap on either one to launch the Fantastical or the Things app.

Speaking of Smart Rotate, there is a similar feature if you use the Widgetsmith app.  That app lets you choose from a large variety of information to display — in lots of different styles, fonts, colors, etc. — and then you can have the information displayed in the widget change based upon the time of day.  That’s a neat idea that other developers should copy.  Carrot Weather already does; for the 2×4 widgets that I display on my iPad, in the morning it shows me the hourly temperature for the next few hours, but at the end of the day it shows me the daily temperature for the next few days.

You cannot interact with the items displayed on the widget.  For example, for the Fantastical widget, I simply see my calendar items, and tapping anywhere on the widget launches the app so that I can dig deeper in the app itself.  But there is currently one exception:  the Shortcuts app.  Although the 2×2 version of the widget is used to launch one specific shortcut, the 2×4 widget lists four shortcuts and the 4×4 widget contains eight shortcuts.  It selects the shortcuts from whatever folder you select, so within the Shortcuts app, you can create a folder called “widgets” and place the four or eight shortcuts that you want in there.  It is very useful to launch a shortcut and start using it directly from the home screen.  I’m currently using a 4×4 Shortcuts widget on my second home screen so that I can launch 8 shortcuts — the last one of which is a simply shortcut that simply launches the Shortcuts app, making it unnecessary for me to have a Shortcuts icon on my homescreen.

I’m still trying to decide what shortcuts to place on that large widget.  I recommend that, for one of the shortcut slots, you include a shortcut to launch Shortcuts, making it unnecessary to have the Shortcuts app on your home screen. 

It’s not all good news.  I’m currently working through a bug that one of my widgets will work when launched within the Shortcuts app but doesn’t work when launched from the widget.  I’m still not sure if the fault lies with me or with Apple on that bug.  Nevertheless, it is already obvious that the Shortcuts widget is one of the most powerful widgets.

Conclusion

The widgets feature has fundamentally changed the way that I interact with my iPhone homescreen.  It is probably the most significant thing to happen to the primary screen of my phone since I started using an iPhone in the first place.  And these are early days.  Many popular apps have not yet been updated to support widgets, and those that have are likely to have even better widgets in the future as we all figure out what is best about this feature.  Moreover, the ability to create widgets will cause folks to create new apps that did not exist before.  Widgetsmith itself is a perfect example, and as I was writing this post, I learned of a new app called Scribblet that lets you write something — a handwritten to-do list, a drawing, an inspirational quote, etc. — and have it display in a widget.  Sribblet itself may not be my cup of tea, but it demonstrates that developers are coming up with new ideas to exploit what widgets can do.  And finally, there is Apple itself, which I’m sure will improve widgets in the future — such as, hopefully, allowing widgets to be placed anywhere on an iPad screen.  Suffice it to say that widgets are already great, this feature is certain to become even better in the future.

Yesterday, Apple announced that it will live stream an Apple Event on Tuesday, October 13 at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern.  Apple didn’t say what it will be announcing but we all know that the focus will be the 2020 version of the iPhone.  The last time that Apple announced a new iPhone in October was the iPhone 4s, announced on October 4, 2011.  (That was the iPhone that first added Siri.)  From 2012 to 2019, Apple announced new iPhone models every September so that there would be plenty of time to get them into the market for the end-of-the-year holiday buying season.  This year, on the other hand … well, we all know what affect the year 2020 has had on normality.  Apple alerted everyone in early August that the new iPhone would come out a little later this year, and here we are.

The invitation for the Apple Event features the phrase “Hi, Speed.”

I presume that is a reference to the next iPhone being faster, not only because of the new A14 processor (that we heard about last month in the new iPad Air (4th generation)), but also because many expect this to be the first iPhone to work with the new 5G networks.  So far, most of the reports that I have seen is that 5G is not yet ready for prime time — it is a big drain on battery life, it is sometimes slower than 4G, and it is only available in limited areas.  It will be interesting to see if the 5G version of the iPhone has these same shortcomings.

By the way, if you visit this page on Apple’s website using a modern iPhone or iPad and tap on the graphic in the middle of the page, you will see an interesting AR/VR advertisement for the event.

I could not be more pleased to welcome Readdle as a new sponsor of iPhone J.D.  I have been using their iPhone and iPad apps for as long as I can remember, and they have created and improved some of the very best productivity apps.  For example, I can count on one hand the apps that I consider essential to my law practice, and PDF Expert is unquestionably on that list.  Every lawyer works with PDF files, and PDF Expert is a fantastic tool for working with PDF files in a law practice.  The app itself is free, plus you can access advanced features if you purchase a $50/year subscription — which I consider a no-brainer for any attorney looking to be more productive with their iPad.  The app works great on an iPhone too, but I’m going to focus on the iPad today because the larger screen is infinitely better for working with PDF documents.

Viewing documents

PDF Expert does an excellent job of displaying PDF files.  Indeed, especially for large files, I find that PDF Expert on my iPad Pro is faster and better than even the PDF software that I use on the PC in my office. 

Pages load quickly and it is fast to go back and forth between pages.  Swipe a finger up and down to read a document in the default Vertical Scroll mode.  You can tap the thumbnail icon at the top left to see an overview of all of the pages, making it quick to find your way through a very long document. 

Normally, a menu bar appears at the top of the screen, but you can tap of the middle of the screen to make the menu bar disappear, which means that the entire screen is devoted to your document.  An indicator at the bottom right shows you what page number you are viewing in the document, although you can turn that off in the app settings or choose to have it appear and disappear automatically.

If you tap the view settings icon at the top right, you can switch to a Horizontal Scroll mode.  I find this mode useful when I am reviewing the final draft of a document before I file it with a court.  It lets me focus on each page, one at a time, to make sure that everything looks right.  The Two Pages mode is also a great way to quickly look through the entire document at a higher level.

There is also a Crop mode switch that you can use on documents that have been OCR’d, letting you hide the margins so that it is easier to make the text part of the document bigger and easier to read.

To quickly scroll through a document, you can grab the small tab on the right side and move up and down.  In an earlier version of PDF Expert, the app used a tiny gray rectangle that was harder to grab, but in the current version it is easy to use.

I often need to find the part of a document that mentions a specific word.  If you tap the magnifying glass icon at the top right, you can enter words to search for, or you can see your recent searches and tap one of them to do the same search again.  This is fast and works very well.

Every time that you open a PDF file, it opens in a new tab.  That way, you can work with multiple PDF files at once, and just tap another tab to jump back and forth between different documents.  PDF Expert also has full support for multitasking if you want to run two apps side-by-side.

When I am working with longer documents — such a volume of a record for an appeal — I find that it is useful to use the bookmark feature, accessed by tapping the Bookmarks icon at the top right.  For example, I will place bookmarks to note the first page of the most significant documents in the record so that I can quickly jump to those specific parts of the volume in the future.

Tapping the Bookmarks icon gives you access to two other useful functions.  First, there is the Outlines tab.  Although you can add your own Outlines to a document if you want, the primary way that I find this feature valuable is to take advantage of an outline that is already contained in a document.  For example, when federal district courts create the appeal record in a case, each volume of the record contains an outline that corresponds to the document number.  So if I know from the index that I want to jump to Document 172, I can just access the outline and jump straight there.

The other function accessed in this area is the Annotations tab, but before I discuss that tab, let’s talk about annotating documents.

Annotating documents

At the top middle of the toolbar, there are tabs that you can tap to see different annotation tools.  For example, the first tab called “Annotate” includes tools for highlighting, underlining, writing, drawing shapes, adding comments, etc.

Tap on a specific tool to use it.  If you have an Apple Pencil 2, you can double-tap the Pencil to turn a specific tool on and off, making it quick and easy to switch between browsing through a document and then highlighting a sentence or adding some other annotation.

After you have made an annotation, and when you don’t have any specific tool turned on, you can tap on the annotation to change it.  For example, you can change the ink color of something that you wrote, make the pen ink thicker, change the opacity, delete the annotation, etc. 

Let’s return to the Annotations tab on the right side that I mentioned above.  This view shows you on the right every single annotation that you have a document, making it quick to jump to a specific part of the document that you annotated.  For some annotations, like highlighting or underlining text, you can see the actual words to which you applied the annotation, which is helpful.  If you handwrote something, you only see a pen icon to show you that you did so on a specific page.

In 2019, Readdle updated PDF Expert to add a feature that vastly improves the experience of annotating a document:  the ability to customize the toolbar.  You need to pay for a subscription to use this feature, but I would do so even if this was the one and only feature included with a subscription.  Creating a custom toolbar means that you can select the specific tools that you enjoy using the most, and place them in an order that makes the most sense to you, to maximize your productivity when annotating documents.

I currently have my tools set up so that the first three tools are fine point pens (black, blue, red) with a 1 point thickness. Then, as a separator, I have the highlight tool — which may be the tool that I use the most. Next, I have five medium point pens with a 1.5 point thickness for when I want my annotation to be a little bit bolder, and I have five different colors: black, blue, red, green, and purple.  Toolbars in other PDF apps typically only give you two or three colors by default; to access more colors, you have to dig into sub-menus, which requires extra steps so I normally just skip it.  But because I could create my own Favorites tap with the tools that I selected, all five pen colors are just a tap away, so I can use more easily use different colors to mean different things in my documents, making my annotations more valuable to me.

When you share a file, you have a choice of sharing the original document (with annotations that can be further edited) or a flattened copy (which means that the annotations cannot easily be edited by someone else, and the annotations are virtually guaranteed to be seen no matter what PDF program someone else is using to view the document).

Managing files

While viewing and editing documents is critical, the file management feature is also an important reason that PDF Expert so useful for my law practice.  I carry around thousands of documents on my iPad so that everything that I might possibly need is there.

A Sidebar Menu on the left side lists sources of documents on your iPad, such as folders that are synced or local documents.  Files that you accessed recently are just a tap away.  A list of Connections provides access to cloud sources such as Apple’s built-in Files app, Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive. 

At the bottom part of the Sidebar Menu, you can show folders or files that you have marked as favorites.  When there is a matter that I am actively and extensively working on — such as an appeal that I will be working in for the next few months – I will typically make the folder associated with that project a favorite so that I can get to my work more quickly.

In the main part of the screen on the right, you see a list of folders and files.  Tap on the three dots at the end of a row to see a menu of options such as move, rename, duplicate, zip, etc.  You can apply a color to a folder if you want it to stand out more.

If you hold down your finger on a file name for a second, you can then drag-and-drop that file to another location.  Whether you are using drag-and-drop or just browsing through your folders, you can long press on the Back button at the top left to see all previous subfolders, making it faster to jump to the specific folder that you want.

Etc.

Although these are the most useful parts of the app for me, there are lots of other features.  You can zip and unzip files.  You can view file types other than PDF files, although you cannot annotate other file types such as Microsoft Word files.  You can fill out PDF forms.  I mentioned above that you can search within a document, but you can also search the contents or filenames across all of your documents. 

Pricing

The app itself is free, and for many attorneys, the free version will provide you with everything that you need.  But if you upgrade to a PRO subscription, which costs $50/year, you get much more.  I’ve already mentioned the custom toolbar feature, which I use every single day.  That feature alone makes the experience of using this app much better.  Additionally, a subscription also gives you the option to:

• Sign documents
• Merge PDF files
• Add, delete, and extract pages from PDF files
• Password-protect PDF files
• Redact text in a PDF file (either with black bars or to make the text disappear)
• Edit PDF text
• Edit PDF images
• Add links to PDFs
• Convert Word files, Excel files, and images into PDF files
• Reduce PDF file size by selecting one of four different document quality settings

All of these can be useful, but I find the options to merge PDF files and add/delete/extract pages from PDF files are particularly useful in my law practice.  For example, I will extract pages to create exhibits.  The reduce file size option can be useful when a file would otherwise be too large to attach to an email, although how well it works depends upon the specifics of the file that you are working with.  I don’t use the other features very much, but it is nice that they are there.  For example, when I need to convert a Microsoft Word file to PDF, I usually just use Word itself to do so.

Conclusion

Although I’ve written about PDF Expert several times in the past (such as 2/21/19, 8/27/19, 11/21/19), I appreciate Readdle sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month to give me an excuse to talk about this essential app again including some of the latest improvements.  If you use an iPad, there is no excuse for not having the free version of this app on your iPad.  Start using it in your law practice and see what you think.  If you find the app as invaluable as I do, you will likely want to subscribe to the PRO version, like I did last year, to take advantage of all that the app has to offer.

Click here to get PDF Expert by Readdle (free): 

One of the interesting new features in iPadOS 14 is Scribble, the ability to use an Apple Pencil to write text into a text field instead of using the on-screen keyboard.  I wasn’t sure how useful the feature would be when it was announced, but now that I’ve been using it, I really like it.  I often have the Pencil in my hand as I am reading and annotating briefs, caselaw, exhibits, etc. in an app like PDF Expert (which is a sponsor of iPhone J.D. this month) or when I am taking handwritten notes in GoodNotes.  When I then need to enter some quick text — such as to search for something in Safari or Mail — it is incredibly convenient to just write a few letters or words with the Pencil that is already in my hand.  Alexander George of Popular Mechanics interviewed Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, to discuss the new Scribble feature.  If you haven’t tried it out yet, I encourage you to do so.  It is yet another reason that the Apple Pencil makes me more productive in my law practice.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Legal technology consultant Brett Burney of Apps in Law offers tips for using Zoom on an iPad or iPhone.
• Michael Simon of Macworld reviews the new Apple Watch SE.
• Lori Gil of iMore reviews the new Apple Watch Series 6.
• In an article for TidBITS, Julio Ojeda-Zapata explains why the Apple Watch is especially useful during the pandemic.  I’ve had some of these same thoughts.
• Apple has brought its new map data (that it is building in-house with its own vehicles equipped with cameras) to Ireland and the United Kingdom, according to a report by Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac.  And the Apple Look Around feature of Maps now works in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin.
• I’m a big fan of the Deliveries app, a centralized place to track any packages that you are receiving or sending.  My family has been purchasing even more items online as a result of the pandemic, and it is nice to have one place to go to find out where items are and when they should arrive.  As Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports, the Deliveries app was updated to add a new design and new features.  The app is also switching to a subscription service, so instead of costing $4.99 to purchase, the app is now $4.99/year, with complimentary subscriptions of four months (for long-time users) up to 18 months (for newer users).
• The GoodNotes app updated its shape and line tools so that you no longer have to tap on a different tool to draw a perfect shape or line.  The new features are explained in this post on the GoodNotes blog.  I’ve used this quite a bit, and it is a great improvement.
• Now that it is so easy to use a keyboard and a mouse with your iPad, you may want a good way to carry them around.  A keyboard cover is a good idea to protect the keyboard; you don’t want to shove it into a briefcase and have something catch a key and pop it off.  For over three years, I’ve been a happy user of the Canopy by Studio Neat, which is not only a keyboard cover but a stand to prop up your iPad.  But if you want something different that also holds a mouse, I see that Waterfield now has a Dash Sleeve for Magic Keyboard, and it looks nice.  They also have a version for the Magic Trackpad 2.
• The new spatial audio feature for AirPods Pro is really neat, creating the illusion that different sounds are coming from specific locations.  You can use it with some TV shows, such as the fabulous Ted Lasso on Apple TV+ — which just realized its amazing Season 1 finale.  Brent Dirks of AppAdvice reviews a free app called SpatialBliss which creates rich environments with 3D sound but you get to control where each sound comes from.  Definitely check this one out if you own AirPods Pro.
• And finally, if you are looking for something fun to watch, a week ago, my wife and I watched the debut of the new short move Father of the Bride Part 3 (ish).  We both enjoyed it.  It features the actors from the prior movies — Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, etc. — as well as some surprise new actors, and it is well-done and funny.  (I didn’t realize that their son from the movies, Kieran Culkin, is the same actor who now plays Roman Roy on HBO’s fantastic show Succession.)  The writer and director of the movie, Nancy Meyers, wrote an article for the New York Times to explain how the actors used iPhones to film their parts in the movie, which Meyers then turned into the final movie.  The article is spoiler-free so you can read it before or after you watch the movie.  And the movie is free to watch, part of a fundraiser for the great World Central Kitchen.  You can watch the 25-minute movie on YouTube, or I’ve embedded it below:

Yesterday afternoon, I was the guest on this month’s episode of Tech Talk Law, a show hosted by Washington, D.C. attorney Melissa Kucinski and Florida attorney Brian Karpf.  We discussed both general technology topics and specific tips on using an iPad and iPhone in your law practice.  Melissa and Brian did a great job coming up with questions and selecting questions from the live chat for folks who were attending via Zoom.  And our discussion was very timely, including topics on the intersection of law, technology, and the pandemic. 

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions, and thanks to Melissa and Brian for inviting me.  It was great fun, and I think that you will enjoy watching it.  You can watch the episode on the Tech Talk Law website, or on YouTube, or I embedded the video right here:

Have you upgraded to iOS 14 and iPad OS 14 yet — or, for that matter, iOS 14.0.1, the latest release that came out yesterday with some bug fixes?  If so, you are starting to experience all of the new features.  I had planned to write a post this week about widgets, one of the most obvious new features because once you add them to your home screen, you can’t miss them.  It’s a great addition.  But almost every day, I find myself changing how I use them, plus app upgrades with widget support are still coming out every day, which changes how I use widgets.  And that is just one of the many new features in iOS 14.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• One of the apps that I’ve been using the longest on my iPhone and iPad is Fantastical, a better calendar app.  I was excited to see the app updated to add widget support this week.  California attorney David Sparks explains how he is using the new Fantastical widgets.  I’m enjoying the Fantastical widget on my iPhone, but on the iPad, there are some things I prefer about the built-in Calendar app’s widget.  This is a perfect example of how I’m still trying to make up my mind on which widget setup I like the best.
• Ryan Christoffel of MacStories wrote a more comprehensive look at the new version of Fantastical. 
• Some of the initial reviews are in on the Apple Watch Series 6, and several reviewers are unsatisfied with the blood oxygen sensor.  Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post says that some of his readings are erratic, and perhaps more importantly, he didn’t see the value in getting the results. 
• Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal had a similar reaction.  She thinks it is a better idea to just use a more accurate finger oximeter, which you can get for $60.
• Even if you don’t have a new Apple Watch, you can get new features on your current Apple Watch by upgrading to watchOS 7.  Alex Guyot of MacStories wrote a good review of watchOS 7. 
• One nice change in watchOS 7:  you can finally adjust your green circle (exercise) and blue circle (stand) daily goals, as John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook was interviewed at The Atlantic Festival.  Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac has some of the highlights, along with a link to the full video.
• I’m a huge fan of the eero Pro that I installed in my home a few months ago.  This week, Amazon released the eero Pro 6, a more expensive version that supports Wi-Fi 6, which means that, in some circumstances, it can be even faster.  I updated my review of the eero Pro to discuss the differences.
• The new 2020 emoji should be coming to iOS 14 in the next month or so, and I gave you a preview of some of the new ones back in July.  But we now have a final list of the 217 new emoji for 2021, and Jeremy Burge of Emojipedia has the full story.  We will have to wait for Summer 2021 to start to see some previews of how Apple will draw these new 2021 emoji.
• If you have 90 minutes to spare and you want walkthrough of over 250 new features in iOS 14, check out this video from Jeff Benjamin of 9to5Mac.
• And finally, even though the blood oxygen sensor may not be as good as a dedicated oximeter, there is still a lot to like about the Apple Watch Series 6.  Here is a video showing off some of the features prepared by Apple called It Already Does That:

Back in June, I previewed some of the great new features coming to the iPhone and iPad in iOS 14, as well as new features coming to the Apple Watch in watchOS 7.  Both updates came out yesterday, so this is a good time to look back at those posts again to start to understand what is new.  (I did that myself as I was downloading the updates.)  I’m still trying to figure out the best ways to use widgets on my iPhone and iPad, but I can already tell that I’m going to like that new feature.  The iPad interface improvements are also really nice, such as the new sidebar in the Photos app.  And if you haven’t used the Pinned Conversation feature in the Messages app, check that one out right away.  Just find a conversation with a person or group that you text with a lot, hold down and pick Pin, and then you can always quickly jump to that conversation by tapping an icon at the top instead of scrolling around to look for the conversation.  And there are so many more nice new features, which I’m sure I will be writing about on iPhone J.D. as I discover more delightful new additions.  And now, the news of note from the past week:

• California attorney David Sparks updated his Shortcuts Field Guide this week.  Last year, I reviewed the version for iOS 13.  The latest update adds 16 videos and over 45 minutes of new content to address new iOS 14 features.  If you click here you can, for a limited time, get a $5 discount.  Shortcuts is such a powerful app, and it has some major updates in iOS 14, so if you want to get more out of your iPhone or iPad I absolutely recommend this video field guide.
• Illinois attorney John Voorhees of MacStories describes the new Spatial Audio feature in iOS 14 for the AirPods Pro.  This is really fascinating technology.  If you own the AirPods pro, use them to watch an episode of Ted Lasso (a show that supports Spatial Audio) on an iPad or iPhone, and then move your head around while you are watching.  The sound truly seems to come from the iPad/iPhone instead of from the speakers in your ears.  The audio also just sounds better.  I cannot wait to see more of this.  Voorhees also points out that, for any model AirPods, you no longer have to manually connect when you switch devices.  Start using an iPhone, and your AirPods pair to the iPhone.  Put the iPhone down and start using the iPad, and the AirPods pair to the iPad.  I’ve only been using that feature for 24 hours but so far it has worked incredibly well.
• Speaking of Ted Lasso, I was wrong when I said last week that there are only eight episodes this season.  There are ten.  And the eighth episode that was released “today” (I watched it at 11pm Central last night) is excellent.
• Another good Spatial Audio demo:  watch this Dolby Atmos trailer to hear stunning 360º sound.
• Voorhees also wrote an article to explain how CARROT Weather — my favorite weather app — was updated in numerous ways to take advantage of all of the new features of iOS 14 and watchOS 7.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote an interesting analysis of the announcements made by Apple this week.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors also wrote an interesting analysis, explaining how Apple used a Good, Better, Best approach.
• Yesterday, I discussed the new versions of the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE, which go on sale today.  Apple provided review units to a few members of the press, so you can now read some early initial impressions on these devices.  For example, if you want to see the Series 6 in action, Marques Brownlee shows it off in this video.
• Dieter Bohn of The Verge also posted a helpful video along with his first look review.
• Chris Velazco of Engadget says that the Apple Watch SE includes the best parts and features from the last few years of Apple Watch history.
• Mike Propero of Tom’s Guide says that the lack of an always on display in the Apple Watch SE is a real disappointment.
• Daniel Bader of iMore says that the Apple Watch Series 6 is a powerful computer on your wrist.
• Caitlin McGarry of Gizmodo says that the 2.5x brighter display when the Series 6 is inactive makes a big difference when outside or when working out, but also says that the Apple Watch SE is also quite good and shares many of its best features.
• Joseph Keller of iMore reviews watchOS 7.
• Jason Cross of Macworld provides some details on the new A14 Bionic processor that powers the new iPad Air — and which I presume will also power the new iPhone that Apple will introduce in a few weeks.
• In an article for Macworld, Jason Snell writes that the iPad Air is so close in power to the iPad Pro that it could be an indication that the next version of the iPad Pro will be a major upgrade.
• Stephen Nellis of Reuters discusses the upcoming Apple Fitness+ service that Apple announced this week.
• Apple also announced Apple One this week, a bundle of up to six Apple services.  Benjamin Mayo explains how you can use this upcoming service to save some money.  I certainly will.  Ever month, I currently pay Apple $14.99 for Apple Music for me and my family, $9.99 for 2 TB of iCloud storage, and $49.99 a year for Apple Arcade for my kids which works out to just over $4 a month.  And when Apple starts to charge for Apple TV+, that will be another $5 a month for a service that I will want.  So that’s $34 a month.  With the $29.95 Apple One Premiere bundle, I can save $4 a month, get all of those same services, and also get Apple News+ (normally $9.99) and the upcoming Apple Fitness+ (which will also be $9.99) for free.  Spend less money than I am paying now, plus get two additional services?  Count me in.
• tvOS 14 also came out this week.  As Mayo explains, it adds better HomeKit support, support for 4K YouTube videos, and multi-user support for Apple Arcade and Game Center, and better Picture-in-Picture.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac describes his 14 favorite features of iOS 14.
• And finally, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal prepared this video to provide 14 tips for using iOS 14: