When Apple holds its next big product announcement event on Monday, September 9, the entire technology community will be curious to see the new features added to the iPhone. Me too, but I’m just as interested in learning about the new Apple Watch. It was ten years ago—September 9, 2014—when Apple announced the original Apple Watch. That was just a preview, and the first Apple Watch model did not go on sale until April 24, 2015. Nevertheless, since the next model is expected to be called the Apple Watch 10, and considering that it has been ten years since the first announcement, there has been speculation for the past year that Apple might do something special with this next version of the Apple Watch. Hartley Charlton of MacRumors looked at most of the rumors of what the Apple Watch 10 might include and created a comparison table with the Apple Watch 9. One rumor is that the Apple Watch 10 will add hypertension detection and sleep apnea detection—although there is a competing rumor that Apple cannot add these features as long as it remains in litigation with Masimo Corporation over patented pulse oximetry technology. (That lawsuit is currently set for trial on October 21, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:22-CV-01378,) Another rumor is that both sizes of the Apple Watch will get a bigger case and screen, with the larger Apple Watch, which now has a 45mm case, increasing in size to perhaps as large as a 49mm case—the same size as the current Apple Watch Ultra—with a display size of 2.04 inches, which would be just a hair larger than the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s 1.91-inch display. And while Charlton predicts that the next Apple Watch will be thicker (higher on your wrist), I’ve also heard rumors that the next Apple Watch will be thinner. For someone who considers the Ultra just a little too big but who wants a larger screen and more battery life, the Apple Watch 10 could be the “just right” size. On the other hand, if both models of the Apple Watch 10 have larger cases, people who prefer a small Apple Watch may not be as happy. Of course, some or all of these rumors could be wrong, and we will learn the truth in just a few days. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Thank you for all of the early donations to St. Jude! There is still plenty of time to participate. Simply click here and then click the big green button. Easy peasy.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors discusses some of the things that we do not know about the Apple announcement on Monday.
• When iOS 18 is released in September, it will include some big changes to the Photos app. Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider describes what is new.
• The action button on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will be able to do much more in iOS 18, as Austin Meyers of Gadget Hacks explains.
• A major change in iPadOS 18 will be Smart Script, a technology that can improve your handwriting, fix handwritten spelling mistakes, and more. John Voorhees of MacStories tested this feature in the beta version of iPadOS 18, and he was very impressed with the results.
• Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reviews the Eve Outdoor Cam, a HomeKit-compatible home security camera with a floodlight that replaces an outdoor light that is already installed at your home. It is normally $250, but you can currently get it for just over $200 on Amazon.
• Adam Engst of TidBITS reminds of that trackpad mode on the iPhone and iPad is incredibly useful for repositining the cursor.
• According to Charles Martin of AppleInsider, a man who the local news called “the James Bond of plastic recycling” was curious about the City of Houston’s claim that all plastic was accepted in the recycling program. So he put an AirTag in his plastic to track where it ended up and eventually learned that the city had collected 250 tons of plastic since 2022 but none of it had been recycled yet.
• If you need more AirTags to track your plastic recycyling or anything else, a four-pack has a retail price of $99 and can routinely be purchased on Amazon for $80 to $85, but the cheapest that I have ever seen a four-pack offered for is $75, and it is at that price right now. Amazon is currently selling the four-pack for $74.99.
• Speaking of finding things, Roman Loyola of Macworld notes that Twelve South has developed a new wall charger called the PlugBug that includes support for Find My. Thus, if you don’t remember where you left your charger, you can use the Find My app to track it down.
• David Piere of The Verge discusses how far Apple Pay has come since Apple introduced it ten years ago and also discusses how it may change in the future.
• If you want to listen to some music but don’t know what to pick, Apple Music can now pick music for you based upon your mood. As reported by Joe Rossignol of MacRumors, tap the Home tab, scroll down to Find Your Mood, and then select a mix based on your mood: feel good, energy, relax, focus, and feeling blue.
• As we start football season, John Gruber of Daring Fireball discusses Apple’s announcement that the Apple Sports app will not only give you football stores but will also support Live Activities on the iPhone and Apple Watch. As you can see from the sample images in Apple’s press release, this will provide you with a quick and easy way to track the score in a game.
• If you want to watch MLS soccer and you subscribe to Apple TV+, Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports that you can now do so for free for the rest of this season, which ends October 19. Just remember to cancel the subscription if you don’t want it to renew (and charge you) next year.
• I have two recommendations for shows that I enjoyed watching on Apple TV+. First, I finished the mini-series called The Lady in the Lake. Natalie Portman and Maddie Schwartz are incredible actresses in this crime mystery that takes place in Baltimore in the 1960s. Lots of twists and turns.
• Second, I watched the Director’s Cut version of Napoleon. It was a visual feast on the large virtual screen of my Apple Vision Pro, with amazing battle scenes and great views of Paris in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Perhaps the plot could have been better, but I still enjoyed it, and I especially enjoyed all of the scenes with Josephine (which I understand is a big part of the extended version of the movie).
• There is a fun interview of George Clooney and Brad Pitt by Zach Baron for GQ in which they talk about their upcoming Apple TV+ movie Wolfs (which debuts on September 27) and much more.
• And finally, here is some advice if you are trying to decide whether to watch The Lady in the Lake on Apple TV+. Rather than watch the trailer, which has some light spoilers, I recommend that you watch this short video called An Inside Look. It features short snippets from the show and clips of interviews with the actors and others and it gives you a sense of the feel of the show without any spoilers. If this video looks intriguing to you, then you should check out the show.

Cancer is horrible. We all know it, we have all dealt with it with our friends and families at some point, and I have no doubt that many of you reading this are dealing with it somehow right now. And as bad as all forms of cancer are, childhood cancer is particularly devastating.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and a leader in the fight against childhood cancer is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Since St. Jude opened its doors in 1962, the treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80%. That is an amazing statistic. And they have so much more that they can do, from helping individual patients they are treating at their facility in Memphis to developing techniques that can be used to treat children around the world.

For the third year in a row, iPhone J.D. is part of the community that is working with the Relay podcast network to raise money for St. Jude. Relay is the network behind some fantastic tech-related podcasts, such as Upgrade, Mac Power Users, Connected, Clockwise, Automators, and so many more. By working together, the end result can be pretty amazing. Since 2019, the Relay community has raised over $3 million for St. Jude.

The process of making a donation is super easy, which I know first-hand because I just did it a few minutes before I wrote this post. Simply go to the page, click the big green DONATE button, click one of the two Relay awards options if either interests you (that part is optional, but you can get some fun stuff like stickers and screensavers if you donate more than $60 or $100), then checkout and pay. The whole process takes only seconds, and I guarantee that you will feel so much better knowing that you are part of the solution for families that are directly affected by childhood cancer today and those that will be dealing with it in the future.

I also have a limited special reward for iPhone J.D. readers. I still have some fantastic microfiber cloths with the iPhone J.D. logo on them that I have given away on rare occasions in the past (such as at TECHSHOW 2014). If you donate at least $100, instead of the standard Relay rewards, you can select to receive one of these. They are fantastic for cleaning an iPhone or iPad screen, and I also use one to clean my eyeglasses every day. This is a limited offer because I don’t have many of them left and the company that made them doesn’t exist anymore, but I have at least ten of them, so donate soon if you want to get one while they last.

Whether you donate $5 or $500, your donation will make a difference. A special thanks to those of you who contributed in the past and will contribute again this year!

Click here to donate.

We are almost a week away from Apple’s September 9 new product announcements, so Brett and I begin this week’s episode of the In the News podcast by discussing the speculation on what might be included in the 2024 version of the iPhone, including the rumor that there will be a dedicated hardware button for taking pictures. I’m enthusiastic about that possibility, but Brett is worried that it may be one button too many. We also discuss a possible update to the AirPods Max, new spatial videos coming out in just a few days for the Apple Vision Pro, the state of the Apple Books store, digital driver’s licenses, and more.

In our Where Y’At? segment, we discuss how one person used an AirPod to track down her child when the school could not find him.

In our In the Know segment, Brett mentions a website that pokes fun at a decision that Apple made many years ago and we discuss why that decision seems to have made sense. I explain how to protect your privacy by limiting what the Lock Screen shows when you get a new email.

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

We learned this week that September 9 is the day when Apple will announce the new iPhone for 2024. And as I explained earlier this week, while you are marking your calendar, you might also want to do so for September 9 in 2025 and 2026 as well. There are lots of rumors on what we might see, Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac does a good job of running them all down. Of course, we will see a new iPhone, and it is rumored to have a slightly larger display, more RAM (which will be helpful for handling on-device AI), a faster processor, new colors including a brown/tan/bronze color, 5x optical zoom on the entry-level models, better low light photography, and more. But the rumor that has intrigued me the most is a new physical button on the side of the iPhone that would serve as a shutter button to instantly take a picture without the need to launch the Camera app first. It is rumored to have some neat features such as the ability to focus by pressing the button lightly (similar to a half-press of the button on an SLR camera), take a picture by pressing it all the way, and zooming in and out by swiping left and right. Considering that it would be more accurate to call my iPhone an iCamera since I use it to take pictures frequently, the rumor of a shutter button has me intrigued. We might also see new models of the AirPods, a new Apple Watch that is thinner with a larger screen, a new iPad mini, and who knows what else. It is all coming in less than ten days, and I’m very excited about the announcements. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• David Sparks of MacSparky discusses the rumor that Apple is about to release a second version of the AirPods Max. I have never had a need for an AirPods Max and they are too expensive to buy on a lark, but I’ve always thought that they might be fun to have in certain circumstances.
• Joe Rossignol of MacRumors wonders whether we will see a new Apple TV in 2024, and suggests that a new model could include a camera for videoconferencing. Using a current Apple TV with an iPhone provides great quality for videochats with friends and family, but getting the iPhone connected to the Apple TV is a little complicated. Having a single unit with the camera built-in would be much nicer and easier to use.
• This past week, Hawaii added support for storing a driver’s license in the iPhone’s wallet app. Unfortunately, as reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, you still need to have your physical ID with you when you are driving. Wallet support in Hawaii, like some other states, is offered as a convenience, not as a replacement. Here in Louisiana where I live, we have a digital wallet app called LA License that works just like a physical license so you can drive a car with just the digital license. It even works with TSA at a large number of airports, but TSA requires that you also have a physical ID when you travel.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors believes that despite the potential for Apple to do so much more with Apple Books, the company instead seems to be headed in the wrong direction.
• If you ever bring in your iPhone to be fixed and the Apple Store decides to replace it instead of fixing it, Apple is likely giving you a refurbished unit. That shouldn’t be a problem in most circumstances, but as Finn Voorhees explains, he could no longer use Snapchat when he got his replacement iPhone. Although the contents of the phone were erased, Snapchat was apparently still associating a hardware number for the device with a previous user that it had banned.
• Apple says that AirTags are not designed for tracking people or pets, but people still do it. William Gallagher of AppleInsider reports on a woman in Illinois who put an AirTags in her kindergarten son’s backpack, and it is a good thing that she did so because the school lost track of her boy and she was able to track him to a school bus and find him again.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that new immersive content is coming to the Apple Vision Pro soon, including a short film called 4 Minutes Inside Super Bowl LVIII.
• Ted Lasso is coming back! Michaela Zee of Variety reports that Season 4 of Ted Lasso is now being planned. Warner Bros. has picked up the options on British actors Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, and Jeremy Swift, and the actors who are part of SAG here in the U.S. will presumably be put under contract next. Jason Sudeikis is expected to have a much more limited role, and Phil Dunster (who played Jamie Tart) may be tied up on other projects, but as long as we have most of the cast along with the same great writing, Season 4 should be great fun to watch. Believe!
• I have not yet watched the Napoleon movie on Apple TV+, in part because of the mixed reviews. I heard that it was a beautiful movie, but that much of the plot had to be cut out to reduce the running-time of the movie, making it seem more disjointed. As reported by Matt Grobar of Deadline, Apple has now released a Director’s Cut version of the movie that adds 48 more minutes for a new running time of almost three and a half hours. So this is the version that I plan to watch, perhaps breaking it into a few different nights as if it were a mini-series.
• And finally, Season 4 of the fantastic Apple TV+ show Slow Horses debuts in just a few days on September 4, and here is a short, fun, spoiler-free video to get you ready:

Four years ago in 2020, when Apple introduced the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, Apple also introduced two new watch bands that have no buckles and instead use stretchy materials. As a result, you can simply slip them on and off of your wrist. One of those bands is the $49 Solo Loop, and as I noted in my review, it is one of my all-time favorite Apple Watch bands. I own a few in different colors, and I have worn them frequently for many years. The other one introduced in 2020 is the $99 Braided Solo Loop. I purchased one recently to try it out and see how it compares to the fantastic Solo Loop. Overall, it is a good band, and this is your best option if you like the idea of being able to quickly slip the watch on and off but you don’t like the rubbery feel of a Solo Loop. But if you do like the Solo Loop, I don’t consider this band twice as good even though it is twice the price.

The Braided Solo Loop, like the Solo Loop, doesn’t have a clasp, so you cannot adjust the size. That means that you need to measure yourself, or go to an Apple Store where they can measure you, to get the right size, from Size 1 to Size 9 for the 41 mm Apple Watch, and from Size 1 to Size 12 for the 45 mm Apple Watch. I have a larger wrist (around 21 cm), and I use a Size 12.

According to the Apple Watch website Bandbreite, the Braided Solo Loop has been available in 32 colors over the years, 7 of which are available this season. Perhaps we will get even more new colors on or after the Apple event on September 9, 2024. I had hoped to get a darker blue or green, but those colors are not currently available, so I went for black.

The Braided Solo Loop, like the Solo Loop, stretches to fit around your wrist. This makes it incredibly fast and easy to slip on and off. It also means that you don’t feel any sort of buckle against your skin. Also, there is no risk of a buckle coming undone or catching on something and your watch falling off.

Unlike the Solo Loop, which Apple says is made of liquid silicone rubber, the Braided Solo Loop is created by weaving polyester yarn filaments around silicone threads. So instead of a rubbery feel, the Braided Solo Loop has the feel of a textured, soft canvas except that it is stretchy. I know that some people complain that they get too much sweat caught under the rubbery Solo Loop band, although that has never been a problem for me. For those folks, the Braided Solo Loop may be preferable because it breathes more thanks to the weave.

Another result of the weave is that the band feels soft against your arm. The feel is somewhat similar to Apple’s Sport Loop, which is made of a nylon weave and is very comfortable, as I noted in my review from five years ago. But unlike the Sport Loop, you can easily stretch this band.

Although both the Braided Solo Loop and the Solo Loop are stretchy and thus hug your wrist, there seems to be less tension with the Braided Solo Loop. Don’t get me wrong, it is not like it is loose enough to slide up and down my wrist, which would be something that I definitely would not like. The elasticity keeps it in place. But it is just a slightly looser feel. I’ve heard a few reports that after years of use, the Braided Solo Loop can loosen up considerably, so much so that some people recommend going one size smaller with the Braided Solo Loop than you would with a Solo Loop. After less than two weeks of regular use, however, I haven’t noticed this Braided Solo Loop band getting any looser on my wrist, and I’m happy with selecting the same size that I use with the regular Solo Loop.

Conclusion

The Braided Solo Loop is a very comfortable watch band. It is easy to slip on and off, and the weave is comfortable against the wrist. Wearing this watch band is almost akin to slipping a comfortable sock on your foot. My only real complaint is the price. I find the Solo Loop band to be just as comfortable and easy to slip on and off at half the price. And because it is fun to have different color watch bands to match your clothes or your mood, I’d prefer having two Solo Loop bands in two colors than one Braided Solo Loop band.

Apple announced yesterday that on Monday, September 9, Apple will stream a video event at 10 Pacific / 1 Eastern. The YouTube page for the video is already online, but I usually watch using the page on the Apple website. And while Apple is not saying what it will announce, we all know that the event will at least include 2024 version of the iPhone. I suspect that we will also see the 2024 versions of the Apple Watch. Indeed, September 9, 2024, will be exactly 10 years after Apple first announced the Apple Watch (although it did not ship until April 24, 2015). I suspect we will also see new AirPods.

In the email that Apple sent around to announce the event, Apple included a glowing Siri logo combined with the Apple logo and the tagline: “It’s Glowtime.”

Does the obvious reference to Siri mean that we will see some new Siri-related features introduced on the 9th? Perhaps something related to AI: Siri + Apple intelligence? We’ll see.

Why Monday?

The choice of Monday, September 9, also strikes me as interesting because Apple usually holds this event on a Tuesday unless there is a late Labor Day, in which case it is usually on a Wednesday.

For many years now, when Labor Day occurred on September 4 or earlier, then Apple would hold the iPhone announcement on the Tuesday of the following week. For example, this occurred in 2023, 2019, 2017, 2014, and 2013. When Labor Day fell on Sept. 5 or later, then Apple would announce the new iPhone on the Wednesday that was two days after Labor Day. For example, this occurred in 2022, 2016, and 2015.

There have been two exceptions. The year 2020 was a notable exception due to COVID. Although Apple announced the new Apple Watch on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 (consistent with the pattern that I just noted), Apple alerted the world on July 30, 2020, that the iPhone introduction would be delayed several weeks, and the introduction finally occurred on October 13, 2020. The other exception was the very next year, 2021. Even though Labor Day fell on September 6, which would normally mean an iPhone announcement on September 8, Apple waited until the Tuesday of the following week, September 14, 2021, to have the new iPhone announcement. That one-week delay could have been because new iPhone supply was very low in 2021 due to the lingering effects of COVID, with people waiting up to four weeks to receive an iPhone 13 after it was purchased. Pushing back the announcement one week in 2021 may have been to allow for one additional week to build up the initial supply.

The traditional routine of introducing a new iPhone on a Tuesday—or Wednesday if it followed a Monday holiday—meant that Apple had one work day to prepare for the announcement, allowing Apple a day to get ready for the press to come to town to see the new iPhone in person. Even though Apple shifted in 2020 from live keynote addresses to streamed video announcements, it has still been hosting a (smaller) event on its campus for select members of the press to see the new iPhone in person.

But as noted above, this year, we have an exception to the normal pattern. Labor Day occurs early—on September 2, 2024—so applying the traditional pattern, we would expect an iPhone introduction on the Tuesday of the following week, which is Tuesday, September 10. Why is Apple instead hosting the event on Monday, September 9? Assuming that Apple is inviting members of the press to its campus that day, it will presumably have to pay some people to work on a Sunday to prepare.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball suggests a politics-based explanation for the move: “The first (and currently the only scheduled) debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is on Tuesday 10 September — I’ll bet Apple set this one for Monday to give them a better chance at leading the news during the 24 hours after the event.” I suppose that is possible. I haven’t yet seen any other theories, and I don’t have one myself.

Whatever the reason for the Monday announcement this year, it is interesting that if Apple returns to its normal pattern in the next two years, that means that we will have three years in a row of new iPhones being announced on September 9: Monday, September 9, 2024, Tuesday, September 9, 2025, and Wednesday, September 9, 2026. I suppose that 9/9 does have a nice ring to it.

In just a few weeks (the latest rumor says September 10), Apple is expected to announce new models of the iPhone and Apple Watch. In this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney and I gave you some advice that will be helpful if you are thinking of upgrading to the new versions. First, we discuss the double tap gesture available on the newest Apple Watch models and how it will soon be even better. Second, we discuss why you should consider getting an iPhone that has a 5x zoom lens, which is currently only available on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Third, we discuss one of the Apple Intelligence features expected to debut later this year, but only if you have one of the newest iPhones: the ability to tell the Photos app what kind of Memories movie to make based upon your pictures. Fourth, we discuss AppleCare+, which is always a consideration when you get a new device. We also discuss CarPlay, a possible future improvement to the Apple Vision Pro, and much more.

In our Where Y’At? segment, we discuss using an AirPod to catch a mail bandit.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for using the app launcher on the Apple Watch, and I provide a tip on what type of battery life you can expect if you get a new Apple Watch this Fall.

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

Apple has created and/or popularized so many great gestures on the iPhone and other products: the pinch gesture, pull-to-refresh, swipe down or up for controls, switching iPad apps by swiping with multiple fingers, the new Apple Vision Pro gestures, and so many more. When I recently reviewed the Apple Watch Ultra 2, I noted that the new double tap feature added to the Apple Watch last year is a useful gesture that could be even better if it could do more. Zac Hall of 9to5Mac notes that in the upcoming watchOS 11, this Apple Watch gesture will be far more useful because when your Apple Watch is in its default mode (showing a watch face) a double tap will bring up the new Smart Stack feature that shows the widgets you are mostly likely to want to use at any particular time. With new Apple Watches coming out in perhaps just a few weeks, there will soon be a new wave of people upgrading (or getting their first Apple Watch) and taking advantage of this new gesture. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac argues that the iPhone 15 introduced by Apple last year will be obsolete faster than any prior iPhone, in part because it won’t support the Apple Intelligence features that are coming soon but also because, if Apple releases a fourth generation iPhone SE this year, the iPhone 15 may pale in comparison. He makes an interesting argument, and I suspect that we will find out in just a few weeks if he is right.
• In another post, Christoffel describes one of the coolest features coming with Apple Intelligence: the ability to describe what you want to see and then have Photos create a Memories movie for you based on your instructions. That sounds like a lot of fun to use.
• Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac reports that Apple is changing the rules for signing up for AppleCare+ after you purchase an Apple item. Instead of having 30 days after the original coverage expires, Apple is extending that to 45 days.
• Fernando Silva of 9to5Mac recommends seven widgets to use in StandBy Mode on the iPhone.
• Juli Clover of MacRumors notes that you can now use Apple’s Podcasts app in a web browser. And as John Gruber of Daring Fireball points out, this could be useful if you spend time using Windows but still want to listen to your podcasts from the Apple Podcasts app.
• In an article for Six Colors and Macworld, Dan Moren shares some interesting thoughts on CarPlay. On the one hand, it is a feature so beloved that many people won’t even consider purchasing a vehicle that doesn’t support it. On the other hand, because so much control lies in the hands of car manufacturers, Apple has trouble moving the technology forward.
• A woman in New York got sick and tired of someone stealing her mail, so she took matters into her own hands by mailing herself an AirTag. You can probably guess what happened next, as reported by William Gallagher of AppleInsider.
• Click here to see the winning pictures from the 17th annual iPhone Photography Awards. There are some great shots in there, and many of them give me ideas for making my own photos better.
• The monitor that I use with my Mac mini at home (and which also works with an iPad) is the Apple Studio Display. It is fantastic. It cost $1,599 when I purchased it, but it is currently on sale at Amazon for $1,299.99, which is quite a discount.
• This is just a patent application, so it is far from a shipping product. but I was excited by this story from David Schloss at AppleInsider. Apple is working on a future technology for the Apple Vision Pro that would use liquid-filed lenses and an electrical current to generate an eyeglass prescription without the need for lenses. They could be adjusted as your vision changes, and they would work better with AR environments. Sounds great!
• Dark Matter was a great new TV show on Apple TV+ this year. If you like science fiction, I strongly recommend it. Peter White of Deadline reports that Apple has just renewed the show for a second season. The first season is based on a book and there is no sequel, so the folks between the show will have to come up with new stories for the second season. Hopefully, they can do it, and do it well!
• If you have been using an iPad this week, then you have something in common with Vice President Kamala Harris, as shown by this picture on Threads.
• And finally, I was incredibly impressed by the first version of Final Cut Pro for the iPad, and now version 2 is even more amazing. The abilities of this app are far beyond what I need when I put together my simple home videos, but I love having all of this power because every time I make a new video I find an excuse to learn about another feature that is new to me. And this app does a great job of showing how powerful the iPad Pro is. Here is a video released by Apple this week that shows some of the power of this app:

After a break last week, the In the News podcast is back. We start this episode with a brief follow-up on the discussion of old PDAs from the last episode, in which we show that sometimes, everything old is new again. We then discuss the Ultra line of the Apple Watch. Brett has been using the first-generation Ultra for a long time, and I’ve spent almost two weeks with the Ultra 2. What makes the Ultra line special, what are the drawbacks, and is an Apple Watch Ultra right for you? We discuss all of that. Next, we discuss the Spatial Photos feature that is coming soon to the Apple Vision Pro, what makes a portable battery for the iPhone a great portable battery, using iPhones to referrer soccer matches, some of the great shows coming to Apple TV+ this Fall, and much more.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for flipping around your Apple Watch and explains why you might want to do so, and I share a tip for sleep tracking with the Apple Watch and explain why you might want to do so—especially when watchOS is updated in a few weeks.

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

The Apple Vision Pro is too expensive, too big and heavy, and still an immature platform. But I love mine dearly, not just because it is so fun to use now, but also because it is a glimpse into the future of personal electronics. When these devices are lighter, smaller, and cheaper, Apple will have a hit on its hands. I’ve often said that the best part of using an Apple Vision Pro is enjoying the (still too limited) fully immersive video content created by Apple. (The new video added last week showing baby elephants is yet another great one.) But perhaps the second best part of a Vision Pro is enabled in the upcoming visionOS 2.0 software, which I’m currently using as a developer preview. Apple is adding the ability to take any photo and, with the click of one button, turn it into a 3D spatial photo. Dan Moren of Six Colors tried out the feature this week and calls it a “killer feature,” adding: “The results are nothing short of astounding: subjects that pop out of pictures, environments that look like they have real depth, objects that you feel like you could reach out and touch.” Whether I’m looking at relatively recent photos of family and friends or much older pictures of things like my wedding, these spatial photos are something something special. It is amazing how a photo can tug at the heartstrings in a brand new way when you feel a little bit like you are there again. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• A week ago, I raved about the first of a two-part set of podcasts from Twenty Thousand Hertz called the Sound of Apple. The second part came out this week, and it is also great. It focuses on iPhone sounds and tells you the story behind the default phone ring sounds, alert sounds, and even the sounds that are used for tapbacks in Messages. Great stuff, highly recommended.
• Sarah Witman of Wirecutter recommends the best portable chargers for your iPhone.
• Although my daughter played soccer for many years, I never did fully understand the offside rules. Apparently, officials have difficulty with the rule too, because Malcolm Owen of Apple Insider reports that the English Premier League is adopting a new system that uses dozens of iPhones and high frame rate video to watch for infractions. Ted Lasso may be over, but Apple is still leaving its mark on the pitch.
• When you think about Apple making iPhones overseas, you probably think of China. But as William Gallagher of Apple Insider notes, Apple is now the fastest-growing company in India in light of a 20-fold increase in iPhones made in India and a big increase in the number of iPhones sold in India.
• David Sparks of MacSparky talks about why he is still enjoying using his Apple Vision Pro.
• Pixar released a teaser trailer for Toy Story 5, which comes out in 2026. But as Charles Martin of AppleInsider notes, they did it by reusing Apple Watch facts that have been out since 2017. Too funny.
• There is a new movie on Apple TV+ called The Instigators, and Lewis Wallace of Cult of Mac says that it is old-school action-comedy fun. I watched it last weekend, and I enjoyed it.
• Ryan Christofel of 9to5Mac describes the big shows coming to Apple TV+ this Fall. It includes Slow Horses Season 4 (Sept. 4), Wolfs starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt (Sept. 27), Disclaimer starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline (Oct. 11), Shrinking Season 2 (Oct. 16), Silo Season 2 (Nov. 15), and more. And of course, Bad Monkey starring Vince Vaughn is available now.
• And finally, to celebrate the start of the upcoming start of the Paralympic Games, Apple released a cool video this week showing how Apple products can help lots of different athletes. The video is called The Relay: