Apple issued updates for lots of its software platforms this week. Perhaps the biggest changes are reserved for those who live in Europe, where the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) has forced Apple to allow for third-party app stores and third-party browser engines on the iPhone. But for those of us here in the U.S., the new software provides lots of other small updates. And in light of Apple updating its MacBook Air computers earlier this week, will next week be the time when Apple finally announces updates to its iPad line, after no new iPads at all in 2023? We’ll find it soon enough. In the meantime, here is the news of note from the past week.

• Niléane of MacStories runs down what is new in iOS 17.4 and iPad OS 17.4. In addition to changes for the EU, one new feature is the addition of transcripts to Apple’s podcasts app. This is a really cool feature. If you listened to a podcast a while ago and then you want to jump back to the specific part of a podcast where something specific was mentioned, you can now do so. Open up the podcast episode, start playing the episode, tap the transcript button at the bottom left (very similar to the lyrics button in Apple Music), and then tap the word Search. Type a word and you can jump directly to the part of the podcast where that word was used and listen to it again. Cool! Or if you don’t want to listen and just want to review or search the transcript, you can do that too. The quality of these generated transcripts is not 100% accurate, but it is amazingly close to that. There are also 118 new Emojis such as the lime Emoji, a new clock widget, a new Live Activity for the stopwatch, and more.
• Juli Clover of MacRumors also does a good job of explaining what is new in iOS 17.4. For example: “Call identification in iOS 17.4 displays Apple-verified business names, logos, and department names when the information is available.” I haven’t seen that yet, but that sounds like a nice feature.
• Another reason to update your iPhone when new updates are available is that Apple’s updates virtually always improve security. Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac notes that iOS 17.4 fixes four important security issues, two of which were actively being exploited in the real world. Yikes, and I’m glad that I updated already.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac explains that Apple also released updates to the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and more.
• Because Apple may be just days away from announcing a new iPad and perhaps also a new Apple Pencil, now is not the time to buy a new Apple Pencil. But if I were going to do so anyway, I would be very tempted to purchase the “Apple Number 2 Pencil” from Colorware because, as noted by Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac … actually, you don’t have to pay much attention to the words in that post. Just look at the picture. Very fun, and very cool. It reminds me of the great No. 2 Pencil Stylus for Touchscreens by Griffin that I reviewed back in 2013, but alas, Griffin is now part of a different company and that product is no longer available. But mine is still on my desk and I still occasionally use it.
• Apple also released the first big update for the Vision Pro: software version 1.1. I was very excited about this update because the Vision Pro now supports Mobile Device Management, which is a requirement for many folks who work for a company. As of the time that I’m writing this, the MDM software that we use as my law firm is not yet updated to support the Vision Pro, but my fingers are crossed that support will come soon. I see that another MDM product, Jamf, was ready for Day 1 of version 1.1.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that the Persona feature is much better in version 1.1. I created one, and I have to admit that it does look better than what had before.
• Should lawyers (and other professionals) use an Apple Vision Pro? In an article for Above the Law, New York attorney Nicole Black concludes probably not. As she writes: “For most lawyers, there’s no reason to rush out and invest in this device. Unless you’re an early adopter of Apple products, I would wait a year or even more until newer versions are released and more apps are created specifically for the Apple Vision Pro, especially in the productivity category.” I agree 100% with her very practical advice. Having said that, it seems clear that she, like me, is very happy that she owns a Vision Pro to have the opportunity to get a sneak peek at what this technology of the future looks like. If you also enjoy living on the cutting edge of technology, and if you have around $3500 to spend, it is a really fun product.
• Before I started using the Apple Vision Pro I would take panoramic photos only occasionally. But considering how incredibly cool they look, I wish I had taken them more often. If you do take a panoramic photo with your iPhone, you are likely to use the built-in feature in the Photos app. But Jason Snell of Six Colors points out that you can actually get higher-quality panoramic photos by just taking a series of still photos and then using Photoshop to stitch the photos together. That’s how I used to create panoramic photos when I took pictures with my DSLR camera (and I’m glad that I did so because now I have panoramic photos that date back to 2005) but it is interesting to learn that this technique remains useful today.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball criticizes the battery indicator on the Vision Pro’s external battery. Perhaps there won’t even be an external battery in the next version of the Vision Pro, but if there is, Apple should implement the changes suggested by Gruber.
• Samuel Axon of Ars Technica explains what it was like to use the Apple Vision Pro exclusively for a week to get his work done.
• In the 1990s, Apple created and released a personal digital assistant called the Newton. The device had its fans, but it had some problems as well. Steve Jobs killed the product when he returned to Apple, but the spirit of the Newton lives on today, better than ever, in the iPhone and iPad. So let’s think about the Apple Car, which Apple worked on for 10 years but reported abandoned. Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels thinks about the good aspects of what Apple was trying to do with the car. And who knows, maybe in a decade or so, Apple will return to the automotive market.
• Dan Moren of Six Colors explains why the technology behind the Apple Car may well live on in other projects at Apple.
• David Sparks of MacSparky shares his thoughts on the end of the car project.
• Justin Pot of the Wall Street Journal recommends turning on the iPhone feature that lets you tap on the back of your device to launch an app or a specific feature such as the flashlight.
• The Apple TV is now a fantastic device for doing a video conference, thanks to tvOS 17. But you need a way to prop up your iPhone. I’ve been using a Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Desktops and Displays (my review), but Belkin recently revised that product and came up with the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K, which looks like it would work even better. It will cost $49.99 when it is released, and Roman Loyola of Macworld has a sneak peek.
• Apple spends a lot of money creating movies that often lose money at the box office, but Tatiana Siegel of Variety explains, Apple still comes out ahead financially—and not just because of the prestige of releasing these movies on Apple TV+ after the theatrical run.
• Harley Charlton of MacRumors reports that Apple TV+ recently added over 50 movies to its catalog for a limited time. Some of them are in 3D, so this past weekend I picked one of these movies, Edge of Tomorrow starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, and watched it using my Apple Vision Pro. The 3D did not really add that much to the movie, but the movie itself was a fun sci-fi thriller, especially because I didn’t read anything about the movie so I wasn’t spoiled about a big twist in the movie. If you decide to watch it too, try to avoid reading any descriptions of the movie.
• And finally, here is a video from Apple called One More that shows off the long battery life of the iPhone 15 Plus.

Brett and I begin this week’s episode of the In the News podcast by saying goodbye to the Apple Car that we never knew. We also discuss Apple’s upcoming AI announcement, the Apple Sports app, upcoming features in iOS 17.4, watching movies on an Apple Vision Pro, and more.

In our Where Y’at? segment, we discuss three tales of people who credit the Apple Watch with saving their lives, two from a land called Down Under, and one from a state that sits down under New York.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for checking to see if your AirPods are running the latest firmware. I explain how to improve the new Apple Sports app by removing the display of betting odds.

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 biggest Apple news of the week concerned something that Apple never released and Apple never even talked about. But given the thousands of people hired by Apple over the last decades, many of them former employees of other car manufacturers, and the disclosures that Apple has to make to authorities that it was testing autonomous vehicles on roads, it was an open secret that Apple has been developing a car. As first reported by Mark Gurman of Bloomberg and then widely reported by numerous other news outlets, Apple finally decided to pull the plug on its electric car project this week. Brian X. Chen and Tripp Mickle of the New York Times wrote an extensive article about the situation based on lots of off-the-record interviews. (That’s a gift link so you can read it even if you don’t subscribe.) Why did Apple give up the project? This one sentence says it all: “If it ever came to market, an Apple car was likely to cost at least $100,000 and still generate razor-thin profit compared with smartphones and earbuds.” In 1997 at Apple’s WWDC conference for developers, Steve Jobs famously said: “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” I think it made sense for Apple to explore this area, but after a decade of not getting to a shipping product that makes sense, it looks like Apple made the right decision. Some of the reported 2,000 employees working on the Apple Car will probably lose their jobs, but many are being offered positions working on AI issues for Apple, which I’m sure was a big part of making an autonomous car. If the end result is that Apple devotes more focus to products that make more sense for the company and those products are even better with more people working on integrating AI, then that will definitely be a good thing. Indeed, John Gruber of Daring Fireball floated a theory that Apple executive Kevin Lynch has spent the last few years figuring out who to use the Apple Car technologies in other Apple products. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:

• iOS 17.4 is not out yet, but Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reports that Apple has already published the full release notes. It will include new Emojis, transcripts in the Apple Podcasts app, caller identification for Apple-verified businesses, and more. And if you live in the EU, Apple is adding support for third-party app stores.
• Another change in iOS 17.4 is that the Messages app will remain secure even if attacked by a quantum computer. No, quantum computers don’t exist yet, but defenses against them are already possible. John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote a post that quotes Apple’s (good) explanation of this technology and then further explains what is going on.
• Here is a brief Public Service Announcement on the Apple AirPods Pro and Windows 11. I recently upgraded my work computer to Windows 11, and when I tried to pair AirPods Pro, I put the AirPods into pairing mode (by holding down the button on the back) but they would never appear in the Settings app in Windows for me to select them. After trying the same thing at least two dozen times, on the next try, it worked. If you have difficulty pairing AirPods Pro to Windows 11, my advice is to keep doing the same thing over and over again until it finally works.
• In a series of two videos, a person who posts YouTube videos under the name Practical Matters shows in the first video how he accidentally dropped his Apple Vision Pro onto a hardwood floor, shattering the front of it, and shows in the second video how he attached the replacement part that he received through Apple Care.
• Mike Wuerthele of AppleInsider suggests five famous places that would be perfect environments for Apple to add to the Apple Vision Pro. I agree with all five suggestions.
• In an article for Six Colors and Macworld, Jason Snell explains that Apple Stores should be doing a better job helping people choose the right Light Shield sizes for an Apple Vision Pro. I agree. When I first pre-ordered mine using the app, the app scanned my face and announced my size to be 25W. When I visited an Apple Store on the day that the product was released, I expected someone to let me try different shields to find the right fit, but that never happened. And then, after reading Jason’s article, I used the app to scan my face again multiple different times, and now the app says I should get a 21W. My current Vision Pro seems to fit fine so I guess the 25W is okay, but would a 21W be better? I don’t know. If any of you have changed Light Shield sizes over the last few weeks, I’d love to hear about your experience. (For Jason Snell, who started with a 24W and was then told that a 21W would be better, he tried out the 21W and decided that the original 24W was better.)
• The Patently Apple website discusses Apple patents that could allow you to visit a virtual Apple Store using the Apple Vision Pro.
• Apple released two videos to tell the story of two people in Australia whose lives were saved thanks to an Apple Watch: Lexie’s Heart and Bruce and the Roo.
• And finally, New Orleans is not a city that one traditionally associates with amazing museums, but the National World War II Museum is an amazing, multi-building facility with incredible exhibits and artifacts. It is as impressive as any Smithsonian museum. And it definitely makes a trip to New Orleans worth it, even if one sets aside everything else that the city has to offer for tourists. I’ve been visiting the museum since it opened on June 6, 2000, in part because, until she passed away a few years ago, my grandmother (who met my grandfather during the war) worked at the museum as a volunteer every Monday. Perhaps in part because of my frequent trips to the museum, I’ve been really enjoying the Apple TV+ show Masters of the Air. (My son loves watching it too.) David Show of Cult of Mac reports that Apple TV+ will soon release a documentary about the real pilots who inspired the series, along with interviews with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. I have no doubt that it will be a first-class production, and I look forward to watching it when it premieres on March 15. Here is the trailer for the documentary, called The Bloody Hundredth:

The Apple Vision Pro provides the very best way to watch a 3D movie. The screen can be as big as the largest movie theater. You get to sit in the perfect seat in the center. And you don’t have to wear polarized glasses that reduce the brightness of the film; instead, the image is crisp and bright in both of your eyes. When I recently watched the latest Avatar movie in 3D, widely considered to contain some of the best uses of 3D in a movie, I was astonished at how impressive a 3D movie can look. I never knew that 3D could look so good.

According to one post on Reddit, there are over 200 movies that are available to watch in 3D on the Apple Vision Pro. But perhaps the oldest one is the Alfred Hitchcock’s classic movie Dial M for Murder, released 70 years ago in 1954. At the time that the movie was conceived, studios thought that 3D movies might be the next big thing as studios started to use polarized glasses instead of the prior red-and-blue glasses. Making this 3D movie was not easy. As reported by Liam Gaughan of Collider, Warner Brothers only had a single 3D camera rig that it could use for this production, and the camera rig took up nearly the entire room. This made the movie particularly difficult for Hitchcock to shoot. For example, he could not have two cameras filming two sides of a conversation, and instead he would have to move around the bulky single camera for every different shot in the film.

Despite all of this effort, as the Wikipedia article on the movie notes, by the time the movie was finally released, public interest in 3D movies had diminished. As a result, there were very few 3D showings of this movie back in 1954. Starting in the 1980s, there have been rare times when select theaters would show the 3D version, and a 3D Blu-ray version was released in 2012 ($21.05 on Amazon). But most of the people who have seen the movie over the last 70 years have seen it in 2D.

Nevertheless, a lot of people have seen this movie, and for good reason. It is a suspenseful tale of murder from Hitchcock, a master of the genre. Almost all of the movie takes place in a single room of an apartment with only a few main characters, so the movie turns on the actors being good, and they are. Grace Kelly, in particular, is amazing. The whole thing feels more like a play than a movie, which makes sense because the movie was based on a play. The American Film Institute ranks this movie #9 on its all-time list of best mystery movies, and even 70 years later, the movie holds up very well. It certainly had me on the edge of my seat. There are a few lines of dialogue that reflect the sexism of that time period (such as references to what was appropriate for a wife versus a husband in a marriage), but other than that, almost the same script could be used today for a modern adaptation. And the film has been restored rather well considering its age, with no visible scratches and good color. When Hitchcock puts Grace Kelly in a red dress early in the movie, a not-so-subtle decision that adds to the plot, the dress pops on screen and she looks great.

But again, the reason that I watched this movie this past weekend is that I was curious to see how a movie that used cutting-edge 3D technology of the 1950s would hold up today in a Vision Pro. Initially, I had hoped to rent the movie. In the Apple TV app on the Apple Vision Pro, Apple has the movie listed, says that it is in 3D, and notes that it can be rented for $3.99. However, when I went to rent the movie, things did not go well. First, I was told that there were two versions to rent, but I could never get the button to click on one of the versions. Second, the single version that I was allowed to rent gave me the 2D version of the movie. I subsequently saw others say online that the only way to get the 3D version is to buy the movie, so I decided to bite the bullet and pay $9.99 to buy the movie and then dispute the charge on the $3.99 rental using Apple’s webpage for disputing a charge. (Less than 24 hours later, Apple refunded me the $3.99, either because they were feeling nice, or perhaps because their system noticed that I also bought the movie.)

Once the movie is purchased, when you select it in the Apple TV app, you see a pop-up window asking if you want to watch the movie in 3D or 2D. Finally, what I was looking for!

I am happy to report that this movie was a complete delight to watch in 3D and the 3D makes a real difference. The 2D version of the movie looks like a restored but still somewhat grainy movie from the 1950s—exactly what I had expected for a movie from this era. In the 3D version, the film still looks somewhat grainy, but I didn’t notice it nearly as much because the 3D effect made the movie seem more immersive and modern.

Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the way that Hitchcock filmed this movie in 3D adds greatly to the suspense of the film. Hitchcock resisted the urge to overuse the 3D, so there are virtually no gimmicky 3D shots–except for one at the height of the drama that is totally worth it. For the rest of the movie, the 3D is used to make the room in which the actors are located seem more claustrophobic, which adds to the suspense. You see a lamp in the foreground as actors are plotting in the background. Or you see one actor closer to the camera and another a little further back. The end result is that you often get the sense that you are right there in the intimate room with the characters. Imagine watching a play that takes place in a single room where you get to be sitting in that room watching the play unfold in front of you. That is the feeling that you get thanks to the effective use of 3D camera placement. This movie is already good, but it is even better when you watch it in 3D.

So we have one of the greatest mystery movies of all time, made even better by the impressive use of 3D, and yet very few people have ever had a chance to experience it the way that it was intended to be seen. But now, thanks to the Apple Vision Pro, you can watch the movie in a way that is better than anyone has ever seen it before because the Vision Pro is so amazing at showing 3D content.

When my kids were younger, I would often purchase Disney (and similar) movies on DVD because they loved to watch them over and over again. But outside of those films, the number of movies that I have purchased over the decades is rather small because it is rare for me to want to rewatch a movie. I don’t plan to purchase a lot of movies from Apple just to have the opportunity to watch the movie in 3D. Instead, I’m glad that there are some great 3D movies available as a part of my Disney+ subscription and I hope to soon see even more good 3D movie options as a part of my Apple TV+ subscription. I wish that I could have just rented the 3D version of Dial M for Murder, but I enjoyed the movie enough that I probably received $10 of value in having the opportunity to see a classic movie like Dial M for Murder in such an amazing format.

If you own an Apple Vision Pro, and if the idea of a classic mystery appeals to you, I recommend purchasing Dial M for Murder in the Apple TV app. Bringing Alfred Hitchcock 70 years into the future is rather fun.

Earlier this month, Apple released the results for its 2024 fiscal first quarter (which ran from October 1, 2023, to December 30, 2023, and did not actually include any days from calendar year 2024) and held a call with analysts to discuss the results. I have not yet had a chance to report on these results, and even though they came out a few weeks ago, there are a few interesting tidbits in there worth discussing. The fiscal first quarter is always Apple’s best quarter of the year because it includes holiday sales. And with $119.6 billion in revenue, it was the second-best quarter in the history of the company, second only to $123.9 billion in Q1 2022 (which was based on the last three months of 2021). As always, I’m not all that interested in the financial details. What interests me is that this is one of four times a year when Apple answers questions from a bunch of analysts, so I’m always curious to see what Apple has to say about the iPhone and iPad and related technologies. If you want to get all of the nitty-gritty details, you can listen to the audio from the announcement conference call on the Apple website, or you can read a transcript of the call prepared by Jason Snell of Six Colors.  Snell also created a number of useful charts that put Apple’s financial announcements in perspective over time.  Apple’s official press release is here.  Here are the items that stood out to me.

iPhone

• iPhone revenue was $69.7 billion. This was the second-best iPhone quarter ever, second only to $71.6 billion two years ago.
• Cook said that an all-time record number of people upgraded their iPhone to a new model last quarter.
• Here is how Apple CEO Tim Cook described the new line of iPhones. Yes, there is a certain degree of marketing in this statement, but it is still interesting to hear the features that Apple thinks are worth pointing out: “The iPhone 15 lineup has earned glowing reviews and been embraced by customers. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus feature a gorgeous new design with color-infused back glass and contoured edges, Dynamic Island, A16 Bionic, and a new 48-megapixel camera system. And the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max set the gold standard for smartphones with a beautiful and lighter titanium design, industry-leading performance with A17 Pro, and our most advanced camera system with the equivalent of seven pro lenses and the ability to record spatial video. Features like Emergency SOS and roadside assistance via satellite bring peace of mind to users when they travel, and I’m grateful for every note I’ve received about their life-saving impact.”

iPad

• iPad revenue was $7 billion, down substantially (25%) from the one year ago all-time record of $9.4 billion.
• Considering that Apple didn’t introduce any new iPad models in 2023, I guess one could argue that it is impressive that it managed to sell $7 billion worth of iPads without any new designs. Don’t get me wrong, even the iPad on sale right now is a fantastic device, but the rumor is that Apple will introduce new iPads perhaps as soon as March 2024, and new models always spark additional iPad purchases.

Other

• This quarterly results announcement occurred on February 1, 2024, the day before the Vision Pro officially went on sale. Apple CFO Luca Maestri said: “With the upcoming launch of Apple Vision Pro, we are seeing strong excitement in enterprise. Leading organizations across many industries, such as Walmart, Nike, Vanguard, Striker, Bloomberg, and SAP have started leveraging and investing in Apple Vision Pro as the new platform to bring innovative spatial computing experiences to their customers and employees. From everyday productivity to collaborative product design to immersive training, we cannot wait to see the amazing things our enterprise customers will create in the months and years to come.”
• In these calls, Apple executives routinely decline requests to talk about what Apple will be doing in the future. And yet Cook did promise something in the AI field for later this year: “As we look ahead, we will continue to invest in … technologies that will shape the future. That includes artificial intelligence, where we continue to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort, and we’re excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year. … In terms of generative AI, which I would guess is your focus, we have a lot of work going on internally as I’ve alluded to before. Our M.O., if you will, has always been to do work and then talk about work and not to get out in front of ourselves, and so we’re going to hold that to this as well. But we’ve got some things that we’re incredibly excited about that we’ll be talking about later this year.” That may not sound like much, but it is more than Apple normally says about what it will be doing in the future.

As of the time that I am typing these words, we still don’t know the details on what caused the massive outage on AT&T’s network yesterday except that it wasn’t a cyber attack. Fortunately, service was restored by yesterday afternoon. It didn’t affect everyone. Some cities were worse than others. Here in New Orleans, I didn’t notice it on my iPhone, but my son did. Marlene Lenthang and Katherine Itoh of NBC News report that Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Atlanta had more issues than many other cities. And while it was just a minor annoyance for some, I hope that the number of critical calls that did not go through, including 911 calls, were minimal. It all serves as a good reminder that many services that we rely on and take for granted can be quite fragile. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Due to a schedule conflict, Brett Burney and I will not be able to record an episode of the In the News podcast this week. That’s a shame because, over the last few weeks since the release of the Apple Vision Pro, we have had many new listeners to our (usually) weekly podcast, and there is actually quite a bit to talk about this week. But fear not, we’ll make up for it next week. If you haven’t yet become a regular listener of the podcast, I encourage you to check out the latest episode and subscribe in your podcast player of choice so you are ready to join us next week. Or you can always just watch on YouTube: youtube.com/InTheNewsShow
• Last week, Brett Burney was at ABA TECHSHOW. While I could not attend, I always enjoy hearing the technology tips at the 60 in 60 session that traditionally ends the legal technology conference. Danielle Braff of ABA Journal reports on that session and even provides a link to the slides so that you can see all of the tips yourself—most of which are useful even if you are not a lawyer.
• The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro are even better than we thought. Apple originally said that the battery would remain in good shape (able to retain up to 80% of its original capacity) for 500 complete charge cycles. As reported by Chance Miller of 9to5Mac, Apple is now saying that it can do that for 1000 complete charge cycles.
• Apple released a new free iPhone app this week called Sports. The app focuses on giving you the latest sports scores and doing it as fast as possible. It looks great. Harry McCracken of Fast Company discusses the new app and shares quotes from Apple executives about why they created the app.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors also wrote about the app, and his article includes comments from Apple’s Eddy Cute.
• What do you do if you drop your iPhone in water? Apple’s offers advice in this article on its website. Notably, Apple says to ignore the often-heard advice to put your iPhone in a bag of rice because doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone.
• As reported by Joe Rossignol of MacRumors, this week Apple announced that it will be implementing a new post-quantum cryptographic protocol for iMessage called PQ3 that will offer extensive defenses against even highly sophisticated quantum attacks. I don’t think that I know what any of these words mean, but I guess that sounds good?
• Stephanie Stahl and Brad Nau of CBS News report that a man in New Jersey—who purchased an Apple Watch because he thought it looks “cool” “hip” and “in style”—is now thankful for his purchase for another reason: it saved his life, warning him that his heart rate was too low while he was sleeping. The article also notes: “Recently, the National Institutes of Health published research that reviewed 18 studies on smartwatches’ ability to detect cardiac arrhythmias and said the accuracy is high.”
• There are not a lot of accessories available for the Apple Vision Pro, but there are a few worth considering. MacStories rounds up some of the best accessories that are available now.
• In the demo reel for the Vision Pro, Apple shows short clips of sports in spatial video, and it looks amazing. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that Apple said this week that it will release a film about the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs that will show the soccer being played in 3D, thanks to cameras that filmed the games in 8K 3D with a 180-degree field of view. This sounds amazing. I want the ability to watch highlights from a Saints NFL football game in spatial video.
• Dan Barbera of MacRumors created a really interesting video review of the Apple Vision Pro.
• And finally, an even more impressive Apple Vision Pro video comes from Ryan Hudson-Peralta. He shows off the tons of different ways that you can use and control an Apple Vision Pro even if you don’t have hands. Wow:

For this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, Brett Burney is in Chicago at ABA TECHSHOW, where AI is one of the hot topics. I’m back home in New Orleans, but I have stories to tell after traveling with an Apple Vision Pro this past week. Using a Vision Pro on an airplane is fantastic, but is it worth the trade offs? We also discuss some additional thoughts on using a Vision Pro to get work done, why you might want a clock app on the Vision Pro, apps for the iPhone that you can use to make new photos look old and vice versa, a great article on how an Apple Watch can save your life, and more. 

In our Where Y’at? segment, we discuss using an AirTag to find a golf cart.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for using Quick Actions in the Files app, such as quickly removing the background in a picture. I explain how to flip a switch in the Settings app on your iPad so that when a friend is using your Vision Pro, you can see on your iPad screen what they are seeking in the device.

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 continues to dominate Apple news, and it has now been on sale long enough that we are starting to learn more about its limitations. For one thing, it is not for everyone. Zac Hall of 9to5Mac—who stood in line with me at the New Orleans Apple Store when the device went on sale on February 2—reports that it appears that he cannot use an Apple Vision Pro because ZEISS doesn’t support his prescription. I had this concern myself because my eyesight is poor, and even with glasses my eyesight isn’t great. But fortunately for me, ZEISS supports my prescription. If you are wondering whether this might be a problem for you, there is a page on the ZEISS website where you can enter your prescription and find out if it is supported. For more information on this topic, I recommend that you read the comments to Zac’s post, which includes thoughts provided by eye doctors who discuss the condition called anisometropia and others who suggested some possible workarounds that Zac and others might be able to use. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week:

• David Sparks of MacSparky has written a few posts on the Vision Pro and this one, about using it to be productive, is my favorite.
• Christopher Mims of the Wall Street Journal wrote an excellent article explaining why the Vision Pro shows such promise as a device for getting work done.
• In a long article for Apple Insider, Mike Wuerthele considers which professionals can best get their work done with a Vision Pro.
• So far, I haven’t spent much time doing real work with my Apple Vision Pro, partly because I’m waiting for Mobile Device Management support to connect to the networks used by my law firm. But when I have used my Vision Pro to do work, I’ve noticed that it would be nice to have a clock visible at all times so that I could glance at it to see the current time. (There is a clock in the Control Center, but to see it you first need to look up at the top of the screen and select the icon to open the Control Center.) Federico Viticci of MacStories identifies some of his favorite digital clock apps for the Vision Pro.
• Things is the app that I use on my iPhone and iPad for task management. Viticci reviews the new Things app for the Vision Pro.
• Apple released its first update for the Apple Vision Pro since it went on sale, visionOS 1.0.3, as noted by Jason Cross of Macworld. The big new change is an option to reset the device if you have forgotten your passcode.
• J. D. Biersdorfer of the New York Times recommends apps that you can use to give photos or videos a vintage look.
• Tom Corwin of The Post and Courier of Charleston, SC—which I just learned is the South’s oldest daily newspaper, having been founded in 1803—reports that an alert from an Apple Watch led a man without any symptoms to discover that he was suffering from atrial fibrillation and needed immediate attention. Unlike most of the reports of this nature that I cite from time to time, this article has a ton of interesting information in it, including comments from both doctors and Apple and even some words from Tim Cook, so consider checking it out.
• I’ve seen lots of reports of people using an AirTag to recover an item, but I had not yet seen a report of an AirTag being used to find a stolen golf cart until I read this report from Chance Miller of 9to5Mac.
• And finally, Apple recently unveiled at the 2024 Winter Television Critics Association press tour some of the new and returning shows that will be in Apple TV+ in 2024. And oh my goodness there is a lot of content. The New Look, Masters of the Air (which I’ve already started and I’m enjoying), Presumed Innocent (one of my favorite books when I was younger), Constellation, Manhunt, Palm Royale (from Kristen Wiig), and so many more new shows, plus new seasons of old favorites like Loot and Trying and many more, there is going to be a lot to watch. Here is a sizzle reel from Apple:

Today is Mardi Gras day, the culmination of many weeks of festivities in New Orleans. We had more rain than I would have liked during some of the parade days this year, but nevertheless it has been a fun Mardi Gras season. Mardi Gras is all about having good times when friends and family, so even if you are not in New Orleans today, I hope that you have a chance to do that very soon. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Apple designed the Vision Pro so that you can watch movies on planes. The control center on the Apple Vision Pro contains a special Travel Mode. When enabled, the Vision Pro  keeps a window in place even though you are moving. I was curious how this would work, so when I was on two planes on Friday and a train on Saturday, I finished watching the 3D version of Avatar: The Way of Water on Disney+. There were lots of hiccups, unsurprising for technology that is so new, and the process of getting started can be awkward. But once you are up and running, this is an unparalleled way to watch a movie when traveling. It is truly awesome.

Preparing for your trip

Let’s start with what you likely already know. If you want to watch movies on a Vision Pro on the airplane, you need to download them beforehand. On Disney+, 3D movies tend to take between 10 GB and, in the case of the Avatar movie I watched, almost 25 GB.  So if you have the least expensive model of the Vision Pro with 256 GB, there is only so much that you can download before your trip.

Physical Space before Virtual Space

So now your are on the plane. Let’s start with the bad news. No matter where you are—on your couch or in an airplane—you need a certain amount of space to put on an Apple Vision Pro. I keep mine in the case that Apple sells, so I need space to open up that case and set it down. Then I need to take out the battery and put it to my side. Then I need to remove the Vision Pro. Then I need to remove the protective cover from the front of the Vision Pro. I typically put that cover back in the case and put my eyeglasses in the cover. Next you need to attach the cord to the side of the Vision Pro and turn it on. There is a certain ritual to turning on an Apple Vision Pro, and to do it carefully so that you don’t accidentally drop any of this expensive equipment, you need some space.

I was on two flights on Friday, both times sitting in the aisle seat in the main cabin. By some miracle, both times I had nobody in the middle seat next to me. How rare is that? Because there was nobody next to me, I had plenty of space to use that seat to put my case there and get my Vision Pro ready to use. But you certainly cannot count on that luxury.

If I had a friend or family member sitting next to me, I suppose I could have asked them to hold items as I got everything connected. But if it was a stranger next to me—or on both sides if I was in a middle seat—it would have been very awkward to put on the Vision Pro. I didn’t travel in First Class this past Friday, but I suspect that in First Class you would have enough room to put on a Vision Pro.

Think about this carefully before you get your heart set on using a Vision Pro on a plane. If I was traveling by myself and had someone sitting next to me, that would probably deter me from using a Vision Pro on a plane.

Environments?

When you use a Vision Pro, you can either opt to see the real world around you or you can put yourself in an environment, replacing the outside world with a pleasant setting.

On the one hand, using an Environment could help to mask the fact that you are in such a cramp seat on the plane. Indeed, everything that I just said above about how you need space in the physical world to put on a Vision Pro is just the opposite once you are in the virtual world. It has never been easier to block out the outside world and pretend like you are alone. While wearing a Vision Pro and dialling in an Environment, you can probably even forget that you are sitting in a middle seat.

On the other hand, there is an advantage to seeing the outside world while you watch a movie. Both flights that I took on Friday were short flights of around two hours or less. There were announcements and there were crew members walking up and down the aisle. Sitting in an aisle seat, I preferred keeping one eye on the outside world as I enjoyed my movie.

I took a screenshot while I was watchiing the Avatar movie and had turned to look at the aisle. When you take a screenshot, Apple replaces the image of the movie with a black screen becuase of Digital Rights Management, so that is why you see a big black box below. As you can see, my movie screen was considerably larger than the ones on the backs of the seats around me.

Speaking of the outside world, nobody on the plane said anything to me about wearing a Vision Pro, except for my son who was in the aisle seat across from me and who rolled his eyes at me. However, on both flights, the flight attendants definitely noticed. On my first flight, one of them chuckled at me and pointed me out to another flight attendant; I’m not sure if she realized that I was looking right at her. On the second flight, the flight attendant understood that I could see her and asked me lots of questions about how it worked, what I was watching etc. 

The movie watching experience

If you have the space to put on an Apple Vision Pro during a flight, it is a truly incredible way to watch a movie. Your Vision Pro will immediately sense that you are on an airplane and will offer to put you in Travel Mode. That is necessary to help the Vision Pro to keep windows in place and account for the shaking of the flight.

Once you are in Travel Mode, you can start watching a movie. And the movie looked amazing—just as good as when I started watching Avatar at home. The screen was huge and bright, the 3D effects were incredible, the sound (using my Air Pods Pro) was amazing. Except for the fact that I was also vaguely paying attention to people coming down the aisle of the airplane, I was totally immersed in the movie. There is no question that a Vision Pro is the best way to watch a movie by yourself, and this remains true when you are on a plane. It was awesome.

There were also a few hiccups, but they were relatively minor. As long as I kept watching the movie, the movie worked great. But if I looked to the let or right, the Vision Pro would get confused, even though I was in Travel Mode, and gave me a warning that Tracking Failed. As soon as I turned back to the movie, that error message disappeared.

Also, I found that while in Travel Mode, controlling the screen with my eyes was a little less precise. Most of the time, I was just watching the movie so I didn’t need to control anything. But when I dd need to do something, I sometimes had trouble selecting something so that I could click it, so I would often have to look away and then look back at it to get it selected. It was only a minor annoyance, but I hope that this is something that Apple can adjust in a software update.

On a train

Apple’s website only talks about using the Vision Pro while you are on a plane, but on Saturday when I was a commuter rail train, as soon as I put on my Vision Pro I got the same message about enabling Travel Mode—I presume because the Vision Pro sensed that I was moving. I turned Tavel Mode on, and everything worked just like on the plane.

I didn’t try this myself, but I’ve heard other people report that if you don’t turn on Travel Mode on a train, and if you put a window in a location while you are at a station, as the train leaves the station you will see your window quickly disappear behind you as it stays in one location but you move forward. That’s not useful, but it is sort of funny.

One nice advantage of using a Vision Pro on a train is space. In my experience, I am far more likely to get ample space around myself on a train. Thus, the limited physical space problem of a plane may be a non-issue for you on a train.

I did find that I got a few more error messages on the train. For example, two different times, my AirPods Pro were disconnected and I had to go to the Settings app to connect them again. I don’t know why.

Tear-jerkers and the Vision Pro

As I finished the Avatar movie on the train, I encountered a new issue that had never occurred to me before: tears. I’ll admit that when film directors do something in a movie to tug in my heartstrings, I am the sort of person who will often tear up. And at the end of the Avatar movie when there were some nice moments between the family, I found myself tearing up a little. So of course I moved my hand to my eye to wipe the tears, only to discover that you cannot do that while wearing a Vision Pro. Instead, my teardrops dripped downt to the Light Seal cushion, where they were promptly absorbed. Does this mean that if I watch too many tear-jerkers with my Vision Pro, I’m going to need to start washing my Light Seal? That’s not something that I had thought about before.

Conclusion

There were a few hiccups along the way, but I’m sure that these will be ironed out. And needing space to put on a Vision Pro is unfortunate. But when it comes to the experience of watching a movie on a plane or a train, there is nothing like the Vision Pro. If I was on a long cross-country or international flight where I wanted to eat up many hours by watching movies, the Vision Pro would be amazing for that. You just need to get over the problem of having enough space around you to put it on and off. That’s not a minor issue, and it will probably deter me from using a Vision Pro on many flights unless I know that I am upgraded to First Class or have some other reason not to worry about space.