In addition to the new iPhone models announced by Apple this week, Apple also introduced two new Apple Watch models: the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Apple is also continuing to sell the Apple Watch SE (second generation), which was introduced one year ago—the same time as the Series 8 and the first generation of the Ultra.  I think the best way to understand the two new models is to understand the entire lineup, so I’m actually going to begin by addressing the Apple Watch SE.

Apple Watch SE (second generation model, released 2022)

The Apple Watch SE is the cheapest model. It starts at only $249 (for the 40mm size for smaller wrists) or $279 (for the 44mm size for larger wrists). It comes with an aluminum case in the colors Midnight, Starlight, and Silver. You can get a Wi-Fi model or a model with cellular connectivity for an extra $50 (plus you need to pay for a cellular plan, which can cost around $10/month).

The SE uses the S8, a chip released last year with the Series 8, so it is a fairly modern processor, although not the new top-of-the-line S9 discussed below.

The SE includes the main sensors that you would want: fall detection, crash detection, noise monitoring, high and low heart rate notifications, irregular rhythm notifications, and low cardio fitness notification.

Like the earlier models of the Apple Watch, the display on the SE is normally turned off. When you raise your wrist, the screen display turns on, with brightness up to 1,000 nits.

Apple Watch Series 9

The new Apple Watch Series 9 starts at $399 (for the 41mm model for smaller wrists) and at $429 (for the 45mm model for larger wrists). Here is what you get for the additional $150 over the Apple Watch SE.

Let’s start with the advantages over the SE that are new with the Series 9.

First, you get the brand new S9 processor. This new chip has 60% more transistors than the S8 chip used in the SE and last year’s Series 8, which should make the watch seem more responsive. The GPU is 30% faster, so animations and other visual effects should be faster. And a new 4-core neural engine doubles the speed of machine learning tasks.

Second, the Series 9 supports a new gesture for controlling the screen: the double tap. If you pinch your fingers twice on the hand next to the wrist where you are wearing your Apple Watch Series 9, the watch will detect that you have done a double tap and click the default button that is being displayed on your watch screen. For example, if you receive a phone call, the double tap answers the phone. If you receive a notification, the double tap opens the notification. If you are listening to music or a podcast, the double tap will play or pause. The Series 9 uses the new S9 processor to make this gesture work.

Third, you get a faster Siri. The Series 9 watch can process your commands locally, so you don’t have to wait for your watch to send a command to a server to interpret what you said before acting upon your command. The modern versions of the iPhone have a similar feature, and it makes Siri much more responsive.

Fourth, you get a brighter—or in some cases, darker—screen. The SE, like last year’s Series 8, has a display with a brightness of 1,000 nits. The Series 9 doubles that to a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits. Thus, if you are outside in the sun, the screen will be brighter and easier to read. The new screen also works better in a low-light situation, such as a dark room, because it can dim to just 1 nit.

Fifth, the Series 9 adds a new U2 chip (Ultra Wideband). This means that your Apple Watch can do a better job of sensing other Apple products around it and a better job helping you find a lost iPhone by putting arrows on the screen to point you to specific directions. If you have a HomePod (I’m not sure if this works with the HomePod mini), the new U2 makes the watch aware of your HomePod so that when you get near it, the Now Playing screen opens on the watch so that you can quickly control the music playing on the HomePod.

In addition to those five new features, the Series 9 is better than the SE because of the following features that were also available in last year’s Series 8.

First, you get a slightly larger screen than the SE, a feature that debuted with the Apple Watch Series 7 (and which I discussed more extensively in my review of that model). The 1mm increase doesn’t sound like much, but it does make a real difference when you are using the watch. Many on-screen buttons are noticeably larger and easier to tap. And you sometimes see more information on the screen, which is nice.

Second, the larger screen can be on all the time. This is a huge difference, and I love it. With the Apple Watch SE and many older models, you need to move or raise your wrist to activate the screen. With the Series 9 (like the Series 5, 6, 7, and 8), you can just glance at your wrist without moving it to see the time or to look at a notification. When you are in a meeting or with other people, this allows you to be much more discrete, potentially avoiding the embarrassment of a client or someone else thinking that you are getting bored with what they have to say because you are fiddling with your watch just to turn on the screen to see a notification or the time.

Third, the Series 9 has many more sensors than the SE, providing you with even more useful information. No new sensors were added to the Series 9 this year, but you do get the sensor added last year in the Series 8 that tracks your temperature while you are sleeping to help track your cycle if you are ovulating, which can help you make decisions for family planning and which provides a more detailed view of a menstrual cycle. The Series 9 also has a blood oxygen sensor (first introduced with the Series 6), which you can use to monitor your breathing and blood circulation, and thus your overall cardiac health. The Series 9 also has an ECG (also called an EKG) (first introduced with the Series 4 in 2018). The Series 9 also has a more advanced heart sensor than the SE (first introduced with the Series 6). Apple is careful to say that this is not a medical device, but these sensors can give you a warning that it might be a good time to go see a doctor.  

Fourth, the Series 9 is more resistant to the outside world than the SE. Both the SE and the Series 9 are water resistant, so it is OK to swim with them or get them wet. But the Series 9 is also dust resistant (IP6X) (a feature introduced with the Series 7).

Fifth, you can charge a Series 9 more quickly than an SE. This is something that Apple first introduced with the Series 7, and I like it. I usually have no trouble with my Apple Watch lasting all day long. But on days when I push it to the limit, it is nice to give the battery a little boost at some point during the day, and it is noticeably faster to do so with an Apple Watch that supports a USB-C charger with fast charging.

Finally, with the Series 9 you can choose to pay more for a stainless steel case. I prefer the shiny look of the stainless steel case, and I’ve been using this version of the Apple Watch since 2015 when the Apple Watch was first introduced. The stainless steel case is a little tougher, and when you get that model you also get an improved screen that uses sapphire crystal instead of Ion-X glass to be more resistant to scratches. You have to pay an additional $300 for the stainless steel model so it is definitely a premium purchase, but if you think of an Apple Watch as jewelry that you wear all the time, that price increase may seem more reasonable.

Even if you don’t opt for the stainless steel model, you can see that the Series 9 offers ten solid advantages for the additional $150. If you just want a simple Apple Watch, you can live without all of them. But you are missing out on quite a bit with the SE. Just to pick one example, I think that for many professionals, the always-on, larger screen alone is worth the $150.

The Apple Watch Series 9 is available with an aluminum body in the same colors as the Apple Watch SE—Midnight, Starlight, and Silver—plus two additional colors: pink and PRODUCT(RED). 

With the stainless steel body, the color choices are Graphite, Silver, and Gold.

Apple Watch Ultra 2

The other new Apple Watch announced this week is the Ultra 2. The Apple Watch Ultra was announced last year, and it has been a big hit. I know many people who own one, and they all love them. I personally find them to be a little chunky so don’t think that one of these models is in my future, but I am jealous of the larger screen.

This second generation version of the Ultra adds most of the new features that were added to the Series 9. You get the new S9 processor, the new double tap gesture, the new faster Siri because your commands are processed on the watch itself, and the new U2 Ultra Wideband chip.

While the Series 9 chip added the feature to go up to 2,000 nit brightness, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 now goes up to 3,000 nit brightness (up from 2,000 nits on the original Ultra). That’s pretty crazy, and I look forward to seeing what it looks like in real life. If you are outdoors and in the sun, having the brightest screen possible is a fantastic advantage.

The other key features of the Ultra remain the same as last year.

First, as mentioned above, you get the largest display available on any Apple Watch: 49mm, versus 45/41 on the Series 9 and 44/40 on the SE.

Second, you get the most durable Apple Watch ever made. It features the same sapphire crystal on the front that you get with the stainless steel version of the Series 9, but on the Ultra that crystal is completely flat with protection on the edges to give it additional protection.  It features a case made of Titanium, so that it is both rugged and light, and there are raised guards around the digital crown for more protection.  (There are no color choices with the Apple Watch Ultra 2; it only comes in what Apple calls the natural color of Titanium.)  It is strong enough to be water resistant up to 100m (versus 50m on the Series 9 and SE) with EN13319 certification, so it can be used for scuba diving.

Third, speaking of scuba diving, the Ultra has a depth gauge with a temperature sensor. It also comes with an Oceanic+ app to use as a dive computer.

Fourth, the Ultra has an 86-decibel siren that you can activate to attract attention from up to 600 feet away. If you are lost in the woods and want someone else to find you, that siren can help. I suppose this could also be useful in a city if you are trying to attract attention because you are in an unsafe situation.

Fifth, the battery lasts up to 36 hours, which is twice as long as the 18-hour battery on the Series 9 and SE. Apple says it can also last up to 72 hours with low power settings enabled.

Seventh, the Ultra 2 features a button on the left side of the Apple Watch called the Action button. Unlike the button on the right side of the Apple Watch, which performs system functions and thus cannot be used with apps, the Action button on the left can be used by apps to allow for input without touching the screen.  If you are underwater, this is especially useful because you cannot touch an Apple Watch screen when it is in water. In a workout, you can use the Action button to begin the workout and to move to the next interval of a custom workout or the next leg of a multisport workout. If you are running on a track, you can also use the Action button to mark each segment.

Eighth, the Ultra 2 features better GPS than the normal Apple Watch. (In addition to using the L1 frequency, which is the oldest and most-used version of GPS, it adds support for the new L5 frequency, which can provide less interference.)

Ninth, the Ultra has much louder speakers (Apple says 40% louder than the Series 9 or SE) and a much improved microphone. Thus, if you are in extreme weather conditions, it should be far easier to have a phone conversation using just your watch.

Apple sells three bands designed for the Ultra: an Ocean Band for swimming, an Alpine Loop for rough outdoor use, and a Trail Loop for long runs.

Conclusion

The upgrades to the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 make both watches much nicer to use. Brighter screens, a faster processor that makes the watch more responsible and that supports new features such as double tap and a faster Siri, and the new U2 chip all add up to some nice improvements. And with these improvements, the gap between the Apple SE (which hasn’t changed since last year) and the Series 9 is larger than ever, even though the price difference is the same as last year’s Series 8 versus the SE.

As for the Apple Watch Ultra, if you have been on the fence about getting this largest and most capable watch, perhaps these extra features will entice you.

Overall, Apple’s Apple Watch latest collection is excellent and provides buyers with lots of great options.

Yesterday, Apple introduced the 2023 versions of the iPhone: the iPhone 15 line. Once again, there are two types of iPhone and two sizes for each type, so the new devices are the iPhone 15, the iPhone 15 Plus, the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. You can pre-order new units starting this Friday at 5am Pacific / 8am Eastern, and you can get them in stores one week from this Friday on September 22. Here are the new features that I think will be most appreciated by lawyers and other professionals who use an iPhone.

The iPhone 15 Pro line

Let’s start with the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max because that is where we are seeing the most interesting new features.

Titanium

The Pro models look different from any other iPhone ever created because the outside is constructed from titanium. And to show how sophisticated Apple has gotten with metals, the titanium is fused with an aluminum inner chassis, which apparently helps with thermal dissipation.

As a result, each iPhone 15 Pro model is almost 10% lighter than the previous year’s model. Folks who were on Apple’s campus yesterday to try out the new devices reported that titanium makes the iPhone 15 Pro noticeably lighter every time you pick it up. For example, Jason Snell of Six Colors wrote: “This is not a minor, quirky, ‘I suppose if you weighed it you’d grudgingly admit it’s a few grams lighter’ sort of thing. It’s very clearly noticeable, thanks to the combined titanium and aluminum design. It doesn’t feel flimsy, mind you–it’s very solid but quite lighter.”

The outside has a brushed metal look with contoured edges. This looks good, and my hope is that this also makes the iPhone less slippery, but I’ll have to try it to see.

USB-C 3

We all knew that USB-C was coming to the iPhone, and now it is here. And on the Pro models, it is a faster version of USB-C called USB-C 3. To take advantage of this faster speed, you will have to purchase a separate cable that supports USB 3 with 10Gbit per second speed. Apple says that this means that transfers can be up to 20 times faster. (Lightning maxes out at 480 Mbits per second.) If you have ever taken a 4K HDR video with an iPhone and then tried to quickly get it to a computer so that you can edit the video, this was an exercise in frustration in the past. But with USB-C 3 speeds and the right cable, that should no longer be a problem.

Apple doesn’t currently sell a USB-C 3 cable, but it used to sell them as noted in 2017 by Chaim Gartenberg of the Verge, and it looks like you can still purchase them on Amazon for $37.99. On Apple’s own website, they are now selling the faster USB-C Thunderbolt 4 cable. Thunderbolt 4 can transfer up to 40Gbit per second, but the support for that fast speed means that Apple sells that cable for $69. If you only plan to use that cable with a new iPhone 15 Pro, that would be paying a lot more for speeds that you won’t be able to use. But if you have some other use for a Thunderbolt 4 cable that takes advantage of the full speed, maybe it is worth it for you.

Another advantage of USB-C is that you can charge your iPhone more quickly. If you use a 20W charger, you can reach a 50% charge in only 30 minutes.

Camera improvements

I often hear people say that the #1 reason they are getting a new iPhone is to get a better camera. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have several ways to give you even better pictures.

First, there is an improved 48 megapixel camera. Last year’s iPhone 14 Pro also features a 48MP camera, and when you use the 48MP mode, the improvements can quite be stunning, as I showed in side-by-side photos last year. But the problem was that you had to use RAW mode on the iPhone 14 Pro to take full advantage of the 48MP camera, and because of the hassles associated with RAW, that meant that I didn’t use it as often as I thought I would. Fortunately, with the new Pro models, you can take 48MP with the iPhone’s normal HEIF mode. Picture sizes will be larger of course so they will take up more space on your iPhone, but the quality should be much better in many situations. Note that according to Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac, the iPhone 14 Pro will also soon get a “HEIF Max” option to take 48MP pictures by default. If you don’t want to take 48MP all the time, the default mode is still an impressive 24MP.

Second, if you get the larger model (the iPhone 15 Pro Max) the former 3x telephone is now a much more powerful 5x telephoto. Apple uses something called a “tetraprism” to bounce the light off of a couple of right angles to achieve the effect. The 5x model is equivalent to a 120mm focal length, so if you are used to going up to 300mm or 400mm on your DSLR’s telephoto lens, this is not that. But it is a heck of a lot closer than any iPhone has gotten in the past using an optical zoom. If you are trying to capture an architectural detail on a building or your kid playing across the field in a soccer game, the iPhone 15 Pro Max should get you closer than you have ever been able to get before.

Third, the iPhone 15 Pro uses its three cameras to provide seven virtual focal lengths. You get 13mm with the utra-wide lens. The main lens with its 48MP resolution can be cropped to different image sizes without any noticeable impact on image quality, so it can give you 24mm (the main setting), 28mm, 35mm, and 48mm, and then the telephoto lens can get you 120mm on the iPhone 15 Max Pro or less (I’m not sure of the focal length) with the 3x telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro. Apple spins this as the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models giving you what seems like seven different lens.

Fourth, the ultra-wide lens is now supposed to be better than ever, although I haven’t yet seen details on this.

Fifth, because of the new processor (discussed below), things like night mode, HDR, video quality, and overall picture quality are all supposed to be better, as demonstrated by this lovely model:

A17 Pro processor

The iPhone 15 Pro models get Apple’s latest and great processor, the new A17 Pro. It is the first 3-nanometer chip, and it does more and does it faster. Of course, this makes the iPhone feel snappier. But it also means that sophisticated computations—such as the ones used for the new camera app—are possible that were never possible before. Graphics should be up to 20% faster.

Record spatial video

When Apple previewed the Apple Vision Pro earlier this year, Apple mentioned that you could use the upcoming device to record or view spatial video, which is immersive 3D video. When Apple let certain folks try out the beta version of the Apple Vision Pro earlier this year, I remember people saying that they saw a a spatial video of a child blowing out candles at a birthday party, and they said that it was unlike any other home video they had ever seen. You actually felt like you were there.

Later this year, the iPhone 15 Pro will be able to use two of its three lens to capture 3D spatial video that can be viewed on the Apple Vision Pro when it comes out next year. This makes a lot of sense. When you are taking a video, I doubt that you will want to be wearing a headset; you will want to just use the iPhone that is in your pocket. Later on, when you want to relive the moment, you can then put on your Apple Vision Pro headset.

I’m sure that at some point in the future, many of us will wish that we could go back in time and re-record videos using spatial video—just like I now look at home movies taken in the past, using technology like VHS-C or Super 8, and I wish that it could have been taken in 4K HDR. Even if you don’t have your own Apple Vision Pro or similar device for a long time, it is nice that you will be able to future-proof your videos when you take them with an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max.

Buttons and Bezels

Since the very first model of the iPhone released in 2007, there has been a ringer switch on the side. This year, on the Pro models, Apple is replacing that with an Action button. When you hold down on the button, an action happens. That action can be turning the ringer on or off if you like the traditional feature. But it can also turn on the flashlight, activate the Camera app, activate Voice Memos, activate the Magnifier, and much more. And I really mean “much more” because you can also trigger any action that you created in the Shortcuts app, which could be as simple as launching some specific app (perhaps the app that you use to record your time as a lawyer?) or performing some complicated automation. I’m looking forward to trying this out.

The iPhone 15 Pro models also feature a smaller bezel. This means that the height and width of the iPhone 15 Pro is slightly less than the iPhone 15—and this, along with titanium, helps to reduce the weight as compared to last year’s Pro models–although the iPhone 15 Pro is 0.01 inch thicker than the iPhone 15.

The iPhone 15 line

For about $200 less (starting at $799 instead of $999), you can get the iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus. You don’t get the new cool new features noted above, but you do get some nice improvements.

Features pushed down from the Pro to the non-Pro

First, there are a number of features that used to require a Pro version of an iPhone but which are now available on the iPhone 15. I love the Dynamic Island at the top of my iPhone 14 Pro because it does a great job of making the information that you want from apps easily available. The Dynamic Island no longer requires a Pro and is available on all iPhone 15 models.

The A16 Bionic chip, introduced last year on the iPhone 14 Pro, is used with this year’s iPhone 15.

The camera on the iPhone 15 is much better and supports 48MP pictures—similar to the iPhone 15 Pro, but not quite as good in quality. You still only get two lenses (ultra-wide and regular) so you don’t get a telephoto lens with the iPhone 15 line. But with the 48MP lens, the iPhone 15 supports a 2x mode—a crop of the 48MP picture to 24MP, which is still an excellent picture quality, and is sort of like having a 2x zoom lens.

Like the iPhone 15 Pro, the iPhone 15 gets USB-C. However, it supports the same data transfer speed as the former Lightning connector: up to 480 Mbits per second.

Last year’s iPhone 14 Pro and this year’s iPhone 15 Pro supported very bright screens: up to 1600 nits for HDR and up to 2000 nits when you are outside. You now get the brighter screen with the iPhone 15 as well.

New features available on the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro

There are also some new features that are available on all four of the new iPhones, both Pro and non-Pro. First, there is a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip. This makes it easier to find the iPhone or other devices that support Ultra Wideband.

Portrait mode in the Camera app is improved. Even after you take a picture, you can change which person (or pet) is the focus of the image. And if my understanding is correct, the iPhone will try to capture depth information whenever you take any photo, even if you are not using Portrait mode. That way, if you see a picture that you took in the normal mode with a person in the photo and you want to change the photo after you took it to a Portrait Mode photo, this will be possible. That’s very useful.

All models support Wi-Fi 6E for better wireless performance when you are using a Wi-Fi 6E wireless router.

All models improve improved audio quality on phone calls. A new Voice Isolation mode is supposed to make your conversations loud and clear even when there is a noisy background.

Last year, the iPhone 14 Pro and non-Pro supported Emergency SOS via Satellite, a potentially life-saving service when there is no cellular connection available. If you don’t need your life saved but you do need some help because, for example, you have a flat tire or you ran out of gas, you can now use the Satellite feature to contact AAA for Roadside Assistance. This works on all iPhones that support the Satellite feature, so even last year’s models. If you are already a AAA customer, you get the support that is included in your plan. If you are not a AAA customer, you can pay-per-use for AAA’s roadside assistance services.

Prices and colors

The iPhone 15 starts at $799, and you pay an additional $100 for the larger Plus model. The iPhone 15 Pro starts at $999 and you pay an additional $200 for the iPhone 15 Pro Max model, but the Pro Max model is really only $100 more than the iPhone 15 Pro. It’s just that the iPhone 15 Pro, like the iPhone 15, starts at a 128GB capacity whereas the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at 256GB.

For all models except the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it costs an additional $100 to go from 128GB to 256GB. Thus, for the 256GB size, the four models cost $899, $999, $1099 or $1199. Going from 256GB to 512GB costs an extra $200 for all four models. Going from 256GB to 1TB is only possible on the Pro models, and costs an extra $400.

For many years now, I’ve been very happy with a 256GB iPhone, and if you plan to have lots of pictures and videos on your device and you can afford the extra $100, I think that 256GB instead of 128GB may be the sweet spot to future-proof your device. But this year, because I think I’ll be taking larger 48MP photos and perhaps even lots of large spatial video files, I will probably spend the extra $200 on the 512GB model just to have some extra breathing room. 1TB is an insane amount of space for an iPhone, and if you have a special need for that much space, you already know why that is.

The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus models have lots of color choices: blue, pink, yellow, green, and black. As always, the Pro line is less colorful, and the choices this year are black titanium, white titanium, blue titanium, and natural titanium.

Conclusion

This is a year of nice improvements, even if none of them are revolutionary. My current plan is to get the iPhone 15 Pro Max, 512GB, black titanium. I’m worried that the larger iPhone will be so big that I won’t find it easy to carry around all day, but I’m looking forward to seeing what it is like to have larger text and/or more text on the screen, and I’m very eager to try out the new 5x telephoto lens. Perhaps this time next year I’ll be trading in the Max model to go back to the normal size so that it fits better in my shirt pocket, but who knows, maybe I’ll become a convert to the larger iPhone. Hopefully, the reduced weight that comes with titanium will mean that the Pro Max model won’t feel outrageously more heavy than my current iPhone 14 Pro. The speed bump and extra capabilities possible because of the new processor should also be a nice step up.

This week’s episode of the In the News podcast addresses security and privacy issues. We talk about the reason for the critical iPhone security update that came a few days ago, the reasons that Apple changed its mind on implementing a system to combat the spread of child pornography, and China banning iPhones for government workers, supposedly for security reasons. We also talk about the end of Lightning as USB-C may become the new standard for iPhones, celebrate the seventh anniversary of the AirPod introduction, and more.

In this week’s Where Y’at segment, we talk about crash detection and finding thieves in Belgium.

In our In the Know segment, Brett share a tip for using Apple Pay. I share a tip for getting the most out of an Apple TV 4K connected to a 4K television that supports HDR.

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 are just a few days away from Apple’s biggest presentation of 2023: the introduction of the 2023 versions of the iPhone along with other new hardware and software such as, I presume a new Apple Watch and a final sneak peek at what is coming in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. Apple already has a placeholder on YouTube and an animated page on Apple’s own website. Some years, the new iPhone comes with more new and interesting features than other years, and I’m very curious to see what Apple will have in store for us in a few days. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and your donation can do so much good in the fight against childhood cancer. Simply click here and donate any amount. For those of you who donate, I really appreciate you taking the time to do so. It makes a difference.
• Apple released an important security update yesterday. It is iOS 16.6.1 on the iPhone, and it patches a flaw that was actively exploited–always the worst kind of security flaw. The Citizen Lab discovered the exploit while checking the iPhone of a person who works with a civil rights organization based in Washington, DC. It appears that the iPhone was targeted by someone using the Pegasus spyware software sold by NSO Group in Israel. Supposedly, NSO Group only sells their software to governments. What is scary is that this exploit worked without any interaction at all from the victim. The Pegasus software simply had to send certain pictures to the iPhone using iMessage. If you want to protect your own iPhone from this security flaw, update your iPhone now.
• Back in 2021, I discussed an announcement that Apple was going to be expanding protection for children on the iPhone by searching for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) before any photo was uploaded to Apple’s servers. It is now two years later, and Apple has announced that it changed its mind. As reported by Lily Hay Newman of Wired, Apple was concerned that if it started to search for one type of content, it might be forced by certain governments around the world to search for and report about other content that a government deems objectionable. One can imagine a government hostile to LGBTQ+ rights asking Apple to tattle on iPhones containing certain LGBTQ+ information. One can also see this being used against civil rights activists. As Eric Neuenschwander of Apple explained: “We concluded it was not practically possible to implement without ultimately imperiling the security and privacy of our users.”
• Yoko Kubota of the Wall Street Journal reports that China has banned iPhone use for government officials. This includes even bringing an iPhone to the office. This is part of a campaign to cut reliance on foreign technology, and the Chinese government asserts that this move will enhance cybersecurity.
• In light of the rumors that the 2023 version of the iPhone, being announced next week, will replace the Lightning port with USB-C, Dan Moren writes a eulogy for the Lightning port in his column for Macworld.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote an interesting post in which he commented upon an article by Horace Dediu of Asymco. Dediu’s article addresses how Apple has managed to not only attract a bunch of customers, but also the best type of customers because they are the ones who are willing to spend more money on things that they value. Gruber has an interesting analysis of the formula: find something people care deeply about, make the best version of the thing that people care deeply about, and improve that thing every year. “Don’t prioritize being first or being cheapest. Prioritize being the best.” That’s good advice for folks in many different fields.
• Felipe Espósito of 9to5Mac says that he loves his HomePod 2, and his only regret is that AirPlay is far from perfect. I feel the same way about my HomePod minis. I love them and use them frequently, but there are sometimes strange issues, like when they randomly stop playing songs. It doesn’t happen often, but the fact that it happens at all is annoying and means that Apple still has some work to do.
• William Gallagher of AppleInsider reports that it was seven years ago this week that Apple announced the first generation AirPods. They didn’t become available until mid-December of 2016, and they were extremely hard to find at first. I ordered a pair online as soon as they were announced and I didn’t receive mine until January 5, 2017. They quickly became one of Apple’s most beloved products. I use my AirPods Pro every single day.
• Ingrid Lunden of TechCrunch reports that Apple expanded its Apple Music Classical service by purchasing BIS, a classical music label based in Sweden that is celebrating its 50th year. BIS’s founder, Robert von Bahr, said that he was impressed by Apple’s “fundamental belief in the importance of preserving audio quality.” So if you already using the Apple Music Classical app, there will soon be even more to like.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac discusses an interesting CarPlay feature coming soon in iOS 17: SharePlay. This means that people in different cars can play the same playlist at the same time. If one person adds a song, it gets added for the other CarPlay unit too. If you have a long road trip with folks in different cars, this could be an interesting way to build a sense of community.
• Globalstar, a company based in Covington, LA (very close to where I live in New Orleans) works with Apple to provide the satellites that are used by the iPhone Emergency SOS feature. Robert Stewart of the local New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune, and the online version, Nola.com, reports that Globalstar is going to work with SpaceX so that in 2025 they will be able to launch additional satellites that work with this feature.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that the crash detection feature on an Apple Watch was life-saving when a car flipped upside down and landed 100 feet off of the road at night. The Apple Watch called emergency services and provided an exact location, and the Fire and Rescue Department was able to get the person to the hospital. The Fire Chief said that if it was not for the Apple Watch, it probably would have taken an additional two hours to locate the car, and at that point, it may have been too late for the injured and unconscious driver.
• Malcolm Owen of AppleInsider reports that a man traveling in Belgium had his backpack stolen at a train station. He was able to track the bag for a while thanks to an AirTag, but that only worked for a few hours because the thieves got rid of the AirTag. But he was able to use Find My to track his MacBook in the backpack, and after doing some self-sleuthing (which is always dangerous so be careful!) he finally had enough information to get the police involved. The police finally made an arrest, the man got his computer back, and the police discovered a huge organized theft network with hundreds of stolen devices.
• I’m interested in using an external video camera with my iPad, a feature of the upcoming iPadOS 17. My thought was to use a better quality camera that is located at the top of my iPad instead of on the side with my iPad is in landscape mode. But the feature means that other approaches are also possible including, apparently, using a Game Boy camera for FaceTime video calls, as reported by Federico Viticci of MacStories.
• And finally, about a month ago, I linked to a cute Apple video called Captcha, a video designed to show how much easier and safer it is to pay for items using Apple Pay. Here is another funny video in that series called The Dance:

For over eight years now, I’ve used an app to keep track of which packages were coming my way and when—typically something that I ordered online. And occasionally, I found it useful to track something I was returning or sending to someone else. The app that I used for most of that time was a great app called Deliveries, which I reviewed in 2015 and again in 2017. But the Deliveries app no longer works as well as it used to; as the app’s developer explained in a 2022 post, he had lost the ability to work directly with some outside services such as UPS. So I started to look for a replacement, and a few months ago I started using an app called Parcel. It’s a fantastic app, and it is now my package tracking app of choice. It lacks one feature that I used in the Deliveries app, but the Parcel app has some clever tricks that make it an overall better app. And unlike the Deliveries app, Parcel works well with all of the major delivery services—including DHL, FedEx, TNT, UPS, USPS, and over 300 other services. Perhaps  best of all, it works particularly well with Amazon.

Adding a delivery

In Parcel, just like Deliveries, you can easily add a delivery by copying the tracking number. For example, if you have a UPS or FedEx tracking number in an email or a website on your iPhone, just copy that number, open the Parcel app, and tap the + at the top right corner. Parcel will automatically paste the number into a field, determine the carrier from the number (which you can adjust if necessary), and then let you write a description. Deliveries was a little better than Parcel because it detected a tracking number even before you tapped the + sign, but otherwise, the process on both apps is similar.

If you have a delivery sticker with a barcode on it (because you are the sender), the Parcel app can scan the barcode to save you the trouble of typing the tracking number. That’s a very useful feature, and it worked well for me.

If you order frequently from Amazon, as I do, Parcel has a neat feature if you choose to give it access to your Amazon account: it will automatically add your Amazon deliveries without you having to do anything at all. Just open the Parcel app and anything that you ordered from Amazon is already being tracked in the app. The title listed in Parcel is taken from the Amazon website, and occasionally those titles are unhelpful (often because they were written to try to make the item show up in more search results) but you can easily change the title in the Parcel app if you want by taping on the item, then tapping the icon at the top right, and then tapping Edit Delivery.

Parcel has a page on its website describing the privacy implications of you letting Parcel use your Amazon account. In short, your credentials are stored locally in the app and not sent to the developer of Parcel. I haven’t heard any reports of Parcel using this information inappropriately.

Tracking your deliveries

Once your items are in the app, you open the app at any time to see what is coming and how many days before it is delivered. The Deliveries app uses a different color banner depending upon the delivery service, such as brown for UPS, purpose for FedEx, etc. Parcel doesn’t do that, which is a shame. But what Parcel does do is work with all of the major delivery services. When I ordered a MacBook Air for my daughter to use in school, the Deliveries app couldn’t tell me when the UPS delivery would arrive, telling me “Couldn’t connect,” although I could tap on the item to eventually open the right page on the UPS website. But Parcel was happy to tell me when the app was coming, where it was located along the way, and when it arrived.

 

Parcel also supports push notifications. Thus, if you want to be alerted to delivery status, the app can do that.

Because Parcel lets you connect the app to Amazon, Parcel works particularly well with Amazon deliveries. For example, if Amazon sends something via the U.S. Postal Service, the Deliveries app—like the USPS website—won’t have much information on when the item is coming. But Parcel will be able to guess by providing Amazon’s own guess about approximately when the package will arrive. And of course, Parcel can track items shipped by Amazon’s own delivery service.

 

On the day of delivery, the Parcel app will initially tell you that you have 0 days until delivery. But then once the package is out for delivery, the icon changes to make it easy for you to see that information. And for some deliveries, you even get a delivery window.

One of the features of the Deliveries app that I enjoyed was the ability to easily archive a delivery after an item had arrived. That way, if I ever wanted to go back and search for an item previously delivered—for example, if I am trying to remember how long ago I last ordered something that I’m about to order again—I could find that information in Deliveries. In Parcel, there is no archive feature. You can keep old deliveries on the main screen, but I find that to be distracting; I only want to see active deliveries in the main screen of the app. Thus, my practice has been to delete items in the Parcel app once the item is in my hands, which means that I cannot use the app as a log of past deliveries. It would be great if Parcel added an archive feature in the future.

Multiple platforms

You can use Parcel on the iPhone (which is where I use it the most), the iPad, the Mac, and even the Apple Watch. All of your information is synced across all of your devices. The app also supports widgets on the iPhone.

Cost

You can try out the app for free, but that free version has limited features and only tracks three items. To unlock all of the features, pay for a subscription, which is $4.99 a year.

Conclusion

I know after many years of use how helpful it is to have a single place on my iPhone that keeps track of all of my upcoming deliveries, no matter what the vendor or the delivery service. It is nice to know when an item will arrive and where it is now. Parcel does a great job with that. Moreover, since most of my deliveries nowadays come from Amazon, the Parcel app is especially useful because I don’t have to spend any time putting my Amazon deliveries in Parcel. They are there automatically. There are a few features in the Deliveries app that are currently missing from Parcel—the archive feature is the one that I miss the most—but overall, the Parcel app is much better than Deliveries and I’m happy that I made the switch. If you are interested in an app to track your deliveries, regardless of whether you are a previous user of the Deliveries app or you are new to this type of app, I highly recommend the Parcel app.

Click here to get Parcel (free; $4.99/year to unlock all features)

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 right now, in one way or the other. And as bad as all forms of cancer are, children’s 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. Did you know that 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 that they are treating at their facility in Memphis to developing techniques that can be used to treat children around the world.

For the second year in a row, iPhone J.D. is part of the community that is working with the Relay FM podcast network to raise money for St. Jude. You may already know about Relay FM: it 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 FM community has raised over $2.2 million for St. Jude, and with your help, I have no doubt that it will cross the $2.5 million mark this year.

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, and donate any amount. Just a few seconds later, 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 now and those that will be dealing with it in the future.

A special thanks to those of you who contributed last year and will contribute again this year. Y’all are the best!

Click here to donate!

We are barely more than a week way from Apple’s introduction of the 2023 version of the iPhone, presumably to be called the iPhone 15. Thus, Brett and I begin this week’s episode of the In the News podcast by discussing what we may see, such as perhaps the transition from a Lightning port to a USB-C port and a switch from stainless steel to titanium on the Pro models. And while we don’t expect an iPad announcement this month, Brett and I also discuss the state of the iPad and what changes may come in the future. We also discuss the New York MTA privacy concerns—including one that was fixed just before we started recording, thank goodness—and other topics.

In our Where Y’at segment, we talk about how Find My technology is supposed to work, how it works best, and some good news for when it doesn’t seem to work at all. 

In our In the Know segment, Brett and I both discuss touching and holding on an app icon to access quick actions—something that is certainly not a new tip, but well worth repeating because it is so easy to forget that this hidden functionality is even there.

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:

I hesitate to start today’s post with this story because it leaves me with so many unanswered questions, and I hope that we will get the answers from Apple and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) soon, but Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac shares a disturbing report from Joseph Cox of 404Media. On the New York subway, you can use Apple Pay Express on your iPhone or Apple Watch to quickly pay the fare for public transit. The system has been in place for years, and I hear that it is easy to use. But the report raises two security concerns. First, a person who knows your credit card number and expiration date—which is obviously not that hard to learn for a stalker—can could use the MTA website to see realtime information that can reveal when and where you are getting on and off the subway. That’s an obvious stalking risk, and hopefully MTA will fix it soon. [UPDATE: MTA now says that they have fixed this.] But even more troubling is this: how does the MTA even know your real credit card number? When using Apple Pay, I thought that a merchant was provided with a single-use code instead of your actual credit card number. But obviously that is wrong if the MTA was learning everyone’s credit card number, unless MTA gets the credit card number from another source and then learns how to associate it with a specific customer using Apple Pay? Apple has a page on its website to address Apple Pay and privacy, but it doesn’t specifically address whether the merchant is provided with your credit card number. I love Apple Pay because of the convenience, and I have long thought that it was also more secure than providing my credit card number to a merchant, but now I want to know more. I’ll be tracking this story, and I hope that we see answers soon. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• The big news of the week is the confirmation that Apple will introduce a new iPhone on September 12. The event logo has an interesting version of the Apple logo, and the tagline is “Wonderlust.” Wanderlust means a love of wandering around, so “wonderlust” must mean … um … what exactly? Michael Simon of Macworld tries to decipher the clues.
• Instead of an iPhone 15 Pro Max, will Apple announce an iPhone Ultra? Jason Snell of Six Colors considers this possibility.
• It seems likely that the new iPhone will use USB-C instead of Lightning. In another article on Six Colors, Snell discusses the possibility of a backlash by users who prefer to stick with Lightning.
• One last interesting article by Jason Snell this week is this article he wrote speculating about what the new iPad Magic Keyboard might look like. This article relates to a rumor that Apple release a new iPad Pro in 2024 with a new design.
• Speaking of a new iPad, as much as I love my iPad Pro, I do wish that it could do more. Harry McCracken of Fast Company feels the same way, as he discusses in depth in this article.
• David Sparks of MacSparky similarly weighs in with his thoughts on the state of the iPad.
• If you have an older stereo system or amplifier with coaxial, optical, or RCA inputs, the upcoming Eve Play (shipping Nov. 14) can bring AirPlay 2 support to your older system so that you can play music, wirelessly, from your Apple devices as reported by Romain Dillet of TechCrunch.
• Speaking of playing music, if you prefer to play full albums instead of specific songs, John Voorhees of MacStories reviews the 2.0 version of the app Longplay, which specializes in that feature.
• If you prefer to listen to a podcast instead of music, of course my #1 suggestion is the In the News podcast. But that one podcast won’t get you through the entire three-day weekend, so if you are a fan of late night shows, you might be interested in listening to Strike Force Five, a podcast featuring talk show hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver. Even without the aid of their writing staffs, they are all very funny, and the proceeds raised from the podcast are used to support the folks who work on their shows and are currently out of work.
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that police in Nashville were able to, relatively quickly, track and arrest a thief who stole a car because there was an AirTag in the car.
• William Gallagher of AppleInsider reports on a woman who was hiking in Utah when she needed help because of flooding and used the Emergency SOS feature of her iPhone 14. Even though the message did not seem to go through, rescuers did receive the message, and they were able to find her—covered in mud from head to toe after her shoes had been lost.
• Gallagher also reports on a man who tracked the AirPods he left on a plane to the home of an airline worker, and he almost went to that home on his own until his wife smartly convinced him to call the cops instead.
• And finally, Apple released two videos this week to show how a company is using an iPhone to take a 3D pictures of dogs missing a limb to build custom pet prostheses. The longer video is the better one—it isn’t too long, under three minutes—but below, I am linking to the quick 30-second version called The Invincibles:

California attorney David Sparks has been producing great educational content for an incredibly long time. His iPad at Work book was groundbreaking when it came out over a decade ago, and he then moved on to electronic publications in iBooks and then more recently to online Field Guide courses. This latest iteration is the best format yet. Each Field Guide features incredibly well-produced videos in which David explains and shows you exactly how to use an app or service. His Field Guides always come with fantastic examples, and you get a transcript along with the video which makes it easy to find exactly what you need. I highly recommend his Shortcuts Field Guide and his more recent Shortcuts for Mac Field Guide for anyone looking to take better advantage of Shortcuts, regardless of whether you are an absolute beginner or a power user looking to do even more.

Now that David has given up his law practice to focus on creating tech-related content, he has been releasing so much great and helpful stuff. Yesterday, David released his latest Field Guide, this time focusing on the powerful app Obsidian. It is called, as you might expect, the Obsidian Field Guide. Obsidian is primarily used on a Mac or PC, but it also works on the iPad and even the iPhone. It is a note-taking app, but unlike many other note-taking apps, it makes it fast and easy to have your notes cross-reference each other. With Obsidian, you can jot down lots of different ideas and then the app can help you to organize and make sense of it all. If you have heard of Roam Research, Craft, DEVONthink, or Notion, they are all somewhat similar, but Obsidian is noteworthy for the comprehensive set of tools that it gives you to work with, including plug-ins.

I’ve heard about Obsidian many times, but I haven’t yet used Obsidian myself. In part, this has been because I was a little intimidated by the app, and in part, this has been because I wasn’t sure how the app might be a good fit for one of my projects. I suspect that many of you would fall in the same camp. David’s new Field Guide is perfect for people like us because it does a fantastic job of explaining the projects for which an app like Obsidian excels and then providing great advice for using this app. This includes not only using the basic app but also how to work with tons of different plug-ins that bring advanced functions to the app. Follow along with David’s examples and before you know it, you will be a power user.

David gave me a free preview version of this new Field Guide a few days ago, and I’ve enjoyed starting the course. The quality of his videos is excellent, and the Field Guide is well organized. There are 78 video tutorials, about six total hours of content, and tons of workflows and usage samples.

Want even more? David is also selling a “plus” version of his Field Guide that gives you access to live online webinars with David that you can attend and/or re-watch later.

The cost of the Field Guide is $49, or $99 if you want the “plus” version. However, for a limited time you can use the discount code OBSIDIANLAUNCH to get 10% off.

If keeping track of information, organizing information, and using information is a part of your life, then Obsidian may be for you, and David’s new Obsidian Field Guide is the perfect accessory to the Obsidian software.

Click here to get the Obsidian Field Guide by David Sparks ($44 with discount)

Apple announced yesterday that it will hold an event on September 12, 2023, at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, every year since 2012 (except for 2020 due to COVID), Apple has held an event in early September to announce the new iPhone, so I am quite sure that Apple will use the September 12 event to introduce the world to the 2023 versions of the iPhone, presumably the iPhone 15 line. One change that seems likely to come is a switch from Lightning to USB-C on the iPhone, which John Gruber of Daring Fireball discusses in this post. I suspect that we will also see updates to the Apple Watch, but beyond that, I don’t know what Apple has planned.

The page on the Apple website for the event features an interesting version of the Apple logo with metallic (titanium?) dust coming off of it to announce the event. It sort of reminds of of the opening credits of the Apple TV+ show Foundation. It’s a pretty neat animation. Do those colors have anything to do with the colors in the next iPhone? We’ll see.

Select members of the press received invitations to go to Apple’s campus to watch the (presumably) prerecorded announcement, and the tagline on those invitations said: Wonderlust. Read into that single word what you will.