As we continue to live through an avalanche of Apple news, Apple is releasing five new products today. As Tim Hardwick of MacRumors noted, those products are the new iPad mini, the new iMac with an M6 chip, and three new laptops. A week from today, we will see the new Apple HomeView and an updated Apple TV. We will get a short break for Thanksgiving, and then Apple will release iOS 27.3 in December, which looks like a substantial update based on the beta version released this week. Don’t blink or you’ll miss out on something! And now, the news of note from the past week:
Harry McCracken of Fast Company—who has long been an iPad power user—reviewed the new iPad mini. He says that it “is a delight for tasks where more display real estate than a (non-folding) phone is desirable, but 11 or 13 inches may be overkill.”
Jason Snell of Six Colors is also impressed by the new iPad mini. He likes that it is small but just as powerful as larger iPads with a beautiful OLED screen.
Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reviews the new HomePod mini 2. He says that the audio quality is improved from the original HomePod mini, but notes that the big new feature—Siri AI—is not yet available for that device.
If you don’t want to wait for an iPhone Duo, David Sparks of MacSparky recommends paying $10 to sign up for Store Stock Checker’s alerts.
Tyler Lacoma of CNet agrees that it sounds better: “The new Mini 2 had significantly greater range and louder, clearer audio than the first HomePod Mini. It wasn’t just noticeable: It was a big enough difference to completely change my mind about a speaker that didn’t seem worth it on paper. If you want sound that can actually fill a room without losing quality, the HomePod Mini 2 is by far the preferable pick.”
John Voorhees of MacStoris reports on software updates coming soon for Apple’s Creator Studio apps, such as Logic Pro and Keynote.
In December, Apple will release iOS 27.3. For folks with a new Apple Watch, one of the new features is Siri Recap and Live Rewind—features that use Apple’s new Audio Intelligence to let you access summaries of what you and others you were talking to have said. It’s a fascinating technology that has the potential to be very useful, but others will consider it a privacy invasion. Jason Snell of Six Colors shares some new details on how these features work.
The beta version of iOS 27.3 is now available, and it includes these Audio Intelligence features. Wesley Hilliard of AppleInsider tried it for 24 hours and concluded that these features are unnecessary. I’ll be curious to try it myself and see what I think.
Another feature coming in iOS 27.3, for those who have Fitness+, is a new Gym Strength program. It lets you create personalized four-week programs that work with the equipment you will find in most gyms, though you can also use just dumbbells for some workouts. Jane McGuire of Tom’s Guide has tried it out and explains how it works.
iOS 27.3 will also improve Siri in various ways in Apple’s apps, including Photos, Messages, Music, Safari, and Calendar, as noted by Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac.
The new form factor of the iPhone Duo has led some app developers to come up with some zany, creative apps. John Voorhees of MacStories identifies some weird and wonderful iPhone Duo apps.
Yesterday, Apple released the results for its 2026 fiscal fourth quarter (which ran from June 28, 2026, to September 6, 2026) and held a call with analysts to discuss them. The fiscal fourth quarter is typically a less important quarter for Apple. The fiscal quarter we are in now—the first fiscal quarter of the new fiscal year—is always Apple’s most important revenue quarter because of holiday sales. There were no blockbuster announcements on yesterday’s call, but Apple announced revenue of $114.5 billion, an all-time record and up 12% from this time last year. 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. Apple’s official press release is here. Here are the items that stood out to me.
iPhone
iPhone revenue was $57.6 billion, which is up 17% from this time last year. And Ternus said that it could have been even more than that but for Apple’s supply constraints.
Apple CFO Kevan Parekh said that this was the best year ever for the iPhone in every geographic segment that Apple tracks. People around the world are buying lots of iPhones.
More people upgraded an iPhone in the past quarter than in any other quarter in Apple’s history.
Apple CEO John Ternus called the iPhone Duo “the most transformational iPhone since the original,” and he noted that the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max “take massive leaps forward on camera, battery life, and performance.”
One analyst asked Ternus why Apple only introduced iPhone 18 Pro models and not iPhone 18 non-Pro models. Unsurprisingly, Ternus didn’t give a real answer, instead just saying that “we don’t make any comments about [the] future roadmap, but we’re excited about where we’re at.”
iPad
iPad revenue was $6.2 billion. Last year and two years ago, that number was higher: around $7 billion.
Ternus said that the new iPad mini is notable because it has a “stunning new OLED display and brings a super thin design to the smallest member of the iPad family.”
Apple doesn’t release specific numbers, but Parekh did say that there are more people using the iPad around the world right now than ever before. He also noted that over half of the customers who purchased an iPad in the past quarter were purchasing their first iPad.
Other
Ternus noted that more than 2.5 billion Apple devices are actively used today.
Ternus noted Apple’s recent announcements regarding products for the Home, including the HomeView. It will be interesting to see customer demand for these new products, which go on sale next week.
Apple’s services revenue was $31.6 billion, up 10% from a year ago and an all-time record.
Thanks to this strong fiscal Q4, Apple’s revenue for fiscal year 2026 was $478.8 billion, up 15% year over year. Apple is essentially bringing in half a trillion dollars in revenue every year.
Ternus mentioned that Apple (like everyone else) is facing unprecedentedly high memory prices. And he said that he expects those prices to continue to go up through the end of this calendar year. Apple announced that its gross margins were down this quarter, and I’m sure that is because Apple is not only raising product prices but also reducing its gross margins to account for the crazy high memory prices.
Brett and I kick off this week’s episode by discussing the iPhone Duo: what makes it awesome and what makes it impractical. Next, we discuss the new iPad mini, which is by far the nicest version of this device ever released. We also discuss the newest and highest-end version of the MacBook Pro and its amazing new feature—no, not the touchscreen, but the glowing Apple logo. We quickly check in on the HomePod mini 2 and Apple HomeView, then discuss the story of yet another person whose life was saved, or significantly improved, thanks to the Apple Watch.
In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip regarding double-tapping windows on an iPad. I recommend the new Fineliner app, by Marco Armant.
We continue to live in one of the busiest periods of Apple product announcements in recent memory. Over the last week, many people got a chance to try an iPhone Duo. Me included. Everyone seems to marvel at what an amazing job that Apple did with the device. Opinions vary on how practical the device is, but I love the enthusiasm. Bravo, Apple. A few days ago, Apple announced a new iPad mini (A20 Pro). I considered writing a full post on that device, but I can sum up my thoughts quickly. The iPad mini form factor is not great for lawyers who want to use it to get work done because documents, exhibits, etc. cannot be very large on the mini screen. That said, it is a nice device for casual use, and its small size makes it very portable. As noted by Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac, this latest version is faster than ever thanks to the A20 processor, has a slightly larger screen due to reduced bezels, has a better screen thanks to OLED, and even offers IP56 water and dust resistance. Here is another quick note on the key features from John Gruber of Daring Fireball. The iPad mini is no longer something that you buy because it is cheap—the price starts at $699—but for that price, you get a quality device. And it costs much less than the $1999 you would pay for another device with a small, tablet-sized screen: the iPhone Duo. So I think that a lot of people are going to love this new iPad mini. And now, the news of note from the past week:
David Sparks of MacSparky praises the iPad mini because, for many people, it is the perfect device between an iPhone and a laptop.
Apple also introduced a new MacBook Pro this week that features an OLED touchscreen. As noted by Michael D.J. Eisenberg of The Tech-Savvy Lawyer, many lawyers don’t really need a touchscreen on a laptop. Having said that, I suspect that this is just a first step, and that eventually, almost all Mac laptops will have a touchscreen.
I love that the iPhone Duo has inspired so many developments to come up with creative uses for the folding screen. For example, John Gruber of Daring Fireball describes Tiny Computers, an app that makes your iPhone Duo look like classic old computers.
The Apple HomePod mini 2 goes on sale today. Joe Rossignol of MacRumors explains what is new, including Siri AI support.
Why does the version of the HomeView without a base cost the same as the version with a base? John Gruber of Daring Fireball shares an interesting theory: perhaps to discourage folks from buying the model without a base unless that is really the right device for them.
I recently reviewed the AirFly Drive from Twelve South ($39.99 on Amazon), and I continue to love and recommend that product. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac notes that the original AirFly, which is often used to add Bluetooth to the built-in screen on an airplane, is now available in a new version called AirFly View ($79.99 on Amazon), which is an improvement because it has a built-in screen to walk you through the setup process.
Julie Bays of the Oklahoma Bar Association discusses using Microsoft Copilot in CarPlay. Most of what she describes now works with Siri AI as well, but if you are a big Microsoft 365 user, perhaps Copilot works better for you.
Bruce Gil of Gizmodo reports that Rian Johnson—the director of movies like Knives Out and The Last Jedi—has released a camera app for the iPhone called Chromagraph Camera that he developed with his longtime cinematographer Steve Yedlin.
Derricke Dennis of Military.com shares the story of David Aladejobi, an Air Force Veteran who believes that he developed sleep apnea because of his time in the service and who credits his Apple Watch with giving him the warnings that prompted him to seek critical medical attention.
A new show starts today on Apple TV, a thriller called Nocturne. It features a great cast including Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, and Stephen Graham, and as Marcus Mendes of 9to5Mac notes, it is getting some good buzz.
And finally, here is Apple’s video showing off the new iPad mini:
October 2026 has been one of the busiest months in Apple’s history, and it isn’t over yet, with another Apple event planned for tomorrow. With so much to write about, I want to send a big thank you to SaneBox for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month.
SaneBox improves your email Inbox. It is a service that works in the background at the server level, so you can keep using the Inbox in your current mail program the same way you always do. But with SaneBox, your Inbox suddenly feels much better. This is mainly because your Inbox shifts from being overpopulated with unimportant stuff to a short list of the most important messages. Thus, when you open your Inbox, you see only the good stuff that matters. But that is not all; SaneBox also gives you powerful features that make your email smarter.
SaneBox keeps your Inbox tidy by moving less important emails, such as newsletters, to subfolders. That way, you can deal with them when you have time, and it is often faster to handle these items because they are all together in a subfolder. Additionally, if you tell SaneBox you never want to see email from a sender again, it goes to the SaneBlackHole folder. It is so satisfying to move an item into the SaneBlackHole folder, knowing that I’ll never be interrupted by that sender again. (If I later change my mind, I can always just move an email out of SaneBlackHole and back into Inbox to train SaneBox that I now want those emails. But I think I’ve only done that once in my many years of using SaneBox.)
And that’s just the beginning. SaneBox also gives you lots of tools that you can (optionally) enable to make you more productive. For example, I love the SaneNoReply folder. It gives you an overview of all the emails you’ve sent—emails that you initiated—that haven’t yet received a reply. Sometimes, no reply is necessary. (If you don’t need a response, simply delete the email from SaneNoReplies, and SaneBox will stop tracking it.) But I often skim the emails in this folder, then see something I did need a reply to, and this SaneBox folder reminds me to follow up.
What if you know you need a reply by a certain date (or time)? SaneBox can help you when you use the SaneReminder feature. When you send the email, BCC an address that tells SaneBox when you need a response. For example, you can use “1.day@sanebox.com,” “2.weeks@sanebox.com,” or a day of the week such as “monday@sanbox.com” or “mon@sanbox.com.” If there’s no reply within that time period, the email will resurface in your Inbox for your attention.
Put it all together, and SaneBox makes your Inbox simpler and more powerful. All at the same time.
I’ve been paying for and using SaneBox for many years, and I find the service well worth it. For my iPhone J.D. emails, when I look at the Inbox, I can quickly focus on the messages that matter the most to me, such as a reader sending in a suggestion with a news story for my Friday In the News post or interactions with someone who matters to me. Every once in a while, I’ll check the SaneNews folder to see newsletters I subscribe to, or the SaneLater folder to see messages SaneBox thinks are less important, but those messages don’t crowd my Inbox.
SaneBox has been especially useful with my Gmail. I have used my Gmail account for many years for online purchases, so companies send me tons of emails. Before I started using SaneBox, my Gmail Inbox was always so full of unimportant emails that I sometimes missed the important ones. Now, I see only a few emails in my Gmail Inbox, and they’re the important ones. When I want to take time to look at less important emails, I check my SaneNews and SaneLater folder for newsletters and other less important emails. And of course, whenever I see an email from a company that I never want to hear from again, it goes to the SaneBlackHole folder.
If you want to try out SaneBox to see what a huge difference it can make in your life, click here to get a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. If you don’t like having a clean, tidy Inbox and decide to go back to how you had it before, no sweat. But if you appreciate having a better way of working with email, using this link in this post will give you a generous $25 credit when you pick a plan—and there are lots of different plans offered so that you can choose the one that gives you just what you want.
Thanks again to SaneBox for sponsoring iPhone J.D. and for giving all of us a more efficient way to work with email.
The iPhone Duo is an engineering marvel. It is a delight to use. And I’m canceling my pre-order because I absolutely do not want one.
The iPhone Duo that I ordered was scheduled to arrive next week. Rather than continuing to wait to have one in my hands, I visited my local Apple Store on Sunday, October 25th, to see if I could try a floor model for a few minutes and get a sense of this new device. Even though the store was bustling, plenty of demo units were available. As a result, I was able to spend over an hour with the iPhone Duo. I tried out every app. I opened and closed it countless times. I tried every camera, every button, every software experience that is unique to the iPhone Duo, and more. I couldn’t install third-party apps, which meant I couldn’t experience some of the apps that take full advantage of the iPhone Duo, such as Netflix, Flighty, Carrot Weather, etc. And because the demo units don’t require authentication, I couldn’t draw my own conclusion about whether the lack of Face ID is a shortcoming or whether Touch ID suffices.
As a result, this isn’t a typical iPhone J.D. review because I didn’t have the product for multiple days. And yet I don’t think that my opinion would change with more time. I am beyond impressed with this incredible device. At the same time, I have no doubt this isn’t the iPhone I would want to use, and I suspect that I am far from alone in that opinion.
The iPhone Duo is too small
The iPhone Duo is not a good iPhone because the screen is too small. The passport size does have some advantages. For example, when I put the Duo in a shirt pocket, it fits completely without any part sticking out. It reminds me of using a Palm device long ago. It’s a great size for a shirt pocket or a pants pocket. But when you remove the device from a pocket, the screen is too small.
When closed, the iPhone Duo is just a tad wider than my iPhone 18 Pro Max. However, it feels narrower because the right side of the screen holds menu items. The height, by contrast, is significantly shorter no matter how you measure it. As a result, when you are looking at information on the screen, you just cannot see that much at a time.
As someone who has used the “Max” model for a few years now, I’m used to a larger iPhone that can display more information. The contrast with the Duo is stark. If your iPhone’s lock screen is similar to mine, with a clock near the top, imagine if the height of your iPhone were limited to everything below the clock, plus narrower. It’s a severe limitation.
The experience of using apps that I use all of the time on my iPhone—Mail, Safari, Photos, Calendar, etc.—was significantly worse because of the small size of the iPhone screen. Using the iPhone Duo reminded me of examples John Gruber shared in his review, in which he noted that some apps become downright confusing to use because it is hard to find critical buttons on a screen this small.
If I were to make the iPhone Duo my main iPhone, I would be frustrated every day.
No telephoto lens
In 2023, Apple introduced the iPhone 15 Pro Max with a 5x optical zoom lens. It made a big difference and allowed you to capture many photos that were impossible with other iPhone models. If you have been using an iPhone with a telephoto lens for the past few years, as I have, you know how useful it is.
I believe every Apple Store now has a small “hello” sign on the wall, placed there so you can try out a telephoto lens. Here are two pictures taken with my iPhone 18 Pro Max: one at 1X and one at 8X. The telephoto lens makes a substantial difference:
The iPhone Duo has only two camera lenses: the Main camera and the Ultra Wide camera. So, when you want to zoom in, your only option is 2X, which is just a crop of the 1X image. Here are two pictures taken with an iPhone Duo, one that is 1X and one that is 2X:
If you have never used an iPhone with a telephoto lens, then I guess that this won’t be a noticeable omission for you. But I love taking photos with my iPhone, and I often use the telephoto lens, so I would be unhappy using a device like an iPhone Duo that lacks it.
The omission of the telephoto lens is not the only camera difference between an iPhone Duo and an iPhone 18 Pro Max. The Main lens on the iPhone Duo is not as good as the Main lens Apple introduced with the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Of course, it lacks variable aperture. But even in bright light, you can still tell the Main lens isn’t as good. Here is a side-by-side view of cropped versions of two of the above images. I took both pictures standing in the same location. The picture taken with my iPhone 18 Pro Max has far more detail.
I know that I am spoiled by the iPhone 18 Pro’s cameras. If you are upgrading to an iPhone Duo from an iPhone that is a few years old, then the cameras on the iPhone Duo won’t seem like a step back. On the other hand, if using an iPhone’s camera is important to you, the iPhone Duo is a letdown.
The iPhone Duo is wonderfully large … sometimes
Of course, using the iPhone Duo with the screen closed is not the point. The device urges you to unfold it so that you can expand the screen. And when you do, you get a wonderful, wide, easy-to-hold screen.
For some apps, like Safari, the wide screen is really nice and very useful. I often find myself using my iPhone and wishing—even with the larger screen of my iPhone 18 Pro Max—for more screen real estate. You get that with an unfolded iPhone Duo. The Maps app also looks great in this larger size.
Having said that, for other apps, I found the larger screen to be less useful. In Mail, for example, you get an iPad-like experience with a list of emails on the left and one email on the right. However, in the list, you only see a few different emails. Given how frequently I scroll up and down to find a specific email, the shorter list would frustrate me. This layout works much better on the larger screen of an iPad, especially a 13" iPad.
When the iPhone Duo is turned into portrait position, I don’t see any advantage at all to the larger size in the Mail app. If anything, it feels awkward.
I do like how the iPhone Duo handles multitasking when the inner screen is in landscape orientation. You can place two apps side by side. Each app’s screen is too small, which is the same problem I have with all apps when the iPhone Duo is closed. But aside from that, it is easy to place one app on the left and one on the right so you can use two apps at once, and it is useful to have simultaneous access to two apps.
In this side-by-side mode, the default is a black bar between the two apps, so each app is independent. But if you press the small gray bar in the middle of the screen for a second or two, that black bar turns gray. At that point, the two apps are paired. You can switch to a different app or the Home screen, and when you return to one of those apps, the other is there as well. This system is very well implemented.
Note, however, that even though the larger screen of an unfolded iPhone Duo is often wonderful, you no longer feel like you are using an iPhone. You feel like you are using a small iPad. This is very different from the Max version of an iPhone, in which you get the iPhone experience with a larger screen. This is transforming an iPhone into an iPad, so you lose the iPhone experience.
The 1/2 home screen
When the iPhone Duo is open and you look at the Home screen, it fills the screen. That is what you would expect. But if you swipe from right to left, the iPhone Duo doesn’t operate like an iPad. Instead of the entire screen moving left, the right half moves over to the left half. Thus, you need to swipe twice to completely replace what is on the screen. It felt wrong to me. And I don’t understand the point. If I swipe the home screen, I want to see more items. I don’t want to see just half of the new items. I understand the logic that Apple used to design it this way, and perhaps you get used to it over time. But I don’t like it.
When you turn the iPhone Duo to portrait mode, the Home screen becomes even more perplexing. Look at all of the wasted space on the sides. I guess Apple is trying to make the iPhone Duo in portrait mode look as close as possible to the single screen of the iPhone Duo when the device is closed, but I don’t think that is the right approach.
The iPhone Duo is delightful
If you enjoy technology gadgets, there is so much to love with the iPhone Duo. Opening and closing the device is a delight. I did it countless times, and it brought me joy every time. Apple’s hardware engineers figured out the best way to optimize the experience, and the software engineers created a beautiful effect that makes the outside screen, when the iPhone is closed, morph into the inside screen when the iPhone is opened. This effect appears in virtually every iPhone Duo video, so I suspect you have seen it by now. It is even better in person.
If you are the sort of person who appreciates something to play with in your hands, the iPhone Duo is the ultimate fidget spinner.
When the iPhone Duo is only partially closed, I cannot help but smile at seeing the information on the two screens. For example, the Books app feels like, well, a book. I’m not sure how practical this is, but it sure is fun.
Speaking of partially closing the iPhone, placing it on a table in this position, like a tent, starts StandBy mode, where it can display useful information such as the time or a calendar. That way, even if you are not actively using your iPhone, it can show useful information at a glance. With my iPhone 18 Pro Max, I can only expeirence StandBy mode when I place my iPhone on a charger. Of course, placing it on a charger is useful because it recharges the iPhone, something missing in the iPhone Duo’s tent mode.
I also liked that you can use the Main camera on the iPhone Duo to take a selfie picture. Just face the camera lens towards you. On the outer screen next to the camera, there is an area you can swipe to activate that screen. That way, you use the Main camera to take your picture—which is much better than the selfie camera hidden under the screen—while still seeing yourself so you can frame your shot. Just remember that when it is time to take the picture, you should focus your gaze on the camera, not on the screen showing your face, to avoid taking a picture in which you are looking off to the side
Overcoming the limitations
Becuase a hinge connects the two sides, the obvious question is whether using the iPhone Duo in its open mode is distracting because of the crease in the middle. Apple’s engineers solved this one. The nano‑texture finish does a fabulous job of hiding the crease. And of course, a nano‑texture finish has other advantages, such as reducing glare. However, it does come at a cost: for example, the color black is less black than it is on a glossy screen. (The front of the iPhone Duo has a glossy screen.)
When the iPhone Duo is opened, a self-facing camera is hidden beneath the screen. (Something similar is on my iPhone 18 Pro Max where the Face ID camera is hidden under the screen.) Again, Apple’s engineers did a great job with this one. You only rarely notice it, and I never found it distracting. I had to take quite a few pictures at different angles, and then crop the picture quite a bit, to end up with this picture where you can even notice it:
Note that the selfie camera quality is somewhat disappointing. If you want to take a picture of yourself, turn the iPhone Duo around and use the approach I described above. On the other hand, if you are just having a FaceTime conversation with a friend and camera quality isn’t a top priority, I suppose this selfie camera will be fine.
Conclusion
Many people will appreciate and love the iPhone Duo. If you want an iPad form factor that can easily fit in your pocket, the iPhone Duo is perfect. If you want an iPhone that is different and delightful, this is the one to get. If you want to make new friends, get the iPhone Duo: just like walking around with a cute puppy, I’m sure people will introduce themselves to you so they can check out this new device.
But if you want to use an iPhone as an iPhone, then I don’t think that the iPhone Duo is for you. The smaller screen is frequently frustrating. And opening up the iPhone Duo is not a fix because you are then getting something more like an iPad experience, not an iPhone experience. Moreover, because of the aspect ratio, it often feels like you are getting the worst of both worlds.
If I used an iPhone Duo as my iPhone, I would miss my iPhone 18 Pro Max every day. And using both devices simultaneously would be expensive and unnecessary because, most of the time, I’m in a place where my iPad Pro is within easy reach, and its much larger screen is far more useful than an open iPhone Duo. As a result, I just canceled my order for an iPhone Duo. I suppose that means someone in the world behind me in line will get their iPhone Duo a little earlier, and I’m happy to do my small part to make some iPhone Duo enthusiast even happier.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m amazed by this device. It is Apple at its finest. I spent most of my day on Saturday researching and writing an opposition brief using my Apple Vision Pro. I had a big virtual window with Westlaw open to my left; I had a big virtual window with Microsoft Word open in front of me; I had a big virtual window with PDF Expert to my right, showing me my opponent’s Memorandum to which I was responding; and I was able to work at my dining room table instead of upstairs in my study, so I was able to talk to my wife from time to time while I was working. I love my Apple Vision Pro and use it frequently, but I am keenly aware it is an expensive device that is only right for some people. The iPhone Duo is similar. For some people, it will be amazing. But the rest of us will want to stick with our more traditional iPhone designs.
Brett Burney happened to be in New Orleans on Friday, so we had an opportunity to record this week’s episode of the podcast together, in person, at my law firm. We start the episode by looking back to the past: 25 years ago when Apple first announced the iPod. It was a wonderful device when it debuted, and it got even better over time. It also forever changed Apple. Next, we turn to the present of Apple because the iPhone Duo is now in the hands of users, as long as they are one of the lucky few to get an iPhone Duo on Day 1. With some fantastic reviews released over the last few days, we now have more of a sense of what this device is all about. And yet, the device still remains a bit of a mystery because it seems to be one of the coolest most delightful devices ever at the same time that it may be the worst iPhone ever. Finally, we turn to the future, discussing the predictions of what Apple will announce in a few days, on October 28, at its Pro and Tell event.
We are currently in the middle of one of the busiest Apple seasons that we have seen in a long time, with substantial new products and software. But before looking at the present and future, today is a good day to look back at the past. In this year, when Apple is 50 years old, it was 25 years ago today that Apple first announced the iPod—the product that changed Apple from a company making computers used by a small segment of the market into one of the most successful and influential companies of all time. The definitive book on the history of the iPhone is The Perfect Thing by Steven Levy, a fantastic read. But if you want to hear a fantastic story on how the iPod came to be, I cannot recommend more highly the Designed in California podcast by Jason Snell and Myke Hurley. They do a fantastic job recounting Apple history, with tons of amazing stories. Even as someone who has followed Apple for decades, many of the stories were new to me. This is actually the third chapter of that amazing podcast series: the prior two chapters looked at the origin of the Apple II computer and Apple’s Mac operating system crisis of the mid-1990s (which led to Steve Jobs returning to Apple). All three chapters are great.
Looking to the present and future, today is the day that the iPhone Duo officially goes on sale. Based on the initial reviews, which came out this week, I am fascinated by this device. On the one hand, it looks incredibly delightful to use. Unfolding a beautiful small device into something with a larger screen will be fantastic for many tasks. But on the other hand, when this device is closed, it seems to be the worst iPhone ever. As if that were not enough, we have new product announcements from Apple next week, the Apple HomeView arriving in homes soon after that, and much more.
During this incredibly busy time in the world of Apple, I also happen to be tied up with work commitments right now, so I won’t be able to post a lengthy In the News post today. But here are a few news items of note that you should check out:
The iPhone Duo review that I found most valuable this week was this review by John Gruber of Daring Fireball. He does a great job explaining why, when the Duo is closed, it is often not a good experience—a step down from other iPhones. But when the Duo is open, using the inner display, it can be something very special. Given these incredible advantages along with these distinct disadvantages, I am very curious to see how many people conclude that the Duo is right for them.
Lex Friedman of Lex on Tech did a nice job of providing a meta-analysis of many of the initial reviews of the iPhone Duo. If you don’t have time to read all of the other reviews, just read this article.
I enjoyed both the article and the video review of the iPhone Duo by Nilay Patel and Allison Johnson of The Verge.
If you want to get a new Apple product on the day that it first goes on sale, you typically have a choice of either placing a pre-order or showing up early to line up at an Apple Store. Hartley Charlton of MacRumors reports that Apple’s supply of iPhone Duo models is so limited right now that showing up early at a store today is unlikely to work for many people. When Apple released the iPhone 3G on July 11, 2008, I showed up very early to purchase my very first iPhone. I seem to recall that I was third or fourth in line. Unfortunately, my local AT&T store ran out of stock after just a few people entered the store before me. If you are unsuccessful in getting an iPhone Duo today even though you tried to get in line early—I’ve been there, done that.
On October 28, Apple is holding another product announcement event. Apple is calling this one Pro and Tell. As Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports, many expect to see new MacBook Pro models with Apple’s first touchscreen display for a computer, a new iPad mini with an OLED screen, and new iMacs and entry-level MacBook Pro models.
I thought that Season 4 of Ted Lasso was great, so it seems like it should be a no-brainer that Apple would produce a fifth and sixth season. However, Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac reports that nothing is certain yet.
And finally, here is a video review of the iPhone Duo from Joanna Stern. And in typical Joanna Stern fashion, it is both very informative and incredibly entertaining:
We start today’s episode of the podcast by discussing pre-orders for the iPhone Duo. Either demand is high, supply is short, or both, because after just a few minutes, the delivery dates for orders slipped back quite a bit. After a few hours, the earliest ship dates were in late January—which is certainly awkward if you were buying one as a Christmas present. Next, we talk about the new Apple HomeView, which is a huge topic because there is so much new to discuss. We also talk about the new HomePod mini 2, the new Apple TV 4K, and the Apple Home Collection products being sold by third parties.
Fall 2026 will be remembered as a time with a lot of new stuff from Apple. Siri AI has completely changed Siri, and while this first version is far from perfect, I’m frequently amazed by how useful it is. As Andrew Chow of Time notes, Apple’s goal is to build a “modest but personalized and privacy-preserving form of AI that will actually help ordinary people as opposed to merely dazzling Silicon Valley’s ‘lunatic fringe,’ as Greg Joswiak, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, puts it.” Meanwhile, pre-orders for the iPhone Duo started earlier this morning. A few days ago, Apple announced the Apple HomeView, a new type of home device that will either be exactly what your home is missing or completely unnecessary because, as Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels noted, some people will insist you can already do all of that on your iPhone. While I think that Siri AI is a win for Apple and its customers, the jury is still out on the iPhone Duo and the HomeView. Nevertheless, I have to give Apple credit for trying something new. And now, the news of note from the past week:
Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider got a chance to try out the HomeView at Apple’s event in New York this week, and he is so impressed that he plans to buy three of them: one for his kitchen, one for his bedside, and one for his office.
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge is impressed by the elegant simplicity of the HomeView. She also notes that because it can give you useful information without you needing to check an iPhone, it may help you avoid those situations when one parent checks an iPhone for something and then, the next thing you know, every kid sees that as permission to use their iPhone at the dinner table as well. Yes, I’ve been there.
Juli Clover of MacRumors notes some of the HomeView features that you might have missed, such as the adaptable interface that changes what is on the screen based on how close you are to it.
Julian Chokkattu of Wired calls the HomeView “a giant Apple Watch for the home.”
Wesley Hilliard of AppleInsider predicts that third parties will release HomeView accessories that will make the device portable: the same thing that we have seen with the HomePod mini.
Companies have been making small kitchen electronic devices for a long time. For example, as a Palm user over 20 years ago, I was intrigued by the short-lived 3Com Audrey in 2000. And of course, devices like the Amazon Echo have been around more recently. Kate Kozuch of Tom’s Guide notes two reasons that Apple’s HomeView may be the first device in this category to finally get it right. First, it works with the content that you already have instead of forcing you to find something within a device’s own ecosystem. Second, the HomeView doesn’t show promotional content, which many people hate about Amazon’s products.
Keeping a HomeView in a kitchen makes good sense to me, but I can also see how it might get some abuse in that room. William Gallagher of AppleInsider notes that without AppleCare, a repair costs $279—basically the cost of a new device. But with AppleCare, the repair charge is a flat rate of $39.
I liked the video Apple released to show how a HomeView can be used in a kitchen, but Allison Johnson of The Verge believes you have to be a parent to really appreciate the commercial. She may be right.
Charlton also compares the new HomePod mini 2 to the prior model, which was introduced six years ago. Charlton notes numerous technical improvements, but acknowledges that support for Siri AI is the most important change. I’m still waiting to learn how Siri AI works when you have a mix of old and new models in your home.
Apple used to use a Broadcom network chip to provide Wi-Fi and other networking features for the iPhone. In 2025, Apple instead started using a new chip it designed called the N1. It supports the latest standards for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread. Because it uses Bluetooth 6, it supports Bluetooth channel sounding to find other devices that support the standard with precise tracking. (Before the N1, Apple used a separate UWB chip for that tracking.) One of Apple’s announcements this week was a new Apple TV remote that you can find using Find My. But instead of working with UWB for precision tracking, it only works with the N1. Stevie Bonifield of The Verge reports that this means you can use just about any iPhone to track this remote with hints like “far” or “near,” but if you want precision tracking—details like how many feet away the remote is—you’ll need to use an iPhone Duo, iPhone Air, or iPhone 17 or later (because those are the models that have an N1 chip).
I’m not a fan of horror movies, but I won’t be able to resist at least starting to watch a new immersive horror film in immersive video for the Apple Vision Pro called Remnants. I’m sure that horror is even scarier when it is that much more lifelike. Apple shared a video showing people screaming as they experienced the movie. (As a reminder, here is the list that I keep up to date of all of Apple’s immersive content.)
Glenn Fleishman of Six Colors explains how, in iOS 27, you can share your location with someone else for a custom period of time that you choose, up to 30 days.
I enjoyed the Apple TV show Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, so I was pleased to see this report from Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac that Apple has renewed the show for a second season.
And finally, if you want to see an Apple promotional video for the HomeView that follows a more traditional style than the video I referenced above, then this video is for you:
