If you are like me, 99% of the time that you listen to a podcast, you listen to the audio version. But this week’s episode of the In the News podcast is one I recommend you check out in the video version on YouTube—even if just for the first few minutes to see a few of the incredible costumes from C2E2. I had a surreal moment on Friday morning as I was walking to the room where I was giving a presentation on using wearable technology when I saw Darth Vader and Boba Fett cross my path. That’s not something that I normally see at a CLE. (Having said that, I suppose that I was a bit of a cosplayer myself based on the picture from my presentation that the ABA Journal used for an article.)

In this week’s episode of the podcast, Brett and I discuss some of the news of the week: iOS 26.4, the first announcement about WWDC 2026, ads coming to Apple Maps, AirDrop support coming to Samsung phones, and great updates to the Flighty app. We also discuss ABA TECHSHOW 2026. It was also fun to share tidbits from numerous TECHSHOW attendees including Bob Ambrogi, Seton Hengesbach, Joshua Lenon, Alan Klevan, Shawn Holahan, Kevin O’Keefe, Davide Cugini, Paul Lawless, Tad Pardue, Jim Nieset, Patrick Wright, Mike Dunham, Bill Vance, Mitch Zoll, and … for some comic relief … Mark Unger.

In our In the Know segment, Brett recommends the TwelveSouth PlugBug, and I share some tips for protecting your law firm or other company from cybersecurity threats.

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’m currently in Chicago at the ABA TECHSHOW conference. That means that I spent yesterday talking to lots of companies in the legal technology world and attending sessions focused on getting the most out of technology while staying safe amid the risks posed by cybercriminals. Today, I’m teaching two sessions: one called Practical Tips & Tools for Today’s Mobile Lawyer and another one called Wired for Justice: Wearable and Augmented Tech for a Law Practice. I’ve also talked to lots of interesting attorneys at the conference who read iPhone J.D. and/or listen to the In the News podcast, and it is incredible how much we all have to learn from each other. Speaking of the podcast, Brett Burney and I are working on a special edition of the podcast this week; it won’t be out until this weekend, but I promise it will be worth the wait! And now, the news of note from the past week:

• This week, Apple released iOS 26.4 and similar updates for other devices. As noted by Juli Clover of MacRumors, the major changes are: (1) new emoji, (2) the new Playlist Playground feature in Apple Music (which uses AI to generate playlists based on your prompts), (3) a change to payment methods for shared purchases in a family group, (4) a Concerts feature in Apple Music to help you discovery nearby shows, (5) improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly, and more.
• Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac notes that iOS 26.4 includes changes to CarPlay: support for AI voice assistant apps and a new ambient music widget.
• The new visionOS 26.4 adds support for something called foveated streaming. As Christoffel explains, it allows a developer to stream the highest quality content for the area where you are currently looking, with lower quality video in the parts that are in the corner of your eye (which doesn’t matter because you are not looking there anyway). The net result is a higher quality video stream that takes up less bandwidth.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac notes that another improvement in visionOS 26.4 is better spatial audio performance. With this update, your Vision Pro starts Spatial Audio even faster when you are in a room that it recognizes because the device remembers the acoustic properties of the room. Fascinating.
• iOS 26.4 may be the new kid on the block, but what is next? The next big update will presumably be called iOS 27, and Apple typically releases major updates in September and provides a preview of the major update at its WWDC developer conference in June. This week, Apple announced that WWDC 2026 will start on June 8. I presume that means that Apple will stream a keynote address at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern that day. Mark your calendar now!
• The MSRP for Apple’s fantastic AirPods Pro 3 is $249, but you can occasionally get it on sale from Amazon. Amazon is having one of those sales right now, with a great price of only $199.
• Another great deal: with Apple now selling the second generation of the AirTag (my review), you can get the first-generation model for an all-time record low price of only $59.99 on Amazon. Only $15 for an AirTag is a tremendous deal, and you don’t lose much by getting the original version of the AirTag.
• At some point this year, Apple is going to start showing ads in its Maps app. My initial reaction to that was: BOO! However, Wesley Hillard makes the argument on his HilliTech blog that this might not be a bad thing if Apple does ads in a good and responsible manner. As he points out, in the old days, when we used to use the Yellow Pages to find a business, the ads were actually a useful way to learn about businesses. Plus, Apple is not going to use ads to invade your privacy the way that other companies do. He makes some interesting points, and I hope he is right.
• As we near Apple’s 50th anniversary, Harry McCracken of Fast Company compiled a great oral history of the earliest days of Apple.
• AirDrop is a very useful way to transfer files from one Apple device to another Apple device. Google recently figured out a way to reverse-engineer this so that its Android phones could support AirDrop, and John Gruber of Daring Fireball reports that Samsung announced that it is similarly bringing AirDrop support to its Android phones. I’m in favor of this becuase AirDrop is so useful.
• Ivan Mehta of TechCrunch describes a new feature in the latest version of the Flighty app called Airport Intelligence. It uses AI to analyze lots of information about different airports to provide real-time information on the conditions at different airports, giving you more information on what could disrupt your flight. It can also forecast airport delays.
• I typically use my Apple Card when I shop at Walgreens because it is one of the few stores that gives you 3% Daily Cash. Joe Rossignol of MacRumors reports that, now through May 20, you can get 5% Daily Cash when you use your Apple Card at Walgreens and Duane Reade (up to $500 / $25 cash back).
• Jason Snell of Six Colors reviews the Aqara UWB Smart Lock U400. It looks like it has all of the latest and greatest features.
• Today is the start of Season 5 of the fantastic Apple TV show For All Mankind. Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac reports that Apple has renewed the show for its sixth and final season.
• And finally, here is an interesting video that Apple debuted when it recently unveiled the MacBook Neo. It shows this process of creating a MacBook Neo—not the realistic version, but instead, an artistic version. Fun video.

For the first time ever, we have a CarPlay app designed for lawyers: TranscriptPad. I’ve been using TranscriptPad on my iPad for over 14 years, and it is an essential app in my law practice. There is no better way to read and annotate a deposition transcript. A few months ago, this long-time iPad app was brought to the iPhone. It is nice to be able to review a transcript when all that you have easy access to is an iPhone. When I discussed the new iPhone app a few months ago, I noted that a perfect use case for its ability to read a transcript aloud was to review it while you are driving, such as when you are driving across the state to the next deposition in the case. Now that there is a dedicated CarPlay app, it is even easier to listen to a deposition in the car.

The CarPlay app shows a list of depositions. Tap one to play it.

When you are listening to a transcript, the display shows the traditional controls: a play/pause button and buttons that let you jump forward or backward. Note that the buttons let you jump backward / forward to the previous / next question and answer pair, not by a specific amount of time.

You can control playback speed to be more efficient when listening to a transcript. I found that the 1.5x speed worked well for me.

Listening to a transcript while driving is nice because it gives you an opportunity to think about things that came up during a deposition. If you hear something that you want to remember to go back to again when you are in front of your iPad, you can tap the icon with the finger at the bottom of the screen. This triggers the Marked Lines feature that I described in my previous post, marking the entire current question and answer. (If you tap a second time while listening to the same question/answer, it will remove the Marked Lines indication.)

This app works great. And using the CarPlay version of TranscriptPad is much better than using the iPhone version of TranscriptPad while you are driving because it is easy to see and interact with the screen.

I have to admit, though, that it seems surreal to see the icon for a legal-specific app on my CarPlay screen. I love it.

Kudos to the team at Lit Software for coming up with yet another way to make this app more valuable for attorneys.

Click here to get TranscriptPad (available as a part of the LitSuite subscription).

I love hearing how other attorneys use Apple products in their law practices, so I always appreciate it when one of you is willing to share what you use and how you use it with the rest of the iPhone J.D. readers. Today I am sharing a submission from Edward Fogarty of Fogarty Law Offices, a criminal defense lawyer in Springfield, MA, who works at both the trial court and appellate court level. Although Edward works with many Apple products, I was particularly interested to hear about how he uses his Apple Vision Pro. I love using my Vision Pro, I use it all the time, and I’ll be talking about that product in just a few days at ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago.

Here are some of the interesting things Edward told me about his Vision Pro and how he uses it:

• “I purchased one approximately six months ago on eBay for approximately $2200,” and fortunately, it still had an AppleCare warranty on it.
• “I use it interchangeably with the Mac and iPad. It’s very useful, especially for reading cases.” He said he uses it quite a bit when preparing briefs and memoranda.
• He makes extensive use of an app called Screens, which lets you control a computer from another Apple device, such as an iPhone, iPad, or Vision Pro. He says that it “works flawlessly.” I often use the Mac Virtual Display feature when I am sitting in front of my Mac, and I like that you can choose different display sizes, including an Ultrawide display. Edward says that while Screens doesn’t let you have an ultrawide display, “the screen size is more than large enough, and, at least for me, the resolution is better than the native app.” I know that another advantage of an app like Screens is that you don’t have to be sitting in front of your computer; I often use the LogMeIn app on my Vision Pro to see and control the screen on the PC that is in my office, even though I am working at home.
• Edward said that he has had success using a Vision Pro to brainstorm, creating a mind map from his notes from a witness interview.
• Edwars say that he also loves using a Vision Pro to review transcripts and evidence because it is “so much easier” to work with such a big screen.
• He also likes using his Vision Pro for looking at family photos. “Panorama photos are truly panoramic,” and Edward said that he is encouraged to take even more panorama photos because he knows how good they will look on the Vision Pro. (The same is true for me!) He also said that adding the 3D effect to a 2D photo provides “an additional and powerful element to these photos.”

Thanks, Edward, for sharing these thoughts with me and the readers of iPhone J.D. If any of you want to share what you are doing with your Vision Pro, I would love to hear about it!

We begin this week’s podcast by encouraging folks going to ABA TECHSHOW in a few days to look out for Brett and me—especially if you want to be a part of next week’s podcast. Next, we discuss many recent cybersecurity threats and explain what you should do to stay safe. Next, we discuss the upcoming iOS 26.4, which will include six new emojis. We also discuss the AirPods Max 2, the MacBook Neo, the best cords for charging your iPhone, the great services that are part of Apple One, improvements to Personal VoiceOver, and more. We also discuss the recent event at the Computer History Museum celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.

In our In the Show segment, we discuss the large number of great shows coming very soon to Apple TV, and one show that is just starting production but has some great names behind it.

In our In the Know segment, Brett recommends a Folio-style case for the iPad that is cheaper and more functional than Apple’s Folio case, and I share a tip provided by a listener for switching listening modes on AirPods Pro.

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 often say that an important reason to install iOS updates is to improve your iPhone’s security. Here is an example of what I mean. Ionut Arghire of SecurityWeek reports that a Russian state-sponsored espionage group has developed a sophisticated method to exploit Safari bugs to hack iPhones and is using it against Ukraine. Apple already fixed the flaw for people running iOS 26, but if you are not running that version yet, your device is at risk unless you install a software patch Apple released on March 11, as detailed by Apple in this article. Not only does iOS 26 protect against this specific hack, but it also includes a new feature called Background Security Improvement (BSI). Thanks to this feature, Apple can push a security update between versions of iOS: Apple pushes the update to your iPhone, and you don’t need to do anything for it to be installed (unless you turn off these automatic updates in the Privacy and Security section of the Settings app). Juli Clover of MacRumors notes that this week, on St. Patrick’s Day, Apple released its first BSI update. Keeping one step ahead of the bad guys can be difficult, but I’m glad that Apple is taking steps like these to protect us. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Speaking of clever hackers, here is something else you should know about. Matt Shumer—who goes by Ma.tt, who is one of the developers of WordPress, and who happens to be in New Orleans this week (hello!)—shares the incredible tale of how a creative hacker almost scammed him by pretending to be someone with Apple Support. And the hacker almost got away with it. I’d like to think that I would have figured out the scam around the same time that Shumer did and before I got hacked, but who knows. Yikes.
• Speaking of iOS updates, Apple is expected to release iOS 26.4 pretty soon, perhaps even next week. Zac Hall of 9to5Mac identifies 13 new features that are expected to be included, such as improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly and a Concerts feature in Apple Music that can tell you about nearby shows from artists in your library.
• Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac explains the “improved keyboard accuracy” feature of the upcoming iOS 26.4.
• One new feature included in iOS 26.4 is the 2026 emoji. As noted by Keith Broni of Emojipedia, there are eight new characters: distorted face, fight cloud, ballet dancer, orca, hairy creatures, trombone, landslide, and treasure chest. And as is typical, Apple’s versions of the characters look really good. What a fun and creative job it must be to design these for Apple.
• In light of all of the new Apple products that were announced two weeks ago, I didn’t think that Apple would have any other new products in March. I was wrong. This week, Apple introduced the AirPods Max 2. They are essentially the same as the prior AirPods Max—they look the same—but the guts were updated to achieve feature parity with the AirPods Pro 3. If you like over-the-head headphones and want something from Apple, you now have a new option.
• If you are like me and prefer AirPods Pro 3 over the AirPods Max 2, you will want to read this list from Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac about the many different things that you can do by touching the earbuds’ stems or otherwise interacting with them.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors—and, yesterday, a contestant on Jeopardy!—wrote an interesting article opining that the new MacBook Neo is a reflection of much of what has made Apple such a successful company for 50 years.
• Horace Dedieu of Asymco explains why the MacBook Neo is such a bargain—not just because of its price, but also because the life span of a Mac is twice as long as the life span of a PC.
• Although this article came out last month, I didn’t notice it until this week: Nick Guy and Sarah Witman of the New York Times recommend the best fast chargers and charging cords. For a USB-C charging cable, they recommend the Anker Nano USB-C Softline Cable ($22.99 on Amazon).
• There is a new breed of web browser that comes with AI features baked in. These browsers have not appealed to me, but Federico Viticci of MacStories explains why he believes that Comet, an angetic AI web browser for the iPhone and iPad, is the first one worth checking out.
• Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac describes some recent additions to the components of the Apple One service that he likes—in other words, new things he likes about Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Fitness+, and Apple Music.
• Christoffel also explains how the Personal Voice feature—which allows your iPhone to replicate your own voice—is even better in iOS 26.
• Every once in a while, you can get an Apple Watch Series 11, which has a list price of $399, for only $299 on Amazon. That 25% discount is going on again right now, so check it out on Amazon if you are in the market. That’s the price for the 42mm case; the version with the 46mm case is currently discounted from $429 to $329.
• With the money that you save on that Apple Watch, perhaps you will want to spend over $1,000 on a MagSafe charger for it. If so, you’ll want to read her description of the new Hermès MagSafe chargers wrapped in calfskin leather.
• William Gallagher of Apple Insider interviewed David Pogue to discuss his new book about 50 years of Apple.
• Apple TV has new shows every week for the next five weeks. As noted by Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac, this week, the new show is Imperfect Women, a psychological thriller starring Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington, Kate Mara, Joel Kinnaman, Corey Stoll, Leslie Odom Jr., and others. Next week, we get the final season of For All Mankind. On April 3, it is the second season of Your Friends & Neighbors, starring Jon Hamm. The next week, it is a movie called Outcome starring Keanu Reeves, Cameron Diaz, Matt Bomer, and Jonah Hill. And on April 15, it is a new show called Margo’s Got Money Troubles that features Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman, Nick Offerman, Thaddea Graham, Marcia Gay Harden, and Greg Kinnear, and that has been getting some great early reviews. Too little time, too many good shows to watch!
• Justin Kroll of Deadline reports on a new movie now in production for Apple TV called What Happens at Night. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Patricia Clarkson, and others, and it is directed by Martin Scorsese. With those names behind the movie, count me interested.
• And finally, to celebrate Apple’s 50th anniversary, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, recently held an event moderated by David Pogue that featured former Apple CEO John Sculley, Senior Apple Employee Chris Espinosa (the only person who has worked at Apple for its entire 50 years), former Apple Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering Jon Rubinstein, former Apple Chief Software Technology Officer and SVP of Software Engineering Avie Tevanian, and many other important people in the history of Apple. I watched the video last night, and it is fantastic:

Between now and April 1, Apple is celebrating its 50th anniversary, so that is the first topic that we discuss in this week’s episode of the podcast. We also discuss some of the interesting stories in David Pogue’s new book, Apple: The First 50 Years by David Pogue, which I have just started reading. We also discuss the initial reviews of the MacBook Neo, the iPhone 17e, and the (barely) updated Apple Studio Display,. Then we check in the AirPods Pro 3, now that the product has been available for six months. We also discuss the upcoming changes to Good Maps navigation, Apple’s crazy new videos on TikTok, and more.

In our In the Know segment, Brett shares tips on switching between listneing modes on the AirPods Pro, and I share a tip for getting a signed copy of David Pogue’s new book.

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

Apple was founded on April 1, 1976. That means we are less than three weeks away from its 50th anniversary. Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a letter to the public this week called 50 Years of Thinking Different to celebrate how people have done amazing things with Apple products, and Apple also announced it will celebrate its anniversary over the next few weeks. This week also marked the release of the book Apple: The First 50 Years by David Pogue, which is sure to be a definitive history of the company’s first five decades. I have a copy of that book on my desk right now, and it looks fantastic. Apple has certainly had its ups and downs over the years, and it is astonishing how close the company came to bankruptcy in the 1990s. But right now, the company is doing great. It is one of the most successful companies in history, and its products have repeatedly changed and improved society. I will enjoy toasting Apple between now and April 1st. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• David Pogue is making the tour of Apple websites, podcasts, and YouTube videos to discuss Apple’s history as a way to promote his book. One interview that I particularly enjoyed was conducted by Leander Kahney of Cult of Mac. That interview is full of great stories, some of which I had never heard before.
• Jason Snell of Six Colors reviews the MacBook Neo and concludes that it allows a Mac “to be considered by a whole selection of people who have never considered a Mac before.”
• In a video review, Marques Brownlee does an excellent job of explaining who the MacBook Neo is for. His bottom line: “Not only is this really good, I think it is potentially Apple’s most disruptive product in the last 10+ years.”
• Kyle Barr of Gizmodo reviews the new iPad Air (M4). He says that while it is still the “better” in Apple’s “good, better, best” iPad lineup, this new iPad Air has performance that is much closer to the top-of-the-line, and more expensive, iPad Pro (M5).
• Cherlynn Low of Engadget reviews the new iPhone 17e, calling it the economical choice.
• John Gruber of Daring Fireball reviews the iPhone 17e, concluding that it is “recommendable without hesitation” for anyone “who considers price their highest priority.”
• Jason Snell of Six Colors reviews the new version of the Apple Studio Display, calling it the smallest of upgrades.
• The AirPods Pro 3 have been out for about six months (my review), and Andrew O’Hara of AppleInsider takes a look at how they have held up for him after daily use.
• Glenn Fleishman of Six Colors explains how to get information on how a shared note in the Notes app has been edited.
• Zac Hall of 9to5Mac explains that if you subscribe to DIRECTV, you can now use its Sports Central feature on the iPhone and iPad apps.
• Abner Li of 9to5Google describes the new Immersive Navigation feature coming to the Google Maps app, including the CarPlay app.
• Although I’m a happy user of the UGREEN 3-in-1 Foldable MagFlow Wireless Charger (my review), which is $99.99 on Amazon, I noted when Anker released its Prime 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station that it looked to be even better because it offers faster charging, albeit at a higher MSRP of $149.99. However, I see that the Anker product is currently on sale on Amazon for only $115.99, and if I were looking to purchase a 3-in-1 MagSafe charger right now, this Anker product is probably the one I would buy. And if you don’t already own a product like this, you should strongly consider one. Having something like this on your desk is wonderful for using the iPhone’s StandBy mode, plus this type of device is incredibly useful when you are traveling.
• Apple has some creative and unusual videos on TikTok right now, and Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels shows a few of them. These are very unlike the videos that we typically see from Apple.
• Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter writes that, according to Apple VP Eddy Cue, the first week of F1 racing on Apple TV was a ratings success. Apple has certainly been promoting the sport quite a bit, including this cute video featuring Apple CEO Tim Cook “racing” next to Dutch driver Max Verstappen.
• And finally, here is an excellent segment from CBS Sunday Morning in which David Pogue discusses Apple’s first fifty years, the subject of his new book:

With seven new products announced by Apple this week, you won’t be surprised by what Brett and I discuss in this week’s episode of the In the News podcast. We start with a deep discussion of the MacBook Neo, a product that we suspect will be incredibly popular. We also discuss the new Apple displays, the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, the new iPad Air, and the new iPhone 17e. We also discuss the new policy on United Airlines that can get someone kicked off of a plane, the newfound interest in the iPod by teenagers, and more.

In our In the Know segment, we talk about Apple Music. Brett discusses music with haptics, and I discuss the new AutoMix feature and its cousin, the Beat Detection feature in Final Cut Pro.

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:

This was a week full of new Apple product announcements. As Joe Rossignol of MacRumors notes, there were seven of them: (1) the iPhone 17e; (2) the iPad Air (M4); (3) the MacBook Air (M5); (4) the MacBook Pro (M5 Pro and M5 Max); (5) an updated Studio Display monitor; (6) the Studio Display XDR; and (7) the MacBook Neo. The new MacBook Neo is the most interesting new product. For the first time ever, Apple is selling a laptop computer for only $599 (or $499 with a student discount). John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes that while you can get a PC laptop for a similar price, the “screen sucks (very dim, way lower resolution), the speakers suck, the keyboard sucks, and the trackpad sucks.” In contrast: “The MacBook Neo looks and feels every bit like a MacBook,” with a nice aluminium case, good keyboard, good trackpad, good bright display, surprisingly good speakers, and more. Sure, you can pay more and get more features with a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro. But I think it is significant that Apple is now selling the most popular type of computer—a laptop—for a price substantially lower than Apple has ever sold a laptop computer. For those who want something inexpensive and decent, there is now an excellent option from Apple. Indeed, as Gruber also notes, for $1200—about the same price as a traditional Mac laptop alone—you can now purchase both a Mac laptop and an iPhone 17e. And now, the news of note from the past week:

• Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels identifies the features that you don’t get when you purchase a MacBook Neo for $599 instead of a MacBook Air for $1099. I agree with Hackett’s prediction that “most folks in the market for a $599 Mac won’t care about most of these.”
• Instead of an Apple processor that is designed for computers and that begins with the letter “M” such as the current M5 processor, the MacBook Neo uses an iPhone processor: the A18 Pro. That is the same processor that Apple used in the top-of-the-line iPhone 16 Pro released on September 9, 2024. As John Siracusa notes on Mastodon: “The A18 Pro in the MacBook Neo is 19% faster than the M2 Ultra in the Mac Pro in single-core performance (Geekbench 6). The MacBook Neo starts at $599. The Mac Pro, which is still for sale, starts at $6,999.”
• William Gallagher of Apple Insider notes that for most common tasks like email, web browsing, and word processing, the A18 Pro in the MacBook Neo is going to be just fine. I agree with that. The bigger limitation may be the memory: the A18 Pro chip only supports 8GB of RAM, so that is what is included with the MacBook Neo.
• M.G. Siegler of Spyglass says that the MacBook Neo “is the smartest move Apple has made in years,” in part because it is perfect for students.
• Why is it called the “Neo”? In an interview with Lance Ulanoff of TechRadar, Colleen Novielli, Director of Mac Product Marketing at Apple, said: “We wanted something that felt fun and friendly, and fresh, and felt like it really suited the spirit of this product.” Ulanoff adds that the goal was to have a name that projected youth and energy.
• Why hasn’t Apple sold a laptop like the MacBook Neo in the past? As noted by Jason Snell in an article for Six Colors and Macworld, Steve Jobs answered that question in 2008, saying: “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk.” Eighteen years later, thanks to Apple’s processors and its manufacturing expertise, it has finally figured out how to do so.
• At the other extreme from the MacBook Neo is the new MacBook Pro with an M5 Max chip. Joe Rossignol of MacRumors reports that the initial tests show that the M5 Max is more powerful than every other consumer PC processor.
• Adam Engst of TidBITS notes that the new $1599 Apple Studio Display is only a minor improvement over the prior model introduced in 2022: you get a better webcam, more capable USB-C ports, and an updated six-speaker sound system. I’m surprised that Apple didn’t also increase the brightness from 600 nits or change the refresh rate from 60Hz to 120Hz—both of which are important reasons that the screen on my iPad Pro looks so amazing. If you want those features in a monitor from Apple, you need to purchase the new Studio Display XDR for $3299.
• Nilay Patel of The Verge reviews the iPhone 17e after getting a chance to try it out on Wednesday. His conclusion is that it “is a nice thing to hold and Apple’s fit and finish make for a very sharp little package. But there’s nothing mindblowing here—which is probably exactly right for a $599 phone that most people will buy on sale or get for free on contract.”
• The iPhone 17e comes in a new color: pink. Cherylynn Low of Engadget got to see it in person and says that “this new pink color option is absolutely delightful. … it’s understated and elegant.”
• Chance Miller of 9to5Mac says that the iPhone 17e solves the biggest problem of the iPhone 16e: the lack of MagSafe.
• Miller also notes that Apple released iOS 26.3.1 and similar updates this week. It provides support for the two new displays announced by Apple this week, but presumably also includes some bug fixes and security improvements.
• Matt Novak of Gizmodo reports that United Airlines has a new policy: you can get kicked off a plane for refusing to use headphones while listening to your electronic devices. Amen to that.
• Kelly Huang of the New York Times reports that many young people are now using an Apple product that is new to them: an iPod.
• Coming to Apple TV this weekend: the French-language thriller The Hunt, and Formula 1 races, as noted by John Voorhees of MacStories.
• The first F1 race airs this Saturday, March 7, at 8 Pacific / 11 Eastern. Apple notes in a press release that it will feature not only 5.1 surround sound but also, for the first time, 4K with Dolby Vision. (And note that 4K shows look even better on Apple TV than other streaming services because Apple doesn’t compress the video as much.)
• Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac reports that Apple’s Super Bowl halftime show, starring Bad Bunny, broke all records with over 4 billion views.
• And finally, while Apple released videos for many of the new products that it released this week, I really like the video for the iPhone 17e because it points out that even though this is the new budget iPhone, it can still do quite a bit: