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Wow! Our top post today really lays it out.
I’d read a lot of the rumors about the upcoming iPhone 18, with its better chip and under-screen Face ID.
But it’s hard to grok exactly how big these changes will be.
The funny thing is, the iPhone 17 lineup is arguably the best bunch of iPhones Apple has produced to date. The base iPhone 17 is a great device, and probably enough iPhone for most people’s needs. The Pro models are so “pro” that they offer features most mortals will never use or need.
It’s showing up in sales. Thanks to the iPhone 17, Apple has finally dethroned Samsung as the world’s biggest smartphone vendor, and Wall Street is expecting a boffo holiday quarter from Apple when it reports Q1 earnings later this month.
So when you read about the various improvements coming to the iPhone 18, it sounds like business as usual: The next generation of iPhones is going to improve this or that — big surprise!
But when you add all the rumors together, the iPhone 18 sounds like a much bigger upgrade than normal — and it’s likely going to be an even bigger hit than the current lineup.
Also in today’s newsletter:
Thanks to the retirement of Apple’s AI chief and a personnel shakeup, we may be getting a new, smarter Siri in iOS 27 this fall to replace the new, smarter Siri coming this spring! Say what?
Talking of personnel shakeups, it’s looking more and more likely that John Ternus will be Apple’s next CEO.
After the stunning success of Humane’s Ai Pin (created by members of the original iPhone team), Apple is rumored to be building its own AI pin. But Apple’s version sounds like it’ll avoid the pitfalls that doomed Humane.
Portable power stations are the new generators — no gasoline or nasty fumes required. This power station from Anker is on sale at a pretty hefty discount. We reviewed a nearly identical model and found it to be a game-changer; the model on sale includes three cool camping lights to boot!
Apple TV’s F1: The Movie got an Oscar nod for Best Picture — an award it definitely doesn’t deserve to win! Don’t get me wrong. It’s solid popcorn entertainment, and I enjoyed it, but it’s formula fare (get it?). Gotta love the headline, though.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
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One more thing ...
It took us three years to build the NeXT computer. If we'd given customers what they said they wanted, we'd have built a computer they'd have been happy with a year after we spoke to them — not something they'd want now.
Today’s poll
Will Apple avoid the pitfalls that doomed Humane's Ai Pin?
Results from yesterday’s bonus poll: Guess the size of Google's Gmail app for iOS?
Results from yesterday’s poll: Should we all be watching "For All Mankind"?
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