The other day, someone asked me what color iPhone 17 Pro I purchased last year, and I guessed completely wrong!
Yeah, I’m a moron, but it’s not uncommon.
When it comes to getting a new iPhone, we spend hours agonizing over the color, only to slap it in a case and never think about it again.
But color is a big deal. Car manufacturers grokked this decades ago, regularly refreshing their lineups with new hues.
Last year’s cosmic orange became a smash hit, and was credited with boosting iPhone 17 Pro sales in Asia, where the color is auspicious. In China, orange is associated with wealth and good fortune; in Japan, it represents love and happiness.
So what is Apple doing? Naturally, it’s dropping orange in favor of another color, which might appeal especially to Mick Jagger, who famously sang: “My favorite flavor: cherry red.”
Also in today’s newsletter:
As Apple drags its heels on the long-promised smarter Siri, every AI company under the sun seems to be releasing smart AI assistants. Today it’s OpenAI, with a very interesting update to its Codex app.
It’s the ecosystem, stupid!
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: The legendary Blue Yeti USB Microphone is on sale for almost 30% off. It’s built like a tank and is super-versatile. #affiliate
I’m not much of an iPhone gamer, so the handset’s automatic Game Mode is new to me. It looks pretty good, but sometimes you might want to turn it off. Here’s how it all works.
Edifier’s new M90 speakers just started shipping. They’re designed as a central audio hub for multiple devices — TV, stereo, streaming, etc. I’d be interested if I didn’t already own a million speakers.
With modern Macs, perhaps the most important accessory is a USB hub. Yeah, they’re not very exciting, but they are de rigueur. Here are some great setups to inspire you.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
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One more thing ...
I’m about 50-50 on believing in God. For most of my life, I’ve felt that there must be more to our existence than meets the eye…. I like to think that something survives after you die. It’s strange to think that you accumulate all this experience, and maybe a little wisdom, and it just goes away. So I really want to believe that something survives, that maybe your consciousness endures. But on the other hand, perhaps it’s like an on-off switch. Click! And you’re gone. Maybe that’s why I never liked to put on-off switches on Apple devices.
Today’s poll
Cosmic orange, dark cherry or something else?
Results from yesterday’s poll:
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