In the News

This week, the European Parliament voted 602-13 (with 8 abstentions) that by the end of 2024, all mobile phones, tablets, and cameras sold in the EU must use a USB-C charger.  Natasha Lomas of TechCrunch reports that there are a few more steps before this law is official, and devices that are already in the market when the change becomes official in 2024 can still be sold.  But because Europe is such a huge market, the sense is that this will force all device manufacturers, around the world, to shift to USB-C.  The rumor is that Apple was moving towards USB-C on the iPhone anyway, as it has already done on many of its other products, so as a practical matter, this law may not change things in the short run.  The goal of the law is to reduce waste by encouraging a single charging standard for all devices.  That's a good goal. But considering how many different types of USB-C there are (with more coming in the future), I question whether this will actually result in a single charger that you can use with all of your devices.  Moreover, if Apple or someone else comes up with a better charging cord solution—much like when Apple introduced Lightning as a much better alternative to 30-pin—this law would prohibit that new product from coming to market.  Sure, a company like Apple could lobby to change the law, but who knows how long that would take, and that process makes it impossible to surprise and delight customers with a better interface on a new product, which discourages development of the superior product.  Imagine that the EU had passed this law 10 years ago.  Would they have required USB, and would we be stuck with that now instead of USB-C?  And what if there had been an even earlier law, banning the use of bulky albums and instead requiring cassette tapes; would such a law have prevented the introduction of CDs?  I have trouble believing that legislators are the best people to decide what technology should be used and how many people should use it.  I hope that my concerns are wrong and that this will turn out to be a good thing for consumers.  We'll see.  And now, the news of note from the past week: One of the improvements in the Apple Watch Ultra over prior models is a better GPS, one that uses two frequencies instead of just one.  How much more accurate is it?  Zac Hall of 9to5Mac shares the results of Reddit user suburbandad1999 who compared an Apple Watch Ultra to an older Apple Watch to mow the grass and had each watch record what it thought was the path.  He shares pictures of the results, and this is an example of a picture—or more precisely, two of them—speaking 1,000 words.  It is immediately obvious how much more precise the GPS is on the Apple Watch Ultra. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg wrote one of the best Apple Watch Ultra reviews that I've read, and he also offers some good suggestions for improvements in future generations of this watch. In a detailed review, Andy Boxall of Digital Trends reviews the Apple Watch Ultra, calling it a "rugged smartwatch that non-rugged people will want to own — and they’ll be very pleased with it when they do." Last week, linked to a report from Juli Clover of MacRumors reports that, based on the latest beta of iOS 16.1, the first generation AirPods Pro will also gain the new Adaptive Transparency feature in the second generation AirPods Pro.  It turns out ... not so much.  A follow-up article from Clover notes that, as reported to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, that was just a bug in a beta of iOS 16.1.  If you want the enhanced version of Transparency mode that lets you hear the outside world while also reducing the volume of annoying sounds that are over 85 dB, you need to purchase the second generation version of the AirPods Pro, presumably because the new H2 chip is required for this feature to work. In another article for MacRumors, Clover also compares the second generation AirPods Pro with the new Bose QuietComfort II earbuds.  As explained in a video by Dan Barvera, on most of the metrics, the AirPods Pro came out on top. In a press release, Apple celebrated 100 million songs being available on Apple Music. The iPhone 14 Plus was announced with the other three models in the iPhone 14 line, but today is the first day that it is officially available.  Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac reports that those who pre-ordered are now starting to get their devices. Allison Johnson of The Verge reviews the new iPhone 14 Plus and says that it has the best battery life of any iPhone and has a large display that many people will love. Justine "iJustine" Ezarik shows off and discusses the different colors available in the iPhone 14 Plus. iOS 16 has been out for a few weeks now.  What is coming next?  Joe Rossignol discusses 10 new features coming to iOS 16. The funny xkcd comic strip came up with a perfect solution to iPhone battery life. Apple's MagSafe Battery Pack has been out for over a year.  I reviewed it three months ago and explained why it is a fantastic product.  Wesley Hilliard of AppleInsider has been using this product for over a year and explains why it is still a fantastic product. This has no connection to Apple products, but this week, I read what may be my all-time favorite legal brief, an amicus brief in favor of granting a writ of certiorari filed by The Onion.  It has been making the rounds this week because it is so well done, but if you haven't read it yet, you should do so.  This post by Kevin Underhill of Lowering the Bar gives you a little background, or you can just jump right in and read the brief from the Supreme Court website (PDF).  Eduardo Medina of the New York Times wrote about the brief too, explaining why The Onion decided to file it.  I take that back, I may be able to come up with a way to connect this brief to Apple products.  The Onion's brief will be read by the Justices of the Supreme Court.  The newest is Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.  And as noted by Steven Mazie, according to pictures from her investiture ceremony, Justice Jackson wears an Apple Watch with a white band.  (She wore the same Apple Watch when she was sworn in a few months ago.)  That connection isn't enough for you?  How about this one: when the iPhone was introduced and for a number of years later, in Apple's advertisements, the time on the iPhone was always 9:42—the time that Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone.  When the iPad was introduced, they changed that to 9:41.  If you zoom in on Justice Jackson's watch in those pictures posted by Mazie, although some of the watch face looks to be blurred out, you can see that the time is 9:42—an obvious homage to the iPhone.  This is just the sort of hard-hitting reporting that you will only find here on iPhone J.D. And finally, Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal has a reputation for going above and beyond in the videos that she creates to accompany her tech articles.  To test Apple's claims that the new iPhone 14 and new Apple Watch models can detect a car crash, she worked with a demolition-derby drive to crash cars.  The result was the video posted below, and this article.  What I found particularly interesting is that when a car was just sitting there and then was suddenly crashed into, an iPhone in that car did not call 911.  It turns out, this is by design.  Apparently, the iPhone needs to think that someone is driving the car, even if it is temporarily stopped (like at a traffic light).  The iPhone looks at things like whether it is connected to CarPlay or a car via Bluetooth, how much the iPhone has sensed a change in distance prior to the crash that would indicate driving, etc.  It is nice to learn more about when this feature works and how it works, so bravo to Joanna Stern for this video:

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