iPhone 17 leak theory.

We are about 40-ish days from new iPhones being announced, and we got presumably our first look at a test unit out in the wild. From what is visible, the hardware matches what the rumors have mentioned for months, with an elongated camera bump with the flash and LiDAR sensor further away from the camera lenses.

A recent tip given to MacRumors also suggests a new Camera Control button which I didn’t believe initially, but could still be a feature:

The tipster claimed to be familiar with an iPhone 17 Pro commercial that is allegedly being produced by a film company that has publicly listed Apple as one of its clients. […]

The tipster revealed three alleged iPhone 17 Pro features that have not been rumored previously:

• An upgraded Telephoto lens with up to 8× optical zoom, compared to up to 5× optical zoom on the iPhone 16 Pro models. The lens can apparently move, allowing for continuous optical zoom at various focal lengths.

• An all-new pro camera app from Apple for both photos and videos. This app would compete with the likes of Halide, Kino, and Filmic Pro. It is unclear if the app would be exclusive to the iPhone 17 Pro models.

• An additional Camera Control button on the top edge of the devices, for quickly accessing the camera and related settings. This would complement the Camera Control button on the bottom-right edge of all iPhone 16 models.

Could this additional Camera Control button exist exclusively as an iPhone 17 Pro Case? The iPhone 17 Air is expected to have a case with extended battery capabilities for days when you just need that extra power, so why not a more Pro-oriented case for days when you’re expected to really push the camera to its limits?

It doesn’t seem out of the blue to have a dedicated case that has additional camera controls. Apple did have a battery case for the iPhone 11 models that included a Camera button.

iPhone 11 Smart Battery Case.

The Files app conundrum in iOS 26 has been solved (for real this time).

I jumped the gun and didn’t tinker around hard enough yesterday, but you can get the default, Quick Look view back as your default in the Files app:

1. Tap and hold on any file type in Files.

2. Select “Open With.”

3. Select “Preview with Quick Look.”

This will immediately make all files with that extension open with Quick Look by default.

iPhone 17 Pro devices might get their own dedicated Pro Camera app and new Camera Control button?

Joe Rossignol via MacRumors who got an anonymous tip from a film company:

The tipster claimed to be familiar with an iPhone 17 Pro commercial that is allegedly being produced by a film company that has publicly listed Apple as one of its clients. MacRumors has not independently confirmed any of the information shared by the tipster, so skepticism is obviously warranted for now.

The tipster revealed three alleged iPhone 17 Pro features that have not been rumored previously:

• An upgraded Telephoto lens with up to 8× optical zoom, compared to up to 5× optical zoom on the iPhone 16 Pro models. The lens can apparently move, allowing for continuous optical zoom at various focal lengths.

• An all-new pro camera app from Apple for both photos and videos. This app would compete with the likes of Halide, Kino, and Filmic Pro. It is unclear if the app would be exclusive to the iPhone 17 Pro models.

• An additional Camera Control button on the top edge of the devices, for quickly accessing the camera and related settings. This would complement the Camera Control button on the bottom-right edge of all iPhone 16 models.

For the pro camera app, the tipster warned there is a chance Apple is planning a major update to its existing Final Cut Camera app instead of an all-new app.

The film company’s name was removed per their request, but I did see it earlier (and of course I can’t remember their name). Apple does give professionals a preview of their new iPhones to showcase camera features in their keynotes and videos, so I would think this information is pretty solid.

What surprises me the most is another Camera Control button. I hope this got mistranslated and what actually happens is the current Camera Control button juts out more and mimics the pill-shaped Touch ID button found on the iPad.

The Final Cut Camera app allows you to truly select which lens you want for recording, but we need the same option for photos. I want to take detailed telephoto shots in darker environments without the iPhone selecting the standard 1x lens and digitally destroying my image, like this example here (zoom into the window screen).

The Files app conundrum in iOS 26 continues.

The Files app is very versatile, but having to go through multiple steps just to look at a file, photo, video, etc., adds to the complexity of a very capable yet simple app.

Instead of tapping a file or photo to view it, now you have to tap and hold and select Quick Look in order to view said file or photo without exiting the app. I deleted the Preview app so I wouldn’t have to deal with this issue, and it worked for a while, until I realized that different file types open in different apps that you have installed:

If you tap a PDF - it opens Preview as the default. If you delete Preview, then it opens in Apple’s Books app.

If you tap an image file - it opens in Preview, but if you delete Preview, it opens in the Files app like iOS 18.

If you tap a video file - it opens in VLC by default, but if I delete VLC, it opens in Files.

I can live without the Preview app, but I don’t want to delete Books, VLC, and whatever other app that also opens documents, videos, etc.

The UI should be the other way around. A standard tap should open the respective file in Files, and a tap and hold should bring up an “Open with…” option to select another app of your choice.

Someone I know finally upgraded from their iPhone 5S, to this...

I had a family member do some sleuthing for me when they were away on vacation. There is this legendary guy who is completely antithetical to me (from a tech perspective at least), and he’s been carrying an iPhone 5S for as long as I can remember.

He couldn’t care less about technology, but begrudgingly uses it because he has to. He was rocking a gold iPhone 5S, and yes, it was a 5S because it had the shiny chamfered edges and not the matte ones. Matte chamfered edges were only on the iPhone SE 1st generation.

If you know, you know.

I wanted some photos of that device just out of curiosity to see its condition over the years, but he upgraded (gasp)!

iPhone 5S, a device that came out in September 2013, almost 12 years ago, has finally been retired for a new generation of iPhone, and as Tim Cook said, “I am thrilled to show you the newest iPhones…”

And here it is…

wait for it…

iPhone…

6S Plus!

Talk about a historical upgrade, with one of the biggest performance upgrades (not being sarcastic):

1. Last flagship iPhone with a headphone jack.

2. First iPhone in Rose Gold.

3. Last iPhone with a Home Button that was actually a button.

4. The introduction of 3D Touch, a truly under appreciated feature.

5. New aluminum alloy ended the bendgate controversy.

6. Huge performance upgrade - the first iPhone with a whopping 2GB of RAM, a 100% increase from the previous generation!

Let’s see how long the iPhone 6S can keep chugging. With 2GB of RAM, there are still many years left, but it really comes down to Battery Health limiting performance.

Acura NSX office chairs up for grabs.

Put these in your office, next to your iPhone wall art.

Just beautiful.

How to properly backup your iPhone before installing iOS 26.

Before you install iOS 26 on your iPhone, follow this procedure to backup your device:

1. Update all your apps to the latest version in the App Store.

2. Force quit all your apps in the app switcher.

3. Restart your iPhone to remove any software gremlins running in the background.

4. On bootup, backup your iPhone to iCloud.

5. Install the most current version of iOS 18 on your device. This is in case iOS 26 becomes a problem for you and you need to revert back to iOS 18.

6. Once the latest version of iOS 18 is installed on your device, repeat steps 1 thru 4, and then finally install the iOS 26 public beta.

There is no 100% failsafe solution, but this method has always worked for me and gave me a reliable backup to go back to, even though I never needed it.

Workout Buddy in watchOS 26 is too nice.

She needs to have a more serious attitude and just tell it to you like it is. I did a couple of 15 minute workouts this week, and she was being passive-aggressive about my progress. We don’t need full Samuel L. Jackson mode, but something in the middle or at least the option to be more aggressive.

She needs more of a “GOYA” attitude.

That won’t happen of course, but as a healthcare provider, one of the best ways to motivate people to be more conscious and intentional about their health is to put their life into perspective. Think of things they want to do, and how their health could impact their ability to do that thing.

For example:

1. If you don’t start eating right and exercising more, don’t expect to be there when your daughter walks down the aisle.

2. If you want to go hiking with your grandkids, you need to lose weight and get your physical therapy sessions done regularly.

It would be crazy (but effective) if Workout Buddy starts telling you to keep running, or else you’ll never make it to enjoy retirement.

Apple launches online Apple Store in Saudi Arabia.

David Snow from Cult of Mac:

Apple expanded its retail presence to Saudi Arabia with the launch of the Apple Store online and Apple Store app, marking the first time the company has offered direct support in Arabic, the iPhone giant said Tuesday. The move is a significant milestone for Apple users in the Kingdom, who can now access the full range of Apple products and services with localized support from Apple’s team.

“We are thrilled to bring the Apple Store online and the Apple Store app to Saudi Arabia, offering customers a new way to explore and shop Apple’s extraordinary lineup of products and services,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail and People. “Our customers in Saudi Arabia are passionate about the things they can do with technology, and our teams can’t wait to connect with customers and help them discover how Apple innovations can meaningfully enrich their daily lives.”

I went on their site to do a quick comparison between US pricing, and a 128GB iPhone 16 Pro which retails for $999 USD costs $1,253.

Ouch.

Thankfully my carrier now supports eSIM so I don’t have to go through extreme measures.

Dual front cameras on the next generation iPad Pro might unlock new features.

Mark Gurman via his Power On newsletter:

When Apple rolled out the M4 iPad Pro in May 2024, it made the device thinner and (finally) moved the FaceTime camera from the portrait orientation to landscape. This was a nice change for those, like me, who live on landscape mode and rarely ever move into portrait orientation. The switch made it easier to use Face ID without issues and was a big improvement for both selfies and videoconferencing.

On the other hand, fans of portrait mode suddenly found it harder to unlock the device and use the front camera. So, what’s the solution? Pretty simple actually: Apple is apparently adding a second, portrait-side front-facing camera to the upcoming M5 iPad Pro, presumably so FaceTimers and selfie fans can use the device equally well in either orientation. This isn’t particularly revolutionary, but it’s a nice enhancement.

To make it really convenient to unlock in either orientation, you would ideally need another Face ID assembly with the extra camera in order to avoid getting that “Camera covered” message. Not sure if that will happen, but Apple might throw in some new features that Mark didn’t mention, such as a wider range for Center Stage, or even Desk View for iPad.

Jon Prosser is being sued by Apple.

The whole lawsuit is definitely worth a read (full PDF via Daring Fireball).

This is next level stuff.

iPhone 4 vibes all over again.

Not saying I enjoy this because that would be evil, but it’s going to be interesting to see what happens and what precedents this might set in the future:

Both for Apple and content creators.

More in-depth CarPlay Ultra coverage by Ars Technica.

Finally, someone tested what would happen to the CarPlay Ultra UI when your iPhone restarts or is shut down. It’s what I expected, but a reboot still has annoying connectivity issues:

I tested Ultra with an iPhone 16 Pro, but the software requires an iPhone 12 or newer and the latest iOS 18.5 update. As a type of simple failure exercise, I turned my phone off while driving more than once. Doing so reverts both the gauge cluster and infotainment screen to Aston's native UI, the former almost instantly and the latter just a few seconds later. However, once I turned my phone back on, I struggled to reactivate either traditional CarPlay or Ultra until I forgot the device in my Bluetooth settings and started over from scratch. This held true for every attempt.

There’s more issues such as lag in the gauges…of a super car:

Call me old-fashioned, but I still enjoy seeing a tachometer, speedometer, drive modes, and fuel level versus range remaining and a digital speed—especially on an engaging performance vehicle like the DB12 Volante. Apple might be skilled at making new tech easy to use, but it's hard to beat the power of millions of minds adapting to analog gauges over the past century or so. And in this case, Ultra's tach(s) showed a bit of latency or lag while ripping that 671-hp twin-turbo V8 up through the revs, something I never noticed in the native UI.

This article claims that CarPlay Ultra is more holistic with access to more controls, but there are several instances where Michael either prefers the native Aston Martin UI or CarPlay Ultra. The gauges are laggy and the default Aston Martin ones are better, but the climate controls in CarPlay Ultra are better than the defaults. Opening the convertible top had issues, and specific audio controls required going into Aston’s control menu. It sounds like the mess that is iPad multi-tasking.

Other things to consider:

• Photos 2-6 in the first set of 12 photos showing the setup process are labelled incorrectly, and are Aston Martin’s setup terms and not Apple’s even though they’re attributed to CarPlay Ultra. I don’t think Apple is going to share your information with insurance companies.

• Read the comment by UnnDunn to get more information about how CarPlay Ultra interacts with the vehicle’s in terms of safety systems.

• They completely murdered Apple’s Style Guide rules by referring to CarPlay Ultra as “Ultra” the whole time, which is just confusing and sounds unprofessional.

Apple Watch Double Tap and Wrist Flick gestures only work on newer watch models for a reason.

Tim Hardwick from MacRumors:

You may have missed it, but select Apple Watch models are gaining a new Wrist Flick gesture in watchOS 26 that allows users to dismiss notifications and return to their watch face with a simple wrist movement.

The gesture works by turning your wrist over and back, using the accelerometer and gyroscope to detect the motion. With the gesture, you can dismiss incoming notifications, mute calls, silence alarms and alerts, and return to the watch face without needing to use your other hand.

Wrist Flick joins the existing Double Tap gesture as another one-handed control option for Apple Watch users. The feature can be toggled on or off in Settings ➝ Gestures ➝ Wrist Flick.

The new gesture is only available on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 – the same models that support the Double Tap gesture.

Apple doesn't say exactly why older models don't support the feature, despite having the same sensors, but it does use a new machine learning model, suggesting that only the newer chips found in recent Apple Watch models are powerful enough to handle it.

Apple explained how Double Tap works on Apple Watch Series 9 (S9 SiP) in their Fall 2023 Keynote, and I’m assuming the same reasoning applies to the new Wrist Flick feature:

This new gesture is enabled by the powerful neural engine in Series 9, which processes data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor in a completely new way.

It uses a machine learning algorithm to detect the unique signature of tiny movements and changes in blood flow when your hand and fingers perform a Double Tap.

Apple is usually good at backporting software features, but this time it’s hardware related.

iOS 26 alarm for people who actually want to wake up.

Couldn’t have made it better myself. The current version is not foolproof.

Source: Soren Iverson

How good are you at the Apple Style Guide Quiz?

What is the Apple Style Guide?

Apple’s explanation:

The Apple Style Guide provides editorial guidelines for text in Apple instructional materials, technical documentation, reference information, training programs, and user interfaces. The intent of these guidelines is to help maintain a consistent voice in Apple materials.

Writers, editors, and developers can use this document as a guide to writing style, usage, and Apple product terminology. Writers and editors should thoroughly review the guide to become familiar with the range of issues involved in creating high-quality, readable, and consistent materials. Apple developers and third-party developers should follow these guidelines for user-facing text.

I did OK and was doing some blasphemic writing per Apple’s standards, but give it your best shot with this Snazzy video.

Apple’s Style Guide can be found here.

iPhone 16e owners: “Magnets, what magnets?”

Apple Newsroom:

Apple and MP Materials will build out the state-of-the-art Texas factory with a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products. The new equipment and technical capacity will allow MP Materials to significantly boost its overall production. Once built, the American-made magnets will be shipped across the country and all over the world, helping to meet increasing global demand for the material. The increased production will support dozens of new jobs in advanced manufacturing and R&D. The two companies will provide extensive training to develop the workforce, building an entirely new pool of U.S. talent and expertise in magnet manufacturing.

I hope this is part of my wish for the next generation of MagSafe.

watchOS 26 lets you enter Control Center without clicking the Side Button.

If you have Do Not Disturb or any other Focus enabled on your Apple Watch, you can tap the Focus icon at the top of the Apple Watch and you’ll enter Control Center right away.

My assumption is this is a new feature to help you get in and out of Focus modes easily, but if your Focus button is further down in the Control Center, you will still have to scroll to get to it.

A revamped Dynamic Island needs to start with this basic feature.

Majin Bu about the future of the Dynamic Island:

I can reveal that the Dynamic Island is set for a significant evolution in the coming years. Apple appears committed to making it more functional and integrated, turning it into a key element of the user experience. This development could mark a step forward in device interaction, but for now, I’ll keep further details under wraps. Stay tuned to see how this innovation unfolds.

I’ll repeat what I said over a year and a half ago:

All notifications should be coming through the dynamic island, no exception. With its ability to expand to multiple heights and widths, it is a no-brainer for all notifications to come through the Island.

It would make it more seamless, and quite frankly, more dynamic.

The Dynamic Island with all its bubbliness is the perfect fit for Liquid Glass, and it’s time we get notifications that bubble out like amoebas multiplying.

In the long term, the Dynamic Island’s evolution will come in the form of smaller physical components giving Apple much more screen real estate to display more information.

CarPlay Ultra needs to be “crash tested.”

I can’t seem to find a single CarPlay Ultra hands-on where the driver tries to see what happens when you disconnect your iPhone from the vehicle. It would be interesting (and important) to see what happens to the UI of the vehicle when the phone inevitably has connection issues.

The only person to address it from what I could find: Joe Rosensteel from Six Colors:

CarPlay Ultra disconnects won’t affect the instruments and essential functions of the car because they’re rendered locally by the vehicle. I have no safety concerns about dropped connections. However, we haven’t seen how gracefully the phone-generated part of the non-essential interface degrades when there are connection issues. I don’t believe Apple wants to be the one to show people anything less than ideal function, even if we all know that’s not realistic.

I think people will find it jarring to go from an immersive Apple Maps screen with a simple digital speedometer and fuel gauge to a default instrument cluster with no maps in a split second. It’s like asking a digitally immersed, spoiled child to tell you the time after taking away his iPhone and leaving him with just a Meridian analog clock.

Lost and traumatized.

I may be exaggerating (a little), but CarPlay’s issues are multi-dimensional since it relies on Apple and the car manufacturer’s software to have good communication, which is also troublesome.

I rented a few Nissans recently, and the physical CarPlay connection was perfect. A few years ago I rented a Kia for a work trip that had wireless CarPlay, and it worked about 85% of the time. I loved the fact that it was wireless, but I hated it when it lost connection and I had to navigate to my destination while holding my phone. I’m not against CarPlay or CarPlay Ultra, but I’m happy with my current Moment MagSafe setup since it never fails.

Every car has its quirks with CarPlay, and I’m sure every car that will support CarPlay Ultra in the future will have its own quirks in terms of features, but also reliability.

There should be a POV video where the driver is driving with CarPlay Ultra fully engaged, and there should be a passenger who takes the phone and simulates a lost connection by rebooting the device just to see what elements of the interface stay functional and what features roll off a cliff.

With cars becoming more and more “tech on wheels,” the question now becomes, is this a test car reviewers should do, or tech reviewers?

COO Jeff Williams steps down and Sabih Khan becomes Tim Cook’s Tim Cook.

Apple Newsroom on July 8th:

Apple today announced Jeff Williams will transition his role as chief operating officer later this month to Sabih Khan, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations, as part of a long-planned succession. Williams will continue reporting to Apple CEO Tim Cook and overseeing Apple’s world-class design team and Apple Watch alongside the company’s Health initiatives. Apple’s design team will then transition to reporting directly to Cook after Williams retires late in the year.

This Fall will probably be the last time Jeff Williams reveals a new Apple Watch to the public. It’s been Williams since the beginning, and I would describe his screen presence as timid enthusiasm.