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.

You may never see every Snoopy animation on Apple Watch.

Robert Leedham from GQ magazine:

That first meeting at the Charles M Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, was the Watch team’s first in-person meet-up after the pandemic, and what started as a two-hour drive north from Mountain View ultimately ended with plans for 148 unique animations that would be contextual depending on the time of day, local weather and activities. When you go for a swim, Snoopy dons his scuba gear and floats through your watch screen. When night arrives he'll howl at the moon, and when you’re not up to much at all you can find him draped over his iconic red doghouse in a series of panels that are a direct lift from the comics. It all amounts to over 12 minutes of animation work that stemmed from an unexpectedly chaotic tête-à-tête.

I thought there were maybe a dozen or two, but that explains why whenever I try to cycle through the Snoopy watch faces, I get a glimpse of one that I either have never seen before, or I could swear is a new animation.

It’s all about timing to see all the animations since the positioning of the hour and minute hands also play a role:

This is one of the things that might mean you find yourself checking the time more than you actually need to. One time, he’ll peep out from behind the minute hand, his body magically hidden. Next, he’ll be skating and bounce off the minute hand because it’s in just the wrong place. Another time, a flying Woodstock will drop a bone for a recumbent Snoopy, which will bounce off the minute hand into his mouth. Then… look, you’re going to have to discover these things for yourself. […]

Sometimes the rotation only needs to affect certain frames of the animation. If Snoopy is standing on the minute hand, he’s affected only when he’s up top, and his free fall into leaves below is unchanged and he falls naturally downwards, otherwise he’d shoot off sideways. “Each animation is only five seconds long, but by looping the whole animation or even just a few frames at the end, We’re able to keep certain scenes alive for much longer,” Butcher says.

The closest thing to seeing all 148 animations? A reddit post that has 120 animations.

The Files and Preview app conundrum in iOS 26 (solved).

One of my readers pointed out to me something I didn’t even think of trying, but it solves the Files and Preview app conundrum:

You need to click and hold on a file, in the menu that pops up you select Quick Look. Then you can swipe between files. You will also get a pull down menu to the left, where you can choose between the files in the selected folder.

It is an extra step from before, but a lot better than no solution at all. Thank you Jörgen!

Control Center in watchOS 26 gets more versatile.

One of the best new features of watchOS 26? You can add HomeKit widgets to Control Center, controlling any HomeKit device with just a click and a tap. I have one main light that I need to turn ON and OFF frequently throughout the day, and this just makes it a lot easier instead of having to summon Siri all the time.

A huge benefit for a small device.

With watchOS 26, it’s still “too hard” to tell if your iPhone is connected to your Apple Watch.

It used to be a lot easier.

I accidentally tested a feature that I forgot about when I purposely left my personal phone at home and decided to just carry my work phone since it’s too hot outside to be carrying two phones in two pockets. My Series 10 watch on watchOS 26 still doesn’t give me any indication that I left my phone behind, until I click the Control Center and see the crossed-out red iPhone on top.

As I said earlier, it used to be a lot easier. I lamentingly ranted about this about six months ago, when I was testing my Series 3 watch:

You remember back to a time, a simpler time, where Apple used to let you know right on your watch face, that your iPhone is missing. It didn’t matter what watch face you had, but that red iPhone with a slash right through it would show up immediately, letting you know before you get too far that you need to grab your iPhone.

My Series 3 on watchOS 8 lets me know every time without fail. 

Whether you use the Simple watch face, or are admiring the peaceful serenity of Mack Lake with a Timelapse, Apple didn’t hesitate to interrupt you with their passive aggressive way of letting you know:

“Hey genius, you forgot your iPhone.” […]

Just literally put the disconnected iPhone logo where the red notification dot goes (like it used to!), and call it a day. 

Don’t think different with this one, just do it.

Here is what it looks like on a Series 3 just for reference. Clear as day.

6 features I would like to see in a new MagSafe Battery Pack from Apple.

The MagSafe Battery Pack (MBP for short) is one of my favorite Apple accessories, but it is time for an upgrade. It was released in July 2021, and promptly discontinued once the iPhone 15 with USB-C was announced in September 2023.

Even though it was a great accessory during the lightning era, a newer more modern version would be ideal for the bigger generation of iPhones. Here are six reasons why:

1. USB-C port

This one is obvious, but would allow the MBP to charge other devices via a USB-C cable instead of just using Qi2 wireless charging. It could also be charged with fast-charging making it ready for use on the go.

USB-C would give it more versatility and faster charging options.

2. MagSafe charging

I have an OtterBox MagSafe charger that can charge my iPhone with MagSafe, but it can also be charged via MagSafe. I can plop both the iPhone and this charger on a MagSafe charger and be completely wire-free. This contraption does get warm, but that’s because the OtterBox battery doesn’t have all the software optimizations built-in to help with charging speed and temperature control like the MBP.

This particular OtterBox battery pack also fits with the OpenCase.

3. Thinner and bigger to fit flush with latest devices.

The original MBP was limited by the size of the iPhone 12 and 13 mini, making it narrow and thick. The iPhones mini were 5.4 inches, and the latest rumors put the iPhone 17 base model at 6.3 inches. That extra space allows for a bigger yet thinner battery casing that would fit flush with the rumored 6.3 inches on the iPhone 17. A much sleeker look.

The MagSafe Battery Pack’s maximum size was limited by the iPhone mini’s smaller dimensions.

Stained iPhone 13 mini with MagSafe Battery Pack

4. Multi-colors

Having different colors is always welcome, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple brands this new MBP under the beats branding to make it more appealing and fun.

5. Find My capabilities

I constantly lose my MagSafe Battery Pack, and having proper Find My capabilities with a 3rd generation Ultra Wideband chip and even a built-in speaker for pinging would be a huge plus.

6. Silicon-carbon battery

This would be a killer feature giving the slimmer battery pack more battery capacity than traditional lithium-ion batteries. Longevity could be less with silicon-carbon batteries, but I think it would balance out with its higher overall capacity.

The Files and Preview app conundrum in iOS 26.

Every time I open a file or a photo in my Files app, it automatically takes me to the new Preview app. The problem with that is you can no longer swipe between files or photos in the Files app. I keep certain photos off my camera roll (no not those kind), such as really old kids’ photos from my wife’s old phone, but I can’t even scroll through them like I used to. Quite literally every time I click on a file, it goes to the Preview app.

Same thing goes for the Preview app. If I try to open the same folder of photos in the Preview app, you can’t scroll between photos in any folder. You’re stuck looking at photos one at a time. Tap a file, look at it, tap back, and tap the next file.

The only way to solve this problem right now? Delete the Preview app.

I think Apple needs to let you view your files in the Files app like it used to, and if you want to open it in the Preview app, add that option to the share sheet.

Forget about a ring, Apple should make a WHOOP competitor to further expand its wearable market.

Mark Gurman on X:

Apple should seriously consider developing a smart ring to give its fitness-tracking wearables push new momentum and widen its market.

I think Apple should take a different approach.

Imagine an Apple Watch, but you take away the screen, buttons, speaker, and microphones, and you fill up that extra space with a higher capacity battery while making the device thinner. Currently the smallest, most modern Apple Watch (42mm Series 10) is 36mm wide, excluding the Digital Crown. With all those components removed, the form factor could morph back in time and be shrunken down just a bit to the size of the Series 3 Apple Watch at 33.3mm wide. This would still allow the small watch bands to fit (think 38mm, 40mm, 41mm, and the new 42mm bands).

You would only need one size since it’s a passive device with no screen. A thin device like that could act as a fashion piece like the WHOOP tries to do. Turn the front of the device into a polished steel surface with Apple’s classic trio of Silver, Slate, and Gold, and you have a piece of jewelry that can be swapped with any band of your choosing. If placed on an alternate site on the body, the smaller form factor would be easy to conceal.

Every single Apple Watch has been slightly taller than wide. To change the look of this new product, they can make it a perfect square at 33mm x 33mm, still leaving plenty of room to charge the device with the same Apple Watch charging puck. The device would have longer battery life, be more fashionable, and would not get banned from weddings.

Another critical feature? Giving it the ability to be worn on other parts of the body, such as your bicep, ankle, near your waist, etc. People are already doing it anyway, so why not make it more marketable (and accurate) for those of us who can’t wear a health device on our wrists all the time?

For my line of work in preparing sterile radioactive medications for patients, I’m not allowed to wear any jewelry in the lab, making the Apple Watch unusable for a decent portion of an 8-hour shift. It would be a huge deal for others in the healthcare field like myself who can track their health while working. This would apply to other occupations as well where the wrist is just too risky to put a $400 plus device.

The biggest hurdles to this form factor? Making sure the health data is accurate on alternate sites on the body, which could take years just based on how thorough Apple is when doing these health studies. They should pick alternative body sites that make the most sense and go all-in, even if it is just one additional body part like the upper arm or near your waist.

I think a WHOOP competitor that piggybacks off of the Apple Watch’s accessory lineup and distribution process gives Apple an advantage. It might seem redundant, but Apple has multiple form factors for each of its signature product categories, and this wouldn’t be any different. They should lean into their iconic squircle form factor instead of trying to start a whole new category.

The Apple logo on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro might go lower.

Majin Bu:

Apple is planning a significant change in the design of its upcoming iPhone 17 Pro, repositioning the Apple logo. Currently located slightly off-center and below the camera module since the iPhone X, the Apple logo will be moved lower, toward the center bottom of the phone. This recent discovery, reported by direct sources among case manufacturers, marks an evolution in Apple’s aesthetic language. An company we collaborate with, specialized in producing cases for the iPhone 17 Pro line, has confirmed they are already working to start production of cases with the updated design. Let’s explore the details of this recent finding, the reasons behind this choice, and the solutions the industry is developing. […]

This move toward the center bottom could alter the traditional symmetry of Apple devices, paving the way for further innovations. Specifically, the MagSafe system, essential for magnetic charging and accessory attachment, requires precise alignment with the back of the device.

Of course this is speculation, but it begs the question if Apple is revamping MagSafe to make it more versatile as I mentioned in a previous post:

The charging coil diameter will probably not change since it is part of the Qi2 standard, but more magnets can be added in the bottom two-thirds of the iPhone to give accessories more stability, using the 6.3 inch iPhone as the new lower limit.

This can lead to a whole slew of new accessories, such as iPad-like folio cases, ultra-sturdy car mounts, and thinner battery packs.

Lowering the MagSafe ring would throw off its overall symmetry, but maybe Apple will compensate with corner magnets top and bottom.

The vivo X Fold5 - tell me you want an iPhone, without telling me you want an iPhone.

Hadlee Simmons from Android Authority about the vivo X Fold5:

For starters, the company says it’s the first Android phone that can connect to the Apple Watch, supporting phone calls, texts, notification mirroring, synchronization of health/fitness data, and more. However, there are a couple of caveats to this integration. Your Apple Watch needs to be paired with an iPhone first. Furthermore, vivo says this functionality will come via a system update.

Let’s look at the fine print translation at the bottom of Vivo’s main landing page referring to the Apple Watch:

The relevant functions may change due to third-party services. vivo will update the description on the function publicity page according to the actual situation. Please refer to the actual use.

Looks like vivo is taking one out of Apple’s own playbook, but at least they’re letting you know in advance they might change the information on the product page website “according to the actual situation,” because these features might not work as intended and won’t ship out of the box.

Sound familiar?

Once again, don’t buy a device with the promise of new features that are not already baked into the device.

Let’s continue.

Seamless AirPods compatibility with - shoddy translation - “full-link native experience?” Let’s read the fine print once again:

All native function experiences of AirPods pairing with iPhone are not supported for the time being. Please refer to actual use.

I wouldn’t bet on getting all the advanced AirPods functions such as Adaptive Audio and Hearing Aid functionality.

Of course, there’s also “full-compatibility” with the iPhone, with chatGPT translating this quote from this image with two alternate translations:

"Perfectly in sync with Apple, Seamlessly across ecosystems."

"Works flawlessly with Apple, Smooth across ecosystems."

"In perfect harmony with Apple, Effortless cross-ecosystem experience."

In order for your iPhone to work properly, you must do the following “effortless” work (from the same landing page):

It means that the phone on the iPhone can be answered on vivo X Fold5, and the information and notifications on the iPhone can be transferred to vivo X Fold5 for viewing. The conditions of use are as follows:

(1) Download the "vivo mutual transmission" application on the iPhone (iOS system needs to be version 15.0 or above; "vivo mutual transmission" on the iOS terminal needs to be version 5.2.30 or above);

(2) vivo X Fold5 You need to log in to the same vivo account as the iPhone, and there are no other devices at both ends;

(3) The dual-end Bluetooth needs to be paired, and the distance requirement is within 10 meters;

(4) The notification flow needs to turn on the three-party application notification permission and the notification flow switch. iOS needs to turn off the [Filter Unknown Contacts] switch to experience the flow of verification codes.

The interface UI is for reference only, please refer to the actual use. This function needs to be implemented with third-party services. The relevant functions may change due to third-party services. vivo will update the description on the function publicity page according to the actual situation. Please refer to the actual use.

I think I now how to solve all these compatibility issues and how to avoid all these hoops and hurdles:

Get an iPhone.

Regarding CarPlay Ultra, car maker says, “Don't try to invade our own systems.”

Tim Hardwick from MacRumors reporting from a paywalled Financial Times report:

Apple is facing mounting resistance from automakers over CarPlay Ultra, the next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles that was announced last month.

A new (paywalled) Financial Times report claims several major brands are walking back their earlier commitments to support the upgraded dashboard software. German luxury manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and Audi have both distanced themselves from the system, along with Volvo, Polestar, and Renault.

It's a major retreat from Apple's 2022 announcement, which originally named 14 automakers as future CarPlay Ultra partners, including all of those mentioned above.

CarPlay Ultra goes far beyond traditional CarPlay by taking control of the entire dashboard experience. The system displays vehicle information like temperature, speed, and fuel levels alongside iPhone apps, creating what Apple calls "a unified and consistent experience across all the driver's screens."

Mercedes-Benz had previously expressed reluctance to cede dashboard control to Apple. Now other premium brands are following suit, citing concerns about maintaining their own software experiences and revenue streams from in-car services. From the report:

Some companies have found Apple's foray into driver screens as over-reach. One executive at Renault, which is developing a vehicle mainly controlled by software with Google and Qualcomm, said the French carmaker told Apple: "Don't try to invade our own systems."

My take a few months ago:

But it begs the question for car manufacturers:

Why go through a redundant process and work with a second UI that is less reliable?

The car manufacturer already has to make a UI with all of its features for their vehicles, so why try to reproduce that same experience with CarPlay 2 that requires phone projection? Phone projection or tethering (call it what you want) will always have a less reliable connection than the car’s built-in software. It just seems like a waste of resources for automakers in an already low-margin industry, not to mention a safety concern if an entire dash filled with CarPlay 2 projection all of a sudden disconnects from your phone because of some bug. […]

With Apple’s huge stance on privacy, there has to be some friction with how deeply CarPlay 2 integrates into a manufacturer’s system, and how much of that data Apple doesn’t want to be made available for sale.

There’s a tug of war between automakers and Apple. If something goes awry, who is to blame for an accident? Likewise, if data is being sold without people knowing about it, who is to blame? Neither party wants to bear the brunt of bad news, but if accidents happen, both the automaker and Apple will be blamed. [...]

As the industry moves towards more automation, CarPlay 2 will be even less relevant since there are huge safety concerns and no manufacturer wants to rely on software that is not 100% in their control.

Most automakers will stick to regular CarPlay and treat it as a built-in app, but don’t put all your hopes in CarPlay Ultra making it into your next vehicle unless you’re buying an Aston Martin.

New alarm design in iOS 26 might make you oversleep.

Tim Hardwick from MacRumors (click link to see the controversial change):

In the iOS 26 beta, Apple has redesigned the alarm screen in the Clock app, giving it a cleaner look with a larger time display and significantly bigger buttons. When the alarm goes off, you'll now see two large, equal-sized buttons for Stop and Snooze placed side by side at the bottom of the screen.

While the redesign fits with Apple's broader visual refresh in iOS 26, it also seems to address a problem the company had already solved: reducing the chances of you hitting Stop instead of Snooze when you're half-awake and fumbling for your phone. Ironically, internal testing once showed that making both buttons the same size actually made that mistake more likely.

According to Jack Fields, a former Apple engineer and head writer at Kernel Extension, the new layout contradicts internal research he was involved in during his time at the company. That testing included a version of the Clock app that logged user interactions to a heat map, tracking exactly where people tapped the screen upon waking.

"It was recording where our sleepy hands were smacking around on the screen in order to see how accurate we were in turning off the alarms," says Fields. What they found was perhaps counterintuitive: when Stop and Snooze were made the same size and placed close together, users were 30% more likely to hit Stop by accident. In other words, it actually increased the chances of oversleeping.

This will change 100%. Apple should keep the fat SNOOZE button and place it higher, and make the STOP button small and lower like it was before.

Another reason why I have 5 or 6 alarms for my unorthodox sleeping pattern.

Cure your smartphone addiction with the methaphone.

Arielle Pardes from WIRED (also News+ link):

Eric Antonow was in a coffee shop with his family when he felt the familiar, twitchy urge to reach for his phone. He patted his pockets for relief—the cool, thin slab was still there. He joked to his family that, like an addict jonesing for a hit, he would one day need a medical-grade solution to detox from his phone. Opioid addicts had methadone. iPhone addicts would need … methaphones.

“It was a joke, but I got two laughs from my two teenagers, which is gold,” Antonow says. “I was like, ‘I’m going to commit to the bit.’”

Here’s a description from the product page at Mindless Toys:

For 60 years, heroin addicts have used methadone to help break their addiction. Now you can step down your dependency on your mobile device with this: methaphone.

Leave your phone without the cravings or withdrawal

We carry our phones everywhere. It feels strange and unsettling when we can't feel them. We twitch, worried we've lost something.

methaphone can help you manage cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It can fill that hole in your back pocket. It can fill that hole in your hand. Opioid addicts have used methadone to help step down from dependency, and now you have this. 

The product does look impressive.

Liquid Glass to the next level.

Although the website is obviously a gag like rentahitman.com, I would say the analogy is more like:

smartphone is to methaphone as an antidepressant is to placebo.

watchOS 26 doesn’t come with new watch faces, for now at least.

The only “new” watch face in watchOS 26 is an enhanced Photos watch face:

The popular Photos watch face is enhanced with numerals made of Liquid Glass, allowing users to see even more of their photo.

That’s it. Unless you’re a Series 10 user who is obsessive about the fine details, that’s the only benefit you’re getting from a watch face point of view. Series 10 users get to enjoy an always-on display with ticking seconds hand for many older watch faces. To make things even worse for non-Series 10 users, Apple got rid of five watch faces, but I honestly won’t miss them.

In the past, Apple did debut new watch faces in June for the beta releases, but they saved the bulk of their newer watch faces for the public watchOS release in September. Some of those watch faces were exclusive to a newly designed Apple Watch, and some were back ported to older watches. You can see the (rough) history of what watch faces were revealed at what time frame below:

• watchOS 2 beta - Photo Albums, Timelapse

• watchOS 3 beta - Minnie Mouse, Activity and Numerals

• watchOS 4 beta - Siri, Toy Story, Kaleidoscope

• watchOS 4 public release - Explorer (debuted with the Series 3)

• watchOS 5 beta - Pride

• watchOS 5 public release - Infograph, Infograph Modular, Liquid Metal, Vapor, Fire and Water (all debuted with the Series 4 and its bigger display)

• watchOS 6 beta - Numerals Mono, Numerals Duo, Modular Compact, Gradient, Solar Dial, California

• watchOS 6 public release - no new watch faces, but they debuted the Always-On Display for the Series 5.

• watchOS 7 beta - Chronograph Pro

• watchOS 7 public release - GMT, Count Up, Typograph, Memoji, Stripes, Artist

• watchOS 8 beta - Portraits

• watchOS 8 public release - Modular Duo, Contour, World Timer

• watchOS 9 beta - Lunar, Playtime, Metropolitan, Astronomy

• watchOS 9 public release - no additional watch faces, but the Apple Watch Ultra is debuted with the exclusive Wayfinder watch face

• watchOS 10 beta - Palette, Snoopy

• watchOS 10 public release - Solar Analog (debuted with the Series 9)

• watchOS 11 beta - Photos (a redesign more than an actual new watch face)

• watchOS 11 - Flux, Reflections (both debuted with the Series 10), and Unity Rhythm debuted months later with a software update.

• watchOS 26 beta - Liquid Glass on the Photos watch face.

• watchOS 26 public release - ???

This isn’t an exhaustive list of every single watch face that has debuted, but I think I got most of them. There is no fixed pattern here either, but a minimum of two new watch faces isn’t a lot to ask for.

I’m thinking since the Series 11 is a minimal upgrade over the Series 10, we will get a few new watch faces to make the Series 11 more relevant. I’m fully expecting Apple to release at least two different Liquid Glass watch faces in the Fall - an analog variant that resembles a modern version of the Color watch face, and some sort of playful, bubbly digital face.

An exclusive new Ultra watch face is also a given.

The best water bottle for iPhone users.

Great landing page for the REEVUS Insulated Stainless Steel Bottle. Everything here makes sense and shows its capabilities well. I’ve been using this bottle for over two months now, and I have some points I would like to add for anyone who wants the perfect water bottle:

It really is very minimal with a cap, a bottle, and a Find My tracker. That’s it. Cleaning is simple and the wide mouth swallows even the biggest ice cubes with ease.

The diameter of the bottle is the same as the width of an iPhone 16 Pro Max. It is as tall as a 16 Pro Max and a pair of AirPods Pro vertically stacked on top of each other.

You see, the iPhone also has a measuring tool!

For car cup holders, it should fit most modern vehicles, but your mileage may vary. If your Pro Max device of choice fits your cupholder vertically, so should this bottle.

The landing page shows the phone on the MagSafe lid as a place for both creating and watching content, but it is also usable with the lid detached. This makes more sense since there’s nothing worse than having messy hands while watching content, only to realize you have to remove your phone, and open the lid to get a drink. Just remove the lid before eating, and now you can get your dose of YouTube (and your drink of choice) uninterrupted. The lid is on its side when watching content this way, so it won’t get dirty and contaminate your drink.

Watch content while keeping your lid clean.

The REEVUS tracker doesn’t have a replaceable battery, but it lasts 300 weeks (almost 6 years).

The MagSafe handle also works well for keeping your MagSafe compatible AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods 4 in a safe spot.

Comes with a spare magnetic ring that you can apply to your device or case, with neat little diagrams showing you exactly where to place the magnet depending on what phone you have.

The circular handle is just as sturdy as it was on day one which is assuring for long term durability.

Putting the tracker on and off the lid is my new fidget toy.

It’s taken some serious falls onto concrete but it only gives it more character and fits into that “journey” lifestyle.

Sure, it’s $90, but it is well worth it, especially since Journey is (seemingly) always running some sort of promo to give you 15-20% off. A much greater quality experience with useful features compared to those overhyped Stanleys.

If I were to buy this again, I would get the black bottle with the white and yellow cap. Just fun contrast with a hint of sunny side up eggs.

And…it’s gone. (Updated - presentation is still up.)

Update 6/22 - The Presentation is still there, but buried way down below on their education website.

Apple’s Parent Presentation video (released yesterday) has been pulled from their YouTube channel, and so has the slide deck that could have been used to convince your parents.