Upgrade

It's all about what's next at Apple this week, as we discuss the ramifications of some early A14 speed tests and ponder the challenges of succession planning at Apple. And what's next for us is an interview with two Apple executives, so it's time to get in your #askupgrade questions.

This week widget mania sweeps the nation, Jason goes to an Apple Store to buy a Solo Loop, and Tim Cook ponders Apple's work-from-home culture.

Has Apple set off an iPhone home screen aesthetics revolution with iOS 14? We talk about our favorite widgets, Widgetsmith's journey to the top of the App Store charts, home-screen customization, and what this might mean for Apple's iOS feature priorities. Also, Myke evaluates new watchOS faces, Jason seeks home remedies to fix his terrible Apple Watch battery life, and we both speculate about whether Apple might sneak a Touch ID sensor into the iPhone 12 after all.

Apple announced new Apple Watches and iPads on Tuesday, and here's our quick reaction to the news. Shockingly, we walk away feeling pretty good about… Apple's services? Plus: Surprise! Those operating system updates are coming sooner than anyone suspected!

In the first of two episodes of Upgrade this week, Jason and Myke predict what will happen at September 15's Apple event in the traditional form of a draft! We'll be back on Tuesday for post-event reaction and the scoring of our picks.

Jason dives into macOS Big Sur and has to podcast from exile, Apple gets excited about Emmy nominations while prepping for fall product launches, and the release of "Mulan" leads us to discuss which movie theaters are worth saving.

Jason and Myke try to piece together conflicting rumors about Macs with Apple silicon, Apple TV+ embraces the UK and Mariah Carey, and Apple and Epic take it to the courts, and #askupgrade reaches its final form as #keyboardtalk.

Jason and Myke take a walk in the woods while discussing Apple and Epic, the latest Apple TV+ news, the speed potential of Macs with Apple silicon, and how the pandemic has changed their working lives.

Epic takes on Apple and Google's dominance of smart phone app stores with an app update and corresponding legal filings and publicity campaign. What's Apple's next move, and more importantly, what do we wish Apple would do to change its App Store policies? Also, Apple releases a bundle with the promise for many more, which leads us to get a little bit sad about the state of Apple's current service offerings.

Jason reviews the new iMac (with nano-texture display) and the public beta release of macOS Big Sur. Myke thinks Apple's making a big mistake in keeping game streaming services off of its platforms. And in Upstream, the transformation of the film industry continues at a rapid pace.

The summer gets a little more serious as we discuss Apple's newest iMacs, Phil Schiller's job transition, Apple emails disclosed by the House Antitrust Subcommittee, and Apple's surprisingly strong financial results. Also, Jason launches his new "20 Macs for 2020" project.

This week Stephen Hackett joins Myke and Jason to consider the best and worst changes to app icons in macOS Big Sur. What makes a good icon? How are books shaped? What is the origin of the term "email"? What happened to Lou? Staring at icons for a long time really makes you think...

Apple's big design changes in macOS Big Sur aren't limited to visuals. The system's alert sounds have changed, too. What better way to run down those changes than on a podcast during the Summer of Fun? Also, Apple News adds some audio features Myke likes, while Jason remains skeptical of whether Apple News can really help the sad state of the news business. Plus: Peacock Premium... Plus.

This week Myke and Jason discuss John Gruber's essay about Apple's App Store priorities and then assemble a list of apps that are missing key operating-system features. There's also more news about ARM Macs, Apple continues to make TV deals, and we discuss our favorite features of the iOS and iPadOS Public Betas.

Apple's services are in the spotlight, as Apple TV+ adds material, Apple News gets kicked to the curb by the New York Times, and Apple Arcade grapples with finding the right kind of games to publish. In other streaming news, we touch on Quibi and CBS before diving into Disney+--most specifically, Myke at the Matinee featuring "Hamilton."

This week we welcome Apple's Bob Borchers and Ronak Shah to the show to discuss macOS Big Sur, including all the new features in Safari. There's also an awful lot of follow-up from the busy WWDC week that was, and we discuss the possible features of new Macs running Apple silicon.

Myke and Jason break down the WWDC 2020 keynote, which featured changes to the Mac both expected and unexpected and some long-wanted updates for iOS. Did the iPad updates let us down? Are we ready for the Apple Watch to track our sleep? And who won the draft?

It’s time for our fifth annual competition regarding what will happen at next week's WWDC keynote! Will there be a stage? Will there be enormous Mac announcements? Will iPadOS and Apple Watch get some love? This week is for guessing, and next week is for harsh reality. Also, we introduce Upgrade+.

With WWDC two weeks away, Myke and Jason share their wishes for iPadOS updates. They also analyze why they love certain kinds of games but are repelled by others and discuss Apple's inevitable move into streaming live sports.

It's episode 300! This week we look to the future by drafting stories we'll be talking about over the next hundred episodes of Upgrade, and then we answer all of your questions about how the podcast got started, how we put it together, and where we're going from here.

There's a raft of media news this week, as Spotify removes a popular podcast from the ecosystem and Apple TV+ makes more content deals. We've got questions about the future of podcasting and whether Apple is committed to a video subscription service for the long haul. And when that's done, Myke at the Movies skips school and steals your dad's car to watch "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Save Ferris!

Apple Stores are reopening in many parts of the world, but should you go? (Not unless you must.) Also, Taiwan Semiconductor plans to build a factory in the U.S., TV shows are being produced remotely during the lockdown, and Apple News+ turns to audio in an attempt to improve its service.

This week Jason and Myke ponder the mysteries of the 13-inch MacBook Pro(s), including why the Touch Bar is frozen in time and whether there's a bigger change coming to Apple's laptop line. Also Jason makes another IKEA order, Myke shares some knowledge about unusual BBC job titles, Jason's iPhone X battery fails at an inopportune time, and WWDC gets a new date and format.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman joins Myke and Jason to discuss how Apple's responding to the pandemic, the current state of iPhone development, and how he handles breaking major Apple news. Then Myke and Jason discuss the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Jason finally gets to tell his tale of Drobo devastation.

Myke and Jason are the target audience for Apple's new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, and they're here with their full reviews. (And Myke trolls the Internet with five space bars.) They also ponder the balance of power between governments and tech giants over COVID-19 Bluetooth tracking.

Apple tweaks the Mac's battery settings, a new iPhone SE arrives, the first reviews of the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro are in, and Apple's over-ear AirPods seem to be creeping closer.

Apple and Google join up to start tracing COVID-19 contacts, Apple makes a bunch of TV shows available to watch for free, Disney faces strong headwinds, and Bloomberg adds a bit of normalcy with a report about the next generation of iPhones. Then Myke at the Movies is sent back in time by whales to watch "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home."

How will COVID-19 change the future of consumer technology? Why is Zoom the videoconferencing tool of the moment, and why has it had so many security and privacy issues? We ask the big questions this week, and also discuss Amazon's ability to sell and rent movies on iOS, the mystifying launch of the Quibi video service, and how moving to a virtual workspace is affecting Apple.

Myke has taken possession of a "new" iPad Pro, so he and Jason compare notes and enter the Conspiracy Room to ponder why it exists. While they're there, they also revisit the possibilities of ARM Macs and iPad versions of Apple's pro apps. We also save some praise for iPadOS cursors and Apple's COVID-19 reactions thus far.

Jason's got the new MacBook Air and iPad Pro, so it's time to dig in. But the most exciting new Apple development is an iPad accessory we won't see until May--and an iPadOS software update we all get to see this week. Plus, Myke gives his surprising reaction to spending a few weeks with a 16-inch MacBook Pro.

This week we discuss how the global pandemic has affected Apple, from retail to TV shows to Apple Park workers, and potentially even product launches. Your hosts, experts at working at home, offer some advice to new homebound workers. And to lend a little normalcy to the proceedings, we leave a little time for speculation about some future Apple product releases.

The COVID-19 virus continues to upend tech industry conference plans, product roll-outs, and supply chains, but we've still got news about new displays on future Apple hardware and a series of major stories from 9to5 Mac about the future of iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Is the iPad finally getting full-on cursor support for external pointing devices? Myke and Jason are decidedly enthusiastic, while also wondering if this is just an elaborate practical joke.

So is Apple really releasing a Smart Keyboard with a built-in trackpad? That's the latest report, and Jason and Myke have a lot of questions about it. Is iPadOS 13 good enough to support a trackpad? Would a trackpad only for text editing and gestures make sense? Are we going to have to wait for iPadOS 14 for everything to make sense? And in Upstream, Disney+ gets its "expensive NBC" moment on Instagram.

This week begins with us clearing up controversies about pockets and malware. The spread of the coronavirus is affecting Apple's business, and making us wonder if WWDC in June could be affected. Ming-Chi Kuo drops a bombshell about ARM Macs, and Mark Gurman reports that Apple might be opening the door to default apps on iOS.

Myke met the people for whom the Mac Pro was made, and reports back with details. Jason tries to combat confusion about whether the Mac is really being attacked by malware and explains what Apple is doing to stop it. And we address some five-year-old follow-up regarding text input on the Apple Watch.

Why did Apple surprise developers with beta releases with intriguing new features this month? What does it mean for the future of Mac app development? Is a new keyboard going to be a major feature of new iPad Pro models? Would Apple really build Macs with processors made by AMD? And can someone get Taika Waititi a 16-inch MacBook Pro?

It's time for our annual dive into the Six Colors Apple Report Card, as Jason and Myke interpret the scores and comments of 65 Apple-watchers and add their own views on where the company is succeeding--and where it's not.

It's the 10th anniversary of the announcement of the iPad! Myke and Jason discuss why the seeds of the iPad's success were visible on day one, the changes in the iPad's life cycle over time, and how the iPad fits in our daily lives today.

We close the book on the 2010s with a special draft of Apple keynotes and media events from the past decade, joined by special guest Stephen Hackett. And in Upstream news, it's a busy season of announcements for both Apple TV+ and Peacock.

With Myke reporting live from Hollywood, we discuss Netflix's record Oscar nominations, and Apple's first TV award and TV critic press tour. Jason makes a chart that explains why Apple execs can't stop talking about Services and Wearables. Then we both give updates on our home-office upgrades, Jason abandons his solar dream, and Myke turns to mechanical keyboards for solace.

With a new year come Jason's predictions for Apple in 2020. How varied can the iPhone product line get? Will Apple make its most interesting laptop yet--and will it run macOS or iPadOS? And how can Apple double down on the success of AirPods? We also discuss the new Brydge Pro+ iPad keyboard with trackpad, there's a bumper crop of Upstream news, and we dream about a future where smart home devices are all compatible with one another.

As the year comes to an end, it's time for the Sixth Annual Upgradies! Myke and Jason discuss their favorites of 2019, take the input of 1500 Upgradians, and hand out awards in numerous categories! Only the finest will walk away with the most coveted of titles: Upgradies Winner.

This week we try to solve a technology mystery. What if there was a murder, but no body? What if there were victims, but no crime? We all want answers: Who killed the butterfly keyboard, and why?

How is Apple TV+ like a bicycle? Is the Mac Pro made in the USA? Why can you play Apple Podcasts from the Amazon Echo? This week Jason and Myke answer these questions, and ponder the negative reaction from some pro users to the price of the Mac Pro.

Rumors of a forthcoming iPhone without any lightning or USB ports make us ponder why Apple would consider such a move and what its ramifications would be. Also, Apple basks in Golden Globe nominations and steps into movie-industry controversy and Jason explains why most people don't need a Mac Pro.

This week we get caught up on Apple services (Apple Pay, Apple News+, Apple Arcade), Jason gives Myke a tour of CarPlay in iOS 13, and we feed the tech podcast ecosystem with discussions of office lighting and weather stations.

This week we discuss Tim Cook's political high-wire act, Apple's attempts to reduce bugs in future iOS releases, and Jason's wishes for iOS 14. Finally, just in time for the holidays, Myke at the Movies returns with 1988's "Die Hard."

A week later, we're pondering the 16-inch MacBook Pro and what it means about how Apple listens to customers and criticism. We also look into the future to wonder where Apple will take touchscreen devices and whether we're uncomfortable about Apple's interest in augmented reality.

The butterfly keyboard era is over! Apple is releasing a new 16-inch MacBook Pro this week, featuring a Magic Keyboard, upgraded audio, the biggest battery allowed by law, and a lot more. Jason has an exclusive interview with Apple’s MacBook Pro product manager, Shruti Haldea. Then Jason and Myke break down the new laptop's features and feature omissions, while reserving a little bit of time for the launch of Disney+.

Apple TV+ has finally arrived, and we discuss Apple's first round of new shows--as well as an unimpressive performance from the TV app itself. We've also got reviews of the new AirPods Pro, and Apple's latest financial results reveal that for the iPhone, sometimes down is up.