Apple iPhone Duo Reaction - DTNS WEEKEND

[music] Hey everybody, welcome to the DTNS weekend edition. Gratefully provided to you and thanks for your support of our show. I'm Sarah Lane and today we've got a fun panel. We're going to analyze Apple's announcement of that iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone Duo, the Apple Watch Series 12, and the AirPods 5, and everything in between. Joining me on our discussion today again, great panel. We've got Nika Montford, Terrence Gaines, and Jen Cutter. Nika Monford and Terrence Gaines, two halves of the Snob OS podcast. Uh you both have uh enjoyed [laughter] many an Apple event with us. So, thanks to both of you for being back with us today. >> No problem. >> Good to be back. And Jen Cutter, obviously you know her from DTNS and Daily Tech Headlines. Hey, Jen. >> Hey, it's good to be here. It's fun to talk about Apple stuff and just Apple. Oh, yeah. And you and I, I mean, gosh, I can't even remember the last time we were on a show together. We're sort of ships in the night these days. So, yeah. No, it's good to have everybody here. Uh, because we all care about it. I was I was thinking about, okay, what do we tackle in terms of what was announced and I I had thoughts of just going in order of how the announcement went on Tuesday, September 9th, but I think we should just start with the duo, the iPhone duo, cuz that's the that's the big one uh that has gotten so much press over the last couple of days, uh especially from publications and people who have been able to try it out, you know, who at the Apple event in general. So, Na, I'll just start with you. Do you want this? >> No. >> No. [laughter] Okay. All right. Let's talk about it. So, the thing is with the foldable phone, um I always call it a flip phone because it's not really folding. It has a hinge. But for me, the the point um of it is if I were to get a foldable phone, for me, my the use case is using as a daily driver, basically as a phone. So, I want it to look like my iPhone. Um, my issue honestly is with the aesthetic of it. I don't kind of like the squished passport type of look to it. Maybe superficial, but you know, I like what I like. But just looking at the technology itself, that looks pretty cool. The demo that they gave um in the event the device and its functionality, you know, looks pretty good. The price tag is pretty hefty and it doesn't aesthetically look like I would want it to look because I would mostly use this folded and not open. So that's kind of my whole thing with not just Apple's foldable but with any foldable is I want it to look like my phone. >> Uh Terren, are you going to be arguing with Na on Snob OS uh at a later date about this or do you agree? Uh, I agree. Uh, I on our show, we talked about this yesterday and it's my week to produce the show. So, the title for this week's show in Snob OS is impressive yet unattractive. >> And what I mean by that is same thing Anika said. I was looking for two vertical phones smashed together. So, when they announced the iPhone 17 Air last year, >> Mhm. >> my most people's assumption was, "Oh, they're just going to smash two of those together." Had they did that, I would have been all in. But since they tried to change the form factor, again, very impressive about why and how and the thought process that went into why they made it passport style and when you open it up, it turns into a, you know, a mini tablet, iPad mini, if you will. You know, impressive on how they did the hinge. Impressive on how the transition when you open it up, the screens transition. Impressive on the touch and why they did the Touch ID versus Face ID. Impressive that they figured out how to put the camera, the front-facing camera behind the screen and hide it to where it doesn't look as visible until you need it. All that's very impressive yet unattractive because I'm not used to that small passport style look. So, having said that, I'll probably wait until they can minimize that crease just a little bit more cuz we all saw some of the reviews and you can still see that crease and I thought Apple was going to nail it and you can still kind of see it. So, I'm going to wait. So, so talking about the form factor, Jen, I mean, 5.3 in when closed to me also sounds small because I'm used to the iPhone uh Pro Max. Um, and I, you know, I'm just sort of like, do I want that little little screen, you know, just sort of for daily stuff unless I open it up? What are your thoughts? >> I am famously anti-foldable on DTNS, and this is the first one I like. I actually like it because it is a passport. I know. I was watching this and waiting till the end being like, "Ah, this is going to be so boring." And I'm like, "Oh, no. I like this. I can't afford it. I will not be getting one. I have the >> [laughter] >> uh I'll be waiting. So hopefully they'll figure out the whole crease thing in the end." But that form factor works for me. To me, my brain reads this as, "Oh, this is an iPad that I would like in my life." And because it is small, I'm kind of more scared about the thinness and me breaking it that way. But because it is small, I have a chance of fitting it in a pocket, [laughter] >> you know. And you and real quick, and if you add the idea that most people use their watches now, I use my Apple Watch a lot to send text messages. I use my AirPods to use Siri to say, "Hey, text my mom, text my wife. I use my watch to set reminders and all the little things, right? I'm really not using my phone a whole whole lot, doing the combination of everything. So I could see again I can see why them changing the form factor is like now we can do it because there are still a lot of people who use a combination of things that could take a place of a having to use your phone the whole time. So I just wanted to add that piece. I thought one of uh one of the uh interesting things I think it was from the Verge they had a bunch of well everybody's done there who who were at the event has done their sort of like first look um but the Verge had a bunch of good photos and videos and what's kind of cool about it is is okay when it's folded sure it can fit into a pocket depends on what kind of pocket we're talking about but you know maybe would fit into a pants pocket that's loose enough. um when it's open it's you know turns into that uh 7 7.2 2 in screen [snorts] or it can kind of work as you know if you were watching a movie on a plane for example you know and you've got your tray in front of you um it you you're just using that first part of the foldable and you don't have to prop it up with I don't know your backpack or a book or or anything like that that the form factor uh options are the most interesting to me what I I I am slightly worried about how small it will feel if you just need to do something real quick, you know, using that front screen. But I I don't think that's really the point, right? I think that's almost like, yeah, you have that if you want it, but when you open it up now, you know, the world is your oyster. But I wonder what this does to the iPad market because it would be an iPad mini, very many, right? But but it's competing with the iPad in a way that I'm I'm not totally sure how Apple wants us to want both of those things. And throw in the fact that the Apple Pencil works with this thing as well. So that's kind of like another kind of ding, so to speak, uh towards the the iPad. Um, and to me the openness of it, whether you have it fully opened, I've seen some videos of people having it kind of like a book, um, where it's kind of like closed, it's not fully open, it's not fully closed. So, I've seen different uses, people, you know, kind of using it, but I think it does, it does kind of feel like it is kind of encroaching on the, you know, iPad marketed to me. >> Yeah. Well, if you have this and then you also have an iPad Pro that's large. Okay, I see where they're two different things, but they're sort of supposed to do the same thing. >> Mhm. >> Well, I guess it depends on two things, I would assume. You know, yes, you could get rid of an iPad, but still at $2,000, that's still a lot. >> Yeah. And that's the starting price. That's the starting price. That's a pro price. That's the iPad Pro price you hear, >> right? You're you're talking about. >> Yeah. And then the second thing is, you know, maybe there's some people who are still super productive on an iPad. >> Can you be equally as productive on this iPad mini in the iPhone, >> right? Can you get around and do all the things or do you still need something a little bit bigger to resemble a productive size of an iPad? >> Yeah. Now, Jen, you mentioned, hey, this is just, you know, beyond my pay grade. Uh, you know, as far as price goes. I think I think we pretty much everybody in the world is like it's really expensive. Um, and that's for 256 gigabytes. Um, >> for the base model. >> Yeah. For [laughter] the base model. Exactly. Although I I actually So, I've got I'm still uh on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is great. It's I haven't felt the need to upgrade. Um, it's it's been a great phone to me and uh I was think I was like, gosh, I don't even know how much storage I have on this. And I looked and I've got 512. I have 418 gigabytes uh left. I am not using I am not using my storage. Like I think I could get away with 256 gigs because I use so much iCloud storage. Yeah. So everything is just, you know, it's just that's just where I happen to store things. So, I'm paying for that in other in other areas. But, um, what does everyone else need? >> Yeah. I was say, so you're not So, your music collection, you're streaming, I'm guessing. Yes. >> And you're not using it to record videos. >> Not many. >> And not a whole lot of apps. Like, you've got like your your basic staple of apps and haven't really >> I've got a ton of apps on there, but I only use a few of them really. I'm rarely I'm rarely going beyond my home screen. >> Okay. >> Yeah, that would be that would be different. That would be different. So storage needs. I I think we probably all have feelings about that. What is what does everybody feel like is like here's the base I can deal with. >> So I'm looking at my phone now and I've used 200 of 256 gigs and only reason why I'm only at 200 is because I looked on there maybe about a month or so ago and saw that I was like 249 of 256. I was like, "Oh crap." >> So I went in there and removed all of the music that I had downloaded to the phone. And it's like, "All right, well, most of the time I'm listening to music. I'm at home. I can stream that through the Wi-Fi. It's fine, right?" So, I actually had to go in and change some of my iPhone storage settings to get down to a quote unquote comfortable amount of storage space because Apple Intelligence is coming. That's going to be more of a download, more storage uh requirements. And you've got the cloud compute stuff. I'm pretty sure that's going to want to hit up your storage. So 256 may not be enough for a lot of people. And if we're talking about what 2200 for what what are the different sizes? Is it 256? >> I know the two terabyte is is just over three grand which is just bonkers. >> Oh my god. >> At the same time I was like oo two terabytes. But [laughter] I look at my phone and I'm like I am like the last person who would need that version. Well, if I paid that much for a phone, I'm putting everything on there. I'm putting >> everything. So, that is my laptop, my iPad, my phone. Yeah. >> Nico, what about you? What are your storage needs? >> So, I checked as well. I'm sitting at 191. Um, so, and I kind of said, what is taking up the most space? It's photos. And I have the larger iCloud Plus storage that I don't really use. I could probably put some backups and some stuff on there, but I have like my feelings towards cloud, so it's just like I don't know. So, I was like, let me just keep it on device for now until I have to get it off. But, um, $2,000 for 256 gigs, that's >> a lot. That's a That's a lot for not a lot of storage. I would have I would have probably respected it a little bit more if they just didn't have a 256 and just started with the higher. Of course, they didn't I don't think they want the sticker shock of what it I don't know what the I don't know what the two what the 512 is. It's probably what 25 23 25 something like that. >> They probably didn't want that sticker shock. But with what we've heard about iOS 27 and what it's supposed to do, what uh Siri AI is supposed to do and what, you know, all of that's supposed to look like, you're going to need all of that to be able to run one of these to be able to power, you know, one of these machines, one of these devices. And it's just like, how much extra are you going to be able to put on your device when you need the processing power, the storage for this new iOS 27. So, somebody getting a 256 gig Duo is they're going to have to be honestly pretty skimpy with what they put on their phone because it's not going to be able to handle it, I don't think. >> So, real quick, I went I went and looked. So 256 is $19.99. Next one up is 512 at $21.99. Next one up is a terabyte at $25.99. And then the two terbte is $31.99. This is not including tax. >> Jesus. >> I've got 16. [laughter] >> All right. 400. >> So I guess uh Na and Terren are on the no duo for us. Jen and I are both like hm curious. >> Interesting. [laughter] I mean, listen, >> I don't hate it. >> If some somebody Yeah, if somebody is like, "Sarah, would you like to, you know, use this?" I'd be like, "Yes, yes, yes." Um, but uh but yes, sticker shock for sure. What do we think then um for anybody who's interested in upgrading or even moving into the iOS ecosystem for the first time about the iPhone 18 Pro? >> So, I had a long uh we talked about this yesterday. I am still skittish on the fact that Apple is going to be able to deliver on all of the Siri AI/Apple Intelligence promises. >> If you're telling me again yet another year, >> buy this phone >> because when we launch the new stuff, >> it's going to make so much sense >> and then >> it's made for each other, >> right? and then you don't do it or like for instance perfect example iOS 27 is still in beta when it comes out Siri AI and or Apple tells it's still going to be in beta right so that tells me it's like all right now wait a minute why is it still in beta so that even gives me a further down a rabbit hole and like is it going to be ready for when the operating system give when Apple gives me all the stuff that they promised >> is it still going to be ready because it still doesn't really sound like it, but you want me to buy this phone because it's going to be ready. Do I waste my do do I spend my money? I don't want to say waste. That was I don't want to project. [laughter] >> Got to spend got to spend it either way. >> Do I spend my money on something that Apple really hasn't delivered on yet? >> I mean, we've got the A20 Pro chip, which also was in the Duo. Um, the iPhone 18 Pro has the six core CPU, seven core GPU. Apple says, "Can't find a faster chip." It, you know, in any phone at all. Uh, Na, are are you in the upgrade group? Are you ready? So, uh, I am not in the upgrade group because I don't I have a iPhone 16 Pro. I don't think that there is a big of a leap in the 16 Pro and the 18 Pro. There are a couple of things that I definitely like. The um Apple reference image, I think that's pretty cool. I I when I when they said that part on the um on the announcement, I was like, "Okay, I'm hopeful that this is where this is going. They are not just slapping AI on something. they are actually embedding it and it's an actual use case and it's an actual issue that they're fixing with this. And of course, it's only on the 18 Pro Pro Max. So, when I saw that, I was like, "Okay, maybe I get my hopes up and maybe I'll see some more things that, you know, really kind of reel me in because I mean, I'm waiting to spend these Apple dollars. I have a 16 Pro for crying out loud. I have an Apple Watch 10. >> Take my money." But it's like they don't want it. But it's one of those things where it's I don't think it's a big of a leap. What if you are if you're in the market, if you're on say maybe a a 12 or a 13 or a 14, definitely this that will be a bigger leap. You'll get a better uh user experience between that jump. But so far the changes have been relatively incremental. And the thing is, they keep selling iOS 27 and saying that, you know, it's going to do all these great things and this phone is made for that, but like Terrence mentioned, when it comes out, it's still going to be in a beta and it's not ready when you give me the phone. If that's the case, just wait to give me the phone when the software is ready because it puts us back into the mindset of 2 years ago when Apple Intelligence was first, you know, announced and the high expectation that we were getting for it. But then it was the issues with having to sign up for the beta, get in Q to install the beta. People were like, I don't think it's working cuz my beta's taking too long. And it's just those type of inconveniences. Although they may seem minor when you are spending this kind of money for a device, >> it feels like empty promises. >> It does. And and it's like people I know for me it's you're a little I'm a little bit gunshy like are you going to actually give me what you've been promising? We've been here before. you know, I don't want to be Lucy and Charlie with a football and you you swipe it away from me at the last minute after I've spent $1,200 $1,300 on a device and it's still not quite ready and it still doesn't quite work. I think Apple is losing some of its credibility if they can't deliver on what they promised with this iOS 27. think that may cause some problems for them if this thing isn't fully baked and ready to fire out the gate. Now, Jen, I don't actually even know what phone you're currently using. Um, you know, or or multiple phones right now, but um, does the iPhone 18 Pro seem up your alley if you don't end up going with a duo? Uh well actually I the first thing I did when I saw the uh the AI reference thing uh for the photos was I contacted my friends at at CTV at CBC at other newsrooms. I was like, "Hey guys, what do you think?" They're like, "Wait, they did what? That's awesome." [laughter] So they're very excited about it. >> And I came from an iPhone 11 Pro Max, but it was dying at the start of the year. So I upgraded to a 16. So I've already bought in. And just like Na said, this is not enough to push me forward into it. If I was doing photo journalism, then yeah, I'd write this down as a business expense and let's go. But uh but yeah, coming from a 16 right now that again does not have all of the features that I was sold on in the store, they were so hype about because I went to the Apple store because it's just the easiest way to get a phone. Uh and they're like, "Oh, it's going to do this, this, this, and this that it doesn't do yet." [laughter] >> So, we're all in that exact same boat going like, "All right, you got to put the tires on the road." Now, >> I think you make you make a good point about [clears throat] if you were doing uh you know predominantly photojournalism stuff or working in a newsroom where images that were you know you you were going to be passing along to people you really want to make sure if they've been >> defend yourself these days. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that I mean I think that's a great feature and it's also just good for people to have more knowledge about you know what's doctorred and what isn't. But I I did feel like, and I mentioned this when I was talking to Tom and Wen um on DTNS on Tuesday, when I was watching the announcement, which is very Apple polished, you know, they always are. I was sort of like some of the photo stuff that they talk about feels like they're talking to ad agencies, [snorts] >> you know, >> specific markets, content creators, business, >> photojournalists. They are speaking to me. That's what I got because, you know, we talked about on our show, the same with the Duo. These devices now are seeming to be targeted. I think the Duo is really target to people who mostly consume content on their phone. If you're watching trailers, if you're on TikTok, if you're on YouTube, if your main reason for your primary reason for using your phone is content creation, the Duo is probably going to be excellent for you. Mhm. >> But if you're not, it's just going to be kind of like another squish thing that it doesn't quite fit or whatever. And the same thing with the um with the 18 Pro Pro Max. It seems like it's targeted to specific people. And maybe that's where they're counting on getting their their money from, getting their sales from because I think probably the average user, especially in these times, people are very people are being very particular about what they spend their money on because money is um is always very important, but even more so now with the price of everything going up and all that stuff, people are being very conscientious of what they spend their dollars on. If you have a 16, if you have a 17, even if you have a 15, you're going to be very mindful of, do I really need this thing when this software that they says is so great is going to work on what I already have? I also thought uh it was interesting and and this Apple may have done this last year. I don't totally remember uh with the 17 uh iPhone 17 announcement, but the Pro and the Pro Max are now just it's just one is bigger than the other. It used to be when the Max was first introduced that that was the best camera that you could have. You know, that was the best chip that you could have. You know, there were little bells and whistles where it was like if you don't want to go bigger, then that's fine. You have the smaller version. Now, it's just they're both the same, but you have you have two different form factors. I happen to to like the Max. Uh I just I don't know. My eyes are bad. I just want a big screen, which is which is why even the duo when it's closed, I'm like, I don't know. Seems kind of small to me, but I'm sure I'd get used to it. But, uh, but yeah, it's it's it's we're we're in an era now where it's like, all right, here's here are our models. And of course, Apple has the S, uh, the iPhone SE um, and more feature phone stuff options for people. But for the most part, you know, the the flagship stuff is you got the Pro, you got the Pro Max. They're the same. I mean, the Max is a little bit more expensive just because it's bigger, but it's not any better anymore. And then the D is just a whole different thing. And we don't know what the iPhone 18 regular is going to look like because that wasn't announced on this. So, it's like, h, is there gonna be a new iPhone standard? What's that? What is that going to be? Is it going to have these same type of features? Is it going to be able to use Siri AI? Like what are we going to get with this? I feel like Apple because the rumor now is a spring event that will have an updated SE uh a rumored updated uh iPhone Air um and I don't know what whatever else. >> Some AirPod Pros because we didn't get those this time. >> We did not. You're right. You're right. And I think that Apple probably just wanted to put some space between, you know, the whole foldable thing um and and some of the uh less expensive models that, you know, are still going to sell quite well for anybody who's in the market for them. But, uh, going back to, um, the issue of just sort of privacy and and understanding what's going on. One of the things that I found with the Apple Watch Series 12, which was announced on Tuesday, um that that I mean, Apple certainly didn't address this ad nauseium, but I saw a lot of chatter online about it as people being like, "Wait a second, so if somebody's wearing an Apple Watch, they can just record everything that's going on around us all the time." And I had to chuckle a little bit because it's like there are lots of devices that do things like this >> TV [laughter] but people are recording everything so they have it already. >> Yeah. Like this is not Apple didn't this is not something that that uh you know they've they've you know brought out of the earth for the first time but lot of people wear Apple watches and you just don't really think of them as recording devices. And I wondered just what you all thought about some some people's um just just sort of ickiness uh over the fact that anybody could be recorded at any time. >> It hurt my enthusiasm for the new watch. I'm I'm in the market for a new watch. Uh this one looks great because I've been debating between this and uh the current model. I have a series 8, so that's basically end of life and I'm heavy into the fitness stuff. I love the new features that are coming. Um, I I'm pretty good with battery life and stuff, but because of this feature and because of the way that people have been talking about it, I'm like, "Oh man, like the glasses are called pervert glasses. What are they going to call the watch? I need this for the fitness tracking and I need this for some health tracking. I have disordered sleep and it's kind of important to me to be able to have this information for my doctor." Uh, >> so do I just buy a watch and wear it in the house? Like that's not what I want to do. I want to just wear my watch. No, I don't use it the same way Terrence does cuz you seem to do a lot more with your watch. Now, I am the weirdo who does not use Siri, who has never used Siri. The first thing I do on a phone is turn it all off. [laughter] So, I don't have that assistant stuff going on. But, uh, Terrence, what do you feel about like this feature? Does this make you want to watch more or less for the new version? >> Um, I was indifferent. Um, I don't want to say I assumed I was being recorded all the time anyway. Um, but at the same time, I could see the usefulness of that specific feature. And you put your I guess you put your support or you put your confidence behind Apple is going to do this, you know, surveillance, if we're going to call it surveillance. Apple's going to try to do a little bit different to make you feel a little bit better about it. I'm not saying, you know, Apple's going to nail it, you know, the first time. I'm pretty sure that people are going to be like the same thing. have squeamish and you know already concerned about privacy and security to have issues. My assumption was well yeah Apple's going to do a little bit better to make you feel more comfortable. Same thing Apple is trying to do with Siri AI. Same thing they're trying to do with this whole Apple uh AI in general, but Apple's Apple intelligence. They're doing it just like everybody else. Like we mentioned, TVs are recording you, glasses are recording you. You know, everything is recording us now. But Apple's going to do a little bit more nicer if that makes any sense. >> Yeah. I mean, Apple has has been adamant that this is an optin thing. Um, this is not something that you your your your watch is like supposed to do without your knowledge, sending it to, you know, some data center somewhere. Mhm. >> But I do feel like and and we all understand that it's like, okay, I could opt in, you know, maybe I go to a meeting at in a coffee shop and that could be really helpful type thing. Um or, you know, I'm just I trying to remember something that somebody said to me an hour ago. I you know, so the rewind I I think that that's those are going to be fun features to play around with. What I worry about is how everyone is just very pessimistic about what other people are doing. >> Sure. You know, >> that's only so because people are weird. >> Well, yeah. It's like if I'm if I'm wearing uh glasses, AR glasses, you know, that that can record people and somebody notices them, I think it's fine that they're sort of like, hm, what are you all about? Are you cool or are you not cool? because that's just how we have to deal with other humans. But when it comes to like, you know, a watch, which for the most part, I mean, I look at the weather, I look at the time, um, you know, I get an email or text notification every so often, I use it for activity tracking. I mean, I use it for a lot of things, but none of that stuff has anything to do with anyone else. >> Sure. And I think probably the for me is one of those things where people unfortunately are recording things at all times. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally. You got these plot cameras everywhere. You have people if you're in a business, they got cameras. You know, someone's over there recording something else. So, it it didn't bother me extraordinarily a lot. It's always like some concern. And then the fact that it only goes back 15 seconds. So, it's interesting to see how the actual recording works. Are they recording the whole time and you can only go back 15 seconds? What do they do with all of those recording? Um, but you know, like I think it was Terrence who who mentioned it, you know, Apple does, you know, more than most take into account data privacy, you know, storing your your things and making sure that they are safe and they're protected. So, that gives me a little bit of, I guess, I won't say relief, but a little bit more confidence >> in this feature. Um, and it's giving you the transcript, so it's not actually giving you the actual audio from that conversation. So, that kind of helps a little bit as well. I think probably for me, the biggest thing with the iPhone 12, my mom is in the market and she was going to get one uh during Prime Day and but she wants one that does the blood pressure and she was like, "Find before she's like, find me an app that tracks blood pressure." I was like, "There is no app that does that. It has like a manual thing where you take your blood pressure and you can track it. But it's not anything that actually on the watch does it. And I was like, I don't know. There's some new sensors coming out in a couple of months if you want to wait to see if it comes out. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. So that's kind of like the biggest thing for me is I told her I was like, "Yeah, no blood pressure monitor." She was like, "Okay, find me another one then." Yeah. [laughter] It's We're not We're not at the point where you don't have to go to the doctor anymore, you know? It's it's we we are definitely at a point where you can get a lot of great data to share with medical professionals. Um and just to kind of have for yourself, for example, every so often when I'm and I'm I have a I'm looking at my Apple Watch right now just cuz we're talking about it. It's a series 7. It It's perfectly fine. the battery has has shot down a bit, but for the most part, I really don't feel a big need to upgrade except for a kind of a thinner, lighter model. Um, which would be nice. But, um, but every so often it'll say like, hm, seems like your, you know, heart rate increased while you were sitting idle for the last 10 minutes. And I'm kind of like, gosh, really? [laughter] Am I just like stressed out or you know like this is it's not necessarily telling me anything that you know it's it's not like Sarah you know you're sick but it's it's just just little pings that I feel like >> alerts that say keep in mind keep in mind >> are helpful and and this is without me having anything that I'm actively monitoring just sort of like huh I wonder what that was all about and sometimes I'm like gosh I am actually really stressed you know or I'm like trying to write an email really quickly or you know there's something. Um, so I am a huge proponent of not just Apple watches but you know all tracking devices you know for a variety of exercise and sleep like you mentioned Jen and and and and various health stuff but again you have to you have to buy into the fact that a company whether it's Apple or another company is going to be handling your data. you know, Apple at the beginning of their announcement on Tuesday, which had a little Tim Cook little cameo, you know, he sort of was like, "Hey everybody, okay, bye." Um, but uh it all uh kicked off with very we're Apple, you can trust us, everything's on device, you know, we don't look at your data, we're not selling your data. This is, you know, Apple's been doing this for quite some time. And you know, unless you just don't want to believe them, um I think that they're they've they've been very good about that. Uh and with other data breaches, with other companies, you know, that's where Apple can kind of lean into it and be like, see, you know, trust Apple, pay us more. >> I'm I'm so glad you brought up the stress thing, too, cuz like I bought an Apple Watch only when I found out that it's on device. Things are on device. None of this goes anywhere. My data is mine. That was amazing to me. But with the stress thing, with the heart thing, I was looking at all the new features like the recovery HRV, all that kind of stuff. It tells you your readiness score. People who are not used to this amount of data are going to stress themselves out over it. Super unnecessarily the same thing. >> Look at this. Like some of this is great for me. And oh, about the heart rate thing too. I don't remember. They never really addressed it, but like two updates ago, heart rate readings were weird for everyone because like I I'm I was looking at my hockey stats after a game and I'm thinking like, okay, I appreciate that people don't necessarily know my my proper age, but uh I know that if my heart rate hit 210, um [laughter] you know, that's not how that >> it's like it's 220 minus your age is is basically what what people consider their max. And I'm like, okay, well, that's a wrong reading. And then they they sorted that out afterwards and now it's a lot more normal. But yeah, I was getting these weird spikes where I'm like, man, I am super chill right now. I am definitely not rocking 195. [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. >> And they talked about that in the announcement as well. They talked about the new sensors that um you know measure the the blood flow, >> accuracy. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Cuz that's a lot of this stuff from the wrist. It is super impressive because I used to have to buy uh polar stuff to work for the training equipment for the gym so that all the coaches from team Ontario etc could see all our stats. So it is nice that like I can do this by myself. I don't have to go to a Gatorade high performance camp or pay Gary Roberts. I like all of his stuff is available to everybody. But yeah, I just hope that people who are getting into it for the first time try not to stress too hard about the numbers. [laughter] >> Don't take it too too serious. Don't overload yourself with information, >> you know, digging through all of the different health app features. I know I check my sleep score every morning. That's like the first thing I do cuz like >> making sure versus the specific info like do you find the score is a good highle summary for you? >> Because my watch will just ping me once I get up. Um cuz I get up pretty much at the same time every day. But you know sometimes it's like okay sleep score and I'm like yeah okay. And when it says low sleep score I'm like I don't even want to know [laughter] >> cuz I tried. It's almost like obsessive now that I look at it because I want to see the biggest thing for me is I want to see how often I wake up. That was a big thing because at one point I was waking up at 3:00 in the morning every morning and it was really freaking me out because it was like clockwork like clockwork. Then I started to look online and I figured out what that was and so I started um taking medication and I was like like a a vitamin supplement and I was like I have to see if this is actually working and it actually is working. You know, I'm sleeping more through the night. I'm not getting up at 3:00 a.m. I'm getting better quality sleep. And I look at all the things. So I look at the score and like the breakdown, but then I look at like, you know, how deep of sleep I'm getting. Am I getting enough sleep that can, you know, rebuild my body for like the next day? And then looking at the, you know, vitals. The biggest thing for me is like how heavily I'm breathing. Um, making sure that, you know, my pulse ox is is pretty high. And the other thing is the heart rate. making sure that I'm like not stressed in my sleep and I'm actually getting, you know, >> good sleep. >> Good sleep. >> Yeah. >> Well, you've got the REM, you got the you've got the deep, and then you've got >> and all these things. >> Yeah. The restorative. I mean, all the companies have their own little words for them, but yeah, I mean, this is all it's really important. And you can go a long time just being like, I don't know why I'm always tired. [laughter] >> You know, why do I always have a dip at 11:00 a.m.? It's it's, you know, a lot of this is it's good information to have even if you don't change your lifestyle. I think it's it's good information to have. So, going back to uh the announcement itself, >> uh we did get uh the AirPods 5. So, 129 bucks. Uh have some new language options. Nothing too, you know, nothing crazy here. Uh 149 if you include the charging case. Um anybody in the market for those? >> Well, another point. I think the uh stem controls are not included in the 129 price. You got to pay 150 to do the tap and the hold and the volume. I had to double check that, but >> I didn't realize that. >> That sounds important. Yeah, that's what it it says it in the notes that to get the the 149 has the volume swipe because, you know, it kind of has like that little thing to like swipe up and swipe down. >> I've only had I I was like not really an AirPod person for a while for no good reason. I just I had some Jabbras. They worked fine and I was just like, "Eh, I don't care." Um, but once I did uh the Jabbras were lost, unfortunately, at some point I'm like, "All right, let's get some AirPods." Um, and I got the Pro uh series 2 and um I actually lost those as well. And so I'm on my second uh [laughter] easy to lose these little suckers. But uh but yeah, the the swiping up and down once you get used to it, it's like I can't imagine not having that option. But if you're always tethered to your phone, then it's not that big of a deal. Just it's something you either have or you don't. So it is it's definitely it's definitely a cool perk. Yeah, you can use you know because you have like you can squeeze the stem and it does different things. You can kind of set it now. You don't have to set it to volume control. You can use those gestures for something else. Um, to me this is like really closing the gap between the, you know, OG AirPods and the AirPods Pro because it's the gap between the two is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Um, similar to kind of what we talked about um, uh, what was it on one of the other products? I can't remember which one where it the the difference in the the the brand kind of like tears that gap is closing and that to me what this is what these AirPod AirPod Pro uh no the AirPods 5 are. It's like closing that gap between the last pro version. >> Well, and and when it comes to uh earbuds, it's not like the Pros are going to be bigger, you know, [laughter] like you you don't want that, right? So, it's like at at some point I wonder if it just becomes one product. >> Um I it makes sense, but I mean are they still making AirPods Max? Is that that's still a thing, right? >> Yeah. Over the year. >> I don't think they I don't think they made any new ones. I think the last announce they're not updating them. They're just kind of there if you want them. Well, now I will say more so that the AirPods Pro and the AirPods Max, that gap is starting to shorten a lot because when I got the AirPods Pro the first time and I also had a pair of AirPods Max and I return or sold my AirPods Max because when I got them in my ear, right, you know, do a little I do my little push and twist, right? And then once I turn on the noise cancellation, I'm not an auto audio file, but I could barely tell the difference between the immersion differences you get between the Max and the Pro. >> So, as a result, >> it's funny when I when I go to my local gym, which is not as often as I should be going, but that's a story for another time. But you get you get a lot of not just people only wearing AirPod Maxes, but but just over the ear headphones where I'm just like, "But everyone's so sweaty." Ah. Um, so I'm just that I'm just not I'm not doing that when I'm working out. But my gym also has just ambient music, like EDM music that's just playing constantly that like has no beginning or end. It's just awful. And yeah, when I turn on noise cancellation with the AirPod Pros, I mean, I can still hear it kind of, but barely. And it's loud. It re I mean, it really makes a difference. >> The noise cancellation on the Pros is really, really good. Honestly, sometimes I just put them on and I'm not listening to anything. It's just like I just want I just want quiet. I don't want all the extra stuff going on. Just give me a moment of zen where it's not, you know, a bunch of stuff going around. Uh so yeah the the the you know on these things the the noise cancellation is really really good. Yeah. So before we wrap this up wanted to just get get a little temperature check from everybody about how we feel about John Turnis. He's the new head honcho. He's the new CEO. Jen, did you did you did you feel like he he commanded presence? Do you do you have faith in him? Every time I watch these productions, I feel bad because it is not the fault of the people in the productions, but it's so choreographed. So, I'm always watching for, okay, who are they queuing to just do that little walk through behind? So, I'm not watching the cue the person who's very intently looking at this place. >> And Apple really went hard on that this time, you know? >> It's a great campus to walk around and shoot in. So, I kind of get it. But, >> yeah. Well, for especially during, you know, kind of our earlier co days, it would it would just be like the empty Apple campus because who would be there anyway? And now it's like they're definitely like, okay, somebody has to be they're talking in the background. Okay, walk, walk, walk. Okay, >> it's definitely staged. >> Very much that I was looking at everything that wasn't him. >> Yeah. Well, all right. So, um I don't know, Na, what are your feelings about this new era we're in? >> So, I think in this new era, I think for definitely the remainder of this year and likely through the spring event, um he's still going to be getting his seal legs, so to speak. I know he's been prepped for this for most of the year and it's been like a transition, but I think that transition stuff has been more on the corporate side of things. I don't think we're going to really start to see his version, his era of Apple until probably about a year from now because everyone has been so, you know, just think about the time it took to kind of switch gears from Steve Jobs to Tim Cook. I think he's going to have that um you know kind of like that period. I think right now he's just trying to keep the ship going, keep it in the middle, keep it going forward. Don't break nothing. Don't don't don't mess up anything. You know, we kind of got this set. Let's just kind of roll with this. Mhm. >> Um kind of get the last of the Tim Cook stuff um released and out in the wild before I think he can actually um you know show his personality within the company whether it be you know on the product side or whether it just be him personally because we didn't really see a lot of him prior to this. We mostly saw a lot of Craig Figerity and I think a lot of people thought that's who when they announced the new person. I think people thought that's who it was because we've seen him a lot. He was so prevalent and so prominent and you know John Turnis is relatively new um to the visibility of it all. What I am interested to see because he does come from a mechanical engineer. He does come from the hardware background. I'm cautiously excited about some of the products that we are going to see for him. I think in his era, we may see a lot more focus on hardware than software because we've seen kind of the drama behind Siri uh AI. And we've seen a lot of the drama behind Apple Intelligence. We've seen a lot of the drama behind, you know, the redesign of some of the OS, what they did to I mean, even Apple Maps. Remember the early days of Apple Maps? Oh my gosh. >> Yeah. So, I think so I think, you know, they're trying to with this phase of him kind of transitioning, let's try and get the software kind of settled. Um, of course, they'll still be working on it, but, you know, spending some innovation time on actually the hardware side of things. And I'm throwing it out there. You know, I still haven't completely gotten off of my P air power mat. I know it's been several years now. Uh, if you listen to our show, you know how I've wanted that and I was excited about that. So hopefully with the hardware guy at the helm, maybe we'll get some pretty cool hardware coming out of this. Terrence, do you agree with Na? Do you are are you cautiously optimistic optimistic about the Turnis era? >> It's a welloiled machine at this point. Yeah. >> You know, between uh Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, that was a whole transition thing. Now Tim Cook, I think he's got it all ironed out and all the people. So now Apple can hand it off to somebody else. Plug and play. Get going. Right. I do want to see John Turnis have a little bit more personality, you know. I don't know. I mean, I don't know this dude, you know, but since it's so welloiled, since it's so plugandplay, add a little pizzazz. So, I want to see if he, you know, gets off a couple jokes or is more personable, you know, unlike, you know, some of his predecessors, you know, have a little personality. If he does that, and I'm like, "All right, Apple's in good hands." If he doesn't, >> Apple will go on. They'll keep making products. People will keep buying products. Rinse and repeat. Well, thanks to all three of you for just, you know, just kind of going through this now that we've had a couple days to think about the announcements that we've heard, what we're interested in, what we don't want to buy over the next month and a couple months, you know, for anybody who is going to buy that duo. Um, we might have different opinions depending on uh what we hear from others and what we're playing around with ourselves. I know Apple intelligence for all of us uh will be very interesting. But uh in the meantime, thanks to everybody for joining us for now, Jen Cutter, we all know you uh from everything all DTNS, but is there anything else uh you want to plug uh where people can find you online? >> Uh no, just all the DTNS stuff, but oh wait, what's this? I am doing daily sports headlines. [laughter] >> So yeah, so now we've got a a sports show. Daily sports headlines.com. Get all the uh the news of the day nice and fast, ready for you every single morning. >> Excellent. Uh, nobody could do it better than you and I'm sure of that. Uh, Nika Monford and Terrence Gaines, two halves of Snob OS. Uh, let folks know where they can keep up with all that you do. Um, you can find me at techsavvy diva all over the interwebs. And I also, I don't think I've been back on the show. I have a new app, maybe about 6 weeks old, if that long, in the app store. It's an iPhone only app called the Bragbook. Head on over there and download it. It's a wins tracker app that helps you keep track of wins big and small. >> Awesome. Terrence Gaines also of the Tech John. Um let folks know where they can keep up with all that you're up to these days. >> Yeah, sure. You can find me all over the internet at brothertech. Uh like um Sarah mentioned, me and Na make up the Snob West cast. You can find us every Friday on when we announce podcasts. and I am one-third of the tech John with Rob Dunwood where we talk about technology from a African-American perspective. So you can find us there at the tech john j aw.com. Well, thanks to all of you for being with us. Uh thanks Na, thanks Terrence, thanks Jen. Let's do it again soon. Uh that is it for this episode of DTNS weekend edition. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thank you for supporting us. patreon.com/dtns. If you're on the fence, become a patron today. We would really appreciate it. We will be back on Monday with all sorts of news and over the weekend, daily tech headlines. Talk to you soon. [music] [music] The DTNS family of [music] podcasts helping each other understand. Diamond Club hopes you have enjoyed this broker. [laughter]