Parker Ortolani

This year’s iPhone lineup sounds like it is going to be the best one yet. It starts with the iPhone SE or what is now largely expect to be called the iPhone 16E. Apple announced that a new member of the family will be joining the fray next Wednesday and it is almost certainly the new ‘budget’ iPhone. I personally imagine that it will be quite a popular device. With upgrades having stalled, a more affordable device with Apple Intelligence, a modern design, a better display, and newer features like the action button and USB-C it’s likely to be a hit for folks still using models like the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, 2020 iPhone SE, and iPhone 12. It’ll be a less expensive way to bring your phone entirely up to date. What we’re expecting is essentially the core of the iPhone 16 for almost half the price. How can that not be a smash?

Once the iPhone 16E is out, that clears the deck for iPhone hardware announcements until the annual refresh in the fall. Three distinct models have been long rumored: iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17, and iPhone 17 Pro (also available in a Pro Max size). The iPhone 17 Air is perhaps the most interesting of all of this year’s new models. It’s expected to be incredibly light and thin, less than 6mm in fact. It’s going to be essentially the 12-inch MacBook of iPhones. While it will still have the latest chip, a great ProMotion OLED display, and other key iPhone features–it will likely have fewer cameras, fewer speakers, and potentially some other compromises. It will be entirely focused on making a statement, something Apple hasn’t done with the iPhone’s design in a while. The Air will likely drive more conversation than usual and it will almost certainly be easily identifiable out and about in the world. It’s the iPhone that I am planning to buy this year.

Next up is what has traditionally been the most boring member of the iPhone family, the standard iPhone 17. Like the iPhone 17 Air, it is expected to get a new design with a horizontal camera bar reminiscent of the Nexus 6P from many years ago. I say this device is boring because it’s probably going to be a run of the mill upgrade with better cameras, a better display, and some new colors. Sound familiar? That’s because they’ve essentially made the same sort of upgrades to the standard model every year since the iPhone 11. The one silver lining with the iPhone 17 is that it may have a ProMotion display.

Lastly, there’s the iPhone 17 Pro. As far as the rumors go, it’ll likely be a much more powerful, more premium, and more expensive version of the standard iPhone 17. Similar to the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air, it will likely adopt the new camera design–though the actual layout is still being debated. Aside from being the objectively best model in the lineup, it will be the only way to get the largest form factor. Since there is no “Plus” model this time around, all of those folks who like a giant phone are going to have to pay not just a pretty penny but the prettiest penny.

Ultimately, this year’s lineup is clearly focused on looking different. Each one will be almost overwhelmingly identifiable as a brand new iPhone in the wild, more so than any other model in recent memory. Looking new is always a key driver of upgrades and the iPhone has looked largely the same to normal users since the iPhone 12 adopted the flat edges almost 5 years ago. Combined with more Apple Intelligence features likely to come this summer at WWDC, these are going to be very exciting iPhones and it all seemingly starts as early as next week.

It happened folks, Pixelmator is officially part of Apple. Pixelmator’s apps have been essential to me for more than a decade. I was both excited and mildly terrified by the announcement a few months ago that they were joining the fruit company. When Apple acquires beloved products, sometimes they make them even better and sometimes they don’t. They’ve generally been doing a great job though and I hope that Pixelmator and Photomator stick around as standalone products or are at least used as the foundations for even better new ones. I certainly don’t want to see them just disappear into the Photos app, relegated to a set of features. Fingers crossed that they follow in the steps of Workflow, Shazam, and Texture and just become better versions of themselves rather than get enveloped into Apple apps like Dark Sky and Beats Music did. Man I miss those two.

The rumored Apple Invites app has arrived. While I obviously haven’t had much time to play with it, I have quickly browsed through the UI and wanted to share some observations. The last new Apple app, Apple Sports, already felt out of place in iOS 18. It has a more visionOS or watchOS-like design language utilizing colorful backgrounds, glassy floating UI elements, expanding buttons, and lots of layered shapes. Apple Invites takes it all even further. It’s got big beautiful cards, translucent cells, big bold buttons, and an emphasis on content. It feels so clearly like a hint of what is to come in a future iOS update. It’s almost screaming it in our faces. It seems awfully suspect that Apple’s two latest apps have a whole new design language that does not mesh with the rest of the OS. Presumably, other first-party apps are on track to get overhauls to match. Maybe in iOS 19? There have been rumors of such a redesign. I’ll also note that the icon for the app is quite fun and super colorful. It is hopefully another hint towards refreshed Apple icons that take better advantage of the full rounded rec shape compared to many of the iOS 7-style ones we still have today.

It’s lunch o’clock, so it’s time to finish this blog post. Fifteen years ago today, I was sitting in my sixth grade classroom when my teacher called me over to her desk to show me what I had been waiting for Apple to unveil: the iPad. There it was on the screen, the first photo I had seen of Apple’s tablet that had been long rumored and which at the time was traditionally referred to as a “slate.” Thankfully, that name didn’t stick even for more commoditized tablets. 8 months later, I was able to buy my own iPad after doing odd jobs, mowing lawns, and more over the summer. I loved that original iPad, especially because I had yet to get my own new Mac. I had hand-me-downs and we of course had a family Mac. But this felt like the first time I was getting a new “computer” just for myself. Hilariously, I remember syncing my original iPad to my Dad’s old PowerBook G4 that he passed down to me. It felt a lot like transferring my apps and media over wasn’t just a technical task, but a symbolic shift. The iPad felt like the future of computing. Fast forward to today and the iPad doesn’t know what it wants to be. It’s not the best laptop. It’s not the best way to watch movies. It’s not the best way to read books. It’s good at all these things, but it’s not the best at them. The company has struggled to give the iPad a real identity. They lost track of Steve’s original vision of the iPad as a car while the computer was the truck that could do more but wouldn’t be needed as often. Unfortunately, most tasks are still easier to do on a Mac. I still hold out hope that Apple will eventually figure out the right way to position the iPad, but I’m not seeing it yet. The iPad mini is the best iPad right now simply because it’s not trying to be something that it isn’t. It’s just a really good tablet with a giant app library that’s easy to take anywhere. The rest of the lineup is trying to be a good tablet, a good laptop, a good canvas, and so on without being the best at any of them. I love my iPads, but they’re glorified YouTube watching devices. When I want to get real things done, I still turn to my Mac. Though I shouldn’t have to. If only Apple would stop holding iPadOS back. The radically powerful hardware just doesn’t match the rest of the ecosystem. None of this is particularly new to anyone who pays attention to the gadget world, but I’ll keep reiterating it until it finally happens. Hopefully.

Samsung held their annual Unpacked event today to formally take the wraps off of their next generation flagship phones. The Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra are exactly what anyone who follows this industry expected. Minor hardware upgrades with a boatload of AI features that may or may not actually be useful. While these were the real entrée of today’s event, there was a fourth S25 model presented at the very end of the show. The Galaxy S25 Edge is Samsung’s new design-first, ultra-thin, hero device. As far as I can tell, it’s an S25 but thinner and missing one of the cameras. Now if all of this is sounding familiar to you, join the club.

Last May, the first murmurs that Apple was working on a “slim” iPhone 17 model started to percolate around the industry. On May 5th, 2024, my buddy Chance Miller at 9to5Mac reported on an investor note from Jeff Pu that mentioned a new slim model that would be replacing the plus. In July, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo corroborated the rumor when reporting on new Apple chipsets. On August 1, 2024, YouTuber and leaker Jon Prosser shared that he believed the device was real and it would be the first iPhone to adopt the “Air” modifier. Ultimately, on August 11, 2024, Mark Gurman also confirmed the ‘iPhone 17 Air’ was in the works for next fall. In just the past few weeks, Mark and Ming Chi-Kuo have continued to reiterate that the device exists and is still expected to launch this fall. In fact, it appears that we have actually seen the new design already.

Now let’s step back a bit, it was clear that Apple was indeed working on an ultra-thin new iPhone focused on being a highly desirable beautiful object as early as May of 2024. It was even clearer by mid-August as the rumor continued to be substantiated. Enter October 2024, Samsung is reported to be working on their own “slim” version of the Galaxy S25. That came as no surprise to anyone who’s been around awhile. Samsung is well-known for releasing, how shall I say this, Apple “inspired” products of their own. That’s as cordially as I think I can frame it. Today’s event seemingly lent further credence to this. Very little information was shared about the Galaxy S25 Edge. The press got virtually no details and no one got to go hands-on with it. The company also didn’t reveal a price or release date. All we got, as reported by 9to5Google, was that it should land around April. Heck, the company didn’t even mention it in their English press release today and as far as I can tell it isn’t listed as a product on their website. All it got was a single brief mention on the Korean press release.

It is clear that the product is not finished or ready to fully share with the public. In other words, its development likely didn’t start that long ago. This may be the best example of an Apple “inspired” device trying to preempt the Cupertino company’s own innovations. It sure looks like Samsung moved forward with this device, potentially last spring, because Apple was rumored to be working on the ‘iPhone 17 Air’ and they wanted to beat them to the punch. May 2024 to April 2025 is nearly a year of development. It’s not farfetched to think that they cobbled something together, after all they control much of the supply chain.

This wouldn’t be the first time they’ve appeared to have done this either, I can recall the conspicuous launch of the terribly received Galaxy Gear in October 2013 after over a year of Apple smartwatch rumors. Apple Watch was first rumored to be in development in December of 2011 by The New York Times with the first Galaxy Gear leak popping up in February of 2013. That fall they got the exact headlines I imagine they wanted. And strategy aside, Samsung seemingly continues to introduce product designs that look awfully similar to Apple ones. See a new VR device announced back in December but shown off today called “Project Moohan” that looks a lot like the Vision Pro or last year’s Galaxy Buds and “Ultra” watch.

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It’s no secret that podcasts have become an increasingly popular medium over the past decade. However, many have also become more political and polarizing. Now, one may have expected this from business or news-focused shows, but this has also become an issue with Apple podcasts. To be clear, I am not talking about the Apple Podcast app but podcasts about Apple. And I am not limiting my use of the term “political” to consternation about the American government; I am also referring to the pessimism directed at new foundational technologies like artificial intelligence.

The next four years will be tough for many people. They’ll want an escape, even if they agree with some of these political views in principle—look no further than MSNBC’s plummeting ratings for proof.

As a devoted podcast listener, I want more shows that are fun. I want shows that at least try to be optimistic, that understand the practical reality of our life in 2025 and want to connect with the audience at a more intimate level. I get a real sense that some of these shows have grown out of touch. I’ve spoken with others in the Apple community about this, and I know I am not alone in feeling this way. Of course, there’s always room for serious conversations, but there needs to be some balance.

I’m sure that some would argue that it’s Apple and not the shows that have “lost the plot” (I said as much on Threads recently). But I don’t think Apple has changed much from a decade ago. Tim Cook’s Apple may be undeniably different from Steve Jobs’ Apple, but pretending that change happened recently is denying reality. That said, let’s talk about the building blocks of what a new Apple podcast should look like.

Diverse viewpoints: The perfect show needs a variety of hosts (or frequent guests) with differing opinions. There’s been a sort of an expansion of homogenous viewpoints; some seem so sure they’re right that they’ve grown snarky, alienating parts of their audience. A great conversation, one that’s truly engaging, needs to have a solid mixture of folks who can explore a topic from every angle without fear of descending into an argumentative abyss. That’ll keep conversations fresh and make them more relatable.

Focus on what’s actually important: While personal stories and anecdotes add color, they should at least complement the core topic of discussion, not overshadow it. It’s one thing to talk about the products you’re using or your workflow; it’s another to spend too much time discussing things the average listener cannot relate to.

New voices that aren’t jaded: We’re currently listening to many of the same voices we were listening to a decade ago. That’s not a dig; I deeply respect people who have been on the Apple beat for ages. However, we also need to hear from more folks who see things from a modern perspective, people who aren’t quite so jaded or tired.

Optimism about new technologies: It’s one thing to critique an aspect of a technology; it’s another to be diametrically opposed to it even existing. You cannot talk about technology from an unbiased or at least somewhat neutral perspective.

Take yourselves less seriously: These shows are supposed to be fun. They’re not supposed to be adversarial or profound; at their core, they are entertainment.

Bring back practicality: Let’s stop complaining about things that we can’t control and focus on talking about the things that we can.

Balance the politics: Politics have their time and place. But when tuning in to an Apple podcast, I want to hear about the products and the technologies. Period. Straying into personal political opinions risks alienating listeners, especially when that’s not what they tuned in for. If I want to know about Apple’s relationship with the government, I’d rather hear it from professional journalists who cover those specific fields and frankly understand what they’re talking about. There’s no reason to create an adversarial relationship with your listeners, especially when they may agree with you.

Easily digestible: I love a long podcast. However, the issues I’ve laid out here tend to lead to unnecessarily long shows that talk more about irrelevant than relevant topics.

Some Apple podcasts are already doing many of the things I’m suggesting here, regardless of whether they’ve been around for years or are newer to the scene. But there’s also clearly room for something different. While the existing shows I’ve critiqued may have their audience, it’s worth asking: How long will that last?

Okay, that’s enough from me: What do you think? Is there room for a fresh, fun, and engaging new Apple-centric podcast?

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Around lunchtime on Tuesday, I heard that Apple had started to set up an elaborate Lumon office space inside Grand Central Terminal to promote the return of Severance. Thankfully, I don’t work too far from one of the largest train stations in the country, so I wandered over to see what they’d built. Upon arrival, I was immediately in awe of the Lumon computers and keyboards that us nerds have been drooling over ever since they first graced our screens a few years ago. As far as anyone could tell, these were faithful recreations of the desks from the show.

I was fortunate enough to get up close and personal with the cube while it was uninhabited. I took tons of shots of the computers and small pieces on the desks. These are the kinds of details that I toil over. After all, I’ve been following the ‘details’ company my entire life now. Things got really interesting when a few actors walked into the cube built around the desks to do some “work.” Now all of this would’ve been enough. To me, it was an extremely cool alternative to a traditional billboard or other kind of advertisement. I took plenty of pictures, picked up a bite, and walked back to my office.

A few hours later, just as I was getting ready to head home I learned that not only was the show’s director Ben Stiller on the scene but that all of the actors from earlier had been replaced by the actual cast of the show. Now things were getting interesting. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that Apple might do this earlier in the day, though it should have.

When I arrived back at the station, the crowd was quite large and only continued to grow. Earlier when I visited there was almost nobody there outside of people who were clearly working for Apple and a few pedestrians briefly stopping to take a peek. This time though, there were influencers, celebrities, and a ton of fans. All of them, quietly watching Adam Scott as Mark S., Britt Lower as Helly R., Zach Cherry as Dylan G., and Tramell Tillman as Mr. Milchick.

Once I worked my way through a few layers of people, I came face to face with none other than Ben Stiller. If you don’t know, Ben Stiller serves as the director of Severance and is credited with a great deal of the show’s success. Of course, he’s not alone. But c’mon, it’s Ben-freakin-Stiller. It was incredibly cool to chat with him, having grown up watching his films and having become a massive fan of his father in later years. Jerry Stiller’s Arthur Spooner holds a very special place in my heart.

After congratulating Ben on the new season and snapping a selfie, I walked around the cube to see the actors working from all different angles. They didn’t drop out of character once. After a bit, Patricia Arquette almost magically appeared out of the crowd and entered the cube. Ms. Cobel had arrived to survey the work that the macrodata refiners were doing.

Patricia Arquette is one of the best parts of Severance, so seeing her as Cobel in the flesh was a particularly special experience. Though nothing compares to seeing Adam Scott as Mark S. up close. He embodies that character so well, it’s truly wild to see. I had hoped that I would get to snap a selfie with Adam, but the cast remained in character the entire time, even when they exited the cube. As a diehard Parks and Rec fan, it was a bucket list moment to get within feet of the former mayor of Partridge, Ben Wyatt: Human Disaster.

This was an experience I’ll never forget. Why? Not just because it was an epic Apple marketing stunt that immediately belongs in the pantheon of historic Apple marketing moments, but because it was a wholesome shared experience with the other folks there. Watching streaming services tends to be an activity many of us do on our own, and when it comes to television in particular, there isn’t quite a movie theater setting to enjoy them in. So collectively seeing the Lumon staff work in person, together, in one of the busiest commuter hubs was not only different but remarkable. It was a uniquely New York moment, and it reminded me of how lucky I am to live here.

Ultimately, there’s a lesson here: It’s about people. I fanboyed over the pop-up, the set pieces, the computers, the desks, the carpet, all of the nerdy stuff. But what I didn’t expect was the impact the humans would have on me; they blew me away that night. Lots of folks like to say that “Apple is the new HBO.” They’re right, and this event is proof. It’s also a reminder that Apple succeeds when they focus on people. Because what really makes technology meaningful is how humans use it to, as Steve Jobs once said, ‘express their appreciation to the rest of humanity’— whether they’re actors, builders, or a nerd like me.

Special thanks to James Bareham for helping me edit, go subscribe to his Substack!

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