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OpinionOpinion pieces are intended to provide interesting perspective on an Apple-related topic, and to be an entertaining read. They represent the opinions of their authors, and not of the site as a whole: this is the reason we don’t label them as editorials.

We use the ‘Opinion’ prefix for longer pieces, and ‘Comment’ for shorter pieces that may be making just a single observation.

We fully encourage discussion and debate on opinion pieces, and you are of course welcome to strongly disagree with both the author and other commenters. All we ask is that you apply the golden rule to your interactions: treat others as you’d wish to be treated. In particular, debate the topic not the person – it’s absolutely fine to say that you think someone is completely wrong because x, y and z; it’s not ok to call their views idiotic.

That said, we love to hear your thoughts and views, and really appreciate those who take the time to give their considered opinions.

Scary Fast event shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max: Impressive, or a cheat?

Scary Fast event Shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max | Tim Cook standing in front of huge banks of movie lights

Apple’s proud boast that the entire Scary Fast event was shot on the iPhone 15 Pro Max has lead to a lot of discussion and debate about what that really means, and whether or not it’s a big deal.

There are those suggesting it really does mean the camera is something special, while other are suggesting that it’s at best meaningless, and at worst a cheat …

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Apple dropping leather could help end the premium image of the material

Apple dropping leather | Apple leather iPhone case

We’re still awaiting today’s Apple event, but alongside the anticipated new products, we’re expecting confirmation of something which might seem relatively minor, but which could prove hugely influential: Apple dropping leather from its iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands.

While the move is not yet official, there does seem to be strong evidence that the company will this year be taking an environmental stand on the issue …

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HomePod 2 is exactly what I wanted – but then there’s AirPlay

HomePod 2

I’m a longtime HomePod mini user. As soon as Apple announced the cheapest version of its smart speaker, I immediately bought a pair to use with my Apple TV. Then I bought more pairs to spread around my apartment. Even so, I always felt the need to have something with a fuller sound. Now I’ve bought a HomePod 2, and it’s exactly what I wanted – except because there’s AirPlay 2.

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Unpopular opinion: iPhone colors don’t matter to most people

iPhone colors don’t matter | Montage of expected iPhone 15 Pro colors

We’re less than a fortnight away from the September Apple event, and by this point we’re reasonably sure we know which iPhone colors to expect in this year’s line-up.

Many of you have already reached at least a tentative decision for the Pro models, based on our renders, with Dark Blue the most popular choice. But does it really matter much … ?

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iPhone 15 cable rumors highlight a mess Apple ought to solve

iPhone 15 cable mess should be avoided | Mac cable shown

This week has seen three iPhone 15 cable rumors, which serve to underline the mess around USB-C cables in general. While that’s not a mess of Apple’s making, it is one the company could and should solve for its own customers.

The first of the three rumors appeared to be good news. It suggested that the charging cable included in the iPhone 15 box might be longer than usual and perhaps also more durable…

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Apple backing right to repair is an important U-turn for the tech world

Apple backing right to repair | Removing back cover on 15-inch MacBook Air

A few years ago, the idea of Apple backing right to repair legislation would have been almost unimaginable – even if the company’s co-founder did urge it to do so.

The company has spent literally years fighting it, spending money to lobby against it at both state and federal level, either trying to block it altogether or – if it couldn’t manage that – to weaken the legislation as much as possible …

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Apple buying Disney is no longer as crazy an idea as it was [Poll]

Apple buying Disney opinion | Epcot ball at night

Analysts have been pitching the idea of Apple buying Disney for many years, and to most of us it has seemed a rather ridiculous one. The supposed reasoning for it has always been absurdly weak.

Personally, I remain extremely skeptical. But the idea is now getting new traction, and being taken seriously in some unlikely quarters – and even I have to admit that there is some merit to the latest incarnation of the idea-that-will-not-die …

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Streaming TV services may be struggling with attention as well as subscription costs

Streaming TV services | Apple TV apps shown on modern flatscreen

A report yesterday revealed that a set of popular streaming TV services can now cost more than traditional cable TV packages.

It pointed out that subscription costs have risen dramatically, which creates an obvious risk of people cutting back on the number of services. But I think there’s a second issue, too, and that’s the competition for attention …

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Microsoft is shutting down Cortana, and Apple should do the same with Siri

Microsoft Cortana

Cortana is Microsoft’s virtual assistant, which was introduced in 2014 back when Windows Phone was still a thing. Similar to Siri, Cortana lets users perform a number of tasks using voice commands. But it seems Microsoft is giving up on its old virtual assistant, as the latest Windows 11 update kills the Cortana app. The reason? The company will now bet on AI instead.

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I downgraded to an iPhone 11 Pro Max – and there’s not much I’m missing

iPhone 11 Pro Max

When I recently wrote about the iPhone 15 Pro rumors I care about, I mentioned that upgrading to an iPhone 14 Pro Max wasn’t exactly exciting since I get a new iPhone every year. But I never imagined I’d have to downgrade to an iPhone 11 Pro Max after all these years. Yes, I did that, and honestly, there’s not much I’m missing.

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Samsung continues to bet on the foldable market with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5

Some might argue that smartphones have reached a peak level where year-on-year evolutions don’t seem so great. At the same time, some companies have been experimenting with different things – and Samsung is one of them. The South Korean company on Wednesday announced the new Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5, which show that it still believes in the foldable market.

Read on as we detail what’s new with these phones and what they mean for the whole market.

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Vision Pro apps may need kick-starting by Apple, to persuade developers to bother

Vision Pro apps on visionOS | Apple stock apps shown

Technically, there won’t be any shortage of Vision Pro apps at launch, given that existing iPad apps will run on the platform. But that’s much like arguing that there was no shortage of iPad apps when the device was launched, because iPhone apps ran on the tablet.

Porting apps to Apple’s spatial computer in a way that takes full advantage of the very different environment of Vision Pro takes work – and early signs aren’t looking good …

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Apple GPT won’t be a customer feature anytime soon [Opinion]

Apple GPT won't be a customer tool anytime soon | Cute robot image

News that Apple has developed its own generative AI model – dubbed Apple GPT – caused a little flurry of excitement yesterday, with John Gruber noting that it caused AAPL’s stock price to briefly spike by 2.7%

Even investors seemed to quickly realise that the news doesn’t mean much, however, as most of that gain was lost by the end of the day …

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VanMoof ebike bankruptcy highlights a risk with all pricey smart hardware [U]

VanMoof ebike mess | S3 bike

Anyone with a VanMoof ebike is likely concerned after the Dutch company confirmed that it is in financial trouble.

Update: VanMoof has now officially been declared bankrupt. Even if the company is sold, that means that orders which have been paid for are unlikely to be delivered, and warranties have been rendered worthless. Those whose bikes are with the company for repair will, however, be able to get them back (though they may not have been repaired)

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iPhone battery replacement process won’t change anytime soon (if ever)

iPhone battery replacement | iPhone 14 Pro Max battery shown

Today has seen fresh reporting that upcoming EU legislation will either definitely or probably force Apple to change the iPhone battery replacement process.

We’ve noted before that this is far from certain, and anyone expecting DIY battery replacements to get easier is definitely going to be disappointed in the short-term, and very possibly the long-term too…

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I’d like to blame Apple for my annual iPhone upgrade cycle, but I can’t

Annual iPhone upgrade cycle | iPhone on tripod with aftermarket lens

Sure, I’m a gadget guy who likes shiny new toys as much as the next geek, but I do try to refrain from upgrades for their own sake – admittedly with mixed success.

My biggest challenge is with the iPhone. I’ve historically described this as my least-important Apple gadget, and therefore one that I ought to upgrade least frequently. For years now, however, I’ve fallen victim to the annual camera upgrades …

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Among all the iPhone 15 Pro rumors, there are only two that I really care about

RED iPhone 15 Pro concept

We’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. As reported by 9to5Mac many times, Apple has been planning a refreshed design with slightly curved edges, plus a new titanium frame for the Pro models. There are also rumors about the entire lineup getting the Dynamic Island and USB-C. But among all these rumors, there are only two that I really care about.

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The death of Twitter: Is it real this time, thanks to Threads?

The death of Twitter | Closed sign

Reports of the death of Twitter have so far been somewhat exaggerated. Musk may have made dumb decision after dumb decision, but each time either did a rapid U-turn shortly afterwards, or the sheer momentum of Twitter as the default social media app has carried it through.

But this time, Musk has not only achieved Michael Scott levels of ineptitude, but Meta has brought forward the launch of its Twitter rival Threads in order to take advantage of the chaos …

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What is Vision Pro for? Ten potential answers to the big question …

What is Vision Pro for? | Airbus flight deck

Everyone I know who has tried Apple’s upcoming spatial computer has been impressed, but the big question remains: What is Vision Pro for? Who will buy it, and why?

Having had the opportunity to use a similar high-end mixed reality headset, and to consider some of the use cases of that device, I think I’m now a step closer to being able to at least partially answer that question …

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Reddit’s CEO really wants you to know that he doesn’t care about your feedback

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is continuing his damage control tour, this time via a new interview with The Verge. Despite a large number of subreddits still offline in protest over Reddit’s changes to third-party apps, Huffman is once again doubling down on that decision.

This time, his argument is that the Reddit API – which has been used by third-party apps successfully for years – “was never designed to support third-party apps.”

I’ll save my full opinion on this for the “9to5Mac’s Take” section below… but I’ll give you the gist of it here: “bullshit.”

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Apple Vision Diary: This is looking like it could be a 2027 purchase

Apple Vision Diary 2027 | Mindfulness on the Vision Pro

Yeah, it is somewhat crazy to start an Apple Vision Diary when the first-gen model isn’t set to go on sale until next year, and I currently don’t expect to buy until the third-gen, and I’m saying I think that could be four years away. But here we are (and I kind of already did).

Let’s start by looking at the timings of Vision Pro going on sale – both theory, and potential practice …

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Apple Vision Pro looks insanely impressive – but my Vision Air 2 guess still feels right

Apple’s Reality Vision Pro was in some ways one of the company’s worst-kept secrets. We’ve known for years that Apple was working on AR/VR devices, and our renders were close enough to give us a decent preview of the design.

But Apple still knocked it out of the park yesterday! What we witnessed was the most impressive implementation of mixed reality that’s ever been seen, and also the most persuasive (partial) answer so far to the question, Why would anyone use this tech? …

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iPad mini remains the best for people who want a portable tablet

iPad mini 6

The iPad lineup has grown considerably in recent years. If you go to an Apple Store (or just open Apple’s website) now, you’ll find six different models available, ranging from the entry-level 9th generation iPad to the expensive 12.9-inch iPad Pro. I have two iPads: the latest M2 11-inch iPad Pro and the iPad mini 6. And the more I use both models, the more I’m sure the iPad mini is my favorite – here’s why.

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