By John Moltz
July 25, 2025 2:00 PM PT
This Week in Apple: Everyone’s a critic
Foldable iPhone rumors heat up as Apple delivers a new plan and new betas.
More screen time
Foldable mania has hit the Apple world as rumors run rampant of Apple shipping its most expensive iPhone ever next year.
And, yes, they think you’re gonna love it.
First off, Mark Gurman says Apple is prioritizing software features in iOS 27 that take advantage of the foldable form factor. I’m no software developer, but this seems a better tack than implementing features that hinder the foldable form factor.
Meanwhile, according to Gurman, Apple has focused its hardware efforts on improving the hinge mechanism and reducing the display crease. Maybe Apple could implement software features that distract users from the crease, like maybe filling the outside edges of the screen with dancing monkeys that draw your eye away from it.
Just spitballing based on my web experience from the early 2000s.
Again, not a software developer.
Two separate sources say the outside screen will be 5.5 inches and the unfolded screen a luxurious 7.8 inches. That may be enough screen for some people but I’m holding out for the iPhone Cube.
Six 8-inch screens or bust, people.
AppleCare One Services Revenue To Rule Them All
In a bit of a surprise, Apple announced the AppleCare One plan that bundles coverage for your devices. For a monthly fee of $19.99, you get coverage for up to three devices and you can add additional devices for $5.99 each, no matter what device it is.
While this seems pretty straightforward, it can get complicated as you try to do the math of figuring out what individual coverage costs you and whether or not you even want coverage on your lesser-beloved Apple products.
All part of Tim Cook’s master plan. That effin’ guy.
Apple later clarified to Dan that AppleCare One is compatible with the iPhone Upgrade Program. Just contact Apple to unbundle, then purchase the plan, then bundle, then coverage, and finally break your iPhone to enjoy the coverage.
You may need to reboot somewhere in there, too. Unclear.
Is the Liquid Glass half full or half empty?
Apple released the public betas of its operating systems this week. You can read all about ’em here, here and here.
And here.
Aaand here.
Apple sure has a lot of operating systems. That doesn’t even count visionOS (which, to be fair, doesn’t have a public beta).
In a somewhat surprising move to many, Apple turned the volume on Liquid Glass back up again, after having backed off it in the previous beta.
This has prompted some real concern about the state of design with these betas that many expressed on Mastodon.
Federico Viticci compared Pocket Casts and Apple Podcasts and I’d say the results are clear-cut but Podcasts’s controls are so blurry it’s hard to use that phrase.
Thomas Brand, meanwhile, brings us the hard drive (we think it’s a hard drive?) that defies perspective! Did someone make a hard drive (is that what it is?) with a back end that’s larger, so it looks the same size as the front end even though it’s further away?! WHAT IS GOING ON? WHY DOES IT HAVE WHAT LOOKS LIKE THREE AUDIO JACK PORTS?! WHAT HAPPENED TO “COURAGE”?! NOTHING MAKES SENSE ANYMORE!
Gedeon Maheux asks if you can identify which Safari tab is the selected one on macOS Tahoe. Here’s a hint: the selected one has a very thin outline that actually disappears at some points.
No, you still got it wrong.
Finally, John Gruber points out the absurdity of glass envelopes. As a reminder, people who own glass envelopes should not use them to mail stones.
I’m not sure why you’d be mailing stones in any kind of envelope but… just in case you are.
It’s important to point out that these are still betas, of course, and that while the visual cruft of Liquid Glass often seems filmed in Squint-O-Vision, these operating systems have actual improvements under the glassy hood that will make the upgrades worthwhile.
In addition to not mailing stones in glass envelopes, I also suggest you don’t buy cars with glass hoods.
I don’t know why I have to be the one to provide these safety tips. Not what I signed up for, honestly.
[John Moltz is a Six Colors contributor. You can find him on Mastodon at Mastodon.social/@moltz and he sells items with references you might get on Cotton Bureau.]