Another Apple employee is careless with an iPhone, Tim Cook answers questions, and some former Apple AI employees need new business cards. Maybe AI can design them for them.
iPhones gone wild
Move those renders to the Trash because a soon-to-be-fired Apple employee may have been photographed with a real live iPhone 17 Pro in the wild!
While not definitive, the device looks much like what the rumors and renders of said rumors have been indicating, with a larger camera bump that has the LiDAR sensor and flash further to the right.
Naturally, innovation like moving camera thingies doesn’t come for free.
On our YouTube reaction video, Dan suggested that this quarter, which was essentially “boring” and yet generated $95 billion in revenue, means that Apple is about to enter an era where it breaks $100 billion in revenue in its dull quarters.
I think he’s right. Apple is so big and has so many customers that it just slowly gets larger and larger. Every quarter, Apple trumpets the increase in its global installed base of devices, and this quarter was no different. Every quarter, Apple cherry-picks some specific stats about new buyers that boggle the mind—over half of this quarter’s iPad and Apple Watch buyers were buying their first one of those products?! But that’s how you grow the installed base and keep that revenue line going up.
One of the advantages of Apple having a range of different products is that there are so many opportunities to convert people to other parts of the ecosystem. If we assume that for most people the iPhone is the entry point, then selling them AirPods is a logical next step, followed perhaps by an Apple Watch. But when it comes time to buy a new computer, or give a tablet a spin, why wouldn’t the Mac or iPad be at the top of the list? And of course, services revenue is a part of the story too.
For all the hand-wringing about Apple’s long-term fate in the Chinese market, Cook took time out to point out that “the MacBook Air was the top-selling laptop model in all of China, and the Mac Mini was the top-selling desktop model in all of China.” That’s a market undoubtedly driven by iPhone, but some of those iPhone customers are now becoming Mac customers. The revenue ratchet continues.
Apple doesn’t have a lot of one-time customers, is what I’m saying. And that’s why the boring quarters are soon going to be in the triple digits of billions.
Mentioning the unmentionable
Apple always has to disclaim itself when it discusses the future, because all of these disclosures are tightly regulated, and it opens itself up to pain and legal penalty if it’s found to be fibbing. This quarter’s disclaimer, given by CFO Kevan Parekh at the start of the call, was a little different. See if you can spot it:
As we move into the September quarter, I’d like to review our outlook, which includes the types of forward-looking information that Suhasini referred to. Importantly, the color we’re providing assumes that the global tariff rates, policies, and application remain in effect as of this call, the global macroeconomic outlook does not worsen from today, and the current revenue-share agreement with Google continues.
I believe this is the first time Apple has directly referred to the threat of losing Google search revenue in the context of its financial results. It’s an enormous source of profit for the company, and if a court orders that the deal with Google be voided, it will hurt, no matter what fallback Apple figures out.
It’s also worth noting the wording around tariff rates, given that those seem to change at the drop of a hat. Apple’s trying to project the future based on today, but so far as we know, all the rules could change tomorrow. It’s that kind of world.
(This is why, by the way, Apple ascribes some of its stronger sales this quarter to “pull-ahead”—namely, in April a bunch of people in the U.S. rushed out and bought new iPhones or Macs a little earlier than they might otherwise have done because they were concerned that all the prices were about to go up due to tariffs.)
Watch Tim pivot
There was a two-sentence sequence in the analyst call that provided a really clear look into Tim Cook’s worldview—both his personal inclinations and the realities of being a tech CEO in 2025. Answering a question about tariffs from Amit Daryanani of Evercore, Cook said:
In terms of what we do to mitigate, we obviously try to optimize our supply chain. And ultimately, we will do more in the United States.
Step one: Always be optimizing your supply chain! The most Tim Cook thing one could ever say. But step two: Do more in the United States, because it’s what the government demands. I’ve thought for a while now that Tim Cook is not actually a cheerleader for Chinese manufacturing, but he is always going to make optimal and expedient decisions that give Apple the best deal. In the current environment, the calculus has shifted toward doing more in the United States.
AI investment and acquisition
When you want to ask Apple why it’s seemingly struggling with AI, but you’re a financial analyst and you want to try and get some sort of serviceable answer, you ask about capital and R&D investments. Which nets you a response like this from Tim Cook:
We are significantly growing our investment. We did during the June quarter, we will again in the September quarter. I’m not putting specific numbers behind that at this point, but you can probably tell in the guidance that things are moving up. We are also reallocating a fair number of people to focus on AI features within the company. We have a great team and we’re putting all of our energy behind it.
In other words, Apple is “significantly” increasing what it spends on AI, as well as taking people internally and re-tasking them. This sends a signal to the market that Apple’s taking the threat seriously, which is what Apple feels that it needs to do.
There’s also the subject of whether Apple should buy an AI company. Analyst Atif Malik of Citi approached this topic by asking generally about whether Apple needed to do a spot of Mergers & Acquisitions to speed things up, or if it could just focus organically? And Tim Cook took that personally, I think, because his response was direct (okay, direct for an analyst call) and to the point:
We’ve acquired around seven companies this year, and that’s companies from all walks of life, not all AI oriented, and so we’re doing one—think of it as one every several weeks. We’re very open to M&A that accelerates our roadmap. We are not stuck on a certain size company, although the ones that we have acquired thus far this year are small in nature. But we basically ask ourselves whether a company can help us accelerate a roadmap.
Leaving aside the utterly broken metaphor of accelerating a roadmap, you can see Cook proudly pointing out that Apple does buy companies all the time, actually, before elaborating on why Apple tends to buy companies: not to figure out where to go, but to acquire a company that will help it get to its desired destination. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, but this isn’t a bad snapshot of Apple’s overall attitude. Apple might feel it needs to acquire companies to get what it needs, but it’s the one setting the agenda. Unfolding the roadmap? I don’t even know anymore.
Every quarter after releasing financial results, Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh hop on a conference call with analysts to detail the quarter gone by, give a peek at what’s to come, and creatively avoid answering any pointed questions from analysts. This is Six Colors’s transcript of the call.
While it might seem like AppleCare One is simply a way to bundle up its extended warranty coverage for your Apple devices, it’s actually a foot in the door of something even more powerful. Even more life changing. Even more… revenue-ing.
AppleCare for you.
That’s right, the clear goal here is the dreaded “con” word. No, not continuity. No, not conventional. No, not courage—that doesn’t even start with con, Todd.
Convergence.
According to my sources, who prefer not to be named because they are totally my invention, and coming up with names is time-consuming1, Apple plans to merge its AppleCare service with Apple Fitness+ and its Health initiatives to form one all-inclusive AppleCare system to take care of the stem-to-stern…er…head-to-toe needs of its customers.
So in addition to paying $19.99 per month to cover three Apple devices, you can fork over an additional $9.99 a month to cover yourself from accidental damage.…
On Thursday, Apple reported its third-quarter 2025 fiscal results. Revenue was $94 billion (a fiscal third-quarter record), up 10% versus the year-ago quarter. Mac revenue was up 15%, iPhone revenue up 13%, and Services revenue up 13%. The Wearables/Home/Accessories category was down 9% and iPad revenue down 8%.
Dan Moren and I broke down the results on YouTube.
Our experiences with tap‑to‑exchange features like phone payments, what we truly consider ephemeral online, a recent tech frustration that hampered productivity, and opinions on children’s shoes with hidden AirTag slots.
Apple’s 26 Public Betas are now out, marking another major milestone on the road to their release this fall. While all the social-media discourse has been about Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” design, that talk obscures some of Apple’s other interesting choices in this year’s operating system cycle.
While Apple would probably insist (like a proud parent) that it doesn’t have favorites among its platforms, the choices Apple has made in this cycle say an awful lot about the company’s priorities, especially when it comes to the Mac.
It’s Public Beta season and we’ve got thoughts about the good and bad in macOS Tahoe. Then Jason forces Myke to listen to some sounds of the summer, but probably not the ones you’re thinking of.
Travelers used to find themselves at a loss for cheap mobile data when traveling outside of their home country or region, and often wound up paying dearly for it. You now have an enormous range of options, but it’s always better to make plans before you leave.
I remember going to the United Kingdom in 2017, my first trip to Europe since 2000, and being armed with too little practical information. I knew that I should be able to drop into a Tesco or other store and find a cheap SIM plan that I could use for the several days I was there. I bypassed airport kiosks, warned that they were overpriced. Jet lagged, I probably wasted an hour figuring out what to do, but it worked just fine and it wasn’t a lot.
The next year, on a family trip with all four in our grouping, I had pre-purchased SIMs for each of our phones. On arrival, we sat at a café in the airport as I used a SIM remover tool and carefully took out each SIM (which I’d labeled with a Sharpie before leaving home), put it into a zip-seal bag, found the corresponding roaming SIM, and inserted that. Tedious, but better—and a lot more data for the dollar.
The eSIM is physical circuitry within a mobile device that can be reprogrammed on demand with all the data required of a removable SIM.
Now, we have the advantage of eSIMs: electronic SIMs that are a bit of circuitry that can reconfigure itself on demand to act like a physical SIM with none of the fuss. Most carriers worldwide have switched almost exclusively to them, allowing SIMs for just older legacy phones.
Starting with the iPhone XS/XR models, iPhones offered support for either a SIM or eSIM, with one active at a time. The iPhone 13 series introduced dual SIMs, allowing you to have either a SIM and an eSIM or two eSIMs active simultaneously. In the United States, Apple removed the physical SIM slot with the iPhone 14 introduction.1
In 2022 and 2023, I travelled to multiple destinations in Europe with a combination of carrier-provided free international data and eSIM, and that was a breeze. But there were a lot of choices to make about cell plan, eSIM provider, and managing data between them.
Get familiar with eSIM installation and activation
One of the nicest things about eSIMs is that they’re not hard to deploy. Apple relies on an industry-supported standard and provides multiple paths to add an eSIM after purchase to an iPhone or to an iPad with a cellular modem. You can transfer an eSIM from a nearby phone when you’re migrating service, but for travel, you will either use a QR code or manually enter the eSIM number that is encoded in that QR code. Apple offers clearly written instructions.
In Apple’s eSIM overview, it notes that for a “new” iPhone, you need to be on an Wi-Fi network to activate services, except with a U.S. iPhone model starting with series 14. That applies to setting up base service.
When you’re adding a roaming eSIM, you need to make sure you have all the instructions required, like the QR code or other information, stored on your device or downloaded into an app, which many roaming providers offer. In some cases, you may only be able install the eSIM only when you’re in the area in which it offers service; in others, you can install in advance.
Installing may activate the SIM, starting a service days countdown, or your eSIM plan might have an expiration date for starting a service period. For instance, Airalo says to check your eSIM, as it may activate on installation; Holafly notes, “Install the eSIM before your trip and keep it turned off until needed to avoid unwanted data usage in multi-destination plans”; while Saily explains, “Your plan will automatically activate when you reach your destination or 30 days after you’ve bought it.” Read the instructions before purchasing!
It’s just a few steps to set up an eSIM when you scan a QR code. eSIM providers’ apps make it even easier. (Right: image via Yesim’s how-to page.)
After installing an eSIM, you can effectively archive or disable it when your service period or data usage limit is over. You can later reactivate it after you’ve topped up or renewed services through the eSIM provider, but you don’t need to scan a QR code or re-enter the eSIM information.
You can store up to eight eSIMs per device, though only one or two can be active at once, depending on your iPhone or iPad model. You can enable and disable eSIMs via Settings > Cellular or Settings > Cellular Data.
Check your carrier first
American carriers have a variety of options for service outside the United States. The cost split among them for data beyond the border is fairly stark, depending on how often you travel.
Neighbors included (CA/MX): All carriers’ current plans include data in Canada and Mexico, save one Google Fi pay-as-you-go offering. These plans range from unlimited 128 Kbps service to full-speed service up to the monthly U.S. data limit of your plan before throttling.
Day pass with monthly cap (AT&T, Verizon): AT&T and Verizon offer day passes that are capped at a monthly maximum (AT&T) or have a monthly option (Verizon). Both included daily data usage across 210+ countries2 in the world. Big warning! If you use a single bit of data, one text, or one minute calling outside your included service on either carrier, they charge for you a day pass on their current “unlimited” plans that don’t include that country (more details below).
Some level of unlimited included (Google Fi, T-Mobile): T-Mobile has a base level of 2G speeds (128 Kbps or 256 Kbps) in all their current plans and most of their legacy ones (I’m on legacy T-Mobile Magenta). The more you pay for basic service, the more data you get while roaming internationally each month and the higher the throttled rate. Google has one plan with a capped monthly usage and 256 Kbps thereafter outside the United States.
Legacy pay-as-you-go charges (AT&T, Verizon): If you’re on a legacy plan, one without “unlimited” in the name, you might have to call, use a web site, or use an app to load an international day pass on AT&T or Verizon before you start using service in another country. Otherwise, they charge you $2,050 per gigabyte ($2.05/MB).
The “unlimited” in many cases means “up to X GB after which speeds are throttled or deprioritized in the United States, and, if unlimited is included for other countries, dropped to 3G or 2G rate.” However, a few top-tier “unlimited” plans don’t cap U.S. high-speed usage at all.
All service plans below have the price listed for a single line; multiple lines reduce the price dramatically, with 3 or 4 lines often dropping to half of the cost per line of a single line. Tax and fees are added to all monthly service charges noted, too.
A capsule summary of the offerings, costs, and provisos of included service
AT&T
With AT&T’s current Unlimited plans, you get uncapped data, calls, and texts in and between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. There’s a footnote that says you could be dropped to 2G speeds without an explanation as to when or why.
AT&T’s International Day Pass is $12/day for unlimited data, talk, and texting when added to an unlimited plan, meaning the same limits you have for data for U.S. service.3 Additional lines that use international data on the same day are charged $6/day. It’s possible to add the pass to a legacy plan, but details of what you get then are buried deeply within a lengthy legal document. The cost is capped at 10 daily fees per line per month, so a maximum of $120 for a primary line and $60 for secondary ones.
AT&T top-tier Unlimited Premium PL plan ($85.99/mo.) includes unlimited data, voice minutes, and texting in 20 Latin American countries. There’s no plan with high-speed international usage beyond Canada, Mexico, and those 20 countries—you need a data pass.
If you don’t have a day pass added manually or automatically, the pay-as-you-go rates are $2.05/MB, which multiplies out to $2,050/GB.
Google Fi Wireless
Probably the simplest service to explain, Google Fi has two plan options that you can use with data outside the United States:
Unlimited Premium ($65/mo.) includes 50 GB of usage per month in 200+ countries, then throttles to 256 Kbps for the remainder of the month.
Flexible ($20/mo.) is $10/GB no matter where it’s used in those 200+ countries, including the United States.
Texting is free in those 200+ countries on both plans; calls are $0.20 per minute.
T-Mobile
Three of T-Mobile’s current plans and of some of its still-active legacy ones include unlimited international data at 128 Kbps or 256 Kbps in 215+ countries with some plans including higher-speed data. Calls are $0.25/minute except in Canada and Mexico, where they are free and unlimited; texting is unlimited worldwide.
With their current plans, you can opt for:
Essentials Saver ($50/mo.): Canada and Mexico are included with 128 Kbps unlimited data usage. No other international usage can be had.
Experience More ($85/mo.): You get 15 GB/mo. in Canada or Mexico and 5 GB/mo. in 215+ countries (or is it 213+?) before a 256 Kbps throttle.
Experience Beyond ($100/mo.): This top tier offers 30 GB/month is Canada and Mexico and 15 GB/month everywhere else before a 256 Kbps throttle.
T-Mobile uniquely has an optional data pass you can add to plans, all three of which include unlimited calling during that period and use of the data as a mobile hotspot, something typically not allowed by carriers on any international roaming:
512 MB of data for $5 per day
5 GB of data for $35 across 10 days
15 GB of data for $50 across 30 days
Verizon
With either of the current two lower-tier Unlimited plans, a pass is automatically added when usage is detected; you can opt to add one for legacy plans that don’t start a pass for you. You can also subscribe to the Unlimited Ultimate plan for your line or lines ($90/mo.) to have international roaming included.
The Verizon TravelPass is $12/day in “210+ countries and destinations.” At that price, you get 5 GB a day at “high-speed” rates, which typically means the highest contracted Verizon has, likely 10 Mbps or much faster, depending on the carrier and region. After 5 GB, you’re dropped to “3G” speeds, which typically means a few Mbps. This daily pass also includes unlimited voice call minutes and text messages.
For $100/month, you get a full month with no additional charges and up to 5 GB per day and 20 GB per month before dropping to 3G speeds (1.5 Mbps). Weirdly, this pass is described as including only 250 minutes of calling.
Verizon customers with one of their Unlimited plans ($65/mo.) get data, calls, and text in Canada and Mexico as part of that service. Otherwise, it’s $6/day for either Canada or Mexico.
With Unlimited Ultimate, you get a similar-but-worse deal than the $100/month TravelPass benefits: 15 GB per month before 3G throttling, plus unlimited texting and calls. I’m unclear if layering a day pass on top would change that—probably—but at that point, you should consider an eSIM data service provider.
Verizon’s pay-as-you-go rates are set country by country, but my spot check shows they are the same as AT&T: $2.05/MB, thus $2,050/GB.
Find a data eSIM alternative
If you need more than the included amounts with service or find the day pass or other extended usage rates a bit high as you add them up, this is where roaming eSIM providers come in. While there are many companies you can purchases these from, a few appear frequently across reviews and testing; I’ve used one of them.
For the purposes of apples-to-apples comparison, I’m listing the price for European coverage, which typically covers roughly 40 countries, including the UK and all EU nations. For specific countries or other parts of the world, prices tend to be comparably proportional to Europe. I’m also looking at the best data and dollar combinations relative to the cost of using carrier day passes or upgrading service.
Airalo: The company has what it calls a Eurolink eSIM, which has two sweet spots of unlimited data for 10 days for $35 (up to 3 GB per day before throttling) or 20 GB of data across 30 days for $49. I’ve used them on two different trips, and topping up service while still underway was a breeze via their app.
aloSIM: aloSIM’s European eSIM packages include 15-day unlimited usage for $35 (up to 1.5 GB per day before throttling) or $37 for 10 GB across 30 days.
Holafly: Holafly only offers unlimited data plans in Europe, with 10 days costing $36.90; a 30-day plan is $74.90. No specific daily limited are noted: “Some carriers may reserve the right to apply a Fair Usage Policy.” You can also share up to 1 GB/day as a mobile hotspot.
Saily: Get unlimited usage in Europe over 10 days for $35.99 with a maximum of 5 GB per day at full speed and then 1 Mbps thereafter. A 30-day plan with 10 GB is $35.99 as well.
The decision tree
Carrier options used to be so terrible and expensive that it seemed silly to discuss them. Now, with the options described above, you might be able to use included service or upgrade a line or your family to a higher tier plan for one month (if allowed with your service). Day passes could be very useful occasionally for a single day, but once you hit two or more days, there’s no reason to pick one over an eSIM data option.
However, don’t forget to figure in Wi-Fi hotspots. High-speed Internet service is often available at many locations even in mid-sized or small cities charging reasonable fees. If you’re in a hotel with uncapped service or in a rental home or with friends or family and know that they aren’t charged overages, that’s a great way to manage your high-usage uploads, too.
[Got a question for the column? You can email glenn@sixcolors.com or use/glennin our subscriber-only Discord community.]
All iPhones in China with multiple SIM support have two SIM slots; some models in Hong Kong and Macao are the same. There’s no eSIM support on devices with two SIM slots. ↩
The carriers variously refer to 200+, 210+, or 215+ countries, and I expect we’re in the weeds about those differences with tiny countries (maybe some uninhabited island nations?), as opposed to them not having service in, say, Slovakia. ↩
AT&T’s three tiers, from lowest to highest, are Unlimited Starter SL with deprioritized unlimited data (your service might be slow if the network in your area is busy with other, higher-paying customers), Unlimited Extra EL (75 GB/mo. before deprioritizing), and Unlimited Premium PL (no deprioritizing). ↩
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.
As someone who’s used an iPad as my main computer for almost 14 years, I can’t join the chorus of unbridled enthusiasm for iPadOS 26’s embrace of Mac conventions such as floating, overlapping windows and a menu bar at the top of the screen. Apple may well be making the right decision to please the largest pool of people who want to get work done on its tablet. But it’s also moving decisively away from some of the philosophies that attracted me to the platform in the first place, and I’m trepidatious about where that might lead.
Harry is (quite rightfully, I think!) concerned about what it means for the future trajectory of the iPad, especially since the Mac already exists. I think iPadOS 26 is looking great, but asking what this means for Apple’s overall product philosophy is an absolutely fair question—and I’m not sure even Apple is entirely sure where it’s going.
One of the questions raised by the recent announcement of AppleCare One came from Six Colors member Jono, who—when I mentioned that the only AppleCare I had was via the iPhone Upgrade Program—wondered “if there is any interaction with that at all.”
It was a good question, and honestly, one I should have thought about more myself, being an iPhone Upgrade Program subscriber.
The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is yes! These two programs are compatible, though if you want to do that, it does require a bit more work.
Apple spokesperson Anna Mitchell told me that iPhone Upgrade Program subscribers can contact Apple Support and unbundle their coverage from the iPhone financing, then upgrade to AppleCare One. Keep in mind that AppleCare One is only available in the U.S. at present, and requires a U.S.-based Apple Account in good standing.
Of course, my personal experience with the iPhone Upgrade Program—while it has gotten better every year that I’ve been a subscriber—is that it sometimes struggles with unusual cases, so if you do go this route, be prepared for some potential extra challenges if you choose to upgrade your phone this fall.
[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors, as well as an author, podcaster, and two-time Jeopardy! champion. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His next novel, the sci-fi adventure Eternity's Tomb, will be released in November 2026.]
I colored my thumb with a yellow-orange marker. Wouldn’t you know it? My Antioxidant Index shot up to 100. Next, I colored it with a blue marker. My score dropped to zero. Unfortunately, my color-based hypothesis was foiled by a piece of roasted broccoli. It, too, scored 100 and is, in fact, rich in carotenoids.
Perhaps the blackberry had failed because, when pressed against the sensor, it exploded in a mess of purple juice that was subsequently difficult to clean from the watch. Perhaps I was deficient in my antioxidant consumption. Or so I thought, until the Cheez-It.
This piece is a great example of one of the issues facing the health wearable field—and it’s hardly unique to Samsung: the sensor arms race.
The truth is there are health metrics that would be genuinely interesting and helpful to people—things like blood pressure and glucose levels—that are simply very hard to implement (perhaps even impossible by current technological standards) in a smartwatch.
But the market keeps moving forward, and that never-ending arms race encourages companies to keep adding new sensors and features of questionable usage. Even Apple’s been plagued by this in the past, which is one reason features like the Apple Watch’s temperature sensor are described with very careful language: “The temperature sensing feature is not a medical device and is not intended for use in medical diagnosis, treatment, or for any other medical purpose.”1
Is Samsung’s antioxidant sensor, which seems to be basing more of its readings on the color of your skin than any actual scientific data, the pinnacle of this movement? Personally, I doubt we’ve reached peak ridiculousness quite yet, but I think it’s coming.
Song’s overall point here is well taken—that you should take most of these sensors and metrics with a grain of salt2:
Even if a bunch of science went into developing detection algorithms using high-tech sensors, there’s always going to be errors and room for misinterpretation. This seems obvious, but it’s easy to get sucked into the quantified rat race toward perfection. If tracking a specific metric makes you feel worse about yourself, you’re allowed to take a break from it — or even decide it’s not worth paying attention to. None of this is meant to be taken that seriously.
Likewise, a good reminder that you always need to consider that these sensors aren’t altruistic productions; they’re features on a product that a company wants to sell you.
I also love how the feature is described, with a straight face, as the perfectly natural “nightly wrist temperature.” Who among us has not been concerned about the temperature of their wrists? This is a case of doing exactly what it says on the tin. ↩
Though not too much salt, because you don’t want to raise your blood pressure. ↩
After a pretty big overhaul a few years back with watchOS 10 and a more modest update in watchOS 11, I’d describe this year’s update—now numbered 26 like the rest of Apple’s platforms, and available as a public beta—more focused.
Sure, there’s a new Liquid Glass design that aligns with the rest of the company’s platforms, but the vast majority of big new features focus on a single app—Workout—which gets not only its own UI overhaul, but also a big new Apple Intelligence feature, Workout Buddy.
watchOS 26 isn’t without its tweaks and enhancements, though how much they help you may rely more on both what version of the Apple Watch you’ve got, as well as the ins and outs of how you use your Apple Watch everyday. And, of course, there are a few features debuting across Apple’s platforms this year that show up on the Apple Watch too.
iPadOS 26, now available as a public beta, is one of the biggest updates in iPad history. There’s a new design that changes the look and feel of the whole interface, yes, but also the introduction of a whole raft of productivity features that lift the iPad closer to the Mac—for those who want to use it that way.
It’s like a weight has been lifted from the soul of the iPad. It remains a very nice device to use in full-screen mode with all the simplicity attendant to that mode, or via a single tap it can turn into a multi-window, multitasking device that’s appropriate for the Mac-class hardware underpinning today’s iPads. The iPad no longer feels like it’s trying to live up to the promise of being the Future of Computing; with iPadOS 26, it’s more comfortable being itself.
iOS 26! It feels like just last year we were here discussing iOS 18. How time flies.
After a year that saw the debut of Apple Intelligence and the subsequent controversy over the features that it didn’t manage to ship, Apple seems to have taken a different tack with iOS 26. In addition to the expansive new Liquid Glass design that spans all of its platforms, Apple has largely focused on smaller, “quality of life” improvements rather than marquee new features. That’s not a bad thing, either—these are often the types of things that Apple does best, and which actually make a meaningful impact on the lives of their customers: saving them time waiting on hold on the phone, helping them avoid dealing with spam, and improving their driving features.
It’s also worth noting that, with very few exceptions, all of the iOS 26 features that Apple demoed during its WWDC keynote this year are available, right now, in the public beta. The exceptions include the digital ID feature in Wallet that uses info from your passport and the age rating/content restriction updates in the App Store. That’s it. Everything else has been there since the earliest beta builds.
I’ve spent the last few weeks running those initial developer betas of iOS 26 so you don’t have to. As the public beta arrives, you may be tempted to dive in, so allow me to run down the biggest changes to your phone. And, as per our usual reminder, this is the beta period, so everything is still subject to change and the final version, when it arrives this fall, might look or work differently from the way it does today.
With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s take a look at what might convince you to take the plunge.
For many years, Apple’s annual operating-system cycle seemed to be all about the iPhone, with the occasional bone thrown to the Mac or iPad. But Apple’s latest operating-system releases (all synced up as version 26)—due this fall and available now as a public beta—are spreading the love around.
Yes, macOS Tahoe inherits a new design language that feels like it was designed for other devices. But look closer and you’ll find the biggest updates to Spotlight ever, including direct access to app actions and Apple’s first-ever clipboard manager. Shortcuts also gets a huge productivity boost, both from the introduction of automations and from access to Apple’s AI models.
There are a bunch of other little improvements, too. I won’t lie: that new design is a mess, though Apple appears to be making progress, and there’s still time to address some of its biggest issues. But after using early releases of macOS Tahoe, I’m willing to say the productivity gains will outweigh whatever design quirks we might have to put up with as Apple figures out how to apply its design to the Mac.
