Upgrade 585: iPadOS Slide Over Returns, Apple TV Rebranding, and iPhone Air Review

Note-Taking Habits and Digital Organization

• 💡 Jason Snell primarily uses the Notes app for jotting down thoughts and product briefing notes, with BBEdit for more extensive text documents on his Mac.
• ✍️ Mike Hurley prefers pen and paper for meetings and calls to stay present, later transferring important points to the Notes app, Notion, or Google Docs.
• 📸 For mundane tasks like remembering parking spots, both resort to the Notes app or taking pictures, highlighting its role as a central digital repository.

Apple Software Updates and User Feedback

• 🔍 Mac OS Tahoe continues to have issues with Spotlight search, contact search, and clipboard history, with users hoping for a fix in future updates.
• 🔊 The visual feedback for volume adjustment on Mac has moved to the top right near the menu bar, a change that initially disoriented some users.
• 🍎 Apple is reportedly shifting engineers from Vision Pro development to focus on accelerating the development of smart glasses, a move driven by competitive pressure from Meta.

The Future of Wearable Technology

• 👓 Persuading non-glasses wearers to adopt smart glasses presents a significant challenge, requiring the technology to offer colossal benefits.
• 🕶️ Meta's approach with Ray-Ban style sunglasses is seen as a smart entry point, allowing users to test the technology in a familiar context.
• 📱 The analogy of the Apple Watch adoption is drawn, suggesting that compelling utility can drive adoption of previously unwanted devices.

Apple's Legal Battles and Product Strategy

• ⚖️ YouTuber John Prosser faces a default judgment in Apple's lawsuit over alleged trade secret theft due to his non-compliance with legal proceedings.
• 📺 Apple TV Plus is being rebranded simply as Apple TV, signifying a simplification of its streaming service identity.
• 🏀 Live NBA games are now being streamed in immersive video on Apple Vision Pro, available to Spectrum subscribers in Lakers broadcast territories.

iPadOS 26.1 Beta and Feature Reintroductions

• ↩️ Slide Over functionality has been reintroduced in iPadOS 26.1 beta 2, offering a dockable off-screen window for temporary app access.
• 📏 The new Slide Over allows for customizable width and height, providing greater flexibility than the original implementation.
• 🎙️ Audio recording improvements in iPadOS 26.1 beta 2 include gain control for microphones and file location preferences, addressing long-standing user requests.

iPhone Air: A New Direction for Apple

• ✈️ The iPhone Air is presented as a product with unconventional priorities, focusing on thinness, lightness, and screen size over traditional features like multiple cameras or extended battery life.
• 💡 Similar to the original MacBook Air, the iPhone Air serves as a proof of concept and an experimental device that could influence future iPhone designs.
• 🔋 Its battery life is surprisingly good in specific use cases due to excellent standby time, though it may not suit all users' needs.
• 📱 The iPhone Air's design, with components consolidated at the top, suggests a future direction for miniaturization and component reallocation in iPhone engineering.

Apple's Organizational and Product Shifts

• 🏥 Apple's health and fitness teams are being consolidated under Eddie Q, signaling a focus on health as a service, potentially including an AI fitness coach.
• 🤖 Apple is reportedly acquiring talent and technology from Prompt AI, a company specializing in AI for home security cameras.
• ⌚️ Changes in leadership for Apple Watch and Health teams indicate a continued evolution in Apple's product strategy and organizational structure.
• 🚀 New M5 MacBook Pro and M5 iPad Pro models are expected to be announced via press releases, signaling a shift away from traditional launch events for incremental updates.