Apple Crunch July 2025: It's All about Sweat and Earwax

In this episode of Apple Crunch, Thomas Domville, John Gassman, and Desiree Renae discuss Apple news and other topics of interest.

Chapters:

• Opening
• Apple Explores AI-Powered Scene Description with 'SceneScout'
• Internal Tensions Stirring Within Apple
• Augmented Reality Glasses Create Industry Buzz
• Anticipation Builds for Apple’s Fall Launch of the iPhone 17
• Closing

Resources:

• Apple researching AI agent that can describe Street View scenes to the blind
• Apple faces AI talent turmoil as senior Siri researcher departs
• Apple Weighs Using Anthropic or OpenAI to Power Siri in Major Reversal
• Oakley Meta Glasses Announced With Longer Battery Life, Improved Cameras, and More
• A new look at how Android XR will bring Gemini to glasses and headsets
• Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far
• Apple to Launch 7 AR Headsets, Starting 2025
• Introducing EchoVision
• I don't like the idea of my conversations with Meta AI being public – here's how you can opt out
• iPhone 17: Everything We Know
• iPhone 17 models rumored to feature a redesigned Dynamic Island user interface
• Leaked iPhone 17 Air battery capacity reveals new model’s biggest weakness

If you have feedback or questions for the Apple Crunch team, you can reach them at [email protected]

Transcript

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated by AI Note Taker – VoicePen, an AI-powered transcription app. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Thomas: Hello and welcome to Apple Crunch for July of 2025. My name is Thomas Domville, also known as AnonyMouse. And alongside with me today, let's introduce you to John Gassman. How are you, John? I'm doing good. How are you?

John: Wonderful.

Thomas: How was your trip to Dallas? Did you have a good time?

John: Yeah, I had a great time. It was mainly for the convention, but I was on as many tours as I was at the convention hotel, so I got a chance to see really a lot. I mean, I saw both the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, the Texas Rangers Baseball Stadium. We saw the George W. Bush Library, and I was... Got a chance to sit in the replica of the Oval Office, which was the exact same size as the one in Washington, D.C. So I was president for 90 seconds and didn't use the auto pin once.

Thomas: That is so cool, man.

John: It really was cool. And I got pictures taken and posted them on Facebook. It was really a lot of fun. We did the sixth floor depository as well. So really, in addition to the convention, the tours were really a lot of fun as well.

Thomas: Wow, that is very productive. That is really productive.

John: We were about a couple of hundred miles away from the area where they had the flash floods. But we got major thunder, rain. In fact, the thunder put a hole in the hotel roof and collapsed in the restaurant. Luckily, nobody was hurt, but the wait staff said they've been working there, some of them, for 40 years, and they've never seen anything like that. So it was, you know, an interesting trip.

Thomas: It was eventful, right?

John: It was eventful.

Thomas: Well, I tell you, I mean, welcome to the Midwest. I mean, it's been thunderstorming just about every darn day here, and we definitely have way too much rain. But, hey, let's bring in our other co-host. She's sitting inside and waiting for us, and that is Desiree Renae. Hello, Desiree.

Desiree: Hi. So I will say I'm from Texas. I lived there 32 years. So I guess I'm from there. I don't live there now. And those rainstorms are no joke. And I was going to go to convention, but we were going to go, but we had some stuff with the kids and so we couldn't make it. But I really want to go one year. And my daughter still goes to college in Denton, which is not very far from Dallas. So I was hoping to make it a twofer, visit her and go to conference, but it didn't work out that way. But I have never heard of thunder actually collapsing a roof or putting a hole in it. That's amazing.

John: And normally when you're in a hotel, you don't hear the rain or the thunder very much.

Desiree: Right. Not in Texas.

John: You heard it in the room. That's how heavily it was raining. They said it was a nasty one.

Thomas: Wow. Yeah. You know, one thing about Texas, and I think you're from Austin. When I went to Austin, I just experienced something that I never want to experience ever again. And that is, you're probably familiar with Conger Street, which is right downtown. And there's a bridge there. And I said, you know, listeners is that we're not talking just bats folks. We're talking about when you are at this bridge and during dusk, you get the experience to see some bats and we're talking a couple million bats.

Desiree: Yeah. It's a black cloud of bats, of that. Yeah. And this is normal. They get it, and all the tourists love it. It smells funny, and the sound is crazy. I went once the whole time I lived there, and I'm like, nope, nope, I'm not into it. Totally freaked me out.

Thomas: They said, yeah, you got to go see some bats. And so we went down there, and I was like, okay, let's see it. And it was the weirdest thing I've ever heard, guys. Let's talk about some new things that come up in the last past month I thought would be of interest to talk about. And one of those really neat things are possibilities that comes in the future for us to be able to use on the iPhone. And this one is really kind of cool. This is called SoundCloud. Scene Scout. Did you guys read this article? This is a really interesting article about how they're trying to take their look over. I guess on Apple Maps, there's some sort of a live scene where you are able to see in things in 3D and around you that helps you to navigate around. And apparently, well, obviously that's not accessible to us, so we can't see this scene. However, this AI is supposed to kind of interpret what we see in that area, meaning that if there's landmarks, we can be able to find landmarks because obviously as we walk with our dog or cane or whatever that might be using, is that we need landmarks, and that would help us determine, you know, there's a tree here or there or how do we find the doors, et cetera, that you'd be able to do this in advance and you'd be able to look through the scene, street view, and then be able to kind of just go around and have AI describe the scene to you and point out something that might be of interest that might help you find your way to your designations. Interesting, isn't it?

Desiree: So, I guess it uses the camera?

Thomas: So, it's not real-time. That's the only bad part. I wish it was real-time and they said it. Oh, I see. So, it's kind of like you are able to use this to advance your scouting. So, if you are going to an unknown place you've never been to, you can go ahead and put your address in there. And then it goes in advance. So, you can scout ahead and say... all right, tell me the route, some of the things along the route I should notice, and then it will tell you along the route what you should expect, other than the streets and things like that, of course.

Desiree: Yeah. I just did a podcast episode this past Friday on my Learning Blind Tech podcast about Voice Vista, and I downloaded it like two years ago, but I hadn't really used it. And it's amazing. It already does a lot of that. And I mean, it's free. You can donate or whatever, subscribe for like $2 a month if you want, or you don't have to. But you can do the street preview, and then it tells you, you know, stand up and turn your phone in the direction that you want to go, and then it will go down the street and tell you what intersections are around. I got lost on Sunnyside. I'm like, oh, wait, I got to go the other way. I'm like, that's the easiest walk I've taken up that hill. With Voice Vista. And you can set markers and beacons and all kinds of stuff to customize. And I think it even works inside. I actually got it to work inside of the grocery store, you know, to find the door that I came in so I could get back to the same door to get out so I don't get lost in the parking lot. So it's amazing if Apple can come up with something like similar to that, you know, and it's tailored to us. I think that's the biggest thing with MAPS is it's not it's not designed for us. And so we get a little information from it and we can get the audio GPS, but it's not really designed for someone who can't see. And I love looking out. It's like looking out the window. You know, it tells you the restaurants you're passing and grocery stores and schools and parks and all kinds of stuff while you're, if you're driving, you know, somebody's driving or if you're walking and it tells you what's around you. So. That's called Voice Vista, but it's not an Apple product, but I use it with my iPhone, and I use it with my MetaGlasses so I can get the stereo effect, and it tells you intersection on the right, and it comes from your right ear, you know.

Thomas: That's awesome. What do you think, John, of that?

John: I think the more information you can get, the better off you are. And so I think if Apple can do something similar to what other apps have already done, it's great because that means it's all in one place rather than right.

Desiree: It could be like a rotor, yeah, something.

Thomas: Yeah, VoiceVista is amazing. It is an amazing app, and I did listen to one of your podcasts, and so I highly recommend everybody that are not... are not aware of VoiceVista, go ahead and check that out with Unmute. Is it under Unmute or is it available through?

Desiree: It's under Unmute. I did a small thing on Digital Bytes under Unmute, but it's also under Learning Blind Tech with Desiree Renee, which is also part of Unmute now. So if you go to Unmute, you'll find it.

Thomas: Very nice. Well, you know, I think what this does, guys, I think it takes one step higher. And that meaning that if there is like a bush or something that's on a corner, it will be able to tell you there's a bush in that corner. There's a tree at this corner. So it kind of takes one step up than a marker or voice directions and telling you locations, what year and street directions. surrounded by the scene so you know everything in that area so the tree is going to be the left of the store or there's a there's two doors at this location use the run on the right it's supposed to be at that level which i don't i have never seen that with anything now the only problem i have with this guys It's AI, for God's sakes. I mean, can you imagine the hallucination that might happen with this? Right? Yeah.

Desiree: Well, what if somebody cuts down a tree and you think it's there? It's gone. Exactly. Like, how often does it update? And, like, things like, I wish it could do things like, I crossed the street one day and there had just been a wreck somewhere. And somebody's car flipped and there was a bumper in the middle of the street and glass all over. Like, I wish that something could have told me that a lot of that was there because I would have gone down and crossed a different spot. And, you know, everybody was gone. It was done. They just left it in the road. But it was literally a bumper in the middle of the crossing. Yeah.

Thomas: That's dangerous. Oh, my gosh. Especially for your dog. Right. Exactly. Her feet. Right?

Desiree: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, she went around it. But, yeah, her little paws, you know, the glass especially, like their windshield came out. And they'd already towed the car, but they left all the pieces on the street. Exactly.

Thomas: Wow. But I will tell you that there is an app that is in beta, and right now it's being tested in the Netherlands, and it's not here in the States yet. And it's been discussed on AppleVisfor the past month and a half or so, so I've been kind of waiting patiently for them to release it here. What this does, it takes it differently. So as you said, does it use your camera? No, it doesn't use the Apple Map, doesn't use your camera. But this particular app does. So it doesn't – it kind of uses GPS, but it also uses camera in that – It will sense where you are exactly. So it gives you a better measurement. So you know how sometimes my GPS is a little bit off. It's like it's not quite 100 feet up to my right. And this is supposed to tell you up to even like three meters. So it's supposed to be really accurate based on what it sees and compare it to those street views comparison data. But it's like you said, how does it know that it's comparing to a new street view? So that's the only downfall I have of it. But nonetheless, it's taken to a new direction. I'm kind of hopeful. But more so than not is that this shows me that Apple is continuing to try to figure out more ways to help us. And so this is encouraging because because. And you see, guys, as we go to the next topic is that the AI at Apple, this has been a complete disaster for them, hasn't it, guys?

Desiree: I turned it off. I was all excited for it, and I was like, no, I turned it off.

John: Yeah, I agree. By the way, you may have to edit this out, Thomas, but could you theoretically use a VPN to go into the App Store where that app is located and get it and then do a podcast?

Thomas: Well, the problem is that it's based on the Street View for the Netherlands.

Desiree: Oh, the maps aren't updated.

Thomas: Right, right.

John: Would anybody in the Netherlands know that you could do a good podcast on it? That would be pretty cool if I could find somebody. Go travel.

Thomas: Be My Eyes will send you to the Netherlands for a week, you know. There you go. That's something I'll tell them. I'll try to sell it to them. That's a good idea, guys. I like that.

Desiree: So you work for Be My Eyes?

Thomas: Well, kind of, sort of, and yes and no. So AppleBiz is owned by Be My Eyes. But I am an employee, so I am a contractor for AppleBiz. So they do pay my paycheck theoretically, but we are very independent of Be My Eyes. So Be My Eyes doesn't have any say whatsoever. and how AppleBiz works. And so that's the beauty part of it is that we are completely independent from each other. But yes, kind of, sort of, if that answers your question, yes, no.

Desiree: Do they have any solutions, whether it's Apple or Meta or Be My Eyes or Seeing AI, any of that stuff? When I go to the grocery store, I can't even use Aira. And I have a paid subscription to Aira, but their Wi-Fi is awful. And their internet, you lose your cell signal, so you have to join the guest Wi-Fi at the store. And even that's bad. I couldn't use ChatGPT. I wanted to kind of try to do my own shopping and use either Aira or Be My Eyes. And I couldn't do it because I couldn't get it on the Internet.

Thomas: No, it's just the unfortunate part is that they're so dependent on that data connection. And so if we don't have any Wi-Fi or cell, we're just pooped out of luck. Unless somebody comes up with some genius idea. You know, there are people. Some apps out there that are trying to, like, this works at this certain convention and stuff like that, and that's great and all, but that's not real life. It's not realistic, as in I need something that's every day that's just as good as that. And so, unfortunately, there hasn't, unless we convince those grocery stores to have Wi-Fi that we can connect to that give us that ability, but they just don't do that, you know? Yeah.

Desiree: This one, it's Fred Meyer, and it does, but I got on that network, and I still was losing. It was probably better in the Starbucks that's there, but if you're walking around the store, I mean, I could totally talk to the Aira agent in Starbucks, but as soon as I left and she was trying to tell me which aisle I was in, I kept losing connection, and the same thing happened at the mall. I was trying to find a shoe store, and I was just walking around. Aira it to, um, you know, to tell me and the person that we went through, like three agents and all kinds of crazy connections, um, to get help in the mall.

Thomas: So, yeah, I mean, that's just, um, I mean, that's the real life of what all three of us experience every day is that, um, um, everybody has that issue. It makes you wonder because, you know, the glidance is, is, uh, as, important, and it uses GPS as well. I'm so curious how that works without GPS. I wonder if it downloads data or not, but I wonder if that would help, and I'm all in on that.

John: But inside, it's still always going to be a problem until they really get consistent with regard to what type of GPS they're going to use, because There are so many different ways now. I mean, some people are still using Eakins. Some people are using the backpacks where you map the area. So there's no consistency at all. Anytime you're inside, you're in trouble because there's nobody that really does it well yet.

Thomas: Well, the positive thing is, I can tell you both, is that I have been reading about some advancement on trying to replace GPS because of that problem. And it's not just for blind people, but for general purposes. So what they're doing is they were able to successfully find a way to measure the magnetic field of where we stand. And it's pretty technical, but it has something to do with our Earth core. So it can uniquely... identify exactly where you are from the sense that it gets from the magnetic field from your spot. And so that is something to look forward to if they can replace the GPS and whether it be more accurate no matter where you are inside, outside. And on top of that, but, you know, what Apple is doing with AI, and which is, I think, why there's struggling so much here and we see such a disaster with them is that not only because they were way behind and kind of didn't pursue it when they should have, but they are trying to make this all on board. So if a lot of these things can be on board, right? And so it makes more sense to get more things on board and try to get away from these data connections and things that we're required to. So I'm hopeful at some point, I don't think it's going to be here within a year or two, but maybe in five years, let's hope that something like that comes along. But As you know, Apple have had a disastrous start with their AI, and we have seen that with them botching the Siri and their AI hiccups and not even talking about an iOS 26 at all because they're trying to catch up. But it's getting worse because there's a lot of the top... Guys at the AI department at AI or at Apple have left and they're leaving for two reasons. One, money. Other competitors are paying way more and I'll get to that in a moment. But the other one is that not that they're disappointed with Apple, it's just that they're so far behind. They don't feel like they're being heard and there's such a fracture inside Apple at this point. It's getting so bad that there's discussion, and I don't think this will happen, but nobody ever knows. But there's been discussions. They are so far behind. They are wondering if they should go with Anthropix, which is Claude, and OpenAI for replacing Siri and then their AI. And I'm thinking, boy, that's so un-Apple-like, isn't it? No, yes. I would hate to see that happen.

Desiree: Have you heard about the cameras, the AirPods turning into cameras?

Thomas: I have. And the reason they have cameras, because it took me a while to figure out, why in the world would you put cameras on AirPods? And it's not for it to take pictures or anything. It's for gestures.

Desiree: Oh, it's like the Vision Pro camera. Because it's amazing when I demoed one of those and, you know, it knows even if my hands are in my lap, it knows when I clap my thumb and index finger together. And I'm like, wait, I didn't mean to do that. And it moves voiceover and all kinds of stuff. So but I mean, because the AirPods, you know, connect better than even like the Metaglasses and they don't ever lose connection with your phone. So if they could use the cameras somehow in the AirPods to give you like live what's around me kind of thing, that would be interesting.

Thomas: Unfortunately, that's not my understanding what they're going to be using that for. So it's strictly going to be detecting hand gestures. And so that way you can do hand gesture in the air to perform different tasks as you do with the Vision Pro. Yeah. So that is my understanding of why they're coming with a camera. And that would be kind of cool. But you know what? I don't know how that would work, Des. I mean, the cameras would be pointing out, you know. I suppose they can tilt it towards the front. But I wonder, you know, this is the view from my left ear. This is the view from my right ear.

Desiree: Well, and I personally, I can't wear, even in transparent mode, I can't wear my AirPods when I'm out. I just can't. They block too much of my hearing when I'm crossing streets and things. I don't like that. I wear the open-air kind or like the shocks, or I do my metaglasses because it doesn't go inside of my ear.

Thomas: Exactly. Do you have one of those, John? Do you have an earpod?

John: No. I have the old Apple earpods. ear things that they used to send out years ago. The little plugs, yeah.

Thomas: Yeah, these new ones are really cool, though, John. They've got transparency. You're able to hear a little bit, at least hear someone talking around you. But like you said, Des, it's not great when you're outdoors, and especially if it's a loud corner.

Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.

Thomas: You don't... quite get what you need. So I agree, the open ear would be nice. So speaking of open ears, so if that were to come out with Apple glasses, so if it had the same concept, like if it had open ears, would that be something you guys would use?

Desiree: I would if they did better with their Siri stuff. Now, if I could, you know, because now you can use ChatGPT on Siri. If I could do everything on the glasses that I could do with my phone... and have chat GPT answer it things and all of that. And that's still kind of buggy. I feel like it doesn't always work, but, um, I, I would maybe consider doing that. Yeah. Cause Apple is really good about, they really do care about audio with Apple. I mean, that's why the Mac speakers are so much better than windows, um, You know, the microphones built into your phone are way better. So I think they would make that sound really nice on a pair of glasses like the Metas. I just didn't like the Vision Pros because they were too heavy for me. I didn't like scuba diving gear or something. I didn't like that. And I didn't really feel like it was something I would want personally because I don't have any vision. But if I had low vision, I would definitely want to maybe think about having those.

Thomas: What about you, John? Will you be interested in Apple Glasses? Okay, so let me put you in a theory, John, because I'm really interested to hear your opinion on this. So Apple Glasses is something that Tim Cook is trying to prioritize now to make this work. And it sounds like they are full-fledged into this plan. So I think... On a side note, I think they made a mistake going to Vision Pro first. I think they should have gone to Apple Glasses first to compete with Meta. Now they're way behind again, so they're behind another thing. But if Apple Glasses were really good, let's just say they got the AI taken care of, so you're able to do a lot of things you could do, if not better than Meta, because I think the Meta AI really stinks. Oh, man, it's terrible. You know, have it describe something. It says... Table. I said, that's really nice. I know that's a table. What can you tell me about that? Is it round, square, brown, white? You know, it doesn't tell you. It's just a table. Oh, God. So anyway, Apple Glasses, so you can hear just like the MetaRay band, and you got the quality as you would get from an Apple product. The real question I have for you, John, is that I know you're an InVision guy. If Apple Glasses came out and they were really good at what they do, what do you think...

John: that would do to you and your mind because i know you love your envision classes yeah because they give you far more description and then meta oh by far yeah and there's more features on there um i take a look at apple uh and i've got friends now who are looking at echo vision so i would take a look at them as well um Tell me about that.

Thomas: I am curious about the Echo Vision. I've only heard some things. I think that's due out next month, right? Is it coming out to the public?

John: Yeah, I don't know a whole lot about them. We were trying to get them on some of the other podcasts that we do and haven't done it yet. But, you know, they're just now getting it out. And it looks promising because it is, while it's not the least expensive... set of glasses. It's at least affordable.

Desiree: I was going to ask about the price tag. 25:51 $5.99. $5.99. That's not too bad.

Thomas: It's not too bad, but the only thing that catch you is that you do have, if you don't buy the phones or the phones, the glasses in advance, you will have a subscription. I think it's $20 for the AI per month.

John: I mean, Ally's doing that. Right. Yeah. And I will eventually, because it costs money to make that available through a subscription.

Desiree: I already does.

John: You have to, unless you just get the free five minutes.

Desiree: But yeah, meta, yeah, I'm waiting for them to do that.

John: AI, the special assistant that they're working on, that's going to be a subscription.

Desiree: Yeah.

John: Oh, yeah.

Thomas: So, yeah, it sounds like Echo Vision is one of those things I definitely want to watch. It's one of the better ones I've seen. Not only does it meet right in the price criteria that I like, but I have heard some demos with it, and it does sound positive. The AI sounds decent. And I'll be curious how people think of it when they get them in their hands and go. And I want to know... Obviously, they will be able to add apps to it, and so they're not going to be tied down like Envision does, which, you know, obviously Envision would never allow BMI's or CNAI on their device, I don't think.

John: No, they would. They said they would be interested in partnering with anybody, but it just really depends now on whether they continue with the Google Glasses. I mean, if they could find another... Better glasses manufactured. They would certainly take a look at that. Their problem right now is they don't have a way of putting the GPS on there, which is on the Google Glass, which is why that hasn't happened. But with the newer glasses coming out, that might not be a problem anymore.

Thomas: Well, speaking of Google, they got smart. So if you heard the Google meeting they had back in – I think it was in May. They announced something called Google XR. And if you're not familiar with Google XR and what I'm talking about, it's that Google is creating their own S4 – these glasses because they know that's the market. And what they've done is they grouped up with some two big glasses provider, and they're going to pair with them to put this XR on them. And that also includes Samsung. So Samsung is announcing their own glasses, and it's going to have Google XR. So Google made a good choice this time to say, hey, We're not good in the hardware, but we're great in software. We'll give you the OS, and we will help you create something for your glasses. That, my friends, is what I'm really looking forward to. If I'm looking at the Apple Glasses, Echo Vision, the new Meta Glasses, which we'll talk about in a minute, and this new Google XR, if I'm excited about any of those, it would be the Google XR, hands down, even over Apple Glasses, just simply because, We all know how Google glasses are, and it's supposed to be very small and fits just like the metaglasses, so it's supposed to be a much smaller form, but you got the Google power of Gemini. That is massive, and I think... I have to wait for Echo Vision to see what AI they use, but if Google comes out with their own version for relatively cheap in that range, I would say that Google XR wins hands down with their Gemini. That's something to look forward to.

Desiree: I will say that if Apple does glasses, I think one of the biggest hurdles I have with meta is people have to use WhatsApp. Or Messenger or whatever. And if I could use my Apple glasses to run any app on my phone and use the camera from the glasses and say, I want to just open Seeing AI or stuff I already use. And then the camera would be integrated because it's Apple with my iPhone. So I could use those instead of the iPhone camera. That would be, to me, worth doing that.

Thomas: Right. No, I totally get what you're saying. That's my biggest fear. I think Echo Vision is maybe the only one with exception. But I have a fear that just like what we've seen with the Ray-Ban on the Meta is that they clamp down on what can be used through their camera. And obviously, you can only use their AI. And we just discussed the Meta AI. It really sucks. It's not that great. No, it's not that great. And... And they know it. They know it. And I know they're working on it. Obviously, you may or may not have seen they have been stealing Apple's AI engineers away, enticing them. My gosh, I think one guy got $100 million bonuses. to move over. I said, I wish I knew, Ann. So it's just amazing how much money is being thrown around. But I have to admit, the new Oakley glasses. So Meta has the new Oakley glasses. And now that is just like a Ray-Ban. Now, Oakley is more of a sport gear. So it is kind of a wraparound and designed for sports. But the nice thing about that is that it seems like they're listening to us because on that device, You get nine hours of battery life instead of three or four hours I get with my Ray-Ban. And then plus, I was really stunned is that they have a 3K video camera, which if anybody ever tells you, the Ray-Ban really stinks when it comes to pictures. And so that's why it's kind of... Well, that's because they have a fisheye camera. And so you got this really wide shot. So it looks strange. And it's not that it's a bad resolution. It just looks odd. But the Oakley is supposed to help in that regard. So it seems like they are improving on it. Yeah. I mean, my gosh, I think I just read the other day that Meta has tripled their sales in Ray-Bans in the past year. And so that's outstanding. But they are getting better at it. But I think it's going to hurt them more for us anyway, because if they're going to continue to be closed, I'm not interested.

Desiree: Mm-hmm.

Thomas: Right.

Desiree: And I wonder, it makes you want to go back to like, I used to have this mount for my iPhone that I would put around my neck and it would hold it because I really hate not having any hands between a cane or a dog. And then if I have to hold my phone camera up, I just don't like it. And I like the hands free. And I even had the Ira Horizon glasses at one point. until those just stopped working. I probably still have them somewhere. But, you know, just to be able to utilize a decent camera, not only just to take videos, but to see around you. I yelled at my metas the other day. I said, how many people are in this room right now where there was like six people? And it's like, no one else is in the room. It's empty. And it said it three times, and I'm like, no, you don't know anything. Stop talking. And then it did stop talking for a while. It wouldn't answer me.

Thomas: How's that work on Envision? Do you ever do that, John? Do you like quizzes, like how many people are in this room?

John: I haven't done too much of that. I don't know why. I just have never bothered with it. But I could.

Desiree: What do you do with it? What do you use it for?

John: I use the Ally for a lot of stuff now in terms of the rooms and even reading some of the mail that I get because it can do it all in one spot rather than having to go from one tool to the next. And it works pretty well.

Thomas: Yeah, Ally is interesting. You know... That's another announcement they made, and I knew they were going to be paid at some point, because I've been on the beta, and they've been talking about prices, and I was really curious what the price is, because they asked us what price point would be the sweet spot that you would say yes, and that's not too much. And the end results, I was kind of disappointed to hear. What was it, John? Is it $18 a month?

John: Well, no, that's full price, but during the introductory offer, it's like half off. So it's like nine. So it's longer than the first month. If you buy a year... If you buy a year, like nine for the year. Now, if you're beta testing, it's free while you're beta testing. Then after you finish beta testing, then that's when it would go into, it would do an operation.

Thomas: Now, not to be mean, but the introduction doesn't mean squat to me because that's limited. Yeah. Because it's kind of like saying, well, I just saw a Disney Plus and Hulu package for $299. I said, oh, that's awesome. That's only for a good three months. And so it's kind of like, what's the real price? So my understanding is $18 a month or $180 a year. And yes, on the introduction, if you bought the year in the pack, you get it for $90. So, I mean, you'd be set for a year. Now, the good side is that now I think this was very reasonable. And what Ally does is that... I think it allows you to have up to 15 minutes worth of conversation. I'm thinking, wow, somebody have a conversation. Anyway, I can't find myself having a conversation that long with an AI, but I'm just in a, I just need.

Desiree: Depends on if you're trying to create something or, you know, help you write a song or something.

Thomas: I guess if you're doing a grocery bag, I guess that could take a while. So what is this? What is this? What is that? But that is free. So up to 15 minutes is free. And then you have to restart it and do it again. And now obviously you get some perks when you get the premium. Obviously you get more than 15 minute conversations. So if you like long conversation with your AI, you can do that for 18 a month. But my thoughts is, I don't know, guys. It still seems like that's a little too high. And I get it. I get it. It's the same price as if you look at ChatGPT or Gemini, they're all $20. But I get so much more out of that, though. Right? So, I mean, I can't get money.

Desiree: Images and all kinds of stuff. Yeah. Exactly.

Thomas: So I can, I use it for a lot of work. I'll just say here is a set of Excel spreadsheet digested for me, or, you know, I do some pretty complicated things with it. And then plus I say, okay, with this image. So what I'm saying is that I feel like I need more out of it if I'm going to spend 18 bucks, because if I'm going to spend 18 bucks, I'm going to go to GPT or Gemini, hands down.

Desiree: What is Ally? Because I joined the beta testing, and I guess when I first started using it, I was not fully really all that impressed with it. But maybe I'm missing something. I felt like I got more from be my eyes and seeing AI than sometimes I would get from Ally. Okay.

John: It literally is an AI that allows you to interact with it. And it really does similar things as Aira or Be My Eyes, except it's an AI voice that works with you rather than talking to somebody live. And the more advancements they make, the better it becomes. That's not perfect yet. It's AI.

Desiree: But I mean... But they have Aira AI and Be My AI. So you can kind of do that now with those.

Thomas: Yeah, interaction is what I was about to say, Des, is I think the biggest thing is Ally was first in the block to offer live AI. Live AI is what we're talking about that makes the separation between seeing AI, IRA, IA, and be my AI, because none of those... none of those do live AI. So like John says, it is live conversation. It's on all the time. So you're talking to say, so you're wearing glasses. I can just walk in the kitchen and say, Hey, what is this?

Desiree: But you have to have the envision glasses, right? Not, you can't use your metas with it. Correct.

Thomas: Yeah. Yeah. So you have to have Envision to be able to use Ally. Now, granted, you can use your phone, but you have to hold that phone.

Desiree: Right, right, or mount it or something. So that's the advantage. I'm still on beta.

Thomas: That's why Envision is trying to embrace it, saying we're the – I think what they're going to sell is that we are the first – line specific live ai yes there are live ai on gemini and gpt but it's not quite the same but you know what i will i will disagree with that um i will disagree with him on that because i use gpt live ai and i think it worked really well and do you really on your phone because I do. And if I say, I am blind, so help me out here to be as descriptive as you can, it will remember those things. And so, no, it's not going to have personality. And that's another thing that Ally does have is have personality. But I'm not here for personality. No, I just want to know what's there. I don't need another friend. You know, I don't need anything. You've got lots of friends. Hey, I have friends.

John: What do you think?

Desiree: I'm going to try that.

John: I think chat GPT in terms of just interacting with it by typing does it better than Gemini or any of the others. Okay. Have you tried it live by just talking to it?

Thomas: No, I have not tried it live. Yeah, try Gemini and chat GPT just live by talking to it. You'll get the... I think I get a little better.

Desiree: Which one do you like better? Yeah.

Thomas: Yeah, I like GPT better than Gemini, and I think they're better than Ally for the same price. Now, I will say that Ally does have some unique to it and does work well. But at the end of the day, if I only have $20 to give out per month, who's going to get it? And unfortunately, I have to tell you right now, it's not going to be envisioned. And that is because of what I can get out of my money. So I'm going to want the bang of the bucks for what I want. When seeing AI and be my eyes or whatever those guys come out with a live AI, well, we're talking a whole new game because typically those two are free or have been free. And if they can offer that live AI for free, well, all right.

John: I doubt it.

Desiree: But if they had Apple glasses, then you could use those glasses.

Speaker 4: Whoa.

Desiree: Because Apple would integrate it with your camera on your phone. Could you not use it with chat GPT live AI? I don't know. That would be the way to go.

Thomas: That's if Apple allows you because here's the kicker, though, Des, and that is Vision Pro. I'll make my point here with Vision Pro. Be My AI or Scene AI is not on that device. Why? Because they don't allow third parties to use their cameras. Huh. just like Meta. So that's why I'm not really hopeful for Apple Glasses. Yes, I think the glasses would be amazing, but if they make deals with a blind-specific third-party company to open it, then we might be talking about something totally different.

Desiree: Looks like I'm going back to my lanyard.

Thomas: You know, a lot of people say that, why don't we just use your phone? I'll tell you why.

Desiree: I hate having it on display. Well, and a battery, too.

Thomas: It's a battery hog. Have you tried? It doesn't matter what you use. It just goes... You can just hear your batteries just going... As it ticks down and presented. It really stinks. I mean, if you use the LiDAR technology on it, a lot of people say, Hey, I heard you can detect doors and people and stuff. I said... It does, and it does a decent job. Not awesome. It does a decent job. The problem is you are going to suck your battery like you would never seen it being sucked because it just goes down so fast. It's like it's not practical. You can't use it for more than 20 minutes without doing major damage to your battery level.

Desiree: But it's a lot easier. Like to me, I always carry around my charging, you know, battery pack. And so to me, it's like if it's better, then I'm willing to deal with having to charge the battery more often.

Thomas: Man, that's all I need is a five-pound battery pack in my jean pocket.

Desiree: No, it's not. Mine's little, tiny. Well, it's an anchor, and it's, you know, small. So you only get like two charges out of it. But, you know, I mean, well, I carry a purse, so, you know, or a backpack or whatever.

Speaker 4: Yeah.

Desiree: I got a big purse.

Thomas: All right, John. So what is your take on this before we move on to the next subject?

John: Hey, I'm just taking a look at anything. I don't know what eventually would be the case, but I think it's great that there's so many choices out there.

Desiree: Yeah.

Thomas: That's true. Choices is great. I just don't see the one yet. The one is not in my future yet. So as soon as I see that's the one I'm waiting for.

Desiree: You'll know it's the one. You'll know when it happens.

Thomas: And unfortunately, I don't think it's Echo Vision, but I think it's getting darn near it. But we'll see. We'll see, guys. And so I'll be curious what you listeners have to think, too. So let's go ahead and talk about... What I think you're going to expect at the September keynote for Apple, so every September we've gotten some use of these new phones coming out in September, right? And I think what you are going to see, I don't think, I'm going to be about 98% sure that we are going to see a new phone, and that is the iPhone 6. 17 Air or Slim. And the reason you're hearing that word is because that's all you're going to hear. I promise you in the keynote, they're going to be talking about this device. Oh, my gosh. It's not more than 50% of the whole keynote because this is their new flagship phone. So let's talk about this silly little phone. I call it silly because we have had the iPhone mini, right, failed.

Desiree: I broke mine.

Thomas: You know, when it first came out, I thought this was going to be the phone. I was going, oh, my gosh, it's the perfect size. I love the small. And then I looked at it, and I said, this is going to flop because that battery sucked on it. Yeah.

Desiree: It's too small. Mine overheated.

Thomas: It just didn't work. And so they got rid of that, and then they came out with the new iPhones, basic iPhone Plus, which is like the Max but without the Pro to it. And guess what? It also flopped because nobody wanted to pay that much for a bigger size phone, especially when it's only $100 off from the Pro version. So the pricing, I think, what killed it. So I think what Apple now has up their sleeves is this new Air or Slim. What they're trying to do is that thinness is in. You know what I thought when I heard about that thinness is in? Pick a guess what I was worried about. Well, that's right. Remember the Bengate?

Desiree: Mm-hmm.

Thomas: You remember when the old iPhones came out, when they were so big that people were bending them?

Desiree: The iPhone Plus or whatever?

Thomas: Yeah, and they were bending them? Well, that's the first thing I thought. I said, okay, you're going to make a Mac-sized phone, dimension-wise, and it's going to be the thinnest ever. Yeah, of course there's going to be some bending issue, but my number one issue was battery. How are you supposed to have any battery in this thin little thing, right? So... supposedly this air is supposed to be 6.6, 6.7 inches. So it's a big guy. It's going to be a big gal's phone.

Desiree: I don't like that either. It's too wide. I can't put it in my pocket.

John: Do you like bigger phones, John? No, not really. I like the fact that I can stick it in a case or even in my pocket if I have to, although not in my pocket because I'm afraid that I'm going to, you know, if I bend over, I'm going to bend the phone or break it. Or if I hit something, it's going to break it. So I prefer not to have it in my pocket at all.

Thomas: Right. Right. Well, I can tell you that I've got friends that love their Macs, and they are blind. They just love it because of battery life. And I have to say, yeah, the Macs phones are huge when it comes to battery. I mean, my gosh, it's so big anyway. It's like an iPad mini. Yeah. Right? So the battery office, it should be better. But they're making it thin. So here's the deal. So you're not going to hear a lot of these things they're going to mention. So the battery size, okay. Let's talk about the battery. What they're talking about is the battery on this device is going to be 2,800 mAh. 2,800 mAh. What does that compare to? Okay, let's compare that with general users out there. I have an iPhone 16 Pro. That is 3,500 mAh. It's smaller. So it's 6.3-inch, and so it's a smaller device, meaning that that has way better battery than this little bigger phone. Now, the other thing is, right? Because it's thin. Now think about this. So it's 2,800 mAh plus it's a bigger screen and you need more battery to push that bigger display. So that's going to suck the battery life even more out of that thing. And just to put the Final nail to the coffin, just kind of show you is that you know Apple is thinking about this because they're also going to be supplying a battery case for this device. And I'm thinking, okay. Is that a good, is that a red flag right there? Hey, you could buy this battery case for that phone. So I'm buying this phone for the thinness, but I have to put a battery case on it. So they're going to say that it can last all day long, right? And for some people, it may last all day, but you're getting about 20% less battery than you are on your current iPhone that you have now. That gives you an idea, 20% less. So if you get done with the day at 40%, this new phone, you could probably easily see that you're down to 20%. So it kind of gives you an idea of how that works.

Desiree: Plus... Who gets done at 40%? I'm like a 10 by the time I plug it in.

Thomas: How about you, John? She gets down to 10.

John: How far do you get down at the end of the day? Well... About 20 because they say, you know, anything much lower than 20. So I try, I mean, if I remember 20, but there have been times when I forgot.

Desiree: When you're out and you can't. Yeah.

John: Yeah. So it's, do you guys charge it overnight? When do you charge it? Overnight. Yeah. Usually, most of the time. Or if I'm home, I'll make it a point to charge it right after I get done, you know, like eating breakfast where I want it with me.

Desiree: Yeah. I listen to stuff at night, so I charge it by my bed. I like to listen to radio stuff and books and stuff at night.

Thomas: Well, that makes sense. So for you guys, this phone would not make any sense. No. I think it's perfect. So keep that in mind when you hear this air, air, air, this, air, that, and how terrific it is and how beautiful it is and da, da, da, da. The other thing to keep in mind is that you're not going to get as many speakers out of this because they had to make room to make it thin. So you're getting less speakers. And you're not going to get the great camera because obviously camera is a huge chunk of your phone. So I think you're only going to get a single camera on that. So you're not getting all the cool macro zoom and all that. You're going to have something like that, but with one camera. So in other words, you're not going to get that great quality camera shot. But I will have to say they will have the new Apple modem. And if you heard with the 16 SE, the new modems really do make a big difference on your battery life. Because if you use your Wi-Fi or especially your cell, let's talk about your cell. If you use a device with your cell, you probably notice your phone goes down quickly. And that's because of that modem chip in there. So when you have the in-house Apple modem, as you do in the Apple cell, iPhone 16 SE, it's way more efficient. It's about 20% more efficient. So with that, you might kind of sort of be, but again, I can't help to think, why are they trying so hard to find a new flagship phone that people want to buy when you've already got the phones that people like?

Desiree: And focus on stuff like the AI, you know, instead. Like they're putting so much focus on new devices, new devices. Like the watches, they've been kind of the same for a while. Like I, you know, I have an older one and I don't really feel like I need a new one. Right.

Thomas: It just confuses me too, Des. It's like they're spending a lot of resources. It's like they can't really innovate anything really, really cool other than we can do this to be kind of cool. So we can't really do other than just new cameras. I mean, obviously... We'll get better cameras. This year, it's rumored to have 8K video on the Pros. Who in the world is going to record 8K? I don't know.

Desiree: So they'll have a 17 Pro and a 17 Air Pro?

Thomas: Yeah, so they have the basic iPhone 17, which is $699. I think it's $749 or something like that. And then you have your iPhone 17 Slim or Air, which will be your $899 range. And then you have your iPhone 17 Pro, which is the $999 range. And then you have the iPhone Pro Max. Max. Yes. So you're talking about... I don't know. If I'm going to spend $899 for an air, at $200 more, I can get a Pro Max that has way better, bigger battery and stuff, and you want the big size, I'm going to spend the $200. I mean, it's as simple as that. If I'm going to spend already $900, I don't know. This is just something for you guys to think about and what to look forward to. You're going to hear nothing about it. it's all going to be about the air and slim. Air, air, air, slim, slim, slim. So with that, now I said I would never buy an iPhone 16 Pro, and some of you clever, very, very good keen ears out there probably heard that I do have a 16 Pro. Well, I gave in. I think I mentioned that last month, didn't I, John? I don't know, but I went to a new carrier. They offered me, I couldn't resist. They paid all of my family members new phones, and I paid nothing. It's all paid for, and they paid off my other phones. So I said, okay. So I got everybody a new iPhone 16. I have an iPhone Pro. Honestly, I don't see a whole lot of difference between this and my 15 Pro, other than the camera button, which is kind of cool, but nothing that I would say that is the reason I want to buy it. The virtual vision intelligence is so-so, but again, I don't see any interest in going to S17. Now, John, if I recall, you had an oldie, don't you? Or no, wait a minute, you got a new phone. Yeah, I went from a 14 Pro to the 16 Pro. There you go. What about you, Des? What kind of phone do you have?

Desiree: I have a 16 Pro. I was on a 13 Pro.

Thomas: Oh, my gosh.

Desiree: I really was excited because I hadn't had the USB-C thing, and so that was one of the things. And, I mean, the things I can plug into this phone.

Thomas: You same way, John? Oh, yeah. I like that a lot better than the USB-C. When I had the 15 Pro, I mentioned the number one thing I love about that phone was that USB-C. Everything. Oh, my gosh. My battery pack, my neck fan, my everything, every electronic thing.

Desiree: Your microphones and all your audio. I can plug my Vocaster into it.

Thomas: Oh, my gosh. This is a game changer. That USB-C is amazing. I don't have to go to Walmart and say, I'm sorry, I can only use the Lightning. And you get the special price. All this is the Apple brand. This is $30. Shame you don't use a USB-C where I can sell you that for $8. So now I'm able to go to Walmart and say get that for $8 for a USB-C, and it works beautiful. So I love the USB-C. If I had to say one thing I loved about the new 15 or 16 Pro, it would be that darn USB-C. That's the biggest thing for me.

Desiree: Now, I wish my AirPods Max had USB-C, the new ones do, but I don't have new ones.

Thomas: I'm with you. I'm with you. I spent all that money, and I still have a Lightning Max. Me too.

Desiree: I'm like, I'm just going to throw those Lightning chargers away. I can.

Thomas: Oh, but I still love my Max. I still wear my Max whenever I wear it, every time I'm on the studio.

Desiree: Yeah, I like them for you can do either transparent or noise canceling and... They don't give you a headache like some of the other headphones do.

Thomas: That's beautiful.

Desiree: Yeah.

Thomas: The music is beautiful. Now we're just going to get John to get an AirPod Max.

Desiree: Well, if I buy a new one, you can have my other one.

Thomas: There you go, John. You get the hand-me-down, the family program.

Desiree: I mean, they're still in good shape. I just... My husband, I got him for his birthday, I got him the new ones because he didn't have any. And so I thought, you know, he'll like this, and he does. But every time he plugs it into the counter charger that's USB-C, I think, God dang, I can't charge mine there. But, I mean, I don't see any difference between the two other than that. And so did they announce that they're going to come up with anything new on the AirPods or any Macs or AirPods side?

Thomas: Well, there is an AirPod Max that is USB-C.

Desiree: Yeah, I know. But like next year or in September, are they going to – is there anything in the works new? Yeah.

Thomas: No, that's the surprising. No, you can definitely count out any AirPods Max. I don't think we're going to see anything of that. Now, there's been discussion about the new AirPods Pro, the new version of it. But even that, I'm starting to see that that's not going to come. That's not going to come this year. It's going to be next year.

Desiree: And I have my Pro 2. I like them. But then I bought the newer AirPods because I thought, oh, you know, I'll have a work pair and a home pair. And they're newer than my Pros, but they don't have the volume on them. They don't have the, you know, where I can swipe up and down. I don't think they have that. And the ear, I like the ear tips better because I hate it when it goes inside of my ear. I just, that was one of the reasons I wanted to switch. But I just, I don't know. The sound's good, but I don't like being able to not, not being able to control the volume with the AirPods.

Thomas: I thought you can have a little volume control on the little stem.

Desiree: That's on the Pros, but the newer ones, they don't have it. And they're like the old-style AirPods as far as the ear tips go. They don't have the little pieces you replace or anything. They're just all... It's okay, but I'm like, okay, that's my work pair, and my pros are going to be my regular pair because I love it. I use the volume control all the time.

John: Well, sure, you have headphones, don't you, Mr. John? Yeah, when I got this new mixing board, I bought a nice pair of Sony headphones. They're very lightweight. You can wear them for 10 hours a day if you want to, and they have night sound.

Thomas: Okay, so... Is it that noise cancellation Sony WX or something like that?

John: Yeah, I don't remember what the model number is, but it's nice.

Thomas: You know, I have a Sony as well. I have one of each. I have the Bose, the Sony, and the AirPod Max.

Desiree: I thought I was the only one that did that stuff.

Thomas: My wife yells at me. She's like, let me get another headphone. So I said...

Desiree: More speakers, more Bluetooth.

Thomas: That's all you need. What do you need all that? Microphones.

Desiree: I have a collection of microphones, too.

Thomas: And I tell you, you're right, honey. You're right. And you know what? I'm proud to say I haven't bought a new one for three or four years. The Max is the last one I bought, and it was the best I've ever bought. And I really love it more than my Bose and my Sonys. And so you don't have an earbud one then besides those little plug ones, right, John? No. No, I don't. I don't like them in my ears either. Oh. Yeah, I don't like them at all. I can't stand them. What is it with you guys? You don't like your things in your ears.

Desiree: Well, then they get itchy. You're right. I don't like it. I don't know. It just doesn't work for me really well.

John: But if you don't mind, we'll send all of ours to you. We'll just tell the audience. You've got your parts you want to get rid of.

Desiree: I don't even know if I have all the replacement. And, I mean, I've tried the different sizes of ear tips, too, and I just don't. They just don't feel good. And I feel like they're either going to fall out or they're like sucking the earwax out of my ears.

John: That's another story.

Desiree: Now we're getting to the real fact. Now I think Apple, they should come up with some open air like the stocks because I think there is starting to be a real need and market for... Like when I exercise, I prefer... the open air because I can still hear things around me, but I'm getting, and that's okay, but Apple could, they could do really well if they were to make an open air headset and with the way that they do their audio. I mean, I, it would be awesome.

Thomas: Apple glasses.

Desiree: Yeah, but I can't wear those when I exercise. Well, it'll be like glasses.

Thomas: It's not in your ear, so it's going to be on your head like a Meta Ray-Ban.

Desiree: A lot. I don't wear my Metas when I exercise either. Wow. Okay. Earwax and sweat. Oh, my. Yeah, I mean, and, you know, honestly, when I'm doing, like, weights and stuff, I don't want glasses to fall off when I'm bending over and picking up weights, so.

Thomas: Okay, well, this is going to do for the show, guys, for this month. Thank you for coming back on, and you guys have anything else to share that we, that the listeners should know about?

John: Just be on the lookout for our new podcast all about sweat and earwax. That's earwax. Man, earwax filled up.

Desiree: Like some AirPods in your ear. No, suck it out.

Thomas: Yeah, how to put Ziploc bags around your headphones without it sweating. You know, it's just, we'll forget about it.

Desiree: Don't let them fall off.

Thomas: Oh, my gosh. Okay, well, this is going to be the Apple Crunch for July 2025 here with John Gassman and Desiree Renae. My name is Thomas Domville, also known as AnonyMouse. Until next time, guys, see you next month. Bye-bye.