Apple Crunch September 2025: The Thin, the Bold, and the Crunchy

September 2025 Edition Hosted by Thomas Domville, Dave Nason, and John Gassman

Welcome to the September 2025 edition of Apple Crunch, where we break down the biggest Apple stories and explore what they mean for the blind and low-vision community. This month, we dive into a wide range of updates—from AppleVis itself getting a major facelift, to a critical VoiceOver bug fix in iOS 26.0.1, to Apple’s highly anticipated September hardware event with its mix of bold moves and controversial compromises.

We also take a closer look at rumors of a new budget-friendly MacBook that could redefine Apple’s entry-level lineup, while across the tech landscape Meta is making aggressive plays in AR, VR, and AI that may shape the competition for years to come. Rounding things out, we announce the launch of two exciting new AppleVis series: Gamers Corner, a podcast dedicated to accessible play, and AnonyMouse’s App Pick of the Month, a blog feature highlighting standout apps.

There’s a lot happening this fall, and we’re here to make sure you don’t miss the updates that matter most.

Mentions in This Show: The Crunchy Chapters

A Fresh Look for AppleVis The redesigned AppleVis website brings a cleaner interface, smoother navigation, and a better mobile experience for the accessibility community. Early feedback highlights easier movement across devices, though some longtime users are already looking ahead to future refinements like personalization and faster forums.

Apple’s Quick Save: VoiceOver Users Get Relief in iOS 26.0.1 Apple wasted no time releasing iOS 26.0.1, a vital patch that fixed a critical VoiceOver bug. For blind and low-vision users who rely on consistency, the update restores confidence and underlines Apple’s responsiveness when accessibility issues arise.

Apple’s Big Reveal: Hits, Misses, and Maybes The September event delivered the lightweight iPhone Air, the redesigned iPhone 17 Pro with its shift from titanium to aluminum, and the upgraded AirPods Pro 3. While innovation was on display, compromises in display, materials, and battery life sparked spirited debates about Apple’s direction.

The Ghost MacBook: Hiding in Plain Sight? Rumors of a budget-friendly MacBook powered by Apple’s upcoming A18 chip hint at a big play for students and first-time Mac buyers. History, however, shows Apple’s “affordable” MacBooks often struggle to last. Could this be the one that sticks—or another ghost in the product vault?

Meta Moves In: Beyond the Headset At Meta Connect 2025, new Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses, expanded AI companions, and mixed reality initiatives showed the company doubling down on mainstream wearables. The contrast with Apple’s high-end Vision Pro is striking: Apple pursues polish, while Meta races for ubiquity.

Announcing Gamers Corner: A Podcast for Accessible Play We’re thrilled to introduce Gamers Corner, a new AppleVis podcast dedicated to the world of gaming and accessibility. Hosted by passionate gamers from within the community, this show brings together reviews, insights, and discussions about the latest accessible titles, platforms, and trends. It’s designed as a space for blind and low-vision players to stay informed, share experiences, and celebrate how far accessible gaming has come. The very first edition, covering highlights from May through August 2025, sets the stage for an ongoing series that will keep you plugged into the accessible gaming scene.

Listen here

Introducing AnonyMouse’s App Pick of the Month We’re excited to announce a new blog series on AppleVis: AnonyMouse’s App Pick of the Month. Each month, this feature will spotlight an app that stands out for the blind and low-vision community—whether it’s a brand-new release making waves or an existing favorite that’s just received a major update. The goal is simple: to highlight apps that bring both accessibility and value to everyday life.

For September 2025, the spotlight is on Home Quest – Idle Adventure, a game that blends strategy and resource management with a fully accessible design. It’s a perfect example of how inclusive development can deliver both fun and usability, setting the tone for what this new series is all about.

Read the full feature

From the Core: Resources to Read and Explore

• AppleVis Website September 2025 Updates
• All the 'Awe Dropping' Announcements You Missed at Apple's Event
• The iPhone Air looks great, but the compromises are hard to ignore
• iPhone 17 Pro Ditches Titanium, Here's Why
• AirPods Pro 3 have less overall battery life than AirPods Pro 2
• Is Apple’s rumored cheap MacBook hiding in plain sight?
• Meta Connect 2025: the 6 biggest announcements
• Gamers Corner: May to August 2025 Edition
• AnonyMouse’s App Pick of the Month: Home Quest – Idle Adventure

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: Welcome to Apple Crunch for September 2025. My name is Thomas Domville, also known as AnonyMouse. We're back for another great round of Apple News, and I might even introduce some things that we may not be talking exactly about Apple, but we'll come to that in a moment here. But in the meantime, Desiree and Marty are busy out doing their variety of things. I know Desiree is on her way back from Texas, so everybody's been busy. However, I did get a new co-host to invite him on, and a lot of you probably heard his voice before on the Apple Biz Extra. I decided to bring in Dave Mason. Hi, Dave.

Dave: Hey, Thomas. Thanks for having me on. Sorry, everybody, you have to listen to me on this one as well.

Thomas: It is wonderful to have you, Davis. But, you know, I've had this show for, what, about two, seven, eight years, and you've never been on, so I'm just glad you got to be on.

Dave: Yeah, we did one, do you remember? And then there was a loss of recording. I have some description. There was a tactical glitch, and it never saw the light of day.

Thomas: Oh, man. Yeah. Well, okay. Well, a first official release release, if nothing goes wrong today. How's that?

Dave: Yes, exactly. Thanks for having me.

Thomas: Hey, no problem. And then on the other side, we got our John Gassman from California.

John: How are you doing, John? I'm doing fine, Thomas. Glad to be back for another podcast. A lot to talk about.

Thomas: Right. Did you have a busy month, John?

John: yeah we did a cruise for about a week up into uh maine and rhode island and boston and then into canada for a couple of days and from that one had a good time and then got home and a few days later went to washington for a radio convention where larry and i got a they were nice enough to give us a lifetime achievement award for a few things we've done on the hobby over the last 50 years. So we've had a busy September. So it's kind of nice for me, at least, not to have as much to do in October, November, December, except for my normal Disney Candlelight rehearsals. But at least I'm not out of town. I'm in the general area. Well, congratulations. That is an honor. That's awesome. Yeah, it's completely unexpected, but very nice. And got a chance to see some great friends again. So it was a lot of fun.

Thomas: Man, ever since you retired, you've been like a really busy man. I mean, my gosh. I mean, just this year alone, was it two cruises? Two cruises this month. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I hope the money holds out.

John: I'll tell you. Right?

Thomas: It's like, man, you got some one heck of a 401k plan or something going on there. I haven't touched it yet, but I'm going to have to pretty soon, I think.

Dave: You're going to write the book on how to retire.

John: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I love being retired. I've got more flexibility. But, you know, going from a good paycheck down to virtually nothing is a big adjustment.

Thomas: It is, but it sounds like you're making the best of it as you've been retired. So I'm so glad to hear that you're enjoying life the fullest. Oh, yeah. Well, guys, like John said, yeah, there's a lot to cover. Let's go ahead and jump into it. I thought... First up, I thought we'd talk about some news on Apple's site. This month has been kind of busy. We finally got some things moving along in terms of getting a developer to help us out on some Drupal stuff. Drupal is the type of web page that we host on. I don't know what you're going to call this. It's sort of a CNS. What do you call that? It's not a web page, but it's what it runs on, right?

Dave: Is that a CMS, content management system? Or is that a... Something like that.

Thomas: Sounds like WordPress, that kind of thing, if people know what that is. There you go. It's kind of like WordPress. It's how the site is put together and how you see things, and it is very advanced, and none of us on the team are technical enough to know exactly how this works. So we had to get a third-party developer to start helping us on some improvements to Apple Business, and it's long overdue, so... We finally got some pretty cool stuff coming to you. So some of the things, if you haven't been to AppleBiz for a while, when you first come to the site, the first thing you're going to notice is we have a totally new redesigned menu. So take a look at that. They are collapsible. I know some people are not a big fan of collapsible, but there are some pros and cons to both ways. But we have kind of revamped the menu to make things a little easier to find things. Before, we had, if you go to a particular page, then you had to hunt for something on that page to go to somewhere else. So we're trying to put everything into the main menu area so you don't have to do that so it's all there for your convenience. So if you get a chance, take a look at that and give us some feedback because we're looking for some good, valuable feedback on the menu. So we're pretty excited about that. So we've got a revamped interface. We have some pretty long time wants from our users, and we are hearing you, and we do want to listen and take your feedback. And one of those is being able to delete your own comments. So there might be a reason. I know we've had some issues with AI bots. Yeah, so these AI bots are now like this huge deal on all websites out there. Ours is just one of those bots. that are being pegged by these AI bots, and these are like, you know, Google has their own AI, so they have to kind of what we do, a web crawl, so they just kind of grab everything from AppleBiz and to put in their AI, so it's teaching the AI, and that's kind of the biggest annoyances we have had in the past six, eight months, mostly. You've probably seen some slowdown. We had to upgrade our servers to handle some more performance, I don't know, more load and performances because it was running slow. So from time to time, you notice when it gets slow, you might accidentally double post something. They think you saved it right and you saved it again. And so that caused duplication. So we now give our users the ability to delete their comments or if they felt like they said something and they don't want to have that up there anymore, they can delete that. So that's been kind of a long process. come overdue, and some of the requests we have for form names. So if you come to the main page, you see the form post. People are wanting to know what form categories that went into. So when you come to see that, it'll tell you the name of the title and what form category it now fits into. So we got that implemented. we moved the login link up in the main menu. So when you open up the main menu for the first time, you go down to account. That's been kind of a I think a lot of people were unable to find the login as easily and accessibly. So now that has been moved up to the very top, so you'll be able to see that. Now, we have been kind of dousing into AI moderation. Why did we do this? And some people were kind of hesitant about it, and I get it. I totally understand. So right now, this is just experimental that we're testing as a moderator, as a team. One of the heaviest things that happens day to day is watching every comment that goes on to the site. And as you can imagine, that's a lot. There is a lot of activity going on out of this. But sometimes, you know, we may be out for an hour or two just for personal reasons or whatever or not. We're busy doing something like I'm doing the Apple Crunch, for example. Um, so it's hard to nap something or tag on something or get to something that needs to be attention. So we get a lot of spammers or whatever, not, or somebody, uh, abuse our rules and things like that. And we try to quickly, uh, squash that. So the moderation API is what that's supposed to help us do is anything that's notable as in, um, These are obviously rule guideline infraction and reinfraction. So those things will kind of tag it and let you know that. this has been, um, let's just let you know, this is not acceptable and things like that. So it's not something being heavy handed is going to be something that's going to be light handed. That's what we are trying to, to experiment, see if it's something that'll work for us. And it's not in any way to squash or to, um, I don't know for opinion. So we're not trying to suppress anything or anything like that. So I just want to let you know that, Have you noticed a lot of that stuff on the site there, Dave?

Dave: Yeah, definitely. I think there's some really good ones there. And it marks, actually, I hadn't almost realized it myself, the one-year anniversary of the relaunch of the site. And it was great to see that all these improvements have been made in that time. I think the menu one definitely is good. I think you're right. Like, not everybody loves collapsible, but there's so many things. Sometimes you just have to have the width of menus. And having the... And that's one about the login, the account being moved to the top. That came directly from the user feedback when Michael announced some of the other changes. So it's great to see that. And I think the forum post names, I think, is really good. On the main page, it seems like it's one of those, the little things really matter sometimes. So if you see the title... subject of a post and previously you might have gone if that's iOS I'm interested if that's Mac I'm not interested or vice versa but you had to go into the post to find out whereas now on that homepage you can see this is in the iOS forum this is in the Mac forum or the watch forum what have you so I think that's a huge improvement and they'd be the big ones for me the AI moderation I think you're right it's something we're just trying out and I think it's mainly to catch out, you know, very obvious problems with language and that kind of thing. Like I say, we'll see how it goes. But definitely if people have feedback or experiences with it, let us know.

Thomas: Yeah, it's definitely experimental. It's something that we're experimenting with. They may not even stick around. But I do know there's one more thing I will add to that list is that we have heard people saying that, They try to log in through our site and come back a few days later, and they're automatically logged out. So they want a way to be able to stay in, logged in for a little bit longer. So we're currently working on that as well. So that's kind of a new thing. The point is that this is an ongoing thing, and we finally got the ball rolling, and there's many things for us that we have put onto a list that we want to accomplish, and so you'll be seeing those changes. So I'll try to bring them up on the podcast for those that don't visit the site all that often, so to keep you up to date what's going on. But I imagine, John, you've probably been too busy to notice those things. Have you noticed that, or have you been onto your site in...

John: it's been about a month since I've been out there, so I've not had a chance to look at them, but I will now that you mentioned it. I'll go up there and take a look.

Thomas: Yeah, I'd be curious what you think of the menu. I think that's kind of a big thing, and if you think of anything as well, just let us know, and so I appreciate it. On to other related Apple news, and I think this is kind of a critical thing that we want to definitely address and talk to people about today, and that is when iOS 26 came out, One of the things that we came across after that we posted our list of things or known bugs in 26, we started getting a lot of reports from people, our users, saying that when they update to iOS 26, their device was unresponsive, as in meaning there was no voiceover. So technically what was going on is that you get to the login screen, so where you put the PIN code in, as you have to put in the passcode each time you install a new iOS. And it was stuck there. There was no voiceover. And even if you try to initiate Siri or triple-click the side button, it would not turn on voiceover. And the weird thing is that after you enter the passcode, then voiceover popped on. So that was pretty critical. So we're kind of in a rush and we made some updated to on Apple visit to let people know of this problem and some possible workaround. But needless to say, Apple found out about this and we reported it to them and they responded very quickly, which was great. This is a rare part about Apple that I really love about Apple when they listen to us and address these things. So it was so critical enough that they were able to release a 26.0.1 that now corrects that problem. So if you have not gone to iOS 26 and you're worried about that critical bug, well, Safely assured that this new 26.0.1 has now resolved that problem. Man, what a nightmare that would have been, John.

John: Yeah, it didn't happen to me at all, but I have a couple of friends who did experience it. So I'm sure that they've already upgraded. And for most people, probably didn't have a problem. But for the few that did, upgrading to this new update that just came out should fix that problem, luckily. So you would think that it would have been caught in beta, but... Again, it didn't occur to everybody or didn't happen to everybody. So it is something that can be missed by people.

Dave: I think the thing with that is that, you know, our whole team, for example, would have been on the beta. But if it didn't happen in the early betas when we all jumped on, then it wasn't happening. And it was only from when you went from the leap from 18 to 26. It wasn't happening from 26 version, you know, beta to beta.

John: Oh, yeah. You can't catch everything having tested a lot of stuff in beta. As careful as you try to be, you're going to miss some of them just because it doesn't happen to everybody. And most people don't understand that. Not everybody sees that happen to them. So it can sneak by you without you knowing it, unfortunately. Yeah.

Thomas: Yeah, it's such a unique bug. And it's like Dave said, is that the reason it went past us as a team is that we were all on the beta already. And this only exists for those that are 18 coming up to 26. And so none of us did that. I mean, yes, we did that from beta 1 or beta 2, but it wasn't occurring at that point. So it must have come on later in the beta cycle. And none of us really saw that. And Not even that, but, you know, even if we update it, most people were able to get on just fine. So I don't know what the circumstance was, what triggered it and things like that. So it's one of those random flukes, you know, and it's unfortunate. And I get it. I hear people saying that should have been caught. You know what? It is tough because... If there were six of us on that beta testing and none of us seen that and I hadn't heard it from anybody else during the beta cycles, it's hard. But the point is I'm really glad that Apple reactively made this fix for us quickly rather than wait until 16.1 because... Man, that would have been a nightmare for myself. Now, fortunately, I do have some sighted people around in my house, but that would have been a disaster. But I'm assuming for you, Dave, you probably could just take that to work and somebody there could help you with that.

Dave: I guess, or my family aren't a million miles away, although I'd have to get on my Mac and contact them or email them or something. But, yeah, it would have been, because I live alone, it would have been a problem for me had I had it, but thankfully, thankfully it's, happened to me I have my secondary device my test device is a 12 mini which I kept on 18 until yesterday when the 26.1 came out and I updated it no problem so that was good but yeah definitely a big issue for those that did have it happen suddenly having no device can be a scary place to be particularly for us I think

Thomas: Totally agree. Just glad that that's fixed, so I want to make a mention of that in this podcast for those that haven't heard about that news. So we are safe to go. You know, a lot of people are still asking, should I upgrade? It really is going to be up to you, honestly. There are still some bugs on 26 that's kind of annoying. I think overall it's usable. I mean, John, are you on 26 now?

John: Yeah, and I upgraded to 2601 yesterday, meaning Monday or whenever it came out.

Thomas: And what's the experience been like?

John: So far, it's been fine. I never really had any problems previous to that, so I haven't had any major problems, and I've been gone enough so that I haven't had a chance to fool around with a lot of the new features. I accidentally did get my phone placed in a new display and didn't

John: I realized that there was a new way to look at your phone, but I didn't do it intentionally, so I had to look around until I could find a place to get rid of it, and I don't plan on going back to the new display.

Thomas: To me, it does... You're talking about the different display within, like, the phone app itself? Is that what you mean?

John: Yeah, where everything is combined.

Thomas: Yeah, the compact view.

John: It doesn't do an information.

Thomas: How about you, David? Has things been pretty good for you? Is there anything in particular that's been driving you batty?

Dave: In 26.0, I have Nothing, no showstoppers. WhatsApp, which I know is debatable, whether we have it on our list, it's debatable whether that's an Apple thing or a WhatsApp thing or what, but it is definitely only happening in iOS 26. And I know in North America, WhatsApp isn't huge, but where I am, WhatsApp is the one and only place people communicate, really. And I can't react to messages anymore, which again, at least you're still able to read and write messages and so on, but it's still very irritating that you can't react to messages.

Thomas: So the WhatsApp is, is that just only on the 26th?

Dave: Yeah, so it works fine on 18. But once you go to 26, when you bring up the reactions menu, it pops up and then disappears before you can select anything, which is a very strange bug. But we believe a fix is on the way from WhatsApp.

Thomas: Well, I hope so. And, you know, that's kind of a big deal. There's a lot of people using WhatsApp, and that's something they need to know. But nonetheless, 26 is out. Now go grab it. 2601 is out there for you to play with. Now that the dust has settled, let's talk about this odd-dropping keynote that Apple did to talk about the new iPhone. So I'm not going to go over everything. I thought maybe we'd just kind of go over some of the things that we thought. Mostly in particular, I wanted to talk to Dave about this, and that is the iPhone Air. It sounds like you are interested in the Air. Is that right?

Dave: I definitely am interested in, like, I went the whole year saying I have no interest in buying a new phone and my 15 Pro is working fine. I don't need new phones every year anymore. All that kind of stuff. And then the new Air, it just, yeah, just piqued my interest a bit. I just, I like a slick, light, easy to handle phone, I suppose. I loved my old 12 mini, but it's obviously a bit long in the tooth now and... even though the Air has a much bigger screen, a bigger screen even than the 15 Pro, it's still, from everything I'm hearing, even the earlier views, it's just very light and easy to use. And I know it's getting, it gets criticism. People are talking about the compromises, but I think all phones have compromises. It's just, you know, on the Pro, you're getting more battery and better cameras and you're sacrificing kind of And with the air, you're getting more portability, but you're maybe sacrificing a little bit of the battery and the cameras.

Thomas: Well, let me ask you this. Since you really are interested in air, Being only $100 cheaper than the Pro, is that something... I mean, you just like what they're talking about, the thinness and some of the advanced things they have on it. Is that more interesting to you for $100 less? Is that something that you would not want to do?

Dave: Yeah, the Pro doesn't particularly interest me because... it's just another phone that's kind of the same as my 15 Pro, but just a little bit better. You know what I mean? But I don't think I'll notice any difference. And actually, it'll be... ticker even apparently, whereas the Air at least is something a bit different. It's a new style of phone, so I probably like that as well, that every now and then it's just nice to have something that feels like a change or something new, but so far I've resisted.

Thomas: Right. You know, the one thing I was thinking about you is because you are one of the guys that don't have cases on their phones, so I would think the Air would be gorgeous for that reason because it is thin, and so... You don't have that limitation.

Dave: Slightly curved back feel to it, apparently, as well. So it's not quite as squared off. So, again, makes me think back to the old, you know, 7 or 8, you know, the SE, that style almost, except bigger, obviously. But, you know, that kind of reading the 3GS back in the day, that kind of slight curve to the back around the edges would be nice.

Thomas: Right. And so, you know, at first, when I first... heard about the iPhone Air, I was immediately in a defensive mode with this, and, oh, God, this is not going to be a great phone. But I'll be honest, over time and after I heard things and listened to some reviews and stuff like that, so, you know, as a blind person, you know, it doesn't have the ProMotion. I'm thinking, well, I really don't need that. It doesn't have this awesome camera, and I'm thinking, well, I don't really need that. The only thing that concerns me about the camera is the macro. shot, so it doesn't have the macro camera, but it has a regular camera that works really well. It's just I've heard that once, obviously, when you get into optical zoom and things like that, this is where things start to really go awry and go different. You know, battery life, it's not as bad as I thought, Dave, because when I looked at it, I thought it was going to be a disaster. And every review says, oh, it's got this really low battery, and I'm reading it. And it's really not that much difference because on the 16 Pro, I think it was 30, 29 hours. on video mode, and this does 27. And I was like, that's not that big of a deal. I was thinking way worse, like the Mini did.

Dave: It depends what you're comparing it to, I guess. So if you're comparing it to the 17 Pro or something, then, yeah, it looks bad. But if you're comparing it to the 13, the 14, the 15, whatever that you're upgrading from, you're probably not losing anything, you know?

Thomas: That is true.

Dave: And I think on the cameras... Sorry, go ahead.

Thomas: Oh, no, no, no. Sorry. Go for it. Three, two, one.

Dave: And I think on the camera point, it has some really good cameras, just it hasn't got the ultra-wide camera. And I have to be honest, I don't know if that matters or not for what I do with a camera. I don't know if I ever used the ultra-wide camera on my current phone. So, yeah, that one would be a TBC, I think. And then the one that concerns me a little is the mono speaker. And again, I think if you use your phone for listening to music, through its own speakers it'd be a no-go but i don't um if i listen to audio on my phone it's with earphones or what have you so but will it be annoying even for just using voiceover um i don't know that's the other one that i'm a bit um nervous about i guess it's the speaker

Thomas: Right, that mono. So that's the reason I say for $100 more, you get a way better camera, you got stereo speakers, and you get a better processor, about five more hours longer battery life. And so there's little things. It's like for $100 more, it's like, man, do I really need that thinness to compromise on the other things just for $100? That's what I'm asking. Is it worth $100 more? of heartaches because you're missing those things.

Dave: Yeah, I suppose that's why they have a range of phones, because we all have different priorities. So if battery is so critical to you, then it's absolutely not worth it for you. But if portability and stuff is what you value more, then, yeah, the Air might be the one for you. I think that's how I try to look at it. They have four new phones out, and you can choose the one that meets your priorities.

Thomas: Hi, John. Since you and I are on older devices as well, I have no desire to go into this new stuff. What is your first thought on this iPhone 17 when you heard it for yourself? Or the Air, I should say.

John: Nothing really stood out for me. And I got my 16 Pro. A little less than a year ago. So I'm really not in any hurry to upgrade unless there's something major that comes along. And then I'll have to make that judgment. But I'm not going to do the 17 this year. Whether we move to the 18 in a couple of years, it depends. Now that I'm retired, that tends to make me want to be a bit more cautious. when money was coming in every week, I didn't care that much. But we'll see what happens. If something really major comes in on the 18, then I'd have to think about it. But I don't think I'm going to upgrade to the 17.

Thomas: Right. Well, I'm kind of with both of you. I'm sticking with my 16 Pro. I'm happy with it. There's nothing in 17 Pro that I definitely need. But I will say it is pretty clear in direction where they're going with these phones. And I'll Clarify that. You'll notice in the iPhone 17, one of the things they really tout on the Pro version is the CPU, of course. It's got the A19 now. The CPU is not all that different between that and the 16 Pro. So it's not that big of a speed bump. We're talking about 10, 50 percent, which is nominal. So generally, when you have something less than 10 percent, you're really not going to notice a lot of different spots. Where it really sings, and it should alert you to be, so you know what Apple's going with this, is that the GPU, that is a set of chips that is where the Apple Intelligent takes advantage of. It used to be for gaming, so the more GPU cores that you have... the better the processing comes for graphic-wise. So it makes sense when you have a bigger screen, you need more GPUs. But we're talking about a substantial jump. And a lot of people probably don't know this, but we're talking like a 40% jump in the GPU speed compared to this A19 chip to last year's 16 Pro. And that, to me, is huge. That means they are really finally starting to take serious of this AI stuff, and they want some serious GPU to be crunching those AI stuff on your device. So I imagine by next year, that GPU is only going to be enhanced even more. And it makes me wonder if they're going to put more AI balance on your device, meaning that you're going to have this local LLM AI on your device rather than like ChatGPT where you type, it goes out to the server process and then brings it back. And this meaning that if the GPU gets high enough, all that can be done on your device. So I use Apple Intelligence myself, especially with iOS 26, where developers are now taking advantage of the Apple Intelligence for those that have the newer device that can support AI. For example, I use Liray that reads all the RSS feeds, so it gives me my news. But one of the features that's on there now that people can tap in, they can tap into the Apple AI device, So I can have all my news summarized for me. And this is like. Wow. But the problem is it's a little bit slower. So I'm thinking these newer A19 chips on these i17 Pro are going to be speedy and snappier. And so it's going to make me think about the AI for those on the 15 Pro is going to get slower and slower because it has to process that. So with that knowledge in there, so be on the watch for that. And that's kind of a big thing about the iPhone 17. Now, I will say I was surprised with the iPhone 17 Pro going back to aluminum base because remember, you guys, they touted about how this is going to make it so much more lightweight and so much more durable and it doesn't scratch and everything. And then all of a sudden, oh, we're going to go back to aluminum. It turns out that the iPhone 17, if you have not seen them, the back of your device now, you know, right now it's all kind of glass plate on the back. And you got that big old horrendous camber bumps on the corner. Well, it's different. So when you look at the iPhone 17 phones now, just think about where the bottom of the volume up button is on the side. So just think about that's where that line is. So go to the back side. All the way across that and up to the top is aluminum. So it's covered in aluminum where the bottom half is glass. So you don't have a full glass facing. So the reason they did that is to cool off your phone even more. So I'm thinking that's because of the higher GPU. And as everybody knows, or if you don't know, when that GPU is peaked or pegged at 100%, that phone warms up fast. And so I'm thinking they... the more and more processor power they put in that GPU, the more they need to have that thing cool down. So that aluminum is supposed to take the heat away from the chip. So that was kind of interesting. It looks different. The colors are kind of eh, but it's the typical. I think they really are putting their emphasis on the air. I think that's where the big excitement's going to be. So we'll see where that takes us. Let's move over to the Apple Watch. Apple Watch Series 10, I believe. You know, it wasn't really all that much. It seems like with each year, it's kind of becoming more and more minimal changes. The only major change was the band. So if you got a band, this is where you got to look at is that it's no longer a 42 and 44. Now it's a 46 and 50. So it's going to be bigger. I think the only advantage of this one is that it's a little thinner. So people that don't like the thicker one, this one is thinner, so it's a little bit lighter. The CPU has been updated. And again, that goes back to the AI. So that was the other thing they were talking about in the keynote is that the CPU allows you to do a little bit more processing with the Apple AI. I know I don't want to bore people with too much AI talk, but I think that's the direction we're going to go with the Apple products. You're going to hear a lot of Apple Intelligence AI stuff going forward in all of our products. And I think that's what the CPU bump was about on the watch. I am disappointed with the color. I thought there'd be more color to them. But it just didn't seem like there was anything major about this. John, what was your thought when you heard about the Apple Watch?

John: I wasn't really impressed. I'm not a watch user anyway, so it really didn't appeal to me. I still don't have one. And I don't know that I'm going to get one. I don't know. There's just nothing about them that I really like that I think that I need. My phone does everything I want it to do. So I don't really need a watch.

Thomas: Yeah. How about you, Dave? Did you think it was lackluster?

Dave: Yeah, for me, I did buy a watch last year. And I think when I did, I had the feeling that I'm probably going to keep this for several years. So when the new one came out, I wasn't particularly interested. But even for those that were interested, I just don't think there's enough. There is the bigger screen, I suppose, or the thinner, slightly thinner body, but there's not enough there, I think, to encourage people to upgrade. They have changed the band connections, which is going to be annoying for people. It's almost like they're going down the road of lightning to USB-C again, where it's like they've changed the connector, so your old bands don't work on the new one. And maybe in a few years, that won't be a problem, because everyone will have the new bands. But right now, if you've got 10 bands in your drawer, only the two that came with your watch will fit the new one, so that's going to be a big problem for people.

Thomas: That was the biggest thing that struck me about that whole thing. And that was the only thing I could think of. But like John says, it's not all that super exciting. And you know what, for people who want to know, the Series 9 is still available. So they haven't discontinued that yet. So if you're in the market for an Apple Watch, that's something to consider. All right. Let's talk about the iPad. This is kind of interesting. Again, it was kind of quiet on that front, except for a refresh of the iPad Air and the iPad Pro. Again, nothing really major. I will say this about the iPad Pro. It is now OLED. And that is a beautiful display. People that have seen it just said it's a stunning display. And I can imagine. So that's kind of the big thing. The other thing is they added the M4 chip in that as well. So that means they jumped from the M2 to the M4. The reason for that is that the M3 wasn't really set up for the iPad. The M4 allows for better GPU. And here we go back to that AI. A lot of that was to be able to do more AI locally. So that was a big surprise that they actually came out with the M4 already. So that's kind of interesting. But otherwise, it was just kind of a ho-hum refresh. And they do have new accessories, the keyboard and the pencil. And again, not a huge change there. The Air was refreshed as well, which is kind of nice. It has some of the newer CPU and a little bit lighter and better display. So if you're an iPad Air user, then that's something you can look forward to. And I think the prices weren't bad, considering. So overall, nothing major about the iPad. John, are you still using your iPad?

John: Oh, yeah. I still use it. I like the iPad. But again, I don't think there's anything in this particular event that would make me want to buy a new one. My Air is fine.

Thomas: Yeah, I think that's the consensus from everyone I talked to. It wasn't like a big splash thing. So with that being said, that was the September event. Overall, it's just like... it wasn't a wow factor. You know, and I think that's where we came with it. So the other newsworthy stuff I wanted to mention is something that a lot of people haven't heard of. So back in July, there was this little thing that was slipped under the table that nobody really knew about. And I think it didn't get very much attention because, A, it wasn't announced, and B, the government put a clamp down on it. And I'm not sure exactly why, but what happened was the EU (European Union) passed this law that Apple has to comply with, and they quietly complied with it. So on July 24th, a new version of iOS 18.6.1 was released. You probably have not heard of it. Most people haven't. But if you look it up, you'll find it. And what this does is that the EU mandated Apple to put a switch into the settings where you can disable Apple Intelligence AI. So I don't know if you heard about this, John, but you can now toggle off the Apple Intelligence.

John: I did not hear about that. Interesting.

Thomas: Yeah, and like I said, Apple didn't announce it. It was just something that came up. And I think the reason they didn't announce it was because they didn't want the publicity. They just wanted to make it happen to comply. But that is a huge deal, because if you don't want Apple Intelligence AI on your device, there is a toggle. It's only available in the EU, but you can change your region to EU and then you will see it. And then you can turn it off. So if you're not comfortable with Apple AI, that's something to keep in mind. I think that's a pretty big deal. Dave, did you hear about that?

Dave: No, I hadn't heard about that either. That's interesting. And I suppose, again, it opens up the conversation about privacy. There are people that are concerned about AI, and they're not wrong to be concerned. So, you know, it's nice to have the option, I suppose.

Thomas: It is. So, if you have a concern about privacy, that is a great thing. And I will say, as far as my knowledge goes, Apple is probably the safest bet when it comes to AI. Because everything else is going out to servers, and you don't know where it's going. Whereas Apple is trying to keep it as local as possible. So, I think that's a pretty important note to make. So, the other news that was on the table was the Department of Justice in the U.S. has filed a lawsuit against Apple for monopolistic practices. Now, this is something that has been rumored for a while, and now it's official. They are looking at the App Store, they are looking at Apple Pay, and they are looking at other areas where Apple may have used its position unfairly. So, this is going to be a big case, and it's probably going to go on for years. But it's something to keep in mind. We don't know what the outcome will be, but it could mean changes for Apple down the road. So, that's another big piece of news. Now, on a lighter note, I wanted to bring up something non-Apple related, but it’s still tech. And that is Spotify. Spotify just released a new feature where you can create your own AI DJ. So it uses your listening habits and creates a kind of radio show for you with commentary. It’s kind of like having your own personal DJ, but powered by AI.

Dave: Yeah, I saw that. It’s rolling out gradually, I think. Some people already have it, some don’t. But it’s an interesting concept. I don’t know how much I’d use it, but I can see the appeal for people who want that radio feel but tailored to them.

John: That could be fun. I might give that a try. It reminds me of the old days when you’d record songs off the radio and the DJ would talk between them. Except now it’s all computer-generated.

Thomas: Exactly. And the thing that surprised me was how natural the voice sounds. It doesn’t sound robotic at all. It really does sound like a DJ. So, that’s something for people to check out if they’re Spotify users. And finally, before we wrap things up, I just wanted to say thanks again to both of you. Dave, I appreciate you stepping in as co-host today. It’s been a pleasure having you on.

Dave: Thank you, Thomas. It’s been great. I enjoyed it.

John: Yeah, it was fun. Always good to chat and catch up.

Thomas: And for our listeners, thanks again for tuning in to another edition of Apple Crunch. Remember, you can always find us on AppleVis.com, where we’ll keep you updated with all the latest Apple news, reviews, and guides. If you have feedback, head over to the forums, let us know what you think, or drop us a line. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already, so you never miss an episode. We’ve got more exciting discussions planned, and hopefully we’ll have the whole gang back together next time. Until then, stay safe, enjoy your Apple products, and we’ll catch you again soon.

Dave: Thanks, everyone.

John: See you all next time.

Thomas: By the way, before we officially close, a quick reminder — if you enjoy what we’re doing, please consider supporting the AppleVis community. Whether that’s sharing the site with friends, contributing in the forums, or even writing a guide or review, every bit helps us keep moving forward. We’re all in this together, and your involvement makes the difference.

Dave: Well said. It’s a community effort, and that’s what makes AppleVis special.

John: Absolutely. Couldn’t agree more.

Thomas: All right, folks. That really does wrap things up for this Apple Crunch. Thanks again for listening, and we’ll see you on the next one.

Dave: Take care, everyone.

John: Bye-bye.