Surprise & Shinola

All of the updates for Apple® products were made available on Monday morning. Needless to say, the whole day was spent downloading and installing iOS, MacOS, WatchOS, and new AirPods firmware. The iOS 27 update was mostly accomplished through iPhone cellular data. The MacOS 27 update for the MacBook Neo was initiated using the free wireless network in the Makai Market food court in Ala Moana Center. After an hour, only one-sixth of the huge file was downloaded. The WatchOS 27 update was partly downloaded there, and the remainder was downloaded during the workout at the gym.

The thought of having to transport the MacBook Neo to Ala Moana Center and carry it around all day for six consecutive days was regarded as foolish. So, a trip was made to the Apple® Store in Ala Moana Center on Monday afternoon. The MacOS update was downloaded within an hour, and the installation was performed upon arrival at the mausoleum in the “old folks home” in Waikiki. Serious consideration is being given to divest the Neo when the trade-in option becomes available early next year.

The iOS update appeared to be successful. However, later in the evening, a few “bugs” made themselves manifest. The dark mode for “app” icons is no longer functional. And, worse, Tap To Wake became sporadic. About half of the time, the iPhone 16 Pro would not respond. Pressing every button randomly for two or more minutes would finally revive the device. Even putting the device on charge did nothing. The only two possible workarounds were … one, disable the lock screen … or, two, enable Always On Display mode. In other words, the display cannot be allowed to sleep as the iPhone could easily be “bricked.” For security reasons, the latter option was chosen. Overall, a very pathetic situation.

To add insult to injury, the toggle to disable all Apple® Intelligence features was removed. The AI bullshit is now completely “baked in” for all devices. The only feature that can be disabled is Siri AI (for now) by not joining the wait list. Well, that’s the culmination of the Apple® “Surprise and Shine!” event. Very disappointing surprises. No shine.

Addendum: The new three-band equalizer for AirPods was auditioned. The goal was to simulate the “sizzle” of the Beats® Studio Pro headphones. The result? “Close, but no cigar.” Actually, the equalizer is just a more granular version of the Headphone Accommodations pre-set equalizations.

Postscript: The term, “ always on display,” is misleading. The display shuts off under certain conditions. However, some of the sensors remain active continuously. The tradeoff is battery drain of about 2% for every eight hours of inactivity.