This is Technology Bytes, episode 184 for September 13th, 2026.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bytes on interesting technology.
Enjoy, and here we go.
Last week, Apple held their surprise and shiny event, and in my previous microcast, I talked about what I thought might happen there.
And while much of it was known, some thought, and myself included, and I really hoped for some home products, that didn’t happen.
But all in all, I think it was still a good event.
Now, the reality is that I am going to probably get three microcasts out of Apple’s event.
Today, I want to talk about the hardware that was announced, and then, except for one, the last thing.
And then next week, I’ll talk about that hardware, the, you know, one more thing hardware, which hasn’t happened in some time, that one more thing.
And then in the third week, I want to talk about software and some of the features that Apple talked about with and for the hardware that they released.
I’m going to start with the AirPods version 5.
Version?
Yeah, whatever.
The AirPods 5.
So it’s not a Pro AirPod, but there are a lot of features in it that are Pro-like, and I think Apple’s been doing that for a little while now, where they’ve really pushed a lot of their Pro features into their lower-end hardware, and I think it’s a really good thing.
It gives more tools, more options for people buying at that level.
I like my AirPods Pro.
I probably won’t buy anything but AirPods Pro because that’s what I like.
That’s how, what I’m used to.
But anyway, there’s a lot of good things in the 5: the active noise cancellation, the controls on the stem if you buy the kind of the step-up, and all in all.
A very good product that Apple has put a lot more thought into, but I think people are still waiting for that next AirPods Pro with maybe a camera.
But either way, the AirPods 5, good purchase, good price.
They haven’t raised the price on that, so that is good as well.
Also, as was known, or at least had been rumored and turned out to be true, is Apple only announced the iPhone 18 Pro versions, so the Pro and the Pro Max, and didn’t talk about their standard 18 or 18E or anything like that.
It’s, you know, it’s a nice phone.
I think they’ve got some pretty cool colors that they’ve come out with, but really thinking about what has changed.
Well, you know, they always change the chip, so there’s a new chip, more power.
Apple is really looking at the power of their chips to do AI, and they are buying into that a lot.
So trying to run on-device models, giving you the power to do that, giving you the RAM and the devices to do that.
So the 18 Pro is no different in that context.
I think one of the bigger things that they’ve done with the 18 Pro is the variable aperture lens that they put on the phone this year.
One pundit that I read said it’s not so much that it’s variable, but the fact that it can stop down to a 1.48.
And he said, who doesn’t like bokeh?
Everybody likes bokeh, and I think that’s down from like a 1.7.
So pretty cool to get that adjustable aperture on a lens, and it really is a physical thing.
I don’t know how they make little tiny parts move like that, but it is pretty fascinating.
And then you wonder about durability and things like that.
But, you know, Apple doesn’t put stuff out that doesn’t hold up, and so it’ll be interesting to see.
I love photography.
I’m not good at it.
That’s the problem.
You know, I had a fairly nice DSLR for a while.
I rented in manual mode a lot because I, you know, fancied myself a photographer.
I still don’t think I was all that good.
I did get a few good shots.
In fact, we even had them printed on canvas and had them hanging in our home for a while.
And so…
The one thing that draws me to the iPhone 18 Pro, and I would be looking at the Pro Max, is that camera.
Better battery life always helps, you know, but a lot of the other things that are on there are the same.
And as we know, because of, you know, RAM prices and storage prices, the price for that phone went up, I think, a hundred dollars.
And, you know, the last phone that I bought, the 17 Pro Max, I ended up getting a 512 gigabyte device because that was what was available in the store the minute I was standing there.
But I don’t use half of that.
In fact, I think I can get away with 256.
I’ve always purchased a 256.
Sitting here today, I don’t think I’m going to get that phone, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to.
The other thing that Apple announced was a watch, the Ultra 4, and also the Series 12.
While I do have a Series 11 that I recently purchased because I am a two Apple Watch person, and I just could not justify being an Ultra owner of two different Ultra devices.
So I think I’ll probably always have the Ultra version of something and then the Series, whatever latest is of something, or maybe a few series old.
You know, I went from a Series 7 to a Series 11.
But the Ultra 4 really draws me in.
I think there’s some cool things about it.
The hardware isn’t all that different as far as size and those kind of things go.
I wouldn’t upgrade my Series 11 to a 12.
I don’t think that would be necessary.
This is the one thing that’s weird because I was thinking if I could afford to buy an Ultra 4, which I’d really like to do, my daughter needs a new watch and I’d like to give her my 12.
And then what I just said a minute ago that what shouldn’t happen has just become true in that I would be— The owner of two ultra versions of the Apple Watch, and I don’t know, just saying it makes it feel a little bit funny.
But thinking about what is different, you know, I look at some of the comparisons, not all that different, but the Ultra 4 has, and the Series 12 have a new chip.
I think it’s the S11, and it has been, I don’t know how you count it, three years.
So 24, 25 had the S11, and now 26 gets, or S10, and 26 gets the S11.
So it has been a couple versions since Apple has put out a new chip for the Apple Watch, and they’re doing it for a specific reason, and that is to run AI models, not necessarily on the watch, but through the phone and to be able to do some of the other things.
And I’ll talk about that in a couple weeks, looking at the software that comes with those things.
So all in all, that part of the event I thought was really good.
I think they did a good job announcing the phone.
They did a good job announcing the watch and a good job announcing the AirPods.
And then they did the one more thing on Turnus’s first foray into the announcement world as the CEO.
So all in all, I thought it was a really good event.
Again, if money were no object or no barrier, I would be getting an iPhone 18 Pro Max, not the purple one, and I would be getting the Ultra 4 watch.
My Ultra 3 is black, so maybe I’d get the silver one.
My wife would be part of that conversation as well.
But at the moment, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to swing getting any of those.
But if you’re getting something, you know, I think it’s great.
You may be upgrading from some number of versions back and not be like me that always thinks you need the latest thing, and need is the wrong word there.
But all in all, I can see how, again, Apple’s hardware is pulling people in.
They do such a good job and so good at doing the details of those devices and paying careful attention to just about everything that is hardware related in those devices.
And it really shines a light on the new CEO, John Turnus, because he’s a hardware guy, and so it’s— No surprise that this hardware speaks for itself and stands out above the competition.
Well, that is all I have for today.
If you have comments, suggestions, or questions, you can send them to technologybytes@merigfamily.com.
As always, I want to thank you for listening to the Technology Bytes microcast, and I look forward to the next time we are together, taking another bite of technology.
