Ben Thompson has a wonderful take on yesterday’s event and what it says about Apple overall:

Apple, to be fair, isn’t selling the same sugar water year-after-year in a zero sum war with other sugar water companies. Their sugar water is getting better, and I think this year’s seasonal concoction is particularly tasty. What is inescapable, however, is that while the company does still make new products — I definitely plan on getting new AirPod Pro 3s! — the company has, in the pursuit of easy profits, constrained the space in which it innovates.

Apple Newsroom posts:

• Apple unveils iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max

• Introducing iPhone Air, a powerful new iPhone with a breakthrough design

• Apple debuts iPhone 17

• Apple debuts Apple Watch Series 11, featuring groundbreaking health insights

• Introducing Apple Watch Ultra 3

• Apple introduces Apple Watch SE 3

• Introducing AirPods Pro 3, the ultimate audio experience

• Apple announces Final Cut Camera 2.0

The Wall Street Journal (gift link):

President Trump on Thursday led leaders of the world’s biggest technology companies in a version of his cabinet meetings, in which each participant takes a turn thanking and praising him, this time for his efforts to promote investments in chip manufacturing and artificial intelligence.

Tech titans including Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said “thank you” to the president, with some laying out how much their companies plan to invest in the U.S.

“Thank you for being such a pro-business, pro-innovation president. It’s a very refreshing change,” Altman said. “I think it’s going to set us up for a long period of leading the world, and that wouldn’t be happening without your leadership.”

Cook said Apple is expected to invest $600 billion in the U.S. “I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we can make a major investment in the United States and have some key manufacturing here. I think it says a lot about your leadership and focus on innovation,” Cook said.

This whole thing was so weird. I know this sounds crazy, but I genuinely think these CEOs were unaware that this dinner was going to be open to the press and filmed. They’re all unprepared and awkward. Mark Zuckerberg didn’t know what number to declare for Meta’s upcoming US infrastructure spend. Tim Cook said this:

I want to thank you for including me this evening. It’s incredible to be among everyone here, particularly you and the first lady. I’ve always enjoyed having dinner and interacting.

Those are not prepared remarks. I mean, what? He enjoys “having dinner and interacting”?

I’m not going to argue that any of these CEOs, Cook included, are playing this situation right. But it really shows the profound power imbalance. The president of the United States is so astonishingly powerful. And Trump is wielding that power in unprecedented ways. This entire fiasco is embarrassing, but the criticism really ought to be directed at Trump.

Apple Security Engineering and Architecture (SEAR):

Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) is the culmination of an unprecedented design and engineering effort, spanning half a decade, that combines the unique strengths of Apple silicon hardware with our advanced operating system security to provide industry-first, always-on memory safety protection across our devices — without compromising our best-in-class device performance. We believe Memory Integrity Enforcement represents the most significant upgrade to memory safety in the history of consumer operating systems.

That is, to say the least, an incredibly bold statement. But I think it’s true. This is a fascinating post, cogently written.

Tim Hardwick, MacRumors:

For the first time, every model in Apple’s latest flagship iPhone 17 lineup features a base 256GB storage capacity, up from the lowest 128GB option in the iPhone 16 series. The regular iPhone 17 now comes in 256GB and 512GB storage options, while the all-new ultra-thin iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro come in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is offered in the same three capacities as the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro, but with the addition of a maximum 2TB option.

I know it’s been 18 years, but it’s kind of wild to compare today’s storage tiers to the original iPhone’s 4, 8, and 16 GB options.