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 First, I think there is nothing wrong with the way the Ultra looks for its intended market. Rugged sport watches should look like this. And they pretty much all do. The things I dislike about the Ultra have practical reasons for being. I used to wear a humongous Garmin sport watch for running.
 I used to think that the accusations against early Apple product reviewers pulling their punches to stay in good graces with Apple were overblown. Now, I’m not so sure.
 I’ve been amused at the Apple watchers both praising and castigating Apple for two items which they don’t realize are related. On the one hand, everyone is pleasantly surprised that Apple was able to hold prices on the new iPhones in the US steady. But on the other, many are griping that Apple no longer includes physical SIM card trays in the US. These are two sides of the same coin.
 Battery life on the Apple Watch has always been very dependent on the user. Macrumors is full of couch potatoes who brag about finishing the day with 60% of their battery life left when they go to bed. Well yeah, sitting around the house and surfing the web doesn’t require a whole lot of power.
 Ok, I couldn’t resist taking one more victory lap against this now discredited theory. Partially because I’ve never seen a quote which almost lifts my 2016 blog post verbatim and partially because tech-doofus Ben Thompson was a proponent of this theory.
 Since I generally ignore Ben Thompson, his latest head-scratching post came to my attention because it was linked elsewhere. It was about how Apple tramples our constitutional rights by preventing the public from due process.
 The Apple-watching part of the internet was all ablaze this week with stories about the cancelled product called AirPower. It seems that some prototypes of the charger made it out and there have even been YouTube videos already putting it to the test.
 Apple has never said why they removed the awesome feature of 3D Touch from their iPhones and Apple Watches but it was a huge mistake. And now with the upcoming iOS 16 new feature of image grabbing, I miss it even more.
 I keep hearing Apple prognosticators predict that the iPhone is definitely on course to go all USB-C in the very near future. Mainly because the European Union issued an anti-waste decree that electronics need to standardize on USB-C. But I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion yet.
 The clueless Apple punditry is getting it wrong yet again. As they’ve all enjoyed throwing stones at how ridiculous it is for BMW to charge $18 per month to have heated seats, they ignore their own hypocrisy at encouraging people to accept subscriptions when it comes to iOS apps.
 The Washington Times ran a story recently that reminded everyone how Apple’s HomeKit stands out from the crowd. It was about how an American researcher discovered that Chinese made coffee makers were collecting data on customers.
 I’ve long held the theory that more and more Mac users are abandoning the Mac platform but it is Windows switchers which are keeping the Mac business alive. I seem to frequently bump into former Mac users who are either all iPad or only use their Macs for specific purposes any more. Why? Because they find their iPad is both cheaper and easier to carry around. Not too mention the iPad is a lot easier to manage and you can use the same apps that you’re already familiar with from your phone.
 I hate desk clutter. So when I first laid eyes on Kensington’s new iPad StudioDock, I knew that this device, as Marie Kondo would say, would bring joy to my life. And it hasn’t disappointed. I was able to combine an iPhone charger, Apple Watch Charger, USB Hub, iPad Stand, and iPad charger all into one device with a fairly small desk footprint. That alone was worth every penny.
 I wasn’t surprised in the least today when Apple unveiled their new iPadOS which included greatly enhanced external monitor support. If you look at the progress of iPadOS over the last 3 years, there is no way you couldn’t come to the conclusion that having an extended desktop on an external monitor wasn’t the next logical progression.
 For years Apple pundits like Jason Snell have been openly placing the interests of their developer friends over their iPhone purchasing audience so that they can be the toast of the cocktail parties at their annual WWDC gatherings. According to Jason et al it is Apple’s fault that you can’t purchase Kindle books within the Kindle app within iOS.
 The Apple TV is one of my favorite pieces of tech. And that’s in no small part due to the Siri control. Yeah, I have access to anything in Apple TV+ via my Smart TV’s built-in media menus. But using Siri to scrub video and search for shows is so much nicer than using a remote. No more fumbling for the right button. I pretty much just use the Siri button for almost everything. If you have an Apple TV and don’t use Siri, you’re doing it wrong.
 All week I’ve been listening to various pundits explain how the iPhone killed the iPod. Which I agree with. But I haven’t heard anyone explain how the iPhone morphed into something which is no longer a very good iPod. The iPhone has actually turned into more of a mini-tablet.
 Back in the fall of 2019 Tim Cook said something about the AirPods Pro which puzzled a lot of Apple Watchers. He said that the AirPods Pro were a complement to your AirPods, not a replacement.
 The European Union shows the rest of the world that they have no problem with being the “nanny state”. It seems that no issue is too small for European bureaucrats to meddle in.
The latest example is the fact that they want to mandate what kind of power ports come on smart phones. According to The Verge, Europe is a step closer to requiring that all smartphones use USB-C ports in order to reduce e-waste. Of course, the notable target of this law would be Apple which uses the Lightning port on all iPhones.  I heard some rumors in the mid-February time frame about Apple possibly making foldable tablets or Macs that have no physical keyboards but hinged screens. Ever since I’ve been thinking more and more that this is something I’d love to see happen. I really wouldn’t know for sure until I tried one out because everything is a balance of priorities. Would the extra screen space be worth the extra weight?
 I agree with Tim Cook who said that the AirPod Pro’s aren’t meant to be a replacement for the regular AirPods but are an essential accessory alongside them.
 The world has collectively imposed sanctions on Russia because it made an unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Now the world should impose sanctions on the EU because they just attacked companies from multiple countries and are trying to “nationalize” their tech. They are going full Hugo Chavez and trying to wrest control of property that belongs to foreign companies.
 The Verge had an interesting story about Android 12L’s new focus on tablets. Rick Miner’s, Android’s CTO of Tablets spoke to The Verge about Android’s belief that tablets will be overtaking laptops in the future. This was quite surprising to me since compared to Apple, Android seemed to be largely ignoring the tablet market. Here is a little from The Verge.
 A few months ago I had written about how Apple’s vision for the iPad is one free from wires. Apple looks upon wires in a similar fashion as they do the 3.5mm headphone jacks. They are in widespread use, eminently useful, but less than ideal.
 I’ve been saying for years that the iMac makes no financial sense. Why was I probably the only person on Earth saying this? Because I’m a financial analyst who used to support Gateway customer support operations and had to calculate warranty reserves.
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Robert PerezManufacturing and distribution analysis since 1993. 
Perezonomics is available in Apple News
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