The Vergecast Reviews Apple Launch, iPhone Duo, Watches, and Local LLMs
The Vergecast examines Apple's launch event, including CEO John Ternus's first appearance, the folding iPhone Duo, new iPhone 18 Pro camera questions, Apple Watch AI features, and local LLMs on Mac.
On the episode, Allison Johnson joined the host to discuss the new iPhones, which she had a chance to test in Cupertino. Both raised questions about the new variable aperture camera on the iPhone 18 Pro and whether the real upgrade lies in the wider aperture rather than the ability to stop it down.
The segment then turned to the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first folding phone. The discussion focused on how Apple decided to pick and choose what The Vergecast described as the best parts of Android foldables.
Victoria Song also joined the episode to discuss the new Apple Watches, which she had a chance to test. The conversation covered the new sensor array and whether it allows for legitimately new metrics or just more vibesy health data.
The episode also examined Apple’s addition of an always-on microphone to both new Apple Watches that can summarize all of a user’s conversations. The participants broke down the feature and what it means.
Later, Nilay Patel and David Imel spoke with AI researcher CJ Trowbridge about the state of running local large language models on the Mac.
The episode closed with the return of the Thunder Round, in which the group raced through stories including OpenAI math drama, digital ocarinas, and more. The Verge noted that links to more information on the week’s stories were available below the episode.