Damian Pickett · No. 13
Wednesday 16 September 2026
John Gruber’s rundown of Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro, AirPods 5 and Apple Watch Series 12 launches, and what the event says about where the company goes next.
Apple’s security team has published a detailed explanation of Reference Image, the iPhone 18 Pro feature that cryptographically verifies a photo hasn’t been altered. Worth reading in full.
The Celtics introduced free-agent signings Paul George and Mike Conley on Tuesday, with early notes on fit, health and how they see their roles alongside Boston’s core this season.
Read · Lenny's Newsletter
How to stand out when everyone is running the same playbook
New this week: sixty-plus creative growth tactics for standing out when every team is running the same playbook, directly useful for your product marketing work.
Listen · Founders
A return to one of your core interests: how Jobs rebuilt himself and NeXT after being pushed out of Apple.
Listen · David Senra
Stoute built UnitedMasters on brand and storytelling instincts, a good listen for the positioning and marketing side of your work.
Listen · Acquired
The definitive case study in product marketing and brand building, worth revisiting given the week’s Apple launch coverage.
Google shipped Gemini 3.8 Live and Live Extended Thinking, speech-to-speech models similar in shape to OpenAI’s GPT-Live family. Simon Willison tested them against GPT-6 and shares his notes.
A new WhatsApp Business MCP server lets developers point coding agents like Claude, Cursor and Codex at setup, messaging templates and troubleshooting, cutting the manual configuration work.
Profound, which helps brands track how they appear in AI answers, raised $180 million at a $1.8 billion valuation, just seven months after its last round closed.
Superpose analyses a selfie or photo and generates four suggested poses using AI, built by a team of former TikTok executives turning their attention to camera apps.
Elon Musk’s company will attempt its first full orbital Starship flight next week and also try to deploy the first V3 Starlink satellites into its internet constellation.
Canon’s new full-frame R8 II leans on retro film-camera design cues, a break from its recent focus on vlogging-first cameras.
Satya Nadella and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang are among the speakers at Microsoft’s October event, which will focus on Windows, Nvidia’s RTX Spark and the wider Surface and PC lineup.
Marc Lore’s restaurant and delivery company Wonder struck a $425 million partnership with DoorDash, another step in building out its multi-brand food business.
MacRumors spent a week with the new AirPods 5 and found improved noise cancellation at a lower starting price than the outgoing model.
Apple’s Calendar app can now create events from plain English descriptions in iOS 27, a small but long-requested feature.
An unverified Geekbench result for Apple’s upcoming M5 Ultra chip has surfaced, pointing to a substantial performance jump ahead of the next Mac Studio.
Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay won big at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, helping Apple TV land 29 wins overall and top the night.
Critics called the Zach Cregger-directed Resident Evil reboot ‘gloriously gory’ and one of the best video game adaptations yet, ahead of its 18 September release.
Helen Mirren plays crime writer Patricia Highsmith in this flawed but entertaining literary biopic, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
Avengers: Endgame returns to cinemas as Endgame: Encore, with analysts weighing whether the re-release could reclaim the all-time box-office record for Marvel.
Screenwriter Stephen Beresford discusses his biopic about Ian Charleson, the gay actor whose career and life are the subject of the new film Elsinore, which premiered at Toronto.
Paul George, who has played just 78 games over his last two seasons in Philadelphia, gave an update on his health as he was introduced by the Celtics.
With Jaylen Brown traded to Philadelphia for Paul George, CelticsBlog looks at how Boston can use Al Horford’s role as a model for getting the best out of George.
With A.J. Brown sidelined, Boston.com identifies five Patriots who need to step up on offence as the team adjusts heading into Week 2.
New England reached a new deal with cornerback Christian Gonzalez, ending one of the summer’s lingering storylines before the season began.
Both Mercedes drivers have effectively given up on this year’s championship as teammate Kimi Antonelli builds a commanding points lead.
Team principal Andrea Stella believes Piastri’s deficit to Lando Norris stems from the Australian still consciously adapting to this year’s Formula 1 machinery rather than driving on instinct.
Formula 3 runner-up and Audi junior driver Freddie Slater will move up to Formula 2 with reigning champion team Invicta Racing next season.
Red Sox starter Patrick Sandoval struck out his first four batters but allowed four runs in 2 2/3 innings as Boston fell to Texas in a game between playoff contenders.
With Boston’s rotation set for a likely wild card series against the Yankees, the case is made for handing Tolle the ball over Ranger Suarez or Sonny Gray.
The Tube Computer was built from hundreds of vintage vacuum tubes sourced from Eastern Europe, and apparently has a pleasant, homely smell as a bonus.