Damian Pickett · No. 39
Monday 12 October 2026
Apple’s “Welcome home” launch event is on Tuesday, which is why Apple news dominates this week.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says pre-orders for the new Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini open this week, ahead of Tuesday’s “Welcome home” event and an October 30 launch.
Max Verstappen won Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix for the first time, leading home Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli after fending off an early challenge.
A teenage girl enters a mysterious kingdom to find her kidnapped brother in Travis Knight’s animated fantasy, voiced by Carey Mulligan and Mahershala Ali among an all-star cast.
Read · Lenny's Newsletter
Results from our second annual tech worker sentiment survey
Timely alongside today’s AI-industry friction stories: Lenny’s survey on how the tech workforce is splitting in two as AI reshapes roles and expectations.
Listen · Founders
Nolan’s obsessive craft echoes today’s Wildwood review and Tarantino’s new stage project, both studies in creative commitment.
Listen · David Senra
Today’s new episode, on the seven-month build of Meta’s Muse, pairs well with the OpenAI Dot vs Muse story in today’s AI section.
Listen · Acquired
A classic study of a great operator, in the mould of the Apple and Disney builders Damian studies, as this week’s Apple launch news builds.
Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s Dot are now competing directly as personal AI agents, with different costs and access between the two.
On TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts debated whether data centre moratoriums reveal a communication problem for the AI industry, and whether dropping NDAs might ease local opposition.
Industry executives say voice AI still misses important context cues, which can break the wider pipeline built around it, so the technology has yet to have its ChatGPT moment.
Anbernic’s upcoming RG DDS handheld pairs a 5:3 main display with a 4:3 bottom screen, matching the Nintendo 3DS’s dual-screen aspect ratio.
This week’s TechCrunch Mobility newsletter covers a cleared roadblock for self-driving trucks, as AI takes a bigger role in transport.
Battlefield 200 startup Efferon has built blood-purification technology aimed at reducing deaths from paediatric sepsis in children.
Richualist, one of TechCrunch’s Battlefield 200 companies, is founder Dawn Myers’s venture to make styling, detangling and caring for curly hair easier.
Two days before Apple’s “Welcome home” event, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has leaked further details on the new products set to be unveiled, including an all-new smart home hub.
Apple’s new Apple TV 4K will use a standard A19 chip, up from the A15 in the current 2022 model, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports.
Apple is preparing new displays and large numbers of demo units for the iPhone Duo’s October 23 launch, but supply will be limited, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The current iPad mini starts at $599 for 128GB. Bloomberg reports Apple’s next-generation model, arriving later this month, may raise the starting price even as storage increases.
Aaron Sorkin’s Facebook follow-up opened to just $5.5 million. Bad reviews, David Fincher’s decision not to return, and a focus on algorithms rather than AI are partly to blame.
Quentin Tarantino will write and direct a West End play inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen, with Sacha Baron Cohen attached to star.
‘Artificial’ does not reach theatres until December, but Andrew Garfield is already drawing Oscar buzz for his performance as OpenAI’s Sam Altman in Luca Guadagnino’s tech drama.
Enock Carvalho and Matheus Farias’s Locarno-winning ‘The Riverbank’ won Best Fiction Feature at the Rio Film Festival, with Eryk Rocha’s ‘Elza’ taking Best Documentary Feature.
Jayson Tatum impressed and Paul George made his Celtics debut as Boston beat Philadelphia in preseason, though Tatum faces far tougher, more physical tests ahead than the Sixers.
Paul George’s first three-pointer as a Celtic swished through the net, capping a preseason debut with nerves the 36-year-old says felt different despite nearly 3,000 career threes.
Drake Maye threw for four touchdowns and ran in another as the Patriots routed the Raiders 45-17, a blowout that also featured Fernando Mendoza’s NFL debut.
Patriots left tackle Will Campbell is expected to miss some time after suffering a knee injury against the Raiders, the latest blow to New England’s offensive line.
Mike Vrabel said he wants the 2001 Patriots to be the blueprint for this year’s team, telling Tedy Bruschi they are a much-improved side from where they started the season.
Kimi Antonelli could become Formula 1’s youngest world champion as early as the next race, the United States Grand Prix on October 25.
Lewis Hamilton apologised to Ferrari after overriding the team’s strategy call during the Singapore Grand Prix, a costly decision that cost him a possible podium.
Lando Norris has accepted blame for clashing with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri during Formula 1’s Singapore sprint race.
Red Sox corner infield prospect Anderson was named among the Arizona Fall League’s top performers for its first week of action.
Sonny Gray, who had hinted all season he could retire, says he plans to keep pitching next year, though not necessarily in a Red Sox uniform.
Architecture studio Roomoor has completed Monastic Field, a concrete home within a temple precinct in Baleshwar that recalls the rock-cut dwellings of monks on the Deccan Plateau.
