Episode Summary
Executive Summary: The episode centers on post-launch iPhone 7 reactions: the debate over jet black vs matte black, the controversial force-feedback home button, stereo speakers, and AirPods’ practical value. It also revisits accessibility and regional terms, confirms East Asian use of AssistiveTouch, checks in on iOS 10 beta motion settings, and closes with Apple car rumors, plus a Lightning headphone adapter bug and sponsor reads.
Main Topics: Accessibility, reduced motion, and the 'messages effects' dispute: The hosts revisit last episode’s argument over whether reduced-motion users should still be able to send iMessage effects like lasers. They test iOS 10.1 beta and find the new autoplay message effects toggle exists but appears to do nothing, making the bet unresolved for now. AssistiveTouch usage in East Asia: They follow up on reports that many fully able-bodied users in East Asia enable AssistiveTouch to avoid wearing out home buttons and because it can be genuinely useful. Feedback strongly confirms this is common and culturally normalized, not merely accessibility-driven. iPhone 7 Jet Black vs Matte Black and the new Home button: The hosts compare finishes and home-button behavior on the iPhone 7. Marco strongly prefers Jet Black for grip despite scratches and fingerprints; Casey prefers Matte Black’s look. Both warm up to the solid-state home button, with the middle setting emerging as the sweet spot. AirPods and Lightning audio behavior: They discuss the Lightning-to-headphone adapter teardown, confirming a DAC/amp in the adapter, and debate whether Bluetooth audio is audibly degraded by re-encoding. AirPods are framed as a convenience product that may be compelling despite missing traditional remote controls. Lightning headphone adapter bug and iPhone 7 bugs: Scott O’Reilly demonstrates a bug where paused Lightning headphones can fail to resume after several minutes. Apple is said to have acknowledged it as a bug and planned a fix in a 10.0.2 update, alongside microphone dropouts. Apple’s car rumors and McLaren/BMW speculation: The episode critiques the plausibility of Apple buying McLaren or BMW as car partners, arguing Apple would need either manufacturing scale or EV expertise, not a supercar brand with conflicting design goals. The car project is portrayed as still very much in flux.
Key Arguments: The new reduced-motion 'autoplay message effects' setting is currently a no-op in beta, so it does not yet settle the accessibility debate. AssistiveTouch in East Asia is not just for accessibility; it is also a widespread cultural and practical habit meant to preserve expensive hardware and avoid repair hassles. Deciding which accessibility uses are 'legitimate' is subjective and creates an untenable gray area; users who want the feature should be able to use it. Jet Black iPhone 7s trade aesthetics for grip and scratch visibility; for some users, that tactile advantage outweighs cosmetic wear. The iPhone 7’s solid-state home button becomes more convincing over time, with the middle Taptic setting feeling the most natural. Bluetooth audio usually involves lossy re-encoding, so the idea of simple bitstream passthrough is unlikely in practice. AirPods may succeed less as an audiophile product and more as a utility device because wirelessness, mono usability, and portability are major advantages. Apple buying McLaren makes little strategic sense for a mass-market electric car effort because McLaren lacks scale and would impose the wrong design and product assumptions. A company like BMW or Nissan would make more sense for automotive manufacturing and distribution, but buying a large incumbent creates integration and brand-conflict problems.
Data Points: iOS beta version: 10.1 beta - The reduced-motion autoplay message effects option appears in the developer beta discussed on the show. Settings behavior: Setting only appears when Reduced Motion is enabled - Report from listeners and Marco’s testing of the new accessibility toggle. Public beta availability: None yet for this version - They note there was no public beta at the time of recording. Home button settings: 3 settings; middle setting preferred - Listeners and hosts discuss the iPhone 7 home-button Taptic feedback levels. iPhone storage model: 128 GB - Marco says his Jet Black iPhone 7 is the 128 GB T-Mobile unlocked model. Resale/repair burden: Commonly cited by East Asian users - Feedback says AssistiveTouch is often used to preserve the home button and avoid expensive or difficult repairs. Estimated percentage confirmation: Overwhelming majority; no contradictory feedback - Listeners who live in or have spent time in East Asia broadly confirm the AssistiveTouch report. Phone line report: 7 pounds on shipping receipt - The stolen Jet Black iPhone shipment reportedly weighed seven pounds when sent and arrived as packing peanuts. Adapter price: $9 - Casey buys extra Lightning headphone adapters because they are cheap enough to scatter around different locations. Battery/hosting sponsorship plan: 2 GB RAM for $10/month - Linode’s updated entry plan is mentioned during the sponsorship read. Betterment user base: More than 175,000 customers - Sponsor read claims Betterment manages over $5 billion for its users. Betterment assets under management: Over $5 billion - Sponsor read in the opening ad segment. Pingdom outage detection: More than 13 million outages per month - Sponsor read describing Pingdom’s monitoring scale. Pingdom outages per day: More than 400,000 - Sponsor read describing frequency of detected outages. Laser/home-button wager: Not resolved - The debate over whether the new iOS setting counts as a real solution remains unsettled because the switch does nothing in beta.
Pivotal Quotes: "I take no pleasure in being right all the time, Cazy." — John: Opening banter before the show moves into the accessibility and settings debate. "It appears to do nothing." — Marco: Describing the new autoplay message effects setting in iOS 10.1 beta after testing it. "I freaking love this thing." — Casey: Casey revises his opinion after using the iPhone 7’s solid-state home button with the middle setting.
Implications: The episode suggests Apple’s biggest near-term product story is less about raw specs and more about tactile design tradeoffs, accessibility defaults, and product behavior. The car project still looks speculative, while AirPods and iPhone 7 hardware changes may reshape daily use more quickly.