January 12, 2026

598: Transparent Man of the People

1 hour 43 minutes

Google and Apple join forces to corner the market on smartphone AI models, John Ternus gets a profile in the New York Times, live NBA basketball comes to the Vision Pro, and Apple inconsistently refuses to stop bad App Store behavior.

This episode of Upgrade is sponsored by:

Sentry: Mobile crash reporting and app monitoring. New users get $100 in Sentry credits with code upgrade26.

DeleteMe: Get 20% off your plan when you use this link and code UPGRADE20.

ExpressVPN: High-Speed, Secure & Anonymous VPN Service.

1Password: Take the first step to better security by securing your team’s credentials.

Links and Show Notes: Get Upgrade+. More content, no ads. Submit Feedback 20 Macs - Relay Chase to become new issuer of Apple Card - Apple Will the iPhone Fold be a phone you open, or an iPad you close? – Six Colors Is this the folding iPhone’s creaseless display? | The Verge Apple picks Google's Gemini to run AI-powered Siri coming this year Joint statement from Google and Apple – Google Blog Apple picks Google’s Gemini AI for its big Siri upgrade | The Verge Apple’s John Ternus Could Be Tim Cook’s Successor as CEO - The New York Times More reports about Apple succession planning – Six Colors Apple announces annual shareholders meeting for next month - 9to5Mac Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards | The Verge Tumblr removed from Apple app store over abuse images - BBC News Uber tried to fool Apple and got caught | The Verge Apple blocks Facebook from running its internal iOS apps | The Verge Some first thoughts about live immersive basketball – Six Colors Apple: You (Still) Don’t Understand the Vision Pro – Stratechery by Ben Thompson