January 12, 2026

Upgrade 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.

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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