Zac Hall

We know Apple Watch saves lives, but did you know Apple Vision Pro is helping surgeons save lives? Harry McCracken reports for Fast Company that Apple’s Vision Pro is gaining traction in healthcare, particularly in surgery and medical training.

Surgeons at UC San Diego Health have used the headset to streamline operating room displays, reducing physical strain and improving workflow. Meanwhile, Sharp HealthCare has launched a Spatial Computing Center of Excellence and is hosting a summit with 300 attendees exploring Vision Pro’s potential in surgery, medical education, and beyond.

Apple’s Susan Prescott shared that even Apple has been surprised by how the medical field has adopted Apple Vision Pro. Perhaps even more surprising is what makes Apple Vision Pro effective in the operating room: its price.

In this jam packed launch episode, Sophia Tung and Zac Hall dive deep into DeepSeek’s arrival to the AI race, how NVIDIA and OpenAI are responding, and the state of current AI tools; this week’s biggest tech surprises, what has us excited and what has us concerned, and much more. 

Bad news for fans of bad products. Apple won’t be shipping a pair of augmented reality glasses that require a tethered connection to the Mac after all. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has the exclusive development, including a thorough description of how the product would have worked. Based on Mark’s reporting, this project was buried in compromises that ultimately made it undesirable.

When asked about Chinese AI firm DeepSeek on today’s investor call, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained how the disruptive new model is a positive development for the iPhone maker.

Apple disclosed today that its global install base has reached a new high. However, the active device growth rate is down compared to the previous year.

Not every iPhone launch outperforms launch sales of the prior model. That’s not a problem for the iPhone 16 family, however. Apple CEO Tim Cook tells Susan Li that the latest phones are selling in higher volumes than the iPhone 15 family during the same time last year. Perhaps surprisingly to some is the reason: Apple Intelligence.

Apple has released its earnings report for fiscal Q1 2025. The company reports $124.30 billion in revenue during the three-month period. That compares to $119.58 billion during the same quarter a year ago. Wall Street expected $124.13 billion in revenue. Profit from revenue includes $36.33 billion. The holiday quarter includes the bulk of iPhone 16 and Apple Watch Series 10 sales as it includes the last three months of the year.

More than a year has passed since Apple paused advertising on X over brand safety concerns. Soon, however, Apple may begin advertising on X again.

Apple may face new shareholder scrutiny over its AI practices following a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The document was filed ahead of Apple’s next Annual Shareholder Meeting that’s scheduled for February 25 at 8 a.m. PT.

The National Legal and Policy Center has submitted a proposal urging Apple to disclose how it acquires and uses external data for AI training. The filing, disclosed on the SEC’s website, highlights potential legal risks tied to data privacy and intellectual property rights. That’s despite Apple’s brand alignment with privacy-centric policies.

In a blog post for Windows Insiders, Microsoft has announced that Start menu phone integration on Windows 11 now works with iPhone. The feature was previously tested for Android last year with iPhone support promised at a later date.

AI chatbots have changed the way we work, think through problems, and discover information. While Apple Intelligence doesn’t offer a chatbot experience yet, the best chatbot apps run on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

You don’t need to regularly use all of these AI chatbot apps to be familiar with the latest in AI. Follow my 9to5Neural series for that. But spending time with any of these apps will give you access to the newest AI technology.

If you haven’t heard, Kendrick Lamar is set to perform at the Apple Music Halftime Show during Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9. The rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs starts at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT, and there’s a free way to stream it in 4K this year.

Adding to the hype is an exclusive Apple Vision Pro experience through Apple Arcade. The immersive music game and Apple Design Award nominee Synth Riders is launching an exclusive Kendrick Lamar “HUMBLE.” Synth Riders Experience in anticipiation of the Apple Music Halftime Show.

Beats hasn’t even announced Powerbeats Pro 2, let alone releasing the second-gen wireless earphones. That hasn’t stopped what appears to be the Powerbeats Pro 2 from becoming the unofficial headphones of the new TGL golf league. Several golfers have been spotted sporting a single Powerbeats Pro 2 earbud in recent days.

Five days ago, Spotify disputed a report that Apple Music pays artists more than double compared to Spotify’s average rates. In completely unrelated news, Spotify has published a blog post announcing record payouts to the music industry in 2024.

Welcome to Neural. AI moves fast. We help you keep up. Last week we mentioned that American AI firms are seeing deep competition from DeepSeek R1 out of China. Today DeepSeek’s impact has reached Wall Street as NVIDIA stock drops 17%. Let’s take a closer look at DeepSeek, NVIDIA’s response, and the bigger picture for AI development.

Eric Migicovsky, the founder of Pebble, announced plans to bring the e-ink smartwatch back to market. Why now? Migicovsky cites the lack of a similar smartwatch that meets his needs. In making the announcement, the Pebble founder turned re-founder took the opportunity to poke fun at Apple for still not allowing third-party watch faces to run on the Apple Watch.

Apple’s new M4 Mac mini looks pretty damn cool for a desktop computer. Still, these special edition retro beige and jet black versions with the classic Apple logo look awesome.

There’s a new software update available for Apple Watch Series 6 and later starting today. watchOS 11.3 is the latest version, bringing the new Unity Rhythm watch face to Apple Watch. Apple unveiled the new watch face alongside the 2025 Black Unity Sport Loop watch band this week.