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New CEO John Ternus hit it out of Apple Park when he unveiled the iPhone Duo.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: Apple’s Surprise and Shine event is in the books! The iPhone Duo is real, and it definitely folds. New Apple CEO John Ternus didn’t, though. He acquitted himself admirably as he briefly uncapped Apple’s magic product pipeline.

We discuss how things went down and our reactions to iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4 and AirPods 5.

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• How does iPhone 18 Pro stack up against iPhone 17 Pro? The new variable-aperture camera sounds impressive, but seriously … how much better do your iPhone pix need to be? And how much are you willing to spend for slightly better snapshots?
• The new Apple Watch models come with a powerful new chip that enables a pair of controversial features: Live Rewind and Siri Recap. Both involve the Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4 quietly listening in the background at all times. And that stirs real privacy concerns.
• Another pair of Apple Watch 12 and Ultra 4 features — your readiness score and Health Age — raise a different kind of question. Namely, just how scientific and useful are they?
• We wrap up the show with a show of hands: Who’s getting what new Apple products? The subject proves dicier than usual.

Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.

Cult of Mac No. 32: Surprised and shined!

This week’s top Apple news

On the show this week: Your host, Cult of Mac Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Leander Kahney (@lkahney), Cult of Mac managing editor Lewis Wallace (@lewiswallace) and our colleagues Graham Bower and Charlie Sorrel from the Apple Core podcast.

Here are the headlines we’re talking about on this week’s show:

• iPhone Duo merges iPhone and iPad into one brilliant device
• Looks like iPhone Duo avoided the curse of the crease
• iPhone 18 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro: How much better is the new Pro?
• Apple Watch Series 12 is the upgrade long-term users have been waiting for
• Are Apple Watch’s new readiness and Health Age metrics scientific? Yes, but …