Vergecast breaks down Apple's new iPhones, Watches, and local AI on Mac
The Verge's Vergecast podcast reviewed Apple's latest launch event, covering the new iPhones, the folding iPhone Duo, and new Apple Watches. The episode also featured a segment on running local AI language models on Mac.
The Verge's podcast Vergecast dedicated its latest episode to Apple's recent launch event, which marked John Ternus's first appearance as the company's CEO. Host Jacob Kastrenakes and colleagues walked through the announcements Apple made during the event.
New iPhones and camera changes
Allison Johnson, who had a chance to test the new devices in Cupertino, joined the discussion about the new iPhone lineup. Much of the conversation focused on the variable aperture camera in the iPhone 18 Pro, with both hosts questioning whether the real improvement comes from the wider aperture itself rather than the ability to stop it down. The conversation also turned to the new folding iPhone Duo and how Apple selected features from existing Android foldable phones for its design.
New Apple Watch models
Victoria Song, who also tested the new watches, joined to discuss the updated sensor array and whether it delivers genuinely new health metrics or mostly less precise data. The hosts also discussed the implications of both new Apple Watch models now including an always-on microphone capable of summarizing users' conversations.
Local AI on Mac
The episode included a special segment featuring Nilay Patel and David Imel speaking with AI researcher CJ Trowbridge about the current state of running local large language models on Mac computers.
The show closed with the return of the "Thunder Round" segment, in which the hosts quickly covered several other stories, including drama surrounding OpenAI's math capabilities and digital ocarinas.
