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We gave the iPhone Duo a 7 /10. But that wasn’t always the score we planned, and it might not be the right score forever. Such are the challenges of reviewing — and assessing — a big, new idea about the most popular smartphone in history. On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay debate whether the Duo deserved the score it got, and try to work through how this device might change over time. After that, the hosts talk about the huge PHP cybersecurity flaw that rocked the web this week, the ongoing increase in AI shopping, an impending reboot inside of Netflix, and some very confusing Gemini news. Also, Brendan Carr is a Dummy.
0:00 No Sevens Pact
01:03 Show Agenda Setup
01:46 Duo Score Debate
03:08 App Optimization Phases
07:47 Two Thousand Dollar Problem
10:44 iPad Not iPhone
14:41 Outer Screen Compromises
18:04 Developer Badges Future
20:34 Early Adopter Reality
30:19 Handoff eSIM Limitations
34:49 PHP Shell Chaos
36:17 PHP Under the Hood
37:46 AI Finds the Exploit
40:46 Disclosure Panic Fallout
42:44 Patch Now or Go Dark
45:58 Autonomous Defense Arms Race
48:42 Agents Break the Web
53:04 Muse Adoption Shopping Stats
54:11 Bots Buying Movie Tickets
01:01:05 Instagram Deepfake Crisis
01:07:30 Brendan Carr is a Dummy
01:10:06 FCC Threatens Poll Coverage
01:17:44 FCC Free Speech Alarm
01:20:20 The Lightning Round
01:20:49 Arc Browser Shutdown
01:23:12 AI Browsers Future
01:27:14 Meta Terms Backlash
01:34:04 Netflix Identity Crisis
01:43:16 Gemini Confusion Car
01:49:12 Wrap Up And Awards
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When Nilay starts with: "So, here's my plan...", you know we're in for a good one.
One funny thing about Gemini is the ghost of Google Assistant that periodically pops up
34:37 Cybersecurity awareness month ad just before the PHP story😂😂
Congrats to the editor for cutting it down to under 2 hours because i think the uncut discussion was closer to 3 hours, if not a little over.
software-wise this reminds me of the app migration into M-series chips and OS.
10:04 I think David yelling the price at Nilay after he gives a new Apple product a 7/10 is a perfect summary of this entire podcast
46:08 "good guy with a gun" type beat
As a techie- I’ve been excited for every foldable. I’ve always felt in reality they never turned out to be good at anything so I went back to that slab.
talking of frontrunning, there's at least one more example - people posting their game prototypes or teasing games (like, posting a video of it), and having other people just recreate that game (to some extent)
David pushing back on Nilay’s 7 is fantastic. Entertaining watching him defend his position! 😆
Holy refresh pull
17:18 Why would a company spend resources on optimising for a screen not many people own?
Just give me an iPad mini with duo's multitasking that opens up to a full iPad Air.
On the Netflix thing, I know I’m a weirdo but I’m signed up for a lot of the streaming services but I use the AppleTV app to keep track of the stuff I watch. Netflix gets lost in the shuffle for me. I don’t think about it because it’s not in there. My kids will occasionally remind me they are watching something in there but it’s barely on my radar these days because of that.
56:50 this is AMC A-List in LA or NYC with any big release nowadays, no MCP server needed. Makes local news the queues outside movie theaters for in person box office agents getting swamped. Definitely don’t think agentic commerce will improve the product too much day zero :)
Can’t you just use the duo as a second device by not activating a sim on it at all, but still signing into iCloud and just being on wifi? Or not?
What I’m hoping for is one last iPad mini fully spec’d. Give us the promotion, give us faceID, give us a M2 at minimum and then it’ll be okay if you never make another iPad mini.
14:55 am I crazy for wishing the outer screen was eink?
why so much diffusion on David's camera?
The entire story of Apple is “how portable can the biggest/best computer be.” The Duo is a continuation of that story and I for one look forward to the phablet Renaissance.