The Sunday Scene - 16
F1 Apple TV partnership announcement image from Apple
First
Playing Apple TV with Apple TV on Apple TV - Apple rebranded TV+ this week dropping the plus in the name to just be Apple TV. This means the Apple TV service, app, and box all share the same name. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the Apple TV set-top box rebranded during the next update to something new. There’s still time for an update in 2025, but it’s becoming less likely by the day.
I’ve heard this idea a handful of places this week but I think Apple should just start consistently referring to the different parts of Apple TV with nouns on the end to ease any confusion. Something like:
Apple TV service
Apple TV app
Apple TV box
Second
Wi-Fi 7 in Apple products - Like with many new Wi-Fi standards, Apple is taking their time to adopt Wi-Fi 7. They first added it to their iPhones last year, and this week, we saw Wi-Fi 7 come to the new iPad Pro (M5). These new iPads include Apple’s N1 networking chip that debuted with iPhone Air. The two good things to focus on here are that Apple is starting to add Wi-Fi 7 to more of their devices, and they took the time to put a Thread radio in this N1 networking chip. I wouldn’t be surprised if the N1 chip is coming to more of Apple’s products. The 14 inch MacBook Pro with M5 did not get the N1 chip, and consequently no Wi-Fi 7 or Thread.
To learn more about installing and using Wi-Fi 7 in your home, check out this video I did on it using Ubiquiti UniFi, or this video I did on it using Eero.
Third
F1 on Apple TV - My kids and are big F1 fans and currently subscribe to F1 TV Premium, which will automatically cancel in favor of Apple TV for next year. I find F1 to be a great sport to follow as it combines athleticism with loads of technology and an aura of European elegance. If you want to get into it too, I would start with this YouTube video from Cleo Abram and if you want to dig deeper, tune into the American Grand Prix this afternoon on ABC/ESPN here in the US at 3pm EST, or watch the latest season of the Drive to Survive show on Netflix.
I’m concerned for the sport that it sounds like there will be no way to watch F1 as a television broadcast in the US, but aside from that, I hope Apple TV brings the sport to a larger US audience. All races will be included with Apple TV (no longer TV+!) subscribers, with practices and certain races being free for everyone.
For me, this changed Apple TV from a nice-to-have to a must-have streaming subscription.
The schedule
Last week, I had a fun live stream with smart home creator Jimmy Hawkins. I also published a members only video on setting up a UniFi NAS. I have a LOT of videos in production right now. It’s that time of year to review all the things, so stay tuned to the channel for more updates soon.
