Happy Hour Podcast 126 | iOS 11 public beta, Apple Music friends and HomePod thoughts

This week Benjamin and Zac discuss iPad Pro update cycles, iOS 11 public beta stability, Apple Music’s new friends feature, Qualcomm’s in-screen fingerprint sensor, a new Siri Event Maven role at Apple, the Amazon Echo Show (with a screen) reviews, and more thoughts on Apple’s upcoming HomePod smart wireless speaker. 9to5Mac’s Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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New HomeKit-enabled LED Light Bulb from Koogeek arrives at $37

Koogeek has officially released its new HomeKit-enabled Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulb, the latest in its ever-expanding line of Apple-friendly accessories. Its $37 price tag represents one of the lowest entry-points that we’ve seen when it comes to HomeKit lighting. Unlike Philips Hue, Koogeek does not require a standalone hub to deliver smartphone control thanks to its built-in Wi-Fi radio. More details below.

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Poll: What was the first iPhone you ever bought, and why?

There have been 15 different iPhones, from the first one that went on sale on this day back in 2007 to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus last year.

Between 2010 and 2015, Apple followed a consistent ‘tick-tock’ pattern: a new design one year, and new internals plus additional features the following year. For example, the iPhone 4 – a radical new design at the time – was released in 2010, while the following year saw the iPhone 4s. The 4s offered some worthwhile hardware upgrades (including an 8MP camera capable of 1080p video) along with Siri …

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More evidence of why making iPhones in the USA wouldn’t create jobs

Ever since then presidential candidate Donald Trump promised he was ‘gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country,’ there’s been a steady stream of people pointing out why that isn’t practical – and wouldn’t do much for the U.S. economy if it were.

Tim Cook explained that the reason Apple makes iPhones in China has little to do with the low wages there and everything to do with the local skillset, with the company’s suppliers echoing this point. But even if Apple bowed to political pressure to do it, it would be unlikely to create many jobs …

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