New Things with Joanna Stern

Hello! After a few days at San Francisco Tech Week, I’m thrilled to be back home. I had a great time, but there’s nothing quite like being reunited with your own nightstand charger. The highlight of the week? Our first New Friends dinner, where the conversation reminded me just how much I love the web. And you do too—you just don’t think about it much. More on that below! Then, Apple’s upcoming home “experience,” a way to confirm AI-generated images and an Old Thing with a surprisingly fun backstory.

Hello again from the Bay Area! I’m here for a bunch of things I can’t wait to tell you about, including our first New Things dinner and a Microsoft event. But first: computers. I think about computers a lot. Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about the computers our AI agents use—and why many of them run Linux. Then Googlebooks finally arrive, ChatGPT gets more ads and Ring gets a smart lock you have to crank. Plus, I discover why I probably need to buy thenewthings.si. Some people bike. Some knit.

Happy 50th newsletter to us! Fifty newsletters. That’s a lot of emails to willingly receive from one person. Thank you for following along on this emailing journey—and please encourage your friends, family and AI agents to subscribe. The agents are especially good for our open rate. This Friday, let’s talk about AI’s latest obsession: getting us dressed. Then, an Old Thing that cleanses both the soul and the keyboard. Google Photos Wardrobe, left, ChatGPT Virtual Try On, right.

Good morning! Since we last spoke, we passed 200K subscribers on YouTube! Of course, now I’m wondering how many of those subscribers are AI agents. Or perhaps your AI agents. Yes, we’re talking (again!) about always-on, always-working AI—including OpenAI’s Dot, Meta’s Muse and Instinct’s…Instinct. Then, Bose brings back wired headphones, America.gov makes some bold promises and a LOLz Pro Max because apparently everyone on the internet is funny this week.

Hello! Yes, the newsletter is very late today, and you can blame Mark Zuckerberg. Just moments ago, the Meta CEO wrapped up his keynote at the company’s Connect conference and I posted my exclusive video interview with him. I went to Menlo Park last week for an early look at Meta’s new products, including its audio-only Ray-Ban glasses, new VR glasses and more. And yes, we talked about whether AI is going to kill us all. Everything you need to know is below.

Hello again from the Bay Area. I’m ping-ponging between the two coasts for the next few weeks. Techtember! At the same time, I’m testing the new Apple Watch, which has confirmed that I do, in fact, have a heart. More on that below—and the three things I now want from any wearable in 2026. Then, how to keep your kids’ music out of your Spotify recommendations and an Old Thing that goes… well, beep me again. If you know, you know.

It’s the Wednesday after last Wednesday’s iPhone event, which means one thing: iPhone reviews! No, not the Duo. But I have been testing the iPhone 18 Pros—and, more importantly, inventing an extremely serious new battery test called Poke the Pickle. More on that below and in my latest video! Honestly, I’ve been very happy to bury my head in battery percentages while the rest of the tech world argues about AI slowdowns, regulation and whether the bots are going to kill us.

Happy Special Edition Monday! About two hours ago, Apple released iOS 27 and there’s no way I’m going to miss being here for you for this big update. We’ve got a fresh new video—of course, 27 tips for iOS 27—plus the biggest things you should know before diving in. See you again on Wednesday! Thanks for being a free subscriber to the New Things newsletter! Special Editions like this one are available in full to paid subscribers.

I know, you’re sick of me. But we have one last big story to talk about this week. An AI researcher quit Anthropic, warning that the labs are “gambling with our lives.” Then another Anthropic researcher put the odds of AI causing human extinction within the next decade at greater than 10%. Happy Friday! So if you’re wondering how the same AI making absurd fruit videos could also (potentially) wipe us out, I’ve got you. Please find A Normal Person’s Guide to How AI Could Kill Us All below.

Hello again! I come to you once more from my Cupertino hotel room, where I’m recovering from the craziness that was yesterday. More below on my time with the folding iPhone Duo, a recap of the other big Apple news and, most importantly, the final results of our Apple Keynote Drinking Game. See you again tomorrow! Apple’s new $1,999 iPhone Duo looks like a normal phone when closed, then opens like a book into a 7.6-inch tablet.