Good Morning! Apple’s premium hardware is being held back by laggy software, with users reporting iPads overheating and struggling even in basic apps like Notes. Meanwhile, AI legends Richard Sutton and Andrew Barto just won the Turing Award for their groundbreaking work in reinforcement learning, the tech behind everything from AlphaGo to ChatGPT’s fine-tuning. And Google is finally cracking down on bad Android widgets with a new "quality tiers" system that ranks widgets based on their design and usability—so if yours is clunky, it might get buried.

— Forrest Knight & Meghanadh Vasireddy

Apple’s Software Struggles: When Premium Hardware Meets Laggy Software

Context: Apple has long been known for its seamless hardware-software integration, but recent reports suggest that quality control is slipping. A detailed firsthand account by a long-time Apple user highlights severe performance issues with the iPad Air 11” M2, particularly when using Apple Notes and Freeform with the Apple Pencil Pro.

Users are experiencing:

• Severe lag—notably after filling a single page of handwritten notes.

• Overheating issues—iPads becoming uncomfortably hot to touch.

• Poor responsiveness—palm rejection and pressure sensitivity failing intermittently.

This problem isn't isolated—many users report similar frustrations on forums, and even a device replacement didn’t fix the issue. It’s not a hardware defect but rather a software optimization failure.

The real concern? Apple’s focus on adding new features over fixing core performance issues. Multiple updates (now at iPadOS 18.3.1) haven’t resolved the lag, yet resource-heavy features like Apple Intelligence are being pushed.

At what point does paying the "Apple Tax" stop making sense? If premium hardware is undermined by subpar software, Apple risks losing the very thing that made it special: the promise that it just works.

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AI’s Hedonistic Machines: The Turing Award Goes to Reinforcement Learning Pioneers

Context: Imagine training an AI like you’d train a dog—reward good behavior, discourage bad. That’s the core idea behind reinforcement learning (RL), a technique that’s shaped modern AI, from AlphaGo’s legendary victories to robotic hands solving Rubik’s Cubes. This week, Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton, the duo who championed this approach in the late '70s, won the A.M. Turing Award, often called the "Nobel Prize of Computing."

Barto and Sutton’s work built the foundation for AI systems that:

• Learn through trial and error rather than just mimicking human data.

• Optimize financial trading, robotics, and ChatGPT-like AI tools.

• Make autonomous agents better at adapting to real-world environments.

Their research wasn’t always in vogue—back in the day, RL was seen as a fringe concept. But today, it’s at the core of AI innovation, fueling advancements in self-improving AI systems.

While Sutton embraces the idea of AI surpassing human intelligence, Barto warns of unexpected consequences. Either way, their work ensures AI isn’t just copying us—but learning, evolving, and maybe even surpassing us.

Google’s Widget Overhaul: A New Ranking System for Android Developers

Context: Google is cracking down on badly designed Android widgets. To help developers build better, more user-friendly widgets, they’ve introduced "quality tiers"—a ranking system that determines how well a widget integrates with Android’s UI and user experience standards.

The new widget quality tiers are split into three levels:

• Tier 1 (Differentiated): The gold standard. These widgets are dynamic, resize seamlessly, and match Android’s Material Design 3 aesthetic.

• Tier 2 (Quality Standard): Functional and visually acceptable but missing the polish of Tier 1.

• Tier 3 (Low Quality): These widgets struggle with cropped content, poor scaling, and weak UI integration—a.k.a. the ones users hate.

To encourage better widget design, Google Play will now highlight apps with high-quality widgets, making them easier for users to find.

For developers, this means one thing: If you want your app to stand out, it’s time to refine your widgets. Better design = better visibility = more downloads. Google's putting the pressure on, but in the end, it’s a win for both developers and users.

🔥 More Notes

• China Launches Massive Tech Venture Fund: China has announced the creation of a government-backed "national venture capital guidance fund" aiming to mobilize approximately 1 trillion yuan ($138.01 billion) for technology startups. This initiative focuses on "hard technology" sectors, including semiconductors and renewable energy, to bolster technological self-reliance. ​

• AI-Driven Underwater Robot Reduces Ferry Emissions: The NRMA's Manly Fast Ferry has implemented the Hullbot autonomous underwater cleaning system, leading to a 13% reduction in diesel consumption and emissions. This AI-powered technology prevents marine biofouling, decreasing drag and enhancing fuel efficiency, aligning with environmental sustainability goals.

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