SJ080: Space Gray FTW, new iPad, iOS 11.3, iCloud, HomePod, Dropbox, Foxconn, Facebook, rumors, more

Normally the crew take off for shore leave on holiday weekends like the rest of you, cadets, but dagnabbit Apple had other plans for us. Last week, the company held a big education-themed event with a new low-cost iPad (now with Apple Pencil support!) and updates of all of its OS versions, including some new features (and animoji!), along with official eGPU support for the latest MacBook Pros. Mike goes over the details of that, while Charles celebrates portrait nightstand mode for the Apple Watch and the new Health Records app and a library of old music videos on iTunes, 80s kid that he is. The crew ponder whether the increase in iCloud storage for students portends a bonus for consumers later, and go over the mystery of the HomePod firmware update that may -- or may not -- have changed its sound.

There's also the coming of the General Data Protection Regulation and how tech companies are prepping ways for you to better understand what is being collected about you, which of course leads to a discussion about FaceBook and Google -- the two worst offenders in the category of "not really telling you stuff you ought to know," with the former (but curiously not the latter) now being investigated by the FTC over privacy matters. Mazda finally adds CarPlay support, Tim Cook explains why coding is so important for students, Dropbox goes public (and what that may mean for you), Foxconn buys Belkin, and the iMac Pro's peripherals are now available for the rest of us. But wait, there's more!

Tune in to hear how Mike and Charles called it right about the education event, iPhone X sales, and the FBI's honesty about the San Bernadino shooting, and how they're going to be right about silly rumors regarding the iPhone SE 2 and a "foldable" iPhone in 2020. They also start to clear the backlog of cool accessories to talk about, and find (with AppleInsider's help) a surprising new weakness in the Galaxy S9 Plus. And that's not all, cadets, yet somehow they bend time and space to cram it all into a mere hour, thanks to positronic neutron wranglers and duct tape. Check it out!