WTF is a Googlebook?

September 18, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Deep in the desert, Marques Brownlee found himself taking photos that looked like they belonged in an Apple keynote. That was his first clue that the iPhone 18 Pro's camera had changed more than the specs sheet suggested. The sensors were the same as last year's, but the image pipeline had been re-engineered. Apple's camera team told him the signal-to-noise ratio had improved enough that they could pull back on the aggressive sharpening that had given smartphone photos that plasticky look for years. The result was shadows that stayed dark, skin textures that looked like skin, and colors that felt natural rather than overcooked. For Brownlee, this was the most impressive thing about a phone that otherwise felt like an "S year" — the kind of incremental update Apple used to stamp with an S suffix back when the iPhone 4S and 5S defined the cycle.

The A20 Pro and the thermal question

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What you'll learn

1 Timestamped Outline
2 (00:00) **Show Open & Sponsor Pre-Roll** - Brex and Google Gemini ads before the episode begins
3 (00:58) **Color Debate: Burgundy vs. Matte Black** - Marques defends his praise of the Burgundy iPhone 18 Pro while Andrew and David insist he got it wrong
4 (01:28) **Welcome Back & Episode Preview** - Hosts return to their normal recording setup and outline today's topics: iPhone 18 Pro final thoughts, Google Books pre-orders, Steam Frame, and more tech news
5 (02:54) **Did They Even Test? - Crunchyroll Licensing Mystery** - Adam reports his Crunchyroll inside YouTube TV is missing random episodes of the anime "Free Rin"
6 (08:09) **Viewflation Update: Apple Event Numbers** - The hosts analyze inflated vs. engaged view counts across their recent Apple Park videos
7 (14:46) **iPhone 18 Pro Camera Deep Dive** - Marques shares his Arizona testing results and explains why the camera quality surprised him this year

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Marques Brownlee

Show Notes

We are officially in Techtember! First, it's a quick viewflation update from Andrew before Marques and David talk about their experiences using the iPhone 18 Pro. Then it turns to speculation about the upcoming Googlebook event before talking about the Steam Frame and Tesla Roadster event. It's going to be a jam-packed few weeks and the new iPhones are just the beginning.

Links:

9to5Google - Google Maps speedometer during navigation

MKBHD - iPhone 18 Review

Stephen Robles - John Ternus iPhone picture

Dave2D - Steam Frame review

Linus Tech Tips - Steam Frame review

Verge - Meta Slim Headset Leak

This episode brought to you by:

Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/waveform

Pipedrive: https://www.pipedrive.com/waveform

Framer: https://www.framer.com/wave

Marques: https://www.threads.net/@mkbhd