AI Summary
5 min readIn the macOS Tahoe release candidate, Apple accidentally included an unfinished video showing a man picking up a book while wearing AirPods with longer stems. The robotic voiceover says, "With visual intelligence, your world becomes saveable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later." Within hours, the internet had a new thing to argue about: camera-equipped earbuds that nobody asked for.
YouTube's view count is now an impression
YouTube announced it will change how public view counts work starting August 24. Previously, a "view" on a long-form video required a viewer to watch a certain number of seconds. Now, the moment a frame plays—including autoplay while you scroll—that counts as a view. The company's reasoning is telling: they admitted other platforms already inflate their numbers this way, and YouTube wanted to catch up.
The hosts are skeptical. "This feels like the scared move," one says. YouTube already dominated long-form video; nobody competes with them there. Changing the public-facing number to match TikTok and Instagram Reels makes YouTube look reactive rather than confident. More importantly, the metric that actually matters to creators—what YouTube now calls "engaged views"—remains hidden inside YouTube Studio. That's what determines ad revenue and partnership eligibility.
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (01:08) **Podcast Kickoff & Eclipse Video Plug** - The hosts introduce themselves, with Marquez joining remotely from Ireland, and plug their newly released eclipse video.
- 2 (03:18) **“Did They Even Test This?”: AirPods Connection Chaos** - Ellis shares a frustrating bug where his AirPods Pro 3 disconnect from his phone when his laptop or iPad is in his backpack with Bluetooth on.
- 3 (07:17) **Instagram’s Unreadable New Logo** - The team criticizes Instagram’s new wordmark, arguing the stylized “R” looks like a “Z,” making it illegible and a downgrade from the classic cursive logo.
- 4 (14:01) **YouTube Changes View Counts to “Fake” Metrics** - YouTube is changing its public view count to start counting the moment a video starts playing, including autoplay, making views appear inflated.
- 5 (16:35) **YouTube Partner Program Requirements Double** - The requirements to join the YouTube Partner Program have been significantly increased, making it harder for new creators to start earning money.
- 6 (18:48) **The Brand Deal Nightmare: Public vs. Private Metrics** - The new view count discrepancy will likely cause problems for creators negotiating brand deals, as public numbers will be much higher than the actual engaged view data.
- 7 (24:04) **The “Scared” Move: Why YouTube Didn’t Need This** - The hosts argue that this change makes YouTube look insecure, as it adopts a metric used by competitors it has long dominated, especially in long-form video.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
This week, Andrew and David take over the podcast while Marques is out for Ultimate Frisbee. First, it's all about the new Instagram logo before they get into the news that YouTube is changing what counts as a view. Then it's all about the newest AirPods with cameras leak and a new open-source trackball that Andrew and Ellis are excited about. Enjoy!
Links:
YouTube changing how views count
MacRumors - Apple AirPods leak
This episode brought to you by:
Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/waveform
Follow us on socials:
Marques: https://www.threads.net/@mkbhd
Andrew: https://www.threads.net/@andrew_manganelli
David: https://www.threads.net/@davidimel
Adam: https://www.threads.net/@parmesanpapi17
Ellis: https://twitter.com/EllisRovin
Waveform Threads: https://www.threads.net/@waveformpodcast
Waveform Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waveformpodcast/?hl=en
Waveform TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@waveformpodcast
Join the Discord:
https://discord.gg/mkbhd
Intro/Outro music by 20syl:
https://bit.ly/2S53xlC
Waveform is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More from this podcast
Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast →