During our heatwave here in the EU, I’ve noticed that Apple is getting more and more generous in what the temperature is supposed to be. Here it is pictured side by side with the actual, measured temperature via a Kestrel 2000.
I suspect that this is AI being its usual solicitous self, continually making it better for people asking, ‘Is it cooler on the coast?’ It ain’t, by the way, same here as it is in Paris. That’s my theory, but I’m open to all conspiratorial suggestions.
Have you considered that the temperature displayed by the phone comes from the internet, rather than an onboard thermometer?
Yes, but undereporting by 10° is a lot.
Apple “overreports” on mine. Because they get their temperature from the business park down the hill. It’s cooler where I am.
Do you think the app is programmed to -=10? It’s likely an error on the part of the service.
It really depends on what you are comparing against. A temperature taken in direct sunlight at human height in a paved parking lot is going to be well over 10 degrees different than a grassy area shaded by a building. Even if they are adjacent areas. Proximity to a large body of water can easily change the temperature by 5-10 degrees.
A weather app is going to present a temperature that trys to average all of that for a fairly wide area.
Temperature is measured like this:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-28/how-do-we-measure-heat-official-temperature/106277628
If that’s true, why is it different across so many platforms? France Météo is 29°, BBC Weather is 30°?
That’s a negligible difference. Also the sources might use different prediction models. The temperature on the apps is the predicted, not the actual temperature. Go to your local airport website for actual temperature readings (at that location).
Because they have different computing models, using different data, collected at different times.
Because they’re likely not all using the same data. Some will be time delayed, from a different weather station, averaged over a different period, any number of variations.
So measured at a specific location, under very precise conditions, but also time delayed, from a different weather station, averaged over a different period with any number of variations.
This app is very popular with people, it’s where a lot of Apple users get their information. I guess it doesn’t bother you people giving out information that is this wrong.
It bothers me.
It bothers you because you have no understanding of how temp is measured/calculated by these different platforms.
This is new - in the 70’s the local news station would report local temp, and it would be wildly different from the thermometer on our property, because local conditions can vary that much.
I can feel the difference in temp where I live by walking 30 feet. It can vary 20 degrees in that time because microclimate.
Weather apps are notoriously “wrong” for me - at least 5 degrees F all the time, and sometimes 10.
I mean the fact that different sources show different results is your answer.