It’s been a while since I’ve written anything, but I wanted to put down a few words about my favorite recent Apple things. Obviously, Apple is my favorite company, and it feels good to have been there for as long as I can remember, from back when they were literally doomed. That hasn’t stopped anyone from claiming they’re still on the verge of shutting down (even when they’re the largest company in the world).
Anyway, here are some of my favorite current Apple products:
iPhone X - The iPhone is the product that took Apple to another level, even after it was unimaginable how well they had done with the iPod. Now over ten years since its introduction, this is the best iPhone ever. It now is all screen (save the small area for the front sensors), and what a beautiful screen it is. It’s Apple’s first OLED screen on a phone. I thought last year’s 7 Plus had a great screen, but the X makes it look old and dingy by comparison. Speaking of the Plus, the X enables a Plus-sized screen on a regular-sized device. It took a little adjusting to after having a 7 Plus for a year and then a 6s Plus the year before that. But now the Pluses seem ridiculously, and unnecessarily, large. The X is insanely fast, it improves on the two-camera setup that makes me forget about my fancy DSLR and mirrorless cameras, and it introduces Face ID. Face ID is quick, reliable, and (most importantly) seems like it isn’t even there. It makes using Touch ID on older devices seem like a hindrance. Animoji is fun, but I don’t realistically use it that much. I wish I could save Animoji stickers to use later so I don’t have to make a particular face at the moment I would want to send it, but whatever. Bottom line is, it’s great.
iPad Pro - The first iPad Pro, the late 2015 12.9” model, was terrific. It pushed the iPad far forward for the first time in years, and introduced the Apple Pencil, certainly the best mobile writing/drawing device of our time. The 9.7” size entered Pro land a few months later in early 2016, but there was an odd disconnect between the two sizes and their features (for example, there were differences in onboard RAM, supporting True Tone, and offering fast charging). At WWDC 2017, Apple updated the 12.9” model and introduced the 10.5” Pro, and we finally have feature parity. And what amazing features those are - beautiful screens with True Tone and 120 Hz refresh rates, even better Pencil support, and unbelievably fast processing speeds. Plus great cameras that match what’s on the iPhone 7 (although taking photo or video with an iPad is a little ridiculous). 2017 was not only the year when I at last gave in to the desire to go #multipad, but also the time that I finally went rose gold with my 10.5” model (of course, just as it seems rose gold as we know it will be disappearing from Apple’s lineup). The iPad is better than ever.
Apple Watch - If you read the Internet, it seems to be trendy to not be using your Apple Watch anymore. But that’s crazy. Now on its third iteration (I’m still hanging on to a Series 2, which replaced my original [Series 0?] last year), the Watch is hitting its stride. Speed of hardware and software are making it an excellent companion. I use mine primarily for notifications (having a silent phone is an amazing thing) and fitness tracking/awareness. It’s great to have information right on your wrist or to be able to check at a glance what that particular message was about. On top of everything, the ability to quickly and easily change the look of the watch with custom bands is fun and exciting. It’s incredibly easy to make sure my watch matches whatever I’m wearing that day. I don’t feel the need to add LTE to my watch (yet?), but it’s good that Apple is constantly moving things forward.
AirPods - These are arguably the best, most magical things that Apple has introduced in a long time. Saying so has been a long-going shtick, but they really do “just work” - you pop the case open, put them in your ear(s), and you’re ready to go. Pair once, and you’re set on each and any of your Apple devices. Switch between iPhone, iPads, Macs, Apple TV, in just a tap (or click). I love the versatility of being able to listen in only one ear at a time when I want to stay kind of present in the situation (walking around in public, working, etc). They are always charged up thanks to the handy case, and even when they somehow wear down (it’s difficult to keep them in that long), a quick trip to the case will get them a few more hours. I charge the case maybe once a week, and that’s usually just so I don’t forget. At this point, it’s very difficult to even imagine what it was like listening to music with a cord dangling between my head and the device.
HomePod - It’s the newest of anything here, so I’ve had the smallest amount of time to get to know it. Quite simply, it’s a great-sounding speaker that happens to house Siri. You can talk to it if you want, or you can use it as an AirPlay speaker. I mostly use it as a part of my whole-house audio solution starting from my always-on office iMac, but it’s also nice to just be able to shout out a song or playlist and have it start playing without having to take out my phone. I’m excited for AirPlay 2 to get here to take full advantage of what the speaker can offer.
That’s it. The smallest amount that I’m able to write about some of Apple’s new-ish stuff. I could write plenty more in extra detail, but then I would inevitably wind up not writing anything at all. So.