My Year With Apple Part 1

I’ve been threatening promising this blog for months now; my experience with going “all in” with Apple.

In January this year, I decided to do something I’d previously swore never to do; buy an iPhone. Since then I’ve gone deep into the ecosystem. Headphones? Air Prod Pro 2. Streaming device? Apple T.V. 4K. Laptop? Macbook Air M3. Desktop? Mac Mini M4 Pro. Smart Watch? Apple Watch 3S. And of course, the aforementioned iPhone 16 Pro.

Source: Basic Apple Guy

So 2025 has been the year of Apple in the Winser household. But how has going from a fragmented collection of technology (Amazon Fire Cube, Samsung Fold 3, Fitbit, Linux) to a “walled garden” where everything supposedly “just works” ™️?

That’s a pretty big question, so I’m going to break it down into a few blogs. First, the hardware. I’ll go through each piece and share how I’ve found it. Next I’ll be focusing on the software. And finally, a round up and any extra thoughts.

While this may seem like a “review” - it’s not. I have opinions but I’m just some guy, you know?

Context

Before we submerge into this lets get a little more of my background. I’m a software developer and have been writing code on MacOS for close to 10 years now. It’s my core development environment and I’m rather happy with it thank you very much.

I’ve not used “modern” Windows outside of using it to boot games and even then the last time I did was a while ago. I’ve installed Linux on loads of machines over the years, and most recently refurbished my old Macbook 2015 with Linux Mint.

Phone wise, I’ve had a lot of Android phones. My first was a HTC Desire in 2010. I’ve had Samsungs such as the S8 and Fold 3, the One + …er… One, a few more HTC’s, and even lesser know phones like the Wileyfox Phone (an obscure British company).

I’ve also had a few smart watches over the years, such as the Pebble Steal, Garmin Visio 2, and a couple of FitBits. All of these have been varying degrees of “good”, and only one has actually died on me (sorry Pebble).

As for streaming I’ve never trusted “smart” T.V.’s; they always have crappy software paired with underpowered CPU’s. So I’ve used Amazon Fire Sticks and, until recently, a Fire Cube.

Quite Comfort 2’s were the first set of ANC headphones I bought, and are still the ones I reach for whenever I’m travelling far (or working in an noise office). I’ve also had some Beats by Dr Dre ear buds; probably one of the nicest looking bit tech I’ve ever owned. I’m a real sucker for the Red.

I’ve never been embedded in any one ecosystem. All of these systems worked based on roughly standardised interfaces. Phones relying on WhatApp for messaging, T.V. on Wifi and HDMI, Headphones with Bluetooth. I was always pretty confident that as long as I saw a Bluetooth/WiFi/Whatever symbol, my tech would connect.

But what would happen if I did invest in tech that was designed to talk to each other? Tech that had been specifically built and tested to “just work” together?

The “leap of faith”

After months of pressure from my partner (who’s still got an iPhone 11 which is slowly dying) and family members, I decided to give up on Android and ditch my Fold 3 and replace it with an iPhone 16 Pro. My main reasoning was for the Camera. But also, I liked the style and look of the titanium body with a smaller and lighter form factor.

And with that, the “adventure” began.

So lets get started.

Hardware

You might be thinking that it’s a little weird to separate the hardware from the software, as they’re so intertwined. However with Apple I think it’s the right thing to do. I like to describe Apple as a hardware company that happens to do software. As I’ll get onto soon, the line between these two groups at Apple seems very defined.

iPhone

Lets discuss the place that really started the whole “Apple-ification” of my life. The iPhone 16 Pro is a pretty boring looking phone. Mines a dark grey, but weighs very little. it’s also a lovely size that fits well in my hand and doesn’t take up a lot of space in my pocket. It’s fine to watch youtube on, and the speakers are great for listening to podcasts while I’m doing the washing up.

Source: Apple

The screen is also lovely and at 120hz it glides a along without an issue. Still shocked that this was considered a “Pro” feature, considering budget Android devices have had it for years, but sure?

Overall there’s not much to comment on here. It’s an incredibly refined experience. The cameras are excellent with a nice wide and zoom lens. I’m also in the smallest group of iPhone users who actually really loves the new camera button. Just nice to use and makes photography that little bit easier.

I have some small niggles with the hardware, but they’re not huge.

The first is the table wobble. Placing it on its back means it wobbles something fierce. Placing it face first isn’t really an option, because A: scratches and B: it’s so slippery it’ll wonder off a table and smash into the ground.

Another aspect is heat dissipation. When taking photos or if you’ve got dodgy signal, the phone gets incredibly warm. The last time I felt this was years ago with older Android phones. So it was a bit surprising to experience this again. Of course they’ve now added a vapour chamber in the 17 Pro.

Oh and the “Plateau”. So the 17 Pro probably solves all of the above.

Macbook Air

So while I don’t really write reviews, I did write one for this one last year. “But wait, didn’t you say that the iPhone caused the “Apple-ification”, and you bought that this year” I hear you whisper sensually into my ear.

First, that doesn’t work on me.

Second, yes I did you smart person you. But I bought the Air to replace my very old personal Macbook 2015 model - the one that now has Linux on it. I wasn’t thinking about “ecosystem” and more thinking about side projects.

Anyway, I digress.

As i said in my review, the Macbook Air M3 is a fantastic machine. I would 100% recommend it to anyone. I love the keyboard, screen, trackpad, speakers. Pretty much everything. I can’t really fault it. If i was going to, I’d slap my hands away from my keyboard and say “If I’m going to criticise the lack of ports/screen/cooling, get the Macbook Pro”.

But seriously, the ONLY worry I have is the lack of fan. I worry in a few years that it will get uncomfortably warm was it attempts to keep up with 2029/2030 computing needs. I’ll write a blog if it does…

Apple T.V. 4K

It’s an adorable tiny box, with a couple of ports on the back. It sits happily on my self and doesn’t draw attention to itself. Which is exactly what I want from a box in my living room.

Source: Apple. I actually have it in silver, which i think looks better.

The remote is a lovely bit of machined metal with some nice clicky buttons. However, some smart person decided to make the large middle multi-directional button also a touch pad. So as you brush your thumb across it to select a show, it’ll suddenly go crazy and send you two pages away, or sweep upwards, or something totally unexpected. It makes it near impossible to use, and would have made me return the entire device IF there hadn’t been a setting to disable it. Once disabled the remote is perfectly functional, and rather nice to hold. The battery lasts ages, and is USB-C. I’ve charged it once in 8 months of ownership.

But wow, that touchpad was almost a deal breaker. What an awful design choice.

Air Pod Pros 2

Fit well and has good battery life. Pretty low bar. Where they shine is the ANC. Almost on par with my Bose Quiet Comfort 2’s, but are much more portable. I’ve stopped taking my big headphones on trips to London to save on weight and packing space.

It’s not all rainbows however. The actual case wants to slip out of your hands and jettison the buds at every chance it gets. They’re also not water resistant, so need to be a little careful running in the rain. You also can’t fix them / replace the battery.

Finally, the weird little touch pads on the side aren’t super easy to use. I’d have preferred real buttons to rubbing them to achieve something. It looks weird to rub them. And it makes me feel weird doing it.

Apple Watch SE 3

It’s fine? It’s a little heavy, but you could also say “sturdy”. Its scratch resistant, and seems to handle being dunked in the pool a few times a week. The “digital crown” is a nice touch. The strap too (i have a rubber blue one) is nice for both causal wear and exercise.

Charging too is nice. It comes with a little magnetised pad you drop it onto. The battery lasts almost 2 days, and getting a full days charge takes around 15 minutes.

It’s got a few bells and whistles regarding sensors; it can tell you when pinch your thumb and forefinger together or flick your wrist up. It’s got a heartbeat sensor that works in water too. I also like the actuator motor that give it nice vibrations. More like a pulse than an annoying buzz.

Mac Mini M4 Pro

Easily one of the best bits of hardware I’ve bought in years. Similar to the Macbook Air, I’d recommend one of these to anyone who’s looking for a desktop machine (though not if they want to play games). It rarely gets warm, sips power, and I’ve never once heard the fan. The size of it is also something to behold. It’s rather pointless that I can fit it in the palm of my hand, but somehow that’s also part of it’s charm.

Would I like some more ports? Sure. It’s why within a week I paired it with the UGreen Mac Mini Dock, which so far has been great. This dock also solves the only other gripe I have: the power button.

Whatever bright sausage decided to hide it under the machine is clearly being paid too much. I wonder if it’s the same person who decided the Apple T.V. remote needed to also be a touch sensor? Either way it’s bonkers and silly. But in reality it’s very much a non-issue.

Honourable mention; Macbook Pro 2019

I’m going to bring up my work laptop. Its a 2019 Macbook Pro with an Intel processor and Butterfly Keys. And it is terrible. It’s been terrible since the day I was given it.

Source: Apple

Sitting at roughly at 60’c while running idle, it’s almost impossible to use as a laptop, as your hands get uncomfortably hot and sweaty after only a small amount of use. And that’s having it on a desk, let alone your lap. Not that you’d actually want to type on the Butterfly Keyboard. The total lack of travel makes for a pretty horrid experience. Your fingers hurt after a while from essentially tapping on metal chassis. Pair that with the heat, and it’s just a thoroughly unpleasant experience.

Source: Apple

The number of ports is also a joke. Four UCB ports and that’s your lot. But as you charge it via a USB-C slot, you’ve actually only got 3. Speaking of charging; don’t charge the laptop from the left hand side. Due to where the CPU is placed charging the device will result in it getting extra warm, so you’ll end up CPU throttling. I’ve even had it shut down mid programming task due to heat. Yep, charging your device will result in worse performance.

The less said about the catastrophe that is the Touch Bar, the better.

The majority (if not all) of these issues were resolved when Apple released the M1 version of these laptops that redesigned the form factor.

Friends don’t let friends buy or own a 2019 Macbook Pro.

End of Part 1.

So that’s my brief run down of what I think around Apple hardware from a year of use. Ultimately, pretty gosh darn great. Very little out there is so consistently well designed, and pleasant to use.

In Part 2, I’ll be diving into the software. Specifically, the OS’s that these run like iOS and MacOS, but also specific Apple applications like Music and News.

Until next time!