One of the world’s most iconic brands is no longer just an aspirational dream!

Apple is always seen as a premium brand – something to aspire to.

But times are changing for all of us amid so much global economic uncertainty. With that said, it looks to me as if Apple has read the room and has made a concerted effort to bring new devices within reach of nearly all of us.

Now, without needing to scour eBay and risk buying second-hand gear of which you don’t know the provenance, or needing to check Apple’s refurbished store, you can buy a complete new Apple ecosystem for just a touch over £1500.

That surely must be a first!

Unpacking Apple’s events

We’ve just had an Apple event week, which was a bit of a mishmash.

It was neither all budget gear we got, nor all high-end. It was a bit of both.

We got the Studio Display XDR and a revamped version of the Studio Display. We also got new M5 Pro & M5 Max MacBook Pros and an M4 iPad Air. All highly desirable and all of which cost a tidy penny.

But then at the other end of the scale, we got an M5 MacBook Air, the all-new MacBook Neo and of course the iPhone 17e.

I guess you could say there was something there for everyone, but it was those cheaper products that caught my eye and got me thinking that there seems to have been a genuine shift to try and welcome in new users to the Apple fold at the lower end.

Apple is well aware that if you catch young blood, there is an above-average chance that you’ll have made a loyal Apple user for life.

If you’ve built a huge picture, video and music library within Apple’s ecosystem, everything being equal, why would you want to go through the hassle of moving, and possibly in so doing, losing some of your content by moving to Android?

Apple, of course, Apple knows this!

When you think about it, it’s a very smart move, and realising that, Apple has decided to make certain that you can buy into their silver and aluminium world without the need to break open the piggy bank…or at least totally drain it.

This is indeed a very new side of Apple we’re witnessing!

Hello MacBook Neo

Although it was well forecast, the MacBook Neo has been ever so well received.

At its heart, it’s using the A18 Pro chip that was first used in the iPhone 16 Pro and starts at £599. For that, you get 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Although on the face of it, the 8GB of RAM sounds miserly, the early feedback suggests that it’s more than powerful enough because Apple hardware is so well optimised these days for Apple silicon.

As for the storage, assuming you have a decent amount of iCloud storage, which remains fairly affordable in itself, the 256GB that you get as basic on the Neo shouldn’t be an issue.

The other goodies you get include a 1080p FaceTime camera, a pair of side-facing stereo speakers, a headphone jack and a 13-inch LED Liquid Retina Display – oh and a claimed 16 hours of video playback.

In short, what’s not to love this Mac?

They’ve kept the options nice and simple too, with there simply being a choice of four colours and one other storage config, with which you even get Touch ID thrown in with the 512GB of SSD storage.

This thing is going to fly off the shelves. I think they pitched it perfectly. Also, as an aside, who would now ever buy a MacBook Air at twice the price? I think I’ll be ordering one soon, and I’ll trade in my MacBook Air to go towards it.

Curiosity has got the better of me!

So with a Mac in your cart, next it’s time to look at the phone.

iPhone 17e – don’t listen to the haters!

Unlike some of the more budget phones from the past, such as the iPhone SE, which used an old chassis with new internals, the ‘e’ line of iPhones has always been its own standalone product line.

If you’ve read any of my stories over the past year, then you’ll know I’ve not had much bad to say about last year’s phone, the 16e. In fact, I bloody love it!

It would seem Apple has taken what was already a pretty solid device and built on it. They know better than ever now who this phone is aimed at and have tried to improve on it in order to nail it for its target demographic.

I guess the two biggest gripes last year were that for £600 we didn’t get either a 120Hz display or MagSafe. Now, whilst I’d love to be the bearer of all good news, I can’t! There’s still no fast refresh rate display, but we do at least get MagSafe.

MagSafe must be one of Apple’s best proprietary options, so why did they leave it off last year? Sometimes Apple moves in the most mysterious and infuriating ways. But, at least they’ve righted their wrongs on that count this year.

As for the display, you’ll probably know, I’m not in the ‘it must be 120’ camp at the best of times, but I’d argue that on a smaller phone display, it matters even less. I know the refresh rate rage hangs on the fact that once you’ve seen it, you can’t un-see it, but I think it only comes into its own if you game anyway – which I don’t.

So, what else does the 17e lack? Well, there’s no Always-On Display and no Dynamic Island. The AOD is honestly no biggie to me – I mean, it’s only a tap to wake it up anyway, and it’s possibly one less distraction too.

As for the Dynamic Island, I’m finding I’m using that more than I used to, so only time will tell if I miss that or not.

Apple has doubled the base storage to 256GB this year on the 17e but kept the price the same at £599. Given the shortage and price of storage at present, that shouldn’t be dismissed lightly. Again, it looks as if Apple has a feeling as to what’s going on in the real world.

We also get the C1X modem and N1X chips in the 17e. A few days ago, I spent a brutally long day in London with the 17e, and it performed brilliantly. Even though I was on SatNav for over 10 hours and watched content on the train as well, after eleven hours of heavy use and over six hours of screen-on time, I still got home with 8% battery.

By comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which hadn’t been used all day, was at 45%!

The single-camera debate

Yes, we still only have a single camera, but you’ll be aware of that when you buy it.

I’m sensing a massive switch this year, and I’m not alone. It feels as if many people are suddenly seeking a less cluttered, cheaper, less confusing & consuming gadget life.

I’ve said it before, the 48MP camera and more importantly the sensor are decent and will take good photos and 4K videos. In my case, I’m always shooting on the Canon anyway these days, so I’m simply not using the fancy camera systems on the Pro iPhones any more.

What we get on the iPhone 17e is almost like a point-and-shoot setup – and what’s so wrong with that?

The iPhone 17e also gets Ceramic Shield 2. I’ve experienced how good that is on my iPhone Air and 17 Pro Max. It makes a huge difference, and after six months of regular, daily use without screen protectors, both of those phones are still mint, with not a scratch in sight!

Some try to argue why you would buy the 17e when for only £200 more you could buy an iPhone 17. But that’s my point – it’s still £200 more, and that’s not exactly loose change, now is it?

Only you’ll know if you need the few extra toys that you’ll get with the iPhone 17 and if they are worth it to you, but I’d certainly give it some serious thought before parting with your cash.

The final piece of the jigsaw

Rounding out the budget, complete Apple ecosystem would be the brilliant iPad mini.

Like the other bits of kit, for £599 it hits above its weight. That money will get you the 128GB base model with that lovely 8.3-inch Retina, fully laminated display. The latest iPad mini uses the A17 Pro chip that Apple first used in the iPhone 15 Pro, which means it still feels quick and snappy.

The biggest game changer for all iPads, though, has been iPadOS 26. That’s what made me reach for my iPads more than ever before. I’m writing this story on my iPad Pro, and I took my iPad mini with me to the Photo & Video Show at Birmingham’s NEC recently, as it was the perfect size and weight to carry with me all day.

Working on and using an iPad is now a seriously viable option to working on a Mac. Not only that, but it also supports Apple Pencil, and it has that camera, meaning it’s easier to scan documents and fill them in on an iPad than on a Mac.

Use and enjoy

So there we go – a story I never thought I’d sit here being able to write.

Apple is suddenly the affordable option! For just over £1500, you can buy three brand new items and build a complete Apple ecosystem where everything is working in perfect synergy. And if you took my steer and avoided the iPhone 17 in favour of the 17e, then you could even treat yourself to a pair of AirPods 4 and still have some change left over.

Times are changing. Things feel very different this year, but the surprisingly good news is that Apple seems to be listening!