…stripping it back to bear bones – and it feels GREAT!

Normally, when it comes to my Apple gear I’ve always gone Pro – the best, the biggest and I’ve always gone heavy on the options.

But recently, I’ve detected a change coming over me – a yearning for an easier, less complicated Apple life. I wanted fewer options, less choices and do away with the distractions.

Could less actually be more?

I’ve written a few times recently about how I reckon Apple is in a golden spot – for hardware at least. While the company flails and struggles with Apple Intelligence, with Apple silicon and now Apple modems making their debut, the hardware has possibly never been better.

And here’s the rub – even the most basic iPad and iPhone from Apple that you can currently buy will serve you well and get the job done – and I’ve seen it for myself over the past few weeks. Almost without my noticing it I’ve been leaning heavily on my A17 iPad mini and iPhone 16e – and the odd thing is, that I’ve not missed a productive beat.

Everything I’d expect to get done on my Pro combo, I’ve managed to get done on the iPhone 16e and iPad mini.

Digging into Apple’s bargain basement

Bargains are not what Apple is best known for, and although my current lineup doesn’t exactly count as cheap, by comparison, it ain’t bad.

My 256GB iPhone 16 Pro Max cost £1199. The base A17 iPad mini cost £499 and the iPhone 16e £599. So this non-Pro combo costs £100 less than the 16 Pro Max alone – and yet is doubling up my productive options. Two for the price of one as it were.

I’m losing a few of the bells and whistles, but on a day-to-day basis there are only a few features I miss – and the hefty bulk of the 16 Pro Max sure isn’t one of them!

The caseless weight of my iPhone 16 Pro Max is a chunky 227 grams whereas the combined weight of the the iPhone 16e and iPad mini is only 464 grams.

Even with its titanium frame, the Pro Max is undeniably heavy – it’s comfortable enough now with its curved edges n’all, but it is heavy. The 16e by itself is so light that you almost forget it’s in your pocket. It’s simplicity is a thing of beauty.

So first blood goes to the non-Pro combo.

Losing out

The screen is smaller – down from 6.9 inches to 6.1 inches on the 16e which I thought I’d hate – but oddly, it’s been ok.

I’ve always plumped for big displays – the 13-inch iPad Pro, the 15-inch MacBook Air and the 16-inch MacBook Pro…you get the gist, but the smaller display on the phone works. I mentioned recently that I don’t reach for my phone all that much – or to put it a better way, I don’t look to do a lot on my phone. In the car, I use CarPlay and in the studio, I’m using iPhone Mirroring more and more – so I actually don’t need a bigger display as much as I thought. And when I’m out, it’s normally in my back pocket.

Both phones have the Super Retina XDR displays – in other words, they’re good displays. I miss the convenience of the Always-On Display on the Pro Max and the 16e is not quite as bright – but not enough for it to have been a problem. Small trade-offs like that I’m more than happy to make.

If you’ve read my stories before then you’ll know my thoughts on the whole 120Hz versus 60Hz refresh rates, so I won’t go over old ground again here.

The battery on the iPhone 16e is every bit the equal of my Pro Max – possibly better! The smaller phone just seems to go on and on. This is Apple’s first attempt at using a homemade modem and if this power efficiency is anything to go by, then the omens are good. Before it came out, there were some concerns about whether the modem would function as, well, a modem – even Apple seemed to be playing it down. Well, all I can say is the call quality and performance have been the same as any other iPhone.

There is no denying that I’m losing out on the cameras on the smaller phone, but the 2‑in‑1 camera system does the job. The pictures from the 48MP main camera are sharp, punchy and vibrant. For the most part, pictures look just as good on the 16e as they do on the Pro Max – you’d be hard-pushed to tell them apart. In low-light conditions, the 16e struggles – there’s more noise, but again I don’t think most casual users would pick up on that. You have to be looking for it which surely makes it a non-problem, right?

Again, I have to remind myself that I’m not the average iPhone user though. I shoot in RAW all the time and always edit the pictures in Lightroom – so I tend to use my 16 Pro Max more as a full-blown camera.

The same is true with video. I hardly ever ‘point and shoot’ with the Pro Max. The video work I use it for is in the studio where I’ll shoot in ProRes and log – but the videos I have shot on 16e have been more than useable. Even odd bits of b-roll I’ve shot to use on my videos holds up well enough compared to other footage.

The small iPhone is holding its own.

iPad ways

The biggest single difference between my iPad Pro and iPad mini is that the mini tends to travel with me – which makes it more important to me.

The iPad Pro spends most of its life either in the studio or at home. There are a few reasons for that – it’s heavy, large and costs a small fortune! It’s great at what it does and it does get used – but more as a laptop than an iPad.

No words can describe just how good that display is – it’s so good though, that I don’t want to risk carrying it about and possibly dropping it or ruining it – does that make sense? It was the same story with my MacBook Pro – that hardly ever got moved. I bet you I’m not alone in this line of thought – you get what I mean, right? It’s like the classic car you don’t want to take out…

But the iPad mini is with me all the time, so ends up being used more. It’s similar to the Pro Max and iPhone 16e – the convenience of carrying around the iPad mini is what makes it a winner.

While the display isn’t a twin OLED beast – let’s be clear, it’s still a great display. I use it to edit photos in Lightroom, watch Apple TV, and consume loads of YouTube. It’s with me in the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom – and that is what makes this iPad mini such a winner.

Winning

Because there is no keyboard to power, the battery on the iPad mini again seems to be better than the one on its big brother.

And I haven’t noticed myself not being able to do the ‘iPad stuff’ I want to get done on the iPad mini either. If I’m going to be sitting and writing it will be on the iPad Pro, which will be at a desk and not on the fly. I don’t write at cafes and the like – I find them too distracting.

But for reading and replying to emails, catching up on messages, setting reminders and listening to music via my AirPods or HomePods it’s perfect. It just quietly sits there being a little powerhouse getting stuff done – an unsung hero.

It also has the honour of being the first iPad or iPhone that I’ve chosen to use a screen protector on. I put on a Paperlike protector out of interest more than anything – and I bloody love it!

I use the Pencil Pro on it from time to time, but more than anything it just adds a lovely velvety touch to the screen. It frees it from smudges and fingerprints and reduces glare. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever use a screen protector – just goes to prove you can teach an old dog new tricks. I won’t use one on the iPad Pro as I don’t want anything to detract from that awesome display – but it’s a different story on the iPad mini.

Moving on

Very occasionally, particularly when I’m working from home, I may add some extra goodies to the iPad mini to rack up its workflow even more.

For the sort of work I do on it, I’m fine with the on-display keyboard – I don’t think I’d ever add a keyboard to the mini, but I will sometimes use a hub to make importing files to iCloud, my server or Dropbox easier and I do use an external display with it so that I can work on two screens.

The design language between the 16e and mini is so similar – they are cast from the same stone. They are about the same thickness and even the radius of the corners is identical. The lack of a massive camera bump on the 16e means it sits more or less flat on your desk as well – just like the iPad mini.

These two devices have been a joy to use together – it’s almost as if they were meant to be used as a pair. Over the weekend, I even found myself stripping back the apps on my home screen to a bare minimum on the 16e – this stripped-back lifestyle has quickly become infectious.

The iPad Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are both devices that I’d not want to be without, but I’ve also learned that they have their place – and that place is increasingly not on or with me.

Most of what I do – and possibly you as well, doesn’t require the amount of grunt and power that the Pro devices offer. With that grunt comes weight and bulk – but I’ve proven that I can carry on my days and businesses without interruption using the two smaller, lighter and cheaper bits of gear from Apple.

It’s almost as if the lack of distractions forces me to be more focused on getting things done. More than ever I find I’m picking up the iPad or phone just to get what I wanted to do – and that’s it, which oddly, in itself, makes me more productive.

The famed Apple ecosystem is also so central to this easy, non-Pro lifestyle. Everything just works – I can pick up on podcasts, TV, Notes, and Reminders just as conveniently on these two devices as I can on their Pro counterparts. AirDrop is a given of course and I’m just as happy editing photos on the iPad mini as I am on the iPad Pro.

I’m not quite at the point of saying I’m done for good with buying Apple’s Pro gear – I do need the cameras on the Pro Max for my job (although in that case, I guess I could just buy a camera), but that tandem OLED display would be hard to give up.

But – you know what, I think they may just stay in the studio and for the foreseeable future, my everyday carry could well be the iPad mini and iPhone 16e – and even I can hardly believe I just wrote that – but I’m dead serious!

Both my iPad mini & iPhone 16e are the base models – the cheapest you can buy and yet I’ve never once found they’ve stopped me getting stuff done.

The surprise to me is that Apple has shown me that less can be more. If you haven’t tried the simple life yet, give it a crack. I’m willing to bet you’ll find it as addictive as I have. Maybe we’ve just reached overkill and need to hit reset for a bit.

I didn’t even intend to sit down today & write about this switch – but the bug has bitten me hard – if you can, give it a go.

I have a feeling you’ll love it!