A look back at the new Apple gear that I’ve loved using this past 12 months

Apple has had their fair share of my money this year!

It wasn’t until I started looking back that I realised it had been quite a bumper year for Apple. Although I am fortunate enough to now do this as a job, I still have to purchase all this Apple gear myself, and I buy this stuff to keep and use. I have only ever used the famous Apple 14-day returns window once. When I know a creator is purely using a new piece of Apple gear for a review, it seems somewhat disingenuous.

But back to the gear—the first product that Apple released this year, the Vision Pro, I decided wasn’t going to be for me. As it happens, I don’t have £3500 lying around spare down the back of the sofa That said, I did go for a demo at Apple’s Battersea store and was blown away by it. The spatial photos and video are something you have to experience to fully appreciate just how good they are. I know there are rumours of a more affordable version coming our way next year, so it’ll be interesting to see if that sparks a new lease of life in Apple’s spatial computing experiment.

15-inch M3 MacBook Air

This was my first Apple purchase of the year – in either March or April (I think).

I traded in my 13-inch M2 MacBook Air to get it. It was the first time I had used Apple’s trade-in offer, and I was stunned by how simple they made it. Yes, you could get a bit more money selling your old gear privately, but once you factor in waiting to find a buyer, shipping, and any other hassle, it makes Apple’s trade-in worthwhile, in my opinion.

I righted a wrong when I got this M3 MacBook Air and, this time, picked up the 15-inch model. I love using the MacBook Air, but previously, it had always felt cramped and uncomfortable because the 13-inch screen made it too hard to do any meaningful work on it.

The Mac itself is a great machine to use, and now, with the 15-inch display, it’s a joy. The M3 chip wasn’t noticeably quicker than the M2, but the one thing that has kept coming back to me was just how good this MacBook Air is. In the earlier part of the year (pre iPad Pro), this was the Mac I always packed to take home and work on. It’s kept its USP of being light & powerful, which means it’s a perfect Mac to travel with.

The thing is, with any Apple silicon Mac these days, you don’t feel compromised. If I need to carry out some basic edits in Final Cut Pro on the MacBook Air, it handles it with ease. The same is true with Adobe Audition and audio editing. Of course, I can write on it, and general admin is a breeze – I love the new design, and the full-size trackpad and keyboard are bliss to use.

The battery life is what you’ve come to expect from any Apple silicon Mac, and this 15-inch model has re-kindled my love affair with the MacBook Air range. Without exception, every time I reach for the Air, it delivers.

A great Mac and one I need to use more.

Apple’s surprise – the M4 iPad Pro

Undoubtedly, one of the surprises for me was when I picked up my first iPad Pro.

I know I was late to the Pro party, but what a time to start using an iPad. Firstly, that display! Oh my god – that display is stunning. Nothing I have ever used compares to it or even comes close to it.

Originally, I bought it with the Nano-texture display – I was intrigued by it. It does its job brilliantly and gets rid of nearly all reflections. You don’t notice it unless you look at the edges of the display, as it’s not quite edge-to-edge, but the trade-off is that the colours are much flatter and less intense. But I wanted the full razzle-dazzle of this new Tandem OLED display, so I swapped it over. For me, it was the right decision.

For my use case, where I am generally working indoors in a not particularly reflective environment (and I’m not an artist either), then having the iPad without the Nano-texture works best for me. The colours are insanely rich, deep, true & intense. I always watch back my videos for the final time before uploading them on the iPad Pro, as it’s the most colour-critical display I have.

It’s as if the iPad Pro has been waiting for Apple silicon. Much like the Apple Watch, the iPad Pro has struggled to find its identity or niche. But with the almost limitless power that Apple silicon now offers the iPad, I think we are at the dawn of seeing it fly.

We already have Logic and Final Cut as genuine iPad apps, not versions merely ported from the Mac – and some plugins are now starting to become available for those apps as well. And if all that was not proof enough that Apple has pretty serious intentions for the iPad Pro, then the fact they have just bought Pixelmator should lend further proof that Apple is intent on making this a genuinely pro tablet.

The Final Cut Camera app and its Multicam feature are brilliant and simple to use. I haven’t used it enough, but when I do, the results have been fantastic. Yet another unsung Pro feature for the iPad (and iPhone).

Does the M4 processor have too much power for the iPad as it stands? Possibly, but with more pro apps almost certainly coming its way and with Apple Intelligence around the corner, maybe we’ll see the processor being pushed more.

Putting the OLED display to one side for a moment, the Magic Keyboard deserves its moment in the spotlight. I can’t hide from the fact that at £350, it is stupidly expensive, but it makes the iPad Pro complete. Sadly, I’m not a touch-typist, but it makes even my typing speed look reasonable! I think because it sits so flat to the desk and is gorgeously weighted makes this my go-to device for writing and typing.

iPadOS is not as heinous as I’d heard, either. It’s not perfect, and the Files app needs some tweaking, but it works. As for multi-tasking – if that means you can cross-reference and have a few apps open to work on at a time, then it works. Yeah, I’d love to see the tiling of windows be more flexible, but I have no major complaints.

Some apps need to catch up with what the iPad Pro is capable of – Grammarly and YouTube Studio are two apps that irk me on the iPad daily, but that’s not the fault of Apple – that one is on the developers.

So, for an iPad newbie, this iPad Pro has proven to be nothing but good, and I’m glad I have finally dipped my toes in the water.

Summer loving

Apple’s September iPhone event is the biggie for us Apple fans.

I picked up my iPhone 16 Pro Max with 256GB of storage in Desert Titanium on release day. That same day, as I was in store, I also picked up a pair of AirPods 4 and a pair of UEB-C AirPods Max – well, it’s rude not to, right?

Yes, it was an expensive day!

The 16 Pro Max has been my best iPhone yet. Sure, there was nothing revolutionary about it, but what more can we come to expect from the iPhone? The battery life is better, but not what I’d been hoping for. Most days, it gets through on a single charge – and bear in mind I only charge it to 90%, too, so I guess that is an improvement. Heavy camera use, as you’d expect, kills the battery pretty quickly, though.

The front Ceramic Shield glass is still prone to micro scratches (no, I don’t use either protectors or cases – come at me!), but other than that, its build quality is brilliant. The display is almost edge-to-edge now, and even the Pro Max I have doesn’t feel heavy or unwieldy.

The big news for the iPhone 16 was the Camera Control button. For months I forgot it was there, but I am now forcing myself to at least use the damn thing – if only to launch the camera app! On the whole, it’s an odd button, though, which is poorly placed and half-baked. The latest iOS update has seen Auto Focus Lock and Exposure added to the button by way of a light press. Hopefully, this year, we’ll see the button better thought out and possibly re-positioned as well. I think it’s a work in motion.

This year, I’ve been at my most creative with the cameras and love the 35mm focal length, which is my favourite of all the options. I use the ProRes/Log video feature every week as well, along with the Final Cut Camera app, which is worth checking out.

This year’s iOS finally lets us customise our screens. It was not something I lost any sleep over before, but I’ll begrudgingly admit I like it now. It took me some time to get it just so, but now my phone looks cleaner and leaner for the customisation.

As for the AirPods – the only change to the AirPods Max was that they are now USB-C, and we got some new colours. My original pair were in orange – but the moment I opened the box, I knew they’d be going back. I know colour is subjective and personal, but my geez, they were offensive! I swapped them for a pair in Midnight Blue.

Although I am a fan of the AirPods Max (I have them on now while writing), it was a case of Apple being lazy here. Technically, they are falling behind in functionality to other AirPods in the range – and we still haven’t got a dedicated power button or even a new case. But – where it matters most – the sound, they are still deserving of their Max name.

The AirPods 4 are all you’d expect. Decent sound, light, comfy and great battery life. They now have a watered-down version of Noise Cancellation on them, which, although not as good as the AirPods Pro, works well enough. The lack of silicon tips makes them more comfortable to wear for longer periods.

The final push

My Apple year finished with two more surprises – which meant it finished on a high.

Having now become an iPad fan, I bought myself an iPad mini 7 – if that’s the correct name – and again, I was pleasantly surprised. I’d wondered how it could possibly compare to my iPad Pro experience – was it going to be on a hiding to nothing? But here’s the rub…it doesn’t have to compete with the iPad Pro, and neither should it try.

They are from the same family but are very different beasts. The iPad mini isn’t trying to be a productive beast – nope, its strength lies in just how easy it is to use. Sure, you can catch up on some emails – and I prefer using it for that over the iPhone – but when it comes to watching some videos, Apple TV or Netflix – it’s perfect. The panel could do with being a little brighter, but other than that, when you want to kick back, go online or check in on Apple News, it hits the mark. And it is so light to travel with.

The thicker bezels on the mini aren’t the issue you may have thought of either, as the mini tends to be held more like a notebook. Ironically, Apple should think about adding Nano-texture to the iPad mini as so many people use it as an e-reader – it would help give it a more paper-like experience.

And while talking minis – the M4 Pro Mac mini has blown me away. To give you some context of how good it is, I have an M1 Max MacBook Pro sitting on one side of the desk now redundant, as I’ve chosen to make the Mac mini my daily machine.

Performance-wise, they are pretty much equal, but there is something that feels sharper and snappier about M4 Apple silicon. In theory, it’s Pro versus Max – but in reality, you’d never know. I was lucky that I already had the Studio Display to pair with it – and my desk setup has never looked cleaner or tidier.

Once I knew I’d be using the Mac mini as my main production Mac, I decided to go all-in and get a new USB-C keyboard, mouse and trackpad. On my main desk, I am now both USB-A and Lightning cable-free! I am living that single-cable life!

I’ve written loads about the M4 Pro Mac mini recently, so you can look back over those stories for a full teardown on it – but it is safe to say if you are sitting on the fence wondering “should I” – my simple answer would be yes – BUY IT!

The Mac mini was the perfect way to see out the year. Apple saved the best till last. I’ve said it before, but the Mac mini quite possibly holds claim to being the best Mac that Apple has ever sold us! It is that good!

Look ahead

So, what will Apple have in store for us in 2025?

Who knows. The iPhone 17, of course, the first iPhone Air, a new array of M4 Mac Studios and MacBook Airs and possibly a more affordable Vision Pro – and that’s just for starters. A new HomePod mini and Apple TV are rumoured – and possibly a brand new HomePod with a movable display as Apple looks to muscle in more on the Smart Home market.

Apple Intelligence will surely get a full rollout in 2025 along with the new, smarter, more personal Siri as well.

Apple keeps managing to raise the bar – so I’m guessing they’ll be prising even more money out of me over the next 12 months! And, as long as they keep delivering, then I will keep buying and reviewing!