Post-Apple Event Gadget Waffling
I enjoyed writing gut reactions to the product announcements live during the event, but here’s how things are shaping up for my apple.com shopping cart plans, given a little more time and consideration. Shocker, they’re fairly in line with my pre-event predictions.
While the iPhone Air certainly has the thin/light/new appeal, the more I compare, the more I’m leaning toward the Pro for a few reasons:
- Camera system. I use the camera so much these days for work, and the .5x ultrawide lens is pretty important for the mountain photography I take. Having a better telephoto lens would be great, too.
- Screen size. I’m not thrilled about the even bigger screen of the Air. I already struggle somewhat with one-handed usage with the regular-sized 16.
- Battery life. I’m tired of worrying about it. The Air actually has better battery life than my 16, but not by much, and it’s not uncommon for me to need to charge up during the day as it is.
- Orange. Need I say more? (The iPhone Air’s colors, while illustrious with their high polish finish, are lackluster to me.)
- Future Fold. I’m mega tempted by the rumors of the iPhone Fold. It’s bound to be even heavier, so getting used to an incremental bump up in weight this year might prepare me for that hefty boy.
I’ll wait for reviews to come out next week to make my final decision, but that’s what I’m thinking at the moment. I could sway either way because damn that iPhone Air looks so good.
I already locked down the Apple Watch Ultra 3 with a pre-order this afternoon. Had to do some quick wrist measurements for the Titanium Milanese Loop (I’m right between a small and medium, so I went with the medium-sized band), but getting an Ultra 3 was an easy decision with how much I liked the original. I waffled a bit on doing a trade-in of my Ultra 1, but ultimately went for it. I’ll keep using an old Series 5 as a night watch/alarm clock, or maybe I can get back into the one-watch lifestyle with improved battery life and charging speed. I’m pretty excited for it to arrive on the 19th.
While the AirPods Pro 3 look really like quite an update, I’m not ready to pull the trigger on them — yet. The Pros have never fit my ears very well, and while I may give them a try at some point, I’m perfectly happy with my AirPods 4 with ANC. Touting the new Pros as the “best-fitting AirPods ever” has me curious, but consider me still skeptical that they’d stay in my ears. No AirPods purchase for me today.