I’ll take one of everything!

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cvil.ly

10 min readNov 19, 2020

Lots of New Apple Gear Brings Joy (and some pain)

This has been a big year for Apple hardware announcements. It’s been many years since I bought new Apple gear so I’m upgrading nearly everything including the family’s iPhones and Watches. I had been hard pressed to find a good reason to upgrade any of my stuff over the last several years. My Apple gear all worked fine and the benefits of upgrading just weren’t big enough to get me off the fence. But now there are many reasons to upgrade and as a result Apple is getting a lot of my money this year.

Upgrades in 2020:

iPhone 12 (replaces my wife’s iPhone 8)
iPhone 12 Pro Max (replaces my iPhone X)
iPhone 12 Minis (for the kids, replaces hand-me-downs)
Apple Watch Series 6 Cellular (replaces my Series 4 Cellular)
Apple Watch SE Cellular (replaces my mom’s Series 4, config via Family Setup)
iPad Air + Magic Keyboard + Pencil2 (replaces iPad Pro 10.5 + Smart Keyboard + Pencil)
MacBook Air (for the kid in college, replaces a ca. 2013 model)
MacBook Pro 13 (for me)

Still wishing for:

iMac with Apple Silicon (to replace Late 2015 27” iMac)

That’s a lot of Apple gear, so I figured I’d capture my experience with all these upgrades and my thoughts on the new hardware.

Upgrading devices is still too painful thanks to iCloud

While Apple has made a lot of progress on the upgrade process over the years, it’s still absurdly complex and buggy. I can’t count on two hands how many times I’ve had to log into iCloud, often twice in a row, not just on my new devices, but on existing devices. Over and over again I logged in, at times being prompted to reset my password for reasons unknown to me, setting off a whole new series of logins across multiple devices. I’ve also spent a lot of time logging out, turning off Find My, and erasing data from old devices that I was trading in. Those are surprisingly time consuming tasks. I’ve spent hours dealing with iCloud authentication.

I used Family Setup for my mom’s Apple Watch SE Cellular. I was excited about this because it meant I could ditch her old iPhone 6 and Watch Series 4 and also manage her device through my account. With the old configuration, it was hard for her to remember to keep the iPhone charged and remember to have it with her all the time. Now she has one simple device that is always with her and always connected (it is also a GREAT speakerphone, btw), no phone required. But setting it up with Family Setup was no easty task. It took over an hour and involved unpairing the old watch, logging her into iCloud on her old phone again and again, then logging me into iCloud again and again, forgetting passwords, resetting passwords, being told a password is wrong when I know it’s right, a bunch of weird shit with 2-factor, and on and on. In other words, a total nightmare. I gave up on migrating her existing number to the new watch. I didn’t want another two hours of setup headaches. I’m glad it’s done.

When setting up my new iPhone 12, I made the fatal mistake of updating from iCloud instead of transferring directly from my old device because the setup wizard implied it was faster. Whether or not this was true, I regretted doing an iCloud transfer immediately and should have known better. Turns out photos don’t transfer using this method and a lot of app settings don’t transfer either. As a result, I’ve spent the last week re-authenticating into apps and re-configuring my new phone. Luckily, all my photos are backed up to Google Photos so I haven’t lost any precious pics or videos. The other problem is, now that Xfinity seems to be enforcing data caps I’m not happy about shuffling gigabytes of data across the Internet, consuming bandwidth that would be better used for streaming 4K HDR on Netflix.

In case it wasn’t abundantly clear, Apple’s authentication scheme via iCloud absolutely sucks. It disappoints at every turn, it’s confusing, it’s redundant and it’s incredibly time consuming to manage. It’s definitely the worst part of the upgrade process and, arguably, the overall iOS.

Device trade-ins are a welcome benefit, but also a source of stress

Trade-ins from Apple and my carrier, AT&T, have reduced the total cost of most of these upgrades and I’m grateful that trade-ins have become a core part of Apple’s hardware lifecycle. I expect the Apple trade-ins to eventually morph into a compelling subscription service (aka “rundle”) in the next couple years — one that will ensure you get all those middling Apple services and the latest, greatest devices for a monthly subscription fee. This in contrast to the current Apple One bundle which is decidedly NOT compelling, imo.

Because I own all my devices outright, I took advantage of the AT&T trade-in program for iPhone 12. They give existing customers a $700 credit ($800 for new customers) for newer iPhones, which is huge. But the AT&T trade-in process is incredibly slow and fraught with anxiety. They take their sweet time providing the trade-in mailer needed to send in your old device and they take a long time to process the trade-in. All the while you worry they’ll reject your trade and they aggressively communicate all the reasons why they might do just that, leaving you stuck paying full price of the new device.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I suspect AT&T’s slow and flawed processing of trade-ins is purposeful. It keeps costs low, ensuring that, for many customers, the window to return the new device (30 days) runs out before you discover that your trade-in isn’t deemed to be worth $700.

In contrast to AT&T, Apple’s trade-in process is smooth but not super generous. Apple sent sturdy trade-in mailers while AT&T’s mailer is literally just a thin, naked bubble pack sleeve sent via uninsured USPS. The Apple mailers arrived either at the same time or just ahead of my new devices. AT&T’s arrive over a week after the new devices, leaving little time to return them within the allotted window. Apple processes the trade-ins incredibly quickly, with great communication at every step, keeping anxiety at bay. AT&T warns you they haven’t gotten your trade-in yet even though you still haven’t received the needed trade-in mailer. In other words, you get what you would expect from Apple and AT&T.

My impressions of the gear

So I’ve been through a lot of setup flows and trade-ins and I’ve spent a lot of cold, hard cash. Was it worth it? In short, yes. Here’s why.

Speed

Everything is faster, and typically a LOT faster. Keep in mind I am upgrading some gear that is going on 5 years old, but wow this stuff is fast. It’s clear that Apple’s investment in their own silicon is paying big dividends for users. My new MacBook Air loads web pages in Safari so fast that it’s almost like switching between tabs that were already loaded. The Apple Watch Series 6 is more buttery smooth and responsive. The new iPad Air and iPhones are also lightning fast with no lag.

IPad Air + Magic Keyboard + Pencil

This is a killer combo and if I didn’t need to run design software, I might consider making this setup my only computer. As noted above, the new iPad Air is super fast, and the display is bright and detailed. It’s become my go-to device for reading, taking notes, and sketching. And it’s great for consuming media when I’m away from a TV.

I hesitated on buying the Magic Keyboard because of cost, but the quality is really impressive. Keys have great feedback and are reliable and the trackpad works well. I’ve been very happy with how iOS leverages the trackpad. It’s intuitive. If you care about a great typing and trackpad experience, you should strongly consider Magic Keyboard despite the cost. That said, I have a few wishes for this expensive accessory:

I’d love some function keys. Specifically esc, volume, and brightness.
I wish it weren’t so damn heavy. It’s as heavy as the iPad Air itself.
I wish I could flip it open completely so that I could draw on the iPad, flat on a table or desk, without detaching the keyboard. Instead it only opens to one position with some ability to tweak the pitch of the screen. Good for viewing, but not sketching.
I haven’t used the Pencil 2 much, but it feels great in the hand and it looks great. Best of all, it charges by simply attaching it to the magnet on the side of the iPad.

Apple Watch Series 6

To be honest, this was the upgrade I was least confident in. I was perfectly happy with my Series 4 and I didn’t need a pulse oximeter. Still, I’m glad I upgraded. The watch is definitely faster with a more responsive UI. But what I really love is the look of the new blue aluminum and the look and feel of the matching “Braided Solo Loop” band. The Solo Loop is not one size fits all. You have to measure your wrist and order the appropriate size band. At the time I ordered, getting the solo loop option meant waiting two months for the watch to ship. It was worth the wait. The Solo Loop is so comfortable that it’s easy to forget the watch is even on your wrist. Honestly! If you’re not convinced you need to upgrade your existing Apple Watch, you can order a Solo Loop for older models. I highly recommend it.

MacBook Air with M1

If you’ve read any of the press, you already know that people are really impressed with the new MacBooks powered by Apple’s own M1 chip. As I mentioned above, the big win for these Macs is speed. Gobs and gobs of speed. I guarantee you will not be disappointed on that front. In fact, it’s so fast you may even want to consider upgrading a relatively new laptop.

I opted to max out the RAM to 16GB. These days 16GB doesn’t sound like a lot of RAM, and it’s not, but apparently the architecture of this new Mac means the RAM is used much more efficiently and therefore it takes less RAM to perform the same tasks versus older architectures. The benchmarking tests and press reviews seem to bear this out. I’m pretty confident I won’t be itching for more RAM anytime soon and that’s good, because you can’t upgrade the RAM. The M1 chip is capped at 16GB max. My main takeaway is that this new class of chips makes a choosing laptop config a lot more like a mobile phone. Speed and storage are the key concerns. Clock speeds and RAM, less so. After all, when was the last time you asked how much RAM your phone has?

The keyboard on the new MacBook Air is fantastic . The keys feel so solid, better than any laptop keyboard I’ve used to date and better than Apple’s Bluetooth keyboards, imo. Importantly, the Air has REAL FUNCTION KEYS, not a Touchbar (the Pro has one and I have a Pro on order, but may swap it for an Air). That’s great news if, like me, you aren’t a fan of the Touchbar. You still get a dedicated TouchID button. I love this feature. It makes logging into your Mac, logging into websites, and using Apple Pay simple and fast. What’s not to like?

iPhone 12

I opted for the Pro Max for myself because I wanted the better camera. I don’t have a ton to say about the new iPhone. I like it. It’s faster and has a better display than my iPhone X which was already very good. OLED makes a significant difference. The cameras are great. It’s really nice to have the three lenses on the Pro Max. I’ve never has a wide lens before, so that’s cool. I played around a bit with video and the stabilization is quite good. In short, photo quality just keeps getting better. No surprise.

The Pro Max is obscenely large, but I haven’t found it burdensome. In exchange for more bulk I get more display space which means it’s easier to read text (old eyes) and easier for me to type without making so many typos. My only complaint is that, because of the way I hold my phone, resting the weight on my pinky finger, that finger gets sore. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

Oh, the MagSafe charging is nice too. I somehow accidentally ordered the charger and, unlike other wireless chargers, it’s been great to not have to fumble around trying to make sure I placed my phone on the charging pad just right so that it actually charges. I had a non-magnetic pad next to my bed for the last year and would often wake up to a nearly dead phone because I hadn’t placed the phone in the precise position on the pad. This made me hate wireless charging.

Ok, so are you ready to buy some gear??

You should consider getting an Apple Card

If, like me, you are buying a decent amount of Apple kit, you should seriously consider getting an Apple Card. When you pay with the Apple Card you get an immediate credit for any trade-ins and you get the option of 0% interest financing. Add to this the 3% “daily cash” incentive and Apple is, in effect, offering a 3% discount on everything you buy with the card, while spreading your payments over 12 months interest free. That’s a pretty awesome deal.

Don’t forget the education discount!

Speaking of deals, I am finally taking full advantage of Apple education pricing. The discounts aren’t huge and they only apply to Macs, iPads, and some accessories, but it’s better than nothing. As an example, you can save $100 on the new MacBooks. Getting the education discount is as simple as navigating to the education store. There’s no process for verifying that you are a student or educator and you don’t personally have to be the student, you just need one in your household. That’s right, you can be the parent or guardian of a student and still qualify!