It’s that time of the year. Time for the big hardware updates from Apple. You can read the specific details here or even watch the keynote here.

Here is my brief summary:

Apple Arcade - Apple’s subscription game service. I grew up playing video games, so I am somewhat intrigued by this offering of being able to play games on iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iMac, and AppleTV. If I can save my progress and pick up where I left off on any device, that would be a big plus. That said, I don’t know if it’s worth the $4.99/mo subscription. At this point I will pass unless there is some exclusive game that I *have* to play.

Apple TV+ - Apple’s streaming content service. This service launches on November 1st with what appears to be only Apple-produced exclusive content. The bottom line on streaming services is content is king. I was dragged kicking and screaming into a music streaming service, but I have found Apple Music to be fantastic. It’s $10/month, but I justify it by saying if I listen to one new album a month it’s worth it. This seems to be the proposition with Apple TV+ at the $4.99 price point. If you rent one movie/month, it’s worth it as long as you want to watch whatever they offer. I already have Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO (held over from the end of GoT) and I am not suffering from a dearth of content. Again, unless there is some must-watch item I’m going to pass.

iPad - New 7th generation iPad with bigger and better screen and faster chip. I am completely happy with the iPad mini, so no temptation here for me. 

Apple Watch - Somehow we’ve made it to series 5 of the Apple Watch. The big innovations this time are an always-on display, a compass (you mean it took this long to put a compass in the Apple Watch?) and some new finishes and colors. Oh and it still has “all-day” battery life, announced to the oohs and the ahhs of the crowd. I’m supposed to be impressed by something called an Hermes version of the watch. I’m not. The new watch starts at $399 (up to $1299 for the ceramic). For some reason, Apple is keeping the Series 3 watch in the line-up starting at $199. So what are you saying Apple? The Series 4 watch is crap and not worthy of staying in the line-up?? Perhaps you have detected my feisty attitude discussing Apple Watch. I had the original one. I eventually sold it. I have bought into the idea that I need to charge my phone every day, but I did not buy into the same idea for a watch. The rumors of sleep tracking never came to pass. If you want me to care about Apple Watch, you absolutely need to increase that battery life or add some mechanical charging mechanic. My Fitbit and Oura ring last nearly a week on a charge. 

iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max - These are the successors to the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. From the very first iPhone, I was the guy who had to have the newest one up to iPhone X. I skipped that one and instead got the iPhone XS, which is my current phone. I have decided I need a legitimate reason to drop the money on a new iPhone since I keep them all and never trade them in. The new iPhones of course have new bells and whistles: supposedly more durable design, improved screen, faster processor, fast-charging capability. The big updates are definitely in the camera for pictures and video. And it’s good to see Apple adding another 4-5 hours of battery life over last year’s models through extreme power management. 

I was really hoping to see TouchID under the screen. FaceID is still clunky in my opinion. I shouldn’t have to think about it, and many times I have to deliberately hold the phone a certain way for it to unlock. I am going to pass on this upgrade. I like the improvements, and for someone who is holding on to an iPhone from a few years ago this may be the one for an upgrade. Without question if you are a photographer or make videos, the Pro model is the way to go. By the way, I used to think that they will get to a point where the processor can’t get any faster. One slide from the keynote indicated the chip processes 1 trillion calculations per second. This is mind boggling, but I have a different issue. Yes the processor is upgraded and faster to run all the new fancy stuff. So do you really see that much speed improvement day-to-day with the phone? That’s the speed I care about–unlocking, opening and switching apps. 

So out of all the new offerings, I’m not taking the plunge on any of it. I don’t know what that says about Apple or me but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it (not that I would anyway).

Side note: I would like to sit next to the designers who create the marketing materials. Apple is best-in-class when it comes to marketing videos.