During the COVID-19, the phrase “new normal” became somewhat of a meme, but as countries started lifting the restrictions it became clear that people are not ready for the new normal, we are longing for the way it was before.
Last week I’ve traveled from Riga to London and back. Both of the countries recently have lifted all the COVID-19 restrictions, so it felt like the recent pandemic never happened. You don’t have to wear a mask in neither of the airports and what is most important – in the plane. Mostly gone are the days of ordering something, so you could take off the mask without people judging. You could just take a book and enjoy.
I was flying two different airlines there and back. In one of them, COVID-19 was not even mentioned and all the employees were not wearing masks. In the second, they encouraged wearing a mask during the flight and all the employees were wearing one.
In London itself, it is back to normal as well. You don’t have to wear a mask indoors, and swarms of people are in all the usual places. I thought I would have anxiety. Although, I am ready to get back to the way it was, but after 2 years, you just can’t help but adjust to the new way. But I was very comfortable with all the people around me.
Some things did change. For example, in the hotel, before going into the elevator I would ask if a person who was already there doesn’t mind, and I wouldn’t judge someone if they’ve said they weren’t comfortable.
Do I think COVID-19 is over? Of course not. People still are getting ill, but in most cases it appears to be mild, without long effects and many people have some sort of protection, be it from vaccines, recovering from COVID-19 or as in my case – from both. I am glad we are getting back to normal, it feels great.
For a couple of years now, Jason Snell at Six Colors asks people in tech to rate Apple in different categories. I like this idea to look back and give my opinion. I started last year and decided to keep a tradition (albeit a bit late).
Mac
Grade: B
Don’t get me wrong – M1 Max and M1 Pro are great for someone who needs it, but Apple didn’t do any hardware for me. Those 14” and 16” are too heavy, over-powered, and expensive for what I do. I still love my MacBook Air with M1, it is a great laptop, but we are still waiting for a redesign.
I like how iMac with M1 looks, those colors are great, but it’s small, so I’m still waiting for something bigger. Or for Apple display that doesn’t cost like a used car.
I think B is a good score, but compared with the year when the M1 was first introduced and the improvement the new MacBook Air was, it doesn’t compare favorably.
iPhone
Grade: B
Again, solid year for an iPhone, but I was so much in love with 12 Pro Max the year before that feelings from iPhone 13 Pro are much more neutral, comparatively. It is a great phone, better in some ways, but the telephoto lens is still a hit or miss. With 12 Pro Max, I loved shooting with it, this year, not so much. The rail is all scratched up, although the previous phone looked like a new one after a year of use.
iOS 15 didn’t bring many new features. It works, and the Live Text feature is spectacular, but that is mostly all the progress for the year. And I find myself restarting the phone pretty often, because of some small bugs.
iPad
Grade: B
The first category to improve year after year. Maybe the issue is with me, not with Apple, but I hear a lot of similar sentiment in Apple centred podcasts – I finally use the iPad for what it is, a remarkable consumption device. Before, I’ve set out to replace my laptop with an iPad Pro, and it worked. But was a bit worse in numerous things. Last year iPad mini came out and oh boy it is great. Yeah, the screen is lacking a bit, but otherwise it is a fantastic device. Small, but with the screen large enough to be comfortable, looks great, fast. And it finally allows an iPad to be the best iPad it can and not attempting to be something else.
Watch and Wearables
Wearables – Grade: C
Watch – Grade: B
I’m still waiting for the AirPods Pro update. The ones I have are already dying after just one year (the regular AirPods worked for 2 years). The battery doesn’t hold anymore, and the case glitches all the time, attempting to connect, even though it is closed. The AirPods Max are still too expensive and not comfortable to take with you.
Apple Watch on the other hand (sorry) is a different story. I don’t agree with those saying that this is a small update. I like my Series 7. I love the bigger screen and improved sensors (compared to my previous Series 5). But I have to mention that software is lacking a lot. All the watch faces are bad, each in their own way. There are not many apps. It becomes too passive device for such a price.
Apple TV
Grade: E
I don’t think anything changed much. Yes, the remote got updated, but it is still the same overpriced box, that I can’t recommend to anyone, but Apple fanboys.
Services
Grade: F
This is a bit emotional grade, but where do I start? First, it is a year 2022 and the best tier of Apple One is still not available in Latvia. That means I’m overpaying for the storage because I have to pay for Apple One Family and additional 2 TB of storage, since I have a bit more than 400 GB stored in iCloud. Apple needs to add the Premier tier everywhere or give more options for storage upgrade.
Apple News+ and Apple Fitness+ are still not available in Latvia, as in most of the world. Apple Music apps are a joke. Everyone is enraged with 1Password going Electron, but Apple Music is so much worse.
Activity app on Apple Watch is making things worse, not better. I’ve been wearing Oura ring and after comparing the two, I can’t believe I’ve listened to those prompts. Apple Watch is constantly trying to push you – more, faster, more effort. Regardless of how you feel. I’ve had COVID-19 and Apple Watch expected me to close all the rings every day. While I woke up a bit under the weather with Oura ring, and it noticed and recommended I take things easier, maybe even take some rest days. I think Apple Watch Activity can be harmful.
HomeKit
Grade: D
It’s the app that exists. I love my colorful Hue lamps, but I mostly use them through Hue app. If you want a HomeKit enabled camera, you’ll have to look around for some time.
Hardware Reliability
Grade: A
Although I mentioned problems with AirPods Pro, this is the product from before. I don’t see any major issues with the offered hardware. I don’t even remember any of the new “gates”, which says a lot.
Software Quality
Grade: B
As I said, I’m restarting my phone quite a lot, the software is okay, but can be much better. I think there is a lot to cover and Apple needs some time and resources, and it will get better.
Developer Relations
Grade: E
Whatever you think of the Apple vs Epic conflict, it appeared only because Apple is bad at “relations”. Sony and Microsoft have both even worse deals in their stores, but nobody says a thing because they manage it much better. Apple, on the other hand, thinks only developers have to pray to them. But it is a two-way street, and there is no App Store without developers. The sooner Apple will understand that the better. Otherwise, they will be dragged through all the courts all over the world and the result will be much worse than if they made the changes themselves.
Environmental and Social Issues
Grade: C
Apple still is dependent on China. I don’t think anything changed or can be changed in the nearest future. So, no change in the grade year over year.
As I first did in 2019, then in the middle of 2020 and at the end of 2020, I’m sharing my Homescreen. It is fun to go and take a look at how it changes (or stays the same). During 2021 there were quite a few changes, actually. Here is a look at 2021 edition (although a bit late).
2021
Widgets
If previously there was only one stack of widgets which combined both Fantastical and Carrot Weather, now I have two separate, but smaller. First, is still Fantastical, which is a Stack of plain calendar with a heat-map and events view (similar to what I’ve had before, just separated in two widgets). Second, is Photos. I’ve previously had it on the left of the homescreen, but realised, I don’t go there often, and I wanted those memories to show up, so now it is promoted to the homescreen.
Stayed
Probably the most consistent apps are Messages, WhatsApp, Mail and Safari. I use those not even daily, but hourly. From entertainment, there are Music and Overcast – with Apple One it is harder to justify paying for Spotify and there is nothing better than Overcast in terms of sound (I don’t care for the design, so this was the year I’ve tried a couple of competitors, but nothing comes even close). The only change is that Overcast was demoted from the dock, but as I have only one homescreen, it’s not a big deal.
Now that I’ve exchange my bigger Pro Max for a plain Pro, I find myself not reading as many books on the phone. Still, Books app is still there whenever I find time. As is Audible, but again, that might change because I mostly listen to the audiobooks in the car and I launch the app from CarPlay there.
I’ve stuck with Reeder as my RSS app of choice, as well as read-it-later service. I intend to try Matter (I did before, but didn’t like it, now that it is more established, I want to give it another go).
Although there is a Photos’ widget, I still kept the Photos app icon just because it opens the Library, saving at least one tap compared to the Widget.
A bit more boring category – two finance apps are there as well – MoneyWiz and Revolut. Still use them daily, although I’ve changed icons for both.
Craft is my app of choice for notes, and it was “promoted” to the dock. Briefly, I tried to move writing there as well, but I didn’t like paragraph breaks for that, so returned to Ulysses, which is also still here.
Removed
I don’t use Telegram as often for personal communication and there are just two channels I like reading, that is why I started using it on a laptop more, so it was one of the first apps to go.
I also don’t watch a lot of Netflix on my iPhone anymore (the difference in screen size between Pro and Pro Max iPhones is small, but in watching videos – very noticeable). Similar with YouTube. The size of the screen is less of the issue here, it’s just I didn’t open it daily.
In 2021, I posted less to Instagram (and it feels like I took fewer photos), so wasn’t using Lightroom on my phone at all. I still have a subscription and use it from time to time, but not as much.
Replaced
TickTick – Todoist
As I’ve mentioned last year, I chose TickTick, but still searched for something better. Somehow, it never really clicked with me. So, this summer I’ve migrated to Todoist, which I’ve used a couple of years before, and I love it. I can’t put my finger on it, but something changed. I didn’t like Todoist last time I’ve tried it, but now it became good.
Tot – Brain Dump Shortcut
I also mentioned last year that I don’t think Tot would survive 2021, and it didn’t. I’ve deleted it from all my devices and replaced with nothing at first. I’ve had Craft for note-taking, but it didn’t have a simplicity of adding something random. Closer to the end of the year, I created a shortcut which opens the text input field and saves whatever you write in the Brain Dump note in Craft. This method is surprisingly good. It is fast. You can type, paste something. If you want to save it or expand on your thought, you can create a document out of the paragraph in Craft. It is still a work in progress, and I am also considering using Drafts for that. So look forward to the update next year.
Added
As we spend more time at home and winter days are very short, Philips Hue app found its way to the homescreen. I have a couple of smart lightbulbs and love them a lot. If price was lower, I would change all the lights in my house to Philips smart ones.
Surprisingly, the Camera made its return to the homescreen. I didn’t have it before because I was launching it from lock screen or Control Centre. Recently, though, with a more active child I sometimes found myself loosing precious seconds trying to open Control Centre and finding a small icon, thus losing the shot. So, I’ve added Camera icon to the dock (in the same place it is on a Lock Screen, for muscle memory).
I’ve returned Duolingo to the homescreen (and my phone), since I want to try to learn French. I’m uncertain if I’m ready to pay for the service, so trying to make my piece with thousands of ads in the free version.
My wife gave me Oura ring for my birthday. Now every morning I open the app to check on my sleep, that is why I like having it right there on the homescreen.
Conclusion
As is always the case, the homescreen is a work in progress. But as you can see over even a couple of years, there are some apps that took a strong hold, and it is hard to imagine they wouldn’t be there next year. Although, again, as life shows, nothing is certain and anything can happen.
This year was filled with great hardware. Some of it came out in 2021, some before, but I was able to get it only this year. Nevertheless, here are some of my favourite things this year.
iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 mini
As I mentioned in my review – good became even better. The best thing about iPhone 13 Pro, in a day-to-day use it’s unnoticeable, which is always a good sign. My wife got an iPhone 13 mini, and it is a beast. Small, yet powerful, and improved battery life compared to the last year model is noticeable.
Apple Watch Series 7
When bigger is indeed better. The battery on my Series 5 wasn’t good at all, and by the end of year 2 it was close to unusable. So, Series 7 was a welcome improvement. Bigger screen, brighter always–on display and better battery makes this an outstanding upgrade from whatever generation you are on.
Honda e
This is a big one. We had a need for a second car and going electric was quite a choice. Many habits had to change, as well as thinking about range. But after three months with the car, I’m still in love. It is small, fun, and a bit eccentric – just perfect for a city car.
LG C1
I’ve had C9 for almost two years and loved it, but as we’ve moved to a much bigger space, 55” TV wasn’t big enough anymore. From the distance of our couch, it looked like a postage stamp. I knew I wanted an LG OLED and the bigger, the better, but 77” was drastically over our limit, so we’ve had to settle for a 65” one. It is noticeably bigger and paired with Vogel mount, you can bring it closer. The LG C1 is great from the picture standpoint, but the software is a massive step back. It tries to be smarter, but it is not. It’s slow, buggy, inconsistent. And why, for the love of god, they removed play/pause button. I had to plug my Apple TV, which is now the only interface I use. On the bright side, it is completely ready for the next–gen gaming, which is a big deal.
Sony PlayStation 5
Speaking of which, I’ve waited long enough for a PS5 from the official Sony dealer. But I don’t think it will happen in the nearest future. So one day I decided to pay a bit more and buy from scalpers on eBay. It now seems like a smart move, since I overpaid less than 20% and prices since went up. The best thing about this generation of PlayStation is DualSense controller. In games that have support it feels outstanding. The games themselves are not yet there, unfortunately. It feels like 2022 will be the year we’ll finally see at least something for the next generation.
Dyson v15
Surprisingly, in a list of phones, cars, and gaming consoles, this is one of the best purchases made this year. It is small yet powerful. Simple yet technological. It makes vacuuming fun.
MacBook Air with M1
This is the best laptop I’ve used in years. It’s actually the best computer I’ve used in years. It is fast, powerful, has a great battery. Not only that, but it is almost the perfect laptop, especially considering the price. If you need to buy a laptop right now, seriously consider this one.
Honorable Mentions
There are two devices I like, but not used long enough to form a full opinion, but still, they are worth mentioning.
Oura Ring 3
My wife gave me it as a gift. I wanted to track sleep for a long time, but wearing an Apple Watch was a no–go. It is big, heavy and has a massive screen. Oura Ring is perfect for that. Although most of the things I already knew – you shouldn’t drink alcohol before bed and should have a sleep schedule, there were still a couple of surprises from the data.
I have to mention one thing – their support is probably the worst I ever encountered.
Keychron K2
I’ve long wanted to try a mechanical keyboard and finally pulled a plug during the Black Friday sale. I love typing on it, but it needs some adjustment. The change in travel is massive compared to MacBook Air or iPad Pro keyboard.
Since the Apple Watch updates are very iterative, I’m very comfortable in updating every other year. This was such a year. I’ve had Series 5 and by the end of the second year the battery was bad. Taking it of the charger at around 7 AM, it would go to Power Reserve mode at around 10-11 PM. Even without workouts. But I waited for a new one, since Series 6 didn’t add anything major. And although somereviewers would tell you that Series 7 is not much different, I believe this is a substantial update.
Design and Screen
I am a fan of big watches. Not bulky, but with a larger watch dial. So, a bigger display was a welcome change. And considering that it didn’t much change the size of the watch itself, I would say it is a big win.
By the end of year two with my previous watch, I started thinking how big the bezel was around the screen. It feels much more like an all–screen face now, especially if you go for a Contour watch face.
Series 7 is noticeably larger
The screen is also much brighter in the always–on mode. This was improved in the Series 6, but lucky me – I get two years of improvements instead of one.
On the other hand, colours this year for aluminium model are just bad. Not that blue, green, or red don’t look good. They do. But they are very opinionated. If you are ready to rock the red watch the whole year (or two), more power to you. I just think those watches won’t go with many clothes and watch bands. Recently, I realised that it’s too boring having every technology in black (just look at my car, laptop, or a phone). Moreover, Midnight Aluminium is not black, it is almost very dark blue. So, I was excited to buy a silver aluminium model, but they didn’t make it in this colour this year. Instead, there is Starlight. Which, honestly, looks like … nothing. When I saw it in the store, it is so dull.
That left me with a choice between Titanium and Stainless Steel. I went for the Stainless Steel, as it was a bit shinier. I couldn’t choose between Gold and Silver for a long time (believe me, I got the looks from the Apple Store employee). But in the end settled for the Silver one with the Milanese Loop (finally, had an opportunity to get this band, always wanted one).
I love how it looks. Surprisingly, it goes with every watch band I own, even colourful ones.
It is noticeably heavier. But in an enjoyable way. It feels more substantial. Just a bit closer to a real watch. I already have a couple of scratches after a month of use, and I am careful with my watches. The good news is – you can polish stainless steel, and it will look almost like a new one.
Battery and Charging
As I mentioned before, my Series 5 got terrible battery life by the end of the year two. It actually was never great, barely good enough. Series 7 is much better. I have always–on display turned on at all times and without workout will have around 50% by the end of the day. Not comfortable for a 2–day use, but more than enough for one.
But the main improvement is fast charging. You have to use the new charger for this, but it is spectacular when you need it. Recently, someone messed with my wall charger, I didn’t notice it in the evening. When I woke up, my watch and phone weren’t charged at all. For a phone I have chargers everywhere, so it wasn’t much of a problem, but what do you do with a watch? I’ve got the new cable from the box and in about 30 minutes it was almost full. This is the must–have feature if you track sleep with your watch (I don’t, it’s just too big).
Software Features
There are just two features that are exclusive to the Series 7 Apple Watch – two watch faces and a keyboard.
The faces are Contour one, I already mentioned, which shows how small the bezel is. It has many colours, I like the light grey with the Milanese Loop band and pride with everything else. The second one is Modular Duo, which had so much potential when Apple presented it, but it is bad. It tries to flex the bigger screen, but there is just not enough information. I could try to forgive it, if there was at least a date above the time, like in an old Modular, but alas.
Not even a date
Looks amazing
Another software feature is a full–size keyboard. Yes, you can type on a watch now. It is surprisingly good. Mostly not to type, but to swipe. As always with Apple, there is a catch. The feature works only with English keyboard. Yes, in the year 2021. And, why, for the love of God, is it not available on older devices? If that’s because of the size – it is available on the smaller size of the current generation, which is smaller than the larger Series 6.
A whole keyboard on a watch
Again, I’m not the one to give the advice whether to upgrade, but don’t let anyone fool you – Series 7 is a very noticeable upgrade even from the previous model. The screen is bigger, and it shows in the day–to–day use. If you wish to skip a year – you also won’t go wrong. Just don’t let anyone dictate what should be your decision.
Stainless Steel looks great. Sorry for tha hairy hand
It’s hard to write nice things. If I had to write a TLDR version of the review, it would have been – it just works, except for speakers. This laptop is so good, you don’t even notice. It is powerful, it has a great battery life and what’s even more surprising, this machine doesn’t have a fan. I’m not entirely sure this laptop is even legal.
It’s so good I have two of them at home. I finally exchanged my Lenovo Thinkpad at work for a MacBook Air.
What it replaced
The one and only MacBook I owned was my Early 2015 MacBook Pro with Intel Core i3, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD. I bought it 6 years ago as a reward, for finishing my master’s thesis. At the time, the only upgrade was SSD, but that was only because they didn’t have 128 GB available. I also wanted a MacBook Pro instead of Air, because of the Retina screen.
Over the years, this Mac got slow. It got so bad, I tried to reinstall the OS and delete everything because I thought something must have gone horribly wrong for it to be so slow. But it’s just time. Retina display, entry-level processor and 8 GB of RAM are too basic even for a casual browsing now.
That is why for the last two years I considered my iPad Pro 12.9” to be my primary computer. When M1 Macs came out, I was tempted, but wasn’t sure if I ever need another Mac, or will I become iPad only? It sure felt like it. But the more I read and watch about the new Macs, the more I wanted one, maybe even to replace my iPad.
So half a bottle of whiskey later, I order a M1 MacBook Air with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD.
Design
Lately, I have a tendency to choose unusual colours, so the model I bought was Gold. I was intrigued, but not sure about my choice. After getting it out of the packaging, I immediately fell in love. It’s just beautiful. The colour plays nicely in different lightning. It changes from gold, to rose gold, to pink and to just light, almost silver. Now as I type it looks more like a copper. I also like how thin and light it is.
For work, I chose dark grey and … I don’t like it. It is too boring. Too computery. I’m hoping rumours are true and Apple will introduce a colourful MacBook Air.
I would like for a screen bezel to be smaller, which would make a whole device smaller. Not only that, but I also don’t like that there is “MacBook Air” written under the display. I know what I bought and use, and it feels very Samsung-y to stick the name wherever you can. It seems that the early 2015 MacBook Pro was an odd one, as it didn’t have the name written.
Dongletown
For the last 5 years I’ve read, watched and listened to everyone whining about MacBooks having only USB-C and some of them only 1 or 2 ports. I thought everybody is just nuts and tries to find a problem where there is none. That is, of course, until I bought such a laptop myself. MacBook Air has 2 USB-C ports and a headphone jack. Typically, that is more than enough for me. And this is when it got to me – most of the time, that is what everyone is talking about. I need to connect a display through HDMI and Logitech keyboard using their USB type-A dongle. Something I didn’t even think about before, gave me pause.
After some consideration, I bought an Apple dongle for HDMI, USB type-A and USB type-C. It’s a small, light dongle which should be enough for me. I also use microSD cards from my camera, but I transfer photos to the iPad Pro, so I already have a USB-C card reader from Apple.
That’s not the end of the world, but it is added cost and an inconvenience. But I’m more than 100% sure, many MacBook Air buyers won’t have such problem. They’ll use it without anything connected to it and charge with the brick and cable that comes with it.
Touch ID
Using biometric authentication in modern computers is genius. All joking aside, I like having Touch ID on a Mac. Unlock with Apple Watch never worked for me on my previous MacBook, so having fingerprint sensor built-in is much faster and easier to use.
It’s just a little convince for logging in, but a massive quality of life improvement for using 1Password.
There is not much more to add, but it’s just so good, to warrant its section.
Keyboard and Trackpad
There is little to say about the trackpad. I thought that the one I had on my MacBook Pro was big, but this one is just massive, and I like it. If there is space – put the biggest one you can. Since it’s not mechanical, and you can press wherever, I don’t see any problem. Moreover, the size doesn’t add the issue of accidentally touching it while typing, so thumbs-up from me.
Keyboard, on the other hand, is a very controversial topic. I was lucky to buy the last laptop with non-butterfly keys and didn’t have any difficulties with it. But I loved how butterfly keyboard felt. The scissor-switch one is a bit wobbly for me. I loved Smart Keyboard Folio for iPad Pro much better. But I enjoy the keyboard on this MacBook Air quite a lot. It feels nice. For my taste it could’ve been a bit clickier, but I could see how many would hate it.
Sound
Speakers are the weakest point of this laptop. There is nothing remarkable about the sound. It is quiet. Even in a smaller room it is not comfortable to watch a TV show with sound turned all the way up, it’s just hard to hear things. I would rather play through iPad Pro or use headphones, not even talking about dedicated speakers.
Speed
This is a quality of life improvement. When you open the lid, and it instantly turns on, and you can place your finger on the fingerprint scanner and in a second you’ll see an unlocked computer. This is something you expect from iOS, not macOS laptop. It seems too good to be true.
Of course my comparison is to the entry-level laptop from 2016, but still, the speed blew my mind.
Battery
I started the part about battery life by writing the time I took it off the charger, how I used it during the day, etc. But I quickly realised how pointless it was. It’s just a full-day battery. Even better than an iPad. The feeling I get with this laptop – sometimes I remember to plug it in. This laptop is meant for charging overnight, working all day and charging after you are done, and it works for me this way.
MacBook Air with M1 re–introduced macOS to me. As soon as 2018 iPad Pro 12.9” came out, I fell in love. My first Apple device was iPhone 4, so iOS was always much closer for me. I like that the main interaction with the device are apps. That they open instantly, and you don’t have to manage them. That it is simple.
My MacBook Pro was underpowered for everything. It was entry-level configuration, so video editing, programming, or playing video games was not a fun experience, but also just using it as I was for writing, browsing, lightly editing photos – iPad was much faster and easier for that. So quickly, after buying an iPad, my MacBook Pro started gathering dust at home.
Now the tables are turned. I’m selling my iPad Pro because this MacBook gives me everything I want and even more. One might say, it is almost a perfect laptop.
As I wrote in the iPhone 12 Pro Max exit interview — it was a great phone. So, imagine that, but a bit better in almost everything. That is how you get iPhone 13 Pro.
This year I decided to go for a smaller one, since everything except for the screen size and battery is identical. Although I sometimes wish for a bigger screen in a day-to-day use, Pro Max is too unwieldy.
You can see how much bigger the Pro Max display really is
As it is not too different from the last year model, here are the things I’ve noticed the most.
Design
Last year, after a lot of consideration, I decided to go with the Gold phone. I still think that was the right choice. It is a fantastic colour, which goes with many accessories. This year I went with an updated colour – Sierra Blue. I preferred not to have the same colour two years in a row, and I don’t care for a silver one. If I was buying a phone now, I would go for a Gold colour again. It is so much better. You are very confined in colours you can pair your phone with. Choosing cases or skins is much harder now.
Although I went for a smaller phone because it is almost impossible to use Pro Max with one hand, it didn’t solve the problem. Whilst 13 Pro is great in terms of the size, it is very heavy. So using it with one hand for a bit longer time is still tricky.
Screen
One day my phone asked me if I wanted to turn on Low-Power mode, since the battery got below 20%, I did. After a couple of minutes, I’ve tried using it and scrolling felt really janky. I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I tried restarting it, since I thought there might be something killing the processor. After the restart — the same thing happened. That is when I realised — Low-Power mode turns off ProMotion. So for me, whatever anyone tells you — 120 Hz screen is legit. I didn’t have such realisation with a iPad Pro because I never put it in Low-Power mode, so the ProMotion works all the time.
The notch is a bit smaller – narrower. It feels like it is actually taller, and for a couple of weeks I was noticing it a lot.
Camera
12 Pro Max had a remarkable camera. So much so, I decided to sell my “real” camera. Here, the ultra-wide got improved, and it is noticeable, so did the main camera, but I’ve started to enjoy 2.5x telephoto a lot, so I was hoping for an improvement in the 13 Pro. Unfortunately, the new telephoto lens is very hit or miss. In a very bright light it is good, but the moment sun goes away the quality is just not there. After getting used to the telephoto on the previous phone, I’m regularly saddened by the results now.
Although, everyone was talking about Macro mode, I still have to make one photo with it. Maybe it’s just not my thing, but I’m forgetting it even exists. I know in the future iOS version they’ll put a dedicated button, possibly that will prompt me to use it more. And whenever I look at the photos made in Macro mode, most of them are low quality.
I also had to read another iPhone 13 review to remember that there is a Cinematic mode. Perhaps it is more of a me problem, but I have yet to shoot a video with it.
It was not necessary to replace the year–old iPhone, but I wanted to get a smaller phone. Only after getting one ProMotion and a better main camera got me. It is a no-brainer update for a 2–year old or older iPhone. If you don’t need to change a phone because of size or weight, I would skip upgrading from the 12 series. Unless you want to. Don’t let people on the internet dictate you what to do.
I never thought I would write a review of a vacuum cleaner, but here we are. I was looking at Dyson vacuums for a long time, but always wanted something more for that price, something special. And boy they delivered. In the newest version, they literally added lasers. Honest to god laser. How cool is that?
It actually has a purpose — it shows you where the dust is. First time you clean the house, it is quite shocking. When you thought the floor was clean, it shows you how wrong you are. After the novelty wears off, it starts to feel like a game. Try to find the most dust in the room.
Here is perfectly clean floorWhat happens when you use lasers
I know it sounds weird, but it is so much fun. Imaging accidentally vacuuming the whole house while cooking. I had some time to kill, so decided to vacuum the kitchen and the living room, but it was fun looking for dust, so I’ve done the entire house.
The other thing it does — it shows you the type of dust/particles you are gathering. From the allergens and pollen to dust mites and particles the size of sugar. It shows it on a little screen (which is surprisingly hard to take a photo of, it looks bad, although in real life it’s quite nice).
You’ll have to believe me that it looks much better in person
It is also surprisingly powerful for a cordless vacuum. We usually use it on an Auto-setting, so it lasts around 45 minutes. It is definitely not the most powerful setting, but when it detects a lot of dirt, it turns it up, so you still gather it with one swoop. You almost don’t need to got back and forth at all, it vacuums everything in one go.
I also think it’s not too heavy, although you have to carry the whole vacuum in your hand, I don’t feel any discomfort after cleaning an entire house. As I mentioned, on Auto-setting, the battery will last around 45 minutes (which is more than enough for us). If your house is a bigger one, there is the outsize version with a bigger battery. Alternatively, you can buy an additional battery to this one, they snap on and off easily — with just a click of a button.
There are also numerous brushes. The one with lasers which is mostly for hard floors (but you can use it on carpets also, and we do), the one specifically for carpets, the small motor-driven one for long hair and pet hair and much more. It is so versatile, it is now our only vacuum for everything.
The one downside for me is the charging situation. It comes with a charger that you can plug, but the vacuum doesn’t stand on itself. There is a base in the box, but it is one you attach permanently to the wall. I’m not a fan of such solutions. So, we’ve bought a stand, which is another 150 EUR. I would’ve loved if it was included in the box.
Much better with a stand
We’ve had a Phillips cordless vacuum before and a couple of traditional ones before (both big and small), but this one is the favourite I’ve ever used. It is adequately powerful, has lasers, so it can show you all the dirt, looks interesting and gives you some information and what you’re cleaning. If you can swallow the price, I definitely recommend getting one.
With my wife getting back to work and daughter going to the daycare, we’ve realised it’s time to buy a second car. We quickly decided that it has to be something small, not absurdly expensive, but had to look good. The odd dealbreaker for me was Apple CarPlay. Oh, and it also had to be new, I didn’t want for it to spend any time in the repair shop. That way we’ve narrowed it down to Hyundai, Peugeot, and Fiat. All of them had good entry-level options. But after some searching, we’ve started thinking about going electric. We still don’t have any subsidies by the government if you buy an electric car, but there are a couple of perks you can enjoy:
free parking in Riga
using bus lanes
no registration fee or car tax (which would be around 50-150 euros, depending on the car)
free entrance to Jurmala (which will go from being seasonal to the whole year starting in 2022).
Moreover, recently banks started giving very low-interest rate for a lease and using an electric car seems to be cheaper than a petrol or diesel one (will check on this point at a later date).
After seeing some options, we’ve driven by the Honda dealership and that is where I saw it — Honda e. I saw some photos a couple of years ago, when they presented the prototype. I loved it, but seeing it in person only made those feelings stronger.
We were offered a test-drive and I couldn’t look at any other car after that. I mean, just look at it.
How It Looks — Attention Grabber
You won't miss it anywhere
The first evening I drove to the city, I was surprised to see everyone looking at me. People were literally stopping and pointing fingers. Cars were driving slower or faster just to drive close and look. Although electric cars are nothing new in Latvia (there are about 1700 of them, mostly BMW i3, Teslas and e-ups), but this one looks like a prototype. Honda even has a tagline for e — “This is not a prototype.” Furthermore, what “helps” is that there are only 3 of them on Latvian roads.
One day, I stopped at the red light and behind me was a Tesla Model X. Someone in the next row was going out of his way to see inside my car, totally ignoring Tesla. That felt weird.
If you like being a centre of attention — this is a car for you. If you want to drive like a madman, ignoring rules and picking your nose — look elsewhere, since you will be very noticeable.
Range
Charging in the autumn could be a bit poetic
This could be either the biggest weakness of the car, or it will not bother you at all. While making an electric car, Honda looked at the statistics and realised that only 1% of the trips in the UK are longer than a hundred miles. So, in making a city car, they’ve decided — why put a lot of batteries that wouldn’t be used? The result — this car will go somewhere between 160-220 km on a single charge depending on the version, weather, and the wheels you get.
We live a bit outside of town, so our drive to work is about 22 km, with around 8 km on the highway (which kills the battery, by the way). We consistently get 170 km of range, without economy or shutting everything off, just a normal driving with a regenerative braking.
What that means for me personally — I wouldn’t buy this car as the only one in the family, since on a road trip, you won’t get far. But it is perfectly adequate for a drive around a city — going to and from work, running some errands, etc.
It actually changed my thinking about the range already. Our main car is a BMW X3, and it easily can do 1000 km on a full tank, probably that was why I felt nervous when I saw only 200 km left and started looking for a gas station. Now I’m relaxed driving both cars almost to an empty tank / battery. I think it’s a positive change.
Charging
Still a looker
Surprisingly for a Japanese car, it comes with a Type 2 plug, which is the same as in Tesla, Jaguar, VW, BMW, and a lot more. That means that there are plenty of chargers around.
The car itself comes with a home charger — Type 2 on one side and 220V plug on the other. Yes, you just plug it in a normal socket at home and charge it. I don’t know about you, but it blew my mind the first time I plugged it in, and it worked.
Charging from the outlet is the slowest there is. It will take around 19 hours to charge from 0 to 100%. Luckily, you don’t really use it until the battery is empty, so after a day of use, you can charge it in about 5-9 hours.
You can install a wallbox at home, that way you’ll have Type 2 connectors on both sides, and it will allow you to charge from 0 to full in about 6 hours. For cars with larger batteries it is a must-have, but for this one, the outlet charger suffices.
Charging at night
Outside the house there are a couple of choices. There are different chargers, which differ in power and whether they have a plug. We have 2 big chains — Elektrum (from the biggest electric company in the country) and e-mobi (from the government). The first one charges by the kWh charged (no pun intended) and the price is similar to the electricity price at home. The second charges for minutes used and so depending on the power of the charger the price for the full battery will wary very much. Furthermore, to charge with Elektrum ones you’ll have to bring your cable, while e-mobi chargers have them built-in (like a gas pump). I’ve used only e-mobi chargers and the fastest ones available (50 kWh, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to use them at the full potential — 0-80% in 30 minutes). It takes about an hour to fully charge Honda e. And the less juice you have left, the faster it will charge.
There are also some free chargers (at the malls, for example), but they are slow (similar to the home charger) and also need a cable.
Screens and technologies
Good thing it was produced before chip shortage
There are 6 screens in the car — 2 for side mirrors, 1 in front of you, 2 entertainment system screens (each 12.3”) and with a flick, a back mirror becomes a screen.
What’s also important for me is, although there are a lot of screens, most of the typical controls are still manual buttons (heating, wipers, etc.). For now, this is the best combination in my opinion. I don’t like how Tesla puts everything on the screen, and I also can’t look at cars that don’t have screens or have a small one for the entertainment system. This is the best of both worlds.
The screens are fine. They could’ve been a better quality or more responsive, but in a day-to-day use I mostly don’t notice. I always have battery information on the farther side and CarPlay on the closest screen.
By the way, although this car supports both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, only CarPlay is wireless and my god it is outstanding.
The process of getting in the car and driving is like non-existent, almost. You come to your car, the handle pops out, you open it, sit, choose D or R on a transmission and just drive. You don’t have to start the car, connect your phone. I know some things have been in cars for years, but the combination just gets you. I was surprised by the wireless CarPlay, since not a lot of cars have it, especially at this price point. But if you can get one — do, it’s not a dealbreaker, but a very nice touch.
Mirrors are perfectly visible even in the heavy rain
There are a lot of cameras in this car, including two instead of mirrors. It took about a day to learn to live with them and one rainy drive on the highway to enjoy and value it. Because the cameras are a bit inside and covered in some water-repellent, the picture in rain stays spotless, you won’t think there is rain just looking at those screens. If your windows are fogged up, you can still see the mirrors. And most importantly — you adjust them once and the picture stays the same however you change the position of your head or whole body. The mirrors are replaced by cameras, mostly to reduce the drag. Since you can make cameras much smaller, it is more efficient, which is important for an EV.
The Advance model also has a 220V outlet (with power of 1500W) in front and HDMI port, so you can plug a TV box or even game console (like PS5) and it will run it with no problems. Although PS5 is an overkill for such small screen, I can see myself plugging a laptop to charge or some classic console to play while charging.
Yes, you can play PS5 in the car
There are also 2 USB-A plugs, one for charging only, the second is for connecting to the entertainment system. Unfortunately, there is no wireless charging, which would be great with the wireless CarPlay.
Driving
The only season it blends in – autumn
It is surprisingly fun to drive. As with all electric cars it instantly goes from the start, unlike many others it keeps going. The Advance version does 0-100 km/h in 8.3 seconds, which of course is no match for Tesla, but still very competitive. Also, according to Honda it has 50/50 weight distribution and since the batteries are all down, this car holds the road like no other. It even has different wheels — the back ones are wider. I’ve gone into some corners with the speed I couldn’t even think of, especially in my SUV.
If one would find a road where it would be legal, one might find out that the top speed is capped at 150 km/h, which is more than enough, since it is actually a city car and such speed will deplete the battery in front your eyes.
Turning radius blew my mind. It is considered one of the smallest there are, losing only to London cabs, but you can definitely feel it on the narrow streets of the Old Town.
Space
Shock content if you open the trunk
This is a good news — bad news type of situation. First, good news — this car is very comfortable for those sitting in front. Because there is no transmission, although the car is small, you have a free space for your knees to go, while driving. Riding in the back is a bit trickier. First, it has two seats (technically 3 people can seat there, but there is no belt in the middle). Second, there is not a lot of legroom, but still, it’s not the smallest one, so for a drive around the city, even passengers in the back will feel okay. It is perfect for children.
What is lacking is a boot space. There is no storage space in the front, since Honda decided to put a charger in the hood and “engineering room” under it. So if you pop the hood, it will look like a normal car without the engine.
The boot itself is small. It holds about 5 shopping bags with groceries the most. You won’t be able to put any kind of stroller there (I actually found only one, by Cybex, which is made for travel, and it folds in a cube).
But again, it is a city car, it has enough space for going to work, shopping and home.
Verdict
Just an amazing little car
I love this car. Occasionally, I just get out of the house in the evening, after getting daughter to bed, and drive to the city. Just for fun.
But it is definitely not for everyone. Before you buy this car, you’ll have to check if it is right for you. This is a city car, mostly for commuting and some short drives. I would say this is a perfect second car. That is how we use it. My wife and I both have hybrid work, so every day one of us goes to the office and the other stays working at home. Whoever goes to the office takes the Honda, since you can get there faster and park for free. And for that, this car is just perfect.
Great article about Apple during Tim Cook era and the CEO himself.
Three people familiar with the company’s supply chain say there was an Apple employee whose job consisted of negotiating the cost of glue.
I reread this quote probably 10 times. Imagine going to work every day and your job is just follow and negotiate the cost of glue. This alone shows the size of Apple. Not only the display, memory or aluminium, all of which are on the surface, but the price of glue will have a considerable enough impact on the bottomline to justify the salary of an employee.
During Trump’s time in office, he and Cook forged an unlikely friendship that upset liberal-leaning Apple veterans, who couldn’t imagine Cook’s infamously temperamental predecessor tolerating any co-option of Apple’s brand name by someone as boorish as Trump.
I know nothing about Cook and Trump relationship (I can guess like both authors did), but I would bet money it is not friendship. Tim Cook is a CEO of the biggest company in the world, which is based in the United States. It would be criminal for him not to have a relationship with Trump. Moreover, I think it is not Cook — Trump or Cook — Biden relationship. It is CEO of Apple and President of the United States. Simple as that.
Moreover, Flex Ltd., the contract manufacturer that operates the Austin plant, prepped for the event by manicuring the production floor as if it were a stage set. New computers were put on display to “look like we’re selling these things like hotcakes,” recalls one engineer. Many employees were given the day off, and the select few allowed to stay were mostly pretending to work in the background in their blue uniforms, according to another staffer. “It was very much a show,” this person says.
Shocker! Two of the most powerful people in the world are meeting, and the background is staged. I can’t even imagine!
