I’ve had the MacBook for a few years but not really seen the benefit of USB-C until now, it’s a strange thing to write but it’s finally clicked for me. My day job is home based and for a while I’ve had a DELL hub that I haven’t really tried for long periods, I simply plugged my work issued DELL laptop into my DELL 34” widescreen monitor. On thinking about my setup now I have the MacBook I decided to give it another go.

I took the DELL hub and plugged in my screen, a mouse, keyboard and power into it. Coming out was a single USB-C cable, ok here we go. I took this single input cable and plugged it into the work laptop, it all worked - stage 1. I then took my single port MacBook and woohoo it worked too all in the best resolution on my large screen. This single cable connects all my inputs, powers and has USB ports to spare for plugging in drives etc… 

I’m really happy that this one hub has enabled me to use one setup on my desk.

What I’m wondering now is if I get myself a Magic Trackpad 2 and the 11” iPad Pro with USB-C how great this setup could be to cover everything. I have no experience of using an external display with the iPad but given I’m in the market and general prefer the smaller form factor (coming from a 10.5” iPad Pro) I’m thinking I might skip the new magic keyboard completely and just put the money into the trackpad 2 and the iPad itself. This way I have portability of using the iPad in tablet mode when I want, if I want a bigger display I can just dock it into this hub and go for it. The enhanced mouse support with my trackpad should make it a great setup. Now I’m using my MacBook then I also have the option of taking it from the desk and using it with trackpad etc… The thing I haven’t enjoyed about using my MacBook is the fact that I can’t use it comfortably on the sofa and of course I miss using the pencil. I can get the trackpad and pencil for the less than the cost of the new Smart Keyboard cover so I’m very tempted to go this way.

Anyone used the iPad with a large external display by any chance?

(Having a spare USB-C power cable is also handy for plugging into the Nintendo Switch I have on the desk!).

With the iPad turning 10 this year I’m seeing articles from people like me that celebrate it’s existence and from those that are clearly Mac first and bemoan the way it works based on their to be frank lack of day to day use of iPadOS. I know they have the ear of Apple and I hope that this time Apple aren’t listening.

For me I’ve always gravitated to technology that I enjoy using and works with my brain. I’m not Mac is bad and iPadOS is good, I just use what works best for me. I don’t care what your devices of choice are if they work for you that’s great. I’m also not wedded to Apple gear, if something better comes along I’ll give it a go.

I don’t write articles that bring negativity against something I don’t like, I just show my perspective.

You should use what you want to use and ignore those that tell you otherwise.

I’ve actually not bought that much stuff this year but I wanted to share new gear that I’ve enjoyed and the ones that continue to serve me well.

iPad Pro 10.5"

It’s over 2.5 years old now and still my number one daily computing device I own. As you most probably know I use it with the Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil. I have looked over at the new 11” Pro with envy at times but once I look at the total cost with a new keyboard and pencil it stops me making the purchase. I’ve seen them on sale several times but I’m really content with with my 10.5”. It’s still fast on the latest version of iOS and does everything I need.

Casio F-91w

I’ve been dipping back into the world of watches and my go to has been the Casio F-91w. It looks great, reminds me of my first watch and is comfortable. I like to take breaks from Apple Watch from time to time and this is my favourite one to use.

iPad Mini 5th generation

We still have a 2nd generation in the house but I wanted a smaller iPad I could take with me to client site and use like a field notes book. It’s been a great little device, since iPhone 11 Pro I’ve used a bit less but it’s still my favourite way to read comic books or just browse.

Yamaha practise amp

Probably my favourite purchase this year. It’s light, sounds great and can be plugged into my Mac for recording.

iPhone 11 Pro

Without doubt my favourite iPhone and biggest upgrade. For the improved camera and battery life alone it’s been a great upgrade. I’m still not completely satisfied with night mode but that’s more on me than the camera I think. In day to day use it’s replaced my DSLR more than any other iPhone and I’m constantly amazed with how great the image quality is.

AirPods Pro

A fairly new addition but I wouldn’t be without them now. I’ve always liked my AirPods but was itching for noise cancelling and my preferred in ear silicone tips, I got both and am completely happy. They are more expensive than standard AirPods but when compared to Bose QC I think they are well priced. The noise cancelling in my experience so far is on par and sometimes better than Bose. I can’t recommend these highly enough.

Fender Eric Johnson Thinline Stratocaster

I’ve not bought a new guitar for years but when I saw a big sale on this model I couldn’t resist. I’ve been wanting a semi-hollow body guitar for years and seeing this one from one of my favourite artists I jumped at the chance to own one. Now I’ve setup to my liking I can’t put it down. It’s light, sounds great unplugged and the neck carve is very comfortable for me. The only downside is the nitro finish is very tacky still so I already have wear and tear but I love the lived in look anyway.

What’s some of your favourite gear?

Since restoring my iPhone a few weeks ago I’ve fallen back into the trap of the modern smartphone. What I mean by this is having all of the apps I can available to me to use and getting caught up in these Infinity wells, such as YouTube and Social networking. Neither of which are particularly great for my wellbeing these days.

It hit me this morning whilst browsing Reddit, why am I mindlessly doing this?.

I want to be more intentional with how I’m using my technology and allow myself to be bored. Enjoy a walk without a podcast in my ears sometimes or just enjoy the warm sunshine on my face in the garden with no desire to see what’s happening on Twitter.

It also hit me that I’ve written about this before on the blog, many times actually. I’ve written about helping to reduce the time you spend on your phone and also steps I’ve made, such as only checking Twitter once a week but I’ve forgotten to listen to former me!

This post is a reminder that when I fall into bad habits to step back and think about how I want to use my technology and interact with the world around me.

So this week I’ll be back to

• Removing all social networking apps from my iphone
• Checking Twitter weekly for notifications
• Sharing smaller posts more, I've noticed good feedback from readers of my stuff lately. This in part because my default is to share here rather than on social media
• Reducing my podcast consumption (I'm listening to over 20 shows a week!)
• Leaving YouTube (again)
• Deleting Reddit apps (again)
• Doing my best to stick with one to do app and keeping it simple

And remembering to read some of my earlier stuff

• Scheduling Twitter
• Deleting YouTube
• Doing social on your blog

I know this is old news but the handwriting recognition in Apple Notes appears to have gotten better in iOS 12. I pretty much write all the time with the pencil in notes so I’ve picked up a habit of writing my title for the page in capitals, nice and clear. You can see in the image that it’s correctly picked up my handwriting and converted.

Go on, give it a go.

As part of trying to be more mindful about how I use my device I’ve simplified my home screen a lot. Here’s how it’s currently setup

• Only use utilities or methods of communicating with others on my first page, this covers most of the apps on there
• My wordpress site that allows me to share my thoughts quickly, like this post
• Access to my camera
• A browser to check news rather than Apple News algorithm
• Maps
• Everything else is on the second page with distractions like social media hidden away in a folder.When I want to launch apps I use spotlight.This is my setup for now, I'll report back on how it's helping me spend more time focussed on where I want to be using my smartphone.

iOS 12 has some great new features that allow you to be more mindful about how you use your device, playing into the “Time well spent” movement. It helps in two ways

1. Being able to set a time where only your defined apps are useable
2. Setting up app limits e.g. 30 mins a day on social media

As I wrote about in a post yesterday I am very aware of how my iPhone causes me distractions and I’d like to test our iOS 12 to see if it can help on top of what I am already doing I.e. greyscale at times and a new designed home screen that stops my muscle memory of automatically going for that Tweetbot icon.

The more I read up on this new “Time well spent” movement the more I understood that it isn’t so much about stopping using Twitter all together but setting yourself some barriers to using it. It’s not about demonising technology but being more mindful of how you are using it (bearing in mind the creators don’t care about you and want you to use it more).

So, I’ll throw on the beta and set myself some limits.

Inspired by the Center for Humane Technology I've decided to take some control back and adopt some of their suggestions for using my iPhone less. The first stage to this was to implement the greyscale filter, not only does it give you more battery life but makes your iPhone screen seem less playful and in turn less likely to play around with too much.

Here's how to enable this

• Tap Settings
• Tap General
• Tap Accessibility
• Tap Display Accommodations
• Tap Colour Filters
• Tap the toggle and make sure Greyscale is selected

You can easily disable when you want to take a photo or view images by adding a shortcut in control centre like this

• Tap Settings
• Tap Control Centre
• Tap Customise Controls
• Tap the + next to Accessibility Shortcuts

Now when you want to get some colour back simply swipe down from the top and tap on the Accessibility Shortcut button.

I’ve been using the Apple leather case for a week and ended up exchanging the saddle brown for bright orange, I really enjoy the more colourful look of my iPhone.

I’ll write up my thoughts but for now here’s a gallery for your enjoyment.

[gallery ids=“412,413,414,415” type=“rectangular”]

We aren’t too far away from WWDC 2018 and iOS 12 so I’m doing my usual write up.

This years theme I’m hoping is “speed and stability”. I want iOS to run better on older hardware and deal with some of the long time outstanding bugs such as rotation on iPad (dock being left in wrong orientation etc.). I also see a lot of UI issues in Apple Music, especially on iPad.

I’d also like to see some investment in Reminders but Apple appear to have all but given up on improving their productivity apps so I won’t even talk about what I want to see. Same deal with Mail and Calendar.

Yes, it’ll seem like a boring release but I’d be quite happy with a low amount of visual changes but a high amount of polish and bug fixing.

This will be shorted post I’ve written for an iOS update but I really don’t want to see many bells and whistles, just a ‘boring’ stability update please.

I’m having a bit of a tech clear out and was faced with a second generation Apple TV that I didn’t have a remote for. I couldn’t get the Siri remote to work so was a bit stuck.

On looking at the back of the unit I realised that it had a mini USB port. I took it to my iMac, plugged in a usb cable and iTunes recognised it. It then gave me an option to factory reset.

After playing with the iPhone X for a month I decided it wasn’t for me, so I switched back to my iPhone 6S. I am looking at maybe getting a 7 Plus but for now wanted to see if I could still use it with the latest iOS. It’s also strangely relaxing not being on the latest and greatest hardware, it feels less fragile and somewhat comforting. For reference before my X I’d used a 7 since launch, until I got the X in November 2017.

Overall performance

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how good this phone runs iOS. It doesn’t feel any slower than the iPhone 7 I’d used previously. I notice some lag using a few third party apps, most noticeably Instagram but iOS is pretty slick. Apple core apps run fine and navigating iOS is a good experience. It’s not what I was expecting to see. From everything I’d read I was expecting to be throwing it out of the window within a day but I’m really happy with it. Nothing I’m seeing so far would put me off recommending using a 6S on iOS 11. I know Apple gets a lot of stick about the quality of their software but credit where credit is due I have to give it to Apple on this one, well done.

Battery

In short, I need a replacement. I feel I have to keep it on charge to get through the day. Overnight it drains about 30% doing nothing. I’ve yet to get my £29 battery replacement but I think its time I booked my phone in for a battery change. I hate using the battery percentage indicator but for now I’m going to be leaving it on.

Camera

Coming from a 7 the 6S camera is fine, coming from an X I miss the zoom. Portrait mode has been hit or miss (and my DSLR does better) but having the option to tap to optical zoom is the feature I miss the most. I don’t take selfies so no opinion on the front facing.

Home button

Coming from the X its kind of nice having a home button back. Where I like it the most is being able to tap it to see the lock screen without it trying to unlock. Given it’s a physical button on the 6S coming from the 7 it does feel like I’m having to press it down harder than I would normally. I prefer the lack of home button as on the 7 and 8.

App switching

Gestures were nice on the X but I really didn’t care for how you closed apps. Getting to app switcher also seemed liked it was slower. Now being able to hard press on the side to bring up app switching then simply swiping apps up to close is more intuitive for me. It’s a habit I’ve developed and the main use of 3D Touch I use. I’m glad to have this back.The iPhone X gesture model needs a lot of work. Control Centre feels in the wrong place and closing apps are my worst offenders.

Headphone jack

I use AirPods most of the day but having an option to charge and use my expensive over the year headphones is nice I have to admit.

Screen

I don’t miss the OLED on the X. In fact I experienced eye strain using it. The technology used means the screen flickers, I must be sensitive to it. I see the benefits of the larger display and it’s one of the main reasons I’m considering getting a Plus.

Am I going to continue?

Yes, for now. I think I’ll ultimately switch to the 7 or 8 Plus to get the better camera though. I’m looking at used prices and I actually feel pretty good that I’m keeping an older device going rather than buying new.

I’m in no rush to move on from the 6S for now, I’ll enjoy not fretting over my X and battling with myself on the ethical choice of spending over £1000 on an iPhone.

I’m so conflicted about the iPhone X, now I’m back on the iPhone 7 I’m finding I actually miss a few features that I didn’t think I would.

• Screen: I feel a bit boxed in now on my 4.7" screen. You do tend to only focus on the middle portion but being able to see all my calendar entries on one page etc was a good feature. I also miss full screen YouTube and Netflix viewing.
• Zoom on the camera: I didn't quite realise how much I used the 2 x optical zoom day to day.
• Extra keyboard space: Got to be honest, I'm feeling a little cramped on my iPhone 7 keyboard. I'm adjusting ok and is definitely a first world problem but I'm getting cramp. I'm actually finding my RSI is getting worse now I'm on a slightly narrower iPhone.
• Qi charging: I've been using the Anker Qi charger next to our entertainment system and didn't realise how convenient it was. With my iPhone 7 I'm running out of juice halfway through the day mainly because I'm out of the habit already of plugging it in somewhere.

Maybe I’ll revisit in a month or so but this year is one of the most conflicted I’ve been about an iPhone purchase in the 10 years since it was introduced.

I’ve been using Apple News since release but something troubling has happened to my setup - Apple are adding unapproved News sources to my feed. To add insult to injury they are also enabling notifications.

It’s always been a good app allowing me to control what I see but I can no longer trust it not to add what it thinks I want to see.

You can see above that I set up News not to suggest or show me anything I don’t follow.

On firing up the app this morning the above has been added. I’m not happy. The mainstream news is something I’m avoiding (for obvious reasons) and not being able to trust my app is a deal breaker.

At this point I’m done with Apple News.

I’ve been using a mixture of Todoist and Reminders but now I’m into 2018 I’ve decided to make a switch back to OmniFocus.

Todoist was fine but it’s update to include little illustrations didn’t sit well with me. Reminders is ok for basics but not to plan a lot of projects.

So, I made the decision to go all in on OmniFocus.

The most important decision when choosing a to do app is trust. Do you trust that when you get something off your mind it’ll stay safe somewhere until you need to see it?

With OmniFocus and more importantly the Omnigroup I trust them as I do Apple with my data. I can’t say the same for most others.

I’ll keep you updated on my configuration and how I’m getting on.

I’ve had about 2 hours with the Sphero R2-D2 so wanted to share a few of my thoughts on using it so far. (For context I already own the Sphero BB-8 and am using on iOS).

• The box is beautifully made and the unboxing experience is a step up from BB-8
• Couldn't see any instructions in my box
• Comes with micro USB to charge
• Has a charge indicator on the droid, this is great
• Having sounds coming from Artoo is great, BB-8 doesn't
• On board LED lights are great and he looks just like the movies
• Easier to control than BB-8
• More predefined actions at the tap of a single button

In short, I love this new Sphero. It’s a must for any Star Wars fan if you can get it under £100.

As we’ve already talked about 2017 was a mixed year for Apple. Moving into 2018 it’s a good opportunity to think about what I’d like to see in 2018.

iPhone lineup

Between iPhone 8 and X Apple have had mixed reactions from the public. The 8 isn’t different enough and the X is too expensive. Personally I’d love to see how many iPhone SE and 7 models have been sold since the 8 and X were released, it may surprise you. I feel that they have sold rather well. I know a new line up has been rumoured already but here goes what I’d like to see

• A new 4.7" LCD that goes edge to edge, which replaces the current SE
• The current 8 gets replaced with an edge to edge 5.8" LCD
• Plus model dropped
• The current iPhone X gets a price reduction with 128GB storage option
• A new 6.5" OLED iPhone X to satisfy the current Plus owners
• All models except the SE have a dual lens camera
• All models have FaceID
• All models start at 64GB and offer 128GB

Thoughts?

iPad lineup

The current line up is solid, I don’t think we’ll see much on the iPad front aside internal bumps. No edge to edge design needed or FaceID this year I feel.

I’d like to see dual lens on the iPad Pro and FaceID but I don’t see it happening this year.

Mac

As someone that using a Mac maybe 20% of the time it’s a hard one.

I’d say improved keyboards on The MacBook and MacBook Pro.

Deliver on your promise of a new modular Mac Pro.

Wearables

I wear my Apple Watch everyday and love it, don’t see where the hardware can improve at this point.

I’d like to see improvements in software

• Third party watch faces
• Improved proactive health detection

Services

iCloud is pretty solid for me so mine is more around consolidation. Roll video into Apple Music or create a new video streaking app. Stop the bloat on iTunes and finally split it up.

Create a new Amazon Prime like service where you pay once and get all of the services in one package.

Software

Improvements to core Apple apps such as Reminders, Calendar and Mail. They are unusable for when you want to get things done and I often use a third party app such as Fantastical.

Consistency, this is something that should be top of Apple’s list when it comes to software improvements. I am a bit sick of Apple’s own apps all having their own personality rather than a consistent approach. For example Music has the new larger header style but Reminders has the older list view that is inconsistent. Please Apple chose one style and stick to it.

It emerged yesterday that Apple have implemented methods in iOS to slow down devices with less than optimal batteries. When thinking about this more I had to ask myself if I was ok with this.

I honestly believe they have the right intention but have executed it in the wrong way.

It totally makes sense for them to help users get the most out of old devices but slowing down a device you paid for without a notification is wrong.

Apple needs to move quick and ship an update and revised statement. All I’m going to get asked and see reported in mainstream media is that Apple is slowing down devices to make you buy new ones.

Based on my use of older devices I think this is being done to iPad’s too. I have a second generation Mini that with latest updates had become almost unusable.

I want Apple to either ship a battery health app or integrate this into iOS.

All it needs is an indicator and notification to allow users to check on the health of their battery. When it needs to slow the device down it lets you know.

What disappoints me is that Apple, by not communicating this looks like it’s tried to get away with something.

They deserve all the negative press they get on this one.

It’s been a mixed year for Apple, some great new hardware intermingled with some embarrassing software cock ups, here’s my highs and lows following Apple this year.

iPad Pro 10.5”

My favourite Apple product I’ve been using all year. As you know if you’ve been following me I love using iOS, I prefer it to using my Mac these days. I really liked my 12.9” iPad Pro with it’s pencil support and professional apps. But it always felt too big, sometimes embarrassingly so. When using in client meetings I’d always get comments on it, “wow, what’s that??”.

So, when Apple announced the 10.5” I immediately jumped on it. I picked up a Smart Keyboard cover and it’s been my go to device for the last six months.

For me it really does balance portability with power perfectly.

iPhone X

I was sceptical about the X, with it’s higher price and strange screen design I wasn’t sold. I waited it out but some freelancing work came in that gave me the opportunity to try one so I did.

I’ve been using one for almost a month and am sold. As a 7 and 7 plus owner my dream was to get the bigger screen and better camera in a smaller body, the X gives me this. Having portrait and zoom mode available to me whenever I want it has been great and something I always wished I had when using my 7. I’d take my DSLR everywhere and whilst the X isn’t a match for my Canon it gets me almost there and it’s something I can pocket.

I’ve been using it naked as Jony Ive intended and along with the jet black 7 it’s the best feeling iPhone that I’ve used since the iPhone 3G (still my favourite design).

I won’t go too much into it here as I have other posts planned on my time with the X.

AirPods

A classic Apple product, does something much better than the competition. I’m constantly amazed by the range on them and the ease of pairing is unparalleled. It took me a while to get them in stock but since owning them I’ve used them everyday.

I still think they look a little strange but wouldn’t trade them to go back to wires.

They are also good value for money when compared to the rest of the market I feel, there’s nothing like them out there.

iOS 11

iOS 11 brought a lot of changes to iPad (for the better) but also a lot of bugs. In fact I’m still recommending unless you have an iPhone 8 or later don’t even upgrade.

It’s not until I got an iPhone X that I’ve been happy on iOS 11. On my 7 it lags, I run into random crashes on Apple apps and overall it just feels like it’s beta.

On the iPad it’s turned it into a much more productive product for me. Side by side apps and drag and drop have made things like putting email into my to do system a breeze.

I really wish Apple had forked the iPad version properly though and created an iPadOS. iOS 10 was solid and iOS 11 on iPhone introduces new bugs, such as the weather widget never updating correctly.

Overall iOS 11 has been a negative though for me this year.

Software quality

A major negative for me this year. Between allowing root access with no password on macOS and all of the little user interaction bugs (auto replace it with I.T.) on iOS Apple have had it all.

Apple need to go back to basics and either improve QA or rebuild it.

I’d also like to see more of a focus on looking after its radar bug reporting system. I don’t even raise bugs anymore as I feel they get ignored.

This is my main negative on Apple this year.

What are your thoughts on Apple in 2017?

Watch for my “What I want from Apple in 2018” post coming soon.