2026-01-13 12:08:47
A look back at more than six years of Apple’s Lunar and Japanese New Year exclusives.
Apple has a long history of celebrating the Japanese and Chinese New Year with special discounts, products, and promotions during the holiday season.
Over the years, this has included partnerships with local artists in China, seasonal sales across Asian markets, and Japan’s beloved Lucky Bag promotion, which ran until 2015.
More recently, beginning in 2021, Apple shifted toward releasing its own limited-edition products branded with that year’s zodiac animal. The tradition began with the Year of the Ox in 2021 and has continued through 2026, with Apple most recently announcing special Year of the Horse AirPods Pro 3 for customers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore.
I couldn’t find a resource that collated all this information, so for posterity’s sake, I wanted to create a small archive of the graphics and products Apple has released during this era. Enjoy!
Special envelopes featuring this mouse-inspired design were given out with Apple Gift Cards to customers who made qualifying purchases during the Japanese New Year sale.
I'm including this year because while Apple didn't release any products, it appears to have started the motif of blending thats year zodiac animal into the Apple logo.
That year Apple offered special discounts in the form of a Apple gift card on select products in Japan, similar to sales like Black Friday in Western Markets.
Apple’s Year of the Ox website logo.
Apple ran its Japanese New Year (Shōgatsu) sale on January 2 and 3 without any zodiac branding.
However, starting in other Asian markets, Apple marked the Chinese New Year by releasing a limited-edition Year of the Ox AirPods Pro.
Gallery showcasing the Year of the Ox AirPod engraving, AirPods Pro, and packaging.
These AirPods came in a special box and featured the same Ox engraving on the charging case. They were sold in select Asian markets including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Only 25,400 Ox-engraved AirPods Pro were produced, so count yourself lucky if you managed to get one of them.
Apple’s Year of the Tiger website logo.
Following the launch of AirTag earlier that spring, Apple released a special limited-edition Year of the Tiger AirTag as part of its New Year promotion in Japan.
The Tiger AirTag design for the Japanese New Year promotion.
During the two-day event, the first 20,000 customers who purchased an iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, or iPhone SE received a complimentary AirTag featuring a unique Year of the Tiger engraving. Interestingly, this artwork was different from the tiger design used on the AirPods Pro released for Chinese New Year, making it a distinct collectible in its own right.
Then, on January 1, 2022, Apple launched a special Year of the Tiger AirPods Pro set in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore. Customers who purchased the AirPods in store also received a set of 12 special red envelopes, each featuring emoji-style zodiac characters dressed in adorable tiger costumes.
Gallery showcasing the Year of the Tiger AirPods engraving, AirPods Pro, and packaging.
Red envelopes featuring the 12 zodiac characters wearing tiger costumes. Source: ifanr on Weibo
Apple’s Year of the Rabbit website logo.
For the Year of the Rabbit, Apple once again released a special limited-edition AirTag as part of its New Year sale in Japan. It was limited to the first 30,000 customers who purchased a new iPhone SE, iPhone 12, or iPhone 13. Buyers also received a special Apple Store Gift Card worth ¥8,000
The Rabbit AirTag design for the Japanese New Year promotion.
Japan New Year Edition gift card design.
For Chinese New Year, Apple released a limited-edition Year of the Rabbit engraving on the new AirPods Pro (2nd generation) for customers in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Gallery showcasing the Year of the Rabbit AirPods engraving, AirPods Pro 2, and packaging.
Apple’s Year of the Dragon website logo.
For the Japanese New Year, Apple once again released a special AirTag, this time celebrating the Year of the Dragon. Nearly doubling the previous year’s run, the first 50,000 customers in Japan who purchased a new iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 13, or third-generation iPhone SE received this limited-edition accessory, along with an Apple Gift Card featuring the same design as the year prior.
The Dragon AirTag design for the Japanese New Year promotion.
For Chinese New Year, customers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam could, for a limited time, purchase a special Year of the Dragon edition of AirPods Pro (2nd generation with USB-C charging case).
Gallery showcasing the Year of the Dragon AirPods engraving, AirPods Pro 2, and packaging.
Apple’s Year of the Snake website logo.
In Japan, from January 2 to 5, Apple once again ran its New Year sale, offering special discounts to Japanese customers along with a limited-edition Year of the Snake AirTag for the first 50,000 people who purchased an iPhone 15, iPhone 14, or iPhone SE.
The Snake AirTag design for the Japanese New Year promotion.
Meanwhile, in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, Apple once again released special Year of the Snake AirPods, this time using the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. During this period, Apple also offered discounts on select products, and several third-party accessory makers released snake-themed items to join in the celebration.
Gallery showcasing the Year of the Snake AirPods engraving, AirPods 4, and packaging.
Apple’s Year of the Horse website logo.
This year, as part of the Japanese New Year promotion, Apple moved away from zodiac-themed AirTags and instead offered a limited-edition AirTag featuring a Daruma doll, a traditional symbol of perseverance and good luck for the year ahead. The AirTag was available to the first 65,000 customers in Japan who purchased an iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, or iPhone 16e.
The Daruma AirTag design for the Japanese New Year promotion.
A special Apple Gift Card design was also created and included with qualifying purchases.
Japan New Year Edition Gift card design for 2026.
In China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore, Apple is offering a limited-edition Year of the Horse engraving on the newly announced AirPods Pro 3 as part of its Lunar New Year celebration.
Gallery showcasing the Year of the Horse AirPods engraving, AirPods Pro 3, and packaging.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-holding-new-years-shopping-event-in-japan-on-january-2.2217282/?post=28097808
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/06/apple-ox-themed-airpods-pro-china/
https://macfan.book.mynavi.jp/article/36574/
https://m.weibo.cn/status/4720927805801613
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/12/27/apple-japan-new-year-limited-edition-airtag/
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/12/26/apples-japanese-new-year-promotion-2024/
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/01/17/airpods-pro-year-of-dragon/
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/12/26/apple-japan-new-year-promotion/
https://x.com/noric2014/status/2004593600957685956?s=61
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/12/30/apple-to-give-away-limited-edition-airtag-in-japan/
https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/01/05/limited-edition-year-of-the-horse-airpods-pro-3-go-on-sale-in-china
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/12/25/apple-japan-new-years-event-2020/
2026-01-09 04:26:50
Introducing Hive, a minimalist gradient wallpaper collection for your Apple devices. 
Already more than a week into 2026 and I’ve been buzzing away on new posts and wallpapers, but I won’t drone on. Let’s bee-gin the year with Hive, a minimalist gradient collection of five new wallpapers for your Apple devices.
The collection of Hive wallpapers is available below, free of charge and in full resolution, but if you can support the work I do, I am also making the collection available as a donation gift of $3.99.
The Hive collection includes five wallpapers: Aurora, Evenfall, Forage, Honeycomb, and Spring Light for your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Thank you so much for your continued support.
Read more about my approach to making wallpapers available for purchase over at The WinRAR Approach.
Once purchased, a download link will be emailed to you to download the .zip file (10.1MB) containing all five versions for Mac (6016 × 3900), iPad (2752 × 2752), and iPhone (1320 × 2868).
The digital download link will expire 24 hours after the first download. If your link expires and you need to redownload the files, please send me an email with your order number and I can send along a new link for you.
Each of these wallpapers bee-gins as a custom gradient wallpaper. Next, an overlay of hexagons is placed over the gradient. From there, each of the cells is sampled and filled with a solid background colour. Repeat this 893 more times and you have a simple and elegant wallpaper that’s undeniably buzzworthy.
There are five variations to choose from: Aurora, Evenfall, Forage, Honeycomb, and Spring Light. Each of the wallpapers are available for the Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Enjoy!
I’m a one-person operation, working in healthcare by day & running this site as a passion project in my off time.
If you enjoy my work (the articles, the wallpapers, my general demeanour… anything really), consider leaving a tip & supporting the site. Your support is incredibly appreciated & goes a long way to keep this site and the works I produce ad-free & free of charge.
🐝 Tips2026-01-03 06:35:59
Three new apps to ring in the new year. Reclaim six years of your life, learn something new, and a journal app for people who don’t like to journal.
Welcome to 2026. New year, fresh start, and a good moment to rethink what actually earns a spot on our devices. For the first post of the year, I wanted to share three apps that align nicely with what I’m trying to improve on in 2026.
Nothing too ambitious, just a few simple goals:
Be more intentional with my devices and spend less time mindlessly scrolling.
Start learning a new language and dust off some long-forgotten maths skills.
Keep journaling.
Opal gives me the information and the tools to make my device use more intentional and productive.
The average person will spend 5 to 6 hours on their phone today. And tomorrow. And the day after that. Do the math out far enough, and if you’re lucky enough to make it to 80 and started using a phone around 18, you’re looking at 15+ full years of your life spent staring at a screen. Nearly a quarter of it.
Framed like that, it makes me want to chuck my iPhone across the room. But the phone isn’t really the problem. My relationship with it is. I still want to use my iPhone. I just don’t want a quarter of my life quietly disappearing into social feeds, doomscrolling.
Enter Opal, an Apple Design Award finalist for Social Impact in 2025. It’s a free app with optional subscriptions that’s designed to help you track, block, and generally be more mindful about how you use your devices.
First, tracking. I’m a big believer in the idea that awareness leads to change. Whether it’s fitness, food, or screen time, just having the data makes it easier to pause and make better decisions. Opal gives you a surprisingly detailed look at how much time you spend on your device, where it goes, and how “productive” that time actually is. It’s hard to ignore once you see it.
Second, blocking. Opal lets you flag the apps you personally find most distracting and block them during specific times of day. You can use their presets or build your own schedules, so it only kicks in when you want it to. Work hours, mornings, evenings, or all of the above.
Opal doesn’t punish you for liking social media, but it helps you schedule breaks and help you be aware of mindless pickups.
The real magic, though, is the friction. How many times do you pick up your phone without even thinking about it, and suddenly you’re ten minutes deep into nothing? With Opal, you're still able to access all your apps, but it adds just enough friction to help you be aware of what's going on, ranging from a splash screen reminding you that you're not supposed to be using this app, to a 7 second timer while having to answer a skill-testing question, to a full-on block. You decide how strict or annoying it gets. The goal isn’t punishment, it’s buying yourself a few seconds to make an intentional choice.
I’ve only been using Opal for about a week, but my wife has sworn by it for a while now. She credits it with making a noticeable dent in her morning social media habits, which was enough of a recommendation for me.
Plus… you can collect Opals! So pretty!
Think of Opal as Apple’s Screen Time, but on steroids. The developers claim it can save an average of 87 minutes a day. That’s over 500 hours a year, roughly 22 full days. Over time, that’s as much as six years of your life back.
Opal is free to use, with monthly, yearly, or lifetime subscriptions for the more advanced features. It’s available on iOS, iPadOS, and Mac.
New year, new language?
I’ve always wanted to learn a new language. I’ve also always been terrible at actually sticking with it. I’ll start strong, fall off quickly, forget everything I learned, and eventually abandon it altogether. Rinse, repeat.
Duolingo isn’t new, and it definitely has its critics when it comes to how effective it really is at teaching a language. But here’s the thing. I’ve stuck with it longer than any other language-learning attempt I’ve made so far, and that alone counts for something (right?).
Gamifying the language learning experience has been a potent motivating factor in helping me commit to language learning in the early days.
That's largely in part too how effectively Duolingo has been in gamifying language learning. Lessons tend to be relatively short, 10-15 minutes on average, it leverages a clever streak mechanic to keep you doing lessons at the risk of breaking your run, and offers incentives like experience points and ways to double that experience to keep you engaged. Add double XP boosts, leaderboards, and even those dumb little home screen widgets, and suddenly you’re doing lessons more often than you expected.
I’m under no illusion that Duolingo alone will make me fluent. It won’t. But my hope is that it keeps me engaged long enough to build a foundation, spark some confidence, and make me want to actually use the language while travelling. From there, I can layer in other learning methods without feeling overwhelmed right out of the gate.
Lastly, I've also started doing their maths courses, because I found that as the years have gone by, I've lost the same level of mental math I had a while back. Stuff that used to feel automatic in high school now takes way more effort than it should. The math content has been a surprisingly solid refresher on basic concepts.
From High Valaryian to something perhaps a smidge more useful, Duolingo has no shortages of languages.
All in all, Duolingo offers courses in over 40 languages (including High Valaryian & Klingon) and also has courses in math, music, and chess. The app is available on most platforms, with a free tier and paid monthly or yearly options too. It's far from perfect; it has some annoying in-app purchases to get gems to extend lesson time, but it's fun enough to get the ball rolling on learning something new.
The Journal app from Apple is a great app to get into that journal habit everyone’s been harassing you to start.
With iOS 26, Apple expanded the Journal app beyond the iPhone to the iPad and Mac. It’s kind of the perfect journaling app for people who don’t really think of themselves as “journal people.” And I mean that in the best way.
What I mean is that often the idea of setting aside a dedicated amount of time per day or week to write, whether it's about how you're feeling, what's going on, or what you've been doing, doesn't easily fit into people's day. Apple’s Journal app lowers that barrier by handling much of the heavy lifting for you. It surfaces photos, locations, and events from your life and gently nudges you with prompts that make it easier to start writing without staring at a blank page.
Tap into a new entry and hit the smart suggestions icon, the little sparkly pencil, and suddenly you’ve got options. Photos from Christmas with family. Shots from a recent sporting event. A walk you took last weekend. Pick one, and Journal automatically builds an entry with the photos, locations, and context already in place. From there, you just add whatever thoughts, text, or extra media you want. That’s it.
Inside the Journal app, you can also add voice memos, sketches (iPad and iPhone only), record your mood (iPad and iPhone only), add videos, and add additional locations. You can also add content like podcasts and music you’ve been listening to, along with activities and workouts you’ve been doing.
For over a decade, I’ve been, and will continue to be, a Day One user. I’ve logged over 6,700 entries there, filled with photos, stories, and moments from my life. It’s probably the most meaningful thing I’ve ever created, a personal archive of memories and lessons over time.
Insights gives you details like active streaks, words written, and most frequently visited places.
But if you’re just getting started with journaling, or if you’ve bounced off it in the past, Apple’s Journal app is a genuinely great place to begin. It’s simple, low-friction, and quietly encouraging. Give it a couple of honest weeks. You might be surprised how easily the habit forms when the app meets you halfway.
2026-01-01 00:05:01
Part II of my fifth annual Rewind Series is a look back at the year and my three favourite wallpapers from 2025.
To put a bow on 2025, my final two entries of the year reflect on my three favourite articles of the year, along with my three favourite wallpapers. This second part looks at my three favourite wallpapers of 2025.
Let’s look at some of the numbers that defined 2025:
3 million people visited the site, representing a slight uptick from this time last year. I have never taken that number for granted. With so many things competing for our attention, having people find the site and continue to come back is something I consider a real privilege.
48 percent of site traffic came from iOS devices, 34 percent from the Mac, with approximately 10 percent from PCs and 7 percent from Android devices.
I published 50 articles to the main blog, 30 of which were written pieces. These included my usual Bingo Boards for WWDC and Apple’s September event, alongside new entries chronicling the history of iOS and macOS icons, highlighting some of my favourite apps (April, July), reviewing products, and reflecting on milestones like the Apple Watch turning 10, as well as my frustrations with the AirPods Pro 3.
Another 20 articles focused on wallpapers, including new series such as Skyline I & II and Gradients of April and September.
An additional 26 new posted were added to the Haberdashery, with a particular focus on building out a back catalogue of wallpapers Apple releases around new store openings. A new Apple Retail Wallpaper Archive section was also added to the blog, and both new and older wallpapers will continue to be added and live there for posterity.
The blog now reaches approximately 100,000 RSS subscribers, a significant increase from the roughly 50,000 subscribers throughout most of 2024.
The top three wallpapers by number of views were:
The top three articles by number of views were:
But it’s time to share my top three articles of 2025. These are not necessarily my most popular pieces, but the three that stood out from the rest and felt worthy of a three-star shoutout to end the year.
Part I of my fifth annual Rewind Series is a look back at the year and my three favourite articles from 2025.
Wallpaper | Posted: November 12, 2025
My most ambitious and time-consuming wallpaper project of the year was the iPhone Internals. This year, not only was I traveling in the first few weeks following the release of the iPhone 17 lineup, but I was also, at various points, sick, teaching, working, and sometimes doing all of the above at once. Suffice it to say, getting these out the door this year was no easy feat.
Each wallpaper consists of nearly 3,000 unique layers, all carefully pieced together and placed by hand, or rather, by mouse, to form the final product. The work that went into these was met with a great deal of anticipation and, later, genuine appreciation, which truly helped push me over the finish line.
While I had previously mentioned a late-2025 deadline, I fully intend to release the iPhone Air schematics early in the new year.
Wallpaper | Posted: January 13, 2025
Fluted Gradients was my first wallpaper pack of 2025 and, much to my surprise, one of my most popular of the year. Taking custom-made gradients and applying a fluted, glass-like overlay resulted in a fun, minimal wallpaper that I continued to use across several of my own devices throughout the year.
It is also one of the collections I plan to revisit in early 2026, so keep an eye out for that.
Skyline I | Skyline II | Posted: May 28 & June 24, 2025
Maybe it is the Windows 95 homeboy in me, but a good cloud wallpaper will always have a place in my heart. Cue Skyline I and II, a collection of wallpapers featuring soft, billowing clouds set against a variety of gradient backgrounds.
Finally, thank you. Thank you for reading, supporting my work, connecting with me, and for every tip and purchase. I am beyond grateful. Wishing everyone a safe, successful, peaceful, and fulfilling 2026.
2025-12-30 05:53:45
Part I of my fifth annual Rewind Series is a look back at the year and my three favourite articles from 2025.
To put a bow on 2025, my final two entries of the year reflect on my three favourite articles of the year, along with my three favourite wallpapers. This first part looks at my three favourite articles of 2025.
Let’s look at some of the numbers that defined 2025:
3 million people visited the site, representing a slight uptick from this time last year. I have never taken that number for granted. With so many things competing for our attention, having people find the site and continue to come back is something I consider a real privilege.
48 percent of site traffic came from iOS devices, 34 percent from the Mac, with approximately 10 percent from PCs and 7 percent from Android devices.
I published 50 articles to the main blog, 30 of which were written pieces. These included my usual Bingo Boards for WWDC and Apple’s September event, alongside new entries chronicling the history of iOS and macOS icons, highlighting some of my favourite apps (April, July), reviewing products, and reflecting on milestones like the Apple Watch turning 10, as well as my frustrations with the AirPods Pro 3.
Another 20 articles focused on wallpapers, including new series such as Skyline I & II and Gradients of April and September.
An additional 26 new posted were added to the Haberdashery, with a particular focus on building out a back catalogue of wallpapers Apple releases around new store openings. A new Apple Retail Wallpaper Archive section was also added to the blog, and both new and older wallpapers will continue to be added and live there for posterity.
The blog now reaches approximately 100,000 RSS subscribers, a significant increase from the roughly 50,000 subscribers throughout most of 2024.
The top three wallpapers by number of views were:
The top three articles by number of views were:
But it’s time to share my top three articles of 2025. These are not necessarily my most popular pieces, but the three that stood out from the rest and felt worthy of a three-star shoutout to end the year.
Part II of my fifth annual Rewind Series is a look back at the year and my three favourite wallpapers from 2025.
Article | Posted: October 27, 2025
My most popular article of 2025 put a spotlight on a fairly significant issue that I, along with many others, have experienced with the AirPods Pro 3. While they remain a best-in-class pair of wireless earbuds, the loud, piercing feedback I encountered on two separate flights rendered them effectively unusable for air travel.
Apple has not publicly acknowledged this as a known issue, but the comments on the post quickly confirmed that I was far from alone. Many readers reported experiencing similarly painful feedback while flying.
I continue to use these headphones as my daily driver on the ground and will be curious to see whether any firmware updates have addressed the issue when I travel again in late January.
Article | Posted: April 24, 2025
https://basicappleguy.com/basicappleblog/apple-watch-turns-10
A long, meandering look back at a decade of the Apple Watch, from its origins as a fashion-forward accessory to its evolution into a health- and fitness-focused device that has gone on to become the best-selling watch in the world.
In this winding entry, I explore the history of the Apple Watch, touch on its design changes over the years, and reflect on my own relationship with the device across a full decade of wearing it.
Article | Posted: August 04, 2025
A lighter, more playful piece celebrating the humble Apple EarPods. With AirPods now nearing a decade on the market, this article explores the enduring value of wired headphones, from the joys of untangling them to their reliable microphone, unlimited battery life, built-in remote, and accessible price.
I still keep a pair with me while travelling, and scattered around the house, because you never quite know when a device or situation will call for them.
Finally, thank you. Thank you for reading, supporting my work, connecting with me, and for every tip and purchase. I am beyond grateful. Wishing everyone a safe, successful, peaceful, and fulfilling 2026.
2025-12-21 10:37:45
The annual 2025 Apple Product Tier List, where I rate everything Apple released in 2025.
Welcome to the 4th annual Apple Product Tier List, my yearly rundown and ranking of every Apple hardware and software product announced and released in 2025. This year, I’m grading 30 products in total, spanning everything from the iOS 26 Liquid Glass redesign to the iPhone Pocket, iPhone 17 Pro, and the M5 Apple Vision Pro.
If the product is brand new, like the iPhone Air, I rank it based on my opinion of it, its value (including cost and utility), and the vibes from the tech ecosystem. If the product is an upgrade, like the M5 MacBook Pro, its ranking is based on comparing it to its previous generation (i.e., the M4 MacBook Pro) or to current competing Apple products (M4 MacBook Air, M4 Pro/Max Pros). If a product is ranked low, it doesn't mean it's a bad product (although it could be); it might just mean that its value compared to the previous iteration didn't make it a compelling update. Case in point: AirPods Pro 2 with Lightning were S-Tier in 2022, but the 2023 USB-C refresh dropped to C-Tier simply because it was such a small change.
The ranking system I am using is a pretty conventional hierarchical system where things are put into one of six letter grades:
S-Tier: Exceptional, the best of the best, flawless.
A-Tier: Excellent, great to nearly perfect.
B-Tier: Good, above average.
C-Tier: Average but not outstanding.
D-Tier: Below average, flawed in many ways.
F-Tier: Poor, failing, or unacceptable.
I'm also including a link to a companion entry in The Haberdashery with files to help you create your tier ranking system for Apple's 2025 lineup. Enjoy!.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: 2025.09.19
In 2025, the sole product worthy of an S-Tier ranking is the iPhone 17 (with a few bonus points awarded to the White and Mist Blue finishes).
For the first time, the standard iPhone finally gets an always-on ProMotion display (about time), paired with a faster chip and neural engine, tougher cover glass, and massive battery gains over the iPhone 16 (up to 40% more battery life). Add in an upgraded selfie camera, a new 48MP ultra-wide camera, a respectable 256 GB base storage, a brighter display for better outdoor visibility, native dual-video capture, updated Bluetooth (5.3 to 6), dual-frequency GPS, and probably a few things I’m forgetting.
And that’s all just the upgrade list from the iPhone 16.
The iPhone 17, much like the MacBook Air, has firmly cemented itself as the best all-around iPhone and the one I would recommend to roughly 90% of buyers. Only if you want the absolute best battery life, need a telephoto camera, crave the very best graphics for mobile gaming, or have a deep, unshakable lust for cosmically orange phones would I steer you toward the Pro. The Air, meanwhile, is for those who want a more luxurious-feeling device that hints at Apple’s future.
Not that long ago, the regular iPhone felt like a series of compromises. It doesn’t anymore. This is the best all-around package of features Apple has shipped in a standard iPhone in years.
Announced: 2025.10.15 | Available: 2025.10.22
When Apple rolled out its trio of M5 announcements in mid-October, one of the quieter but more meaningful updates to the new Apple Vision Pro was the introduction of a redesigned band, also sold separately, featuring adjustable top and rear straps. The rear strap is now weighted, which technically makes the Vision Pro setup even heavier.
And no, nobody was asking for a heavier Vision Pro. But in this case, the extra weight actually works in your favour. Despite being heavier on paper, I’ve found the new setup noticeably more comfortable during longer sessions. For months, people have been experimenting with hacks, third-party straps, and improvised solutions to improve comfort. This accessory finally feels like Apple directly addressing one of the headset’s most persistent complaints, and it does so surprisingly well.
Announced: 2025.06.09 | Available: 2025.09.15
iPadOS 26 represents a massive step forward in positioning the iPad as a genuinely capable computer. Window customization and manipulation have been dramatically improved. The new windowing system, from tiling and organization to resizing and layout, now feels remarkably Mac-like. A significantly better Files app, the addition of app menu bars, support for background tasks, and enhanced PDF tools finally push iPadOS into territory where I can confidently move more power-user workflows onto the iPad.
What’s more interesting is that in some areas, using iPadOS is now preferable to the macOS. Better Apple TV integration, a wider selection of apps, native Live Activities, and dedicated Health and Fitness features are still absent on macOS. And because it increasingly feels like features debut on iOS and iPadOS before expanding outward to other platforms, iPadOS benefits from refinements like a more cohesive Liquid Glass implementation than what’s sometimes found on the Mac.
iPadOS 26 is a massive step forward towards the OS a product as powerful as the iPad deserves.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: 2025.09.19
This year delivered the biggest visual shake-up to the iPhone since its debut in 2007. For the first time in 18 years, there is no black or Space Grey option. Instead, Apple introduced Deep Blue and the unmistakably bold Cosmic Orange.
There is plenty to like here. The Ceramic Shield display is now three times more scratch resistant, and thanks to a larger battery paired with vapour cooling, the phones stay noticeably cooler under load while delivering significantly better battery life.
On the camera front, the new square 18 MP Center Stage selfie camera, a major 48 MP telephoto upgrade, and native Dual Capture are all excellent additions for iPhone photographers.
So why not S-Tier? The iPhone 17 Pros lose points for sacrificing some of their premium feel in favour of a more utilitarian design. While I understand the trade-offs around weight and heat dissipation, I still prefer the look, feel, and long-term durability of titanium or stainless steel over this year’s shift to aluminum. The lack of a chamfered edge around the Camera Plateau also leaves that area especially vulnerable to scratches and chips, most noticeably on the Deep Blue and Cosmic Orange finishes.
That said, I do appreciate how Apple has clearly defined its lineup this year. With a budget option (iPhone 16e), a standard model (iPhone 17), a lux model (iPhone Air), and the fully featured Pros, each device is now free to lean into its strengths rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: 2025.09.19
I know I’m going to get absolutely torched for placing the iPhone Air in A-tier, let alone putting it on the same plane as the iPhone 17 Pro.
But in a world defined by year-over-year iterative updates, the iPhone Air manages something rare. It takes a familiar design and makes it feel genuinely new, fresh, premium, and, most importantly, an absolute delight to use. I love using this device. I love handling it. Months later, I’m still a little awestruck by its thinness and overall form factor.
Battery life is perfectly serviceable for most people, and anyone who wants more endurance or more camera flexibility can easily pivot to Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup. This will likely never be Apple’s best-selling iPhone. Still, nearly every review I’ve seen has taken genuine delight in what Apple created here. The most common criticism being that the iPhone Air doesn't fit their specific needs, rather than it being anything less than a phenomenal device. which is a very different kind of complaint.
Announced: 2025.03.05 | Available: 2025.03.12
Built on a more efficient 3 nm process, with higher memory ceilings, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, Thunderbolt 5, and performance gains of up to 66%, the M4 Max Mac Studio is a subtle but meaningful upgrade to Apple’s most powerful Mac.
It’s still frustrating that a machine this expensive and capable offers zero upgradeability for storage or memory beyond the checkout screen. That said, even a pretty basic config for this kind of system will remain effortlessly capable of handling complex, professional workflows for the better part of the next five years without breaking a sweat.
A-tier might be slightly generous, but being able to buy a Mac this powerful for under $2,000 is genuinely impressive.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: ~2025.09.19
In 2023, Apple released one of its most disliked products in years: FineWoven iPhone cases. These micro-twill cases replaced Apple’s long-standing leather lineup and were promptly scorched online for how easily they scratched and stained, their high price, and their lack of a premium feel. The following year, Apple quietly abandoned the idea altogether, offering only Silicone cases in 2024.
Round two looks much better. With TechWoven, Apple revisits the concept and delivers a meaningfully improved product. These slightly textured, jacquard-loomed polyester cases are grippy, durable (mine still looks brand new), and genuinely pleasant to hold. They slide in and out of a pocket easily while still offering enough grip to feel secure in daily use.
No, they aren’t leather. But with TechWoven, Apple has clearly taken steps to make amends for FineWoven, and this time, it mostly works.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: ~2025.09.19
After recently traveling outside of North America, I was struck by just how common wearing your phone has become. Whether for safety or convenience, more and more people are making their phone part of their everyday outfit. I’ve personally always used a strap like this while traveling. Keeping my phone easily accessible helps me capture more of the trip, and the added security is reassuring if I lose my grip or fumble a shot. So having a well-designed, albeit quite expensive, first-party option to match Apple’s ecosystem is genuinely appealing.
Apple’s Crossbody Strap comes in nine colours to pair neatly with the current lineup of phone finishes and accessories. Magnets embedded in the strap (of course Apple used magnets) make adjusting the length effortless, while still being strong enough that I don’t have to worry about it slowly loosening over time.
The one awkward downside is that if you decide not to use the strap, you’re left with two dangling loops attached to the case where the strap connects, which feels a bit inelegant for an otherwise thoughtfully designed accessory.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: 2025.09.19
In the past, the Apple Watch SE felt firmly positioned as Apple’s budget or entry-level watch, aimed primarily at first-time buyers. With the Apple Watch SE 3, though, you could convincingly argue that this is now the Apple Watch that makes the most sense for most people.
While it still lacks some of the advanced health features found in the Series 10 and 11, such as hypertension detection, ECG, and VO₂ tracking, the SE 3 now includes an always-on display, the same S10 chip as Apple’s latest watches, sleep tracking, and more. At $250, it’s $150 cheaper than the Series 11, and unless you specifically want or need those extra health sensors, this is an excellent watch with few compromises.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: 2025.09.19
It’s been a couple of years since we last saw a meaningful update to the Ultra line, with last year limited to the addition of a Black Titanium finish for the Ultra 2.
If you’re still using the original Ultra, the battery is likely starting to feel long in the tooth, making the Ultra 3 a compelling upgrade to refresh the experience. Ultra 2 owners, however, get a bit less for their money. While the addition of a persistent second hand, a very slightly larger display (12 pixels more horizontally and vertically), and roughly six extra hours of battery life are welcome, they’re not exactly transformative.
The biggest draw for some will be the addition of Emergency SOS via satellite. That feature alone meaningfully expands where the watch can keep you connected and offers genuine peace of mind, knowing there’s another lifeline to the outside world if something goes wrong.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: 2025.09.19
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume this will be another controversial placement. The AirPods Pro 3 are a strong successor to the AirPods Pro 2, which I used for several years and relied on heavily for travel and most day-to-day listening.
With promises of improved noise cancellation, better battery life, and enhanced dust, sweat, and water resistance, these were an easy day-one purchase.
And in everyday use, I’ve generally been happy with the AirPods Pro 3. That said, the new foam tips took longer to adjust to than I expected, and even after months of use, I’ve found the fit to be less comfortable than my AirPods Pro 2. Noise cancellation is improved, but not as dramatically as I anticipated across most situations.
Under different circumstances, these would have landed comfortably in A-tier. However, due to the significant and genuinely painful feedback issues I’ve experienced while traveling, issues that others have reported as well and that haven’t yet been resolved, I can’t rate them any higher than B-tier.
Announced: 2025.03.05 | Available: 2025.03.12
With an M4 featuring two additional CPU cores, a higher memory bandwidth, support for up to 32 GB of unified memory (up from 24 GB), Thunderbolt 4, and a new 12 MP Center Stage camera, the M4 MacBook Air is a fairly modest update over the M3 model.
So why does it land in B-tier? Because it now comes in Sky Blue. Is that a ridiculous reason to bump something up a tier? Absolutely not. Apple’s interpretation of Sky Blue is so subtle that 98% of the time you’ll be convinced you actually own a silver laptop, but let’s not allow logic to get in the way of our feelings.
Most owners of M2, M3, and even M1 MacBook Airs won’t find much reason to upgrade. But for anyone moving to a MacBook Air for the first time, this remains Apple’s best laptop for most people, and arguably one of the best they’ve made in decades.
Announced: 2025.06.09 | Available: 2025.09.15
B-tier, because while many of Apple’s improvements this year aren’t necessarily aimed at what I care most about, they do meaningfully play to the strengths of the platform. Major upgrades to Personas, expanded support for VR controllers and spatial accessories like the Logitech Muse, and the ability to view homemade 360º videos all push Vision Pro in the right direction far more than, say, turning Calendar into a native app (which they still absolutely should do).
Widgets are a welcome addition, the Jupiter environment is genuinely nifty, and thank god they finally added iPhone unlock while inside Vision Pro. All told, it’s a solid, focused update.
Announced: 2025.10.15 | Available: 2025.10.22
Updates this year include Wi-Fi 7, Apple’s new cellular modem, the upgraded M5 chip, faster charging, support for 120Hz displays (Studio Display 2 anyone?) and a 50% memory increase on the 256 GB and 512 GB models. Together, these changes round out a fairly modest refresh over the 2024 iPad Pro.
That said, anyone upgrading from almost any other iPad, aside from the M4 iPad Pro, will be genuinely delighted by how much this device has evolved over the past two years. Last year’s upgrades earned the iPad Pro a spot in A-tier. This year’s more incremental update, however, lands it firmly in C-tier for 2025.
Announced: 2025.06.09 | Available: 2025.09.15
Ranking the operating systems this year was difficult. There are elements of iOS 26 that feel genuinely S-tier, others that are fairly mid, and a few that are downright infuriating.
On Apple’s Liquid Glass redesign, I’m mostly lukewarm. The refraction effects and some of the animations are genuinely delightful, but as a whole, the visual changes fade into the background surprisingly quickly. I haven’t personally run into the readability issues others have reported, but I’m already dreading the day my parents update, because I’m fairly certain they will.
Some of the new features are genuinely excellent. Call Screening and Hold Assist are standout additions. Wallet has quietly become a much better package-tracking app, and the Camera app is a bit easier to navigate than before.
Other areas are far more painful. I don’t care for the redesigned Phone app, and I actively dislike the continued shift toward burying options behind extra buttons and menus, of which Safari is currently the worst offender.
Overall, Liquid Glass is nice but far from necessary. While there’s a scattering of thoughtful improvements across the OS, there are also frustrations in some of my most-used apps that I can’t easily overlook.
Announced: 2025.06.09 | Available: 2025.09.15
As with iOS 26, Liquid Glass is a pleasant visual change, though it’s far less pronounced on the Mac than on other platforms and doesn’t meaningfully influence the ranking in either direction.
What matters more to me is how Tahoe has affected my day-to-day workflow, and overall, it’s been a mixed bag. I’m disappointed that Apple killed off Launchpad as part of the Spotlight overhaul, but once you spend time with it, the new Spotlight is undeniably more powerful. The expansion of Live Activities continuity and notification types like Hold Assist have also been meaningful improvements. Extending Journal beyond the iPhone was another welcome addition, because journaling, much like buying airline tickets, is a laptop behaviour, not a phone one.
Beyond Liquid Glass and Spotlight, however, Tahoe feels more pockmarked with incremental additions than anything approaching a revelatory update. Your own usage may mean these tweaks land better for you and justify a higher score, but in my daily use, there’s very little that has made using the Mac feel significantly better.
My biggest gripe with Tahoe isn’t just that it’s underwhelming, but that it launched with design choices and bugs that made early versions (26.0 and 26.1) genuinely frustrating to use. The most egregious was a file-saving lag of three to seven seconds every time I tried to save, an issue thankfully addressed in 26.2. Other changes, like those in Finder, are less functionally damaging but still baffling, with floating toolbars and shadows pushed to the point of overkill across the OS.
Announced: 2025.02.21 | Available: 2025.02.28
If you’re committed to Apple’s SE-style lineup, the iPhone 16e is a genuinely worthwhile upgrade from a phone that’s now more than three years old. It brings Ceramic Shield glass, the A18 chip, improved battery life, a better camera, 4K video recording, Emergency SOS via satellite, Crash Detection, USB-C, and double the base storage, now starting at 128 GB.
I imagine most people upgrading to this phone don’t care about macro photography, the Action Button (does anyone?), or the more advanced video and camera features found on Apple’s higher-end models. They’re primarily looking for an iPhone that will last the next five to seven years, and the iPhone 16e absolutely delivers on that front.
Starting at $599, the price does feel a bit higher than it should be, and a lower entry point would make the device far more compelling. That said, I suspect many buyers will either finance it or receive it subsidized through a carrier as part of a contract, which softens the blow.
The iPhone 16e loses a lot of points for omitting MagSafe charging. It feels like a strangely petty and almost malicious exclusion, even if the overlap between MagSafe users and this target audience was relatively small.
Announced: 2025.11.11 | Available: 2025.11.14
Who had Apple announcing a $149–$249 successor to the iPod Sock, in collaboration with the Japanese fashion house that made Steve Jobs’ turtlenecks, on their bingo card?
Available only in select markets (France, Greater China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, and the U.S.), this limited run of short and long straps sold out in within hours of launch. I’m told these are high fashion, and that if you understood high fashion, you would understand these. I do not understand these. Still, I think they’re a ton of fun, cost aside.
Much like the Hermès partnership, I’m fine with Apple experimenting in this space. It’s not the most practical or aesthetically minded accessory in the world, but again, I don’t think I’m the intended audience. At the very least, it gave us the Borat meme, and for that alone, I’m grateful.
You can pick up a lookalike for 3-15$ on places like Temu if you’re curious.
Announced: 2025.03.05 | Available: 2025.03.12
In spring 2025, Apple brought some of the upgrades introduced with the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro to the iPad Air. The result is a better overall accessory, featuring a much larger glass trackpad and a new 14-key function row, both of which are meaningful improvements over the previous version.
However, despite being $30 cheaper than the iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard, this version cuts several corners. It lacks the haptic trackpad found on the Pro model, swaps aluminum for a polyurethane palm rest that matches the exterior case, and, bafflingly, drops backlit keys entirely, a feature the previous Magic Keyboard included.
At nearly 50% of the cost of the iPad Air itself, the Magic Keyboard remains overpriced. Making matters worse, Apple discontinued the previous Magic Keyboard and designed this one with a rear cutout that supports only a single camera. That decision means older iPad Pro models like the A12Z, M1, and M2 are incompatible, further limiting its appeal.
Announced: 2025.10.15 | Available: 2025.10.22
The best thing about the M5 Apple Vision Pro is the heavily discounted aftermarket it’s created for prospective buyers of the M2 Apple Vision Pro.
The M5 is undeniably a meaningful upgrade over the M2, bringing better battery efficiency, up to 50% faster performance, and additions like hardware ray tracing. But in a product like Vision Pro, this lands firmly in the “nice, not necessary” category. Users will notice faster loading times and a slightly sharper-feeling experience.
Ultimately, this spec bump is less about immediate user benefit and more about longevity. It buys the Vision Pro another three years of relevance, giving Apple time to grow the ecosystem and figure out how to develop this product line toward broader, more mass-market appeal. For most current Vision Pro users who primarily watch movies, enjoy photos, or consume content, this is far from a necessary upgrade.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: ~2025.09.19
Bringing back a MagSafe Battery after discontinuing the Lightning model in 2023 was a great move. Making it sleeker and longer to minimize thickness while maximizing capacity was another solid decision. Designing it so tall that only the iPhone Air can use the only first-party external battery Apple sells? That’s how you land squarely in D-tier.
For iPhone Air owners, this product is genuinely excellent, boosting battery life to nearly 40 hours. And yes, it was certainly designed to perfectly match the dimensions of the iPhone Air, especially since Apple’s other iPhones already have strong battery life. Still, Apple could have made this more broadly compatible, or better yet, offered a second version that works with the rest of the lineup.
If my irrationally jaded feelings weren’t part of the scoring equation, this probably lands in B-tier.
Announced: 2025.03.05 | Available: 2025.03.12
Apple managed to make things confusing when it unexpectedly updated the Mac Studio with its most powerful chips. Is the M4 Max more powerful, or is it the M3 Ultra? The answer is… it depends. The M4 Max has newer, more powerful cores and a newer GPU architecture with better efficiency. The M3 Ultra counters with sheer scale, offering more cores overall and higher memory ceilings.
The Mac Studio has effectively become Apple’s most powerful Mac, sorry Mac Pro, but the M3 Ultra is an extremely niche and very expensive configuration. Only highly specific and demanding workflows truly benefit from what it offers over chips like the M4 Max. I’m glad it exists, but given its cost and narrow advantages, it’s not a machine I’d recommend to almost anyone, and would be more keen to see what Apple has up their sleeves with the rumoured M5 Ultra.
Announced: 2025.03.05 | Available: 2025.03.12
Unless you absolutely need hardware-accelerated ray tracing, or you’re desperate for an iPad that’s two grams lighter than the M2 iPad Air, there’s essentially no reason to upgrade from the M1 or M2 Air. This is the smallest, most iterative update imaginable.
You’ll almost certainly find meaningful discounts on the M2 iPad Air now that this model exists, and honestly, that’s probably the best thing about this release.
Announced: 2025.03.05 | Available: 2025.03.12
This is a very basic update, headlined by a bump in base storage from 64 GB to 128 GB and the move to an A16 chip, up from the A14, delivering roughly 25% better performance. It’s a perfectly fine tablet if your priority is getting into an iPad at the lowest possible price. And starting at $150 less than the iPad Air, with frequent discounts bringing it down even further, it’s easy to see the appeal.
That said, on a year-over-year basis, I’d argue a refurbished or discounted previous-generation iPad Air offers far better value. You get more features, a noticeably better display, stronger performance, a superior accessory ecosystem, and greater longevity, all of which tend to favour spending a bit more upfront when you look at cost per year.
Fun fact: the A16 iPad is the only product in Apple’s current lineup that’s been completely spared from Apple Intelligence.
Announced: 2025.10.15 | Available: 2025.10.22
It previously had an M4. Now it has an M5. The M5 adds neural accelerators. And that about sums it up. This is another case where the update is so incremental that while it’s technically better, the smarter buy is almost certainly a discounted M4 now that this model exists.
The MacBook Air is still the best laptop for most people, but the MacBook Pro does offer genuinely premium upgrades. A ProMotion display, an extremely bright mini-LED panel, and surprisingly excellent speakers make it a compelling step up if you value those features. Just don’t mistake this year’s refresh for anything more than a modest spec bump.
Announced: 2025.06.09 | Available: 2025.09.15
I honestly can’t name more than one feature in watchOS 26 that I actually care about. Maybe the new flick gesture for dismissing notifications. But that’s about it.
The new Sleep Score sounds good in theory, but the implementation feels ill-fitting. No matter how poorly I sleep or how many times I wake up during the night, as long as I go to bed within an hour or two of my usual bedtime, I’m rewarded with an 80–90+ score. That’s not useful information in the slightest.
Liquid Glass is similarly underwhelming on such a small display, and most of the other additions in watchOS 26 are features I’ve either barely noticed or haven’t found any real benefit in using.
Announced: 2025.06.09 | Available: 2025.09.15
A handful of new screensavers, the ability to favourite them, improved AirPlay support for third-party speakers, and some light tweaks to the Apple TV app more or less round out what’s new in tvOS 26. I actually had tvOS 26 running on my upstairs TV and tvOS 18 downstairs and didn’t notice the difference for about two and a half months.
That said, I don’t ask much of tvOS. It doesn’t need to wow me or thrill me. It just needs to load apps quickly, work reliably, and play content without fuss. It does all of that, so I’m perfectly happy.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: ~2025.09.19
The iPhone bumper is back. Originally introduced with the iPhone 4, the bumper is a minimalist case that wraps around the edges of the phone while leaving the front and back fully exposed. It’s a great idea for a device like the iPhone Air, where you really want to show off just how thin the hardware is.
Unfortunately, the bumper itself is noticeably thicker than the phone. Once it’s wrapped around the device, you lose some of the sense of just how thin the iPhone Air actually is, which kinda undercuts the very reason you’d want a case like this in the first place.
Announced: 2025.09.09 | Available: 2025.09.19
5G support on the cellular models. That’s it.
Apple claims up to 24 hours of battery life, up from 18 hours on the Series 10, but it also describes a different testing process for the series 11 included a night of sleep tracking (which sips battery life).
Save yourself the money. Get a discounted Series 10.
Announced: 2024.06.10 | Available: 2025.05.15
I never thought I’d see the day this actually launched. Announced at WWDC 24, it went nearly silent until a press release almost a year later revealed that Aston Martin would be the first to adopt it. This is essentially an extension of CarPlay, offering deeper, more Apple-like control over vehicle systems alongside themed dashboard widgets for things like the speedometer and tachometer.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept. I love CarPlay, and I would absolutely welcome a future where Apple has a heavier hand in how a car’s interior software and panels are designed. But this lands squarely in F-tier. What shipped is far more modest than many people had hoped, and its current availability is limited to a single automaker whose cars start at three to five times the average annual income in the US.
As an idea, it’s exciting. As a product, at least right now, it’s largely irrelevant.
