I got the new iPhone and new iPad Pro and no I am not a fan boy… at least I don’t think I am. I do like to rationally look at what is out there and decide on the tools that are best for me. Honestly I was really close to pulling the trigger on a Surface Pro but I really dislike Windows, and couldn’t do it. It’s not because I think Windows is garbage, but because I don’t like the way it is organized. Here is my argument for Apple and not because they have excellent marketing… which they do. Their operating system is supperior in my “humble” opinion.
I love the operating system and the organization of both the iPhone and iPad. The way notifications are set up within the pull down menu as well as the quick access items are great. I don’t like how the iPad has continued to not include the calculator app that they have on the phone. It is just dumb. Besides that, the new operating sytem on the iPad Pro is excellent. I love the split screen and use it regularly while writing post. I can write my post while referencing an article or complete tasks with my Trello Board open.
The iPad accessories are all necessary. I first got the keyboard so that I could work faster with emails and creating content for my social media accounts and I love the way it feels and types. I feel like I am as fast as I am on a regular keyboard. The surface felt cheap and flimsy like I was going to break it which was another reason I moved away from it.
I recently got the pen and honestly it was just because I was struggling to come up with items for my Christmas list. I thought it would be a cool toy and maybe I would get back into sketching a little more regularly. Now that I have it and have been playing with it for a week or so it has so much more use then just a toy. Adobe comp with the pen is phenomenal. I can come up with layouts for all types of tings quick and easy and they look way better then quick a sketch. Adobe sketch is super fun and much more realistic then I thought it would be and Adobe Photoshop is a really great light version for quick social media post headers and what not.
The one app I paid for, for the pen was GoodNotes 4. It was on the pricier side ($8) for me but after researching a bit I decided to try it (half of me wanted to figure out how to get my money back if I didn’t like it because I don’t think I have ever spent this much on an app). It is amazing. You can create several journals and give them titles and can choose all kinds of papers like graph, lined, legal, and more. The best part is it is searchable. Even with my terrible hand writing it still was able to show me all the pages I wrote a certain word. Obviously I highly recommend it.
So back to the phone. The FaceTime ID is incredible. It is like going back to the days when you didn’t lock your phone. You simply just start using your phone and it works. The additional screen space is great but the phone does feel bigger (it is bigger) and I was really hoping it would be very negligiable size change but it felt like it was more then I wanted. I originally got the silicon Apple case and while I did like it, it did add some additional bulk to the phone I was already a little hesitant on size. The upside to the silicon though is that it is a little sticky. This is great when you put it on a table or lean it up against something it isn’t going anywhere. I did eventually try out a case from Totalee.com (no affiliate and getting paid for nothing) and it really helped with the size issue. It makes the phone feel significantly smaller. I am not sure how much protection I sacrificed so maybe there will be a swear word riddled post coming soon but for now I really love how this the case is.
The phone itself is really fast and the switch over to not having a button was fast and easy. I don’t love the way you close apps now but I got used to it and it is not the end of the world. I will say it is a little weird that my phone does not have a home button but my iPad does. It throws me off sometimes when I am using both.
My overall opinion is that the up charge price of Apple products is worth it, but if you are looking to save some bucks I think Surface is doing some cool things. As far as phones go I don’t know enough about the other top phones to speak intelligently (I didn’t do nearly as much research as I did with the tablets, so maybe I am a Fanboy) but from what I saw it really comes down to operating system. The camera is all of them is really good (although I do think Apple has the best camera but it is negligible). App stores are essentially the same and the apps that aren’t available on both usually has some sort of copy on the other. Screens all look really good at this point and they all offer a range of sizes. So it really comes down to the way you use it and work on it and that is the operating system.
There is my 2 cents and hopefully I don’t get a bunch of comments about how Samsung had all this technology 5 years ago. If I do will just respond to that here with a: “yawn.”