As I see my fellow tech enthusiasts become disenchanted with Apple because of all the gestures wildly, it makes me consider my attachment to the Apple ecosystem myself. The prognosis? I’m very attached! With that in mind, it may be fun to explore the why, so what better way to do that than with a list?

1. Apple Watch

My most locked-in gadget is also the one that generates the most complicated feelings. On the one hand, the integration is Apple at its best. Apple’s cloud ambitions really shines here with phone number relays, iMessage support, phone calls and of course health data all in a tiny package. This list is mostly focused on hardware however, and hardware is where my disenchantment is most on display. The best looking versions of the Apple Watch are just okay to look at. Not ugly mind you, just okay. I have never been a big fan of the square aspect ratio, and while I’ve gotten used to it, I still can’t say I like it. Additionally if you are like me and care about how your watch looks, the cheap watch just isn’t a great option. The soft aluminum scratches super easy (level 3 on the hardness scale), as does the screen. You have to step up to the 800 (!) option to get stainless steel and a more scratch resistant glass which is just difficult to stomach since the battery will very likely need replacing in about 3 years.

The competition has a much richer set of hardware choice, with options that are very attractive, and in general much cheaper for comparable hardware features. They fail in software compared to Watch OS, especially on general health tracking. The specialty watches like Garmin are miles ahead in their niches, I’m talking the more every day stuff.

2. iPad

One level down and my feelings are less complicated. The iPad really serves its purpose well for me. The ability to tap into a rich app ecosystem while still having a corporate managed device is really serves me well. I can get into almost every work app I use from the iPad, and the Magic Keyboard means I can basically do most aspects of my job on the go with an ultra portable device. My primary use case for the iPad however is just texting clients. Being a mortgage lender, I have many conversations going at any given point with several borrowers, and being able to manage those with a keyboard is so much easier than tapping things out on my phone. The limitations of the iPad are present but for me personally they don’t come up as often and so I’m pretty happy overall with the iPad, especially considering there isn’t really a viable alternative on the Android side.

3. iPhone

Ah the iPhone. While I’m pretty meh on the iPhone in general, it’s the lynchpin of all the other devices discussed up to this point. It’s my primary camera and (i)messaging device, and so the fact that data syncs to everything else makes the iPhone quite important. It’s also by far the most boring device I own. It’s a toaster, a refrigerator. In most ways that’s fine, my phone is so integral to my job and day to day life I don’t want to shake things up too much. I would be lying however, if I said I didn’t want some kind of excitement again in the phone department, either in software or hardware. The rumored redesign coming this year may be just what the doctor ordered since AI probably won’t be that differentiating factor.

4. Apple TV

Even more toaster like, it’s the Apple TV! I use this device daily, mostly as a YouTube machine and it does its job well! But wow is it a boring device in almost all aspects. Similar to the iPhone, that works fine for this device, but some rethinking of the software would be welcome. Luckily for the Apple TV, all of it’s competition is ad ridden filth, so Apple can get away with being boring here. It feels like this area is rich with the potential for disruption however.

5. Mac

In some ways I have the most nice things to say about the Mac. I really like the OS, and most of the hardware options (though they are quite pricey when you start considering proper storage tiers). The issue for me is that I’m just not much of a power user and so my NEED for something as powerful as Mac OS just isn’t there most of the time. It’s all preference, and I really do prefer to use the Mac when I can. It has it’s software challenges but for the most part it’s so far ahead of Windows it’s really easy to overlook most of them.