Over the weekend I got the chance to check out all of the new hardware that was announced at Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event. I figured I would just write down some thoughts and ideas I had about the different products here, as some of them are things that I haven’t heard a ton of other people saying.

AirPods

They were there. No I didn’t use them. Sorry. (I prefer the in-ear design anyway). The AirPods Max colors were nice, that’s really all there is to say.

Apple Watch

Screen Sizes

I tried out all of the different Apple Watch models that were refreshed. I don’t really have a lot to say since there really isn’t much going on. The 46mm size of the Series 10 is big and if you just wanted the Ultra for the screen size, I would look here. It is basically the same size, just not flat.

Battery Life

I obviously didn’t get the chance to actually test these watches out for this kind of metric, but I personally don’t care that the battery life hasn’t changed on these things. If I’m not wearing my watch it’s on a charger. My Series 6 is at 84% of maximum capacity and I still have never thought about its battery life even though I sleep with it every night. This wasn’t a big concern for me coming out of this event. The Series 10 battery life is fine.

The Design

Okay so the full metal design actually looks really good. I have this picture here from what I assume is a Wi-Fi only model that just looks like a smooth pebble. On top of that, the thinner design is noticeable, but it’s still a chonky watch. As for the Ultra, I found the Titanium Milanese loop to be a little fiddly, but really nice, it’s probably one of my favorites, especially with that buckle.

iPhones

The Color Situation

First and foremost: I do not like the iPhone 16 colors. I think they’re kinda obnoxious and I much preferred the iPhone 15 colors. I may be an island in the tech world, but I’ll have you know that my mom agreed with me so there’s that. I just prefer my metal devices to look like they’re made of metal and not Pepto Bismol, but that’s just me I guess. The colors on the 16 Pros are great, I really love Desert Titanium. I’ll probably be picking up black since I would like a darker finish, but Desert Titanium is a close second choice for me.

Camera Control

I think the hardware is great. There’s been quite a bit of discourse around the Camera Control with people thinking it’s in a bad place, or it’s hard to use, or what have you and I personally didn’t experience any of that. From the moment I picked it up, I was easily able to move around the interface with the Camera Control. It just clicked (pun fully intended). I was able to manipulate the Camera Control easily both in portrait and in landscape. I didn’t have any problems pressing the button without shaking the device, I didn’t have problems getting the light press to work, I just got it.

I will say that I am in a rather unique situation in that I have rather dextrous hands. I play a multitude of instruments from guitars to piano to mallet percussion as well as some drumming, so I have rather exceptional finger dexterity, grip strength, and movement isolation. All of these together really set me up for success with using the action button on all of the phones.

Screen Sizes

The iPhones 16 did not change size at all, but the iPhones 16 Pro did and here are my thoughts: if you are sensitive about screen size—maybe you miss the 12 and 13 mini devices and you thought the 6.1″ size was already too big—there’s a good chance you’re going to feel the increase in size, especially with a case. If you thought that the standard phone size was fine, you’re really not going to notice much of anything. The same applies to the Pro Max phone as well: if you thought 6.7″ was even on the edge of being way too big for your hands, then this will be even worse for you. I personally really like the Pro Max size so I wasn’t really feeling much of a change (especially since the dimensions are actually not really any different than my current 13 Pro Max, save for a slightly taller display).

Heat

Even when just using the phones in the store, I definitely noticed they got rather warm. Now, it’s not exactly stacked up in the phone’s favor since the devices live on MagSafe chargers for their whole life in the store, but even relative to the idle devices the phones I was using were getting hot after only a few minutes of use, especially with the camera.

Stock

So I didn’t want to take time away from anyone who was working since the store was incredibly busy, but I do know that they were running low on stock when I was there Friday afternoon. I heard one person say that they were completely sold out of 16 Pro Max phones in all storage sizes except for the 1TB model. I don’t know how it looked other places, but there was quite a bit of demand for these devices at this particular store which, while not that large, does service a rather large population (especially since it’s in sales tax–free Delaware).

My Wishlist

So I personally wasn’t really expecting much from the AirPods Max update. I like their sound, I don’t really need the features of the H2 chip on these headphones, and I already have AirPods Pro 2 for situations where I would. I’ve been thinking about picking up AirPods Max for a while now, I was just entirely uninterested in picking them up with a Lightning port. I am familiar with the other options out there, I just really am not as interested in them, even at the lower price points. This is my lowest priority device from this launch, but I will probably pick them up in Midnight whenever I get around to buying them as there are a few cases where I would prefer to have an over ear set of headphones over a pair or earbuds.

Now I’m actually rather due for an Apple Watch update since I’m still using the Series 6, and I’m really liking the black Ultra 2. Again, this is another one of those situations where I’m not terribly offended by the fact that it didn’t get a huge update—most of the changes in the Series 10 were playing catch-up with features already in the Ultra anyway. If I didn’t end up going with the black Ultra 2 I would probably go with the black Series 10. I’m still a little nervous about the jet black finish, especially after the iPhone 7, but I like black (and very, very dark gray).

As for my next iPhone, I’m going to be sticking with the Pro Max phone, but I will go for black this time (I currently have a silver 13 Pro Max). I used to say that it would be hard for Apple to get me to buy another Pro phone, but I should just be honest with myself: I like the flair. I’m an enthusiast and I like things like Always on Display, ProMotion, and all of the other fun that comes with the Pro phones. We can enjoy life a little. So yeah that’s my pick personally.

Conclusion

Those are my thoughts on the devices in the short amount of time that I got to play with them in the store. I would like to give more commentary on the event itself, but I’m honestly struggling to find the right words. The event was probably one of the slowest they’ve had since going to the pre-recorded events (it was as slow as their in-person ones). I think they are still spending way too long talking about AI stuff (as is everyone) and it’s getting a little tiring (this is from someone who holds certifications in AI development and has built AI systems, and has been following AI for the better part of a decade at this point).

Did you guys pick up some new Apple goodies this weekend? Are you going to in the near future? Do you think my choices are stupid? Do you have the urge to tell people that you don’t give your money to Apple? Or maybe you want to talk about how Sony had a camera button first? Let me know down in the comments or over on Mastodon.