 |
From introducing USB-C on the iPhone 15 series to the Vision Pro, 2023 has been a relatively eventful year for Apple. So here are my thoughts on the best, and the worst of Apple in 2023.
Vision Pro
While it has not been released to the public as of the writing of this article, the Vision Pro (announced at WWDC 2023) has to be at the top. Yes, VR headsets are not a new concept, however I'm really looking forward to seeing Apple's take on it. The price is extremely high, even more so since cheaper VR headsets like the Meta Quest 3 are a third of the cost, however I predict that after a couple revisions, the price of the Vision Pro (or possibly a standard "Apple Vision") will be more competitive with the rest of the market.
iPhone 15 Pro / 15 Pro Max
This year, multiple big upgrades came to the iPhone Pro lineup. The biggest is of course the change from Lightning, which had been used since 2012, to USB-C. While USB-C has also been introduced on the regular 15 and 15 Plus, it is only a USB 2.0 (480MBps) connector. The 15 Pro and Pro Max on the other hand do support the USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 standard (10GBps), however the cable that comes in the box is only USB 2.0.
Other upgrades this year include the A17 Pro SoC (System on a Chip), Titanium and 5x optical zoom on the Pro Max.
M3 Pro / M3 Max MacBook Pro
At Apple's Haloween-themed "Scary Fast" event in October, Apple introduced the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max lineup of SoC's, and the new M3 MacBook Pro.
One of the biggest additions is Dynamic Caching, which allows the GPU to precisely control how much RAM it needs based on the task, and hardware-acclerated ray tracing.
The CPU also got improvements in the form of the new "N3B" 3nm architecture from TSMC, and the memory configurations on the M3 Pro increased from 16GB and 32GB on the M1 and M2 Pro to 18GB and 36GB on the M3 Pro. This odd RAM configuration is possible because Apple is using three 6GB or 12GB memory chips, rather than four 4GB or 8GB chips.
In terms of the new MacBook Pro, the old 13" model using the 2016-era design (although without the butterfly keyboard) has been discontinued in favour of the new 14" standard M3 MBP, which uses the same design as the 14" M3 Pro/Max MBP, however with only 2 Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, rather than 3. The 14" and 16" M3 Pro/Max MBP is now available in a new Space Black finish (which replaces the old Space Gray), and the display is now 20% brighter.
2023 OS Updates
iOS 17 adds interactive widgets to the home screen and lock screen, the Journal app, Live Voicemail, and StandBy (which I really like using) among many other things.
iPadOS 17 adds the new customisable lock screen that was first seen in iOS 16 last year alongside interactive widgets, and the Health app.
watchOS 10 features a new interface which takes better advantage of the larger watch displays.
tvOS 17 includes FaceTime support and an updated Control Center.
macOS Sonoma (14) adds new video wallpapers and screensavers, widgets on the desktop, and Game Mode, which improves CPU and GPU performance for games when running in full-screen.
Also introduced was Game Porting Toolkit, which helps run DirectX games for Windows on Apple Silicon Macs.
15" MacBook Air
The 15" MacBook Air was a welcome addition to the MacBook lineup for those who want a larger display and bigger battery without buying the much more expensive 16" MacBook Pro.
M2 Max / M2 Ultra Mac Studio
Announced at WWDC 2023, the M2-based Mac Studio is very minor update over the M1-based Mac Studio. The only difference is the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips, which allows up to 192GB of RAM (on the M2 Ultra).
M2 / M2 Pro Mac mini
Another minor update, however for the first time the Mac mini has got a Pro-tier Apple Silcon chip in the form of the M2 Pro Mac mini, which also supports up to 32GB of RAM (compared to 24GB on the M2 and 16GB on the M1) and has 4 Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports.
AirPods Pro 2 (with USB-C Charging Case)
Yet another minor update, however gaining USB-C on AirPods is a step in the right direction. There is also Adaptive Audio, which is a hybrid between ANC and Transparency Mode.
M3 iMac
Not too much to say about this, but it was finally time that the iMac got an upgrade to a newer chip.
Apple Watch Series 9 / Ultra 2
Another small update. They're a good upgrade from an older Apple Watch (eg: Series 3), however those with a newer Apple Watch won't find it to be a big upgrade.
M2 Ultra Mac Pro
Starting at a whopping $6999 USD, the M2 Ultra Mac Pro is a minor update on the Intel-based 2019 Mac Pro, however all RAM DIMM slots are gone, and GPU's cannot be added, internally or externally. The reason this has for existing is for the very small percentage of people who need PCIe expansion, and for Apple so that they can say they completed the Apple Silicon transition.
iPhone 14 / 14 Plus (Yellow)
Awful colour in my opinion.
I realise that I haven't covered every single product or service Apple announced and/or released in 2023, such as the new HomePod and the USB-C Apple Pencil, however all of those fall into the neutral category for me.