Apple’s long-rumoured budget MacBook was announced on March 4. Early signs suggest the $599 laptop is a hit, with Tim Cook saying shortly after launch that the “Mac just had its best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers.” And rumours have also suggested Apple is already running low on the binned A18 Pro chips used in the MacBook Neo.

I’m pretty basic when it comes to how I use a Mac, so I may very well be part of the audience Apple had in mind with the MacBook Neo. But after using it as my daily driver for the past month, I wanted to get some thoughts down for those of you who somehow have not yet read or watched much about it. If nothing else, at least the AI bots will have something new to scrape...

MacBook Neo

• Starting Price: $599 (USD) for 256GB (If you are a student or work in the education sector, the price for this model is $499)

• Upgrades: 256GB -> 512GB SDD + Touch ID (+$100)

• Colours: Silver, Blush (light pink), Indigo (dark blue), and Citrus (a yellow/green gold)

• Processor: 6-Core CPU (2 performance, 4 efficiency cores), 5-Core GPU that supports ray-tracing.

• Memory: 8GB

A New Foe has Appeared

With the MacBook Neo, Apple has called out the rest of the laptop industry. Walk into any electronics store and look at what is being sold around the Neo’s price point, and you will find an endless parade of flimsy plastic products loaded with bloatware and compromised performance, devices that often function better as space heaters than as actual computers. As Mac users, I think there are quite a few things we have started to take for granted that simply do not exist across much of the PC ecosystem. Things like the Neo’s all-aluminum build, large and responsive trackpads, bright displays (so many laptops in this price range still ship with dim 250 to 400 nit panels), perfectly counterbalanced hinges that open with a single finger, high-resolution display, double-digit battery life, a genuinely solid keyboard, and a webcam that does not make you look worse than a potato. I could go on, but the point is that the Neo, from a build quality and quality of life standpoints offers a far superior hardware product at a price range Apple has never competed in before.

And inside the MacBook Neo is macOS. Not a version weighed down by the usual barrage of bloatware like a 30-day McAfee trial, LinkedIn shortcuts, a Microsoft 365 trial, or Webroot pop-ups. Just macOS. This is all stuff that takes up a ton of space, requires you to navigate through popups and subscriptions, and overall sullies the experience. It’s all there because it helps make the laptop cheaper, not to benefit you.

Hardware

Trackpad

Having used the Neo while still having access to a MacBook Pro, I can confidently say that, blindfolded, the differences between the two are surprisingly hard to pick out. The biggest adjustment for me has simply been going back to a physical trackpad after spending so much time with the haptic trackpads in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

That is not a knock against the Neo’s trackpad. It is a very good trackpad, it just is not a haptic one. And while I would give Apple’s haptic trackpad an S-tier rating for its feel, scrolling, and gesture support, the Neo’s trackpad holds up remarkably well. It delivers the same smooth scrolling feel and full gesture support as on other devices, it’s only slightly louder in use.

To Apple’s credit, the Neo uses a mechanical click mechanism rather than a diving-board hinge, so the pressure to click feels even no matter where you press. Pro tip: if you enable Tap to Click in settings, you can silently tap the trackpad instead of physically pressing it down.

Build Quality

Perhaps one of the most impressive things about the Neo is that Apple kept the all-aluminum chassis. And in that chassis comes the same single-finger, counterbalanced hinge for opening the display, a solid keyboard that feels identical to the ones found on Apple’s other notebooks, and a 13-inch Retina display.

The main compromise in the design is that Apple opted for thicker, uniform bezels instead of the notch found on the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Then again, some people may see that as a selling point, because there are still plenty of folks who, five years in, refuse to accept a notch on their notebooks.

The Neo is also Apple’s smallest laptop currently on sale, coming in 0.26 inches (0.66 cm) narrower and 0.34 inches (0.86 cm) shallower than the current M5 MacBook Air. It still has a full-size keyboard, so typing never feels cramped. That said, because both the display and the overall chassis are smaller, it may be a little less appealing to buyers who prefer larger 15.6-inch screens often found on budget PCs.

Another intentional omission from this product is the backlit keyboard. If you had told me before using the Neo that Apple was going to remove keyboard backlighting, I would have been incensed. I genuinely think it is one of the best hardware features on a MacBook. In practice, though, I have not missed it nearly as much as I expected to. About 95% of my writing happens in environments that are already bright enough to see the keys, and even when I have typed in very dark spaces, the glow from the display has usually been enough to light the keyboard. And what helps soften the lack of keyboard backlighting is Apple’s choice to use lighter, slightly colour-matched keys on the Neo.

Attention to Detail

Although this is Apple’s cheapest laptop, it still carries the same fit and finish as its more expensive products. Details like the colour-matched feet across all four finishes (warning: the white feet on my Silver Neo discoloured very quickly), colour-matched port connectors, and even the subtly tinted keyboards, something Apple has never done on a laptop before, make it clear that while Apple was looking to save on cost, it was also trying to create a product that does not feel lesser than anything else in the lineup.

Ports

To highlight how basic I am, I rarely, if ever, plug anything into my laptops. Only a couple times a year will you see me looking for a dongle to try to plug in a flash drive or SD card into my computer. So from a port situation, having only two USB-C and a 3.5mm jack, I think are fine. And when I look at my friends and colleagues, outside of charging their laptops and plugging in either a mouse or a USB stick, they're never using ports either.

This is one area where many budget laptops are actually more generous, often offering both USB-C and USB-A, and sometimes even adding in an SD card reader and HDMI port. So if those ports are essential to you, and you are firmly opposed to living the dongle life, the Neo may come up short.

Another mildly annoying choice Apple made is that only one of the USB-C ports supports fast 10 Gb/s transfer speeds, while the other crawls along at USB 2.0 speeds, topping out at 480 Mb/s. Those kinds of speeds reawaken a very specific, long-buried trauma: frantically trying to load a new playlist onto an iPod right before running out the door to catch the bus to school.

It is annoying that Apple did this. It feels unnecessarily miserly, and I suspect it is at least partly a limitation of the A18 Pro chip. In practice, though, I doubt most people will be burdened by it. At most, it may mean slower data transfers from time to time, and that some people will forget which of the two ports is the faster one or which supports an external display (i.e., the back one)

That said, the NEO also only support a single 4K display for external output. With the exception of one person I know who uses a dual display setup for work-related reasons, all of my friends and family are using the laptops either without a single display or with a sub-4k monitor as well. If you are a multi-monitor person, you’ll need to upgrade to an Air or Pro if you hope to power multiple displays.

Battery Life

Apple advertises that the MacBook Neo gets up to 16 hours of video streaming or 11 hours of wireless web browsing. As such, it currently has the worst battery life of any of Apple's laptops:

• MacBook Neo: up to 16 hours video streaming, 11 hours wireless web. 

• 13-inch MacBook Air (M5): up to 18 hours video streaming, 15 hours wireless web. 

• 15-inch MacBook Air (M5): up to 18 hours video streaming, 15 hours wireless web. 

• 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5): up to 24 hours video streaming, 16 hours wireless web. 

• 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Pro): up to 22 hours video streaming, 14 hours wireless web. 

• 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Max): up to 20 hours video streaming, 13 hours wireless web. 

• 16-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Pro): up to 24 hours video streaming, 17 hours wireless web. 

• 16-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Max): up to 22 hours video streaming, 16 hours wireless web. 

It is not bad battery life, but it is noticeably worse in day-to-day use if you have spent time with the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro in recent years. For most people, it will still last a full day without needing a charge, but if you are using more performance-intensive applications or keep the display cranked to maximum brightness, the shorter battery life becomes more apparent. There is also no fast charging on the MacBook Neo. It tops out at around 24W, so when it does come time to recharge, it takes noticeably longer than some of Apple’s other laptops, reaching roughly 30% in 30 minutes compared with about 50% on the Air and Pro in the same span. Keep in mind that Apple ships the Neo with a 20W power adapter, so you’ll need to upgrade if you want the fastest possible charging. With the included brick, the laptop charges at roughly 15% every 30 minutes (source).

In my day-to-day use, which mostly consists of web browsing and writing, with some social media, image editing, email, calendar use, and music listening mixed in, the MacBook Neo can last me nearly two days without much trouble. The moment I start to stress the machine by running a lot of apps at once or leaning into more performance-heavy tasks or games, though, battery life drops quickly into the four-to-five-hour range. But for the basic types of things I demand of this device, the battery life is serviceable. I am rarely doing those heavier tasks far from a charger, but if you game more, edit more, prefer to keep the brightness cranked all the way up, or simply need a laptop that can reliably go long stretches without being plugged in, this is one area where the Neo may fall short.

8GB Ram

This might be the most controversial aspect of the MacBook Neo. Despite Apple insisting that “8GB on an M3 MacBook Pro is probably analogous to 16GB on other systems,” I still think it is a disappointingly low amount of memory for the kind of person likely to buy this device and keep it for the better part of half a decade, if not longer.

Apple is doing something to mask this limitation: it leans on swap memory. Think of regular memory as the money in your bank account, and swap memory as a line of credit. Once the money in your account is used up, you can begin borrowing beyond what you actually have. In this case, the Mac borrows that extra “memory” by using the SSD as pseudo-memory. It is essentially a safety net, but Apple relies on swap to help keep the device feeling usable in day-to-day operation. The tradeoff, of course, is that swap is slower than real memory, and can add undo SSD wear to your device over time.

Practically speaking, 8GB is enough for most people, and Apple does have technologies working in the background to help offset some of the headaches that come with running low on memory. Again, I think about how I used my laptop in college, and how my friends and family tend to use their budget laptops now: mostly basic apps, often doing one thing at a time. In those kinds of scenarios, 8GB is enough.

It also would not make much sense for Apple to put 16GB of RAM (not that I believe the A18 Pro even supports it) into a budget laptop when it knows that the vast majority of people shopping at this price point, and for this kind of product, can still have a perfectly satisfying experience with 8GB.

It still bugs me though...

A18 Pro

This is only the second Mac to run an A-series chip, if you count the A12Z used in the Developer Transition Kit during Apple’s move to Apple silicon back in 2020. Even so, it still kind of breaks my brain that a chip designed for last year’s iPhone is now powering a Mac. There is just something about that idea that feels mentally discordant.

I think part of that comes from a long-held assumption I had: that while an M-series chip could handle iOS with ease, an A-series chip would not be capable of doing the reverse and running macOS. I am not a heavy video, audio, or gaming user, so I am really talking about the everyday world of communication, productivity, and basic image editing. In that context, the A18 Pro has absolutely risen to the challenge, and other reviewers have show it capable enough for some gaming and 4K video editing. And moment I walk into an electronics store and start opening apps on similarly priced Windows machines, it becomes obvious that much Apple prioritizes speed, smoothness, and reliability of the OS, and how well the A18 Pro delivers on those qualities in a way much of the Windows ecosystem still does not.

That is not to say the A18 Pro is perfect. Apps and files can take longer to open, browser tabs will refresh more often, and rendering jobs will definitely take more time, but those differences are most noticeable only if you are coming from a higher-end Mac laptop. A month into using the Neo, much of that perceived slowdown has faded into the background and only really becomes obvious when I go back to one of Apple’s more powerful machines. That is partly because many everyday tasks lean heavily on single-core performance, and the A18 Pro is surprisingly strong there. Its Geekbench 6 single-core score of 3566 puts it in the same range as Apple’s M4 products, including the iMac, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro, which sit around 3684, and even ahead of the M3 Ultra in single-core performance at 3212. It's really once you begin taxing multiple cores (more apps, more intensive workflows) that you'll hit the performance ceiling of the A18 Pro sooner.

Storage

I will primarily focus on the $599 MacBook Neo, which comes with a 256GB SSD. You can upgrade to a 512GB model, which also adds Touch ID, but it brings the price up to $699.

Personally, 256GB is not enough for me. It means most of my data, from documents to photos to music, has to live permanently in the cloud. That has not been ideal, and it has forced me to rely on fast Wi-Fi to constantly download, upload, and sync data on the Neo. If you have a lot of files, you may find this dependence on cloud services or external storage annoying.

But again, I know plenty of people who do not have large photo libraries, do not keep music or movies stored locally, and mainly use their devices to write documents, stream video, or browse the web. For that kind of user, 256GB is ample.

Sound

Despite my opinion that the side-firing speakers, those little 1-inch slits on either side of the Neo, look ridiculous, they pump out some pretty pretty audio. They support Dolby Atmos and their positioning helps give playback a wider, more spatial soundstage. They exceeded my expectations for what laptop speakers should deliver, and while they’re not as punchy as the speakers on the MacBook Pro, I do not think anyone was realistically expecting them to be.

Display

Pay mind that this is Apple’s smallest laptop display, so if you are used to something larger, it may feel a bit cramped. It is still a Retina display, so everything looks sharp and crisp, but Apple has clearly made a few compromises by omitting some display features. That said, I would argue most people either will not notice them or will not care.

For starters, the panel is not IPS, so off-axis viewing angles are not quite as strong. They are not bad by any means, just not as impressive as on Apple’s Air & Pro lineup. It is also not a P3 display, so if your work depends on seeing every last shade for something like colour grading, you may be in the tiny fraction of people for whom that actually matters. In everyday use, though, the display still looks vibrant, the colours are rich, and the backlight gets plenty bright. Honestly, if nobody had told me it was not a P3 display, I do not think I would have noticed.

And finally, there is no True Tone, so the display will not automatically shift warmer/cooler based on the ambient lighting around you. You can still manually warm things up with Night Shift, but it is another one of those features that, for most people, probably will not be a dealbreaker.

MacBook Neo Report Card

I’ve rambled long enough and here are my final report card of the 2026 MacBook Neo:

Value

This is Apple’s most affordable laptop to date, so any criticism has to be weighed against the value it delivers. At $599, you’re getting a laptop with best-in-class build quality, strong performance, acceptable battery life, and, most importantly, a smart set of compromises that make it the best-specced laptop for most people.

Neo is “new, exciting, original”

One of the cleverest things about the Neo’s release has been Apple’s marketing. This is not being positioned as Apple’s entry-level laptop, but as its most fun one. You can see that in everything from the TikTok campaign, to Lil Finder Guy, to the colour choices. All of this reflects a very deliberate effort to make the product feel hip to their target audience.

That matters, because when parents are buying a laptop for their kid, or when someone is buying their first laptop, the cheapest option is often the one they end up with not because they want to, but because they have to. That is not exactly an inspiring sales pitch.

Apple has cleverly changed that equation. Instead of feeling like the compromise option, the Neo is being framed as the fun, exciting option, which also happens to be the model a younger buyer is most likely to want and most likely to be able to afford.

Use

Like I’ve mentioned earlier, I’ve been using the MacBook Neo as my day-to-day machine for over a month now. I’ve used it to design projects in Pixelmator Pro, listen to music, watch content online, host Zoom meetings, respond to emails, and even write this entry. Apple’s A18 Pro has handled everything I’ve thrown at it, though admittedly I am a fairly light-to-moderate user.

The more your workload depends on larger, more memory-intensive apps running for sustained stretches, or if you juggle dozens of apps and have utilities running in the background, the more the compromises of a product like the Neo start to show. It can still do those tasks, and yes, it is capable of running apps like Final Cut Pro and Logic, but you are going to hit its quality-of-life ceiling much faster here. Things will slow down sooner, the battery will drain faster, tabs will refresh more often, and the beach ball will come to haunt you.

Using this product for the past month has also highlighted to me that I buy vastly over-performant machines for what I actually need. For the vast majority of people in the Mac community, or for those coming to the Mac for the first time and simply looking for a device to manage their day-to-day lives, this computer will be perfectly suitable for them.

In its current form, I think the Neo should remain a solid product for the next three to four years. Beyond that, though, I suspect the increasing demands of new operating system features, the wear on the SSD, and the overall pace of technological change will cause it to age a bit faster than something like the Air or Pro. It may still feel usable to the people who own it, but I can also see it becoming the kind of machine that is a bit more of a pain in the ass to use over time.

In Sum

Reflecting on the MacBook Neo, I’m reminded that we all have categories where we’re willing to spend more and categories where we naturally look for something more affordable. When it comes to computers, I’m usually happy to put more money toward better specs and a more capable machine. But with something like some household items, I’m likely to choose something reasonably generic & cheaper over any higher-end name brand options.

I think most people have those kinds of priorities, and that’s what makes the MacBook Neo such a compelling entry point into the Mac. It feels tailor-made for people who want a Mac, but who are either not in a position, or simply not interested, in paying premium prices products in Apple’s ecosystem.

And I think Apple’s real strength with the Neo is that it made the right compromises. The end result is a laptop that, in day-to-day use, functions on par with Apple’s higher-end machines. Most people buying the Neo will pay less, but they will not feel like they bought something lesser, and that, to me, is what makes the Neo Apple’s most important product of 2026.

Every April 21, I take a day to look back at everything that’s happened over the last year. Running a site that’s now entering its 7th year has personally been a tremendous accomplishment for me (I thought blogging was supposed to be easy), and I am honoured to have so many people reach out to share their appreciation for the site, the content, and offer their support for the work I do.

I don’t have the words to properly express the impact your kindness has on me, but I’m always blown away by how people take the time to reach out, share their appreciation for the site and the work I do. In a world where there is just so much content and seemingly less and less time, getting to be a small, hopefully worthwhile part of what people choose to spend their attention on is something I’ve never taken lightly.

Since last years recap I’ve continued to work to develop the site on numerous fronts. I continue to sell and update the Silicon Inside stickers (I just released the A18 Pro, M5 Pro & M5 Max ones last month), and have added a couple of Lil Fin stickers to my merch shop recently that I hope people find and enjoy.

In May of last year, I wrote about changing my approach to supporting the site in a post titled The WinRAR Approach. Because I never want cost to be a barrier to accessing my content or wallpapers, I shifted to an optional donation model for wallpaper downloads. It’s a goodwill-based approach that I hope feels fair, and one that people seem to have genuinely appreciated.

I keep working as hard as I can to put out new wallpapers, though I’ll be the first to admit the pace is slower than I’d like. Between my other commitments and periods of psychological burnout, finding the time and energy for creative work can be a real challenge. That became even harder during parts of last year, when the facility I work at was significantly understaffed and operational demands often seemed to outweigh attention to staff well-being. All that to say it’s tough to come home from that type of environment and sink into the same flow states I found so much easier to find during the first couple years of the blog.

That said, I’m still really proud of a lot of what I put out over the past year, including sets like Skyline I, Skyline II, the Gradients of September, Fluted Gradients of February, my iPhone 17 Pro Internals, and my latest collection, Sound.wav. There are still plenty of wallpapers sitting on the back burner that I want to make, internals for the iPhone Air being one example, but the amount of time those projects take continues to be difficult to carve out.

But wallpapers are not what this site was built on. I started this site writing about Apple products and Apple history, and I still find myself drawn back to those roots again and again. Posts like my AirPods Pro 3 issues piece, my Ode to the EarPods, and my favourite app roundups from July 2025 and January 2026 remain some of my personal favourites from the last year.

I’ve also really enjoyed spending time on some deeper dives, including my post from earlier this year on Apple’s Lunar New Year iconography, which is still the most comprehensive piece on the topic that I’ve been able to find, along with my ongoing archive posts documenting the history of Apple’s macOS and iOS icons (though I admit I need to update both of those promptly).

And finally, I took some strides to modernize the site a bit, adding a bit of custom CSS to improve the overall aesthetic and adding a often requested dark-mode version of the site.

So that’s what’s been going on BAG-side. Once more, I’m honoured to have you on board and I hope you continue to find value in the work I produce.

One More Thing…

When I first launched my website and social media account, I briefly used a different logo before updating it a few weeks later. To mark the anniversary, I thought it would be fun to release a special limited run of original-logo BasicAppleGuy stickers. You can pick one up, along with any of my other merch, by clicking the image below or visiting the Mercantile. Enjoy!

Introducing Sound.wav, my latest wallpaper collection for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

I’ve been wanting to create a series of wallpapers inspired by retro tones and patterns, and Sound.wav is the first release in that new direction.

Buy the Collection - $4.99 CAD

A new collection of retro-inspired wallpapers. The collection includes eight sets to choose from (Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Sky Blue, Silver, and Yellow), with each pattern available in both light and dark colour-matched variations. The collection includes wallpapers for the Mac (6016×3900), iPad (2732×2732), and iPhone (1320×2868).

Dynamic .heic wallpapers are also available that change when switching Light to Dark mode on the Mac.

Thank you for your support.

A new collection of retro-inspired wallpapers. The collection includes eight sets to choose from: Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Sky Blue, Silver, and Yellow), with each pattern available in both light and dark colour-matched variations.

Dynamic .heic wallpapers are also available that change when switching Light to Dark mode on the Mac.

Read more about my approach to making wallpapers available for purchase over at The WinRAR Approach.

You can also support the me/the site through tips. Every bit is truly appreciated!

PURCHASE DETAILS

Once purchased, a download link will be emailed to you to download the .zip file (21.4 MB) containing all 16 versions for Mac (6016 × 3900), iPad (2732 × 2732), 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.

The collection includes eight sets to choose from, with each pattern available in both light and dark color-matched variations. That also allowed me to create dynamic Mac wallpapers that automatically shift when you switch between Light and Dark Mode.

This first wave, pun not intended, features colours inspired by the iMac, including Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Silver, and Yellow. All of these wallpapers are available in sizes that perfectly fit your Mac iPad and iPhone. Enjoy!

Download

Blue

Light: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Dark: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Mac Dynamic Wallpaper

Green

Light: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Dark: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Mac Dynamic Wallpaper

Orange

Light: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Dark: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Mac Dynamic Wallpaper

Purple

Light: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Dark: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Mac Dynamic Wallpaper

Red

Light: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Dark: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Mac Dynamic Wallpaper

Silver

Light: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Dark: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Mac Dynamic Wallpaper

Yellow

Light: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Dark: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Mac Dynamic Wallpaper

Sky Blue

Light: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Dark: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Mac Dynamic Wallpaper

SUPPORT

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.

Apple turned 50 on April 01, 2026. Founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, it has grown from a scrappy, outmatched upstart into one of the most valuable and recognizable brands in the world.

But that was not always a given. Apple nearly went bankrupt in the late ’90s, and had it not been for a $150 million investment from, of all companies, Microsoft, the Apple we know today might never have existed.

Wherever your journey with Apple products began, whether with the Apple I in 1976, the Macintosh in 1984, the iPod in the 2000s, or the first time you picked up an iPhone, few would argue that there has always been something captivating about using Apple’s technology. And so, on the occasion of Apple’s 50th anniversary, it felt like as good a time as any to reminisce and reflect on my own journey with Apple, and the many ways it has shaped my life along the way.

My journey with Apple began with a Blue Dalmatian iMac G3 in my junior high shop class. Whether my teacher saw me as a hopeless case destined never to master the tools in that room, or simply noticed how completely I had fallen for that Mac, I will never know. What I do know is that I spent hours in front of it, filming little projects, tinkering with audio, and making things for the joy of making them. Long before I understood why, it was the first time I experienced the ability to create on a computer rather than be told to use one.

That early infatuation eventually turned into my first Apple purchase: the third-generation iPod I bought at the start of high school. With a 90-minute bus ride to and from school each day, I spent countless hours slumped against the window, half-asleep, listening to whatever angsty teenage music felt like it understood my life best. I still remember the flutter in my chest when I got to share an earbud with my crush and the times we spent at lunch listening to music together. And I remember spending far too many hours in iTunes building playlists, all legally obtained, of course, for studying, for sleeping, for trying to woo said crush, and inevitably for crying when our three-week relationship came to an end.

As much as the iPod became part of my daily life, it also dragged me further into Apple’s ecosystem, and eventually led to my first Mac, the 12-inch PowerBook G4. I have owned an “I’d rather not say” amount of Macs since then, but the 12-inch G4 remains one of my favourite and most memorable computers to this day. At the time, it felt unlike almost anything else on the market. It ran a beautiful operating system, looked stunning, and somehow managed to feel both impossibly compact and remarkably capable.

Most importantly, it scratched that creative itch I always had. On the Mac, I effortlessly burned hundreds of mix CDs for my iPod-less friends, edited photos in iPhoto, spent way too many hours using CandyBar to customize my system icons, journaled, and designed in Photoshop. The PowerBook was always at the ready to help me take the ideas bouncing around in my head and turn them into something real.

Throughout university, the Mac and iPod remained a formidable duo as I slogged through course after course over half a decade to earn my degree. At the time, I was using a 15-inch MacBook Pro alongside a first-generation iPod nano. Together, they carried me through every paper and presentation. The Mac was where the work got done, while the iPod played the soundtrack that helped me stay awake during all-nighters, get fired up before exams, and enjoy the guilty pleasure of occasionally listening back to some of those angsty songs from my teenage years.

Perhaps the most significant change the iPhone brought to my life when the iPhone 3G arrived in Canada in 2008 was giving me a convenient way to capture memories. By today’s standards, early iPhone photos were nothing special. The original iPhone camera was, to put it kindly, pretty rough. But that was never really the point. Their value to me was not in how sharp they were or how impressive they looked. It was in what they captured. The iPhone made it easy to start preserving the smaller moments too: my study setup, little moments that caught my attention, and the ordinary details of my life that would otherwise have slipped away.

But beyond any single product, one of the things I came to appreciate most about Apple over the years was the creative world that seemed to exist around its platforms. The apps made for the Mac were not only useful, they were beautiful too. There was a quiet care to the experience, a level of craftsmanship that seemed to extend into nearly every detail. And I think that rubs off on a person. Because when you are surrounded by beautiful, elegant, thoughtful designs, I like to think you get inspired and start to think about the things you create a little differently too.

In a lot of ways, all of that had been building toward something. The COVID pandemic was perhaps the first time that I truly had a truly unlimited space to create in. In the years leading up to it, life always felt like it was moving week to week. I was focused on getting my licensing hours, managing clients at the clinic, preparing to get married, moving, and handling all the usual adult responsibilities that gradually fill every spare corner of life. But when COVID hit, so much of that momentum suddenly stopped. Locked inside for months on end, I found myself with a once-in-a-lifetime abundance of time, and out of that quiet stretch came BasicAppleGuy.

I finally had the time and focus to bring together my love of writing, my passion for design, and my admiration for all things Apple into a persona, a social media presence, and a website that is now entering its seventh year. It has been a privilege to carve out a space where the three things I care most about can work in harmony together. Maybe that is part of why this all sounds so affectionate in retrospect.

Now, I know this reads like I’m a big homer for Apple. Fair enough. I would fail trying to defend it. They are, after all, a company that had an S-tier charismatic CEO, an incredible design team, and a best-in-class marketing machine, all working together to build one of the most compelling brands in the world and, apparently, turn me into a sucker for their products. And yet, even with all of that being true, some of the most meaningful moments of the past couple of decades have still happened with those products by my side.

At the end of the day, it was never really just about the devices themselves. It was about what they made possible. The things I got to create, the moments I was able to capture, and the parts of myself I slowly came to understand along the way. If Apple’s first fifty years were spent building hardware and software, then my own story has always been about what I was able to build with them.

It would be an understatement to say that, over the past several weeks, I’ve become a little obsessed with Lil Finder Guy. The tiny mascot launched onto the scene out of nowhere when Apple introduced the MacBook Neo in March, and Apple has since started to embrace its popularity, releasing ad after ad on TikTok featuring the adorable little character.

Since Lil Finder Guy first debuted, pockets of social media have taken to bringing the creature to life, including my own effort with Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels to create a 3D-printable model so anyone can make their own little Finder Guy.

Given that today is April Fools’ Day, I figured I’d lean into the moment Lil Finder Guy seems to be having and create a mock product page imagining Apple had started selling blind boxes featuring randomly assorted Lil Finder Guy figures.

For those unfamiliar, blind boxes are sealed collectible packages where you do not know which specific figure or item is inside until you open them. They became hugely popular across East Asia, including in countries like Japan, which I visited over the winter, although their popularity is broadening to other markets as well. Each blind box looks identical on the outside, but inside is one figure from a larger series, with some variants produced in rarer quantities than others.

Sadly, no such product exists (yet... right Apple?!?). It was all a little April Fools' Day joke. But as a small consolation, there are some real Lil Fin stickers available for purchase…

Lil Fin StickerS

Introducing Lil Fin stickers, an adorable little mascot ready to brighten just about anywhere you choose to place it. Each sticker is made from thick, durable, die-cut vinyl that is dishwasher safe. Lil Fin stickers are available in four versions:

Flat Lil Fin:

Small: 1.16″ × 1.5″

Regular: 1.72″ × 2.25″

3D Lil Fin:

Small: 1.29″ × 1.75″

Regular: 1.65″ × 2.25″

As an Apple has been apt to do for the past several years, anytime it releases a new product, it tends to feature a wallpaper on that device that has the product name or the product suffix hidden within the design.

In Apple’s current lineup, the iPad Air, iPhone Air, and MacBook Air all have wallpapers that spell “AIR.” The iPad Pro, iPhone 17 Pro, and MacBook Pro all say “PRO.” The iPad mini features a cursive “mini,” the Studio Display uses cylindrical text to spell out “STUDIO,” and the current iMac has color-matched “iMac” wallpapers, though it previously used wallpapers built around different snippets of the word “hello.”

Apple clearly loves doing this, and with the introduction of the new MacBook Neo, it has once again released colour-matched wallpapers that subtly hide the word “MAC.” But I didn't care for the colours, and I wanted something that felt a bit more muted. So what I did was take the wallpapers, bring them into Pixelmator Pro, and experiment with the full range of sliders to create a set of 14 “MAC” wallpapers, inspired by the colours Apple uses across the seven iMac finishes. They don’t carry over the duotone gradients of the originals, but I think they have a charm of their own.

They're available in a light mode and a dark mode version. And I've also created some dynamic files (hosted on Google Drive due to file size) that should change as you switch from light to dark mode. Enjoy!

Downloads

Green: Light | Dark | Dynamic

Yellow: Light | Dark | Dynamic

Orange: Light | Dark | Dynamic

Pink: Light | Dark | Dynamic

Purple: Light | Dark | Dynamic

Blue: Light | Dark | Dynamic

Grey: Light | Dark | Dynamic

On Thursday, March 26, 2026, Apple officially brought the Mac Pro era to a close. It marks the end of a product line that was often fumbled throughout its existence and struggled to find firm footing within Apple’s ecosystem. In the end, the Mac Pro belonged to a different era, one that existed before Apple silicon reshaped the Mac lineup.

In information provided to 9to5Mac on March 26, Apple shared that “the Mac Pro is being discontinued...” and that Apple has “has no plans to offer future Mac Pro hardware.”

But the writing had been on the wall for a very, very long time. At first I was optimistic when Apple announced the redesigned Mac Pro in 2019. It replaced the infamous 2013 “trash can” Mac Pro and, at the time, felt like an attempt to atone for the sins of the previous generation. This new Mac delivered massive expandability, powerful server-grade processors, and a thermal architecture built to handle the most demanding workloads. But less than a year later, Apple introduced Apple silicon, which overnight delivered the kind of performance and architectural structure that rendered that level of cooling unnecessary and expandability largely irrelevant.

Since then, the Mac Pro has struggled to justify its existence. It remained Apple’s most expensive Mac, yet as Apple silicon advanced, other Macs in the lineup began outcompeting the Mac Pro’s x86 Intel architecture. With the introduction of the Mac Studio in 2022, Apple demonstrated it could exceed that level of performance in a package a fraction of the size (1/14th) and weight (1/6th) of the Mac Pro.

There may have been a brief glimmer of hope for the Mac Pro in 2023, when Apple transitioned it to Apple silicon with the M2 Max and M2 Ultra. But the move ultimately stripped away one of its defining advantages: upgradable graphics. At the same time, its expansive cooling system became vastly over engineered for what the machine actually demanded. And when the M4 Pro Mac mini launched in late 2024, outperforming the Mac Pro by 39 percent in single-core and 6 percent in multi-core performance while costing one-fifth as much and being 1/60th the size, its fate was sealed.

So, on an otherwise unremarkable Thursday afternoon, Apple quietly scrubbed all mention of the Mac Pro from its website, bringing a confusing and somewhat melancholy chapter for the product to a close.

Although I’m not surprised at all, the loss of the Mac Pro is still bittersweet. In my view, the Mac Pro has always been home to some of Apple’s most beautiful industrial design. It was the place where Apple could flex both its design ambition and raw power without restraint. But the form-over-function misstep of the 2013 trash can Mac Pro, followed by a poorly timed transition to Apple Silicon, ultimately crippled the Mac Pro’s appeal in what was already an exceptionally niche market. Like I wrote back in 2022:

“In the past decade, Apple has been guilty of both not doing enough to replace an aging computer and, second, of outclassing its top-of-the-line hardware at a fraction of the cost only a few years after the 3rd generation Mac Pro was announced. From one extreme to the other, it's been hard to trust what was going on with the Mac Pro.”

It’s history is flawed, but I look back fondly at the machine and sometimes I like to kid myself into thinking I was ever someone who truly needed something like a Mac Pro. And I never missed a chance, when visiting a larger city (my tiny mall Apple Store never carrier the Mac Pro), to admire and tinker with the one on display. Even at its most impractical, there was always something undeniably special about it.

On Wednesday, April 1, 2026, Apple turns 50. The company that began in an unassuming garage in Palo Alto has grown into one of the largest, most valuable, and most recognizable icons in history.

And on March 12, 2026, Tim Cook published this letter on the website about Apple’s upcoming anniversary:

Fifty years ago in a small garage, a big idea was born. Apple was founded on the simple notion that technology should be personal, and that belief — radical at the time — changed everything.

April 1st marks 50 years of Apple. From the first Apple computer to the Mac, from iPod to iPhone, iPad to Apple Watch and AirPods, as well as the services we use every day — the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV — we’ve spent five decades rethinking what’s possible and putting powerful tools into people’s hands. Through every breakthrough, one idea has guided us — that the world is moved forward by people who think different.

That’s because progress always begins with someone — an inventor or scientist, a student or storyteller — who imagines a better way, a new idea, a different path. That spirit has guided Apple from the start. But it has never belonged to us alone.

Every invention we bring into the world is just the beginning of a story. The most meaningful chapters are written by all of you — the people who use our technology to work, learn, dream, and discover. You’ve made breakthroughs and launched businesses. You’ve cheered up loved ones in the hospital and captured your toddler’s first steps. You’ve run marathons, written books, and rekindled friendships. You’ve chased your curiosity, found your new favorite song, and shared stories that connect us all.

In your hands, the tools we make have improved lives, and sometimes even saved them. And that is what inspires us — not what technology can do alone, but everything you can do with it.

At Apple, we’re more focused on building tomorrow than remembering yesterday. But we couldn’t let this milestone pass without thanking the millions of people who make Apple what it is today — our incredible teams around the world, our developer community, and every customer who has joined us on this journey. Your ideas inspire our work. Your trust drives us to do better. Your stories remind us of all we can accomplish when we think different.

If you’ve taught us anything, it’s that the people crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

So here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

Here’s to you.

Apple’s newsroom release also states that “In the coming weeks, Apple and its global community will celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary, recognizing the creativity, innovation, and impact that people around the world have made possible with Apple technology.” What exactly that means remains to be seen, but it seems we may be in for a couple of weeks of reminiscing about Apple and the community that has grown around it over the decades.

But Tim’s post and the newsroom article also featured this crayon-like sketch of a six-colour Apple logo, and I figured I might as well try turning it into a wallpaper for everyone’s devices. You can download it for your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, available on both a white (technically #F5F5F7) and black background. Enjoy!

Download

Black: iPad | Mac | iPhone

White: iPad | Mac | iPhone

Little is known about Lil Finder Guy, which is not its official name (I think), that first appeared the same day Apple debuted the MacBook Neo. It has appeared in the corner of one TikTok post by Apple (oh yeah, Apple started posting on TikTok and it’s unhinged) and in screenshot apparently captured during a “Matcha Break with MacBook Neo” livestream on TikTok on Wednesday afternoon, but I haven’t been able to track down any other shots of the stream itself.

All I know about Lil Finder Guy is that it’s freakin’ adorable, assuming it means me no harm. And instead of doing literally anything productive or tending to my adult responsibilities like bills, taxes, or work, I have spent my weekend tumbling down the rabbit hole trying to build a life for this mysterious little creature despite knowing next to nothing about it.

Google Gemini (aka the next Siri) has been helpful in modelling out the rest of its body from the single TikTok post. From there, I started generating what Lil Finder Guy might look like working, angry, running, jumping, laughing, and more. Of course, this is all abstraction stacked on abstraction at this point. I do not know if Lil’ Finder Guy can laugh, what it finds funny, or whether its short, knee-less legs are even capable of jumping.

But it went further, again I’m really avoiding a lot of adult responsibilities and putting all my hope and dreams into this Lil Finder, because I even found a way to generate a 3D model of Lil’ Finder Guy.

Where I and the rest of the internet take this from here remains to be seen. All I know is that Apple should definitely keep this Lil Finder around.

But no, I do not think this is the last we’ve seen of Lil Finder Guy…

Update: 2026.03.30 2026.04.02

It looks like Apple has been updating their TikTok page with a trio 12 videos highlighting features of macOS, including dictation, Stacks, and ring light feature. But perhaps most importantly, is that all three 12 of these videos feature appearances of the Lil' Finder Guy. Here are a few cropped stills from each of the videos, which can be seen on Apple's TikTok account. Please try to enjoy each Finder equally, and not show preference for any over the others.

People have also taken to finding ways of creating their own 3D models of Lil’ Finder Guy. In fact, I worked with Stephen Hackett of 512Pixels and he published the guide and the model to use if you want to print your own. It's clear, at least in some pockets of the internet, that this little Finder is a really big deal.

There are also some wallpapers created by James Thomson featuring Lil’ Finder as well.

From February 5-27, I will be participating in the Push-Up Challenge to help support mental health in Canada. 2,000 people lose their life to suicide worldwide, and this fundraiser is to help raise funds for the Canadian Mental Health Association in supporting people experiencing mental health struggles across Canada.

Last year was my first time doing the challenge, and I did 3,522 pushups across the 23-day challenge (~153/day) and together the people who contributed to my page raised $672 for mental health initiatives.

This year I am setting myself the even more ambitious goal of trying to raise $941 dollars for mental health and will try to not only hit the 2,000 pushups for the fundraiser, but personally attempt to double it and complete 4,000 push-ups across the 23-day challenge this year.

I work in mental health and witness firsthand the depth of suffering experienced by individuals with suicidal thoughts, as well as the profound and enduring grief carried by those who have lost a loved one to suicide. Because of this, it is a cause I am proud to support and champion each year.

If you are able to donate & want to support the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), you can do so by clicking on the link below that ties directly to my push-up challenge page:

You can also always donate to agencies in your local area or provide your time for mental health initiatives. Most importantly, make sure you take care of your mental health and check in with those closest to you who might be struggling: listen to them, take them seriously, ask directly about suicide, and help them access support or emergency help. In whatever way you can support yourself and those around you, thank you.

Progress Tracker

February 05 - Target: 63 | Achieved: 311 | Total: 311/4000

February 06 - Target: 75 | Achieved: 200 | Total: 511/4000

February 07 - Target: 100 | Achieved: 150 | Total: 661/4000

February 08 - Target: 0 | Achieved: 0 | Total: 661/4000

February 09 - Target: 87 | Achieved: 200 | Total: 861/4000

February 10 - Target: 50 | Achieved: 100 | Total: 961/4000

February 11 - Target: 46 | Achieved: 100 | Total: 1,061/4000

February 12 - Target: 140 | Achieved: 140 | Total: 1,201/4000

February 13 - Target: 89 | Achieved: 100 | Total: 1,301/4000

February 14 - Target: 120 | Achieved: 120 | Total: 1,421/4000

February 15 - Target: 0 | Achieved: 0 | Total: 1,421/4000

February 16 - Target: 75 | Achieved: 100 | Total: 1,521/4000

February 17 - Target: 64 | Achieved: 100 | Total: 1,621/4000

February 18 - Target: 143 | Achieved: 143 | Total: 1,664/4000

February 19 - Target: 70 | Achieved: 0 (travelling all day)

February 20 - Target: 85 | Achieved: 202 | Total: 1,864/4000

February 21 - Target: 170 | Achieved: 170 | Total: 2,034/4000

February 22 - Target: 0 | Achieved: 0 | Total: 2,034/4000

February 23 - Target: 53 | Achieved: 215 | Total: 2,249/4000

February 24 - Target: 160 | Achieved: 60 | Total: 2,309/4000

February 25 - Target: 60 | Achieved: 0 | Total: 2,309/4000

February 26 - Target: 200 | Achieved: 0 | Total: 2,309/4000

February 27 - Target: 150 | Achieved: 0 | Total: 2,309/4000

Note: The Push-Up Challenge website limits the number of push-ups you can log daily, as shown in the Target above. The Achieved number represents the total push-ups I completed each day.

Final Note

I’m really disappointed that I fell so far short of my 4,000 push-up goal, even though I surpassed the challenge’s 2,000 push-up target. I committed to a number and underestimated how exhausting and difficult this would be while travelling for most of the challenge.

Toward the end, I also got hit with intense jet lag that took me out for 2 to 3 days, along with a heavy stretch of work and family stress. Not an excuse, just an explanation.

I’m sorry for missing the mark, but I’m genuinely grateful to everyone who donated. You helped raise an incredible $346 for mental health. You have made a real difference, and even though you’ll never meet the person your support helps, their life will hopefully be better because you showed up for this.

Suicide Crisis Helplines

If you, or anyone you know, is experiencing suicidal thoughts and want support, here is a list of international agencies to call for support:

🇨🇦 9-8-8 (phone or text)

🇺🇸 9-8-8

🇦🇺 Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14

🇬🇧 Samaritans: 116 123

🌍 Other

Last February I released Fluted Gradient, a collection of eight gradient wallpapers with a vertical fluted design. And the people spoke. It went on to become the most popular wallpaper I released in 2025.

So yes, like Vanilla Ice, I am absolutely riding that one trick pony straight into the ground with the February 2026 Edition of Fluted Gradients.

Buy the Collection - $4.99

An entirely new collection of 14 fluted gradient wallpapers for iPad, Mac, and iPhone.

The collection of Fluted Gradient 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 $4.99.

The Fluted Gradients: February 2026 collection includes 14 wallpapers 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.

PURCHASE DETAILS

Once purchased, a download link will be emailed to you to download the .zip file (126 MB) containing all 14 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.

This is an entirely new collection of 14 gradient wallpapers for iPad, Mac, and iPhone and yes, even iPod touch, if a few of you are still bravely rocking those out there.

Full disclosure, I have other wallpaper projects on the go (yes, including my very delayed iPhone Air internals), but I'll be indisposed throughout most of February due to some travel, a heavy teaching workload, and a stupid busy work schedule. So rather than be radio silent for whole month, I wanted to drop a new Fluted Gradient wallpaper for you every couple of days to enjoy!

2026.02.01

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.03

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.05

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.07

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.09

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.11

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.13

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.15

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.17

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.19

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.21

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.23

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.25

iPad | Mac | iPhone

2026.02.27

iPad | Mac | iPhone

SUPPORT

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.

When Apple released iOS 11 in 2017, it included a collection of beautiful flower photographs set against complementary gradient backgrounds. Floral is inspired by that collection. It features five flower wallpapers placed on soft gradient backdrops, with each flower emphasizing movement, bokeh, and blur. Together, these qualities give the wallpapers a gentle, delicate feel that I found especially pleasing across my devices.

Each of the five wallpapers is available for the Mac, iPad, and iPhone below. For iPad & iOS users running OS26, make sure to enable the spatial scene effect for the wallpapers as it gives it a really nice dimensional effect on your homescreen. Enjoy!

Downloads

tulip

iPad | Mac | iPhone

Sunflower

iPad | Mac | iPhone

Rose

iPad | Mac | iPhone

Sakura

iPad | Mac | iPhone

Golden Tulip

iPad | Mac | iPhone

SUPPORT

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.

Process & Stance on AI

Midjourney was used in the creation of these wallpapers. First, attribution-free photographs were put into Midjourney as a reference. After generating a wide range of images and refining the prompts, I produced hundreds of variations. From that set, the top five were selected. These images were upscaled using Topaz Labs’ Gigapixel software, then further edited in Photoshop. This included adding the gradient background, introducing additional elements, making image adjustments, debanding, and other refinements. Finally, each of the five wallpapers was adjusted and resized for Mac, iPad, and iPhone displays.

I know the use of AI is a divisive topic, and for some people there’s nothing I can say that will change how they feel about it. I respect that. I take a softer approach, aiming to find value in the technology while using it sparingly and being fully transparent when I do. For that reason, I don’t feel it’s appropriate to list this as a purchasable collection in the same way I do with wallpapers created entirely from scratch. I continue to focus on releasing projects that are 100% AI-free, and in rare instances like this one, I was genuinely pleased with the final result and wanted to share something I created for myself with the broader community.

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!

Year of the Rat

Jan 25, 2020 – Feb 11, 2021

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.

Year of the Ox

Feb 11, 2021 - Jan 31, 2022

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.

Year of the Tiger

Feb 1, 2022 – Jan 21, 2023

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.

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.

Year of the Rabbit

Jan 22, 2023 - Feb 9, 2024

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

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.

Year of the Dragon

Feb 10, 2024 – Jan 28, 2025

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.

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.

Year of the Snake

Jan 29, 2025 – Feb 16, 2026

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.

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.

Year of the Horse

Feb 17, 2026 – Feb 5, 2027

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.

A special Apple Gift Card design was also created and included with qualifying purchases.

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.

Sources

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/

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.

BUY THE COLLECTION - $3.99

A collection of five minimalist hexagon gradient 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.

Purchase Details

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!

Downloads

Aurora

iPad | Mac | iPhone

Evenfall

iPad | Mac | iPhone

Forage

iPad | Mac | iPhone

Honeycomb

iPad | Mac | iPhone

Spring Light

iPad | Mac | iPhone

SUPPORT

I’m a one-person operation, working in healthcare by day & running this site as a passion project in my off time.

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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:

1. Be more intentional with my devices and spend less time mindlessly scrolling.

2. Start learning a new language and dust off some long-forgotten maths skills.

3. Keep journaling.

Opal

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.

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.

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.

Duolingo

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?).

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.

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.

Journal

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.

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.

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.

2025 By the Numbers

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:

  • Fluted Gradients

  • Mountains Beyond Mountains

  • Gradients of September

• The top three articles by number of views were:

  • The AirPods Pro 3 Flight Problem

  • Silicon Inside Stickers

  • The WinRAR Approach

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.

iPhone 17 Pro Internals Wallpapers

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.

Fluted Gradients

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 & II

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.

THANK YOU

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.

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.

2025 By the Numbers

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:

  • Fluted Gradients

  • Mountains Beyond Mountains

  • Gradients of September

• The top three articles by number of views were:

  • The AirPods Pro 3 Flight Problem

  • Silicon Inside Stickers

  • The WinRAR Approach

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.

The AirPods Pro 3 Flight Problem

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.

Apple Watch Turns 10

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.

Ode to the EarPods

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.

Thank You

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.

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.

Tier System Details

Ranking System Explained

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.

TIER SYSTEM EXPLAINED

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.

2025 Apple Product Tier List

S-Tier

iPhone 17

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.

A-Tier

Apple Dual Knit Band

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.

iPadOS 26

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.

iPhone 17 Pro & 17 Pro Max

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.

iPhone Air

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.

M4 Max Mac Studio

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.

B-Tier

Apple TechWoven Cases

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.

iPhone Crossbody Strap

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.

Apple Watch SE 3

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.

Apple Watch Ultra 3

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.

AirPods Pro 3

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.

MacBook Air (M4)

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.

visionOS 26

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.

C-Tier

iPad Pro (M5)

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.

iOS 26

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.

macOS Tahoe

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.

iPhone 16e

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.

iPhone Pocket

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.

D-Tier

Magic Keyboard for iPad Air

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.

Apple Vision Pro (M5)

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.

iPhone Air MagSafe Battery

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.

M3 Ultra Mac Studio

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.

iPad Air (M3)

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.

iPad (A16)

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.

MacBook Pro (M5)

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.

watchOS 26

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.

tvOS 26

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.

iPhone Air Bumper

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.

F-Tier

Apple Watch Series 11

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.

CarPlay Ultra

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.

This is the 4th year I have been releasing Mac & iPhone Ugly Christmas Sweater wallpapers, and it’s a wallpaper I both delight in and rue making, because when you are trying to colour, pattern, and organize nearly 65,000 layers, it gets very tedious and mind-numbing very fast. But I delight in the process because they’re just such fun wallpapers to look at and make a lovely wallpaper to rock for a few weeks during the holidays.

Buy the Collection - $3.99

The Ugly Christmas Sweater Wallpaper Collection is back for 2025, woven together with 63,158 tiny stitches for the Mac and 20,765 more for iPhone.

The collection of Ugly Christmas Sweater 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 Ugly Christmas Sweater Wallpapers includes eight wallpapers for the Mac & iPhone in the following colours: Frost Blue, Orange Hearth, Pine Green, & Soot in both the Basic & Six Colours editions.

Read more about my approach to making wallpapers available for purchase over at The WinRAR Approach

DETAILS

Once purchased, a download link will be emailed to you to download the .zip file (167.5MB) containing all eight versions for your Mac & iPhone.

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.

The updated Mac versions come in four gorgeous colours and two styles. One includes flecks of Apple’s classic six colours throughout, while the other keeps things basic with a cleaner palette of just three colours. This year, the Mac version includes the pixelated version of Apple’s “hello” message, which appeared on the Macintosh in 1984, while the iPhone version features the same Smiling Macintosh icon from 2024.

What is an Ugly Christmas Sweater?

One of the things I've learned while making these wallpapers is that the concept of an ugly Christmas sweater may be less widespread than I thought. Plenty of people have commented that the wallpapers don’t look ugly at all, which is very kind and also tells me the concept doesn’t always translate.

An Ugly Christmas Sweater is a deliberately over-the-top, kitschy holiday sweater that leans into exaggerated festive themes. People wear them for fun, humour, and nostalgia rather than fashion. They’re often visually loud, crammed with repeating icons or oversized graphics.

2025 Updates

This is very much a Snow Leopard release for the wallpapers, because while they look similar to last year's release, the entire backend process of making them has been updated. Five years ago, when I started these, I didn’t have the same skills in Sketch that I do now, and when it came to updating these wallpapers in 2023 and 2024, it became a massive undertaking. For example, I wasn't using colour profiles, which meant that if I wanted to change the colours of threads, I had to do it all manually, thread by thread. This year, all the colours are linked to a profile, so if I want to change a single colour, I can do so in a single click. This has allowed me to experiment with colours much more, which I think has resulted in my favourite palette of Ugly Christmas Sweater Wallpapers colours to date. Additionally, the threads were cleaned up, some patterns and contrasts were improved, and a few more tweaks were made to refresh this release for the holiday season.

Each wallpaper for the Mac and iPhone is available in four colours: Frost Blue, Pine Green, Hearth Orange, and a much-requested dark version which I’m calling Soot (I think I did pretty well on the Christmas naming). And there are two versions of each colour: a six-colour version with the accent colours, and a more basic version that sticks to a palette of three colours.

Finally, as this is my last wallpaper for 2025 (the iPhone Air Internals are coming, I promise), I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for their support over this past year. This blog would not exist without your continued support. I wish everyone a very happy holiday season and many blessings and good fortunes in the new year.

Downloads

Frost Blue

Mac: Basic | Six Colours

iPhone: Basic | Six Colours

Pine Green

Mac: Basic | Six Colours

iPhone: Basic | Six Colours

Hearth Orange

Mac: Basic | Six Colours

iPhone: Basic | Six Colours

Soot

Mac: Basic | Six Colours

iPhone: Basic | Six Colours

SUPPORT

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.

Previous Ugly Christmas Sweater Wallpaper Archive

2020 | 2023 (Mac) | 2023 (iPhone) | 2024 (Mac) | 2024 (iPhone)

When Apple announced the Liquid Glass updates coming to its OS 26 suite of applications, it also released a bespoke new application, Icon Composer, to developers to help give their icons that Liquid Glass Flair.

The app, free to download from Apple's website, is still very basic, but it has the bones to become a powerful application in the coming years. Apple has really pushed for a consistent app icon experience across its OS 26 releases, so releasing an app that helps developers design icons that fit the liquid glass aesthetic is a great move on Apple's part.

Apple describes Icon Composer as:

“Icon Composer lets you create layered icons out of Liquid Glass from a single design for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. With a new multi-layer icon format, you can easily adjust Liquid Glass properties, preview with dynamic lighting effects, and annotate across appearance modes. Icon Composer is designed to work seamlessly with Xcode, and also provides the option to export a flattened version of your icon for marketing and communication needs.”

The app is not a standalone tool that helps you through the entire design process, as it still requires you to use a separate application to create assets. In my case, I used Sketch to design the individual layers and imported those SVG files into the composer to assemble my icon. But once the layer is imported, it can be adjusted in several ways, including opacity, size, and blend mode. Additionally, you can also adjust how each layer of the icon appears in light, dark, and mono (aka clear) modes to ensure each variant looks picture-perfect. Finally, there's an array of solid/gradient backgrounds to toggle through to help you visualize exactly how your icon looks and adjust the contrast to make sure it really stands out - especially important for clear icons.

Liquid Glass Toggle

And if you were doubting whether you had the chops to create that Liquid Glass look, Apple has made it dead simple. It's literally a single toggle. This is easily my favourite part of Icon Composer, because with one switch, you can turn a flat layer into a dynamic, dimensional piece of glass.

Room for Improvement

But this is still a very early iteration of the app, and there are many Janky pieces in areas for continuing improvement. Resizing and positioning layers is a hassle, you can’t make any shading/blur effects inside the app, and you can't rename layers once you've imported them. But some of these are minor enough frustrations that can hopefully be ironed out in point releases over the coming months.

In Sum

Icon Composer really serves as the final step in the icon design process. It's the perfect lightweight tool for anyone who has already built their images and layers elsewhere, then brings them in to apply the slick Liquid Glass effect and make those final tweaks to colour, opacity, and contrast. It also serves as an final checkpoint to ensure your light and dark variants look just as good as you intended. For novice to intermediate designers who may not know how, or don't want to spend the time manually crafting a Liquid Glass aesthetic, it's a genuinely handy tool.