The year has come to an end and there are only a few days left before the iPhone 16 Pro, Apple Watch 10 to AirPods 4 on store shelves as the latest Apple products. Next Friday they will be replaced by the new products that the Californian giant presented at Tuesday's KeynoteAnd since we will of course start testing them in the editorial office immediately and therefore postpone the iPhones 16 Pro and other stars of last year are on the back burner, so to speak, I think it is at least fair to say goodbye to them through a final summary article dedicated solely to them. It would be a shame not tochat I'm not going to miss the opportunity to review my last year with them. So let's get to it.
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iPhone 16 Pro
Na iPhone 17 Pro I was quite excited and curious after his presentation. First of all, I thought it was a great increase maximal optical zoom from 3x to 5x and I liked the idea of a dedicated Camera Control button on the side. It was around these upgrades that the new product primarily revolved, of course, along with the 48MPx ultrawide-angle lens or functions such as AudioMix. And I have to say that not everything excited me as much as I expected and hoped.
After a year, I have to evaluate the Camera Control button as a certain disappointment, which seemed brilliant on paper, but unnecessarily complex in practice and therefore less usable. Although I initially tried to use this new feature primarily for taking photos, I quickly realized that it was not the "real deal" for me and that using the software elements on the display simply suits me better. I don't know if it's simply because I find the button too complex, or because it simply doesn't fit my finger at all, and at the same time I feel that when I press the button all the way down to take a photo, the resulting photo sometimes gets slightly blurry, but we haven't found a way to get to each other. So, miniat least not like that Apple he waited
I really like the Camera Control button for another reason these days – specifically as a quick trigger for the Camera app. Thanks to it, I can turn on the camera practically as soon as I pull the phone out of my pocket, saving precious time, which is sometimes crucial for capturing the perfect photo. So yes, in the end, it's a nice feature for me, but it's lacking in effect.
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On the other hand, what I still enjoy quite a bit after a year is the 5x optical zoom, because I think it really opens up new photo possibilities. Even before I had iPhone 16 Pro in my pocket, it happened quite often that I saw a scene somewhere that was worth taking a picture of, but only at a higher zoom, because it didn't stand out so well at 1x, 2x or 3x zoom. That's exactly what a 5x zoom on a 16 Pro He manages brilliantly, although I admit that sometimes even 5 times nestand that's why I'm already very curious about how the 8x zoom will work on iPhone 17 Pro.
Even with a telephoto lens, of course, you will find some bugs that you have to take into account (and which should not throw you off balance considering that you always take photos "only" on your phone). I mean specifically the aperture, which is not entirely ideal with this camera, so when taking photos in poor light you will have to fight with noise. Moreover, this is not just a problem with the telephoto lens, but also ultraa wide-angle camera, where I'm probably even more disappointed by the noise. Proeven though he already has Apple increased the resolution in an attempt to make it a more interesting option for photography, you will still be quite limited by the light and you won't really notice the higher resolution unless you're taking photos in really good light.
Apple last year at Keynote It also boasted a number of other features, but after a year of use, I personally feel relatively unsatisfied or have become quite weary of them. For example AudioMix, i.e. the enhancement of sound in your videos, is a fairly impressive innovation, but in the end, an ordinary person will use it a few times a year (after all, as a film mode and so on). I have a similarly lukewarm opinion of the internal design of the phone, which was supposed to reduce overheating problems. Yes, something has definitely been done inside, but rather than the phone heating up significantly less, it starts to heat up later. And now in the summer, when I took it on a few steamy trips in the car, I did not notice any fundamental difference in its heating compared to iPhone 15 Pro didn't see.
Bottom line, sum up – iPhone 16 Pro I still see it after a year as a great phone that took the best of previous generations and tried to improve it on some levels. In some places it succeeded more, in some places less, but the fact is that it took a step forward with it. Applu certainly managed to do it. However, it is a step that could be measured more in centimeters, maxIdeally, meters rather than miles or kilometers. It's a slightly better 15 Prothat will entertain you, but somehow appropriately.
Apple Watch 10
I admit that from Apple Watch I didn't have high expectations for the 10, as I didn't see it as a major step forward compared to the previous Series 9. After a year on my wrist with it, I have to say that I enjoyed this watch, thanks to the new features that it has. Of course, I can't start with anything other than the design, which has changed between generations. minismall, but still manages to impress. Large display with miniThe raspberry frames combined with the piano black that I used are still a feast for the eyes after a year and I still enjoy looking at the watch.
And what's even more important, the shiny piano black body hasn't been scratched at all, and I'll admit without hesitation that there have been many opportunities to do so, whether due to finishing touches during the apartment renovation or perhaps working in the garden. Apple so not only did it solve the main problem of the shiny Jet Black iPhone 7, which many people expected to Apple Watch 10, but also a clever combination of a narrow body and minismall bezels around the display created something that even a person wearing a Apple Watch for many years, it just looks nice.
As for other functions, especially now during the summer, I have quite liked the depth gauge, which shows you how deep you are with the watch submerged and what the water temperature is. Although we did not go on holiday this year due to the birth of our daughter at the beginning of August, this function made even a few days by the pool in the garden, at the swimming pool or by the pond more interesting - so miniat least for a tech enthusiast like me. Plus, it's nice that the watch automatically activates water mode to expel water from the speakers, which makes using the watch a little more intuitive.
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Although I really like using AirPods, there are times when this is not the optimal solution. It was in these moments that I appreciated the opportunity to play audio directly from the watch, which is another new feature that Series 10 has arrived with. Of course, this is not a audio A miracle that will make you sit on your butt, but when I needed to do something in the garden or around the house and I knew I needed to walk and at the same time I wouldn't mind wearing headphones, it was nice to turn on a podcast or music on my wrist and have sound with me everywhere.
But that's where the praise ends, because the Series 10 doesn't offer anything more interesting than the previous generation. Is that a problem? Honestly, it is and isn't. In my eyes, it's a great watch, but I felt more or less the same way about the Series 9, 8, and older models. Yes, we can talk about the fact that the battery could be better (and from this year's Series 11 toone(it will be), but in my case I am completely fine with daily charging and therefore I do not feel the imaginary stone in the point here. Nevertheless, I must say that the innovations that the Series 10 brought are nice and pleasant, but certainly not essential and after a year of using them I have to say essentially the same thing that I wrote in their review about 11 months ago - namely, that these are watches that will only make sense to you if you switch to them from a significantly older series.
If you're coming from a Series 8 or 9, you'll probably find them more or less the same as your current model, just like I did. But if you're coming from a Series 6 or older, you'll love them, largely because they offer features that have arrived in all newer generations compared to your Watch. And I honestly think I'll say similar things about the Series 11, which also looks more like an evolutionary step forward than a revolution that would make even current Series 10 owners switch.
AirPod 4
AirPods 4 was released last year Keynote played a bit of a second fiddle, which is ultimately not possible in the company of new iPhones and Apple Watch amazing, but paradoxically for me they are probably the biggest step forward. I have a more expensive version available with ANC and considering that the extra cost for it is not that significant, I would recommend these due to the really high-quality active noise cancellation. They work absolutely fantastically compared to classic earbuds and I am still amazed after a year that even though you get these AirThe pods don't completely block the ear canal, they can perfectly separate you and your world from the outside world.
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I am also very satisfied with the sound quality, which is noticeably better than previous generations of basic headphones. AirPods. The sound itself is very natural and relatively dense, the highs and lows sound natural and the mids are very pleasant and "readable". The bass component is not bad either, although of course you have to take into account that you will never get such bass from the buds as from earplugs, or rather proper headphones. And since I call with headphones for several hours a day, I can say with a calm heart that the quality of your voice recording is also very good, as is how the headphones reproduce the voice of the other party.
After a year of use, I have absolutely not experienced any battery degradation, which is something that many Apple users fear and which I experienced with the first generation. AirI also met Pods. But here I dare to say that Apple It managed to catch imaginary battery flies and even if you use the headphones for several hours a day, you won't have to worry after a year that they are slowly running out and you therefore need to slowly look for new ones. AirPods 4 are therefore Applu definitely succeeded because they simply do exactly what they are supposed to do, and they do it damn well!
So which IP is the article actually about? 🙂
Na iPhone 17 Pro I was quite excited and curious after his presentation.