I’m only partially connected to the Apple ecosystem these days — a 2024 M3 MacBook Air and a 2022 iPhone SE, both refurbished. I was an iPad owner & user for over a decade, but sold my old iPad Mini 4 a few years ago.
I’ve looked at some of Apple’s other offerings, but I just don’t feel the need for any of them. I bought a cheap Casio F-91W wristwatch a few years ago, and a Omron step counter last year, and I now have a Pure Elan Connect+ Internet/DAB/FM/Bluetooth radio on my bedside cabinet — those are the only other gadgets I own now.
The one thing I might consider at some point in the future would be a refurbished & upgraded iPod Classic to carry music around with me. I had two iPods back in the 2000s and loved them for their simplicity and ease of use. I’ve kept a local music library, but at the moment it’s just on the MacBook Air.
I tried Apple Music several years ago after getting fed up with Spotify’s Mac app — it was okay, but I soon found that its song-matching and synching were very hit-and-miss, so much so that I ended up having to rebuild my music library once I’d transferred it to Swinsian. (Incidentally, I consider Swinsian a spiritual successor to the old iTunes, turned up to 11!) That experience has made me reconsider relying on any Apple services, including iCloud — aside from one or two app subscriptions and occasional app purchases, that’s my only interaction with that side now.
I don’t know if I’ll buy any more Apple hardware in the future, and will seriously consider other options when the time comes.