I had my doubts. There’s already something wrong with the new iPhone 14’s camera system and its video format is confusing and tedious to work with.

But I’ve been wanting to upgrade from my (old) five year old 10.5 inch iPad Pro for so long, that it was a foregone conclusion; I was going to buy one no matter what though I was trying not to grimace at the thought of two very expensive lemons.

When I finally got it and set it up, I just had one regret; I wish I stuck with my original choice of an all-white combo- a silver variant and a white Magic keyboard. I had been dissuaded by Sam telling me horror stories of his work colleagues toting less than pristine all-white iPad combos. Apparently, stains are difficult to remove.

I sort of teach tech for work and deal with user experience issues, but I’m never one to be super conscientious about reading and following instructions to the letter. I just let intuition do its job - yup, just zoom, swipe, tap - and if it works, then the device or website works. Maybe the new iPadOS 16 is amazing, who knows. That, or the fact that I never did anything much really with my old 10.5 iPad Pro. But you have to consider that five years in tech time is literally a lifetime; a lot can change and I’m glad that I sort of waited. I’m not sure if it’s the right analogy, but I think that updating your devices is similar to managing your Kiwisaver. Best practice is to stick with a specific fund instead of shifting it to a more conservative or safer one when you’re hit by losses due to the ever fluctuating markets; by doing so, you’re simply cementing your losses.

While we get the advantage of leaks, it’s never really certain what you’ll get. But after waiting for five years before I upgraded, I got a way better and bigger screen (from LCD to mini LED), a faster chip, and an operating system that almost replicates the work-flow you have on your laptop. The leap in capability is just phenomenal. if you have last year’s model, you’re not gaining anything dramatically new and spending another NZ$2,299 for a chip change is a waste of money- unless of course, you have money to burn.