By Six Colors Staff
December 19, 2024 11:08 AM PT
Our 2024 favorites: Hardware
[As the year comes to a close, those of us who write for Six Colors have decided to share some of our favorite things of the past year. First up: our favorite hardware.]
iPhone 16
Apple’s most advanced features always debut on the high-end phones, differentiating them from the rest, and tempting buyers to upgrade as soon as, or even before, their budgets might dictate. But the speed with which Apple lets features trickle down, even from one year’s Pro/Max iPhone lineup to the very next year’s non-Pros, tells an interesting story for those who keep a phone for two years or more, and/or who opted for an iPhone 16 or 16 Plus this year..
Let’s make a short list, shall we? If you own an iPhone 13 or 14, the non-Pro 16 models give you all of these hardware upgrades at once: USB-C, the Action Button, the Dynamic Island, and Camera Control. Of course, the chips are faster, the cameras are better, and you’re all set to take spatial video, too. Even if you got an iPhone 15 last year, and buttons are your thing, Camera Control and the Action button would be new for you this year, but the upgrade certainly is a mite less compelling than the two+ year cycle.
Let that sink in for a second. That’s two years worth of formerly Pro updates packed into a phone that’s cheaper than this year’s Pro by hundreds of dollars, with a physical size and weight that reminds some of us why the non-Pro phones feel better in hand or purse. And if you’re a die-hard Pro user whose upgrade cycle is more than a year, the 16 Pro or Max still packs a pleasing punch, what with a lighter titanium frame, and many of the hardware updates already mentioned. —Shelly Brisbin
iPhone 16 Pro
I’m in complete agreement with Shelly that the iPhone 16 series is a great one. I know it’s less exciting, year-over-year, for people that update their iPhones often, but I went from an iPhone 13 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro. The only way to go was up. The promised features of Apple Intelligence didn’t play a role in my decision to purchase, but the ability to edit the new Photographic Styles after taking a photo has been a huge benefit. Like a lot of people, my iPhone is the primary camera in my life, and this is the best iPhone camera that they’ve ever made. Camera Control is not exactly delivering on its promise, but it really doesn’t hurt what I would otherwise be doing an iPhone. It’s a really great piece of hardware over all, despite what my complaints about software would indicate. —Joe Rosensteel
Mac mini
When I bought my M2 Pro Mac mini in 2023, I felt confident that it would be good enough to last me for several years to come. But that longevity has proved to be a double-edged sword as I found myself extremely envious of this year’s M4 Mac mini. It’s compact, it’s powerful, and it has ports on the front. All of a sudden, that old M2 Pro Mac mini is an albatross hanging from my neck! Which would be much easier if it were an M4 Mac mini, because it’s so much lighter.
Apple doesn’t update the Mac mini very often—this is the first major form factor redesign in more than a decade—and it’s good to see the little computer get some attention. With the M4 version, Apple’s made what is likely the best (certainly most versatile) desktop Mac in years. The good news is that if previous incarnations are any indication, this form factor’s going to stick around. —Dan Moren
M4 MacBook Pros
Has there ever been a time when Apple has been as on top of its game with Mac laptops as right now? The Macbook Air is great, yes, and this year’s M4 MacBook Pro is also spectacularly good at what it does. After two updates last year, the MacBook Pro got another update this year, and it really shines. The slight holdover flaws got corrected: The stripped-down base model MacBook Pro is no longer the Space Gray sheep of the family, as it’s got the same color options and flexible ports (Thunderbolt on both sides is key) as the higher-end models. The M4 chip is fast enough for it to be truly called “pro,” too. At at the high end, the chip performance just kept getting better. My ultimate endorsement: I bought my first MacBook Pro ever this year, and it was the M4 Max model, which is now my primary computer in all contexts. -—Jason Snell
Magic Keyboard for M4 iPad Pro
Nothing was so transformative to the iPad’s productivity cred as the introduction of the original Magic Keyboard for iPad in 2020. But it had flaws, most notably the omission of a function key row. The 2024 Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro adds that row, and a matched aluminum keyboard frame for a more premium laptop feel. Most of the summer, I’m writing things in my backyard with the iPad Pro perched on my lap, and this keyboard is the perfect companion for the thin M4-powered iPad Pro. Apple’s ultimate portable productivity machine isn’t the MacBook Air, it’s the iPad equipped with this accessory.—JS
AirPods Pro as OTC hearing aids
Are a built-in hearing test and the ability to function as hearing aids the mark of a new product category, or simply a tacked-on feature for a popular set of earbuds? Well, that depends on whether you have noticeable hearing loss, and it especially depends on whether you learned about that hearing loss from taking a test with your AirPods Pro 2. Apple rightly touts these hearing features as an important move into a health category that matters tremendously to more and more people. And many of those people are self-conscious about advertising their hearing loss with a hearing aid, or they’re wary of spending thousands of dollars for a prescription model. This is the landscape Apple entered this fall when hearing features came to the already-available AirPods Pro. So if you had a pair, as I do, you simply waited for the software update and took a hearing test in the privacy of your home.
AirPods as hearing aids somehow feel like the most tangible medically-adjacent feature Apple provides. Your Apple Watch might save your life one day, but that’s an abstraction until something happens that forces you to focus on a scary experience. Many more people, with significant hearing loss and not, will take the AirPods Pro hearing test and learn something about their health. And maybe they’ll recommend these relatively inexpensive hearing aids, disguised as earbuds, to a friend or family member who struggles with a hearing loss they’d rather not talk about. Bonus: even if an AirPods Pro hearing test finds a very small hearing loss, the earbuds can tune themselves to make media listening easier, based on whatever hearing limitation you do have.—SB
Beats Studio Buds+
No, the “+” does not indicate a streaming service, and it wasn’t even released this year, but I did buy it on sale this year. As a kid that lived through the translucent plastic era of consumer electronics, how could I not? The Beats Studio Buds+ kind of sit between the regular AirPods and the AirPods Pro in certain ways. The active noise cancellation has been a dream when I need to run my desk fan, or drown out other noises that never cease.—JR
Lutron Caseta Diva Smart Dimmer
We did some work on our house this year, including adding a screened-in porch, and one thing I insisted upon for the porch lights and fan was HomeKit-compatible controls. We’d previously put in Lutron Caseta switches when we did our renovations after buying the house, and while they’ve been great, my one complaint was they look a bit nerdy with all the various buttons. Good news: Lutron is now also offering the Diva Smart Dimmer, which works just as well as the classic Caseta switches, but looks like your standard “paddle rocker” switch. I love these; they’re way easier to use by feel and they have a far sleeker look—they even work with the Pico remote if you need to control a light from multiple locations. I’d consider redoing all my lights with them if they weren’t a bit on the pricey side. (If you don’t need the dimmer functionality, the Claro gives you the same switch style but just for on and off.) —DM
Zoom HEssentials audio recorders
The Zoom H6essential audio recorder I wrote about in April is the rare sequel that improves on a great product. The H1Essential, H4Essential and H6Essential all take what were already excellent, affordable devices and give them a boost in features and usability. The recorders in the Essentials line are all handheld, and the H4E and H6E support connecting microphones, musical instruments, or plugging into a sound board. But all three offer pretty good stereo mics of their own, too. In these details, the Essential models are a lot like the devices they replace. But for around the same money, you now get 32-bit floating point recording, which prevents you from recording clipped audio. It’s a major value breakthrough for recorders at these price points. There’s a redesigned and simplified set of hardware buttons, and menus that are simpler, and easier to read. There’s also a talking interface if you need it, to make the devices more accessible. —SB
Eve Energy
Yes, I’m picking a Matter smart plug from two years ago. I feel like there’s very little incentive to rush out and buy new smart plugs when they’re released. We don’t ask much of our existing smart plugs, just that they work. Which is why when my WeMo plugs started misbehaving, I decided enough was enough and I treated myself to a couple 2 packs of Eve Energy smart plugs and haven’t looked back. I also replaced the old iHome plug that I used for my seasonal Christmas tree. Merry Christmas, you filthy smart home animals.—JR
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