Six Color’s Apple Report Card 2025

Jason Snell released the results from his annual survey of the Apple blogosphere community at Six Colors. I thought it’d be fun to join in the fray and add some of my thoughts, because I’m pretty different from most of those surveyed. For one, my income isn’t at all related to Apple (at work I am required to use a terrible Windows laptop and terrible Microsoft services), and so I really only use these devices in my personal capacity and consequentially really remain on the “happy path” of Apple devices and services.

 

Mac: 4/5

I’m more on the fence about Tahoe compared to most of the respondents. It’s a totally stable OS, I do mostly like how it looks; it’s just a little thoughtless in places and needs to get buttoned up. I regularly use Stage Manager on my laptop, and I think it’s great. In general, the software is good-not-great at the moment, but it is good at the end of the day.

In contrast, Mac hardware is stellar. I bought a Mac Mini this year, and I love it. Its so wonderful having that little guy always ready-to-go on my desk, and regularly running back-ups for me overnight.

 

iPhone: 5/5

The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro this year is the strongest line-up in ages. The iPhone 17 brought a ton of features down to the primary iPhone line this year, like ProMotion screens. If you’re an update-every-few-years sort of person, this year is the right year to update. The iPhone 17 Pro’s camera is awesome, and the huge plateau is nice to look at. Its great to see more of that wonderful orange sneaking out from my case every day.

I am not nearly as enamored with the iPhone Air compared to many folks, mostly because the camera is such a critical component of the phone for me. It exists. Its fine.

 

iPad: 3/5

I water damaged my third-gen iPad Air over the holidays, and upgraded to a refurbished M1 iPad Air in January. It’s notably faster. My spouse has an M4 iPad Pro. Its super quick.

Even with iPadOS 26, iPadOS still pales in comparison to Mac OS. I think the implementation of the stoplight buttons is just straight-up bad, and everyone being so excited about them is akin to a cold glass of water in hell. Yes, its a huge step forward for the platform, no doubt. But again, the Mac is just so wildly superior.

Still, the iPad is the best tablet on the planet, hands-down. Theres essentially no competition. Theres a few categories like this now, including wearable. Apple just seems to be resting on their laurels a bit, because there is effectively zero competitive pressure from Google or anyone else.

 

Wearables: 3/5

This whole category is buoyed by AirPods Pro 3. They’re great. AirPods Max need some serious love, and are just not taken seriously by the market.

 

Watch: 2/5

I love my Apple Watch Series 9, but has Apple added anything to the last two version to make me upgrade? I usually update on a 3-year cadence, but if Series 12 is as lackluster as 10 or 11, I may not.

The Ultra 3 was a *fine* update, but truly hasn’t added anything compelling since the first Ultra was introduced three years ago. If anything the Series 10/11’s larger screen makes me wonder where Apple wants to take this product.

 

Vision Pro: 1/5

I look at these periodically on eBay, but am consistent dissuaded by how often people with them say they use them.

 

Home: 2/5

The Home app remains usable, but where is the rumored HomePod w/ a touchscreen?

 

Apple TV: 3/5

sigh… Apple TV remains the best TV interface on the market, but similar to the iPad and Apple Water, a lack of serious competition has lead Apple to complacency.

The service, however, is firing on all cylinders.

 

Services: 3/5

Apple News is my primary app for reading the news, and it’s good-to-decent. It would be good if they eliminated low-quality stories, and cleaned up the ads in the articles.

Apple Fitness is good, but I do wish they’d make some generic exercises and you could just listen to your own music, rather than their playlists.

Apple Arcade is nice-to-have, especially when traveling.

Apple Music is great. No complaints.

 

Hardware Reliability: 4/5

Apple OS Quality: 4/5

Apple App Quality: 3/5

Developer Relations: No Opinion

World Impact: 1/5

You know.

Predictions for Apple’s Forthcoming Low-Cost MacBook and Other Announcements

On Monday, Apple is set to begin a string of product announcements culminating in their “Apple Experiences” with press events simultaneously all over the world on Wednesday. Of those announcements, Apple is widely expected to announce a new low-cost MacBook powered by the iPhone 16 Pro’s A18 Pro chip, and will presumably resurrect the “MacBook-no-second-word” brand. Oh, and it’s widely expected to come in Good Colors 🤩.

Theres a lot of speculation regarding how configurable this product will be with respect to chip-binning, RAM, and storage. I don’t think this computer will be any more configurable than the iPhone 16 Pro was: storage options starting at 128 GB and up to 1 TB. I just don’t think Apple can afford to hit a low price, and go about making new configurations of that A18 Pro SoC. That also means it’ll only have a measly 8 GB of RAM, the minimum needed to support Apple Intelligence. This machine may be small and fun, but it may not be a good Mac.

Otherwise, the announcements are expected to be rather milquetoast. Chip-bumps for most products getting an update. There are some on-going rumors that the M5 Pro and Max will have some new-to-Apple 2.5D packaging updates to further separate CPU and GPU thermals and gain performance. This may be interesting considering the gains Apple Silicon had by allowing CPU and GPU to pull from a single pool of RAM. Does one or the other of them slow if the CPU and GPU are no longer on the same die?

Lastly, on a personal note, I am *really* hoping for a new Apple TV. There doesn’t seem to be much enthusiasm for this product, but I have an original Apple TV 4K model that is feeling awfully old now, and I just sent the remote through the wash and killed it. It could use an upgrade, and I think my only chance its updated this week is if it is *such* a small upgrade that its flown under the radar of all the usual leaks in the supply chain.

Circa Survive’s Final Show Before 2022-2026 Hiatus

 

Circa Survive announced a series of reunion shows in Philly and a festival show later in 2026 after a Hiatus dating back to the start of 2022, which had me diving into their catalog this week. They were, and now are once again, one of the best bands in the scene.

I was then looking for concerts of theirs to watch on YouTube and came across the one above opening for Every Time I Die’s ETID The Season show in 2021, which then happened to be Circa Survive’s last show before their hiatus, as well as Every Time I Die’s last show. It’s a great show, but wow what a funeral of a show.

MacOS Design Misses

This post has been making its rounds throughout the Mac and Apple blogosphere over the last few weeks, and has rallied criticisms of macOS 26 Tahoe. The criticism in the post regarding icons in the menu bar is really quite fair. The examples showing the same icons being used in the same menu for different items is just bad. Along with the all the various corner radii throughout the OS, I think Apple really just needs to focus on standardizing the OS in MacOS 27. They need to take the lead and follow their own examples.

In general though, I like the release; it just needs some standardization and discipline. The icons in the menu are fun – it’s just a little bit of whimsy. I think a lot of the criticism is missing that. Yes, the corner rounding needs to be uniform app-to-app, but in general, I like it. It makes the whole OS feel airy and welcoming. Keep in mind I’m a Windows user at my day job. My Mac really is like a cold glass of water in Hell.

Eternal Youth – The Starting Line

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I’ve been revisiting Eternal Youth this week, which is the first LP from The Starting Line since 2007’s Direction. I think the clear highlight of the record is “Circulate”. The song thumps along while the lyrics invite you to be on the floor in the pit. It is very fun.

I didn’t really give this record much time when it came out last year in part because I think the mixing for this record really misses the mark. Everything is muddled together, including the vocals and the guitars. I still think that, but as I’ve gone back to it this week, I’ve found a few other great songs on this record like “I See How It Is”, “Eternal Youth” and “Granted” in particular.

Another thought that occurred to me this week is how the mixing and the album art really mirror one another. That muddled mix really feels like its just had all of the color and life sucked out of it, much like the brutalist black and white concrete architecture on the cover.

2026 most anticipated

2026’s Most Anticipated Albums

 

Poppy, Empty Hands, January 23rd

It looks like Jordan Fish and Stephen Harrison are back along for the new Poppy record. Very excited for this one. Poppy has such a unique career. It won’t shock me if she doesn’t make this sort of music forever, but I’ll enjoy it while she is.

 

The All-American Rejects, Sandbox, February

Honestly, I can’t believe this record isn’t out yet. The lead single “Sandbox” was released in *April*. I can’t believe that this is their first LP in over a decade! The last LP, Kids in the Street, is my favorite record of theirs. 

 

New Found Glory, Listen Up!, February 20th

Again, a band I love. I’ll be the first to admit that the last several records have been overall lack-luster, but theres definitely bright spots on every record. The lead single, “100%” has a great, classic NFG guitar lick. Looking forward to the release.

 

A Day to Remember, Big Ole Album Vol. 2, Unknown Release Date

I loved the first volume, and I am really looking forward to the second. The album roll out for the first volume was really great and unique in the modern times too; the band released physical copies several weeks before it made it on to stream platforms. What a great way to get fans to reward fans that were going to buy the record anyway. The band have mentioned a handful of times interviews or live that the record is slated for this year.

 

mewithoutYou, Live vol. Three, Unknown Release Date

As written on their website “mewithoutYou live on through a triptych of live albums.” These records have been wonderful, and some of my favorite mewithoutYou songs haven’t appeared on them yet. Here’s to their inclusion in vol. Three.

 

The 1975, Untitled, Unknown Release Date

Theres been a lot of reporting around the next The 1975 release, including that it may be a double album, and one of them may be called DOGS. The 1975 are probably the most important rock back of the last 15 years or so, and I can not wait for them to continue their streak.

 

Radiohead, Untitled, Unknown Release Date

Now, Radiohead haven’t said that they’re releasing anything, but they have started touring again recently, and it’s been ten years (!!!) since A Moon Shaped Pool. Fun fact: that record has the track-listing alphabetized.

 

The Maine, Untitled, Unknown Release Date

This band continues an untouchable run of records, starting with 2015’s American Candy. Since the release of their last LP, 2023’s self-titled record, the band has released the single “Touch”, which I liked. Its a bit of an odd song; I wonder if thats the direction for the new record, or just something to get out of their system.

 

The Menzingers, Untitled, Unknown Release Date

The band has started teasing an announcement on their social media accounts, so I expect we’ll have something early in the year. I didn’t quite connect with the last record Some of It Was True as much as the previous releases, but it was still good. Hopefully the new records release prompts me to go back to that record.

 

Cartel, untitled, unknown date

Theres not a ton to go off of here, other than Will Pugh has said in a few interviews that theres a new record coming this year. I like the singles they released a few years ago, and I am generally a fan of everything they’ve released.