Founded in a garage in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple began as a personal computer pioneer that today makes everything from laptops to portable media players. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, the consumer electronics giant entered the smartphone market with the iPhone in 2007, and the tablet market with the iPad in 2010, and the smartwatch market with the Apple Watch in 2014.
The Apple HomePod range of smart speakers may not be the obvious choice in the category for many buyers, because of its very obvious ecosystem-based optimisations. However, those who are suitably invested in Apple's hardware will see some benefit to this, particularly the ease with which the smart speaker is able to link and work with other Apple devices. The original HomePod was launched globally in 2018, and five years later it finally sees a successor which promises better features and performance.
The iPad is perhaps the most popular tablet worldwide. Apple, since the launch of the first iPad, has refreshed the lineup regularly by making incremental design changes and hardware improvements. In 2022, the iPad lineup is now bigger than ever. There are the top-of-the-line iPad Pros (M2) right at the top, below which sits the iPad Air 2022 (Review). This year, Apple also launched the iPad 10th generation but rather than replacing the iPad 9th generation model, it's a new addition that sits between the lowest-priced iPad and the Air.
Apple launched a brand new model of its Apple Watch called the ‘Ultra' at this year's ‘Far Out' launch event and it has been a major talking point. It's bigger, chunkier, offers better hardware, and is designed keeping in mind a very special set of users. Another thing that the Apple Watch Ultra managed to do is steal the show from the standard Apple Watch Series 8. The new model does pack a few upgrades over the previous Series 7, but not as much as we were hoping for. Is the new Apple Watch Series 8 worth upgrading to or should you stick (or upgrade) to the Series 7 instead?