Something strange has happened since I’ve been out of work and looking for a new role, I’ve almost completely switched back to using macOS. My setup that I use daily has changed and I’d like to share what I’m now using daily.

iPhone

The iPhone that I use is still the 2020 iPhone 11 Pro. I’ve been very interested in the 12 Mini if I’m being honest but I can’t justify it given the work situation and the fact that the 11 Pro, whilst not being my favourite form factor still does the job well. I find that I am on my iPhone more these days, which is strange but most of my iPad use has been replaced by my iPhone. The battery is still 100% and it lasts a couple of days now I’m not going anywhere. Form factor aside I don’t see a reason to switch iPhone at the moment at all.

iPad

I’m no longer using my 11″ iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard, more on this in a bit but my iPad use has switched over to the latest generation iPad Mini. I have a smart cover and the Logitech Pencil that I use when I feel like taking some notes or need to annotate. This is a lot less now than it was when I was in full time employment when I was annotating infrastructure designs or sketching. I really love the iPad Mini form factor and actually quite like having TouchID back on a device I use daily. The screen is a nice size up from my 11 Pro and it’s large enough for both content creation and consumption It’s the perfect size to sit alongside my guitar amplifier and show me sheet music or act as a recording device via GarageBand. I think if Apple brought us a “Mini Pro” I’d actually be pretty interested in trading in this model and stick to a smaller form factor for my iPad use.

12″ MacBook

I picked up an Apple refurbished 12″ MacBook in 2017 when I started to freelance write more and needed something away from the desk iMac. I used it heavily for 6 months then it went back in a drawer when the iPad Pro became my go to device, this has changed in the last few months. The MacBook is now the machine I grab when I want to do some job hunting, CV work, emails and Zoom calls (interviews etc..). I’ve found that Big Sur has really sped this little machine up and it works reliably for me. I’ve even grown to like the flat keyboard! There are things I don’t like about it though, getting hot on my lap is one of them. I’m starting to look at investing in an M1 MacBook Air, something I didn’t think I’d be doing 6 months ago. The Mac seems to have become my go to machine now when I want to dig into a task like scouring LinkedIn for jobs, attend an interview or go through my tasks. I really could see me upgrading this to the new devices, something running really fast and cooler to the touch.

So my pretty stripped back setup is

• iPhone
• iPad Mini
• MacBook

I’m also planning on writing up something on stripped back apps that I’m now using to manage my day etc…