For a child’s first Apple Watch, buy Apple Watch SE 3 at From $249 in the 40mm size. It is the cheapest and lightest watch Apple sells, at 26.3 g for the 40mm GPS model, it runs watchOS 27, and the features a family actually uses are in the software rather than in the $150…
Which Apple Watch for a Swimmer: What $249, $399 and $799 Each Cover in the Water
If you swim, buy Apple Watch Series 12 from $399. It is the cheapest Apple Watch with a depth gauge and a water temperature sensor, and Apple rates it at 50 meters under ISO 22810:2010. Apple Watch SE 3 from $249 is swimproof to the same 50 meters but has neither of those sensors, and…
Which Apple Watch for a Runner: SE 3 at $249, Series 12 at $399 or Ultra 4 at $799
For most runners the answer is Apple Watch Series 12 from $399, because it is the cheapest watch Apple sells with both a published outdoor-workout battery figure and a named GPS system. Apple Watch SE 3 from $249 is the right call only for short sessions, and Apple Watch Ultra 4 from $799 earns its…
Which iPhone to Keep in 2026 Rather Than Replace: The Cutoff Is iPhone 15 Pro, Not iPhone 11
Keep any iPhone 15 Pro or later. Replace an iPhone 13 or anything older. The line that decides it is not iOS 27, which runs on iPhone 11 and later plus iPhone SE from the second generation, but Apple Intelligence, which needs an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max or iPhone 16 or later…
Your First iPhone in 2026: Buy the $899 iPhone 17, and Two Reasons to Spend Less
Buy the iPhone 17 at $899. For a first iPhone it removes the two decisions that most often go wrong, because it starts at 256GB rather than 128GB and it carries three usable focal lengths, and it is rated for up to 30 hours of video playback, more than any iPhone below $1,199. iPhone 18…
Pro or Not in 2026: Apple's Pro iPhone Line Is Down to Two, and It Sits $100 Above iPhone Air
Most people should buy non-Pro, and specifically iPhone 17 at $899. Go Pro only if one of five published capabilities matters to you: the 4x and 8x telephoto, the variable aperture, ProRes RAW with Apple Log 2 and Genlock, USB 3 transfer at 10Gb/s, or battery ratings above 30 hours. If any of those does…
The Best iPhone Under $800 in 2026: iPhone 16 at $799, and the $30 That Decides It
Buy the iPhone 16 at $799. It is one of only two iPhones Apple still sells with a starting price under $800, the other being iPhone 17e at $699, and it is the one whose full specification you can read before you pay: an A18 chip, a 48MP Fusion main camera with a 12MP Ultra…
Apple's iPhone Ladder in 2026: $699 to $1,999 in Six Steps, and Only Two Are Worth Paying For
Apple’s iPhone lineup now runs from $699 to $1,999 across seven models, and only two of the six price steps between them buy enough capability to justify the money: the $100 from iPhone 16 to iPhone 17, and the $100 from iPhone Air to iPhone 18 Pro. Every other rung on the ladder is a…
Apple Watch Ultra 4's Water Rating Is Three Separate Certifications, Not One Number
Apple’s spec sheet groups Apple Watch Ultra 4’s water resistance under one heading, but it is three separate certifications, not one number. A 100-meter rating under ISO 22810:2010 covers named activities; a distinct EN13319 certification covers recreational scuba specifically, to 40 meters; and IP6X, sitting in the same row, is a dust rating that has…
Apple Watch Ultra 4: The Recycled Figures Are Published, the Carbon Total Is Not
Apple’s own materials state that Apple Watch Ultra 4 is 45 percent recycled by material, with a 100 percent recycled titanium case and a 100 percent recycled cobalt battery. What they do not state, anywhere we could check, is a matching carbon-emissions total, the kilograms-of-CO2e figure Apple prints for iPhone 18 Pro. Apple Watch Ultra…