Apple
There are several salutary reasons to consider investing in anall - Apple computing platform . TheMacBook Prois one of thebest laptopsmade today . TheiPad Prois arguably the best tablet . And theiPhone 15lineup is extremely regarded while theApple Watchis unrivaled on the radiocarpal joint .
But beyond all those disparate products on their own , there ’s a connection between them that is greater than the sum total of its parts . I ’ve light upon that myself bymaking the transition from Windows and Android , and hold out all - in on Apple ’s walled garden , but was it really deserving all the investment ? That ’s a head that ’s a bit concentrated to respond .
Apple
What is Continuity?
Continuityis a set of features that tie Apple products together . It sour across all current MacBooks ( macOS Sonoma ) , iPhones ( iOS 17 ) , iPads ( iPadOS 17 ) , and Watches ( WatchOS 10 ) , and you ’ll want to checkApple ’s requirementspage to see if your Apple machine support various Continuity features . You ’ll need the same Apple ID on every equipment , and some features involve being on the same connection .
On paper , Apple has done a remarkably good job of tie its devices together .
WithContinuity Camera , the iPhone can play as a webcam for a Mac , providing a gamey - caliber range for videoconferencing , and it can instantly transport pictures and papers scans to the Finder and other apps .
Universal Controlallows the iPad to divvy up a mouse and keyboard with a Mac , while drawings created on an iPad with the Apple Pencil can be tangle into Mac apps . Set an iPad next to a Mac , and it becomes a ( small ) external display and an outside drawing tablet using theSidecarfeature .
Your Mac ’s display can expose content from other Apple devices viaAirplay to Mac . AndContinuity Markup and Sketchextend the touch- and pen - enable video display on iPhones and iPads to the Mac , offer touchscreen features to non - touch Mac displays .
If you use an iPhone , your other Apple devices can send and receive call and textual matter messages . call and videoconferences can be transferred between your various Apple devices . Handoffextends that functionality to supported apps , letting you blame up a web page you ’re take in on your Mac on your other Apple products .
If you have an Apple Watch , it can unlock your iPhone and Mac . That saves the want to enter with a password or by urge on Touch ID , and it gives the Mac a hands - on login rival Windows Hello facial recognition .
at long last , Universal Clipboard extend copy and paste across Apple equipment , while AirDrop makes it well-fixed to share file cabinet . We all know the joyousness of AirDrop , and there ’s really nothing like it .
How well does it work?
Continuity is intended to ferment intelligently , that is , to access feature across all Apple devices without interrupt a user ’s workflow . All my Apple devices are supported , so I immediately set out to test the various functionality .
What imprint me first was how soft it was to set affair up . Most of the feature were already configure , leave me with only a few configurations to change . That vista , setting everything up , was downright anticlimactic .
As I used the various feature article , I became even more impressed with how consistent the experience was and how seamlessly my Apple equipment tie together . I know some other society have feature that mime some panorama of Continuity , but in my experience , many suffer from sample to integrate products from different vendors .
Continuity just work out .
Apple ’s biggest strength is that it controls the operating system and the hardware on all its gadget . And while devices have different configurations and monetary value points , they apportion many of the same components and all the same software . A base iPhone 15 runs the same operating system as the highest - end iPhone 15 Pro Max , and the MacBook Air M2 is similar to the MacBook Pro 16 . That lets Apple create tools like Continuity that work the same no matter which gadget you select .
I ’ve tried out the entire spectrum of persistence features , and they all work well . Some are more useful to me than others , and some citizenry will habituate Continuity characteristic that I do n’t . But the stage is : persistence justworks .
I ’ve tried using tools on my previous Windows , Android , and Wear OS machine , like resolve a phone call on my Samsung Galaxy view colligate to my Android smartphone . Sometimes it worked , sometimes it did n’t . Some features were so operose to configure that I did n’t bother . But with persistence , the feature of speech worked reliably , sometimes without me even thinking about them .
too soon on , I had my iPad and iPhone sit on my desk next to my Mac , with my Watch on my wrist . I have a call , and all four devices echo . I had n’t even suppose about the feature , let alone purposely changed any scope . It was surprising and vastly pleasurable . The same thing happened withHandoff . I noticed a small icon on my Edge web browser app ikon on my Mac Dock . I get through on it , and a write up I had been read on my iPad start up . I had intend to land up the report the next clip I used my iPad , but I did n’t need to hold off . That , too , was n’t something I expected .
The Holy Writ “ reliableness ” is key here because when thing do n’t work out the first fourth dimension you sample them or when they do n’t work all the sentence , you tend to write them off . And Continuity is so honest that it work without my memory it even survive .
So far , I ’ve found Apple ’s integration to be comparatively bulletproof and sincerely convenient . As I use the iPad and iPhone more and more to keep me productive in situations where my MacBook Pro is unavailable or airy , Continuity lets me get things done more efficiently and effectively .
Is it worth it?
persistence is free . From that linear perspective , it ’s an incredible buy . But of course , you get the most value out of persistence with the more Apple machine you practice . Apple intersection be given to be more expensive , intend that you ’re pay a agio for the benefits that persistence brings .
I consciously decide to blow up my compute platform and go all - in on Apple products . That was a significant investing , but I ’m in the business organisation of writing about engineering , and such investments can bear for themselves in the long run .
persistence adds real time value that can sway a close conclusion .
For most hoi polloi , though , the decision is trickier . If you ’re in the market for a new laptop , you ca n’t go wrong with a MacBook , but if you ’re using an Android smartphone , then Continuity wo n’t apply . The same is dependable if you ’re already using an iPhone , but a Windows laptop computer makes the most gumption for you .
Should you switch out all of your equipment , like I did ? Sure , if you may afford it and you like what Apple offers . Continuity is n’t deserving such an investment funds by itself , but it adds real value that can sway a close decision .
And if you already use a few Apple products , verify you explore what Continuity can bid . It ’s a different elbow room to get thing done , and it does n’t cost a dime .
