This is Technology Bytes, episode 127 for August 10th, 2025.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bites on interesting technology.
Enjoy, and here we go.
So this week I’m going to talk about upgrades, and not so much the technology that I’m using necessarily, but it is technology that I have.
And one of the things my wife will tell you is that when it comes to upgrades, I can’t seem to help myself.
I always say, well, I’m not going to do it this year, or I’m not going to do it for this next device, or whatever, and then I tend to, I guess, lie to myself and end up doing it anyway.
So I’m going to walk through the things that I have, and the fact is that Apple’s talking about releasing all kinds of gear this year, and we are probably just a month or so maybe away from the release of a new iPhone, maybe a new Apple Watch, I’m not sure what else, but within probably the next few months we might see many of the things that I own being updated.
So my first issue with upgrades is that I never need what I’m going to purchase.
There is nothing wrong with what I have or what I’m wearing or what I’m using, and it is functionally perfect and able to do the things that I need to do with that technology.
But I still find myself tugged in the direction of updating.
So this year when we look at the new iPhone, so the iPhone 17, lots of rumors about this iPhone Thin or whatever they’re going to call it, and I’m not sure what else it’s going to be.
Apple will talk about it, and I’ll tell my wife that I don’t need it.
I’ve got the iPhone 16 and it’s fine, and I always buy the most expensive.
I get the Pro Max and a couple of reasons, but that’s just where I sit.
So this year my thought is I’m not going to upgrade to the iPhone 17, that I’m going to push that off another year and see what Apple does next year.
My phone is still good.
It’s capable of doing Apple Intelligence, which is one of the reasons that I did upgrade last year, even though Apple Intelligence might not necessarily have been a thing through the whole year that I own my phone.
But my plan at this point is to not upgrade to the 17.
I’m not sure there’s a lot that will pull me in that direction.
I don’t use my camera as much as I should.
I have grandkids, and I should take more pictures of them, but I really enjoy being with them and interacting with them and playing with them.
Sometimes I forget that my camera’s in my pocket, and I let that picture-taking happen with my daughter and my daughter-in-law.
They’re very good at that.
So this year, today, I’m planning on sticking with the iPhone 16 Pro Max and not doing anything for the iPhone 17.
So the next device is my iPad.
I’ve got an iPad Pro with the…
I think it’s the M4.
It’s the latest iPad Pro, and I think they’re going to come out with another one that has the, I think, the M5.
It may be the first thing that gets that, or maybe the MacBook Air may be the first thing that gets that.
But either way, my iPad is used daily.
I use it a lot, and I’m on it constantly at work.
I use it quite a bit at home.
I don’t pull my MacBook Air out of my bag all that often.
And so that one is a device that I don’t always feel like I need to upgrade.
But the last time I did for a couple reasons.
One, I gave my old iPad Pro to my daughter, and so I also wanted the upgraded RAM to the 16 gigabytes that the new one has.
I don’t need those things.
That’s what it all comes back to.
I spend a lot of money.
I don’t need it.
My old iPad Pro would have been fine.
But this one, I think I will stick with for some time because it is unnecessarily good and needs software to keep up.
iPadOS 26 has done wonders for how I use my iPad and its usefulness and productivity.
So I plan on standing still on that device as well.
So my next device is my MacBook Air.
So I recently updated that when they came out with the M4 version.
A couple reasons there as well.
Some of it having to do with Apple Intelligence, even though it was not necessary.
It also came with the base 16 gigabytes of RAM rather than the 8 that I had in my previous one.
My daughter was using a 5-year-old MacBook Pro 13-inch, which still is a good computer, but it is Intel, so she was not yet on the Apple Silicon devices, even though she had my iPad Pro, so she was there for that device.
And I had recently given my son a computer, so I thought maybe giving my daughter a computer would even the playing field a little bit.
And so I updated.
I used that as an excuse.
Again, not necessary.
But I don’t think I need another MacBook Air.
I think the one I have is very useful.
I use the 15-inch version.
It has the basics for what I need, for what I think Apple Intelligence will require, and it’s a machine that should last me for years if I can keep my money in my pocket.
So the next device is my iMac, and I leave that computer at work all the time, so I don’t have that one at home.
It doesn’t travel.
It’s a desktop computer.
Again, it’s the latest one.
I upgraded that one for a similar reason to get the 16 gigabytes of RAM and the latest chip that came with that.
I get the base model, so it does everything I need it to do.
And my granddaughter is going into fourth grade, and so I thought that she’s going to be looking at using computers more in her education, and I like Apple products, and I know they’re expensive, and so I gave my previous iMac to my son, and that one will last for a very long time.
I think it’s the M2.
It’s got 8 gigabytes of RAM.
It doesn’t have a huge hard drive, but it’s a desktop computer, so you can attach as much storage as you want on that and use it for a very long time.
I’m always happy to get technology in the hands of my kids because I know they’ll use it well, and then also with my grandkids as they age, we’ll need more technology.
Again, another excuse, but that’s how I talk my wife into letting me spend all this money.
But at this point, my iMac is set.
I don’t see any reason why I would need to change that either.
So the next device is the Apple Watch.
I currently have the Ultra 2 Apple Watch.
I love that watch.
It’s super good.
I actually have two watches.
I have the 7.
I basically use that one when I’m charging my Ultra so that I’m not wearing an Apple Watch, and it also just gives me a backup in case I need it.
But mostly it’s just a battery thing.
And so Apple hasn’t updated that much.
They did a black titanium or whatever last year, but it’s still the Ultra 2.
So it’ll be interesting to see what the Ultra 3 makes available and what have they done with that technology.
And my plan is to actually update this device.
And if I can talk my wife into it, again, maybe not necessary because my Ultra 2 should be fine for what I use it for.
It is fine.
But I would give away my Apple Watch 7 to whoever might want it.
And so then I end up with two Ultras.
That might be a little extravagant.
We’ll see what the device offers.
But if I skip the iPhone, it’s not very much more money.
It’s not really a lot of money compared to what I spend on my iPhone.
So maybe I can talk my wife into letting me get the Ultra 3 when it comes out.
So the last device is my Apple TV.
And I use that every day.
And I’ve got the latest 4K version on my computer because when I moved out of my daughter’s house, I let her keep my old TV and also keep my 4K Apple TV to go with it.
So I purchased a new one.
It’s serving fine.
They say they’re coming out with a new one.
It’ll really depend on what it is and what it does and how it ties into the ecosystem that I use with Apple.
Either way, it won’t be all that much expensive, I understand.
It depends on who you are and how much money you make, all that kind of stuff.
But I would lean toward getting a new Apple TV if it becomes available just for new technology, for tying into the home, for making things a little more easy to use in that environment.
So we’ll have to see what that offers.
But probably would think pretty seriously about upgrading that when Apple releases a new one.
So those are my upgrade plans, needed or not, to see which ones I can stay away from, to see which ones I can talk my wife into letting me purchase.
She knows it’s coming, so it never comes as a surprise.
And it’s just a matter of having the conversation and seeing what I can do and what we can afford.
So we’ll see when the world comes to that, what kind of money I have, what kind of resources to upgrade or not upgrade as it goes.
So I don’t know, maybe this was a boring episode.
I’ll release it anyway.
But that’s all I have for today.
If you have comments, suggestions, or questions, you can send them to technologybytes at merrickfamily.com.
As always, I want to thank you for listening to the Technology Bytes microcast, and I look forward to the
