I was a bit underwhelmed when I first started experimenting with my new iPhone 17. Coming from an old SE, I had expected the jump to the 17 to be a major change for the better. What I noticed instead were lots of relatively small improvements and a few big ones. Everything worked just a little bit better, a little smoother, and it made me realise my old phone wasn’t even that old. A noticeable upgrade was the larger, better screen, and the biggest change was the battery. I can now use my phone all day without worries.

There was one more big improvement that I didn’t notice at first: MagSafe. After getting a MagSafe charger for my nightstand, it didn’t take long to adjust to the new level of comfort it offered. There was a small issue with the bright LED built into the charger, but a small sticker quickly solved that. Step two was a MagSafe charger for my car, and that was all I needed to stop using cables altogether. It’s a very satisfying reality where I simply drop my phone onto the magnet or pull it off again. Sure, it might take a bit longer to charge, but since my phone is now my alarm/clock and it charges while I sleep, I don’t care.

My old phone used to turn itself off at least a couple of times a year from overheating. That’s what you get for living on a tropical island, I guess. The new phone has a cool feature to avoid overheating: a vapor chamber that should distribute heat more evenly so the phone can cool down faster. The really warm and sunny days are still a few months away, so this feature is something I’ll put to the test in the future.

For now, my conclusion is simple. My new phone wasn’t the jump into the future that I expected, but it has enough improvements to make me happy. The new magsafe (new for me, it been available for a few years already) did make me experience a jump into the future, and makes me happy.

Vintage, a beautiful word. For some it means old, for others valuable or beautiful. For me it means used and beloved. Usually it takes a while before an object becomes vintage, but I now have a phone case that has aged at lightning speed.

It’s a high-quality green tech woven case for my iPhone 17 Pro. Not the official version, but a pre-release sample where the sides aren’t made of plastic, but also of tech woven material. The result is a case whose color has almost completely worn off in the spots most often touched. In just two months, the case has aged so much that it looks as if I inherited it from my grandfather.

Some people might think it looks rather sad, but I’m absolutely delighted. I find it fantastic to have such an antique-looking case around my ultra-modern phone. Still, I’ll have to see if it holds up for a few more months. For now it has lost some color in certain areas, but structurally it remains a great case.

Step one was a new phone. I was happy with it, but something was missing. Step two was a new charger. Finally, I can forget the hassle with cables, because now I just need to click two magnets together and that’s it. My new charger is truly a dream come true. No more cables slowly breaking, no more fiddling to clean my phone’s charging port.

I now have two options:
Charging: I place the phone on the charger, and half an hour later it’s ready.
Charging and clock: I unfold the charger, stick the phone on it, and in half an hour it’s charged plus I have a subtle little clock next to my bed all evening.

My charger is a Ugreen Qi2. Nice and sturdy, and a bit heavy too, but that actually feels good when you snap the phone onto it. Folded up, it’s a small cube you can charge your phone on. You can also unfold it, and then you have two charging spots: one for your AirPods, and one for your phone, which then doubles as a clock. My phone charges enough in half an hour to easily last the whole day.

There’s only one small downside: for some reason, the charger has a bright white LED to show it’s working. It’s a tiny light, but just annoying enough and of course, you can’t turn it off, so I just stuck a little sticker over it.

I started with my brother’s old iPhone 4 (2013), then switched to my first budget version, the SE (2016). After that, a slightly newer budget version, an SE from 2020. Now, five years later, the battery drains much faster. I can barely get a few hours out of it, especially when using navigation. Time for an upgrade, and I’ve thought about it for a long time, but I’m going for it. I’m moving from the budget model to the top of the line.

During the presentation of the new iPhone 17 Pro, a few things immediately caught my attention. First of all, it’s not available in black. Strange, and a pity, because that would have been my preference. Now I’ll go for white, hoping it has the advantage of heating up less quickly in the sun. I also noticed that a square sensor is now used for photography. The benefit is that it doesn’t matter how you hold the device, vertically or horizontally, for photos. Well, it sounded like part of the image is always unavailable now. The camera lenses stick out, so I can’t lay the phone flat on my desk… also a shame. And finally, unsurprisingly, the device is terribly expensive.

Do I really need it? No, of course not. Is it a waste of money? Probably. It is nice to have something good. This phone it for now the best there is, or really close. Lets see if I adapt as well to this change, as my speedy adaptation to my first smartphone years ago.