98 Macworld • March 2021FEATURE
performance. Sleep tracking could
have been a killer feature if Apple
hadn’t done such a bad job with it.
Grade: CRoman Loyola: The Apple Watch is
the best smartwatch on the planet.
That being said, it still needs better
battery life. The sleep tracking feature
seems basic, and Apple should
improve it in future updates. Grade: CAUDIO
New products: HomePod mini,
AirPods MaxMichael Simon: Apple launched two
products at opposite ends of theaudio spectrum in
2020 and both have
their flaws. While
the HomePod mini is
priced much better
than the original
HomePod), it doesn’t
sound as good as
its older sibling or
some other speakers
in its class, such
as the Nest Audio.
Meanwhile, the
AirPods Max offer
active noise cancelling
and spatial audio to
an over-ear design and studio sound
but cost £300 more than the AirPods
Pro, which aren’t exactly cheap.
Both products were on my 2020 wish
list and both were something of a
disappointment. Grade: CJason Cross: AirPods Max are
great headphones, but quite a bit
overpriced for what you get (and don’t
get me started on that ‘Smart Case’
atrocity). The HomePod mini is fine
hardware at a reasonable price, but
it’s the sort of product that really relies
on Siri to make it great (as opposed
to Apple Music being the star of the
bigger HomePod), and Siri just isn’t
as good as it needs to be. Apple MusicLast year’s Apple Watch Series 6 is a modest step
forward from the Series 5.98 Macworld • March 2021FEATURE
performance. Sleep tracking could
have been a killer feature if Apple
hadn’t done such a bad job with it.
Grade: CRoman Loyola: The Apple Watch is
the best smartwatch on the planet.
That being said, it still needs better
battery life. The sleep tracking feature
seems basic, and Apple should
improve it in future updates. Grade: CAUDIO
New products: HomePod mini,
AirPods MaxMichael Simon: Apple launched two
products at opposite ends of theaudio spectrum in
2020 and both have
their flaws. While
the HomePod mini is
priced much better
than the original
HomePod), it doesn’t
sound as good as
its older sibling or
some other speakers
in its class, such
as the Nest Audio.
Meanwhile, the
AirPods Max offer
active noise cancelling
and spatial audio to
an over-ear design and studio sound
but cost £300 more than the AirPods
Pro, which aren’t exactly cheap.
Both products were on my 2020 wish
list and both were something of a
disappointment. Grade: CJason Cross: AirPods Max are
great headphones, but quite a bit
overpriced for what you get (and don’t
get me started on that ‘Smart Case’
atrocity). The HomePod mini is fine
hardware at a reasonable price, but
it’s the sort of product that really relies
on Siri to make it great (as opposed
to Apple Music being the star of the
bigger HomePod), and Siri just isn’t
as good as it needs to be. Apple MusicLast year’s Apple Watch Series 6 is a modest step
forward from the Series 5.