As I write, it’s the first day of 2026, and we’ve just watched the fireworks that tore a hole through the night sky above the London Eye (it’s 11am - we were in bed long before the countdown last night).

I’m sure a lot of you will agree - 2025 absolutely flew by.

There’s some science behind that, I believe. Something to do with getting older and time literally passing faster. Or maybe not. Who cares - I’m simply at a time of life where it absolutely feels like the months fade away faster than a Porsche Taycan Turbo’s rear number plate after launch control.

I’ll turn 46 later this year, which means I’ll be just four additional birthdays away from a number I can scarcely believe I’ll have to attach to myself. That’s scary enough, but a recurring eye issue last year has forced me to take stock of my health, headspace, and the things I’m focusing on. This business ranks very high for the latter, but nowhere near as high as my family. Obviously. But there’s something else I’ve realised; life’s too short. Frighteningly so. And that means I need to invest time in things I love doing.

I’m lucky enough to run a business into which I can shoehorn my hobbies, and in 2026, there’ll be three that you’ll see more of within the content we produce at Mark Ellis Media.

The first is music, which forms two of the passions I’m unearthing. Music has always played a pivotal role in my life. My dad is a musician, and that meant music was always playing when we were kids (often live, right in front of us). More importantly, it also meant I had access to pianos, synths, guitars, and drum machines from a very early age. That’s where my love of music production began. I also deejayed for many years and invested a considerable amount of my life in listening to artists and DJs with whom I developed entirely healthy obsessions.

I’m therefore extremely excited to announce that this year, we’ll be publishing lots of music-focused content (under its own banner) with a goal of building a community of like-minded music nerds. We’ll let you know when the needle drops on that one, but you can sign up for updates here.

The third passion I’m getting my teeth back into is gaming. I have a PS5, an Xbox Series X, a Nintendo Switch 2, and a gaming laptop with an RTX 5090 inside (no, really). Having all of that stuff and not using it (for ‘business-related stuff’) is criminal, and, to compound matters, I used to be a big gamer.

I’ll be putting that right - and all of that stuff to use - this year. I promise. Life’s too short, remember?

Happy New Year to you all!

2025 was the year of the foldable phone for me. They finally became thin enough, proportioned correctly and with properly good camera specs, which meant I actually used one for longer than a few hours. But there were three that stood out from the crowd, and one that shows just how hard Apple will find it to catch up with the iPhone Fold in 2026.

I rarely get to make stuff about accessories on the main YouTube channel because it often isn’t what performs best, but that’s not the case on my website! I’ve had a rummage through my studio’s many drawers and racked my brains to pull out the best accessories for your phone. These aren’t just cheap bits of tat, they are genuinely useful items that I use myself!

🍯 The Honey Scam is Worse Than I Thought (MegaLag) - If you weren’t aware of the controversy surrounding the Honey cashback platform, you need to watch this. It’s the kind of content that needs sharing far and wide.

💡 DO IT ANYWAY (CaseyNeistat) - Hugely inspiring.

🎹 BT Studio Tour - A Life In Synths (CROW HILL) - I could watch this on repeat, all day. And if you have any idea who BT is, you will love this.

Essential Mac App: Fantastical 👉
Calendar apps aren’t particularly exciting, but find the right one, and you’ll never look back. My advice is to find one which offers quick input for events and tasks, and which seamlessly – and faultlessly – syncs across all your devices. Fantastical remains the pinnacle of this, in my experience.

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter! 2026 is set to be the busiest yet, with loads of new projects launching and regular giveaways on this newsletter. It’s CES next week, so we’re jumping straight into the deep end!

~ Mark