At the time of writing, my AirPods Pro 3 review has clocked up nearly 340,000 views on YouTube. That’s a big video for my channel - particularly considering it was published a little over a week ago. And most of those views arrived within the first three or four days.

What’s more compelling (beyond the naval gazing on my part) is the fact that it was, technically, one month ‘late’. Just like the iPhone, I don’t get seeded Apple’s AirPods devices. That means we have to buy them and wait for the delivery - just like everyone else. This also means that the resulting publish date for the review always hangs in the balance, and there’s obviously no way of hitting the embargo review wave.

For the AirPods Pro 3 review, we decided to take a hard line. No rushing. No quick unboxing/first impressions video. Wait a month. Get them in my ears for that period and report back once I have a more rounded opinion of Apple’s latest noise-cancelling earbuds. That strategy is always a risk. What if no one cares, one month later? Well, it turns out they do, big time, and if you’re one of the people who has watched that video, thank you.

There is just one problem with my AirPods Pro 3, though, and I reveal exactly what that is in this week’s Tech Diary video.

Before we go any further, I’d like to say a big hello to all of you who have joined us recently! For those of you who haven’t seen yet, I’m going to be giving away the iPhone 17 featured in this week’s review. Details of how to enter will be published in this newsletter over the coming weeks. Right, back to it!

I've partnered with the good folks at Back Market to bring you some excellent deals in the run-up to Black Friday. If you didn't know already, Back Market is the leading global marketplace for refurbished tech with prices up to 50% less than new. And for this weekend, there’s additional savings on select Sage coffee machines.

Back Market has prevented 1.6 million tons of carbon emissions in the fight against fast tech by encouraging people to buy refurbished instead of new. This way, you can get the tech you want without harming the planet.

A few weeks ago, I polled you all about which iPhone from the new lineup you would buy. Only 12% chose the iPhone 17 and the most popular was the Pro Max, which is understandable. But after using pretty much all of them now, I’ve got a pretty surprising, but oddly reassuring, conclusion.

I’m not going to lie, reviewing the latest M5 devices has been a bit difficult. I wrote about this on Medium, but most of them, like the M5 iPad Pro, were already amazing a year ago. It does signal one major development that has the M1 chip firmly in its sights.

On the topic of the base-model iPhone 17, it was about time we compared it to one of the best Android phones ever made. And it’s never been as close as this. →

There’s nothing more puzzling than Apple’s decision to refresh the Vision Pro. Especially now that Samsung has joined the VR party. Where do they go from here? →

iPadOS 26 Swipe Up 👉
The Home Indicator now disappears automatically, so it no longer cuts across full-screen apps and distracts you while reading, gaming, or creating music. At last! If you need to see it again, just tap or swipe up from the bottom of the screen.

🎶 Omnisphere 3 is out - This might be the BEST VST ever (LifeStyleDidIt) - If you’re into your music production, you’ll know what this is all about and why it’s such a big deal. I’ve been digging through the first impressions videos of Spectrasonics’ huge flagship synth update, and this guy’s excitement is infectious.

🐹 Richard Hammond Returns to the Top Gear Test Track with a New Porsche (DRIVETRIBE) - I haven’t watched this yet, but it was an insta-add to the watchlist.

👏 Spectrasonics Omnisphere 3 with Eric Persing - Interview and Demo (sonicstate) - Sorry. I can’t help myself. This is a cracking interview, though. Eric Persing is a genius.

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter. As I mentioned, stay tuned for the iPhone 17 giveaway and also for my curated top deals section as we move towards Black Friday. See you next week!

~ Mark