Ranking Apple's products (a definitive list, no one will disagree)
On a recent Vergecast episode, David Pierce, Allison Johnson, and Victoria Song ranked nine of Apple's product categories. The episode is entertaining, although I discovered that while I really like Victoria Song generally, I disagreed with her on almost every single point in this episode. š
Specifying the rules for a list's rankings is super important, and here's how they describe the criteria we should be considering:
ābestā is defined quite broadly: it includes a productās inherent quality, the quality of its competition, its cultural and economic relevance, the size of its target market, and many other things. Best is not an exact science.
So basically vibes, and I'm okay with that. My primary consideration will be around how easily I can recommend the product to somebody else and whether I think Apple makes the best version of that product that you can buy. Here's the list of categories:
- iPhone
- iPad
- Mac
- Apple Watch
- AirPods
- Apple TV
- HomePod
- Vision Pro
- AirTag
9 - Vision Pro
Respect to the Vision Pro fans out there, but how could it be anything else, right? I do own one myself, but it is the only product category on this list where I would actively warn people not to purchase for themselves. Based on my criteria above, I do think that in some ways it is technically the best product in its category on the market, but I don't think the value it gives most people remotely aligns with the price tag. And if I'm being honest, even if it was one-third the price, I still wouldn't recommend it to most people.
8 - HomePod
I think the HomePod is a relatively niche product, and the HomePod Mini is probably a bit more mainstream, but I find them to be the least essential of the eight Apple products remaining. If you want a good voice assistant, I don't see why you would get a HomePod outside of being really invested in Apple's ecosystem. If you want a good speaker, it's a better sell, but also only works with Apple's own products, and is hard to recommend over some other options out there.
7 - Apple TV
I was debating whether this or the HomePod should go higher, and I leaned a little more towards the Apple TV hardware because I do find it easier to recommend to people who are thinking about getting one. All of the services you want to use are going to be here, and in general, they're going to have the best experience that you can get from any product. Yes, your TV likely has all of these apps available as well, but except in very rare cases, the experience in the native TV apps is just awful. And no matter which Apple TV you buy, you're at least going to get a fluid experience.
6 - AirTag
AirTags are the sort of product you buy and, best case scenario, never have to use. That's kind of the opposite of every other product on this list, which makes them a little hard to judge, but I think they have real utility, are quite reliable, and in the rare instances I've relied on them, they've done great.
5 - Apple Watch
By the criteria of this list, I think there's an argument to be made that the Apple Watch should be one position higher, but I just can't put it any higher than this. I think the Apple Watch is fantastic, and while it's not as exciting as it used to be, it's a product that is exceptionally popular among a wide swath of people. Some people buy it for the fitness tracking. Some people buy it for the notifications. Others buy it just because that's just what a watch is in 2025.
4 - iPhone
This is lower on the list than you expected, huh?
I've got the iPhone 17 Pro in my pocket now, and it's my daily driver. I'm in the envious position of being able to choose between this, an iPhone Air, a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and a Pixel 10, and for me, the best phone is the iPhone 17 Pro.
That said, I don't think it's as clean a sweep as it once was. The rest of the market has really caught up, and I'm a big fan of the Galaxy S25 Ultra myself, but other phones from Google, OnePlus, and a few Chinese manufacturers are pushing further than Apple in ways that I think real people actually like. I do think that Apple makes the best all-around phone, and they sweat the details on several things that other companies don't, but I would not feel bad at all about recommending someone buy a Galaxy or Pixel phone either. In fact, if they're already using an Android phone and are happy with it, those might be better options for them.
To be clear, the iPhone is still great, and I still think it is the best phone for most people, but the gap is not what it once was.
3 - Mac
I think if you're looking for a laptop computer, then the Mac is unquestionably the best product on the market today. When you look at the combination of build quality, performance, and even price, I simply don't think anything else can match it. Even if you're someone who's used Windows your entire life, I would still suggest you look at a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro before committing to another Windows computer.
Oh, and if you just like macOS more than Windows, there's never been a better time to be a Mac fan. We're eating good in the Apple silicon era.
That said, I can't ignore desktop computers, which, while I think Apple satisfies most people's needs with the Mac Mini and Mac Studio, there are higher-end needs as well as the entire gaming market that are underserved or completely unserved by Apple's offerings. The Mac is still outrageously good, but I do think if you're looking for a desktop computer, or a convertible computer for that matter, I do have a few questions to ask you before wholeheartedly endorsing a Mac.
2 - AirPods
AirPods, on the other hand, are for everyone, as long as they want wireless earbuds. They're the default choice for iPhone users, and I know numerous Android phone users who buy AirPods because they're, "obviously the best." There's not much more to say. The AirPods Pro especially are beloved, and I know that if you, dear reader, had your AirPods fall into the garbage disposal and get shredded into a million little pieces, within five minutes you'd be putting in a pickup order to get a new pair today.
1 - iPad
Well, well, well, what do we have here? The guy who is frustrated by the iPad puts the iPad at number one!
Well, if we look at the criteria, which is mainly on whether Apple makes the best product in a category, I don't think there's a single product on this list that Apple leads more comprehensively in than the iPad. The product simply dominates the tablet market, a market that many companies have tried to compete in and simply haven't come close. Whether it being developer support or user adoption, the iPad is leaving the competition completely in the dust.
No, it's not a good full-time computer for most adults, but it serves so many use cases nicely. Whether you have a Mac, a Windows computer, an iPhone, or an Android phone, it doesn't matter. Having an iPad around is nice, and if given the choice between an iPad and any other tablet on the market, there's absolutely no question you're getting the iPad.
In a way, I think this is both a compliment and an insult to the iPad. It's obviously a compliment if I think it's number one on this list because it absolutely demolishes the competition. However, the only reason it does that is because I'm considering the competition to be cheap Amazon Fire tablets and whatever Samsung and Google are trying these days to make work with software that simply was never meant to run in a tablet form factor. I'm not considering this in the same category as a Mac or a Windows computer or even a Microsoft Surface.
So that's that! I'd love to hear if you agree or disagree with me. If you disagree, the best way to respond would be with a blog post of your own! Tell me what I got wrong!
