I've been in Apple's ecosystem (MacBook Pro + iPhone 11 + AirPod Pro) for 2.5 years. The harmony between the devices is just fantastic. Even after all these months I discover a nifty little feature that's super useful. The latest is copy/paste works across devices. Once discovered I began using it more often.
Apple epitomises the power of compounding. The level of deep integration they have built across and within devices (their own CPU, OS, and app etc.,) is impressive to say the least.
To pick another example; I just can't use any web browser other than Safari because of things like touch-ID enabled password store; privacy relay, hide my email and they keep piling on such thoughtful features once or twice a year. To an extent I'm now contemplating migrating from Fastmail (have my own domain) to Apple Mail.
I use 1Password, so I get touch ID-enabled logins in any browser. Works pretty well.
I'm also a Fastmail user, but I (a long time Apple product user) don't have the impression of their services being quite as solid as some of the others, so I wouldn't switch my mail over yet. Plus, Fastmail has some other features I like (easy to set up aliases, including their new "masked email" feature, which integrates with 1Password).
All of that said, I've been all-in on Apple stuff for a number of years for exactly the reason you cite. There's a lot of good stuff that works well together. Like getting a security code via SMS and having Safari (on the iPhone) offer that as an autofill option.
Yeah I've noticed similar things, really thoughtful, not just "Apple VPN" but real thought in the process. And tons of things that you effectively can't market, that went into the integrity of the T2 security chip, if you dig really deep it's really really good.
That good, huh? Better than Fastmail?
I'm asking because I'm now prioritizing digital subscriptions. It's just such good ROI, it's a unique kind of product that goes for subscriptions. Not so much into products as services. The really good services all require subscriptions, and can justify their cost easily.
Apparently subscriptions transform businesses at an "technology of business" to say it one way, at that level. Like it looks much better on their balance sheet to have subscriptions, and for good reason. But it's deeper than that.
I suppose feature wise Fastmail is slightly better. Just that I need to pay about 8$/e-mail/month and it's free part of iCloud subscription. Plus, more convenient to manage from one place. But on the downside; it leads to single point of failure so I'm still weighing that decision.
Apple epitomises the power of compounding. The level of deep integration they have built across and within devices (their own CPU, OS, and app etc.,) is impressive to say the least.
To pick another example; I just can't use any web browser other than Safari because of things like touch-ID enabled password store; privacy relay, hide my email and they keep piling on such thoughtful features once or twice a year. To an extent I'm now contemplating migrating from Fastmail (have my own domain) to Apple Mail.