My passion for Apple development is waning. Surface might hold the answer.

ℹ️ Opinion Disclaimer
The following written piece is only applicable for my personal projects for iOS and macOS. I will continue to work with my teams and employers on making great iOS apps, frameworks, and tools, no questions asked.

It's been quite some time since I realized I had a problem as an Apple developer. My passion for the platforms had been waning for a while, and recent events such as the EU now enforcing the Digital Markets Act and the Department of Justice's recent lawsuit against Apple for anticompetitive practices had accelerated it. During this time, I tried my best to divert attention away from Apple, focusing more on making content for the Playdate game console. I also set up some filters on my Mastodon account to hide most of the Apple content and commentary, hoping to get some extra space to process my thoughts as it were and answer the tough questions I've brought up before.

At the time of writing, I'm sitting on a train back to Wilmington from Baltimore, typing this while looking out into the night sky. However, the major plot twist is that I'm not using my MacBook or my iPad to write this all up. Rather, I'm using something quite different: a Surface Pro from Microsoft. This was never a situation I had predicted as an avid Apple developer of any sort, maybe even something from an alternate timeline. Yet, here I am, clacking away on chiclet keys with Microsoft's bespoke font.

In a way, this feels surreal. I had loved using Apple's products and developing them for so long, I thought we were inseparable. But at the same time, I've somehow reached into my childhood dreams and accomplished something that pre-Apple me would have enjoyed. Something that current me is having some difficulty really processing.

Despite the oddities of the situation, I do think there's a silver lining here. I bought this Surface Pro to supersede the NucBox I had bought weeks prior, allowing me to watch videos in bed, play Minecraft wherever I wanted, and have a performant machine to continue Playdate development with (WSL takes a lot 😂). However, this has evolved into becoming my daily driver for almost two weeks now, effectively replacing both my MacBook Pro and my iPad. There's something about the versatility of this device that just syncs with me, even if I still think that iPads shouldn't run macOS.

Likewise, this brings up a bigger point: perhaps the answer I seek is diversifying my tech. I have been in the Apple ecosystem for so long that it has become a point of digital minimalism. I didn't need anything else from other vendors, as Apple had a solution for everything. Yet I realize that this may have been the movement that allowed me to be in a vulnerable state. The digital minimalist route through Apple, while pleasant, was an over-optimization, and now I'm feeling the effects.

I've still got a way to go in my journey; some doors have opened, others closed. There are many branching paths that lie ahead, and I don't know if I'll ever reach a destination. But I think buying and using this Surface device has allowed me to take a step further and allowing me to set up better guardrails. It's letting me de-emphasize optimization in the device landscape while, in a way, optimizing overall device count. It's letting me focus on myself and what I need versus what Apple needs.

Over time, I may not enjoy the Windows experience as much as macOS. I will run into typical Windows problems and question the things the Microsoft of today is doing (Start menu ads, anyone?). I've already run into small quirks with the Surface that, while insignificant, can get pretty annoying. Despite this, it's an opportunity to grow and expand, to explore and rediscover, to reflect and re-enjoy computing as a whole. And I'm all for it.