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What's in my Bag - My Everyday Carry

2021-05-09 · Tech review, setup or bag tour · Ali, Ali Abdaal (channel) · recording, 6:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Demonstration and walkthrough

Ali tours his 2021 everyday-carry bag, the Thule Vea backpack: an M1 MacBook Pro and a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil, cables and pens, a new Leica Q2, a Bellroy wallet and an AirTag on his keys, the Surface Headphones 2 he now prefers to the AirPods Max, an Apogee HypeMic for podcasts on the go, an iPhone 11 Pro Max he has not upgraded, AirPods Pro and an Apple Watch he uses mostly for Apple Pay.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Intro: the long-requested what's in my bag tour for 2021

00:00:31 — The Thule Vea bag and its main compartment: MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, cable pouch, pens, nail clipper

  • ★★ Ali has had the Thule Vea 24-litre backpack, which Thule sent him around 2017 or 2018, for about three years; he uses it every day and absolutely loves it. — 00:00:31
  • ★★ Ali's everyday laptop is the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro, fully specced with the maximum SSD and the maximum RAM. — 00:00:56 · MacBook
  • ★★ Ali carries last year's (2020) 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil for handwritten notes and diagrams, but not the Magic Keyboard: the M1 MacBook Pro is so good he almost never needs to type on the iPad. — 00:00:56 · iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, MacBook
  • ★★ Ali's Mophie cable pouch, holding USB-C to USB-C, Lightning to USB-C and USB-A to Lightning cables, cost about 50 pounds or $60 from Apple; he calls it ridiculously expensive but keeps it in his bag in case he needs any cable. — 00:01:36 · Apple
  • ★ Ali carries three pens: the Uni-ball Air Micro and the Uni-ball Air, two of his favourite pens, and a Pilot ballpoint in a random colour for highlighting. — 00:01:36
  • ★ Ali keeps a nail clipper in his bag because he tends to notice his nails are long only when he is out typing and his typing speed slows down. — 00:02:05

00:02:34 — The front pocket: Leica Q2, Bellroy wallet, Ugmonk mask, keys with an AirTag

  • ★★ The Leica Q2, a new addition to his bag that he has used for the last few days to photograph everything, is now Ali's go-to photography camera; he had to buy it himself. — 00:02:34
  • ★★ Ali never needs to carry his Bellroy wallet in his pocket because he pays with Apple Pay on his Apple Watch; it stays in his bag with his organ donation card, Tesla keys, WeWork card and, recently, his COVID vaccine passport. — 00:02:56 · Apple Watch, Tesla
  • ★★ Ali keeps his keys in his bag with a new Apple AirTag in a red leather holder, so that if he loses them a sound can play and he can find them with Find My on his iPhone. — 00:03:25

00:03:39 — The separate compartment: Surface Headphones 2, Apogee HypeMic, Lululemon hoodie

  • ★★★ Ali's favourite noise-cancelling headphones these days are the Microsoft Surface Headphones 2, which he finds better than the QC 700s and the AirPods Max; he is not using the AirPods Max. — 00:03:54
  • ★★ The Apogee HypeMic, a portable microphone that plugs into his MacBook by USB-C, lets Ali record a podcast with amazing audio quality when he is out of the house. — 00:03:54 · MacBook
  • ★★ Ali thinks the Apogee HypeMic cost about $400 to $500, which he calls quite expensive. (hedged) — 00:03:54
  • ★★ Ali says the Apogee HypeMic is totally worth its price for the fantastic audio quality and for not having to lug around XLR cables. — 00:04:23

00:04:49 — The bottom pocket and the rest: RavPower charger, MX Master 3 mouse, deodorant, lip balms, perfume

  • ★ Ali almost never uses the Logitech MX Master 3 mouse in his bag; it is there for when he wants to play World of Warcraft on his MacBook away from home. — 00:05:18 · World of Warcraft, MacBook
  • ★★ Ali has not upgraded from the iPhone 11 Pro Max to the iPhone 12: the iPhone 11 is totally fine, and resetting Google Authenticator, online banking and the like is a nightmare. — 00:05:42 · iPhone
  • ★★ Ali calls his AirPods Pro great: they are with him, in his pocket or in his ears, basically everywhere he goes. — 00:05:42

00:05:53 — iPhone 11 Pro Max, AirPods Pro, Apple Watch Series 6; working from WeWork

  • ★★ Ali uses his Apple Watch Series 6 mostly only for Apple Pay, since it has little function beyond that; its occasional reminders to stand up and take a breath are useful as he tries to be more mindful. — 00:06:11
  • ★★ Recently Ali has been working from WeWork, a co-working space; he says this mention is not sponsored. — 00:06:11

00:06:41 — Pointer to his desk setup video and sign-off

In the description and comments

  • ★★ Answering a viewer who thought he never left his flat, Ali says he commutes to work these days. — creator comment
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked where he goes with his bag full of tech, the channel answers: co-working spaces and coffee shops. — creator comment
  • ★★ Asked where his Kindle Paperwhite is, Ali says it is always in his bedside table rather than in his bag. — creator comment · Kindle

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Apogee HypeMic · Microsoft Surface Headphones 2

Also: Organizations: Lululemon · Ugmonk · WeWork

Products: AirPods Max · AirPods Pro · Allure Homme · Apple AirTag · Apple M1 · Apple Pay · Apple Pencil · Apple Watch Series 6 · Bellroy Micro Sleeve · Bose QC 700 · iPad Pro · iPhone 11 Pro Max · Leica Q2 · Logitech MX Master · MacBook · Magic Keyboard · Mophie Cable Kit · RavPower 65W Charger · Thule Vea · Uni-ball Air · Uni-ball Air Micro · World of Warcraft

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