{"id":268779,"date":"2026-06-09T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/i-repurposed-4-old-apple-devices-and-now-they-all-do-something-useful-in-my-home\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T18:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:25:10","slug":"i-repurposed-4-old-apple-devices-and-now-they-all-do-something-useful-in-my-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/i-repurposed-4-old-apple-devices-and-now-they-all-do-something-useful-in-my-home\/","title":{"rendered":"I repurposed 4 old Apple devices, and now they all do something useful in my home"},"content":{"rendered":"

I repurposed 4 old Apple devices, and now they all do something useful in my home<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.makeuseof.com\/repurposed-4-old-apple-devices\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-06-09 18:00:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.makeuseof.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Apple hardware tends to stick around. The build quality is good enough that these devices don’t break \u2014 they just get slower, lose software support, and eventually end up in a desk drawer because something newer replaced them. I had four of them in exactly that situation: a first-gen iPad Pro, a 9th-generation iPad, a 7th-gen iPod Touch, and a 2017 MacBook Air. All functional. All ignored. <\/p>\n

Rather than sell them for whatever eBay or Facebook Marketplace would offer \u2014 which isn’t much once the scratches and years of use are factored in \u2014 I found specific jobs for each one. Every device is still in active daily or weekly use, doing something genuinely useful. Here’s what each one does now.<\/p>\n

\n iPad Pro (1st gen) \u2014 portable second display and smart home hub
\n <\/h2>\n

\n Two jobs, one screen
\n <\/h3>\n

This 12.9-inch iPad does two completely different jobs depending on where I am. When I’m traveling with my MacBook Pro, it comes along as a secondary display via Sidecar. Wired beats wireless here \u2014 the connection stays solid, and the cable charges the iPad while it’s in use. The screen size is the real advantage \u2014 12.9 inches gives enough room to keep reference documents open, monitor communications, or sit in a video call while actually working on the laptop. At home, it lives on the kitchen counter as a dedicated smart home control panel. <\/p>\n

The Alexa app runs permanently on the main screen, with device groups organized by room and zone. Ring cameras pull up fast. The myQ integration means garage door status is always visible \u2014 no more second-guessing at bedtime. Three HVAC zones sound manageable until you’re trying to adjust them from separate…<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I repurposed 4 old Apple devices, and now they all do something useful in my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":268780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static0.makeuseofimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/wm\/2025\/10\/ipad-pro-macbook-pro-and-iphone-15-pro-max-stacked-on-top.jpeg?w=1600&h=900&fit=crop","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[50,51],"class_list":["post-268779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-macintosh","tag-macbook-air","tag-macbook-pro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268781,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268779\/revisions\/268781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}