These are Apple's 3 best inventions since the iPhone

Apple Pay was designed to make paying for goods easier, faster, and more secure.

Plastic credit cards, according to Apple, are outdated and vulnerable. A credit card can be stolen, and its important numbers and security codes are exposed by default.

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Apple Pay offers a more elegant and secure way to pay for goods.

A quick double-tap on your iPhone or Apple Watch summons your favorite payment method — a credit card, debit card, gift card, you name it — and you just touch your device to a merchant's NFC panel to complete the purchase. That's it. All the identifying information on your card is kept private and secure from merchants, but also from Apple.

Apple Pay is how paying for goods should feel: effortless. Thankfully, it's expanding to more countries and more public transit systems, which should make the process of using public transportation even more fluid. And Apple Pay will soon support Apple's first-ever credit card, the Apple Card, which is a game-changer in itself.

Apple debuted AirPods almost three years ago — and in the process, Apple created an all-new product category where others would struggle for years to catch up.

In 2019, there are still no wireless earbuds quite as good or user-friendly as AirPods, despite the number of facsimiles out there. To be frank, everything else out there is simply an "AirPods alternative," but there's really no substitute.

AirPods work effortlessly. There are no buttons or physical controls; you just take them out of their case, put them in your ears, and press play on your music. They sync to your device instantly.

Read more: One of my favorite new Apple accessories is this $30 leather case for my AirPods

They feel futuristic to use, too. If you take one earbud out, your music pauses automatically. Put it back in, and your music resumes.

Even the case — a perfectly smooth, white container, like the most modern dental floss you've ever seen — is beautiful to look at and hold.

Some people complain about how AirPods sound, but I think the volume and quality are great. They're perfect for warm weather, since they don't make your ears sweat, but they're excellent year-round. I use them to listen to music, take calls, and even play my Nintendo Switch without bothering others (thanks to the excellent Genki accessory).

AirPods have become iconic, like Apple's wired earbuds before them. No other Bluetooth earbuds look like these. But there's also nothing else that comes close to the quality, ease of use, and design of simply using AirPods on a daily basis. They are the best headphones ever made.

The Apple Watch, Apple Pay, and AirPods will continue to improve year after year — same goes for Apple's other prominent devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers.

But Apple has even more projects in the works, like its rumored smartglasses, or its self-driving car plans. Apple has billions of dollars and immense cultural influence at its disposal; it will be interesting to see what it decides to innovate next.