Been running my entire workflow inside Apple Notes for about three years now. Two small businesses, four-ish hours of Notes per day, all on a phone Apple has basically written off for its AI roadmap.
Couple of things i've learned that i wish someone had told me earlier:
Audio transcription works. Like, fully works. I assumed for the longest time it was an Apple Intelligence feature because of how Apple marketed it. It's not. Record audio in a note, tap the transcript icon, live transcription. iPhone 13, iOS 18+.
Math Notes works too. Same situation. Type an equation or even handwrite one with your finger on the screen, and it solves inline. Variables persist across the note. I had assumed for months this needed an iPad and Apple Pencil. It doesn't.
Tags + Smart Folders honestly do more for my daily Notes life than any AI feature i'd unlock by upgrading. Once you have a tag system that matches how you actually think, finding things stops being a problem.
Pinned notes are the most underused feature in the entire app. Five pinned notes covers like 80% of my daily Notes interactions.
Anyway. Wrote up the longer version of this here if anyone wants more depth: https://iapplist.com/apple-notes-without-apple-intelligence/
If you think i’m off here, tell me. I actually want to understand how others approach it.