A Seemingly Mundane Visit to the Apple Store — Random Thoughts

It’s been quite a while since I visited an Apple Store. Last I went for a quick stop after work since I was working at my downtown offices.

There are soooo many iPad models to choose from! Too many? The 12.9-inch iPad Pro screen is unbelievably gorgeous!! I wish it would come to the 11-inch version. Maybe next year?

Of all the iPad models that I looked at, Stage Manager is not enabled. So what’s up, Apple, with that? Isn’t the Stage Manager good enough for the showroom?

I wish I had bought the Studio Display with the articulated arm. Expensive but give the most flexibility. Too bad it’s not possible to replace the monitor’s stand.

I tested the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air and tried to imagine what a 15-inch version would be. Not an easy thing to do. Speaking of MacBook, when I looked around on the MacBook table, they all look about the same; only the thickness makes it look slightly different, oh and the “colors”.

I love the latest version of the iPhone display stands. Less dangling wires. Easy to grab and put back in place.

In the previous image, I am holding the iPhone 14 Pro Max. I was still testing the device’s overall size. This is my next. I mean, the 15 Pro Max (Ultra?).

It was the day Apple released their FY2023 Q2 results. The store was unusually quiet. The illuminated decorations on the walls are getting old. I never really liked them.

I’m out after having spent twenty minutes there.

Who’s actually using Apple’s Quick Notes feature? I never do because I always forget about its existence. It’s probably because it’s not useful or because it is tied to Apple’s Notes.

Arm-based notebooks will gain share over Intel and AMD, almost doubling their shipment share to 25% by 2027 from 14% today.

Arm-based PC SoCs are highly customizable. Unlike x86 CPUs, which are designed to be general-purpose processors, Arm-based SoCs can be tailored to specific use cases. This means that SoCs can be designed with a greater number of high-performance CPU cores and highly integrated memory, enabling them to compete with x86 CPUs

Arm-based SoCs offer several advantages over x86 CPUs, including lower power consumption and improved thermal efficiency. Additionally, their integrated AI-feature cores make them superior to x86 CPUs.

Source: Arm-based PCs to Nearly Double Market Share by 2027

One question: how is Intel going to fight back against ARM? Is this even possible without starting over? ARM advances are, simply put: massive.

Apple Entering the Journal App Landscape Soon? Hell Yeah, Count Me In!

As reported by the Wall Street Journal (since it’s paywalled, look at MacRumors report instead), Apple is supposedly working on its own journaling application. Code named « Jurassic », many interesting details are emerging from this report.

As an avid user of Dayone (read « Documenting My Numeric Life With Dayone »). , I find the prospect of having Apple entering the journaling apps landscape quite exciting. The idea of using journaling to help users with mental health issues is pretty clever. There is so much information available on our devices from which, I guess, we can infer some mental states. I’m guessing machine learning can be of some tremendous help here. Coupled with Apple’s stance on privacy, this provides a potentially very compelling story for a lot of people. Me included. Yet, some people could find this move to be crossing a line that is not acceptable for them. We will see.

The WSJ story is referring to very specific detailed aspects of the rumoured app. For example, journaling suggestions would be based on call history and iMessage conversations, and be ephemeral. After four week they would vanish from suggestions. I’m guessing this would help automate some aspects of daily journaling.

I asked this question to ChatGPT: « _Is the young generation into journal as much as older generations? _». Here is what it has to say:

_ There is no definitive answer to this question, as attitudes towards journaling can vary widely among individuals of all ages. However, some studies suggest that younger generations may be more likely to engage in forms of expressive writing such as blogging or social media updates, which could be seen as a form of journaling._

The debate might still be out if the youngsters generation is very into the writing journey, but having some part of the journaling automated would alleviate some rebarbative aspects of maintaining a journal.

Can you imagine having the journal app assembling photos, messages, phone calls, geo locations into pre populated journaling suggestions? Wow. I’m really looking forward into that one.

iPhone 15 Pro ‘Action’ Button to Replace Role of Volume Buttons When Performing a Power Off/Force Restart

the leaker also claimed that the “Action” button will replace the volume up button for taking photos in the Camera app, with force-sensitivity enabling a light press to auto-focus the camera, a hard press to take a picture, and a hard/long press to record video.

Ok, this is a rumour, but it’s an interesting one. If Apple does this, it would bring the iPhone 15 Pro / Max closer to traditional camera behaviour. Coupled with the upgraded cameras and possible addition of the periscope lens, Apple seems geared to make the next iPhone iteration another potential winner.

Going on vacation for a week. Leaving my MacBook Air behind, but bringing my iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard with me. It’s the only time that I use the iPad Pro with its Magic Keyboard since getting my MBA in 2021, otherwise, it’s my MacBook Air while at home.

Image by Dall-E

I’m late in my readings. I’m not sure what to think of this weird take about the iPad and Mac future from Jason Snell.

The key to the Mac’s survival isn’t a new Air–it’s the next iPad Pro

Would it be such a cataclysm if I could simply reboot that iPad into macOS or run macOS inside a virtual machine?

Yes, it would be. What a weird idea. I’m nearly baffled by this article. How many of these ideas and requests are age-dependent? How does the younger generation view those perceived limitations of the iPad or the Mac?

For us who have experienced both computing paradigms, it is tempting to ask for one paradigm to borrow some of the other paradigm traits. Does it make them better? I’m resigned and unexcited to the prospect of getting the touch screen trait on the Mac, but having to reboot an iPad to get the Mac experience is ludicrous, IMO.

Even if Apple releases a HomePod with a screen in a form of a “iPad-like” device, I don’t see them beating Nixplay digital photo frames anythine soon. I recently got one for my home office and I’m really impressed with this very focused product. From the unboxing, to the frame setup and to the moment of my first uploaded photos started displaying on it, it was a great user experience. Very Apple-like.