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Found a great place for my Tidbyt.
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Back in the nineties, I tried drawing a few things, like this Apple's Newton MessagePad. Not bad, hen!?
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Nobody Cares Apple Missed Their Apple Silicon Timeline birchtree.me
Matt is right, we don’t care. I don’t care. The big enigma, though, is the Mac Pro. What is it going to look like?
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Eyeing the Rumoured 15-Inch MacBook Air
Apple’s rumored 15-inch āMacBook Airā is expected to feature the same general design as the 13-inch āMacBook Airā that was released in 2022 with flat edges, a large Force Touch trackpad, a keyboard with function keys, and more. It will also likely include a MagSafe charging port, upgraded speaker system, and a 1080p camera. Source: 15.5-Inch MacBook Air Expected to Launch in Spring 2023 - MacRumors This year, as an M1 MacBook Air owner, I decided to skip the M2 MacBook Air. Continue reading ā
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On Rumours of Apple Working on Its App Stores Overhaul
Bloomberg: Apple to Allow Outside App Stores in Overhaul Spurred by EU Laws. Boom. If true, itās massive. I can imagine Apple's engineering efforts to make it happen for WWDC 2023. I wrote earlier this year that I changed my mind about sideloading apps on the iPhone. I still stand with my change of heart. I expect the iPhone experience to suffer with increased complexity for ordinary users. Not by much, but somehow, things will have to change to accommodate new workflows. Continue reading ā
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On Apple's Freeform and Tools Palettes
Freeform, the visual and collaborative application from Apple, is finally out for the iPad, the Mac andā¦ I spent some time with it on the iPad and found it enjoyable and deceptively minimalistic. On the Mac, once updated to Ventura 13.1, Freeform can be used to continue working on the content, albeit with a different set of tools, since there is no Apple Pencil support over there. One question is, why is the tools palette on the iPad different from the one with Apple Notes? Continue reading ā
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Isnāt that weird that we need to jump to an external website to enjoy the 2022 Replay? Why not have it within Music.app itself? š¤
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The Most Divisive Mac Pro Is a Thing of Beauty
This week, a new Mac joined the family. The 2013 Mac Pro. I always dreamed of owning one. Itās probably one of the most singular Macs Apple has ever designed. Yes, it has limited expansion. Yes, it is not the Pro Mac that the pros wanted back in 2013. Yes, you need to unplug everything from the machine to open it up. Itās borderline baffling. But this hardware piece, just like the monolith in the 2001 Space Odyssey movie, seems to come from an alien planet, far from earth. Continue reading ā
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Clear Thoughts on a Confusing iPad Lineup
There we have it, a new iPad, a new iPad Pro, joining a growing and more confusing iPad lineup than ever. I wonāt repeat the best comments from MacStories (āApple Announces Strange New iPad and iPad Pro Lineupā) and Six Colors (āThe iPadās erratic odyssey continuesā). How are this weekās announcements influencing my buying decisions? Iām currently using a 2018 11-inches iPad Pro. Going to the 2022 M2 iPad Pro would be a significant step, at least from a processing power perspective. Continue reading ā
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When the iPad Is No Longer a Novel Device
As I write this, rumours are pointing to an imminent release of some updated iPads today. What is novel this time is not the CPU to be used, the screen attributes, or the long-awaited app called Freeform. What is novel is the fact that there wonāt be an Apple event for the announcement but a few well-crafted press releases. Apple judges the updates as not worth tech punditsā time, flight to Cupertino, or even a secret press briefing. Continue reading ā
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The Waiting Game
In case you didnāt know, Iām a big fan of Apple (from the corporation, the products to the companyās history). Hereās a little secret: I maintain a document of possible upgrade paths for all my current Apple products. Itās fun. Yes, Iām a bit crazy. Each year, during the fall, Apple releases a slew of new products. Each year, I spend some time updating my document to reflect my analysis of possible product upgrades. Continue reading ā
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On the Dynamic Island Inception and Possible Future
A recent Twitter thread about the possible iPhone Dynamic Island inception by Matt Birchler caught my attention a few days ago but couldn’t find the required time to write my take. How long could Dynamic Island have been in gestation at Apple? A few weeks, a few months? I think this has been in the works for quite some time. Besides the visual appearance, the API goes with it and needs a design period too. Continue reading ā
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Press Releases it will be ā Next Round of Apple Products Releases
The way I see it, there is nothing in an updated MacBook Pro line with M2 processors and a tweaked iPad Pro line to warrant a keynote. There has to be something special, really special. iPadOS 16.1, macOS Ventura aren’t enough. The rumoured Mac Pro? Maybe, but no signals on its imminent release either. An updated Apple TV hardware? Nah. A larger MacBook Air (like 15")? Why now? That is why I agree with Gurman’s view and the next product release will go through a set of press releases later in October. Continue reading ā
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Let Apple Fix All Bugs, Will Ya?
MacRumors in iPhone 14 Pro Owners Complain of ‘Slow’ Camera App - MacRumors: Affected users are seeing the Camera app take four to five seconds to activate after the Camera app icon is tapped, with the problem occurring after the camera has been opened once already. Coupled with other issues related to the camera and AirDrop, even though I’ll probably upgrade to the 14 Pro Max, I’ll gladly wait a few months before taking the plunge. Continue reading ā
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On iPhone Internal Design - as Important as the External Design
iFixit writing about the internal redesign of the iPhone 14 in “The iPhone 14 Feature Apple Didnāt Tell You About”: This is the most substantial iPhone redesign since the X. Itās hard to understate how big a change this is. For a reference point, Samsung hasnāt changed their phone architecture since 2015. So, with the biggest update in years, weāre upgrading the iPhone 14 to a repairability score of 7 out of 10. Continue reading ā
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The more I think about it...
The more I look at reviews, watch YouTube videos and visit Apple.com, the more I realize that considering my current hardware setup, there aren’t many reasons to upgrade to the iPhone 14 Pro (currently with 13 Pro), the Apple Series 8 (currently with Series 6) or the AirPods Pro 2 (currently the original Pro version). The Apple Watch Ultra could be a reason, but I’m not the target customer for that one. Continue reading ā
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The Unexpected Pain That Comes With Lock Screen Customization
So, Iāve been testing iOS 16 since its early beta stage, and I love it so much. One of the best features is the customizable Lock Screen. But it also creates an issue, the same with Apple Watch watch faces: how to decide which widgets to use and place in those limited slots. There are more and more widgets available each day, but the space is so constrained. I cannot find a strategy to create a Lock Screen that Iām fully satisfied with. Continue reading ā
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What's Hot in Italy? Android or iPhone? My Observations
Here’s an interesting post by Gruber about Android vs iPhone’s relative popularity in different places around the world. I have some observations to share from my experience. After spending three weeks in Italy for vacation, from what I could see, there was a lot of iPhone around me independently of the place I visited. Sure I saw many Android phone users too. But a majority were iPhone users. Regarding Android’s relative popularity in Germany and France, I would consider the possibility of an aversion for what Apple represents (an “American icon”) in those countries as a partial explanation. Continue reading ā
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Away from Apple's Far out event
Next week, Apple will release a bunch of new iPhone and Apple Watch. I think it’s the first time I feel so detached from this media event. I’ll still be in Italy on vacation. The “Far out” event will happen at 19:00 local time. I’m not sure I’ll be able to watch the keynote live since I’ll probably be having dinner or visiting a village. I don’t want to impose a stay at the apartment for that. Continue reading ā
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M2 MacBook Air ā Not Going To Happen
I paid a quick visit to the Apple Store yesterday to get a pack of AirTags and give another look at the M2 MacBook Air, especially the Midnight colour version. In principle, this colour is gorgeous, but in practice, I donāt think I would go with this colour if I were to upgrade to the M2 MacBook Air. Itās really a fingerprints magnet. I know my fingers can be āoilyā at times, which would be even worse than in this picture. Continue reading ā