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Appleās Big Moments (#apple #m1chip #intel #transitions)
I like this quote from Ken Segall:
“In 2005, Apple moved to Intel to gain equality. In 2020, itās moved away from Intel to gain superiority.”
I remember so well when Apple announced their move in 2005. It is a privilege to have witnessed all these big Appleās moments. Many interesting thoughts about these transformative transitions in this article. Must read.
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A fix is coming (#apple #M1macmini #bluetooth)
At long last, relief is in sight. My M1 Mac mini is not able to keep a stable Bluetooth connection with Appleās Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse. Itās very frustrating. While waiting for a permanent fix, Iām using a USB PC mouse, and I keep my Magic Keyboard connected via a USB-C to lightning cable connected on my LG Ultra Fine 4K monitor. What a messy experience for such a small performance wonder.
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Mac sales booming but the best is yet to come (#apple #m1mac #applesilicon)
Thanks to the small wonder, the M1 chip and the Apple silicon transition, Mac sales are booming. According to a recent IDC report, Mac sales are up by nearly 30% compared to the same period, a year ago. Apple’s market share increased globally by 1%, which is quite impressive for Apple.
My take: I have the feeling that we ain’t see nothing yet. As the work-from-home trend continues, with the rest of the MacBook Pro line still to transition to the M1 chip, a long-awaited redesiged iMac, 2021 could be a monster year for the Mac and Apple. And beyong 2021 and the pandemic? Ask Horace Dediu.
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On the original iPhone, back in 2007 (#apple #iPhone #blackberry)
Thirteen years already. Gosh, time flies. Steve Jobs announces the iPhone. One of his best presentation. I remember it so well. At that time, I was a huge user (and fan) of the Blackberry. After using a RIM two-way pager for a while, I upgraded to Blackberry with a bigger screen with a monochrome display. But, with the iPhone, I knew, deep within me, this would be a real game-changer. My feelings were the same as with the launch of the Macintosh. What I didn’t know, though, was how profound and long-lasting the iPhone-effect would be on the rest of the tech world. We still feel its effect these days. I had to wait until the iPhone 3GS, in 2009, to get my hands on one for my personal use. I was still using a Blackberry for the office. Yep, I had two smartphones with me all the time.
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Use case for multi-user support on iPad (#apple #ipadOS #iPad)
In his predictions for iPad in 2021, iPadInsight puts multi-user support on top of its list for iPadOS 15 without mentionning a real use case beyond the obvious. Let me explain.
Do we ask multi-user support on iPad because it is something we take for granted on “traditional” computers? Or is because there is a real use case for that feature, beyond the classroom or the conference room? Does the multi-user support solve the problem of your friend borrowing your iPad while keeping him or her from seeing your stuff?
Enabling multi-user support on the iPad has profound implications. How would the instant-on, instant-use experience be impacted by having multi-user enabled? Is the security enclave capable of holding more than one user FaceID? How iCloud Drive data be handled if users both have their data in icloud, the same way as on macOS? What about apps collections being different from one user to the other, how the iPad homescreen change upon logoff-logon? How fast? What kind of pressure does this feature put on the iPad system memory? Would this feature enabled on the Pro line only?
For me, the iPad is a personal device, just like the iPhone. Apple likes it this way, for their bottom line. That’s my guess.
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The port-less iPhone is coming (#apple #iPhone #rumours)
With patents like this, we can see clearly into Appleās vision for the future of the iPhone. Apple is committed to remove the Lightning port from its iPhone line. I don’t expect them to go through USB-C. This is Apple. By adding more ways to charge without contacts, Apple removes the friction points off the user experience in a world of port-less iPhone.
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Thoughts on Flash and the iPad (#apple #iPad #adobeflash)
I want to pick from this blog post from Initial Charge. I remember a small story when the iPad came out in 2010. After a few days of playing with it, I went to the office to show it to a few of my coworkers when I got my iPad. After a few minutes of demonstration, I got two remarks. One was about the lack of a USB port. The second was about the lack of support for Flash-enabled websites. On that one complaint, I remember arguing about the simple fact that moving your mouse cursor around would trigger some flash-based animations like making a button bigger or showing up a menu on many websites. There was no such thing as a āmouseoverā event on the iPad, so those websites that were dependant on this would break the interaction experience. At this very moment, I thought Adobe Flash was doomed. More than ten years to get rid of this crasp. That was long.
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So many questions lefts unanswered (#apple #iCloud #death #legacy)
In What to do about Apple devices and iCloud content when the owner dies from AppleInsider, there are so many unanswered questions. For example, are the requirements from Apple different from one country to another? Something critical when someone dies, having access to his or her smartphone with a PIN. Without it, the challenge is close to impossible to meet. That is one of the many requirements explained in A Guide for Preparing to Leave Your Numeric Legacy.
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Bluetooth issues is killing the M1 Mac mini wonder (#apple #applesilicon #m1ship)
Two times today, I had to restart my M1 Mac mini because of the bluetooth devices being unresponsive. macOS 11.1 came out late in December without a fix to this issue. My hope is that this can be fixed via a firmware update from Apple. I’m not alone. No fix in sight. Very frustrating. š¤¬
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Grading Apple's response to COVID-19 (#apple #covid19)
From Basic Apple Guy’s top 5 of 2020:āI appreciated the stewardship Apple has taken this year in balancing their product interests while also supporting the fight to respond to COVID-19.ā
Two things. First, Apple’s response to COVID-19 was and continue to be faultless. Some governments should take notes. Second, the closing-reopening-closing dance of their physical stores didn’t impact their bottom line, not in a significant way, apparently. In a way, Apple is not only making and selling products, they are the product, it’s not only how they look, it’s how they work.
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Microsoft + ARM: Why it took so long? (#microsoft #arm #surface #intel)
About Microsoft being Years Late to a Party They Tried to Start on iPadInsight:
āAccording to a recent Bloomberg report, Microsoft is finally getting into the custom silicon business. It looks like they are starting down this road primarily to aid their cloud and server business, but itās hard to believe they wouldnāt have future plans to bring these new ARM-based chips to their Surface Pro X and other future models, replacing Qualcommās SQ1 and 2 processors.ā
and
āThe $10,000 question is, why did Microsoft wait this long? Why did they bother messing around with Qualcomm to produce ARM chips for the Surface Pro X only to get mediocre results from a chip that still isnāt fine tuned to both the hardware and Windows 10? Those results were completely and totally predictable. They took the easy way out and the Surface Pro X, while a really slick looking device, isnāt going anywhere because of it. Who wants to pay more and still have to make compromises in both performance and compatibility?ā
Maybe Microsoft didnāt want to piss off Intel?
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Not the best way to build brand loyalty, @LGUS (#smarttv #airplay2)
According to an article from MacRumors, LG is rolling out a software update to its 2018 Smart TVs to enable AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support. I personally own a 2016 model and I donāt expect to receive such update anytime soon. As a software-only solution, I donāt see why they couldnāt make it happen for 2016 models too. When you think about Apple supporting iPhone models dating back to 2015 with iOS 14, we have to wonder whoās playing programmed obsolescence here. As someone whoās looking to upgrade its 2016 LG Smart TV to a 2020 model, which will support HDR, Dolby Atmos, AirPlay 2, HomeKit and have a 120 Hz refresh rate, I donāt appreciate LG approach to brand loyalty building.
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I don't care about the Apple Car (#apple #applecar #rumours)
According to Goldman Sachs, Apple doesn’t care about the car itself. I don’t care either. I’m fed up of these rumours. M.G. Siegler is fed up too according to a recent Medium article. Period. Enough. A car is the least personal product Apple could ever make. Apple’s products are about exhencing experience, life.
I can see Apple investing in in-car experience and selling it to cars manufacturers. But wait, there is a big gotcha: cars manufacturers doesn’t care about the user experience. Maybe Tesla, but that’s it. I cannot see them coming in drove to Apple to add the “Apple Experience” as an option anytime soon.
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A visual reference to the iPod in iOS 14.3? (#apple #ipodclassic #applehistory)
Someone on Twitter thinks iOS 14.3 mediaplayer control is a nod to the iPod Classic. I think this redesign was introduced in iOS 14.2. Up until now, it didnāt came to my mind the design was similar to the iPod Classic. Nonetheless, it a step up compared to the previous version both in design and features. As Gruber puts it, itās probably the best way to layout music controls on a small screen.
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The original iMac ā best of them all? (#apple #iMac #history)
When the original iMac came out, in 1998, a first tangible and public sign of Steve Jobs return at Apple, I was perplexed yet intrigued. It was so unique compared to everything else, just like for the original Mac, in 1984. There was a retro look to this machine that was seducing to me, especially when looking at it right in front of it. I never owned the iMac G3 and any of the following designs. I came back to the Mac in 2005 after a 10 years pause. This concludes the long series of ā20 Macs for 2020ā from SixColors.
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On Apple Fitness+ Launches (#apple #services #fitnetsplus)
Benjamin Mayo on Apple Fitness+ Launches
āThey did a good job with this. Itās not a deeply technical proposition but sometimes simple ideas and good execution are all you need. Fitness+ is high quality and well produced workout videos overlaid with live metrics readouts from a connected Watch. Straightforward, technologically trivial, but effective.ā
I started to use the service since day one. For now, I’m doing treadmill workouts ranging from 10 min to 30 min. I like the whole thing so far. The next thing I’d like to try is the dance workouts.
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Was this lab setup real? (#apple)
In 2020, we started to get a better peek at Apple’s labs, at least, this is what Apple wanted us to believe. My question: was this setup a real lab or was it entirely made up? I tend to think they were real. If that’s the case, in this particular image, can you spot a very old Macintosh?
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My current Applications folder on my M1 Mac, what is yours? (#apple #m1chip #applesilicon)
I’m mostly done with the re-installation of all my most used and mandatory apps on my Mac mini. To give you an idea of my apps collection, here is a screenshot of my applications folder. Most are universal apps or Apple Silicon only.
I’m curious, what is yours?
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I'm less and less using my Intel-based iMac. And that's ok. (#m1chip #applesilicon #apple)
As more and more applications get the universal binary treatment to support M1 Macs, my iMac usage outside of my daytime job has decreased significantly. The list of apps that I cannot use on my M1 Mac mini is shrinking every week. Itās a good sign. Things are moving faster than I initially thought. Yesterday, I decided to let go the weird idea of not installing Intel-only applications on my M1 Mac mini, and everything is really working just fine.
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What do you use as a shortcut menu utility on macOS? (#apple #macOS)
I’m currently writing a piece about the tools and services I use to help me be more efficient in my blogger workflow. Currently looking at Shortcut Bar - Instant Access on the Mac App Store. I had this utility in my list that I never bought but the features are exactly what I would like to get. Is there any alternatives to this utility? It’s a bit on the expansive side and is not yet updated for M1 Macs and Big Sur look and feel.
