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Mac Hardware and Software |OT| - All things Macintosh

T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
jts said:
Updated Mac Mini with Thunderbolt 3 would be sensational.

But alas.
Click to expand...
They have such a great opportunity to make the perfect Mac mini now that optical drives are gone and flash storage is huge. They could release a smaller streamlined all flash Mac mini with the same ports as the new iMacs have. I guess it's a price thing. They would have a hard time keeping a $500 model (If they want to. Remember the last $500 model was a hugely underpowered hunk of junk compared to its more expensive brethren. Same thing was done with the iMac at the time.) with all flash without making the baseline 64-128GB at most.

The last shitty update was the reason I got an iMac instead. And I love it. Except fucking hard drives are so painfully slow. (It was a refurb so I had no choice)
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
The Real Abed said:
They have such a great opportunity to make the perfect Mac mini now that optical drives are gone and flash storage is huge. They could release a smaller streamlined all flash Mac mini with the same ports as the new iMacs have. I guess it's a price thing. They would have a hard time keeping a $500 model (If they want to. Remember the last $500 model was a hugely underpowered hunk of junk compared to its more expensive brethren. Same thing was done with the iMac at the time.) with all flash without making the baseline 64-128GB at most.

The last shitty update was the reason I got an iMac instead. And I love it. Except fucking hard drives are so painfully slow. (It was a refurb so I had no choice)
Click to expand...

I was doing all my design work on a 2011 Mac Mini with an SSD and 16GB of RAM for a while. They are remarkably beastly machines when needed, even without the quad-core processors. They're also a cool niche hobbyist computer (or were, before they got locked down.)

But I think it's also fair to say that the Mac mini was never a major seller, and I'm not sure its original use case of "switcher Mac" has any real validity in a world of laptops and tablets. People were using it as rack servers and A/V switchers and media servers more than these pedestrian uses.
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
Deku Tree said:
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2017/06/06/homepod-claim-chowder

Mark Gurman and Alex Webb: " Apple’s speaker won’t include such a screen, according to people who have seen the product. "

But "HomePod has a touchscreen on top."


I wonder who gave Gurman and Webb bad info?
Click to expand...
Ugh DF. HomePod doesn't have a touchscreen like the new Amazon Echo. It has a 'touchpanel' as Kou said. All three are right (blind men touching an elephant is the nature of most leaks). Gross nitpicking by Gruber to claim chowder here
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
D

Deku Tree

Member
Blackhead said:
lol at Gruber trying to giving Tim Cook credit for double down on secrecy. Look at Apple's iOS 11 preview page and what was there to leak? Most of the iPad and UI refresh stuff was expected ages ago. Besides that the biggest new thing there, Apple Pay person to person, was leaked by Recode back in April. Gruber still a hack
Click to expand...

Well Gruber is right that Gurman had a very strong leak about the AirPods 9 months before they launched with a lot of good details including the name.

Gurman's "inside info" about the HomePods was pretty weak and inconsequential compared to what Kuo had already reported a week earlier.
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
Deku Tree said:
Well Gruber is right that Gurman had a very strong leak about the AirPods 9 months before they launched with a lot of good details including the name.

Gurman's "inside info" about the HomePods was pretty weak and inconsequential compared to what Kuo had already reported a week earlier.
Click to expand...

ok, I was more laughing at his praise of Tim Cook but even his criticism of Gruman is problematic. Look at his framing

800-word report for Bloomberg by Mark Gurman and Alex Webb on Apple's long-rumored Siri speaker product, with one sentence of actual news:

The iPhone-maker has started manufacturing a long-in-the-works Siri-controlled smart speaker, according to people familiar with the matter.​

Seriously, that's about it for news about the product.

Next sentence:

Apple could debut the speaker as soon as its annual developer conference in June, but the device will not be ready to ship until later in the year, the people said.​

The keynote is five days away and Gurman and Webb don't know if it's going to be announced.

The device will differ from Amazon.com Inc.'s Echo and Alphabet Inc.'s Google Home speakers by offering virtual surround sound technology and deep integration with Apple's product lineup, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss products that aren't yet public.​

The ”virtual surround sound" feature is arguably news, but there's not one word about what ”virtual surround sound" means. They could have at least linked to Wikipedia. And Ming-Chi Kuo had a report with details of the device's ”excellent acoustics performance (one woofer + seven tweeters)" a month ago.
Click to expand...

Everything Gruber quoted turned out to be technically correct news. Like I said earlier, leaks are like blind men describing an elephant. Kuo is coming from the supply chain, Gurman is coming from inside Apple sources. Kuo is leaking bottom level specs "one woofer + seven tweeters" while Gurman has an higher level marketing perspective "virtual surround sound" (you would think an Apple fan like Gruber wouldn't prefer specs but he's probably predisposed to Kuo because he described his leaks positively as excellent acoustics).

Gruber is also criticizing Gurman for not being sure if the HomePod would be announced (note Kuo's link only gave a >50% chance). However after the WWDC keynote it's easy to see why Gurman & sources might have been unsure about the announcement. Apple has manufactured only some models but not in quantity ― the device won't be released until December. None of the attendees were actually allowed to operate those working models (beyond listening for the sound quality in the show rooms). There's no third party developer SDK so Apple didn't even need to announce it this early. Moreover on Gruber's own Talk Show live after the WWDC event:
executives noted they wanted to keep the keynote down to two hours (because some people can't hold their bladder for more than two), but that wasn't possible with all the news they wanted to share.

Ultimately, the WWDC keynote lasted 2.5 hours after Apple cut a bunch of stuff out. Phil Schiller noted the first draft originally lasted 3.5 hours.
Click to expand...
It's quite possible that even five days before WWDC it wasn't confirmed that they would reveal the HomePod instead of cutting it out (the HomePod section starts around the 2 hour mark).

which isn't to say Gurman is perfect. He messed up this speculation:
Apple will also likely let third-party services build products for the speaker.
Click to expand...
but Gruber is a hack so he's crafting his own narrative
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
8byte said:
Does the new iMac refresh have expandable memory?

Shopping, but don't know if I should spring for 32 or 64GB.
Click to expand...

21" iMac ― no expandable memory
27" iMac ― user expandable memory
iMac Pro ― specialist expandable memory (appointment at Apple Store)
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
Popstar said:
Ars Technica has an article that mentions it. Although a bit different than what 8byte replied.



Also, I noticed that the 2015 high-end MacBook Pro 15" (2.5GHz w/Radeon M370X) is currently available in both the US and Canadian refurb stores if you want something cheaper and can do without some of the newer enhancements. I just bought one.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, that's something different. No longer soldering the RAM in the 4K ones does make them more attractive, even though I think slicing open and cracking off the screen of an iMac is beyond where I'd take my upgrade skills.

I imagine the same laborious process will work for the iMac Pro even if Apple doesn't offer an option, just because they look to be standard DIMMs.
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
Not sure what's the best thread to ask this, perhaps the iPhone or iPad might be better but I'm looking for an charging dock station for multiple devices. Like a power strip but you now with lightening/usb port connectors instead. All I my search is turning up are inelegant racks for schools. Any beautiful solutions? And if there's a spot to place an Apple Watch, even better
 
Z

Zeyphersan

Banned
Blackhead said:
Not sure what's the best thread to ask this, perhaps the iPhone or iPad might be better but I'm looking for an charging dock station for multiple devices. Like a power strip but you now with lightening/usb port connectors instead. All I my search is turning up are inelegant racks for schools. Any beautiful solutions? And if there's a spot to place an Apple Watch, even better
Click to expand...

Like a dock where everything has a place to sit?
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
It's weird that the iMac Pro needs a specialist to upgrade the RAM but the normal 27" is still upgradeable by the user. (Sign that the next update to the normal iMac 27" will remove this ability?) Especially since it costs $5000. For that price it should let you upgrade both the RAM and the Flash like the Mac Pro. Possibly even the GPU.
 
V

VPhys

Member
The Real Abed said:
It's weird that the iMac Pro needs a specialist to upgrade the RAM but the normal 27" is still upgradeable by the user. (Sign that the next update to the normal iMac 27" will remove this ability?) Especially since it costs $5000. For that price it should let you upgrade both the RAM and the Flash like the Mac Pro. Possibly even the GPU.
Click to expand...

It's probably because of space constraints. The pro has a completely different cooling system and thermals.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
The Real Abed said:
It's weird that the iMac Pro needs a specialist to upgrade the RAM but the normal 27" is still upgradeable by the user. (Sign that the next update to the normal iMac 27" will remove this ability?) Especially since it costs $5000. For that price it should let you upgrade both the RAM and the Flash like the Mac Pro. Possibly even the GPU.
Click to expand...

Seems like it might purely come down to the fact that in order to get the power in that case, they had to completely reflow the internals. The DIMMs are actually on opposite sides, woulda' needed two RAM hatches to even theoretically get at them.
 
Z

Zeyphersan

Banned
Keyboard on the 2017 feels different AGAIN. Less clacky, more mushy. Definitely makes less noise and you feel less impact on the bottoming out than my 2016. Same amount of travel. Secret third gen keyboard?
 
NOLA_Gaffer

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
So I downloaded Steam onto my MacBook Pro for the first time since purchasing it and I decided to try out Portal 2.

The game works great and I was able to toggle everything up to high and it ran beautifully--I wonder if Team Fortress 2 works just as well...it didn't run so hot on my 2010 iMac.

Frustratingly I don't have a mouse so I can't play it well and none of my controllers work either. I was under the impression the Wii U Pro Controller worked in OS X but that doesn't seem to be the case and my Switch Joycons work in OS X but there's no way to get the OS to see them as a singular controller instead of two separate ones.

Oh well, so much for that I guess.

Edit: Tried downloading World of Warcraft for shits and giggles....40GB? Okay no thanks.
 
M

Mr. Wonderful

Member
Zeyphersan said:
Keyboard on the 2017 feels different AGAIN. Less clacky, more mushy. Definitely makes less noise and you feel less impact on the bottoming out than my 2016. Same amount of travel. Secret third gen keyboard?
Click to expand...

This would be a big deal. I love the second gen keyboard, but it's still not quite 100% there.
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
So iOS 11 apparently supports native FLAC playback. Not sure if it also supports 24-bit resolution.

When viewed through the lens of the HomePod, it seems to me that Apple is suddenly interested in audio quality in order to make the HomePod shine. I think it's reasonable to expect that we will see iTunes start to offer album sales with either ALAC and/or some new high-resolution compression format (possibly for Apple Music streams).
 
Z

Zeyphersan

Banned
eyeball_kid said:
So iOS 11 apparently supports native FLAC playback. Not sure if it also supports 24-bit resolution.

When viewed through the lens of the HomePod, it seems to me that Apple is suddenly interested in audio quality in order to make the HomePod shine. I think it's reasonable to expect that we will see iTunes start to offer album sales with either ALAC and/or some new high-resolution compression format (possibly for Apple Music streams).
Click to expand...

I would love to stream/download ALAC from Apple Music. Or just offer some form of higher bitrate
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
eyeball_kid said:
So iOS 11 apparently supports native FLAC playback. Not sure if it also supports 24-bit resolution.

When viewed through the lens of the HomePod, it seems to me that Apple is suddenly interested in audio quality in order to make the HomePod shine. I think it's reasonable to expect that we will see iTunes start to offer album sales with either ALAC and/or some new high-resolution compression format (possibly for Apple Music streams).
Click to expand...
I still don't understand why Apple didn't turn ITunes plus into ALAC when they bumped the AAC bit rates. I would gladly pay 30 cents extra a song for the convenience of iTunes purchases.
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
Fuchsdh said:
I still don't understand why Apple didn't turn ITunes plus into ALAC when they bumped the AAC bit rates. I would gladly pay 30 cents extra a song for the convenience of iTunes purchases.
Click to expand...

I imagine they felt like, "Why bother, most of our customers are listening to these songs with earbuds or macbook speakers and wouldn't know the difference." But with the HomePod, they actually have a product that demands (one would hope) higher-quality source material.

But I agree with you, I might actually buy albums from the iTunes store if I got DRM-free lossless files.
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
Zeyphersan said:
Like a dock where everything has a place to sit?
Click to expand...

yes. something like all dock

AkEpnik.jpg
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
eyeball_kid said:
I imagine they felt like, "Why bother, most of our customers are listening to these songs with earbuds or macbook speakers and wouldn't know the difference." But with the HomePod, they actually have a product that demands (one would hope) higher-quality source material.

But I agree with you, I might actually buy albums from the iTunes store if I got DRM-free lossless files.
Click to expand...

It's basically the only reason I still buy CDs on occasion or get music through other means (Bandcamp, etc.) If they offered ALAC I'd be all over it like a cheap suit, since the convenience of having my purchases redownloadable at any time is really nice.
 
S

Shadowhelper

Banned
What do you guys think of getting a used 27 inch thunderbolt display? It's 6 years old at this point, and I also have a dell ultrasharp coming tomorrow that I can return. Would it be silly to get a thunderbolt over an ultrasharp at this point? The thunderbolt always wowed me in the apple stores, but the bezels are pretty big, and also would be a little concerned with how much life it would have left, although buyer says its been barely used at all.
 
D

Deku Tree

Member
Shadowhelper said:
What do you guys think of getting a used 27 inch thunderbolt display? It's 6 years old at this point, and I also have a dell ultrasharp coming tomorrow that I can return. Would it be silly to get a thunderbolt over an ultrasharp at this point? The thunderbolt always wowed me in the apple stores, but the bezels are pretty big, and also would be a little concerned with how much life it would have left, although buyer says its been barely used at all.
Click to expand...

Depends on the price TBH. The worst thing about the TB display is that it has USB 2.0 connectors if you want to use it as a USB hub. It also has speakers which is nice. The display itself was top notch when it came out. Now not so much. Hard to judge the life of the display, I don't know how to do that.
 
K

kennah

Member
Shadowhelper said:
What do you guys think of getting a used 27 inch thunderbolt display? It's 6 years old at this point, and I also have a dell ultrasharp coming tomorrow that I can return. Would it be silly to get a thunderbolt over an ultrasharp at this point? The thunderbolt always wowed me in the apple stores, but the bezels are pretty big, and also would be a little concerned with how much life it would have left, although buyer says its been barely used at all.
Click to expand...
Depends what you are paying for it.

For my money I’d rather have an acer xb271hu
or some other ips 120+hz monitor.
 
S

Shadowhelper

Banned
Deku Tree said:
Depends on the price TBH. The worst thing about the TB display is that it has USB 2.0 connectors if you want to use it as a USB hub. It also has speakers which is nice. Had to judge the life of the display, I don't know how to do that.
Click to expand...


kennah said:
Depends what you are paying for it.

For my money I'd rather have an acer xb271hu
or some other ips 120+hz monitor.
Click to expand...

I'll be paying £400 for it. The used market in UK and Europe is not like the US. Used goods in America are priced much more cheaply as it's a much more consumer society and people wanna get rid of stuff more. £400 for a mint condition one is the best price you can find for it, in this country. I could resell it for more, if it comes to that.

Is 120+hz useful if one won't be gaming? Will it make everthing seem smoother? I'll be driving the monitor with a mid 2012 mbp. And mostly just for work and some indie gaming, but for work use some resource intensive applications like unity and blender, and so far handles it all very well, still.

That acer seems like a great monitor, light too, only 5kg which is light for a LED 27 inch monitor. But it's quite expensive. Work are only offering to give me small or cheap TN monitors, nothing nice or conducive to a good workflow at all.
 
K

kennah

Member
120hz is more useful than when it is gaming. Makes the entire desktop experience smoother and more comfortable. Takes me back to the old CRT days.

The specific one I am recommending has gsync which makes it a little more expensive. But my perception is skewed by being in canada and it is still one of the cheaper 1440p ips 120hz 'onitors in the country
 
S

Shadowhelper

Banned
That acer monitor is over £600 here, that's far more than even a dell 4k ultrasharp. I just can't justify spending that much on a monitor, not that a Thunderbolt display is exactly a good price. For the market it is, but there's a massive premium being paid and also for the aluminum body and dock.

I am pretty sure I would just get it, and keep both monitors for a bit and just sell off the Thunderbolt display. As sexy as it is, the dells profile, tiny bezels, and a brand new matte screen, might make it actually look better than the Thunderbolt display. I've always wanted a tb display, but I guess it might be showing its age even in terms of the design.

I am just shocked as to how well my 2012 MBP is still going. Its still fast as ever, historically my laptops never even come close to lasting this long. I also bought a new TV, and speakers in 2012, and everything has broke down, even the magsafe charger for the MBP, but the MBP has always been going strong.

Also, Samsung Evo Harddrives fit in 2012 MBPs, I have been told. Has anyone swapped in a really fast SSD harddrive? When my MBP starts to really slow I will probably do that. I like to delay upgrading, as you get better prices and hardware.
 
C

CrudeDiatribe

Member
Shadowhelper said:
Also, Samsung Evo Harddrives fit in 2012 MBPs, I have been told. Has anyone swapped in a really fast SSD harddrive? When my MBP starts to really slow I will probably do that. I like to delay upgrading, as you get better prices and hardware.
Click to expand...

If you have a spinning HDD and you can afford an SSD you should do that upgrade ASAP. Night and day performance upgrade.

If you already have an SSD then there's not going to be a huge difference in speed, especially if you're already at the max bus speed for your Mac; in that case I would swap SSDs based on capacity needed/perceived or actual old-age issues for the SSD.
 
M

Melhisedek

Member
Guys how is battery with the new Macbook Pros ? I recall previous gen had some troubles there. I have a late 2011 which I love but I'm starting to have problems with charging port I believe and also battery is down the drain so I'm in the market for upgrade. Although I love mine (changed HD to SSD and upgraded RAM) no idea how long it will hold
 
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