Oh, sure. Every web site and app in the world uses Apple technologies. No one would ever use anything like Flash, for example, because it isn't supported by Apple.
Where have you been living for the past 3 decades?
Mockery aside, do you believe for a second that the number of websites covered in Flash ads today would be as low as it is had it not been for Apple five years ago?
Mockery aside, do you believe for a second that the number of websites covered in Flash ads today would be as low as it is had it not been for Apple five years ago?
No. But your statement that everyone will use technologies that Apple favors is absurd.
Does nobody else posting on here actually use their existing MBP to make a living with fairly demanding applications?
I use a BTO 2010 15" MBP for photography, 3D rendering, photo stitching and video editing. Much of which is used 'in the field', either freelancing in other agencies or on a shoot somewhere difficult to get to. Clients still want to take away copies of images or footage shot on location, and I'm damned if I'm going to cart around a bunch of 4Gb USB thumb drives to give away, when I can burn a DVDR for peanuts and give it to them… or burn a copy of the day's work to save my ass in case anything happens to my HD(s). If you can't redo a photoshoot then redundancy is essential… and I'd rather not carry around an external DVD burner as well as cables and an external FW800 HD…
I think there's still a demand for a Pro 15" model, with 16Gb RAM to keep up with 'heavy lifting' eg rendering; large PSDs/PSBs etc. I know Apple seem to be neglecting the pro market a bit these days, but you've gotta be living in cloud cuckoo land to think you can depend on just Wifi and iCloud; rather than Ethernet, FW800, a DVD burner, and perhaps a custom screen & GPU.
I may sound like an old greybeard, but it seems most of the kids posting on this thread don't seem to understand the need to push a laptop to the max in order to make a living… but some of us do. I think (hope!) Apple still realise there's a proportion of their users who need to derive their income with a powerful, fast, flexible portable laptop. It's niche, but not nada…
PS I had a 17" MBP years ago. Frickin' enormous, bulky and heavy… I was much happier to replace it with a BTO MBP with a higher res matte screen… none of that glossy screen for me if possible. Yeah, I paid more but I got a great, hi res screen, and a powerful GPU. So if it goes from the lineup I won't miss it…
PS I had a 17" MBP years ago. Frickin' enormous, bulky and heavy… I was much happier to replace it with a BTO MBP with a higher res matte screen… none of that glossy screen for me if possible. Yeah, I paid more but I got a great, hi res screen, and a powerful GPU. So if it goes from the lineup I won't miss it…
You had the pre-unibody in other words? To me the unibody 17" was a nice machine though I guess even it was too heavy?
You had the pre-unibody in other words? To me the unibody 17" was a nice machine though I guess even it was too heavy?
Yups, pre-unibody. Still, it was pretty damn big… fine for a desk, but too big and heavy for travelling comfortably.
I don't mind a trade-off between size and specs, and the power difference between 15" and 17" became less obviously pronounced once the unibody design appeared, IMO…
I said:
"So, the argument that web sites will automatically be viewed in all their HiRes glory is not true for most sites."
Your response was:
"The point is that it will be once Apple adopts it."
The implication is that you thought that all web sites would adopt Apple's technology - which hasn't happened with existing technologies, so there's no reason it would happen with new technologies.
The implication is that you thought that all web sites would adopt Apple's technology - which hasn't happened with existing technologies, so there's no reason it would happen with new technologies.
Hopefully because the sticker is fake. Otherwise we will get 1280x800 effective screen real estate on a 15" screen.
It doesn't work like that! The resolution is exactly what is implied. GUI elements are now drawn based on physical dimensions not pixels. Apps can use these pixels anyway they please.
Games are a good reference when it comes to discussing GPUs. You don't have to be a game player to benefit from knowing where Intels GPUs stand performance wise.
OK, now tell us how many MacBook Pro users play World of Warcraft. Darn few, I'd venture.
It makes little difference. Games simply give people tangible feel for the discussion at hand.
You don't seem to understand - people who buy Macs are generally not looking for the latest, greatest gaming experience.
That is very true but that doesn't mean they don't need really good GPU acceleration. It is an extremely weak position to take to say people don't need good GPU performance because moat don't game on the Mac platform. The reasons to have that sort of performance vary widely and that doesn't include gaming.
So, in the end, you don't really have anything to back up your claims.
He has performance comparisons which are valid. The issue is how will these chips perform if they have to drive retina displays. The reality is such hardware may come soon, so there is no sense of getting involved in a long discussion. I will say this though, I wouldn't be surprised to find the AIRs running the same screens as they do now, simply because staying with Intel would lead to a performance regression.
IOW, you don't have any evidence to back up your claim.
As big of an improvement that the new iVy Bridge GPU is, it is not bleeding edge performance. It doesn't even beat AMD fusion processors of last year much less this years Trinity. There are good reasons to question the viability of running hi density displays on Intel GPUs. Obviously we will not know what Apples machines will deliver until they are in the hands of users. What we do know is that unbiased reviews show good but not over whelming performance increase over old INTEL hardware. Not the base line there is old intel hardware,,
Clients still want to take away copies of images or footage shot on location, and I'm damned if I'm going to cart around a bunch of 4Gb USB thumb drives to give away, when I can burn a DVDR for peanuts and give it to them… or burn a copy of the day's work to save my ass in case anything happens to my HD(s). If you can't redo a photoshoot then redundancy is essential… and I'd rather not carry around an external DVD burner as well as cables and an external FW800 HD…
I think there's still a demand for a Pro 15" model, with 16Gb RAM to keep up with 'heavy lifting' eg rendering; large PSDs/PSBs etc. I know Apple seem to be neglecting the pro market a bit these days, but you've gotta be living in cloud cuckoo land to think you can depend on just Wifi and iCloud; rather than Ethernet, FW800, a DVD burner, and perhaps a custom screen & GPU.
The internet's kind of past the CB radio stage - that is, it's here, becoming more ubiquitous and ain't going anywhere. So, it is part of the equation from now on. Meaning....
.....No giveaway flash drives or ODD's (or iCloud itself) required - not with free services like You Send It - and further, creating and emailing downloadable links in DropBox is quicker than burning a DVD (yes I know only 2 GB is free - so use a SugarSync free 5GB account if that's the size you need). I imagine you can use SkyDrive (7 GB) or Google Drive (5 GB?) as well. And I'm fairly sure that if encryption's an issue, at least one of these services can handle uploading and downloading an encrypted file.
There simply is NO real use case for "needing" DVD's in the field any more - unless you're out in the woods with no wi-fi or cellular hot spot and the client HAS TO HAVE THE FILES RIGHT NOW - as what pros are serving clients that lack internet and email?? So granting you everything else you mentioned, your next MBP can go on a diet by shedding its superannuated ODD - with little practical impact on 98%+ of users. Even if it means a few of the 2% are going to have to carry a light-weight $40 burner around in their gear pack (with a total weight likely no more than an ounce or so beyond current MBP's).
Apple may surprise me though, and keep it. But I will be surprised.
On the other hand, given the immaturity and cost of TB devices, cables and everything else TB - and the pro community's investment in FW800 gear, I DO hope that port sticks around for at least one more rev. But I'm not totally confident on that.
That's true… I use DropBox extensively, as well as other cloud services, but to do so 'in the field' requires connectivity I just haven't experienced. Mebbe in Silicon Valley, with an always on LTE signal and no data restrictions, but here in large parts of the UK we can't even get a 3G signal (and from what I know, that's also true in large swathes of the US and other countries too). Anyway I deal in gigabytes rather than megabytes of data for my jobs…
Your statement "There simply is NO real use case for "needing" DVD's in the field any more - unless you're out in the woods with no wi-fi or cellular hot spot and the client HAS TO HAVE THE FILES RIGHT NOW" amplifies my point… it's not an either/or, but using the best tool for the job, and what can be used…
If you're lucky enough to have an unlimited data plan, a good 3G or wifi signal then it's an option… but that kind of connectivity doesn't exist everywhere, especially for location-based work. Even when wifi does exist in hotels, bars and restaurants often the speed isn't great, and they stiff you for data usage. Burning a DVD costs me pennies, and I can do it anywhere.
Plus, it takes a lot less time to burn 4.4Gb onto a DVDR than it does to upload it anywhere… and it's the same for backing my work as a safety measure. Never mind potential data security concerns. Some clients I have would freak if they thought I was saving their data onto the cloud… even if it is secure, encrypted and so forth, it may be seen as an NDA/contract breaker.
Yes, you can use an external burner, but it's another bit of kit to shift about, and right now I like convenience. Plus, I reckon an internal burner is less likely to get damaged inside a unibody MBP than on its own
Don't get me wrong, I'm not hung up on 'old' tech, and I'm looking forward to being able to retire optical storage; but we're some way from having always-on superfast wireless data, an ecosystem of Thunderbolt devices, and cheap SSDs everywhere. I don't mind how Apple sometimes force users to move on from old kit (goodbye ADB, hello USB!) but don't let them strand power users in the process!
Let's see what gets announced later today… and whether they'll tempt me to get the credit card out, or band my head against my desk
That's true… I use DropBox extensively, as well as other cloud services, but to do so 'in the field' requires connectivity I just haven't experienced. Mebbe in Silicon Valley, with an always on LTE signal and no data restrictions, but here in large parts of the UK we can't even get a 3G signal (and from what I know, that's also true in large swathes of the US and other countries too). Anyway I deal in gigabytes rather than megabytes of data for my jobs…
Your statement "There simply is NO real use case for "needing" DVD's in the field any more - unless you're out in the woods with no wi-fi or cellular hot spot and the client HAS TO HAVE THE FILES RIGHT NOW" amplifies my point… it's not an either/or, but using the best tool for the job, and what can be used…
If you're lucky enough to have an unlimited data plan, a good 3G or wifi signal then it's an option… but that kind of connectivity doesn't exist everywhere, especially for location-based work. Even when wifi does exist in hotels, bars and restaurants often the speed isn't great, and they stiff you for data usage. Burning a DVD costs me pennies, and I can do it anywhere.
Plus, it takes a lot less time to burn 4.4Gb onto a DVDR than it does to upload it anywhere… and it's the same for backing my work as a safety measure. Never mind potential data security concerns. Some clients I have would freak if they thought I was saving their data onto the cloud… even if it is secure, encrypted and so forth, it may be seen as an NDA/contract breaker.
Yes, you can use an external burner, but it's another bit of kit to shift about, and right now I like convenience. Plus, I reckon an internal burner is less likely to get damaged inside a unibody MBP than on its own
Don't get me wrong, I'm not hung up on 'old' tech, and I'm looking forward to being able to retire optical storage; but we're some way from having always-on superfast wireless data, an ecosystem of Thunderbolt devices, and cheap SSDs everywhere. I don't mind how Apple sometimes force users to move on from old kit (goodbye ADB, hello USB!) but don't let them strand power users in the process!
Let's see what gets announced later today… and whether they'll tempt me to get the credit card out, or band my head against my desk
FWIW 9 to 5 Mac is now reporting we're both going to get some of our wishes this am - two form factor MBP's (and new Mac Pros) - one with and one without a Superdrive. If so, the transition seems set to continue for at least one more rev. And new MP's also indicate that Apple's still thinking about its harder core pro base. Which I think makes sense for company image reasons - if they go all consumer because that's where all the volume is, even people who prefer Apple will think twice about whether or not there's a growth path for them if they move up to more demanding uses. Losing that aura could cost them not only current frustrated pros, but "aspirational" users as well - and therefore some of Apple's buzz factor. As in "Sure, kid, you can make great home or semi-pro movies on a Mac, but forget about high-end work. You'll need.... ...Windows big boy hardware for that." And I don't think that's a message they want to send.
Apple is famous for margins and a focus on products that achieve them in volume - but there are other intangible factors they have to take into account that matter in the long run, and not losing users in your class is one of those - even if, as a percentage of Apple sales you're now fairly far down on the list. Whereas dropping X-Serve was not nearly as much a threat to any strategic part of their business - since they're finally finding their way through the front door of the Fortune 1000 with droves and droves of iDevices - outflanking rather than infiltrating IT.
Also, back to the matter at hand, you make some good points, thanks - and we didn't even discuss local storage - one thing that tempers my enthusiasm for a new superslim MBP. I only work with stills and not huge ones (video is hobby only stuff) - and a likely practical max of 256 GB of SSD this year - with the still, yes, immature cloud options available is not totally appealing to me for a main machine - despite the performance advantages.
Well, they're playing an interesting game with the new line-up announced today. As Bigpics said, they're certainly managing the transition by maintaining the two tier approach for now: catering for the bleeding edge and the incremental updates at the same time.
Interesting developments indeed. Think I'll have to wait and digest all the news from today… as with so many Apple announcements, the devil's in the detail…
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Oh, sure. Every web site and app in the world uses Apple technologies. No one would ever use anything like Flash, for example, because it isn't supported by Apple.
Where have you been living for the past 3 decades?
Mockery aside, do you believe for a second that the number of websites covered in Flash ads today would be as low as it is had it not been for Apple five years ago?
No. But your statement that everyone will use technologies that Apple favors is absurd.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
No. But your statement that everyone will use technologies that Apple favors is absurd.
And it would be, had I said that.
Does nobody else posting on here actually use their existing MBP to make a living with fairly demanding applications?
I use a BTO 2010 15" MBP for photography, 3D rendering, photo stitching and video editing. Much of which is used 'in the field', either freelancing in other agencies or on a shoot somewhere difficult to get to. Clients still want to take away copies of images or footage shot on location, and I'm damned if I'm going to cart around a bunch of 4Gb USB thumb drives to give away, when I can burn a DVDR for peanuts and give it to them… or burn a copy of the day's work to save my ass in case anything happens to my HD(s). If you can't redo a photoshoot then redundancy is essential… and I'd rather not carry around an external DVD burner as well as cables and an external FW800 HD…
I think there's still a demand for a Pro 15" model, with 16Gb RAM to keep up with 'heavy lifting' eg rendering; large PSDs/PSBs etc. I know Apple seem to be neglecting the pro market a bit these days, but you've gotta be living in cloud cuckoo land to think you can depend on just Wifi and iCloud; rather than Ethernet, FW800, a DVD burner, and perhaps a custom screen & GPU.
I may sound like an old greybeard, but it seems most of the kids posting on this thread don't seem to understand the need to push a laptop to the max in order to make a living… but some of us do. I think (hope!) Apple still realise there's a proportion of their users who need to derive their income with a powerful, fast, flexible portable laptop. It's niche, but not nada…
PS I had a 17" MBP years ago. Frickin' enormous, bulky and heavy… I was much happier to replace it with a BTO MBP with a higher res matte screen… none of that glossy screen for me if possible. Yeah, I paid more but I got a great, hi res screen, and a powerful GPU. So if it goes from the lineup I won't miss it…
Quote:
Originally Posted by jobes
PS I had a 17" MBP years ago. Frickin' enormous, bulky and heavy… I was much happier to replace it with a BTO MBP with a higher res matte screen… none of that glossy screen for me if possible. Yeah, I paid more but I got a great, hi res screen, and a powerful GPU. So if it goes from the lineup I won't miss it…
You had the pre-unibody in other words? To me the unibody 17" was a nice machine though I guess even it was too heavy?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winter
You had the pre-unibody in other words? To me the unibody 17" was a nice machine though I guess even it was too heavy?
Yups, pre-unibody. Still, it was pretty damn big… fine for a desk, but too big and heavy for travelling comfortably.
I don't mind a trade-off between size and specs, and the power difference between 15" and 17" became less obviously pronounced once the unibody design appeared, IMO…
You did.
I said:
"So, the argument that web sites will automatically be viewed in all their HiRes glory is not true for most sites."
Your response was:
"The point is that it will be once Apple adopts it."
The implication is that you thought that all web sites would adopt Apple's technology - which hasn't happened with existing technologies, so there's no reason it would happen with new technologies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
The implication is that you thought that all web sites would adopt Apple's technology - which hasn't happened with existing technologies, so there's no reason it would happen with new technologies.
Except it has, with most sites, as you said.
It doesn't work like that! The resolution is exactly what is implied. GUI elements are now drawn based on physical dimensions not pixels. Apps can use these pixels anyway they please.
It makes little difference. Games simply give people tangible feel for the discussion at hand. That is very true but that doesn't mean they don't need really good GPU acceleration. It is an extremely weak position to take to say people don't need good GPU performance because moat don't game on the Mac platform. The reasons to have that sort of performance vary widely and that doesn't include gaming. He has performance comparisons which are valid. The issue is how will these chips perform if they have to drive retina displays. The reality is such hardware may come soon, so there is no sense of getting involved in a long discussion. I will say this though, I wouldn't be surprised to find the AIRs running the same screens as they do now, simply because staying with Intel would lead to a performance regression.
As big of an improvement that the new iVy Bridge GPU is, it is not bleeding edge performance. It doesn't even beat AMD fusion processors of last year much less this years Trinity. There are good reasons to question the viability of running hi density displays on Intel GPUs. Obviously we will not know what Apples machines will deliver until they are in the hands of users. What we do know is that unbiased reviews show good but not over whelming performance increase over old INTEL hardware. Not the base line there is old intel hardware,,
Quote:
Originally Posted by jobes
Clients still want to take away copies of images or footage shot on location, and I'm damned if I'm going to cart around a bunch of 4Gb USB thumb drives to give away, when I can burn a DVDR for peanuts and give it to them… or burn a copy of the day's work to save my ass in case anything happens to my HD(s). If you can't redo a photoshoot then redundancy is essential… and I'd rather not carry around an external DVD burner as well as cables and an external FW800 HD…
I think there's still a demand for a Pro 15" model, with 16Gb RAM to keep up with 'heavy lifting' eg rendering; large PSDs/PSBs etc. I know Apple seem to be neglecting the pro market a bit these days, but you've gotta be living in cloud cuckoo land to think you can depend on just Wifi and iCloud; rather than Ethernet, FW800, a DVD burner, and perhaps a custom screen & GPU.
The internet's kind of past the CB radio stage - that is, it's here, becoming more ubiquitous and ain't going anywhere. So, it is part of the equation from now on. Meaning....
.....No giveaway flash drives or ODD's (or iCloud itself) required - not with free services like You Send It - and further, creating and emailing downloadable links in DropBox is quicker than burning a DVD (yes I know only 2 GB is free - so use a SugarSync free 5GB account if that's the size you need). I imagine you can use SkyDrive (7 GB) or Google Drive (5 GB?) as well. And I'm fairly sure that if encryption's an issue, at least one of these services can handle uploading and downloading an encrypted file.
There simply is NO real use case for "needing" DVD's in the field any more - unless you're out in the woods with no wi-fi or cellular hot spot and the client HAS TO HAVE THE FILES RIGHT NOW - as what pros are serving clients that lack internet and email?? So granting you everything else you mentioned, your next MBP can go on a diet by shedding its superannuated ODD - with little practical impact on 98%+ of users. Even if it means a few of the 2% are going to have to carry a light-weight $40 burner around in their gear pack (with a total weight likely no more than an ounce or so beyond current MBP's).
Apple may surprise me though, and keep it. But I will be surprised.
On the other hand, given the immaturity and cost of TB devices, cables and everything else TB - and the pro community's investment in FW800 gear, I DO hope that port sticks around for at least one more rev. But I'm not totally confident on that.
That's true… I use DropBox extensively, as well as other cloud services, but to do so 'in the field' requires connectivity I just haven't experienced. Mebbe in Silicon Valley, with an always on LTE signal and no data restrictions, but here in large parts of the UK we can't even get a 3G signal (and from what I know, that's also true in large swathes of the US and other countries too). Anyway I deal in gigabytes rather than megabytes of data for my jobs…
Your statement "There simply is NO real use case for "needing" DVD's in the field any more - unless you're out in the woods with no wi-fi or cellular hot spot and the client HAS TO HAVE THE FILES RIGHT NOW" amplifies my point… it's not an either/or, but using the best tool for the job, and what can be used…
If you're lucky enough to have an unlimited data plan, a good 3G or wifi signal then it's an option… but that kind of connectivity doesn't exist everywhere, especially for location-based work. Even when wifi does exist in hotels, bars and restaurants often the speed isn't great, and they stiff you for data usage. Burning a DVD costs me pennies, and I can do it anywhere.
Plus, it takes a lot less time to burn 4.4Gb onto a DVDR than it does to upload it anywhere… and it's the same for backing my work as a safety measure. Never mind potential data security concerns. Some clients I have would freak if they thought I was saving their data onto the cloud… even if it is secure, encrypted and so forth, it may be seen as an NDA/contract breaker.
Yes, you can use an external burner, but it's another bit of kit to shift about, and right now I like convenience. Plus, I reckon an internal burner is less likely to get damaged inside a unibody MBP than on its own
Don't get me wrong, I'm not hung up on 'old' tech, and I'm looking forward to being able to retire optical storage; but we're some way from having always-on superfast wireless data, an ecosystem of Thunderbolt devices, and cheap SSDs everywhere. I don't mind how Apple sometimes force users to move on from old kit (goodbye ADB, hello USB!) but don't let them strand power users in the process!
Let's see what gets announced later today… and whether they'll tempt me to get the credit card out, or band my head against my desk
Quote:
Originally Posted by jobes
That's true… I use DropBox extensively, as well as other cloud services, but to do so 'in the field' requires connectivity I just haven't experienced. Mebbe in Silicon Valley, with an always on LTE signal and no data restrictions, but here in large parts of the UK we can't even get a 3G signal (and from what I know, that's also true in large swathes of the US and other countries too). Anyway I deal in gigabytes rather than megabytes of data for my jobs…
Your statement "There simply is NO real use case for "needing" DVD's in the field any more - unless you're out in the woods with no wi-fi or cellular hot spot and the client HAS TO HAVE THE FILES RIGHT NOW" amplifies my point… it's not an either/or, but using the best tool for the job, and what can be used…
If you're lucky enough to have an unlimited data plan, a good 3G or wifi signal then it's an option… but that kind of connectivity doesn't exist everywhere, especially for location-based work. Even when wifi does exist in hotels, bars and restaurants often the speed isn't great, and they stiff you for data usage. Burning a DVD costs me pennies, and I can do it anywhere.
Plus, it takes a lot less time to burn 4.4Gb onto a DVDR than it does to upload it anywhere… and it's the same for backing my work as a safety measure. Never mind potential data security concerns. Some clients I have would freak if they thought I was saving their data onto the cloud… even if it is secure, encrypted and so forth, it may be seen as an NDA/contract breaker.
Yes, you can use an external burner, but it's another bit of kit to shift about, and right now I like convenience. Plus, I reckon an internal burner is less likely to get damaged inside a unibody MBP than on its own
Don't get me wrong, I'm not hung up on 'old' tech, and I'm looking forward to being able to retire optical storage; but we're some way from having always-on superfast wireless data, an ecosystem of Thunderbolt devices, and cheap SSDs everywhere. I don't mind how Apple sometimes force users to move on from old kit (goodbye ADB, hello USB!) but don't let them strand power users in the process!
Let's see what gets announced later today… and whether they'll tempt me to get the credit card out, or band my head against my desk
FWIW 9 to 5 Mac is now reporting we're both going to get some of our wishes this am - two form factor MBP's (and new Mac Pros) - one with and one without a Superdrive. If so, the transition seems set to continue for at least one more rev. And new MP's also indicate that Apple's still thinking about its harder core pro base. Which I think makes sense for company image reasons - if they go all consumer because that's where all the volume is, even people who prefer Apple will think twice about whether or not there's a growth path for them if they move up to more demanding uses. Losing that aura could cost them not only current frustrated pros, but "aspirational" users as well - and therefore some of Apple's buzz factor. As in "Sure, kid, you can make great home or semi-pro movies on a Mac, but forget about high-end work. You'll need.... ...Windows big boy hardware for that." And I don't think that's a message they want to send.
Apple is famous for margins and a focus on products that achieve them in volume - but there are other intangible factors they have to take into account that matter in the long run, and not losing users in your class is one of those - even if, as a percentage of Apple sales you're now fairly far down on the list. Whereas dropping X-Serve was not nearly as much a threat to any strategic part of their business - since they're finally finding their way through the front door of the Fortune 1000 with droves and droves of iDevices - outflanking rather than infiltrating IT.
Also, back to the matter at hand, you make some good points, thanks - and we didn't even discuss local storage - one thing that tempers my enthusiasm for a new superslim MBP. I only work with stills and not huge ones (video is hobby only stuff) - and a likely practical max of 256 GB of SSD this year - with the still, yes, immature cloud options available is not totally appealing to me for a main machine - despite the performance advantages.
Well, they're playing an interesting game with the new line-up announced today. As Bigpics said, they're certainly managing the transition by maintaining the two tier approach for now: catering for the bleeding edge and the incremental updates at the same time.
Interesting developments indeed. Think I'll have to wait and digest all the news from today… as with so many Apple announcements, the devil's in the detail…