kpom

ralphie said:

22july2013 said:

bubblefree said:

Getting rid of the SIM tray is a stupid move. In a world of open standards, where SIM cards are still used everywhere in the world, why move to esims only? 

Perhaps to reduce costs, simplify design, and make the phone more water resistant? Which of these reasons makes no sense to you?

Tray is still there is EVERY country outside US. So none of your hypothesis hold any validity.  The move ONLY serves US carrier interests.

Apple has 50% market share in the US and has more sway with carriers than in other countries. Most likely Apple told them they were going eSIM-only and that they needed to get with the program.

blurpbleepbloop said:

If Apple is following the Intel switchover playbook then that puts the screws to any recent or planned Intel-based Mac purchase. Apple stopped compiling MacOS for PowerPC after just two years of producing the first Intel based Macs. Keep in mind this is during the period when a two year span would have signaled a fairly significant increase in power/capabilities.
But if this timeframe is applied today, wow, it really will screw recent hardware purchases. Rather than being able to keep on current OSes for 5-7 years (keeping very capable hardware, by any metric, relevant) some may get as few as 2 years.
I would really appreciate a public commitment by Apple to fully support Intel Macs as the hardware allows (ie fallback gracefully if certain capabilities aren’t possible) for a minimum of 5 years.

Tim Cook said that they have Intel Macs in the pipeline and that they are “excited about them,” but Jobs said the same thing about PowerPC Macs in 2005. I’m guessing that Tim Cook realizes he’s “Osbourning” Mac sales somewhat, but Apple isn’t as dependent on Macs and can afford a blip. That said, since Intel Macs can always be converted to Windows PCs (or be used to run native x64 Windows) some people might buy the last versions for just that reason. That was not the case with PowerPC Macs, since no other commercially viable OS ran on them.

Given that Apple has annual OS updates now, I’m guessing that the next 3, and possibly 4 new OS releases will support Intel. The last “new” Intel Mac will probably ship in 2021 (it may just be a Tiger Lake Mac Mini or 16” Pro), and will get at least 2 upgrades.

This makes sense, particularly if the base 14” has the additional ports and the redesigned MacBook Air does not, as it will be a bigger differentiator. While I’d like to see the M2 MacBook Air get a bit lighter, that doesn’t seem likely.

tyler82 said:

kpom said:

tyler82 said:

I ordered the base Air on Nov. 12 (via Adorama) and not a peep from Apple yet on shipping. Hope it gets here by Christmas since it's a gift!

Wow. I took advantage of a Cyber Monday promotion at Adorama for the configuration I wanted (16GB/7Core GPU/512GB). Hopefully I get mine before January 8 (by when I need to return the model I've been using). Did they submit the drop-ship order to Apple November 12?

I just got notice that it shipped today!

crowley said:

kpom said:

No, the Scottish Parliament can't veto a Brexit. They can symbolically withhold consent, but foreign policy is a matter reserved for Westminster.

Sure, but Westminster doesn't want Brexit either.  They aren't that many Tory backbenchers.  The Scottish withholding consent may be used as a spanner in the works, even if only for delay.

Leaving is the only viable option for the UK. If they come back with "we didn't really mean it," then they lose all credibility with the other 27 members and won't be taken seriously in negotiations on any other subject. The Commission doesn't seem to be willing to make any concessions to convince the UK to stay, even though Britain is a net importer to the rest of the EU. So effectively Britain is like Norway and Switzerland for the moment in that they have no real influence over policy, except that they are still in the EU. So they might as well go ahead with leaving, even if it means taking the Norwegian/Swiss deal at first.

Nice! Going high-end on accessories is a smart move now that smartphone sales have peaked.

So will Tim Cook endorse Ted Cruz?