bc2009

Kinda hard to make the argument that the iPhone 11 is better in every way than the iPhone X when it still does not have some features of iPhone X (including an OLED screen and a 2x zoom lens).  Also, you repeatedly say the price of iPhone 11 is $650 when it is really $699.

iPhone 11 is a great value for all the technology you get (just like iPhone XR was last year), but an article that repeatedly harps on how others were wrong should get some basic things right (including the grammar in the title).

This article reads like a diatribe from somebody who can't wait to say "I told you so" to the whole internet and then proceeded to hastily pound the keyboard as fast they could.

Reviews keep saying the display is 49mm on the Ultra.  It is NOT.   The “case” is 49mm.  That means the height of the case, NOT the diagonal of the display, is 49mm.   This is how watches are measured.  By the height of the case.   Take a gander at the bezels on the Ultra…. they are HUGE.   The display size is roughly the same as 45mm Series 8 with a slight increase for not having the curvature at the edges of the display.  

I would own TWO HomePods if not THREE already if the thing was just more useful.  It's not the price that is stopping me from buying -- it just needs better Siri functionality.

- Identify more than one user and use multiple iCloud accounts (something AppleTV also needs for Game Center)

- Have Siri do more for me than it does -- like "Read the next step of the recipe instructions" or "Read the the third step" -- Siri needs to remember contexts so HomePod can help you when you need to be hands free.

- Siri needs to be consistent across devices (Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch, HomePod) and know how to switch between devices seamlessly.  For example:
   - Me Speaking to HomePod: Hey Siri, did a new episode of The Flash air last night?
   - Siri: Yes
   - Me: Play The Flash on the Family Room Apple TV
   - Siri: OK, playing The Flash using TheCW app on your Family Room Apple TV
   ...
   - Me: Hey Siri, turn up the volume up to 75%
   - Siri: I cannot change your TV's volume, but I can adjust the volume on HomePod.  Would you like to AirPlay the audio through HomePod?
   - Me: Yes
   ...
   [ iPhone rings ]
   - Me: Hey Siri, answer the phone
   - Siri: Pausing playback and answering iPhone using HomePod....
   [ phone call ends ]
   - Me: He Siri, tell my wife your parents are going to be 30 minutes late for dinner tonight.
   - Siri: Ok, I will tell [ ... ] "Your parents are going to be 30 minutes late for dinner tonight" -- ready to send it?
   - Me: Yes.
   - Siri: Ok, message sent.
   - Me: Hey Siri, resume playback
   - Siri: Resuming The Flash on TheCW....

HomePod needs to integrate with my AppleTV and iPhone seamlessly and handoff between them as needed.  

MplsP said:

AppleZulu said:

Andrew_OSU said:

FjordCruiser said:

I was really enjoying reading this article about a piece of tech that I love wearing, Apple Watch Series 7 45mm. But then my enjoyment of the article came to a dead stop. The writer of this article says it is all but impossible to differentiate between the “standard” Apple Watch charging puck (USB-A) and the series 7 charging puck (USB-C)… The charging puck that comes with the series 7 is distinctly different, it has a silver colored trim around the outer edge! I doubt anyone would fail to differentiate between the slower charging plain white puck and the silver edged faster charging puck (they even feel distinctly different if handled with our eyes closed. Yet again someone publishes an article which contains a blaring mistake, I’m guessing that the articles printed on AI don’t go through a “proof checking” process because this isn’t the first article I’ve found to contain mistakes  (an occasional acknowledgment of my eagle eyes would be very welcome. But it can’t be nice having an article taken to task by someone who doesn’t claim to be a journalist, so the deafening silence doesn’t surprise me…).

Hey FjordCruiser! So this will surely depend, it certainly isn't a mistake. If you had the aluminum Apple Watch, the charger was plastic. The stainless steel, titanium, and Edition models all shipped with a stainless steel charging puck. So the difference is extremely minimal. Check out these images below. Can you tell which is which? One is the image of the slow stainless steel puck while the other is Apple's image of the new fast charge puck.


The difference is one of them has a more matte finish while the other is glossier. It is easier to tell in person versus the images online, but the difference is super subtle.

On top of that, it isn't just Apple's chargers. If you look at Belkin's Fast Charge module can you differentiate that from any other third-party Apple Watch module that charges more slowly? Talking specifically about the puck itself. They are identical.

These are just some of the issues I'm talking about. I hope that didn't entirely ruin the article for you, but it certainly wasn't an error.

Please note that those are literally the same image file, so it would be surprising if they actually did look different. Still pretty sure the physical difference is on the other end, not shown in the image.

I recently purchased an Apple Watch 7. There is zero documentation included in the box on the charger and the charger itself has no markings on it what so ever. They also make no mention that you need a 20W USB C adapter to make use of the fast charging capabilities.

Go to Apple's web site and this is what you find: 2 nearly identical charging pucks with nearly identical pictures and the same price. 
    Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable (1 m) New 
    Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Cable (1 m)

In *ALL* of these images, I see ONE clear difference (aside from the USB-C versus USB-A plug which is really obvious).  The fast charging cable does NOT grow thicker near the puck, but the slow-charging cable does grow thicker near the puck (likely to house the controller chip).

HOWEVER, the first image posted is clearly the same image twice because both of those charging cables grow larger near the puck.  So this seemed like an attempt to mislead people to make a point -- perhaps it was a copy/paste error.

Anyway, I would concede that Apple *could* have done something to make it clearer (like etched a lightning bolt on the back of the fast-charging puck).   But I imagine the design team did not like that since eventually ALL of their charging pucks will be fast-charging pucks that are backwards-compatible with older Apple Watches.  And a difference already existed.

The big question is this..... while the USB-A charging puck that came with the Stainless Steel Apple Watches had a metal ring, it did NOT have a USB-C plug -- so its easy to distinguish.  BUT, did the older (pre-Series-7) USB-C charger for Apple Watch come in all-plastic white or did it also have the metal ring.  I keep hearing about the in-the-box charger that came with the stainless steel Apple Watches, but that one does not matter.  It clearly has a USB-A plug.

I cannot find old images of a USB-C Apple Watch charger that Apple sold prior to selling the Series 7 -- though some say it existed.  If it had a metal ring around the puck AND the end of the cable did NOT increase in thickness near the puck, then differentiating that sold-separately puck from the new fast-charging puck would be difficult.