macwhiz

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macwhiz
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  • Apple TV gets Dolby Atmos support, 'zero sign-on' for cable with tvOS 12

    It's unlikely it will support Dolby TrueHD; the bitrate is just too high for most users. Dolby Atmos works as a layer on top of Dolby TrueHD, Dolby AC-4, or Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3). Since DD+ is already used by services like Netflix, I'd suspect Apple will use DD+ as the bed for Atmos, but it's possible they might use the more-efficient AC-4.
    d_2zoetmbwilliamlondonavon b7jony0
  • Future Macs could adopt Intel's new, high-performance discrete graphics chips

    macxpress said:
    They do in their A-Series chips and they work quite well, but I'm not sure how well it would work pushing the size/resolution of screens Apple uses for its Macs. Maybe they'd be good. Or, maybe they're also working on a desktop class GPU as well.
    The iPad Pro has a 2732 x 2048 resolution. A 15-inch MacBook Pro is 2880x1800. If the next iPad Pro has an Apple-designed GPU, then using that GPU in a MacBook is hardly a stretch. Given that the iPhone X has a resolution of 2436 x 1125 and uses an Apple-designed GPU, it's not that big a stretch.

    I can't see Apple using an Intel discrete GPU, for many reasons:

    • Intel has a long history of designing seriously underperforming integrated GPUs;
    • Intel hasn't designed discrete GPUs for 15 years, and they weren't competitive back then;
    • Apple has supposedly been actively trying to reduce its reliance on Intel parts;
    • Apple likes to develop hardware that works hand-in-glove with its software. The Apple GPU in the A11 Bionic is purpose-built for Metal, Apple's graphics API. With Apple depreciating OpenGL in macOS Mojave in favor of Metal, it's more likely Apple would design its own built-for-Metal GPU than use Intel's built-for-DirectX GPU;
    • If Apple indeed moves to an ARM-based Mac using the A-series processor, of course it's going to use the Apple GPU that's now part of the A-series chip.
    fahlmanluckylukeMplsPwatto_cobra
  • Apple's 'experiential retail' success lies in improving a customer's life claims Angela Ah...

    The Apple retail experience has gotten steadily worse in the last few years, especially when you have a problem.

    Yes, the ability to pay via app is nice... except that it's not clear what products on the shelves you can actually do that with. It turns out that you can't do it for products that have serial-number barcodes that need to be registered... but the app doesn't make that clear. Last time I tried it, I just got a generic error message as if the barcode failed to scan.

    When you have an issue, the Apple Store becomes a Kafka-esque nightmare. Even with an appointment, you'll be facing a wait. You'll have to somehow figure out who the one person in the store who can check you in might be, and where they are; there's no signage or particular uniform to make this clear. They'll shuffle you off to someone else, who will eventually take you to a chair at the crowded Genius Bar to wait for yet another person to triage you, and eventually you'll get yet another person to take care of your problem.

    That is, if they have the parts on hand in the right box. I had a failed iPad Smart Keyboard. The store I went to was out of replacement keyboards in repair boxes in the back room, so I was told I'd have to come back in next week when they got more of them. That's a two-hour round trip for me. They couldn't ship the replacement to my home, because I'd come into the store to initiate the process. They couldn't give me one of the Smart Keyboards sitting on the display shelf, because it was in retail packaging, not repair packaging.

    Days later, it was another multiple-person wait-some-more dance just to get the replacement part out of the back room.

    It would've been a much more pleasant experience if there were a customer-service window and a queue, as in any other retail store. What Apple does today is just chaos.

    That experience told me that Apple has lost its customer focus. Wasting hours of a customer's time when your product fails under warranty because it wasn't designed properly—the Smart Keyboard hinge is not durable enough and the wires break quickly in regular use—is not something I expected from Apple. Compounding it by having a replacement part sitting in clear sight on a shelf and refusing to make the replacement? There's no way that doesn't result in customer resentment.

    Apple has become way too much about the form, and has completely forgotten about function, even in their stores.
    ctt_zh
  • Lutron's Aurora dimmer for Philips Hue lighting installs over a light switch

    It really doesn’t make any sense that anyone should have this problem to begin with. If you have wall switches, you have no business using Philips Hue. There are several far more appropriate ways to achieve smart home lighting without nuking a useful wall switch. 
    Unless you can't change the wall switch, because you live in an apartment. Change the wiring, no; change the cover plate, yes.

    Or you want the wall switch to control more than just the lights it's hardwired to.

    Or you want smart lights that do more than just dim, which is what you get with a smart hardwired wall switch like Lutron Casetá. And you'd rather not have a blank plate over the spot where your wall switch used to be, plus a Philips remote stuck to the wall next to it...

    This is a brilliant product. It's not for everyone, but it definitely serves a need and fulfills a hole in Philips' lineup.
    hmurchisonseanjlolliverkurai
  • Apple chose a bad year to launch expensive iPads that aren't compelling

    I suspect the Apple Pencil 2 and the landscape camera are mutually exclusive. 

    The Pencil 2 charges when it snaps to the "top" of the iPad (when used in landscape orientation). There's a window on the side of the iPad Pro for the inductive charger, right where the camera module would need to sit. With a camera in that spot, there's probably no room for the charger, meaning there'd be no way for users to charge their Pencil 2.

    But what about an adapter? After all, you need an adapter to charge a Pencil 1 on the new iPad, because it doesn't have a Lightning port. Well, the Pencil 1 adapter is passive—two jacks with some wires between them. It's cheap to manufacture. A Pencil 2 adapter would need a charging coil, active circuitry to drive it... and some solution for how the Pencil 2 uses the inductive charger to pair to the iPad. It'd cost a lot more than $9.

    Can't snap the pencil to the left of the iPad; that's where the power button and microphones are. Can't snap to the right; that's the USB-C port and speakers. The bottom? It'd block the hinge of the keyboard case.

    Put the camera on the bottom? Dell tried that, and got pilloried in reviews for making a laptop with an up-your-nose camera view.

    Plus, on the Pro, you've got Face ID. A landscape camera can be covered when you hold it in portrait mode, blocking Face ID from working. On the base iPad, you've still got Touch ID, so it doesn't matter... unless you try a handheld FaceTime call in portrait mode...
    crowleydewmewatto_cobra
  • Trova Go review: A stylish travel lockbox that needs work

    From the pictures, I'd expect LockPickingLawyer to first try an attack against that pitiful latch with a thin metal shim. Alternatively, he might try a strong magnet to move the latch. 

    As an IT security professional, the USB charging issue suggests the electronics were poorly engineered and built cheap, so I wouldn't bet against flaws in the Bluetooth protocol, or some way to abuse the charging port to cause the device to unlock. 

    And, of course, if the attacker doesn't care about damaging the safe, a Dremel tool will take care of that aluminum shell in short order.

    If this shows up on Meh.com for $15 it might be half-reasonable. At $209? You could buy a lot of $20 locking cash boxes with probably equivalent security for that money. Sure, they don't unlock with your phone, but is that worth ten times the price?
    watto_cobra