mpschaefer

Fidonet127 said:

mpschaefer said:

Does anybody know what the Magic Keyboard uses to communicate when you have it plugged into the computer?

I notice on my Mac that it greys out the Bluetooth Connection for the keyboard though it still has the icon coloured blue.

Is it still using Bluetooth for communication or is it using the USB cable?

If the Magic Keyboard is plugged in, it is communicating using USB. Handy when it looses Bluetooth connection. I have my Magic Keyboard and trackpad plugged in via kvm so I can also use them on my Linux desktop. 

Thanks. I guess that would be one way to close the attack vector then.

Does anybody know what the Magic Keyboard uses to communicate when you have it plugged into the computer?

I notice on my Mac that it greys out the Bluetooth Connection for the keyboard though it still has the icon coloured blue.

Is it still using Bluetooth for communication or is it using the USB cable?

I really wish Apple would just make a more flexible version of Apple One for Individuals, sort of Individual+ which allows you to plug in Apple News+ or Apple Fitness+ at a reduced price.

I only currently use the lowest tier of iCloud storage, Apple TV+ and Apple News+ and have no interest in the Apple Arcade or Apple Music services.

So, even though the Apple One Individual is cheaper by the time I bolt on Apple News+, I'm playing A$10.47 more than I currently pay for the ability to roll two payments into one and access two services I'm not interested in... hardly seems worth the effort.

Though for some time now I have been feeling that AppleTV+ needed to move to a when there is something I am interested in, I subscribe model...

avon b7 said:

He defends his posture by saying it's a wear part and I agree with that. Obviously, YMMV. 

I agree that an SSD is a "consumable" component, and it will at some point run out of write cycles and become read-only (or potentially un-readable) but what is the nominal rate for the SSDs to reach that point?

My oldest SSD it the original SSD from my 2012 MacBook Pro which I upgraded in 2016 and have been using as an external drive ever since. it's now 10 years old but doesn't support SMART so I am not able to get its wear status but its still working away and not indicating any issue.

My next oldest was bought somewhere around 2012 / 2013 and has been sitting in my RAID array ever since purchase and even with all the data that must have passed through it in all these years the reported health is still 100%.

Now, I know my usage may not be typical but even if we consider it to be substantially on the low side it would suggest that in the main the SSDs being soldered are likely in to last the life of the machine for most typical uses.

And I am aware typical is difficult to define for example - I know back before cloud computing became the norm at my work for development. I was always running VMs and I would wear out external HDDs well before their manufacturer warranty so I would personally not call using a heavy use VM on an internal SSD typical usage. 

So for me this comes down to two considerations:

If the reported failure rate is true, then

1. Does that indicate a quality issue with the current SSDs either defect or simply on the basis of cost (low quality or low write count variants in use)?
2. Or is this being driven by a-typical use-cases which are causing the issue?

For my sake I hope it's #2 not #1 but I haven't read or seen enough information to know.

Marvin said:

rods5 said:

I too am waiting for a M3 iMac 27” or larger all in one Mac.  The Mac Mini is OK, but what other 27” or larger display will be good to great and not cost you a arm and a leg like the Apple Studio display @ $1,599, which is the cost of an iMac all by itself.  

And the Mac Studio starts at $1,999, plus the Studio display, brings the total to $3,598 for a entry version of the Mac Studio. 

Where is the M2 or M3 27” iMac?  I want two of them!  I am waiting!!!  What say you, Apple?

The prices aren't all that much different from before.

The earlier 27" iMac had a core-i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Radeon 5300 for $1799.
Studio Display is $1599, Mac mini M2 is faster than a core-i9, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, GPU same as 5300 for $599 = $2198.

A higher-end iMac was core i9, 8GB, 512GB, 5700XT for $3199 (32GB RAM was $600 = $3799). An M2 Pro will rival a 5700XT, M2 Max will be faster.

Studio Display + M2 Pro mini = $3298 (old iMac was $3199)
Studio Display + Mac Studio (32GB RAM) = $3598 (old iMac was $3799)

If Apple made a 27" iMac again, they'd likely have an entry model with M2 mini internals at $1999.

I have long been a fan of the AIO factor but have been contemplating the switch to a Mac Mini + Studio Display combination given the pricing is not vastly different and I can then choose to independently upgrade the screen or the unit if needed.

It would just be nice for Apple to explicitly state if the 27" iMac is permanently dead or only in some HomePod temporary hiatus...