k2kw

sagan_student said:

Time and time again, Apple nails the design and usage aspect of each product they put out. Obviously there are always a few examples where people could disagree, but this is definitely not one of them. 

Doval said:

I prefer Mini Led after comparing it last
week with my new 2021 12.9 iPad and my wives Samsun OLED tablet from her work.

danvm said:

tht said:

danvm said:

I think most users use the keyboard + trackpad for two reasons, lack of touch optimized apps, and that keyboard + trackpad is a better option than a touchscreen for many tasks.  Working with large documents or complex spreadsheets is far better with keyboard + trackpad than with touch.  And that's where you see a better experience in the Surface Pro, even over the iPad + Magic Keyboard.  The Surface have the advantage of having full desktop apps and better multitasking.  IMO, the iPad is a better tablet device, but as soon as you add a keyboard + trackpad, the Surface Pro becomes the better device.  

Application UI design is important, but the fundamental driver is likely screen size imo. Productivity scales with screen size, with people being more productive as screen size goes up. There's a point of diminishing returns, probably 25 to 30 inches, but from say 5 inches to 25 inches, most users get more productive as screen size gets larger.

For certain classes of apps, like a spreadsheet or office automation, you want a certain amount of rows and columns at readable text sizes, or certain number of rows of text in a word processor, to feel really be productive. After 30 years of computing, I don't think it is an accident that laptops have settled on about 13" as the practical minimum for screen size using modern app designs and features. There are laptops with smaller screen sizes, but they simply aren't as successful as 13" laptops. Apple's tried multiple times with 12", and those laptops never stay in the lineup. The vast majority of PC laptops are 13" or bigger. Even the Chromebooks, whose hardware is really limited by price, will eventually inch towards 13" as those displays get cheaper imo.

For tablets, they are boxed in between portability and productivity. If you want to hand hold it, it needs to be about 1.5 lb or less, and being the size of a lunch tray isn't great for handling which drives screen sizes to be smaller. Then, if you want text input, the onscreen keyboard takes half the screen, making office automation tasks less productive. Hence, what I want Apple to do is offer 2 or 3 row onscreen keyboards. This yields 1 to 1.5 inches of more vertical display space, which is huge as it increases the app display area 30 to 50% with the keyboard visible.

So, people use Surface Pros with external keyboards because they want more display area for their apps. Not necessarily that they aren't touch optimized. Touch UI is important, but I don't it overcomes limitations presented by screen size.

Going the other way, I would submit that people would be just as productive on a 30" touchscreen device using software keyboards and software trackpads versus a 30" display using keyboards and mice. A folding touch display laptop - 13" folded, 18" unfolded - would make for an interesting device. Seems OEMs aren't willing to go all the way where they provide a hardware keyboard with their dual display or folding display laptops. They need to go all the way and make touchscreen text input work on these devices. They won't be lay back devices like tablets are, but mostly PC type usage.

I understand your point, but I still think that people use keyboard in the Surface Pro because lack of apps and a better experience in documents, spreadsheets, etc.  The best touch UI / keyboard the experience a real keyboard / mouse offers. At the end, even Apple had to admit that, and relase the Magic Keyboard.  

entropys said:

Bottom line, the M1 is fine for the base model iMac, but will need moar! for the replacement for the 27 inch iMac. A lot Moarrrrr!

And that power brick idea needs a fair bit more thought. Why not a TB hub if a more powerful and capable chip can be offered?

blastdoor said:

This is pretty much what was expected -- an M1-based replacement for the low-end iMac (formerly 21"). 

It's not for me, but neither was the 21" (I'm a 27" iMac kind of guy). 

It's pretty amazing that essentially one chip is used for MBA, MBP13, Mac mini, and the low-end iMac. How many different Intel chips models and GPU combos used to span those devices? And they're using the M1 in the iPad Pro. Economies of scale FTW.