lorin schultz

GeorgeBMac said:

For myself, I've been wanting a Mac but have not found one that actually meets my needs without paying between 2 to 5 times more than a WIndows laptops for the same functionality.

If you apply the words "same functionality" honestly, I think you'll find that's not actually the case. I say this based on what I found while recently weighing the alternatives myself.

It may be fair to say that you don't need the brightest, widest-colour gamut, lightest-weight pixel-doubling display on the market, but it's disingenuous to refer to a machine without such capability as being "the same." It may be satisfactory for your needs, but it's not "the same." It's less enjoyable to use and isn't capable of providing as much decision-making information as the one in the Mac. The intrinsic value is there whether or not it's worth the cost for your particular use.

I've also found that the machines in the range of 1/5 to 1/2 the price of a MacBook Pro still use hard drives for storage. The new MacBook Pro's storage is not only solid state, but it's built with chips that are twice as fast as last years' and tied directly to the PCIe bus rather than through a SATA bottleneck. Not at all "the same."

None of the inexpensive machines I looked at offered quad-core processors. The ones that did were priced closer to the MacBook Pro than they were to the "fraction of the price" machines. Nor did any of them offer Thunderbolt or USB 3.1.

The MacBook Pro may be overkill for your needs and wants, and that's perfectly reasonable, but it's not fair to say that cheap machines offer the same functionality.

thewhitefalcon said:

I guess Apple just needs to take out more ads in Consumer Reports then. Worked for Toyota. 

What are you talking about? Consumer Reports doesn't HAVE ads.

abiz said:

How do I disable Back to my Mac if I can't even see my Airport Extreme in the Utility because of said bug that this firmware addresses? Help!

I'm not in front of my computer right now to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure you'll find that in the iCloud section of System Preferences.

macxpress said:

bkkcanuck said:

macxpress said:

bloggerblog said:

canukstorm said:

bloggerblog said:

Those who keep on blaming Intel for Apple's excuses, I have two words for you: Surface Studio

That desktop is still based on Intel's Skylake CPU which is a year old and the Nvidia GPU is also based on at least one-year old technology. Other than the 128GB SSD and hi-res touch-screen, nothing else is latest and greatest.

You don't get it, it's not about the specs it's about the product. There are other ways to innovate, and Apple seems to have lost its way.

So tell me, what's so innovative about this Microsoft Surface Studio? The fact that you can draw on the screen? The movement of the screen? Other than that, its really an iMac with slightly updated specs albeit still out dated specs before it ships. This thing isn't even shipping yet and has an enormous price tag on it, suited for a very niche market. 

Quoting Steve Jobs...I think I'm gonna puke! This isn't Steve's Apple anymore...get over it!

If you watch recent Macbreak Weekly episodes you will see Leo Laporte with one on his desk that he is playing around with.... but what I notice is that it is not likely going to be very comfortable in either position.... If you lower it to a drafting table angle a keyboard in front of it is not going to work out that way or you will not be able to reach the top of the screen, and using a pen will only have you keyboarding with your body...... you will still have to lean forward to reach the bars at the top of the screen which is not going to be ergonomically very good....  Then if you put it up in an iMac position you are not going to use the drawing mechanism.  Now if you are drawing on a large board but not like a draftsman (i.e. freehand) it is likely going to be uncomfortable focusing on areas at the edge of your reach.  

I stick by my original premise that Apple is still closer.... A desktop can focus on what it does best, and an iPad can focus on what it can do best.  What I want is for the iPad and Mac to work almost as seamless extensions of each other when used together but not compromise their functionality when used separately.  It is almost as though Microsoft is throwing darts all over the place hoping to hit something directly, but the likelihood of doing that without work and planning.... not good.

This is exactly why Apple doesn't make a touchscreen iMac. It would be stupid for them to do so. Its cool for a whole 5 seconds and then its just a very expensive touchscreen that you'll never use. 

Perhaps that's true for YOUR use. For the things I do, it's fantastic.

One of those applications is firing audio cues during live shows. The touch screen is essentially a giant control surface with dozens of buttons. It's WAAAY faster, easier and MUCH more intuitive than selecting and firing with a keyboard and/or pointing device. When I need to do things that are not easily accomplished with a fat finger, like accessing menus, I just use the mouse.

One of my big complaints about using Pro Tools without a physical fader controller is that I can't turn one thing up while simultaneously turning something else down. It takes two passes to accomplish something as simple as ducking music while bringing up a voice-over. With a touch screen, I can. Even if I still work *mostly* with the keyboard and pointing device, the occasions when they aren't the best tool for the job make having the touch screen a worthwhile addition. It also saves me the expense of and desk real estate required for a physical fader controller. And I can reconfigure the layout of the controls however I want, which obviously can't be done with a physical controller. It may be possible to do all that with an iPad sidecar, but that's less convenient than just sliding my finger over a screen that's right where I'm already looking.

Now what I'm doing is obviously not "mainstream" so is there any benefit to "average" users? I don't know, but I'm inclined to think so based on watching my wife. She spends most of her day on an iPad Pro in the keyboard case. It sits upright like a laptop and she hasn't ever given any indication that it's uncomfortable or unnatural. I don't think it has ever crossed her mind. Whenever we get together in front of my laptop she pokes and swipes at the screen out of habit. To her, it seems perfectly natural.

I understand that some people don't see any benefit in touch for their computing needs, but don't be too quick to dismiss it as "stupid." It can be really useful.