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  • 2020 iPhone to reduce TrueDepth notch, full-screen display rumored for 2021

    chasm said:
    waverboy said:
    That’s the (hopefully ultimately true) news I’ve been waiting to hear!  My nearly four-year-old 128GB iPhone 6S Plus is running better than ever before on iOS 12.3, better than when it was brand-new even, so I’ll easily be able to skip the 2019 models and hold out for a hopefully notchless 2020 model, or maybe even a notchless-with-fullscreen-TouchID 2021 model.  So glad I’ll have completely skipped the silly notch and FaceID nonsense.  Maybe by then I’ll even be able to get black AirPods and my life will be complete at last.  :smile: 
    You may want to re-read the article; it doesn't say anything about notchless, it says "reduce the notch," and there is exactly zero chance of Apple moving back to the less-secure TouchID, so ... nope.

    As the owner of a XR, I can assure you that the notch is ... nothing. It isn't seen at all in most programs and watching videos, etc, and is extremely unintrusive the rest of the time. Indeed, your post reminded me that my phone has one! If I have to sacrifice one percent of the screen in order to have super-secure FaceID, the world's best (by far) portrait/selfie camera, and animoji, I find that a trivial price to pay. Obviously if Apple can reduce the notch, then great -- but it has been a total non-issue for me and other X-class owners.
    Ahem... Face ID is not super-secure, kids and siblings can fool it. And that, according to Apple’s own document.
    waverboyseafoxwilliamlondonchemengin1
  • Comparing the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the 2017 Function Keys model

    MplsP said:
    MplsP said:
    burnside said:
    I'm using 2015 MBPs till they can't be refurbed. Superior keyboard, HDMI, and USB w/o need for dongles. Perfect work computer. Based on how fast they vanish from the Apple refurb store, I'm not alone.
    First of all an adapter isn’t really a dongle, unless any and every adapter is now a dongle. Funny we never called them that before. Second, there’s no need for such USB adapters as you can get native cables that connect USB-C to -A, HDMI, Lightning, etc...You’re whining about a problem solved years ago. 
    The one thing I plug into my MBP more often than anything else is a USB security key. It's USB A and it's issued by my job, so I can't change it. The second most common thing I need to plug in is a USB jump drive that someone gave me with a bunch of pictures, files, etc. Those are almost always USB A. I was at Target the other day and every single one they had on the shelf was a USB A. I was in Staples earlier this evening - same story. When I need to hook up my laptop to a projector to do a presentation, the single most common connector is an HDMI connector. I have yet to see a USB C connector. 

    A dongle is simply an adaptor with a short cord. A long cord with two different ends is the same thing. Call it what you want, it doesn't change the discussion.

    Contrary to your parroting of Phill Schiller's tripe, the problem does still exist. Yes, you can get adaptors/dongles to let you use the USB C ports. I've spent an extra $100 on such dongles. The problem isn't that you can't make the connection, the problem is that you now have to tote around a handful of dongles in addition to your laptop to enable you to do what you could do natively 4 years ago, and what virtually every other laptop on the market today lets you do without anything extra. 

    Attach that USB security key then attach that jump drive you run out of ports. Attach a HDMI display you run out of ports, you cannot attach a second display. With USB-C you can attach as many displays as your CPU/GPU supports. You’re not against MBPs, you are against USB-C. You’re defending a paradigm that consists of legacy single-purpose ports against the modern paradigm of multi-purpose ports. The original iMac removed RS232, ADB, SCSI and replaced all by the new emerging USB standard. The new Macbook Pros removed several single-purpose ports and replaced them by the modern multipurpose USB-C ports. Your resistance to progress is futile.

    By the way I’m dependent on USB-A exactly for the same reason as you: the USB security key. But I know that the mine is a very fringe case and I don’t try to use it as an argument against progress.
    Apple also added Firewire which never caught on, so their prediction of the future is not perfect.

    How many people run 3 monitors off of their MacBook Pro? I'd be willing to bet that that number is dwarfed by the number of people who need a USB A device, but it's not an Either/or proposition. I'm not against USB C; I just think using only USB C ports was idiotic. USB A was not single purpose, by the way. Beyond that, what is the single thing people use USB C for more than all other uses combined? Charging.  Put 2 USB C ports, a MagSafe and a USB A. You have utility of USB A without sacrificing the flexibility of USB C.

     3 years after Apple dumped USB A, it's still the single most common connector used and still dwarfs USB C. I've said this many times - USB C may be the future, but USB A is (still) the present and will be used for years to come.
    OK no one denies that. This is why there exists USB-C to A adapters. If you have difficulties in digesting attaching a USB-C to A adapter on a MacBook Pro, then consider it as an extension of the USB-A cable, not an extension to MBP.  B)

    USB-A is a single purpose port design. Thunderbolt 3, DisplayPort don’t run on it. For those you need USB-C port.
    StrangeDays
  • Apple could raise keys on an iPad keyboard for better typing in the future

    Any physical keyboard matters only to old farts. Millenials have grown up with touch screen keyboards and they have seen clickety clack ones only on dad’s desk and on Chromecraps at the school. Apparently engineers at Apple have so much spare time to deal with patent bureaucracy.
    cornchiptmaygutengel
  • Comparing the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the 2017 Function Keys model

    henrybay said:
    henrybay said:
    So DUMB! If the software goes down we can’t Escape because the Escape goes down too. And how many people use the Touch Bar anyway - probably 1% or 2% of users. 

    Who is making these crazy decisions at Apple? Probably the same people who created the worst keyboard in the history of computers - the butterfly keyboard. 

    Surely these folk must secretly work for an Apple competitor, and they are trying to sabotage its MacBook range. 

     
    No, the Touch Bar cannot go down when your software goes down because it is operated by a different operating system, not macOS.
    The Touch Bar is operated by a modified version of IOS (with elements of watchOS) therefore it can go down. No software is foolproof - not even operating system software. 
    Glad to see you learned it. However, the keyboard too is operated by software... You can even change how your keyboard keys act via software, you can add or modify keyboard shortcuts to menus via software, namely the Keyboard Preference pane. When something goes awry your keyboard may not function at all.
    chia
  • Comparing the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the 2017 Function Keys model

    henrybay said:
    So DUMB! If the software goes down we can’t Escape because the Escape goes down too. And how many people use the Touch Bar anyway - probably 1% or 2% of users. 

    Who is making these crazy decisions at Apple? Probably the same people who created the worst keyboard in the history of computers - the butterfly keyboard. 

    Surely these folk must secretly work for an Apple competitor, and they are trying to sabotage its MacBook range. 

     
    No, the Touch Bar cannot go down when your software goes down because it is operated by a different operating system, not macOS.
    williamlondonStrangeDays