danvm
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Apple's 'M2' processor enters mass production for MacBook Pro
Maybe you don't need to copy Apple to make devices thinner and lighter. For example, the ThinkPad X1 Nano is a 2 pound notebook, smaller and lighter than any current Apple notebook, and it has a replaceable SSD and battery, among other parts.canukstorm said:
"For them, in a laptop, soldered & glued together that was non-upgradeable offers no benefit"GeorgeBMac said:
Perhaps the question is: Who benefited? i don't think it was the customer. For them, in a laptop, soldered & glued together that was non-upgradeable offers no benefit. Can it be made a half millimeter thinner by eliminating a socket? Perhaps. But, even if true, that is a pretty marginal benefit.sdw2001 said:
...Wgkrueger said:
If it needed to be upgraded immediately then it can be returned to Apple. If his needs exceeded the capabilities of a maxed out machine then he couldn’t upgrade it anyway (thinking memory here) and he could return it to Apple. If he used it for a period of time and his use cases changed so they exceeded the machines capabilities, which I think was part of your original point, then it’s a case of longevity.GeorgeBMac said:seanj said:
Only a tiny percentage of people tinker with the computers, it’s a niche market that’s similar to those that add nitrous oxide to their cars...GeorgeBMac said:For all those defending the "Everything Glued together & soldered together" assembly of the MacBooks by saying "Nobody ever upgraded a computer", Andrew just called bull!His biggest (only?) complaint about his M1 MacBook Air is that it can't meet his needs because it is frozen in time with what it came with when he bought it -- versus his MacPro which grew and developed with enhancements as his needs, wants and requirements grew.Likewise, my 9 year old i7 Thinkpad runs perfectly well and meets all of my needs -- because it's been upgraded to a 500Gb SSD, 16Gb Ram and an internal harddrive used for ongoing, real time backups. Without those cheap and very simple to install (5 minutes or less) upgrades the machine would have been scrap
Most people just want a computer they can do things with, rather than do things to, in other words a consumer product. With Apple they get that, which is why customer satisfaction is so high.
If you have a 9 year old Thinkpad then you’re probably either running XP (good luck browsing the Internet securely) or you’re running Linux. If it’s the latter then if you happy with a limited number of professional applications then that’s fine.I forgot to mention that its running WIndows 10. So, its security is a good as good as any Windows machine. Admittedly that's a low bar.But the point of the post was NOT about lengetivity but to reiterate what Andew said: His MacPro remained functional because it could be upgraded with additional RAM & Storage -- while his MacBook AIr could not meet his needs because it was all glued and soldered together and locked into its initial configuration when he bought it.
The point? Apple clearly looked at what its customers were actually doing, and found the benefits of hardwiring and gluing everything outweighed the negatives. While I can see the other side, I agree. I've had Macs since the Pismo PowerBook G3 (2000). The number of issues I had with those machines (getting a new one every 3-4 years) was far, far higher than now. The products are not as serviceable or upgradable. But they also don't need to be.
It offers a laptop that is lighter due it being thinner. That may not be a benefit to you but it is benefit to many consumers. So much so that Windows makers have started copying the MBA design in spades. It isn't a surprise that ultrabooks like the MBA are the hottest selling segment of the laptop market. And now with the M1 MBA, you get a laptop that's light, fast and runs cool & quiet.
The average consumer does not care about the same things that you or other IT folk care about. What they care about are devices that are convenient, easy to use, fast, quiet, cool and have access to web and their favorite apps. Sure, there are some consumers who care about upgradeability but they're far from the majority. This is the mass market. And don't get me wrong, I have nothing against computers that are upgradeable but if that's what YOU are after then you should buy a device that allows you to do that.
X1 Nano Gen 1 Hardware Maintenance Manual (lenovo.com)
And this not only benefits someone who later needs a larger SSD drive, but also makes possible to service the device onsite without special tools. That could be a better design compared to Apple notebooks, where you have to send it via mail or take it to an Apple Store for service.
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Microsoft brings unified Office app to iPad
MS recently announced that they have 47.5M MS 365 subscriptions for consumers. So it looks they have a lot of end users customers.freediverx said:MaxLe0p0ld said:I wonder, why they still not bundle TEAMS into the Package - and also in TEAMS the eMail Lookup remains a Challenge -
as long as an Address is not in Active Directory, the App will not find it - it will not check your own Contacts for matches, such a Bug for over a year now...
And why will TEAMS not update via AutoUpdate on the Mac?
Remember that the end user has never been Microsoft's customer. Their customer is the whoever makes corporate software purchase decisions in large companies. The fact that their products are full of annoying quirks and omissions just reflects the fact that they're not designed with your needs in mind.
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Microsoft may follow Apple in creating own chips for Surface notebooks
I didn't say that acquiring a company is copying. But it's clear that the innovation MS developed with Kinect and Windows Hello was so good that Apple had to acquire the same company to create a Windows Hello / Kinect copy (or as you said, knockoff). So in this case, among other examples, Apple copied MS. And I don't criticize Apple for copying MS. I have a Surface Pro, and I have experienced the benefits of Windows Hello, and I love to have the same system in my iPhone. At the same time, I miss the same experience in my MBP, while MS already have Windows Hello in all of their devices.Beats said:danvm said:techconc said:
In all fairness, I don't think there is really anything Microsoft is doing that is particularly ground breaking here. Most major tech companies are doing a lot of internal research with AR/VR and Hololens is barely more than a tech demo. It's not something everyone is using. Azure is another cloud service like AWS and Google's Cloud Platform. Even iCloud does much of the same, but it's for Apple's customers only.KITA said:There are plenty, but a good and recent example is HoloLens 2 with Azure Remote Rendering and Dynamics 365. Of course, Apple doesn't compete in the cloud computing or commercial augmented reality market, so I wouldn't be surprised if most of the audience here hasn't the slightest idea these groundbreaking technologies even exist.
Also is interesting that Apple acquired PixelSense to create FaceID, the same company that help MS create Kinect, Windows Hello and the technology behind Hololens. So I suppose MS innovation was good enough for Apple to copy it.
That was PrimeSense and Apple had to engineer the technology into that tiny little notch. If they simply "copied" it there would be a huge Kinect attached to the top of iPhone and they would have done it without acquiring PrimeSense to create something NEW.
Notice how different and how much smaller this is by comparison.
Plus acquiring a company is not the same as copying. Copying an invention is copying, not acquiring a company to re-purpose it's patents, tech and talent into something new. I always find it funny how the rules change when criticizing Apple. -
Foreign hackers breach US Treasury Department
Look like MS wasn't the issue in the attack.Beats said:This is way worse than 14 iPhones bending in 2014. Will there be media hysteria and mocking of Microsoft?
Customer Guidance on Recent Nation-State Cyber Attacks – Microsoft Security Response Center
Highly Evasive Attacker Leverages SolarWinds Supply Chain to Compromise Multiple Global Victims With SUNBURST Backdoor | FireEye Inc
If you noticed, AI removed "Office 365" from the title. So it looks that there is no need to be in hysteria or ridicule at MS, as you suggest.
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Apple working on re-engineered and smaller Mac Pro
The thing is that not all professionals need a workstation that starts a $6K without monitor, neither need a cheap tower as you said. Just look at HP and Lenovo workstations. They have workstations as small as the HP Z1 Mini / Lenovo ThinkStation Tiny starting at less than $1K, to the largest Z8, which can go to +$100K, and some midrange devices between those two. Apple is trying to cover the professional needs with two devices, the iMac Pro and the MacPro. IMO, two devices it's too limited. A midrange MacPro would be an excellent option for many professional.lkrupp said:caladanian said:Strange. The size is not the problem. The price is.
Price might a problem for YOU but NOT for professionals looking for that level of performance. It has been shown time and time again the Mac Pro is an excellent value at that level. What you want, of course, is some kind of cheap tower with a few slots you can play with. Those days a re long gone for Macs.
