Eric_WVGG

melgross said:

Why doesn’t it make sense? At the present AI=tion they said that they developed a new chip for the keyboard that was encrypted, so it would send an encrypted signal to the computer.

your post doesn’t make sense. You seem to contradict yourself. We all know Apple develops its own chips, and that they develop specialized chips for particular functions. They developed the Secure Enclave and it’s software too, remember. So here, they developed a chip to recognize your fingerprint, using their own touched technology, that then encrypts the data, and sends an encrypted signal to the computer. Seems pretty logical.

Because encryption is a function of software, not hardware. Any equation that can be produced by one chip can be produced by another — hell, even the old WWII "Enigma" machines can be translated to software. Maybe some custom chip can do it faster than another, but I promise you that even an Intel Pentium could perform the same calculation, albeit more slowly.

The "secure enclave" is interesting (and quite of brilliant) because it depends on an unbroken (thus far) chain of physical communication between the FaceID and TouchID devices and SoC (or the T1 in the case of Intel Macs). That's why you can't just replace a home button on a TouchID iPhone and expect TouchID to keep working.

Now we've got a wireless signal, and that can be intercepted and analyzed. Yeah, there's a chip in there somewhere, probably very similar to the T1, but so far there's no explanation regarding how the authentication is securely transmitted wirelessly. However that works, it's not just "a new chip." 

arlomedia said:

Ugh, I hate that arrow key layout, where the left/right arrows are full-size instead of half-size like the up-down arrows. This is continually annoying on my 2017 MacBook Pro. When my older Apple keyboard died earlier this year, I saw that the new keyboards use this layout, so I got a Logitech keyboard to use temporarily in the hopes that the next generation of Magic Keyboard would revert to the arrow key layout of the older (and current) MBP's. I hope this doesn't mean the next iteration of MBP's (I'm waiting for a 16" Apple Silicon) will switch again to this style. I mostly use my laptop on a stand with an external keyboard, so it's not a dealbreaker on the laptop but it is on the external keyboard.

I don't mind full-sized arrow keys, but you're right, it is super weird that they'd release it that way right after the new M1 keyboards… I wouldn't worry about the 16, though, Apple has never not used the same keyboard for every laptop.

lol holy shit they're still using Lightning to charge these things (and the mouse and the trackpad) whyyyyy

melgross said:

But it seems they solved the problem with, what else, a new chip.

That doesn't make any sense though, the chip doesn't matter, what counts is the signal it's sending. But I wouldn't put it past any tech company to get sort of hand-wavey and call "a secure signal running on an obscure non-wifi/bluetooth piece of open spectrum with a custom antenna" a "new chip," especially if it happens to be on a chip that is new (even if that's the least relevant piece of the equation).

MacQuadra840av said:

Eric_WVGG said:

auuuugh I really hope this is wrong, I was so looking forward to a modern iPad Mini

If true, we won't see a design refresh until probably 2024 ;_;

You will never see it.  The iPad mini is a low cost iPad, just like the $329 iPad.  It will never look like the Air or Pro."

"Never"? The idea that 2025 iPads will look like 2015 iPads sounds pretty silly.

Design changes like this always trickle down from the expensive models to the mainstream models. Apple is very predictable in this way.