Mike Wuerthele

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Mike Wuerthele
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  • Reminder: Don't install Apple's betas on any critical devices unless you really hate yours...

    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele
    Dougie.S said:
    Can we have more information on the current reports of issues? Such as is the local data loss on macOS or iOS, or both? 
    Both. It's a very early beta and these things will happen and have happened every year for the last 10 WWDCs that I've been public-facing. Probably happened before then too, but I didn't care as much as my clients were smart enough to NOT do this.

    Thus, this piece. Annually.
    nhughesmuthuk_vanalingamhammeroftruthFileMakerFeller

  • Apple Silicon M1 24-inch iMac review: Computing power for the masses

    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele
    nubus said:
    I wonder why reviewers recommend the middle tier (which is what Apple like all vendors want). Just delivered the low-end iMac to my mother-in-law, and it is perfect. It replaced a desktop eating Mac mini, an ugly Samsung monitor, and an even more ugly webcam. The new setup is super clean and worth it.
    1. The GPU... 7 vs 8 - not a problem.
    2. Ethernet? Wifi 6 is faster in real world testing and how many parents have wired gigabit connections or a need from them in their home? You can get 2.5 gbit from a dock so why pay for 1 gbit from Apple?
    3. Ports? Do you want cables hanging out the back of this beauty, spend it on a dock, or go all wireless? You no longer need cables for sync or charge of iPhones so for most purposes there will be nothing to connect.
    4. TouchID... you rarely enter passwords on a Mac. We decided against it as she might forget her password if she doesn't use it. If you often install software then it certainly is a convenience.
    Looking back we probably should have selected 16 GB RAM. We did however go for 512 GB SSD. Haven't seen the tests comparing disk sizes and performance but the 256 GB units are often slow and the SSD wear on M1 doesn't look good. Still... probably better to have more RAM than local storage. We upgraded the iCloud plan and decided to go for AppleCare. Buying a new model from Apple is a risk. Any problem is often "see you in court" until they after a few years make a repair program.

    The worst part of the experience is the Migration Assistant. It spent time copying 32-bit applications that would never work, provided random time estimates, and it crashed. 
    Drive speeds between the 256 and 512 are about the same. At present, the SSD wear "issue" appears to be mislogging of data, but regardless, it's fixed in the latest betas.
    nubus

  • 2021 12.9-inch iPad Pro review: Pro hardware without Apple's pro software

    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele
    CheeseFreeze said:
    Why 4.5 out of 5 stars with the criticism given? 

    Reading the review, iPad Pro could theoretically  have been 10 times as powerful yet remain capped by its software. It’s also running exclusively iOS so you can’t review the hardware without the software. 

    The arguments provided seem more like a 3.5 out of 5 star review to me… Strange.  
    While I didn't write it, it's the inverse reason for the Apple TV's 2.5/5.

    For the Apple TV: Not much of an upgrade since the previous model, effectively the same speed, don't need it if you had the last one. We still recommend it. 2.5/5

    For the iPad: Best in class hardware, a giant improvement over the last model, literally, every regard except the camera, with about double the processing speed and more. YMMV on if it applies, based on your software. 4.5/5

    And fwiw, scores suck. We absolutely hate having to give them, because 10 folks will have 10 different use cases and as such, different factors that add or subtract points from that score. But, if we don't, those average Joes that I was talking about in another review won't read it, and/or Google won't index it properly as a review.
    muthuk_vanalingamwilliamlondonpscooter63tenthousandthingsdewmeCheeseFreezeVermelhowatto_cobra

  • 2021 Apple TV 4K Review: Seeking a blockbuster, given a Band-Aid

    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele
    jwdawso said:
    Another Neil article where he has no clue who AI and Apple customers are. 
    If you, the reader, think AI "core" readers are the "typical" Apple user, you're really mistaken in that regard.

    For instance, if you think that, then you think that nearly the entire Apple user base wants a Mac mini tower, with PCI and PCI-E storage. The reality is, almost nobody outside the "core" AI readership gives a single crap about it. In fact, most prefer thin and light everything, instead of the constant cry that we get here for a shitload of ports, and thick to support that.

    Reviews like this have to appeal and apply to the larger audience, and not just the AI "core." Related to this, we've turned off comments on tips, because of ridiculous comments like "Why did you write this, this is obvious" -- when it really isn't to most.

    The AI "core" is 30% of our total readership, and dropping, as Apple's reach grows and we grow in readership. We're not abandoning that core, but there is zero chance we're going to ignore the other 70%.
    muthuk_vanalingamtenthousandthingsdysamorianhughesAppleZulufastasleeprundhvidCloudTalkinsdw2001dewme

  • 2021 Apple TV 4K Review: Seeking a blockbuster, given a Band-Aid

    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele
    iadlib said:
    In a completely baffling move, the new 2021 Apple TV 4K does not include support for spatial audio with the AirPods Max or AirPods Pro.

    It’s not a “completely baffling move” if you do a little research or someone takes the time to fact check an article... Apple’s implementation of spatial audio requires gyroscopes and accelerometers on both the headphone side and the device side in order to compare the difference and modify the audio coming from your AirPods Pro/Max. 

    Clearly the AppleTV doesn’t have or need such sensors.   Implementing spatial audio would require a modification of some kind in the methodology that Apple uses to achieve the effect, perhaps acoustic mapping from the HomePod lineup or some other method. It does support traditional (higher quality) surround sound on your headphones though. 
    It's not a good assumption that we don't know how Apple implements Spatial Audio. Apple's implementation in code and firmware requires gyros and accelerometers on ONE device mandatory, and two devices optionally. It is only required on two devices as the code stands if the host device is battery-powered and casually mobile, and the Apple TV is clearly not. Obviously, you have to have them on the listening device.

    However, knowing that one device is stationary -- the Apple TV, like you said -- requires a single variable change, and not even a change in how the devices communicate as the API stands today.

    Apple actively chose to not support it on the Apple TV.
    nhughesdysamoriaelijahg