MplsP

mike1 said:

MplsP said:

For those that have a hard time comprehending this - companies like Apple make hardware and also sell services. All this bill is doing is saying there has to be a modicum of separation between the two. It's not saying they can't offer their service, it's just saying they have to give other services an equal opportunity. Not sure what's so bad about that.

It's not hard to comprehend, but still begs the question, Why?

Why is it Apple's (or anyone else's) responsibility to allow equal access to their platform?

It's up to others to build a better mousetrap.

That said, Apple already offers other competing services. I can also get Music apps from Amazon, SiriusXM, Spotify, iHeart and several others.

In addition, I can easily get video content apps from Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Paramount, Peacock and many more.

It's up to all of them to promote their worth and value to consumers, not Apple.

It’s called a monopoly. The government has a long history of antitrust regulation, and the consumer benefits of strong competition are well known. (This isn’t just about Apple, either.)

For those that have a hard time comprehending this - companies like Apple make hardware and also sell services. All this bill is doing is saying there has to be a modicum of separation between the two. It's not saying they can't offer their service, it's just saying they have to give other services an equal opportunity. Not sure what's so bad about that.

lkrupp said:

“Claims” and “Reports” = Fake News about Apple... ALWAYS

Anything remotely negative about apple = a post from @lkrupp claiming ‘fake news’ or ‘apple haters’ …. ALWAYS.

As to the post, it appears that Fakebook et al are technically following the rules. As a user, I’m ok with being lumped into a cohort. That’s really not much different than advertising to fans at a football game. 

DuhSesame said:

MplsP said:

xyzzy01 said:

Apple isn't shunning Intel chips in a shameless ploy to push its chips

Actually, in most of these cases they clearly are. As an owner of a top of the range 2020 Intel iMac, I'm annoyed. It's far more powerful than the M1 based computers that gets these features, and they still sell it.

1. Facetime calls - blurring the background. This feature is available on older, low end machines on other software like Teams, Zoom, etc. Claiming that only their Apple Silicon chips are able to do this is clearly untrue. If anything, this feature should have been released a long time ago on all machines. That said, while it is annoying and clearly an example of Apple being bad, I don't really care that much: While I do plenty of Teams calls every day - mostly from that iMac - and a couple of Zoom calls a week, I can't remember the last time I used Facetime video.

2. Globe and improved maps. This was available more than a decade ago, on Google Earth. It's not taxing, and it's not special. Granted, the globe feature is just useless and the maps are only for a very, very limited areas (so a non-feature in Norway). And who uses Apple Maps on a computer anyway, rather than on a mobile device? Still, this is also just Apple being mean towards some of their best customers - iMacs, Mac Pros etc.

3. on-device dictation. This could maybe be legitimate. Still, the latest Intel machines have significant ML capabilities - especially those with discrete GPUs - so it sounds kind of fishy that none of them can do it.

4. text-to-speech support for additional languages -- Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. There's no way that the other languages can be done without Apple Silicon, and these need it. Again, just Apple being petty with their current customers.

5. Apple baked all of the T2 security and performance features directly into the processor and then some. This is what enabled Apple Silicon machines to work with Apple's wireless Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. This is different, in that it requires special hardware. Could Apple have supported this on Intel machines prior to Apple Silicon? Absolutely. They supported TouchID on Intel laptops, and could have added wireless protocols to the T2 and keyboards if they wanted to. Not adding it to iMac / Mac Pro for so many years was probably more caused by neglect of these product lines than wanting to push Apple Silicon, though.

So to sum it up: Apple is clearly holding back features that would work just as well on Intel computers.

I agree, the apparent premise of the article, that intel-based computers can’t do these things, is ultimately false. The one thing the M1 computers can do that the intel machines can’t is last more than an hour while doing them. Every time I have to use teams for a meeting try battery drops like a rock, the fans start blasting away and the surface of my MBP gets too hot to touch. Part of that is crappy Microsoft programming, but part of that is the intel processor. 

If only Cinebench r23 was optimized enough for both of you to see, that 8+2 is more powerful than your 10-core i9.

And I don't know their best customers must be a desktop user.

That’s not the point. Everyone agrees the M1 is a better processor, but the article’s premise was that the M1 can do things that the intel processor can’t (and is therefore better.). What everyone is pointing out is that all of these supposed limitations of intel processors are artificial limitations imposed by Apple, not limitations intrinsic to the chip. 

xyzzy01 said:

Apple isn't shunning Intel chips in a shameless ploy to push its chips

Actually, in most of these cases they clearly are. As an owner of a top of the range 2020 Intel iMac, I'm annoyed. It's far more powerful than the M1 based computers that gets these features, and they still sell it.

1. Facetime calls - blurring the background. This feature is available on older, low end machines on other software like Teams, Zoom, etc. Claiming that only their Apple Silicon chips are able to do this is clearly untrue. If anything, this feature should have been released a long time ago on all machines. That said, while it is annoying and clearly an example of Apple being bad, I don't really care that much: While I do plenty of Teams calls every day - mostly from that iMac - and a couple of Zoom calls a week, I can't remember the last time I used Facetime video.

2. Globe and improved maps. This was available more than a decade ago, on Google Earth. It's not taxing, and it's not special. Granted, the globe feature is just useless and the maps are only for a very, very limited areas (so a non-feature in Norway). And who uses Apple Maps on a computer anyway, rather than on a mobile device? Still, this is also just Apple being mean towards some of their best customers - iMacs, Mac Pros etc.

3. on-device dictation. This could maybe be legitimate. Still, the latest Intel machines have significant ML capabilities - especially those with discrete GPUs - so it sounds kind of fishy that none of them can do it.

4. text-to-speech support for additional languages -- Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. There's no way that the other languages can be done without Apple Silicon, and these need it. Again, just Apple being petty with their current customers.

5. Apple baked all of the T2 security and performance features directly into the processor and then some. This is what enabled Apple Silicon machines to work with Apple's wireless Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. This is different, in that it requires special hardware. Could Apple have supported this on Intel machines prior to Apple Silicon? Absolutely. They supported TouchID on Intel laptops, and could have added wireless protocols to the T2 and keyboards if they wanted to. Not adding it to iMac / Mac Pro for so many years was probably more caused by neglect of these product lines than wanting to push Apple Silicon, though.

So to sum it up: Apple is clearly holding back features that would work just as well on Intel computers.

I agree, the apparent premise of the article, that intel-based computers can’t do these things, is ultimately false. The one thing the M1 computers can do that the intel machines can’t is last more than an hour while doing them. Every time I have to use teams for a meeting try battery drops like a rock, the fans start blasting away and the surface of my MBP gets too hot to touch. Part of that is crappy Microsoft programming, but part of that is the intel processor.