CheeseFreeze

Xed said:

I miss being able to move home screens and icons around from inside macOS. Previously this was done within the iTunes app. Doing this on an iPhone can be a laborious task since you can't move the entire screen, only a single icon at a time. If something akin to this arrives I'd be happy.

dewme said:

Nice article. I know the article briefly touches on the audio port on 2021 and later Macs supporting high impedance headphones. However, I don't think most users really understand how much better Apple's built-in DAC is on their machines that support high impedance headphones than most PCs on the market. As a brand, Apple has always put a lot of thought and great engineering into the audio subsystems on their devices, from iPhones to Mac Pros. Audio performance is part of Apple's DNA.

Don't for a minute think that the vintage leaning 3.5 mm audio jack on a Mac is just along for the ride. Unless you've done all of your homework as an audiophile, removed all monetary restraints from your budget, and able to detect audio subtleties and nuances that only "true audiophiles" can mysteriously detect, there's a pretty good chance that Apple's built-in audio subsystem is going to be on-par or better than a lot of external add-on DACs, at least those DACs in the lower to moderate price range, i.e., $100-$300 dollar range, maybe higher.

The audio upgrade on Apple Silicon Macs is very significant and is yet another thing that older Intel Mac users are missing out on. If you needed (for whatever reason) an external DAC with your old Intel Mac, there's a very good chance that you won't need it at all with an Apple Silicon Mac. 

I learned about this firsthand. I brought my external (USB) DAC I used on my older Mac over to my Mac Studio so I could use higher impedance headphones. Everything worked great and sounded great. But recently, and after one of Apple's many updates, the Mac Studio no longer worked well with the DAC. Noisy and staticky as hell. I initially thought the DAC was fubar, but I saw other users online reported the same issue. I also confirmed my DAC still worked great on my old Intel iMac. I started Amazoning for a replacement, thinking a newer DAC with different components might be in order. Before I pulled the trigger I tried plugging my high impedance headphones into the lonely little 3.5 mm socket hiding in the rear of my Mac Studio. Wowser, not only did it sound as good or better than how my external DAC sounded, but the range of volume was at least as good and indiscernibly different than what the external DAC (actually a DAC+Amp) delivered, and without having to fiddle with knobs on the DAC. The Mac's built-in volume control works perfectly. This saved me from buying something that would not have improved my listening experience at all, at least for someone lacking audiophile mystical powers of audio perception. 

Finally, I understand those who are reluctant to leave Intel Macs for virtualization reasons. I too have Windows apps and to a lesser extent Linux apps that require me to keep a PC or virtual PC around. VMWare Fusion has served me impeccably well in this regard. The fact that I can now use VMWare Fusion (Player) for FREE saves me the costs I was previously incurring with upgrades tied to every new release of macOS. It's the deal of the century. When Apple Silicon came around all of that changed. I could no longer run Intel images of Windows or Linux on my Apple Silicon Mac. I could however run Windows 11 Pro ARM on my Apple Silicon Mac using the latest (still free for me) version of  VMWare Fusion and it works extremely well and is very stable.

But what about my Windows apps that require an Intel processor? While Microsoft provides a runtime environment for x86 apps on Windows ARM, I really need as close to bare metal as I could get. Solution: I bought a mini PC that cost me $250 USD that sits right next to my M2 MacBook Air, with both machines sharing a glorious 4K monitor, Bluetooth keyboard, and Bluetooth mouse. The mini PC is not equipped with the latest and greatest components, and it isn't as well endowed with memory, storage, I/O, and metal chassis parts as my Intel NUC, but it has a fairly recent vintage 7 nm Ryzen 6-core/12 thread CPU, integrated Radeon GPU, HDMI 2.0, DP 1.4, expandable memory and storage, 10 Gbps USB-A and USB-C ports, gigabit networking, Wi-Fi 6, etc., and has about a 3" x 5" footprint. Doesn't make a sound and has been working for months with no hangs, shutdowns, or restarts other than Windows Update. Probably doesn't play the most demanding PC games particularly well, but I don't play games.

The performance of my mini PC sidekick for my Mac setup completely blows away of my Intel dependent virtual machines that I was running on my Intel Macs. I could even install the free VMWare Workstation Player on it if I wanted to have different Windows or Linux images available on the mini PC. Sure, if I want to take it on the road with my M2 MacBook Air I would need a portable display, keyboard, and mouse as well. You can pick up a usable 15" 4K portable monitor for about $225 USD and I already have the required Bluetooth kb/mouse. As a bonus, a portable monitor would also extend my MacBook Air's visuals to two monitors. At the price point I got the mini PC I knew it wasn't getting the latest & greatest specs to use for more processor intensive tasks. But it's reliable, runs very cool, and if you dig around a bit more you'll find newer mini PCs that have very impressive specs but haven't gotten part their teething problems quite yet. There are also a plethora of cheaporoni mini PCs on the market that have low end Celerons and Atom CPUs or newer Intel CPUs that have no performance cores at all. Sounds a bit nasty, but for some folks it may still be a better platform performance-wise than what they're getting from VMs running on their Intel Macs that they're still reluctant to leave behind.

Of course you can always keep your old Intel Mac around as a VM host and backup Mac.

Your mileage and needs may vary, but there are very logical and viable paths to making your move to Apple Silicon sooner and finally getting to enjoy the many benefits that come with such a move. Depending on your needs, a hybrid approach with a mini PC sidekick may actually deliver more utility and better performance than what you are getting with an older Intel Mac laden with VMs.

radarthekat said:

caladanian said:

What has trust to do with it? Either you follow the rules within the laws or not. You can’t distrust preventively without them making a mistake with their new developer account – after all I can understand. 

Would your logic apply to a pedophile applying for a job as a child care worker?  Past is prolog.