mbenz1962

I saw this for the first time yesterday.  I guess this choice screen is activated based on the region selected and not picking something up from the previous set up.  I just bought a new iPhone and transferred all of my settings from the old iPhone to the new one.  I then set up my old iPhone for my daughter and transferred my daughter's settings from her old one to the new one. In neither process did the iPhones present us this choice, even though we physically reside in Germany (The store and the region we use is the US though). 
My daughter's old phone was reset and a couple of days later transferred to a friend of ours who is German and her old iPhone SE was set to the German region.  I was presented this screen as part of the onbording process. So it seems even if your old phone was set to an EU country where you have already presumably made a choice for browser, you are presented this screen again if your region is set to an EU country.

Rogue01 said:

"By the time you tack on a somewhat comparable monitor, you're higher than the price of the iMac. We say somewhat because it's next to impossible to find a 24-inch 4.5K display."

This doesn't make any sense.  The two port $1,299 iMac should never be recommended or considered.  The $1,499 iMac with four ports and 10/10 core M4 CPU is 16/256.  The Mac mini 10/10 core 16/512 is half the price at $799 with twice the storage, and you get more ports.  The iMac with 512GB storage to match jumps to $1,699.  Most people are not going to shop for a 24" display to match the iMac.  In fact, there are far better and larger 4K displays to match up with the mini and still be less than the price of an iMac.  Even if you bought a new keyboard and mouse, you can do it for less than the price of an equally configured iMac.

I think you may have forgotten the cost of the magic keyboard and magic mouse in your comparison.  Like the author pointed out, those 2 together run another $300.  There are definitely cheaper mouse keyboard combos out there though. The cost for the mini 10/10 core with 16/512 and a magic keyboard and mouse is $1097. That leaves you $600 to buy a monitor in 4k rez with an integrated webcam, mic, and speakers. You can get an LG MyView Smart monitor for about $500. You would get a bigger screen but only 4k Rez (which is worse and noticeably so stretched over a 32 inch screen) and a webcam that might be 1080p but not CenterStage or DeskView capable and speakers that are not Atmos capable.
All of that is to say, that you can definitely get lower than Apple's $1700 iMac with a mini, but only with compromises. Each user has to decide for themselves if the savings vs compromises balance out.  The lower than $1700 you pay, the more compromises you have to accept.
I often think on this very subject, because i have an M1 iMac. Changing a Mac mini for $600-800 is easier and can be done more frequently than trading up on the iMac, but I'm not willing to accept the compromises or pay even more for a Studio Display just to come off cheaper on the next mini upgrade. I wish Apple would come out with a monitor for $899-999. Alas, that will almost certainly never happen as the math would just tip too far in favor of the mini and kill the iMac.

slow n easy said:

 Apple currently only sells the 20 watt power adapter, so you would actually need to get the 30 watt adapter from a 3rd party seller.

Actually apple started selling this 30W charger a few years ago. After reading this support article about the Apple 35W Dual USB-C Charger, I believe that this would also enable the faster 25W charging so long as nothing else is plugged into the charger.  If there is only an Apple Watch or AirPods plugged in, it should still supply 27.5W which may enable faster charging that the 15W normal MagSafe but perhaps not the full 25W. I am hoping that AI will do a comparison on how the dual charger will handle the new MagSafe charging as Apple doesn't (yet) indicate this.

Of course, Apple also sells 70W, 96W, and 140W USB-C chargers which would all likely be compatible. 

KTR said:

The EU DOES NOT LIKE AMERICANS, they are using the legal system as a bullying tactic to gain the upper hand to gouge money.  If Steve Jobs was still alive, he would stop all operations in the EU, and every one in the EU will lose out.  They will have to find alternatives.  Shut down the EU App Store.   If it goes to trial.  I hope apple wins…..  there aren’t that many mobile OS’s out there.  With the exception of Linux.

I think you need to broaden your horizons a little bit.  Most of the EU's behavior can best be described by Hanlon's Razor . If you look at many of the laws that the EU has passed in the last 10 years and the [self-created] problems that we have seen in the last few years (Corona, Energy crises, Immigration, Brexit, etc.) the main driver for such action is clear.

The statement that SJ would leave the EU merits no further comment.

jcc said:

slurpy said:

40 BILLION? That's fucking insane. How much money does Apple Pay even make Apple? I think it's almost negligent. It's more of a value added feature for their ecosystem. 

Pure insanity. Meanwhile companies that engage in actual egregious shit get no punishments, or pathetic slaps on the wrist. 

In return for Apple paying $40 billion, we should tell Europe to pay us $4 trillion for NATO or else we let Putin roll his tanks into Paris. 

Equally short sighted and blindly 'Murica First as a bonus.

humbug1873 said:

dolfke said:

So many companies have shameless copied the iPhone, now Apple is accused to setup a system for only themselves ???

Irony, they name is Governments.

Let's face it. Apple Pay is just an implementation of a common standard (Google pay ist Googles implementation of that same standard). So it's not really copying anything from Apple in that case.
In this case it needs to use a piece of iPhone hardware that has been limited by Apple. There is merit in that complaint.

Apple has implemented ApplePay in a way that dictates that NFC payment activity needs to go through it. Banks want to save a few percent by using their own payment systems with Apple's NFC chip. They want this chip to be agnostic. There is likely some merit as @humbug1873 writes.  How much and what changes will have to take place to lower the bar for competitors will have to be decided.  Likely this EU court will err on the side of letting local competition dance on a foreign company's IP, but this is again likely not malicious, just short sighted and poorly executed like many EU laws.

In the end the fine likely won't be so large and Apple will agree to make some minor adjustments in the next 5 years. See the Apple involved Ireland v Commission from just a few years ago.

AppleInsider said:

Apple may have announced the second-generation HomePod today, but there's plenty of new features coming to existing models with software version 16.3 soon.

The HomePod mini and new HomePod have built-in temperature and humidity sensors that'll be activated by the update. Users with multiple HomePods across their home will be able to see the current temperature and humidity of each room within the Apple Home app.

Apple has remastered the ambient sounds to be more immersive on HomePod. They're also discoverable when building automations or setting alarms in the Home app.

It will be nice to have these additional sensors in the Home App. I will have to find a new use for my Eve Room in the Bedroom now. Also, I will likely have to change the room that my Eve Weather shows in in the Home App. I have it outside the Kitchen window and always ask Siri, “What is the temperature in the Kitchen”. With 16.3 there might be some confusion due to my HP mini in the Kitchen.  I’ll just place the Eve Weather in the Garage room in the Home App when this goes live I guess.

I can’t tell you how much I have been looking forward to having the ambiance sounds being available for automations.  I have a goodnight scene that plays white noise from the iPad on the night table.  The best I have been able to do is play a playlist from Apple Sleep, but there are gaps and big volume differences between the tracks. The ambient sounds are really well done and offer endless, seamless playback which is ideal for sleeping.