Andrew_OSU

2old4fun said:

Andrew_OSU said:

Eric_WVGG said:

I don't mean to be a dick, but I don't understand how you give a new product "5 out of 5 stars" when it's incompatible with every Macbook* released in the last three years.

(*by "macbook", I mean the modern ecosystem including Macbooks, Macbook chargers and high-speed iOS chargers)

USB-C or GTFO

Very simply Eric, third-party USB-C Lightning cords don’t exist. Apple doesn’t allow them. They are working within the constraints posed by Apple. Had that been allowed, they assuredly would have done that. As far as what Apple allows, there is nothing I’d want different on this cable. 

Amazon has USB-C to Lightning cables for $9.99. I bought one last week. Nice cable.

See, what you bought was an unauthorized third-party cable. It quite likely uses a counterfeit chip and can possibly damage your phone. It is against Apple’s MFi license to sell USB-C Lightning cables. Any being sold are actually illegally using Apple’s Lightning IP without paying for it and Apple has been cracking down on them for a while.

entropys said:

That’s a bit unnecessary, Eric.
Mind you, I would take issue with USD$49.95 for a 2,800 mAh battery, regardless of its other features. That is waaaay above the price of competitor products.  So automatic downgrade of at least two stars right there.
edit: actually i would take another two stars off as 2,800 mAh just isn’t worth it at half the price. There are any number of just as compact chargers at half the price but around 5,000 mAh, which takes care of any battery power transfer inefficiencies. An xtra cable isn’t that inconvenient. So one star ⭐️ sight unseen, and happy for it to stay that way.

If you look at Lightning cables first, most rugged ones will run you around $30. Belkin, Native Union, Alto, etc. it has a lot going on just in the cord. Nylon wrapped, polyamide interior, and the cable tie all make the cable itself add up. The battery isn’t huge when compared to battery packs, but a whole extra charge is pretty awesome. $20 for that battery seems fair, but you’re also buying a $20-30 Lightning cable. Then the $50 price seems better

macxpress said:

Most importantly, how well does it work as a smoke detector? Does every little wisp of smoke or smell set it off? Some First Alerts have 2 stages so for example, if its someone burned toast it doesn't set it off, but if it senses legitimate smoke it goes off as it should. I'd much rather have this than some gimmick speaker in it. First and foremost, it should function very well as a smoke/CO2 detector. 

Two things. In my testing, it did a decent job of not going off in the kitchen. The cheapo Kiddie smoke detectors I had before went off at the slightest smoke. In this case, they seemed to not be triggered so easily. That is really useful.

I also wanted to say that the speaker is FAR from gimmicky. This is a legitimate enhancement. It isn't like taking a good product and just sticking something that doesn't really belong there. Honestly I want more of these in my house. The ceiling is the perfect spot to be putting a speaker, and it was so easy to install compared to other in-wall speakers.

ihatescreennames said:

AppleInsider said:

• Oval-shaped buttons
...

• Flights climbed

Yes! Oval shaped buttons!!

I can already see flights climbed on my Watch and iPhone? How is this different? Is there a change?

Lots of good stuff here, though. I’m looking forward to the update. 

Same flights climbed metric, just presented in the activity app on the Apple Watch. It didn't show up there by default previously.

ivanh said:

MacPro said:

dougd said:

Why do you need messages in iCloud?

I think it syncs better across devices.

The only difference between Apple Cloud and iCloud for iMessages, is that you may need to pay for iCloud for iMessages now while in the good old days you don’t.  

Not at all true. Not even close. Before if you delete a message on your iPhone, it doesn't get deleted on your Mac. Same in reverse. Same goes for entire conversations. Before, which mind you is still around, you don't have to use Messages in iCloud, the only that happened was any incoming message would go to all devices. That is it. There was no synchronization.

Additionally, it saves a Ludacris amount of space. I had over 36 GB of storage taken up by messages on my iPhone and also on my Mac. By using this, that goes to almost nothing. Between Messages in iCloud, and iCloud Photo Library, I don't need such a large amount of storage on my phone.

Lastly, it keeps everything in check when you go to a new device. I don't usually restore new devices from a backup, instead, I just sign into iCloud. Now when I do that, my entire message history comes along.