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Username: Xed
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Apple Smart Home Hub release pushed back to 2026

Xed

July 13

eightzero said:

If this is a device you are eagerly looking forward, I am happy for you. Having more choices is always a good thing. I do want you to eventually have your wish come true.

I am disappointed that this is a priority for Apple seemingly to the exclusion of other projects. I can think of many other things I would prefer to see - things like an ATV with an OTA tuner (ATSC3?); a new Airport with an onboard Apple branded VPN; updated Beats Fit Pro (those wingtips actually work well). None of these things seems to be even remotely on the radar for Apple. Heck, even something as simple as a hardware cover on my iPhone camera lenses (a little slide device in the case) would be welcome. That the smart home stuff is all reliant on AI that doesn't seem to work is all the more disappointing. To me. YMMV.

1) I think you are making a logical fallacy by assuming that this is a priority that causes other projects not to be worked on. Apple has 164k employees, according to Wikipedia. Sure, most probably aren't HW or SW engineers, but they surely have more than enough to have parallel projects in the works.

From my PoV, the fact that this HomeHub rumor keeps getting pushed back indicates that it's not that much of a priority for Apple. I can't imagine that the revenue and profits will be high unless they do something drastic. I say that because the current consumer-grade stuff isn't that expensive, and the commercial-grade stuff that requires someone with skills to install and configure properly, like Control4 or josh.ai.

I have been looking forward to Apple's HomeHub because I don't feel there's a great middle ground option at this point. This segment is still far too kludgy, IMO. I doubt Apple has solved that, but I'm still hopeful and the very least there are probably innovations that will make it into other companies to advance this market segment down the road. I honestly think we're 10–20 years away from seeing great smart home setups that doesn't require a certified technician to setup or and configure.

2) As much I'd like to see a lot of those HW changes, especially Apple returning with great mesh routers, I don't think they have any of those sitting on the back burner waiting for engineers to be free.
How to take a screenshot on a Mac - the comprehensive guide

Xed

July 12

cougarmeat said:

Wow! A five or six-year-old post. Must be slow times.

They post this and many other every year because there are new Mac users every year who may not know about these incredibly useful features (or even older Mac users that have become set in their ways so they don't even know some of these newer features are available — like people mentioning Command-Shift-5).

You can try to argue that the article already exists, but people don't typically look at the archives for articles. Unless they were seeking this out they may never know what their Mac can do. The general rule of thumb for anything on the internet is that if doesn't appeal to you then simply ignore it.
M5 MacBook Pro now expected in the first half of 2026

Xed

July 11

Rogue01 said:

Reading the comments is always amusing. When Apple switched to their own processor, people loved to complain about delays caused by Intel. Yet Apple updated their products more consistently with Intel than they have done with their own chips. The iMac had an M1 for over two years before finally getting an upgrade. The Mac mini had the M1 for over two years before getting an upgrade, and the mini was the first model switched to Apple Silicon, then Apple ignored it for another two years before updating it again. Apple claimed a MacBook Air with a 15" display was 'new', yet they shipped it with a year and a half old M2 chip. The Mac Studio had the M2 for almost two years before getting an upgrade, and the Mac Pro is just an embarrassment still using an M2 Ultra. M3 Ultra came out 4 months ago, still nothing with the Mac Pro, yet Apple still charges a ridiculous $7,000 for outdated hardware.

"Apple had initially expected to release an M5 update later in 2025, but it then shifted the schedule to be a later release."

So now this. Delays again with Apple using their own chips, but now people seem to be okay with it...because they can't blame anyone else except for Apple. Yet Apple claimed they would have 'better control' of their products making their own chips, but apparently they don't because they keep delaying their own product releases or flat out ignoring other models. And rumors floating around about a MacBook using an A18 processor? Apple will claim it is new, but it is using an iPhone SOC instead of something newer. Just like Apple using left over iPhone 11 SOC and camera parts for the Apple Studio Display. That is the reality of it.

Not to mention Apple charging an arm and a leg for memory and SSD upgrades. You are far better off buying a used Mac because it won't carry over the highly inflated Apple 'Tax' for those upgrades.

I recall that the general sentiment being thankful that Apple dropped the IBM for Intel. The updates were more frequent and with higher gains over PowerPC. Despite Intel being better than PowerPC chips, the move to Apple Silicon has been great to both getting me more performance with less power, and by reducing my TCO since I don't have to update as frequently. If anything, I'd argue that Apple didn't switch to their own silicon soon enough since the M1 out of the gate was already excellent — it was so good that I haven't had a need to upgrade my MBP based on that metric.

Here's a list of all MBPs notebooks with Apple Silicon. What doesn't look consistent to you? Because they aren't doing a Max and Ultra with every cycle? Because the M-series isn't getting a cardinal upgrade every year in October to follow the same trajectory as the iPhone? I don't look at those product release dates and think Apple isn't doing enough.
How to take a screenshot on a Mac - the comprehensive guide

Xed

July 10

sandor said:

thefferon said:

I've seen ump-teen articles on taking screenshots in MacOS, and I have been able to accomplish what I need to for a while. What I haven't seen – maybe because there may be no native support for it – is how to take shots of entire webpages in Safari. I wish someone would give that issue some love, since it comes up a lot more often, for me anyway, than the regular screenshot functionality.

The Develop menu in Safari lets you do it:

Develop -> Web Inspector -> right click on the element you want (or whole page) and select "Capture Screenshot"

I wish that feature would come to all apps that have a scrolling page. For example, if I want to take a pic of something in Settings that is more than the length of my iPhone display I need to do multiple screenshots, open on my Mac in Preview and then stitch them together to appear as a single page. It's doable, but annoying.
Jason Momoa's 'Chief of War' brings Hawaiian history to Apple TV+

Xed

July 10

I'm very interested in this series. I'm curious to know just how historically accurate they will be. There are so many empty parts of this story and this is done as a dramatic work so liberties will need to be taken to make it entertaining, but that's a given. Based on the trailer it seems like they're certainly trying to keep things as accurate as reasonably possible. I'm sure anachronisms will crop up but I didn't notice anything glaring in the trailer.

Filming in Hawai'i and New Zealand. Two of the most beautiful places in the world to film outdoors. Sounds like a dream job.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_War