MacQuadra840av

It does not matter what they call macOS.  The core of macOS is still Mac OS X with UNIX underpinnings.  They can slap all the eye-candy they want on it, it is still the same UNIX system.  It is still the same operating system no matter what CPU it runs on...and now three...PowerPC, Intel, and Apple Chip.  Can boot up Leopard on my Power Mac G5 and it is not that much different from Big Sur on Intel.  Except Big Sur still has more bugs in it that Apple has yet to fix.  So I guess they are scrapping that and will just move on to macOS 12.

This is not an Apple thing.  Many companies are doing this.  Work comp carriers do not want the exposure.  Many companies are offering incentives to their employees to get vaccinated sooner than later.

MplsP said:

lkrupp said:

Something is on the way, I can smell it.

Well, we know Apple’s coming out with an ASi iMac sometime, and since the M1 already matches the iMac Pro’s performance there wasn’t much point in keeping it around. The big question is when the ASi iMac is released. I’m betting April.  

Sorry, but even the 10-core iMac Pro with dedicated graphics blows away all of the low end M1 Macs.  If you don't believe it, google it.  The single core on the M1 is the only benchmark that is slightly faster at 600 points more.  Multi-core is 2,700 faster with the iMac Pro.  OpenCL and Metal are both 40,000 points faster in the iMac Pro.  So stop pretending the M1 is the fastest computer, when it is not.  The 18-core iMac Pro runs circles around the M1.

I would hardly call them a patent troll when Apple met with the company in 2018 to discuss the patents in question and after an exchange of letters back and forth, did not reach a licensing agreement.  So this one is not a surprise to Apple because they have known about the patents for 3 years.  Just because someone holds a patent for IP on circuit design, why do they have to constantly make those circuits to be valid?  If you read the article, Intel settled with them because they were in violation of the same patents.

Don't you all watch Shark Tank?  They love it when people have a patent and license their product to other companies.  Those people that hold those patents no longer have to be the ones to produce the product because they are selling a license for others to make it.  Apple had to change FaceTime because they were violating a patent.

Remember when Apple flew a pirate flag on top of their building?  Bill Gates said it best, "Hey Steve, you stole the stereo, we stole the TV".  Don't assume Apple is innocent in this when they were trying to work out a deal with the company that holds the IP.

"AirPort routers are no longer sold by Apple, but still receive regular updates."

What are you talking about?  The last update to the AirPort products, the late generation ones, was TWO years ago.  You call that 'regular updates'?  Stop trying to make people think Apple supports discontinued products, especially ones that did not sell well at all.