MacQuadra840av

The article also left out the fact that if the iPhone is not running iOS 14.5 or later, the 'missing' AirTag won't alert the nearby phone.  Not everyone installs the latest updates and some people still have phones that can't run iOS 14.  So chalk those people up with the Android users that won't know if an AirTag has been secretly planted on them.  It is also scary to know that you can be tracked for 3 days without being warned.

Why this vital information was left out of the review is disturbing.  At least the Ars article mentioned this significant issue with AirTags.  One could be planted on your car and you would never know it.  It is also documented on how easy it is to disable the speaker too.

hammeroftruth said:

I believe that they will introduce a new line of processors for the desktop line of Macs. Maybe the M in M1 stands for mobile? If so, maybe they come up with a D series for desktops. 

With the chip shortages everywhere, I wouldn’t bet anything will be available until June except for airtags if they release it. 

The M means Mac.  Apple's mobile processor is the A-series.  They should have a more capable desktop variant of the Apple Silicon chip, one that supports more than 16GB RAM, more than 2TB storage, more than two USB ports, and hopefully discrete graphics (discrete graphics cards are still significantly faster than the M1).  The current iMac supports 128GB RAM, 8TB storage, 4 USB/2 USB-C Thunderbolt.  Apple won't downgrade the iMac to the M1 limitations.

hexclock said:

Kind of sick of the California names. Time for something new, or just plain old numbers again. 

Apple is in California.  They can choose whatever names they want.  What would you prefer, Longhorn?

Someone should tell AppleInsider that the iPhone 5C was obsolete in 2017, not 2020.  The iPhone 5C was cut off in 2017 with the release of iOS 11.  AppleInsider is confusing software support with hardware parts repair support.  Once the software isn't supported, the product is pretty much useless.  Sure Apple could provide repair parts in 2020, but developers and Apple stopped supporting iOS 10 three years earlier.

The HomePod uses the outdated A8.  Apple hasn't used this chip since 2015, 6 long years ago.  The mini uses the Watch CPU and has hardware not present in the HomePod.  Apple does not support discontinued products for long.  Look how they killed off the original iPad with iOS 5.1.1, making that model quickly obsolete.

I get that the very small group of people that bought HomePod are upset, but it was abundantly clear that it was always half-baked, Siri is awful, and it was a heavily restricted product designed to sell Apple Music subscriptions.  $349 was a joke, and they could not unload them at $199.  But Apple won't be supporting it for long, and it will be an overpriced AirPlay speaker.  My 25 year old JBL floor-standing speakers sound incredible, and they cost less than two obsolete HomePods.  Apple is famous for burning a few customers here and there.  Remember the term, IIvx'd?  (Even on day one, the HomePod never sold out because enough people knew it was a turd of a product).

Steve Jobs said it best when he canceled all speaker products....everyone else does it better, and does it for less, so we are leaving this space.  The only speakers that Apple sold that sounded good were the Pro speakers and iSub made by Harman Kardon.  Why?  Because Apple didn't make them.