tenthousandthings

If the past is any indication, then, yes, M4 will be based on A18, and it (M4) will launch in June 2025. That's the A15/M2 release pattern. TSMC N3P will be the process node for this, with volume production in "2H 2024" and so it is obviously in risk production right now, with Apple leading the way.

It is too soon to say this, but I will anyway: the silicon production cadence is set now. The only real unknown (in my view) is whether or not every Mac will get every generation of Apple M silicon, every 18 months (not all at once, but spread out within that period). I think probably yes (the M2 iMac was a casualty of the global pandemic), but we'll see.

Here's my predictions (within the current Pro/Max/Ultra structure, that is, leaving out the possibility of some kind of "Extreme" Mac Pro configuration):

I use mine for Time Machine (for multiple computers), with iCloud and a scheduled physical backup of current documents to external drives via SuperDuper! (been using it since 2002, when I participated in AppleSeed during the early years of OS X). So I’ve got three current copies of everything. 

It also functions as an Ethernet switch/router, I forget what I did to get it to do that (function as a dumb, pass-through Ethernet switch/router, but not as a Wi-Fi access point). The article addresses this, but I seem to remember having to adjust the settings a bit more than the article suggests. Probably due to the fact I was replacing my old, AirPort-based Wi-Fi access with a mesh network at the time, so I wasn’t starting with a clean installation… 

IIRC, this (anti-steering) was the one part of the Epic case that they lost in California. So it’s hard to see how Apple thought this would fly in the EU. I think they know they can’t avoid a fine, they’re making these points in their appeal to establish the framework for their ultimate response, which is going to be something similar to what they’re doing with the DMA rules. 

I see they now offer a 16GB version among the standard configurations they keep in stock, instead of having to order it. That wasn’t possible when we walked into the store and bought an M2 Air back when it first came out. We got the 8GB (which has been fine for what it is used for), but I remember thinking Apple had left money on the table, as we would have gotten the 16GB if we could have walked out of the store with it right then and there.

jellybelly said:

pembroke said:

Need to ask this somewhere….

iOS 17.3.1 …. Apple have removed the symbols for male and female but have retained the symbol for Transgender (sic) ⚧️. 

This is creepy. What on earth are Apple doing? This is remarkably idiotic and a game changer for me as an owner of many iPhones since inception. But I WILL switch to Android if Apple persists on this gaslighting nonsense. 

Aren’t these emojis universal? Which is good, so they show up on exchange across platforms.    So you’ll find them on Android too.  

Pembroke's initial comment/outrage is incorrect. Apple did not remove the emoji variants for Venus ("Female Sign") and Mars ("Male Sign") from the Emoji keyboard. They have never been there. macOS, iOS and so on has never supported the standardized emoji variants for ♀︎ and ♂︎ or any of the other planetary symbols (or other combined male and/or female signs), which is where they are listed/encoded in the Miscellaneous Symbols block of Unicode. In sequence, from inner to outer planets, including Pluto: ☿♀︎♁♂︎♃♄♅♆♇. I don't know when the emoji variant [⚧️] for the transgender symbol ⚧ was added to the Emoji keyboard, but the symbol itself dates to Unicode 4.1 (2005). I can't tell if Pembroke is mad that Apple is calling it "transgender symbol" instead of its original Unicode name "Male with Stroke and Male and Female Sign," or if they really believe Apple removed the emoji variants for Female Sign and Male Sign, which is, to repeat, categorically untrue and easy to document by looking at old discussions about this question in the Apple support community.

These symbols have always been listed under "Pictographs" in the Character Viewer in macOS. On iOS, however, they have never been available via the keyboard. I always assumed there was an iOS Unicode keyboard for this available in the Keyboard settings in iOS, but I now see this is not true. Pretty hard to understand, really. I guess this is because the iOS fonts don't support the full range of Unicode characters, but I don't get it. Just add another keyboard called "Symbols" -- so instead of having "Emoji & Symbols" combined like in macOS, they would be two separate keyboards in iOS... That would also allow one to differentiate between the root symbol and its emoji variant, like I did above for U+26A7

EDIT: Looking at this comment on my phone, I see iOS automatically converts U+26A7 to the emoji variant. Look at this comment in macOS and you’ll see what I’m talking about…