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I think QCOM has done a better job at outracing Apple with modem features. It's pretty difficult for Apple or anyone to catch up. An example would be the satellite communications band support. QCOM having that one feature and Apple not means QCOM gets the modem win. These features have to expand, be more power efficient and provide more bandwidth for the inevitable 2-way messaging and voice features. So, there isn't a slow period for Apple to catch up with.

Apple still hasn't implemented cellular for Macs. That seems right down their alley for using their own modem and not needing the latest modem features, Same for iPads and Watches. For Macs, tempted to think they just don't want to pay the patent fees. It may cost something like $300 to $500 to get a cell modem inside a $2000+ MBP. For iPads, it's probably cheaper as that is just part of the iPhone cellular modem supply deal. For Watches, not a big enough component to warrant the investment?

FileMakerFeller said:

darkvader said:

That's a lot of words to say "Apple has been playing with somebody's pet projects that will never lead to a product for a decade."

There is no Apple car.  There isn't going to be an Apple car.

If Apple got serious about wanting to become a car company today (and they are absolutely NOT serious about it now) it would take at least a decade for them to release a car, and given how bad Apple (and to be fair all software companies) are about fixing bugs and introducing new ones, probably never be safe to drive.

An oldie but goodie:

At a recent computer exposition, Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated: “If General Motors had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.”

In response to Bill’s comments, GM issued a press release stating: “If General Motors had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason, you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive – but would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single “General Protection Fault” warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask “Are you sure?” before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
9. Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You’d have to press the “Start” button to turn the engine off.

#10 has come true for me. Push button to start (with foot on brake), push same button to power off.

Hehe, something along the lines of number 9 occurs with Tesla Model 3. Every once a while, a new update changes the UI of the center screen, and I have to learn where things are again. Tesla still hasn't made it mandatory that every time I'm in reverse, the rearview cameras must be in view. There can be no circumstance where those cameras are covered when in reverse.

Number 8? Yeah, that happens too. The Model 3 uses a BT connection to my iPhone as a key. Every once in awhile, it doesn't connect and doesn't automatically unlock the car. Would have to flip the BT switch on and off, and one time I had to use the key card.

Number 5? Well I am waiting a on an EV with solar PV on it. Waiting, waiting, and waiting. If it is from Apple, awesome.

Number 4? Yup, Tesla's autopilot will very rarely do a steering correction for no good reason. There's a neighborhood intersection I used to go to a lot where for some reason, it felt that it needed to do a steering correction on a left turn. There aren't any lines on the road, just an intersection in a neighborhood. Maybe something something with light and shadows that confuses the image recognizer.

Number 3? There are two, maybe three, control loops. There is the inner loop that controls the basic functions of the car. There is an outer loop that controls the center display. The outer loop has crashed on me and I have to restart it by long pressing the dial-buttons on the steering wheel. You can still drive and everything, you just don't know how fast you are going, control wipers, etc.

fergessen said:

we are waiting for iMacs larger than 24”

OUR offices are way overdue for integrated desktop machines. Having speakers and camera on a large display is a simple formula for what we need.

Our machines are all Intel based now, still, and we are a number of OS updates behind.

If they come out with an iMac 30", be prepared for the price. $3000 minimum? Maybe $2500, but this is probably wishful thinking).

An iMac 30 have around 5750x3236 resolution, an M3 as the base SoC, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB storage, for $2500? This is just your regular old 600 nit LCD display with edge-lit LEDs. If it was miniLED at 120 Hz? $3000. If it was OLED? $3500. A lot of money for the base model. And they better have an integrated power supply in it. The power adaptor on the iMac 24 is a mistake.

If it comes, hopefully they will offer both a regular LED LCD and a miniLED.

People should be reminded that not all USBC cables are the same, and you should read the fine print on what USB protocols it supports and what USB-PD. Does the symbol/icon recognition feature in iOS17 work on the USB symbols? Best way for folks might be just to use the symbol recognition feature?

USBC with USB2 protocol, which is likely the cable in iP15, iP15P and iP15PM boxes, only need about 4 or 5 wires. It will be a thin and pliable wire.

USBC with USB3 protocol, which you have to buy separately, will have about 9 wires. It will be obviously be thicker and likely stiffer.

USBC with TB3/4 protocol, which you have to buy separately, will have about 12 wires. You know when you buy it because it is going to be expensive and should have the thunderbolt icon. Thickest wire. It basically supports all USB protocols.

As far as how much power the cable is rated for, well, I think you have to read the fine print. These cables are being made as cheaply as possible, and some cables that work fine at 10 W (5V, 2A) may not be ok at 20 W (5V, 4A or whatever it may be). There protocols should limit the amount of power going through the wires in accordance to what they are rated for, but something bad always leaks through or the cable could be frayed, damaged, whatever.

Apple is called out for promoting Double Tap as merely duplicating existing accessibility features, isn't available at launch, and "doesn't require any fancy new hardware." This is mentioned to a backdrop of an AppleInsider video about using Double Tap on existing Apple Watch models.

From the AI article on turning on Accessibility gestures on the Apple Watch: "We expect performance to be the biggest differentiator as the Apple Watch Series 9 includes the first CPU boost in years. Not all gestures are recognized with Quick Actions and AssistiveTouch, and we hope the Series 9 is more reliable."

This stuff isn't easy, and you know that an Accessibility option is sometimes used as a way to test out various UI designs. There's a big difference between a feature used by a minuscule fraction of the database to a tentpole feature for everyone. So, the dings of it not requiring new hardware is misplaced.