macgui

Yes, I'd bet that the 7-core chip is the result of a bad yield, or failed 8-core chips in a yield. It's being repurposed to a lower end unit, and thus some overhead is lowered, instead of just tossing otherwise functional chips. It also helps establish an entry level Mac and isn't an unknown practice among other manufacturers.

High speed flash storage has removed a lot of dependence on RAM for light and medium lifting. Too many people living in this usage world keep saying that lots of RAM is overrated and unnecessary "with today's SSDs". They're right, but only within they're own little world. Ok, it's a pretty big world but not the whole world, as they might believe.

Even if you don't render a lot of high-end, busy video, there are still RAM sucks. For a light lifter like me, that's browsers and web pages. I frequently have a lot of web pages open with sometimes two browsers. Browsers eat memory and left on their own, suck up a lot of it. I often get that warning something like "this web page is using significant resources...".

I'm hoping somebody's "real world" M1 testing includes loading up the CPU/GPU with a lot of browser pages for a lengthy time. There's been a lot of talk that SSDs have obviated the need for RAM, but that's a short-sighted view.

The M1chip seems to have demonstrated among a number of reviewers it's ability to do much more with less RAM. There's a lot of users who will find 8GB and 16GB enough or more than enough for their use with an M1 computer.

But there are a lot of high-end users who do still and will need more. I believe that will be coming as soon as the next M1 refresh. That goodness may well be reflected in the price, which might be one reason why we didn't see them this time. 

All of these M1s are entry level machines in each of their categories that provide more functionality than probably any entry level Mac before. Decrying their suitability for high-end work that they weren't tasked for is silly at best and the stuff haters are made of.

Any objective doubters should scour the web for thorough reviews and if they don't see what ability they cherish tested, should prevail on the tester to consider it. That would be an actual constructive act instead of baseless speculation and petty bitching.

The Mac vs PC ads were terrific, poking fun at PC products. Sammi's attempts mostly came off as lame mirthless jabs that made Android users happy, and Apple people were supposed to be amused. Truth is they were like the loudmouth at a party that insults other guests under the same guise of humor and accuses them of being thin-skinned when they don't laugh or are rightfully offended.

At a party you can take the asshole aside and explain that if he's not civil, you'll punch him in the throat and sent him off. Not as easy to handle ad campaigns in the same manner. I did find one Sammi ad amusing, though it escapes me now, and this Included one is actually clever and amusing.

I didn't believe Apple would drop EarPods and the charger, and when it seemed likely, thought it a bad move without some overt compensation to the customer.

Including a coupon giving discount pricing at an Apple store for an Apple charger and EarPods seemed to me the best way to handle the exclusions. Much less bad press, and we could feel we're getting a fair shake, even though we might not be. Those wanting to save the environment could just dispose of the coupon/voucher in some ecological manner.

Yes, there are a tonne of compatible chargers out there in drawers and still in retail boxes on the closet shelf. Even a 5W charger will charge the latest phones via a Lightning cable. While some of you are so important you've just got to have hi-speed charging for your active life style (snort) I do see some value in fast charging, particularly for first responders, but others as well. Inductive charging isn't as efficient as direct wire, so I'm not running out and buying an Apple type-C charger anytime soon. Also not a fan of possibly introducing more heat to the phone battery. It'll be interesting to see how this affects the lifetime capacity of the battery.

Besides the huge cost savings this give Apple it's a sound ecological move though I still want EarPods and a charger with the phone. Did I mention Apple is saving a tonne of money? Metric tonnes actually, in shipping. I'm interested in a 12 mini, and would have liked to see the MSRP dropped by $100.

I'll wait a bit and see how it shakes out. Maybe there'll be a 12s mini with a couple things this doesn't have that I'd like. Wait'll next year!  

neuromechanist said:

I think you are talking about Extreme v2 not the Extreme Pro v2. SanDisk Extreme Pro V2 has a 20Gbps bandwidth using USB C gen 2x2. The non-pro version however feature USB C Gen 2 with 10Gbps speed.

No, AI is talking about the SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD SDSSDE80-1T00-G25, but not the V2, which is double the performance.

https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/portable-drives/sandisk-extreme-pro-usb-3-1-ssd#SDSSDE80-1T00-A25

https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/sandisk/product/portable-drives/extreme-pro-usb-3-1-ssd/data-sheet-extreme-pro-usb-3-1-ssd.pdf

neuromechanist said:

Your links in the end is correct though, pointing to the non-pro version.

Again, no. If the SanDisk is 1050Mb/s then it is the Extreme Pro, just not the V2 Pro. I'm not sure I trust the Amazon links as the product number in AI's link is different than that of the manufacturer below:

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Portable-External-SDSSDE80-1T00-A25/dp/B07YFGSDQR?ref_=ast_sto_dp

The product number in AI's link to Amazon (SDSSDE61-1T00-G25) may be unique to Amazon, as is often the practice.

A trip to the manufacturer's site show several different models, but no V2 as yet. I suspect it's too new, though there are reviews of it elsewhere. It's closer to $300, depending on what you read.

I'll leave it to those curious about the Samsung product to do their own research.

World ills aside, at least for this moment, I'm looking forward to this series. There have been some really great shows in this genre (Berlin, Deep State to name a couple) and I'm hoping this is another.

randominternetperson said:

cpsro said:

asterion said:

When Apple becomes technology-led rather than design-led we'll know that the spirit of Apple — of Steve — has finally left.
Apple has always been about excellence in human-centred design.

What is human-centered [sic] about the puck mouse?

"human-centered" doesn't mean "perfect."  I would argue that the design of iMac mouse was undoubtedly human centered.  It certainly wasn't technology-led.  It was ultimately a design that failed in the marketplace, but the thinking was likely that moving something shaped like a large, smooth pebble was more ergonomic than gripping a narrower shape with your thumb and pinkie.  Unfortunately for the design, most of us had already ingrained the latter expectation in our muscle memory.  Oh well.

What rando said. The mouse was a one button mouse when there were multi-button devices abounding. So no tech-led product there.

The puck was meant to be move by laying your fingers, upper palm, or palm across the puck, and gentle pressure actuated the click without changing the position of the hand one iota. There was no need to grasp anything. No hand cramps, easy for children, the elderly, or just someone with some injury or debilitation to use. Definitely human-centric. But people didn't get that.

"Unfortunately for the design, most of us had already ingrained the latter expectation in our muscle memory."

This. The hockey puck was a failed product but not a failed design. It was brilliant in its simple elegance and ease of use. It was the failure of users' ability to recognize and appreciate it for what it was. Instead they whined about what it wasn't.