eightzero

This is the component I was waiting for as an alternative to a 27" iMac. This plus a mac mini gives a lot more flexibility as opposed to the imac. The CPU upgrades are needed far more often than a whole screen. 

I see one of these in my future.

12Strangers said:

The only way I would use one is if it allowed you to display it (to the police officer who just pulled you over) while your phone is still locked.

IIRC, Gruber has a good piece on this tech challenge on DaringFireball. It has actually been reasonably well thought out. Before that thing leaves your hand, you lock it by disabling the FaceID or other biometric unlock. In that state, it can only do one thing: display the ID you select. Clever - but you gotta get in the habit of securely locking *before* you hand it over. 

On something of a lark, I got a homepod mini for a very very low price. I jumped because I am rather curious about it. Initial impression is that it indeed has excellent sound. However, the Siri interface is still very unpredictable, and doesn't seem to understand I have a full library of music in the computer upstairs that she is connected to. Yes, I know this is fixed once I subscribe to Apple Music (and I got a free 6 month subscription to try) but having the functionality of this device tied to a subscription is something I really don't want. And yes, I also know I can go upstairs and Airplay from my library to the homepod, none of which is something I want to do. It should just work, and...well...it doesn't unless I fork over more quid on a regular basis.

I really do wish I could tie this to my Roku smart TV, but that requires I use the AppleTV box as the primary interface, and that's just one more thing to dork with. 

Gene Muenster never did come through with his Apple HDTV prediction. 

darkvader said:

Nah.  Buy a series 4 or 5 in 2021.  Ignore the 7 until at least 2023.  Save yourself a LOT of money, buy used.

I rather object to "you should buy this" headlines. Tech is a personal choice, and it doesn't get much more personal than Apple Watch. That said, I can't disagree with the conclusion "AW3 is dated and not a good value." I think it is disingenuous of Apple to keep it in the lineup. Put it over in the refurbished store.

Deciding when to upgrade as in look to last years models and what you have now is a complex decision tree. What features you value and how long you want those features to be useable in future updates are considerations. I was essentially a launch day AW buyer for me and my wife. She's a world class athlete and needed the upgrade to AW3 sooner than I did, and I held out to AW4. It works fine for my purposes...for now. My wife's AW3 is now completely dated, and she just got a AW7 as a birthday present. At some point in the future, I  will upgrade from AW4, but it will likely be new....but there's no way to tell at this point. 

My 2009 iMac and 2012 MBA do what I need, as well as iPhone Xr and a iPad from...oh about 4-5 years ago. For now. I will look to used or refurbished on these for sure, particularly as M1 based devices appear as used/refurbished. 

This of course includes the original gold edition models that went for $24,000. I think this is likely the most expensive Apple product ever declared "vintage/ obsolete." Maybe some of the really high end Mac Pros hit this level.

But of course, if you paid $24,000 for a watch, odds are you don't really care it is now refused service by its manufacturer.