iPad Pro • Hacker News Board

Re: iPad Pro

#691

Post by brisance » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:02 AM UTC

SiVal wrote: post #617

drb91 wrote: post #538

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest pain for me of lack of access to the underlying OS has turned out not to be any of my thousands of tiny gripes with the way the software works that I can't change (e.g. setting dns on the cell connection), but the lack of transparency and ability to debug basic processes. What is the computer doing now? Why is it hanging? Why did that app crash? Why is my network failing? Who is that app talking to? My ma…

The reason Apple cares so much more about iOS than MacOS is vastly increased control. With iOS, they control the hardware from the chips up, the OS, which apps you can run, and via Safari-only access to the internet, even what you can and can't do using external services. It makes computing & communications an Apple theme park, where you can't bring anything forbidden into the park, have to buy everything you need fr…

There are lots of tools you can use to develop iOS apps other than Xcode. Phonegap/Cordova/OutSystems, Visual Studio, Xojo, Mendix, LiveCode et al.

End of the day, Apple like any other corporation does what it does because it makes money for them. The alternative is to use a "free" operating system like Android and you subject yourself to constant surveillance. It's like that scene in The Big Short; "tell me how you're f*ing me." At least with Apple, you know straight up what you're getting yourself into. Your relationship with Apple ends when you stop using their devices. Not so with Google/Facebook, where your data lives on in perpetuity, used for purposes beyond your control.

Now I'm not saying it's not possible to have your cake and eat it too. I'm saying, where is this mythical product, where a user is free to do whatever he wants with his device? What's the market size? How come no one has built it yet?

Re: iPad Pro

#692

Post by vorpalhex » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:13 AM UTC

jen729w wrote: post #589

amluto wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lightning is awful. It looks nice, but that’s because all the fiddly bits that are prone to failure are hidden in the port. Ever had your iPhone’s Lightning port fail? It’s not particularly rare, and Apple can’t fix it without replacing the whole phone. USB-C puts the parts that wear out quickly in the cable where they belong.

My concern with USB-C is lint. My iPhone’s Lightning port regularly collects pocket lint, which I fish out with a toothpick. That’s easy to do. (I notice the lint in there because the Lightning cable doesn’t quite snap in all the way; each time I’ve pushed it in, I’m compressing the lint up at the back of the port, and eventually it gets too much and prevents a solid connection. Only happens about once a year, but it…

I have a usb c jack on my Android and haven't had any lint woes.

Re: iPad Pro

#693

Post by looneysquash » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:15 AM UTC

If only it ran macOS.

Re: iPad Pro

#694

Post by nikofeyn » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:15 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #416

DiabloD3 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, no ugly "chin". Problem is, the iPhone X family got rid of the chin... but have the dreaded notch, and not even the mostly acceptable teardrop everyone else standardized on. At least the iPad Pro adopted chinless and also notchless design. First time in years Apple has made a product that isn't weirdly ugly.

> Problem is, the iPhone X family got rid of the chin... but have the dreaded notch, and not even the mostly acceptable teardrop everyone else standardized on. You mean "copied with a tiny alteration". > At least the iPad Pro adopted chinless and also notchless design. First time in years Apple has made a product that isn't weirdly ugly. You probably didn't get the memo, but the "oh my god, it has a notch, oh noes, s…

there were phones that effectively had a "notch" long before the iphone x. for example, the lg v10 had a second screen directly on top of the main screen with the two front-facing cameras slid over to the left. the second screen was used to access recently opened apps, text messages, settings, flashlight, music control, etc.

in general, apple just tells people they invent and do everything the best, and everyone listens. it's funny, because my lg v35 is much thinner and lighter than my girlfriend's new iphone xs max (which has a marginally larger screen), doesn't have a protruding camera lens, and it actually has a headphone jack with a high-end dac (which basically no other phone has). so apple says they need to get rid of the headphone jack to save room, and yet here we are.

i specifically avoided the lg v40 because they added the notch. as with the new ipad, i simply don't understand this need to extend the screen all the way to the end of the phone in the long way. this is especially true on the ipad, which i nearly always hold horizontally with my thumb on the perfectly sized bezel. getting rid of the bezel literally adds no functionality for me and actually removes some.

Re: iPad Pro

#695

Post by Wowfunhappy » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:16 AM UTC

threeseed wrote: post #686

SiVal wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason Apple cares so much more about iOS than MacOS is vastly increased control. With iOS, they control the hardware from the chips up, the OS, which apps you can run, and via Safari-only access to the internet, even what you can and can't do using external services. It makes computing & communications an Apple theme park, where you can't bring anything forbidden into the park, have to buy everything you need fr…

1. It's not Safari only. It's Webkit only and there are legitimate security reasons for this. 2. The idea that UNIX is antithetical to what Apple stands for is just ridiculous. It is still at the core of iOS and MacOS and is one of the areas where Apple continues to innovate. 3. Apple licensed MacOS in the past. It nearly killed the company since third parties like PowerComputing went straight after their core base a…

>4. You can see what your iOS device is doing. Plenty of apps allow you to see what processes are running, file system behaviour etc. Apple just doesn't build it in.

Do you have any examples? I've never seen anything like this in the app store.

Some apps give you limited access to their filesystem but (as a Jailbreaker) I'm pretty sure the larger system isn't viewable under normal circumstances.

Re: iPad Pro

#696

Post by clhodapp » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:20 AM UTC

RubberShoes wrote: post #443

To me, the shift to USB-C signifies a fundamental change in how Apple is approaching the iPad and computing going forward. Those stupid "what's a computer" ads make a little more sense. With USB-C, developers will support whatever I/O standards they need to in iOS, and the ecosystem of monitors, keyboards, and peripherals we all bought for our laptops/desktops will now begin to work with iOS too. This feature alone g…

The simpler explanation is that Apple simply wants to move to USB C because they see benefit in being on the "standard" mobile device port now that it does not have marked drawbacks vs their proprietary solution and can used for their entire line of mobile devices, including laptops

Re: iPad Pro

#697

Post by Wowfunhappy » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:22 AM UTC

bsimpson wrote: post #616

RubberShoes wrote: post #443

To me, the shift to USB-C signifies a fundamental change in how Apple is approaching the iPad and computing going forward. Those stupid "what's a computer" ads make a little more sense. With USB-C, developers will support whatever I/O standards they need to in iOS, and the ecosystem of monitors, keyboards, and peripherals we all bought for our laptops/desktops will now begin to work with iOS too. This feature alone g…

It's kind of amazing how much the lack of a real Chrome (not just a wrapper around WKWebView) prevents me from caring about this. I suspect the drawing experience on here is better than with a ChromeOS device, but I care more about my web browsing/creation experience than I do about sketching.

What is it about Chrome's renderer that specifically appeals to you?

I agree it's somewhat ridiculous that you can't get (real) third party web browsers, but Apple's is so damn good that I don't consider it a real problem.

Re: iPad Pro

#698

Post by amanaplanacanal » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:22 AM UTC

wishinghand wrote: post #580

mbreese wrote: post #508

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's funny... I specifically don't use a case with my iPhone because I feel they have been designed as they are to work without a case.

I fee like if Apple truly didn’t believe they needed a case, they wouldn’t make and sell them.

So if everybody is going to use a case anyway, why isn't the functionality of the case just built into the phone? This applies not just to apple by the way. I've never understood this.

Re: iPad Pro

#699

Post by e1ghtSpace » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:31 AM UTC

kanishkdudeja wrote: post #532

RubberShoes wrote: post #443

To me, the shift to USB-C signifies a fundamental change in how Apple is approaching the iPad and computing going forward. Those stupid "what's a computer" ads make a little more sense. With USB-C, developers will support whatever I/O standards they need to in iOS, and the ecosystem of monitors, keyboards, and peripherals we all bought for our laptops/desktops will now begin to work with iOS too. This feature alone g…

I hope iOS 13 will have mouse support for the iPad Pro. Only being able to touch the screen while using the iPad Pro in laptop mode feels really limiting.

I wonder when they're just going to start calling it "iOS".

Re: iPad Pro

#700

Post by Wowfunhappy » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:32 AM UTC

SllX wrote: post #384

theshrike79 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MacBooks _will_ transition to Apple's own chips at some point. My guess is that the A14 or A15 generation will be fast and powerful enough to make the leap. This will be big especially if they can get major price or power usage advantages.

Arguably they are already powerful enough to make the leap in at least some cases, that said Apple does not push Macs in the same quantities as iOS devices as to justify wholly new silicon for the line. I have been in an argument with a friend for the past year or so about precisely when (or if) Apple will rip Intel out and use their own silicon. I think they will, but I'm going to try to present his argument to the…

> Given all of that, most people simply won't need a new system any time soon. There's essentially no reason a laptop from 2012 can't take you all the way to 2022 all other things being equal, so we're starting to see sales stagnate across the entire PC market including the Macintosh, so while Apple is selling phones about as fast as they can stamp them out, the same is not true of Macbooks or iMacs.

Isn't this becoming equally true for phones? Perhaps not for hardware as far back as 2012, but I'm expecting my 6S to last me a very, very long time. It's fast, has a great screen (and headphone jack), and I'll get the battery replaced as many times as I need to.

But this doesn't appear to have slowed iPhone XRS+ Maxx sales one bit.