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Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

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Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may find Control-F2 helpful. It focuses the menubar, at which point you can navigate the menus by typing/arrow key, Spacebar to focus, and Enter to select. It helps me avoid a lot of mouse usage. ...come to think of it, I should probably give that a binding on my ErgoDox somewhere.

Cmd-Shift-/ triggers menubar search too, which lets you just type the name of the menu entry you want and hit enter.

Thanks. I did not know that one and it sounds nifty.

Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#312

From the article: "Issues with the way the new chip synchronizes timing causes dropouts and glitches in the audio stream. (It seems basically all USB 2.0 audio interfaces will be impacted. This of course unfortunately leads users to blame their interface manufacturer, but the fault lies with Apple.)" As someone who works with a lot of pro audio gear on the Mac, I can say that it's hard to describe what a show stopper…

> Still, I'm not sure many people using pro-grade audio interfaces are still using the USB 2.0 bus

Audio AD/DA hasn't changed a lot in the past 10-15 years. A good USB 2 interface is still perfectly valid as long as the manufacturer provides drivers. For example the legendary RME Babyface Pro.

Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#313

What is happening with Macs? My butterfly keyboard repeats keys. This easily halves my typing speed. (Or rather "Itt easily halves my ttyping speed") Yesterday my machine got stuck booting with a black screen after running out of battery with the backlight turned off. Also, the keyboards have gone from making virtually no sound to making loud clicking sounds. I have also had a glitch where the sound gets distorted.

Simply that Macs are one of the smallest sources of revenue for Apple. Around 10% if I remember correctly.

Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#314

I'm a former full-time musician working as an audio dev those days. Developing audio-plugins (AU) make you use a lot of DAWs (digital-audio-workstations). There's some issue with Logic Pro X that has been logged for quite a while now. A few days ago I heard the reason it isn't addressed for more than a year now... The developer in-charge on that feature isn't allowed to access other parts of code needed for fixing th…

I've used Logic since 2004 and quite frankly in its current state it seems Apple is barely keeping it alive for old users much like Motion which hasn't seen a major release since 2011.

Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Their iPhones have reached a peak, where it appears people are no longer willing to pay so much for them. They may have reached peak growth, but the numbers show that outside China (which in hindsight appears to have larger economic issues), millions of people buy iPhones. Are all the current iPhone users going to suddenly switch to Android? Very unlikely. By all accounts the XS is a great phone. If I had anything…

>You realize that Apple has so much money they can do both. Not with the same dollar. We shouldn't forget what giving money back to shareholders means. It means that Apple cannot think of anything to invest that money in that's more promising than what investors can find elsewhere. You could say it's prudent and honest. Instead of wasting all that money on stuff that never yields a return they're handing it back thei…

AR seems to be a new medium, and new media are generally broadly used. Video, for example, is not owned by Youtube: there's vimeo, dailymotion, hotstar/netflix/amazon prime video/itunes video, the porn sites, videos on various corporate sites, videos embedded in Amazon product pages, etc.

Likewise, all of AR doesn't need the kind of information only a few companies have. Think of assembling something at home, like furniture. Or a car mechanic. Or astronaut. Or soldiers. Different companies may control relevant data sets in different domains, and some may not even be data-intensive like furniture assembly.

Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#316
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article comes from CDM which is a music production website, MacBooks are very popular in that field, and basically all audio producers use external audio interfaces, it's not an uncommon use case. This is not the first time that this type of issues happens (from memory, last year an OSX update broke compatibility with Native Instruments Maschine, a very popular music software). So I think the point that the artic…

Not just the hardware. Apple also makes the second most popular DAW. It's a billion dollar business for them.

Good point, I forgot to mention. Yes Logic is very popular.

Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#317
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article comes from CDM which is a music production website, MacBooks are very popular in that field, and basically all audio producers use external audio interfaces, it's not an uncommon use case. This is not the first time that this type of issues happens (from memory, last year an OSX update broke compatibility with Native Instruments Maschine, a very popular music software). So I think the point that the artic…

> Last year an OSX update broke compatibility with Native Instruments Maschine When you sell packaged software you'd better make sure it runs with the next version of the OS. All registered Apple software developers have access to beta software, including OSs, for a very long time before launch, precisely to prevent things like this.

I remember NI saying that there were issues accessing the beta so they (like other SW houses) were not prepared. I will try to find it and post a link if I'm successful

Edit: I could only find articles from 3rd party sources - NI did not release the statement on their website, but through their newsletter. For example it is mentioned here: https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/critical-co...

Also, I said "from memory [...] last year" but it was 2015! Wow, time flies! :-O

Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

did your 7+ not have the intel model? my 7 does, and it has many more issues than my 6 did with the Qualcomm modem.

My 7+ had a Qualcomm one and it was pretty seamless. XS Max is pretty much my first exposure to Intel ones and it's practically unusable in NYC subway.

ah, you must have had the Verizon 7+, which due to cdma needed the Qualcomm modem. sorry that you've now had to join the rest of us.

Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> MacBooks are worse now than they were since 2015. I won't upgrade until they get rid of the TouchBar. I would rather go back to Windows than use that stupid TouchBar. For me, the keyboard kills it. It feels cheap. It almost feels like there's no keys at all like the glass surface that is rumored to come. I'm sure that's great for people who are media consumers but producers of media and software often like to have…

I was afraid to buy a new Mac because of how people talk about the keyboard, but after a couple months of use I can say I actually like the new retina macbook air keyboard. I know this is anecdotal, but considering Macbook computer sales, I wonder if I’m in the majority. Yes it’s my daily driver and I create a lot of content. No finger pain. I think it helps me type faster.

Note that the retina MacBook Air has an improved keyboard over the 2017 retina MacBook Pro

Re: Apple’s Latest Macs Have a Serious Audio Glitching Bug

#320

The article tries its best to sensationalize the fact that Apple, gasp of all people, has a bug it its stuff. The reality is that all software and all devices have bugs. I would prefer a more journalistically honest, non-sensationalist approach to writing. Tell me what the bug is. Tell me what it affects. Tell me how to fix it. Done.

Maybe they're expressing their frustrations with Apple in general, but it is weak to exaggerate. And I'm unsure if you're an Apple fanboy or not, but you maybe missing the big picture aside from this article: Apple is now just like supermarket produce - pretty, tasteless garbage. The facts are: - Those low-profile keyboards are loud, uncomfortable and frequently break - Glued in batteries basically destroyed if remov…

Hello,

I can see why some of the things on this list might be frustrating for some users. To offer a different perspective, I actually like many of the things you consider "tasteless garbage." For example:

1. I like Apple's low-profile keyboards. As I get older, I find myself suffering more and more from RSIs unless my keyboard is absolutely flat and I don't have to lift my fingers too much to hit the keys. Before I started using Apple computers, I'd buy TypeMatrix and low-profile Logitec keyboards for the same reason. Apple's low-profile keyboards feel pretty good to me. I cannot use mice anymore either, and there isn't anything on the market that compares to Apple's trackpads (both built-in and external).

2. When I buy a laptop or desktop, I always max it out with memory at the time of purchase, so I don't really care about removable RAM. Even on machines I build myself, I max out the RAM and never touch it again. Since soldered-on memory (and batteries and SSDs for that matter) result in a slimmer profile and less weight, I prefer this in a laptop. I can see why this would be an issue for some though.

3. I think, the "Apple products are too expensive" argument is largely a myth. Maybe other people have different experiences but I've used both Windows and Apple computers throughout my career and my Windows machines are always more expensive over time. When I buy an Apple laptop, the OS and all supported updates are free, productivity tools and all supported updates are free, the best version Apple has to offer of its development environment is free, and most of the other software I use is a lot cheaper than similar Windows products. Apple machines may cost me more up front (which isn't always the case), but Windows machines have always cost me more in the long run due to the cost of software and upgrades. For example, buying VisualStudio's standard subscription alone adds $1,199 to the cost of my Windows computer the first year and $799 every year after, easily eating up any savings I may have had at the time of my original purchase. If I want to update Windows at some point, that costs more as well. Productivity tools are now subscription based and add to the cost over time, too. I typically use a laptop for three years and then buy a new one. I've always spent more on my Windows laptops during those three-year periods than I have on my Apple computers. My use case is probably different that other people, so this may not hold true for everyone.

4. I've been using Apple laptops since 2007 and never had a problem. I know there have been publicized failures (just like there have for Dell, HP, and components for DIY computers), but I'm pretty happy with Apples 12 year track record with me personally.

5. I've never used a dongle on my MPB. I do have some USB devices (e.g. audio interfaces), but I just bought a couple of cheap USB-C to USB-B cords. No need for expensive dongles. I guess that's the price of progress. I don't use my serial/parallel port cords anymore either.

I'm not saying you don't have some legitimate complaints. I'm just saying my experience and opinions have been different. I've always been satisfied with my Apple purchases.

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