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New iPad Air and iPad Mini

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Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#261

Post by bt3 »

user9182031 wrote: post #229
bt3 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone that historically relied on an iPad Mini for media consumption on the many weekly flights I take, it is not realistic to download 10+ GB of content directly onto the device. Especially since I don't use Apple's ecosystem of media and generally rely on my own, I find myself using the VLC app to watch content that is loaded via iTunes and its ability to load files as you would any other document app. The "us…

"alive and well" might be a stretch. I don't know a soul who plugs their devices into their computers. Using VLC to watch media is also a blast from the past. Grandpa, is that you?

I've found VLC to be the only app that can play H.264 .mkv files without stuttering on my poor first-gen iPad Mini :)

Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#262

Post by copperx »

hammeiam wrote: post #255
crazygringo wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got my first iPad a year ago, suspecting I wouldn't use it for anything (and I'm nowhere close to 50). Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. It's now my primary device for: - Reading and annotating books and papers in PDF format (academic research has never been easier, I use a stylus too) - Mounting to a tripod and recording video (e.g. professional presentations, with a lapel mic connected -- again, screen s…

What do you use for pdf annotation and citation management? I really like hosting my own data with zotero+webdav, but there basically is no interface. On the flip side, Mendeley has a ton of features, and works+looks great, but hosting is paid.

Mendeley also encrypts your PDFs so that you can't access them with other software.

Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#263

Post by komali2 »

Brain_Thief wrote: post #181
segphault wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I just hate programming in windows and haven't touched one of these that are powerful enough to run Ubuntu in a VM in a reasonable fashion. I have a hard time understanding where this sentiment comes from. WSL is categorically better than using Homebrew on macOS. It is basically an Ubuntu userspace with apt, running directly on the Windows kernel. Using Ubuntu in a VM seems pretty superfluous when all the useful pa…

I can't claim to know the OP's perspective w.r.t. why he / she doesn't like programming on Windows, but as an early (and current) user of the WSL I can say that I too dislike the overall experience, mostly due to how it colors my experience programming and using the system. Windows has an intensely corporate feeling to me that I can't seem to shake; it's obvious to me when I'm using it that I don't in any sense "own"…

> and the lack of visual and system-level customization options takes a lot of the joy out of system setup, management, and exploration

Exactly this. A good part of the joy I get in seeking out an awesome ultra-portable (and in doing so, experimenting with my mobile workflow) is the high customization I get from Linux machines. Sadly the two best portable contenders (ChromeOS and Windows) in terms of feasibility, don't meet this.

Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#264

Post by komali2 »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #74
komali2 wrote: post #32

More and more I get the sense that there is a gap in the market for a device that ticks these boxes: Ultraportable Stylus enabled Fully capable desktop operating system Ports to allow hook-up to external monitor I wanted something like this as a frequently traveling and programming, conference hand written note taking engineer. Then I notice some of the designers in my office experimenting with iPads, Pencils, and Ma…

The surface pro line has had USB C for a long time, and at the higher end is about as powerful as you can get in 2019 in a machine that size. I hate Windows too but you're not going to see a macOS device like this for obvious reasons (well, Apple can do anything, but I wouldn't count on it). If you don't mind running Linux natively, most Surface models do reasonably well there.

Does it have USB C?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-pro-6/8zcnc665slq5...

1 x full-size USB 3.0

3.5 mm headphone jack

Mini DisplayPort

1 x Surface Connect port

Surface Type Cover port6

MicroSDXC card reader

Compatible with Surface Dial*

Doesn't seem to...

Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#265

Post by torstenvl »

jbigelow76 wrote: post #197
tolmasky wrote: post #30

It is so weird that the iPad Air and iPad mini only support the old Apple Pencil. The iPad mini was my favorite incarnation of the iPad line when it came out, and I was considering getting one again, but I have no interest in needing two different kinds of iPad pencil. Apple keeps creating and extending these arbitrary transition periods. The old Apple Pencil should be in the past. Instead we have an entire other gen…

The new pencil uses inductive charging (and magnets). Adding that to the mini and the non-Pro iPads would drive their prices up (assuming Apple would insist on maintaining the existing margins) when these are supposed to be more budget oriented models.

They aren't "supposed to be more budget oriented models." There is nothing to suggest that, and it's frustrating that Apple is treating them as such - as are some commentators such as yourself.

Step back and think for a moment. How absurd is it that, suddenly, bigger = better? Not just for technical reasons but for marketing reasons? I think it demonstrates just how far gone Apple is.

There's a Steve Jobs quote in the Walter Isaacson biography to the effect of Tim Cook not being a product guy. Truest thing I've ever read.

Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#266

Post by djhworld »

mythz wrote: post #228

I'm 39 and have been using the iPad since Gen 1, it's the ultimate media consumption device where it's effectively become my "personal TV" (since I don't have a TV). I have a keyboard attached on my larger pro model that I prefer to use over my MBP/Air when going to Cafe's or on Airplanes. But I only use it for a limited set of "productivity" tasks like writing docs, answering emails, forum and StackOverflow question…

I often hand down my MBP to my parents, but given the state of the MBP line over the past few years I'm probably going to hold on to my 2015 model for quite some time yet

Which breaks my heart a bit because the model they have right now is a 2011 MBP and it's starting to show its age. Also my Dad spilled a cup of tea on the keyboard which was expensive to repair. They're not in a position financially to shell out a lot of money for Apple products, and they've squandered a lot of over the years on sub-par windows ones (not a dig at windows - just the 'buy cheap, buy twice' mantra sticks here, good quality windows laptops are expensive for a reason!)

So I'm thinking about giving them my iPad Air (2013) but I'm not sure if they'd like it, for one they tend to use the computer on their laps rather than a desk so I don't think the form factor would help, and my Dad likes to maintain a bunch of spreadsheets in open office for various things.

The only other thing (as far as I know) they use the computer for is browing the web, but it's the productivity stuff that concerns me as a laptop replacement.

Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#267

Post by chipotle_coyote »

sascha_sl wrote: post #259
amluto wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have this backwards. Apple’s shoddy (but slim!) cable construction notwithstanding, the Lightning male metal bit is quite strong. The parts that wear out are the springy parts in the female connector. USB-C puts the springy parts in the male connector. (Lightning also seems prone to arcing or overheating damage to the power pins. Source: visual inspection of my many failed Apple and third-party Lightning cables.)

Yes, I've had every lightning cable, apple or not, show darkened and eventually dying 4th pins. It's infuriating. You essentially have to unplug the USB-A side first to prevent it from happening. Strange enough I've not seen this happen to a lot of other people.

Strange enough I've not seen this happen to a lot of other people.

Yeah, I've never had that happen, and I've been using Lightning cables since they were a thing. I've rarely had any problems with Lightning cables, though. (The same couldn't be said for their predecessor 30-pin cable.)

I'm trying to think if there could be anything weird about your environment doing that, but I'm drawing a blank. "You're holding it wrong" seems even less applicable here than it would to antennas. :)

Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#268

Post by tw04 »

qalmakka wrote: post #182
drewg123 wrote: post #68

Why did they keep the lightning connector? The Pro uses a USB-C. I wonder why they stuck with lightning for these models? I'm an Android guy, fed up with the clunky experience on Android / Amazon tablets, and thinking of making the switch & getting an air, mainly for media consumption during business travel. The last thing I want is a unique-to-me charging adapter that I'm sure I'm going to leave in a hotel or on a p…

Because this is just an update of the old model; they haven't changed everything they could keep the same (see TouchID instead of FaceID) to avoid having to modify their production lines in any way, thus minimizing costs. They kept lightning because the first-gen Apple Pencil recharges using it, and putting USB-C inside of the newer iPads would have either required updating the outdated pencil to USB-C (expensive) or…

Why do you think a switch from lighting to usb-c would be "expensive"? They were part of the USB-C design committee and there's no licensing involved. From a physical change perspective lightning has only 8 lanes, USB-C has 24 - I'm confident they can find a way to make the transition pretty painless, especially since the pen only really needs to support charging by that port.

Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#269

Post by jimbokun »

kalleboo wrote: post #61

Apple's product naming is confusing. Does anyone know what "Air" means? I thought it used to mean smallest and lightest. But on the Mac the "MacBook" is smaller and lighter, and on the iPad we have the smaller iPad Mini, and the "iPad" is smaller and only 14 grams heavier. From the MacBook Air line, we understood the definition to be "it's the cheap one", but that doesn't apply to the iPad line where it costs more. S…

It means Apple needs the ghost of Jobs to come back and clean out the product line again.

Re: New iPad Air and iPad Mini

#270

Post by whywhywhywhy »

reaperducer wrote: post #230
tolmasky wrote: post #30

It is so weird that the iPad Air and iPad mini only support the old Apple Pencil. The iPad mini was my favorite incarnation of the iPad line when it came out, and I was considering getting one again, but I have no interest in needing two different kinds of iPad pencil. Apple keeps creating and extending these arbitrary transition periods. The old Apple Pencil should be in the past. Instead we have an entire other gen…

It is so weird that the iPad Air and iPad mini only support the old Apple Pencil Perhaps it's because the new Apple Pencil charges by docking with a host iPad, and there's no place on an iPad Air or iPad mini to put a dock.

The real issue is the Apple Pencil should have been what the "Apple Pencil (2nd Generation)" was from the start.

The Surface line made it obvious years ago that the magnetic docking was essential.

Would have made much more sense to wait than to have two different pencils not cross compatible at all, I mean even if you bought the first iPad Pro and the Pencil then decided to upgrade to the next iPad Pro you can't use the old pencil with the new iPad with the excuse of it needing a lightning port to pair when plenty of other pens exist using wireless technology that just have a button to kick them into pairing mode.

For a company that claims to care about e-waste I find all this ridiculous.

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