New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support • Hacker News Board

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#221

Post by braythwayt » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:21 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #215

The front facing camera is seriously neglected. They keep on adding more powerful/fancy cameras to the rear that people likely under-use in the common case, while the front camera that is commonly used for work, video conferencing, selfies, etc remains on the wrong edge and is under-powered. It is almost farcical with the new keyboard setting the top to the non-camera edge. The front facing camera should be the premi…

I don't, but I see plenty of people who shoot pictures with their iPads. If the best camera was on the front, what would they use for a viewfinder?

Also, I used to be 100% remote, and I WFH plenty, so I'm on videoconferences all the time. I do not perceive the need for insanely good cameras for this.

Selfies, maybe, perhaps Instagram influencers need super-high-res selfie photos and movies.

All that being said, maybe there are uses I haven't even imagined for an iPad that has a better front-facing camera than rear-facing camera. But for my current use cases... I would say not.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#222

Post by amluto » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:22 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #198

burgerquizz wrote: post #186

Apple, please make the ipadOS eco system developer friendly. I'd buy it instantly. If Visual Studio Code was available there, that'd be amazing. There is some projects[1] going on but using some non-viable workaround [1] https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/70764

This is a device that doesn't support other browser rendering engines or even toy compilers, long way to go before something like VSCode could be possible, a product that let's you trivially slipstream in any renderer/script engine/compiler you want at a single click. Plus would it really be an "iPad" with you sacrifice the whole security model to allow debugging?

How exactly would debugging sacrifice the security model?

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#223

Post by falcolas » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:23 PM UTC

exabrial wrote: post #109

"Studio Quality Mics" are kinda useless if you can only monitor the sound through Bluetooth :) too much latency. You'll need a low latency ADC running through that single usb-c port. Or you know, just do what the rest of the world does and use an analog headphone jack for monitoring!

Even an analog jack is pretty slow (for example, with a macbook) since it's still going through the OS stack. IMO, you really want your monitor integrated with your microphone in an external setup (such as a Scarlet 2).

Then again, I'm exceptionally sensitive to monitor latency when talking, it might be fine for others.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#224

Post by mcphage » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:23 PM UTC

libria wrote: post #175

luigi23 wrote: post #8

Any ideas what you could develop with new lidar scanner?

- How about self-body scanning for dating apps? You can add it on your profile as a "LiDAR 3d-model" bonus so interested parties know they're not getting catfished. Yeah, you can always scan your hot friend, but it just requires another level of deception. - How about a "night-vision" app? Without needing a flashlight, you can stumble around a dark room (maybe outdoors at night?) without running into walls.

> Without needing a flashlight, you can stumble around a dark room (maybe outdoors at night?) without running into walls.

The iPad screen would act like a flashlight, just you'd be pointing it at your face instead of at the world.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#225

Post by e_proxus » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:25 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #215

The front facing camera is seriously neglected. They keep on adding more powerful/fancy cameras to the rear that people likely under-use in the common case, while the front camera that is commonly used for work, video conferencing, selfies, etc remains on the wrong edge and is under-powered. It is almost farcical with the new keyboard setting the top to the non-camera edge. The front facing camera should be the premi…

Just wait until you try the front facing camera on a MacBook (in my case, the Air from 2019). It's so horrible compared to any recent iDevice from the last years. I don't understand why they don't improve them to match the mobile quality at least.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#226

Post by braythwayt » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:25 PM UTC

bartq wrote: post #193

Those kinds of laptops/tablets are great for one reason: no heating components under keyboard. I hate "heated keyboards". I hope Apple will at some point allow to install macOS on iPads. Seems like it's possible, until that moment it'll be only consumption/sensors input device which is a shame. Unfortunately not a programmer machine.

I did development for Github on an iPad for a while while my Macbook Pro was getting serviced. If you look around the threads here you'll hear from others who have also done development on an iPad.

it's certainly lighter weight than developing on a mac pro (understatement!), but for web development, especially in a n environment where you have staging environments to host services... It gets the job done.

And while this is a matter of taste, when I was working remote, I preferred a lighter, smaller machine for going to cafés.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#227

Post by Someone1234 » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:26 PM UTC

braythwayt wrote: post #221

Someone1234 wrote: post #215

The front facing camera is seriously neglected. They keep on adding more powerful/fancy cameras to the rear that people likely under-use in the common case, while the front camera that is commonly used for work, video conferencing, selfies, etc remains on the wrong edge and is under-powered. It is almost farcical with the new keyboard setting the top to the non-camera edge. The front facing camera should be the premi…

I don't, but I see plenty of people who shoot pictures with their iPads. If the best camera was on the front, what would they use for a viewfinder? Also, I used to be 100% remote, and I WFH plenty, so I'm on videoconferences all the time. I do not perceive the need for insanely good cameras for this. Selfies, maybe, perhaps Instagram influencers need super-high-res selfie photos and movies. All that being said, maybe…

With the new keyboard attachment the front camera isn't even at the top of the iPad, it is on the left/right edges. That's a large oversight.

As to video conferencing, it depends on what you're doing. If you're presenting a meeting and are being projected onto a conference room's TV/projector, the quality matters.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#228

Post by Slippery_John » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:27 PM UTC

nemacol wrote: post #20

luigi23 wrote: post #8

Any ideas what you could develop with new lidar scanner?

I would like an app that lets me map the dimensions and floor plans of an indoor space. Without really knowing a ton about lidar or the specific implementation of it in this device, I imagine that could be done? The apps that use the camera are all pretty clunky. If I could just walk around the inside of my house for a while and let it map it out, that would be nifty. (put on tin foil hat) Then the iPad can track my…

Well take away the ads, a more useful thing would be planning furniture

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#229

Post by dhosek » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:27 PM UTC

dhosek wrote: post #209

nailer wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it's also a display stand, to raise the iPad Pro up (insert joke about Apple's 20K stand here). Anyone with a current Mac who's been using it for a while want to tel us how the keyboard is? I'm typing this on one of 2018 ones and it feels like I'm typing directly on a desk.

I have a current Macbook Pro that's mine and a butterfly-switch MBP from work. The butterfly is acceptable, although I've finally gotten a doubling key, x, which is a problem for doing cmd-x. The new MBP keyboard is noticeably different in feel from the old scissor-switch keyboard, but not especially so. It's comfortable to type on and I'm happy with it.

And of course my doubled key happens right when my only option for going to an Apple Store is to go to China.

Re: New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support

#230

Post by eugeniub » Wed, Mar 18, 2020, 2:28 PM UTC

amluto wrote: post #222

Someone1234 wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a device that doesn't support other browser rendering engines or even toy compilers, long way to go before something like VSCode could be possible, a product that let's you trivially slipstream in any renderer/script engine/compiler you want at a single click. Plus would it really be an "iPad" with you sacrifice the whole security model to allow debugging?

How exactly would debugging sacrifice the security model?

Yeah and the iPad already allows code execution/debugging with Playgrounds, Pythonista, etc. You can even run a full Linux shell locally on an iPad with iSH (https://ish.app/).