macOS Big Sur • Hacker News Board

Re: macOS Big Sur

#111

Post by dan1234 » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:47 PM UTC

The_rationalist wrote: post #59

dan1234 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the PPC - x86 transition the binaries were all ‘universal’, with code for both platforms.

Yeah fat binaries use twice as much disk space

The resources (images, videos etc) take up the most space, and should be shared. It’s just the code that’s taking up extra space, and there’ll be a way to thin the binary if you want (there was last time anyway).

Re: macOS Big Sur

#112

Post by izacus » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:49 PM UTC

kxcz wrote: post #8

Any updates to the firmware or drivers for bluetooth? My 2017 Mac has had many issues with bluetooth consistency. Keep on hoping they will announce performance improvements.

I doubt they'll ever update firmware on these older models :(

Re: macOS Big Sur

#113

Post by alwillis » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:49 PM UTC

doomlaser wrote: post #74

jkelleyrtp wrote: post #18

Just want to put here that if you're using a Mac and haven't tried Safari recently, you're missing out. A few things: - Battery life is fantastic compared to Chrome/FF - Privacy seems to be top-notch - The tab ordering situation is now chrome-like (my biggest gripe in older versions of safari) - Experimental features are 1 click away, easily enable/disable WebGL2 - Support for the WebExtensions standard means addons…

Besides its ad blocking limitations, I'm disappointed that Safari doesn't support WebGL 2 by default. It is the only one of the mainline browsers that doesn't. Firefox, Chrome, and even Edge have had it enabled for eons.

I recall reading something from an Apple engineer about fixing something before enabling WebGL 2.0 by default.

But it's only a click away:

    Develop > Experimental Features > WebGL 2.0

Re: macOS Big Sur

#114

Post by selectodude » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:49 PM UTC

soheil wrote: post #6

I have the beta version but the GM doesn't show up in Software Update

If you upgraded to the latest RC2 a few days ago, it was the same as today's release build so you won't see any update.

Re: macOS Big Sur

#115

Post by blacksmith_tb » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:50 PM UTC

masteranza wrote: post #91

Anyone installing it on older Macs? Catalina had an improved performance compared with Mojave on my MBA 2013, but I'm hesitant about Big Sur.

My personal rule is to never install a new version of macOS until it hits the first point version, so 10.16.1 in this case, that usually resolves the very worst bugs it ships with.

Re: macOS Big Sur

#116

Post by boogies » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:50 PM UTC

snazz wrote: post #82

boogies wrote: post #28

> Safari … the world’s fastest browser I actually kind of like WebKit as an engine that so many small independent browsers can be based on, but to me this is an interesting example of just how grounded in reality this marketing copy is.

The JetStream, MotionMark, and Speedometer benchmarks are fairly "grounded in reality", don't you think? That's where the speed claims come from on this page: https://www.apple.com/safari/

I have no expertise in this, but I think it’s a safe bet that every major vendor can find benchmarks that favor their particular browser. (Edit: and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25073625 should make it quite easy for Apple)

Re: macOS Big Sur

#117

Post by pjscott » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:50 PM UTC

tus88 wrote: post #3

Full recompile for ARM. Interesting.

Since so much of the OS is shared with iOS -- kernel, most base libraries, etc. -- there's probably not much code that hasn't already been running on ARM for years.

Re: macOS Big Sur

#118

Post by jedberg » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

jkelleyrtp wrote: post #18

Just want to put here that if you're using a Mac and haven't tried Safari recently, you're missing out. A few things: - Battery life is fantastic compared to Chrome/FF - Privacy seems to be top-notch - The tab ordering situation is now chrome-like (my biggest gripe in older versions of safari) - Experimental features are 1 click away, easily enable/disable WebGL2 - Support for the WebExtensions standard means addons…

Every since the last few betas of Big Sur, I can't play Youtube videos in Safari anymore. It always gives a playback error. They all work fine if I copy the URL and load it in Chrome.

Is this just me or anyone else?

Re: macOS Big Sur

#119

Post by brundolf » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

jkelleyrtp wrote: post #18

Just want to put here that if you're using a Mac and haven't tried Safari recently, you're missing out. A few things: - Battery life is fantastic compared to Chrome/FF - Privacy seems to be top-notch - The tab ordering situation is now chrome-like (my biggest gripe in older versions of safari) - Experimental features are 1 click away, easily enable/disable WebGL2 - Support for the WebExtensions standard means addons…

Yep, I've been using it for a couple years on my personal laptop and it's mostly great.

And remember: your browser doesn't have to be open-source to chip away at the Chrome monopoly. Every website that sees an uptick in non-Chrome visits will have to adjust their product priorities accordingly.

Re: macOS Big Sur

#120

Post by guessmyname » Thu, Nov 12, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

solarkraft wrote: post #104

Is there a way to get those insane UI paddings smaller? I'm fine with the new styling except for that, but it's a big spoiler. Apple UI used to be remarkably space-economical until Big Sur.

It reminds me of Ubuntu when Canonical decided to replace GTK2 with the Unity desktop environment. Maybe people disliked that update and I am sure some people will dislike Apple’s too but at the end of the year everyone will prize the new UI like they always do.