> What can they really do, in a single machine, that is more "Pro" than the Studio? I'm guessing the Mac Pro will focus more on Upgradability and adding expansion slots? That seems like a direction Apple is willing to go tbh.
Why does it need expansion slots? Is that still a thing? :-) Drive bays, yeah. Maybe some approach towards coprocessor boards. But none of this new direction shrieks out "install your own graphics card" anymore.
It's insane how boldly (for Apple) they focused on ports and cables. I can't remember a previous demo video that showed so many ugly cables hanging out the back of the machine. They've finally realized it's a selling point!
My jaw hit the floor when I saw USB A ports. If only it had multiple HDMI ...
I haven't yet seen screens with USB-C support that have refresh rates higher than 60hz, unfortunately.
USB-C to Displayport cable. I use a 144Hz gaming screen with my Mac mini in this way
Which display are you using and does it wake up properly when you wake your mac mini? I've had a problem with displays that wake up normally with an intel based mac but not with an M1 mac.
Don’t feed the “but I can build a pc for less” crowd. They can’t see the apples to oranges comparison they’re making: a Mac is not a PC. They have different use-cases and run different software.
> They have different use-cases ... Likely mostly running the same workloads such as web browsing. > ... and run different software. Maybe if Apple wrote it. Otherwise you can run the same Chrome/Firefox, Photoshop and Office on a Windows or even Linux Machine. Most software is shared between platforms nowadays with posix/windows being the lowest common denominator in terms of "cross platform".
You definitely shouldn't buy a $4000 computer if your only workload is web browsing.
Good. None of these releases matter to me if all those machines can run is Mac OS. I'm not a Linux freak, but I like machines that last a long time. Long term support is the weak spot of any proprietary design. Given the incredible hardware capabilities of these new boxes, the 5 or 6 years official expected official lifecycle is waaay too short.
Latest MacOS is supported by Mac Pro from 9 years ago, that's pretty good. Macbook Pro from 7 years ago. These M1 machines are the new baseline, I wouldn't be surprised if they're supported a decade from now, it's not like MacOS is going to need 10x the CPU/RAM to run in 2032 knock on wood https://www.apple.com/macos/monterey/ (have to scroll all the way down for supported devices)
I would like to highlight just how much Apple is focusing on their customers and use cases right now. It seems that they're targeting products to what their professional customers actually want. And in this case, it's a 3.7" little thing that can process 18 streams of 8k video (fully specced out). That's kinda crazy, and they're doing it at a price point that's competitive compared to all of the companies out there.…
Why are they doing this? Trickle down effects for their mass market products? There is no way that the prosumer market is big enough to justify this distraction for Apple even if it used to be their core business line.
Are you saying this only targets prosumers because professionals will wait for the M1 (M2?) Mac Pro?
This. So much this. Getting what we need not what Jony says we needed.
Jony contributed what he could. I think Apple is better off for having had him for a period of time, but that time has passed.
This. He brought along the kind of design philosophy that was very much needed in devices. But that philosophy became the new normal, and pushing it to it’s purest level did not end up being what everyone wants.
Products and needs evolve and change. Saying bad things about the man is nasty especially considering his gentle nature. Especially that we really actually don’t know who is exactly responsible for what in that world.
I agree with some of this, but will note that actually using a Magic Mouse 2 cured me of joking about the design (I was entirely on the "LOL how dumb" train before that). It wasn't an issue, in practice, and did keep me from just using it plugged in all the time (which is what I tend to do with other wireless things at my desk that have integrated rechargeable batteries).
I think the main issue with the magic mouse 2 is that over time, as the batteries wear out, the effective life of the mouse risks dropping so much that you may eventually be unable to use it for a full work-day, whereas the previous solution of AA batteries had 'infinite' longevity - while it wouldn't be too much of an issue when new, it harms the resale value
That makes sense as a legit problem. Reminds me of people going "LOL WTF do you need 12 hours of battery life for?" about the new M1 laptops. Well, for one, more battery life is always nice, and for another, it'll be really nice to still have 8 hours of battery life when the laptop's seen five heavy years of use without a battery replacement. I could see a few-years-old Magic Mouse 2 getting to be kinda shitty, sure.
I would like to highlight just how much Apple is focusing on their customers and use cases right now. It seems that they're targeting products to what their professional customers actually want. And in this case, it's a 3.7" little thing that can process 18 streams of 8k video (fully specced out). That's kinda crazy, and they're doing it at a price point that's competitive compared to all of the companies out there.…
> customers actually want
Almost. The hardware looks fantastic all-around. But the hostility to running an actually-usable OS like Linux is a huge stumbling block. Their users having to rely on the herculean efforts of the Asahi project, et. al, is shameful for the world's largest company.
> Bravo Apple. I'd love to see what they have in store for designers and programmers next. What would you say the programmers specifically need though. A laptop instead of a workstation?
Beautiful high resolution and crisp text rendering. I want looking at a dense page of code to look as beautiful and comfortable as reading a magazine. A comfortable keyboard and trackpad are a must too. Give me as much battery life as possible--at least a day or more. Performance, memory, and storage are less of a bottleneck these days and today's higher end specs are generally good enough.
I want looking at a dense page of code to look as beautiful and comfortable as reading a magazine
I am trying to imagine what a page of code laid out by a professional designer would look like and I can hear a million programmers screaming bloody murder in my head about the thoughtful use of whitespace, proportional-width fonts (even though they are ones chosen to clearly differentiate between confusing characters like 1/I and 0/O), and the occasional change in font size for... what is the source code equivalent of a subhead, anyway? Comments?