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Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

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Re: Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

#231
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never lost data in iCloud - is this a common occurrence?

No, they just don't like Apple software and are looking for a reason to ding them. Which, fair, XCode is trash. If they don't think either service is great, they can just run a local media server or use dropbox. Apple doesn't force you to use iCloud, and I personally think it's less obtrusively advertised on the OS than OneDrive. Personally.

What the hell! Never knew even hn had so many fruit company fans that took the company criticism that personally. As if iEvangelism wasn’t enough.

Re: Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

#232
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have being lamenting the death of thinkpad for nearly 20 years. Lenovo purchase in 2005, keyboard changes in 2012, etc It's still here, and still solid

A ThinkPad running Windows is not solid compared to a recent MacBook running macOS. Part of it is due to Lenovo (plastic case that flexes, crappy trackpad, terrible speakers, etc…), part is Intel’s fault (CPU that runs hot and uses a lot of power) and part is due to Windows (a weird sleep mode that has the fan spinning even when the machine is closed and in a bag). This is all from my experience with a recent P1. May…

My P1 isn't great either, largely due to the nvidia GPU consuming more power than anything else in the machine. But other lenovo laptops (with integrated GPUs, and AMD cpus) are pretty fantastic on the battery lifetime front.

That said, I think the software stack these days has more to do with it than anything. As I mentioned in another comment its entirely possible to get the power consumption of AMD laptops into the 3-4W range with a modern linux kernel, light browsing, emacs, etc. And that is largely in my case due to assuring there aren't any background tasks consuming CPU time, and running powertop --autotune, assuring inactive HW is turned off when its not being used, cpus are spending most of their time in deep sleep, etc. All stuff that the mac is basically doing out of the box (or running background tasks on low power, etc cores). While I'm getting 15+ hours out of a fairly pedestrian 65Wh battery, which is pretty amazing since the screen and assorted devices (disk, ram, etc) are probably 1-2W of the total. Now all this goes to sh*t when I start running a compiler, or other CPU intensive work, but from my experience that happens on the M1 macs as well, which can get quite toasty and kill the battery life if left building software for an hour or more. Powertop, turbostat, cpupower are all useful diagnostic tools as well as disabling stuff in the BIOS, or powering stuff off (or at least into lower power modes) via the kernel/ACPI power methods.

(presumably some of the more efficient intel might be good too if one clamps the CPU freq/etc I've just not tried one, but i'm pretty happy with a couple of their older generation i3/i5 desktop machines).

Windows used to be reasonably good, but I get the feeling the new generation (modern standby anyone?) isn't as dedicated, and hence the machine isn't forced into a S3 like mode when the lid is closed. Combined with the apparently fragmented way the OS is built means the people in charge of power mgmt can't tell the people in charge of windows defender to get bent or any other part of the platform that excessively consumes power. So that said, the P1's support linux, which means there is an option for S3 in the BIOS, flip it on, and run the windows task schduler/runon/etc features and kill anything that can wake the laptop. That should keep it from running the fans in your bag. There used to be an option in the windows power control panel to select the action for lid close too, if its still there, then set it to sleep (S3) or hibernate (S4).

Re: Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

#233
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the stock should regress to the mean by this logic since it's up 100% since then?

Nope. That logic might be correct if Apple’s profits were 100% from the Mac. There’s this smaller device called the iPhone…

> There’s this smaller device called the iPhone…

Oh yeah! When it launched, Jobs said they hoped to eventually get 1% of the phone market. How did they end up doing?

Re: Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use iPhones for the “cuz it just works” factor, and with those M chips, I am tempted to make the switch from Windows PCs These days laptop PCs are unreliable across most brands I have tried and supplied with crapware and the operating system is hostile and forces stuff like OneDrive on you and begs you not to install Chrome. Last 2 years over 2 devices: Broken screen (not due to external) Touchscreen not working Li…

Their hardware are quiet good and often worth cost. But their software are barely average and services (iCloud et al) downright pathetic. Definitely much worse than OneDrive which in itself it’s not great. I mean any data I have in iCloud I assume it’s gone — I don’t even consider it a safe copy of mu data. There’s barely any transparency around it (which is actually Apple’s DNA - lack of transparency in general).

> I mean any data I have in iCloud I assume it’s gone — I don’t even consider it a safe copy of mu data.

What is it about Apple that inspires such absurd hyperbole from the commentariat in general?

Re: Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

#236
post #92
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's almost entirely Sweden having a high tax rate though. I just priced out an M2 MBA with ram & ssd maxed out. $2499 USD in the US and 33009kr in Sweden. $2499 is 26163kr, +25% VAT is 32705kr. So you're paying 304kr / $29 more than the US price.

There's a sales tax in the US too. 7.25% in CA, on top of the product price.

Chicago has 10.25% but if you’re flying to the US to buy a laptop you’re gonna go to a non-sales tax state e.g. OR, MT, DE, etc

Re: Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

#237
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their hardware are quiet good and often worth cost. But their software are barely average and services (iCloud et al) downright pathetic. Definitely much worse than OneDrive which in itself it’s not great. I mean any data I have in iCloud I assume it’s gone — I don’t even consider it a safe copy of mu data. There’s barely any transparency around it (which is actually Apple’s DNA - lack of transparency in general).

I never lost data in iCloud - is this a common occurrence?

It isn’t about losing data. It’s more about not knowing what is happening or what is not.

For example message sometimes just don’t sync on some devices. Sometimes a 300MB video file is taking just forever to sync with iCloud. Hours! When everything else is working smooth on a 800mbps connection. And you cannot do a thing about it. You write a note on one iPhone and then you don’t see on another for minutes, sometimes hours, or on another Mac. I mean the list is endless. As a matter of fact there’s no versioning either in any of its services that you could verify something.

So it’s not about losing data. It’s about not knowing! Not knowing whether you have lost data, or might lose, or anything about it!

What makes it worse is Apple making every other apps that you could use instead a third class citizen on their OS. So you have alternatives but you don’t.

Re: Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

#238
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How to get past customs isn’t the problem, however it’s still tax evasion. You can also buy a house much quicker in Europe if you find a way not to pay 50% of your income in tax… oh and that Porsche now looks quite affordable too..

> however it’s still tax evasion Not it's not. What are you even talking about? Buying goods for personal consumption/usage and bringing them into is perfectly legal..

Personal imports are also subject to paying import duty if value exceeds the allowance limits (which depend on means of travel).

Re: Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

#239
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The probability of getting caught is low. Unless you're bringing back several boxes. Unpack, put it in your backpack, boom it's your personal item.

> The probability of getting caught is low Why would it be illegal if you just bought a single laptop for personal usage?

Because you are avoiding tax, if you get caught you’ll pay the duty and a fine.

Re: Apple’s plunge in PC shipments is steepest among major computer makers

#240
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How to get past customs isn’t the problem, however it’s still tax evasion. You can also buy a house much quicker in Europe if you find a way not to pay 50% of your income in tax… oh and that Porsche now looks quite affordable too..

> however it’s still tax evasion Not it's not. What are you even talking about? Buying goods for personal consumption/usage and bringing them into is perfectly legal..

Not without paying the duty and VAT above the exemption limit it doesn’t matter if the goods are for personal use or not.
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