The Wide, Wide World of Apple

[Tonitrus]

Trying to watch the apple presentation but the first 10 minutes is just some guys playing frogger apparently to showcase Apple Arcade. Who the fuck would pay for that?

Tens of thousands of 80's kids paid plenty of quarters on Frogger. 

[Caliga]

I went into a Crapple store for the first time today; Emily had preordered the iPhone 11 so we went to pick it up.  Talk about chaos 

[garbon]

My boyfriend's phone thinks we look similar enough that facial recognition will unlock for my face.

[HVC]

dating your doubleganger huh?

the only thing I don't like about face unlocking is that someone, say law enforcement, could unlock your phone without your permission by just pointing it at you.

[celedhring]

So, after years of headstrong resistance I finally popped my cherry apple and got myself an iPad Air.

I was tired of dragging along my laptop to meetings to take notes and make changes to documents, so I decided to get myself a decent tablet. The industry standard screenwriting software I use is only supported in Windows/iOS (and the company making it has been very open about not intending to develop an Android version), so that limited my options to a Surface or an iPad. I wasn't really too confident on the combo of Windows + low powered device, so went with the iPad.

Already installed all my work apps into it and so far so good. Now gonna get netflix/hbo in it 

[Liep]

So, after years of headstrong resistance I finally popped my cherry apple and got myself an iPad Air.

I was tired of dragging along my laptop to meetings to take notes and make changes to documents, so I decided to get myself a decent tablet. The industry standard screenwriting software I use is only supported in Windows/iOS (and the company making it has been very open about not intending to develop an Android version), so that limited my options to a Surface or an iPad. I wasn't really too confident on the combo of Windows + low powered device, so went with the iPad.

Already installed all my work apps into it and so far so good. Now gonna get netflix/hbo in it 

Welcome. 

[katmai]

Love my iPad Pro. In fact I'm responding on it right now!!

[celedhring]

Certainly loving it so far. So convenient. Also great for watching movies/shows in my commute (which is quite long).

[crazy canuck]

Love my iPad Pro. In fact I'm responding on it right now!!

Not quite the same as "I bought the company" but good enough.

[katmai]

Love my iPad Pro. In fact I'm responding on it right now!!

Not quite the same as "I bought the company" but good enough.

If i could afford to buy the company i wouldn't be talking to youse people!

[Threviel]

Since I switched jobs I've been working closely with some rather expert back end developers. They've introduced me to dockers and a more systematic use of virtual machines.

So I've made a plan, I plan on setting up a pi-hole server at home, and also a VPN service so I can make use of the pi-hole from my phone. Also to run my Plex server on instead of my desktop.

I bought a Raspberry Pi 4 and set it up, and it worked perfect from start. The problem is that the Raspberry is more or less a toy, so it has crashed 4 times in as many weeks, write errors on the memory card. On the 4 there is not yet any support for running the OS off a USB-port, so the Raspberry is out of the picture. And the Raspberry is perhaps also a bit too weak for Plex.

Since I have an all-Mac environment at home I've started to look for a used Mac to use as a server at home. And I found an old Xserve. I've always wanted to have one of those, and although it's a bit old and can't run the latest MacOS I ought to be able to install ESXi and run it that way.

I've bid for it on an auction site and I expect to get it, it's old and it's not a sexy Mac.

Any thoughts?

I also thought of buying an old Mac Pro, but they are still a bit expensive.

[Barrister]

Long shot here...

My wife has a 2012 MacBook Pro she occasionally uses.  She wanted to try and play WoW with all this house arrest (it's the only computer game she's ever played).

We struggled with trying to update the battle.net installer, without success, only to discover her version of MacOS is badly out of date.  She's on 10.9 Mavericks.  The latest is 10.15 Catalina.  Minimum needed is 10.10 Yosemite.

I doublecheck, her computer meets min specs for Catalina (it's actually the oldest Mc that can run it).  But we go through the App Store, download the Catalina installer, enter her password, click on Continue, and nothing.  Just sits there.  I even check Network Activity to see if it isn't just downloading in the background - nope.

I did the obvious things - cleared some disk space, rebooted, tried hooking right into a router - nothing.


Any ideas on alternate means to update her OS?  I was all "We should take it to the Apple store" before being reminded it's closed.

[Threviel]

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/fix-macos-catalina-stuck-install/

[Duque de Bragança]

Will this be the end of Apple Computers? Turning Macs into giant iPhones?
Yes, the move to ARM architecture. No more Bootcamp for efficient dual booting Mac OS X/Windows.

Also, Rosetta 2, the Return! Rosetta was the app available till Mac OS 10.6 which allowed to use, very well most of the times, PPC software.

Apple ditches Intel for ARM processors in Mac computers with Big Sur
Firm starts transition to Apple-made chips for faster performance, longer battery life and innovative technologies

Mac computers with Big Sur
Firm starts transition to Apple-made chips for faster performance, longer battery life and innovative technologies



Apple announces switch to own chips for Macs, updates to iOS 14 – video
Apple has announced the biggest change heading to its Mac computers in 14 years: the dumping of Intel Inside.

The company is ditching Intel's traditional so-called x86 desktop chips for Apple's own processors based on ARM designs - those used in smartphones and mobile tablets, including the iPhone and iPad.

At the firm's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), held virtually for the first time due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the US, Apple said the first silicon-based Mac would ship by the end of 2020, with the full transition taking two years, giving developers forewarning of the modifications they will have to make to their apps.

The shift to Apple's own ARM-based chips gives the firm even greater control over the its hardware and software, in the same way it has with the iPhone and iPad. But for users it promises very powerful machines that are drastically more efficient, meaning longer battery life, with the same instant-on features as a phone and potential for built-in mobile broadband.

Apple said switching to its own chips not only opened up performance but also new, innovative technologies such as the AI neural engine, high-performance graphics and best-in-class security.


MacOS 10.16 Big Sur is the next version of Apple's Mac operating system. Photograph: Apple/EPA
The new macOS Big Sur also revamps almost all of the user interface of the Mac with new translucent effects, depth and colour. New is a unified space for both notifications and widgets, which now resemble those of the new iOS 14. Apple has also brought Control Centre from the iPhone to the Mac for quick settings changes, such as brightness, Bluetooth and wifi.

The dock, too, now floats at the bottom of the screen, similar to that seen on the iPad in iPadOS 13, while the Messages app now operates like an iPhone with pinned messages and mentions. The Maps app has also been revamped using the iPad app as the base.

Safari has also been sped up, now up to 50% faster than Google's Chrome browser, but also has new privacy-protecting features, such as the ability to see how a site is tracking you from a button on the address bar. Apple has also added built-in translation, better tab management and a redesigned start page.

Shifting architectures

Apple is not the first to attempt the switch to the vastly more power-efficient ARM chips. Microsoft has dabbled several times with ARM chips in its Surface Windows PCs, most recently with the Surface Pro X, which has a custom-designed chip made by Microsoft with mobile chip-maker Qualcomm.

Despite making both hardware and software, Microsoft has struggled to bring key third-party software such as photo-editing suites to its ARM-based PCs. Here is where Apple may have the edge, with both greater control over third-party developers and previous experience in making such a dramatic switch.

Apple said it had already ported all its apps to the new ARM-based chips, including its heavy, professional apps such as the video-editing suite Final Cut Pro. The company also said that both Microsoft and Adobe were working on getting their apps ready for the switch, demonstrating Photoshop among others.

Apple is pushing a new Universal 2 format that allows developers to produce one app that runs on both existing Intel Macs and new ARM Macs.

But the firm said it also has new emulation technology called Rosetta 2 to make sure that existing apps that haven't been updated will run on the new Apple ARM-chips from the beginning. The new Macs will also be able to run iPhone and iPad apps natively, downloaded straight from the Mac App Store.

Previous experience
In 2006, Apple switched its Mac computers and software from PowerPC chips to Intel's x86 platform. It announced the change at WWDC in June 2005 before rolling out the first Intel Mac in January 2006. Apple completed the switch in its full Mac line-up by the end of 2006, but continued to support both PowerPC and Intel machines for several years with emulation layers helping PowerPC software run on faster Intel chips.

The move will not be welcomed by Intel, which has enjoyed a near monopoly on the PC processor market. The firm tried and failed to break into the smartphone market with lower-power chips, but could not effectively compete with ARM-based designs.

"Apple has made enormous investments in Arm chip design and it's logical that it extends that capability beyond the iPhone and iPad," said Geoff Blaber of analysts CCS Insight. "Its motivations for doing so include reducing its dependence on Intel, maximising its silicon investment, boosting performance, and giving itself more flexibility and agility when it comes to future products."

Now that Microsoft and Apple are switching to their own chips, and with Google also rumoured to be working on similar own-brand ARM chips, Intel is in danger of seeing significant erosion of its dominant position.

[Threviel]

Apparently it won't even be possible to run virtual machines easily. The software running them will have to be especially written for Mac.

My iMac is getting long in the tooth, I had planned to buy next generation, but no boot camp is a dealbreaker.