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All Things Apple (was MacBook Air, but things evolve...)
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
edited December 2024
If you look at Apple’s promotional material during the M4 launch, they were largely comparing the M4 to the M1 and M2 in the speed comparison graphs, which is usually a sign that they view those as potential upgrade customers. Similarly in a lot of recommendation and review videos on YouTube, the tech reviewers typically say that coming from the M1 the new M4 is a very nice upgrade.
Don’t get me wrong, a doubling of the cpu and gpu speed is excellent, but I am sticking with my M1 iMac. Basically the machine is still as buttery smooth as it was when launched, and it is more than fast enough for my modest needs. I’m happy to hang onto it, and not have to spend the time and money on an upgrade.
If I had bought the base spec version with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, I might feel differently about upgrading. To take full advantage of AI at least 16 GB of RAM seems required. But I spent the money on 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. So I’d say that if you are planning to hold onto a computer for a long while, say 7-10 years, then it’s prudent to bump the RAM and storage at least one bracket when you buy, especially since on the new Macs this is almost impossible to upgrade yourself.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
edited December 2024
I’ve found it best to rely on external storage for most of my bulk storage needs. I have about 500 GB of video and audio files that I like to keep available, and rather than stretch to 1 TB or 2 TB of internal storage at Apple’s prices I’ve attached a USB-C external drive at a fraction of the cost.
I use a 2 TB Samsung T7 SSD, which is about the size of a thick credit card and has a read/write speed of about 1 GB/s which pretty much saturates a USB-C 3.5 port. That’s plenty fast enough to allow me to stream and open my data more or less instantly, as I don’t do any video editing. It’s not as fast as Apple’s internal storage, but it was 150 euros instead of 800.
If you are a video professional who needs a Thunderbolt 4 or 5 drive, then it’s available but at a cost several times greater. But why pay more when less will still give satisfactory performance?
You can now choose to install large apps (greater than 1 GB) to an external drive, which must be APFS formatted, which can be convenient. You can set this up in the Mac App Store application.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
I’ve been reading about this interesting book, called Apple in China about how Apple’s fate is now largely tied to its Chinese manufacturing operation. Very interesting snippets so far.
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
iPhones are definitely getting more expensive. The newly announced budget iPhone 16e is €719 in the Netherlands including VAT, and these budget iPhones used to be €500 a few years back.
But then, I don’t think there is a lot of reason to buy a more expensive iPhone Pro anymore, especially at €1229. Most of the good photographic features like 48MP, Portrait Mode and 2x zoom have made their way down to the 16e, and it’s very debatable whether 2 extra gpu cores and a 5x zoom mode are worth it.
0
personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
@Jeroen said:
iPhones are definitely getting more expensive. The newly announced budget iPhone 16e is €719 in the Netherlands including VAT, and these budget iPhones used to be €500 a few years back.
But then, I don’t think there is a lot of reason to buy a more expensive iPhone Pro anymore, especially at €1229. Most of the good photographic features like 48MP, Portrait Mode and 2x zoom have made their way down to the 16e, and it’s very debatable whether 2 extra gpu cores and a 5x zoom mode are worth it.
This has kind of been my way of adopting new tech. Wait a few years and all the leading edge tech will be commonplace and half the price.
3
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
For me, the key things I will not compromise on are battery life, the quality of the main camera (I only need one), and responsiveness (which comes down to the speed of the performance cpu cores).
This new 16e has 26 hours of video playback battery life, which is the same as a 16 Pro Max which is very impressive. The only thing I am not so sure about is the new C1 modem chip, which handles calls, Wi-Fi, etc. For a generation one Apple product it is crucial that it be reliable… Better not to buy on launch day I think.
But there are a whole bunch of features which are not trickling down to lower-priced products for the sake of product differentiation and price. OLED screens, the telephoto camera, the camera control button, the Dynamic Island.
Maybe this is the future though…
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
Although if that’s the future it’s out of my budget at €2000
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
It seems there is a bit of a controversy in the land of Apple commentators, and it’s about the implementation of AI. All the ambitious features of ‘Apple Intelligence’, such as context-aware Siri queries, have been delayed by a year, and we will have to see whether Google’s or Amazon’s digital assistents are not much better before the new Siri is ready.
I bought the latest iPad Air with that M3 chip. I have to say I am extremely satisfied with it. Compared to my Samsung S3 Lite ... well.. What a difference! It also has a left-handed mode which is ideal as with my other tablet I kept having issues due to my palm triggering the screen / text to move.
1
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference this year starts on Monday June 9th, so you can expect a keynote then detailing what’s new for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and so on. One of the rumours is that there will be a big visual overhaul to bring the style and design language from visionOS to the other platforms, exciting!
I’ve inherited my dad’s M4 Mac Mini, not sure what I will do with it but it is only a couple of months old. He was enjoying moving all his computing activities over to the new platform, not bad for a 76 year old. Miss you dad.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
edited June 9
I thought this was a pretty good keynote, all things considered. A few big new items mixed in with many smaller quality of life improvements.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
edited June 20
Cool story about how Apple adapted the iPhone camera to capture footage for the upcoming F1 film starring Brad Pitt.
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
Did you know you can get your iPhone to filter all SMS messages by unknown senders into a separate inbox and turn off notifications for these. Just enable Settings > Apps > Messages > Filter Unknown Senders and you’re there. Great for all those political and business and other sms messages people send you.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
Reviews state that Apple’s new C1 wireless modem chip in the iPhone 16e is very compliant, reasonably fast and functions better at low signal conditions than the Qualcomm modems. The newest Qualcomm modems are a bit quicker in high bandwidth situations, it was something like a 10% difference. But Apple’s modem uses less power and is better at holding a signal in Low Signal areas. So that was good to hear, as I might well take the iPhone 17e or 18e as my next iPhone.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
Apple has applied for a patent of a new type of image sensor, which is based on a multi-layer chip approach, which will nearly double the dynamic range of foto’s captured from the current 7-12 stops to 20 stops, whereas the human eye is capable of 20-30 stops. Supposedly this is going to be coming to the iPhone in future years, although it is currently in the pre-production phase. This is another case of Apple bringing technologies in house, having previously relied on Sony’s image sensor technology.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
So the ‘Awe Dropping’ Apple Event has been, there were four new iPhones, the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The Air is new and super thin, the rest are as you might expect.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
There was also the new Apple Watch Series 11, with a new algorithm for diagnosing hypertension and improvements to the sleep apnea diagnosis, and a new Sleep Score system which lets you know when your sleep has been particularly good and can give you pointers on how to sleep better.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
edited September 11
This short summary someone posted on MacRumors I quite liked…
AirPods Pro
Better bass and ANC
Longer earbud battery life, shorter case battery life
Heart rate sensor for some reason even though many users have Apple Watch
Apple Watch
Blood pressure monitoring, including last-gen devices
Little bit longer battery life
SE is actually a pretty good deal now
Ultra can connect to satellites
iPhone
Brighter and slightly larger display with Pro motion
Center Stage selfie camera with dual recording
48MP ultra wide camera
Faster charging and Qi 2
Apple N1 chip for efficient wireless networking
256 GB storage for starters
iPhone Air
It's thin and expensive, but not that much lighter
Only one camera
Battery is average only
iPhone Pro - iPhone upgrades plus:
Vapor chamber with unibody for strength and heat dissipation
48MP telephoto that can do 8x 12MP compared to previous 5x
56% larger sensor in the main camera to improve image quality
Actually great battery life improvements
Lower display reflectivity to improve outdoor contrast
ProRes RAW video that maybe 0.02% of people will use
More RAM
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
edited October 15
A range of Apple things are being announced…
M5 chip with new GPU design
new 14 inch MacBook Pro with M5 chip
new IPad Pros with M5 chip
new Vision Pro with M5 chip
There may be new HomePods and Apple TV boxes coming too. But we may have to wait a while for the M5 Pro and M5 Max variants.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
It’s interesting that OpenAI have launched a Chromium-based browser (which is basically Chrome but with a ChatGPT chat box) the sole purpose of which seems to be to give ChatGPT access to everything you do on the web. No thank you.
It’s also interesting that OpenAI have bought the makers of Sky, an AI integration service which allows them to look at a wide array of things happening on your Mac. So I would be rather careful about installing ChatGPT apps on my Macintosh.
Lastly, I have read from a reputable source that many of ChatGPT’s executives have spent time at Facebook during that companies most egregious privacy abuses in the 2010’s.
All of which doesn’t make me feel good about entrusting my data to ChatGPT.
0
JeroenNot all those who wander are lostNetherlandsVeteran
By the way, the Affinity suite of apps is now a free download, with only a free account signup required, although there is a subscription for the new AI tools. Seems a very good deal for a mature set of tools that competes with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign.
Comments
If you look at Apple’s promotional material during the M4 launch, they were largely comparing the M4 to the M1 and M2 in the speed comparison graphs, which is usually a sign that they view those as potential upgrade customers. Similarly in a lot of recommendation and review videos on YouTube, the tech reviewers typically say that coming from the M1 the new M4 is a very nice upgrade.
Don’t get me wrong, a doubling of the cpu and gpu speed is excellent, but I am sticking with my M1 iMac. Basically the machine is still as buttery smooth as it was when launched, and it is more than fast enough for my modest needs. I’m happy to hang onto it, and not have to spend the time and money on an upgrade.
If I had bought the base spec version with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, I might feel differently about upgrading. To take full advantage of AI at least 16 GB of RAM seems required. But I spent the money on 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. So I’d say that if you are planning to hold onto a computer for a long while, say 7-10 years, then it’s prudent to bump the RAM and storage at least one bracket when you buy, especially since on the new Macs this is almost impossible to upgrade yourself.
I’ve found it best to rely on external storage for most of my bulk storage needs. I have about 500 GB of video and audio files that I like to keep available, and rather than stretch to 1 TB or 2 TB of internal storage at Apple’s prices I’ve attached a USB-C external drive at a fraction of the cost.
I use a 2 TB Samsung T7 SSD, which is about the size of a thick credit card and has a read/write speed of about 1 GB/s which pretty much saturates a USB-C 3.5 port. That’s plenty fast enough to allow me to stream and open my data more or less instantly, as I don’t do any video editing. It’s not as fast as Apple’s internal storage, but it was 150 euros instead of 800.
If you are a video professional who needs a Thunderbolt 4 or 5 drive, then it’s available but at a cost several times greater. But why pay more when less will still give satisfactory performance?
You can now choose to install large apps (greater than 1 GB) to an external drive, which must be APFS formatted, which can be convenient. You can set this up in the Mac App Store application.
I’ve been reading about this interesting book, called Apple in China about how Apple’s fate is now largely tied to its Chinese manufacturing operation. Very interesting snippets so far.
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/02/03/apple-in-china-mcgee
iPhones are definitely getting more expensive. The newly announced budget iPhone 16e is €719 in the Netherlands including VAT, and these budget iPhones used to be €500 a few years back.
But then, I don’t think there is a lot of reason to buy a more expensive iPhone Pro anymore, especially at €1229. Most of the good photographic features like 48MP, Portrait Mode and 2x zoom have made their way down to the 16e, and it’s very debatable whether 2 extra gpu cores and a 5x zoom mode are worth it.
This has kind of been my way of adopting new tech. Wait a few years and all the leading edge tech will be commonplace and half the price.
For me, the key things I will not compromise on are battery life, the quality of the main camera (I only need one), and responsiveness (which comes down to the speed of the performance cpu cores).
This new 16e has 26 hours of video playback battery life, which is the same as a 16 Pro Max which is very impressive. The only thing I am not so sure about is the new C1 modem chip, which handles calls, Wi-Fi, etc. For a generation one Apple product it is crucial that it be reliable… Better not to buy on launch day I think.
But there are a whole bunch of features which are not trickling down to lower-priced products for the sake of product differentiation and price. OLED screens, the telephoto camera, the camera control button, the Dynamic Island.
Maybe this is the future though…
Although if that’s the future it’s out of my budget at €2000
It seems there is a bit of a controversy in the land of Apple commentators, and it’s about the implementation of AI. All the ambitious features of ‘Apple Intelligence’, such as context-aware Siri queries, have been delayed by a year, and we will have to see whether Google’s or Amazon’s digital assistents are not much better before the new Siri is ready.
I bought the latest iPad Air with that M3 chip. I have to say I am extremely satisfied with it. Compared to my Samsung S3 Lite ... well.. What a difference! It also has a left-handed mode which is ideal as with my other tablet I kept having issues due to my palm triggering the screen / text to move.
Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference this year starts on Monday June 9th, so you can expect a keynote then detailing what’s new for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and so on. One of the rumours is that there will be a big visual overhaul to bring the style and design language from visionOS to the other platforms, exciting!
I’ve inherited my dad’s M4 Mac Mini, not sure what I will do with it but it is only a couple of months old. He was enjoying moving all his computing activities over to the new platform, not bad for a 76 year old. Miss you dad.
I thought this was a pretty good keynote, all things considered. A few big new items mixed in with many smaller quality of life improvements.
Cool story about how Apple adapted the iPhone camera to capture footage for the upcoming F1 film starring Brad Pitt.
https://www.wired.com/story/apple-created-a-custom-iphone-camera-for-f1/
Sadly it is too late for my ipad2, The batteries swelled up and broke the case. All data on it lost....
https://www.osnews.com/story/134941/have-an-old-ipad-lying-around-you-might-be-able-to-make-it-run-linux-soon/
Did you know you can get your iPhone to filter all SMS messages by unknown senders into a separate inbox and turn off notifications for these. Just enable Settings > Apps > Messages > Filter Unknown Senders and you’re there. Great for all those political and business and other sms messages people send you.
Reviews state that Apple’s new C1 wireless modem chip in the iPhone 16e is very compliant, reasonably fast and functions better at low signal conditions than the Qualcomm modems. The newest Qualcomm modems are a bit quicker in high bandwidth situations, it was something like a 10% difference. But Apple’s modem uses less power and is better at holding a signal in Low Signal areas. So that was good to hear, as I might well take the iPhone 17e or 18e as my next iPhone.
Apple has applied for a patent of a new type of image sensor, which is based on a multi-layer chip approach, which will nearly double the dynamic range of foto’s captured from the current 7-12 stops to 20 stops, whereas the human eye is capable of 20-30 stops. Supposedly this is going to be coming to the iPhone in future years, although it is currently in the pre-production phase. This is another case of Apple bringing technologies in house, having previously relied on Sony’s image sensor technology.
So the ‘Awe Dropping’ Apple Event has been, there were four new iPhones, the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The Air is new and super thin, the rest are as you might expect.
There was also the new Apple Watch Series 11, with a new algorithm for diagnosing hypertension and improvements to the sleep apnea diagnosis, and a new Sleep Score system which lets you know when your sleep has been particularly good and can give you pointers on how to sleep better.
This short summary someone posted on MacRumors I quite liked…
AirPods Pro
Apple Watch
iPhone
iPhone Air
iPhone Pro - iPhone upgrades plus:
A range of Apple things are being announced…
There may be new HomePods and Apple TV boxes coming too. But we may have to wait a while for the M5 Pro and M5 Max variants.
It’s interesting that OpenAI have launched a Chromium-based browser (which is basically Chrome but with a ChatGPT chat box) the sole purpose of which seems to be to give ChatGPT access to everything you do on the web. No thank you.
It’s also interesting that OpenAI have bought the makers of Sky, an AI integration service which allows them to look at a wide array of things happening on your Mac. So I would be rather careful about installing ChatGPT apps on my Macintosh.
Lastly, I have read from a reputable source that many of ChatGPT’s executives have spent time at Facebook during that companies most egregious privacy abuses in the 2010’s.
All of which doesn’t make me feel good about entrusting my data to ChatGPT.
By the way, the Affinity suite of apps is now a free download, with only a free account signup required, although there is a subscription for the new AI tools. Seems a very good deal for a mature set of tools that competes with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign.
Grab it here: https://www.affinity.studio/
An interview with Steve Jobs about his history with Pixar.
For the holiday season…