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Mac Hardware and Software |OT| - All things Macintosh

Stat!

Member
Replacement batteries are fairly easy to be had. Replacement of RAM depends on the model, but for a 2010 model, for instance, all you have to do is remove some Phillips screws and crack the case: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2010+RAM+Replacement/3032

Yosemite is definitely a bit slower on older models, so unless an app you want is Yosemite-only I think it's very much a personal decision. Things like Handoff, etc. require newer hardware than your computer anyhow.

As you say, all this is irrelevant if you decide to get a new model. I'd say you wouldn't see much raw performance increases, but they do have generally longer-lasting batteries and are much thinner and lighter, so those might be worth just getting a new computer at this point. Your 2010 is probably worth a surprising amount of change via something like eBay.

I'll definitely look into the RAM/battery part then. Like even the Macbook, looks awesome but man, the performance isn't great and neither is USB C. If only the MBA had a retina screen.

Was thinking of using local classifieds in Canada (Kijiji) but what would you say for a well-used, battery not so great, 2010 Macbook 15" Pro with 4 gb of ram, 2.66 ghz?
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I'll definitely look into the RAM/battery part then. Like even the Macbook, looks awesome but man, the performance isn't great and neither is USB C. If only the MBA had a retina screen.

Was thinking of using local classifieds in Canada (Kijiji) but what would you say for a well-used, battery not so great, 2010 Macbook 15" Pro with 4 gb of ram, 2.66 ghz?

Looks like $300-700 for completed listings on eBay, I cannae' speak to how that would translate to classifieds, but my guess is a bit lower (like Craigslist, it's cheaper but you're making a bigger risk as a buyer and seller.)
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
I can't for the life of me get Text Message Forwarding to work on my iPad and iMac. It works on my MacBook Pro. I turn the feature on for the two machines from my phone and it asks for a code, but the code never ever ever shows up on either device. No matter what I do. I reboot. I quit and relaunch apps. I open Messages itself. Nothing. No code. I don't know what to do to get it to work. Aside from completely log out of iCloud on my devices and log back in. I really don't want to do that but if I have to. Geeze. It's supposed to just work.

Edit: Fuck. I disabled iCloud on my iPad and tried to turn it back on, but it still won't show a code on the iPad. Fuck fuck fuck this shit. Worst part is it doesn't even give me any reason why it's not working.
 

Ninja Dom

Member
I have Text Message Forwarding working fine to two devices, iMac and iPad. I can't remember how I set it up. I just looked in the Message settings on my iPhone and see the iMac and iPad listed and turned on. Do you simply have to have your Apple ID signed into another device running Yosemite & iOS 8 to work??

If so then try signing out of all devices (iCloud) and signing back in again.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
I've already tried signing out. It's completely stupid.

I'm sad. Really sad.

I wish I could just purge everything but since there's no way to backup your iCloud data and reimport it if needed, (You can backup the files in the obfuscated iCloud folder but putting it back isn't necessarily going to resync it.) I'm scared that a sync mess-up will completely fuck up my notes, reminders, calendars, contacts and other shit. I've had problems before with duplicate bookmarks that took forever to find the source of the problem. If a mistake ended up erasing all my data because of a misplaced flag I'd be devastated and depressed.
 

Ninja Dom

Member
I had some iCloud Keychain issues last week and iCloud sent me some text messages with a verification code. UK here. They come from a simple five digit phone number which is 51472. It's a text message so it will only come to your phone.

Is the code you're expecting gonna be a text message from iCloud or you're expecting a different type of code? If it is a text from iCloud then it may be coming from a simple number like mine did which your phone service provider could be blocking.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
A message is supposed to pop up on the iPad with a code that I enter on the iPhone. Same with the iMac. It worked fine on my MacBook. But will not show up on the other devices.
 
are macbook pros the best lightweight laptops for design work? I'll be transferring to an art school soon and want to get into digital art so I'll probably be using photoshop and illustrator a lot. Of course I'll have desktops available for me to work on more intensive projects, but for lighter things.

I'm having a terrible time trying to decide between the touchscreen and convertible aspects of the hp and OS X and the apple trackpad on the macbook

:/
 

Ninja Dom

Member
A message is supposed to pop up on the iPad with a code that I enter on the iPhone. Same with the iMac. It worked fine on my MacBook. But will not show up on the other devices.

Last shot. Make sure your iPhone is connected to the phone network internet, not your home wifi. Hot Spot your iPhone and connect the iPad and iMac to your iPhone. Separately. Then see if the message appears. It's trying it on a different network rather than your home wifi to see if the message pops up.
 

Ninja Dom

Member
are macbook pros the best lightweight laptops for design work? I'll be transferring to an art school soon and want to get into digital art so I'll probably be using photoshop and illustrator a lot. Of course I'll have desktops available for me to work on more intensive projects, but for lighter things.

I'm having a terrible time trying to decide between the touchscreen and convertible aspects of the hp and OS X and the apple trackpad on the macbook

:/

MacBook Pro's are great for design work but not necessarily the lightest weight. The new MacBook and MacBook Air's are far more lightweight and still can be used for design work.
 

Ke0

Member
Last shot. Make sure your iPhone is connected to the phone network internet, not your home wifi. Hot Spot your iPhone and connect the iPad and iMac to your iPhone. Separately. Then see if the message appears. It's trying it on a different network rather than your home wifi to see if the message pops up.

Depending on how intense you plan to get with Photoshop and Illustrator (PS especially) you can just get a MBA, a MBP will definitely handle a bunch of layers of a large PS project better, but the MBA is lighter by like .50lbs.

Do NOT get a New Macbook and don't let anyone convince you to get one. You WILL hate yourself when it starts throttling and shitting itself because you learned there is life beyond 72ppi in Photoshop.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
I'd still say go with the Retina MBP. The extra 1.5lb isn't that bad. I have a 15" which is even more than an Air and not once since I switched from the Air (Which I used for 2 years and loved for its lightness) have I regretted having to carry the extra weight. Just get the 13" for the same price as the new MacBook. Leave the MacBook for the early adopters to eat up.

Otherwise the Air is fine. But I recommend the rMBP.
 

Ke0

Member
I'd still say go with the Retina MBP. The extra 1.5lb isn't that bad. I have a 15" which is even more than an Air and not once since I switched from the Air (Which I used for 2 years and loved for its lightness) have I regretted having to carry the extra weight. Just get the 13" for the same price as the new MacBook. Leave the MacBook for the early adopters to eat up.

Otherwise the Air is fine. But I recommend the rMBP.

Basically. You're really not going to notice the 13" weight IMO.
 
I'd still say go with the Retina MBP. The extra 1.5lb isn't that bad. I have a 15" which is even more than an Air and not once since I switched from the Air (Which I used for 2 years and loved for its lightness) have I regretted having to carry the extra weight. Just get the 13" for the same price as the new MacBook. Leave the MacBook for the early adopters to eat up.

Otherwise the Air is fine. But I recommend the rMBP.

At least wait a month until WWDC. I doubt the 13" or 15" will get updates then, but a redesign for the Skylake is looking very possible. If they don't, the internals are going to be ridiculously small and cool for the chassis.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
At least wait a month until WWDC. I doubt the 13" or 15" will get updates then, but a redesign for the Skylake is looking very possible. If they don't, the internals are going to be ridiculously small and cool for the chassis.

*And here come the pie-in-the-sky hopes from people that the extra internals would be used to add more battery instead of slimming it down.*

Which, realistically, I don't see the point—the retina models are some of the thinnest laptops on the market, period, let alone for their performance class. At some point Apple still needs to differentiate their models and even between the rMBP and the nMB there's not a huge amount of differences beyond the limitation tradeoffs.
 

Ke0

Member
No need to wait for WWDC before buying a 13" because Apple isn't going to announce anything for the 13" at WWDC when they literally just refreshed the 13" in March.

It won't even be 6 months come WWDC. I'm honestly not understanding the logic behind the idea that Apple is going to announce a redesign 3 months after their refresh hit stores.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
No need to wait for WWDC before buying a 13" because Apple isn't going to announce anything for the 13" at WWDC when they literally just refreshed the 13" in March.

It won't even be 6 months come WWDC. I'm honestly not understanding the logic behind the idea that Apple is going to announce a redesign 3 months after their refresh hit stores.

Redesign? Not much logic there, perhaps. A refresh? They've done faster updates than six months.

I don't feel like Apple is going to lag behind on other updates because Broadwell is going to be so truncated.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
I don't believe there'll be any new hardware at WWDC. The only time they show off hardware is when it's a special case. Like revealing the new Mac Pro (For developers) or the original Retina MBP. (Another Pro machine for developers) Don't expect anything until October like normal.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I don't believe there'll be any new hardware at WWDC. The only time they show off hardware is when it's a special case. Like revealing the new Mac Pro (For developers) or the original Retina MBP. (Another Pro machine for developers) Don't expect anything until October like normal.

I will take that bet. I don't think Apple has ever had enough consistency in its WWDC offerings to make assumptions about hardware.

2006: Mac Pro, Xserve
2007: None (Leopard & Safari for Win)
2008: None (App Store & MobileMe)
2009: MBPs, iPhone 3GS
2010: iPhone 4
2011: None (Lion and iOS 5)
2012: Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, rMBP
2013: Mac Pro, AirPort, Macbook Air
2014: None (Swift, iOS 8, Yosemite)

There was also the fact that Apple once upon a time showed stuff at Macworld Expo—Intel iMacs in 2006, iPhone in 2007, Macbook Air in 2008, etc., and that WWDC has definitely become far more mainstream than it once was.

If anything limits new MBPs, it's Intel still trying to get the right Skylake chips for the task out. If the rumors about those chips getting delayed to June or even August is true, then obviously you aren't going to see a Force Touch-equipped 15" MBP coming until the more customary fall period.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
I will take that bet. I don't think Apple has ever had enough consistency in its WWDC offerings to make assumptions about hardware.
You're on! If I lose I will remove my beloved Luigi hat from my avatar... for a little while at least.

Note, when I say hardware I really mean Macs and not stuff like Airport. And usually it's stuff related to developers anyway. Like when the iPhone was still at WWDC before it moved to September for its own event (And has stayed there and will probably remain there for the known future) because Apple was pushing for app development for the phone and iOS devices. Or the Mac Pro which made sense since mostly developers are the ones buying them. Or the Retina Pro which was a new machine and I don't think they had a set release schedule for laptops at the time. So if there are any MacBook, iMac, Mac Pro or Mac mini updates then I lose. Displays don't count, not that I expect them to update the Thunderbolt display at WWDC since it would need something much bigger (Isn't it going Retina next or something?) but you never know. Only Mac counts. (Or iPhone which won't happen anyway)
 

Fuchsdh

Member
You're on! If I lose I will remove my beloved Luigi hat from my avatar... for a little while at least.

Note, when I say hardware I really mean Macs and not stuff like Airport. And usually it's stuff related to developers anyway. Like when the iPhone was still at WWDC before it moved to September for its own event (And has stayed there and will probably remain there for the known future) because Apple was pushing for app development for the phone and iOS devices. Or the Mac Pro which made sense since mostly developers are the ones buying them. Or the Retina Pro which was a new machine and I don't think they had a set release schedule for laptops at the time.

Yeah, I only included Airport because it was an actual device as opposed to software. If I lose my avatar shall be "Abed was right" in deference to you. :)

Aside from the Mac Pro though, I do think I've become far more interested in software stuff recently. Probably that's because Apple has iterated so far ahead of the rest of the PC industry in large degrees (PC makers are just now starting to get on board with m.SATA, let alone PCIe flash storage) and also because Apple has also made them more like appliances, and that's kind of boring to me as well.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Yeah, I only included Airport because it was an actual device as opposed to software. If I lose my avatar shall be "Abed was right" in deference to you. :)

Aside from the Mac Pro though, I do think I've become far more interested in software stuff recently. Probably that's because Apple has iterated so far ahead of the rest of the PC industry in large degrees (PC makers are just now starting to get on board with m.SATA, let alone PCIe flash storage) and also because Apple has also made them more like appliances, and that's kind of boring to me as well.
The Mac Pro is what makes me curious. Does it have a release schedule yet? Has it even been updated since the first release? I wouldn't be surprised if Apple makes its update schedule WWDC just to troll me.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
The Mac Pro is what makes me curious. Does it have a release schedule yet? Has it even been updated since the first release? I wouldn't be surprised if Apple makes its update schedule WWDC just to troll me.

The 6,1 was announced at WWDC 2013 and started shipping in mid-December 2013 (though some people weren't getting their orders until Feb/March 2014.) It hasn't been updated since; compatible Haswell-EP Xeons came out this past fall, and presumably Broadwell-based Xeons will be coming this fall (which means updating them at this point seems like weird timing.) On the other hand, new graphics are coming from AMD soon, and the graphics cards are definitely the weakest element of the system right now.

I hope against all hope that when new versions come out, Apple supplies upgrade kits so that people aren't locked to their GPU options, because aside from edge cases for people who need dual processors, non-upgradeable GPUs are its weakest aspect. If they aren't, then getting a Mac Pro to replace my current one will seem like a really poor fit and I'd be better off getting a Mac mini and maybe a PCIe sled to hack together an external graphics solution.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
The 6,1 was announced at WWDC 2013 and started shipping in mid-December 2013 (though some people weren't getting their orders until Feb/March 2014.) It hasn't been updated since; compatible Haswell-EP Xeons came out this past fall, and presumably Broadwell-based Xeons will be coming this fall (which means updating them at this point seems like weird timing.) On the other hand, new graphics are coming from AMD soon, and the graphics cards are definitely the weakest element of the system right now.
It almost makes me want to exclude the Mac Pro from our bet since it's still an unknown. But I'll stick to it. I don't see it being updated at/during WWDC. But you never know.

MacBook Pro: Not until October (It seems set that this is its current schedule.)
Mac mini: No one knows (But the last update was last October too. With its previous update being 2012. So it's really a crapshoot. My bets are on October too.)
iMac: Fall as well (Last update was October. Before that was September. Before that was November. And since the Retina iMac already exists, there's no need for a big show at an event for when the Retina trickles down into the other models, which probably won't happen until 2016 at earliest if you ask me.)
Mac Pro: Hoping for December (Still an unknown but who knows if it'll keep itself in December, or move to fall, which is already way too crowded, or WWDC since it makes some sense. We'll find out.)
MacBook Air: Not a chance (They were just updated 2 months ago. Spring seems to be their current schedule.)

Now, if anything I think the only "hardware" that will be at WWDC is the AppleTV since it really needs an update. But it doesn't count for our bet. ;)
 

Fuchsdh

Member
It almost makes me want to exclude the Mac Pro from our bet since it's still an unknown. But I'll stick to it. I don't see it being updated at/during WWDC. But you never know.

MacBook Pro: Not until October (It seems set that this is its current schedule.)
Mac mini: No one knows (But the last update was last October too. With its previous update being 2012. So it's really a crapshoot. My bets are on October too.)
iMac: Fall as well (Last update was October. Before that was September. Before that was November. And since the Retina iMac already exists, there's no need for a big show at an event for when the Retina trickles down into the other models, which probably won't happen until 2016 at earliest if you ask me.)
Mac Pro: Hoping for December (Still an unknown but who knows if it'll keep itself in December, or move to fall, which is already way too crowded, or WWDC since it makes some sense. We'll find out.)
MacBook Air: Not a chance (They were just updated 2 months ago. Spring seems to be their current schedule.)

Now, if anything I think the only "hardware" that will be at WWDC is the AppleTV since it really needs an update. But it doesn't count for our bet. ;)

Well now I feel cheated :p
 
I don't believe there'll be any new hardware at WWDC. The only time they show off hardware is when it's a special case. Like revealing the new Mac Pro (For developers) or the original Retina MBP. (Another Pro machine for developers) Don't expect anything until October like normal.

OK, so when do you see us getting a new AppleTV?

Edit: Ah, just saw your other post. Yeah, that's definitely new hardware. Hardware whose importance might be as important as the iPad or Apple Watch for the Apple Ecosystem.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Well now I feel cheated :p
I dunno. We're only talking about Macs here. It's the whole reason we got into this discussion. Someone asked if a new MBP would be at WWDC. Adding iOS devices would be making it way too broad. Plus rumors of the new AppleTV at WWDC have been around for a while. :p
OK, so when do you see us getting a new AppleTV?

Edit: Ah, just saw your other post. Yeah, that's definitely new hardware. Hardware whose importance might be as important as the iPad or Apple Watch for the Apple Ecosystem.
It's still not a Mac. It's a consumption device not a creation device. And I'd actually be surprised if it wasn't at WWDC given how old it is and after the whole YouTube removal thing. You'd think they'd want to release a new one with an App Store (It'd be about damn time.) so Google could release their own YouTube app like they ended up doing for iOS.

I could see the AppleTV at WWDC only if they're planning on finally opening it up to developers. And let's hope it happens. I needs me a Plex app. I love Roku, but I'd really like an AppleTV for the integration of it all.
 
I dunno. We're only talking about Macs here. It's the whole reason we got into this discussion. Someone asked if a new MBP would be at WWDC. Adding iOS devices would be making it way too broad. Plus rumors of the new AppleTV at WWDC have been around for a while. :p

It's still not a Mac. It's a consumption device not a creation device. And I'd actually be surprised if it wasn't at WWDC given how old it is and after the whole YouTube removal thing. You'd think they'd want to release a new one with an App Store (It'd be about damn time.) so Google could release their own YouTube app like they ended up doing for iOS.

I could see the AppleTV at WWDC only if they're planning on finally opening it up to developers. And let's hope it happens. I needs me a Plex app. I love Roku, but I'd really like an AppleTV for the integration of it all.

An AppleTV with an App Store would destroy the current Roku and Amazon offerings' marketshare so quick, it wouldn't even be funny. It would be up to Google at Google IO to offer the real competition.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
An AppleTV with an App Store would destroy the current Roku and Amazon offerings' marketshare so quick, it wouldn't even be funny. It would be up to Google at Google IO to offer the real competition.

Well, it would certainly give the AppleTV a new niche. Over the past three years the FireTV and Chromecast have completely eaten away at its original streaming usage. There's not much of a point to get one unless you want to use AirPlay (which is awesome, but obviously entirely Mac-dependent.)

I doubt the Apple TV will be available to purchase at or around WWDC. Probably announce it then and release in Sept.

Probably. They're gonna give devs at least a few months to take a crack at it.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
I doubt the Apple TV will be available to purchase at or around WWDC. Probably announce it then and release in Sept.
Definitely. They'd announce it, tell devs to get to coding and release it around the same time as the iPhones and iPads.

If they're smart they'd push for cross-purchasing so apps you buy on iOS that are available on AppleTV would already exist in your account. It's bad enough they never pushed devs to make their apps Universal when the iPad came out so you have a lot of devs charging a lot for separate iPhone and iPad versions of an app even though there's no difference between them. (Angry Birds, you jerks. Seriously? $5 for an iPad version when it's the same exact game as the $1 iPhone one? You're doing it wrong.)
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Definitely. They'd announce it, tell devs to get to coding and release it around the same time as the iPhones and iPads.

If they're smart they'd push for cross-purchasing so apps you buy on iOS that are available on AppleTV would already exist in your account. It's bad enough they never pushed devs to make their apps Universal when the iPad came out so you have a lot of devs charging a lot for separate iPhone and iPad versions of an app even though there's no difference between them. (Angry Birds, you jerks. Seriously? $5 for an iPad version when it's the same exact game as the $1 iPhone one? You're doing it wrong.)

I think the differences in versions made a lot of sense back in 2010, as they wanted to make sure apps wouldn't just be blown up iPhone apps for iPad, and shrunk down ones for iPod. Look at how crappy apps can be on Android due to that being the case.

Now, though, with phone screens getting larger, the iPad mini existing, Apple's heavy push towards auto-layout and user-adjustable type, and the cross-platform design advantages of iOS' flat aesthetic, I think it would behoove Apple to take a page from Microsoft and do them one better on the cross-platform buying strategy.
 

Ke0

Member
Redesign? Not much logic there, perhaps. A refresh? They've done faster updates than six months.

I don't feel like Apple is going to lag behind on other updates because Broadwell is going to be so truncated.

13" refresh came out 2 months ago. They're not announcing another refresh for the 13". I'll avatar bet on it.

15" makes more sense and will probably happen.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
Redesign? Not much logic there, perhaps. A refresh? They've done faster updates than six months.

I don't feel like Apple is going to lag behind on other updates because Broadwell is going to be so truncated.


I think the differences in versions made a lot of sense back in 2010, as they wanted to make sure apps wouldn't just be blown up iPhone apps for iPad, and shrunk down ones for iPod. Look at how crappy apps can be on Android due to that being the case.

Now, though, with phone screens getting larger, the iPad mini existing, Apple's heavy push towards auto-layout and user-adjustable type, and the cross-platform design advantages of iOS' flat aesthetic, I think it would behoove Apple to take a page from Microsoft and do them one better on the cross-platform buying strategy.

I think the rumoured iPad Pro with multitasking windows is/was supposed to be a step in that direction. I would also love one of these outliers Marco suggested

More battery outliers, please

Marco said:
In AnandTech’s great review of the MacBook One,1 the extensive battery-testing graphs were a bit depressing to me — not because of the MacBook’s results, which were roughly what I expected, but because of the relatively stagnant battery-life range covered by Apple’s laptop line.

As batteries and components advance, device designers are able to spend those advancements increasing battery life at a given size and weight, or they can keep battery life in the same range and just make the batteries (and therefore the devices) smaller and lighter. In recent years, Apple has chosen the latter almost every time...

Imagine some of the options we could have if Apple made a few outliers for people who really wanted them:
  • iPhone Extended: A thicker iPhone with 50–100% more battery life, without the unwieldy footprint of the Plus line, which is prohibitively large for many.
  • 13-inch MacBook: The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, but with a MacBook One or MacBook Air-class CPU. With that battery, it could plausibly offer real-world runtimes of 12–16 hours of light use and 8–10 hours of heavier use without giving up the Retina screen or a full-travel keyboard.
  • 15-inch MacBook: Same deal for the 15-inch, which could plausibly offer 12 hours of light use or 8 hours of heavier use with the biggest, nicest screen in the lineup. Unless…
  • 17-inch 4K Retina MacBook Pro: Maximum screen space on the go for people who really need it. 4K is an exact “2X” of the 1920-wide display of the old, pre-Retina 17-inch MacBook Pro, and with today’s construction and technology, it could likely be only as heavy as the pre-Retina 15-inch MacBook Pro — just over 5 pounds — while offering battery life comparable to today’s 15-inch line. A low-end configuration with an Air-class CPU and Intel-only GPU could run even longer.

Do you think Apple has too many product skus today (old macbook pros are still in the store) or too few?
 

thenexus6

Member
So went to the apple store today and got to try out the macbook retina for the first time.

The design and feel is really great - the space grey is such a nice colour. The new keyboard and trackpad felt a little strange, obviously you'd get used to them both. I still don't understand why they didn't put a second USB-C on the right hand side.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
A bet is a bet.

That said, I really hope the choice of color option ends up trickling down into their other MacBook lines and stays there indefinitely. When I replace my 15" rMBP in a few years, I really want a dark color. I haven't seen Space Grey in person but in pictures and videos it looks really nice on the machine itself. I'd prefer a darker black though.

I mean I know it adds a lot of SKUs to the product line if they have to keep three colors of every model, but they've done it before. They used to have 5+ iMac colors at one point and last I checked still sold iPod touch's in 5+ colors too. I wonder if the Rose Gold color that one of the watches comes in will actually come to any of their Macs. There's already a rumor it's coming to the iPhone 6S. Not that I'd get rose. Actually I'd rather have a dark red anodized aluminum color if I could choose. Either that or a dark blue. Damn, Apple should just pioneer the mass production of custom colored aluminum gadgets on demand. Go to the web site, choose a custom color from a large array of hues and have it custom dyed and shipped to you. Everyone could be unique. It'd be like the rainbow iMacs and iBooks all over again. Maybe they could license that Rolling Stones song again for the commercial.
 
I still want to know what the future of the Mac mini is. I hate that it is the "red-headed stepchild" of the Mac family and the Intel NUC is starting to look very attractive.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
I still want to know what the future of the Mac mini is. I hate that it is the "red-headed stepchild" of the Mac family and the Intel NUC is starting to look very attractive.
All they can do now at this point is take the technological "advancements" they made for the new MacBook and make the Mac mini even smaller.

Literally, with what they've done with the MacBook I wouldn't be surprised (After they gimped the last update to make it super underpowered at the low end) if they redesigned it to be as small as an AppleTV. Or at least flatter and slightly smaller. At this point the case would be mostly empty if they made it the current size.

But if they do that, they should just go back to sticking to their guns and make it "The most affordable Mac ever" again. The original mini was $500 and a great entry into the Apple ecosystem. After that the price rose by $200 at the entry level and it defeated the purpose. Now it's finally back to $500, but it's underpowered. So they might as well just stick to that. But also make it fresher at the same time. Refine the technology from the MacBook and push it even lower to $400. I know people don't want that but it does make sense. Make the Mac mini even more mini-er. Rename it Mac nano. Hell, just turn it into a HDMI stick with a single USB-C port. Shit, I think now I'm going too far. Of course that would eat into the AppleTV market. So scratch that. But a $400 Mac mini would be phenomenal for people wanting to taste the waters of the other side. "Macs are overpriced." "Not so much anymore."

Speaking of which, what if the next AppleTV comes in a HDMI stick flavor? How neat would that be. It'd come with a wireless remote and allow for iOS control but it'd stick to your TV like the Fire stick or the Roku stick. I actually hope they have a nice portion of WWDC set aside for a total AppleTV redeux. Like an AppleTV reboot. App Store. New design. Maybe a brand new UI.
 

keezy

Member
Is anybody pulling the trigger on the AppleTV since the price drop?

Or are you guys holding out until the new version is released(or suspected to release)?

I'm slowly transitioning into Apple's ecosystem and I love it so far. A few years ago I got a great deal on a samsung tv without their smarttv os on it so the AppleTV would be perfect for that for streaming netflix and the like.
 
Is anybody pulling the trigger on the AppleTV since the price drop?

Or are you guys holding out until the new version is released(or suspected to release)?

I'm slowly transitioning into Apple's ecosystem and I love it so far. A few years ago I got a great deal on a samsung tv without their smarttv os on it so the AppleTV would be perfect for that for streaming netflix and the like.

We're so close to WWDC (June 8th) I'd just wait it out. I expect them to announce the new apple tv hardware then, but it won't be available till sept/oct.

Would also expect them to keep the previous $69 Apple tv around as a cheap streamer/Airplay box.
 

Ke0

Member
Looks like the MPBr 15"(2014) is getting discontinued ahead of the relaunch.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...k-pro-bto-models-ahead-of-force-touch-refresh

Most likely this will be broad-well + force-touch and the usual 5% jump in speed/battery life. I'd image whenever the Skylake refresh happens (most likely next year) we will also get the new color scheme Apple seems to be applying to all of their products.

Not shocking really. Pretty much I expected and what IMO was the most obvious route.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Yeah, I guess we should have seen it coming. Though I still think WWDC is a strange time to release the updates. Unless they have bigger plans for October/November.

No regrets!

Since we never set a timeframe, I'd say it should be a 3 month avatar bet. If I lose, I won't put my hat back until the new iPhones come out.
 

Yoda

Member
Yeah, I guess we should have seen it coming. Though I still think WWDC is a strange time to release the updates. Unless they have bigger plans for October/November.

No regrets!

Since we never set a timeframe, I'd say it should be a 3 month avatar bet. If I lose, I won't put my hat back until the new iPhones come out.

MBPr 2014 was relaunched sometime during last summer I think. This is a super marginal upgrade anyway. Avg consumer would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between a haswell and a broadwell powered laptop.
 

cjp

Junior Member
Why have they not added a flat/Yosemite style video controls in Safari? They look so out of place compared to everything else. Especially when you look at the updated Quicktime and VLC players.
 
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