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[Ambitious]

App Extensions Are Not a Replacement for User Automation by Sal Soghoian (ex-PM of Automation Technologies at Apple)

Apple’s 2016 in review

Damn, Apple Is Losing a Lot of People

 

[Vector]

The personell loss can be explained by the recent anti-poaching lawsuit making it easier to hop jobs.

Their resolution to leave the enterprise market has made their selection of products and services very limited, they cannot afford any failures on their laptop market and they certainly can't afford to make a failure on their phones. i think the people who left Apple are the ones who realise just how precarious their position is.

 

[jts]

The write-up about Apple’s 2016 is excellent.

I think it’s super convenient to have my desktop uploaded to iCloud to have it available on my iPhone at any moment, but I don’t want to use that feature to save space, I never want it to delete the local copies on the Mac. At least in that particular folder. So I’ll probably be better off turning off the whole thing, which is a shame.

Also apparently my memory leak issue got solved, I deleted everything I could related to Mail.app (piece of junk), reset SMC, NVRAM, and it seems to have done the trick.

 

[Xun]

My external HDD for music seems to be on its way out, unfortunately.

Any recommended drives? If it were up to me I'd go for a SSD, but they're still far too expensive for the size I want (1TB).

 

[TapeDispenser1000]

how decent would this be for light uses. My desktop is quite old.

[/url]pic host[/IMG]

 

[kennah]

how decent would this be for light uses. My desktop is quite old.

[/url]pic host[/IMG]

Don't do it. Too expensive and too old. That one is at least 8 years old.

 

[jts]

Don't do it. Too expensive and too old. That one is at least 8 years old.

It's 7 this year (that flatter generation came out in 2010), but yeah your point stands.

Wouldn't get a Core 2 Duo. Or maybe I would in the 0-$200, depending on what would be the use for it.

 

[kennah]

http://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

Shop here instead. $90 more gets you the 1.4ghz, which is pretty slow but would be faster than the core 2duo. And your even be able to get apple care.

Spoiler

I'd spend the extra for the 2.6ghz one

 

[Deku Tree]

For normal use including email, web browsing, ms office, some very very light programming, am I going see a big difference in terms of the performance of a

MacBook 1.3GHz 8GB ram

and a

MacBookPro with TouchBar 2.9GHz i5 16GB ram

??

 

[Deku Tree]

Honestly they just need to add a USB-C port to the iPads if they're serious about making them machines to kill laptops for most people. I don't the lack of a traditional file system is a major hindrance, iOS organizes things differently and stuff like Dropbox and iCloud Drive expose as much as needed. Better app extension frameworks are probably the other crucial feature.

Actually I've been doing a bit of research on transferring files off of an iPad Pro...

It appears that even with all these lightening thumb drives or wifi USB drives then it is still impossible to transfer a PDF file or an MS office file off of an iPad and onto a thumb drive without some kind of intermediate laptop or desktop. The existing products for sale let you do copying with photos or videos or contacts.

But there is no functionality to transfer a PDF or a MS office file off of an iPad Pro and directly onto a Thumb drive...

... to me you can't call the iPad Pro a "Pro" device without such simple functionality. Given that a Camera dongle exists that has a USB plug on it, I am having a hard time understanding why this type of functionality seems to be blocked by iOS.

 

[Guess Who]

For normal use including email, web browsing, ms office, some very very light programming, am I going see a big difference in terms of the performance of a

MacBook 1.3GHz 8GB ram

and a

MacBookPro with TouchBar 2.9GHz i5 16GB ram

??

The performance gap wouldn't be huge. You'd mostly appreciate the extra screen real estate and slightly nicer keyboard. You might also consider the non-Touch Bar MBP.

 

[Deku Tree]

The performance gap wouldn't be huge. You'd mostly appreciate the extra screen real estate and slightly nicer keyboard. You might also consider the non-Touch Bar MBP.

I am actually doing that... I was looking at these three models

13-inch MacBook Pro - Space Gray
Ships: 5-7 business days
Hardware
Touch Bar and Touch ID
2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
16GB 2133MHz memory 256GB PCIe-based SSD


13-inch MacBook Pro - Space Gray
Ships: 3-5 business days
Hardware
2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
16GB 1866MHz memory 256GB PCIe-based SSD

12-inch MacBook 256GB - Space Gray
Ships: 7-10 business days
Hardware
1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core m7, Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
256GB PCIe-based onboard flash storage

But I figured either go "ultra portable" or go "big" with the new touch bar thing. (Might as well buy the 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 rMBP with all the ports if I'm gonna go with the non-touch bar new rMBP, but I guess this would miss out on the new keyboard and the new trackpad...)

And I was also looking at a 12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 256GB but it doesn't appear to allow direct USB file transfers. If it had that I would just buy one of these...

 

[astronautcowboy]

The performance gap wouldn't be huge. You'd mostly appreciate the extra screen real estate and slightly nicer keyboard. You might also consider the non-Touch Bar MBP.

Any thoughts on i5 vs. i7, particularly in the new low end MBP?

 

[Guess Who]

Any thoughts on i5 vs. i7, particularly in the new low end MBP?

Pretty much none of the CPU upgrades on the MBP line are that compelling. I'd put my money towards RAM and SSD space first, and only upgrade to the i7 if you have money to spend after that.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Pretty much none of the CPU upgrades on the MBP line are that compelling. I'd put my money towards RAM and SSD space first, and only upgrade to the i7 if you have money to spend after that.

Yep. Unless you're doing processor-intensive tasks like encoding or the like, processor tech stagnation means RAM and storage speeds are farm more important.

 

[Ryck]

Is it OK to ask an iPhone related question? My wife is having trouble making phone calls she can not hear the person on the other end of the line, although they can hear her. She can't even hear the phone ring, it's almost as if the speaker shuts off when she places the call. Initially I thought her speaker was broken but then I realized that it wouldn't happen during FaceTime it only happened during phone calls. Any thoughts?

 

[Dahellisdat]

I'm going to be getting into a project soon doing some audio and video conversion from old cassettes and VHS tapes.

Of what's out there currently, what would be best suited for audio/video importing and editing? I have an old iMac from 2007 that's just about dead. I'm kind of leaning toward a laptop since it would be more portable and versatile.

Would a MacBook be sufficient or should I be looking at a MacBook Pro?

 

[Guess Who]

I'm coming from a 2012 Air, so suffice it to say I'm excited as hell for this upgrade.

 

[Zeyphersan]

I'm coming from a 2012 Air, so suffice it to say I'm excited as hell for this upgrade.

That was the one I was going to get before I switched to a 13", hella decked out

 

[CrudeDiatribe]

Is it OK to ask an iPhone related question? My wife is having trouble making phone calls she can not hear the person on the other end of the line, although they can hear her. She can't even hear the phone ring, it's almost as if the speaker shuts off when she places the call. Initially I thought her speaker was broken but then I realized that it wouldn't happen during FaceTime it only happened during phone calls. Any thoughts?

Does it work with earphones connected or with Bluetooth audio? I had an iPhone 4 replaced under warranty because that speaker stopped working.

 

[Fuchsdh]

I'm going to be getting into a project soon doing some audio and video conversion from old cassettes and VHS tapes.

Of what's out there currently, what would be best suited for audio/video importing and editing? I have an old iMac from 2007 that's just about dead. I'm kind of leaning toward a laptop since it would be more portable and versatile.

Would a MacBook be sufficient or should I be looking at a MacBook Pro?

Any Mac out there now with flash storage is more than capable of SD video capture and editing.

 

[eyeball_kid]

I'm coming from a 2012 Air, so suffice it to say I'm excited as hell for this upgrade.

Congrats! Same exact config I got. Coincidentally I just got my replacement back from Apple; hopefully whatever issue caused my battery to stop charging was a one-off and not a flaw in the design.

 

[Ryck]

Does it work with earphones connected or with Bluetooth audio? I had an iPhone 4 replaced under warranty because that speaker stopped working.

It works when we put it in speaker mode or when she uses headphones sounds like it's just the ear speaker.

 

[CrudeDiatribe]

It works when we put it in speaker mode or when she uses headphones sounds like it's just the ear speaker.

Yeah, take it to an Apple Store if there is one handy or schedule a call from them on their website if not.

 

[xxracerxx]

Do you guys have any mouse pad recommendations? Right now my Logitech MX Master leaves a bunch of black rubber marks on my desktop and I want to get a nice plain mouse pad for the desk.

No gaming, just design work.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Do you guys have any mouse pad recommendations? Right now my Logitech MX Master leaves a bunch of black rubber marks on my desktop and I want to get a nice plain mouse pad for the desk.

No gaming, just design work.

Got a Steelseries pad and I've found it's great. Hasn't left any marks or residue on my cherry wood desk (although I just looked and there's still nasty crust in the wood grain from the years I didn't have a mouse pad, so I'm gonna' have to clean that.)

 

[Zombie James]

Bring on APFS. I just hope compression made it in.

 

[Ryck]

Yeah, take it to an Apple Store if there is one handy or schedule a call from them on their website if not.

It's a 6 annnnnnd she did drop it in water a few months back, so I am thinking they will probably just tell us to get a new phone.


Thanks for replying though.

 

[Zeyphersan]

It's a 6 annnnnnd she did drop it in water a few months back, so I am thinking they will probably just tell us to get a new phone.


Thanks for replying though.

If they open it up for repair and the liquid sensors on the inside are tripped then yep, it's replacement phone time. No modular repairs

 

[CrudeDiatribe]

It's a 6 annnnnnd she did drop it in water a few months back, so I am thinking they will probably just tell us to get a new phone.

Check ifixit for parts, tools, and guides for DIY repair.

 

[Deku Tree]

http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/19/new-ipads-second-half-of-2017/

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#12-9-iPad-Pro

So what are the chances that Apple introduces updated iPad Pros in March? Or the chances that they wait until the Fall to update the iPad?

On the one hand I think they can't afford to wait. On the other hand Apple seems very willing these days to not update their non-iPhone products for a really long time.

Do I buy the iPad Pro 12.9" now? or wait to see if they have a new one in March?

 

[astronautcowboy]

Pretty much none of the CPU upgrades on the MBP line are that compelling. I'd put my money towards RAM and SSD space first, and only upgrade to the i7 if you have money to spend after that.

Yep. Unless you're doing processor-intensive tasks like encoding or the like, processor tech stagnation means RAM and storage speeds are farm more important.

In spite of perhaps even my own opinions on the matter, I remembered the immortal words of Tom and Donna...

I suppose $100 extra dollars could have doubled my storage (from 512 GB to 1 TB) instead of a small processor bump, but perhaps by the time I am ready to upgrade laptops again that will be a reasonably priced amount of flash storage. Going from a 128 GB so 512 GB will be amazing.

 

[Remembrance]

Windows 10 Anniversary Update on Boot Camp: even half a year later, just say no.

I saw an "update and restart" that wasn't mandatory and I knew it had to be the Anniversary Update. Decided to try it anyway, and bricked my Windows partition as a result.

 

[The Real Abed]

I can't tell if this is a macOS problem or an iOS problem but it seems more of a macOS/iTunes problem.

I have a bunch of ePub based books in my iBooks app from other stores than Apple's own iBooks store, and before I had no problems at all with it, they all synced to my iPhone without problems. But a few months ago or so, iTunes stopped recognizing them completely and both removed them from my device and won't even show them at all in the list of books to sync. All I have in there is the three books that I own from the iBooks Store itself.

They're all still in the macOS iBooks app but I cannot get them to appear in iTunes. I will never finish Series of Unfortunate Events ever like this. I want them all on my phone again!!! Any way to get them to appear in iTunes? They worked before. There's no reason they should have stopped working.

Edit: I even tried switching to the Kindle app but it wouldn't even let me import the .epub files at all. WTF is going on? How do I get my ePub files to my phone?

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Still haven't taken the proper time to search out a sleeve for my 13 inch MacBook Pro. I really need to get on that soon.

 

[Neverender]

Hey guys, I've been using Xcode for a few months now on my iMac and recently for a nTB MacBook Pro. The battery life seems pretty great overall but Xcode will drain it really quickly. Is this normal and are there any settings I can adjust to reduce energy impact?

 

[eyeball_kid]

Got my replaced Touch Bar MBP back, so far so good.

I set it up to unlock with my Apple Watch, and it actually works now! Like flawlessly. I wake it from sleep, it says "unlocking with Watch" and a second later it's done. Don't even have to hold the Watch close. I don't know if it was the latest Sierra update, or the latest watchOS update, but it never worked for me before. This is such a convenience, I recommend everyone to turn that on.

 

[Zeyphersan]

Got my replaced Touch Bar MBP back, so far so good.

I set it up to unlock with my Apple Watch, and it actually works now! Like flawlessly. I wake it from sleep, it says "unlocking with Watch" and a second later it's done. Don't even have to hold the Watch close. I don't know if it was the latest Sierra update, or the latest watchOS update, but it never worked for me before. This is such a convenience, I recommend everyone to turn that on.

Even though I have my fingerprint registered on mine I still prefer the unlock with Apple Watch feature. I'll often open the lid and get distracted by something and when I come back it's done!

 

[RDreamer]

The right side of the spacebar on my new MacBook Pro doesn't seem to work as well as the left. Anyone have any experience with this? If I gently tap it on the far right it doesn't do anything. If I press down pretty hard it'll work. Left side works if gently tapped or pressed. Tips?

 

[Zeyphersan]

The right side of the spacebar on my new MacBook Pro doesn't seem to work as well as the left. Anyone have any experience with this? If I gently tap it on the far right it doesn't do anything. If I press down pretty hard it'll work. Left side works if gently tapped or pressed. Tips?

What model MBP?

 

[NandoGip]

I got an 13" 09 MacBook that has one dysfunctional speaker and a touchpad that takes a little extra pressure to click. The specs are middle of the road, but I was wondering if you guys have any idea what I can sell it for?

 

[RDreamer]

What model MBP?

The newest 15" one with the touchbar.

 

[Guess Who]

I am the proud father of my new child.

 

[jts]

My whole house is smaller than that trackpad.

Gratz!

 

[Zeyphersan]

The newest 15" one with the touchbar.

I know the old ones had metal bars that ran under the spacebar that locked into place, and if one wasn't in correctly it could act like yours does. But I don't know if the new ones have the same setup

 

[kennah]

I got an 13" 09 MacBook that has one dysfunctional speaker and a touchpad that takes a little extra pressure to click. The specs are middle of the road, but I was wondering if you guys have any idea what I can sell it for?

Like $100?

 

[The Real Abed]

I can't tell if this is a macOS problem or an iOS problem but it seems more of a macOS/iTunes problem.

I have a bunch of ePub based books in my iBooks app from other stores than Apple's own iBooks store, and before I had no problems at all with it, they all synced to my iPhone without problems. But a few months ago or so, iTunes stopped recognizing them completely and both removed them from my device and won't even show them at all in the list of books to sync. All I have in there is the three books that I own from the iBooks Store itself.

They're all still in the macOS iBooks app but I cannot get them to appear in iTunes. I will never finish Series of Unfortunate Events ever like this. I want them all on my phone again!!! Any way to get them to appear in iTunes? They worked before. There's no reason they should have stopped working.

Edit: I even tried switching to the Kindle app but it wouldn't even let me import the .epub files at all. WTF is going on? How do I get my ePub files to my phone?

Anyone have a solution for this? It's annoying.

 

[Deku Tree]

Anyone have a solution for this? It's annoying.

Did they disappear right after a software update? If not I don't know. Just guessing.

Do you have them backed up outside of iTunes and iBooks? Maybe the file in iTunes is corrupted? Try to transfer them from a cloud folder like dropbox directly to Amazon reader?

 

[The Real Abed]

Did they disappear right after a software update? If not I don't know. Just guessing.

Do you have them backed up outside of iTunes and iBooks? Maybe the file in iTunes is corrupted? Try to transfer them from a cloud folder like dropbox directly to Amazon reader?

No, they stopped syncing around iOS 9. Last time I was able to sync them was almost a year ago.

You can drag them out of iBooks in macOS to the desktop if you need to, which I will, and you can supposedly "Add to iBooks" from iCloud Drive so I might try that and see if it works. But who knows if it'll go back to syncing. Or if it'll add a duplicate version to the macOS version of iBooks. It's a stupid mess. How can iTunes not recognize .epub files as a valid book type? It also doesn't sync my PDFs, which is a feature they tout for iBooks. So fucked up.

Gonna try the iCloud Drive thing now. Will report back.

Edit 1: So far I've dragged my collection of Snicket and Potter into a folder on my desktop. While it synced up to iCloud, it showed an "iCloud uploading" dotted line icon on the book in iBooks as if it "knows" that the book in the Finder folder on my Desktop is the same one in my library. However it doesn't show up in iOS iBooks. And also doesn't show up in iTunes as a valid "book" to sync. Still waiting for iCloud Drive on iOS to download the 29MB of .epub files (God, iCloud Drive is terrible at telegraphing that it's syncing. (Why not have a ghost of the folder and files while they're downloading? They just "appear" in the list when they're done, but until then don't show up at all. So I can't even tell that it's working.) because they haven't shown up yet. (Yes, they're already on iCloud itself.)

Edit 2: The worst part is when you drag a book from the app to the desktop, it MOVES IT IN THE GRID in the app so you can't just copy it to the Finder without totally screwing up your organization. Also, still hasn't shown up. Fucking iCloud Drive. You're so slow. (Dropbox had its chance to be my cloud syncing utility but since they don't have a single payment tier lower than 1TB for $10 they can go to hell. Seriously. How about 100GB for $1? Huh? That should be the standard. Each 100GB = $1 should be the standard all cloud services adhere to.)

Edit 3: Ugh. No dice! Choosing "Copy to iBooks" shows a downloading from iCloud progress bar then switches to iBooks but the book doesn't show up. I can't even read my copy of Spelunky.epub. Why the fuck doesn't iOS recognize ePub files anymore? What kind of bullshit is this?

 

[Deku Tree]

Yeah Apple stopped caring about iBooks being a default reader many years ago. Now iBooks is just a place to read stuff that you bought from the Apple book store.

I've been using GoodReader for years. Not sure if it reads ePub.