Apple rumored to stop using Intel chips by 2020

Senator Donut

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Apr 21, 2010
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I'm not really into Apple hardware, but the Magsafe was hands down one of the best ideas ever. I'd argue, it was probably the best hardware decision Apple ever made beyond the switch from PPC to Intel. Removing it was a horrible move.
All we wanted was magsafe for MacBooks and USB C for iPhones and they did the opposite!
 

Senator Donut

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Apr 21, 2010
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I will say this regarding USB-C: my work laptop is powered this way, and it’s pretty damn cool to use the same power cord for my power, display, and audio. My vintage MagSafe 2 Mac can’t do that.
 

Rudi Fingers

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Microsoft Surface devices (including Surface Laptops and Surface Pros) have excellent magnetic connections on par with the old MagSafe, with the additional ability to charge with a USB-C charger if you happen to be around one. It wouldn't surprise me if future MacBooks will have the same flexibility.

The new M1 iMacs will make fantastic quarantine/hybrid/work from home computers for people who are on lots of video calls and don't travel too much. That said, a combination of an M1 MacBook Air, a large screen monitor, a good webcam, and a decent microphone is in the same price range, and gives far greater flexibility. And I expect late-2021 MacBooks to up their game on the webcam and microphone front.
 

voidfunkt

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I will say this regarding USB-C: my work laptop is powered this way, and it’s pretty damn cool to use the same power cord for my power, display, and audio. My vintage MagSafe 2 Mac can’t do that.
Agree 100%. USB-C is really cool, when it works... which can be frustrating because of all the USB-C variants.

But yea I'm currently driving my work Lenovo through my monitor's power so I have USB-C supplying power and sending display signals to the monitor. Really cool stuff.
 

voidfunkt

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I love that Apple, which famously derided the "beige box" of the 90's introduced the color iMac then over the next two decades proceeded to stamp out most color besides white and silver in not only their products but a lot of other tech products. Now they're reintroducing colors.

I hope other manufacturers follow suit and start making colorful devices again.
 

canderson

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I love that Apple, which famously derided the "beige box" of the 90's introduced the color iMac then over the next two decades proceeded to stamp out most color besides white and silver in not only their products but a lot of other tech products. Now they're reintroducing colors.

I hope other manufacturers follow suit and start making colorful devices again.
Can you send this to car manufacturers? I wish we had colorful cars. I’m so sick of white, silver and black EVERYWHERE.
 

voidfunkt

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Can you send this to car manufacturers? I wish we had colorful cars. I’m so sick of white, silver and black EVERYWHERE.
That's why I leased a cherry red car!

Actually I was thinking about video game consoles recently, what happened to fun colors? What happened to Nintendo making transparent atomic purple and other funky colors?

Literally Apple sucked a lot of fun out product design.
 

canderson

Mr. Brightside
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That's why I leased a cherry red car!

Actually I was thinking about video game consoles recently, what happened to fun colors? What happened to Nintendo making transparent atomic purple and other funky colors?

Literally Apple sucked a lot of fun out product design.
I’ll never not own a red car. I’ll never get a Q5, which is what I want, cause I doubt it ever comes in red again.
 

IpswichSox

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The iPhones of color are cool, until you have to throw a case on them.

On the new Apple TV, I have a third generation Apple TV from 2013 connected to a 10+-year-old Sony Bravia, which is operating fine so I have no reason to upgrade the TV. Because my TV isn't 4K capable, is there any reason to get the new Apple TV? Or like with YouTube, are apps going to increasingly become unavailable on older generation Apple TVs? Finally, with new smart TVs (if I were to buy one), is Apple TV kind of redundant?
 

B H Kim

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The iPhones of color are cool, until you have to throw a case on them.

On the new Apple TV, I have a third generation Apple TV from 2013 connected to a 10+-year-old Sony Bravia, which is operating fine so I have no reason to upgrade the TV. Because my TV isn't 4K capable, is there any reason to get the new Apple TV? Or like with YouTube, are apps going to increasingly become unavailable on older generation Apple TVs? Finally, with new smart TVs (if I were to buy one), is Apple TV kind of redundant?
For years, iTunes content required an Apple TV, but most smart TV’s have added the Apple TV app which allows access to that content. But, there are still certain apps that are not available on certain TV brands. For example, HBO Max isn’t available on Vizio smart TV’s.
 

RIFan

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Can you send this to car manufacturers? I wish we had colorful cars. I’m so sick of white, silver and black EVERYWHERE.
As a supply chain and operations guy, I love standard colors. Multiple variations can have major cost, inventory and availability impacts. As Henry Ford (allegedly) said, “You can have any color you want so long as it’s black.”
 

canderson

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As a supply chain and operations guy, I love standard colors. Multiple variations can have major cost, inventory and availability impacts. As Henry Ford (allegedly) said, “You can have any color you want so long as it’s black.”
As a designer and PR guy, I am diametrically opposed to this viewpoint and challenge you to a dual at sunrise.
 

RIFan

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As a designer and PR guy, I am diametrically opposed to this viewpoint and challenge you to a dual at sunrise.
I hadn't realized that we'd be arch enemies. A dual is fine but it has to be with something available at Walmart. I'm not hunting all over the place for something special.
 

canderson

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I hadn't realized that we'd be arch enemies. A dual is fine but it has to be with something available at Walmart. I'm not hunting all over the place for something special.
I will never step foot or pay for anything from Walmart - does Target work? If so, deal. I will meet you in Weehawken.

(on a serious note, I’ve always liked that Ford quote)
 

mauf

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As a supply chain and operations guy, I love standard colors. Multiple variations can have major cost, inventory and availability impacts. As Henry Ford (allegedly) said, “You can have any color you want so long as it’s black.”
These days, I think it’s more an issue of dealer requirements than manufacturing complexity. The Ford Motor Company will happily sell you an F150 that is canary yellow, and they won’t even charge you through the nose for it, but your local dealer is only going to stock vehicles in colors that are either in high demand or are broadly acceptable to the great majority of buyers.

Obviously, the Apple Store can carry inventory in a broad variety of colors much more easily than a Ford dealer can. For me, Apple’s array of colors is a bigger selling point for MacBooks than iPhones, but I guess there’s a significant fraction of iPhone users who don’t put cases on their phones.
 

RIFan

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These days, I think it’s more an issue of dealer requirements than manufacturing complexity. The Ford Motor Company will happily sell you an F150 that is canary yellow, and they won’t even charge you through the nose for it, but your local dealer is only going to stock vehicles in colors that are either in high demand or are broadly acceptable to the great majority of buyers.
Agree. Most premier manufacturers run lean effectively enough that change over (SMED) isn't complex or costly enough to rule out options in many cases, but too many does start to impact cost and output. The major cost comes inventory which in lean terms is Muda or waste. Nobody wants inventory that doesn't turn quickly. Dealers want to sell from the lot and turn cars over as fast as possible. They are also much more unlikely to discount a special order color than they are one available to drive away tomorrow. The way packages exist in cars is a good way of how they manage SKU proliferation. People joke about why do I need upgraded mats and a trunk net if I want a premium trim or stereo system. Packaging those together allow the volumes to get bumped up to get sometimes significant cost savings, but makes forecasting a lot easier. Tech hardware companies can build in functionality so that they can make everything the same and turn features on or off based on what was paid for. I worked for Intel and the original Celeron chips were made the same as the Pentiums. They failed to hit the Pentium specs and were packaged as Celeron instead. Limiting variants is always going to be more cost effective on the production side.

For me, Apple’s array of colors is a bigger selling point for MacBooks than iPhones
Is it really? Don't a lot of people who would care about the appearance just have a skin on their MacBook? Just wondering on that, I don't know if that is true or not.
 

mauf

Anderson Cooper × Mr. Rogers
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Is it really? Don't a lot of people who would care about the appearance just have a skin on their MacBook? Just wondering on that, I don't know if that is true or not.
There’s a difference between caring, and not caring if people know you care. I deliberately bought one of the less common MacBook colors because I thought it looked cool, but I’d feel weird walking into a meeting and whipping out a laptop with a skin on it. Not sure how many people are with me in that middle ground.
 

uncannymanny

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Jan 12, 2007
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The iPhones of color are cool, until you have to throw a case on them.

On the new Apple TV, I have a third generation Apple TV from 2013 connected to a 10+-year-old Sony Bravia, which is operating fine so I have no reason to upgrade the TV. Because my TV isn't 4K capable, is there any reason to get the new Apple TV? Or like with YouTube, are apps going to increasingly become unavailable on older generation Apple TVs? Finally, with new smart TVs (if I were to buy one), is Apple TV kind of redundant?
No real reason to upgrade. I keep an AppleTV over smart TV apps. The latter always have slow interfaces, wonkiness, just not good. We have iPhones, an iPad, and MacBooks as well so the Airplay makes it worth it, too. Samsung TVs have Airplay. It works on ours around 10% of the time.
 

gtmtnbiker

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Jul 15, 2005
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No real reason to upgrade. I keep an AppleTV over smart TV apps. The latter always have slow interfaces, wonkiness, just not good. We have iPhones, an iPad, and MacBooks as well so the Airplay makes it worth it, too. Samsung TVs have Airplay. It works on ours around 10% of the time.
Samsung has a pretty decent smart TV interface and apps but I switched to using the fire stick because occasionally an app will get wedged and there’s no way to kill the app or reboot the OS other than pulling the plug on the tv. Sometimes the fire stick gets wedged but it’s very rare and you can reboot from the remote.

I’m an Apple use but don’t have the AppleTV. Why would i want one? What’s great about it?
 

Vinho Tinto

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I’m an Apple use but don’t have the AppleTV. Why would i want one? What’s great about it?
I like the quality of the picture. Not sure if it’s the processor, but I’ve tested it vs the Chromecast/Roku/Firestick and find it superior. I think the UI could use an update, but it’s still very good. And they’ve update it so that it works with Dolby Atmos and all the major apps.

With two small kids, it’s convenient to take in a bag and bring on trips. We rented out a hotel room in February and I plugged it in so my kids could watch Cocomellon or D+.
 

canderson

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They're a game changer for:
  • Stalkers
  • Jealous significant others
  • Private detectives
  • Possibly burglars (is the family on their way back home yet?)
They have built in failsafes to notify you if they’re coloring you. That’s something Tile or the others don’t have.
 

soxhop411

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Dec 4, 2009
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Samsung has a pretty decent smart TV interface and apps but I switched to using the fire stick because occasionally an app will get wedged and there’s no way to kill the app or reboot the OS other than pulling the plug on the tv. Sometimes the fire stick gets wedged but it’s very rare and you can reboot from the remote.

I’m an Apple use but don’t have the AppleTV. Why would i want one? What’s great about it?
FYI to force reboot a stuck Samsung tv, hold down the power button on the samsung remote until it turns off and on (and you see the samsung logo) that should fix any stuck app issues on a samsung TV
 

uncannymanny

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Samsung has a pretty decent smart TV interface and apps but I switched to using the fire stick because occasionally an app will get wedged and there’s no way to kill the app or reboot the OS other than pulling the plug on the tv. Sometimes the fire stick gets wedged but it’s very rare and you can reboot from the remote.

I’m an Apple use but don’t have the AppleTV. Why would i want one? What’s great about it?
I can't even watch a half hour of a game on Samsung's MLB app without it crashing. I've been doing that all week here at my father's house. As soon as I'm done with work today I'm driving 2 hours round trip to get my Apple TV and bring it back here. As Vinho Tinto said, it's a much more powerful device and its features are THE features, where a Smart TV is bolting on just enough to have the features on its spec sheet without siphoning profit off the TV.

Why would I want a car when I have a bicycle?
 

gtmtnbiker

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I like the quality of the picture. Not sure if it’s the processor, but I’ve tested it vs the Chromecast/Roku/Firestick and find it superior. I think the UI could use an update, but it’s still very good. And they’ve update it so that it works with Dolby Atmos and all the major apps.
Which generation do you have? Does it make sense to get the previous generation for less money?

FYI to force reboot a stuck Samsung tv, hold down the power button on the samsung remote until it turns off and on (and you see the samsung logo) that should fix any stuck app issues on a samsung TV
Thanks. I'll try that tip out. Didn't think they would not have a way to reboot using the remote. Surprised their TechSupport didn't tell me of this option.
 

Vinho Tinto

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Which generation do you have? Does it make sense to get the previous generation for less money?
I’ve got the 4K. I wouldn’t pick the HD. It’s just a little cheaper and the processor is pretty old now.

Besides the updated specs, the new 4K will come with the revised remote. That alone is worth not going for the discontinued 4K. The remote that Apple has been using the last couple of generations was a big drawback. This appears to fix all of my complaints.
 

djbayko

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They have built in failsafes to notify you if they’re coloring you. That’s something Tile or the others don’t have.
Okay. I spoke without reading too much about them. But my post was a little tongue in cheek :)

However, I do see that that notification feature is only for iPhone users, so.....ALIVE!
 

johnmd20

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Samsung has a pretty decent smart TV interface and apps but I switched to using the fire stick because occasionally an app will get wedged and there’s no way to kill the app or reboot the OS other than pulling the plug on the tv. Sometimes the fire stick gets wedged but it’s very rare and you can reboot from the remote.

I’m an Apple use but don’t have the AppleTV. Why would i want one? What’s great about it?
As a Fire TV user and devotee, I want to say thank you because I didn't know you could reboot the FireTV with the remote. That will be helpful when needed.
 

Rudi Fingers

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Samsung has a pretty decent smart TV interface and apps but I switched to using the fire stick because occasionally an app will get wedged and there’s no way to kill the app or reboot the OS other than pulling the plug on the tv. Sometimes the fire stick gets wedged but it’s very rare and you can reboot from the remote.

I’m an Apple use but don’t have the AppleTV. Why would i want one? What’s great about it?


The universal "watch next" feature of Apple TV is underrated and great.

The universal "watch next" gathers the next episode (or the current episode if paused partway through) of everything I am watching on Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, and Peacock all in one place. If I subscribed to Netflix or something else, it would be there too.

On, say, Roku... the AppleTV app on other platforms only shows "watch next" on Apple TV+. I have to go into each individual application to resume a show or watch the next episode of the series.

Also, the interface is just plain fast, and I have no buffering issues. AirPlay performance is also seamless for me.

(I have the Apple TV 4K (the original one with the A10x chip))
 

splendid splinter

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Okay. I spoke without reading too much about them. But my post was a little tongue in cheek :)

However, I do see that that notification feature is only for iPhone users, so.....ALIVE!
True, but they built in something for everyone else. When the Air Tag is away from its phone for a certain amount of time it starts beeping. Right now that’s set at 3 days but they could shorten that with a software update. So if someone drops one on you, or in your car or whatever, eventually it’s going to alert you of its presence.
 

djbayko

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True, but they built in something for everyone else. When the Air Tag is away from its phone for a certain amount of time it starts beeping. Right now that’s set at 3 days but they could shorten that with a software update. So if someone drops one on you, or in your car or whatever, eventually it’s going to alert you of its presence.
Got it. So you’d have to account for that. Like Mike having to replace the gas cap every now and then.

I’m having fun. But I do anticipate this opening the door to a lot of creepy stories.
 

B H Kim

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The universal "watch next" feature of Apple TV is underrated and great.

The universal "watch next" gathers the next episode (or the current episode if paused partway through) of everything I am watching on Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, and Peacock all in one place. If I subscribed to Netflix or something else, it would be there too.

On, say, Roku... the AppleTV app on other platforms only shows "watch next" on Apple TV+. I have to go into each individual application to resume a show or watch the next episode of the series.

Also, the interface is just plain fast, and I have no buffering issues. AirPlay performance is also seamless for me.

(I have the Apple TV 4K (the original one with the A10x chip))
I agree that it's great to see new episodes pop up on that list when available, but I would note that Netflix doesn't participate, so it's shows are not listed.
 

The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa

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The event is today . Will be interesting to see the specs of the 16’
I'm sure it will be hailed as their greatest and fastest laptop ever.

I'm guessing port-wise, it will be a return to the 2015 port design, with the inclusion of USB-C/TB to go with USB-3, as well as regular Magsafe power. This might actually be a computer I would consider buying if I need a new one. I've been holding onto my 2015 model (which is quite fine) because the later models either had the lousy butterfly keyboard or impractical ports requiring multiple dongles.

It will be a disappointment if they haven't tweaked the M1 to be able to handle 2+ external displays at 4k.
 
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