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Apple sells designer hardware that's WAY over priced.

No, just generally built with better components and engineering.

Yes they sometimes charge more to upgrade some aspects like RAM, but for the hardware you are getting what you pay for.

Dell sells servers - Apple does not.

Apple sells the Mac mini, so you are wrong.

Dell sells Windows PCs - Apple does not.

Apple explicitly supports Windows on any Apple desktop hardware, so you are wrong.

Dell is diversified for the corporate enterprise market as an IT solution provider - Apple is not.

Well that was sure a load of bullshit, but in any case Apple does have enterprise support in multiple ways, including remote management, and internally facing applications - so you are wrong.

Dell sell cheaper hardware that's functional and modular - Apple does not

All Apple hardware is functional. Can you upgrade video cards in Dell laptops? No? HMM, guess they are not ALL modular as you claim then. And Apple will soon have a newer Mac Pro that is fully modular...

So you are basically on the edge of being wrong there, we'll just call it wrong because of your past errors.

It's like saying Harley Davidson will open up an office next to Toyota and poach the best employees.

I think you meant that to sound silly but what would be odd about a company working on very compact internal combustion engines wanting to hire someone who had worked on very compact internal combustion engines?

Here's my advice to you - if you don't understand computers OR car analogies well, you are better off not posting on Slashdot until you understand at least one well (probably best to start with car analogies, this being Slashdot and all).

You only have six attempts to guess the right password: "If you enter the wrong passcode on an iOS device six times in a row, you'll be locked out and a message will say that your device is disabled."

Good luck with that. And then it will be locked to your iCloud account which is nigh impossible to remove by anyone other Apple service centers. iPhone protection against theft is probably the best in the industry.

IOW most if not all biometric authentication systems suck unless they are coupled with old boring passwords. You leave your fingerprints on everything you touch. Your face and retina can be remotely scanned, saved and duplicated. This leaves us with brainwaves but I'm not entirely sure they can't be copied as well. But you can be sure as hell brainwaves authentication will be incredibly difficult and expensive to implement for smartphone security.

Why weren't they able to crack Apple FaceID? Maybe because their 3D printer wasn't good enough as FaceID scans over 30 000 spatial dots in order to verify your identity but there were reports that it's already been cracked.

It does not happen. I track that setting all the time and it never happened to me. I do not know if google collects any data that it does not show to me in My Account but when settings are turned off, it does not show any data collected. When I had iPhone I also did not know if any data was collected by Apple and Apple did not show me what they did or did not collect.

It is explained in detail by following the links on this page:

https://www.apple.com/privacy/

I was basically going to say something similar but add that iOS only allows an app access to location service "while using the app", otherwise, permission is refused by default.

Apple are pathological about battery usage, and quite rightly also take privacy far more seriously than most other companies, thus the reason iOS allowed you control over apps well before Android starting implementing similar controls - minus Google services that is, because, you know, Google is All Knowing.

The phones: Xiaomi A1 64 GB for $188, iPhone Xs for $999

The watches: Samsung Galaxy for $126, and the Apple Watch for $400

The Chromecast/Apple TV: Chromecast Ultra 4K for $59, Apple TV for $179

Seems his claims check out. I guess in your world, stating actual, hard facts you don't like is a troll? Most people consider that an education, but that might break your reality distortion field, so better to simply shout TROLL! and run away, eh?

The phones: Xiaomi A1 64 GB for $188, iPhone Xs for $999

The watches: Samsung Galaxy for $126, and the Apple Watch for $400

The Chromecast/Apple TV: Chromecast Ultra 4K for $59, Apple TV for $179

Seems his claims check out. I guess in your world, stating actual, hard facts you don't like is a troll? Most people consider that an education, but that might break your reality distortion field, so better to simply shout TROLL! and run away, eh?

The phones: Xiaomi A1 64 GB for $188, iPhone Xs for $999

The watches: Samsung Galaxy for $126, and the Apple Watch for $400

The Chromecast/Apple TV: Chromecast Ultra 4K for $59, Apple TV for $179

Seems his claims check out. I guess in your world, stating actual, hard facts you don't like is a troll? Most people consider that an education, but that might break your reality distortion field, so better to simply shout TROLL! and run away, eh?

...users who know HIG violations when they see them...

You mean like the fucking idiots who don't put the cancel button on the left like they should?

LOL. Somebody drank the coolaid.

Mac products are made in Foxconn factories using cheap foreign labor.

Environmental friendly? LOLOLOL citation needed.

Of course, the Apple shill will chime in and say "well said" because you praised Apple. All the while providing no citations. Stay classy Apple fanboys.

Here's Apple's Environmental Report for 2018:

https://www.apple.com/environm...

They are hard to look up (one of the big "awards" is called the "Green Apple" award, so it pollutes the search results) But, here's just a few Environmental Awards I can find that Apple has recently received:

https://9to5mac.com/2018/05/14...

https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/10...

I recently got a new iPhone and unless Seratonin is the "angry neurotransmitter" I didn't get any blasts of it. There are many things that don't work as expected or are an annoyance, like constant "reminders" to set up Apple Wallet but the missing headphone jack is the source of most of the ire. It didn't even come with a headphone adapter so I had to buy one , which doesn't work. There's not a technical reason for it failing, it works fine for 1:45 then stops working with an "Unsupported accessory" message. It's just Apple trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of me, forcing me to buy THEIR overpriced accessories (which should be included with the phone in the first place). In my case it is counterproductive because instead of thousands of dollars in future phone purchases Apple will never get another dollar from me because of the horrible experience. Heck, look at the reviews for the basic headphone adapter from the Apple store, most of the reviews are one star:

This is my 7th one I’m one. As some one that loves wired headphones because I hate charging them this dongle is the worst !

I'm on my third lightning adapter since April. They don't last more than 2-3 months and are very cheaply made.

And these are the reviews from the Apple fanbois. It doesn't seem like they are feeling Seratonin blasts either.

To anyone wondering, I am NOT Enigma2175. (I mention this because your post is exactly the sort of thing I would write/have written.)

What you maybe should have done is what I did. I bought SEVERAL iPhone SE’s. When my current one dies... NEXT. I feel confident, (esp. as I carry my daily-driver phone in a waterproof protective case,) I have enough iPhones to last me until about the end of the phone era.

But yeah... I won’t buy a smartphone without a headphone jack. PERIOD.

So here’s a short, and NOT AT ALL exhaustive list of Apple products I will never buy:
iPhone 7
iPhone 8
iPhone 9 (AKA iPhone X)
iPhone XS
iPhone X-Max or whatever goofy name Apple gave it...
iPhone XR + 123ABC +++ or whatever...
iPad New Pro XtraFlat XtraXpensive (or whatever)...

If Apple thinks I’m giving them another penny for defective-by-design BS, they’re out of their minds.

If all my iPhones die before I run out of heartbeats, I will buy a NON-Apple device to replace it, and that’s around the time I will buy my next PC, (and put GNU/Linux on it,) because as it stands, I have also already bought my last Mac.

If the thing you’re calling a computer (and is a notebook) doesn’t have USB-3.x, (2+), Thunderbolt/MiniDP, and an SD card adapter, it’s not fit for me to use. (Apple calls a new MacBook Standard, (as I call what they call the MacBook,) a MacBook Air, which it’s not. A MacBook Air has a pair of USB type A, 3.0 or 3.1 ports, it has a Thunderbolt/MiniDP port, it has a MagSafe2 Power adapter jack... it can take without adding more outside garbage, an SD/MMC card... and Apple’s discontinued that too, I believe. So, again, no more Apple BS for me.

I think in 10 years, Apple will sell their latest computer, a machine-carved, solid block of the element SILICON, it will cost $78,000, and it will do absolutely NOTHING. It’ll be a $78,000 paperweight... and Apple fanboize will LINE UP to buy them. SMH

I recently got a new iPhone and unless Seratonin is the "angry neurotransmitter" I didn't get any blasts of it. There are many things that don't work as expected or are an annoyance, like constant "reminders" to set up Apple Wallet but the missing headphone jack is the source of most of the ire. It didn't even come with a headphone adapter so I had to buy one , which doesn't work. There's not a technical reason for it failing, it works fine for 1:45 then stops working with an "Unsupported accessory" message. It's just Apple trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of me, forcing me to buy THEIR overpriced accessories (which should be included with the phone in the first place). In my case it is counterproductive because instead of thousands of dollars in future phone purchases Apple will never get another dollar from me because of the horrible experience. Heck, look at the reviews for the basic headphone adapter from the Apple store, most of the reviews are one star:

This is my 7th one I’m one. As some one that loves wired headphones because I hate charging them this dongle is the worst !

I'm on my third lightning adapter since April. They don't last more than 2-3 months and are very cheaply made.

And these are the reviews from the Apple fanbois. It doesn't seem like they are feeling Seratonin blasts either.

Now Apple sales are plummeting

Apple's 3rd quarter revenues were up 17% over a year earlier. Profits were up 40%.

3rd Quarter results

Our users realize that these are consumer products and, like a toaster, if it breaks they should just buy a new one be a good consumer and, stop complaining.

Not to mention the additional $120/year if you want to use iCloud to actually store anything beyond half a backup of the phone.

Of course, that's COMPLETELY optional.

Plus, you can also backup your iPhone to your Personal Computer for FREE, using iTunes.

Also, There are several things that iCloud Backup does NOT waste space on, like, for example, Apps, or anything else already retrievable from iCloud; so your worst-case example (an iPhone with 512 GB) could very possibly not have over 200 GB of actual Data to Back-up; so that reduces the cost to $3/month, or $35/year.

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

And, quite frankly, not very many people will opt for that much Storage in their iPhone, anyway.

So, once again, the Hater is easily defeated by FACTS.

Yes for sure, here it is: http://some.private.site.at.ap...

Except of course for the actual facts about Apple. Like the fact that they set up Health Records to use a direct secure encrypted link between a patient's device and the patient's hospital, with the data not traversing Apple systems at any point.

It's all on the website for you to see.

https://www.apple.com/healthca...

"When health record data is transferred from a healthcare institution to the Health app, it is encrypted and does not traverse Apple’s network."

the app stores had the auto buy with card on file (needed even for free apps)

Wait what? When did they start requiring a CC for free apps? That's pretty bullshit, is it some new "age verification" thing?

I have three apple IDs setup within the first year or two when the app store first launched, and never linked a payment method to them. They were purely for free apps and to sync separate iTunes data to each device.
I just checked my 3gs and can still sign in to the app store, but due to its 32-bit-ness I can't test getting a free app to see if it would force me to enter a card or not.

All I can find is https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204034

That implies no credit card was required for free apps between when the store launched and a month ago. Are you sure about this?

The lawsuit said Apple violated federal antitrust laws by requiring apps to be sold through the company's App Store

Even this is not correct: Distribute in-house apps from a web server

Apple is selling the refurbished 128 gig iPhone 7 for $469:

https://www.apple.com/us_edu_8...

Seriously, why spend $800-$1300 on an iPhone... or any phone?

here is one example -

https://searchads.apple.com/ad...

SearchAds.

You can target ads by gender, age, location

This doesn't seem to pertain to ANYTHING but App Store Search Results. HARDLY "Targeted Advertising", as in browser Banner Ads, or those annoying "follow me" Ads. It is essentially something like "Google Ad Words", but for the iOS (and Mac?) App Stores ONLY.

BFD. Not impressed.

Try again...

here is one example - https://searchads.apple.com/ad... SearchAds. You can target ads by gender, age, location

Guess that includes the Cambridge Dictionary, as well as all those fools at Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, HPE, IBM, Pixar, and most of the machine-learning industry, not to mention those well-known charlatan World Go champions at DeepMind.

I'm not sure what about the phrase terrifies you so much.

Does it though? Other than Apple's marketing what do you know about how the T2 chip works that satisfies you of this?

Have you read the security guidelines for the T2?

https://www.apple.com/mac/docs...

Yes. I presume from your reply that your answer is simply that document (despite the scantness of information about the chip itself) satisfies you that the evil maid hack is no longer possible?

So it is impossible to simply inform the user that the device has been tampered with?

If you read my original post in this thread, I'm specifically asking for proposals how to do that. In all my security work I don't know how to do this. You seem to know it can be done, so please, do share.

Why do you believe it is so difficult? If the hardware has been tampered with the boot process must be approved by the user. If the system detects change it can require for approval from the owner in the same way Apple can approve the changes they make to your system when you take it to them for repair. Why do you believe Apple can approve changes to your system but you can't?

Does it though? Other than Apple's marketing what do you know about how the T2 chip works that satisfies you of this?

Have you read the security guidelines for the T2?

https://www.apple.com/mac/docs...

So it is impossible to simply inform the user that the device has been tampered with?

If you read my original post in this thread, I'm specifically asking for proposals how to do that. In all my security work I don't know how to do this. You seem to know it can be done, so please, do share. Or go out there and build a better product and make mint. I'd love for someone to demonstrate how it can be done, but proof by assertion isn't.

https://www.apple.com/mac/docs...

It sure isn't in this PDF whitepaper, either. I read every single word. If you turn OFF Secure Boot, it, um, simply TURNS OFF Secure Boot. Period. Dot. The End.

This isn't about the Secure Boot feature of UEFI, as you say you can simply turn that off and that has nothing to do with the inability of other operating systems to see the internal storage. The fact is the storage is not visible, it should be, it was fine on all my other Macs up until this one. I can understand somebody beholden to defending Apple's every move would not like this but the fact is you cannot install Linux on it as Apple has prevented it.

I can also confirm that the old non-bootcamp way ( http://fgimian.github.io/blog/... ) of installing Windows on a Mac (after disabling Secure Boot on this system) also doesnt work. I tried this after wondering it BootCamp + Windows was simply a special case for these new macs and if there was perhaps something else going on behind the scenes, trying to install Windows without bootcamp results in the installer not being able to see the disk.

I never thought it would be Apple who would block Linux using Secure Boot. F*&# Apple!

Before you outrage you should realise that Apple didn't block anything anymore than any other motherboard vendor did. There's an Apple approved method to either disabled secure boot completely, or to enable MS's co-signing certificate.
https://support.apple.com/en-u...

And even include a helpful software utility if you don't like buttstuff https://support.apple.com/en-u...

No. Apple simply enabled secure boot by default. Turn it off if you want to run Windows or Linux: https://support.apple.com/en-u...

1) It will be circumvented

Yeah, circumvention is so complicated that there's an official Apple method of doing so: https://support.apple.com/en-u...

You still can. Simply disable secure boot. https://support.apple.com/en-u...

Bullshit. I read your citations and they agree with the summary not your dissent. One claims that Apple COULD support a certificate to allow secure booting but has not and clearly has not promised to. The other claims that it can be booted by disabling secure boot. That was in the fucking summary.

Also internal storage is inaccessible if disabling secure boot making installation impossible. QED.

Fake Tim Cook is obviously a Real Retard.

Where does it say internal storage is inaccessible when Secure Boot is disabled?

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

https://www.apple.com/mac/docs...

It sure isn't in this PDF whitepaper, either. I read every single word. If you turn OFF Secure Boot, it, um, simply TURNS OFF Secure Boot. Period. Dot. The End.

So, if you can find a VERIFIABLE source that PROVES that the Disabling of Secure Boot on a T2-equipped Mac in ANY way affects the "accessibility" of the internal storage, I'm all eyes.

Otherwise, yet another FALSE Apple meme bites the dust. Or rather, should.

Bullshit. I read your citations and they agree with the summary not your dissent. One claims that Apple COULD support a certificate to allow secure booting but has not and clearly has not promised to. The other claims that it can be booted by disabling secure boot. That was in the fucking summary.

Also internal storage is inaccessible if disabling secure boot making installation impossible. QED.

Fake Tim Cook is obviously a Real Retard.

Where does it say internal storage is inaccessible when Secure Boot is disabled?

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

https://www.apple.com/mac/docs...

It sure isn't in this PDF whitepaper, either. I read every single word. If you turn OFF Secure Boot, it, um, simply TURNS OFF Secure Boot. Period. Dot. The End.

So, if you can find a VERIFIABLE source that PROVES that the Disabling of Secure Boot on a T2-equipped Mac in ANY way affects the "accessibility" of the internal storage, I'm all eyes.

Otherwise, yet another FALSE Apple meme bites the dust. Or rather, should.

Not sure if this should be considered fake news or ignorance. What Apple have done is no different that any other device shipped with Secure Boot enabled by default, and it is just as configurable.

Simply boot into MacOS via recovery mode and from there you can use the Startup Security Utility to configure the boot requirements by selecting
a) only MacOS to boot,
b) any signed certificate such as Microsoft's UEFI certificate which is also used by some Linux SecureBoot systems, or
c) disable the check completely.

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

Yes, this is a great point. Apple needs to give options to recycle the hardware away from landfills.

You mean like THIS?

https://www.apple.com/shop/tra...

A Mac running X11/Linux is the only (legal) way to develop and test macOS and X11/Linux versions of one application on one machine.

TFA lies one all of its major "Grievances"

Here's the Apple Knowledge Base article on the Boot Assistant Utility:

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

Note that there are TWO "parameters" that can be adjusted.

1. "Boot Protection". Note that this can be turned COMPLETELY OFF. No "Linux Block" Here.

2. Whether to allow Booting from External Media. This is to guard against "Evil Maid" attacks. Notice that it, TOO, has a setting to ALLOW booting from an external drive, USB stick, SD card, etc.

So, don't want to mess around with the SSD on your T2 equipped (or other Intel) Mac. Simply stick that Linux Install on a fast EXTERNAL drive, and use Apple's BUILT- IN BOOTLOADER to dal- boot Linux (or whichever) alternative OS. Where's the "Linux Block" NOW???

3. There is also Disk Utility. I am not sure if you can partition the internal SSD to support different Filesystems in separate Partitions; but I would imagine that, if so, the internal SSD could be partitioned to accommodate a Linux Install, and turning off Secure Boot checking would allow you to Dual-boot Linux using Apple's longstanding BUILT-IN BOOTLOADER.

Ah, yes, you can still have multiple partitions, each with a separate Format. I don't think Ext4 was ever supported as an option; but FAT and ExFAT are (as is HFS+), in addition to APFS.

https://support.apple.com/guid...

Try as you Haters might, your bullshit "objections" simply can't withstand the FACTS.

Apple is not Microsoft, thank $Deity...

Oh, and don't forget what you can do with Parallels, VMWare, etc...

A Mac running X11/Linux is the only (legal) way to develop and test macOS and X11/Linux versions of one application on one machine.

TFA lies one all of its major "Grievances"

Here's the Apple Knowledge Base article on the Boot Assistant Utility:

https://support.apple.com/en-u...

Note that there are TWO "parameters" that can be adjusted.

1. "Boot Protection". Note that this can be turned COMPLETELY OFF. No "Linux Block" Here.

2. Whether to allow Booting from External Media. This is to guard against "Evil Maid" attacks. Notice that it, TOO, has a setting to ALLOW booting from an external drive, USB stick, SD card, etc.

So, don't want to mess around with the SSD on your T2 equipped (or other Intel) Mac. Simply stick that Linux Install on a fast EXTERNAL drive, and use Apple's BUILT- IN BOOTLOADER to dal- boot Linux (or whichever) alternative OS. Where's the "Linux Block" NOW???

3. There is also Disk Utility. I am not sure if you can partition the internal SSD to support different Filesystems in separate Partitions; but I would imagine that, if so, the internal SSD could be partitioned to accommodate a Linux Install, and turning off Secure Boot checking would allow you to Dual-boot Linux using Apple's longstanding BUILT-IN BOOTLOADER.

Ah, yes, you can still have multiple partitions, each with a separate Format. I don't think Ext4 was ever supported as an option; but FAT and ExFAT are (as is HFS+), in addition to APFS.

https://support.apple.com/guid...

Try as you Haters might, your bullshit "objections" simply can't withstand the FACTS.

Apple is not Microsoft, thank $Deity...

Oh, and don't forget what you can do with Parallels, VMWare, etc...

They had.... to be honest .... but Google is seriously on fire with AI.... Apple may find it hard to compete if they don't do some catching up with AI other than criticising Google's business model.... say what you will about Google abusing your privacy.... but with the data they have and the AI prowess, Apple find it tougher and tougher

Yeah, that's why Apple has the CoreML API (with support in the Ax CPUs), while Google keeps their AI to themselves to better collect more of your information.

More realistically because Apple is looking to expand beyond just selling devices and the terminology reflects that. Interesting thing from the site https://www.apple.com/ios/maps..., is right down the bottom https://www.apple.com/privacy/. Apple is looking to target Google Maps head on.

Google is clearly going to come under increasing competitive pressure by well funded competitors. Google has managed to make a dick of itself and thus is quite vulnerable, it requires loads of users that like them and always invading everyone's privacy, political baking searches, being really abusive with YouTube did not help their image, ahh American arrogance and exceptionalism alive and well in it's corporate thinking, until well, the sheeple scatter all over the place.

Google the planets number one censor and invader of privacy, now that'll sell, NOT. Too much of Google's value is tied to perceptions of their public popularity, people liking them, which makes them extremely vulnerable to counter marketing, making them unpopular for the unpopular things they routinely do but manage to mostly hide, well, used to be able to hide.

More realistically because Apple is looking to expand beyond just selling devices and the terminology reflects that. Interesting thing from the site https://www.apple.com/ios/maps..., is right down the bottom https://www.apple.com/privacy/. Apple is looking to target Google Maps head on.

Google is clearly going to come under increasing competitive pressure by well funded competitors. Google has managed to make a dick of itself and thus is quite vulnerable, it requires loads of users that like them and always invading everyone's privacy, political baking searches, being really abusive with YouTube did not help their image, ahh American arrogance and exceptionalism alive and well in it's corporate thinking, until well, the sheeple scatter all over the place.

Google the planets number one censor and invader of privacy, now that'll sell, NOT. Too much of Google's value is tied to perceptions of their public popularity, people liking them, which makes them extremely vulnerable to counter marketing, making them unpopular for the unpopular things they routinely do but manage to mostly hide, well, used to be able to hide.

I'm referring to Apple's list of obsolete hardware that this article links to, which includes the Apple II and the Apple III under the headline "Mac desktops". The Lisa didn't get any love, however.

The link was https://support.apple.com/en-c...

According to Apple, the shutdowns (and definitely the throttling) are not entirely correlated with how empty or full the battery is. It's also determined by the chemical age of battery and its temperature. If we believe their version, a shutdown could also happen on a semi-full battery if it's cold enough and the device old enough.

Source:

https://help.apple.com/iphone/... ...
Explosive and other atmospheric conditions Charging or using iPhone in any area with a potentially explosive atmosphere, such as areas where the air contains high levels of flammable chemicals, vapors, or particles (such as grain, dust, or metal powders), may be hazardous. Exposing iPhone to environments having high concentrations of industrial chemicals, including near evaporating liquified gasses such as helium, may damage or impair iPhone functionality. Obey all signs and instructions. ...

Because if you don't, then you forgo your extended warranty.

Yeah that's not true. If someone told you that then they were either lying or misinformed.

The Apple adapter is more of a mini-dock than just a video adapter, it allows for power pass-through on USB-C, a USB-A port, and HDMI. Also it's only $69, not $80.
https://www.apple.com/shop/pro...

If the higher priced and more capable mini-dock is too much for you then buy something cheaper. Such as this $16.99 HDMI adapter from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonB...

Amazon also offers a mini-dock much like Apple's but for nearly half the price. If you think Apple is charging too much, or that it might not work with your Dell, then don't buy it. Amazon claims their adapters are fully compatible with Apple computers, as well as recent Windows versions, and appears to have a very good return policy if it does not work. You aren't forced to buy Apple adapters for your Apple computer.

Go ahead though, keep propping up strawmen to make your case. I'll just knock them down.

The product has been around less than three years. Does that really qualify as "history"? And isn't every Apple products new update the "most significant in the product's history"? How many times can Apple go to the well with that horseshit?

But... they have animojis now!! Such a breakthrough takes true courage

My Minis have FW800. My MBP has FW800. I have a bunch of FW400 and FW800 hard drives. With no FW on new Macs I'm going to end up with a pile of no-longer-usable external storage.

Time marches on.

You can either take the drive mechs out of those FW enclosures and put them into some USB-C ones. That would be your cheapest route.

Or, you can go the Apple-Approved route:

Apple TB3 TB2 Adapter, + Apple TB2 FW 800 Adapter. Yes, it is a daisy-chain. Yes, Apple approves the configuration. $60 for both Adapters together. Then you should be able to use your existing drives. Most FW drives can be daisy-chained with some inexpensive (around $12) cables; so that should work.

https://www.apple.com/shop/pro...

https://www.apple.com/shop/pro...

My Minis have FW800. My MBP has FW800. I have a bunch of FW400 and FW800 hard drives. With no FW on new Macs I'm going to end up with a pile of no-longer-usable external storage.

Time marches on.

You can either take the drive mechs out of those FW enclosures and put them into some USB-C ones. That would be your cheapest route.

Or, you can go the Apple-Approved route:

Apple TB3 TB2 Adapter, + Apple TB2 FW 800 Adapter. Yes, it is a daisy-chain. Yes, Apple approves the configuration. $60 for both Adapters together. Then you should be able to use your existing drives. Most FW drives can be daisy-chained with some inexpensive (around $12) cables; so that should work.

https://www.apple.com/shop/pro...

https://www.apple.com/shop/pro...

I am typing this on a MacBook Pro, and I use and iPhone 8. What experience is sub par?

The stack of dongles to plug everything in, the insanely high price, the keyboard's lack of movement, the lack of function keys, the lack of a decent GPU, the less-than-cutting-edge CPU, the lack of a pro desktop whose design is less than 5 years old, the inability for the power cord to magnetically disconnect...and that's just off the top of my head. I used to use Apple and dropped them when they dropped the ball on their macs. The mac mini now only has two cores - that's less than their laptops! - and until the new update comes out they are still trying to peddle a 5 year old Mac Pro at full price!

Their iOS devices have faired better but they have not only dropped the ball with their Mac line they no longer even remember where the ball is or what it looks like.

1. Stack of Dongles: Boy, does THAT meme deserve to DIE! Get a simple multiport USB-C Dock for $30-99 on Amazon and STILL have 3/4 of your I/O FREE! And they're cheap enough to have TWO, one for home, one for office. So, changing locations consists of swapping like ONE cable... And remember, you can expand a 4- Port MacBook Pro up to FIFTY-TWO Legacy Ports (in a MYRIAD of Configurations). Yeah, that really sucks...

2. Insanely high price: In case you haven't looked, ALL PC prices are up. Memory prices are up, and Intel never seems to have enough money... Then we have the Aluminum tariffs. Take a look at a MBP. What do your see? A big ol' substantial block of milled aluminum. Thank Trump.

3. Some people like the keyboard; some don't. Same with every keyboard design. I hate Model Ms. Some people won't type on anything else. Keyboards are like speakers. Plus, unless you are talking about being at a meeting or on a plane/train, just plug the keyboard and/or pointing device of your choice in, and have at it! Life's too short to pet the sweaty things. No, wait...

4. Lack of function keys. Meh. Again, don't like it, plug in the keyboard of your choice at home/office.

5. Lack of a "Decent" GPU. That again has been beaten to death. Nvidia didn't have a GPU that could drive as much screen real-estate as the AMDs; which has been pointed out again and again. eGPUs should also help that somewhat.

6. Lack of a cutting-edge CPU. Well, considering that the CPUs in the 2018 MBPs were hot-off-the-presses when those were introduced a few months ago, and the up to 18-core Xeon CPU in the iMac Pro was barely out of testing at Intel when Apple snatched it up, I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about.

7. Lack of a "Pro" Desktop (whatever THAT means!) who's design is less than 5 years old. Hello? iMac Pro??? 18-core Xeon. Vega 64 GPU, 10 gigE, USB-C/TB3 PLUS USB-A, built-in 5k display, FFS, the CPU and GPU in the iMac Pro were like LESS THAN A MONTH OLD when the iMac Pro was announced! WTF are you BLATHERING about?!?

8. Mag Safe. I'm with you on that one; but fortunately, the aftermarket world has responded with DOZENS of USB-C-compatible alternatives, some as cheap as $10. Check Amazon. Seriously, As "solved problems" go, that's about on-par with needing to buy a gender-changer to plug in your modem.

9. As far as the Mac mini and maybe the Mac Pro, too, all will (hopefully!) be revealed next Tuesday:

https://www.apple.com/apple-ev...

Any questions?

> What experience is sub par?

Gee, soldering the RAM and SSD to the MBP mobo ISN'T a dick move???

Stockholm Syndrome much?

Sorry, no.

It is a RELIABILITY move, especially when, as other posters have pointed out, a vanishingly small percentage of laptop users upgrade their hardware, even when they HAVE the opportunity. Proof positive is the fact that some other laptop OEMs do the same thing. Are they all Dicks, too? Why no Slashdot hand-wringing about THEM???

I love my MBP and iPhone 7+ too but let's cut the bullshit of Apple's anti-right-to-repair shenanigans.

Their gimping of the Mac Mini also isn't winning any fans.

IMHO, the reason they originally went from a 4 core to 2 core CPU in the 2014 Mac mini was issues with Thermal Dissapation. I realize that they could have updated the mini in late 2016, along with the original TB MBPs, and gone back to a Quad-Core CPU (and updated Ports); but I honestly think they were contemplating a bigger change for the mini.

We will know about that in about 4 days from now:

https://www.apple.com/apple-ev...

Instead of embracing Vulkan (or OpenGL) they have NIH syndrome with Metal.

That's already neatly taken care-of:

https://moltengl.com/

The above also includes MoltenVK; which is Vulkan under Metal 2.

And, BTW, Metal 2 is actually far better than OpenGL and Vulkan. And, as far as "Not Invented Here", it is important to point out that Metal Development was started BEFORE Vulkan; so, it is rather disingenuous to say that Metal is some kind of "Interloper":

"As for the direct comparison, first of all we have to mention that Apple started developing Metal and implementing it way before Vulkan was even proposed or dreamed, with the release of Metal being in 2014. I think that Apple would have never thought about developing Metal if the industry itself moved to a low-overhead API sooner. Anyway, as far as we know Metal provides a 10 times increase in draw calls compared to OpenGL ES 3,0 while Vulkan provides a 3,5 times increase in draw calls compared to OpenGL ES 3,1."

https://www.reddit.com/r/Andro...

HTF am I supposed to charge AND listen to my wired headphones on the iPhone now? Oh that's right buy your shitty overpriced Beats headphone garbage. NOT. Fuck this "courage" nonsense.

.5 secs on Amazon found these solutions (among many) :

https://www.amazon.com/HIOTECH...

https://www.amazon.com/Lightni...

Or, if you want a "Y-Cable" type:

https://www.amazon.com/Jackiey...

Or, if you need "Calling" (headset, not just headphone) use:

https://www.amazon.com/Certifi...

Apple has lost their way. All they care about is branding and making money. The _also_ used to care about technology at one time.

Right.

Recent things like adding eGPU support to macOS, releasing an iOS version which IMPROVES performance on older hardware, multi person FaceTime, Metal 2, SmartWatch with FDA-Approved ECG built-in, brand new COW FileSystem, vastly improving LogicProX and FCPX, etc. etc. None of those are "branding and making money" Projects.