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Opening
Pre-Roll
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News
  Apple “Peek Performance” event
    We have so much to discuss here and I know I’m late to the party now, but I think we have a lot more details and questions answered.
    Let’s get the mundane out of the way…
      MLB Thursday Night baseball on Apple TV+. Fun not sure it’s a huge game changer. Looks like they might have games in early April now that the lockout ended
      New iPhone 13 and 13 Pro colors. Green. Both look very nice and may produce some new sales
        This is an interesting tactic Apple has used for the past couple releases and I guess it’s working?
      iPhone SE Update
        Pretty much what was expected
        Same form factor and same colors (Midnight, Starlight, and PRODUCT(RED)) but with A15 Bionic. Matching the performance of the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro at a great entry price, though up a little starting at USD $429
        5G, but only supports sub-6GHz and not mmWave, though that shouldn’t be a big factor for most buyers.
        Does also get better battery life, a 12MP camera with Deep Fusion, Photographic styles support, Smart HDR 4, and IP67 water resistance
        A survey from SellCell of 2500 iPhone users prior to the event said as many as 40% said they planned to buy the new iPhone SE when announced with most, about 11.5%, planning to upgrade from an iPhone 11
        An IDC analyst was also predicting that the new SE could account for about 10 percent of iPhone sales.
      Updated iPad Air with M1
        Just like on the iPad Pro Apple has brought the M1 to the iPad Air. Up to 60% faster with an 8-core CPU
        USB-C Port now twice as fast (10Gbps)
        12MP ultra-wide camera with support for Center Stage
        Size and form factor remains the same at 10.9-inch size with Liquid Retina display
        New blue color along with Space Gray, Starlight, Pink, Purple
        Also adds 5G support to the iPad Air, but like the SE sub-6 only and no mmWave support.
        Same storage options for 64GB and 256GB of storage
        Starts at USD $599
    Stars of the show… M1 Ultra, Mac Studio (aka Mac mini Pro), and Apple Studio Display (it’s back, kind of?)
      M1 Ultra is (surprise) two M1 Max chips fused together
        Basically the Jade 2C rumored by Mark Gurman and mentioned by John Siracusa (Accidental Tech Podcast) and Quinn Nelson (Snazzy Labs) many times
        BTW, there is also a Jade 4C (4x M1 Max / 2x M1 Ultra) that is in the works… likely the “hint” mentioned at the end of the keynote that Apple still has one more processor (and Mac Pro) coming
          It is possible the Jade 4C could wind up being based on the rumored upcoming M2 chip though just based on timing
        Because it’s 2 M1 Max’s it’s basically 2x everything
          20 CPU cores, 16 high performance
          60 GPU cores
          32 Neural Engine cores
          and up to 128 GB of unified memory with up to 800GB/s of memory bandwidth
          2 video decode engines, 4 video encode engines, and 4 ProRes encode/decode engines.
          Incredibly power efficient for it’s computational power
          Apple touted it’s power and performance and it is indeed impressive
            But their claim that the GPU bests a Nvidia's RTX 3090 fell a bit short, or at least their graph did.
            They limited the comparison to the RTX 3090 running at a max wattage of about 320W, but it can go upwards of 400
            Still Apple’s GPU uses significantly less power, as they claim, but the 3090 can do more than Apple’s chart showed and that’s a bit misleading
            Apple did say in "relative performance,"
      And the new Mac Studio is the desktop beast this new chip goes into
        The Studio also has options using the M1 Max
        Basically a 2.5x height Mac mini where the top, almost 2/3rds is dedicated to fans and cooling
        Has an incredible amount of I/O
          4 Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 ports
          10GB Ethernet
          Power (internal power supply). No MagSafe
          2 USB-A ports
          HDMI 2.0 (not 2.1)
          Pro Audio Jack (3.5mm) that supports high impedance headphones (like the new MacBook Pros)
          And… front IO
            2 USB4 ports (M1 Max) or Two Thunderbolt 4 (M1 Ultra)
            SD Card slot
          And M1 Ultra Mac Studio is 2 pounds heavier because it’s heat sink is copper instead of aluminum
          YouTuber Max Tech did a teardown and discovered that the SSDs are slotted in, not soldered
            Connectors are slightly different than the ones for the Mac Pro
            Shorter clearance, but shows hope that you may be able to upgrade your storage.
          Pricing on the M1 Max version starts at USD $1999.00 and for an M1 Ultra model at USD $3999.00
      Finally the Apple Studio Display
        Basically… LG Ultra-fine 5K display in an Apple designed aluminum enclosure with 100 more nits of brightness for ~$250 USD more.
          Still 60Hz refresh rate
          Still LED backlighting (not miniLED)
        Well and that’s not being 100% fair. Apple did also add:
          120 degree 12MP wide angle 1080p FaceTime camera with CenterStage
          Their “studio quality” 3 microphone array
          The six speaker sound system (like the 24-inch iMac) that is Dolby Atmos certified and can play spatial audio.
          A13 Bionic chip
            If connected to a Mac enables “Hey Siri” functionality
            Seems to be running a full version of iOS 15.4
        Like the LG 5K Ultra-fine it has 3 USB 4 (USB-C) ports, but they are 10 Gbps (vs 5 Gbps in the LG), and 1 Thunderbolt 4 port for connecting
        There have been some early reviews with complaints about the camera quality.
          Apple claims there is an issue and that it will be addressed with a future software update
        There are also 3 stand/mount options though they are not interchangeable (why?!!) and the height adjusting stand option adds USD $400 to the price
        There is also a nano textured glass option for USD $300 more
        Only comes with a 1-meter Thunderbolt cable (guess they assume you’ll put it in your desk under the display)
        And for the love of Zeus why is the power cord not removable (or MagSafe?)
        Price starts at USD $1599.00
        My main complaint on the monitor is that it doesn’t offer a downstream Thunderbolt connection meaning you can’t daisy chain two displays.
        There are cheaper 4K options on the market but they are not 5K and don’t have Apple’s build quality or technology.
    All the other things…
      Apple is no longer selling the 27-inch iMac
      Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse in silver and black options now
      A new AMD Radeon PRO W6600X GPU upgrade option for the Mac Pro
  Let the debate on what’s next continue
    Analysts are already weighing in and disagreeing on what’s next
    Updated Apple Studio Display with 120Hz refresh and miniLED backlighting
      Ross Young says we’ll have it this year, by June (doubtful)
      Ming-Chi Kuo claims no new mini-LED products from Apple this year citing high costs.
    Also sounding like after the Mac Studio we’re likely not going to see any more pro desktop models this year. (Mac Pro or return of iMac Pro
    Rumors are also fluctuating about the M2, when we’ll see it and in which models
      Ming-Chi Kuo says it won’t be in the updated and fully redesigned MacBook Air which he still expects later this year
        He told 9to5 Mac that Apple will stick with an M1 in the Air, though it could be a variant with a more powerful GPU
        But that it would have new colors and a squared edge design like the current iPads and MacBook Pros
      Gurman also confirms a redesigned Macbook Air being delayed until later this year and also claims that updates for the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models won’t arrive until 2023
      A tweaked M1 sounds a lot like the M2 9to5 Mac is also predicting will power the next update to the Mac mini
        They claim Apple’s M2 is codenamed “Staten” will be based on the A15 and come still with 8 cores (4 performance and 4 energy efficient) but up the GPU to 10 cores (from 8 today). They also say there may be a 12-core CPU “Pro” version as well.
        Belief is Apple planned an M1 Pro and M1 Max Mac mini but changed gears and did the Apple Studio
        Now they’re looking to rev the consumer mini with the new M2s
        Ming-Chi Kuo though thinks a new “high-end” Mac mini won’t arrive until 2023 (along with Mac Pro, iMac Pro)
          he also claims the updated version would retain the same design.
          Conflicts with past predictions from Jon Prosser who talked about a completely redesigned smaller mini with a plexiglass-like top
      Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple has M2 versions of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, 24-inch iMac, and Mac mini in development.
    Apple Car too. Ming-Chi Kuo claimed in a tweet that the Apple Car project team has been “dissolved” for some time and that Apple would need to put together a major re-org of the team to meet the rumored date of 2025 to have a product in mass production
  iPad computer convergence?
    Apple has been running ads that imply the iPad is many people next “computer” desktop
    Seems like the coming years are where the lines between iPads and consumer based Mac laptops get even blurrier
    Ross Young thinks, based on rumors from the Elec about LG, that Apple is planning 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPad Pros with OLED displays
    Then there is a rumor from a Twitter account that claims Apple is working on an iPad OS feature called “Mixer”
      This is designed to make full screen apps on iPad shrink into windowed versions when the iPad detects a connected keyboard and trackpad.
      The rumor claims the feature would be exclusive to iPads with M1 processors
      Something like this would pair nicely with Universal control
    What’s a bit funny to me about this personally is that when I work on my laptop yes I’ll have multiple apps and windows open but more often then not I mostly have the window for the main app I’m working in pretty much maximized.
      Unless I have multiple screens I’m really most of the time working inside a single app, so with the smaller screen of the iPad I don’t see much of a need for having more then two app windows open at a time and I can do that today (and do) with split view.
  Apple TV+ subscriber numbers growing
    JustWatch is reporting that Apple TV+ ’s share of the streaming market passed 5 percent back in October
    That was right around when shows like Foundation and Invasion were launching and second seasons like The Morning Show were kicking off.
    As we got to February of this year the numbers are getting closer to 6 percent (5.6 percent to be exact)
    That puts Apple close to HBO Max which Just Watch says has about 7 percent marketshare
    Apple also announced a new 10 episode Spanish-language medical drama series called Midnight Family
      It will feature an entirely Hispanic cast and crew
      According to the press release, "Midnight Family" follows Marigaby Tamayo (played by Vaca), an ambitious and gifted medical student by day, who spends her nights saving lives throughout a sprawling, contrasted and fascinating Mexico City aboard her family's privately owned ambulance.
      The series will star Joaquín Cosío, Renata Vaca, Diego Calva, and Academy Award nominee Yalitza Aparicio
    Apple is also getting an 18-episode animated show called “Puffins Impossible” that they will share with Amazon Prime video
      The series is a spinoff of the animated short form series "Puffins" which features a main character named “Jonny Puff” voiced by Jonny Depp
      The show will be a series of five-minute shorts which follows lives of puffins who have their world disrupted when a meteor lands giving them superpowers.
  iPhone 14 Pros might be proerer
    Here’s a really odd and maybe slightly disturbing rumor about this years iPhones from Ming-Chi Kuo
    This year the iPhone Pro models might be the only models to get a new A16 chip.
    Kuo says the “standard” iPhone 14 models will retain the A15 chip from the iPhone 13 models
    9to5 Mac says their sources also confirm the chip split this year
    Says there will be 4 models, an iPhone 14 6.1-inch and iPhone 14 Max 6.7-inch and the iPhone 14 Pro 6.1-inch and iPhone 14 Pro Max 6.7-inch
    All models will have 6GB of RAM, but the Pros will use LPDDR 5 and the non-Pros LPDDR 4X
    These rumors also seem to predict the death of the “mini” option this year.
    In addition several “schematics” surfaced this past week purportedly showing both the Pro and non-pro models
      Seems to confirm the pill + punch hole display design for the Pro models (ditching the notch)
      Still shows a camera bump on the back for the Pro models
        Some previous rumors claimed possibly a slightly thicker design that would ditch the camera bump
        Also oblong side buttons and same speaker holes (vs round buttons and redesigning grilles)
    Then supposed iPhone 14 and 14 Max renders that show essentially no design changes at all
      So if the 14 has the same processor and same design isn’t it just a 13 with a new name?
      Hopefully there’s some camera improvements?
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Feedback, commentary, opinions
  Where’s the “prosumer” all-in-one?
    With the 27-inch iMac gone, possibly for good, there feels like a hole in the lineup. Especially if you want all your desktop components to have an Apple logo.
    The 2020 Retina 5K 27-inch iMac started at USD $1799.00. You could get one decked out for easily under $2,699.00
    I guess the closest “replacement” would be a M1 Mac mini. Even the lowest config with an Apple Studio display is USD $2,492.00 that’s well above the $1800 iMac.
    Or maybe Apple feels the 24-inch M1 iMac is a good enough compromise? But then you lose a couple inches and 0.5K resolution on your display.
    I feel like the 27-inch iMac was for the consumer “power” users and they want a little more machine then even a base M1 Mac mini would offer.
    Once you’re starting to config out a higher end Mac mini at what point do you jump to a base M1 Max Mac Studio with a lower priced USD $300-500 4K monitor
    So will Apple bring back an iMac Pro in 2023 like some analysts think?
    Is this an issue or does it feel like Apple has the right mix?
  A couple of “Studio” questions
    John asks… can my 55 inch 4K OLED LG TV be used as my monitor for the Mac Studio. Any pros and cons of doing this?
      The technical answer is “Yes”. The Mac Studio has an HDMI port and you can use that.
      Practically it might be a bit of a toss up.
      For one TVs tend to have lower refresh rates so things are going to drag or scroll maybe as smoothly
      You’ll also likely be limited to a 1080p 1920 x 1080 resolution
      Also color accuracy will not likely be very good.
      TVs generally don’t have any tilt or height adjustment
      You’ll probably need to sit pretty close to read text and at 55-inches neck strain might be a thing.
    Jimmy ordered a new Studio Display and asks… “Since the display has an A13 chip inside why is there no FaceID feature? Maybe that feature will come in a later software update?”
      That’s a good question because again it would seem like a no briner for Apple to support FaceID in their own monitor.
      I’m not sure why they don’t bring FaceID to the Macs, but I can speak to technically why the Studio Display (and all current Macs with FaceTime cameras) doesn’t support FaceID
      The FaceTime cameras are just cameras. FaceID requires the “TrueDepth” camera system which is way more than just a camera
        It’s an array of sensors including an infrared camera, a flood illuminator, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, front camera, and an IR dot projector.
        So since the Studio Display only has the camera they wouldn’t be able to add FaceID with just a software update.
      Still it does beg to question… why didn’t they put the TrueDepth camera system into the Studio Display
        With the notebooks it’s always been believed the limit was the sensors were too thick for the think laptop lid.
        For a desktop it might be that Apple feels it’s not needed since you have a keyboard and it’s easy enough to use TouchID or use an Apple Watch to unlock?
        Maybe there is fear of accidental unlocks when you are just walking by your machine?
  Make Photos download originals faster
    We’ve all seen it. Well, at least those of us that use iCloud Photo Library
    You launch Photos on your Mac that’s set up to “Download originals” vs “Optimize Storage” and we’re stuck waiting not knowing when those originals will come in.
    Keith has a very unique situation and came up with a cool trick to make getting originals on his Mac faster
    First he has accounts for each family member on a single Mac and then each account has it’s Photo library set to a larger external drive (since the Mac only has 256 GB of storage)
      Each library is set to download originals, but sometimes depending on the length between running updates, that can be hundreds or thousands of photos (hundreds of GBs) to update and can take a long time to sync up.
    Seemingly there is no way to force a sync. Happens in the background and other network operations or apps can take precedence.
    Keith found a post on Mac Rumors from a user who goes by “Bertan” to make things sync when you want
    The trick is to select the photos you want sync’d and then right+click and choose “Play Slideshow”.
    The Photos app will then download the photos locally to play the slideshow
    This can seriously speed up the downloads.
    If you want to pull in photos in batches you can also create albums for the batch you want to grab and then create a slideshow from that album.
    This is a brilliant hack around I think.
Closing
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