Apple |OT|

firehawk12 said:

I don't have a modern MBP (people say the 2015 models are the last best one?), but Office is pretty much the same (once you get into 365, then they are literally the same).
Dropbox works as you'd expect.
And Windows through dualboot works as you'd expect it to on an equivalent machine. With virtual machines, YMMV.

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FliXFantatier said:

1 & 2 are non issues, I use both on my mac and work PC and they work flawlessly.
The obvious alternatives would be iWorks and iCloud, which I also love and use, obviously with less platform utility and iWorks really is not nearly as powerfull and feature rich as office, for everyday word and excel use iWorks is fine though.

3 I have no experience with, but from what I have heard it is not really a problem these days either.

Between your two options I would unquestionably go with the pro!

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Haribokart said:

iCham Pro. No question.

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Thank you for your answers.

One more question : Touch Bar or not ?

I'm not the greatest fan of the Touch Bar but I have fiddled with for a couple minutes and the first Touch Bar config in 13" has 4 thunderbolt ports (vs 2), more storage and a faster processor for 200€ more than the previous one.

25% more battery life > touchbar.

iCham said:

Hey guys, I'm in a bit of a dilemma
I'm really considering buying a Macbook Pro, I'm not the biggest Apple fan around having always used Windows but now due to my work I use Mac workstations and I'm kind of getting used to them.
So even if I find them kind of overpriced for the inside hardware, the build quality and "no hassle" philosophy is kind of appealing to me - I need a small computer I can easily take with me that'll have a lot of battery life and can be used throughout the day. My usage of it would be mainly browsing Internet, videos, typing notes and using productivity software (spreadsheets, text, etc).

So I'm hesitating between the 12" MacBook (being smaller and lighter) and the 13" MacBook Pro (having a better screen and keyboard and two thunderbolt ports), the two of them being the first price available on the site.

I have some questions for these models :
1°) How's Microsoft Office for Mac compared to the Windows version ? Is it lacking options ? Are there alternatives ?
2°) Does Dropbox work well enough with syncing files between two different OS ?
3°) How's Windows running on them ? (I might do some really light gaming / indie gaming). What about battery life ?

Thanks !

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Wait for the refresh with 8th gen processors. It's a MASSIVE performance upgrade.

Haribokart said:

25% more battery life > touchbar.

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That's pretty substantial !

Vanillalite said:

Wait for the refresh with 8th gen processors. It's a MASSIVE performance upgrade.

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I thought there were no new MBP announced ?

8th gen Intel chips have been out since late last year.

While both MS and Apple haven't explicitly stated if/when new hardware is coming it's logical to think we will get a refresh with 8th gen chips at the very least.

8th gen U chips are quad core vs dual core on 7th gen. You're talking massive performance boosts especially for multithreading.

iCham said:

That's pretty substantial !


I thought there were no new MBP announced ?

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Keep waiting!

Wanting to take some leisure gaming time after exams in front of my TV, I was reminded the Steam Link app still isn't out for tvOS/iOS. What the hell are they still goofing around with jfc

Haribokart said:

25% more battery life > touchbar.

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The touchbar doesn't kill battery life by 25%.

fuchsdh said:

The touchbar doesn't kill battery life by 25%.

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The non-TB 13" Pro has a physically larger battery, on top of a CPU with lower power consumption.

Unless you really need the extra ports, the TB model is kind of hard to recommend. Performance isn't all that much better.

I have no idea if this is bullshit or not, but a third party place said that since iPod touch screens are glued to the screen instead of screwed in, I basically have to replace everything to change the battery... I guess at this point I'm choosing between trying to save the apps and just swapping the device for basically the same price.

firehawk12 said:

I have no idea if this is bullshit or not, but a third party place said that since iPod touch screens are glued to the screen instead of screwed in, I basically have to replace everything to change the battery... I guess at this point I'm choosing between trying to save the apps and just swapping the device for basically the same price.

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Unlike iPhones where the batteries are fairly easy to swap out, the battery in the iPod touch is soldered to the board which makes it an absolute motherfucker to replace. Probably not worth it tbh

detuned radios said:

The non-TB 13" Pro has a physically larger battery, on top of a CPU with lower power consumption.

Unless you really need the extra ports, the TB model is kind of hard to recommend. Performance isn't all that much better.

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But still it's not 25%.

I have the TB model, I bought it for the novelty really, and my favorite part is the Touch ID. I never have felt like I needed 10% more battery since I've had it.

detuned radios said:

Unlike iPhones where the batteries are fairly easy to swap out, the battery in the iPod touch is soldered to the board which makes it an absolute motherfucker to replace. Probably not worth it tbh

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Still intent on trying to save the apps, although I realize that eventually the device will just die completely so I'm just dela ying the inevitable. lol


Maybe Apple will be good in a few years and iOS 13 will have file access again?

The main things preventing me from switching to iPad pros for all my laptop needs are (1) a lack of ports and (2) a lack of a great file system to manage your files offline and (3) difficulty in backing up and accessing your backups.

I want to be able to copy files to USB. I want to be able to drag and drop and use my 256GB of space to keep my files and move them around and copy them to other places. The Files app and Documents by Readdle are good but not good enough. And I want to be able to easily locally back up my iPad and look at the file structure and selectively grab files off it.

Those are the big things I care about these days. If an iPad could do that then I would be happy to drop my laptop completely.

However a way to support a big external 4K monitor via USBC would also be nice.

DekuBleep said:

I want to be able to copy files to USB. I want to be able to drag and drop and use my 256GB of space to keep my files and move them around and copy them to other places. The Files app and Documents by Readdle are good but not good enough. And I want to be able to easily locally back up my iPad and look at the file structure and selectively grab files off it.

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It would be nice to be able to use any arbitrary USB drive, though there are Lightning-specific USB drives as well. Aside from that, I feel like everything else you mention here is covered by the Files app, iTunes, and Documents by Readdle.

detuned radios said:

It would be nice to be able to use any arbitrary USB drive, though there are Lightning-specific USB drives as well. Aside from that, I feel like everything else you mention here is covered by the Files app, iTunes, and Documents by Readdle.

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If I want to answer 20-50 emails with attachments, and quickly save things to different places, and keep files organized in a centralized location offline then to me iOS is vastly inferior to having a finder in macOS.

I've been using a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar (goddamn autocorrect...) for about a year now.

It's a fancy gimmick that doesn't really improve things a lot and in some cases makes the experience worse. The keyboard feels awful and the larger trackpad be a little awkward.

Ok thanks guys I'll wait for the new generation of MacBook then.

I've got a 15inch Pro. Use the Touch Bar all the time for the media controls (download Muse if you haven't already, it's so much better than the default controls) and Safari. Plus it has Touch ID with was a huge plus for me. I was worried about the huge trackpad as well coming from a 13inch Air but it didn't really bother me and I've not had any problems with the keyboard.

I'd recommend just going to an Apple Store and trying one out if you can.

Mark Gurman hinting at the price of AirPower being $150. That is about what I was expecting, but was hoping for less.

I expected $200, so $150 is a pleasant surprise.

Now how much is the AirPods case?

was expecting $200 too. would be in for $150.

For some reason I can't reach my local devices by their Bonjour hostname, unless I add the ".local" extension to the name. Like, http://diskstation fails to connect, but http://diskstation.local works. How can I fix this? It wasn't always like this.

Is there a way to watch my personal videos on my iPad without having to use iTunes or Plex Pass?

killertofu said:

Is there a way to watch my personal videos on my iPad without having to use iTunes or Plex Pass?

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VLC and Infuse are other options. You can set up a web server and send files straight to your device with either.

killertofu said:

Is there a way to watch my personal videos on my iPad without having to use iTunes or Plex Pass?

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I used to use Air Video HD before I switched to Plex. You can use it as a server and download OTA and watch them offline.

SeanM said:

Mark Gurman hinting at the price of AirPower being $150. That is about what I was expecting, but was hoping for less.

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Looking forward to seeing how much that costs here in the UK.

Looking for a new iPhone wallpaper, and I hope one day Apple opens up to users more live wallpapers. Having the only option be a live photo that you have to 3D touch to get to animate is lame.

I'm back in the Apple eco-system this weekend after my Galaxy S8 gave up the ghost. It was only my second venture outside of iPhone in 10 years, and in truth I never settled with it. Thankfully with my S8 crapping out, my step-daughter had an old iPhone 6 knocking about that I've snapped up. It's rose gold and has a "Always be yourself, unless you can be a unicorn" case on it. Great stuff.

Anyway, AirPods. They launched after I switched so I know almost nothing about them. Are they well received? Any strong thoughts for or against on here? Doing some research, it sounds like the same caveats apply regarding sound quality as always with Apple, but genuine alternatives start pushing the price up and even then seem to carry other negatives.

Bumhead said:

I'm back in the Apple eco-system this weekend after my Galaxy S8 gave up the ghost. It was only my second venture outside of iPhone in 10 years, and in truth I never settled with it. Thankfully with my S8 crapping out, my step-daughter had an old iPhone 6 knocking about that I've snapped up. It's rose gold and has a "Always be yourself, unless you can be a unicorn" case on it. Great stuff.

Anyway, AirPods. They launched after I switched so I know almost nothing about them. Are they well received? Any strong thoughts for or against on here? Doing some research, it sounds like the same caveats apply regarding sound quality as always with Apple, but genuine alternatives start pushing the price up and even then seem to carry other negatives.

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Convenience far outweighs the "mediocre" audio quality (I think it's good for the form factor and shape). Only real argument against them is the lack of noise canceling obviously, so not very well suited for airplanes and your super noisy public commute. Absolutely fantastic for when out and about otherwise. Though at this point maybe hold out for September. A slightly improved version with Hey Siri functionality and a new chip is rumoured.

I was massively tempted to get some AirPods but ended going for the BeatsX instead. The constant worry of one falling out or losing one would have really annoyed me. I still think they look pretty dumb too just hanging out of your ear like that but I think that's mostly due to them only coming in white.

I still really like how the AirPods sound. No bells and whistles to it but an honest sound that doesn't lack a punch. Overall love them, one of my most useful and used purchases in years. Innovation with real impact in daily life.

Just dread the fear of misplacing them...

my in-laws just got me a pair of AirPods for my birthday and i love em

super convenient and solid enough sound

3rd party Apple Watch bands are getting worse. Ordered 4 in the past couple of months, and only one fit in the slot that connects to the watch.

Sorry for the double post, but I have a question and I don't really know how to search for it to answer it myself. (and I've asked a modified version of this before, I think)

I have a dedicated DNS. Let's call it awesome.net. I run an app on my Mac Mini that updates my IP address to it, and I have an app on it for Plex where I can access it at awesome.net:55 that routes to the app. Now, on my iMac which is also on the same network, I have another app, but I can't access it through my dedicated DNS because of ports and other convoluted things. However, if I screen share into my Mac Mini, I can access it through Safari via 10.0.1.10:66. So, I know my Mac Mini can connect to my iMac and through its Safari browser to the app running on the iMac.

What I want to be able to do, somehow, is type into any browser awesome.net:77 and have that route to 10.0.1.10:66 on my home network. What I'm thinking, because of the convoluted way I have to do this, is that on the Mac Mini I have it somehow translate awesome.net:77 to 10.0.1.10:66 via an app or script or port forwarding or something, but it needs to be done on the Mac Mini and not on the router (I've tried every solution for this that I can find).

Is that possible? I can draw a stupid diagram of what I think I need if I'm not making sense, but I feel like I'm running out of options/ideas to solve my problems with VPNs, port forwarding, and DNSes.

Maybe this helps?


Edit: Crap, there's an error in my photo. The Public IP address of the Mac Mini is the same as the Router. Only the iMac is different, which is adding to the problems.

Thanks for the Air Pod comments guys.

Caved in today.

Everything seems fine so far, but I can't seem to trigger the set up animation on the iPhone itself? The Pods are connected and for all intents and purposes seem "set up", but I never got the animation process. I've attempted to forget and reconnect the pods and tried all sorts to try to trigger them to do it properly, but no dice.

That's not going to be a problem is it? Am I missing anything functionality wise if I don't get that? Haven't fully road tested the Pods yet but they seem to be working fine.

Bumhead said:

Thanks for the Air Pod comments guys.

Caved in today.

Everything seems fine so far, but I can't seem to trigger the set up animation on the iPhone itself? The Pods are connected and for all intents and purposes seem "set up", but I never got the animation process. I've attempted to forget and reconnect the pods and tried all sorts to try to trigger them to do it properly, but no dice.

That's not going to be a problem is it? Am I missing anything functionality wise if I don't get that? Haven't fully road tested the Pods yet but they seem to be working fine.

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Hm, has always worked reliably for me if I put the AirPods close to the device when opening them. But no, it's just a bonus for seeing the charging status of the case and AirPods (which you can also view in the battery widget or in the AirPlay device platter in CC).

I should probably update to High Sierra, right? On a 2017 MB Pro and still am running 10.12.6

xxracerxx said:

I should probably update to High Sierra, right? On a 2017 MB Pro and still am running 10.12.6

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I mean at this point might as well just wait for Mojave, yeah?

Zeyphersan said:

I mean at this point might as well just wait for Mojave, yeah?

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Maybe, I am just always worried a program or two won't function properly near release that would cause me to lose work time. It's just a dumb fear though.

Vuze said:

Hm, has always worked reliably for me if I put the AirPods close to the device when opening them. But no, it's just a bonus for seeing the charging status of the case and AirPods (which you can also view in the battery widget or in the AirPlay device platter in CC).

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Yeah, I think I'm good. First day of usage today and I don't appear to be missing any features so I'm well away.

Really impressed with the Air Pods themselves, but they're a real mind fuck. Having headphones dangling about between my ears and a tape player, or a CD Walkman, or an iPod, or an iPhone, has been the main way I've listened to music - pretty much daily - for over 20 years. I keep having little freak outs when I realise there's nothing connecting my head to the phone as it sits on my work desk or in my pocket.

Automatically switching to mono output if you only have one of the Pods in is an amazing feature too. I like to keep an ear tuned into the rest of the world when I'm listening in the office, but this renders a lot of good music useless with my regular wired Sennheisers. I've been enjoying a lot of The Beatles music especially today which I'm finally getting through one ear.

So, do I have to call Apple to get the 60 bucks for my battery back?

Bumhead said:

Yeah, I think I'm good. First day of usage today and I don't appear to be missing any features so I'm well away.

Really impressed with the Air Pods themselves, but they're a real mind fuck. Having headphones dangling about between my ears and a tape player, or a CD Walkman, or an iPod, or an iPhone, has been the main way I've listened to music - pretty much daily - for over 20 years. I keep having little freak outs when I realise there's nothing connecting my head to the phone as it sits on my work desk or in my pocket.

Automatically switching to mono output if you only have one of the Pods in is an amazing feature too. I like to keep an ear tuned into the rest of the world when I'm listening in the office, but this renders a lot of good music useless with my regular wired Sennheisers. I've been enjoying a lot of The Beatles music especially today which I'm finally getting through one ear.

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Just make sure that if you wear wired headphones you can't just walk away from your device with that stuff still on. I almost lost my Switch to the floor that way.

Aiii said:

Just make sure that if you wear wired headphones you can't just walk away from your device with that stuff still on. I almost lost my Switch to the floor that way.

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Honestly, this is the reason I'll never go back to wired earbuds lol. With proper over-the-ear headphones I'm still used to wires, but with wired earbuds I'd probably wreck my phone in a few days. Tend to walk around a lot with the Airpods on, phone still on the desk or wherever.

I'll probably try one of the other truly wireless earbuds some day soon, though. Airpods feel really lackluster when you're out in the city, plus I don't think I'm using any of their unique features. I assume automatically connecting to the most recent device is a regular bluetooth feature, cause I think my Bose headphones do that too. Other than that, I just double-tap them to go to next song.

GAMEPROFF said:

So, do I have to call Apple to get the 60 bucks for my battery back?

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Yeah. I hit that link in the email and it only gave me the option to schedule a call.

Sch1sm said:

Yeah. I hit that link in the email and it only gave me the option to schedule a call.

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its says for me only that support is busy, but I wanted to call the support without the link then.

hoping for wireless charging case inclusive, airpod 2s with a steel grey/black option. I'd probably have bought them originally if they had come in black, but went for beatsX instead.

Apple really needs a consumer focused press event.

The current Beats lineup is old. We need new 8th gen Intel Macs. Everyone wants that new iPad Pro. People want black airpods. Ect... Ect...

Do iTunes movies that have 4K/HDR actually play as HDR on the iPhone X?

Something that bugs me about Vudu (at least on the S9+) is that because the screen isn't 4K, it doesn't play the movies in HDR.