Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box
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I watched the Apple Event and it was meh. First HommePod Mini, which is completely uninteresting. Then the iPhone 12/Mini/Pro/MMax where they spent over half the presentation talking about the cameras and how they enabled professional photography and videomaking. Um, no, any professional would use a proper camera and no a fucking phone. Also, no charger or (useless) earbuds anymore. Just the Lightning-to-USB-C cable. Which Apple presented as being all "for the environent". Um, no, it's to save you money. And to promote your new MagSafe wireless charger.
Also, to end the whole thing on epic fail, a guy doing nature photography with a tripod-mounted iPhone set in portrait mode. Professional photography indeed...
(Any double M in this post courtesy of the 3rd gen MacBook keyboard with dust-resistant membrane.)
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@Unperverted-Vixen said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
What does the "USB-C to Lightning cable" do? Is it an adapter (i.e.female usb side that you stick another cable in) or a charging cable with (male usb side that goes into the wall plug)? Because, if it's the latter, I see no reason for wall plugs which ubiquitously use USB A to "upgrade" to USB C.
EDIT: It's the latter. Yikes. That's maximally idiotic.You seem to be overlooking the "sync to computer" case. Apple's lower-end laptops don't ship with USB-A ports anymore. (I don't know how things are on the PC side.)
That aside, USB-A's power delivery negotiation can best be described as "a hot mess". Going to USB-C gives a greater likelihood that the phone can negotiate more than 0.5 amps from the charger.
USB-C is becoming the default even on non-Apple phones and other devices. Hell - my car even only has USB-C ports.
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@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
I haven't used it, but I doubt that.
I initially thought I'd prefer a fingerprint reader, too. But if you have Face ID enabled, the phone is unlocked basically as soon as you pick it up and the display turns on. It works much better than whatever Microsoft is doing for Windows Hello and seems to reliably distinguish between different people. I hated it much less than I thought I would when I tried it.
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I have no specific interest in all that stuff (I'm happy with my old-ish mid-range phone and never had an iPhone), but regardless of marketing noise, I've got to say that I'm still amazed at the pace of technology in general.
I remember about 25 years ago (), a "digital camera" was a ultra high-tech thing, that cost a small fortune and barely took 640x480 images at "high resolution." And now, we have a fucking lidar (iPhone Pro / Pro Max) built into a thing less than a cm thick, as well as countless cameras, and sensors, and antenna (which doesn't work if you don't hold it right, ok...) and what not!
It's likely almost entirely useless, sure, and I'm never going to pay more than 1000 bucks to get it (), but technologically speaking, it's amazing.
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@remi said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
And now, we have a fucking lidar (iPhone Pro / Pro Max) built into a thing less than a cm thick
I'm more amazed that the iPhone got a LIDAR before Tesla finally realized that trying to build an autonomous car with just cameras, image recognition and machine learning is a horrible idea.
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@dfdub Errare humanum est, perseverare
diabolicumroboticum.
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@loopback0 said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
USB-C is becoming the default even on non-Apple phones and other devices.
I have a truck-load of USB A chargers, so it makes sense from the pretend-it's-for-the-environment angle to omit the charger if the old ones can be re-used. Or to go with newer USB C and put it in the box. But this combination? I don't think so, Tim.
Hell - my car even only has USB-C ports.
Mine doesn't have any USB ports at all.
Admittedly, I forgot about the USB C ports on laptops mentioned above. Although only having USB C ports on laptops when people have countless USB A peripherals is kind of stupid, too. But then, I guess I'm not the intended audience because I don't throw everything away and buy new stuff every two years.
Filed under: Sent from my MacBook Air 2015
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@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
I have a truck-load of USB A chargers, so it makes sense from the pretend-it's-for-the-environment angle to omit the charger if the old ones can be re-used.
They can if you also reuse the cable you're already using.
I think the new cable that came with my XR is still in the box, it's certainly not the cable I use with it.It's really only a pain if you don't have an iPhone or wireless charger already, and at least if you have to buy a USB-C charger then you don't have to buy an expensive one from Apple.
@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
Admittedly, I forgot about the USB C ports on laptops mentioned above. Although only having USB C ports on laptops when people have countless USB A peripherals is kind of stupid, too.
Maybe, maybe not.
Finally someone can buy a new iPhone and new Macbook and actually connect them together.
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@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
Although only having USB C ports on laptops when people have countless USB A peripherals is kind of stupid, too.
That's the way some parts of the industry have been going lately, a race for thin and light machines at the cost of functionality. They've got migs and megs of memories but if you want to connect anything you have to break out the USBC hub/dock.
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@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
@loopback0 said in [Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that > > Hell - my car even only has USB-C ports.
Mine doesn't have any USB ports at all.
Mine has USB-A. And can't negotiate a decent charge rate.
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@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
Although only having USB C ports on laptops when people have countless USB A peripherals is kind of stupid, too.
I seem to have lost my USB-C hub that has USB-A slots in it... sigh. But at least all my laptops (and desktop) still have them (combination of USB2 and USB3).
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@loopback0 said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
There's also apparently a MagSafe iPhone charger...
If you accidentally knock your phone off your desk, you want to be sure the charger doesn't catch it and stop it from smashing into the ground and shattering the screen.
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@error said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
@loopback0 said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
There's also apparently a MagSafe iPhone charger...
If you accidentally knock your phone off your desk, you want to be sure the charger doesn't catch it and stop it from smashing into the ground and shattering the screen.
I've had far too many charger ports go shitty on me. I bought a set of magsafe style cables a while back and haven't smashed my screen yet
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@error also, with this you can charge wirelessly while attaching a wire to the phone. Impressive.
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@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
Although only having USB C ports on laptops when people have countless USB A peripherals is kind of stupid, too.
By now you should be used to the fact that you need to have a dongle for everything.
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@Atazhaia Reminds me of…
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@dkf "I'm thrilled to announce ... falls asleep mid-sentence"
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Now, you too, can own a $550 set of over-ear headphones! No idea if it comes with a charger.
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@dcon Presumably it's also yet another shade of Space Grey
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@TimeBandit it's fascinating to me that for the last several years the advertising material has fully turned to "photo-realistic" renderings instead of actual pictures. For the usual iPhones etc., those really are pretty good. I think I can tell, but they do look photo-realistic.
But this thing here?I briefly thought the thing in the middle is the 3.5mm headphone jack these things don't actually have. Took me a second to realize it's actually a weird looking hinge for the part to put it on your head. (Whatever that's called)
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@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
I briefly thought the thing in the middle is the 3.5mm headphone jack these things don't actually have.
@topspin said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
the part to put it on your head. (Whatever that's called)
Headband?
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@TimeBandit said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
I'm actually surprised they support anything other than bluetooth. But they're definitely supporting it in true Apple fashion...
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@dcon The scenario is silly though. The cable is needed if you have a non-Bluetooth device, but all the iPhones without headphone jacks all have Bluetooth.
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@loopback0 It's just in case you don't have an iPhone and you're stupid enough to buy this headset
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@TimeBandit You would think so, but the article actually mentions this stupid Rube Goldberg setup:
With newer iPhones, Apple nixed the 3.5 mm audio port, starting with the iPhone 7 models released in 2016. It was replaced with a lightning port, and customers had to buy a $10 adapter if they wished to use headphones that were compatible with the 3.5 mm jack.
So if you wanted to connect the AirPods Max to, say, an iPhone X without Bluetooth, you'd need two adapters: the 3.5 mm audio cable and another to fit the cable to your smartphone.
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@hungrier Artist's rendition:
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@TimeBandit I... think over time I have used most of those adapters/connectors at some point in my computing life
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@robo2 Welcome to the club
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@loopback0 said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
@dcon The scenario is silly though. The cable is needed if you have a non-Bluetooth device, but all the iPhones without headphone jacks all have Bluetooth.
The article's scenario was "if you want to use it on an airplane" (i.e. with BT turned off)...
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@stoborrobots said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
The article's scenario was "if you want to use it on an airplane" (i.e. with BT turned off)...
That'd be helpful if we were living a decade in the past. The FAA has allowed Bluetooth on airplanes since 2013 and every flight I've been on at least in the last couple years has mentioned Bluetooth headphones as allowable devices (sometimes with the exception of takeoff/landing, sometimes not).
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@heterodox said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
@stoborrobots said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
The article's scenario was "if you want to use it on an airplane" (i.e. with BT turned off)...
That'd be helpful if we were living a decade in the past. The FAA has allowed Bluetooth on airplanes since 2013 and every flight I've been on at least in the last couple years has mentioned Bluetooth headphones as allowable devices (sometimes with the exception of takeoff/landing, sometimes not).
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@heterodox said in Apple launches new products so minimally different from previous generation that their biggest innovation was removing the charger from the box:
sometimes with the exception of takeoff/landing
Apparently, that's more because if something goes wrong (
$DEITY
forbid!), they really want your attention right now.
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