WWDC 2020 June 22nd (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

After iOS 14, there's almost no reason to buy an Android phone anymore

Why wouldn't you buy an iPhone now that Apple has copied all of Android's best ideas?

www.inputmag.com

Wow. That's bold. I don't think that's going to go over well with Android users.

I am on Beta 1 of iOS 14. It is running very smoothly so far and the widgets are a nice touch.

It's going to be hard to convince Android users that there's no reason to stick to their platform.

There still is a lot of customizations you can do on Android that you can't do on iPhone.

I mean, i jailbroke my iPhone (up until this new beta) to do some wild tweaking while adding some neat features to the phone.

And that's what is missing from iOS...the ability to customize. There are still lots of limitations that lock you into Apple's ecosystem.

This is not to say I want to go back to Android. Been there. Done that.

However, Apple really came late to the game with these new features. And, I know, they didn't want to do it until they got it right.

As an Apple user, I love the stability of iOS. I love the ecosystem and interaction with other Mac devices.

I can't say iOS ever crashed on me. Android? Very often.

I just don't think we are still at the point where we can say that there's no reason to buy an Android. People that like to tweak their phones still have more options on the Android side, or if they stick with Apple, on the jailbreak side.

 

[DaveF]

Setting aside the Android perspective, it’s a good summary of a bunch of new iOS14 features and why they’re useful.

I’m looking forward to iPhone 12 and iOS 14 this fall.

 

[DaveF]

I can't say iOS ever crashed on me. Android? Very often.

ah, well, you’re lucky. I’ve had lots of iPhone and iPad hard crashes. My wife had her iPhone die for five or ten minutes before spontaneously rebooting.

I am ever more worried Apple has hit their limit for managing complex software. It really has been an especially buggy year on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Setting aside the Android perspective, it’s a good summary of a bunch of new iOS14 features and why they’re useful.

I’m looking forward to iPhone 12 and iOS 14 this fall.

I hear yuh

I was going to skip the next iPhone until I heard there’s a newer model larger than the “Max Pro”

 

[DaveF]

My 8+ will be three years old, so I’ll be very ready to upgrade

 

[Sam Posten]

 

[Sam Posten]

Apple’s Relentless Strategy, Execution, and Point of View

Apple’s announcement of “Apple Silicon” is important for many reasons. Delivering on such an undertaking is the result of remarkable…

medium.learningbyshipping.com

 

[DaveF]

Also...I’m happy for big update to safari extensions and tracker blocking. Apple basically broke safari extensions, making the system so “private” It broke all the good privacy tools, making safari less private than it was before the extensions “upgrades”. Hopefully this fall we’ll get back to a good browser extensions system.

 

[JohnRice]

I didn't want to waste this on a thread of its own, but get a load of THIS. Talk about expansion dreams. With the power of TB3, I was wondering how long it would take for something like this to appear. No price yet. How much do you think it'll be?

 

[Thomas Newton]

I didn't want to waste this on a thread of its own, but get a load of THIS. Talk about expansion dreams. With the power of TB3, I was wondering how long it would take for something like this to appear. No price yet. How much do you think it'll be?

The plain ThunderBay 8 will go for $1,228.99 and up. It just provides 8 drive bays and a RAID option. The Flex 8 has a PCIe slot, SSD circuit board slots, and more. OWC charges $230 for a device that just adds the PCIe slot, and a reseller charges $280 for a device that adds 4 NVMe M.2 PCIe slots. So I'm guessing that a Flex 8 will go for $500 to $800+ more than a ThunderBay 8.

Keep in mind that Thunderbolt 3 supports up to 4 lanes of PCIe generation 3. Therefore, with all of the options in this device, it will be possible to oversubscribe TB3's bandwidth. Then again, as with a lot of things, you probably won't be simultaneously driving all of the peripherals full-blast.

 

[JohnRice]

Then again, as with a lot of things, you probably won't be simultaneously driving all of the peripherals full-blast.

Yeah, you won't be slamming everything simultaneously to capacity. The idea is one enclosure and one cable to provide pretty much everything almost anyone would ever need.

 

[Sam Posten]

Lemme know when they have a 2-4 drive version for $299

 

[JohnRice]

They have several 2-4 bay TB3 enclosures for under $300. Not as many ports as this, but with dual TB3, USB 3.1 and DisplayPort.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I bought AirPods Pro from Apple solely for the new surround features being promised in iOS 14.

I must say, I really love these Airpods, but sadly, for the wrong reasons.

If not for iOS 14 enhancements I would never have considered buying these. I own the Sony WH1000ZM2 (second-gen model) noise-cancellation over-the-ear cup headphones. They do an exceptional job of blocking out noise and they sound quite excellent.

The Airpods? I wouldn't even call these a suitable method of listening to music. Comparing them to even the Sony (which is not even near the best) is like night and day. Even the noise canceling is inferior (thought not bad).

All that being said, these days I seem to be grabbing my Airpods much more frequently than the Sony.

Reason?

Simplicity!

I have to go through all kinds of hoops to get the Bluetooth to automatically connect to my Sony headphones

But the Airpods? As soon as I open the case, they are connected to either my Macbook Pro or my iPhone.

I am consistently amazed by the things that Apple pulls off. They invented a great set of wireless earphones in the most unique way that makes them Apple. The connectivity is instant and there's even an option in Bluetooth settings that walks you through a proper seal fitting to make certain you are using the correct sized ear pads.

 

[DaveF]

@Ronald Epstein I basically never had bluetooth connection problems with my Bose earphones. Always connected to my iPhone right away. If you’re looking for a middle ground in simplicity and quality, Bose are worth considering.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I bought AirPods Pro from Apple solely for the new surround features being promised in iOS 14.

I must say, I really love these Airpods, but sadly, for the wrong reasons.

If not for iOS 14 enhancements I would never have considered buying these. I own the Sony WH1000ZM2 (second-gen model) noise-cancellation over-the-ear cup headphones. They do an exceptional job of blocking out noise and they sound quite excellent.

The Airpods? I wouldn't even call these a suitable method of listening to music. Comparing them to even the Sony (which is not even near the best) is like night and day. Even the noise canceling is inferior (thought not bad).

All that being said, these days I seem to be grabbing my Airpods much more frequently than the Sony.

Reason?

Simplicity!

I have to go through all kinds of hoops to get the Bluetooth to automatically connect to my Sony headphones

But the Airpods? As soon as I open the case, they are connected to either my Macbook Pro or my iPhone.

I am consistently amazed by the things that Apple pulls off. They invented a great set of wireless earphones in the most unique way that makes them Apple. The connectivity is instant and there's even an option in Bluetooth settings that walks you through a proper seal fitting to make certain you are using the correct sized ear pads.

You’re really comparing apples to oranges here, Ron. I don’t own AirPods Pro but I do own regular AirPods. I find the sound quality to be fantastic for an earbud. However the sound quality, while very good, pales in comparison to my Audio Technica headphones, simply because the Audio Technica (like your Sony headphones) are a padded, over the ear can, and not an earbud. I will say that Apple got the Bluetooth pairing right with the AirPods. I‘ve never had weird connection problems and they just work, unlike several other brands of Bluetooth earbuds I’ve tried.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You’re really comparing apples to oranges here, Ron. I don’t own AirPods Pro but I do own regular AirPods. I find the sound quality to be fantastic for an earbud. However the sound quality, while very good, pales in comparison to my Audio Technica headphones, simply because the Audio Technica (like your Sony headphones) are a padded, over the ear can, and not an earbud. I will say that Apple got the Bluetooth pairing right with the AirPods. I‘ve never had weird connection problems and they just work, unlike several other brands of Bluetooth earbuds I’ve tried.

Oh, absolutely, I am comparing apples to oranges here. I am well aware of that.

The point I was making was that though my Sony headphones are miles ahead of the Airpod Pros in sound quality, I always reach for the AirPod Pro first because they instantly connect to my device without having to hold down a pairing button or sometimes re-adjust the audio output on my Macbook Pro.

I love the way the AirPods "just work" with Apple devices

 

[Sam Posten]

They have several 2-4 bay TB3 enclosures for under $300. Not as many ports as this, but with dual TB3, USB 3.1 and DisplayPort.

Right, it's the integrated ports that make it interesting.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

One thing that I am surprised did NOT come out of WWDC this year despite many rumors it would...

Allegedly, Apple was going to do a one-price subscription for its Apple TV+, Arcade and News platform. Each sells separately for $5 a month with news at $10.

I am guessing that Apple just didn't find a way to bundle it all together without losing money.

I know they have been losing money on NEWS. I subscribed to it for about a year and recently stopped. I just don't find magazines that relevant anymore since any breaking news happens on the Internet first and magazines just catch up afterward.

========

On another note: My Apple watch suddenly went into a reboot loop that I could not stop. Really strange and when I did a Google search I found out that there are people who experience this and have a tough time fixing it.

I was able to unpair my watch. I took the opportunity to upgrade to Watch iOS 7 as my iPhone is on iOS 14. The watch issue is fixed. Both betas seem to be running very smoothly. I am guessing Apple will be opening up to Public Beta very soon.

 

[Sam Posten]

@Ronald Epstein that's not something that would EVER be announced at WWDC. If it's going to happen it will happen in the fall. I have no idea either way but being disappointed that it didn't happen at WWDC shouldn't be a thing.

Public betas are going out!

Public Betas Rolling Out

John Voorhees: Apple has opened its public beta program for iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS Big Sur, tvOS 14, and watchOS 7 on the Apple Beta Software Program website. One notable difference between this year’s public betas and those of past years is that this is the first time watchOS has been...

512pixels.net

You know I generally don't recommend non devs to upgrade until it's fully baked, but nobody listens to me anyway, so whatever, do whatcha wanna.