New MacBook Pros Tomorrow? [Update]
It looks like we may very well be blessed with new MacBook Pro updates tomorrow. Tomorrow actually is the kick off for MacWorld 2010, and even though Apple has decided not to participate anymore with the expo, it does appear that the company is using MacWorld to it’s advantage. MacWorld originally ran in early January, but was pushed back to February this year due to the continuous competition with CES. Multiple sources do point to tomorrow as the day for a MacBook Pro refresh. And this does coincide with an Apple employee stupidly using GeekBench to benchmark his unreleased MacBook Pro. Doesn’t he know that websites like GeekBench monitor what is being benchmarked? The MacBook Pro tested also used an unreleased build of Mac OS 10.6.2 (Build 10C3067) and Bios MBP61.88Z.004C.B00.1001251657. At any rate, the new MacBook Pros are going to have the new Intel Core i7 processor, supposedly up to 3.33GHz. Ex-Genius will have a follow up post tomorrow on the results!
Update: MacRumors reports that Best Buy has apparently begun preparations for tomorrow’s update on MacBook Pros by deleting the old (now current) models from their system. It appears that the release of new MacBook Pros is imminent, with tomorrow looking more and more like the day to have some extra cash on hand.
Why You Can Expect To NEVER See Flash on iPhone OS
I’m sure it’s something you’ve cursed Apple’s name for not adding with each update to iPhone OS. It’s an addition to your iPhone or iPod touch that would “complete” the device in your opinion. Yet, with each additional OS update (or product), Adobe’s Flash technology is missing. There’s a reason for this.
Flash is buggy. Really buggy. It’s the number one reason a Mac will crash, and the number one reason Safari will unexpectedly quit. TUAW also reports on a bug that is sixteen months old. SIXTEEN months. That is an unacceptable amount of time to fix an outstanding bug within software. Imagine if Apple released an update to iPhone OS, and it contained a bug that erased all of your contacts every time you ended a call. Imagine if they didn’t fix that bug for over TWO years. This is exactly why Apple does not add Flash support to the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
Apple is a company that thrives it’s software on 3 things: Usability, simplicity and stability. One line that Steve Jobs uses in every keynote address is “it just works”. They have a constant demand that their products are very stable. Even though they can’t really control what gets developed for the Mac by third party developers, they sure can and always will with their mobile devices. It’s all about the experience to Apple, and poorly managed software like Flash will hurt that experience. Working for Apple at it’s Genius Bars, people literally lose faith in a product very quickly, even an Apple one, from software related issues. Apple is just making it’s products as best it can, not only to sell more of them, but to keep customers in the long run.
So instead Apple has adopted HTML5. HTML5 allows for the same experience you get from Flash, but that doesn’t require a plug-in installed into a browser to get the same results. The internet will and already has started to adopt HTML5. Flash is on the out, as weird as that sounds. Its an age-old technology that even YouTube and Vimeo has begun to move on from. They have already turned on HTML5 video tags.
Stevie Looks Like He’s Feeling Better
MacDailyNews did a brief article on the missed report from the iPad announcement. I myself didn’t even think to notice, but it does look like he’s got some color back. It also looks like he gained some weight. I guess eating all that ice cream did him some good. And that’s good to see. Rumors did say that he had invested himself into the iPad, and if that’s helping him to stay active and healthy, I’m all for the new device.
[image credit from MacDailyNews’ original article]
End Of Day Thought: Scrolling
I use two Macs on a day-to-day basis. A iMac and MacBook (Aluminum Unibody). My iMac has multi-touch via the Magic Mouse. The MacBook has multi-touch via the glass trackpad. The Magic Mouse supports momentum scrolling. It is actually a very nice touch. If you used/have an iPhone or iPod touch, it means that the Magic Mouse scrolls on a Mac the same way that iPhone OS handles scrolling. You flick your finger, and the page scrolls and then slows down to a stop.
Multi-touch enabled MacBook and MacBook Pros need to support this feature. It would be very nice to flick two fingers up and down on the trackpad and scroll through a website with some momentum.
It’s a software related “issue”. Perhaps I can write some simple application that would enable this feature on Multi-touch Apple notebooks. If I do get it working, I will post it for all to enjoy.
Kevin Rose gives tutorial on how to love iPad
Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com, Revision3 and Pownce, sums up why Amazon needs to be worried. I guess that’s why they are buying multi-touch technology.
Here is the excerpt taken from his blog:
Kindle DX 9.7” - $489.00
—
1024x768 color display upgrade - $1.00
Internet browsing upgrade - $1.00
iPod w/16GB upgrade - $1.00
Run iPhone apps upgrade - $1.00
1Gz A4 processor upgrade - $1.00
H.264 720P HD video upgrade - $1.00
Bluetooth upgrade - $1.00
10hr battery upgrade - $1.00
Multi-touch display upgrade - $1.00
Digital compass/accelerometer - $1.00
—
Your cost: iPad $499.00
What you can expect about getting your broken iPad serviced by Apple
The iPad will be launching in late March. You want one, and I want one. Right now, the bliss of a new Apple product line is fogging your memory. A few months pass by, and your iPads touch screen stops being responsive. Or you think that it’s so “magical”, it can survive a dip in the pool. Breaking: It can’t. What happens when your $500+ investment breaks?
Apple will handle the iPad service strategy like this:
- AppleCare - You will wan’t this. I guarantee you that the iPad will have a 1 year Limited Warranty attached to it provided by Apple. I guarantee you that you plan to use this device for a few years. So purchase the extended warranty. Apple’s mobile devices carry a two year extended warranty. This will help against anything that is a manufacture defect. What’s that mean? Like if the iPad stops charging, the screen dies, home button won’t respond, ect. Basically nothing that failed as a result of your inability to take care of products you spend half a grand on.
- Swaps - Apple will not repair iPads. They swap them out. What that means is, if your iPad needs to be serviced, they will give you a new, or possibly refurbished iPad in place of yours. The only service Apple might do is replace defective screens, but I doubt it. This is a service Apple offers with its iPhone, but they don’t offer it for the iPod touch, so I doubt they’ll take that route. Even on battery related service, they will swap out your iPad.
- Water damage - The iPad will indeed have multiple litmus paper sensors inside the dock connector and headphone jack that will turn from white to pink/red if the iPad comes in contact with water. Expect to pay for a replacement if this happens.
What Apple learned from the Jailbroken iPhone OS scene
Well now. Don’t these two images look similar? On the left, we have the newly announced Apple iPad. On our right, a Jailbroken iPhone. It seems to me that as much as Apple despises Jailbreaking the overly controlled iPhone OS, they have gotten many ideas from those pesky-brilliant hackers. Some quick thoughts on ideas Apple borrowed from the jailbreak scene:
- 3rd Party App Developers. This is probably the biggest and most recognizable one. In 2007, when Apple first announced the iPhone, it did not want 3rd party apps on the iPhone. Apple employees were even trained to defend Apples views at the time on open app development for the platform. Apple’s original solution were web apps. Remember those? What a horrid solution. And I think Apple finally realized this. The Jailbreakers changed all of this, because so many people were hacking their iPhones at the time to allow 3rd party apps. Without them, there might have never been anything other than web apps for the iPhone. Seriously.
- Video recording. Apple added a video camera in their 3rd generation iPhone 3GS. This feature however, was almost available from the very beginning of Jailbroken iPhones. One that was widely used by the good ol’ ‘crazy ones, misfits’ that Apple today alienates.
- Direct Podcast downloading. One feature I wanted in the iPhone from the first day I owned one in June of 2007. The option to download podcasts straight to the iPhone without having to sync with iTunes. “Syncing”, is becoming more and more of a thing of the past. The only real reason to sync anymore, is to backup your settings, or to sync your pirated music. [Don’t lie to me]
- Copy and Paste. Another feature widely used by the Jailbroken scene, copy and paste is something we definitely take for granted, until we don’t have it. I will admit however, that Apple did it best.
- Custom backgrounds behind the home screen. Oh ye who use Winterboard, rejoice! You can finally turn off one feature of the most used Jailbroken app when iPhone OS 3.2 comes to iPhone and iPod touch. Using your own wallpaper in place of the black void that was the home screen in the past.
- Tethering. Something us Americans still don’t (legitimately) have. Thanks AT&T. But at leasts its built-in to iPhone OS.
Well there you have it. What feature from jailbroken iPhones will Apple take next? A Categorize system for apps? We will only see!
An Introduction
Why hello there friends of the internets. I’ve decided to start blogging my views and thoughts on Apple. I am an ex-Apple employee, working for the company for about 4 years. I worked at an undisclosed Apple Retail Store, and while that ride had its ups and downs, it ultimately ended in me leaving the company. Don’t get me wrong. I still admire Apple, and love their products. Yet it’s a company I probably wouldn’t work for again. Working for good ol’ Steve and Ron was the most stressful and best part of my life at the same time. And thats something that will eventually be explained in more detail in the coming future. I mean, there are two sides to every coin, and the general public only ever sees one side. It’s the tails side of Apple, that deteriorates your passion for the company. It’s going to be interesting to see where this blog goes, and I hope it sparks your interest in the process.
A view at the culture and world of Apple from an Ex-Apple Employee.
