Parker: Apple announcements – the Bottom Line

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From Nathaniel Parker: Yesterday Apple’s “special event” included lots of announcements of interest to AskWoody readers. Here’s my take on the bottom
[See the full post at: Parker: Apple announcements – the Bottom Line]

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Myst, Geo, AlexEiffel

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Next school year my daughter will be required to have some sort of tablet or laptop for school. The info about the iPad is helpful. We already have a bluetooth keyboard, so we won’t need the Smart Keyboard. I would love to get the big iPad, but it’s so expensive – about $1000. The small iPad is much more in my price range.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Nathan Parker

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Why is the school not arranging for some school wide tablet or laptop educational/institutional  tablet or laptop purchase with the usual discounts for it’s students.

The one thing that may be promising for the iPad and iPadOS 13 is the ability to use external flash storage instead of only cloud for storage. Now that new low end iPad is not using the A13 processor but the A10 processor, but that’s still powerful enough for school usage.

“Managing documents in the Files app with iPadOS gets even more powerful with support for external USB drives and file servers.” (1) And Apple states on their website that “Schools can purchase iPad starting at $299 (US) and Apple Pencil for $89 (US).” (1)

And it looks like Apple must be sitting on loads of A10s because they are even offering some trade in options(But read the fine print).

That’s a first generation Pencil but that’s probably enough for taking notes and school art class as well. And really if that’s for required school usage then that should be a tax delectable expense for any family. So I would never want to be dependent on anyone’s cloud services totally but USB external storage and a file manager in iPadOS that’s more MacOS or Windows OS like and I’m now able to consider that iPad. Apple really needs some way of directly interfacing via USB this iPad to a Laptop and modes that allow for file transfer and the iPad itself to be used as a portable second display for any Apple/Windows/Linux OS based laptop. But there is WIFI or Bluetooth as well.

(1)

“Apple introduces new version of the most popular iPad starting at $329”

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/09/apple-introduces-new-version-of-the-most-popular-ipad-starting-at-329/

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Nathan Parker

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There is an Apple education store which should allow them to qualify for educational pricing on the iPad and accessories.

Nathan Parker

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[Alex5723]

iPhone 11 Night Mode

Users with current iPhone devices, iPhone 7+ and up can download the excellent Night Mode NeutalCam 1.1 app : https://apps.apple.com/br/app/neuralcam-night-camera/id1474856599?l=en

NeuralCam 1.1 brings with it some great new updates that make it even more fun to use:

– There’s a sleek new UI design, that makes the focus and exposure setting clearer.

– There’s telephoto lens (2x optical zoom) support now. Just as a refresher, you can use that with iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max.

– There’s a toggle to show or hide the grid while capturing photos. It’s in the settings part of the app.

– You no longer have to go to your photo library to delete photos made with NeuralCam. You can do that straight in the app, as it should be.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Alex5723.

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Myst, Nathan Parker

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A few other announcements:

• AppleCare+ Now a Renewable Subscription for Some Devices
• Apple Cuts Price of 1TB iPad Pro
• Apple Cuts Price of Some Watch Bands
• Apple Offering Pre-Approved iPhone Upgrade Program for iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro up to 13% Faster LTE
• Apple Watch Edition Models Come with Extra Bands
• HomePod Gaining New Features in Software Update

Nathan Parker

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Myst, DrBonzo

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Apple TV has intrigued me for quite a while now. Now that Mr. Cook has announced the intention of providing an up-market streaming service comparable in intent to HBO, I am even more interested. Although “wait and see” might be a good attitude at the moment, before I decide to subscribe to yet a third entertainment streaming service, after Netflix and Amazon Prime. So: wait and see how this develops and some consensus emerges on the quality, reliability and likely long-term prospects of this relatively new and now refurbished venture aiming, at least right now, to providing high-quality programs.

According o Nathan’s article (in his “Full post”):

“Updates on Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade. Apple TV+ coming November 1. $4.99/month after one week trial. One year of Apple TV+ also free with every new major device purchase (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, or Apple TV). Apple also announced some of the shows that’ll be on Apple TV+ on launch day, as well as what is coming soon. Apple TV+ will also work on the web on Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. Apple Arcade coming September 19. $4.99/month after 30 day free trial.”

According to TNYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/business/media/apple-tv-plus-price.html

“The first hurdle will be the reaction of critics and social media users.

Then comes awards season.

Apple’s first shows will be eligible for the 2020 Golden Globe Awards; nominees will be announced Dec. 9. If Apple is able to storm the Golden Globes stage at the Beverly Hilton on Jan. 5, any remaining Hollywood skeptics will have no choice but to consider the tech upstart a major player in entertainment.”

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Nathan Parker

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OscarCP wrote:

$4.99/month after one week trial.

Both $4.99 services are family packages prices.

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Nathan Parker

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Does “Family package” mean that if I wanted to subscribe as just myself, not as a “family”, I would pay  a different price? If so, would this be lower or higher than “family”?

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Alex5723 wrote:

Both $4.99 services are family packages prices.

Good point I didn’t address. Thanks!

Nathan Parker

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OscarCP wrote:

Apple TV has intrigued me for quite a while now. Now that Mr. Cook has announced the intention of providing an up-market streaming service comparable in intent to HBO, I am even more interested.

At first I wasn’t interested at all when I saw the March keynote, but the $4.99 price point is cheap enough where I’d even try it for a month or two (if I need more than a one week trial) to see what I think.

Plus, after watching the trailer of Snoopy in Space, it’d be worth taking a trial or paying $4.99 for at least one month just to watch that. The beagle might have been the hook to loop me in.

Nathan Parker

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Myst

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[Geo]

iPhone 11: People say older iPhones have already started ‘acting up’ Nathan might want to investigate this to see if any of it is true.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Geo.

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My take on the new Ipad 10.2 :

Maybe not such a great value. You basically get the previous Ipad 6th gen with a bigger screen. As with everything Apple, one needs to be very careful when you buy older technology if you are not going to continue using the device once support is over because Apple doesn’t provide browser and security updates after support is over, so to me that makes the device unusable for serious work. The key then is the price. You could say I am going to pay a very low price for something that will last me 3-4 years and then change or you might want a better product for close to 6 years if you are like me and don’t always want top spend for the latest and greatest.

My Ipad Air won’t be supported so I have to change it. It’s about time, though, since it has been getting awfully slow for a while. I used it for almost 6 years.

The processor of the Ipad 7th gen is an A10 Fusion and it is the big unknown. The key here is how long of a support you will get for that Ipad that has only 2GB RAM and an old processor when all other models have more. Yes, this processor is not bad, but how much a year you will pay for this until support ends compared to the Air 3rd gen out earlier this year for a less capable product, it is not clear.

You get only 32GB storage, which if it is not enough for you, will make you have to raise the price and make it even less attractive. For me, it is clearly not enough. If it is enough, read on, it’s still not necessarily a good value.

You get a capable Ipad, thick like the old original Ipad Air at 0.29 inches and a bit heavier (1.07 lbs vs 1 lbs) while the Air 2 was 0.96 lbs and 0.24 in thickness.

If performance is like the 6th gen, Geekbench stats for single core is 758 vs 1110 for Air 3rd gen, but 1406 vs 2858 for multi-core and 2786 vs 2534 metal. So plenty good for basic non multitasking things, less for games.

Air 3rd gen :

0.24 in thickness, a bit heavier than Air 2, but larger with a 10.5 screen so that’s great.

Starts at 64GB.

You get an antireflective laminated screen (great!), P3 and True Tone for better colors.

3GB RAM and an A12 processor with neural whatever so more on par with newer technologies as they are put more to use. Maybe this will last 2 years longer than the A10.

So the Air 3rd gen seems like a better value overall, especially considering how long it will last if you buy it today and cost per year.

If you want to use the 2nd gen pencil, the Pro with its lower lag might have to be considered. Pro Motion might be nice to some (seamless scrolling and 20ms lag for pencil), 4 speakers, 0.23 in thickness, 4GB RAM better for multi-windows use, small bezel, FaceID instead of Touch ID in a more modern design where the screen takes more of the physical space.

Or, you might want to wait because Apple might release a new Ipad Pro soon with an A13 something processor. I would either buy the Air 3rd gen or wait for the new Pro to come out because I would like to use a seamless pencil, but what will I do with no supported Ipad in the meantime?

Come back for Iphone take soon.

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My Iphone take :

Here, the game is very different than the Ipad, because pricing can vary depending on the carrier fee and the incentive to make you change before support is over vs paying too much to buy the phone upfront without subsidies. So I will focus on features.

The new phones all seem to have the same processor so it shouldn’t be a factor.

11 vs Xr :

Same dimensions and weight at 194g. Screen seems the same from the specs, in any case, it is an excellent LCD with less resolution (twice the virtual resolution vs 3 times on the fancier models) but a lot of people won’t mind or notice. Maybe 4GB RAM instead of 3. Wi-fi 6, 2 meters in meter for 30 minutes instead of 1 meter.

The big deal for some would be the fact the 11 has two camera lenses instead of one like the Xr. Unfortunately, for some, it might not be the camera they hoped for. To me, having an ultra-wide angle that is a 13mm f2.4 full frame equivalent is not as useful as the “telephoto” at 52mm that is in fact a quite useful normal lens and that is present on 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, XS, Xs Max and 8 Plus. For those who don’t know photography, if you press the 2x button on the camera app on those phones, you will generally have a less distorted picture of peope’s face when you take portrait. It will make those pictures look much more natural. To me, it is worth a lot.

Please note that all new 3 phones got the ultra-wide lense, so the two Pro models have the 52mm f2.0 lens in addition to the classic nice f1.8 26mm wide-angle and the ultra-wide 13mm lenses.  The 13mm is not optically stabilized on any phone, but the other lenses are.

As for battery, I will get back to it at the end.

So if we omit the new lens, the 11 is a very similar Iphone to the great Xr and offer good value. It will be faster, but I would pay less for last year model if I wasn’t keeping the phone for the whole supported number of years because my carrier offers better prices. Being one generation late on this one is not a big deal unless you are thrilled by the 13mm lens.

11 Pro and 11 Pro Max :

This phone is getting again heavier and thicker (226g for the 11 Pro Max and thickness is at .32 inches vs .30 for the Xs Max). I liked my 6s Plus, my Xs Max feels heavy and rigid (stainless steel chassis?), I don’t like the feel as much. The Xr seems much lighter although it isn’t that light (194g for the Xr and 208g for the Xs Max). So, feeling wise, some people might not like the format of the bigger one as much. I love huge screens so I put up with it.

Removing the 3D touch from the Xs for the 11 Pro, I thought they could slim down the phone, but my hypothesis is they used the space to stick more battery in there. Good thing they got rid of the never implemented across the board awkward 3D Touch.

Contrast is up to 2M:1 vs 1M:1 on the OLED display, maybe 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB but it isn’t clear. 4 meters in water for 30 minutes instead of 2, well good but maybe not something worthy of upgrade.

So, the screen is a bit nicer, the phone is a bit longer and larger, heavier, it has midnight green color available and 3 cameras. Again, nothing to make you not try to have a better price on last year model maybe. The fancier phones are not such a great value for everyone. I like the camera too much to pass on the 52mm, but my Xs Max is fine even if I would probably enjoy the 13mm lens. The cheaper models offer a lot without too much compromises and without a price as high. They are thicker, but they don’t feel as heavy if you compare the big sizes. OLED and the resolution is nice, but it’s not something I or people I know keep thinking about like it matters much in real life. A good reason to get the 11 Pro would be the small size for some. The 11 Pro Max still has the biggest screen.

So, here we are at the end talking about the battery. The Xr was the phone with the longer running time. Now Apple have hidden the talk time and the Internet time, maybe because, bs alert, people watch more videos than before on their phone. Apparently, it is not important to know talk time on the PHONE, when the 8 had only 14 hours talk time vs 20h for the Xs and 25h for the Xr and Xs Max. Internet use also must not be common anymore as we don’t see the stats either. My hypothesis is Apple don’t seem to be able to make much gains in efficiency in Internet use. If you look at their previous phones, it varied from 12-13h in general to 15h on the Xr. It is much better to say up to 5 hours more than Xs Max if they were able to stick some gains in video maybe because of a specific efficiency in the chip. Haha, the 11 Pro Max have 20h video wireless and surprise, surprise, the Xs Max have 15h… Hiding the other numbers, maybe you don’t have to show that the gains, if any are minimal, on other numbers. So, from what I can understand, video performance on wireless is much higher on the 11 Pro Max (5 hours from 15h to 20h)and  11 Pro (4 hours from 14h to 18h), but not much on Xr (1 hour from 16h to 17h). You can be sure than improvements in talk time and internet use are lower.

My guess is the 11 is not much different overall in terms of battery life than the Xr. The two other phones got a nice boost. Maybe you need that if you watch a lot of videos. If you are a salesman on the road, it’s hard to know how many talk time you really get. Maybe the two fancier phones got more battery than the Xr proportionally, so talk time would be more improved. It could be a big deal to some.

 

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Further critique and comparison’s with other competitor’s phones.Apple’s new iPhones are overpriced and behind the times – MarketWatch

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[Alex5723]

AlexEiffel wrote:

maybe 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB but it isn’t clear.

Yes, it is. The 11 has 4GB of RAM while the Pro/Max have 6GB of RAM and 3500 mAh battery vs 3,110 mAh for the 11 (the XS Max had 3174 mAh battery).

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Alex5723.

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AlexEiffel

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The question is, what purpose this extra 2GB RAM serves if apps are made for the lowest common denominator. Will it translate into any meaningful benefit over the maybe only 3-4 years you will keep the phone if you use carrier subsidies?

Apple don’t talk about RAM. Maybe the fact that my Ipad Air only has 1GB explains the slowdown after some IOS upgrades if RAM consumption went above capacity without needing swapping or other memory tricks. I have some apps that keep crashing. Could it be related to a RAM shortage issue badly handled? I am curious to see if they will still crash on the new Ipad I will get.

In any case, it seems a bit weird to have a different amount of RAM on the phones. It adds cost, but the benefits aren’t clear. It’s not like benchmarks showed any benefits on previous phones that had the same processor but a different amount of RAM. RAM for multitasking on the Ipad? Makes sense. On the phone, I wonder.

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