General Apple Megathread

[Captain_Obvious]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Get 16 GB of RAM, or AppleCare before those marginal CPU increases...the thing is wicked fast with the base CPU

Thanks sclitheroe! I am definitely going with the 16gigs of ram... I do a lot of video work.

From what I've read that seems to be the story on the processor... for $250 the difference doesn't seem overly noticeable.

I've since retired my 2009 macbook pro and hooked it up to a monitor (makes a great desktop that way) and am looking at one of the new retinas.

Looks to be around the 3k mark but I'm pretty excited. The 2009 one served me very well these last few years.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Captain_Obvious

Looks to be around the 3k mark but I'm pretty excited. The 2009 one served me very well these last few years.

I had a 2009 era machine as well. The new one will blow it out of the water in all aspects. Best machine I've ever used.

[JazzyFlame]

Anyone have any luck bootcamping Win 8 on their mac?

[Brannigans Law]

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/47140...m#.UaRlykDU-kE

iOS shaping up to be a nice reponse by apple. Widgets alone are very exciting

[Regulator75]

Apple introducing Widgets? Welcome to 3 years ago.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

Apple introducing Widgets? Welcome to 3 years ago.

Actually Android introduced widgets over 4 years ago

http://android-developers.blogspot.c...dgets-and.html

But of course Apple will still spin this as some magical innovation and probably try to patent them

[Russic]

I don't care if they claim they invented the widget, just give me the damn things. Seeing what Google Now can do gives me the first pangs of jealousy I've experienced during the smart phone era.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Russic

I don't care if they claim they invented the widget, just give me the damn things. Seeing what Google Now can do gives me the first pangs of jealousy I've experienced during the smart phone era.

Google Now works great on the iPad (don't have an iPhone, but it works there too). It doesn't do push notifications currently, but you just pop it open when/where you want to access it - doesn't seem like a big deal to not have push.

I'm a huge fan of Google Now currently - this seems like the right direction for things to be headed.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Google Now works great on the iPad (don't have an iPhone, but it works there too). It doesn't do push notifications currently, but you just pop it open when/where you want to access it - doesn't seem like a big deal to not have push.

I'm a huge fan of Google Now currently - this seems like the right direction for things to be headed.

For me it breaks when you have to open an app. The google app on iOS actually does a lot of cool things, but the simple barrier of needing to open the app and then select the service is enough for me to just ignore it.

I should clarify I'm not looking for Google Now to function any better on the iOS devices, but rather something similar that's been unceremoniously stolen from Android.

[Brannigans Law]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Actually Android introduced widgets over 4 years ago

http://android-developers.blogspot.c...dgets-and.html

But of course Apple will still spin this as some magical innovation and probably try to patent them

Apple is hillariously late to the game with widgets but at least it's getting in there. I'd chalk it up to Apple arrogance; I'm sure they saw widgets as a fad or a gimmick. The masses have spoken though: widgets make the phone and tablet experience much better. A lot of the sizzle Droids have with me will likely dissapear when a widget can be used on ipads and iphones.

[KTrain]

Like everything else they've stolen from Android, Apple's going to do widgets better.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Like everything else they've stolen from Android, Apple's going to do widgets better.

What else have they lifted from Android that they've then done better?

I'm honestly curious to know because the first thing that springs to mind is the pull down notification bar... and Apple's is woefully behind Android in that regard.

Android is actually moving beyond widget's because of how robust and full the notification center and quick settings menu is.

[KTrain]

Actually, I'm just trolling.

I don't know enough about Android to tell you what Apple's stolen from Android. All I know is that when iOS gets a new feature, Android fans brag about how they've had it for years (usually by rooting something or something).

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Android is actually moving beyond widget's because of how robust and full the notification center and quick settings menu is.

That's how I see it. I was excited to try out widgets when I got my Nexus 4 but I really haven't found much of a use for them because pretty much everything I need is handled better elsewhere.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Actually, I'm just trolling.

I don't know enough about Android to tell you what Apple's stolen from Android. All I know is that when iOS gets a new feature, Android fans brag about how they've had it for years (usually by rooting something or something).

Haha oh okay, well fair enough I guess. For the record I must be an anomaly, I'm a two time Nexus device owner and I've never rooted either device. Anything I talk about is just from normal pure Android.

Originally Posted by opendoor

That's how I see it. I was excited to try out widgets when I got my Nexus 4 but I really haven't found much of a use for them because pretty much everything I need is handled better elsewhere.

Yeah, I've only recently started to notice how I've started to use the quick settings menu a lot more then any widget lately.

The settings widget and my Pocket cast widget were two things I used daily. Both are much better served in the notification/quick settings pull down menu now.

When Pocket Cast did their big redesign a couple months back they actually dropped their widget. They brought it back due to demand but I don't use it much.

[Brannigans Law]

Originally Posted by opendoor

That's how I see it. I was excited to try out widgets when I got my Nexus 4 but I really haven't found much of a use for them because pretty much everything I need is handled better elsewhere.

There's some things widgets just do better. Email is nice. Calendars... Mint (a money app that tracks spending and accounts). Even a nice weather widget showing the full week forecast.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Brannigans Law

There's some things widgets just do better. Email is nice. Calendars... Mint (a money app that tracks spending and accounts). Even a nice weather widget showing the full week forecast.

Yeah, my HD Weather widget is great. With quick links to my calendar, alarm clock etc, it's great.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

What else have they lifted from Android that they've then done better?

I'm honestly curious to know because the first thing that springs to mind is the pull down notification bar... and Apple's is woefully behind Android in that regard.

Android is actually moving beyond widget's because of how robust and full the notification center and quick settings menu is.

This is the point, there are more elegant solutions than widgets. They are not late to the widget game, Apple has a long history of trying them. Apple used what are essentially widgets to achieve multitasking in the original Mac System 1 in 1984. Gadgets and dashboard has been in OSX for almost a decade and even Microsoft has had them since Vista. If anything, Apple lifted the modern widget from Yahoo/Konfabulator so I am unsure as to why anyone would think that Apple has lifted widgets from Android. Google did it best but it was hardly a new or innovative idea.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Barnes

This is the point, there are more elegant solutions than widgets. They are not late to the widget game, Apple has a long history of trying them. Apple used what are essentially widgets to achieve multitasking in the original Mac System 1 in 1984. Gadgets and dashboard has been in OSX for almost a decade and even Microsoft has had them since Vista. If anything, Apple lifted the modern widget from Yahoo/Konfabulator so I am unsure as to why anyone would think that Apple has lifted widgets from Android. Google did it best but it was hardly a new or innovative idea.

I wasn't the one who made the claim Apple lifted it from Android, I was responding to another post about that.

The rest of your post doesn't matter, since we're talking about mobile operating systems here. I am obviously aware there are more elegant solutions to widgets but the problem is iOS doesn't have those either. Widget's are great though when used properly. They are elegant solutions.

I'm excited to see what the next version of iOS will bring. As a former iPod, iPad and iPhone owner I am waiting to see what they do next. Another basic refresh just won't do.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I wasn't the one who made the claim Apple lifted it from Android, I was responding to another post about that.

The rest of your post doesn't matter, since we're talking about mobile operating systems here. I am obviously aware there are more elegant solutions to widgets but the problem is iOS doesn't have those either. Widget's are great though when used properly. They are elegant solutions.

I'm excited to see what the next version of iOS will bring. As a former iPod, iPad and iPhone owner I am waiting to see what they do next. Another basic refresh just won't do.

The post wasn't directed at you specifically other than the highlighted point was an important one.

The division between mobile and desktop OS is getting more and more blurred and arguing who "stole" what is futile. It's the implementation that's important and obviously Apple hasn't found an iOS one that they like. A better Notification Center (where iOS widgets currently exist) and further exposing an application's functionality from its icon in the Home Screen and Notification Center would go a long way to modernize iOS. 99% of iPhone users probably have the existing weather, sharing and stock widgets buried in a folder somewhere on the 10th Home Screen and turned off.