General Apple Megathread

[TorqueDog]

Yeah, maybe we're gonna see another 'courage' moment here. No more charge ports, wireless charging only.

I hope not.

I think this is kind of bittersweet. Standardizing on a common connector is a great result, but I think the design of the Lightning connector itself is better than how USB-C (and all USB ports in the past, really) is designed and consumers are losing the more durable connector. You can be rough as hell with putting the Lightning cable into the charge port, no big deal. USB-C, putting the charge cable into my Galaxy S10e I can definitely feel the edge where the cable end isn't perfectly straight-on and it catches on the little connector wafer thing inside the port. IMO, that's a design flaw. USB-C is clearly superior for data transfer rates and power delivery, but the connector itself is flawed.

The durability of Apple's cables -- it must be said -- is garbage, but the connector itself is solid. Every Apple cable I've had ends up yellowing, or cracking at the stress relief, etc., just from sitting on a desk or bedside table. My Anker and UGREEN Lightning cables have been far superior for build quality and I've never needed to replace one.

[FlameOn]

If they just delete the physical ports and go wireless, that'll make a lot of problems for syncs/data transfers with computers and other devices.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

If they just delete the physical ports and go wireless, that'll make a lot of problems for syncs/data transfers with computers and other devices.

"Just use Bluetooth / WiFi" will be the answer if they do. Doesn't address emergency restore / recovery or diagnostics, but that also aligns with their desire to push people to their stores and authorized repair shops.

[photon]

The new Macbook Air looks neat, I was going to get one for my kid going into college, but they don't support Macs.

I kinda question a software development program that doesn't support Macs lol.

They already have USB-C on iPads, not a huge stretch to see them putting it on phones.

[Galakanokis]

Been using the Mac Studio Max for a few weeks now and I am pretty impressed. It wasn't cheap by any means but it holds up very well to the Mac Pros I spent 10 x on and the windows workstations I spent double on. It is a rather impressive little box. Ordered two of the Ultra's just to get a little more horsepower.

The new OS releases seem promising but really just adding features that have been available from others for years.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Yeah, maybe we're gonna see another 'courage' moment here. No more charge ports, wireless charging only.

I hope not.

I think this is kind of bittersweet. Standardizing on a common connector is a great result, but I think the design of the Lightning connector itself is better than how USB-C (and all USB ports in the past, really) is designed and consumers are losing the more durable connector. You can be rough as hell with putting the Lightning cable into the charge port, no big deal. USB-C, putting the charge cable into my Galaxy S10e I can definitely feel the edge where the cable end isn't perfectly straight-on and it catches on the little connector wafer thing inside the port. IMO, that's a design flaw. USB-C is clearly superior for data transfer rates and power delivery, but the connector itself is flawed.

The durability of Apple's cables -- it must be said -- is garbage, but the connector itself is solid. Every Apple cable I've had ends up yellowing, or cracking at the stress relief, etc., just from sitting on a desk or bedside table. My Anker and UGREEN Lightning cables have been far superior for build quality and I've never needed to replace one.

This stuff is on Apple though. They could open this own connectors out to other companies but lock it down. Good on the EU for forcing them into using a common connector.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Yeah, maybe we're gonna see another 'courage' moment here. No more charge ports, wireless charging only.

I hope not.

I think this is kind of bittersweet. Standardizing on a common connector is a great result, but I think the design of the Lightning connector itself is better than how USB-C (and all USB ports in the past, really) is designed and consumers are losing the more durable connector. You can be rough as hell with putting the Lightning cable into the charge port, no big deal. USB-C, putting the charge cable into my Galaxy S10e I can definitely feel the edge where the cable end isn't perfectly straight-on and it catches on the little connector wafer thing inside the port. IMO, that's a design flaw. USB-C is clearly superior for data transfer rates and power delivery, but the connector itself is flawed.

The durability of Apple's cables -- it must be said -- is garbage, but the connector itself is solid. Every Apple cable I've had ends up yellowing, or cracking at the stress relief, etc., just from sitting on a desk or bedside table. My Anker and UGREEN Lightning cables have been far superior for build quality and I've never needed to replace one.

I have to agree that the lightning connector is easily the most convenient and durable connector of any of these types of cables. If most people are like me they would leave the USB side always plugged in and detach at the lightning connector because it's just so easy to attach and detach. If it has to go away so be it but it's my favorite phone connection to date.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

This stuff is on Apple though. They could open this own connectors out to other companies but lock it down. Good on the EU for forcing them into using a common connector.

No argument here. Just annoyed that Apple's stubborn behavior has resulted in Lightning likely getting the axe.

[DownInFlames]

A little heat shrink helps Apple-branded Lightning cables last longer but I've replaced them all with Anker.

I agree that it's a more robust format than USB-C but I'll just be glad when everything becomes standardized.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

A little heat shrink helps Apple-branded Lightning cables last longer but I've replaced them all with Anker.

I agree that it's a more robust format than USB-C but I'll just be glad when everything becomes standardized.

As I'm reading your post I look down at my apple branded cable connected to my computer that has heat shrink on the end.

[DoubleF]

I've never used heat shrink, but I've used a pen spring.

In the end, it was just more convenient to buy and rebuy aftermarket 10 ft cables and 3 in 1 cables.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

USB-C, putting the charge cable into my Galaxy S10e I can definitely feel the edge where the cable end isn't perfectly straight-on and it catches on the little connector wafer thing inside the port. IMO, that's a design flaw.

I should update this, so it turns out that it's probably Samsung's bundled USB-C cable that is the culprit here. Using another USB-C cables is much smoother, so clearly it's a cable problem and not a USB-C problem.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

If they just delete the physical ports and go wireless, that'll make a lot of problems for syncs/data transfers with computers and other devices.

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

"Just use Bluetooth / WiFi" will be the answer if they do. Doesn't address emergency restore / recovery or diagnostics, but that also aligns with their desire to push people to their stores and authorized repair shops.

Also makes it problematic for charging in vehicles and aircraft.

[Galakanokis]

I cannot seem to find a good answer for this, my Google fu I S weak.

On the iPhone, while playing a game it does not pause the game or silence it when a call comes in and I answer it. I would think this would be the default behaviour but I don’t remember changing anything and cannot find any settings to change this behaviour.

Also, who do I stop certain notifications from coming in while in certain apps? Like playing a game or watching a movie I don’t want text or email pop up’s to be on the screen but I still want phone calls.

[Slava]

Anyone have a good podcast app that works with CarPlay? The stock podcast app is incredibly annoying because I’ll be partway through an episode (which might not be the most recent) and I’ve got to search for it in the library to get it rolling again. Which, while I’m driving, is a pain. There’s got to be something much better than this!

[Russic]

Originally Posted by Slava

Anyone have a good podcast app that works with CarPlay? The stock podcast app is incredibly annoying because I’ll be partway through an episode (which might not be the most recent) and I’ve got to search for it in the library to get it rolling again. Which, while I’m driving, is a pain. There’s got to be something much better than this!

I can't vouch for its CarPlay integration, but I adore Overcast.

[sureLoss]

Anyone considering the M2 Macbook Air or Macbook Pro may want to hold off until the SSD is figured out.

https://www.macrumors.com/2022/06/26...er-ssd-speeds/

Basically the SSD in the M2 Macbook Pro is much slower than the M1 Macbook pro. Issue appears to be that Apple is using 1 chip instead of 2 chips in parallel, at least in the 256 GB configuration. No word if this affects the M2 macbook air yet.

Considering the SSD is not user upgradeable, this could be a significant issue unless Apple fixes it.

edit: It appears this issue is with the minimum 256GB SSD, so larger configurations might be alright.

[photon]

I'm sure I've seen that same issue with small aftermarket SSDs as well.

[malcolmk14]

Took the leap and bought a new 14" Macbook Pro yesterday to replace my 2012 13" Macbook Air. Can't wait for it to arrive!

[monkeyman]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Took the leap and bought a new 14" Macbook Pro yesterday to replace my 2012 13" Macbook Air. Can't wait for it to arrive!

That’s one thing I like about a Mac, they can run forever. Having said that, you’re going to be blown away by new Pro. Nice purchase.