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I don’t usually do a rundown on the Apple announcements unless I’m on someone else’s show, but I’m going to make an exception this time. I did get to be a guest on Daily Tech News Show but the format of the show doesn’t really lend itself to a lengthy discussion of the details. It’s a new show so there’s really not the time to dig deep. I’m not going to drone on like I normally do, but I do want to talk about what I thought was interesting.
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![\"MacBook](\"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/MacBook-Air.png\" "\\"MacBook")
Let’s start with the MacBook Air, and I’d like to start by being snarky. I know Tim Cook is an amazing leader and he’s got huge value to the Mac faithful in many ways, but sometimes his attempts at showmanship really look silly to me. When he started the announcement by flinging his arms wide and yelling, “Now with RETINA!!!” I thought it was really dopey.<\/p>\n
Of course, Apple needed to bring retina screens to the MacBook Air. You’ve heard me say many many times that I simply wouldn’t recommend it to anyone with that dreadful low-resolution screen. But he acted like Tom Hanks in Castaway when he made fire! I looked it up and the first time Apple used the marketing term Retina was with the iPhone 4. The first Mac with Retina is now considered “vintage” because it was introduced in 2012, six years ago. You don’t get a standing ovation from me when you put it in a laptop six years later, you get an “it’s about time!” From me.<\/p>\n
With THAT off my chest…<\/p>\n
I think one of the most interesting things about the MacBook Air is that they gave it Touch ID without<\/em> Touch Bar. Two years in, I don’t really use Touch Bar very much except for the things that would have existed as physical keys, like volume and brightness of the screen. It was an interesting innovation but I don’t think it’s a bad thing if it quietly goes away. Touch ID, on the other hand, is transformative. If you use a password manager (you DO use one, right?) not having to type in your long, complex password to unlock your vault is positively joyous.<\/p>\n When they were talking about the battery life, they said that it would give you 13 hours of iTunes video playback. Not video playback, iTunes<\/em> video playback. The reason I highlight this point is that it’s a clear signal that Apple works to optimize their software for the least battery drain.<\/p>\n I’ve heard a lot of people talk recently about short battery life problems when they’re using Chrome, but the battery is fine with Safari. I’m not Google shaming here, it’s just a really cool thing that Apple does that we shouldn’t take for granted.<\/p>\n Android is getting a lot better on battery drain, and with fast-charging that big of a deal, but Apple manages to squeeze a lot more battery life out of the same milli-amp-hours.<\/p>\n When the Touch Bar MacBook Pros first came out, Steve was looking to upgrade his aging 13″ MacBook Air. The new 13″ MacBook Air weighed 2.96 lbs and the new 13″ MacBook Pro weighed 3.02 lbs, so weight wasn’t a determining factor in his decision. The Retina display and more power for the same heft of a machine made the MacBook Pro the easy choice.<\/p>\n Now the MacBook Air has dropped to 2.75lbs. I know a quarter of a pound doesn’t sound like much, but it’s more than 8%. I can definitely feel the difference at 8%. Having a retina screen, with Touch ID, and saving 8% in weight starts to look pretty sweet if you travel a lot with your computer.<\/p>\n I also think it’s wicked cool that the MacBook Air is made out of 100% recycled aluminium. As the keynote continued I kept wondering where the recycled aluminium was coming from, especially when they said the Mac mini was also from recycled aluminium. When they got to the iPad announcement, that’s when they explained. They make so<\/em> many iPads, that the leftovers<\/em> are enough to make the chassis for Mac minis and MacBook Airs. That’s crazy.<\/p>\n Now we should address the speed. I am not a CPU testing person, and I don’t even spend much time studying the comparisons, but luckily my research assistant Steven Goetz is positively obsessed<\/em> with the topic. He has explained that the new MacBook Airs have an inferior chip compared to what is in the MacBook Pros.<\/p>\n He sent me an article from 9to5mac.com\/…<\/a> that talks about the latest Geekbench test scores of the new MacBook Air. As the article explains, the absolute Geekbench score doesn’t really tell you much about what real-world experience will be. But if you look at comparisons between machines by their Geekbench score, you will get an indication of their relative performance.<\/p>\n I am not going to repeat all of the statistics from the 9to5Mac article, you can read them yourself if you need all of the gory details. But the basic discovery is that going from the 12″ MacBook to the previous MacBook Air to the new MacBook Air to the Touch Bar-less MacBook Pro is only a matter of small improvements in speed. Some models I just listed are the same speed, some 16% faster, and at most a step up of 27%. But, there is a huge jump in speed when you go to the 2018 Touch Bar MacBook Pro, which is actually double the speed of the 2018 MacBook Air.<\/p>\n Now, with all that said, Bart creates all of his audio podcasts, Let’s Talk Apple and Let’s Talk Photography with a first generation 12″ MacBook that he simply adores. When I upgraded from a 2013 MacBook Pro to a 2016 Touch Bar MacBook Pro, I was unable to personally measure any<\/em> speed increase in my real-world tests. I’m including transcoding 5GB videos from ScreenFlow. The SSD was more than twice as fast in copying files, but the processor jump made absolutely no difference to my daily work.<\/p>\n So, obsess over specs and Geekbench scores, or just get the Mac you can afford and is the weight you want, as long as you get one with Touch ID.<\/p>\n We considered advising them to get two new 21.5″ iMacs, and even thought they could afford the cost, it seemed like overkill for them. Instead, we opted for two Mac minis, using his mom’s existing monitor which she loves, and getting a new 24″ monitor for his dad. Their computing needs are very modest, and they loved the speed bump they got and are super happy with them, especially for the cost.<\/p>\n I explain all that because the new Mac mini is still the most affordable entry-point Mac that Apple offers, at $799 for the base model. That’s a huge jump in price from the $499 starting point on the 2014 model, but that’s four-year-old technology in there. Starting with all SSDs and going from a gen 4 Intel i5 to a gen 8, going from dual-core to 6 core, and from 1.4GHz to 3.6GHz is a huge difference. Did you also hear that it supports 10Gb Ethernet? Personally, I don’t have a 10Gb network, but if you do, you’d sure want to be able to fly on it.<\/p>\nVideo Playback<\/h4>\n
Form Factor & Speed<\/h4>\n
Mac mini<\/h3>\n
![\"Mac](\"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Mac-mini-maxed-out.png\" "\\"Mac")
The new Mac mini is an interesting little device, because I think the product serves two distinct audiences. When Steve’s mom and dad were ready for upgrades to their computers, we looked at a few options. Steve’s mom had a MacBook connected to a 24″ monitor and she very rarely moved the MacBook from her desk. She had no big need for a laptop. Steve’s dad had the old 17″ iMac and loved it.<\/p>\n
![\"Ipads](\"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ipads-pro.png\" "\\"ipads")
Apple did something really interesting with the new model iPad Pros. We wondered whether they would shrink the bezel and make the iPads smaller, or whether they would keep the same form factor and make the screen bigger. Well, they did both!<\/p>\n