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Not looking for a new laptop, except to read about what it tells us about the capabilities of the next step in Apple Silicon.

I *am* interested in a "pro mini" but I'm guessing it's early next year, not this year, before we hear about it.
 
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That new MacBook Pro had better be hitting a six on launch… I’m waiting patiently to upgrade.
Let’s hope M1X or whatever the marketing team call isn’t just one extra core! If we’re talking 32gb, 2TB and pi@&ing all over a high-end intel laptop I’m in.
What do you mean?

The current M1 machines are 8-core. Or do you mean the 4 performance cores?

The predicted next M1X chips would be 10-core, with 8 performance cores. They may also double and/or quadruple the GPU cores, increasing from 8 to 16/32 cores.
 
M2 is for The new, more colorful MacBook Air next year.
M1: MacBook Air, iMac, low end Mac mini and MacBook Pro
M1X: MacBook Pro, high-end Mac mini, high end iMac
M2: MacBook Air, 24 inch iMac, low end Mac mini
M2X: High end iMac, MacBook Pro, high end Mac mini
If they put a processor named the M2 in the new MacBook pros, what would they name the next generation of a chip for the lower end computers? M3? I don’t think so. That wouldn’t make any sense.
Than the MacBook Pro and high end Mac mini and high end iMac would have the M2, but the lower end would have the M3? No.
Just like they’ve been doing on iPads since 2012, the lower end will be named M, and the higher-end will be M-X.
Wouldn’t even be surprised to see them Introduced a M1Z for the first Apple silicon powered Mac Pro
Maybe after M2 they launch M1S for lower end, or M1 SE 😂
 
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Why are Apple rumoured to be removing the MBP Touchbar?

I’ve just bought the 13” M1 MBP and love the Touchbar! Is it perfect? No. But it certainly gives more functionality than the standard function keys. I hope they don’t remove it. Would be a step backwards imo
 
Not looking for a new laptop, except to read about what it tells us about the capabilities of the next step in Apple Silicon.

I *am* interested in a "pro mini" but I'm guessing it's early next year, not this year, before we hear about it.
I really don't think so. Apple has released 1 computer all year, which uses a chip from last year. We've heard about the new Mac mini using the same chip as the new MacBook Pro several times now. Those rumors have a certain momentum to them.

I don't see any reason why they wouldn't release the Pro Mac mini now.
 
Tap to skip songs, tap for siri, gone. Now it will be a button that is a PITA.

The black thing is an actual button or a touch-bar type sensor? If the latter, it might be an improvement. I love my AirPods, but tapping has always been a little erratic.
 
Why are Apple rumoured to be removing the MBP Touchbar?

I’ve just bought the 13” M1 MBP and love the Touchbar! Is it perfect? No. But it certainly gives more functionality than the standard function keys. I hope they don’t remove it. Would be a step backwards imo
I'd guess about 70% hate the touch bar, 20% are indifferent, and 10% love it. Even if I'm being too negative, and it's really more like 40%/40%/20%, the result is the same. Most developers don't really develop for it, so for most applications it doesn't serve much purpose.

It reminds me a lot of 3D Touch. Basically nobody except Apple paid much attention to it, and thus it went largely unused. I personally hated 3D Touch.
 
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Why are Apple rumoured to be removing the MBP Touchbar?

I’ve just bought the 13” M1 MBP and love the Touchbar! Is it perfect? No. But it certainly gives more functionality than the standard function keys. I hope they don’t remove it. Would be a step backwards imo
The Touch bar is a failed concept. Did some people like it? Sure. There are some people who like everything.

Most people hated the Touch Bar as it only served to make things like Escape and volume and many others harder to use than they were. None of the lofty promises about what it could do on a per-app level with app-context controls ever materialized into anything useful, and the entire muscle memory concept of the keyboard itself was hampered by the Touch Bar's existence. Oh, and despite Apple's excellent track record with haptic feedback and retina displays...the Touch Bar had neither. Imagine, trying to replace physical buttons with a display, and doesn't even have haptic feedback.

They already had to shorten it once to bring the escape key back because it was just intolerable with out it. And with the complete redesign happening, that's it for the Touch Bar menace. It was a nice gimmick, but did not earn a spot as a permanent replacement for anything.

Very similar fate as 3D touch actually. Despite the tens of people who claim they love it on social media, it was awkward and unused mostly, and was preventing the product line from having a unified experience. And a better one, frankly. Long Press with haptics is infinitely better suited for these devices than 3D touch.
 
Why are Apple rumoured to be removing the MBP Touchbar?

I’ve just bought the 13” M1 MBP and love the Touchbar! Is it perfect? No. But it certainly gives more functionality than the standard function keys. I hope they don’t remove it. Would be a step backwards imo
The touchbar came off as a little gimmicky, especially for a 'Pro' machine. Speaking for myself using the MBP for work, the function keys are something I cannot do without.

I also have a hunch that the touchbar may have been a toe-dipping experiment to see how users responded to a screen on/near their typing surface within a MacBook form-factor.
 
What do you mean?

The current M1 machines are 8-core. Or do you mean the 4 performance cores?

The predicted next M1X chips would be 10-core, with 8 performance cores. They may also double and/or quadruple the GPU cores, increasing from 8 to 16/32 cores.
I mean hitting a six, thwacking that fella right over the boundary! Dickie Bird’s arms in the air!
Let’s hope it’s a corker eh?
 
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I mean hitting a six, thwacking that fella right over the boundary! Dickie Bird’s arms in the air!
Let’s hope it’s a corker eh?
I thought I understood English, but I seem to be mistaken. So I looked up the phrase.

"To hit the ball hard enough to go out of the boundary of the field, thereby scoring the maximum of six runs."

"To be hit (or knocked) for six is to be dealt a severe blow, emotional or physical, or to have one's arguments or schemes swept aside."


I still don't understand! :D

EDIT:

Ah, here we go:

To hit something for six means to do very well in an effort. It can apply to any endeavour. A debater who makes very good arguments and wins his debate might be told, “You hit that one for six”, meaning only that he did very well in it. No hitting need be involved.

We don't play much cricket here in North America...
 
I will buy and pay a premium for a 15 inch MacBook Air. I like the screen size but dont need the power. I rather travel with a 15 inch air than the heavy 16.
 
I would love to hear any rumors on an iPod classic 20th anniversary launch but apple doesn’t like nostalgia I guess
 
I will buy and pay a premium for a 15 inch MacBook Air. I like the screen size but dont need the power. I rather travel with a 15 inch air than the heavy 16.

Is there really that much weight difference between a 15” and 16” screen?
 
iPad Air bumped to A15? Makes sense…. But you NEVER know.

However, iPad mini with A15 and Air with A14 doesn’t make much sense beyond October…
The 2021 iPad Mini has an underclocked A15, so the performance isn't much better than A14. It's not as if the Air 4 is lagging far behind the brand-spanking-new Mini 6.

They'll likely let this Mini have its moment, then next spring they can refresh the Air with even better performance than the latest Mini.

It's similar to the dance they did with the 2020 iPad Pro and 2020 iPad Air. They gave the Air a newer chip than the Pro (albeit only faster at single-core tasks), but then the following spring (2021), the Pro moved to M1 and the Pro now reigns supreme in every way once again (unless you count the TouchID in the power button as a superiority over the Pro, and some do).
 
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