Quick Takes: iPhone X Clones, 5G Network Race is On, Apple Patents Dual Display Device, and More

[fairuz]

Unlimited data is a great thing to have in this case!

Sadly, there will be some tradeoff. It'll have poor coverage or low speeds in most areas or will be capped or throttled after like 50GiB/mo. That's currently not doable on the top 4 US carriers even if you want 50mbit/s (1/100 the speed of 5G). I don't blame them cause the infrastructure can't handle everyone chewing through that kind of data.

 

[brinary001]

I don't give a crap about speed because it's already plenty fast for a phone, I just hope this improves T-Mobile's signal range and building penetration. Luckily for me I've got a new job above ground again (yay) with a window (double yay) so now my iPhone X battery life is always above 50% every night when I go to bed. But I still sometimes have trouble with signal strength at my house, even with T-Mobile's supplied boosters.

I also am hoping for the same outcome. If it turns out to be true then I may even switch back to T-Mobile. We had to ditch them a few months ago because unless you're in a decently populated city, you had little to no coverage. At least here in the American Midwest, anyway. It's a shame too because, when it did work, the data speeds were blazing. But we needed to be able to make and receive calls and texts more than a mile outside of the city...so back to AT&T it was.

 

[blackcrayon]

Oh yes please bring us a MacBook with a digital keyboard; to hell with ergonomics.

Seems like it could be an iPad-like device too. L shaped and the bottom is a keyboard (and trackpad ) and flat it's a large 2 page iPad.

 

[Naraxus]

Lovely. So rather than admit to their gross mistake and get rid of the useless touch bar that replaced commonly used function keys Apple's deciding to double-down on it. smh

 

[fairuz]

Oh yes please bring us a MacBook with a digital keyboard; to hell with ergonomics.

Don't bash it 'till you try it. Apple tends to be the first to make a non-half-baked version of something, such that people assume it'll suck until it comes out. Best example that comes to mind is TouchID. But they do also make mistakes, and the 2016 rMBP was a mistake

 

[idunn]

However, it's fun to envision a MacBook with an extended Touch Bar, or a foldable 2-in-1 device that could be used as both as a MacBook or iPad depending on its orientation.

No, it is NOT fun. What would be "fun" would be the entire MacBook line receiving some respect for the first time in years, especially the MacBook Pro.

iOS is fine on iPads and other such devices. The implementation of iOS on the Mac can only result in a bastardized experience; Frankenstein aside, Mac hardware is not suitable for proper iOS usage. Moreover forcing the issue can only further erode the usefulness of Mac software.

Apple would have been better off leaving the entire Macintosh line—hardware and software—as is and alone from 2012 forward rather than what they have done with it.

How about some actual, real improvements to all Macintosh? Apple? Those wishing to use iOS have plenty of choices and are better off looking elsewhere.

 

[blackcrayon]

Lovely. So rather than admit to their gross mistake and get rid of the useless touch bar that replaced commonly used function keys Apple's deciding to double-down on it. smh

This is probably not a MacBook Pro replacement anyway, if it's real. Maybe they'll take back the term "iBook" again But for the MBP, they could just return the function row and move the touchbar above it.

 

[Recognition]

Lovely. So rather than admit to their gross mistake and get rid of the useless touch bar that replaced commonly used function keys Apple's deciding to double-down on it. smh

The touch bar can display the function keys only if you so wish, there’s an option for it in the keyboard settings.

Also there’s the option to purchase the non touchbar MBP, which is cheaper and retains the physical function keys.

 

[Marekul]

The touch bar can display the function keys only if you so wish, there’s an option for it in the keyboard settings.

Also there’s the option to purchase the non touchbar MBP, which is cheaper and retains the physical function keys.

No, there is no such option for the 15" MBP models. I would gladly have taken it. Can't handle the flickering when changing apps so I had to set it to fixed function keys. But then you can't even dim it. Like the X notch, it's just bad design.

 

[Recognition]

No, there is no such option for the 15" MBP models. I would gladly have taken it. Can't handle the flickering when changing apps so I had to set it to fixed function keys. But then you can't even dim it. Like the X notch, it's just bad design.

Ah, didn’t realise the non TB was for the 13” only.

Fair enough, should of been optional on the 15” too.

 

[zorinlynx]

A laptop with a touchscreen keyboard? Does Apple think that nobody actually types more than a few words anymore?

 

[Marekul]

A laptop with a touchscreen keyboard? Does Apple think that nobody actually types more than a few words anymore?

Thats what they made animojies for...

 

[sw1tcher]

Oh yes please bring us a MacBook with a digital keyboard; to hell with ergonomics.

And to hell with touch typing. I want to look down at each key I press to make sure I'm not pressing an adjacent key by mistake.

 

[omihek]

It looks like our patent office is still broken. Imagine that. What great innovation does it take to think of a dual display device?

Only the genius minds at Nintendo.

 

[MentalFloss]

It looks like our patent office is still broken. Imagine that. What great innovation does it take to think of a dual display device?

The actual invention claimed in the patent is not a dual display device, but how to keep the displays from reflecting each other during use.

99% of all articles about Apple patents come from people who know nothing about patents and who didn‘t read or understand the patents they write about. And 99.9% of forum posts about patents and about the „broken“ patent office come from people who know nothing about patents and who didn‘t read or understand the patents they complain about.

Patents are an amazingly complex topic that for some reason everyone thinks they are an expert on.

 

[rafark]

Flame me, but that smaller notch looks actually really nice!

 

[DeepIn2U]

Lovely. So rather than admit to their gross mistake and get rid of the useless touch bar that replaced commonly used function keys Apple's deciding to double-down on it. smh

I've read dozens of posts like yours that loathe the TouchBar on the MBP since the 2016 model was released. I'm still not certain why so many people feel the same way you do.

* TouchID for easy recognition on the same power button.
* many buttons have more than one function as needed. IF you recall this was the same philosophy spoken by/used by Steve Jobs in 2007 when introducing and comparing the iPhone (OG) to the BlackBerry, Nokia E61, and Samsung SGH-I keyboard based smartphones (or was it the Motorola Q). Function keys have for over a decade been modified beyond their original vision and use by Apple before (volume, display brightness, media controls, etc) which has not become a de facto standard in Windows/OSX/MacOS Personal Computers. So they not the same feeling here? Maybe it takes a few more years to get used to it ... maybe more option that you personally would find useful.

For me ... 12 keys that will not need to get sticky or replaced (or force full keyboard being replaced) when they no longer work due to physical conditions/limitations.

The touch bar can display the function keys only if you so wish, there’s an option for it in the keyboard settings.

Also there’s the option to purchase the non touchbar MBP, which is cheaper and retains the physical function keys.

 

[sdwaltz]

Digital keyboard? On a MacBook?

Brb, going to throw up everywhere.

 

[jasonsmith_88]

I don't give a crap about speed because it's already plenty fast for a phone, I just hope this improves T-Mobile's signal range and building penetration. Luckily for me I've got a new job above ground again (yay) with a window (double yay) so now my iPhone X battery life is always above 50% every night when I go to bed. But I still sometimes have trouble with signal strength at my house, even with T-Mobile's supplied boosters.

Higher frequency bandwidths have less range and penetration, so you'll probably see the opposite. That's the cost of more bandwidth.

 

[Eagle1337]

5G claims ridiculously fast speeds of up to 5gbit/s, to the point where other things start becoming bottlenecks. It's great, but it seems like a weird ordering of priorities when most data plans would be used up within a few seconds, and most areas still don't get the full 4G speed.

why would you burn more data because the transfer is faster. if you do the same things as you do today, it will be exactly the same amount of data, just faster.

 

[-BigMac-]

The touch bar can display the function keys only if you so wish, there’s an option for it in the keyboard settings.

Also there’s the option to purchase the non touchbar MBP, which is cheaper and retains the physical function keys.

From memory, the non touchbar version is limited in specs is it not? Slower processor etc.

If youre using the touchbar for function keys only - i dare say u will have a better experience using real keys

 

[44267547]

i just pulled the trigger on this to replace my wife's original apple watch.

Series One is still a great watch. And it really depends on how somebody is using the watch to appreciate all its capabilities. But It will still see support through WatchOS 5.

 

[Seoras]

Dual display is interesting as it, potentially, ties in with the rumor last month that iOS apps will be brought to the Mac desktop. You can't support iOS apps without a touch display.

 

[kyykesko]

I said the only way they could make the "new" "improved" crapbook keyboard even worse would be to make it an actual touchscreen. And now they're going to do it. Oh yay. So courageous! I must find courage to embrace some other device. If only I knew what it was.

 

[Kram Sacul]

Essential Ph-1 shipped with a notch first.
People through it was odd ball.
Now we have an iPhone with a notch and people think the following:
1. Apple was the first phone to ship with a notch. Nope.
2. It's no longer odd ball but cool.

SMH.....

Why does it matter what people think came first? This isn’t the Olympics. Save the drama for something else.