The iPhone 8 Plus’ glass is not all it’s cracked up to be
This morning, I was thinking about putting a clear screen protector on the iPhone 8 Plus, just because I had one that came with one of the cases I purchased. While cleaning the glass, though, I noticed...
View ArticleThe fundamental problem with the Touch Bar
Today, via a link posted on Six Colors, I read Steven Acquino’s The Touch Bar Makes the Mac More Accessible to Me, in which Steven shares his positive experiences with the Touch Bar: Where it shines...
View ArticleMonth 13 is out of bounds
And obviously, it would be, because there is no month 13. But if you’re unlucky enough to be a Mac user in the month of December, 2017, then you’ll probably be seeing a lot of “Month 13 is out of...
View ArticlemacOS quality as measured by update release rate
There’s a lot of chatter out there that High Sierra is potentially the worst macOS release ever, in terms of bugs and broken or missing functionality. From the recent Month 13 is out of bounds log...
View ArticleThe iMac Pro—and upcoming Mac Pro—are Apple’s ‘halo cars’
Writing on his blog, Kirk McElhearn talks about profit and the iMac Pro/new Mac Pro (emphasis added): I’m speculating, but I think Apple won’t be making much of a profit from the iMac Pro, or the...
View ArticleHow to rename dropped pins in macOS Maps
Today I wanted to do something that seemed simple: Add a pin to Apple’s Maps app on macOS High Sierra, then rename the pin. But after trying everything obvious, I was stumped, and took to both Twitter...
View Article6,399 reasons why I haven’t yet replaced my iMac
My main machine is a late 2014 27″ iMac with a 4GHz Core i7 CPU, 24GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD (plus a big external RAID for most of my files). While it runs fine, I would like something with...
View ArticleA look at seven years of my Mac App Store activity
The other day while browsing the Mac App Store, I clicked on an app’s web site link, only to be greeted with this lovely “Can’t Find the Server” error message in Safari… That got me wondering about...
View ArticleMy iPhone 8 Plus might be my last iPhone
I know, clickbait headline, but really, it’s how I’ve felt since the release of the iPhone X, and still feel today. And no, this isn’t about switching to Android. It’s about not buying a newly-designed...
View Article2019 iMac vs Late 2014 iMac—Part One
When I replaced two aging laptops with a new MacBook Air, I posted a detailed analysis on the performance differences between the three machines. When Apple released the new iMac with a...
View Article2019 iMac vs Late 2014 iMac—Part Two
Update: After I posted this, Brad Oliver contacted me on Twitter about the frame rates for DiRT Rally—he commented that the fact that they were clustered around 60fps made him think I’d left vertical...
View ArticleFeeling the (Mail) squeeze in Mojave
My new iMac runs Mojave; my old iMac never moved off High Sierra, which I felt was a fine version of macOS. Now that I have no choice but to use Mojave full time (I have it on my laptop for work...
View ArticleIt’s easy to win when you don’t fight fair
Long-time readers know that I am not a fan of the Touch Bar. I understand that many people like it, but for me, forcing my eyes to the keyboard is not a time saver, especially when the Touch Bar has...
View ArticleNumber of days until fifth update for macOS releases
Updated for the fifth release of macOS Mojave (10.14), which came out on January 22, 2019 When the third release of macOS High Sierra came out, I charted the pace of its updates compared to all prior...
View ArticleThe high cost of software in the 1980s…
A friend recently sent me a link to a large collection of 1980s computing magazines—there’s some great stuff there, well worth browsing. Perusing the list, I noticed Softline, which I remember reading...
View ArticleA useless analysis of macOS (OS X) release dates
Updated and republished for macOS 10.15.1; skip it unless you really really care about all the macOS releases. Originally published on November 14th, 2005. Below the break is a table showing all major...
View ArticleA performance-centric look at the 16″ MacBook Pro
+363% RSA 2048 sign/sec 6,714.9 1,611.6 +317% 1,537.4 +337% RSA 2048 verify/sec 126,315.8 29,797.1 +324% 28,522.2 +342% RSA 4096 sign/sec 915.4 175.2 +422% 203.5 +350% RSA 4096 verify/sec 34,549.0...
View ArticleA deep dive into the Apple Arcade—Part One
My new iPad Air came with a surprise (at least, to me): A three-month trial to Apple Arcade. I thought if I'm going to trial it, I should really trial it. And what better way to do that than by playing...
View ArticleA deep dive into the Apple Arcade—Part Two
My new iPad Air came with a surprise (at least, to me): A three-month trial to Apple Arcade. So I decided to look at all 139 141*Two more games were released during the writeup of this series. games...
View ArticleA deep dive into the Apple Arcade—Part Three
My new iPad Air came with a surprise (at least, to me): A three-month trial to Apple Arcade. So I decided to look at all 139 games available in the Apple Arcade. Here's what's in each part of the...
View ArticleA deep dive into the Apple Arcade—Part Four
Today wraps up my deep dive into the Apple Arcade. When I planned this, one Part Four post was going to cover everything left…but it was way too long. So I'm still publishing it all today, but I've...
View ArticleA deep dive into the Apple Arcade—Part Five
Today wraps up my deep dive into the Apple Arcade. As a refresher, here's what's in each part of the series: Part One: This covers what I look for in games, some general observations on the games in...
View ArticleA deep dive into the Apple Arcade—Part Six
Today wraps up my deep dive into the Apple Arcade. As a refresher, here's what's in each part of the series: Part One: This covers what I look for in games, some general observations on the games in...
View ArticleHow the 2020 iPad Air stacks up to its predecessor
Back in April of 2020, when I replaced my 2016 iPad Pro with a third-generation iPad Air, I wrote about the impressive performance improvements. Fast forward to fall 2020, and I again find myself with...
View ArticleMy impressions of the M1 MacBook Pro
I recently received my Apple M1-powered 13" MacBook Pro, which is primarily going to be used for testing our apps on Apple silicon, and supporting customers using these machines. But that doesn't mean...
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