Quote :

"dtownral:To a consumer, why is this distinction important? It's not."

I like how you quoted the last half of my post and then proceded to take what I said in the first half and reword it in some misguided attempt to make yourself look smart.

You failed, btw.

[Edited on December 13, 2012 at 12:05 AM. Reason : edited to make it more obvious who I was making look like a fool.]

12/13/2012 12:02:50 AM

If it doesn't work it doesn't matter why, it only matters that it doesn't work

Dumb ass

12/13/2012 6:48:39 AM

I've got a 3G I still use use, and updated the software to whatever the final software update it was able to take was. It's almost unusable it's got so much lag now. It literally takes a minute to pull up a text, or anything for that matter. I took it into the Apple store, and they said I was SOL, that there's nothing Apple can do, but they are aware of it. In fact the same thing happened to the Apple employee I was talking to. I dug up an email address for their VP of Customer Support, and copied Tim Cook on the email and explained what a load of shit this was, and asked them what they could do. Haven't heard back, and don't expect to considering most of those emails are probably screened through secretaries. Anybody have recommendations?

12/13/2012 6:57:48 AM

Don't use a 4.5 year old cell phone?

12/13/2012 8:15:51 AM

^^^^ your user name is enough to point out who you were making look foolish, no edit needed.
dtownral is right. users do not give a shit about excuses, they want something that works. that's why they went to apple products in the first place, because they "just work" at a time when the competition could not say that consistently.

12/13/2012 9:27:53 AM

Man, I must have forgotten to put on my idiot repellent spray, because y'all are just tripping over yourselves to be the next one to say something stupid and completely misrepresent what I was saying.

I said:

Quote :

"I wouldn't expect the average user to know the difference between the app itself and the data behind it. I would expect someone that makes their living writing tech articles to know the difference however."

Now you two bozos are coming in here, repeating exactly what I said, and somehow pretending like you're disagreeing with me while calling me stupid. Sorry, but that's not how it works kiddos.

12/13/2012 1:32:21 PM

Considering how often people "misrepresent" the things you say, one could make the argument that you're the idiot who just cant express himself in a clear fashion (i.e. without foaming out the mouth).

12/13/2012 5:25:45 PM

What is is that I said that wasn't clear exactly?

Or for that matter, feel free to tell me how I'm "foaming out of the mouth".

I calmly and clearly stated my opinion. douchetownral came in here and vomited up what I just finished saying using slightly different wording, as if he was trying to counterpoint me and I pointed it out. Then he calls me a dumbass (because I called him a fool?) while providing exactly no other points to the actual discussion. Then my new biggest fan smoothcrim (seriously I'm considering having a GoPro installed on my nuts so I can catch all the action of him riding them so often) comes in and provides his "yeah me too" commentary on what Chance said, and I just pointed it out. I don't see why you'd assume anybody was angry here. Unless it's you?

12/13/2012 5:59:19 PM

^x5

I primarily use a 4s which is paid for by my employer, but I kept the 3g in service bc I've always had the phone number associated with it, and wasn't comfortable receiving some of the txts coming from my friends on my work phone. Your post was what I expected and in no way helpful. It's a perfectly good phone I'd like to be functional.

12/13/2012 10:04:50 PM

Did you really email the CEO of a 3/4ths of a trillan dollar company in order to complain about how a phone you paid $200 for 5 years ago isn't working as well as a new one does?

Just think about how ridiculous that sounds to a normal person for a second.

12/13/2012 10:31:36 PM

Yes, stay tuned TWW is about to make it's mark on wall st. He's still trying to think of a good response, I still haven't heard back.

12/13/2012 11:04:49 PM

1. You can get a new phone & keep the number.
2. It's obviously not perfectly good going on how you described it.

Tech moves too fast. There is no hope for your 4.5 year old phone. Move on.

12/15/2012 4:41:15 AM

I just got a 13" Macbook Air. Anyone have any recommendations for protective skins/cases, as well as sleeves?

1/1/2013 3:03:21 AM

I've had my macbook for several years an never needed a case. The aluminum unibody is pretty tough and scratch resistant.

1/1/2013 10:12:41 PM

^

1/1/2013 10:30:45 PM

Okay, that's cool then. Just hoping to keep it pristine so I can sell it in a couple of years if need be. Got a great deal "used," and MacBooks seem to really hold their value after the initial depreciation.

1/1/2013 11:09:01 PM

Apple Watch??

http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/10/apple-reportedly-developing-a-curved-glass-smart-watch/

2/12/2013 8:52:36 AM

my knee jerk reaction is


"this is dumb"


but


I said the same thing the first time I saw an iPod, iPhone, and iPad. so, i'll wait and see before deciding if it's dumb or not.

2/12/2013 9:29:08 AM

This is definitely a wait and see product.

2/12/2013 9:30:59 AM

This is definitely a ridicule and forget product.

2/12/2013 9:45:10 AM

I'm in the market for a macbook pro and have been doing a lot of online research.

I really want the macbook pro with retina display. Please read the 3 points that I have researched and comment with your expertise.

1. I was really interested in the 13" macbook pro retina, mainly because of its lower price than the 15" counterpart. However, I watched some online reviews and they used softwares such as geekbench and cinemapro to give the performance a score. The 13" performend well, but the reviewer critiqued the fact that it only had a dualcore processor and no dedicated graphics. Therefore, some of the performance suffered from the fact that the processor spent a lot of resources on the retina display.

2. I watched reviews of the 15" macbook pro retina. Not only does it have the larger screen, but it also has a quad core processor and dedicated graphics. The results of the geekbench and cinepro performance tests were double that of the 13". The big drawback is the price... Very pricey...

3. I noticed I can get a refurbished 15" macbook pro retina with apple care from the apple store for ~2000....which is considerably less than a brand new one. However, I've always been hesitant to buy refurbished electronics. Are refurbished items directly from the apple store pretty reliable?

What's my best option here? Does anyone have the 13" retina? Does performance lag at all during normal tasks? I doubt I do any heavy video editing or any extreme gaming.

[Edited on May 18, 2013 at 9:15 PM. Reason : thanks]

5/18/2013 8:57:15 PM

I have a new 13in mpb, no problems here, I think the 15 is way to big. I also have a late 2008 mbp with a 2.4ghz core duo and I don't really have many lag problems with it.

5/19/2013 10:02:00 AM

but is your 13" retina? That's the problem i've been hearing. The dual-core with no dedicated graphics struggles sometime with the demands of the display and other tasks.

5/19/2013 10:08:30 AM

Dont have the 13" but I do have the 15" retina mbp. I too debated between the 13" or 15" but went with the 15" for the horsepower and higher res screen. Needed to run some Windows program so had to make sure it could run a virtual windows machine while working in iOS.

Wouldnt worry about buying a refurb from apple store...the applecare warranty will cover pretty much any issue you might have. If it helps...I have used mine for about 6 months now and havent had a single issue.

5/19/2013 11:50:58 AM

^^yep its retina, works fine

granted I don't do any video editing or graphics work, but I do watch hi res movies and such.

5/19/2013 12:00:08 PM

i was about to come in here to ask the same thing about the 13" mbpr

im currently using a 2011 macbook air with core i5 ..its not laggy but sucks for video editing.
you think id see a big speed bump going to the 13" mbp w/ retina or should i just save my money for the 15"?
or should i just buy a cheap pc laptop for video editing..

5/19/2013 6:46:50 PM

Save for 15in if you do a lot of video editing. You'll save it in the long run by having a computer you don't want to throw out the window in a year like if you got a PC

5/19/2013 10:59:57 PM

Quote :

" Are refurbished items directly from the apple store pretty reliable? "

to answer this question, yes, very much so.

IIRC it has the same warranty as a new item.

5/28/2013 10:12:25 AM

I ordered the 15" retina macbook refurbished.

It arrived today and is amazing. It looks brand new. Not a scratch or flaw anywhere on it and it performs awesome. It only has 14 battery cycles according to system info so it seems to be barely used.

I'm still getting used to a mac since this is my first one. I've learned how to use the touchpad with the different fingers and swipes.

any other tips or tricks to share that I may not know? I do have a couple questions.

1. I looked in the settings but didn't see anything about what the computer will do when the lid is shut. Will it automatically go to sleep?

2. I ordered apple care with it, however I did not receive any documentation/pamphlets about it with my computer. Is it automatically registered with apple care or should I have received something? I have order confirmation that I paid for it, but that's it.

5/30/2013 8:38:21 PM

It is amazing to me that apple has found a way to sell an intel i5 with a 13" screen and no dedicated graphics for $1200

5/31/2013 7:19:19 AM

^^ https://selfsolve.apple.com/

5/31/2013 8:27:53 AM

davelen21 said:

Quote :

"It is amazing to me that apple has found a way to sell an intel i5 with a 13" screen and no dedicated graphics for $1200"

Don't take me for an Apple apologist, but it's misleading to say they're charging $1,200.00 for a reductive list of commodity hardware. You can't compare a MacBook straight across to a Lenovo with similar hardware. The added value of a MacBook comes from its tight integration with Apple's other hardware and services.

That's a great value proposition to a lot of people and almost meaningless to others. If you were an average user with an iPhone and a good-sized library of iTunes content, a MacBook is much more attractive than a similarly equipped Dell or HP laptop. This is an ancient, ancient argument that just gets more and more obvious on its face with each passing year, and you sound silly when you point out the price of a MacBook anymore.

5/31/2013 8:45:50 AM

Can iTunes on OSX do more than iTunes on Windows? (I'm not trying to call you out, I've never used iTunes on OSX)

5/31/2013 9:34:48 AM

Honestly, as far as I know, there isn't a meaningful difference between the two. I wasn't just talking about iTunes the program, though. You don't really need iTunes with iOS 6 anyway. I was just painting a picture of the typical iPhone/iPod user who'd benefit most from a MacBook due to stuff like iCloud integration. If you have an Apple TV, MacBooks support AirPlay mirroring as well.

Can you get the same benefits with any other PC? Of course, but it's nowhere near as easy as it is with all Apple hardware. Every time I share a file with another MacBook user over AirDrop like it was nothing or push my browser window to the TV to show a guest something, I think about all the stupid goddamn work I didn't have to do to make it possible, and I appreciate my MacBook a little more.

5/31/2013 9:53:54 AM

I had iTunes before I had any apple products except an iPod, and I distinctly remember things like syncing being so much more efficient and easy to do on a MB once I got one (both my PC and at the time new MB had comparable specs). It's entirely circumstantial and anecdotal, but I just felt like iTunes ran smoother in OSX, which isn't really that surprising of a thing if it were demonstrable.

5/31/2013 11:05:34 AM

New Mac Pro will make your current desktop look like soap box car project assembled from a kit by a group of third graders

http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/



[Edited on June 10, 2013 at 7:23 PM. Reason : pic]

6/10/2013 7:21:08 PM

neat that its made in texas and likely cost $texas

6/10/2013 8:23:56 PM

i think the mac pro design is fantastic, especially the heatsink structure.

you could always just shove it in a generic box i guess; looks cool to me. the price point is what i'd be afraid of

6/10/2013 11:20:46 PM

I like the way it looks, I'm not as sure about all the external connections. It's going to look like a jellyfish with all those wires going a million different ways.

6/11/2013 11:08:45 AM

It is indeed very awesome looking and seems solidly engineered ... but the ^jellyfish/octopus style of expansion seems less Pro--to me.



Oh, and thank you Ars for my laugh of the day:


(credit: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/06/new-os-x-uses-windows-file-sharing-by-default/)

6/11/2013 11:29:53 AM

Moved to iPhone thread, please delete

[Edited on June 11, 2013 at 11:45 AM. Reason : Moved]

6/11/2013 11:39:44 AM

I picked up one of the new tower looking Airport Base Stations today and a new MBA with ac wifi, and the range on these things is insane. On my old setup I just about couldn't go outside on my porch and still have a signal, but now I can actually go to the neighbors house (more than 1/4 mile away) and still have a good enough signal for an RDP session with no lag. It's pretty awesome stuff.

6/11/2013 4:46:33 PM

What do you do with your old stuff? Just have a closet full of year old mac products?

6/11/2013 9:20:47 PM

I usually just give it away to family, but I'm probably gonna put my old AEBS and MBA on craigslist this time around.

6/11/2013 9:33:03 PM

I have this problem where I don't let myself buy a new thing if the old thing still works. I finally got to get a new MBP a while back because my brother said he needed a laptop so I had an excuse to get rid of my 2008 MBP that still worked just fine. So I'm basically looking for reasons to get rid of old and get new.

[Edited on June 12, 2013 at 12:30 AM. Reason : ]

6/12/2013 12:30:04 AM

Same here. My MacBook 5,1 still works just fine. I'd like a new one, but right now I can't justify it.

6/12/2013 7:18:58 PM

Eh. I haven't upgraded my stuff in years. Yeah, it still works, but my MBA is 3 generations old now. And from the looks of things, I'm still gonna get over half the cost of a new one by reselling it. So basically I'm upgrading from a C2D processor and 2GB of RAM to an i5 with 8GB, going from 3 hours of battery life to 9, getting a backlit keyboard, ac wifi, a thunderbolt port, the ability to mirror my screen through airplay, etc for less than $500. Plus the handful of games that I own and play won't hardly run on my old one, but they will on the new one. It's probably not the smartest thing I could do with my money, but I'm happy with it.

6/12/2013 8:06:07 PM

Wow you did have an old one.

6/13/2013 12:21:11 AM

The new Mac Pro looks pretty cool and seems neat, but EVERY professional that I know who exclusively uses a mac loves the design, but hates the concept.

So basically Apple decided to "reinvent" the wheel which really meant they made a one sized fits all heat sink and custom wrapped everything to it... Efficient cooling if space is your biggest constraint (aka Japan), but the vast majority of people who would be upgrading already would have a mac pro and there-go would have space to fit a large case anyhow...

Why couldn't they just used an ATX-mini/micro/ITX box with custom water cooling bits and make a mac pro mini if they were worried about size constraint, probably would have been 1/3 the cost of the trash can considering you know Apple spent millions on engineering the damn heatsink alone. Plus LC setup would have been exponentially better in terms of heat removal capacity. They should have known that from the G4/5 days with their original beasts back then.

And why a cylinder? Seems like wasted space as you leave out the corners with the dimensions if you were really trying to save space in the first place. Why not make it a box with a uniheatsink and still cool it like the cylinder with a central shaft and single large fan? Could have used the space to fit more ram slots or better yet... hot swappable 2.5" bays for SSD RAIDs... Shit, dump 3 SATA3 SSD drives and you'd be faster than a pcie SSD for probably the same price with more capacity, plus you get way more I/O with multiple drives.


I hope the new Pro flops and they bring back the original tower case. I don't care who you are, those damn Apple Mac Pro towers are sexy... They just need the internal space redesigned to better use the area, specially with more internal hdd slots.

6/13/2013 3:38:25 AM

Quote :

"Why not make it a box"

Because a box is ugly and a cylinder is pretty. Come on now.

6/13/2013 8:01:03 PM