mt.sixcolors.comSix Colors – Apple, technology, and other stuff by Jason Snell & Dan Moren

Six Colors – Apple, technology, and other stuff by Jason Snell & Dan Moren by Jason Snell & Dan MorenMENU About Sponsorships Jason Snell Dan Moren Six Colors Hat Six Colors Shirt Archive Sign In Membership Topics 2023 OS updates iOS 17 macOS Sonoma iPadOS 17 Reviews Apple Report Card WWDC 2023 Automation Podcasting E-readers Apple Photos 20 Macs for 2020 About Sponsorships Jason Snell Dan Moren Six Colors Hat Six Colors Shirt Archive Sign In Membership Topics 2023 OS updates iOS 17 macOS Sonoma iPadOS 17 Reviews Apple Report Card WWDC 2023 Automation Podcasting E-readers Apple Photos 20 Macs for 2020 This Week’s Sponsor Magic Lasso Adblock : 2.0x faster web browsing in Safari By John Moltz May 10, 2024 2:00 PM PT ■ This Week In Apple This Week in Apple: Ad-itional commentary Apple breaks its usual pattern with the new iPad Pros this week, its possible next CEO is a huge fan of public transportation, and what happened to the time-honored method of releasing apologies via a Notes screenshot? The Fantastic M4s They called them mad (MAD!) at the Institute (AHAHAHAHA!) but Apple did it anyway: it leapfrogged its M3-based Mac lineup and put an M4 in the iPad Pro first. Now, BEHOLD THE POWER! To do what, exactly? Well… it’s really fast . There’s that. It does seem likely the company will have another iPad story to tell next month at WWDC about how people can take advantage of all this computing power, so stay tuned for more on these smoking hot processors that actually don’t run that hot at all. While it did go nuts at the high end, Apple actually rationalized the iPad lineup a bit . You’ll pay more for an iPad Pro now, but it has the latest and greatest processors Apple makes and, particularly with the introduction of the 13-inch iPad Air and discontinuation of the 9th generation iPad, spreads the lineup out a bit.… This is a post limited to Six Colors members. Become a member Members sign in Sponsor May 10, 2024 9:00 AM PT Magic Lasso Adblock: 2.0x faster web browsing in Safari ↦ My thanks to Magic Lasso Adblock for sponsoring Six Colors this week. As a native Safari extension, Magic Lasso blocks all intrusive ads, trackers and annoyances – letting you experience a faster, cleaner and more secure experience across all your devices. By cutting down on ads and trackers, common news websites load 2x faster and use less data. Along with blocking all web ads, the app also includes best-in-class YouTube ad blocking to block video ads. With over 5,000 five star reviews; it’s simply the best ad blocker for your iPhone, iPad and Mac. Download Magic Lasso Adblock today from the App Store , Mac App Store or via the Magic Lasso website . By Jason Snell for Macworld May 9, 2024 11:46 AM PT How the iPad Pro’s M4 chip sets the iPhone and Mac on a new path Well, that was fast. The M3 chip, introduced last October, is already yesterday’s news. We’re living in an M4 world, courtesy of the surprising announcement that the new iPad Pro is powered by Apple’s next generation of chips. Even if you don’t care about iPads, this announcement will affect the trajectory of the Mac and iPhone in quite a few ways. Continue reading on Macworld ↦ Video May 9, 2024 10:35 AM PT May Backstage Zoom: iPads and more We got together with Backstage pass members live on Zoom earlier today to discuss all sorts of stuff, but mostly Tuesday’s Apple announcements.… This video is for More Colors and Backstage Pass members only. Become a member Members sign in Clockwise 553: Love, Medical Care, and an Angry Lawyer How we recommend iPads to people, whether Apple should stop holding events, what one task our perfect chatbot would do, and how we feel about the Apple Pencil. https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/clockwiserelay/clockwise553.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: RSS Download MP3The Rebound 494: Ya Burnt, David Copperfield A startling John Ternus of events. https://rss.art19.com/episodes/37963634-cefa-450f-a5bb-54faa13d7401.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: RSS Download MP3By Dan Moren May 8, 2024 8:34 AM PT Does the iPad lineup make sense now? Yes and no Ever since Steve Jobs’s famous two-by-two grid of Apple devices , Apple aficionados have tried to cram the company’s product lines into neat little boxes. 1 In recent years, the iPad line has seemed exceptionally complex and difficult to delineate . Should you buy an iPad Air or an iPad Pro? What about the multiple low-end iPads? How does the mini fit into the equation? With this week’s refreshes to the iPad Air and the iPad Pro, it seems as though some clarity might be returning to the tablet lineup…but it may have also introduced some new uncomfortable questions. At what price iPad? From a price perspective, Apple’s recent changes come in two extremes: the top and bottom of the lineup. The demise of the ninth-generation iPad and the price cut on the tenth-generation has clearly staked out the low end; on the high end, the iPad Pro has become even more expensive. Here’s a chart of the available storage configurations. (I’m not including options like nano-texture screens and cellular connectivity.) Purely looking at price, I’d argue the iPad lineup actually makes much more sense now. The base-level for most people” iPad is available in small and large capacities with a $150 markup for four times the storage. (Should it probably have 128GB on the low-end? Sure, but when it comes to margins, Apple’s gonna Apple.) Likewise, if a small screen is what you value above all else, the iPad mini remains a product in the lineup. 2 Where Apple has de-muddied the lineup, though, is in the mid-range. Previously, once you went higher than the paltry base of 64GB storage on the iPad Air, you quickly got into entry-level iPad Pro territory, then forcing you to make a more complex decision between more capacity and more capability at around the same price point. Rather than the simplicity of a decision based around more storage for more money, customers instead had to weight the ability to store more photos vs. Face ID which…how do you even? In the new lineup, that’s not really a problem. The base-level iPad Airs now boast an acceptable 128GB of storage and are still priced well below an iPad Pro. You’ve go to go up to the top-tier iPad Airs before you really start competing with base level iPad Pros—which is as it should be. From a feature standpoint, Apple’s made that delineation clear too. With powerful (and, thus, pricey) features like OLED displays, M4 chips, Face ID, and Thunderbolt, it’s clear that the iPad Pro really is being targeted at those who want the most power that an iPad can deliver. Back in 2022, when trying to decide between the iPad Air and Pro I ultimately bought an 11-inch iPad Pro with an M1 chip and 128GB of storage for $799; a 256GB iPad Air would have cost only $50 less, and I got a lot for that extra $50. But today, the $999 starting point for the iPad Pro would definitely make me think twice, and I believe I’d probably end up with a cheaper (if less capable) iPad Air. And you know what? That’s fine. I generally opt for the MacBook Air over the MacBook Pro too, and the iPad Air and Pro lines are now positioned more closely to the differences between the Mac laptop lines. Though, speaking of which, let’s change gears here. Putting on (Pro) Airs The most expensive iPad Pros have always trodden on the toes of low-end Macs, but with these recent revision, that’s even more the case. As Jason wrote the other day, the iPad is no longer the future of computing ; instead, it’s more of an alternative to the Mac, for those who want a touch interface with the flexibility to add a keyboard and trackpad. Still, purely from a price perspective, things do get more confusing now. Consider the comparison between the iPad Pro and the MacBook Air. (All quoted prices are for the base level 13-inch (8-core CPU/8-core GPU) and 15-inch MacBook Air (8-core CPU/10-core GPU) models with 8GB of...