Category: Apple

Big Sur: Accent and Highlight Colors

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macOS Big Sur is bringing with a sweeping overhaul of the Mac user interface — perhaps the biggest change since Aqua was first introduced two decades ago.

As different as the new interface is, it does build on the shoulders of what came before it. Big Sur still feels like macOS, and that is more important than any given detail Apple may have gotten right or wrong in the next version of macOS. The Dock, Menu Bar and other major elements of the UI are still present. Even things like sidebars — which now extend all the way up the side of their parent window — are immediately recognizable.

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Apple Launches Service Program for AirPods Pro⇢

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Apple Support:

Apple has determined that a small percentage of AirPods Pro may experience sound issues. Affected units were manufactured before October 2020.

An affected AirPods Pro may exhibit one or more of the following behaviors:

  • Crackling or static sounds that increase in loud environments, with exercise or while talking on the phone

  • Active Noise Cancellation not working as expected, such as a loss of bass sound, or an increase in background sounds, such as street or airplane noise

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On the macOS 11.0.1 Developer Beta⇢

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Juli Clover:

Apple today seeded a new macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta to developers for testing purposes, with the new beta replacing the existing macOS Big Sur 11 beta 10 update that was released two weeks ago.

John Gruber:

The only explanation that makes any sense is that 11.0 was “shipped” as the factory OS for some new hardware, which may well be the first Apple Silicon Mac(s), queuing up for a pre-Thanksgiving announcement. There could be new Intel Macs in the pipeline too — there almost certainly are — but you would think those might not require Big Sur.

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My iPhone 12 Pro Impressions

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I plan on writing a full review of the iPhone 12 Pro, but wanted to share some impressions from my weekend with the new device.

  • The design is fantastic. I went with the silver finish, so my phone has very shiny stainless steel sides. They do pick up fingerprints, but they wipe away easily. I love the look of stainless steel, and even though it will definitely pick up dings and scratches, I think it ages nicely.
  • I hope we get years and years and years of flat-sided iPhones.
  • On AT&T here in Memphis, I haven’t experienced ultra wideband 5G, but I managed to see 148 Mbps down and 26 Mbps up on regular 5G. Inside my home, however, 5G is slower than LTE.
  • Again, on AT&T at least, the phone does show the “LTE” badge when using that network. I’ve heard from people that their phones always show 5G, even when clearly not reaching high speeds. Maybe it’s a Verizon thing?
  • MagSafe charging is cool. The clear case is … not good. I’ll pick up a leather case when they become available but now that it is jeans weather in Memphis, I’m going caseless.
  • The wide angle camera is better than the one on my 11 Pro, but it’s not wildly better. I initially thought I would order a 12 Pro Max for that jump in camera performance, but I decided I didn’t want to deal with the size.
  • In low light, focusing does seem faster thanks to the LiDAR sensor on the back of the phone, but it’s not a night-and-day difference.

This phone is very good.

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A Deep Look at How Apple is Organized⇢

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Apple University Dean and Vice President Joel Podolny:

When Jobs arrived back at Apple, it had a conventional structure for a company of its size and scope. It was divided into business units, each with its own P&L responsibilities. General managers ran the Macintosh products group, the information appliances division, and the server products division, among others. As is often the case with decentralized business units, managers were inclined to fight with one another, over transfer prices in particular. Believing that conventional management had stifled innovation, Jobs, in his first year returning as CEO, laid off the general managers of all the business units (in a single day), put the entire company under one P&L, and combined the disparate functional departments of the business units into one functional organization.

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