On this feedback episode, David shares some about an upcoming studio move, and Stephen talks about recent experimentation with a teleprompter. Also on the docket: connected home cameras, more on working from home and the iPhone SE.
My thanks to our sponsors:
This anniversary snuck up on me, but thankfully plenty of other folks have put together some great content marking the date.
Of course, Rene Ritchie has a great video up:
… and here are some links worth checking out:
My thanks to TextExpander for sponsoring 512 Pixels this week. It’s a stellar app that lets you easily insert text snippets in any application from a library of content created by you and your team. Available for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Chrome. Get 20% off your first year today!
I received a Magic Keyboard for my 2018 11-inch iPad Pro yesterday, so this is not a full review, but rather a series of impressions.
The first thing I noticed is how much more solid this thing is then the Smart Keyboard Folio I’ve used for years. Of course, that includes the weight, but the overall build quality feels much, much better. This thing is stiff and exact, whereas the old style always felt a bit flimsy at times.
Speaking of weight, here are some numbers for you, at least according to my cheap kitchen scale:
For comparison, the old Smart Keyboard Folio weighs 316 grams.
A lot of the Magic Keyboard’s quality is thanks to the hinge. It glides open easily, but I do wish it would let the iPad tilt back a little farther. The adjustability is nice compared to the old keyboard, but I’d like to see more range out of this one.
Of course, the Magic Keyboard is part keyboard and part stand. When you take the iPad off of it, the case is left behind, standing upright, as some sort of testament to your mobile productivity.
Taking the iPad off isn’t as easy as you would think. The magnets are incredibly strong. I think I could sling the keyboard around pretty well before my iPad would want to break free.
There is one downside of the new design, in that the keyboard can no longer fold back behind the iPad. Until I popped this new case on, I didn’t think about how often I used the previous keyboard in this fashion. I suspect I’ll be removing my iPad from the keyboard and carrying my iPad around without a case a lot more than I used to when I’m wandering around the house.
The keyboard itself feels fantastic. The keys have a surprising amount of travel for a device like this, and really do feel like the keyboard on the 16-inch MacBook Pro and new MacBook Air. The addition of backlighting is just icing on the cake.
When compared with a MacBook Pro, this keyboard does feel a little cramped. Keys around the edges are smaller than on the Mac, but are not all that different from the Smart Keyboard. However, this thing feels tighter then the old one. I think it is because the rest of the experience is so much like a traditional notebook.
I have owned a 12.9-inch iPad Pro before, and while it is not for me, I can’t help but wonder if the keyboard experience would be a little better. The main key caps are the same size between the two, but I keep hitting = when I reach for Delete.
Lastly, there’s the trackpad. It’s about an inch and a half tall and just shy of four inches across. That’s tiny compared to what is on Macs, but it is big enough to work well with iPadOS, even if I would like more room. I suspect both the keyboard and trackpad feel more laptop-like on the larger iPad Pro.
I bet that I will adjust over time, but right now, I find myself forgetting about the trackpad. I will be mid-gesture on the screen and think “Oh yeah, there’s a trackpad now.”
I don’t think the Magic Keyboard is going to radically change the amount of time I work on my iPad Pro; I am still a Mac-first kind of guy, but when I do reach for my iPad, I’ll do so knowing that the experience will be better than ever.
Started by former members of Apple’s leadership team, Be was formed to take on the Mac and other computers of the mid-90s. The company wrote its own operating system and shipped dual-CPU computers before failing to be purchased by Apple and slowly fading away.
Getting to play with BeOS in a virtual machine was a lot of fun.
Mark Gurman, Debby Wu and Ian King:
The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is working on three of its own Mac processors, known as systems-on-a-chip, based on the A14 processor in the next iPhone. The first of these will be much faster than the processors in the iPhone and iPad, the people said.
Apple is preparing to release at least one Mac with its own chip next year, according to the people. But the initiative to develop multiple chips, codenamed Kalamata, suggests the company will transition more of its Mac lineup away from current supplier Intel Corp.
These chips, according to the report, will be fabricated by TSMC on a 5-nanometer process, and would utilize the same approach Apple has on its mobile devices, pairing high-performance with high-efficiency cores:
The first Mac processors will have eight high-performance cores, codenamed Firestorm, and at least four energy-efficient cores, known internally as Icestorm. Apple is exploring Mac processors with more than 12 cores for further in the future, the people said.
In some Macs, Apple’s designs will double or quadruple the number of cores that Intel provides. The current entry-level MacBook Air has two cores, for example.
I am excited about this, despite having a Xeon-powered Mac Pro under my desk as I type.
This week, on a really fun episode of Connected:
Myke and Federico share their impressions of the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro and Stephen reveals the number of items in his collection and the group announces The Hackett Number — the computers-per-capita figure for Stephen’s household.
I may have a problem.
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May seems to be the Month of Commercial Crew! Also: NASA is working from home, an exoplanet may be no more and a look at a future Mars sample return mission.
My thanks to our sponsor:
This time on Ungeniused, we cover a few more weird sports: fox tossing, speed typing and rocket racing.
My thanks to our sponsor this week:
Federico Viticci has posted a hands-on report of the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro:
More than any other iPad accessory, the Magic Keyboard reinforces the idea that the same computer can transform into two radically different form factors at any given time. This philosophy goes beyond the design of a keyboard alone: it’s supported by the iPad’s hardware (with a magnet-based system that simplifies attaching the iPad and encourages pulling it out), software (with the new system pointer that disappears when not in use), and app ecosystem (with apps that can be used with multi-touch and the pointer). Considered through this lens, the Magic Keyboard delivers on the kind of hybrid computing experience I hoped the iPad would eventually achieve, and it’s here today.
He also includes the weights for the 12.9-inch version:
I am excited to receive my 11-inch version tomorrow.
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These manufacturing instructions should only be used by an expert. Manufacturing the face shields requires professional level expertise in manufacturing and design, and should only be done by professional engineers or machinists in a factory environment.
I was recently challenged to hook up a Studio Display to my Mac Pro, and things got out of hand from there: