512 Pixels

After skipping hours of sleep last night to buy an Apple Watch, I wrapped up my day at my local Apple Store with an appointment to try on some Watches. My thoughts are below:

The Apple Watch Try-On Experience

Saddle Creek is an old store. It’s 40 feet across, all on one story. As with most stores like this, the most important products live at the front — RIP, POS bar — with the Genius Bar at the rear of the Store, facing out.

The entire front-left section of the Store was dedicated to Apple Watch. The glass-topped table from Apple’s press events was dead-center at the front, with two tables to the left dedicated to try-on appointments.

The try-on tables have drawers built into them, unlocked by badged employees. On top, there are movable acrylic displays. A Watch is mounted on the right, with an iPad mini to its left, displaying more information about what the Watch was doing. Open an app, and info about that app would appear on the iPad instantaneously.

(If anyone has any more information on how this works, shoot me a note.)

The Watches in these displays were not in demo mode — I could use them as I saw fit. The complaints from reviewers that there is a learning curve rings true. For example, I repeatedly tapped the button below the Digital Crown, expecting to see the homescreen, to be annoyed when the Watch would show its VIP contacts UI. Maybe its years of using an iPhone, but that button just felt like it should take me Home.

The Digital Crown feels great. It spins easily, but not freely. It’s precise and effortless, and I’m going to stop before I end up in a white room with Jony Ive.

Trying on various Watches was a little weird. The employee with me was incredibly helpful, but had to take the Watch on and off my wrist. As someone who doesn’t like a lot of attention, it was a tad uncomfortable, but it was a great way to try a bunch of different bands.

The Milanese Loop is very thin, and the loops are so close to each other that it’s hard to believe it’s not one continuous, flexible surface. It didn’t pull on my arm hair, and the magnetic clasp felt nice and secure. It’s not my personal taste, but I have to say, the smooth, cool feeling left me impressed.

I was less impressed with the Leather Loop. It’s very clearly a thin wrapping around a bunch of magnets. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t as soft as I was guessing it would be. The segmented design just doesn’t look good to me. It is the turd of the group, in my opinion.

The Classic Buckle is exactly what I thought it would be. Simple, clean and comfortable. I worry about the leather cracking over time, and I’m not a huge fan of the stainless steel being used on the loop at the back, but if I were to buy a non-Sports band, this would be on my list.

My Apple Store didn’t have Casey’s beloved Darth Vader Apple Watch available for try-on customers, but I did try a Watch with the $449 Link Bracelet attached to it.

While I think the silver Link Bracelet looks a little dated — in a mustache and cigarettes kind of way — it’s perhaps the most impressive Watch band from a hardware perspective. Links can be removed quickly for a better fit and the butterfly mechanism is crazy thin.

I was a little surprised that the Apple Store didn’t have a steel Watch on a Sports band, as it seems like a popular combination. While I was a little bummed that I couldn’t try exactly what I pre-ordered, I got to try what I had initially considered ordering — the 42 MM Space Gray Apple Watch Sport with Black Sport Band.

The band itself was very comfortable, but tricky to get on and off. I asked and was allowed to take this one off by myself, and it took some finagling. I’m sure it’d be easier with some practice, but this isn’t a band that’s going to come on and off multiple times a day without some annoyance.

As to the Watch itself, the Space Gray aluminum looks nice in person. It’s matte and has a the slightest hint of texture to it. In many ways, it reminds me of the dark iPod classic.

The Sport weighs next to nothing. My main concern after deciding to purchase the standard steel model was weight. The 42 MM Sport weights 30 grams, while the stainless steel Apple Watch clocks in at 50 grams. In my time today, the weight of the steel Watch was actually nice. The Sport weighs so little it feels a little cheap. While I may regret my choice once I start working out with one on my wrist, for now, I’m happy with my choice.

All in all, the try-on appointments are pretty brilliant. I got to spend time with most of the product line, but didn’t feel rushed. I got individual attention, had my questions answered and even got to play with a working Watch, as opposed to just watching a Demo loop. It was the most personalized service I’ve ever seen in an Apple Store, and just what this product requires.

A 615-word sidebar on the new MacBook

While at the Apple Store, I also stopped by the MacBook table, which was shoved way in the back of the store, yielding the primary real-estate to the Watch. Two of each color were out, but I gravitated to the Space Gray model, as I find it very good looking.

The screen — as expected — is stunning. It’s bright and rich, like all other Retina displays. What is surprising is just how small and light the machine is. It’s hard to believe something so tiny could pack the punch needed for a Retina display.

I didn’t push the machine much, but just bouncing around OS X and some open apps were all just as fast as my MacBook Pro, but I know using a machine like this to edit a podcast or video would be asking for pain.

The Force Touch Trackpad is as weird as everyone makes it out to be. I know it didn’t click down, but my brain and finger think otherwise. It’s nutty.

Then there’s the keyboard. Here’s what Jason Snell wrote about it:

One of the biggest compromises Apple made in designing the MacBook to be as thin and light as possible was to create a new, thinner keyboard. In order to make the keyboard thinner, Apple reduced the amount of key travel—the amount of space that the keys move when you press them.

As someone who types for a living, and who types roughly 115 words per minute, this is a huge change. The reduced key travel is instantly noticeable—there’s just much less physical feedback as you press each individual key. It feels like a cross between typing on a more traditional Mac keyboard and tapping on the hard glass screen of an iPad. (No travel at all there!)

Apple seems to have realize that the reduced travel has made this keyboard less appealing, and has attempted to offset the change with a bunch of other changes that improve the typing experience. There’s a new butterfly key mechanism atop stainless steel dome switches, which Apple says increases key stability, and the keys are all a bit wider than on a traditional keyboard, so there’s more area to hit on each key.

After about 10 minutes with it — I typed about half of this section out at the Store — I have to agree with Jason. The big, wide keys are weird, but I can see the appeal for sloppy typists. However, the lack of travel is super off-putting to me.

I’m a pretty hard typist. I bang around on my MacBook Pro’s keyboards at a slower rate than Jason’s 115 words per minute, but the words I do get down come out with more force than what’s good for my hands.

On the MacBook, I felt like I was bottoming out those new steel dome switches, and it got uncomfortable after a few minutes. I’m not saying I bruised the ends of my fingers, but I’d need to change my typing habits to live on the MacBook. (Of course, that may not be a bad thing to consider without buying a new computer.)

All in all, the MacBook is the Mac from the future, but here in the present, it has trade-offs. As attractive as an idea it may be, for now, it’s not a Mac I could live with day to day.

Katie Floyd:

The concern is that because Retina MacBook Pro is so thin and the tolerances are so tight, anything between the body and the top of the computer could cause it to rub against the screen. Apple warns this could cause damage to the display and presumably they’re talking about the recent reports of the anti-reflective coating coming off the display.

My 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display had the issue Katie links to, and Apple replaced the display clamshell assembly under warranty. I don’t use anything to cover my keyboard or palm rest, but Apple’s kbase article about tight tolerances rings true to me.

I’m tired this morning for the same reason many of you are: I pre-ordered an Apple Watch in the middle of the night.

The very fact that I — an some untold number of others — woke up (or stayed up) to do so isn’t as surprising as it once was. I’ve ordered a handful of iPhones this way over the last few years.

As in the past, the Apple Store app was the way to go. Even with having to bounce out to 1Password to get my credit card’s security code, I had ordered my 42 MM Apple Watch with black sport band on my iPad before the online store came back up from maintenance.

So, WebObjects walks into a bar…

— Stephen Hackett (@ismh) April 10, 2015

That said, my night awake has paid off. My Watch is in the first batch to be shipped, but currently, many models are available to ship in June. Unlike the iPhone 6 which was still available for fast shipping the next morning, Apple’s clearly got a supply and demand problem here.

After ordering, I made an appointment to go check out the Watch at my local Apple Store later today. I’m a little worried to try the Sport, as I opted to go with the heavier model. I’ll be sure to share my thoughts on the Apple Store demo and how that new MacBook keyboard feels.

This week on Connected, we talk about MacBook and Apple Watch reviews before diving into Becoming Steve Jobs.

My thanks to these sponsors:

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Wired’s David Pierce, describing a conversation with Apple’s human-interface boss Alan Dye:

He flips a few pages further into the making-of book, onto the first of several full-page spreads with gorgeous photos of jellyfish. There’s no obvious reason to have a jellyfish watch face. Dye just loves the way they look. “We thought that there was something beautiful about jellyfish, in this sort of space-y, alien, abstract sort of way,” he says. But they didn’t just visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium with an underwater camera. They built a tank in their studio, and shot a variety of species at 300 frames-per-second on incredibly high-end slow-motion Phantom cameras. Then they shrunk the resulting 4096 x 2304 images to fit the Watch’s screen, which is less than a tenth the size. Now, “when you look at the Motion face of the jellyfish, no reasonable person can see that level of detail,” Dye says. “And yet to us it’s really important to get those details right.”

Whoa.

Today’s a big day for OS X users, with the release of Photos.app, the replacement for iPhoto and Aperture.

I’ve been using Photos for a while now and have had mixed luck with the iCloud components, but more on that soon.

Mitchel Broussard at MacRumors is reporting these prices for Apple’s forthcoming 12-inch Retina MacBook:

• 1.1 GHz with 256 GB storage: $1299
• 1.3 GHz with 256 GB storage: $1549
• 1.2 GHz with 512 GB storage: $1599
• 1.3 GHz with 512 GB storage: $1749

To compare, here’s where the MacBook Airs sit:

• 11-inch, 1.6 GHZ with 128 GB storage: $899
• 11-inch, 1.6 GHZ with 256 GB storage: $1099
• 13-inch, 1.6 GHz with 128 GB storage: $999
• 13-inch, 1.6 GHz with 256 GB storage: $1199

Of course, the 13-inch Air can be maxed out with a 2.2 GHz i7 processor, 8 GB RAM and 512 GB of storage for $1749.

There’s a lot to think about for the budget-first buyer.

Highball is a new iPhone app from my friends over at Studio Neat. Here’s how Dan describes it:

When you stumble upon something tasty, the inclination is to share it. There were many paths we could have gone down in regards to sharing, but we took the simple one, with a twist. When you share a recipe, the app generates an image of a “recipe card,” which is super easy to share on Twitter or iMessage or email or whatever. The image is 16x9, orientated in portrait, so it is designed to look great on mobile.

The app is beautiful and fun to use. With summer cocktail season just around the corner, it should be on your iPhone.

This week, with Myke on the road, I stepped in to talk to Casey on Analog(ue) about meeting our wives, writing about what we care about and not being able to throw away things.

Don’t miss the B-Side.

My Relay FM co-founder Myke Hurley bought a 6 Plus back in the fall, and ever since, has praised the device for its superior screen, camera and battery life. It replaced his iPad mini and iPhone 5S both in one fell swoop. He’s been badgering me and many others for months about the superiority of the iPhone 6 Plus. I was excited to see if he was off his rocker or not.

Last month, I spent about two weeks with a loaner iPhone 6 Plus. Last week, after being back with the 6 for about 10 days, I purchased a larger phone for myself, throwing caution to the wind with a mid-cycle purchase. ¹

The first few days with a 6 Plus are awkward, even coming from the iPhone 6. I’ve dropped it a few times, and have learned that one-handed use while walking is a terrible idea for me.

In my review of the 6, I wrote:

I have fairly normal sized hands, but I can’t use the iPhone 6 the way I did my previous devices. I can hold it as I held my old phones, cradled in my right hand, but to hit targets with my thumb, I have to let the iPhone rock forward in to my thumb, which is going to end badly for everyone when I inevitably drop it. I’ve been using it two handed more than I thought I would, and have moved my most-used apps down a row so they are easier to tap if I’m walking, but my thumb hasn’t gotten used to stretching so far. I’m not sure where I’ll end up long-term, but right now, my iPhone just feels awkward at times. I’ve wondered more than once if going to the 6 Plus would force the issue in such a way that I wouldn’t be tempted to hold and use the new iPhone like the old ones.

Turns out, Younger Stephen knows what he’s talking about. The Plus is such a different device that my brain and hands treat it differently. I use it with two hands, and even turn it to landscape, which is a first for me in the nearly 8 years ² of owning an iPhone.

In short, the iPhone 6 Plus feels much more like a pocket computer than a smartphone.

Losing one-handed operation isn’t as big of a deal in practice as I thought it would be. In fact, it may be for the best. I’m much less tempted to pull my iPhone out while riding an elevator or walking down the street, and I think that’s a good thing. After all, the Apple Watch seems to be built around that very idea.

While Scott Forstall and Jony Ive may have been excited that the original iPad would conform to the user — you could hold it in any orientation and the software just knew what to do — I’ve come to conform to the iPhone 6 Plus, and I don’t mind a bit.

The difference between a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen is bigger than it looks on paper. Side-by-side with the 6, the 6 Plus is way bigger. This means iOS can show more content at once. Games are more immersive and video is just all-around better.

The 6 Plus’ battery life is pretty incredible. While the differences between it and the 6’s battery life depend on the task at hand, I’m consistently able to last a day and a half if not longer on this thing without a charge. My 6 needed a charge every night, no matter what.

Likewise, the 6 Plus camera is also a step from its smaller cousin’s. The low-light performance is crazy good, thanks to the optical image stabilization found only on the larger phone.

Not everyone agrees that the 6 Plus is the way to go. Here’s Jason Snell, who recently used the 5.5-inch phone on a trip to England:

I really did appreciate the iPhone 6 Plus’s longer battery life. The longer life is noticeable, and was much appreciated as I was wandering around London. And I got used to the size of the device in my pocket in no time. But beyond that, I have to say I’m hard pressed to find anything I prefer about the iPhone 6 Plus over my iPhone 6. Yes, the screen is larger, but I didn’t ever feel that I was seeing more of the world by viewing an extra tweet in Twitterrific or a little bit more territory in Maps.

His pocket point is an interesting one. I wear jeans every day of the week, and have gotten used to making sure it’s slid to one side when I sit down. If I am wearing a suit, it goes in my breast jacket pocket, as I’ve always done. That said, I’ll be glad to mow the grass with just an Apple Watch on soon, as opposed to having a big-ass piece of glass banging around in my basketball shorts.

I also don’t know where to put the 6 Plus in my car. I’m currently stashing it upside down in a cup holder as the old spot — resting in the leather around the parking brake — is too short for it’s longer frame. ³

But now that I’ve gotten used to it, the situational weirdness that arises carrying such a big phone is well-worth it to me. The screen is great, the camera is sweet and the battery life is a game-changer.

Myke was right.

Did you know Apple offers a bunch of information from iTunes and its Support section via RSS?

It’s a handy way to keeep up-to-date on stuff if it’s part of your job or keeps a nerd itch satisfied, even if they do get weird from time to time:

Hi there, kbase. https://t.co/SQhSda0Smb

— Stephen Hackett (@ismh) April 6, 2015

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