[Capella]

Apple Music

Zane Lowe discusses making Siri more helpful with discovering new music

• New customized playlists for “specific vibes” crafted by Apple people
• New “voice plan” for Apple Music, $4.99/mo, use your voice/Siri to call up specific music or general playlists
• More ways for HomePod Mini to complement home.

AirPods Update

• New Dolby spatial audio functionality (already on the AirPods Pro/Max) is being added to 3rd generation AirPods
• New low-distortion driver for powerful bass and crisp clean highs
• Sweat and Water resistant
• New contoured designs and the adaptive EQ from
• One-tour setup and pairing to all your Apple devices
• 6 hours playtime and 1 hour after 5 minutes of charging. Charging case holds four extra charges for a total of 30 hours listening time
• MagSafe Charging
• $179, orders today ; 2nd gen stays at $129

(updates filtering in)

[turtle]

This is interesting pricing given we can get Pros for $180 with sales on Amazon and such.

[chucker]

I'm still confused what the Voice plan does and doesn't do. My read is that it's mostly the same but without lyrics and music videos, but some seem to believe it won't let you visually browse music at all.

[psmith2.0]

That’s how I see it. Kinda like the iPod shuffle of services. You do have a little more control/say-so over what you hear, but that’s about it. I guess with that new playlist feature, a lot of people are okay with “hey Siri, how about some music to wash the car to?”

I never could, but there are people who will, and do, listen to anything.

I do think this is a weird option and I don’t think it will succeed. Seems like the kind of thing that should just be free. If someone’s going to pay $5 for a partial, less-than experience, I think most would spend the extra $5 and get the whole thing.

We’ll see.

EDIT: couldn’t be free, because then nobody would pay for Apple Music at all. Never mind. Maybe $1.99.

[chucker]

So, there’s no Music app for it? It only shows a weird “sorry, you don’t really have this service” alert? I don’t really get it.

[turtle]

Yeah, seems like an odd money grab for yet another monthly fee. I mean, if you're cheap and don't want to pay for music (like me, I don't subscribe) but you want new music and only use Siri to play music it could be an option for less. $60 a year isn't horrible for a single individual to be able to tell Siri to play something.

I'm guessing apple figured out most people don't scroll through they Music app to find music. :shrug:


Also, nice to see new colors for the HomePod mini. Seems like this was a good product for Apple. Not over ambitious and reasonably priced. Still high, but not unattainable for most.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by turtle Also, nice to see new colors for the HomePod mini. Seems like this was a good product for Apple. Not over ambitious and reasonably priced. Still high, but not unattainable for most.

It's the same price as the JBL Link Music, which I got (before the HomePod mini was a thing). Its sound is meh, and its AirPlay integration extremely buggy (unclear how much of that is on Apple).

If the HomePod mini is just about as good and works more seamlessly, I'm interested in buying. Alas, I can't really find any comparisons.

[psmith2.0]

That’s the only Apple accessory I sometimes think about. I’m in a very small, compact space but I often think about one on my desk in the living room and/or one on my nightstand.

I’ve just never pulled the trigger because I’m not completely sure they’d be used enough to make sense.

[chucker]

(I'm also not amused this is the second event this year where they go "look, it comes in additional colors! great idea, isn't it?", then proceed to introduce a second product at the same event that only comes in gray.)

[psmith2.0]

But the pro stuff has never been about colors. I honestly never have, or would, expect this. Were you? I don’t recall a single rumor pointing to it. It just seems like something better suited to the “for the rest of us” crowd (even though I’m personally not nuts about it there anymore either).

PS - The above is about Macs. I realize the iPhone Pro comes in colors (but they’re usually a bit more sedate and understated to what comes on the non-Pro models: purple, mint green, yellow, etc.).

I think wishing for anything other than silver and space Grey for any Mac with “pro” in its name is probably a dead-end street and disappointment fuel.

When pigs fly, as they say.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 But the pro stuff has never been about colors.

Well, yes and no. They want different colors, but the iPhone Pro absolutely offers colors. Just more subtle ones.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 I think wishing for anything other than silver and space Grey for any Mac with “pro” in its name is probably a dead-end street and disappointment fuel.

Go back a year and you might think the same about an iMac!

[turtle]

At this point I have a few of the HomePod minis in my house and I do like them. In my workshop/storage area I have a mini and a Symfonisk. They both sound great and now I have voice controls (nice while working in the shop) and by space filled with my music.

I don't know why the comparison to the JBL would be like, but I will say it isn't far off from the Sonos. Not a loud, but that isn't a shock.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by chucker Go back a year and you might think the same about an iMac!

Perhaps, but only on "been there, done that" grounds (as opposed to "they'd never put colors on an iMac...that's absolutely insane to even think about!" ). There's precedent with the iMacs (the Macs that kicked off the whole color thing), so if it was going to be a Mac, in 2021, to go down that road again...it would certainly be the iMac over any new pro-oriented models. It never occurred to me that anything unveiled Monday would be anything other than Space Grey (the silver continuing to stick around actually surprised me). But those were the only two options that ever crossed my mind.

I consider the crowd/target audience...harried, caffeine-addled professionals churning out 3D, animation, scientific modeling, HD video, high-end print/publishing work, etc. for a living - not dabblers or hobbyists - and not really giving a shit what the tower or notebook they're using looks like, at least on the "pretty colors and style" front; they're cool with silver/grey. It just seems to be a completely different crowd/mindset than the mommy bloggers, influencers, students, casual users, writers, Facebookers and Safari hounds, fashion/design/style types, etc. who might actually opt for - and appreciate - a green, yellow or purple Mac in their home, office or dorm room. There's no history/pattern of Apple's pro-oriented Macs ever going that route (not counting that one blueberry G3 tower very early on). But it's been black (PowerBook G3), graphite (G4 towers), "titanium" or aluminum (silver or Space Grey) ever since, for two-plus decades, across all the towers and all the portables with "Power" or "Pro" in its name. So, yeah...that's why I believe what I believe above. Not out of meanness or to be contrarian, just...they don't do it. Never have, and I don't think they ever will. But I'll also be the first to say "oops, I sure missed that one!" if they ever did. The iMac returning to colors is the reason why I pretty much assume/expect the upcoming redesigned MacBook (Air?) will come in colors as well. An oddly satisfying, comforting return to the late 90's/early-2000's where the "fun, for everyone" stuff is colorful, white-bezeled desktops and notebooks, while the Serious™ Macs all dress in dark grey suits. I can dig it. As long as there's always a basic silver option among those rainbow offerings, they can churn out whatever colors they want in that "for the rest of us" $999-1,999 space...as of Monday, the "pro" playground now seems to start at $1,999 and go up (not counting whatever might appear on the beefed-up Mac mini front at some point in that $1,299-1,799 space...aka the headless mid-range Mac many people have screamed about for 10-15 years now.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by turtle At this point I have a few of the HomePod minis in my house and I do like them. In my workshop/storage area I have a mini and a Symfonisk. They both sound great and now I have voice controls (nice while working in the shop) and by space filled with my music.

Have you found any difference in sound between the HomePod minis and Symfonisks? I see those, too, are the same price. Interesting.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 I consider the crowd/target audience...harried, caffeine-addled professionals churning out 3D, animation, scientific modeling, HD video, high-end print/publishing work, etc. for a living - not dabblers or hobbyists - and not really giving a shit what the tower or notebook they're using looks like, at least on the "pretty colors and style" front; they're cool with silver/grey.

Well, sort of. We are talking about Apple customers here; if I didn't care at all, I might just get a Dell, y'know?

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 It just seems to be a completely different crowd/mindset than the mommy bloggers, influencers, students, casual users, writers, Facebookers and Safari hounds, fashion/design/style types, etc. who might actually opt for - and appreciate - a green, yellow or purple Mac in their house or dorm room.

I don't think the actual differences are that start. We're all using macOS.

I get that Apple wants to give consumer products different colors than professional ones, but I don't think that's quite the same as only giving them Boring™ and Dark Boring™.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 There's no history/pattern of Apple's pro-oriented Macs ever going that route (not counting that one blueberry G3 tower very early on). But it's been black (PowerBook G3), graphite (G4 towers), "titanium" or aluminum (silver or Space Grey) ever since, for two-plus decades, across all the towers and all the portables with "Power" or "Pro" in its name. So, yeah...that's why I believe what I believe. Not out of meanness or anything, just...they don't do it.

True, but consider that those, too, changed over time. They went from beige to black to graphite to Titanium to Aluminum between 1997 and 2003. That's just six years! Yet ever since, we've been stuck with different shades of "looks like an Xserve".

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by chucker I get that Apple wants to give consumer products different colors than professional ones, but I don't think that's quite the same as only giving them Boring™ and Dark Boring™.

That's probably where we differ, then...I think silver and space grey are very snazzy and handsome, and fit the models they're on. They're not going to be "exciting" and vibrant, but it works for me. I've just never seen either as boring. Timeless and classy (like a nice grey or black suit) would be my adjectives.

Interesting.

Yes, they changed materials on the pro stuff over the years, but they're always been neutral/sedate. I just think, right or wrong, that's their yardstick they go by. I'd be stunned as can be if they ever deviated from that (other than maybe tweaking the space grey formula to a different shade...Darker Boring Max™, Chucker Silver SE, etc.).

[drewprops]

Remember you can always go to dbrand for cool skins to jazz up your boring old institutional grey machine!


...

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 That's probably where we differ, then...I think silver and space grey are very snazzy and handsome, and fit the models they're on.

So, I thought the 2002-03 Macs (12-inch PowerBook G4 Aluminum, Xserve, 30-inch Cinema Display, …) were pretty hot at the time.

But I don't think they would be by today's standards. That kind of fashion has come and gone. We also don't have brushed metal UI any more. Keep in mind that, at the time, the macOS UI mimicked what the hardware looked like: windows and menus had the same pinstripes as the iMac G3, brushed metal was reflected in the hardware, etc.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Yes, they changed materials on the pro stuff over the years, but they're always been neutral/sedate. I just think, right or wrong, that's their yardstick they go by. I'd be stunned as can be if they ever deviated from that (other than maybe tweaking the space grey formula to a different shade...Darker Boring Max™, Chucker Silver SE, etc.).

I think sedate is OK, but… you can have different kinds of sedate. Pastel colors, say. Why not a Sierra Blue MacBook Pro? It's barely blue, but it slightly is.

(And I'd totally pay $100 extra if they call it Chucker Silver SE. )

[psmith2.0]

We all would.

My friend has a Subaru Outback and it's a very pretty color. By itself, it looks pretty much silver. But parked next to a true silver car (his wife's Honda Pilot or my old Saturn), there's this super-light sky-blue hue to it. I've not seen it on any other model or manufacturer, so it's really unique and stands out. It's a really lovely shade of steel silver-blue that pics just don't do justice to (the slight metallic sheen in the paint you only see in person, especially on a sunny day).

I'm not arguing the attractiveness of anything. Pretty colors are pretty colors. I just don't think Apple, for whatever reason(s), right or wrong, sees colors as something on the pro gear...sedate, pastel, fashionable, etc. They just don't.

They would've done it by now, having had eleventy-teen opportunities over the years.

No, I think we're "stuck" with silver and Space Grey for the foreseeable future. Monday - a completely new model, both inside and out - would've been the opportunity to do such a thing. That they didn't kinda says a lot about their future plans on that front, IMO. I know they could always add it at some point, sure. But why not Monday when the entire Apple-nerd universe (and tech press) was watching?

I think colors will be possible/likely only on the sub-$2,000, non-pro Macs. And there's no guarantee a) they're coming to anything other than the iMac, and b) how long even those will stick around. As iconic as those G3 jellybeans were, all that took place - Bondi, the fruits, Sage, Indigo, Ruby, the two patterns, etc. - in under four years. And if you don't count Bondi and just focus on the fruits and other solid colors, it was more like three years (1999-2001), until the introduction of the iMac G4 in January 2002.

These will probably stick around at least a couple of years, but could very well run their course by 2025 if history is anything to go by. And I always think it is.

I would be totally open/interested in a new neutral pro color in the years to come...I've always thought something darker than space grey, but not totally black, would look really sharp on the pro Macs.

[chucker]

(I'm not disagreeing with your analysis at all. It doesn't surprise me so much as disappoint me.)

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 I would be totally open/interested in a new neutral pro color in the years to come...I've always thought something darker than space grey, but not totally black, would look really sharp on the pro Macs.

See, that's also interesting, because the Mac Pro introduced a slightly different black/silver style for accessories that… hasn't really appeared anywhere else since.

[psmith2.0]

Yeah, they're weirdos about a lot of things.

I don't know why Apple does so many of the things they do. Or doesn't do some of the things they should.

I sometimes think the different departments just don't communicate fully with each other, and stuff gets greenlit/pursued and others aren't aware.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 I sometimes think the different departments just don't communicate with each other, and stuff gets greenlit/pursued and others aren't aware.

Definitely. One of the downsides of their secrecy.

I really feel they screwed that up in the iMac/iPad Pro event earlier this year. They show off this very neat Center Stage feature on the iPad Pro. You know what would be a super-useful device to have a feature that they show off with people in a living room? A computer for a living room.

Either the iMac team didn't know about Center Stage at all, or they found out about it far too late to add the appropriate camera hardware.