[kscherer]

Also new is that the event is at 5PM PST.

I fail to understand the reason for this nonsense.

Perhaps Apple has decided that directly competing with all the shit-tastic sitcoms and MNF makes sense. What could be better than watching Apple underwhelm the world, while eating popcorn and drinking beer?

Now they just need some strippers and we've got the new norm all sorted out!

—

Out comes Tim Cook, dressed in black and wearing dark sunglasses. Strippers of all sorts swirl on polls behind him. The new MacBook Pro is brought out by a pasty, white man in chaps. It's Phil Schiller! "Can't innovate, my ass! Literally." and he moons the audience!

[drewprops]

The M3 is a MONSTER!!!


...

[psmith2.0]

Have you been using a test model? What gives? Spill it!

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by kscherer Also new is that the event is at 5PM PST. I fail to understand the reason for this nonsense.

Doesn't the ongoing Hollywood strike mean that nothing new is on anyway?

[drewprops]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Have you been using a test model? What gives? Spill it!

Oh sure. Me and Gruber take turns playing Minecraft on it. He sucks at killing baby zombies

I was just playing with marketing ideas, goober

...

[drewprops]

Originally Posted by Frank777 Doesn't the ongoing Hollywood strike mean that nothing new is on anyway?

They'll REALLY be running out of product by early next year.



...

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by drewprops Oh sure. Me and Gruber take turns playing Minecraft on it. He sucks at killing baby zombies I was just playing with marketing ideas, goober ...

Ah. You may be some super secret iNfluencer type with ties to Apple, for all I know. But I don’t think you would violate any sort of @zip it!” NDA about it all.

I breathed too much leaf smoke. I’m not well.

[turtle]

So new MBPs then?

[709]

If true, it must mean that the Pro & Max versions of the M3 are ready to go. Gotta believe they'll throw an iMac with the base M3 in the announcement then too.

Man, the 'in-the-know leakers' like Gurman and Kuo really whiffed on this one.

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by 709 Man, the 'in-the-know leakers' like Gurman and Kuo really whiffed on this one.

It would be interesting to find out why. So far, nothing has shown up to warrant extraordinary security measures.

It's just a spec bump with a faster chip inside. Maybe Apple is plugging security holes in preparation for something bigger?

[Frank777]

Originally Posted by turtle So new MBPs then?

I have no idea what that screen image could mean.

[turtle]

If only the top line was farther up so we could see if it is a notch or "dynamic island".

[psmith2.0]

Titanium MacBook Pro? Not that I care about materials, in and of itself, but you know some would. “OMG…Return of the TiBook!!” and all that.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by kscherer Also new is that the event is at 5PM PST.

Oh wow, I missed that. 8pm here on ET. I’ll be asleep, past my bedtime these days.

I may not be asleep, but I’ve usually put the Mac to sleep, TV off, Jasper fed and me in bed, watching YouTube (or on random Google/Wikipedia rabbit holes, learning about some band or amp/guitar company I wasn’t aware of until 10-15 minutes earlier, by 8ish. Come sundown/dark, I’m just ready to be horizontal.

[PB PM]

Does anyone even watch these Apple events anymore? Who cares what time it is?

It’s clearly not important, otherwise it would be the usual 10 or 11am PST event. If it is M3, it must not be a big bump, maybe just a few hundred mhz just to make it feel a little faster, maybe DDR5 memory? I notice they don’t even tell us what kind of memory it is anymore on the website.

[turtle]

My family still watches these. We don't buy most of what is put out, but we still watch normally.

Apple actually has it good now that they control the chip completely. It means they don't need to get bogged down in the minutia of details anymore. While the geeks of us want to know, it really doesn't matter anymore.

[709]

I still have a tinge of nostalgia left for these things. I'm a softie like that.

[psmith2.0]

I did, for the same reasons, up until about 12-16 months ago. Once I turned off my nostalgia sensor and realized they were the most boring, by-the-numbers, box-checking presentations imaginable.

Just unwatchable, with all the schmaltz and all. I really checked out with the hand-washing timer/assist. “If I’m supposed to get a rod over 20/30-somethings having to be told [i]how to wash their (soft) damn hands[i/i], then this silliness has passed me by.”

Nothing makes me feel older and hopelessly unhip than watching an Apple media presentation.

I just don’t need to be reminded, thanks.

“Hey, where are all my friends of every complexion and hairstyle in existence riding our $4,700 solar-powered scooters down the side of a perfect desert cliff and filming it on our new $1,499 iPhone 15 Pro, and then editing it that night around the Burning Man lite bonfire during the Tagoulanese scream-singing concert everyone’s earnestly dancing to (and pretending to enjoy/understand)?”

Yeah, I do that every day, all day!

Nobody’s gonna make a commercial or lifestyle marketing video of 4-5 white-bread dudes hanging out, enjoying their Apple gear. Unless they all start making out!



I just liked the Stevenote era. It/he just seemed a little more grounded and sincere. And focused on the Apple stuff, vs. all the external trappings/point-making. And he wasn’t a boring speaker, like Tim tends to be. The man speaks only in platitudes and Hallmark couplets. Steve, at least, could be funny or throw out a smart-ass zinger on occasion, as needed. Tim would never deviate from the script. And if he did, it would just be more of the same. I’m thinking he’s half a robot, actually.

Im sure he’s a solid guy and knows his job (Apple has never been bigger). But damned if he’s ever made me try to figure out how I HAVE to acquire this new iWhatever, the way his predecessor routinely did, several times a year. I think of all the stuff I bought/owned during the Jobs era (three iMacs, 4-5 iPods, a glass Harmon-Kardon subwoofer, a tangerine iBook, cables, adapters, boxed new versions of Mac OS, the iLife and iWork suites, yearly $99 payment to MobileMe (or whatever it was called at any given moment). I’ve bought nothing new since April 2016. Whatever they’ve gained in other areas, they’ve lost in “unfettered access to Paul’s wallet, throughout the year”.

[psmith2.0]

Nah, I’ll probably watch.

[709]

Damn right.

I get it though. Nobody in these current keynotes besides Schiller really exudes any sense of honest passion that made the old SJ-era keynotes must-watch events for certain types of nerd/design geeks. That'll likely never come back.

[psmith2.0]

Yeah, that's all I was really getting at, and got carried away.

It just seems like watching the Oprah or Rachael Ray show anymore. A lot of buzzwords, seal-clapping and focus on stuff that isn't really the reason I tune in. I'm glad your modern interpretive activist trans dance squad all got new iPads, but I really don't give a shit, big picture. Not for 9-12 minutes, anyway. "When is this little all-emotion puff piece video gonna wind down/wrap up?!"

Everyone seems to be reading off a script that was written, re-written and tested 267 times. There's no sponteniety (certainly not with the pre-filmed stuff, where they can edit, do multiple takes, etc.). I suppose the live, on-stage stuff is gone for a while. I don't know which is tougher to sit through anyway.

The old days always glow a little warmer, huh? Right or wrong, the stuff you carry with you from when you were once neck-deep in all things "i" stick around. I remember I'd base my entire day/morning around these things, declining any and all lunch offers/invites, yard-mowing or errand-running/grocery-getting, just so I could see what Steve was gonna do. Even with the stronger, more accurate rumor mill in place, there was still a sense of "ohmigosh, what's he gonna pull out of his hat? That "one more thing"? Where has that all gone?

Now, I'd rather go get a root canal or probed in the nether regions (medically) than watch Tim do/say anything.

Everything's so different/changed. Jobs is gone, Ive is gone (but with the way he was getting, I don't really mind that one), I think Schiller kinda stepped down? Now it's flat Tim, that Joz guy (who seems like such a smarmy little twerp, the hair guy who's on auto-pilot/cruise control at this point, playing to his strengths, and a few others whose names I can't recall. For obvious reasons. They're a screen door.

Forget the pandemic supply chain woes. Apple's had a staggering depletion/loss of charisma/sincerity.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by PB PM Does anyone even watch these Apple events anymore? Who cares what time it is?

It seems the actual audience is bigger than ever, but yeah, my excitement isn’t quite the same.

Originally Posted by PB PM maybe DDR5 memory? I notice they don’t even tell us what kind of memory it is anymore on the website.

M2 is already LPDDR5. They're not gonna go to non-LP.

They might upgrade to LPDDR5X or 5T.

Listing it in the tech specs seems pointless to me, like listing available arithmetic instructions. They also don't list the clock speed of the CPU, because… there isn't really anything to compare it to. You can't get an Apple SoC with a different clock or type of RAM.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 they were the most boring, by-the-numbers, box-checking presentations imaginable.

Yeah, I can see that.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 I just liked the Stevenote era. It/he just seemed a little more grounded and sincere.

I've watched some Stevenotes in recent years, and I can see that. He seemed genuinely excited about some stuff he was showing, like Aqua, Exposé, and obviously iPhone.

But part of this I'm sure is also nostalgia.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 I think of all the stuff I bought/owned during the Jobs era (three iMacs, 4-5 iPods, a glass Harmon-Kardon subwoofer, a tangerine iBook, cables, adapters, boxed new versions of Mac OS, the iLife and iWork suites, yearly $99 payment to MobileMe (or whatever it was called at any given moment). I’ve bought nothing new since April 2016. Whatever they’ve gained in other areas, they’ve lost in “unfettered access to Paul’s wallet, throughout the year”.

So, maybe they don't sell it right, but there have absolutely great Macs since 2016. The entire AirPods line (which appeared that very year) is also quite good, and feels very Apple-y to me. Simple almost to a fault, delightful when it works, frustrating when it occasionally does not.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 that Joz guy (who seems like such a smarmy little twerp

Yeah. I find him quite obnoxious, and perhaps exactly the kind of stereotype Apple is associated with. He needs to let someone else do the presenting. (And stop appearing on John's live show, or… well, you know what, it doesn't matter: I don't enjoy watching that any more either, now that it feels so unnatural as well.)

[PB PM]

Listing it in the tech specs seems pointless to me…

Why list anything at all then? They don’t for iPhones or iPads. I mean, we are all just suckers who should eat the Apple fruit and never think and lean anything about technology because we are too cool and trendy to care about nerd stuff right?

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by chucker It seems the actual audience is bigger than ever, but yeah, my excitement isn’t quite the same. M2 is already LPDDR5. They're not gonna go to non-LP. They might upgrade to LPDDR5X or 5T. Listing it in the tech specs seems pointless to me, like listing available arithmetic instructions. They also don't list the clock speed of the CPU, because… there isn't really anything to compare it to. You can't get an Apple SoC with a different clock or type of RAM. Yeah, I can see that. I've watched some Stevenotes in recent years, and I can see that. He seemed genuinely excited about some stuff he was showing, like Aqua, Exposé, and obviously iPhone. But part of this I'm sure is also nostalgia. So, maybe they don't sell it right, but there have absolutely great Macs since 2016. The entire AirPods line (which appeared that very year) is also quite good, and feels very Apple-y to me. Simple almost to a fault, delightful when it works, frustrating when it occasionally does not. Yeah. I find him quite obnoxious, and perhaps exactly the kind of stereotype Apple is associated with. He needs to let someone else do the presenting. (And stop appearing on John's live show, or… well, you know what, it doesn't matter: I don't enjoy watching that any more either, now that it feels so unnatural as well.)

I know gruber is a big Letterman fan and the idea of himself hosting such a thing is a big deal to him, but it just feels off/weird. Without the comedy angle, it’s just any cable news talking heads/interview show. Yeah, that whole thing is weird. And I couldn’t sit in that audience, those people.

I think as long as the “C” word still lingers and is possible will be video only. Apple doesn’t wannabe seen as ground zero for another huge breakout, and the cream of third-tier tech journalists dying at hospitals back in their hometown.

This time next year will probably be a video-based event.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by PB PM Why list anything at all then? They don’t for iPhones or iPads. I mean, we are all just suckers who should eat the Apple fruit and never think and lean anything about technology because we are too cool and trendy to care about nerd stuff right?

No, not at all.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by PB PM Why list anything at all then? They don’t for iPhones or iPads. I mean, we are all just suckers who should eat the Apple fruit and never think and lean anything about technology because we are too cool and trendy to care about nerd stuff right?

I know it's a bit of a joke, but "nerds" care about why something works, whereas the average folk only care that it does work.

I suspect any one of us in here can look up the core specs of Apple Silicon, memorize them, and then spout them at the latest tech convention, but most folks just don't care. I cannot remember the last time a customer asked my what the clock cycle was for any Apple Silicon product. Nor do people ask about RAM in iPads. A few people will ask about "cores", but mostly they only want to know A) What can it do? B) How much is it?

That's pretty much it.

All of that GHz stuff has mostly fallen by the wayside within the normal circles of Apple sales. People outside of AppleNova don't care anymore.

[PB PM]

That’s always been the case, that most people don’t care about the specs. Why list tech specs at all if they aren’t going to post all of them? That’s all I’m saying.

I mean if I’m going to get hosed paying the Apple tax for a product, I want to at least know I’m getting hosed on the most recent tech, not something from 5 years ago. I still chuckle when I think of the people who bought iMac Pros for those ridiculous prices for the last few years it was available, when the standard iMacs were faster in every way and had been for a while.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by PB PM Why list tech specs at all if they aren’t going to post all of them?

But it's never been "all of them". It's always some arbitrary abstraction they pick.

Originally Posted by PB PM I mean if I’m going to get hosed paying the Apple tax for a product, I want to at least know I’m getting hosed on the most recent tech, not something from 5 years ago.

OK, but you shouldn't base a purchasing decision on such a biased spec sheet from a manufacturer, and "yeah, it's an M2 Max, but that thing only has LPDDR4" doesn't really move the needle one way or another. Benchmarks and reviews do.

You could use the spec sheet to see "how many ports and what kinds does it have". I occasionally use it to look up things like "what's the screen resolution". Also, frankly, to skip over the marketing page, which these days I find obnoxious to use with all the animations and scroll jacking. Beyond that, when was the spec sheet all that useful?

Originally Posted by PB PM I still chuckle when I think of the people who bought iMac Pros for those ridiculous prices for the last few years it was available, when the standard iMacs were faster in every way and had been for a while.

I mean… yes and no. The iMac Pro was still better in some respects. It was much quieter, for example. The kind of thing you don't see on a spec sheet. Like, if you were an audio engineer, the iMac Pro would've still been a better choice even if the regular iMac, bizarrely, was already faster. (Assuming you didn't configure the iMac Pro to 18 cores…)

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by kscherer I know it's a bit of a joke, but "nerds" care about why something works, whereas the average folk only care that it does work. I suspect any one of us in here can look up the core specs of Apple Silicon, memorize them, and then spout them at the latest tech convention, but most folks just don't care. I cannot remember the last time a customer asked my what the clock cycle was for any Apple Silicon product. Nor do people ask about RAM in iPads. A few people will ask about "cores", but mostly they only want to know A) What can it do? B) How much is it? That's pretty much it. All of that GHz stuff has mostly fallen by the wayside within the normal circles of Apple sales. People outside of AppleNova don't care anymore.

I can see that, and agree. Spec Whoredom ain’t what it used to be.

But it still flies high/burns bright over in the guitar/music gear arena. There isn’t an Apple/Mac geek on the planet who’s ever gotten into the weeds of meaningless lingo/gear-speak like an intermediate guitarist who’s simply read too many articles.

Tubes, capacitors, pot values, strings, picks, pedals, cables, etc. There isn’t anything these guys won’t obsess over in the neverending quest for Tone(tm), where I’ve always been more of a “STFU and just play already!” type who doesn’t get all into the weeds of “stuff”.

The way I’ve always looked at is, my favorite players and influences (Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, etc.) all played off-the-shelf guitars into off-the-shelf amps, sometimes cheap, no-name stuff, and recorded the best music that will ever be. I seriously doubt Bo Diddley ever sat and tore his guitar or amp apart, obsessively replacing/upgrading every capacitor and pot the way some people on guitar forums always seem to do.

“Yes, that all sounds interesting. But do you ever actually play? Have you ever, or is your room just a lab and you’re Thomas Edison with a nose ring, long hair and unfortunate, regrettable tattoos?”

It’s an illness, and I don’t understand why so many people succumb. guitar/gear acquisition and constant tinkering seems to be the only thing some are even in it for!

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 I can see that, and agree. Spec Whoredom ain’t what it used to be.

Yeah, I think that's right. Steve's ideal of the computer as an appliance, etc.