Yeah, I think for most of what OP is describing, an earlier generation Pro with RAM and storage upgrade is a better bargain than spending the same amount of money on the newest processor. Not sure if OP can access the refurbished Apple store, but that’s where I’d be looking.
Yup, the base M chips can only support two displays, including the built-in, so a base MacBook Air can only support one external monitor. This was not a limitation of the Intel versions from before 2020.
I don’t think they’d go back to off-package RAM anymore. The benefits of putting it on one package is too great, and gives them just enough cover to be able to charge like crazy for it.
96GB of DDR5 laptop memory is $350
Maybe it’s better to compare LPCAMM2 form factor prices. For that, 64GB is $329. Still not quite the same as adding 16GB for $400, but it’s a better comparison.
For stationary workstations limited to only driving two displays, permanently committing to one built in display hurts flexibility. A MacBook air can’t have a dual monitor setup where both monitors are the same size.
The mini form factor cools better, and can do more sustained work with the same hardware.
More ports means more straightforward connection to things like hardwired Ethernet, external storage, etc., good for certain stationary uses.
A couple hundred dollars is like double the price. The MacBook Air starts at $1099 for the current generation, almost twice as much as the $599 Mac Mini. For now, the Mac Mini is also ahead by a generation in the M-series chip and base storage/memory, too, so it literally is more than twice the cost for a similarly specced MacBook Air over a Mac Mini. Presumably the next generation Air will also have some improvements to the base model, but I expect it to be the same price.
I personally use my M1 Mac Mini as a pretty good home server. That might not be a super common use case, but I’d think it would make a way better desktop than a MacBook Air.
Gigglebytes?
Are you required to subscribe through Prime or can I add any subscription?
I think it only works with services subscribed through Amazon.
Yeah, Google does the same thing, but it launches the specific app in order to play from that screen (and not every app handles that gracefully).
What’s interesting about Amazon is that they play the actual content in the same app, even when licensed through a subscription with another service.
I’m hopeful that we’ll eventually be able to separate the app itself from the license to view certain content. Some apps are shit with good content, and some apps are great with insufficient content.
I’d love to be able to have a one-stop shop for browsing or searching for shows and movies that I have access to, whether it’s through my Netflix/Amazon/Disney/Hulu/Peacock/Apple/Paramount subscription or whatever. Amazon seems intent on trying to make it happen, but I’d personally prefer that the actual device (Apple TV, Chromecast or whatever it’s replacement is called, Roku, XBox, Samsung TV) to just have it on the home screen when you turn it on.
stop looking at those as “features of the keyboard and mouse that I purchased”
Seriously.
Maybe I’m an old timer but my idea of extra features on a mouse or keyboard are simply more inputs: more mouse buttons or wheels, more keys on a keyboard (like media keys). At most that just requires additional hardware, but nothing my OS can’t handle on its own.
And then to answer your question I don’t think it has much to do with the sport itself.
To think of another example, I’ve seen a lot more violent anger in living rooms triggered by a video game than a sporting event.
What’s this reporter’s track record on reporting? His substack seems pretty bare, but it seems that he’s spent some time as a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion. Not sure if that gives him credibility on anonymous TSMC sources, though.
There’s some history here:
SMS was ubiquitous in the United States long before smartphones. We didn’t have country codes to worry about, so anyone else in the United States was reachable in near real time over text, using an asynchronous, open, inter-carrier method of communication. If I had your phone number I could text you for free. Layered onto that was various automated systems over text (alerts, etc.). Later on, the carriers rolled out MMS for basic pictures being sent, group texts, etc.
So when iPhones became popular here, the default method of communication was SMS/MMS. The iPhone user knew that it would work with dumb phones, Android phones, Windows phones, whatever. And those habits and those chat threads predated the rise of WhatsApp, FB Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, etc., and a lot of those apps simply didn’t work with old dumb phones. Why give up an existing group chat thread just because one of those friends didn’t have a smartphone yet?
Then, whenever every member of a chat had an iPhone, the system automatically defaulted to the upgraded iMessage experience: high quality media sharing, typing/delivery/read notifications, reactions, etc. It was a slow transition, and didn’t start to show clear advantage over the open SMS/MMS standard until smartphones were ubiquitous, and where most people had iPhones.
And so once everyone had a “it just works” app, they didn’t want to switch to an app that required everyone to get a separate account and download a separate app. Especially because the iPhone hit something like 80% market share among certain demographics (the young, the non-technical rich, etc.).
From my frame of reference they designed the phones to be backwards compatible with preexisting accessories.
Yeah, this advanced packaging stuff is pretty new, where they figured out how to make little chiplets but still put them onto the same package, connected by new tech that finally allows for high speed, low latency connections between chiplets (without causing dealbreaker temperature issues). That’s opened up a lot of progress even as improving the circuits on the silicon itself has run into engineering challenges.
So while TSMC seemingly ahead of its competition on actually printing circuits on silicon with smaller and denser features, advanced packaging tech is going a long way in allowing companies to mix and match different pieces of silicon with different strengths and functionality (for a more cost effective end solution, and making better use of the nodes that aren’t at the absolute bleeding edge).
Engineers are doing all sorts of cool stuff right now.
You’re right, it’s not the same die, but the advanced packaging techniques that they keep improving (like the vertical stacking you mention) make for a much tighter set of specs for the raw flash storage silicon compared to what they might be putting in USB drives or NVMe sticks, in power consumption/temperature management, bus speeds/latency, form factor, etc.
So it’d be more accurate to describe it as a system on a package (SiP) rather than a system on a chip (SoC). Either way, that carries certain requirements that aren’t present for a standalone storage package separately soldered onto the PCB, or even storage through some kind of non-soldered swappable interface.
Packaging flash storage onto the actual SoC SiP costs more than manufacturing the same amount of storage into an M.2 or external USB form factor, so that price can’t be directly compared. They’re making a big chunk of profit on storage upgrades, and on cloud subscriptions, but it’s not exactly cheap to give everyone 1TB of storage at that base price.
In addition to the stone/clay based works that you might be thinking of, I find certain metalworking sculptures to be interesting, too. Alexander Calder made a bunch of red steel sculptures, almost architectural art, in addition to things like dynamic mobiles. Louise Bourgeois’s “Maman” is an interesting one, too.
There are small metal sculptures, too. From little trinkets made from wire, to welded metal parts, to elaborate chandeliers, these all involve artistic creativity in manipulating materials in a three dimensional space, and it’s a skillset that I admire and respect (and do not have any, myself).
Weight distribution and jiggle control is something I can’t relate to though
It’s not hard. Put on a really heavy backpack and leave the straps super loose, and go try to move around, maybe a few athletic moves that involve changing speed or direction. Compare to a tight backpack with a waistband and shoulder straps properly strapped to your body, and try to move around again. The straps help control the extra motion so that you’re in better control.
Or run around in shoes 5 sizes too big. Or go for a run with your arms loose and intentionally left limp, swinging around like pendulums.
The whole world has a million examples of why providing bracing and support makes for more efficient and comfortable movement.
Or the untested hardware that isn’t guaranteed to be as good as the established player.