Tag Archive for ‘Stephen Hackett’

Stephen Hackett:

In the lead up to Apple silicon there was a lot of conjecture — including by me — that the 12-inch MacBook would make a great candidate to lead the processor transition. So far, the MacBook hasn’t made a return, but I know a bunch of folks would like to see the line resurrected one more time.

I never used a 12-inch MacBook beyond the brief moments toying around with one in a retail store, but I’m a massive fan of the 11-inch MacBook Air. I used my 2011 model as my primary Mac up until 2018 and still use it occasionally today — I just recently used OpenCore Patcher to install Big Sur on the machine.

Despite my affinity for the 13-inch MacBooks, I still miss using an ultra-portable in the 11- or 12-inch range. My 11-inch Air is just so darn light and the smaller display never really feels like a hinderance to me. If Apple brought back the 12-inch MacBook — with a good keyboard this time — there’s a good chance I’d order one to use as my primary work laptop.

➝ Source: 512pixels.net

I’m due for a new work laptop next month, so I’ll be interested to see what is announced on that front. But truthfully, if Tim walked on stage and announced a hot fix release for iOS 15 that fixes Shortcuts, I’d be thrilled.

➝ Source: 512pixels.net

I hadn’t been following Mac Madness to closely, but I can’t for the life of me understand how the G4 iMac and 12-inch PowerBook were eliminated so early. If I didn’t know the results, I would have expected those two machines to meet in the finals. Either way, I never would have guess the G4 Cube would have been the winner.

➝ Source: 512pixels.net

A neat little video from Stephen Hackett discussing the black MacBook. I remember when these came out and wanted one desperately. But in the end, I wasn’t willing to spend the extra $150 just for the black casing and ended up with the white model instead.

It was an excellent machine and served me well for about five years before I purchased an 11-inch MacBook Air to replace it.

➝ Source: youtube.com

Benjamin Mayo, writing for 9 to 5 Mac:

Apple has recently updated its App Store Preview pages for stories to allow users to view the full content of stories from inside their desktop web browser. App Store stories have always been shareable as links, but the web version was just a title and a navigation link to ‘open this story in the App Store’.

Between August 9th and August 11th, Apple has upgraded the experience and now includes full imagery, app lists and paragraphs copy in the web version. This means you can access the same content online as you would be ale to find in the native App Store experience.

A big step in the right direction. Maybe they’ll add RSS feeds next.

(Via Stephen Hackett.)

Stephen Hackett:

It used to be that to run a Time Machine Server, you needed to be running a copy of macOS Server on your host machine, but those days are now gone. Anyone running High Sierra or later on a Mac can now turn that Mac into a destination for remote machines to use for Time Machine.

Say you have a Mac mini on your network, and a MacBook Pro. You can hook up an USB hard drive to that Mac mini, and within a few minutes, be backing your MacBook Pro up across your network using Time Machine.

Saved for future reference, when I eventually retire our Time Capsule and buy an Eero kit.

Stephen Hackett:

What would it mean for Apple to make an ePad?

Making the tablet more rugged would be at the top of the list for a lot of educators. I’ve heard numbers all over the place when it comes to accidental damage rates for deployed iPads in schools, but making an ePad that could take more abuse would be a winner in most people’s books, I’m sure. […]

Apple should also reconsider its keyboard strategy. I don’t know if taking a page out of the education-only eMate 300 and going with a built-in keyboard is the right answer for every school, so in this fantasy, let’s say every ePad can support an external keyboard via the Smart Connector, but perhaps there could be a SKU that came with a keyboard built into the device more directly. It should still fold flat out of the way when not needed, granting greater flexibility than the traditional notebook form factor.

An inexpensive, education-only iPad that’s built to withstand some punishment sounds like a compelling product. I expect there’s a lot of school districts that would reconsider their hardware choices if such a device existed.

Stephen Hackett:

I don’t think the market for the iPhone SE is very big, but I bet it’s bigger than Apple thought it would be a couple of years ago. I know many SE users are devoted to having the most compact smartphone they can, and I think Apple should continue to serve that market.

If Apple does announce an iPhone SE 2 this spring, my wife will be first in line to purchase on day one. She’s a huge fan of the compact form factor and prefers the less-slippery, harder edges of the 5S-era design. And of course, having a smartphone that actually fits in her jeans pocket is a plus.

In terms of what to expect in such a device, I’m thinking an A10 Fusion chip, a glass back for wireless charging, and the single-lens camera system from the iPhone 7.