Apple Devices Thread

[ravipatel (Ravi)]

@Ungoliant

Don’t get midnight, mine looks like garbage around the ports and it’s a proper fingerprint magnet

What are you doing with yours? I have two midnight airs and both are immaculate .

[8XE]

Any Mac + iPad “Sidecar” users on here?

As an Apple fanatic, I have almost all of their products, but for some reason I’ve never been drawn to the iPad. It has just never appealed to me and I’m not sure why.

Using an iPad as another display could tempt me. Is the Sidecar experience good? Any lag?

Obviously I’m not going to buy an iPad just to use as another display. There are better options for that. I’ve no doubt I would find other uses for one.

[ravipatel (Ravi)]

@8XE

Using an iPad as another display could tempt me. Is the Sidecar experience good? Any lag?

Sidear worked fine for me when I messed around with it but I don’t really see the appeal outside of real desperation for (a small amount of) extra screen estate.

I guess it’s (a little) more useful if you have a 13" iPad, but when I had one of those I always left it at home as it was way too heavy to carry.

For me, the killer use case of an iPad is watching video. It’s the best screen I own and I do 90% of my TV watching in bed and wouldn’t use anything else.

[LordRec]

5G SA access perhaps? Standalone means your phone isn’t doing any 4G memery (which should reduce data usage a lot).

[AndOrDog]

No, I was using a 4G only eSIM

I think it was just because it wasn’t struggling to keep a signal

[8XE]

Good advice. I’ll rethink, I reckon. I didn’t actually want the iPad for travelling, it would be for my desk. I have 3 displays, and one of them is 240Hz but can only run at 120Hz because of bandwidth limitations around Thunderbolt 4 and display limitations on M4/M5.

They are all connected via a CalDigit TS4 dock.

I’d like to run my main display (AW3225QF) at the full 240Hz, so my only option would be to disconnect one of my other displays, to free up some bandwidth for the main one.

There is actually another option, but that would involve me going out and buying an M5 Pro/Max, along with a new TS5 dock, which supports Thunderbolt 5, and can push all of my displays to their max. I’d rather not spend the money on that right now. I’m happy with my M4 Air.

The way Apple have implemented Sidecar ensures all displays can run at max alongside.

Admittedly, my use case is quite unusual. I really should be a MacBook Pro owner with either Pro or Max chips, but I appreciate the lightweight Air too much to switch.

[jo (Member)]

@8XE

You might want to consider your choice of colour though. Many report scuffs and scratches appearing too easily on Midnignt.

@Ungoliant

Don’t get midnight

Ok I’ll get either Sky Blue or Silver

@descendent

Even the Neo would likely be capable for what you want

@8XE

I keep forgetting the Neo exists.

@coffeemadman

For university the Neo will absolutely suffice and be half the price.

I was talking to my brother about this. He thinks I’ll be better getting something with 16GB RAM, and more power than just the A18 chip. I originally said I was thinking about the Neo.

@Will_i

Excel on a Mac is terrible. But not sure how important during the degree

Hmm, not the best thing to hear. But if I’ve 16GB RAM then it should run decent?

@MalaiseForever

Don’t waste uni on an accounting and finance degree. Do something interesting that will teach you other skills e.g. maths, economics, a science, history etc. If you still want to a job in that space, get a company to pay for your chartered qualification after uni.

@ravipatel

I did Accounting and Finance in Uni and have been working as an accountant for twenty years. I couldn’t agree with this any more.

I’m trying to get an apprenticeship in Jersey with my Entitled status, but if I can’t secure one then I’ve got this unconditional offer to study Accounting and Finance, and it’s a bit late to change it now as I’ve accepted the place.

@aCCount

£1600 is a lot, especially when you’re half planning to use a 27" screen and not even look at your laptop.

Money side of things isn’t an issue. This is the sort of thing I’ve been saving for and I can comfortably afford it. And I think I’d go for the 13" for £1,378. And I’d be planning on using it for >5 years.

[descendent]

@jo

I was talking to my brother about this. He thinks I’ll be better getting something with 16GB RAM, and more power than just the A18 chip. I originally said I was thinking about the Neo.

For the price difference between the two and what you want to use it for I’d go with the Neo but it’s your choice and the Air is a great laptop

Hmm, not the best thing to hear. But if I’ve 16GB RAM then it should run decent?

It’s not the performance of the laptop, it’s the fact that it’s a Microsoft app so the Mac versions are second class citizens compared to windows.

[tired (I I don’t need your rockin’ chair)]

@8XE

I have almost all of their products, but for some reason I’ve never been drawn to the iPad. It has just never appealed to me and I’m not sure why.

I also had no use for it until around 2021 when I was doing my masters in public health and still working full time.
I had lots of research and reports to do.
Fortunately at my job that time they could let us do whatever we wanted in the “free time” we got during working hours when it wasn’t busy.
I got one and it made my studies a lot easier. I could type reports and hit deadlines with less stress while still getting paid.
It was portable and had a somewhat larger screen, could also multi task and also supported some of the apps for research aggregation.

After completing the masters, it remained for use on the plane and occasional Disney+.

[ravipatel (Ravi)]

@jo

Money side of things isn’t an issue. This is the sort of thing I’ve been saving for and I can comfortably afford it. And I think I’d go for the 13" for £1,378. And I’d be planning on using it for >5 years.

It’s your money, but for that price you could get an  refurb MBP.

Refurbished 14-inch MacBook Pro Apple M5 chip with 10‑Core CPU and 10‑Core GPU...

[mikez]

@jo

He thinks I’ll be better getting something with 16GB RAM, and more power than just the A18 chip. I originally said I was thinking about the Neo.

I suggest watching this from Mark Ellis. He’s not into Geekbench scores, etc. but rather which machine is best for which job. Watch this one and his “The truth about the Neo” video as well. I’ve had a quick play with the cheaper Neo and, to be honest, it didn’t feel that much different from my Mac Studio for web browsing and using the office apps.

Don't Buy the Wrong MacBook! (Neo vs Air vs Pro)

[Jamie93]

@aCCount

Personally, I’d be looking at the Neo, and possibly a separate keyboard and mouse so you could use it with your existing screen as a desktop at home if you don’t already have one.

I was thinking this too - the 13" might be easier to carry around if you’re mostly going to use it with an external display anyway

Are you buying through the education store for the discount too? They usually have an offer that runs in the summer, that might also be worth considering if you’re buying new

[JIMMWX (Village Idiot)]

@tired

After completing the masters, it remained for use on the plane and occasional Disney+.

This was the only reason I bought my original iPad (Mini 5) - I had a five hour flight to Madeira coming up and wanted something to watch.

Since then I’ve found it invaluable and my go to device for checking on the news, taking notes etc. The “upgrade” to the A16 standard ipad has been brilliant for form factor, less so for modernity. I kinda wish I’d not just assumed the latest thing would work with the latest things. For example it doesn’t support Apple Intelligence which is easily circumvented by downloading Chat GPT.

[coffeemadman (Jonathon 🏳️‍🌈)]

@jo

I was talking to my brother about this. He thinks I’ll be better getting something with 16GB RAM, and more power than just the A18 chip. I originally said I was thinking about the Neo.

For day to day use RAM/power is barely a consideration with a Mac. It will run your tasks absolutely fine. The chips are very good.

[LordRec]

Yeah, using it for some university work… I had no issues using a Mac for my programming assessments. Not sure why anyone would worry about economics - unless you’re doing a lot of graphics processing then the Neo is enough.

[aCCount]

@jo

Money side of things isn’t an issue. This is the sort of thing I’ve been saving for and I can comfortably afford it. And I think I’d go for the 13" for £1,378. And I’d be planning on using it for >5 years.

I still suspect a £500 Neo now and another £500 Neo in 2-3 years would give you a better overall experience. And £378 to stick in a LISA / spend it on whatever it is students do these days.

[moibbi]

is it likely a new AppleTv will be released at wwdc?

[descendent]

No, they don’t usually release products at WWDC. My guess is there’ll be an event a couple of months after the iPhone launch in September for AppleTV, HomePod and maybe some of the new home hardware that’s been rumoured so possibly October/November.

The iPhone 18 will be the first product to launch with the new Siri and that is what’s holding up all these other products apparently.