Apple Thread II | AirPods Pros Announced

[Rubix]

Looking at a XS or X. Anyone jumped fron the X to the XS?

I have been tempted but I don’t think I would notice much (if any) difference if I did, I am extremely happy with my X, if I were to upgrade it would be to the XS Max but I think it may be to big as the size of the X is the perfect size for both browsing and fitting in my pocket, I have the 256gb model so it has plenty of storage, it’s fast, great screen, great camera etc, I will be waiting until 2019 for a new iPhone

Thanks, its worth noting that I currently have a iPhone 6

[KK]

Have they announced when Amazon UK will start officially selling Apple products like the USA? There’s a few items there (old gen Air) but not a proper shop.

[Robbo-92]

I've not seen a date as of yet, but then again I've not exactly gone looking for one.

Reckon I'll have a quick look for deals on the 128GB iPad as soon as midnight rolls around (imagine most sites will put their deals up then), if there's not anything amazing I may as well just buy it from Apple and then put the voucher towards an iPhone in the near future.

[KK]

I’m not familiar with the shop, but they’ve got some heavy discounts on Apple products, with an extra 2% off via Quidco. It takes the MacBook Air to under a £1000: https://www.eglobalcentraluk.com/produc ... Book%20Air

[Robbo-92]

I ended up just ordering my iPad (with Apple Pencil) via the Apple store, I will be ordering an iPhone at some point in the near future anyway and the savings I'd have gotten at John Lewis was £40 (£30 off the iPad and £10 off the Apple Pencil when bought with an applicable iPad), which is how much the voucher will save me off my iPhone purchase so it made little difference in the end. Looking forward to having an up to date iPad and I'm keen to try the Apple Pencil out (will have to buy Procreate as I keep reading that its one of the better art apps out there). I have ordered a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard folio case, I spend quite a lot of time typing stuff out on my iPad and this looks to offer decent protection as well, although I ordered this off of Amazon as they were charging £65 rather than £90 off the Apple site.

[Rubix]

Looking at a XS or X. Anyone jumped fron the X to the XS?

I have been tempted but I don’t think I would notice much (if any) difference if I did, I am extremely happy with my X, if I were to upgrade it would be to the XS Max but I think it may be to big as the size of the X is the perfect size for both browsing and fitting in my pocket, I have the 256gb model so it has plenty of storage, it’s fast, great screen, great camera etc, I will be waiting until 2019 for a new iPhone

Thanks, its worth noting that I currently have a iPhone 6

Bought this the X as it was £400 cheaper on Black Friday. Looking forward to the upgrade

[Robbo-92]

My new iPads just turned up, unboxed both items to make sure they look fine (which they do) but I'm waiting till my case and screen protector arrive before setting it up, hopefully they won't be much longer.

Re the gift card I now have for the Apple Store, anyone know how to redeem it (I take it its when you're checking out on an order?) and how long does it last for before it expires?

[RichardUK]

Did your case arrive yet? which colour iPad did you go for? How you finding it?

You just add the gift card on check out or in store at a Apple store, I’m not completely sure but they either never expire or last for two years

[Robbo-92]

Thank for the info re the gift card, looks like I've no immediate rush to buy an XR then (although it is on the cards). I went for the 128GB space grey (as I prefer the black bezels) 2018 iPad, so far so good, already feels immensely quicker than my (now old) iPad 2.

I'm literally just getting around to setting it up now as my case and screen protector have finally arrived and I've finally got a bit of free time (Amazon have been remarkably slow for them, ordered last Friday and turned up yesterday evening, wouldn't have minded if I'd opted for the free P&P but I take it they'll have had a manic weekend).

Very easy tos et up as always though, backing up from an iTunes backup makes it feel like I've never been even switched. Although it looks like it'll take a while to redownload eveything.

Quick edit to say its all set up now and the difference is night and day between this and my old one! Only thing is a few apps I had on there are no longer available or haven’t been updated so I guess I’ll need to try and find replacement apps for those. Luckily nothing too vital though, anyone know a good video download app?

[RichardUK]

I’m really enjoying my iPad and I am using it far more than I thought I would, at first I thought the screen size may have been to large but it’s perfect, I have been watching now tv and all 4 on it and find it more comfortable than watching it on the tv, I have been playing games on it, I am currently playing sim city and it’s great and I can listen to music or a podcast at the same time, the speakers are really impressive as well, I didn’t think I would use the Apple Pencil at all but I prefer using it as a stylus rather than my finger, overall I would give it 10/10 I am extremely happy with it, I buy a lot of things that I end up not using but everything I buy from Apple I use daily (apart from my iPod touch but that’s understandable)

[KK]

Your new iPad a bit bent? It's a design feature...

Apple has confirmed to The Verge that some of its 2018 iPad Pros are shipping with a very slight bend in the aluminum chassis. But according to the company, this is a side effect of the device’s manufacturing process and shouldn’t worsen over time or negatively affect the flagship iPad’s performance in any practical way. Apple does not consider it to be a defect.

The bend is the result of a cooling process involving the iPad Pro’s metal and plastic components during manufacturing, according to Apple. Both sizes of the new iPad Pro can exhibit it. The iPad Pro ranges in price from $799 for the base 11-inch model up to $1,899 for a fully-loaded 12.9-inch device with 1TB of storage and LTE connectivity.



The response comes after some customers on social media and several on the MacRumors forums have claimed their iPad Pros developed a small curve or bend without any mistreatment or abnormal stress being exerted on the metal casing. There are posts from people who believe it happened gradually over the course of normal, everyday use — or after transporting the iPad Pro in a backpack. And I’ve seen others from folks who are insistent their iPad came that way out of the box.

Apple is now saying that in some cases, the latter is true. And I can personally vouch for that: my 11-inch iPad Pro showed a bit of a curve after two weeks. Apple asked if I would send it their way so the engineering team could take a look. But the replacement 11-inch iPad Pro I received at Apple’s Downtown Brooklyn store exhibited a very slight bend in the aluminum as soon as I took off the wrapper.

It’s an issue that seems to be more pronounced on the LTE model, as there’s a plastic strip that breaks up the iPad’s flat aluminum sides; it’s where the antenna line divides two sections of metal that some users have noticed a bend. Apple did not say the perceived flaw is strictly limited to the cellular iPad Pro, however, and some buyers of the Wi-Fi model also claim to have encountered it. Even if only cosmetic, the issue is out of character for Apple, which has rooted its reputation in manufacturing devices with best-in-industry fit and finish.

Those who are annoyed by the bend shouldn’t have any trouble exchanging or returning their iPad Pro at the Apple Store or other retailers within the 14-day return window. But it’s not clear if swaps will be permitted outside that policy. I’ve asked Apple if it has communicated with stores about the issue, as I’ve read some accounts of employees telling people it’s accidental damage and warrants an AppleCare+ claim (and deductible) to replace. That shouldn’t be the case for a slight bend. Apple also says it has not seen a higher-than-normal return rate for the 2018 iPad Pro so far.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/19/181 ... -confirmed

[RichardUK]

Mine is perfectly flat, I use it everyday (I’m on it now) it has been in the folio since I got it so maybe that helps but I have complaints, I love it!

[KK]

The Apple MacBook 12" (2017) has been reduced at John Lewis to £799: https://www.johnlewis.com/2017-apple-ma ... d/p3913150

Guess that means either a new model is on the way or Apple are about to discontinue the line.

[GrinWithoutaKat]

Gone and bought myself an Apple Watch series 4 (my first smartwatch). After going around 5 years without any new Apple tech, this comes just months after getting an iPhone XS Max. Did a ton of overtime just before Christmas though, so thought I’d use half that extra money to treat myself.

I usually plan these things in advance and know all about it before getting my hands on it, but this was just a few days of contemplation so it’s all very new. Mainly want it for all the health and fitness tracking, but already enjoying the notifications from all the various messengers on my wrist. One downside was there seems to be no WhatsApp, but I can reply to messages from the phone, just can’t access it unless someone has just messaged me.

Not even sure how long the battery typically lasts. I wanted to use a sleep tracker app, so no overnight charging. Should probably get an extra charger for the office in that case.

[massimo]

Gone and bought myself an Apple Watch series 4 (my first smartwatch). After going around 5 years without any new Apple tech, this comes just months after getting an iPhone XS Max. Did a ton of overtime just before Christmas though, so thought I’d use half that extra money to treat myself.

I usually plan these things in advance and know all about it before getting my hands on it, but this was just a few days of contemplation so it’s all very new. Mainly want it for all the health and fitness tracking, but already enjoying the notifications from all the various messengers on my wrist. One downside was there seems to be no WhatsApp, but I can reply to messages from the phone, just can’t access it unless someone has just messaged me.

Not even sure how long the battery typically lasts. I wanted to use a sleep tracker app, so no overnight charging. Should probably get an extra charger for the office in that case.

The battery is pretty good now and you could probably get away with a day and nights usage without charging. It’ll typically take about 90 minutes to two hours to charge, although haven’t timed it.
Re. WhatsApp
I’m not a huge fan of typing into the watch, and would rather use Siri. So you can say on the watch, “Hey Siri, send a message to whoever on WhatsApp” and it’ll do the rest for you.

[GrinWithoutaKat]

Gone and bought myself an Apple Watch series 4 (my first smartwatch). After going around 5 years without any new Apple tech, this comes just months after getting an iPhone XS Max. Did a ton of overtime just before Christmas though, so thought I’d use half that extra money to treat myself.

I usually plan these things in advance and know all about it before getting my hands on it, but this was just a few days of contemplation so it’s all very new. Mainly want it for all the health and fitness tracking, but already enjoying the notifications from all the various messengers on my wrist. One downside was there seems to be no WhatsApp, but I can reply to messages from the phone, just can’t access it unless someone has just messaged me.

Not even sure how long the battery typically lasts. I wanted to use a sleep tracker app, so no overnight charging. Should probably get an extra charger for the office in that case.

The battery is pretty good now and you could probably get away with a day and nights usage without charging. It’ll typically take about 90 minutes to two hours to charge, although haven’t timed it.
Re. WhatsApp
I’m not a huge fan of typing into the watch, and would rather use Siri. So you can say on the watch, “Hey Siri, send a message to whoever on WhatsApp” and it’ll do the rest for you.

Ah, using Siri like that would be perfect. Replied to a couple of messages so far, one using the 'draw the letters' thing and another using dictation, the latter obviously being much quicker.

[Mafro]

A lot of apps just use those interactive notifications rather than bothering with a Watch app. Twitter and Instagram both discontinued their watch apps to just use those instead.

[RichardUK]

I enjoyed the new year fireworks on the Apple Watch

[NickSCFC]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... se-economy

Have to say I've been less than impressed with Apple under Tim Cook

Competitors, including Chinese budget brands, seem to be implementing innovations years before Apple.

As for phone sales, I know many people who've switched from iPhone to Android, don't know any who've gone the other way.

[KK]

I bet the iPhone that brings back the touch id under the screen and removes the notch (probably the 2020 model) will do very well, as will the Macbook Air upgrade either this year or next that will inevitably see True Tone and Wide colour (P3) added, and the backlight boosted to 500 nits, along with a better processor. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 4K option finally added to the Macbook Pro either.

Price wise, it feels like the company has literally maxed it out. You can't take it any higher now, unless they can come up with some sort of show stopping feature, but it seems unlikely.