Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

I've tried a few cheaper options from random brands and the common theme is that they're always shit. Anker ones seems to last a bit longer though.

Bought bundle of 4 Apple AirTags off eBay for £85.49.

Only keeping 2 so if you’d like one or pair for pretty good price, let me know.

Collection in London (Bethnal Green).

They are brand new.

£21.50 for one
£43 for both

RRP is £29

Interesting article on the BBC last week about air tags

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-60004257

Apple actually lets you know that someone is "tagging alone". Without being too familiar with their technology, would Tile ever let you know in any way? To me it looks like Apple's notification system is shining a spotlight on a problem that existed well before air tags, but it went under the radar.

Cables: Original apple cable it is then.... I did put shrinktube on my current somewhat broken one and it seems to hold up :D

Apple actually lets you know that someone is "tagging alone".

But only if you have an iPhone, which is apparently about 30% so the other 70% are easy to stalk. Just because company A makes a creepy product doesn't excuse company B doing it.

Apple have an app that 'droid users can download that provides this functionality.

But yeah.

Apple have an app that 'droid users can download that provides this functionality.

That is only available in some regions and doesn't run in the background so you have to spend the rest of your life checking. Yay.

Yeah nothing is perfect.

I'm amazed that anyone can stalk people with these things; they can barely keep track of my cats and they are in the house and in bluetooth range 99% of the time.

There was a period of time, just before Christmas or between Christmas and new year - when the system seemed to go a bit nuts. My phone would continually report that I had unknown tag with me (probably belonged to my other half) and the two we had on the cats would beep occasionally, which they seemed to really enjoy. Felt like some sensitivity tuning Apple were doing went completely wrong.

Isn't the whole system based on the tags being close to connected devices, ie iphones? So if your cats are far enough from other people they won't be tracked?

Hope I'm wrong as it means I could track our cats even though we live in the sticks 🧐

Yeah it can only track via internet connected apple devices. We live in a densely populated area so the theory is that if we indicate our cats tags are lost any internet connected apple device could track our cats if they came within BT range.

Would be useless around here then :(

I need to wipe it and photograph it, and do an official sale post if needed, but anyone after:

MacBook Pro 13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5, 16 GB Ram, 512GB SSD. Space Grey. Low use, battery cycle count is 117. Comes boxed with a hard case already on.

Is it possible to install an ad blocker on my Apple TV? Specifically to block ads on YouTube. I’ve done this on the laptop and it works great.

Apparently not possible. If you can be bothered you can sign up to an Indian YouTube Premium account for about £4/quarter.

Come to think of it... You could MitM all YouTube traffic, build a list of advert video IDs and block those. The YouTube app will probably skip the add.

Just bought a Samsung monitor with HDMI, and neither mine nor my wifes Macbook Pros (an M1 and a 2019 something) will connect to it. Using a USBc adapter, with HDMI cable into the hub and then the monitor. Neither USB port on either laptop makes a difference. Have tried all variations of restarting, unplugging, different HMDI cables. I'm assuming its the adapter hub, but all the other USB ports on it work fine, just no HDMI signal going to monitor.

Shit adaptor? Something else? Help!

Is the USBc adapter the Apple version?

I think the hub might be an issue or the connectivity between the cables? I had a mission recently to connect to an LG monitor and it ended up being cable related. The one solution which did work was a USBC to HDMI cable.

Is the USBc adapter the Apple version?

No, it's just an unbranded one. Oddly, I've managed to just get it to connect to a Samsung TV, no problem, so it's definitely sending signal.

I've a pile of HDMI cables you're welcome to try. There's a USBC to HDMI one which is pretty much guaranteed to work.

For me, I gave up on the LG monitor I had because of the cable issues. I've got a 2020 MacBook Pro which only has two USBC ports, thus, charging, display output and camera meant getting a hub which caused me no end of issues. I settled for the LG for Mac monitor which I managed to get for a decent price used. It was worth it just to have a single cable solution because of the hub in the monitor.

Pretty sure the YouTube ads don't work like this which makes them awkward to block.

The ads are available directly at their URL if you look at the stats for nerds, eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUWrtfWj2cs

In theory you could watch the traffic from the client and not serve traffic for other video IDs that aren't the original page URL. I might have a play.

bought a used M1 mac mini

who here has/had the Satechi hub? Was it @Soul ? Is it any good?

I've got a Caldigit TS3 for the new M1 Max MacBook I have.

I do have an Anker hub which works well when travelling. Would recommend.

do you mean this?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Satechi-Type-C-Aluminum-Stand-Hub-Grey/dp/B07YSWZNNW?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

or something like this?
https://dronesafestore.com/products/satechi-usb-c-on-the-go-multiport-adapter-space-grey?gclid=Cj0KCQiAjc2QBhDgARIsAMc3SqRYPzx9WAuxc_rg3O3PiA9gmV-D5Eamw2k5hgSkAMkUAzd5BnLvZ2oaAvRfEALw_wcB

I have a version of the latter, and it's fine, haven't had any issues in the year or so, that I've had it.

How much did you pay?