Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

Thanks, only just seen this, will investigate.
Hopefully my partner can remember her password for an old iMac to make the job easier but i’m not sure what OS it’s running.

You can install Big Sur direct from Apple, which is still young enough to support almost anything. You won't find it on the App Store by searching; use the Big Sur link from here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/102662

I've just done the exact same thing to my wife's 2014 MacBook Air, which like yours is in good condition and powerful enough for her needs. Everything works now.

Don't use chrome, problem solved. Using Brave on an older Mac and it works fine.

yes this!

+1 I used OCLP to install Monterey on a 2o11 iMac, and it works great. I'll be using it to put Ventura on in September, once Monterey is unsupported.

Serious question - how can Siri still be so shit? Even basic stuff like setting a timer is slow and unresponsive

I feel like they see themselves as a hardware company first, they get a spurt of development when some software is introduced first but then the focus moves to something else and it's left stagnant. Similar story with maps or the general Ux on the phone. Since they run the whole eco system they have a lot of spinning plates at the same time.

It's built on a horrible legacy architecture that's been stretched far beyond its usefulness.

In theory simple queries should be handled without using the internet these days, at least on devices that support it.

There's a lot of rumours about a fundamental re-write of Siri based on Apple's own LLM / AI toolset coming in iOS 18 announcing in June.

They're spending billions in R&D and apparently a lot is going into AI.

Looking forward to them inventing a new name for it just because.

Siri Pro™

Interesting. Fair enough it's too old to compete with ChatGPT, but it should at least be able to set a fucking egg timer within a reasonable amount of time

That might be the front end but what about the chip and what it can do?

The new Apple SK1 chip with Spectral Knowledge™ processing, delivering Siri Pro™ on device processing in real time. etc etc.

£1,599

I'm gonna leave it a few months before I buy a new Macbook Pro. I've been doing a bit of YouTube research in the meantime and it seems the M2 Max is the way to go. It's faster than the M3 for Logic Pro which surprised me immensely considering it's Apple software. What are they playing at down at a Cupertino Loop?? How can the previous iteration of silicon be quicker than the new chips?

Which version of the M3 are you comparing the M2 Max with?

In my experience, M3 Max is significantly faster than M2 Max in every single metric.

M3 Pro is a waste of time.

My HomePod minis do this instantly, as does my watch.

My phone is shit at setting timers.

Apparently the M3's efficiency cores don't get used by Logic Pro so the benchtest has the M2 Max coming out on top. I can't find the video I saw where the guy recommends the M2 Max over the M3 Max but this guy highlights the issue for music production.

https://youtu.be/FSqX4bt9to4?si=qI3_Cwi4K9G6kCEw

Apple moved the M3 Pro closer to the standard M3 in terms of core count etc, which counteracts the generational improvements, so the M3 Pro ends up being about the same as an M2 Pro.

The M3 Max is a big improvement over the M2 Max.

But this video has nothing to do with the 'Max' processors?

As mentioned in my previous post, the M3 Pro is bullshit. M3 Max is a big step up from M2 Max however, but the video you posted is not about that.

I'll try and find that other video later on but very happy to be wrong!

M3 Max has 10/12 ‘performance’ cores, whereas M2 Max has 8. The M3 cores are also clocked higher.

By your own metric, M3 Max will perform better than M2 Max if a task only uses performance cores.

you fucking nerd!

🙋

I'm waiting for the discussion on process node size.

Anyone know if you can lock/block certain apps at weekends/evenings? I’m managing a lot of social media accounts for work and struggling to switch off/not check them out of working hours. Screen time not what I need but need to set specific hours / schedule. Can it be done?

Can you not use 'Downtime' (within the screentime options) to set a schedule to do this?