Peak Performance March 8 Event

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Isn’t there a Logitech app for the keyboard? There is for my wife’s (BT) keyboard case for iPad. You need it to apply occasional firmware updates to the keyboard. I would report it to Logitech, too.

Good question, I'll have to check on that. Mine is connected and charged through the iPad's smart connector. There could be an issue with the smart connector related to iPadOS or the keyboard itself.

I did read a thread in another forum where it was pointed out that the Magic Keyboard quit functioning properly while using the trackpad, in lieu of touching the iPad screen, for controlling multitasking apps. Using the trackpad no longer allows the user to click on the 3 dots at the top of the multitask app, nor to drag it around or resize it. They can do those things with fingers touching the screen though. I tried it on my Logitech keyboard's trackpad and I could click on the 3 dots then close the app, but I couldn't drag it or resize it. Since both my Logitech keyboard case and the Magic Keyboard use the smart connector, there could be some iPadOS bugs involved.

ETA: I have the LogitechControl app so I checked and it says my keyboard case is up to date on FW.

[tomsem]

Could try wireless mouse/trackpad to see if that works (rule out issue with smart connector).

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Could try wireless mouse/trackpad to see if that works (rule out issue with smart connector).

I hooked up a Logitech BT mouse to my iPad Air 2020 and tried it, but it also has the same limited functionality as the trackpad on my Logitech keyboard case: I can click on the 3 dots and close the multitask window, but I cannot drag it around or resize it. This is probably a bug in iPadOS 15 since multiple accessories from multiple companies are failing to work correctly.

[tomsem]

I think I have reproduced some of this, but let me see if I understand the issue:

- I have a (split view/slideover compatible) app in full screen
- I reach down in the dock and get another such app, and put it in slideover mode
- With mouse/cursor, to hide slide-overs (right side only) you need to push cursor into right side
- to reveal slide-overs (on right side), you again push cursor into right side
- to cycle between slideovers, you swipe on the affordance line at bottom (just like faceid phone)

I also have no trouble with the 3-dot thing: it does what I expect with cursor: make it full screen, switch sides, make it a slide-over. And I can resize the split view.

But here are things I can’t seem to do with slide-overs and mouse/trackpad:
- move them from one side to the other
- hide them on left side (when ‘docked’ on left side, arrow handle persists, and I can click that with cursor to reveal the slide-over)

With finger you can ‘flick’ slide-over by swiping left or right side to make it move to the other side or hide it on either side (you can also flick the top edge to switch sides). But I can find no equivalent when using a cursor. Neither of these things maps to a ‘drag’ action. (Pencil is even more limited: you cannot expose slide-overs, control panel, notifications, dock) It does seem they could at least implement the ‘push’ gesture on the left side of the screen to hide a slide-over over there. And why can’t you grab the top edge and move it to the other side?

But I think this is ‘as designed’ or ‘as not designed’.

It’s worth noting that there are Global System, Multitasking, Split View and Slide Over keyboard shortcuts to do all of these things. Hold down the ‘Globe’ key to see them all. Arguably these are more complete and precise than using fingers or trackpad/mouse, and it’s pretty easy to memorize the ones you use most (I just discovered that the old Logitech BT keyboard I’ve been using doesn’t seem to have a Global key, but I connected a Magic Keyboard and fn key on it works as such, so now I can go about learning some of them!)

I forgot: my wife’s iPad has a smart connector. Wish my mini did too but I guess it would be hard to work with a keyboard whose width matches up, and awkward to store otherwise.

[tomsem]

FWIW I tried Universal Control and all the scenarios ^^ are the same using the keyboard and trackpad on my Mac.

The only difference is that if you configure Display settings so the iPad is not the right-most display, you lose the push-to-right-edge capability to hide and reveal slide-over app windows with the cursor: it just appears on one of the computer displays.

Lesson: use keyboard shortcuts.

[OtinG]

I just use my fingers since I rarely use the keyboard. Most of the time it is folded back out of the way to use the iPad Air 2020 in tablet mode anyway. After I tested with the BT mouse I got a few hours of the keyboard bar displaying rather than the keyboard. A full shutdown and restart ended that though.

[OtinG]

Well I got tired of waiting until Fall and ordered an M1 MacBook Air in space gray with 8 + 8 cores, 16GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. Should arrive about mid-week. Hopefully it will last as long as my 2014 MacBook Pro 15” has. My 2012 mini is still going strong too. I use it to control and display my security cams.

ETA: As old as my current Macs are, an Etch-N-Sketch would have seemed like an upgrade, so this should blow my socks off!

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by OtinG

Well I got tired of waiting until Fall and ordered an M1 MacBook Air in space gray with 8 + 8 cores, 16GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. Should arrive about mid-week. Hopefully it will last as long as my 2014 MacBook Pro 15” has. My 2012 mini is still going strong too. I use it to control and display my security cams.

ETA: As old as my current Macs are, an Etch-N-Sketch would have seemed like an upgrade, so this should blow my socks off!

You'll love it; it's blazing fast. I bought my wife one after I bought my mac mini. She had my old 2016 macbook, but uncharacteristic to apple it died and needed a new motherboard at nearly 500 bucks, so we just bought her a new one. She doesn't keep much on it, mostly using it for email and some orgainizational stuff so for her the base model with 256 GB SSD sufficed. I bought her a 512 gb USB-C thumb drive if she ever needs additional storage.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

You'll love it; it's blazing fast. I bought my wife one after I bought my mac mini. She had my old 2016 macbook, but uncharacteristic to apple it died and needed a new motherboard at nearly 500 bucks, so we just bought her a new one. She doesn't keep much on it, mostly using it for email and some orgainizational stuff so for her the base model with 256 GB SSD sufficed. I bought her a 512 gb USB-C thumb drive if she ever needs additional storage.

I'm looking forward to getting it. I'll have a learning curve going from High Sierra (on 2012 mini) and Mojave (on MacBook Pro) all the way up to Monterey though.

One good thing about waiting so long after the introduction to the M1 Macs is that I get the long-term analysis from actual users. In the Fall of 2020 no one really knew how well the 8GB RAM models would work. It turns out they are okay for people like your wife who don't do much, if any, processor intensive tasks. The average casual user will likely do very well with the surprisingly affordable MacBook Air M1 with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. Users who do a small to medium amount of processor intensive tasks will probably do well too, although they might have some throttling due to the smaller amount of RAM. At $849 they have become one of the top selling computers. However, I do a lot of processor intensive things like using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, as well as some 4K HDR video editing, so I knew from the reviews I needed the 16GB RAM model so that it wouldn't overheat are throttle a lot.

From years of experience with my 2014 MacBook Pro 15" I also knew I needed a lot more than a 256GB SSD. On my MacBook Pro, once the available disk space falls below 100GB it slows down considerably. With the OS taking up a chunk of storage as well as the files I accumulate over time, it is nearly impossible to keep the free space at over 100GB! So I went big and got the 1TB model.

With my older MacBook Pro I spend a lot of time waiting for Lightroom images to load and update in the development module. I click to load another image, then have to wait 5 to 10 seconds before it can render it. That should be instantaneous, but on a 8 year old i7 16GB computer, not so much. I saw several Youtube videos showing how fast Lightroom is on the M1 MacBook Air M1. So I'm looking forward to much more productive photo/video post processing.

I flip-flopped back and forth between getting the Mac mini or the MacBook Air, but in the end portability won out. I like the form factor of my 2012 mini, especially all the ports, but I don't like having to go sit in my study/office to use it. Plus, if the power goes out, it goes out too. I have a big UPS hooked up to it, but it will only power the monitor for a few minutes, so I don't have the monitor plugged into the UPS. With a laptop you always have a battery option. I have my modem and router on a big UPS, so I usually get at least a few hours of internet during a power outage. Plus I can use my iPhone 13 Pro Max as a 5G cellular hotspot, assuming the cellular towers nearby are still operational. When you live in "tornado alley" you need to be prepared.

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[drofgnal]

I also went with 16gb and 1 TB SSD on my mini. Not that I do processor intensive task, I don't, but more future proofing.

I almost cancelled my order and bought a Mac Air, but portability is not an issue for me. I have a Ipad pro with keyboard case for that, and I can use my wife's air if need be.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

I also went with 16gb and 1 TB SSD on my mini. Not that I do processor intensive task, I don't, but more future proofing.

I almost cancelled my order and bought a Mac Air, but portability is not an issue for me. I have a Ipad pro with keyboard case for that, and I can use my wife's air if need be.

Yep, the Mac mini is a great desktop design, and I've got a Dell UltraSharp U2515H 25-Inch Screen LED-Lit monitor that I use with my 2012 mini. I might miss the ports a bit with an Air, but with a fairly inexpensive USB-C hub (<= $100) I'll have plenty of ports. I will definitely like the portability for doing some processor intensive tasks from my recliner though.

Unfortunately even iPad Pros can't do that kind of processing due to a pathetic iPadOS and its lack of a usable file system. I understand that years ago the iPads had very limited storage space and little or no connectivity to external storage, but the latest ones can have plenty of storage, so they need to rethink the file system. The MacBook Air M1 is a much better "recliner" option over the iPad for many of the tasks I do. But my iPad Air 2020 will still get much more recliner time than the MBA because I tend to do things there that are less likely to demand a keyboard and a good file system. But it will be nice to have the option of using the MBA in "recliner mode".

[tomsem]

Apropos of nothing, but l wonder if anyone here knows of any app that is actually capable of using 12GB on the 16GB M1 MacBook Pros?

Or failing this, I cannot even find any benchmarks or comparisons that would indicate what other advantages 16GB might confer over 8GB in terms of performance, multitasking, etc.

At minimum I’d expect apps to get kicked out of memory less often.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Apropos of nothing, but l wonder if anyone here knows of any app that is actually capable of using 12GB on the 16GB M1 MacBook Pros?

Or failing this, I cannot even find any benchmarks or comparisons that would indicate what other advantages 16GB might confer over 8GB in terms of performance, multitasking, etc.

At minimum I’d expect apps to get kicked out of memory less often.

No clue about MacBook Pro M1, but I saw several long-term reviews on the MacBook Air M1 which said that the 8GB models had a tendency to get rather warm under intensive tasks like 4K video processing, but the 16GB models seemed to not have that issue. I would assume the 8GB models will write to the SSD more often than the 16GB models, which will possibly create heat and definitely wear out the SSD faster. I’m not a gamer, but I suspect heavy gaming would require a lot more RAM, and would likely make good use of the extra GPU core which the 8GB models don’t have. 8GB models have 7 GPU cores but 16GB models have 8 GPU cores.

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[drofgnal]

One thing I like about my wife's M1 Air is the sound quality from the tiny speakers. We just moved and don't have cable hooked up yet. We watched CBS live on paramount+ app on my wife's laptop. The sound is pretty amazing for such a small device.

[OtinG]

My MacBook Pro 2014 has similar speakers and they are surprisingly good for such small (depth-wise) speakers. Well up close anyway. Glad to hear the ones in the MacBook Air M1 are good too. I guess one option would be to wirelessly pair it with a HomePod mini if someone wanted better sound.

I placed the order for my MacBook Air M1 early Saturday morning and I finally got a notice this morning (Tuesday) that it has shipped and it should arrive tomorrow. Apple is definitely not Amazon when it comes to fast free shipping!

When I was purchasing it, it originally showed a $9 shipping option to get it the same day, but as the purchase process progressed through the system that option disappeared, so I had to settle for the free shipping and get it whenever Apple gets around to delivering option. No big deal. This was my first purchase using my Apple Card, and it was anything but intuitive. The whole Apple Store app is not that intuitive, as for as that goes. Apple really needs to work on usability across all their apps, stores, services, OSes, etc.

As I’m typing this on my MacBook Pro 2014 I’m spending more time correcting for letters that don't get typed than the actual typing. The keyboard is wearing out after 7+ years. So it was definitely time to put this old computer into retirement!

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