Apple Notes -- October 31, 2021

Microsoft: unseats Apple as most valuable company. Market caps:

• MSFT: $2.48 trillion;
• AAPL: $2.475 billion;

Desktops:

• if you are in the market for upgrading your desktop, one word of advice: wait.
• Apple has discontinued its smallest model (the 21.5") and now offers only the 24" and the 27" (the right thing to do, by the way -- if you want a smaller screen, buy a laptop; if you are buying a desktop, you want as big a screen as you can afford or for which you have space)
• the current Apple desktops are still Intel-based; Apple's laptops have the new M1 chips and have already improved those chips
• tea leaves suggest Apple will move to M1-based desktops next cycle;
• if you can afford it, the new M1-based desktops will be worth the wait; but,
• if you are looking for an incredible buying opportunity, the older Intel-based desktops will come down in price -- significantly
• in the old days, I always upgraded to an older model just as the new models came out; Apple computers "last forever"
• Later, November 2, 2021: as predicted. iMac Pro coming in 2022 with M1 Pro / Max chips. Link here. And, yes, I will upgrade.

Models: here are the two Apple desktop models: link to Apple.

MacBook Pro 2021 review: Sunday morning reading, from Joanna Stern, The WSJ: full-size ports, real function keys and other retro features, plus cutting-edge M1 Pro and M1 Max Chips, make the new MacBook Pro modesl the laptops to beat. 

Using my typical apps on the baseline $1,999 14-inch model with M1 Pro chip and 16GB of RAM, I couldn’t get the thing to slow down. Even when I simultaneously exported a video in Adobe Premiere, listened to music in Apple Music, played the racing game “Asphalt 9” and launched 30-something Chrome tabs, the thing never revved its fans.

***************************
That's The Way It Goes

A George Harrison cover.

That's The Way It Goes, Joe Brown