Happy 50th Birthday Apple!

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When I got my first Mac, I have never thought I will become a Mac person, having used Windows my whole life up till entering NUS. The iBook G4 happened to be the cheapest computer available for freshies, so I bought it. That white, overly heavy, yet fun and fresh laptop still remains one of my favorite Macs up till this day, even as it sits in a drawer untouched for years. I hope the LCD still works (LCD displays have a tendency to explode by themselves if you leave them in the Singapore living room weather, this happened to my 2007 MacBook).Then I joined the Mac User Group in NUS, firstly as the VP, and then as the representative and the rest is history.

I never managed to have enough money then to own more than one PowerPC Mac, which is a pity. I always wanted to own a G4 Cube.

Then of course the iPhone came out and suddenly Apple became the company everyone wants to buy their consumer devices from.

Many years of buying Apple devices and keeping up on Apple news eventually resulted in a career shift during COVID-19 where I began working for Apple. Once you start working for the company you admired for a long time often the fantasy ends. Which was not exactly the case for me, I do see more negative aspects of the company and its ways, and while I do not follow Apple news daily any more (more like weekly now), I still remain a strong Apple fanboy. It is almost always better to be Apple’s customer than to be Apple’s employee.

Speaking of which, Tim Cook’s “I promise you celebrations” really meant celebrations for the executive teams and some influencers, as they spent hoards of cash inviting artistes to perform in Apple Stores around the civilized world, but only invite themselves and local influencers. Their worldwide employees? A poster, T-shirt, pin, or what we term as swag, were given to each employee. And Apple often gives out swag, so these are nothing out of the ordinary. For locations with campuses, employees were allowed to join in uneventful beer bashes (small scale rather than big), which is just a bit of free beer and lousy finger food. I guess only Apple employees in Apple Park are actual employees worthy of celebration (Sir Paul). And that is what is negative about an Apple employee, more often than not you are under appreciated and wonder why you toil for the company.

I am no longer an employee, so i hope to continue enjoying their products for the next fifty years at least. Now John Ternus will you please make me my 12 inch MacBook replacement already.

The End of the Mac Pro

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Apple announced that the Mac Pro was being discontinued today.

While I have never been a Mac Pro user (other than using them in school labs and/or at work), and have never owned one, they always had the wow factor for Mac users, and most old school Mac users aspire to own one “eventually”, yet most never do.

The Mac Studio is way more affordable, and definitely fits in with Steve Jobs’ wish for the Pro desktop to be in a small, cube like form factor (the original Power Mac G4 Cube, the 2013 Trash Can Mac Pro even), and always have been where Apple was working towards right from the start.

Even though the naming conventions are now completely different, but 3 laptops and 3 desktops make for a good Mac lineup.

Speaking of Mac Pros, do you know that the 2013 Mac Pros, until very recently, were leading a second life as the core of the system in Apple’s Maps Lookaround imagery data collection vehicles?

Ex-Apple

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I am now officially an ex-Apple employee. 

While I never mentioned it (for obvious reasons), I joined Apple during the height of the pandemic, and fulfilled my lifelong wish of working for Apple. 

The work was good, the experience was fulfilling, and the benefits then were worthwhile (even if the pay is not fantastic, compared to the competition). 

As the pandemic ended, things began to change. Restrictions were increased gradually, benefits were reduced, and the work got dumbed down while the work load doubled. Changes were made to benefit Apple at the expense of employees and IMHO, customers. 

The last year was a pain. 

So I am happy I am out. 

Sometimes it is much better to be an Apple customer than an employee. 

MacRyu.com fell into disrepair during the last few years, due to work restrictions and a general lack of time. I intend to fix the necessary and slowly upgrade the site, all while bringing back my podcasts one by one. 

With a refreshed perspective on all things Apple, I will continue to bring my take on Apple related news and products for the foreseeable future (while not breaking any NDAs). 

Here’s to many more decades of MacRyu.com. 

The M1 Mac mini – A Short Review and Unboxing

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Mac mini M1

Edit: this post was supposed to come out last December, so yes it is very late. And I know we will likely have a new Mac mini in twenty four hours’ time.

Yes, it is true. The M1 Mac mini has been out for a full year. Why did I buy it now? Because the M1 Pro Mac mini did not materialize in 2021, and because I happened to have a good deal on the existing silver model.

I have yet to replace my main Mac with the Mac mini, and it is currently connected to my TV, but it happens to be the only desktop I have that runs Monterey, and it is a champ at that.

The Mac mini is silent, runs fast, and does all the M1 stuff I need it to do. I am just slightly regretting not getting the 512GB model now, but a TB3 drive should suffice for additional storage.

If you are thinking of buying one today in Feb 2022, I will wait until March to see if a M1 Pro Mac mini is out by then, and if that model is a better buy. A theoretical M2 successor to this Mac mini probably will not come until later this year.

Here are some unboxing photos.

Mac mini M1

Mac mini M1

Mac mini M1

AirPods 3 Unboxing and a Short Review

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AirPods 3

The 3rd Generation AirPods (AirPods 3 from here on) are finally here. Ordered a pair the day they became available locally, and after testing them for the last few hours, I am impressed. AirPods Pro owners who love the increased sound quality and spatial audio but are not a fan of the in-ear tips will love the AirPods 3. In fact, ar least from my testing, they actually sound better for some genres than the AirPods Pro in a quiet room.

Working from home these days, I rarely use my AirPods Pro as I have no need for the in-ear tips and the noise cancellation when I am in the serenity of my room, and the tips give me hearing fatigue after wearing the AirPods Pro for over an hour. I have therefore been using my AirPods 2 mostly for the last year, but after the last few hours the AirPods 3 will be my main earphones going forward. If the price goes down (from third parties of course) I will definitely look at getting another pair to use when my main pair is out of battery.

I have always been irritated by the fact that the AirPods 2 don’t come with a wireless charging case by default, and I cannot bring myself to pay more for the wireless case. So it helps that the AirPods 3 comes default with a wireless charging case, and the fact that it is also MagSafe compatible is just icing on the cake.

Do you need the AirPods 3? Maybe. If you have abandoned the AirPods Pro because of the in-ear tips, then you definitely need a pair. If you have been using the AirPods or AirPods 2 but want spatial audio, definitely get a pair. Hell, if you can afford a pair, why not? They are AirPods for gawd’s sake.

Enjoy the rest of the unboxing photos.

AirPods 3

AirPods 3

AirPods 3

AirPods 3

AirPods 3

AirPods 3

iPad mini 6 Purple Unboxing and Thoughts

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It is finally here!

The iPad mini has been Air-ified and now justifies its place as an mini version of the iPad Air, above the standard cheap iPad (SE?), with the redesign to a home button-less face and a Touch ID power button.

One major difference the iPad mini 6 has is the screen aspect ratio is now 3:2, and is surprising very usable, especially in split screen mode when the screen is that small. You will not find the UI too cramp to use iPad multitasking on, and the same cannot be said for the previous iPad minis.

Obviously I have to get the iPad mini in PURPLE. This is absolutely the BEST color any iPad has ever came in, since the 2011 introduction.

It is extremely hard to portray the actual shade of purple in digital photos, but I tried my best. Here are the photos.

iPad Mini 6 Purple

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iPad mini 6 Purple

iPad mini 6 Purple

Apple Watch Sport Band English Lavender 45mm Unboxing

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English Lavender Apple Watch Sport Band

Apple finally released a proper purple Apple Watch band after Ultraviolet a few years ago. English Lavender is also part of the very first bands to have the 41mm and 45mm markings.

English Lavender Apple Watch Sport Band

English Lavender Apple Watch Sport Band

English Lavender Apple Watch Sport Band

English Lavender Apple Watch Sport Band

English Lavender Apple Watch Sport Band

Such a wonderful shade of purple. I like it a lot more than Ultraviolet. The English Lavender Sport Band is available from Apple at the usual Sport Band pricing. Hopefully Apple releases more purple bands in the near future.

The ExFAT Podcast Episode 4 : Zoom Recording Has Questionable Quality

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After a long hiatus, Ryu and Dan are back taking shots at Apple’s CSAM mistake, NSO’s Pegasus spyware and discussed iOS 15 and their wishes for the iPhone 13 and Apple Watch Series 7.

You can find Ryu on Twitter at @macryudotcom and on Instagram at @macryudotcom and Dan on Instagram at @danitanmen.

Apple Back to School 2021 (Singapore)

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Apple’s Back to School program is back in Singapore for 2021. Comes with the usual free AirPods, and 20% off AppleCare+.

Honestly speaking ever since they switched from giving Beats full size headphones to AirPods I find the offering much weaker than before, especially since they were giving away Beats Studio 3s in some countries before the AirPods offer started.

Nevertheless it is still the best deal locally if you are eligible, and happen to need a new Mac or iPad Pro/Air at the present moment.

Check out the promotion here.