Month: April 2021

Should you preorder or buy the 24 inch M1 iMac?

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It is only less than an hour before preorders for the new 24 inch M1 iMac start. Have you decided if you are going to buy one?

First things first. Uninformed outlets (including the idiots whom MacWorld UK pay to write their trashy articles) think that Apple shrunk the 27 inch iMac to 24 inches and gave it a low end processor, making it a “down grade” in their eyes.

That is not the case.

The new 24 inch iMac is a replacement for the 21.5 inch iMac, which was always a low end computer filled with low end parts to meet a price point. If you are a current 27 inch iMac user (like myself) you should wait for now.

If you were already thinking of buying a desktop Mac and price is more important than more performance and the absolutely biggest screen size, then the 24 inch iMac is a no brainer (unless of course, you prefer to use your current monitor to save some money or you hate all-in-ones).

The 24 inch is an absolute steal. You get power that’s better than the majority of intel Macs being sold until today, all at a starting price that is only 50 USD more than the 12.9 inch M1 iPad Pro (which comes with no accessories).

Of course you should really buy at least the mid range model to enjoy the benefits of the new system, like the TouchID keyboard and the power adapter with built in Ethernet. But if you prefer to save some money the entry model is definitely as powerful as the other two models. You just will not have the choice of purple, yellow or orange colours if one of those is what you wanted to go for.

If you are a first time Mac desktop user and wonder if the iMac will last you long enough to make your investment worth it, here is an example – my first iMac is the 2007 model, and it is still being used today. Macs are built to last, and the massive performance overhead of all the M1 Macs ensure that you will have them at a usable performance level for probably way longer than the latest Intel Macs (or any x86 machine, for that matter).

The final question is, of course, what colour will you pick? (I pick purple, because while I cannot decide between blue and purple, purple is limited to online sales and only reserved for the higher grade models).

Things to note when using Unlock with Apple Watch (with your FaceID iPhone)

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By now you should have heard and seen the news about the lifesaving feature in iOS 14.5 – Unlock with Apple Watch. In this age where masks are compulsory, FaceID is a pain when you are outdoors. With iOS 14.5 and a compatible Apple Watch (Series 3 and above), you can now unlock your iPhone even when masked.

Steps to enable Unlock with Apple Watch

  1. Make sure your Apple Watch (only works with Series 3 and onwards, and SE) is on watchOS 7.4. If not, follow instructions to install watchOS 7.4 on your watch first.
  2. Next, go to your iPhone Settings > FaceID and Passcode, and make sure the Apple Watch setting you want to use “Unlock with Apple Watch” with is turned on. If you have “Update Needed” beside your inactive (currently not connected) Apple Watch shown, even though that particular watch is already updated, there is no need to worry. It seems to be a bug. Once the watch is connected it goes away.
  3. Tap on “Turn on” for the following prompt
  4. Enjoy!
  5. Every time you unlock your iPhone, your Apple Watch will provide haptic feedback as well as a prompt to lock the iPhone down if the unlock is unwanted.

Things to take note of

Does Not Work for Authenticating Apple Pay 

It will not work for authenticating Apple Pay to pay with your iPhone. You still have to enter your iPhone’s passcode. But since you are already wearing your Apple Watch you should just use that instead. If Apple Pay has yet to be set up on your Apple Watch, set it up now. Remember that you need add the same credit card to the iPhone and Apple Watch separate, the card you have in your iPhone doesn’t appear in the Watch automatically.

Unlock will Fail if the Connection to your Watch is Weak

This is the case especially for iPhones with multiple Apple Watches paired. Sometimes the auto switching can fail or even when the correct watch is shown as connected, the Bluetooth connection might be weak. The easiest way to test this is by going into the Watch app on your iPhone and setting a random “as your current watch face”. If the watch face on your Apple Watch does not change  immediately then the connection is not working normally. Usually it will resolve by itself in a few minutes. Sometimes it requires you to reboot both your iPhone and your Apple Watch.

Does not Work for iCloud Keychain or when FaceID is Set to Unlock/Login into Apps

If you have previously set FaceID as a quick way to login or unlock certain apps (bank apps, payment apps, etc), Unlock with Apple Watch will not unlock your app. It is strictly for unlocking the iPhone only. This means it will not work when you are trying to unlock your PayLah! app to pay at Daiso or if you are trying to login to Health Buddy by authenticating with the Singpass app. If you have not set FaceID to unlock those apps then you will need the relevant passwords you set for those apps. Or you can just enter your iPhone’s passcode. Either way it is still friction in the usage process, and prevents the some people from using those apps when they are outside for fear of CCTVs catching their passwords/codes.

Conclusion

I am trying to think of more negative points for Unlock with Apple Watch all while typing this on a train ride, but I really can not find any. This is the feature we needed all along for the past 12 months, and while it is a year late I am glad we got this after all. With the rumors of the next iPhone getting under display TouchID going away somewhat, Unlock with Apple Watch is definitely needed to survive the pandemic days going forward.

For those with older Apple Watches (Series 0, 1 and 2), while it is possible to use your Apple Watch with iOS 14, the Unlock with Apple Watch feature is a watchOS 7.4 feature. Since Series 1 and 2 can only run watchOS 6, maybe it is time to consider buying a new Apple Watch. Amazon US has the latest Series 6 40mm Product RED Apple Watch at 100USD off its MSRP of 399USD.

A Blast from the Past – Apple Smart Case for iPad Air (Blue) [MF050ZM/A]

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One upon a time, Apple made accessories for its iPhone and iPad lines, as a small sideline to complement device sales. As such, most of the earlier offerings were limited to smaller ranges of color choices, unlike the big range of offerings every season of today’s Apple.

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The leather covers always feel much better than the silicon ones
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This leather back is something you won’t find on Apple’s iPad accessories anymore

Since the iPad 2, the iPad had always have the Smart Cover accessory, a magnetic display cover that triggers the sleep wake function every time you undo the flap. When the iPad Air (and iPad Mini) was released, Apple introduced an all-in-one solution for the iPad – the iPad Smart Case. It covers the display as well as protect the body of the iPad, and is made of leather. People either loved the iPad Smart Case, hated its high price and weakness against the elements (since it is leather).

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The microfibre lined inside
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The insides of both the cover and the body are color matched

With the introduction of the iPad Pro, Apple stopped making all-in-one iPad protection. It replaced the Smart Case with the “Silicon Case”, which was really just a silicon back cover intended to be used with a separate Smart Cover. This increased the cost of total protection from 119 SGD for the iPad Smart Case to 99 SGD for the Silicon Case, and an additional 75 SGD for the Smart Case. Furthermore, despite paying over 50 SGD more, the Smart Cover+Silicon Case combination is made from silicon instead of premium leather, and is a lot heavier than the Smart Case.

The Silicon Case did not find any lovers, as most iPad owners opt to buy third party back covers that are more rigid and cost way less. Apple eventually discontinued the Silicon Case as well.

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The antenna area
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“iPad Smart Case”

The iPad Smart Case I have here is for the original iPad Air (the very one I bought on its launch day when iStudio tried to scam Apple fans who queued up through the night by forcing bundles on them if they want the iPads). It is officially in “Blue”, though the actual shade of blue is closer to today’s Northern Blue than Blue Gen 1 and Blue Gen 2 (from the Apple Watch bands). Unfortunately I had to discard the packaging as it was dirty (it lived in a warehouse for half a decade or more), and forgot to take photos of it. Nevertheless the Smart Case is spotlessly clean.

The iPad Air meant to go inside this case is still housed within a ESR case, and in the possession of my parents. I will retrieve it someday.