Unboxing

The AirPods Max (Sky Blue) – Unboxing and a Short Review

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AirPods Max Sky Blue

I know this is way past the AirPods Max’s launch period, but I was not able to have access to one until very recently. I have been testing it heavily for more than a week already, and I can not find anything bad about it (other than the price, which obviously is going to be higher than the flimsy plasticky headphones that the tech community are familiar with).

It is way more comfortable than all the full size headphones I have, the sound quality is great, and most importantly spatial audio and the transparency mode is way beyond what the competition can offer.

No doubt that it will be an expensive purchase, even with the recent discounts, but the AirPods Max will be well worth your money, especially in a year when most have all the time at home to enjoy the Max.

Comfort

I tend to have problems with wearing full size headphones. The cushion headbands on those put pressure on the top of my head andI will feel a dull pain on my head after wearing headphones for a hour or so. Not so with the AirPods Max. The mash headband does not feel like it is there at all, even after two or more hours. Normal headphones’ ear pads usually puts pressure on the side of my ears and makes my ears feel like they are suffocating, the fabric earpads on the Max for some reason do not do the same, my ears feel like they can breath.

Sound Quality

Way better than both the Bose QuietComfort 25 and 35 (Bose headphones have terrible sound), and the Sony XM3s (I have not tested the XM4s, but I have heard that the sound is similar). Some reviewers prefer a punchier and more “exciting” sound (that the Sonys provide by its default sound signature), and thus rated the Max’s sound as not as good. However, if you use an iOS device, you can use the headphone accommodations settings to tune to sound into something similar to the Sonys, I recommend the “Slight – Brightness” setting.

Headphone Accomodations

You can access the headphone accommodations setting in Settings > Accessibility > AirPods>AirPods Max (or the name of your AirPods) > Audio Accessibility Settings > Headphone Accommodations > Custom Audio Setup.

Cons

The aluminium ear cups are so nice and they feel like they can be accidentally scratched if you were not paying attention. You will likely need to buy covers for them to feel at ease. Also there is simply no way to have a pure analog input into the AirPods Max, even with the Apple 30USD cable. If you want to use this with your high-end DAC it is a no go.

Unboxing

Here are the unboxing pictures.

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Apple Watch Series 5 Space Black Stainless Steel Unboxing

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IMG_7367Look! A power brick!

IMG_7369The microfibre watch cover is way better than the paper one in the Series 6.

IMG_7370 The shiny!

IMG_7374Not intending to use the Milanese Loop as it is known to leave permanent scratches on the SBSS DLC coating.

Yes I know. Why will I buy a Series 5 watch when the Series 6 exists?

The End of the Line for the SBSS

The Space Black Stainless Steel(SBSS) Apple Watch is (almost) no more. With Series 6 Apple retired the SBSS from the normal line (only a variant remain for the Hermès Apple Watch) and introduced the Graphite in its place. Personally I much prefer the look of the Graphite, as it shows off the shininess of the stainless steel much better than the SBSS ever could.

Weaker DLC Coating?

There have however been concerns that the Graphite’s Diamond-like Coating (DLC) is not as strong as that of the SBSS. The dlc process coatings carbon on top of the stainless steel to make it resistant against scratches, and it is the carbon that gives the SBSS and the Graphite their black color. The Graphite’s lighter color implies that less carbon has been used in its coating process, and thus the weaker resistant against scratches. Therefore the SBSS is still the choice if you want the strongest protection against scratches.

Is the weaker DLC Coating for the Graphite an Issue?

I do not think it matters. When you buy a Gold or Graphite (or SBSS) stainless steel Apple Watch. if you managed to scratch hard enough the silver underneath will show through the Graphite or Gold coatings, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to fix it. If you have the bare stainless steel you can always polish away the scratches with metal polish. The PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) and DLC (which is a kind of PVD) coatings on the Gold and Graphite (and SBSS) Apple Watches do provide a protection layer against scratches, with the DLC being the better of the two. Nevertheless if you are worried you should either buy the bare stainless steel model, or one of the aluminum ones (so your heart does not bleed everytime you get a scratch unfortunately).

The Stainless Steel Apple Watches are the Ones to Get

That said, since the SBSS may become rare going forward, I decided to purchase one for my collection (at an amazing discount from a land far away, where the sun wakes the earliest) with the help of a great friend. Looking at the watch close makes me appreciate the subtle shininess that is only obvious when you are near to it. The stainless steel Apple watches have always been the better experience, with the added weight on your wrist and the shinier look of the sapphire-infused cover glass. You feel like you are wearing a piece of jewelry and not a cheap tech toy.

Conclusion

I love the SBSS. And all my other Apple Watches. I noticed that the ECG app is on the SBSS. That is not the correct behaviour for a watch originating from Japan. Therefore it will be a mystery for me to solve in a different post.　Edit：Solved. iOS 14.2 activated the ECG app in Japan.

Have a Series 0, 1 or 2 Apple Watch and wondering if you can use it on iOS 14? Find out here.

Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Air (Late 2020) Unboxing

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I borrowed an M1-powered MacBook Air from my relative for this unboxing.

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If you have been paying attention to the recent MacBook Airs, this unboxing is going to look exactly the same as the ones that came before.

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The keyboard has the only obvious physical change with these few key changes.

Battery life

I have not taken out the power adapter from the box yet, but have already installed the 11.0.1 update. It took more than 20 mins, and I noticed the battery percentage did not change even after the update has been completed. After playing with the MacBook Air for more than an hour in total, the battery percentage only dropped like 2-3%. Take note that I did not push the MacBook Air hard, nor did I do any benchmarks since those are all over the internet already, but this thing is fast and snappy! And the battery life is incredible.

The state of iOS apps on Apple Silicon macOS

It appears more than just a few developers have chosen to block their iOS apps from appearing from the Mac App Store, either because they already have a macOS version and obviously they want to make money from those, or they are just bent on not giving macOS users access to their apps. Possible reasons could be because their apps are “not ready for macOS yet”, or maybe because they will lose out on a lot more tracking info if users chose to use their apps instead of their websites. Whatever it is, none of the third party apps that I use on a daily basis are available on macOS, and that sucks. Maybe Apple was wrong to give the developers that choice in the first place. Developers who are lazy and want more money but do not want to do the extra work.

However, from recent reports it seems that you may actually be able to install iOS apps not available on the Mac App Store by executing their .ipa files directly. Worth a try I guess.

Conclusion

These are definitely the best Macs to have came out of Apple in probably the last two decades. Going Intel in 2006 might have allowed a lot more people to be exposed to Macs, but it also took away the uniqueness Macs have over the rest of the computing industry, with their RISC processors. With the M1 Macs Apple has regained its uniqueness and advantage over the rest of the traditional computing industry, and do not expect them to slow down anytime soon. Very soon the pathetic PC whiners are just going to claim that their old AF x86 platform architecture is superior because they say so, just like stupid Android people who still think they have the most powerful phones just because some manufacturers have to use massive cooling solutions for their shitty designs. Well idiots will be idiots and there are so many idiots in the PC industry that it is not even funny.

Should you buy an M1 Mac now?

The usual answer applies – buy only if you need a computer now. If not there will always be faster Macs in the future. If you have been waiting, especially for a MacBook Air, I think this is a good time to purchase it. The MacBook Pro, maybe not, since there are rumors that a 14-inch one is coming next year.

iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max Unboxing Videos

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Today the embargo for the iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max has finally been lifted, and all the big shot Youtube channels have released their unboxing videos. Having preordered the iPhone 12 mini, I am excited to see the first impression videos of the mini, and it sure does not disappoint.

The Verge, who are usually pretty anti-Apple, says that the 12 Pro Max has the best smartphone camera.

And of course iJustine and Rene Ritchie with their really well-done unboxings.

Then of course we have the guys who really know cameras, Jonathan Morrison(@toldtoday) and Peter McKinnon.

Blue Microphones Yeti Unboxing

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Been so busy with the General Elections (and cursing and swearing) lately that I have totally no time to unbox my Yeti USB microphone, which was delivered Friday.

The thing is MASSIVE, and saying that it’s heavy is an understatement. I have no freaking idea why a mic needs to be this heavy but I love the look already. Might do a short review if I’m in the mood to after playing with it.

P.S. This is a test sound file I recorded with the Yeti. Click here to download

Google Nexus S unboxing

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Okay well I did the unboxing days ago, but so what? This phone is Google’s iPhone. It is exactly what Google will and did make if there are no manufacturer’s input involved in the whole dumb Android ecosystem. Google’s finest, you may say. It is therefore the perfect target for attacks on all the bad points of Android, which in this phone cannot be blamed on manufacturers’ software mods, there isn’t any.

Nevertheless it’s a pretty nice phone. Software is fast, much faster than the crappy XT720 in my family. The phone is really light, probably as a result of being made from really cheap-arse plastic. The curved glass on the screen is a total gimmick. The thing just made it a lot more difficult to make proper screen protectors for it, since many won’t stick properly due to the curving of the glass. And I’ve heard, the curving of the glass is exactly why the glass is NOT Gorilla Glass, despite the Galaxy S having those, due to the simple fact that the costs for curved Gorilla Glass, if it’s even possible, will be much higher. And the reason why girls and fashionable guys will never be spotted using this phone? There are simply no decent accessories for it. Have been trying for weeks and still haven’t come across a half decent case for the phone. Anyone with a source for decent cases let me know in the comments? Thanks.

Will eventually do an in-depth write-up on the phone, but right now the well-known Android faults are very obvious – nonsensical lack of decent battery life, lousy browsers, etc, as well as some of the pros of the OS, like the ability to have the HTC weather/clock-lookalike widget on my phone.

Read the rest of the article for the other unboxing pics.

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