MacRyu – The Worst Mac Blog in Singapore, and Some Say the World

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

Posted April 5th, 2021 by Ryu at 7:58 pm in Accessories and iPad. 0 Comments

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 todayâ€™s Apple.

The leather covers always feel much better than the silicon ones

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).

The microfibre lined inside

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 â€œSilicon Caseâ€, 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.

The antenna area

“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 â€œBlueâ€, though the actual shade of blue is closer to todayâ€™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.

How to Fix A Glowing White Spot on the 10.5-inch or 12.9 inch iPad Pro

Posted March 29th, 2021 by Ryu at 6:04 pm in iPad and iPad Pro. 0 Comments

Do you have a glowing white spot at the location about 3 or 4 inches above your home button on your 10.5 inch or 12.9 inch (1st and 2nd Gen) iPad Pro?

This is a problem caused by the display cable underneath pushing against the back of the display, creating a pressure point. It is only found on the first and second generation 12.9 inch iPad Pro, and the 10.5 inch iPad Pro (and iPad Air) as the 10.5 inch iPad has a similar design/layout as that of the original 12.9 inch iPad Pros. This issue has also spawned an entire thread on MacRumors forums, and caused agony for a lot of owners.

Unless you purchased your iPad from old stock and have Applecare, it is likely that they are no longer covered by Appleâ€™s warranty. If you do not notice the spot or are not bothered by it, then that is the best scenario. Do not do anything about it. However, if you cannot stand the sight of the white spot when your the majority of your display is white or light coloured, then maybe try out this possible solution.

Warning, due to the possibility that some display glass might be weak from a previous drop, or that the strength of some suction cups might be too strong, MacRyu is definitely not responsible for any possible breakage to your iPad.

This method also does not work on iPads with screen protectors installed as only the screen protector will be lifted (or broken) when you try to pull off the suction cup.

Finally, this method will not work for every iPad with the problem. It is only good to try if you are very very bothered by the white spot.

Find a suction cup, something from Daiso will do. Preferably it should be at least 3 to 4 cm wide.
Stick it to the area of the display where the spot is.
Pull the suction cup up straight away from the display, slowly.
Please use your judgement, stop once you think there is any danger of breaking your iPad display.

The lifting of the iPad display with the suction cup sometimes pull the display away very slightly, enough to relieve the pressure point caused by the display cable underneath. It may come back in the future if you excert pressure on the iPad somehow (eg. by holding it with one hand in landscape, or not using a sturdy case and putting it in a bag where books can cause pressure). It is a design flaw, which is likely why Apple moved away from the design as soon as it could.

Beats Flex Now Back at 40USD!

Posted March 28th, 2021 by Ryu at 10:00 pm in Beats. 0 Comments

Just days after my Flame Blue Beats Flex post, the Beats Flex price on Amazon US has now dropped back to 40 USD (roughly 53.90 SGD), which is about 20 SGD cheaper than what you will pay for it if you buy it locally in Singapore. The price is available for all colours except Cloud Grey.

Click here to purchase it from Amazon US.

Want a review of the Beats Flex? It’s here.

Beats Flex in Flame Blue

Posted March 21st, 2021 by Ryu at 6:45 am in Beats. 1 Comment

Early this year Beats finally released the last two colours of the Beats Flex line – Flame Blue and Smoke Grey. Flame Blue was always my first choice of colour for the Beats Flex, but as it was not available at launch I bought the Beats Black color instead. Today I am finally able to take a look at the Flame Blue colorway.

The compact Beats Flex packaging

The blue is stunning!

Minimal instructions

The usual accessories

All the available tips

In action

There is absolutely no difference in functionality and sound quality to the Beats Black version I bought last year during the launch, so check out the review if you need a refresher. Basically it is pretty decent for the price, and should be your first choice if you want to use bluetooth earphones/IEMs on iOS on a budget.

If you don’t mind forwarding from the United States, they are available on Amazon US for 49.88USD right now, which is very slightly cheaper than the local price. Sometimes they can go as low as 20% off as well.

Haneda Airport During COVID-19 (Youtube)

Posted March 14th, 2021 by Ryu at 11:04 pm in Youtube. 0 Comments

A short video I made with clips I took in Haneda Airport in late April 2020, during the first State of Emergency declared in Tokyo due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Haneda was (and still is) in sorry state, with shops and restaurants mostly closed, and very few people in the terminals. All the money put into making Haneda Airport nice for tourists coming from all around the world during the Olympic games have gone to waste as Tokyo has announced that Japan 2021 will be a Japanese-only affair.

The Only Solution to Missing Album Artwork in iPhone Due to Catalina and Big Surâ€™s Music.app

Posted February 27th, 2021 by Ryu at 8:29 pm in Music.app. 0 Comments

Important: Please note, this post is mainly for people with curated offline music libraries, whose album artwork has largely gone missing due to Appleâ€™s change in the work album artwork is stored and retrieve in the new Music.app in macOS Catalina and Big Sur.

The Unreliable macOS Music.app

With the removal of iTunes in macOS Catalina, it is no longer possible to reliably maintain a music library with correct album artwork showing, especially if your library has a large percentage of music ripped from CDs (and did not purchase from Apple). Every time you upgrade the operating system (say, from Catalina to Big Sur), or if you decide to wipe and reinstall macOS, when you load your music library for the first time, the new Music.app starts a process of populating your music library with album artwork by detecting embedded artwork from your music files.

This process is about as reliable as trying to stop the spread of COVID-19 without masks or vaccines.

The iPhone’s Failure to Load Album Artwork

Very often the process will fail to load all the album artwork. Sometimes it fails to load ANY artwork at all. But the most irritating problem is that even if the album artwork successfully loads in the macOS Music.app, it can sometimes go missing when your music library is synced to your iPhoneâ€™s Music.app. This is because, for some weird reason, during the process of loading album artwork, the macOS Music.app sometimes deletes the embedded artwork in the first, or first few songs in each album. And for some other weird reason, album artwork will fail to load in the iOS Music.app if the first song in the album does not have any embedded artwork.

This all stemmed from the fact that the macOS Music.app is a half-baked modified iTunes, while the iOS Music.app is really a reskinned Beats Music app. The prior iOS Music codebase which was extremely stable and usable, has been thrown out for the buggy mess that was Beats Music.

Now, maybe the above paragraph has given you a hint of the one and only solution to the problem you are having right now. You are right.

The answer is iTunes.

The Solution, For Now

I have absolutely no idea why people claimed to hate iTunes. Maybe they donâ€™t like to have a bunch of functions inside one single app, or maybe the complaining people are all Windows users, but iTunes was, and still is very mature and stable. If you just use it for your offline Music library, it is leagues more stable than the macOS Music.app is today. And given that Apple donâ€™t give a fuck about fixing the macOS Music.app since Catalina, I think the plan is that they will rather inconvenient users with offline music libraries in the hope of driving them to pay for Apple Music subscriptions.

You cannot download iTunes for Catalina or Big Sur. For that you need Retroactive. You can read about Retroactive here and here, but basically by now it is quite stable and has a relatively big pool of users.

How to Restore Your Album Artwork to iOS Devices

The steps to getting your album artwork back on your iPhone are to;

Install Retroactive
Use Retroactive to install iTunes 12.9.5
Hopefully, you still have your iTunes library file lying somewhere in your disk. If not, just open Music.app, and drag everything into iTunes, creating a new iTunes library file.
If your music files still have album artwork embedded in them, all the artwork will load. If there are missing album artwork (due to the Music.app deleting a bunch), fix them.
Sync your iPhone (using Finder/iTunes). Uncheck all music in the music sync settings so that your current music library in your iPhone is deleted once. Then click sync.
Sync your iPhone again, this time using only iTunes. Recheck all the music you want to sync back in. If you have a large library, try syncing a few artists first.
Check that everything is working now, then continue to sync all the remaining artists you want.
Enjoy!

Step 5 is important because if you just sync with iTunes on the same settings for music you had on Finder, nothing will change as only music files that had been modified will sync over.

Syncing with iTunes will not create a new backup, both iTunes and the Finder are just an interface to access the systemâ€™s syncing feature. If you ask me syncing on iTunes is more clearcut and obvious than syncing on the Finder.

At least for now, iTunes syncing will be the only solution for this massive artwork problem, until Apple decides to fix the problem. To make that happen, file a bug with Apple. If enough people make noise Apple will likely nudge and fix the missing album artwork issue.

Last Minute Valentine’s Day Present Ideas (Apple Edition)

Posted February 10th, 2021 by Ryu at 5:45 pm in Valentine's Day. 0 Comments

Valentines Day is the day you show your significant other that he or she is special. While expensive presents will definitely do, limited edition items can make better presents simply due to the item being only available at a particular period in time.

If you have yet to prepare your present for this Sunday, these three Apple items are worth serious consideration. With Chinese New Year coming up logistically speaking you only have to tonight or tomorrow to buy your present, so there is no time to waste.

The Apple Watch Series 6 Black Unity

Appleâ€™s second ever limited edition Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Series 6 Black Unity.

It is only available for this month (February 2021).

If you have the budget, this is the one item to buy your loved one. They are available at the same prices as the normal Series 6, starting at 599SGD, in both sizes and in GPS and GPS+Cellular variants

Stock Status:

Not all models are in stock.

All 40mm models are in stock at all Apple Stores.

However, 44mm GPS models, arguably the most popular model, are only in stock at Apple Marina Bay Sands. 44mm GPS+Cellular models are in stock in all Apple Stores.

The Black Unity Sport Band

The Sport Band is available without the watch as well, if your loved one already has an Apple Watch and are unlikely to appreciate another one. Everyone can appreciate more watch bands, however. Unlike the watch the Black Unity Sport Band, while limited, will be available for the rest of 2021 while stock last. Available for the usual 69SGD.

Stock Status:

It is in stock at all three Apple Stores.

The Limited Edition AirPods Pro – Ox

These are the regular AirPods Pro with a Ox laser engraving on the wireless case. As it is a Chinese New Year model, it is likely to be available only while stocks last.

Stock Status:

It is in stock at all three Apple Stores.

Valentines Day Presents on the Cheap

If your valentine can wait to receive his or her present from overseas, then these deals are definitely worth it as you will be able to save a bunch of money.

The AirPods Pro

Now available at 189USD

Beats Flex

Now available at 40USD

For more gift ideas, check out my previous Christmas Gift Guide.

The One Solution to Facebook’s Tracking Fiasco and Their “War” on Apple

Posted February 5th, 2021 by Ryu at 10:07 pm in Privacy. 0 Comments

If you are confused by the recent barrage of news about Facebookâ€™s displeasure with Appleâ€™s change in tracking policy, and wonder how it will affect you, donâ€™t be.

There is really no need to go into the details. After following these simple steps, you no longer need to bother yourself reading another article covering Facebook’s displeasure.

Make sure you are on iOS 14.4
Go to the settings app
Tap on privacy
Tap on Tracking
Make sure that â€œAllow Apps to Request to Trackâ€ is unchecked/off

There! You are done! Check the image link above for a visual guide if you cannot follow the above instructions.

Pass these instructions to a friend who is equally confused about the Facebook complaints as you are, and they too will be relieved of further worries.

First look at the AirPods Max

Posted February 5th, 2021 by Ryu at 12:55 pm in AirPods Max. 0 Comments

They are now available for trying at the various Apple stores in Singapore, in case you are living in a well. Here’s a look at the Space Grey and Green Pairs

No review, because I did not test them out (I value personal hygiene a lot especially during these times). Hopefully someone I trust will buy a pair eventually for me to test them out with separate earcups.

I said first look, not first listen, didnâ€™t I?

If you want to order a pair, Amazon US has silver ones for next week (February 10) shipping right now. Or if you rather have the same features in a much more portable form factor, the AirPods Pro are now 199USD.

Beats Flex is now 20% off!

Posted February 2nd, 2021 by Ryu at 10:48 pm in Beats and Deals. 1 Comment

Beats Flex, the cheapest Beats wireless IEMs, are now even cheaper with them being 10USD off their usual 50USD pricing at Amazon US.

New Blue and Grey colours were just released weeks ago, and if you donâ€™t have a huge budget but want to get your loved one some wireless headphones for his or her iPhone this is the best deal available now.