Thord D. Hedengren

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Tag: MacBook Air

  • New iPad Pros

    Apple announced new iPad Pro models, with a new and really cool keyboard to boot, yesterday. Yes, I ordered one, because now that I’m lugging around a 16″ MacBook Pro, the 12.9″ iPad Pro is a bit much – they overlap for me – so I got the 11″ model. That is the only reason I’m opening my wallet this time, because my current iPad Pro isn’t breaking a sweat in my workflow. Size is important though, and this lets me go back to smaller bags when I’m not carrying the whole damn office with me.

    I’m looking forward to a smaller device again, both for reading and writing in coffee shops (when the damn COVID-19 thing has blown over, that is). Less so for designing, screen real-estate is key there, but that happens on my MacBook Pro too, which offers even more pixels to push. I think the only time I’ll miss the big screen is when reading comics, and watching something in bed.

    (I won’t comment on mouse support until I’ve tried it. It does look pretty clever though.)

    Apple also announced an upgraded MacBook Air, which looks great. I’d be all over that a decade ago.

  • The so called 12" MacBook Air reveal

    The so called 12" MacBook Air reveal

    9to5Mac is a well-known Apple blog, and they’re great at feeding the rumor mill. Right now, they’re “revealing” the new 12″ MacBook Air. By “reveal” they actually mean that they’ve created artist renditions based on their sources, which isn’t exactly the same thing as revealing, but it matters little. I don’t think that this is the 12″ MacBook Air, it just doesn’t make sense.

    First there’s this:

    The upcoming 12-inch Air has the fewest amount of ports ever on an Apple computer, as can be seen in the rendition above. On the right side is a standard headphone jack and dual-microphones for input and noise-canceling. On the left side is solely the new USB Type-C port. Yes, Apple is currently planning to ditch standard USB ports, the SD Card slot, and even its Thunderbolt and MagSafe charging standards on this new notebook.

    The magnetic MagSafe charging cables are brilliant, they solve a problem, and thus there’s no reason to believe that Apple would scrap them for a new USB port. Of course, that’s assuming they haven’t also managed to make the USB port magnetic.

    (more…)

  • Predictions for Apple's October event

    Predictions for Apple's October event

    There’ll be an Apple event on October 16, and it’ll be livestreamed for all to see. The previous event, announcing the iPhone 6 models and showing off the Apple Watch, was a major fuckup for most viewers, so Apple’ll want to get this one right.

    The tagline, “It’s been way too long”, hints at a new iMac, I think. The fact that Apple’s using the rainbow colors makes me think there’ll be color variations of the new iMac yet again. All speculation of course. I’d also expect a Mac mini, but I don’t think there’ll be anything particularly interesting in terms of design there, just a bump and possibly some minor tweaks.

    (more…)

  • WWDC 2013 Post Mortem

    iOS 7

    I’ve been having a rough couple of days, which is why I haven’t followed up on my WWDC predictions until now. All in all I think I did alright. I was surprised that the MacBook Pro line didn’t even get a speed bump, but the Air got a nice upgrade at least.

    What else? Let’s take this in bullet form.  (more…)

  • The Air And The Mini

    I’ve been away from home and office for about two weeks, my first trip after swapping my trusty iPad 3 for an iPad mini. I also brought my 11” MacBook Air for occasional work and necessary book editing.

    This is my first longer trip in quite some time where I choose not to bring a bluetooth keyboard, for use with the iPad mini. My reasoning was that I wanted to travel light, and since I brought the Air I’d rely on that one for any unplanned writing.

    That failed miserably. To me it is so much easier to get started writing on an iPad, it is more accessible. I’m even tapping this on my iPad mini, rather than pulling out my Air. Peculiar perhaps, but not really news to me.

    The reason I thought this would be less of an issue with the iPad mini is that the screen is far from ideal for editing. I go through and edit everything I write, and I’ve found that selecting words, inserting the cursor on a specific place and similar actions are a lot more cumbersome on the iPad mini compared to the full-sized alternatives. With that in mind, I figured I’d consume on the iPad mini, and whatever I felt like creating would be destined for the Air.

    I learned three things from this pseudo-experiment:

    1. I prefer to write on the iPad, which we’ve already covered. Even when it is as small as the iPad mini, it would seem.
    2. No matter how nice the MacBook Air is, it represents a less chaotic, more organized kind of content creation to me. That’s not the way I write, nor start something – order comes later in the process.
    3. I’m not going on a longer trip without my bluetooth keyboard for my iPad mini again.

    So how did I do? Well, despite me not opening the Air for anything but client work and the necessary editing to meet my deadlines, I still managed to write a few blog posts, an essay, an article, and three short reports, all on the iPad mini. It would’ve gone a lot faster with a bluetooth keyboard, or using the Air, but the best tool is the one you’ve got with you, and want to use, so there you go.

    On the plus side, I’ve gotten pretty good writing on this small bugger, getting close to the speeds I have on my iPad 3. At least that’s something.

  • Snart kan du inte uppgradera din laptop själv

    Läser lite lagom roat kritik och klagomål på att Apples retina-Macbook inte går att uppgradera. Allt sitter fast, precis som i Macbook Air, och det betyder att du inte kan får större hårddisk, mer internminne, eller vad du nu vill göra.

    Det här är framtiden för Apples bärbara datorer.

    Det är också framtiden för alla som vill hänga med i utvecklingen, för ska datorerna bli små och slimmade, som Airen och retina-Macbooken, så måste det vara så här. Vill du verkligen kunna öppna din dator så får du en klumpigare produkt.

    Så jag läser klagomålen och ler, speciellt i de fall då Apple påstås skjuta sig själv i foten. Få öppnar sin dator idag, något som i synnerhet gäller laptops. Det här är framtiden och vi driver fram den med vår önskan att allt ska bli mindre och lättare. Det är bara en tidsfråga innan övriga datortillverkare kommer till samma insikt.

  • Circumstances

    I have ended up in my (well, not mine but anyway) lakeside home for the week, due to a broken down car that’s in the shop right now. This isn’t all bad, although I’m not looking forward to the mechanic’s verdict and what it’ll cost me. Since my lakeside home is free of anything resembling real broadband, which in my world is 100 Mbit in both directions, this means I’ll have to adapt to a different working style. I’ve got a decent 3G connection (1-2 Mbit) so I can get just about everything done that I otherwise would’ve done from home or the Odd Alice office in Stockholm, so no worries there. However, I don’t have all the equipment I usually rely on.

    • No Apple 27″ LED display for massive screen real-estate
    • No Wacom Intous 4 drawing pad for logos
    • No ergonomically correct chair nor desk
    • No 120+ GB of music
    • No movies, TV series, nor the will to download it over 3G
    • No Nespresso coffee machine

    (more…)

  • On Lion: Full-screen apps on small screens are a blessing

    Wren in full-screen
    Wreen in fullscreen

    Lion’s fullscreen feature is truly a blessing. While the minimalistic Twitter app Wren might look great in fullscreen, it isn’t the type of software that truly benefits from this feature. The killer mix is the 11″ MacBook Air, combined with the Safari web browser for example. All nonsense disappears, your app is everything.

    Wren above shows that it looks awesome even if you have almost no functionality, and while I do think fullscreen makes more sense on smaller screens, I do occasionally use it on the 27″ screens at work as well. It just is so focused, and sometimes we need that little extra help to stick to what we’re doing.

  • The MacBook Air, redux

    I have owned three MacBook Air models. Luckily I skipped out on the first one, which had serious issues with heat and sudden crashes. The minor update that led to the second MacBook Air was the first one I got, and then it struck me. This is the perfect typewriter, way beyond any laptop I had ever owned, and those are numerous I can tell you that.

    I loved that Air, all its 1,6 GHz of low voltage processing power, the touchpad and even its awkward two buttons, the whole package. It was underpowered with its 2 GB of RAM and the 4200 rpm hard drive, combined with heating issues that firmware updates and some sensible usage sorted out for me personally. Still, best typewriter ever, thanks to its wonderful keyboard and the form factor. Love it. (more…)

  • Så tror jag om Macbook Air-uppgraderingen

    Jag har skrivit några rader om Macbook Air-ryktena på Mapple, för den som är nyfiken på vad jag tror kommer hända i juni-juli.

  • Chromebook har ett Chrome-tangentbord!

    Konstig rubrik tycker du? Den är faktiskt helt sann, för Googles Chromebook-lineup från Samsung och Acer har faktiskt Chrome-anpassade tangentbord.

    Det är också det mest intressanta med Chromebook.

    För något år sedan hade jag varit exalterad, jag älskar webbappar och vill lagra allt i molnet för snabb åtkomst överallt. Så det gör jag, med Dropbox och andra lösningar. Tyvärr är webbappen som koncept för oputsad för mig. Gmail är bra, men ser ut som stryk och är dåligt anpassad för högre upplösningar. Google Docs är bra, men buggar lite för ofta. Google Calendar är bra, men suger i mobilen. (more…)

  • iPad vs. MacBook Air

    This is the big one that a lot of people are asking themselves, and probably even more so now that the iPad 2 is out in the open (albeit not in stores just yet).

    Should I get an iPad, or should I get the MacBook Air?

    I’ve got both. My Air is the 11″ version, because frankly although the 13″ version is portable and excellent, the size difference makes it less of an option for the ultraportable road warrior.

    So, iPad vs. MacBook Air 11″ then. It’s on, what should I buy, which is right for me? (more…)

  • Getting productive with change of scenery

    I’ve been told I’m crazy, in the “you’re stupid doing all that” way. You see I’m not only addicted to words, I’m also addicted to projects. I love firing up something new, I get ideas and jot them down, revisit and suddenly I find myself building something.

    You might say I’m a doer.

    But that doesn’t mean I don’t hit walls, getting bogged down with what is commonly referred to as writer’s block (I’ll save my thoughts on that for another post), and just get the feeling that I don’t want to do what’s necessary. A ton of projects will do that to you, it’s a mental battle.

    A change of scenery will help. I’ve been meaning to get Notes Blog ready for the public beta for two weeks, but I just haven’t been able to pull myself together to actually do it.

    Today I am. In five minutes time I’ll have a Talisker single malt by my side and I’ll be watching the 17″ Macbook Pro fire up, leaving the Air for the first time in a long time. The change of scenery is my tool – which Macbook I’m working on – this time around.

    But it helps. Change is good.

  • Apples missar med nya Macbook Air

    Om du undrar vad Apple gjorde för fel med nya Macbook Air så berättar jag det på Mapple.

  • Var passar paddan in?

    Apples iPad är ännu inte släppt i Sverige men ändå drömmer mediahusen om frälsningen i form av en läsplatta. Jag förhåller mig synnerligen tveksam till detta, men mest för att de tror att vi plötsligt ska prenumerera på en enhet som fungerar minst lika bra till traditionell läsning online. Läsandet kan mycket väl gå upp tack vare iPad, mitt har sannerligen påverkats, men inte kommer jag prenumerera på en morgontidning för det.

    Nog om det. Den här posten finns för att Joakim Jardenberg funderar kring iPaden och konstaterar att hans användande minskar. Så var passar paddan in? Det här kan jag konstatera, som haft först wifi-modellen och sedan månader tillbaka kör 3G-diton. (more…)