News from Apple this week

[harshness]

Video/film and real time stock trading analysis and trend analysis/predictions. Both require very high end GPU's.

Other than those using Davinci, I'm not convinced that GPUs are all that heavily used in most better Video production tools. Many modern GPUs (other than the high-end CAD models) often sacrifice quality for speed so I think we'll see continued dependence on the CPU. I watched the recent Apple presentation on my 61" TV last night and was annoyed by the apparent lack of smoothing in the rendered iPhone games. Maybe it was a resolution conversion issue.

I would think that stock analysis is more about data processing than raw number crunching. My financial advisor uses a thin terminal with a mostly text-based interface. She knows I'm not a fan of graphs and charts.

 

[harshness]

With Comenity Bank,you have to call them and have a rep on the phone as you go through the process and then they can manually authorize the approval.

Banks move much slower than the rest of the world when it comes to technology. I've been dealing with several lately and they all seem to like to send out a rep to set things up (perhaps because there's always something in the process that doesn't work right or is somehow time-of-day dependent). Two of my employer's banks just started accepting something other than facsimiles about 18 months ago for wire transfers. The check franking machines are a nightmare to set up as they never seem to work with the requisite browser.

 

[TheForce]

I'm not convinced that GPUs are all that heavily used in most better Video production tools.

Last year adobe had some bugs that prevented you from selecting either Nvidia or AMD GPU for rendering. Once they fixed it a huge project I was rendering in 5.7K that was taking 33 hours on my i9-7980XE only tool 4.5 hours on my GTX1080 Ti GPU. Both rendering to h265 encoding. I would call that a significant improvement. There are other apps for stitching VR that also use the GPU such as Human Eyes Studio and insta360 stitching software. I have always selected GPU rendering so I'm not sure how they would work on my CPU only. Others on the forums have reported days to batch render an hour's of clips. I think an hour's worth of VR clips would only take 20-30 minutes with a GTX1080 Ti.

 

[harshness]

Last year adobe had some bugs that prevented you from selecting either Nvidia or AMD GPU for rendering. Once they fixed it a huge project I was rendering in 5.7K that was taking 33 hours on my i9-7980XE only tool 4.5 hours on my GTX1080 Ti GPU.

Clearly things change with time. Since most people used Premiere, that's probably why I heard all the howling.

It is good to hear that they give you a choice that works now.

 

[TheForce]

That choice was fixed back in January as I recall. Many in the forums were complaining about the fact that the choice was there in last years version but 2019 came out and it was grayed out in the selection box. Another update fixed it. I was surprised it made it through the beta testers. Of course, I no longer have much respect for the quality of beta testing being done these days. It has turned into a way to get artistic talent to create on the latest version for advertising as opposed to debugging.


I stopped by the Apple store today as I was in the neighborhood and tried to look at the new ipads but they said won't be on display until Friday. I was all set to upgrade my Air to the new version with Apple Keyboard / stand and pencil. The ipad is selling for $329 64GB model with plug in capability storage now. About time. But the processor is an older A10 and the Pencil is not the 2nd gen which is wireless charging. So, I held my nose and said no deal. I'd bet the next bid release will support the Pencil 2 generation. Right now the only ipad that supports it is the pro and the entire kit is nearly $1000. I don't use the ipad enough to justify that expense. I'd rather spend the money on an updated Surface Pro.

 

[TheForce]

Watch ifixit live teardown of the iphone 11 Pro in five minutes

 

[harshness]

That's the first five minute teardown I've seen that took 30 minutes to complete. It took more than five minutes just to get the case open yet it seems pretty clear that she has done this before.

I submit that this phone was likely designed before the third party repair initiative (California's initiative is for DIY repairs) found legs.

 

[TheForce]

Well, I now have first hand experience repairing both iphones of this design and ipads and Apple watches for battery repair and digitizing screen repairs. Getting that screen apart is very difficult. It is glued in place. So when I saw that first part where she used just one suction cup I was hoping to learn a better way but alas, she finally used the special dual suction pliers. Heating with a heat gun is risky and not recommended. I broke down and bought the iOpener from them and that really works well and doesn't put the screen in danger of cracking. Properly used it does take about 10 minutes to soften the glue and then the double suction pliers pulls the screen right up. That double stick rubbery tape holding the battery in place is very difficult. If you choose to replace the battery, it's because the battery being replaced is spent / shot, so don't worry about trying to remove it and not damaging it. For safety, first make sure the iphone is completely dead battery. Keep it on until it no longer can light up. This might take quite awhile like another day with screen never off. Obviously they didn't do that for sake of the video. Now just pry the battery away even if it bends and is pulled apart. If you try to pry up a fully charged battery and bend it it could explode.

Replacing a broken screen will most likely need to be done in sharp pieces of broken glass. Very easy to cut your self or get flying shards of glass in your eyes. Wear safety glasses and be careful pulling the pieces of glass away from the base. The suction cups may not work here as the screen cracks won't allow the suction to stick.

 

[Foxbat]

Replacing a broken screen will most likely need to be done in sharp pieces of broken glass. Very easy to cut your self or get flying shards of glass in your eyes. Wear safety glasses and be careful pulling the pieces of glass away from the base. The suction cups may not work here as the screen cracks won't allow the suction to stick.

Cracked screen repair? Cover the screen with packing tape. That allows you to use the suction cup and it helps keep glass shards from separating from the screen.

 

[TheForce]

Tried that Roland but the suction cup loses suction as the glass bends at the cracks. That was the case on my grandson's ipad. Low cost repair, but was not easy. Might work if the screen had a simple crack only on one side.

 

[TheForce]

I went to Apple store to see the new watch, ipads and new iphone 11 Pro Max. I was not impressed enough on the iphone 11 to consider buying one. So this nice kid comes over and asked me if I had any questions. I told him I just bought the XsMax last year and was just looking. So he asked- How did you buy it? I told him I am paying a monthly amount to CitizenOne Bank and I have another year of payments. He said maybe you can get an upgrade to a matching 11 Pro Max for no additional charge. He said Apple's program allows you to upgrade by exchanging my current phone and Apple will pay off the current phone loan, I just continue to pay the same monthly payment for another 2 years, same terms as before. He said if I am under that program, my price is locked in as long as I upgrade every year.

So I was thinking of waiting until next year to upgrade but with that program, I can still do that and have the 11 in the meantime. So I went to the Apple website to verify my upgrade status and it says I qualify for the 11 Pro Max with 512GB at no additional cost. Well, that is not exactly true. I do have to pay for the sales tax. With Apple card, I get 5% off that charge too. So it's ordered and is supposed to arrive in 2 weeks.

According to the kid at the store, if I waited until next year when the phone is paid off I would be out of the program.

The only reason to not upgrade now is if I decided I will just keep my current iphone for much longer than 2 years.


If you bought an iphone last year and are paying monthly payments to CitizenOne bank, check your upgrade status on the Apple website to see what your deal is. You also get AppleCare+ free with this deal.

 

[navychop]

I paid cash for mine. I wonder ....


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[TheForce]

I paid cash for mine. I wonder ....


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As best I can determine you can get $600 off on a new iphone for a Xs Max trade in. I don't think that is worth it. unless you have the smallest ram model. I had the 512GB model and that one is still only $600 trade in. They give no added trade-in value on higher ram. But, you might do better selling it outright if having the 11 Pro Max is important.

BTW- when I went into the store, they had a long line wrapped around like last year. Hundreds were there to pick up iphones and watches preordered back on the 13th. I didn't have to wait in line to get in because I wasn't picking up.

 

[mackie99]

I went to Apple store to see the new watch, ipads and new iphone 11 Pro Max. I was not impressed enough on the iphone 11 to consider buying one. So this nice kid comes over and asked me if I had any questions. I told him I just bought the XsMax last year and was just looking. So he asked- How did you buy it? I told him I am paying a monthly amount to CitizenOne Bank and I have another year of payments. He said maybe you can get an upgrade to a matching 11 Pro Max for no additional charge. He said Apple's program allows you to upgrade by exchanging my current phone and Apple will pay off the current phone loan, I just continue to pay the same monthly payment for another 2 years, same terms as before. He said if I am under that program, my price is locked in as long as I upgrade every year.

So I was thinking of waiting until next year to upgrade but with that program, I can still do that and have the 11 in the meantime. So I went to the Apple website to verify my upgrade status and it says I qualify for the 11 Pro Max with 512GB at no additional cost. Well, that is not exactly true. I do have to pay for the sales tax. With Apple card, I get 5% off that charge too. So it's ordered and is supposed to arrive in 2 weeks.

According to the kid at the store, if I waited until next year when the phone is paid off I would be out of the program.

The only reason to not upgrade now is if I decided I will just keep my current iphone for much longer than 2 years.


If you bought an iphone last year and are paying monthly payments to CitizenOne bank, check your upgrade status on the Apple website to see what your deal is. You also get AppleCare+ free with this deal.

How do you get 5% off with the Apple card? I get 3% back when buying from Apple.

 

[TheForce]

You're right! It's 3%, not 5%. My brain is stuck on BJ's and Amazon cards that do 5%. Thanks for the reminder / correction.

 

[mackie99]

You're right! It's 3%, not 5%. My brain is stuck on BJ's and Amazon cards that do 5%. Thanks for the reminder / correction.

Damn...I was hoping you found a way to get 5%.

 

[TheForce]

Damn...I was hoping you found a way to get 5%.

I wonder if you can pay the Apple card with another cash back card? Add your 2% citi card to the payment. Is that possible?

 

[mackie99]

I wonder if you can pay the Apple card with another cash back card? Add your 2% citi card to the payment. Is that possible?

I don't believe you can do that. You have to put in bank info with routing number and account number. So checking and savings only.

 

[navychop]

I’ll stick with my current pimped out Xs Max.


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[frank c.]

I’ll stick with my current pimped out Xs Max.


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Same here.


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