# I’m sick of Apple!



## SoFlaModel3

Ok I’m sorry, but time to rant...

I loved my previous MacBook Pro but it died a premature death shy of 2 years, but of course out of warranty (had a few days of AMEX extended warranty) and too expensive to repair (only to have it break again when Apple couldn’t figure out what was truly wrong with it).

So 8 months ago I buy the shiny new toy, the MacBook Pro with Touchbar. Let me tell you, this is literally the worst computer ever. Battery life is a joke, touchbar is annoying, and 4 USB-C ports with nothing else is enough to drive you insane.

Whatever, this all sounds like first world problems... that is until my computer just turned itself off and decided not to turn itself back on. Apple Support couldn’t help over the phone and now I have an appointment at the Genius Bar in a few hours.

I’m at a loss for what to do, but Apple rules my life with the computer, phone, iPad, music, photos, iCloud, etc.

This is just not good!


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## JWardell

I've had the MacBookPro with Touch Bar since 2015 (and a second one now at work) and I LOVE it!
The thunderbolt ports are my favorite feature, it works with _everything_.
Love the Touch Bar for quick yet precise volume adjustments.
The only real issue is the keyboard, which I love when it works, but a single grain of sand brings it to its knees.

Anyway I'm happy to suggest some advice if you share some details of what happened.


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## SoFlaModel3

JWardell said:


> I've had the MacBookPro with Touch Bar since 2015 (and a second one now at work) and I LOVE it!
> The thunderbolt ports are my favorite feature, it works with _everything_.
> Love the Touch Bar for quick yet precise volume adjustments.
> The only real issue is the keyboard, which I love when it works, but a single grain of sand brings it to its knees.
> 
> Anyway I'm happy to suggest some advice if you share some details of what happened.


The computer literally turned off while I was in the middle of using it and won't turn back on. With Apple Support we tried resetting SMC and a few other things none of which worked.

I'm curious what they'll do when I bring it in.

I detest the Touch Bar though and regret getting it and the battery life is miserable because of the screen. They sell you on this great screen, but if you "use it" the battery dies fast so you end up with a great screen that you intentionally dim for the batter to hold up.


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## JWardell

The 500 nit screen is blinding, I can't imagine using any brightness above half in any indoor environment. Do you work outside in the sun? How nice! (Oh, Florida, maybe not)

I'm curious if it got unexpectedly warm after it crashed. I've had a bad 3rd party USB-C charger kill mine a few times, and slowly came back to life after using the Apple charger.

If they walked you through usual hold down power button and SMC reset then I'm not sure what else besides trying a different charger *and a different cable* Again, I've seen several cheap USB-C cables that caused charging issues.

You have a genius appointment so hopefully they will take care of you. It's well within warranty and they usually will still cover things a few months afterwards. If they can't revive it there, turn around time is usually only about 4 days.


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## SoFlaModel3

JWardell said:


> The 500 nit screen is blinding, I can't imagine using any brightness above half in any indoor environment. Do you work outside in the sun? How nice! (Oh, Florida, maybe not)
> 
> I'm curious if it got unexpectedly warm after it crashed. I've had a bad 3rd party USB-C charger kill mine a few times, and slowly came back to life after using the Apple charger.
> 
> If they walked you through usual hold down power button and SMC reset then I'm not sure what else besides trying a different charger *and a different cable* Again, I've seen several cheap USB-C cables that caused charging issues.
> 
> You have a genius appointment so hopefully they will take care of you. It's well within warranty and they usually will still cover things a few months afterwards. If they can't revive it there, turn around time is usually only about 4 days.


We shall see - as for peripherals I always use Apple's overpriced cables (for the win?) 

Maybe it's just my eyes, but I hate this screen if the brightness isn't near maxed out.

4 days - I really hope not!


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## garsh

It sounds like you're pretty invested in the Apple ecosystem at this point, so you should probably stick with it.

But for people who mostly use a web browser, I strongly suggest getting a Chromebook. They are pretty awesome nowadays. They only take 1-2 seconds to turn-on & resume, so it's great when you want to check something quickly. There's very little that they cannot do nowadays, with many apps & utilities being web-based. You can often find Chromebooks with 4GB ram for around $100. That's plenty of RAM for most users.

They're especially great for those relatives who call you for their tech support.  It's pretty hard for them to screw things up or install viruses.

For $100-$150, I think it's worth getting one for day-to-day use, and then keeping the Apple/Windows laptop for those times when you need to run some non-web application.


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## SoFlaModel3

Alright Apple made good we can close out today’s rant. 

I brought it in and got the dreaded “we have to ship it out and it will take 3-5 days spiel”. I said I depend on the computer for work and can’t be without it. She asked if I had a credit card and I said of course. She said well we have a 14 day return policy with no restocking fees. 

So there you go. Brand new in box loaner


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## Spiffywerks

Wife uses a Macbook Air 12" from like 2008. Can't update it anymore but she only uses it for web browsing and watching Youtube videos. Battery life is insane on it.

Wanted to get her a one but Apple wants soooooo much for them still with 3+ year old hardware inside. (Although they are super simple, thin, light, and built rock solid.) I've been trying to find something equivalent in the same small form factor. Any suggestions? Seems hard to find something as light and thin.


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## garsh

Spiffywerks said:


> she only uses it for web browsing and watching Youtube videos. Battery life is insane on it.


Chromebooks can do those things, and tend to have insane battery life. And the instant turn-on is very nice and easily spoils you for other laptops.


> I've been trying to find something equivalent in the same small form factor. Any suggestions?


Chromebook.


> Seems hard to find something as light and thin.


Chromebook.


Seriously, pick one up for $100-$200. If all she uses is a web browser, it'll be worth it.


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## Love

garsh said:


> Chromebooks can do those things, and tend to have insane battery life. And the instant turn-on is very nice and easily spoils you for other laptops.Chromebook.Chromebook.
> 
> 
> Seriously, pick one up for $100-$200. If all she uses is a web browser, it'll be worth it.


Look at @garsh shorting Apple and longing Chromebook. 


garsh said:


> Chromebooks. Chromebook.Chromebook


CHROMEBOOK!

Edit: CHROMEBOOK!


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## MelindaV

SoFlaModel3 said:


> Ok I'm sorry, but time to rant...
> 
> I loved my previous MacBook Pro but it died a premature death shy of 2 years, but of course out of warranty (had a few days of AMEX extended warranty) and too expensive to repair (only to have it break again when Apple couldn't figure out what was truly wrong with it).
> 
> So 8 months ago I buy the shiny new toy, the MacBook Pro with Touchbar. Let me tell you, this is literally the worst computer ever. Battery life is a joke, touchbar is annoying, and 4 USB-C ports with nothing else is enough to drive you insane.
> 
> Whatever, this all sounds like first world problems... that is until my computer just turned itself off and decided not to turn itself back on. Apple Support couldn't help over the phone and now I have an appointment at the Genius Bar in a few hours.
> 
> I'm at a loss for what to do, but Apple rules my life with the computer, phone, iPad, music, photos, iCloud, etc.
> 
> This is just not good!


I have been using a 2011 MBA without a single issue since 2011 () and prior to that was using a 2007 MPB with the only issue being a graphics chip Apple replaced free of charge outside of warranty and giving it a new battery. So in my 11 years of mac laptop usage, I'd say they have been excellent and well it. 
in contrast, my work top of the line Dell laptop I've had for 6 months has had more issues.


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## JWardell

SoFlaModel3 said:


> Maybe it's just my eyes, but I hate this screen if the brightness isn't near maxed out.


Have you tried taking your sunglasses off?


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## SoFlaModel3

MelindaV said:


> I have been using a 2011 MBA without a single issue since 2011 () and prior to that was using a 2007 MPB with the only issue being a graphics chip Apple replaced free of charge outside of warranty and giving it a new battery. So in my 11 years of mac laptop usage, I'd say they have been excellent and well it.
> in contrast, my work top of the line Dell laptop I've had for 6 months has had more issues.


I think it's fair to say they don't make them like they used to!


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## SoFlaModel3

Following up as I got my computer back over the weekend and it’s a good/bad ending.

Good ending — my computer is back, in perfect condition, and in fact better than ever.

Bad ending — it confirms my suspicion that they don’t make them like they used to. Either that or I had bad luck. My RAM was definitely “bad” from day 1 and I just lived with it. They basically replaced everything and my computer is now better than the day I got it.

All is right in the Apple universe.... for now....


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## Spiffywerks

Been trying to import 21,000 pictures from wife iPhone throught MacBook Air to a 2 tb drive with her iPhoto database. Left it all night, still stuck on “preparing import”. 

I think I’ll just rip these photos off the phone using a Windows PC. Microsoft for the save. XD


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## MelindaV

Spiffywerks said:


> Been trying to import 21,000 pictures from wife iPhone throught MacBook Air to a 2 tb drive with her iPhoto database. Left it all night, still stuck on "preparing import".
> 
> I think I'll just rip these photos off the phone using a Windows PC. Microsoft for the save. XD


Does she not use iCloud to sync?


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## Spiffywerks

MelindaV said:


> Does she not use iCloud to sync?


Nope. iCloud always pestering about it too. But would need to pay for iCloud service. Would have to go with $10/mo plan. Seems a waste when I have so many hard drives around.


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## MelindaV

Spiffywerks said:


> Nope. iCloud always pestering about it too. But would need to pay for iCloud service. Would have to go with $10/mo plan. Seems a waste when I have so many hard drives around.


it's $.99/month for 50GB. That is more than enough for that amount of photos


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## SoFlaModel3

Spiffywerks said:


> Nope. iCloud always pestering about it too. But would need to pay for iCloud service. Would have to go with $10/mo plan. Seems a waste when I have so many hard drives around.


I have 22,753 photos in iCloud and that takes up 88.7 GB of my 200 GB iCloud plan ($2.99/month). I am closing in on needing the 2TB plan though.


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## JWardell

Well the new MacBooks have silicone under their keys so they no longer get brought to their knees by a spec of dirt. Unfortunately it doesn't sounds apple will be fixing the last two years' MacBooks with the new design.
Then again, it's about time they tweak the whole case toward something bezel less. I will probably upgrade when they do (next year?).

iCloud storage prices really tick me off. I pay the 2.99, which is much more than others, but really that they only give a completely useless 5GB for free. I waste so much time supporting others like my parents because they can't even complete a backup, and a phone or iPad upgrade is a complete PITA because it can't just restore from iCloud backup.

It boggles my mind that it's 2018 and you still need a derivative of SoundJam installed just to upgrade to a new iPhone!


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## Michael Russo

Love my November 2017 15' MacBook Pro and find the touchbar quite handy. Like you, @SoFlaModel3 , I enjoy using the screen brightness maxed out but I almost always have the laptop on power & @ 100% though I know this is probably not a good plan. Otherwise with extended use during the day it requires daily charging almost like the iPhone. Such is life in 2018...


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## raptor

LOVE my 2011 MacBook Pro. Upgraded the memory, and added an SSD. It runs just as good as the newer ones, without all the problems.

Had to work on a brand new one several days ago, and just didn't like it (especially the keyboard). Hope this one won't die for a few more years, as I'm not too impressed with Windows 10 either.


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## Wooloomooloo

I'm interested in the OP's progress since the summer. Still with apple?

I had a bit of a falling out with them in my mind in 2016 and on a whim bought a Surface Pro 4. I loved the hardware and Windows 10 is pretty decent. The shine wore off after actually living with the device... many apps on Windows are appalling; reading apps, browsers on touch, editing PDF's, integrating photos into documents easily etc. I sold it after about 6 weeks and haven't complained about my Apple hardware (or software) since. My 2014 MBP is still going strong.


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## SoFlaModel3

Wooloomooloo said:


> I'm interested in the OP's progress since the summer. Still with apple?
> 
> I had a bit of a falling out with them in my mind in 2016 and on a whim bought a Surface Pro 4. I loved the hardware and Windows 10 is pretty decent. The shine wore off after actually living with the device... many apps on Windows are appalling; reading apps, browsers on touch, editing PDF's, integrating photos into documents easily etc. I sold it after about 6 weeks and haven't complained about my Apple hardware (or software) since. My 2014 MBP is still going strong.


Still fully with Apple and never going anywhere. My rant has closed


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## Mosess

I was so annoyed that the mac mini was not getting updated and that they doubled down on their efforts in make their products ever thinner which translates into smaller batteries.
But they redeemed themselves me now that the apple watch series 4 doesn't suck as badly as the series 2 did and the new Mac mini base is actually good and just what I needed.


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## mswlogo

I’ve had two MacBook pro’s. Current one is just before latest gen. I love USB-C. I plug one thing in (a dock) and I get everything. 

I carry a tiny adapter for USB-A which I have always hated with a passion. Constantly try to plug computer cables in blind, like back of computer, bottom of displays, Model 3 cubby and always have them backwards.

I have apple care on both and never used it.


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## JWardell

Wooloomooloo said:


> I'm interested in the OP's progress since the summer. Still with apple?
> 
> I had a bit of a falling out with them in my mind in 2016 and on a whim bought a Surface Pro 4. I loved the hardware and Windows 10 is pretty decent. The shine wore off after actually living with the device... many apps on Windows are appalling; reading apps, browsers on touch, editing PDF's, integrating photos into documents easily etc. I sold it after about 6 weeks and haven't complained about my Apple hardware (or software) since. My 2014 MBP is still going strong.


It's funny that it's Microsoft of all companies that seems to have really done it right with their Surface hardware. I heavily researched Windows laptops for work and they clearly stood out from the rest, the only one that could truly be a lightweight tablet then be plugged into the base and get a full powered computer. Build quality, looks, good trackpad..things other PC makers struggle with. But...Windows will eventually crawl under your skin. If only they could run Mac OS. If only Apple would make a similar laptop.

And I say the same about the iPad Pro. Love the new design, finally has USB-C. But if only it ran Mac OS.


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## Lisaellis

Well, Macbooks is one of the popularly used ones world widely. If you are not satisfied with it then consult with the professionals, it may be expensive and may cost you due to its brand name.


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## Love

Time for a proper thread BUMP!
Also file this one to PSA (and first world problems).

So I picked up the new iPad Pro in the 12.9" size. It's crazy big, like holding a damn TV in my lap. I'm liking it so far, however as this thread is titled how it is...now is time for the "BUTs"

- A few months ago I bought the Apple Pencil for my (now previous) iPad. It worked great! Thanks to Apple introducing a new pencil at the same time as the new iPad that have no backwards compatibility, the one I just bought is now 100% obsolete... THANKS APPLE.

- The day before I got my new iPad, I connected my old iPad to my PC and backed it up. So when I opened the packaging, pulled out the new iPad and went to restore from backup... um... so yeah, the new one comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable. Just an FYI for anyone out there not in the cloud like me and in need of an old school iTunes backup/restore. It was late at night so I went to bed, stopped on my way home from work the next day and spent $20 for a USB-C to USB-A cable. THANKS APPLE.

- I started planning for a trip and thought a movie on my iPad and my noise cancelling headphones during flight sounds good. Welp, see above about USB-C. I'll be stopping sometime at a store to get a stinking DONGLE... my favorite thing to additionaly carry and try not to lose ... which will be USB-C to 3.5mm headphone and looks like it costs $9 and has crappy reviews online (including WiFi cutting out!). Ridiculous. THAAAAANKS APPLE!!!!!!!


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## Madmolecule

Love my Mac but it far from perfect. 
I have to run a laptop cooler under it at the office to keep it from over heating. 
LG 5K monitors are nice but crazy expensive. No other way to really use the USB-C ports. Both can't be plugged into the same side.
Keyboard sucks
I like the Touch Pad but they need an external keyboard with the touch pad that I rarely use just the laptop.
I bought the Black Magic eGPU but it only supports one monitor, which makes it pretty useless.

I switch from dell for hardware reliability and more innovative hardware designs. Dell was still pushing that eraser mouse until recently (did anyone like it?)

I think the support has been great, but we have always received good support from dell and hp.

It also has the benefit of annoying the hell out of my IT guys.

The cloud is also frustrating. The iphone and Ipads have so much memory it is hard to back them up to a computer, especially if you want to keep multiple backups. The cloud backup does not store my mp3s on my phone which is a pain to move them each time I upgrade a phone. With that said the Time Machine has saved my ass on many occasions.


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## iChris93

Lovesword said:


> Time for a proper thread BUMP!
> Also file this one to PSA (and first world problems).
> 
> So I picked up the new iPad Pro in the 12.9" size. It's crazy big, like holding a damn TV in my lap. I'm liking it so far, however as this thread is titled how it is...now is time for the "BUTs"
> 
> - A few months ago I bought the Apple Pencil for my (now previous) iPad. It worked great! Thanks to Apple introducing a new pencil at the same time as the new iPad that have no backwards compatibility, the one I just bought is now 100% obsolete... THANKS APPLE.
> 
> - The day before I got my new iPad, I connected my old iPad to my PC and backed it up. So when I opened the packaging, pulled out the new iPad and went to restore from backup... um... so yeah, the new one comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable. Just an FYI for anyone out there not in the cloud like me and in need of an old school iTunes backup/restore. It was late at night so I went to bed, stopped on my way home from work the next day and spent $20 for a USB-C to USB-A cable. THANKS APPLE.
> 
> - I started planning for a trip and thought a movie on my iPad and my noise cancelling headphones during flight sounds good. Welp, see above about USB-C. I'll be stopping sometime at a store to get a stinking DONGLE... my favorite thing to additionaly carry and try not to lose ... which will be USB-C to 3.5mm headphone and looks like it costs $9 and has crappy reviews online (including WiFi cutting out!). Ridiculous. THAAAAANKS APPLE!!!!!!!


Hmmm... All things you could have known before buying the iPad. Personally, I wish mine took floppy disks


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## Love

iChris93 said:


> Hmmm... All things you could have known before buying the iPad. Personally, I wish mine took floppy disks


Could have, true. Didn't though... my own fault for not researching it and expecting it to ship with a USB-C to USB-A cable. Still though, even if I knew these things before hand, I'd be in the same boat and would have had to buy what I bought. So that to me makes Apple worthy of my side eye and a snarky THANKS APPLE!


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## JWardell

iChris93 said:


> Hmmm... All things you could have known before buying the iPad. Personally, I wish mine took floppy disks


Unlike the older iPads, you can plug your USB floppy drive right into your new iPad...what are you complaining about?


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## iChris93

JWardell said:


> Unlike the older iPads, you can plug your USB floppy drive right into your new iPad...what are you complaining about?


Maybe I have a preference for magnetic storage.


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## SoFlaModel3

I gave away my work issued iPad Pro to a member of my team because I found it utterly useless. That said I kind of want it back...


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## John

A couple of things on this thread made me think:

1. Talk about iPads; we have two iPads, but no one in the family uses or plans to use them any more. Interesting. I suppose phones and laptops cover it for us.

2. "All Apple" families. We used to be all-Apple, with each kid given a MacBook Pro and an iPhone when there were old enough. But interestingly, to a kid they all now use Windows machines (everyone free to choose every couple of years). It surprised me. "Do you want your next laptop to be another Mac, or a Windows machine?" And all three eventually said, "Windows!" Despite growing up with a Mac and mostly using Macs at school.

I have both types of laptops, but I really don't enjoy using my MacBook nearly as much. And this from someone who was an early fan of Apple, and quickly gobbled up each new Mac release. There are too many technical apps I use for which there aren't Mac versions. And I'm now addicted to Track Point, the pointer you can use without moving your hands from the keyboard. Love that.

We do all use Apple iPhones. Which I prefer, even though I also use Android phones and tablets for software testing. Kinda of similar to Windows, where for instance you've got hardware makers like Tesla focusing first on the iPhone.

I do have a nice sticker on my latest laptop:


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## garsh

John said:


> We used to be all-Apple, with each kid given a MacBook Pro and an iPhone when there were old enough. But interestingly, to a kid they all now use Windows machines (everyone free to choose every couple of years). It surprised me. "Do you want your next laptop to be another Mac, or a Windows machine?" And all three eventually said, "Windows!" Despite growing up with a Mac and mostly using Macs at school.


My youngest has stopped using the Windows machine I got for him and prefers a Chromebook now. He no longer plays games (which Chromebooks basically can't do), and he prefers the "instant on" capabilities of the Chromebook. They're small, light, cheap, and they seem so quick compared to a windows machine with various OEM bloatware installed. So now we have a $500 Windows laptop sitting unused in favor of a $150 Chromebook.


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## MelindaV

Lovesword said:


> Time for a proper thread BUMP!
> Also file this one to PSA (and first world problems).
> 
> So I picked up the new iPad Pro in the 12.9" size. It's crazy big, like holding a damn TV in my lap. I'm liking it so far, however as this thread is titled how it is...now is time for the "BUTs"
> 
> - A few months ago I bought the Apple Pencil for my (now previous) iPad. It worked great! Thanks to Apple introducing a new pencil at the same time as the new iPad that have no backwards compatibility, the one I just bought is now 100% obsolete... THANKS APPLE.
> 
> - The day before I got my new iPad, I connected my old iPad to my PC and backed it up. So when I opened the packaging, pulled out the new iPad and went to restore from backup... um... so yeah, the new one comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable. Just an FYI for anyone out there not in the cloud like me and in need of an old school iTunes backup/restore. It was late at night so I went to bed, stopped on my way home from work the next day and spent $20 for a USB-C to USB-A cable. THANKS APPLE.
> 
> - I started planning for a trip and thought a movie on my iPad and my noise cancelling headphones during flight sounds good. Welp, see above about USB-C. I'll be stopping sometime at a store to get a stinking DONGLE... my favorite thing to additionaly carry and try not to lose ... which will be USB-C to 3.5mm headphone and looks like it costs $9 and has crappy reviews online (including WiFi cutting out!). Ridiculous. THAAAAANKS APPLE!!!!!!!


See, if you upgraded the computer at the same time, you would have been covered 
I have a 2011 MBA that is perfect, except for now old enough it can't get the newest OSX updates. And an iPad Air 2 that has started to have battery issues and I've been considering changing over to the new smaller sized iPad Pro. To get around the USB C adaptor issue, I've considered changing out both of them (because the adaptor is $20 and who wants an adaptor there all the time, and may as well get the $1500 adaptor right?!)


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## SR22pilot

Madmolecule said:


> Dell was still pushing that eraser mouse until recently (did anyone like it?)
> .


I used to really like the stick. I got used to it on the original IBM ThinkPad. The one with the red screen. When I finally got to use an Apple trackpad I was immediately converted. It was the first trackpad that worked well for me.Even today, the trackpad on my Dell (work machine) doesn't come close to the one on my Mac.


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## TOCNYS_Joe

I was just discussing my 2013 Macbook Air the other day. Except for some loss of battery capacity, it works just as good as the day I bought it. I've also gone fully Apple (computer, iPad, iPhones, Apple Watch) and with no regrets. It is a little alarming though when I get a text message - I get alerts from every direction all at once!


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## mswlogo

TOCNYS_Joe said:


> I was just discussing my 2013 Macbook Air the other day. Except for some loss of battery capacity, it works just as good as the day I bought it. I've also gone fully Apple (computer, iPad, iPhones, Apple Watch) and with no regrets. It is a little alarming though when I get a text message - I get alerts from every direction all at once!


Now you need an Apple TV. Just got one. Very impressive.
I also tried an nVidia Shield TV (e.g. Android TV) what a joke in comparison, just like the Android phones. The main TV app I wanted to run (Plex) was completely broken by Android 8.


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## ummgood

So I am going off on a limb here and doing something crazy. I have a 2016 13" Macbook Pro with the touch bar and have decided to try to use a brand new 12.9" iPad Pro instead as my full time computer. I bought the keyboard case and pencil. The reason why is my kid had a 2015 12" Macbook that she spilled water on. We dried it out and she has used it for the past year but the keyboard is crap on it. I had to pry off the power key so we can get the thing to turn on. The return button takes a lot of force. I am not sure if it was the water spill or just the bad implementation of the first gen butterfly keyboard.

Anyway my thought is I hardly ever use my Macbook Pro anymore. I am constantly on my work computers so I have those when I need a real computer so I figured carrying around the Macbook Pro all the time to only use it for a few things was silly and I had an iPad Air (1st gen) that I used too so I figured upgrade that to the new iPad Pro and give my Macbook Pro to my daughter for school next year.

My first limitation so far that I haven't figured out how to do is import sentry videos on the iPad Pro. I am guessing if I hook up the USB thumb drive to the iPad (I have an adapter) it should show up. When I hook up the drive the iPad opens up the photos app but it doesn't show any videos from the car even though they are there. I can see them on my Windows machine at work so what gives? Do I need some app to convert them? I might break down and get a real video editing app for the iPad as I want to try to use it to edit gopro videos on the fly. This should get interesting.

Part of all of this is to try to use the iPad for as much as I can for personal stuff. I just want to see if it can really be done or not. Right now it doesn't seem like I am getting too far but I am trying to see if I can get buy without resorting to the Macbook Pro or my work machine.


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## MelindaV

ummgood said:


> My first limitation so far that I haven't figured out how to do is import sentry videos on the iPad Pro.


last month for vacation I rented a Turo Model 3 for about a week. i brought a USB for the TeslaCam along with me, but before going, I specifically looked into the USB thumb drives with a dual lightening connector and if I could view the videos on my iPad Pro. everything I read on it, the answer was 'no', so I ended up just bringing a standard USB drive instead. If you find a solution for this, would be interested as well!


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## ummgood

MelindaV said:


> last month for vacation I rented a Turo Model 3 for about a week. i brought a USB for the TeslaCam along with me, but before going, I specifically looked into the USB thumb drives with a dual lightening connector and if I could view the videos on my iPad Pro. everything I read on it, the answer was 'no', so I ended up just bringing a standard USB drive instead. If you find a solution for this, would be interested as well!


My iPad Pro has a USB-C on it so I have been trying with the Apple USB-C multiadapter that has USB-A/USB-C/HDMI ports on it. I bought that for my Macbook Pro and so I have been using it. So far the iPad sees the drive is connected and opens up the photos app but does nothing past that point. I am going to try to see if a video editing app would do something more. I'll be playing with it maybe this weekend.


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## mswlogo

The iPad might not recognize the obsolete FAT32 format. 

Try formatting to NTFS or exFat and put a Tesla video on it using Windows. Then see if the iPad sees it. This is just to confirm if everything is working on iPad but cannot deal with Fat32. 

After your done reformat to Fat32.


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## PNWmisty

mswlogo said:


> The iPad might not recognize the obsolete FAT32 format.
> 
> Try formatting to NTFS or exFat and put a Tesla video on it using Windows. Then see if the iPad sees it. This is just to confirm if everything is working on iPad but cannot deal with Fat32.
> 
> After your done reformat to Fat32.


FAT32 file system is recognized by pretty much every computer made today. While it's been superseded in terms of scalability and performance while handling large files and large storage volumes it is a relatively simple and robust file system and one of the most widely supported file systems ever created. Backward compatibility is actually real.


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## MelindaV

ummgood said:


> My iPad Pro has a USB-C on it so I have been trying with the Apple USB-C multiadapter that has USB-A/USB-C/HDMI ports on it. I bought that for my Macbook Pro and so I have been using it. So far the iPad sees the drive is connected and opens up the photos app but does nothing past that point. I am going to try to see if a video editing app would do something more. I'll be playing with it maybe this weekend.


sorry - that is what I meant - USBC


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## garsh

MelindaV said:


> i brought a USB for the TeslaCam along with me, but before going, I specifically looked into the USB thumb drives with a dual lightening connector and if I could view the videos on my iPad Pro


I have one of these on the way.


I'm curious to see if an Android phone can read one of these.


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## garsh

garsh said:


> I have one of these on the way.
> 
> 
> I'm curious to see if an Android phone can read one of these.


HOLY CRAP!
They dropped the price to $5.99?

I'm placing another order.


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## Frully

SoFlaModel3 said:


> Ok I'm sorry, but time to rant...
> 
> I loved my previous MacBook Pro but it died a premature death shy of 2 years, but of course out of warranty (had a few days of AMEX extended warranty) and too expensive to repair (only to have it break again when Apple couldn't figure out what was truly wrong with it).
> 
> So 8 months ago I buy the shiny new toy, the MacBook Pro with Touchbar. Let me tell you, this is literally the worst computer ever. Battery life is a joke, touchbar is annoying, and 4 USB-C ports with nothing else is enough to drive you insane.
> 
> Whatever, this all sounds like first world problems... that is until my computer just turned itself off and decided not to turn itself back on. Apple Support couldn't help over the phone and now I have an appointment at the Genius Bar in a few hours.
> 
> I'm at a loss for what to do, but Apple rules my life with the computer, phone, iPad, music, photos, iCloud, etc.
> 
> This is just not good!


Apple makes a good software product but because of their blatant right-to-repair bull**** I can't support them. It's hard to get out of the ecosystem but if you can...I strongly advise it.


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## mswlogo

ummgood said:


> So I am going off on a limb here and doing something crazy. I have a 2016 13" Macbook Pro with the touch bar and have decided to try to use a brand new 12.9" iPad Pro instead as my full time computer. I bought the keyboard case and pencil. The reason why is my kid had a 2015 12" Macbook that she spilled water on. We dried it out and she has used it for the past year but the keyboard is crap on it. I had to pry off the power key so we can get the thing to turn on. The return button takes a lot of force. I am not sure if it was the water spill or just the bad implementation of the first gen butterfly keyboard.
> 
> Anyway my thought is I hardly ever use my Macbook Pro anymore. I am constantly on my work computers so I have those when I need a real computer so I figured carrying around the Macbook Pro all the time to only use it for a few things was silly and I had an iPad Air (1st gen) that I used too so I figured upgrade that to the new iPad Pro and give my Macbook Pro to my daughter for school next year.
> 
> My first limitation so far that I haven't figured out how to do is import sentry videos on the iPad Pro. I am guessing if I hook up the USB thumb drive to the iPad (I have an adapter) it should show up. When I hook up the drive the iPad opens up the photos app but it doesn't show any videos from the car even though they are there. I can see them on my Windows machine at work so what gives? Do I need some app to convert them? I might break down and get a real video editing app for the iPad as I want to try to use it to edit gopro videos on the fly. This should get interesting.
> 
> Part of all of this is to try to use the iPad for as much as I can for personal stuff. I just want to see if it can really be done or not. Right now it doesn't seem like I am getting too far but I am trying to see if I can get buy without resorting to the Macbook Pro or my work machine.


I think I know why you can't see the Video's. The iPad will only recognize photos on a USB stick. That's why they call it the "Camera Adapter".
Since some "cameras" do Videos too, maybe it will recognize some Video files but not others (I even have that issue on a MacBook Pro, it's somewhat limited on Native Video Formats).

Try putting some photos (in various formats) on the USB Stick from windows and see if they show up on the iPad.


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## JWardell

Frully said:


> Apple makes a good software product but because of their blatant right-to-repair bull**** I can't support them. It's hard to get out of the ecosystem but if you can...I strongly advise it.


What right to repair BS? They are much better than Tesla.
I just replaced the fried motherboard in my wife's MacBook Pro tonight. Good as new. Replaced the crashed hard drive in my parents iMac a few weeks ago, upgraded to SSD...better than new.


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## garsh

JWardell said:


> What right to repair BS?


The BS where Apple is explicitly fighting against right-to-repair.


> They are much better than Tesla.


No, they are much worse than Tesla.

Tesla isn't making deals with Carvana and CarMax to prevent you from fixing and selling your used Teslas on those platforms.
Tesla isn't stopping Rich Rebuilds from using parts sourced from elsewhere to fix his Teslas.
Most importantly, Tesla is not actually fighting right-to-repair legislation.

Apple Must Explain Why It Doesn't Want You to Fix Your Own iPhone, California Lawmaker Says
_Public records show that Apple has lobbied against right to repair legislation in New York, and my previous reporting has shown that Apple has privately asked lawmakers to kill legislation in places like Nebraska._

How Apple and other manufacturers attack your right to repair their products
_For 10 years, John Bumstead has had a small but profitable business buying old Apple laptops in bulk, refurbishing them by hand, and selling them to wholesalers or via Amazon.com for about $150....
But come Jan. 4, a big chunk of his marketplace will disappear. That's when Amazon will close off access to its website for unauthorized Apple resellers....
The new restrictions coincided with a deal announced Nov. 9 by Amazon and Apple_

Apple fined $6.6 million after iPhones and iPads stopped working because they had third-party parts
_Users reached out to Apple for help when their phones were bricked by "Error 53," a software update that made phones repaired by outside parties inoperable._


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## JWardell

I don't know about the apple lobbying, which otherwise I think corporate money in politics should be illegal anyway as it slowly destroys our world..
Tesla HAS in many ways in the past actively attempted to block Rich from getting support, supercharging, and more...he slowly gained success and probably only because he is here in MA.
And those articles come from the past, where apple eventually corrected its Error 53/battery policies. 
Remember error 53 is because someone changed out their authentication sensor. I'm glad they sense changes to the lock that contains the majority of your personal information. Would you not want a way to prevent someone else from changing all the locks to your house?

Don't get me wrong, I hate that so many companies make it so hard to fix your stuff. I understand they have no interest in supporting things that have been hacked or have unknown sourced parts. But I wouldn't say they prevent it. It feels like just a few years ago, Tesla was actively trying to prevent it.


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## JWardell

Minutes later I got an email from iFixit with this article:

https://ifixit.org/blog/14799/apples-leaked-genuine-parts-repair-program-doesnt-go-far-enough/


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## MelindaV

to add to @JWardell's list of (free) repairs... in the 12 or so years I've used apple products, I've had 3 issues outside of warranty. One was a dead battery on a MBP (external style) and bought a replacement online. One I went into an Apple store to ask about having them replace the MBP's graphic card that was failing and they offered to replaced at no cost. and lastly, a Watch was outright replaced out of warranty for a dying battery. Both of those I went in fully expecting to pay (for the new card and buy a new watch), since both were well beyond the warranty, and was happily surprised they offered the free replacements. 
So, why would one want to pay a 3rd party repair shop if Apple is offering free repair?


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## JWardell

MelindaV said:


> to add to @JWardell's list of (free) repairs... in the 12 or so years I've used apple products, I've had 3 issues outside of warranty. One was a dead battery on a MBP (external style) and bought a replacement online. One I went into an Apple store to ask about having them replace the MBP's graphic card that was failing and they offered to replaced at no cost. and lastly, a Watch was outright replaced out of warranty for a dying battery. Both of those I went in fully expecting to pay (for the new card and buy a new watch), since both were well beyond the warranty, and was happily surprised they offered the free replacements.
> So, why would one want to pay a 3rd party repair shop if Apple is offering free repair?


I have several experiences as well that apple usually offers an unwritten courtesy repair. I got my very first generation Apple Watch replaced free just last year as the battery was bulging and pushing out the display...it was over 4 years old. As I was replacing the MacBook logic board last night I found two stripped screws (!!) which reminded me we had that board replaced when the laptop was six months out of warranty, and apple did it for $150 classified as some strange eval fee. They are not at all out to get you. They just don't want to shoot themselves in the foot (any more than they already are, don't get me started on long overdue new products...)

I admit I'm personally spoiled updating my iPhone and iPad every year, but I also have a unique perspective as I was an official apple authorized repair tech for several years and participated in the external repair programs. It's probably changed since then though.


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## garsh

JWardell said:


> Tesla HAS in many ways in the past actively attempted to block Rich from getting support, supercharging, and more...


Not providing support is bad, no doubt. But Tesla isn't actively preventing you from performing your own repair, preventing you from buying repaired devices from a third party, or actively fighting RTR legislation.


> Remember error 53 is because someone changed out their authentication sensor.


Remember that changing out the authentication sensor worked just fine at first. It was the after-the-fact software update that bricked those phones. Yes, Apple eventually rolled it back after the bad press.

You had said "What right to repair BS?", so I had assumed that you weren't aware of exactly all the steps Apple takes to prevent 3rd party repairs. It sounds like you're aware, so I find it difficult to understand exactly why you believe Tesla is worse than Apple in this regard.


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## mswlogo

I think Apple is more concerned with quality, a happy customer and not having to deal with some headache with a gone wrong repair than making a buck.


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## garsh

mswlogo said:


> I think Apple is more concerned with quality, a happy customer and not having to deal with some headache with a gone wrong repair


Agreed.



> ...than making a buck.


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## Frully

JWardell said:


> What right to repair BS? They are much better than Tesla.
> I just replaced the fried motherboard in my wife's MacBook Pro tonight. Good as new. Replaced the crashed hard drive in my parents iMac a few weeks ago, upgraded to SSD...better than new.


Apple will support you with full-part replacements for items still manufactured...sometimes.
If you want to do component level repair, you're SOL according to apple. Want a motherboard for your older ipod? Buy a new ipod. Want a 2011 motherboard because environmental moisture (not water spill damage) galvanic corrosion wrecked a 5 cent capacitor? SOL. Want to run a business repairing stuff apple says 'cant' be repaired? Be prepared to be hamstrung at every turn. Everything short of being sued to oblivion. Apple even go so far as to confiscate packages in customs to prevent shops getting replacement parts for 'patent infringement'. 
One particular channel I follow who does component level logic board repair has a lot of coverage of this BS:









And yes, Tesla does keep a lot of their stuff in house and has a few shady repair policies. I really hope they don't go down the same path.


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## msjulie

Late to the game but redesigned keyboard or not... my touchbad (<-- freudian if not inadvertent truth!) Macbook was replaced after 2 attempts at cleaning and the keycap lettering was wearing off on the control key etc.. and one half of one of the button lights has failed... but finally found, via someone else also suffering the wretchedness of this keyboard design:

keyboard cover

I've had it a couple weeks now, you only really see it from angled views when installed. It feels pretty good, keeps the cruft out of the fragile keys and seems to be the ticket for me wearing away the lettering. Only a happy customer, no relationship to seller.. as note, I've had Macs laptops of one form of another for > 10 years and this is the first design I have to say I truly hate.. hoping this cover holds up as it seems to be (silicon covers are no good..)

cheers


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## JWardell

garsh said:


> Not providing support is bad, no doubt. But Tesla isn't actively preventing you from performing your own repair, preventing you from buying repaired devices from a third party, or actively fighting RTR legislation.
> Remember that changing out the authentication sensor worked just fine at first. It was the after-the-fact software update that bricked those phones. Yes, Apple eventually rolled it back after the bad press.
> 
> You had said "What right to repair BS?", so I had assumed that you weren't aware of exactly all the steps Apple takes to prevent 3rd party repairs. It sounds like you're aware, so I find it difficult to understand exactly why you believe Tesla is worse than Apple in this regard.


I was aware of some things, but not the lobbying or active fighting you mentioned.

I'm not quite sure why anyone would expect any large consumer company to offer repair parts or components. It stinks that the whole MacBook display is often one part, but that's how it is assembled, probably enters their factory that way. You really think it's worth their time and support to split that into its dozens of parts? Of course not. It's hardly even possible for humans to assemble things like a display sandwich these days. And I've definitely attempted to be cheap by getting 3rd party phone displays and regretted it later when lots of quality issues cropped up in the display. It's not worth their time to support the folks who have those issues, but more importantly they definitely don't want those issues to become widespread and publicized, so I understand why they fight them. 
Of course we DO want access to parts once things are out of warranty, and certainly don't want to see them preventing legitimate parts and repair of products that they don't need to support anymore. I've had to put my iMac in the oven several times to reflow the graphics card, it would cost me triple the value of the computer to replace it (not apple's fault, but lack of parts sucks)


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## garsh

JWardell said:


> I'm not quite sure why anyone would expect any large consumer company to offer repair parts or components.


I don't. I don't think companies need to provide repair parts themselves (car manufacturers being an exception). I can completely understand having the warranty become void on 3rd-party-repaired devices.

It's the active steps that some companies are taking to prevent an owner from having somebody _else_ repair their bought & paid for (but old and out-of-warranty) merchandise that I find appalling.


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## msjulie

> I don't. I don't think companies need to provide repair parts themselves (car manufacturers being an exception).


Just curious, why are car companies the exception? Maybe I'm being dense but it's hard to fix anything w/o parts so why is aftermarket ok for everyone but car companies?


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## garsh

msjulie said:


> Just curious, why are car companies the exception? Maybe I'm being dense but it's hard to fix anything w/o parts so why is aftermarket ok for everyone but car companies?


Sorry. In my attempt to be concise, I wasn't very clear.

Auto manufacturers are required by law to make parts available for repairs. They are one of the few industries where this is required by law. That's all I meant by that statement.


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## msjulie

> Auto manufacturers are required by law to make parts available for repairs. They are one of the few industries where this is required by law. That's all I meant by that statement.


Ok yes, that makes more sense - it's like 10 years in the US I believe..

thanks for the clarification


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## ummgood

mswlogo said:


> I think I know why you can't see the Video's. The iPad will only recognize photos on a USB stick. That's why they call it the "Camera Adapter".
> Since some "cameras" do Videos too, maybe it will recognize some Video files but not others (I even have that issue on a MacBook Pro, it's somewhat limited on Native Video Formats).
> 
> Try putting some photos (in various formats) on the USB Stick from windows and see if they show up on the iPad.


Thanks I'll give that a try. This is an iPad Pro with the USB-C. There are videos of people editing video on them straight from a camera with a USB-C port so I know it can import videos. I just might need to purchase an app for it. I have this distant dream that my 15 yo daughter and I will start making Tesla videos but we haven't found the motivation yet. Part of the dream is for her to learn video editing etc... (she wants to but hasn't shown the incentive but she is also super busy). Plus she would be a better face to the videos because no one wants to look at me.


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## mswlogo

ummgood said:


> Thanks I'll give that a try. This is an iPad Pro with the USB-C. There are videos of people editing video on them straight from a camera with a USB-C port so I know it can import videos. I just might need to purchase an app for it. I have this distant dream that my 15 yo daughter and I will start making Tesla videos but we haven't found the motivation yet. Part of the dream is for her to learn video editing etc... (she wants to but hasn't shown the incentive but she is also super busy). Plus she would be a better face to the videos because no one wants to look at me.


Yeah, I forget what file formats Tesla are vs Apple [Native] (MOV vs MP4) etc. But try recording a Video on the iPad itself and see if you can move it to the TeslaCAM USB Drive.
It might be possible if the files are not supported by any app they just won't show up, because there is nothing you can do with them. And possibly if a new app registers a wider array of formats they might show up.

This is just hunch of what might be going on. I've seen apple stuff do this sort of thing.


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## Olds442

*i prefer the green to the red apples. *


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