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iFixit tools in Apple's lab
- jeffshek 6y agoAmusingly, I've read that Apple (internally) frequently uses Anker cables.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- stordoff 6y agoI've seen that both be suggested _and_ denied on Hacker News, so I wouldn't be surprised if it happens, but I doubt it's routine practice.
- grishka 6y agoUnderstandable, because their own ones fall apart so often from normal use.
- mhh__ 6y agoI also read something along the lines of that they have do some EDA work either on windows or on special mac builds of the tools. Might be just gossip keep in mind, not that it matters (beyond ones religious devotion to mac)
- exged 6y agoThat seems pretty likely. Most (non-software) engineering disciplines have a ton of Windows-only GUI software.
- saagarjha 6y agohttps://betanews.com/2014/09/26/apple-tests-the-iphone-6s-durability-using-windows-xp/ https://betanews.com/2014/09/26/apple-tests-the-iphone-6s-du.... A lot of the EDA work is of course done on Windows and Linux.
- gchadwick 6y agoI suspect they'll do what many large companies do, have a server farm that has all the tools on and have engineers remotely use them from a personal machine. The server farm will be running Linux and they can use Macs as the personal machines. Ultimately you often need a setup something like this as EDA vendors can have various rules to follow about where the binaries are kept. For implementation engineers there may be onerous terms around access to the process library files which are easier to deal with if the libraries plus the tools that use them don't go near the engineer's personal machine. Plus an engineer may want to spin up multiple instances of tool (very common for simulation for instance) so you want easy access to a cluster for this purpose.
- donavanm 6y agoWhen I worked there 10 years ago all the EDA/VLSI/etc was running on rhel/centos. As you’d expect because that’s what all of the EDA vendors support, Source, me. My team built managed and ran the in house compute and storage for all of that work on the portable/xserve/desktop/monitor hardware.
- saagarjha 6y agoApple provides Belkin USB-C to Gigabit ethernet adapters because they don't make their own. Never saw an Anker cable, but perhaps they provide them somewhere.
- Exmoor 6y agoFor those who don't get the joke, Apple's engineers are apparently using an iFixit toolkit in their lab, while continuing to make Apple devices harder for companies like iFixit to repair. https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Manta-Driver-Kit--112-Bit-Driver-Kit/IF145-392 https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Manta-Driver-Kit--112-Bit...
- jb1991 6y agoObviously, they have the tool to make sure it doesn’t work! How else could they test its ineffectiveness to work on their products? :)
- p1necone 6y agoYou jest but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they did this.
- segfaultbuserr 6y ago> companies like iFixit to repair iFixit itself doesn't perform the repairs. They simply make and sell tools to facilitate unofficial repairs, and they had a good reputation on doing that - which, as you said, is becoming increasingly difficult.
- zxcmx 6y agoIt's an interesting business model I think. They produce IP (researching and producing very clear instructions for fixes) and manage supply chain (trusted replacement parts & tools, worth more vs aliexpress equivalents because they endorse them). The things they make money off are largely substitutable. Their value add (well deserved IMHO) is trust.
- segfaultbuserr 6y agoThe network effect is also at play here. It's a community-oriented operation, in a sense it's similar to GitHub or Wikipedia - their repair guides are actually on an open wiki that everyone can edit, and users have contributed a lot of guide as well, and nearly everything is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
- systemvoltage 6y agoCorrection: Apple's studio. People are praising Apple's production value but I just see people awkwardly standing while talking because the director told them to make sure that their feet are exactly as apart as their shoulders. No one stands like in real life. The whole thing feels so extremely polished, scripted and manicured; I much prefer the candid style Steve Jobs did and may be they can take some questions from the crowd (although during the pandemic, its understandable). Genuine connection with people is what the high production studios do not understand. They create shiny pieces, not art. But shiny things sell, so all bets are off.
- devy 6y agoYeah, I am always curious to know if those meticulously designed workplace background was the real hardware lab or a TV studio. It makes more sense to be a studio for shooting videos.
- adrianb 6y agoNo way it was a real lab. Too much risk to reveal something just from the tools or devices present. The viewers would analyze every pixel visible and it’s too much effort to clean up a real lab of what secrets it could reveal and a lot easier to build a real-looking lab out of things you can safely display. Not sure if such a lab would be even open to all employees at Apple from what I hear.
- social_quotient 6y agoIt’s just instagram dysmorphia is making its way in to everything. Soon engineers will be staging their workstations and benches so they look like the Kardashian I mean Apple selfies.
- funkaster 6y agothis is most certainly just a studio and not a real lab.
- reaperducer 6y agoThere were a number of other Easter eggs and in-jokes in that video. Bondi iMac, original Mac, a reference to a "snappier" Safari, the PC guy at the end. Some smart person should enumerate all of the references. It was like an all-Apple version of Ready Player One.
- bichiliad 6y agoWas the "wake from sleep instantly" thing an in-joke, or just a surreal joke?
- reaperducer 6y agoThe thing where he cracked the lid open a little and looked inside, all bathed in a red glow? I'm not sure what that was about. To me it was just weird, and came off as slightly pedo.
- graycrow 6y agoMaybe it's not even a studio, it looks so clean and polished that it can all be CGI.
- theshrike79 6y agoMost likely it's a bit of both, like all TV productions nowadays. If (when) the camera track is static, they can overlay any CGI on top of the final image to enhance backgrounds or add/remove items.
- chemmail 6y agoReal pro use tools from brands most consumers have never heard of. Obviously this set is faker than Linus' "modern home" set.
- ilovelearning 6y agoI am very curious about the other products that can be seen on the desks. Which brands / products are the various electronics equipment, table work mat, white and black table lamps visible? Is there anyone who can name one or more products? Thanks in advance!
- millzlane 6y agoFunny, I bet the T3 and the T5 bits are trashed.