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If Apple keeps producing devices that dominate others (long battery life and actually functional ports in MacBook are two recent examples) then they're good in

If Apple keeps producing devices that dominate others (long battery life and actually functional ports in MacBook are two recent examples) then they're good in the near future. But in the long run, is Apple going into healthcare or am I reading too much into the piece?

bayindirh 5y ago
> Apple going into healthcare or am I reading too much into the piece? Isn't Apple already into "Consumer Healthcare" with iWatch, ECG and other monitoring stuff built into iPhones (headphone volume, logging mindful minutes, etc.)? They're slowly building Health and their devices into a very capable yet understated health tracking and improving devices.
- dwaite 5y ago
  I believe Apple was investigating a healthcare offering but has since realized they are better off targeting personal health metrics and habits (to avoid classification as a medical device) while partnering with others on research on detection of issues and on automation into telehealth and the like. One take on that is at https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-health-employees-backlash-misled-executives-2021-9 https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-health-employees-backl... (possibly paywalled)
stephenr 5y ago
Can you define what you mean by "actually functional ports"? Are you referring to the removal of a Thunderbolt port, and the addition of a HDMI 2.0 port and SDXC slot? Assuming yes (I'm not sure what else you would be referring to that is a 'recent example'), can you explain to me how you consider a port that can connect to practically any peripheral you can imagine at speeds unmatched by any contemporary alternatives, not to be "functional", while you also consider a single-use video port, and a single-use card reader port, both using versions from close to a decade ago, to be "functional"? To be clear, its your choice of wording that I'm questioning here. If you'd said convenient, or more accurately convenient for some/many, I'd still disagree that the benefit of the convenience is worth the cost of losing flexibility, but I'd agree that the port(s) do offer more convenience for some people/workflows. But you didn't say that, you said "functional". I currently use all four TB3 ports on either a 2018 Mac Mini or 2018 MBP15, (without using one dedicated to power); I already run two 4K displays from a single TB3 port (either via the eGPU on the mini, or via a DualDP adapter on the MBP). Only one TB3 device I use is daisy-chainable (i.e. has a downstream TB3 port), and it is already daisy-chained to something else. So if I were to update my portable/spare machine to a 'current' model, yes I'd get a nice CPU/GPU perf boost, and the option for a lot more memory, which is great. But I literally don't have enough ports any more, and suddenly I have two ports that are not usable, for me. I wouldn't quite call them "non functional" because they do function, I just dont have a use for that function, and because they're single-use ports (and OLD single use ports at that) they're not adaptable to anything I do need to use.
- strogonoff 5y ago
  Am I reading it correctly that USB-C ports on new M1 Macs are not TB? That comes as a big surprise to me.
  - stephenr 5y ago
    .. for the most part they are still Thunderbolt. The original M1 Macs (laptops + mini) have 2 Thunderbolt3/USB4 ports. The M1 iMac also has two Thunderbolt3/USB4 ports, but also some models have an additional two USB3.x USB-C ports. The M1Pro/Max MBP's just released have three Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports. I'm not sure if my post is what confused you, but when I said "removed TB port" I was referring to the drop from four TB3 ports for the last five years, to three TB4 ports on the new models.
    - strogonoff 5y ago
      Ah, I might have not read carefully. The extra ports and slots I personally would likely never use (if I were to get the new MBP), but then I rarely if ever used all four USB-C ports either.
      - breakfastduck 5y ago
        They've added a separate power input through magsafe though. So if like most users the device is plugged in essentially permanently, there's no port lost because only 3 were ever available anyway.
        stephenr 5y ago
        I have to assume the people who make this comment have never used TB3 devices. Most TB3 monitors, docks, drive bays, eGPUs etc provide power to the laptop. So while some people maybe don't make use of that capability, it's completely inaccurate to say "there's no port loss". I'd wager that those of us using all four ports already are predominantly using all four for data or video in some way, with one also providing power, rather than one dedicated to power and only three for data/video.

bayindirh 5y ago

> Apple going into healthcare or am I reading too much into the piece? Isn't Apple already into "Consumer Healthcare" with iWatch, ECG and other monitoring stuff built into iPhones (headphone volume, logging mindful minutes, etc.)? They're slowly building Health and their devices into a very capable yet understated health tracking and improving devices.

dwaite 5y ago
I believe Apple was investigating a healthcare offering but has since realized they are better off targeting personal health metrics and habits (to avoid classification as a medical device) while partnering with others on research on detection of issues and on automation into telehealth and the like. One take on that is at https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-health-employees-backlash-misled-executives-2021-9 https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-health-employees-backl... (possibly paywalled)

stephenr 5y ago

Can you define what you mean by "actually functional ports"? Are you referring to the removal of a Thunderbolt port, and the addition of a HDMI 2.0 port and SDXC slot? Assuming yes (I'm not sure what else you would be referring to that is a 'recent example'), can you explain to me how you consider a port that can connect to practically any peripheral you can imagine at speeds unmatched by any contemporary alternatives, not to be "functional", while you also consider a single-use video port, and a single-use card reader port, both using versions from close to a decade ago, to be "functional"? To be clear, its your choice of wording that I'm questioning here. If you'd said convenient, or more accurately convenient for some/many, I'd still disagree that the benefit of the convenience is worth the cost of losing flexibility, but I'd agree that the port(s) do offer more convenience for some people/workflows. But you didn't say that, you said "functional". I currently use all four TB3 ports on either a 2018 Mac Mini or 2018 MBP15, (without using one dedicated to power); I already run two 4K displays from a single TB3 port (either via the eGPU on the mini, or via a DualDP adapter on the MBP). Only one TB3 device I use is daisy-chainable (i.e. has a downstream TB3 port), and it is already daisy-chained to something else. So if I were to update my portable/spare machine to a 'current' model, yes I'd get a nice CPU/GPU perf boost, and the option for a lot more memory, which is great. But I literally don't have enough ports any more, and suddenly I have two ports that are not usable, for me. I wouldn't quite call them "non functional" because they do function, I just dont have a use for that function, and because they're single-use ports (and OLD single use ports at that) they're not adaptable to anything I do need to use.

strogonoff 5y ago
Am I reading it correctly that USB-C ports on new M1 Macs are not TB? That comes as a big surprise to me.
- stephenr 5y ago
  .. for the most part they are still Thunderbolt. The original M1 Macs (laptops + mini) have 2 Thunderbolt3/USB4 ports. The M1 iMac also has two Thunderbolt3/USB4 ports, but also some models have an additional two USB3.x USB-C ports. The M1Pro/Max MBP's just released have three Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports. I'm not sure if my post is what confused you, but when I said "removed TB port" I was referring to the drop from four TB3 ports for the last five years, to three TB4 ports on the new models.
  - strogonoff 5y ago
    Ah, I might have not read carefully. The extra ports and slots I personally would likely never use (if I were to get the new MBP), but then I rarely if ever used all four USB-C ports either.
    - breakfastduck 5y ago
      They've added a separate power input through magsafe though. So if like most users the device is plugged in essentially permanently, there's no port lost because only 3 were ever available anyway.
      - stephenr 5y ago
        I have to assume the people who make this comment have never used TB3 devices. Most TB3 monitors, docks, drive bays, eGPUs etc provide power to the laptop. So while some people maybe don't make use of that capability, it's completely inaccurate to say "there's no port loss". I'd wager that those of us using all four ports already are predominantly using all four for data or video in some way, with one also providing power, rather than one dedicated to power and only three for data/video.