6 ms·

They literally have one click pairing to the Wifi hotspot on an iPhone or iPad logged in to the same iCloud account. Everyone has a phone. Why increase the BOM?

layer8 3y ago
By that logic, iPads wouldn’t need a cellular variant either.
- Eric_WVGG 3y ago
  This is correct. Tethering is flaky. I was trying to tether my iPad to my iPhone just last night, eventually gave up and just read my book on my iPhone instead. If I depended on tethering for actually getting my work done I'd have an aneurism.
  - justcradd 3y ago
    [dead]
  - josefresco 3y ago
    As someone who has, and still does attempt work via iOS tethering it is in fact a complete dumpster fire. Frequent disconnects which force me to constantly revisit the Settings app to disable & reenable is a nightmare. At this point, after many years of the same level behavior, I suspect the disfunction is on purpose (probably a back room deal with cell phone providers)
    - mb5 3y ago
      If you pull down to open Control Centre and then long-press on the WiFi button, you can toggle the hotspot off and on without having to deal with the Settings app. Not sure if you’re having the same problem but that works well for me.
      - lostlogin 3y ago
        Thanks. That settings app is not a happy place.
      - mcculley 3y ago
        I often have to toggle it to make it work. It doesn't always work. I just end up trying to work on my phone.
- yungporko 3y ago
  to be fair, they don't.
giobox 3y ago
This logic doesn't hold - the same is true of an iPad. To quote you, "Everyone has a phone. Why increase the BOM?" - if it's ok to include cost of a modem for an iPad, it's ok for a MacBook Pro too.
- justcradd 3y ago
  [dead]
- jjtheblunt 3y ago
  the thing is, historically, if you already make laptops (and they 20 years ago had a pcmcia slot in which a verizon, etc, cellular modem could fit...i had one), and you already later make iPhones, then it's a short jump from iPhone logic board to iPad. it's a longer jump to get a cellular capable antenna complex in an all metal (think semi faraday cage) aluminium unibody. point is, it's historical artifact originally. now, a decade later, perhaps the BOM thing is just enough motivation to not do it, or the ubiquity of "hotspots" via cellular lessens the appeal at scale.
  - giobox 3y ago
    > then it's a short jump from iPhone logic board to iPad. Its arguably an even shorter jump between iPad and MacBook Pro today - the architecture of both products is incredibly similar now. > it's a longer jump to get a cellular capable antenna complex in an all metal (think semi faraday cage) aluminium unibody. You mean just like the aluminium bodies already present on the cellular iPads? Or several generations of iPhone? This excuse doesn't hold either.
    - jjtheblunt 3y ago
      cellular ipads have an RF transparent band on their edges. ipad and iphone also have antenna designs integrated with the body design, which currently is only true for wifi and bluetooth in the above mentioned laptops. are you wanting a plastic band atop the laptop closing screen, to get a cellular capable antenna in an otherwise metal body? perhaps that's just not a priority with enough customers.
mcculley 3y ago
I use this a lot. It burns two batteries instead of one, is unreliable, and adds latency. I would very much like to buy a laptop from Apple that has a modem builtin like I can get from Dell. Furthermore, I would like a modem in the laptop that is always on and ready, just like in the iPad (zero click).
- rz2k 3y ago
  I wonder how it will work if you attach an iPhone 15 Pro to your laptop with a short USB/Thunderbolt cable. Presumably it will at least save on rebroadcasting the internet connection.
  - mcculley 3y ago
    I often do this with my iPhone 11 Pro. It is dumb and works better than having no connection. It is a ridiculous thing to do at a time when watches have LTE modems.
    - justcradd 3y ago
      It is not ridiculous. An extra modem is an extra data line. Tethering works perfectly.
      - mcculley 3y ago
        Your experience differs from mine. I try to use it quite a lot and fail. When it does succeed, I watch both batteries.
    - rz2k 3y ago
      I have the same phone and the performance never seems any better than when using bluetooth PAN. I mentioned the iPhone 15 Pro, because it will be the first one with more than 480mbps over USB. At 10gbps the wired connection should have enough bandwidth to handle anything even 5g will offer for a while.
      - 3y ago
stronglikedan 3y ago
Because hotspot data is always limited compared to a dedicated line. T-mobile's hotspot is all but useless.
- justcradd 3y ago
  [dead]

layer8 3y ago

By that logic, iPads wouldn’t need a cellular variant either.

Eric_WVGG 3y ago
This is correct. Tethering is flaky. I was trying to tether my iPad to my iPhone just last night, eventually gave up and just read my book on my iPhone instead. If I depended on tethering for actually getting my work done I'd have an aneurism.
- justcradd 3y ago
  [dead]
- josefresco 3y ago
  As someone who has, and still does attempt work via iOS tethering it is in fact a complete dumpster fire. Frequent disconnects which force me to constantly revisit the Settings app to disable & reenable is a nightmare. At this point, after many years of the same level behavior, I suspect the disfunction is on purpose (probably a back room deal with cell phone providers)
  - mb5 3y ago
    If you pull down to open Control Centre and then long-press on the WiFi button, you can toggle the hotspot off and on without having to deal with the Settings app. Not sure if you’re having the same problem but that works well for me.
    - lostlogin 3y ago
      Thanks. That settings app is not a happy place.
    - mcculley 3y ago
      I often have to toggle it to make it work. It doesn't always work. I just end up trying to work on my phone.
yungporko 3y ago
to be fair, they don't.

giobox 3y ago

This logic doesn't hold - the same is true of an iPad. To quote you, "Everyone has a phone. Why increase the BOM?" - if it's ok to include cost of a modem for an iPad, it's ok for a MacBook Pro too.

justcradd 3y ago
[dead]
jjtheblunt 3y ago
the thing is, historically, if you already make laptops (and they 20 years ago had a pcmcia slot in which a verizon, etc, cellular modem could fit...i had one), and you already later make iPhones, then it's a short jump from iPhone logic board to iPad. it's a longer jump to get a cellular capable antenna complex in an all metal (think semi faraday cage) aluminium unibody. point is, it's historical artifact originally. now, a decade later, perhaps the BOM thing is just enough motivation to not do it, or the ubiquity of "hotspots" via cellular lessens the appeal at scale.
- giobox 3y ago
  > then it's a short jump from iPhone logic board to iPad. Its arguably an even shorter jump between iPad and MacBook Pro today - the architecture of both products is incredibly similar now. > it's a longer jump to get a cellular capable antenna complex in an all metal (think semi faraday cage) aluminium unibody. You mean just like the aluminium bodies already present on the cellular iPads? Or several generations of iPhone? This excuse doesn't hold either.
  - jjtheblunt 3y ago
    cellular ipads have an RF transparent band on their edges. ipad and iphone also have antenna designs integrated with the body design, which currently is only true for wifi and bluetooth in the above mentioned laptops. are you wanting a plastic band atop the laptop closing screen, to get a cellular capable antenna in an otherwise metal body? perhaps that's just not a priority with enough customers.

mcculley 3y ago

I use this a lot. It burns two batteries instead of one, is unreliable, and adds latency. I would very much like to buy a laptop from Apple that has a modem builtin like I can get from Dell. Furthermore, I would like a modem in the laptop that is always on and ready, just like in the iPad (zero click).

rz2k 3y ago
I wonder how it will work if you attach an iPhone 15 Pro to your laptop with a short USB/Thunderbolt cable. Presumably it will at least save on rebroadcasting the internet connection.
- mcculley 3y ago
  I often do this with my iPhone 11 Pro. It is dumb and works better than having no connection. It is a ridiculous thing to do at a time when watches have LTE modems.
  - justcradd 3y ago
    It is not ridiculous. An extra modem is an extra data line. Tethering works perfectly.
    - mcculley 3y ago
      Your experience differs from mine. I try to use it quite a lot and fail. When it does succeed, I watch both batteries.
  - rz2k 3y ago
    I have the same phone and the performance never seems any better than when using bluetooth PAN. I mentioned the iPhone 15 Pro, because it will be the first one with more than 480mbps over USB. At 10gbps the wired connection should have enough bandwidth to handle anything even 5g will offer for a while.
    - 3y ago

stronglikedan 3y ago

Because hotspot data is always limited compared to a dedicated line. T-mobile's hotspot is all but useless.

justcradd 3y ago
[dead]