Rubenerd

Jason Snell compiled another Apple report card for Six Colours. These were the parts I was most interested in:

The new Mac Mini [sic]:

The new Mac mini earned a lot of praise. John Siracusa called it “the only real standout” among new Mac models. Andy Ihnatko said “its presence gives me a little more confidence about the future of the platform."

It took self control not preordering one as soon as they were announced. Compare that to the embarrassing state of Apple’s keyboards:

Matt Deatherage said, “It defies reason for Apple [to offer] keyboards of inferior design and execution.” John Gruber said, “I may be biased as a writer and a keyboard aficionado, but it used to be the case that Apple’s notebook keyboards were widely hailed as the best in the world… that’s no longer the case and I think that’s a problem.” Shahid Kamal Ahmad said that the major failing of the keyboard was not its feel but “the inherent unreliability of the switches and their propensity to fail from the inevitable ingress of a subatomic particle.”

Apple’s keyboards were never considered the best; that was reserved for ThinkPads and Toshibas. But there’s no question Apple keyboards were better than average; now they’re deficient in ergonomics, accessibility, and durability.

The iPhone XR, which I’m so relieved exists because my eyes are sensitive to the strobing effect of OLEDs:

John Siracusa said, “The iPhone XR gives us a glimpse of what a few well-chosen trade-offs can deliver.” John Gruber said, “After spending a few weeks using an XR full-time, I honestly question whether its LCD isn’t better than the XS’s OLED for my needs.”

And the new iPad Pro, which is the first iPad I’ve ever been tempted by:

John Siracusa said, “The new iPad Pros are phenomenal pieces of hardware that place Apple firmly at the top of the class when it comes to mobile computing power… It’s a shame that iOS hasn’t kept pace with the iPad’s hardware prowess.”

We’ll see what they say about Apple’s services division for 2019 after their FaceTime debacle!