Friday Morning News

Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/11/friday-morning-news041116/
owc-thunderbolt-3-dock-hero2xTesting has found that Apple’s latest MacBook Pros may be incompatible with some Thunderbolt 3 devices. Plugable learned that Thunderbolt 3 devices using a Texas Instruments-manufactured controller chip do not work with the 2016 MacBook Pros, due to currently unknown reasons. It’s possible that compatibility with other Thunderbolt 3 controllers will be enabled via a firmware update.

Speaking of Thunderbolt 3 docks, OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 Dock has a glorious 13 ports. There’s five USB-A ports, optical audio, gigabit Ethernet, mini DisplayPort, and even a FireWire 800 port if you still have FireWire devices. Although it’s not shipping just yet, pre-orders of OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 Dock are now being taken for US $279.

Concept art of a standalone Magic Keyboard with Touch Bar has hit the internet, and while I’m all for a Bluetooth version of the Magic Keyboard with black keys and the Touch Bar, some of the technical aspects of the Touch Bar make me think that a Bluetooth version won’t be possible due to the amount of processing power the Touch Bar requires.

Just in case you’re wondering about the possibilities of Apple displays in the future, the announcement by Apple that it had partnered with LG to produce the 5K LG UltraFine display pretty much puts that to rest. Apple is out of the display business, which is probably for the better — I’d rather have Apple concentrate on the products they can make, rather than trying to out-do everyone else.

Take the Mac, for example. Horace Deidu points out that not only is the Mac in its 32nd year of presence, but it contributes so little to Apple’s bottom line that it’s amazing Apple spends any amount of time on it at all. Alas, the vocal minority seem to be the ones writing the narrative these days, even though mobile usage far eclipses traditional computing.

But the thing is, I’m not sure Apple could have avoided much of the controversy, no matter what they released. We’re the ones demanding Apple innovate, yet we’re the same ones complaining when they change things. Sometimes changes aren’t always for the better, but either way, Apple loses. And just like Chuq, maybe that’s how it’s always supposed to be. We complain about the latest Apple product, Apple still makes millions.

Apple has pushed back the completion date for the Apple Campus 2. The new completion date is now early 2017, which may end up impacting Apple’s move-in date.

The latest Apple patent is for a bendable or foldable device that uses advanced carbon nanotube structures. I’m not sure this kind of tech is currently within the bounds of reality, but it would certainly make for an interesting device 20 years from now.

A separate Apple patent looks at ways of improving wireless charging performance. With rumours flying about that Apple will introduce wireless charging in a future iPhone, using ferrofluids to reduce the typical energy loss from wireless power transmission seems like a very smart idea.

Seth Godin says hardware is sexy, but it’s software that matters. Apple does its best to marry up hardware and software in everything it does, but software is generally easier to iterate and improve on than hardware.

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Speaking of Thunderbolt 3 docks, OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 Dock2 has a glorious 13 ports. There’s five USB-A ports, optical audio, gigabit Ethernet, mini DisplayPort, and even a FireWire 800 port if you still have FireWire devices. Although it’s not shipping just yet, pre-orders of OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 Dock are now being taken for US $279.

Thanks for the excellent tip. I’ve preordered!

I havent preordered but I am watching it with interest! Looks like a good investment for almost anyone with a laptop