The most commonly cited advantage for ARM processors is lower power consumption. It’s true that ARM processors use less power than Intel’s x86 processors. Part of this advantage comes from ARM’s relatively clean, modern design, as set against the years of baggage that Intel has accumulated since the original 8086 processor. Perhaps even more important is the way ARM would allow Apple to add the specific support it needs into its own ARM chip designs, instead of relying on off-the-shelf parts that Intel has designed for generic PC implementations.
Lower power consumption would lead to better Macs in several ways. Most obviously, the battery on your laptop would last longer. Instead of 8 hours, a new ARM-based Mac laptop in the same form factor might get 12 hours from a single charge. But Apple is always trying for thinner, lighter laptops. Apple might decide that 8 hours of battery life is fine for most users and instead use a smaller battery in an even skinnier, featherweight laptop design.
At the WWDC we’ll see how Apple execs walk this tight rope using price, performance, and product features to keep the Mac business in balance, but let’s not forget that Apple has negotiated a similar strait before. At Apple’s June 2005 WWDC, Steve Jobs announced that the Mac would move from PowerPC processors to Intel x86 CPU chips. The new Intel Macs wouldn’t be available until early 2006.
How did the Mac business perform during the transition? To find out I went to Apple’s quarterly SEC filings for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. In summary, Mac sales were remarkably resilient. There was no collapse, no waiting for the Intel-based machines.
The remote format will also limit the social aspects of the conference. In previous years, attendees have gone to events including morning runs, sushi dinners, and even trips to Costco during WWDC week. Attendees have played games like collecting a full set of free enamel pins that Apple gave out. This year, all of that is cancelled.
Many developers are responding by trying to create community online by creating Slack groups, wrangling developer blogs, and scheduling online Zoom meetups. On Kickstarter, Apple fans have paid over $15,000 for unofficial WWDC enamel pins.
And in Hey’s view, email is basically three things. It’s things you need to respond to, things you want to read, and receipts. Each gets their own home within the app, and basically nothing else is welcome.
All of this is in keeping with one of the new philosophical points of view Basecamp wanted to bring to Basecamp, which is that not too many people should email you.
When was the last time you used a traditional calculator? When was the last time you saw a change in the calculator app on your phone? Enter Calzy on iOS. It had me head over heels. It’s probably the most well-designed and useful version of the calculator, designed by Chennai-based Raja Vijayaraman.
One of the coolest elements of Calzy is the ‘memory area’ where you can store multiple numerical values and reuse it across multiple calculating sessions with a simple drag and drop interaction.
Building apps for kids isn’t easy. In fact, it’s often quite difficult. But the most popular interactive apps for kids have achieved success because they follow certain best practices.
In total, we collected 1,268 “Top Stories,” which are curated by human editors, and 3,144 “Trending Stories,” which are curated by an algorithm. Our analysis showed that human editors choose sources more evenly, and also prefer a more diverse set of sources compared to the trending algorithm. We also found the trending algorithm featured more “soft news” stories.
Okay, so Singapore has announced restaurant dine-in services to start this Friday. And I know where I will be having my breakfast, lunch and dinner on that day: at home.
I hate lines.
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Thanks for reading.