Apple’s policies that block Microsoft’s XCloud and Google Stadia make no sense, as they allow video services to do exactly what they are blocking

 So it has been all over the news that Microsoft has stopped development of it's Xcloud gaming service for iOS because of Apple's store policies, so it is only coming out for Android. And the same is true for Google's Stadia service and it is a ridiculous policy, especially becaue exactly what they are blocking for games is what Video Apps do with content.Apple is saying they only allow games owned by the developer and specifically allowed by Apple, so for a service that runs games on it's own servers and gives you a video stream on your mobile device so you can play from anywhere. This is completely ridiculous because it isn't like Apple approves every show on any of the streaming services it allows, so why does it require it for games?Sure it is in the App store rules, but it is arbitrary because it only applies to gaming apps. And it is even like these games would compete with Apple Arcade because they are a whole different category of games.This isn't protecting consumers from anything, it is actively harming consumers for some dumb reason that I can't even fathom.

Apple updated the iMac today and made the lowest iMac Pro 10 core, are these the last Intel Macs?

Apple upgraded the iMac today with new processors, all SSD (say goodbye to Fusion drives), up to 10 core 10th generation intel processors, AMD 5000 series graphics cards, and the option to have a matte finish for $500. They also got rid of the 8 core iMac Pro, making the bottom model 10 cores, to match the cores of the new top 5K. Still look the same, a new look will wait for Apple Silicon.Tim Cook mentioned that they still had Intel machines in the works. Is this the last Intel machine before Apple Silicon arrives? It seems likely unless there is one more laptop processor upgrade, but it seems unlikely.

Jean-Louis Gassée on Apple Silicon and the passing of Wintel

Jean-Louis Gassee formerly of Apple and also fo BeOS has an article on the new Apple Silicon and how it could be the death knell for Wintel, the powerful combination of Intel hardware and Windows.His take is that since ARM is in fact a more efficient processor and if Apple manages to push the hardware and software to be faster than Wintel (which is could be since it is RISC instead of CISC) it will push Microsoft to really get behind it's ARM version of Windows that it has been playing with and releasing, but without enough support. And that will push Intel to have to get back into ARM processor development or break the WINTEL partnerdship.Let's hope Apple Silicon is eventually that much more powerful and faster and more efficient than anything Intel comes out with, because with Apple writing the software it will mean a sea chance, and for once it would be awesome for Apple to be faster than WINTEL, but pushing Microsoft to ARM I hadn't even thought about as the fact that Microsoft haven't even made versions of all their software for their arm hardware, and yet they are working on it for Apple Silicon.

If I have my mac not restart apps when it restarts, why does it launch all previously launched apps if it crashes?

I pretty much said it all in the title, but if I have my mac set to not restart apps when it restarts, why when it crashes does it restart all the previously open apps? In all likelyhood it is one of the apps that crashed, so why not honor the setting that I have been using and not open apps if it crashed?

AppleInsider reports on the possibility of Apple not supporting 3rd party GPU’s with Apple Silicon

Credit: AppleAppleInsider has an article on the possibility that Apple Silicon will only support their own GPU's and not 3rd Party GPU's. This graphics shows that Apple Silicon Mac doesn't support NVIDIA or the currently supported AMD GPU.This is really scary. The Apple Silicon GPU will certainly be OK for laptops or low end machines, but for high end computers this would literally be a death knell.Let's hope this just means for the current development system, because otherwise it means the new MacPro was a huge bait and switch. Oh look at this we can make the highest and most powerful machine, but you know at the same time they were already working on End of Life-ing that machine with Apple Silicon.I don't want to move to Wintel, but if their is no 3rd party GPU support, WINTEL will be the only solution.

OMG my problems with Apple Music it’s iTunes replacement never end, and having called the same thing as their music subscription service is also stupid

So I run an iMac Pro and  have JBOD drives in an external OWC USB 3 housing. It is an older model as I have a newer one for a Raid, but it doesn't always show up when I restart. It does sometimes, but often I have to power it down and then back on to get it to connect.The problem is that I keep my iTunes Library on it, and if I accidentally try to play a song in iTunes instead of just saying it can't find the library, Music instead resets the location of the library to my main drive, where none of my music is and when I reconnect the external drive and re-asign it it I often have to wait whole it rescans everything, and I keep losing the view options I have set for all my playlists, and that annoys the living shit out of me!Yes I have done the technical support with OWC and they really tried to help, but nothing seemed to help. Sometimes the drives just don't show up and I don't know why. Likely cause it is older hardware. They are fine once connected, but just sometime don't connect.I just hate Music's response, just tell me it can't find the file, don't reset the library position every time. Wait until I reconnect or tell you to make a new library file! Fuck!

Will Apple Silicon support PCI Expansion and if so how hard will the switch from CISC to RISC be for drivers?

So Apple will soon be making it's own processors, and the next OS Big Sur supports it, but the jump to arm also comes with a change from CISC processors to RISC processors. Now Apple has updated Xcode to help software run easily and the transition is stated to not be very hard, but my question is with PCI expansion.The MacPro's claim to fame is it's expansion capabilities, and that involves PCI cards. PCI card rely on much more system level drivers to get them to work, and the move from CISC to RISC will obviously mean that they are programmed differently, but to even attempt to program them developers will need hardware that has PCI slots so they can run them. The Development kit doesn't even have Thunderbolt, so PCI support if it ever comes, may be buggy for a very long time, because how can developers even attempt to support the new hardware without having something to use to develop it on?We are likely at least 2 years away from seeing what the high end Mac will be on Apple Silicon, and we see if PCI will even exist for it, and even if it does it may be a long haul from them to get working drivers.Sometimes I just wish Apple was a little more transparent.

How was the Apple Silicon Transition Kit running the apple 6K Pro Display XDR which requires thunderbolt?

So when Apple showed off it's new Apple Silicon chip it showed it running on what looked like Apple's new 6K Pro Display XDR monitor in the 2020 WWDC Keynote.That was what they showed Maya running on, and they claimed that they were running on the Apple Silicon Transition Kit, but there is a problem there.The Transition Kit does not in fact support Thunderbolt, which is a licensed Intel Technology. So either they were running on different hardware from the transition kit, or they have hacked or new versions of the monitor capable of running off of USB C.Either way Apple was fudging the truth a bit here.Honestly they should have figured out a way to include Thunderbolt 3. They have previously bet so much on the technology, and if they drop it WILL HAVE HUGE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE PRO MARKET.

Does Apple Silicon mean that it is less likely that iPad software will make it to the Mac?

So the follow up to Catalina, Big Sur has been revealed and as I talked about in my last post it is all the start of a transition for Apple from Intel to ARM based Apple Silicon. And a huge new feature is that basically all iPad and iPhone apps will now run on a Macs without any changes. This is a very cool thing, but it sounds like it leaves all of us with Intel macs out of the loop.They have Rosetta 2 to convert Intel software to run on Apple Silicon, and they were previously working on tech called Catalyst to convert iOS and iPad Software quickly and easily to a Mac, but will this fall by the wayside for us Intel users? Is there no Rosetta to run Apple Silicon software on Intel? There was no mention of it so it seems unlikely it will be there, as they obviously will want people to move to Apple Silicon, but what about Pro Users, who are at least 2 years away from having pro Apple Silicon?