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To me Apple is not just one thing. To say they are a hardware company only really tells half the story. The only reason that hardware has the large market it does is because of the software. If they had Windows on their computers instead of OS X they would have to compete with all the other PC manufacturers in a much more tangible way right now they can charge a price premium for lower end / outdated hardware and be slow to update their hardware lines due to their OS being a lock in. If you want OS X you gotta get a Mac from Apple.

We saw what happened in the 90's with the Mac clones it diluted Apples hardware share of their own platform and that is why Steve Jobs axed it, the hardware won't sell on its own without a competitive software stack to run on it that is different from all the others in the market.

And I think Apple will spend time decreasing boot time of OS X eventually but I would say they are relying heavily on SSD's right now the MacBook Airs can only come with SSD's and I think the new MacBook Pro's that they will announce will all have SSD's as the default configuration. And as we all know Laptops are their number one seller right now when it comes to Macs. I don't know what they will do about the iMac or Mac Pro though.

PS I just came back from the Apple Store for a keyboard replacement and noticed my new one now has a different looking Expos? key and a Launchpad key instead of a Dashboard one. Is that new? Never ever saw It before. Not really OS X ML related I know, but I didn't feel it was worth creating a whole new thread over. :laugh:

They replaced the defaults for the dashboard key with a launchpad

PS I just came back from the Apple Store for a keyboard replacement and noticed my new one now has a different looking Expos? key and a Launchpad key instead of a Dashboard one. Is that new? Never ever saw It before. Not really OS X ML related I know, but I didn't feel it was worth creating a whole new thread over. :laugh:

Hey, that's unfair, now you made me feel my Macs are old. :laugh:

By hardware company, I mean you buy a Mac from Apple and you get the OS with it. Microsoft don't do this, they sell the OS. So while the OS drives Mac sales, it's not the big earner. I don't think Apple are deliberately not making OS X boot faster so they can sell SSDs, but it's another way to market the value of a SSD upgrade/option. They just seem to have other priorities (look at how long we've been complaining about the bloated mess that is iTunes).

As for the clones, what happened there was Apple had a sprawling mess of a product line where you had many overlapping products (like the Performas and Power Macs). This contributed to the high costs of building and supporting them. The clones were able to build better-specced hardware (even if many used the same logic board architecture) at a much lower price by using off-the-shelf components. If you look through any old Mac magazines from the period you can see the price/spec gap. It's little wonder people were buying clones.

^ Without the OS there would be no sales at all. I wouldn't care for Macs if it wasn't for the designer drug called OS X.

Also, this is rather off-topic, but still related in a way. I'm thinking of getting a Mac Mini Server, which has a built-in Intel HD 3000 GPU. Does either you know how the GUI performs on this? I know my MBP which has a dedicated nVIDIA GPU can lag quite a bit under Lion and Mountain Lion, so I'm slightly concerned about that. I don't care for anything else, as I play games on consoles and PC, and only design on Mac.

Hey, that's unfair, now you made me feel my Macs are old. :laugh:

My 2010 iMac doesn't have warrantee on it anymore so I just used the serial number of a friend's iMac and brought in my old keyboard. Did the same with my Magic Trackpad. Works every time! :laugh:

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My 2010 iMac doesn't have warrantee on it anymore so I just used the serial number of a friend's iMac and brought in my old keyboard. Did the same with my Magic Trackpad. Works every time! :laugh:

What about when your friends' original keyboard set doesn't work anymore within their iMac warranty? Pretty sure that will flag up on their GSX system when they ask for a replacement :s

What about when your friends' original keyboard set doesn't work anymore within their iMac warranty? Pretty sure that will flag up on their GSX system when they ask for a replacement :s

You actually think a company the size of Apple cares about these things? My previous Mac Pro needed three keyboard replacements and one new Mighty Mouse over the course of a year. Not once did anyone mention something about the previous defects.

I told them what the problem was, gave the serial number, it got checked for warrantee status, the Genius walked to the back to put the old keyboard away, took out a brand new box from the shelf, took the new keyboard out and handed it over to me, I thanked him and walked out the door to the trams. Done.

Hell, I wanna bet you can walk into the store with a perfectly functioning (but maybe wear out) keyboard and walk out the door with a brand new one. It costs Apple more money to actually check for defects and have an argument with you than to just immediately hand over a new one.

You actually think a company the size of Apple cares about these things? My previous Mac Pro needed three keyboard replacements and one new Mighty Mouse over the course of a year. Not once did anyone mention something about the previous defects.

I told them what the problem was, gave the serial number, it got checked for warrantee status, the Genius walked to the back to put the old keyboard away, took out a brand new box from the shelf, took the new keyboard out and handed it over to me, I thanked him and walked out the door to the trams. Done.

Hell, I wanna bet you can walk into the store with a perfectly functioning (but maybe wear out) keyboard and walk out the door with a brand new one. It costs Apple more money to actually check for defects and have an argument with you than to just immediately hand over a new one.

Fair point, tho I guess it's a moral thing for me using someone else's in-warranty details for replacing your own hardware.

Fair point, tho I guess it's a moral thing for me using someone else's in-warranty details for replacing your own hardware.

Can't say my conscience kicks in when it involves Apple, the only one-year warrantee they offer, AppleCare pricing and especially not considering the outrageous repair costs they demand of their well paying customers? Sorry, I just don't feel any guilt whatsoever for having done this.

If Apple followed EU guidelines and offer a standard two-year warrantee like most companies do around here we wouldn't even have this conversation.

PS Note that I did it with my friend's permission, it's not like I copied his serial number without him knowing. That would be a pretty ****ty thing to do.

To add to the Apple warranty discussion.

I once had a question regarding my iPhone's iMovie app and got bored of Apple so I tried calling Apple support.

They wanted my serial number, discovered I'm out of phone support and they guy was cool enough to ask whether I could just give him another serial number that's still covered with phone support to transfer the issue over to the other device.

It was kind of cool haha :laugh:

IMHO Apple support is quite awesome, and apart from 90-days only phone support, you can email longer and the 1 year warranty is void in the EU.

You can insist on 2 years and be done with it.

Glassed Silver:ios

1 year warranty is void in the EU.

You can insist on 2 years and be done with it.

Not true. EU only mandates "Gew?hrleistung" of the store that sells the products, not the producer. "Garantie" offered by the producer - in this case Apple - is completely voluntary. Apple and others could just as easily offer no Garantie at all.

Not true. EU only mandates "Gew?hrleistung" of the store that sells the products, not the producer. "Garantie" offered by the producer - in this case Apple - is completely voluntary. Apple and others could just as easily offer no Garantie at all.

"Apple has quietly updated their warranty coverage in the European Union, extending it to two years as required by EU law."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/02/apple_extends_eu_warranty/

Have a nice day.

"Apple has quietly updated their warranty coverage in the European Union, extending it to two years as required by EU law."

http://www.theregist...ds_eu_warranty/

Have a nice day.

The page you are referring to has a link to an Apple page that explains exactly what I said:

Claim period EU consumer law: 2 years (minimum) from date of delivery

Apple One Year limited warranty: 1 year from date of purchase

What part of it do you not understand. Are we running into some sort of linguistic barrier here?

They are required by the law to provide 2 years of warranty. You don't have to send it to the company you bought it from, Apple has to service it if you RMA it directly to them.

Let's quote EXACTLY what you said:

Not true. EU only mandates "Gew?hrleistung" of the store that sells the products, not the producer. "Garantie" offered by the producer - in this case Apple - is completely voluntary. Apple and others could just as easily offer no Garantie at all.

Which is completely bogus. Apple is required by the law to provide _2_ years of warranty. Period.

They were sued because they didn't previously provide it. Now they have to because of the law. Comprendez?

The page you are referring to has a link to an Apple page that explains exactly what I said:

Claim period EU consumer law: 2 years (minimum) from date of delivery

Apple One Year limited warranty: 1 year from date of purchase

What the?

Apple can say they provide 2 days of warranty and it'd be illegal and you could force them by law.

Doesn't matter the slightest what they say unless they promise more than required by EU law/national law.

Glassed Silver:ios

IMHO Apple support is quite awesome, and apart from 90-days only phone support, you can email longer and the 1 year warranty is void in the EU.

You can insist on 2 years and be done with it.

The two year thing is sort of a guideline which still has to be incorporated into local regulations. In the case of the Netherlands it's all a bit vague since the law here states that as a consumer have to show that the fault doesn't lie with you, something that isn't always easy. It's also something Apple exploits.

To add to the Apple warranty discussion.

I once had a question regarding my iPhone's iMovie app and got bored of Apple so I tried calling Apple support.

They wanted my serial number, discovered I'm out of phone support and they guy was cool enough to ask whether I could just give him another serial number that's still covered with phone support to transfer the issue over to the other device.

It was kind of cool haha :laugh:

IMHO Apple support is quite awesome, and apart from 90-days only phone support, you can email longer and the 1 year warranty is void in the EU.

You can insist on 2 years and be done with it.

Glassed Silver:ios

The good thing about being in the UK is that you get above and beyond the EU directive and are covered for either 5 or 6 years

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    • The name, you mean? If so, it's actually the objects common name. There's another one called NGC 7293 which is also known as Helix Nebula (because we're looking at a helix structure top down) but other times also known as the Eye of God. You'll understand when you see it
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