Content
- Introduction and Python
- M1 chip – it seems, after all, a revolution, not an evolution
- About 5G, Apple and Verizon
- Microsoft Pluton
- Completion
Introduction and Python
I want to start with funny news. The charges have not yet been confirmed, and all this is speculation, but the head of Apple’s security is suspected of trying to bribe the police in exchange for 4 permits for concealed carrying of weapons. The bribe was supposed to be 200 iPads. The exact details of the models, the presence of stylus and other accessories in the kit are not specified. But, as they say, it’s nice that potential corruption is everywhere.
I continue to take the Python course. I’m getting more and more involved. The biggest trick, though, is to train yourself to take the time to learn. On the one hand, there are a lot of things to do, on the other hand, it speaks of my general level of disorganization. So I sit down to study closer to midnight. And this, of course, is the plus of online learning that you can study at any time. So far, variables have passed, and this week there are cycles and conditions. I’m pretty good with Excel, so Python is easy (for now).
I would like to say that Python is the same Excel, only much more flexible and powerful. And I even wondered why Microsoft is not embedding Python directly into Excel. For example, to display a word backwards, use the command (s [:: – 1]) (where S is the variable containing the value to be flipped). And in Excel, for this, you need to use either the array {(= TEXTJOIN (“”, 0, IFERROR (MID (A1, LEN (A1) -ROW (A1: A50000) +1,1), “”)))}, or StrReverse () in VBA (4 lines).
I also understood the meaning of the picture.
And now – to the point!
M1 chip – it seems, after all, a revolution, not an evolution
There will be a lot about Apple in this issue, as the company is confidently heading towards the fact that it can be called the main innovator of 2020. Apple is the first smartphone manufacturer to confidently migrate towards a service company. A single subscription to services is another proof of this. Perhaps no one will dispute the fact that Apple is the only company that has managed to make money on services. Samsung and Xiaomi also have service revenue, but it is more likely to be filled through advertising impressions, and not just services that are useful to the user.
The iPhone 12 5G, as we will see later, will be the smartphone that will move the world to 5G (more on that in the next section). In this case, we are talking about the United States (well, as you know, we will simply repeat for the United States after 3-4 years).
Well, the ARM architecture on the MacBook is what revived interest in the personal computer market. It is extremely interesting to look at the sales, but there is a feeling that the pandemic has become a jackpot for Apple. In the spring, due to the quarantine, many have updated their MacBooks, and in the fall, Apple releases a hit product that makes you want to have it, which may prompt you to update faster than usual.
In the previous article, I said that it would be great if Apple at least 80% fulfills its promise. Judging by the first reviews and reviews, Apple has implemented 100%. Reviews show how excellent the MacBook Air is at editing 4K video, how it works day and night, how applications fly, how Adobe Photoshop works. Air pushes on blades, it seems, all competitors at a lower cost.
That the new MacBook Air, that the MacBook Pro – these are devices that will appeal to both ordinary users and those professionals, like me, for example, who need a long time of work on business trips and at the same time a good supply of power to deal with photos , and what video to crop-process. Speaking in the context of work, a laptop is inexpensive, and its cost will be repulsed in a couple of months, after which it will start making a profit (but this, of course, provided that the pandemic is over and there will be business trips).
About 3 years ago, macOS became boring to me, and I completely moved to Windows. And for the last month I have been thinking about finding a powerful universal Windows laptop so that you can play and work at home by connecting to a monitor, and on the road the battery lasted 8 hours for office tasks. The release of Apple’s products has reawakened interest in macOS, so I will definitely try to find an opportunity to try the laptop live. It is quite possible that I will return to the option that I had in 2012-2014, when for PlayStation games, and for working with a MacBook Pro with an external screen.
By the way, it’s not for nothing that Apple made such an emphasis on games during the presentation. Take a look at the benchmarks available. The M1 chipset delivers about 30% lower performance than the GTX 1650. But these are the values you can and should work with. That is, it is up to the developers, whom Apple should seduce, so that they begin to port their gaming products to macOS.
So far, even a targeted search does not find any distinct problems with the MacBook Air M1. So, I suppose, you should not rush into the purchase, it is worth either waiting for the feedback from real heroes who can tear off the veils of lies that Apple has entangled the world with, or try the laptop yourself. I’ll wait anyway for a 15- or 16-inch version. I hope that Apple will not keep itself waiting and will present the product by the time the free life resumes.
If among the readers there are already got a new MacBook, then be sure to share in the comments.
About 5G, Apple and Verizon
Despite the fact that the share of iPhone sales in Apple’s total revenue is steadily declining, it is clear that the iPhone remains a key Apple product. It is still tied to the most profitable part of the service component – the app store, iCloud, subscriptions to games and news.
Note. There are still Apple Music and Apple Tv + movie streaming service, which are available for all platforms. But both of them do not bring profit. And Apple Tv + is still in the process of launching and is only absorbing investments in content production. About Apple Music, I suppose, we can say that it is definitely not unprofitable and, perhaps, gives a minimum income. However, in 2018, with 50 million paying subscribers, Tim Cook in one of his interviews when asked if Apple Music could be called the most unprofitable Apple service, replied that “music motivates, and Apple does music not for money.” And this is partly true, since Apple Music is one of the accompanying services that should make the iPhone more comfortable for its users.
IPhone sales have not grown since 2015. To be fair, it should be noted that this is a completely natural situation and Apple has reached its conditional maximum. A similar situation is with Samsung, for which 2015 was the most successful year (320 million units), then there was a surge in 2017 (317 million units), and 2020 is expected to be the most disastrous (250 million units (?)). Only new companies fighting for a place in the sun show active growth.
However, unlike Samsung, whose business is widely diversified (sales of smartphones have sagged this year, but sales of icebreakers have grown at a record), Apple has only one source of profit. And the company is doing its best to increase sales of smartphones. Just in case, I will explain that there are fewer iPhone sales – fewer buyers in the AppStore, less money, plus developers receive less, they begin to consider iOS unpromising and are looking for something to switch to.
In its search, Apple has found operators that have actively invested in 5G, and do not want to fight back investments. First, ordinary users do not really understand why they need this 5G. And this despite the abundance of explanatory articles! Secondly, corporate clients and business are also in no hurry to upgrade, as this is a significant upgrade cost.
The iPhone in the US has one advantage over other 5G smartphones. Each iPhone supports not only sub-6, but also millimeter wave (mmWave). It is the millimeter range that operators have in mind when they say that they managed to set speed records of 4-5 Gbps. However, the trouble with mmWave is that high-frequency waves work only at a short distance and they need conditions close to ideal, that is, the absence of interference – trees, houses. Even fog in the air or the palm of your hand blocking the antenna of your smartphone can cause interference.
In the US, mmWave is especially active in promoting Verizon, calling the technology 5G Ultra Wideband. It’s funny how Verizon in its ads says about 55 covered cities, although in fact we are talking about 55 blocks of different cities. For example, if we talk about New York, then 5G mmWave is maroon markers. As you can see, individual streets are covered. And here it should be understood that mmWave works only on the street, it won’t break through the wall in the house. By the way, just red does not mean 5G coverage. The operator is cunning and refers 4G LTE to its fifth generation networks, so it’s really not clear where is 5G and where is 4G.
It is likely that the radio portion of the new iPhones was developed directly with the support of Verizon. The operator was given a lot of time both at the presentation of the new iPhones and last week, when a joint business event was held.
Verizon, with the support of Apple, offered the business to upgrade the corporate fleet of smartphones (by trade-in) to any iPhone 12 at once. Specific conditions depend on the business, but the bait sounds like “upgrade by trade-in without prepayment with zero or the lowest monthly payment.” That is, buy a plan, and we will give you the iPhone for free.
Why Apple is involved in this is understandable. This is a great way to get new customers and thus fuel the service component. Another point is that this is an additional opportunity to establish itself as the standard of the corporate business smartphone. And everyone knows how conservative corporations are. After the fall of BlackBerry, almost 2 more years passed before corporations stopped purchasing these smartphones for employees.
But for Verizon, the benefits are not so obvious, but interesting.
First, I think the operator expects to attract new customers. After all, the iPhone offers, and not something there.
Secondly, as I understand it, Verizon decided to change its strategy and began to actively implement the idea of the possibility of creating corporate 5G mmWave networks. The idea, by the way, makes sense, since 5G mmWave is faster and longer-range than Wi-Fi (under certain conditions). And also a much more secure solution, at least in the sense that you need a SIM or eSIM to access the system. The iPhone, by the way, is perfect in this sense. One is a personal SIM and the other is a virtual one for business. Verizon operates calls, and the company operates mobile Internet.
Said that the benefits are not so obvious, as this whole operation requires significant subsidies. And it will begin to pay off only in 2-3 years (probably).
I am interested in 5G primarily from the point of view of implementation, and, perhaps, the Apple + Verizon alliance is so far the brightest attempt to somehow present a working scheme and justify the migration from 4G to new technologies.
Microsoft Pluton
Unexpected announcement from Microsoft. The company teamed up with Intel, AMD and Qualcomm to unveil the Pluton security chip. TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chipsets have long been present in Macs, PCs, and smartphones. In smartphones, probably the most famous TPM is Samsung Knox. This example is not entirely correct, but TPM, like Samsung Knox, solves the same problem: ensuring the security and integrity of the system so that no malicious code gets into the boot, monitors and protects the core of the Android system directly. However, earlier TPM processors were housed separately. Thus, the attacker, according to Microsoft, having gained physical access to the computer, could have inserted something into the bus between the processor and the security chip. Microsoft suggests placing Pluton directly inside the CPU. Thanks to this, it will be possible to secure the computer itself, and to protect other computers and cloud servers, since they simply refuse to communicate with the compromised computer. The same will be the case with smartphones: they will connect for charging, but the debugging process will no longer start.
Microsoft Pluton was originally developed for the Xbox One game console. Its task was to combat piracy. And, as we can see, he coped with his task quite well. And I have the very first thought that came up after reading the press release: are the manufacturers of processors and software going to unite and turn the same focus on the PC? Probably, developers such as Microsoft and Adobe will be extremely interested in the opportunity to check the licensing component.
After all, the security chip integrated into the processor can be asked not only to monitor the integrity of the system, but also to poll the installed programs, inviting them to check with the cloud database.
Microsoft itself said that checking the licensing of content using Pluton is possible and feasible, but, they say, the processor was created for completely different tasks, and not to combat piracy. But you understand everything, right?
Completion
Intel Experience Day took place in Russia yesterday. This is Intel’s main event in Russia. I wanted to devote a small fragment of the text to him, but got upset from watching and decided that it was necessary to make a separate material. Of course, it is clear that this event is about something else, but it passed in the spirit as if everything was fine and there were no problems. For the sake of fairness, it should be said that at the moment there are really no problems, as in the next couple of years, since server and other corporate contracts are firmly guarded by Intel. Particularly upsetting was the slide from 2018, which outlined 6 areas of work for Intel. One of them concerns memory, and then there is a lot of talk that Intel is selling the NAND division of SK Hynix for 9 billion.
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