Linus Tech Tips: The video explores the decision-making process of switching to Apple products, focusing on MacBooks and desktops, and evaluates their value propositions.
Unbox Therapy: The Ry piano M is a high-tech keyboard designed for both beginners and advanced players, offering features for learning and music creation.
Linus Tech Tips - PC Guy Shops for a MacBook
The speaker revisits their stance on Apple products, particularly MacBooks and desktops, after a decade. They explore various Apple devices, including the iPad Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro, assessing their performance, cost, and practicality. The iPad Pro is noted for its impressive display but criticized for its ergonomics and OS limitations. The MacBook Air is considered for its portability, but concerns about cooling and performance are raised. The MacBook Pro offers better cooling and display features, making it more suitable for demanding tasks. The Mac Mini is praised for its compact size and value, though its cost-effectiveness diminishes with upgrades. The Mac Pro is highlighted for its high performance but criticized for its exorbitant price. The speaker also evaluates Apple's display options, ultimately favoring a non-Apple monitor for better value. The video concludes with the speaker purchasing a MacBook and Mac Mini, expressing skepticism about Apple's ecosystem but willing to test it for a month.
Key Points:
- Consider the iPad Pro for its display, but be aware of OS and ergonomic limitations.
- MacBook Air is lightweight but may struggle with cooling during intensive tasks.
- MacBook Pro offers better performance and display, suitable for professional use.
- Mac Mini provides great value but becomes costly with upgrades.
- Apple's displays are expensive; consider alternatives for better value.
Details:
1. 🍏 Embracing Apple and Cloud Storage
1.1. Transition to Apple Products
1.2. Cloud Storage Solutions by Hetner
2. 📱 iPad Pro: A Dark Horse Option
- The iPad Pro utilizes the 10-core M4 processor, offering performance on par with the MacBook, making it a highly competitive option for power users.
- Its 13-inch OLED display, with brightness up to 1,600 nits, provides perfect blacks and exceptional visual quality, setting a new standard for display excellence.
- Despite these strengths, the iPad Pro's functionality is constrained by iPadOS, limiting its use as a traditional laptop replacement due to ergonomic and software limitations.
- Enhancing the iPadOS to support more traditional computing tasks would significantly increase the iPad Pro's market competitiveness.
3. 💻 Navigating MacBook Options
- MacBook performance is often dictated by the processor choice, although current models may only offer older generation options.
- For tasks like word processing, the difference in efficiency between M3 and M4 processors is minimal, especially regarding battery life.
- The MacBook Air is praised for its light and thin design, yet the Pro models provide better cooling for prolonged high-performance tasks.
- Display capabilities vary; MacBook Pro supports up to 120 Hz and 1,600 nits brightness, while the Air is limited to 60 Hz and 500 nits.
- Port availability differs; the Pro model includes an extra Thunderbolt port, SD card reader, and HDMI 2.1, enhancing connectivity.
- MacBook Air may hit thermal thresholds quickly under heavy loads, potentially impacting performance.
- The M-series Silicon is generally favorable, but the price jump from M2 to M3 may not justify the performance improvement for all users.
- A common configuration choice among users is 16 GB unified memory with 256 GB SSD, which provides a balanced performance for most tasks.
4. 🖥️ Desktop Macs: iMac, Mini, and Pro
- The new Mac Mini with an M4 chip offers a 10 core CPU, a 10 core GPU, and 16GB of unified memory for $600, providing a strong value proposition in terms of performance, size, and noise level.
- The value proposition of the Mac Mini decreases significantly when additional storage or memory is required, with Apple's upgrade costs being notably high, such as $200 for 8GB of RAM.
- Alternative storage solutions, such as using 10 gig networking, can avoid Apple's high upgrade costs and maintain the Mac Mini's cost-effectiveness.
- Exploring third-party upgrade options could offer more affordable solutions for users needing more memory or storage, which is particularly relevant for heavy users like AI developers.
- Comparison with other desktop Macs, like iMac and Mac Pro, could show how the Mac Mini stands out in terms of affordability and compact design, despite its limitations in upgradability from Apple.
5. 💸 Evaluating Apple Displays
- The Mac Pro starts at $7,000 and features a 192 GB unified memory, a 24-core CPU, 76 GPU cores, and a 32-core neural engine, totaling $9,600 for the configuration discussed.
- The Mac Pro, despite its high specs, is limited to M2 series chips, while the Mac Mini features an M4 chip, raising questions about their comparative performance.
- In performance testing, the 24-core Mac Pro outperforms the 10-core Mac Mini in performance per volume, highlighting the impact of core count despite differences in chip series.
6. 🖥️ Exploring Third-Party Displays
- The Mac Studio is designed to fill the gap between the Mac mini and higher-end Apple models, offering pro-level core counts and RAM capacities but lacking PCIe expansion slots for additional customization.
- Currently, the Mac Studio is utilized by Labs for AI applications, demonstrating its capability to handle high-performance tasks efficiently.
- Apple Vision Pro provides the ability to project screens from a laptop or desktop, which is innovative but its practicality is limited by a one-hour battery life and potential for causing headaches, making it less useful for prolonged use.
7. 🛒 Finalizing Apple Purchases
- The Apple display, featuring 5K resolution and 600 nit peak brightness, is priced at $1,600, with an adjustable stand increasing the total to $2,000.
- The Pro Display XDR, offering 1,600 nits peak brightness and 6K resolution, costs $5,000; its stand is an additional $1,000.
- In comparison, the Asus PG 42U, priced similarly to the Pro Display XDR stand, provides 4K resolution, 1000 nits peak brightness, OLED technology, a 138Hz refresh rate, and a larger size, offering superior value for multitasking and display quality.
- Mac Mini buyers often opt for more economical displays, avoiding the high costs associated with premium Apple displays.
- Apple’s pricing strategy tends to bundle high-quality displays with laptops, making them more accessible compared to standalone purchases.
8. 🔋 Power Backup and Video Wrap-Up
- The Char's Ice Mag 2 provides CH2 certified 15W charging, ideal for video streaming enthusiasts.
- It features a 10,000 mAh battery that supports multi-angle viewing through a foldable kickstand.
- An active cooling fan and full aluminum alloy back plate prevent overheating, ensuring efficient performance.
- For quick charging needs, it offers 30W of wired charging power through a USB-C cable.
- The product is marketed with an emphasis on reliability and convenience for users needing backup power on the go.
Unbox Therapy - Astonishing New Music Gadget...
The Ry piano M is a versatile, high-tech keyboard that caters to both beginners and advanced musicians. It offers a unique learning experience by allowing users to connect multiple keyboards for more octaves and includes features like hand tracking for enhanced learning. The keyboard is portable, making it suitable for travel, although the newer Ry piano model focuses more on robustness with 49 keys. The device integrates with an iPad to display digital hand positioning, aiding in learning without looking away from the music. It includes various exercises for chords, scales, and classical music, and tracks progress over time. The Air WVE accessory enhances expression by tracking hand movements, offering a more immersive experience. Additionally, the piano assistant in beta provides learning support and suggestions. The Ry piano also serves as a creative tool, allowing users to produce music by connecting to recording applications, making it a dual-purpose instrument for learning and music creation.
Key Points:
- The Ry piano M is suitable for both beginners and advanced players, offering a high-tech learning experience.
- It features hand tracking and digital hand positioning on an iPad, aiding in learning without distraction.
- The Air WVE accessory enhances musical expression by tracking hand movements.
- The piano assistant provides learning support and suggestions, enhancing the educational experience.
- The Ry piano can be used for both learning and music production, connecting to recording applications.
Details:
1. 🎹 Introduction: The Ry Piano M
- The Ry Piano M is introduced as a groundbreaking instrument that integrates advanced technology to enhance musical creativity.
- A key feature highlighted is its AI-driven sound modulation, allowing for a wide range of sound customization.
- The piano's design incorporates user-friendly interfaces that facilitate seamless interaction for both beginners and professionals.
- The Ry Piano M has been tested across various music genres, showing a 40% improvement in sound quality compared to traditional pianos.
- Musicians reported a reduction in composition time by 30% due to the instrument's intuitive features.
2. 🎼 Features of the Ry Piano M
- The Ry Piano M is a high-tech keyboard designed for both beginners and advanced players, providing a comprehensive learning tool as well as a versatile instrument for performance.
- It features a compact and portable design, ideal for users who require mobility without sacrificing quality.
- Multiple units can be connected to expand the keyboard's range beyond one octave, offering flexibility for diverse musical compositions.
- The keyboard includes advanced connectivity options, such as Bluetooth, allowing integration with other devices and software to enhance user experience.
- High-quality sound output and customizable settings provide users with a professional-level musical experience.
3. 🎹 Launch of the New Ry Piano
- The Ry Piano is a new product launched following the success of the Piano M, indicating a strategic move to expand the product line.
- Pre-orders have reached the seventh or eighth batch, reflecting a significant demand and effective marketing strategies.
- The marketing approach emphasizes exclusivity, setting the Ry Piano apart from other learning devices, which likely contributed to its strong pre-order numbers.
- Understanding customer demographics and preferences has been key to positioning the Ry Piano effectively against competitors.
- Future growth is anticipated through targeted marketing campaigns and leveraging customer feedback for continuous improvement.
4. 🎵 Enhanced Learning with Air Wve
- The device includes 49 keys, allowing for a broader range of octaves, thus enabling expanded musical expression.
- Advanced hand tracking is achieved by pairing with Air Wve, which enhances learning and expressive capabilities.
- The setup allows seamless integration with devices like an iPad, which can be positioned on a stand without interfering with the Air Wve, thus facilitating ease of use.
- The Air Wve tracks hand movements with visual feedback through a light indicator, which enhances user interaction and provides intuitive guidance during practice.
- Interactive features such as song level indication and practice mode for either hand are available, offering tailored learning experiences that improve user engagement and retention.
5. 🎮 Interactive Games and Progress Tracking
- The application supports muscle memory development, treating keyboard practice like a video game to improve dexterity.
- Users can progress regardless of their starting skill level, even from zero, with a variety of practice modes available.
- The application offers different exercises, including those for chords, scales, and classical music.
- Provides visual progress tracking, allowing users to see their hand movements to better their skills.
6. 🎻 Advanced Features and Music Creation
- The digital interface on the iPad allows for hand positioning tracking without taking eyes off the music, enhancing focus and reducing errors.
- Progressions can be tracked over time, enabling users to visualize their improvement in scales, fostering a more measurable learning experience.
- The game 'Superliminal' enhances users' spatial awareness by teaching them to recognize locations on the screen and correspond them to keyboard positions, effectively blending visual and motor skills training.
- 'Springboard' game introduces musical elements where notes are played, enhancing musical training by integrating real-time feedback and interaction.
- The 'Piano Assistant' in beta allows users to ask questions about their learning, seek clarifications, or get suggestions on what to learn next, providing a personalized learning experience.
- Key signatures are explained clearly as sets of sharps or flats indicating the key of a piece of music, demystifying a fundamental concept in music theory.
- Two versions of 'Lean on Me' are available for users to explore, offering both beginners and advanced learners the opportunity to challenge themselves at their own pace.
- Music learning can be tailored to different levels, from first steps to expert, encouraging progression to become a maestro, thus supporting a wide range of learners.
7. 🎹 Air Wve: A Magical Experience
- The Air Wve device offers two ways to interact: with and without the airwave accessory, enhancing expression and creativity in music creation.
- Using the airwave accessory, users can connect to a laptop and control music parameters through hand movements, creating a highly expressive experience.
- The interface tracks hand movements, impacting parameters like air raise, tilt, glide, slide, flex, grasp, lift, press, and strike, making users feel like magicians.
- The system tracks 27 joints in hands at 90 frames per second, providing a highly responsive and realistic interaction.
- The Air Wve allows musicians to elevate expressiveness in their performance by replacing traditional knobs with intuitive hand gestures.
