JCC Apple/Mac discussion

The Wikipedia article says that it is an Apple technology, just one that Apple licenses out to other companies. And it's still nowhere near as prevalent as HDMI.

EDIT: And HDMI is not limited to 1080p.

 

So what? It duplicates any functionality that HDMI has to offer, while HDMI doesn't offer any distinct benefit over it, and has one major detractor: screen resolution. You can 'not bother' with anything else, but HDMI is limited to 1920x1080p. Displayport isn't-it can handle up to 2560x1440, which is a massive jump over what HDMI can do.

Also, apple licenses it for free. (I guess you just missed that part in the article or chose to not mention it, or something.) Which is why it's irrelevant that apple created it-it's open to anyone who desires to use it.

 

Unless whoever is licensing it commences legal action against Apple. For example, Samsung.

 

Fixed.

 

Except I already proved that one wrong, as 1) dozens of other manufacturers use minidisplay port, as I've already shown and 2) Apple doesn't make the majority of adapters available. But hey, don't let facts or anything get in your way.

 

Fixed.

 

Why should we need adapters in the first place? Why doesn't Apple use the near-universal format instead and save users the hassle?

 

Ohh, you're back. Once again, because the "near-universal format" is neither "near-universal" nor superior to what Apple uses. I mean, I can do this all night, but 1) HDMI doesn't outperform minidisplayport in any actual category, either in versatility or maximum screen resolution and 2) here are the companies using minidisplayport:

• In early 2009, VESA announced that Mini DisplayPort would be included in the upcoming DisplayPort 1.2 specification.[16][17]

• In the fourth quarter of 2009, VESA officially announced that the Mini DisplayPort has been adopted. All devices using the Mini DisplayPort must comply with the 1.1a standard.[18]

• On 7 January 2010, Toshiba introduced Satellite Pro S500, Tecra M11, A11 and S11 notebooks featuring Mini DisplayPort.[19][20][21][22]

• AMD released a special variant of its Radeon HD 5870 graphics card - called the Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition, which features 2GB GDDR5 memory, higher clock speeds than the original card, and six Mini DisplayPort outputs with a maximum resolution of 5760 × 2160 pixels (a 3×2 grid of 1080p displays).

• On 13 April 2010, Apple added support for audio out using Mini DisplayPort in their MacBook Pro product line. This added feature allows users to easily connect their Macbook Pros to their HDTVs using a cable adapting Mini DisplayPort to HDMI with full audio and video functionality.[14]

• On 5 May 2010, HP announced Envy 14 and Envy 17 notebooks with Mini DisplayPort.[23]

• On 20 October 2010, Dell announced XPS 14, 15, and 17 notebooks with Mini DisplayPort.[24]

• On 24 February 2011, Apple and Intel announced Thunderbolt, a successor to Mini Displayport which adds support for PCI Express data connections while maintaining backwards compatibility with Mini Displayport based peripherals.[25]

• On 17 May 2011, Lenovo announced the ThinkPad X1 notebook with Mini DisplayPort.

• On 15 May 2012, Lenovo announced the ThinkPad notebooks X1 Carbon, X230, L430, L530, T430s, T430, T530, W530 with Mini DisplayPort.

• In January 2013, Microsoft will release the Surface Tablet, equipped with Windows 8 Pro, with a Mini DisplayPort.

So yeah. There's 20 non-Apple computers from five different manufacturers using minidisplayport. Care to explain again how this is somehow Apple "forcing" you to do something?

 

Many of those PC manufacturers also include an HDMI port (or at least the Toshiba, the first working link I got, does). I'm not saying it's superior technically (that's not everything; Betamax was also mostly superior), and I wasn't the one saying Apple was "forcing" it on anyone. I'm saying it's more convenient, and a handful of manufacturers adopting it for a small amount of devices doesn't come close to HDMI's market penetration-- which extends outside the computer market to, you know, Blu-ray players, TV's, cameras. Things that people don't use with their computers ever.

 

But don't most comparable devices use Type C or D mini HDMIs, which... also require an adapter?

 

Don't need an adapter. You can get a cable that does from Type C/D to Type A or whatever it's called. Of course, it's sold separately in most cases, but cables often are with everything. You'd need an adapter plus a cable with a different format.

 

Firstly; you're aware that's still massively insignificant (statistically speaking) sample? Secondly; are those PCs limited to multiport, or will they also support other video formats?

 

So... then... how exactly is that different from having an HDMI to Thunderbolt adapter? Slightly less portability? These things go for like $5, I'm not seeing how this is a massive design flaw.

 

Wehhoaohaaa why has this thread turned into a crap on mac thread? Isn't this a thread for mac users? Don't you people have better things to do with your time than be concerned as to what other people who you don't know on the internet are using for technology? Seriously I use both a PC and a mac and they're both fantastic for what I use each for. I love my mac. I love my pc. There's no reason to be pooping on either. Use what you like. Go make a pc thread if you love pc's so much as to crusade through the webs judging mac users for their choices.

 

It's not a crap on Mac thread, SLG. It's just asking about stuff and things. We didn't hurt nobody, honest.

 

Tears and blood have been shed.

 

Sorry, Essellgee. I wasn't trying to thread crap. I just got caught up with Mr. "HDMI only supports 1080p and is too big for a laptop." I-- I also had a traumatic experience with three-prong-to-two-prong power cord adapters when I was a kid.

 

I'm not really on the bandwagon either way, but my Apple products have generally worked. My old iBook is still chugging along after seven years. My first MacBook Pro is still on its original hard drive, while my younger MacBook Pro (itself over three years old now) is on its third. Both my MBPs have had their displays and logic boards replaced, with the total cost being $0 thanks to AppleCare (the logic board on the iBook got replaced as well, if memory serves, though it never had AppleCare and I think someone else paid for that particular repair). The first two hard drives on my second MBP were replaced for free as well, again thanks to AppleCare (nothing much was lost, because I keep just about all of my important work, which means my photo files, on an external hard drive). My first iPhone was lost, and my 3Gs could still work now if necessary. My 4S works fine. The one area I've had a bit of trouble with has been iMacs. My first one had the yellow screen issue and I returned it. I tried again a couple months ago and while I thought it too had a problem, it didn't. It did have a problem with kernel panics after I installed some third party RAM, and I fixed that by removing Apple's installed RAM and leaving in the third party RAM. I'll ding them for providing what was clearly cheap RAM, which did not play well with the Crucial-branded RAM I got from Arizona State's computer store. When it was just the Crucial RAM, things worked fine and I haven't had an issue since then.

I don't do a lot, really. I mostly just use a few programs, which I listed in an earlier post, and I don't use many apps. I like Apple's closed system overall because it means things generally work. Maybe I would feel differently if I used a larger number of programs on my computers and applications on my iPhone. I don't, though. I like and value simplicity, which Apple has mostly delivered in the time I've been using Apple products.

Apple has issues, of course. Clearly it is rather draconian in the application of and protection of its corporate power and it has stifled innovation at times. Steve Jobs was obsessed with Samsung and said he would spend Apple's last dollar to beat them in court. There's no value in that. But, their products generally work, and from a design perspective, there remains an elegance to their function that it's hard to find elsewhere. As someone who values this, I appreciate it.

 

It's like we've upset our mother.

 

This thread was better when there was more crying from certain Appleites.

 

They prefer Appleistas, Roper. Because it's totes revolutionary.

 

Yeah, this is what I mean. Apple is constantly refusing to conform to standards of usability that would allow you to more easily connect your computer to any non-Apple devices. And yeah, you might be able to get an adapter or cable elsewhere, but how many Apple users do that verses how many just buy one at the Apple store?

The bottom line is, Apple doesn't want you to buy any electronics from anyone else. They want you to have an iMac, Macbook, iPad, iPhone, iPod, and to only ever buy songs and movies (with poor compression, awful sound, and no special features) from them to hook up to an Apple display or Apple TV. They don't want you to own blu-rays, they don't want you to be able to connect your computer easily with any other electronics, even though there is already a universal video port format.

And this isn't me running in and dumping on the Apple thread to annoy Apple users. I am an Apple user, and this is me being sick as hell of the way this company is run.

 

I think the thing for many people, myself certainly included, is that we don't know any better in most cases. Any motion picture content I've downloaded from iTunes has always seemed fine to me, and I'm ignorant of most technical details with regard that stuff. I just know that it works, and hence I use it. I'm uninterested in owning Blu-Rays, I don't connect devices with any of my computers other than external hard drive and a scanner. I'm pretty simple, really, and I think that's true for a large chunk of Apple users. That doesn't justify what they do, but I think it goes a long way toward explaining why it continues and has been so successful for them. If it doesn't involve photography, the "good enough" principle usually works for me for most technical stuff. The picture quality doesn't have to be the best, nor the sound, or anything else along those lines. For those that are more knowledgable, though, and who have more needs and expectations, I can see why it's frustrating.

You're far more knowledgeable about these technical things than I'll ever be. Hell, most people are more knowledgeable than me when it comes to technical stuff. I just know enough to get by. I sort of get familiar with the necessities and leave it at that. If I needed more, I'd probably start having more issues with Apple.

 

Right, Apple definitely banks on its users not being educated about technology or knowing much. It's the same way they get away with the iPhone being heralded each generation as so innovative even though it's always basically a generation behind Android in terms of most features. They are just a lot better at advertising them, and most Apple users just don't know any better because Apple's succeeded in getting them to not even look at other brands.

Also, Apple definitely wants you to be one of those people who mostly watches films on your iPad or computer, which is in and of itself .... blech As a filmmaker, that's just so, so awful to me. Obviously this is something I care about more than most people, but I still believe if given the ability, most people would rather watch something on a TV than on a laptop.

I just got my first real laptop (previously I've had a desktop replacement that only moved during summer break and then a netbook). I'm already incredibly happy to finally have a way to connect to my TV's HDMI port. It'll be especially useful for my Slingbox HD. But there have been numerous times I've wanted to hook a computer up to a TV for different reasons (for instance, my parents' blu ray player won't play MKV files and if I bring those I need to connect a laptop to the TV to watch them.) But my parents have a Macbook and no adapters because they don't want to spend $30-40 on one. Meanwhile, my new laptop has a regular HDMI port, so I don't even need to use a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable (though I have one of those).

 

Where the actual hell are you people shopping that your HDMI to Thunderbolt adapters are so expensive?

I mean, I get the complaints about their "My way or the highway" approach to technology. Really. I do. It's the adapter complaint I don't get. They're just not expensive enough to justify the amount of kvetching in this thread. I bought mine for like $6 on Amazon. Works great. Hook my laptop up to my widescreen TV every time I want to watch one of my Japanese toy commercials that I have of course obtained via legal digital only channels. I don't understand!