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Ben Halpern
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What were your takeaways from Apple's WWDC keynote?

What surprised, excited, frustrated you? As a developer, did anything catch your eye?

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Ben Halpern

Here's my current situation: I'm pretty strongly integrated with MacOS in terms of my development workflow. Most of the software I use runs best on Mac, and some runs only on Mac. I've been using a mid-2012 MacBook Pro, and while I've increased the memory to 16GB and added my own SSD, it's physically wearing down and simply is not as nice as the new models in a lot of ways.

It's hard to tell just by being told the specs how well the new MacBook is going to run, but I trust it will be an upgrade and fit my needs.

I'm open to the idea of taking the plunge into Linux, but as it stands now, I'm leaning towards the new 13" MacBook Pro maxed out on specs. Budget-wise I'm in the position where the "company" would pay for it, but it's my company, so I have a professional budget for this, but I want to get a decent value from the whole thing.

Would love any input.

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Gabriel Naranjo

I've been working with both Linux and OSX for a long time now: I have the same laptop and specs. Have not been able to try the new laptops, but am worried about not being able to do any kind of upgrades to the machine once bought. That does seems to be the case with everything in that category, on every brand. Linux is great for web development —installing development software is soooo much easier there— as long as you don't need to print or scan anything.

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Ben Halpern

The frustrating part for me is apps in the design-space that only run on Mac. I am primarily in dev-land only, but I hop into other environments often enough that it's frustrating to be on the OS that these companies aren't writing software for.

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Gabriel Naranjo

I do a bit of coding —mainly web design related— and a lot of design. A Mac is still the best option for me.

Have you seen this article? medium.com/@tomjohndesign/you-are-...

It may give you some hope.

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Ben Halpern

I had not, thanks!

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Andrew Tanner 🇪🇺

I have a Windows 10 laptop dual-booted with Ubuntu. I only use Windows when I'm forced to (non-dev) and honestly, I only got Windows at all as it was cheaper than an outright Linux device.

I really like Linux. I use OS X at work and being able to use Linux at home is almost seamless - I can largely use the same workflow. The only thing with Linux is that it needs a bit more handholding on occasion. Obviously you're restricted in what software you can use (being a front-end dev I'm reliant on design files).

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Anthony Lombardi

I have the 2012 Macbook that I use to code on. It runs pretty efficiently and the battery runs real good as well. I use it mostly for code and Netflix and I cannot complain.

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Josefina R.

Seems like the HomePod is really focused on Apple Music, what if you use Spotify? I wonder how the integration with 3rd party apps will work... It took a lot for Siri to be able to do more than just open 3rd party apps.

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Josefina R.

Excited however with the ARKit and Core ML, and I think it's great they have opened it up to everyone.

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Ben Halpern

Yeah, this Core ML like a great API. I definitely buy that there are a lot of benefits to on-device processing.

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Jamie Gaskins

I've been waiting a long time to upgrade my iMac (I've been craving that retina for quite some time now), so I'm stoked beyond belief that they released new ones. The 8GB VRAM baseline made me super happy. The previous generation iMac capped at 4GB VRAM and you had to pay $300 extra for that.

I kinda want an iPad Pro, but my current iPad (non-Pro) is fine. I really only use it for streaming video and reading articles. I think my wife could do amazing things with it as a designer, though.

A bunch of the other new stuff I could take or leave, but it did seem like they've been listening to developers by releasing a bunch of stuff to make VR/AR more accessible to developers. Huge performance improvements for Metal, too.

The music stuff and the speaker were definitely more of a consumer-level thing, which feels out of place at a developer conference. They've been known to talk about new products at WWDC, they're usually a bit more developer-focused than this.

All in all, it seems like a huge win.

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Ben Halpern

Any thoughts on the MacBook Pro upgrades?

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Jamie Gaskins

From what I can tell, it looks like that's just a spec upgrade across the board. It's pretty decent over last year's (faster CPU and RAM clock speeds), at least, but nothing new. I just got last year's model for work and I think it's pretty zippy, so this one'll at least be even better. Just make sure you carry at least one USB-C<->USB-A and probably a USB-C<->HDMI dongle with you everywhere. :-)

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Garron Fawcett

Does no one care that its still running DDR3 and maxed out at 16 gigs of RAM? Like I know its not like DDR4 is gonna make a huge difference, but if I'm paying that much, I should get the latest.

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Srikanth A V • Edited

Happy that Xcode is getting a much needed upgrade.

ML and AR/VR stuff. This will be great stepping stone to learn those tools/techniques and then expand to other platforms.

Interested to see how Apple Filesystem will improve general workflow.

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Perry Donham • Edited

I had a few thoughts while watching the keynote, keeping in mind that while it was directed at a developer gathering, the presentation would gather major news coverage. Full disclosure, I'm both a shareholder and a die-hard fanboi. (I also love building Hackintoshes, but still have at least one of nearly everything Apple makes.)

In no particular order:

  • Most of the 'new' features presented left me thinking, "Great, you should have done that a year ago."
  • I don't understand the presentation model used where an exec goes through a slide show with new features, then some random engineer goes through a demo with the same features.
  • Siri is still at least 12-18 months behind Amazon's Alexa.
  • The high-end Mac Pro (18-core Xeon) is impressive, but how many are they thinking they'll sell?
  • I just can't get excited any more about minor upgrades to existing product (hello, Macbooks...).
  • Quite a bit of attention given to platform/software geared toward gaming. I have zero interest in gaming.
  • I feel like the iPad segment is just getting muddier by the year.
  • Both the HomePod (really?) and the new Mac Pro at $5k made me think that perhaps Apple is finally embracing the idea that they are a luxury, aspirational brand. Maybe Angela's influence?
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Robert Swilley

I think the high end iMac pro was more of a hey pros we haven't forgot about you.

I'm definitely not the target market for the iMac pro. Pro is such a loosely defined term anyway. The majority of "pros" wouldn't ever need a machine that powerful. It is definitely a very niche machine.

I've always liked the regular iMacs, but as a software developer I prefer 3x 24" screens.

I hope they update the mini eventually. They hinted it wasn't dead in that interview they did earlier in the year and that it might not be so mini anymore.

Give me a quad core mini with more ram!

I'm a bring your own monitor and keyboard kind of guy..

I've used an iPad Pro and it was cool, but when they announced the original pro I bought a Surface. I haven't regretted it. It's nice having a tablet that has a full OS if I need it.

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Anthony Lombardi

I need to give away a kidney, sperm, my hair, and my first born to get the iMac. I don't think HomePod can even compete with G-home or Amazon. Siri is just not that good.

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Bauke Regnerus

I just hope this trick, to pay an audience to clap and cheer so it looks like they are doing anything special, is wearing out.

Also by now I think we can agree that Steve Jobs was NOT the second coming of the christ. Please break down your shrines.

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Kim Arnett 

This is the first WWDC I ever closed before they were finished.

" Last surprise.... music." Close Browser.

I'm disappointed in Apple. Innovation curve is past the peak.

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Ben Halpern

I can't remember the last time I wasn't disappointed by Apple's keynote. I think they're running a pretty fucking solid company maximizing value for their shareholders, but as a technology-enthusiast, the whole company/brand is getting so tired.

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tiff

Why is Apple the only company we feel should have knock out products every year? Do you think they should be innovating all the things all the time?

These products are mature. Get over it.

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Kramer

The only thing I was hoping for was a 15" MacBook Pro sans the touch bar. 👎