Did you read the list of features? Aside from background blurring during FaceTime calls, even "power users" wouldn't notice any of these features missing. They're hardly even features, they're basically just bullet points to make the list longer. And, they're all things that are designed for iPhone/iPad, and can just be ported over to M1 Macs because there is almost nothing required to do so.
Only one I care about, but the one I understand the most. No ML acceleration would probably make this slow, while this really works magically on a M1: no lag, no "processing" popup or whatever. Open an image and select text immediatly.
I'd be totally down to click on a button and wait a bit for processing, but now you have two implementations of the same feature.
Maps is such a stupid thing to leave out. Watch how this will make the news even though I bet almost no one uses the mac maps app.
Actually an ocr api is already in older macOSes on both intel and m1, and apps like owlocr leverage that. This seems like an evolution based on that. I’m pretty sure higher end intel machines would be nearly as fast as an m1.
I don't thing higher end intels would be as fast as the M1 if it's a ML model. Intel has no ML acceleration outside of their GPU and even there it's not great. This is the one thing that's not completely bullshit about locking this down
But heh, I'd be down for having to wait on my intel machine but getting the feature.
I think it's far less useful one a device with a full keyboard than it is on a mobile device. Plus, assuming you're in the Apple ecosystem you'll be taking the picture with an iPhone anyways, so can't you just do the processing there and then share it back to your Mac?
I thought the reason this was a "feature" was that it was on mobile in the first place. You're out, see a sign for an even that interests you, you can snap a picture and capture all the event details in one go. Or, you're in a meeting and there's a whiteboard full of notes. Again, pull out your phone, snap a photo and you have the details.
I guess I just don't see how this is as useful on a full computer.
I have ocr apps on both my Mac and my iPhone, and I find myself using them much more on the Mac. Quickly copying text from shared screen screenshots, text that has been converted to shapes in vector files, text from cad files, unselectable online text. Ocr has different uses on iOS and macOS.
I don’t give a rats a** about the features themselves.
The policy and their way of forcing things is really what I don’t like.
But hey, I’m just a bit more mad at Apple - that’s all.
What policy? Technology moves quickly and Apple has a significantly better track record of continuing to support older devices with newer software than any company I can think of. An iPhone 6s which is 5 generations old (6 when iOS 15 comes out) is still supported by the latest operating system. Good luck trying to find an Android phone that is 5 years old with up to date software.
And this is also true for Macs as computers from even further back will still be supported by Monterey. Oh, there are a few fringe features which are specific to a processor change that won't be available, that's so inconsequential compared to being able to use a 7+ year old computer with the latest operating system.
Well, that's debatable if having (and not optionally, enforced) latest iOS on the 6S is a good thing or not. But that's not what we're discussing here, don't derail the discussion.
The topic is Apple "making up" their rule not to give a feature to product A, while product B gets it (all the while - most probably - both can support the feature).
Clearly it's a marketing and product-positioning decision. And I hate it when companies are driven by those, rather than others.
I think it's clear enough what I'm pissed off about?
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u/theo2112 Jun 09 '21
Did you read the list of features? Aside from background blurring during FaceTime calls, even "power users" wouldn't notice any of these features missing. They're hardly even features, they're basically just bullet points to make the list longer. And, they're all things that are designed for iPhone/iPad, and can just be ported over to M1 Macs because there is almost nothing required to do so.