To Demo Is to Desire: Strange Mac Fact (and, Headphones)

Before I leave the topic of Apple and computers (I'm leaving the topic of Apple and computers, so don't despair), here's a strange fact. Backdrop: the Mac Mini, introduced in 2005, was originally intended as a basic, affordable Mac that was competent but nothing more. The reason for its existence seemed to be that people in that era were dissatisfied with PCs because of an OS called Vista that wasn't ready for prime time. Apparently it was leading PC users to jump to Apple in noticeable numbers. The Mini was intended for PC users who were encouraged to "bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse"—things they didn't need to buy because they already owned them. Shortly after the Mac Mini was introduced came a series of clever "Mac vs. PC" television commercials with two actors, Justin Long and John Hodgman, playing the parts of the two computers. You might recall.

Fast forward to now. Apple's top-of-the-line desktop computer is the Mac Pro, a full-sized tower that's expandable and updatable. In fact, reader DavidB reports that he is still running a 2010 MacPro5,1. "Everything is upgradeable and/or removable and I've done plenty of that," he says. "Upgraded CPU, video card, and memory. Replaced small hard drives with large hard drives and then SSDs. Installed PCIe cards to support USB3. And it all still works and it is my daily work machine. Every time Apple releases a new Mac I check the specs but here I am still running the Mac Pro."

Well, here's a weird thing. Apparently my new M2 Mac Mini Pro is more powerful than the base Mac Pro...either the one that's available now or the one that was available when the Mac Mini Pro came out, I don't know. That's according to this Marques Brownlee video (he's good by the way—and so successful on YouTube that he was chosen to give the commencement address at his alma mater recently) and seems to be reinforced by other sources on the web.

That kind of changes my article calling for a "computer in the middle" that I wrote in 2010 and linked to the other day. The Mini has changed over the years. It's no longer just entry-level. Although it's still not expandable and upgradeable, so it's not for DavidB.

Demos
I had to go back to the Apple Store near Rochester yesterday (I spent the day in the dentist's chair and swung by the mall to turn in my old computer as a trade-in). After the transaction I had a little extra time so I wandered around the store to poke into some of products I'm unfamiliar with, such as the watches and Apple TV. You have to be careful, though, because sometimes to demo is to desire. I didn't try on the Apple Vision Pro virtual reality goggles, for instance, because I can't afford them and I don't want to know. A friend uses them for processing pictures in Lightroom and says it's like having a wall-sized computer display. The Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro is slick, although I can't imagine why I would need one or what I would use it for. The watch table was too busy. But I made a Discovery, capital D.

I didn't know this, but Apple sells a pair of Bluetooth headphones called AirPods Max. You can also get them from Amazon. Available in five different colors. Well, I demoed a pair of those and...the noise-cancelling feature is amazing. Instant love.

Mind you, I live in a quiet area. Especially in the Winter, sometimes there isn't even a car going by for long stretches of time. But it's also a rural area, and occasionally noisemakers of various sorts ruin my concentration. Chainsaws whining away for a whole morning. Neighbor Jim with his vintage 1940s Harley-Davidson golf-cart conveyance thingy which makes an ungodly racket (Jim's a nice guy though). Neighbors with leaf-blowers. Unknown rich guy with the giant cigarette-boat (also known as a go-fast boat or a Miami Vice boat) who fortunately doesn't use it very often but when he does, slams it up and down the lake for hours persecuting every human on every shore. None of this happens very often but it's intrusive when it does. There are times, friends, when I get so frazzled I get in the car and leave the area. I will admit that escaping neighborhood noise has occasionally inspired photographing jaunts, but that doesn't mean the noise is a good thing.

The noise-cancelling effect of the AirPods Max literally brought a smile to my face. The hubbub in the Apple Store is surprisingly loud, as you realize the instant it disappears. The music then appears to be filling the entire store. Zowee. Yes to those, is all I can say. I'm trying to cut down on mindless expenses, and doing pretty well—but sometimes tech is a blessing. A solution, not an indulgence. A pair of those things is now definitely in my future. To demo is to desire; you gotta be careful!

Mike

Original contents copyright 2024 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Matthew: "Mike, before I opened my computer to check this site, I put on my Apple headphones. (The name feels puerile, please don't make me use it.) They really are amazing, sound great, and 'spatial audio' is convincing enough that I worry that I accidentally had the volume up on my computer, TV, or iPad. I do also have home audio speakers, but rarely use them anymore. And that's the bonus thing: the headphones seamlessly switch from device to device, as long as you're logged into your Apple account on all of them. I'm listening to music on my phone right now, and could watch a video on my computer as easily as pressing pause and then play. If I have a podcast playing on my iPd but want to move around the house, I just put the headphones on—they sense that I'm wearing them and seamlessly switch. They don't even play their little startup chime. It's a world of difference from the other one-device Bluetooth NC headphones I've owned, and I'm happy to be rid of the cable that my monitor headphones use.

"I too live on the edge of a quiet summer town, but I have a dishwasher, a range hood fan, and a heat pump. Getting rid of those quiet background sounds is just as important to my auditory well-being as removing the jet skis and lawn mowers. I'm attuned to sound, picky about music, and work in a noisy factory where being aware of the sounds of the machines is part of my job. Control over what I hear matters a lot to me. I would replace my headphones instantly if something ever happened to them."

Gary Merken: "Re 'The Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro is slick, although I can't imagine why I would need one or what I would use it for': One common use is for marking up scores. Many instrumentalists and singers—I'm referring to classical musicians—use iPads instead of paper scores. When the choral director says, 'take a breath after the third measure in the second system,' the iPad-using chorister can insert the breath mark. And erase it if the director changes her mind later on. Same for an opera conductor ('we're going to cut the repeat in the third aria') or a symphony orchestra concertmaster putting in the preferred bowings for the string section."

Mike replies: Very interesting! Never occurred to me.

Mike Chisholm: "Following Gary Merken's point about musicians and iPads: last year we saw the extraordinary pianist Angela Hewitt perform Bach, and it slowly dawned on me that she was using an iPad (well, a tablet) as a score, operated by a foot pedal (this wasn't a fuzz-box or a wah-wah, I'm pretty sure). This was something I had never noticed before, but I'm told has pretty much become standard practice. It certainly saves having a page turner standing next to you."

Ulf Aagerup: "I have another reason to use the Apple pencil. I’m a professor, and frequently assess my students’ writing (reports, theses, etc). The iPad allows me to read a PDF of a document and scribble my thoughts on it as if it were a paper document. Then, I can send a copy to the student, but still keep mine. This way, the next time we meet, I have a record of what my feedback was last time, and the student also gets written feedback. I could of course do this with a keyboard on a computer, but I prefer to read and write on the iPad. It’s like a book or a journal."

Comments

[Matt Kallio]

You should check out Mr. Brownlee regarding those headphones.

[ASW]

I completely agree that external noise can be annoying and stressful, even in rural areas. The less said about Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and the nihilists who assault the countryside with them, the better in my opinion. Thus, I concur that noise-cancelling headphones are indeed a wonderful development.

However, unless you absolutely must have the Apple product, I would respectfully suggest that you research and audition a few other options in this increasingly crowded and competitive market before dropping $549 (ouch!).

I'll also note that there's nothing miraculous about maintaining and using older computers. I still use my Sony Vaio laptop from 2009 on a daily basis, although most of my work is now done on a youthful and vivacious Windows desktop computer from 2013. Both have been upgraded with the standard max RAM + SSD(s) treatment, and on the desktop I even replaced the CPU with the top option available for the motherboard (for $25 off Ebay). I'm sure a new computer would be faster, but for me that's like saying a Ferrari would be faster than my Honda Fit - yes in theory but probably not in my real-world usage, and definitely not worth the chunk out of my wallet.

In my sight I also have a Thinkpad T41 from 2003 that dual boots Windows XP/Linux LXLE and a Macbook 2,1 from 2008 that dual boots some old version of MacOS/Windows 8.1. Why? Because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Both still work fine for typical computer tasks (typing, spreadsheets, etc) and the Macbook is my travel computer because it's small and basically worthless if lost, stolen, or broken. The only real slow-down comes from the increasing bloat and overload of pretty much all websites, making these truly old computers increasingly useless for internet browsing or online video watching.

[Cateto/Jose]

For similar reasons (very good noise cancelling abilities), I decided to buy the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones (the current version is WH-1000XM5). Back when i bought them they were supposed to be among the best headphones in that field, and they work wonders to listen to podcasts or music when walking the dog around in my city (Córdoba, Spain). There are Bose alternatives which also excel in that domain. If you don't want to get automatically to the most expensive headphones (those from Apple are really expensive), I would advice to try the Sony and Bose at least, then make your choice.
Personally I can tell you I am very satisfied with the Sony WH-1000XM4: very long battery life, good audio quality (also for music) and the main controls (start, stop, forward, backward, replying a phone call, calling Siri...) can be used simply by touching on the right speaker plastic cover with different gestures.

[Tom Burke]

The Airpod Max headphones are indeed very good. My wife and I sampled them some months ago, along with a couple of other sets. In the end we each walked out with Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra ‘phones. The noise cancelling and sound presentation seemed, to us, to be as good as the Apple’s, and they were around 25% cheaper.

[ChrisC]

There are noise canceling headphones from a number of brands many of which rate higher than Apple’s. Watch out, you’ll have to venture into the wilds of hi-fi reviews to find out more!

[Ilkka]

Classic marketing tactics on the Mac mini. You make a good, cheap product to convince people to switch. Then you gradually improve it a bit, raise the price a bit more and eventually remove the cheap option(s) entirely so your hooked customers must buy a more expensive product than they want or need. The problem is that eventually they price themselves out of that market and customers switch to something else.

I wonder why someone would buy an offshore racing boat to use on a small lake. I suppose just because he can.

[Hmm, not sure I agree. The M2 Mini costs only $599. The M2 is a very capable, high-performance chip. The original Mac Mini back in 2005 cost $499. With inflation, today that's like $805. Seems like the base model is reasonably priced if not cheap and well in line with original pricing. It's a far better computer now.

Now as for the offshore racing boat—no clue! The fellow must be deaf is all I know. --Mike]

[Not THAT Ross Cameron]

Hi Mike,
Hope you’re well. Thought I’d pass on something that could be the topic of a post about gear, but of a slightly different nature. Will leave it up to you to assess it’s suitability.

It’s about a camera now used for astronomy. The 34-inch Hewitt Camera - Aperture 860mm, 680mm focal length, f/1. It was originally a ‘film’ camera (well, glass plates - apologies if I’ve garbled the terminology), and has had a digital conversion. The group in Tamworth (Australia) had it restored after it was decommissioned. There’s a bit of a story behind acquiring it too (apologies, I don’t have the details).
I briefly saw it when I went to visit my mum in the town I grew up in. It was during the day so we didn’t see it in action.

Regards,
Ross

Link to the local group with their summary info page:
https://www.tamworthastronomy.com.au/about.html

And a couple of links I found with some general info about the camera and I t’s background. They’re mostly about the camera in the UK, not Australia.

https://www.the-observatory.org/dome-c

http://www.royalobservatorygreenwich.org/articles.php?article=1097

[Don Seymour]

I demoed the vision pro at the Apple Store recently just to check it out. Wow, Apple really knows how to do a demo. It's visually quite impressive. I was blown away. It didn't make me want to buy it though. No desire at all. It's heavy and uncomfortable to wear for very long but the demo is worth doing just to see what they can do now with these 3D images.

[psu]

The Airpod Maximums are pretty beefy and impressive.

But to my mind the Airpod Pro 2 earbuds are even more impressive because they give you about 75-90% of the performance (both sound and noise cancelling) of the giant headphones in something that fits in your smallest pocket.

And their battery management story is a lot better. The Max Airpods chew battery like no one's business even if you put them in deep sleep in their weird case, so you have to then plug them into the wall a lot. The Pro Airpods charge in their little case, which holds enough power for a week or more without needing to be recharged.

I had stopped using earbuds completely over the last decade until I tried these on a whim and now I use them every day when walking around outside.

[Jim Arthur]

I have used mainframes and Windows computers since the sneaker net days but when I retired a few years ago and needed to replace my ancient/extinct Toshiba laptop I decided to give Apple a try. I was weary of Microsoft’s security issues, OS advertising and data harvesting and Apple had just corrected their issues with the Touch Bar era Macs so it seemed like a good time to dive in. I bought a 14” MacBook Pro (Late 2021 M1 Pro with hard function keys instead of a Touch Bar, SDXC reader, Wi-Fi 6, Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, High-impedance headphone jack, etc.) and got a good deal since the M2’s had just been released. I installed Firefox and Affinity Photo 2 and off I went. I really like my Mac and can’t see going back to Windows.

The Mac isn’t really all that different but I do appreciate its usability and interesting little tidbits. For example, when I set up my new Mac I saw a Data & Privacy screen that said, “Apple believes privacy is a fundamental human right.” As a Windows user this really surprised me. I realize Apple is a secretive company and I’ll probably never know if they actually believe this but its nice to see those words on screen the first time you fire up a new computer. I recently started compiling my annual Xmas CD (old-school alert!) for my siblings and found that I could use GarageBand to trim down a Beck song (Debra) to eliminate a hidden track that kicks in after 5 minutes of silence. Its really nice to find these handy little abilities on tap.

Because I still shoot with a 12 year old 6D and because my Paleozoic (Old Life) Win 7 laptop (64-bit, i7 Quad Core!) still runs fine, I decided to turn it into a stand-alone workstation so I could continue to use my perpetual Lightroom with the 6D. If it ain’t broke! I uninstalled the third party antivirus software, yanked the ethernet cable and disabled the Wi-Fi controller and was thrilled with the improved performance. It has been a looong time since I’ve had a stand-alone Workstation and I had forgotten how much memory and CPU is consumed by antivirus. Its like the old laptop received a shot of nitrous. I’ll get around to using Affinity Photo as my RAW converter one day. Probably once I buy a new camera but because I’m a cheapskate I’m currently focused on a camera that doesn’t yet exist. :-) Maybe I’ll get an R7 II?

[Bob Casner]

After hearing an extremely impressive demo of Dolby Atmos for audio only at the Los Angeles AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, “The Oscars People”) Museum last Sunday, I want ALL of my music to sound like that.

A rival to the Apple headphones that recently was introduced is the Sonos Ace, which apparently at least equals Apple’s for noise suppression and exceeds it for comfort and music playback quality, particularly for the Atmos tracks I’m rapidly accumulating from iTunes.

$450 from Amazon and rave reviews from the audiophile sites.

[John Krill]

I have one ear that’s halfway gone, and that’s the good one, while the other ear is just about dead.

So give it time and your noise problem will just fade away.

Old age does have its good points.

[Stephen J]

Hi Mike,
As you relate at the top of this article, I did switch to Mac from PC, due to Vista, and replaced my PC with a 27" iMac, having first tried the Mini and being disappointed with its speed.

After around two years, the iMac display developed a fault, and Apple could never put it right, they had several attempts and then I gave up and lived with it. There was a smudgy shadow across the bottom of the display.

Regardless, I stayed with Mac, and a brother of one of my friends, a trolley dolly for British Airways, picked up a 2013 Trashcan for me in Florida. I bought a NEC PA272w display to accompany it, and I am using that combination right now... Terrific value.

A few months ago, I tried a Mac Studio, and it was quick, but I took it back to Apple, because the expense was (in my view) not worth the extra speed, it is still faster than me anyway. Indeed that has been the case since 1973, when I was a computer operator and using IBM system 370 machines!

I know in my heart that I am going to have to move to a new Silicon jobby eventually, but I am hanging on to the trashcan as long as I can.

The main advantage to the new machines seems to be the emergence of AI, along with the adoption of USBC, (trashcan uses Thunderbolt) so in the meantime, I will just have to put up with my own version of English. It may be deeply flawed, but it is mine.

[schralp]

I’m an apple guy through and through but I second what Jose has already advised; get the Sonys. Excellent sound, great noise cancelling, lighter and less expensive. At the very least demo them before you decide.