Changes to macOS Server

Apple: Prepare for changes to macOS Server

macOS Server is changing to focus more on management of computers, devices, and storage on your network. As a result, some changes are coming in how Server works. A number of services will be deprecated, and will be hidden on new installations of an update to macOS Server coming in spring 2018. If you’ve already configured one of these services, you’ll still be able to use it in the spring 2018 macOS Server update.

These deprecated services will be removed in a future release of macOS Server, so those depending on them should consider alternatives, including hosted services. Deprecated services are listed below. Links to potential replacements are provided underneath each deprecated service.

I’ve never used macOS server, but this is rough for those that do. It is nice, however, that Apple provides links to alternatives for the services going away.

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iMac Pro Impressions By Marques Brownlee

This is such an interesting move by Apple. It looks like a fantastic machine, but it can’t help but be overshadowed by the new modular Mac Apple promised for next year.

Still, I would get one of these in a heartbeat if I could hope to afford one.

A Long Week for Apple Engineers

Recode: Apple’s Had a Shockingly Bad Week of Software Problems

Let’s recap the week of Apple software problems:

• macOS High Sierra critical flaw with root admin access
• macOS High Sierra update released, but breaks file sharing
• iOS 11 crashing on some iPhones due to a date bug
• macOS High Sierra fix not installing correctly on some systems
• iOS 11.2 released early to fix iPhone crash bug

It’s hard to say whether Apple has been particularly sloppy recently with its software updates, or whether this is a growing trend in software in general. Apple also didn’t notice an epic security flaw in macOS and iOS for 18 months a few years ago. Either way, this latest week of problems does highlight Apple’s challenge to meet the needs of its customers on a wide scale. 10 years ago Apple introduced the iPhone, but at the time its main computing devices were Macs which made up around five percent of all desktop machines. Windows was the operating system you associated with bugs or security patches at the time.

But Apple now has more than 1 billion devices running iOS, and any security flaws or problems impact millions of people on a much larger scale than macOS has ever experienced.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a run of software problems like Apple saw this last week. Remember the File Vault bug in 10.4 that erased, instead of encrypted, some disks? Like that, only over two platforms instead of one. Unfortunately, Apple is under greater scrutiny now that they have millions of more customers, and trust is easily lost.

Maybe It’s a Piece of Dust

The Outline: The New MacBook Keyboard Is Ruining My Life

I was in the Grand Central Station Apple Store for a third time in a year, watching a progress bar slowly creep across my computer’s black screen as my Genius multi-tasked helping another customer with her iPad. My computer was getting its third diagnostic test in 45 minutes. The problem was not that its logic board was failing, that its battery was dying, or that its camera didn’t respond. There were no mysteriously faulty innerworkings. It was the spacebar. It was broken. And not even physically broken — it still moved and acted normally. But every time I pressed it once, it spaced twice.

“Maybe it’s a piece of dust,” the Genius had offered. The previous times I’d been to the Apple Store for the same computer with the same problem — a misbehaving keyboard — Geniuses had said to me these exact same nonchalant words, and I had been stunned into silence, the first time because it seemed so improbable to blame such a core problem on such a small thing, and the second time because I couldn’t believe the first time I was hearing this line that it was not a fluke. But this time, the third time, I was ready. “Hold on,” I said. “If a single piece of dust lays the whole computer out, don’t you think that’s kind of a problem?”

In every other computer I’ve owned before I bought the latest MacBook Pro last fall, fixing this would have begun by removing the key and peering around in its well to see if it was simply dirty. Not this keyboard. In fact, all of Apple’s keyboards are now composed of a single, irreparable piece of technology. There is no fixing it; there is only replacing half the computer.

While I’m very excited about the direction of iOS — even to the point of considering an iPad as my next laptop — the Mac is concerning. Laptops are not supposed to be disposable devices. Computers, particularly ones that will cost well north of a thousand dollars, should be reliably long term investments.

Except for one MacBook Pro, all of my Macs have lasted over five years, and two have gone as long as seven. That second-generation MacBook Pro, my shortest-lived computer, still broke four years. I’d be nervous that one of the new MacBooks would do as well.

 

iPhone X Event Hopes

One of the fun parts about Apple events is to speculate about what we’re going to see. Unfortunately, this last weekend’s leak of iOS 11 has taken away a bit of the mystery. Still, here are some things I expect to see today as well as some things I’d like to see.

Expected Announcements

• New iPhones. This goes without saying. Apple has the iPhone on a predictable schedule. I can’t add anything to this that hasn’t already been said other than my hope that the smaller iPhone SE also gets some love.
• Apple TV 4K. This is another near certainty. I’d love to see the Siri remote get redesigned, and I’d like to see Apple TV come with a game controller by default. Beyond that, adding Amazon Video to tvOS’s app offerings will be a big gain.
• Apple Watch. If a new Apple Watch is part of this event, I don’t expect a new form factor or anything radical — a refinement of past iterations.
• Software Updates. iOS 11 and Siri will likely get the most attention. macOS, watchOS, and tvOS improvements will get smaller shoutouts. Also expect a focus on augmented reality.

Wish List

• iPod touch. I’d love to get my daughter an iPod touch. Therefore, I’d love to see it get a spec bump.
• Mac mini. It would be great to see them showing off macOS High Sierra on an updated Mac mini. I love the current form factor, but let’s see some improved internals.
• tvOS TV. What can I say? I’d love to buy a good TV with tvOS built in.

Of course, it’s always nice when Apple surprises us in some way. I expect iPhone X (if that’s what it gets called) will be the big thing, but who knows? Perhaps we’ll get a sneak peek at the upcoming Mac Pro, a release date for the iMac Pro, or something entirely new.

Why Apple Is Still Sweating the Details On the iMac

Why Apple Is Still Sweating the Details On the iMac

The solution was to reshape the high density polyethylene (HDPE) feet. “By actually riding more on the edge this time it was a better experience,” says Bergeron. “Geometry turned out to be the variable that dominated the experience.” After creating runners made of several new mixes, the team organized a bake-off to choose the best one. Ternus explains that the process “involves getting a core group of people from engineering and design together and looking at different samples and saying, ‘Yeah, this is the one, this sounds right!’ And then we go for it.”

And then they go for it again. “Even after all these years with Mac, there’s so much to do,” says Croll. “It’s almost like a roller coaster, where you get off, and then run to the front to do it again. There’s so much more to do.” As you’d expect, work is well underway for the next iMac iteration.

If you’ve ever used Apple’s hardware and then switched back to PC gear, you see this attention to detail — especially in their trackpads. One of those intangibles that keeps me coming back to Apple time and again is that their stuff quite simply feels better.

As an aside, it’s been (I think) almost ten years since I’ve even owned a desktop. These new iMacs might change that.