A First Foray into the Realm of Apple Silicon

Sometime in the autumn of 2020, my beloved 2017 MacBook Pro started doing something horrible. As soon as the machine went into any form of sleep mode, even just launching the screen saver, a white light started flashing at the right end of the Touch Bar. It would stop as soon as I started using the computer, but immediately it started to idle, the flashing resumed. Initially, the intensity and frequency of the flashes weren’t too bad, but over time the problem worsened. 

Searching for potential solutions brought only bad news. It wasn’t an uncommon problem, although it was rare, it looked like the only fix was to take it to a service centre and potentially required a new motherboard. This was seriously bad news. Not only was it going to cost a load of cash but we were in the second phase of lockdowns in Prague and getting the fix could take a serious amount of time. And without the computer I was helpless. So, I did the only sensible thing - I put a cloth over the end of the Touch Bar and buried my head in the sand.

I managed to get back to the UK for Christmas in 2020 and the problem vanished for a short while but started up again just before I was due to return to Prague. My trip was too short to get the machine into a service centre in the UK, and besides, I was in quarantine for all but one day! But to add to the misery, the battery was also now showing signs of failing…

In July I decided to bite the bullet and take decisive action. So I bought an M1 Mac mini. I’ve never used a Mac mini before and to be honest I’ve been a bit sceptical about them in the past. I didn’t need/want another laptop. I wanted a cheap replacement that would be able to help me continue to operate while I finally took the MBP in for repair (by this time the service centres were operating again and I decided that the fix had to be done whatever the cost…)

I went for the M1 Mac mini, 512Gb/16Gb combo which worked out at £1,050, slightly cheaper than in the UK! I already had a Dell 24” monitor set up along with all the peripherals I needed so I only had to buy the unit which helped keep the costs to a minimum. I could probably have managed with the 8Gb version, but I figured I’d saved a lot of money while the pubs were closed, so what the heck…

It was a breeze to set up the Mac mini using a Time Machine backup of the MBP and from unboxing to having a working computer probably took no more than a couple of hours. The biggest issue was rearranging the desk so I could now accommodate three computers (including my work laptop). From a connection perspective, all I needed to do was swap the cable from my iTec TB 3 hub from the MBP to the mini and everything was immediately accessible. Simple - just the way Macs are supposed to be!

The current Apple Harvest configuration (Feb 2022)

The M1 (called Kampa) is an absolute joy to use. It’s absolutely silent and apart from a couple of pieces of software that I could no longer use there was little impact on my workflow. The biggest downside was that I could no longer use TotalSpaces from Binary Age (and TotalFinder from the same stable) which meant having to learn how to use Mission Control properly - more on that another time). I purchased a Satechi hub to complement the Mac mini - the one that sits under the mini and connects via USB-C and provides 6 extra ports (non-SSD version).

But what of the MacBook Pro? A few days after getting the M1 setup and functional, I trudged down the road to the iStyle service centre on Revolucni in Prague’s New Town. I explained the problem and they took away my baby and told me they’d need to run some tests and come back to me with a quote. A few days later they sent me an email with the cost of the fix - for both the hardware issue and a replacement battery - under £240! I was stunned. I was expecting to have to pay a minimum of £500, and probably closer to £1,000. I agreed to have them perform the repairs before they could change their minds, and two weeks later I collected the fixed computer (it took a little while for them to source the correct battery).

Like many long time Mac users, I’m now struggling a little with the Intel-based MBP. When it’s sitting alongside the M1 Mac mini I really notice it huffing and puffing while doing very little real work. It feels old, whilst before this whole story started it was my pride and joy. So it begs the question of what next? And that, dear reader, is a question I can’t currently answer, although I’m tempted to go for an M1 13” MacBook Pro. It would meet my needs for a laptop, fit nicely into my workflow and besides, despite the pain, it’s caused me, I still love the Touch Bar!

A Return to the Apple Harvest

After a three year hiatus, I’m trying to get back in the habit of writing again. My blogging output has been almost non-existent since I moved back to Prague in March 2019. I’ve published a couple of posts on my Prague blog, one on my business blog but this site has remained fallow since February 2019! 

You’d expect that having spent the best part of three years living alone and in and out of lockdown there would have been plenty of time to indulge me. After all, it’s not as if technology stood still even though many other things were put on hold. But, back in full-time employment in Prague after a year’s absence, I had plenty of things on my plate and my blogs fell down to the bottom of the backlog.

Picking up after such a long time, it’s difficult to know where to start. So much has changed in both the Apple ecosystem and the world at large. I expected to be back in Prague until the end of 2019 but the contract went so well that I was offered an additional year. I went home in March 2020 for my birthday weekend, and two days after my return to Prague we went into total lockdown. The opportunities to return to the UK were few and far between then and now although finally, things seem to be getting better. The unexpected outcome of the lockdown is how much new kit I’ve acquired (and how the heck I’m going to get it all home when I finally leave!)

The Apple Harvest in Prague - 2020-22

Like many potential readers of this blog I have made the transition to Apple Silicon and bought my first ever Mac Mini. I’ll write a separate post about that experience and how it came about. I’ve also swapped out my Apple Magic Keyboard and mouse and now use the Logitech MX Keys and MX Anywhere 3 mouse as my main input devices. I’ve become a big fan of other input devices, namely the Elgato Stream Deck and most recently the Xencelabs Quick Keys device. 

Having spent most of the last two years working from my apartment there are a few other devices that I’ve acquired to make the experience as comfortable as possible. One is a light bar, another is the Twelve South HoverBar Duo for my iPad Pro. 

With so many new devices and the limited ports available on the original M1 devices a new hub became an essential to compliment my i-tec Thunderbolt 3 docking station. The CalDigit TB4 Element Hub fitted the bill perfectly. 

I’ve also become a convert to HomeKit. My home in the UK has been ‘smart’ since I installed a complete Hive control system but that was primarily driven by Alexa. When Hive announced that their systems would now be compatible with HomeKit I decided to go down that road here in the apartment in Prague. I’ve had plenty of fun with that which I’ll share in due course.

My Apple Watch helped me focus on my health during the dark days of lockdown when, initially, we weren’t even supposed to go more than 500 meters from your door. I recently upgraded to the Apple Watch 7 which finally ticks all the boxes. It’s amazing how far this product has changed from the Series 0 which I started off with. 

Music and video have been a mainstay and I was thankful that I packed my HomePod and Apple TV when I first came back. These were joined by a HomePod mini which sits in my bedroom and helps control the smart home. 

I upgraded my iPhone from the X to the 12 Pro, indulged myself with a pair of AirPods Max, and fell foul of the curse of the AirPods Pro but with a happy ending. 

I’ve also had some interesting experiences with mass storage, including a catastrophic disk failure on my last visit back to the UK in September 2021 which highlighted the importance of a robust backup strategy.

Hopefully, that’ll be enough to whet your appetites. Next time I’ll explain the reasoning behind buying the M1 Mac mini along with my new dilemma of what next!

5 Years and 100 Posts...Happy Anniversary to the Apple Harvest blog!

I published first Apple Harvest blog post in July 2009, and, today, just under five years later I’m posting the 100th entry. I might not be the most prolific blogger in history, and I’ve never made a cent out of it, but I’ve had a lot of fun writing the posts, and I hope a few people have enjoyed reading them. Maybe some of you have even been able to resolve a problem or decide on a purchase as a result of what you’ve read here. That would be a real bonus. I’m looking forward to writing the next 100 posts - though I hope it might not take so long this time.

Since that first post the Apple Harvest has been through quite a lot of change. It has had temporary HQs in Derby, Zurich and New England. Posts have been written on 4 different Macs - the original 2007 MacBook Pro, the 2008 iMac, the 2011 MacBook Air, and the 2012 iMac. All of which are still going strong.

I’ve also read the final published blog on my original iPad, my iPad 3, original iPad mini, iPhone 3s, iPhone 4 and iPhone 5. Along the way I’ve also listened to music on my original iPod touch and an iPod Classic. Network support has come from various Airport Express devices, an Airport Extreme and a Time Capsule.

There are probably enough cables to stretch the length of the UK and enough external hard disks to store every episode of Coronation Street (approaching 8500 at the time of writing), Eastenders (nearly 5000 episodes) Neighbours (nearly 7000 episodes) and a bit of room left over for Dr Who (900 episodes).

My downloaded media library has grown from 0 bytes to 1Tb (previously everything was on CD or DVD), and I’ve read just about every book about Apple and Steve Jobs that has ever been published (before 2007 I’d read just about every book about MicroSoft and Bill Gates!). In order to get those downloads, the internet speed into Apple Harvest HQ has gone from about 3Mbps to 130Mbps, and a lot of those downloads have been watched through the 2nd and 3rd generation Apple TVs.

Who knows what changes we will experience over the next 5 years or 100 posts, but I’m sure it’ll be exciting, and the Apple Harvest will be here to witness and document it - hopefully by thought control!!!

A huge and heartfelt “Thank You” to all the Apple Harvest blog readers for taking your time to read my ramblings - and for making the effort so worthwhile!