Apple Mac Wishlist 2016

Here’s my Wishlist for what I hope Apple does in 2016.

Retina Cinema Display or Target Display Mode

My Cinema Display stopped working late last year and I am missing it. It was useful because it could be driven by any other Mac. So I could easily use it for either home or work.

With Thunderbolt 3 available and apple already using 5k and 4K retina panels in the iMac I really hope that 2016 sees a new stand alone display.

If a new stand alone display won’t happen then perhaps with the new connectors it will be possible for the iMacs to support Target Display Mode again.

When used this way, the iMac screen acts as a display for other Macs. Very helpful.

For either option, a HDMI connector and the ability to support 1080p would also be very useful indeed.

Retina Air

A new display is great, but no current Mac could power it.

I like the MacBook Air. It’s not as portable as the new MacBook but it is way cheaper and faster.

The MacBook Air is the middle for performance too with a 15w processor versus the 4.5-6w processor in the MacBook and 28w processor in the MacBook Pro.

However as it stands the air is a very hard machine to live with. The screen is considerably sub par compared to other options and that rules it out for me.

A 2015 MacBook Air is already faster than my 2013 MacBook Pro so I wouldn’t loose any performance moving down the range.

An air with a retina screen and large 778gb-1tb SSD would do me great for another few years.

SSD Everywhere

Talking of SSDs, Apple needs to finish the transition. I have recently been considering a retina iMac (4K) and when I tried it in the store the performance felt terrible.

After prodding a little further I saw the poor performance was because the base model still has a spinning drive.

This is an area Apple really needs to address. Fusion drives across the board is the only sensible position going forward.

Mac Mini Reboot.

Talking of across the board. The Mac Mini is due a reboot. The Mac Mini has been following the inners of the MacBook since the Intel transition.

With that in mind it’s possible Apple could do something really interesting with the Mac Mini based on the hardware in the MacBook.

Small, Fanless and with an SSD a new smaller Mac Mini could be a really handy computer. The latest skyline chips Supoort 4K resolution too, so there’s no reason a MacBook derived Mac Mini couldn’t use a new 4K external display. It could all be the size of the Apple TV.

Alternatively, if Apple ported OX S to Arm, the new Mac Mini could be the same hardware as the Apple TV. That would be interesting.

final words.

So that’s my Wishlist for Macs in 2016. It will be interesting to see if any of it comes true.

Published: 10 January 2016 | Categories: Opinion , Apple Permalink

Goals for 2016

Going into 2016 I am feeling pretty positive. I’m working on living independently and doing more in work, but I wanted to also think about some goals outside of work and autism stuff.

So here they are, my 3 goals for 2016!

1: more time with my boyfriend.

We moved to opposite ends of the country last January and we have both struggled with housing so we have spent very little time together.

In 2016 were hoping to spend time together once or twice every month. Which will be awesome :)

2: Ride my bike way more.

With all the health issues on 2015 I rode my mountain bike only 3 times and covered only 75 miles on my city bike.

Cycling is one of my favourite things. In 2016 I want to ride more on both bikes. Hopefully as my confidence grows this will happen!

My mountain bike was recently serviced so she’s in tip top condition waiting for the next adventure.

3: read more books.

In 2015 I read 4 new books. All Terry Pratchet audiobooks. In 2016 I want to read at least 12 books. I don’t know what books yet, but I am sure more discworld books will be part of it.

So that’s my personal life goals for 2016. Alongside this I want to travel more and do well in work etc.

Published: 25 December 2015 Permalink

2015 in review.

2015 was the most extreme year I have had for a while.

The first 8 months of 2015 were dominated by intense physical pain. I had gallstones and gluten issues which resulted in childbirth equivalent levels of pain 5 nights a week.

I slept in a bathtub of hot water or simply stayed awake all the time. The hot water helped ease the pain. In the worst week I got 11 hours of sleep across 6 nights.

In January my boyfriend moved out and stopped caring for me. It was the right decision. My illness had made my Supoort requirement simply too much for him while he studied. He got a 1st in his degree partly because we took a very difficult but essential step.

From January to March an attempt to live alone left me experiencing rolling panic attacks despite the amazing efforts of my friends.

I then flew to the USA to attend CSUN and gave the talk of my life to two packed rooms in what many have told me was the most talked about talk of the entire conference.

While at CSUN I arrange for a friend to move in with me to provide support.

From March to August I developed techniques for managing the autism and making the most of the support I had in place.

In August I finally had an operation to fix the pain.

The operation was a success. But I lost skills. I’ve not been able to speak since. I have been non verbal for 3 months now.

I then had to move out of and then sell my home.

I couldn’t live there as it was to far away from my friends for supoort and the friend living with me got busy so a return after my operation wasn’t feasible.

I wish him the best. He got busy because the show he was able to run at the Edinburgh fringe (which was by all accounts, a highlight of the fridge) did so well it’s now led to other shows. He was able to run the show in part because he lived with me rent free. We both gained from the situation while it worked.

In 2015 I have helped 2 other autistic people secure jobs in the industry. Helped another autistic friend go from homeless sleeping in his car to his own home and a well paying tech job.

I gave 6 large presentations to a total audience of around 3000 people. I also gave a talk online as a part of a summit on inclusive design.

I had my second magazine article published. It was a joy to walk into a WH Smiths and walk out with something I had written! I have another article due to be published soon.

In work, I helped develop the BBC champions network into a small but active community. Growing from 25 to over 55. I worked extensively with the news team, iPlayer team and many other teams. I did inductions, introduced people to each other. Ran workshops and training.

I answered around 100 technical accessibility questions via email.

I also spoke at 2 internal BBC diversity events and contributed too two rounds of autism awareness training. I helped to get more disabled staff at the BBC so we spoke better reflect the wonderful diversity of our audience.

I developed a prototype for an innovative tool for improving subtitle quality and worked with R&D to analyse the data we have.

I designed, built, wrote and launched an autism reviews and techniques website with a blog. It has had over 6000 page views and around 1000 users and has led to life changing improvements for at least 3 people (they emailed me).

I moved across london to live independently. In the process arranging my own day to day Supoort by hiring a “babysitter”.

2016 is a mighty challenge. I am exhausted. 3 months of attempting to live alone had been a huge challenge but I am learning and making some progress.

2015 was a heck of a year.

Published: 17 December 2015 | Categories: Autism & Me , Opinion Permalink