Apple stuff is such a pain when you're not on the cutting edge

Hamish

Hamish

Hamish

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Just a rant really.

Went home to sort out my dad's computer. He's got a modernish unibody iMac, it seems quite new to me but he must have got it in 2006-2007 and it's running Leopard.

So he wants to sync his iphone contacts, calendars, and music to the iMac, should be simple right?
Nope, all the sync setup in Leopard is for Mobile Me which doesn't exist anymore. Also Wifi iTunes sync doesn't work with Leopard.
He used to use Mobile me but now the site is dead, he can't switch his @me.com address over to iCloud anymore (swithover period ended), all the guides on me.com link to a not found page. So he's going to need a new email address and to upgrade to Snow Leopard, then to Lion, then possibly Mountain Lion if it will let us (Apple will only allow you to upgrade mid 2007 onwards iMacs to Mountain Lion even though his is a 2.2Ghz C2D with 2Gb RAM). It seems that Apple offered a free Snow Leopard DVD for mobile me users briefly but that has ended

So, good luck upgrading to snow leopard, all the links talking about it relate to years ago, can't buy the DVD, all the links pointing to the Apple site on how to upgrade are now pointing to sites about Mountain Lion "Simply buy from the Mac App store!" (mac app store didn't exist till Lion). I found a download on Download.com for a Snow Leopard DVD but not sure why it's free. After this upgrading to Lion will be a pain, all google results for Lion talk about Mountain Lion and using -mountain don't do much to help.

All in all a PITA, I love Apple usually but if you're not on the cutting edge they seem to completely forget about you and the transition from mobile me to icloud is a complete **** up. IMO they should have released a free update for Leopard to switch all the Mobile me stuff to icloud silently.

/rant over
 
I think it's a legitimate rant to be honest. It's one of the reasons I'm getting off the Apple train, I think I'll keep my iPad because it's fantastic but the iPhone is going and the MBP is getting Windows installed on it when it goes out of Apple's official support cycle with regards to OSX.
 
I don't know. On one hand, I understand your pain. My aunt still uses an iMac G4 (the one that looks like a lamp) and maintaining it is a real PITA. A few years ago, I tried to add WiFi to it but the WiFi module for it was no longer available and none of the locally available USB WiFi sticks supported OSX.

However, how many PCs of this age are still running without any problems at all?
 
Think what niggles people most is Apple dropping support and features for perfectly capable machines to blatantly get you to buy a new MacBook, iPhone etc.
 
If the iMac is made of aluminium it will run Mountain Lion.

You can upgrade to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and then directly upgrade to ML through the Mac App Store for £13.99. It will run the same if not better than Leopard IMO.

The switchover period from MobileMe was pretty fair tbh, as was the free retail copy of SL to MM subscribers.
 
Tunney said:
I don't know. On one hand, I understand your pain. My aunt still uses an iMac G4 (the one that looks like a lamp) and maintaining it is a real PITA. A few years ago, I tried to add WiFi to it but the WiFi module for it was no longer available and none of the locally available USB WiFi sticks supported OSX.

However, how many PCs of this age are still running without any problems at all?
Click to expand...

The difference is a PC from the same era is still a viable option, even today. Reinstall the original OS, add a decade of updates and most things will generally be compatible and secure.

It's the flip side of the manufacturer controlling both hardware and software who make lots of money selling the former. They can arbitrarily drop software features and support for older products.

They're straddling the line at the moment IMO. iOS hasn't been bad so far but, again, they have the platform as a whole to nurture so it's in their best interest to keep iOS versions current on as many devices as possible. As the platform matures they might not be as supportive of older handsets and iPads.
 
pumaz said:
Think what niggles people most is Apple dropping support and features for perfectly capable machines to blatantly get you to buy a new MacBook, iPhone etc.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much why I never purchased an Apple replacement when my iPod touch bit the dust - they'd already forcefully obseleted it in terms of software, much sooner than was necessary and I had no intention of being in the same situation again 2 years down the line where I couldn't even update basic apps because they needed the new software that Apple weren't prepared to offer.

It's an unpleasant business model and one that went a long way to putting me off their products.

If you're the sort of person who buys a new version of whatever you have every other year then great, it won't really matter, but for people who buy things to last, it's just hugely frustrating.
 
I can see where the OP is coming from. I don't own a Mac personally but was up until recently looking at getting one. However I have read a few articles on little things that Apple decides are not compatible.

I do have an iPad and iPhone and really like them too but this does remind me of how Apple prevented the iPhone 3G having a wallpaper background, Siri not allowed on the iPhone 4 along with facetime over 3G. Sure Apple has it's reasons but come on Apple we know the real reason is you want us to get an upgrade!
 
I have seen this with the older iPhones and certain iOS features not being available but have only just started experiencing it with my 2008 MBP — and even then, there are only a couple of features on ML that won't work with it.

Having said that, I've always updated the OS as soon as a new one has been released — I can imaging it would be difficult if I was still on Leopard.
 
It is Apples way of making people move onto their newer stuff. Anything 3+ years old is old tech and upgrading is only way Apple wants people to go since they make money from Macs than software.
 
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