Apple Watch - Difference Between Some of the Indoor Works

I like to move around while I'm at home watching television after dinner.  Work is back in the office 100% now and while I am trying to establish a workout routine in the morning, that is still a work in progress.  I do variety of workouts about an hour after dinner as I binge on Netflix or rewatch one of my favorite science fiction shows (comfort shows).  With the Apple Watch, it offers a lot more workout options than when it first started but there is not way for Apple to provide every kind of exercise. So, I set out to find out which of the workouts would suit my calories counts so I can reach my daily goals.

One of the workout I like to do is the wacky jumps.  It is a lot like jumping jacks but different body movements and I feel it offers a good set of motions for what I want to achieve - essentially toning my body and my stomach muscles.  And it is good cardio that gets my heart pumping and some sweat.

There is no wacky jump workout option and while there is a jumping roping workout, I thought I give other options a try and see how close they monitor my calories burns - indoor walk, elliptical, and other.  

3-Minutes	Trial 1	Trial 2	Trial 3	Average
Other	25	24	22	24
Elliptical	25	25	25	25
Jump Rope	22	22	23	22
Indoor Walk	28	28	28	28

Prior to really looking at these workouts to see which gives me the most accurate workouts, I typically set my workout for Other workout.  It looks like I made the right choice even though elliptical and jump rope workouts would do as well even though the JR workout is a bit stingy with its calories count.  Going forward, I'll switch from Other to the JR workout because I like to be conservative and not get credit for my workout that I should not get.

As for the indoor walk workout, I'm surprised by the high calories count. 

I believe the Indoor workout gave me credit for 28 calories burnt has to do with the pace that the Apple Watch recorded for me.  On a typical outdoor walk, my pace is at a leisurely 3.5 miles per hour, which works out to roughly 18.75 minutes per mile.  My walks do not come close to my running pace even on my best days.  So it makes sense that I will definitely not use the Indoor workout option ever again.

Another note is the Total Calories count recorded by the watch.  All the four workouts provided with me total calories count and, without fail, 5 calories more than my active calories count.  I'm still a bit fuzzy what it is. And more so, why it is even provided as a result of the workout?  I read that total calories metric includes calories your body burns while you're sitting and breathing, basically, from body functions that is keeping you alive.

So, I hope this helps. I have read others asking about the different workouts and what workout can be substitute for another.  In my case, the jump rope workout seems to work for me.  I can imagine Apple putting test subjects in laboratories through thousands of hours of roping jumping to get it right.  For workout that do not offer similar movements, your best bet is the other workout.

M1 On the iPad Pro and Mac - Not Ideal For Cryto Mining. Yet

Source: CryptoAge.

Ever thought about using your brand now MacBook or Mac mini to earn a few extra bucks by using them to mine some cryptocurrencies?  For now, you can forget about it.  Leave that to crypto farms or others who have the know-how.  In fact, it's very likely that mining crypto is not on Apple's mind when it designs  future chips for the Mac or iPads.  The reason is that it has been tried and the M1 was only able to earn fourteen cents a day - that roughly comes out to $51.10 a year.  That will get you a medium latte a month for a year.

To be fair, the M1 was not created for any intensive mining in mind.  It was created to run MacOS and iPadOS efficiently and with as little power as possible.  In terms of efficiency, Apple first laptop chip has ran rings around offerings from AMD and Intel.  For crypto mining, it takes a different type of computing on all its own. Graphic processing units specializes in mathematical computing that does rendering faster than regular computer chips.  And it is why miners buy GPU, specifically mining ones, for just this reason.  Right now, Apple's M1 while very competent in the rendering department, it cannot hold a candle to these speciality chips.  (More from CryptoCoinSociety).

Will Apple's chip one day rival discrete GPU?  Speaking for Apple fans, one would hope so or want to see Apple offer something close that can rival offerings from the likes of AMD and Nvidia but that is likely years away.  

One might wonder why regular computer chips do not just ship the superior computational capability that GPU offers?  CPU is redesigned for operating the computer and it makes no sense to have the kind of power a dedicated graphics card needs.  

If one considers getting a Mac mini with a M1 chip, the cheapest Mac Mini out there, it might earn about 14 cents a day while some other CPU can earn up to thirty-seven cents. Dedicated GPU can earn up to $1.37 a day.  Plus, a mining rig can be created with multiple GPU, something that cannot be done with Macs.  

Will Apple release a chip that will one day be as fast as discrete GPU that can also be used for mining? Apple is sure going to try but it will do it for this reason.  Should Apple be able to do that or even surpass its competitors in this department, it might joke about it during its unveiling but it will not be marketing the chips to crypto miners.  They are not Apple's market and never will be. Apple's Macs are regular users to office workers to professionals.  

And if anyone in this market wants to use their Mac for mining while plugged into a solar array that can provide free power and can rig a bunch of inexpensive Mac mini together, hey, who knows, right?

Weekend With Just the Apple Watch: It Is My Smart Feature Phone And Mostly Happy With It

My last feature phone was a Sony flip phone.  It was light and had decent Internet features for 3G connectivity and even lets me add books via text files so I did actually read a couple of classics on the go.  But it could not do was a lot of what my Apple Watch with cellular connection can do like iMessages, monitor my sleep/health/workouts, and listen to podcasts/music. In a way, I think Apple has created a perfect smart feature phone that just sits on the wrist.

My epiphany of Apple Watch is a smart feature phone just so happened over the weekend when I left my iPhone at work and I did not want to go back to the office. After all, I do have my iPad mini when I needed to play games, writing, and some some work.  Oh, and I have my MacBook as well.  When I went out this weekend, it was only me and my watch.

This is how the Apple Watch came in handy:

• Messaging. Short chats with my brother and a couple of friends.  
• Tried to view photos sent to me.  It's not easy to see in such a small screen.  I'll get to that later.
• Checked email. I mostly deleted emails and glanced at a couple that I would review later on the mini after I get home.
• Received a call but it was from a number I did not recognize. If it had been from someone I know, well, then I would have been able answer it.  I did make a call to order dinner.
• Bought grocery, meals, and ice cream with Apple Pay on the watch.
• Entered the Huntington Library using Apple Wallet
• Jotted down a few words.  This was the difficult part and I'll get to it.
• Checked on crypto. I wonder like $25 worth.  Less now.  But a couple of my friends are into it and it's a source of conversation.
• I listen to podcasts, radio, and audiobooks.
• I tried to upgrade my WatchOS unsuccessfully.  I'll get to that below.
• Went for two mile-runs each day.
• Used the new Mindfulness app.

The watch performed as expected - speed, the functions I performed on it was flawless, and the battery life was adequate for what I was doing.  In terms of battery life, I charged it after my workout while having breakfast and by the time I left my home, it was nearly at full charge.  By the time I got home, it varied - 50% on Saturday and about 40% on Sunday.

I do have one major gripe during my weekend with the just the watch.  While I was trying to update the WatchOS, I was unable to proceed after it appears that the update has been downloaded onto my watch because I was required to go to my iPhone to view and accept to the terms from Apple.  

First of all, I don't read the terms at all.  This is Apple.  It's a corporation and we all know when it comes to terms and agreements, it's stacked against the consumers, which means the terms simply says that Apple owns me and if I don't accept, my Apple devices will all just self-destruct, figuratively.  So, I agree and I would have agreed without reading the whole agreement if the Apple Watch had an option for me to just sign my life away with an "ACCEPT" option.  

As you can see, Apple still requires that we go to our iPhone for such things.  I think we are coming to a time when we will see additional decoupling of the Apple Watch from the iPhone and, hopefully, we can use the Apple Watch without the iPhone as a crutch.  I am sure in the near term, this is Apple's way of making sure we stay in the Apple ecosystem as much as possible.  It also means that Apple is working through each issue that we may not be aware of until the Watch can working independently of the iPhone. I think it is why the Apple Watch cannot be activated and used through a Mac or iPad.  It is not that it is technically impossible.  It is just that why bother letting users use their Apple Watches through the Mac or iPad when eventually it will be able to be activated and used independently of the iPhone as well.  That is just my thinking.

Still, Apple, I like to just be able to upgrade the OS without having to return to the iPhone to do that.

One major drawback is that I'm not able to take photos like I do when I have the iPhone with me. Instead, I relied upon my wife to take photos with her Android phone. 

Over all, I feel very liberated. I did not feel any anxiety - I did feel something was amiss at times as my hand instinctive felt my left front pocket of my jeans where my iPhone usually is. and instead of burying myself in the iPhone, I'm paying attention to what is going on around me - good ways and of course watching where I am going. By Sunday, I felt like I can really just leave my iPhone at home longer if I wanted to.

Macbook: The Next One May Not Be A Huge Leap But Expect Apple To Stay Ahead of Everyone Else

 Source:  Appleinsider, Macworld.

Do you compare yourself to others or just your previous self?  I'm not a fan of the former but I am fine with comparing myself harshly but fairly against myself a week ago, a month, ago, a year, ago, and even five years ago.  And sure, once in a while, I'll question what I am doing and how I am doing compared to others in similar positions.  I still favor self comparisons and evaluations.

So, when Apple's latest M1 chip currently powering its lower end MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and 2021 iPad Pro was released late 2020, there were benchmarks after benchmarks that compared Intel-based MacBooks and Windows laptops against the M1 Macs.  And Apple was the clear winner in many if not most of the tests. However, time for those comparisons are over and we should be focusing on the next chip from Apple and how they match up to the M1.  It'll be faster, running cooler, and maybe even smaller but how will it compare to the M1?  That's the comparison we like to see.

And with Apple Germany accidentally unveil a 16" MacBook Pro, we know the time for that comparison, rumors not withstanding, is close.  And while the accidental unveiling was for a MacBook Pro with M1, I think it's likely that we will see the next generation M-chip powering it rather than the nearly year old M1 chip.  

Unfortunately, Apple has been quite tight-lipped about its next CPU update.  There is no short supply of speculation about what the next ship will be called and how many cores it will have or what it will be capable of.  Whether you fall into the M1X or M2 camp, we know it'll be faster.  We do not know if it'll be 10%, 20%, or 50% faster.  100%?  One can only hope but it probably does not work like this.  Apple is continuing to migrate away from Intel and Apple professional class CPU will have to be 2x or more in terms of computing power than what is powering the consumer Macs.  Otherwise, there is no need for professionals to purchase vastly more expensive and more profitable Mac from Apple.

Foe the rest of us, incremental increase in computing power will depend on other factors such as chip design as well as designs to the Mac itself. New memory with greater speed, storage, as well as increased efficiency of MacOS itself. All of these are a factor into why the current M1 Macs are so much faster than their Intel counterparts not to mention even better battery life, all the while using up much less power.

There is also speculation on how Apple will make the next chips faster and more efficient  one way is to increase speed without having to use more power. Apple will also increase the memory which currently limited to 16 GB to 32 or even 64 GB. Again, Apple will do this if it can somehow avoid increasing power usage. Then there is also something others have been hoping Apple will do which is increase the number of cores on the chip.  

We will know in the details in the coming weeks as I expect Apple to begin testing benchmarks or through leaks to the media. We are likely going to see a refresh of the Macs around October when Apple traditionally refresh its products foe the coming Holidays seasons.  

So, if you’re in the market for a new Mac, I suggest you wait unless you find a really great deal on the M1 MacBook Air.  Expectations will be very high as tech fans want to know if the surprises Apple unveil with the M1 was not just a one time event but that it can continue to exceed expectations and deliver and not only stay ahead of the competition but pull even further ahead.

Tracking Naps on Apple Watch Would Be A Welcomed Feature

 As someone who can easily fall asleep, I do not have an understanding of people who have difficulty falling asleep are unable to get a good night’s sleep.  I was not always like this.  When I was young, falling asleep did not come easy for me.  Now that Apple Watch has had sleep tracking since WatchOS 7, it is perhaps one of the most undervalued features that I think most users ignore.  On weekends, I do like to nap and maybe it is a feature Apple should add in future OS upgrades.

As I said above, sleeping comes easy for me.  I keep pretty much alert as anyone else during the day.  I prep for bed around 10 and hit the pillow by 11.  I set my watch to wake up around 6 AM but I tend to get up around 4:30.  It’s not a full 7-8 hours of sleep.  During COVID, I did not sleep longer because I do not save time commuting since my work is within a 10 minute walk.

As you can see here, my sleep is quite consistent.  Oh yeah, the Apple Watch mentioned as much.  On weekends, I like to nap if I happen to be at home with nothing to do.  During this July 4th weekend, my Saturday was very free.  I had gone for a run in the morning, the house was cleaned last week, and I did not have a lot of chores.  Sitting on the couch after lunch, I dozed off for a good two hours.  

If I can go back and add some sleep minutes, that would be a nice feature to have on the Apple Watch or have it automatically ask if I had been napping based on my heart rate and lack of movements of my body.  

It’s too late for WatchOS 8 to have a napping feature.  However, Apple has gone step further with sleep tracking in the upcoming OS.  Now, sleep tracking includes respiratory tracking through the Apple Watch 6’s ability to track movement and oxygen rate in the blood.  

I’m still trying to understand now sleep tracking helps people get a better night’s sleep.  It’s a subject I would like to study a bit more in-depth.  As someone who would like to get the most out of my waking hours, if I can use the sleep metrics to help me do that, I would be very interested.  

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Who Needs A Laptop When an iPad Is More Than Enough

A MacBook is be nice to have since it has a much longer battery life than anything that anyone can buy on the Apple side of the street including the iPhone Pro Max.  Still, lugging around a laptop is so 2010 and before that.  Now, there are tablets.  Okay, iPads, to be more specific, that can do the job of laptops and MacBooks and are better at specific tasks than regular computers.  And Apple suggests that users consider 

During the last 14 months of lockdown due to Covid, I've relied on my 2016 MacBook for work I do for my regular job.  I have my trusty iPad mini around when I need to use it as another screen or a distraction while I am working.  I came back to the office about a month ago and for the first week, I was bring my MacBook to and back from work.  Starting with the second week, I've been leaving it at work.  Now that I have a regular schedule, I only do what's necessarily for my job and I don't want to take my work home if I don't have to.

At home now, if I need a computer, I am 95% on the iPad mini (the other 5% is on the iPhone).  And I am comfortable doing because if how robust the iPad and iPadOS is now and goes to show that regular people who do not need a powerful device, a truck in the words of Steve Jobs, can comfortable stick with an iPad.  Or even an iPhone should one chooses.  

When I first decided that the iPad is all that I was going to rely on, I was a little nervous.  There is a possibility that I might need to some some work at home in the event of an emergency.  So far that has not happened yet and for some coworkers who are still on their desktop computers, they'll just have to deal with anything that comes up when they go to work the next day.  So, I adopted that attitude just as I adopted the attitude that work is for work hours only.  

With the iPad mini, I can do the everything else.  

• Gaming
• Social activities - messaging, video chats, email
• Transactions - paying bills, banking, buy/sell stocks if I wanted to, e-commerce
• Writing - just as I am doing now
• Reading news or books
• Streaming music or video
• Surfing the web for suggestions on my gardens
• Personal projects - these involve more writing as well as some spreadsheets that I use Pages and Numbers for.
• Drawing
• Taking photos - okay, I'm not an old folk who goes on vacation snapping away. But I really have to, the mini is not as bad as carrying around an iPad or iPad Air

I think these activities I've listed pretty much covers most of what everyone else do on their iPad or iPhone.  What has perplexed me somewhat was the skyrocketing sales of the iPad for enterprise.  I knew with schools going online, iPads were a great option.  

But for people working from home? With iPadOS 15 about to be released in less than three months, we already know a lot of what Apple has planned and we we can anticipate that Apple will do in the coming years.  And from the looks of things, we will see the iPad gains new features or see updates to existing features that make it a more powerful device that may eventually end up with mobile warriors selecting the iPad over a MacBook for work if they do not need the extra horsepower that the Mac offers.

For now, I'm happy that I do not need to carry my Mac around and can instead really go mobile and light with the iPad mini.  

Apple Watch: More Flexible Goals and Challenges For Fitness

 I've been an Apple Watch user stating with the 2nd generation.  It is Apple's first mobile device that I did not jump on right away - I was an enthusiastic user of the original iPhone and iPad.  For some reason, it just was not for me.  And the second generation was not for me but I got it as a gift.  Before that, I was a Fitbit user if not a happy Fitbit user.  But I decided to give Apple Watch 3 a go and I'm now a believer.  It is largely due to the more mature apps, especially the fitness app and features.  It has been a while since Apple has made changes to the rings of goals and I'm hoping Apple will do that soon.

I look at the Fitness app on the Watch every day that I have the watch on my wrist.  And probably a few dozen times a day to see where I am.  It's great.  I am comfortable setting my goals at 700 calories, 30 minutes of workout, and getting up 12 times a day.  It took a while for me to decide this is what works for me - it is achievable, it makes me work for it, and it also makes me struggle a bit especially at the end of the day when I am still coming up short.  But there are two additions I like Apple to add to this.

I like another ring to be added.  And this ring can be set by the user.  Certainly, there is enough room on the watch for Apple's developers to add another ring.  Even two.

See that middle of black space within the blue ring?  That nothingness?  Apple can certainly make the rings thinner for another ring and a features to fill out the middle.  Maybe like solid circle that fills up as the user gets closer to that goal.  

And what would users like to use these custom goals for?  I like a steps per day goal.  I'm sure by now, everyone knows about the arbitrary 10,000 steps per day goal.  My goal is around 11,000 steps a day (I'm around 11,500 days a day average so far this year).

Perhaps, the number of stairs per day is a worthy goal to pursue.  Hours of sleep, ounces of water intake, minutes of mediation, or workouts.  These are just some that I easily thought of that I think many users would be interested in. And smarter readers like yourself could certainly think of other things that I have not considered as goals that would be of interest to users should Apple ever allow users to determine goals for additional rings.

One other thing about the Apple Watch I like is the ability to challenge other users.  Here are some thoughts about this I would like to see Apple implement.  A couple of weeks ago, I was challenged by someone.  And what Apple used to determine the winner is the how many percentage points is earned by the user at the end of seven days.

I like to see more challenge features.  

• Allow users to set the number of days.  The current seven-day challenge is prety good but that mgiht be too long for some users or some users might want more days to go up against another.
• Ability to challenge yourself.  This might not be as much as a challenge as a need for Apple to help users track how their fitness and workout is progressing or lack there of.  Some of the data are in the Health app on the iPhone which makes it not easily accessible for any use other than for me to see how I did last week, last month, or the past year.  All that information should be made available for use like a self-challenge game.  I'm doing a lot of tracking on my Numbers sheet but it would be a nice feature use that info so can instantly know how I'm doing against myself.  
• Having a friend who you can challenge is great.  So is the self-challenge above. I like to see challenges expanded to data collated by Apple against someone in my age group, sex, and similar physical activity.  Make this available on Game Center would be neat as well.

We are still in the infancy of the wearable revolution and Apple will likely evolve and update the Apple watch fitness app with more features with each passing year.  I think all the features I would like to see are really low hanging fruits that Apple can easily implement.  And perhaps, Apple has other features in store that will blow away any of these features I want. Either way, I would not want to miss this boat with each watch and WatchOS update.