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Under the Radar

Under the Radar 117: The iMac Pro

 

00:00:00   welcome to under the radar a show but

00:00:01   independent iOS app development I'm mark

00:00:04   Worman and I'm David Smith under the

00:00:06   radars never longer than 30 minutes so

00:00:08   let's get started

00:00:08   both you and I'm Marco had a I guess

00:00:11   he's slightly belated Christmas present

00:00:13   this year and that we both are I believe

00:00:16   currently sitting in front of brand-new

00:00:18   primary development computers

00:00:20   specifically iMac pros and I think it

00:00:24   seemed like an interesting topic to talk

00:00:26   about both I think there's some

00:00:27   interesting things to unpack a little

00:00:29   bit about the machine itself I think

00:00:32   it's probably also interesting to talk

00:00:33   about why we both use this particular

00:00:36   set up which i think is if I had a guess

00:00:39   a minority of people use you know use a

00:00:43   an iMac or in this case an iMac Pro as

00:00:46   it as a primary machine versus using a

00:00:48   laptop and then I think it's also

00:00:49   whenever I get a new machine which is

00:00:52   fairly rare you know fairly rare it's

00:00:54   think you know it's not some nothing

00:00:56   that I have to do very often it's an

00:00:57   interesting opportunity to kind of look

00:00:59   at my development set up see how

00:01:01   portable it is and kind of take and take

00:01:03   inventory and all the different things

00:01:05   that you have to do just that one up and

00:01:08   I think that process hopefully there's a

00:01:09   few things to share and two to learn

00:01:12   from there but first I think maybe a

00:01:15   place to start is why do you use an iMac

00:01:17   rather than a laptop as your primary

00:01:19   machine I've done both like I've spent

00:01:21   years as a laptop as my only machine and

00:01:25   then just plugging it into a monitor

00:01:26   keyboard a mouse like when I was at work

00:01:28   and then bringing it home every day then

00:01:29   this is a very very common situation

00:01:31   people people use and and there are a

00:01:34   lot of advantages to just having the

00:01:36   laptop like that first of all you know

00:01:38   cost wise you only have to buy and

00:01:40   maintain an upgrade and and you know

00:01:42   later buy again one computer you know

00:01:46   there's a there's a pretty big question

00:01:49   among a lot of people's minds about like

00:01:50   do you need a laptop at all or can you

00:01:52   just get an iPad but for a lot of

00:01:54   developers that you know there is no

00:01:56   question from the developers the answer

00:01:58   is you can't do what you need to do on

00:01:59   an iPad or it would be so cumbersome

00:02:01   that that it would be you know very not

00:02:03   practical for you so a lot of developers

00:02:06   need laptops and so then the question

00:02:09   only becomes do you have one computer or

00:02:11   to know if you're going to have one

00:02:13   you have a lot of advantages and things

00:02:15   like you don't have to worry about how

00:02:16   you sing file between them how you you

00:02:18   know whether you set them up the same

00:02:20   way and how like oh I forgot to install

00:02:22   this app on this computer or it's

00:02:24   configured differently and you can't

00:02:26   quite figure out how the heck do I get

00:02:27   Photoshop settings to look the way they

00:02:29   look like my look I'm at the computer

00:02:30   things like that like there's there's a

00:02:32   lot of like pains in the butt around

00:02:34   maintaining multiple computers that you

00:02:37   if you just had the laptop you're

00:02:39   totally fine with on the other hand when

00:02:41   you only have one and say something goes

00:02:43   wrong and you need to bring it in for

00:02:45   service and be without it for a few days

00:02:46   you are kind of out of luck and you know

00:02:50   you have a problem in that situation so

00:02:52   there are advantages both ways if you

00:02:54   have multiple computers you can also

00:02:56   intentionally set things up differently

00:02:58   between them so you can have like you

00:03:00   know your work desktop that it has

00:03:02   certain things on it versus your

00:03:03   personal laptop or vice versa you can

00:03:05   have you know your windows will be

00:03:08   preserved on your desktop and you can

00:03:09   come back come down and you know sit

00:03:12   down in front of it and start work

00:03:13   immediately as opposed to you know

00:03:15   plugging in your laptop rearranging

00:03:17   everything you know closing the things

00:03:19   we're running at home certain things

00:03:20   you're running at work so there are

00:03:22   advantages and disadvantages on both

00:03:23   sides I personally find the ergonomics

00:03:28   of a laptop for long term work pretty

00:03:31   rough when it's used as a laptop so I

00:03:34   find that for for getting work done all

00:03:37   day I really want to be sitting in front

00:03:38   of a desktop screen positioned you know

00:03:42   away from my face by a few feet lift it

00:03:44   up to the right height and then a

00:03:46   keyboard that is low in front of me and

00:03:48   a split organ ah McNall keyboard that's

00:03:51   the style that I find most comfortable

00:03:52   organ honestly that that reduces my RSI

00:03:55   issues a mouse on once on my right side

00:03:58   a trackpad on my left side so I have two

00:04:00   input devices one for each hand this is

00:04:03   the kind of setup I like and then the

00:04:04   monitor should be as being as possible

00:04:06   because that is directly related to how

00:04:09   happy I can be in how productive I am

00:04:10   with what I'm doing on my computer all

00:04:12   that basically leads to you know either

00:04:15   the laptop plugged into a big monitor

00:04:17   and keyboard when you're working or the

00:04:19   iMac and really either these options are

00:04:22   totally fine but when you use a laptop

00:04:26   as a

00:04:27   stop it's not a very good desktop you

00:04:30   you not only have issues with like you

00:04:32   know just the pains of connecting and

00:04:34   disconnecting every day and bringing it

00:04:35   back and forth but then also laptops

00:04:38   don't cool themselves very well under

00:04:40   sustained load or especially if using

00:04:42   clamshell mode where the laptop is

00:04:43   closed and you're plugging the monitor

00:04:44   and it really doesn't cool itself well

00:04:46   they're usually louder when they're

00:04:47   under low because they have these little

00:04:49   tiny fans they usually have lower

00:04:51   powered parts the laptops tend to lag

00:04:55   behind the consumer imax in cpu

00:04:57   performance by a couple of years and GPU

00:04:59   performance by maybe more laptops are

00:05:03   more constrained with things like what

00:05:05   kind of storage you can put in them how

00:05:07   much storage have what kind of upgrades

00:05:08   how much RAM you can put it in the

00:05:10   current lineup and then things like

00:05:12   ports and peripherals and you know

00:05:15   desktops to have more ports and

00:05:16   different ports and better ports usually

00:05:18   and so there's desktops can be better in

00:05:21   a number of ways and I really like

00:05:24   having both the the like reliable

00:05:28   consistent set up where like my desktop

00:05:30   screen never changes sighs so the

00:05:32   windows are always in the right spots

00:05:33   and everything's always like where I

00:05:35   left it and and all the apps can stay

00:05:37   running or not stay running or whatever

00:05:38   else you can have stuff running in the

00:05:40   background that like serves media to

00:05:42   your house for instance because it's

00:05:43   never asleep or never close or never off

00:05:44   or whatever else so there's a lot of

00:05:46   advantages to a desktop and I think that

00:05:49   the decision is made even easier when

00:05:51   you work at home for yourself then you

00:05:54   don't have to worry like about having

00:05:55   the same computer between work and home

00:05:57   all these reasons I just really like

00:06:00   having a desktop if you are a developer

00:06:03   and you get a desktop computer the one

00:06:05   you probably want is the iMac gotta say

00:06:07   it's it's a great computer like even and

00:06:10   for the last three years I used a

00:06:12   regular 5k like you know non Pro I'm at

00:06:14   cuz I'm AI Pro didn't exist I used a

00:06:16   regular iMac and it's great it is you

00:06:20   know they're pretty good machines they

00:06:21   they really are very compelling with the

00:06:24   features you get the the combination of

00:06:27   like then I screen the 5k you know

00:06:29   retina 5k resolution and this beautiful

00:06:31   color or screen and everything and

00:06:33   having everything be you know fairly

00:06:35   tidy fairly all-in-one it's it's just a

00:06:38   really nice overall package so

00:06:40   I use an iMac in general and not even

00:06:42   considering whether it's a pro or not

00:06:43   because a it's a desktop B it's a really

00:06:47   good desktop and and C I think it's the

00:06:50   best choice and and in many ways the

00:06:54   only choice

00:06:55   in Apple's current lineup for the kind

00:06:57   of things that I like yeah and I think I

00:06:59   use a iMac for the same read many of the

00:07:01   same reasons like I've used the retina

00:07:03   iMac since like I bought a maxed out

00:07:06   first-generation retina iMac like as

00:07:09   soon as I could get a Retina screen in

00:07:12   you know the 27-inch size I mean that

00:07:16   was huge I remember how just at the time

00:07:18   how amazing that was for things like

00:07:20   doing iOS simulator work on the iPad or

00:07:24   like the whole iPad simulator like it

00:07:27   would just be any of this simulators

00:07:29   honestly would just be these comically

00:07:30   huge things it's like what I can have a

00:07:32   retina you know monitor that's this big

00:07:34   because that was what sold it for me

00:07:36   initially and then I just got used to it

00:07:38   and I really liked it and in some ways

00:07:40   like some of the things are kind of

00:07:41   silly like I like that my yeah like that

00:07:45   my like I have a work set up and that

00:07:47   works that up for me you know it's

00:07:48   downstairs and when I'm at work I'm at

00:07:50   work and I don't have a comb from my

00:07:52   most comfortable place to work

00:07:55   is down at that desk and I think it

00:07:56   helps with a temptation to like work in

00:07:58   other places or at other times when I

00:08:00   maybe shouldn't be working because you

00:08:03   know I feel very separate when I'm down

00:08:04   here working and so like I can still I

00:08:07   have a 12-inch MacBook that I can do

00:08:10   work on it's certainly slower and

00:08:12   smaller and not as good but I can get

00:08:14   worked on there but it's it's

00:08:15   uncomfortable and so it's a nice thing

00:08:16   that I have like the super comfortable

00:08:19   great place to work and then I have a

00:08:20   place that I can work and then yeah I've

00:08:24   just rather than dealing with the like

00:08:27   don't try all manner of things for

00:08:29   dealing with the kind of like the two

00:08:30   computer problem I mean there was

00:08:31   actually even a period where I had a an

00:08:34   external drive like I bought a external

00:08:38   SSD hard drive that I would boot from

00:08:42   and so I would plug it into my iMac and

00:08:44   boot from that for a boot from that and

00:08:47   then if I wanted to use it on my laptop

00:08:48   I would unplug it and plug it into my

00:08:49   laptop and boot from it there

00:08:51   which works like surprisingly well but

00:08:55   it's just like in kind of mind-bending

00:08:58   it's a little cumbersome cumbersome is a

00:09:01   good word yes there's not the most

00:09:03   straightforward and so instead I just

00:09:05   well I just work for my iMac and it's

00:09:08   worked out very well for me like I'm I I

00:09:10   was a little bit skeptical to start with

00:09:12   and I think I used to also come from a

00:09:14   world where I used to having the the two

00:09:17   monitor setup like I was a very I used I

00:09:21   typically had like my previous setup

00:09:23   often was the you know laptop up on a

00:09:24   stand so it wasn't like organ ah mcli

00:09:26   gonna cripple me and then a big main

00:09:31   display that was plugged into it I liked

00:09:33   having the two monitors but honestly

00:09:35   once like once the monitors went retina

00:09:36   I'd really don't miss having the two

00:09:39   monitors set up anymore like I'd like

00:09:41   having just one big retina monitor you

00:09:44   know and from a peaceful perspective

00:09:45   it's like I have four monitors I guess

00:09:46   from a you know the number of the amount

00:09:48   of detail that I'm able to to reasonably

00:09:50   look at so yeah and iMac is the machine

00:09:53   for me and really at this point you know

00:09:56   it was just a question of should I stick

00:09:57   with the the ret just a regular 5k iMac

00:10:02   or you know now that there's a you know

00:10:03   the pro model I am a pro you know is it

00:10:06   something that I should go to and in the

00:10:07   end I decided it made sense based on

00:10:10   just you know a variety of things that I

00:10:13   guess we'll get into a lot of him around

00:10:14   performance and ports and just trying to

00:10:17   you know it's like if I use this machine

00:10:20   so much I want to make sure that it's

00:10:21   the best that I can reasonably have

00:10:23   because it's it's what I use to make you

00:10:26   know my entire living so it may as well

00:10:27   be a sharp tool exactly and moving back

00:10:30   just a moment to the dual monitor thing

00:10:32   I I forgot the first mention that foot

00:10:34   like I too went through you know a

00:10:36   period where I used dual monitors and

00:10:38   you know and we're you know first one of

00:10:39   them was the laptop on a stand and then

00:10:41   you know a big monitor usually a that's

00:10:43   when I was using 24 inch monitors next

00:10:45   to it and then you know eventually I

00:10:48   upgraded to the laptop with a 30-inch

00:10:49   monitor which is the same resolution as

00:10:51   27 s that are in IMAX and then I decided

00:10:56   that you know after years of using dual

00:10:58   monitors this way I learned that I

00:11:00   really don't use dual monitors very

00:11:03   effectively that

00:11:05   you know one of them would always be

00:11:07   like the primary and then this whatever

00:11:09   the secondary monitor was like off to

00:11:11   the right or whatever it was just like a

00:11:13   junk drawer like I would just I would

00:11:15   have like you know maybe I put like my

00:11:16   email client or you know Twitter or

00:11:19   iTunes over there but it's like that it

00:11:22   didn't really serve any purpose I wasn't

00:11:24   usually looking over there and it didn't

00:11:27   serve any purpose that just like hiding

00:11:29   those windows when I wasn't using them

00:11:30   wouldn't also serve just as well like I

00:11:32   didn't I found that I was not

00:11:35   well-suited to do monitors I thought I

00:11:37   was for a while and if I'm gonna have

00:11:40   you know only a 24 inch size sure give

00:11:43   me a second one but once I stuff up to

00:11:45   the 27 / 30 inch size I realized that

00:11:49   just having one larger monitor worked

00:11:52   better for me and it allowed me to avoid

00:11:54   a lot of just like bugs and OS weirdness

00:11:59   around dual monitors certain apps still

00:12:02   don't really behave well with dual

00:12:04   monitors there are certain other issues

00:12:06   like if one of them is your laptop

00:12:08   screen and the other is like an external

00:12:10   monitor then you'll have usually a

00:12:12   different pixel density between them so

00:12:14   like if you move the windows to the to

00:12:16   the you know other monitor it'll appear

00:12:18   physically smaller or bigger because the

00:12:20   two monitors are different pixel

00:12:22   densities and all sorts of you know just

00:12:24   weird little like OS weirdness around

00:12:27   having dual monitors where like clearly

00:12:30   Mac OS supports dual monitors but there

00:12:32   are certain things that get a little

00:12:34   iffy with them or that don't work the

00:12:36   way you expect or things like full

00:12:37   screen mode that kind of don't work at

00:12:39   all you know or have weird limitations

00:12:41   and it's just the entire computer

00:12:44   experience I find for myself and you

00:12:47   know this is personal preference but I

00:12:48   find for myself just works a lot more

00:12:51   smoothly and better and cleaner with

00:12:53   just with one monitor that is as big as

00:12:55   it can be rather than having two

00:12:57   separate ones yeah exactly and it's now

00:13:00   that I'm used to it it just feels like

00:13:02   the right way to do it and and if you

00:13:04   don't never feel lacking for space yeah

00:13:06   even when I'm doing you know have lots

00:13:08   of windows open like I use a I think a

00:13:10   tool cool call size up which I know

00:13:12   there's millions of these but where I

00:13:14   can easily make a window an exact

00:13:17   quarter of my screen

00:13:18   and I find that works really well to

00:13:21   just be able to like keep it organized

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00:14:57   our show so we both now have iMac pros

00:15:01   and I think we have almost identical

00:15:04   ones I know we both be both got the 10

00:15:06   core model I believe and then I got the

00:15:08   lower spec video card the 2 terabyte

00:15:13   drive and I think it's 64 gigs of memory

00:15:17   is what I ended up I don't know I had to

00:15:20   check - it's like it's enough yeah I got

00:15:23   the exact same setup but for gigs or 4

00:15:25   terabytes inside a 2 terabytes in

00:15:26   ancestry so yeah and so I mean I picked

00:15:29   that configuration a little bit from

00:15:30   your advice in terms of like the 10 the

00:15:32   10 core seems to be a reasonable

00:15:34   trade-off in terms of cost and

00:15:36   performance and you know seem to be

00:15:38   reasonable I got a base the base video

00:15:40   card because I just I don't think

00:15:42   anything I do is ever gonna really tax

00:15:44   it or at least the if you know every now

00:15:46   and then when I happen to do some Final

00:15:49   Cut Pro work for like an app review or a

00:15:51   youtube video and the export takes a

00:15:53   little bit longer like it's so rare that

00:15:56   that's not something I'm worried about

00:15:58   but overall I think my initial

00:16:00   impressions are that it's like it is

00:16:02   noticeably faster it's noticeably

00:16:04   snappier and like is it's a tangible

00:16:07   improvement which you know you never

00:16:08   really know like it's also at this point

00:16:11   honestly it's the funny thing I've been

00:16:12   using it for a couple of weeks and so

00:16:14   now my main my brain is entirely

00:16:16   recalibrated itself - this is normal so

00:16:19   it's even hard to remember which is

00:16:20   always something to keep in mind with

00:16:22   these kind of improvements where you'll

00:16:24   notice them for a day or two and then

00:16:26   you just get used to it and then this is

00:16:28   the new normal and so when it takes you

00:16:30   know it's the things still aren't

00:16:32   instantaneous or there are many things

00:16:33   that still aren't like when I hit you

00:16:35   know build and run it still takes a

00:16:37   moment for Xcode to like do it stuff and

00:16:39   so until those times actually go to zero

00:16:42   it's still gonna I'm still gonna be

00:16:44   aware of performance as a thing but I

00:16:46   mean overall I'm very happy with it and

00:16:49   I think I'm it's more it was just about

00:16:51   it was time to upgrade from my my

00:16:55   earlier computer and I think it's a it's

00:16:57   a you noticeable upgrade whether or not

00:16:59   was in a central one it's hard to say I

00:17:01   think I was starting to notice some you

00:17:04   know like my older computer every now

00:17:06   and then would have some image retention

00:17:09   issues or things like that that I was

00:17:12   starting to notice that's like well it's

00:17:13   maybe it's just time to to move on and I

00:17:16   think the three years I think it had

00:17:17   been since I got that computer it seemed

00:17:18   like a reasonable time to upgrade but

00:17:21   like it's a noticeable upgrade it's a

00:17:22   good upgrade it's not like a

00:17:24   mind-bending like wow this is amazing

00:17:26   now I can do all these things that I

00:17:27   couldn't do before but you know

00:17:29   welcoming welcome improvement

00:17:31   nethertheless yeah I don't have much to

00:17:33   add I agree with everything you just

00:17:34   said all the exact same experiences

00:17:36   basically yeah and so one thing I both

00:17:39   say that I do do like is I like the

00:17:42   having extra ports on the back

00:17:44   I found that to be quite nice where we

00:17:47   have previously on the previous

00:17:48   generation IMAX I only had four USB a

00:17:52   plugs on the back whereas now I have

00:17:56   four of those and four USB C or yeah I

00:18:00   never know this probably that's under

00:18:01   both three ports maybe as well it's yeah

00:18:04   it's both it's their Thunderbolt 3 USB

00:18:05   see ports

00:18:06   great whatever those are the small

00:18:08   skinny ones I have four of those as well

00:18:10   and that's been a welcome improvement

00:18:12   but like I plug a backup drive into one

00:18:14   of those like I have a thunderbolt three

00:18:16   backup drive that I plug in there and I

00:18:19   do daily snapshots on to and so it's

00:18:21   nice to not have to because the one

00:18:23   thing that I can never find like I and

00:18:25   you can never have enough USBA ports and

00:18:28   I mean I even have one of them going

00:18:30   into a 12 port I think mine's only ten

00:18:34   port but yeah it's like because I mean

00:18:36   and they're all every one of them is

00:18:37   used because they're all going out to

00:18:39   some test device or Apple watch or

00:18:42   something so like I have so many things

00:18:44   in here that charge via USB so it's nice

00:18:46   to kind of have those and then I now I

00:18:49   have this other array of ports that I

00:18:51   can plug drives into and things that I

00:18:52   feel like should be plugged directly

00:18:54   into the computer because I never felt

00:18:56   good about plugging my backup Drive it

00:18:59   you know into the hub because I mean

00:19:01   it's fine it's a backup drive but it's

00:19:02   it's the kind of thing where you feel

00:19:04   like a direct connection would be good

00:19:06   for bandwidth purposes well and also a

00:19:08   lot of times direct connections are the

00:19:09   only reliable connections you know for a

00:19:11   lot of peripherals a lot of adapters and

00:19:13   hubs and things they are like 99%

00:19:15   reliable but not a hundred percent

00:19:17   reliable and for a you know for certain

00:19:19   tasks that matters a lot like you know

00:19:21   things that are related to like my

00:19:22   network connectivity where my audio

00:19:23   interfaces for podcasting I need those

00:19:25   to be a hundred percent and you know and

00:19:27   and you know my keyboard like I can't

00:19:30   have my keyboard drop you know 1% of its

00:19:32   keystrokes or repeat things or be weird

00:19:34   and I've I have had those issues with a

00:19:37   lot of hubs and adapters I've used in

00:19:39   the past so I rent you know this is a

00:19:41   much bigger problem on the laptops and

00:19:42   the desktops especially the more recent

00:19:44   ones but there's there's a lot of

00:19:47   reasons why the port's that are built-in

00:19:49   to computers tend to be 100% reliable

00:19:53   whereas anything that's broken out with

00:19:55   a hub or anything tends to not be quite

00:19:57   a hundred percent a lot

00:19:58   time yeah and so it's great to have

00:19:59   those extra ones and as a brief aside I

00:20:02   my main like the way I typically I'm

00:20:04   working when I have when I'm developing

00:20:06   is I'll have you know a iPhone depend on

00:20:09   which depending what I'm developing and

00:20:11   what I where I am you know one of my

00:20:12   various tests iPhones you know plugged

00:20:15   into you know plugged directly into my

00:20:17   computer with lightning I know you can

00:20:18   do the wireless version of this now but

00:20:20   I just like the lightning version

00:20:21   because I'm old and curmudgeonly but one

00:20:25   thing I was curious was is if the USBC

00:20:27   to lightning cable would be a faster way

00:20:30   to do that process than the USB a to

00:20:34   lightning cable and so this last week I

00:20:36   actually did an experiment that I

00:20:37   figured I mentioned on the show where I

00:20:38   you know is just basically benchmarking

00:20:41   how long it took to move files and

00:20:42   things back and forth when it was

00:20:44   plugged in via the USB C to lightning

00:20:47   versus USBA to lightning turns out it's

00:20:49   basically the same it's basically a wash

00:20:51   between the two which makes me think the

00:20:53   the bottleneck is on the phone rather

00:20:55   than on the on the computer because

00:20:58   clearly more data could be pushed

00:21:00   through the USB C port to the lightning

00:21:04   cable or the lightning cable is the the

00:21:07   bottleneck but along the shorter is I'm

00:21:08   feared I'd mention it here that it's I

00:21:10   pre while I appreciate having the extra

00:21:13   USB C ports because now when I can have

00:21:15   a dedicated direct connection as my

00:21:17   primary development plug it's not a it's

00:21:21   not there for speed it's pride is there

00:21:22   for a reliability and not having to go

00:21:24   through the hub so you know he went some

00:21:26   you lose some I suppose yeah actually

00:21:28   minor feedback on that I would be

00:21:30   interested to see if the test is the

00:21:32   same if you if you're using a 10.5 or a

00:21:35   twelve point nine inch iPad pro because

00:21:37   those I think are the only iOS devices

00:21:40   that actually have USB three support on

00:21:44   their Lightning port as far as I know

00:21:45   all of the iPhones and every iPad except

00:21:48   the ten point five and twelve point on

00:21:49   pros the the internal USB parts of their

00:21:53   lightning plug are USB two and I think

00:21:55   the USB a two lightning cables are also

00:21:57   USB two cables

00:21:58   whereas the USB C to lightning cable is

00:22:01   USB 3 cable and the ten point five and

00:22:03   twelve point I have USB C or have USB

00:22:05   three as their interfaces okay so maybe

00:22:08   it is just yes sir yeah I I was I will

00:22:11   I was testing with an iPhone 10 so I

00:22:13   didn't actually but I can certainly

00:22:14   repeat the test with an iPad or iPad Pro

00:22:17   and see if it works any better but not

00:22:19   the 9.7 that's that still use me - it

00:22:21   has to be a temper if I were to avoid 9

00:22:23   anyway yeah that's and and I have I've

00:22:26   found to like the wireless debugging I I

00:22:28   like it but it's I don't know if it's

00:22:32   like when I upgrade to a new beta or

00:22:33   something but well it just stops working

00:22:35   like I have to like plug in the phone to

00:22:37   reconfigure it and so I just like it's

00:22:38   kind of annoying yeah

00:22:40   and that's not what you want like you

00:22:41   don't want you don't want your debug

00:22:43   cycle to be ever so ever save every so

00:22:45   often just to stop working it's already

00:22:49   the most inconvenient part of

00:22:50   development is that sort of this the

00:22:52   cycle where you're kind of you're making

00:22:54   a change and then you're building into

00:22:55   pulling it to your phone and then going

00:22:56   back and forth so yeah I will continue

00:22:58   to use a plug directly plugged in and

00:23:01   now I'm using USB C to lightning just

00:23:03   because now I can have you know I have

00:23:05   an extra port that I can dedicate to

00:23:06   that and it seems to work really well

00:23:09   last thing I think it makes sense to

00:23:11   probably close off talking about it I

00:23:13   always find getting a new machine is

00:23:16   kind of an interesting process just as

00:23:18   it's an opportunity to see how portable

00:23:20   your setup is and I think as a slightly

00:23:24   more meta point like it's an important

00:23:25   thing if you're self-employed to think

00:23:29   about how portable your your setup is

00:23:31   because you are going to be it's like

00:23:34   you're responsible for being able to

00:23:35   continue work progress irrespective of

00:23:38   whatever is going on externally like if

00:23:41   your computer if your computer has a

00:23:43   horrible problem it has to go to the

00:23:45   shop and for two weeks or whatever you

00:23:49   have even if used you have to you know

00:23:50   buy a new computer for some you know you

00:23:53   spilled water on it and it breaks or you

00:23:55   know falls off your desk or whatever

00:23:57   like if something happens is you what

00:23:59   you need to be able to continue to work

00:24:00   and so it's an important thing I think

00:24:01   to use getting a new computer as an

00:24:05   opportunity to see how portable your set

00:24:07   up is to see how quickly you can get to

00:24:09   set up and going onto a new machine

00:24:11   because you know it's you want to

00:24:13   practice it when the stakes are low

00:24:15   rather than having to practice when the

00:24:17   stakes are high when suddenly like you

00:24:19   know you're in a situation where you

00:24:20   have a critical bug fix you need to do

00:24:22   and then your computer dies for some

00:24:24   reason and

00:24:24   and all of a sudden you you're in a

00:24:26   really big problem even if you went to

00:24:28   the Apple store bought our brand-new

00:24:29   laptop brought it home if you don't have

00:24:31   all the files you need if you don't have

00:24:33   if you're not kind of if your setup

00:24:34   isn't portable in that way if you're

00:24:36   entirely reliant on the data on that

00:24:38   drive like you're gonna be in big

00:24:40   trouble so hey it's always a good thing

00:24:43   to keep in mind that I trust and hope

00:24:45   that you have a robust backup solution

00:24:47   that allows you to make this process

00:24:49   straightforward that like I said I have

00:24:51   a daily clone of my main development

00:24:53   machine that I just always running and

00:24:56   it means that if ever my you know

00:24:58   something were to happen I will at most

00:25:00   lose a day's worth of work probably less

00:25:02   than that because of you know sinking

00:25:04   and check-ins and things but at worst it

00:25:07   would be that and it's a bootable backup

00:25:08   so if I worst came to worst I could just

00:25:10   get any laptop any Mac laptop ever plug

00:25:13   my you know plug my back up into that

00:25:15   boot from that and at least even if it's

00:25:17   not as optimized of a setup I could do

00:25:20   it there but anyway it's just worth

00:25:23   worth mentioning and when I was doing my

00:25:26   my my-my-my Gration to this new computer

00:25:27   I tried to kit in a keep track of the

00:25:29   things that become part of that and it's

00:25:31   like I need to move over all my code I

00:25:33   need to move over all my assets graphic

00:25:36   design assets like Photoshop files

00:25:38   things like that migrate my SSH keys so

00:25:42   I can connect all my machines all my

00:25:44   signing keys which you can there's a in

00:25:47   theory Xcode makes much easier now with

00:25:50   all of its tools but I in practice I

00:25:53   found it still was a bit cumbersome and

00:25:55   problematic but oh yeah it this is the

00:25:57   import and export developer profile

00:25:59   settings and xcode's account pane

00:26:01   yes I've had great luck with that it's

00:26:03   always worked for me it's like I always

00:26:05   find that it works maybe should because

00:26:07   I have so many apps but like I find that

00:26:09   it inevitably there's some little thing

00:26:11   that catches me out and I have to do

00:26:14   something at a slightly more manual

00:26:15   process or export the keychain from my

00:26:17   old computer and move it into my new

00:26:18   computer and kind of merge them together

00:26:20   things like that but overall it's

00:26:22   certainly gotten a lot better and that

00:26:24   the automatic code signing stuff helps a

00:26:26   lot with this too that at least once you

00:26:28   have the base signing Keys transferred

00:26:30   over then it can take care of a lot of

00:26:33   if you're missing other profiles or

00:26:35   things that can take care of that a lot

00:26:36   for you now

00:26:38   one thing that I do I have run into

00:26:39   recently that I was kind of a funny

00:26:41   thing is I forgot that I run a local

00:26:43   development database like I have a

00:26:46   Postgres database that's just running on

00:26:48   my main computer oh sure and which you

00:26:50   know it's like but it's I in my for some

00:26:52   reason I got so used to the fact that

00:26:53   all my databases are remote and hosted

00:26:55   on servers that I've got totally

00:26:58   forgotten that when I you know when I

00:27:00   kicked up a development environment in

00:27:02   this I can't connect to database it's

00:27:04   like what do you mean you can't connect

00:27:04   to the database and it's like oh right

00:27:06   that's because the database is on the

00:27:07   computer that's sitting on the floor

00:27:09   next to me and so I can remember to go

00:27:10   and get the actual like the data from

00:27:12   the database and move it over into the

00:27:14   into the new the new computer even

00:27:17   though I had setup Postgres on it as

00:27:18   part of my process one thing I like to

00:27:21   do for this is keep certain files and

00:27:24   scripts for doing new computer setup in

00:27:26   Dropbox I have a whole whole Dropbox

00:27:29   folder for basically like setting up a

00:27:30   new computer and it concludes a couple

00:27:32   of shell scripts for doing things like

00:27:34   configuring homebrew and and installing

00:27:37   the home the homebrew apps that I use

00:27:39   you know on my Mac you know so that I

00:27:41   can run that whenever there's no upgrade

00:27:42   or whenever there's you know a new

00:27:44   machine or clean install and and just

00:27:46   like a like you know checklists I always

00:27:48   look at KC's checklist and move into a

00:27:50   computer that here on his blog willing

00:27:52   to because it's great it could lose a

00:27:54   lot of stuff that I might sometimes

00:27:56   forget like you know D authorizing and

00:27:58   reauthorizing certain applications and

00:28:00   iTunes and things like that

00:28:02   well yeah it's it's it's something that

00:28:05   it's really nice to like write down

00:28:06   keeping a list and keep that list

00:28:09   somewhere that that you will find it and

00:28:10   that's obvious like Dropbox and

00:28:12   everybody that there will be steps to

00:28:13   the migration process that you want to

00:28:16   remember or that neo you need to

00:28:18   remember that you will very likely

00:28:20   forget if it's not in a list like you

00:28:22   could in theory use like migration

00:28:24   assistant or like make your make a clone

00:28:27   and deploy that clone on to your

00:28:28   computer but I really think the process

00:28:30   of going through that checklist and

00:28:31   going through and rebuilding is so

00:28:34   useful and because it only happens every

00:28:36   couple of years it's something that's

00:28:38   worthwhile doing and I will say always

00:28:40   keep a snapshot clone of your old

00:28:43   machine and keep that drive like forever

00:28:47   and I have found I've started he said

00:28:48   habit I got into well

00:28:50   I keep the last snapshot of every

00:28:52   development machine I've ever had and

00:28:53   even if I end up discipline you know

00:28:55   getting rid of that computer I sell it

00:28:57   or I give it to a friend or a family or

00:28:58   whatever like whoever ends up happening

00:28:59   I have a snapshot of that machine and

00:29:01   the number of times that has proved

00:29:04   invaluable for going back and finding

00:29:05   some file but I thought I'd checked in

00:29:07   but I hadn't and it's you know it's it's

00:29:10   come back time and time again to save me

00:29:11   so I highly recommend just take you know

00:29:13   take a snapshot put it on a hard drive

00:29:14   label what it is put it on a shelf you

00:29:17   never know when you're gonna that can

00:29:18   come into handy in the future so always

00:29:20   yeah recommended practice it's a good

00:29:22   tip all right thanks listening everybody

00:29:24   and we'll talk to you next week bye