CultCast #362 - Black Friday steals, MacBook Pro’s new GPU, and Steve Jobs stories

This week: 

• How to get the best Black Friday deals most shoppers miss!
• The New MacBook Pro GPUs are a huge upgrade for a meager cost
• Erfon's quest to get Apple to upgrade his two-month-old MBP!
• We have to talk about iPhone XR.  Everyone thinks it’s failing but the only thing tanking is Apple’s stock.
• And we’ll wrap up with a Steve Jobs story so mundane, the internet is fascinated with it

  This episode supported by   Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.   The National Security Agency plays a big part in protecting our country from cyber-attacks, and if you work in computer science, networking, programming or electrical engineering, YOU can help keep our country safe.  Learn more about careers at the National Security Agency today at IntelligenceCareers.gov/NSA   Opsgenie empowers Dev & Ops teams to plan for service disruptions and stay in control during incidents.  It also gives teams the power to respond quickly and efficiently to unplanned issues. Visit Opsgenie.com to sign up to get a FREE company account and add up to 5 team members.   The Cult of Mac watch store has the best straps in the biz!  Check out the huge Black Friday Day sale with savings up to 40% at http://store.cultofmac.com.   CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.   Thanks to Kevin McLeodfor the music you hear on today’s episode.   On the show this week @erfon / @lkahney / @lewiswallace / @bst3r   Apple adds beefy Radeon Pro Vega graphics to MacBook Pro https://www.cultofmac.com/590380/macbook-pro-radeon-pro-vega-graphics/

• Apple’s done it.  A mere 4 months, almost to the day.
• The 15-inch MacBook Pro got a big performance boost this morning with the new option to add Radeon Pro Vega graphics to the top-of-the-line model.
• New Radeon Pro Vega graphics cards with up to 60% faster performance in GPU intensive tasks, like VIDEO EDITING, are now available as new options.
• The Vega 16 is only a $250 upgrade.
• Vega 20 is a $350 upgrade.
• Apple quietly mentioned the update after its October 30th event where it revealed the new MacBook Air and iPad Pro.
• A maxed out 15-inch MacBook Pro is a whopping $7,049
• I’m attempting to get Apple take back my machine and let me pay to upgrade to the new one.
• I think everyone who’s purchased a 2018 MBP should have the same option.

  The best Black Friday deals in tech [Live blog] https://www.cultofmac.com/589838/black-friday-deals-tech-2018/

• Anyone going for any Black Friday deals?
• Mention Slick deals.
• My experience with Greentoe.

  Optimistic analyst gets gloomy about iPhone XR https://www.cultofmac.com/589888/iphone-xr-sales-total-ming-chi-kuo/

• Ming-Chi Kuo just lowered his estimates for the number of iPhone XR units that will sell over the next year. That’s a real turnaround, as this analyst had previously been bullish on Apple’s latest handset.
• Goldman sachs is also concerned  writing a note to investors saying “We are concerned that end demand for new iPhone models is deteriorating,”
• Kuo is worried the growing trade war between China and the US could affect sales.
• But he also says the price is still too high for a non-flagship phone.
• Galaxy S9 with 64GB is like $30 cheaper.
• 64GB Pixel 3 is $50 more expensive
• Whatever it is, Apple’s stock has TANKED.
• In the last 3 weeks, Apple’s stock has dropped $45 a share, from 232 to 187.
• That a drop of 19%!

  Steve Jobs stood in the lunch line like a regular Joe https://www.cultofmac.com/589442/steve-jobs-cafeteria-story/

• in 2016, someone on the website Quora asked a question about Steve Jobs, and the person who answered was someone he wasn’t expecting, and the mundane fact he shared is still being upvoted to this very day.
• The question: “What are some lesser-known facts about Steve Jobs?”
• Brett Bilbrey, who joined Apple in 2002 and retired in 2014 as its head of technology, responded.
• Steve Jobs, it turns out, used to wait in the lunch line just like everybody else.  
• Steve would somehow end up in line behind Brett Bilbrey on a regular occasion
• • "he would often ask me to hold his place while he went to check other food stations,” Bilbrey wrote. “Once when this happened, another employee got in line behind me, and I turned around and told him, ‘Just so you know, I’m saving that spot for Steve.’ He laughed and thought I was kidding. ‘Yeah, right. Like Steve is going to show up and cut in line.’ While he was saying that, Steve had returned and was behind him, and heard his comment. Steve said, ‘I’m not going to cut in, he was holding my spot for me.’ The guy turned around and saw Steve, and the employee’s face actually turned white, and he started shaking. Instead of just making room for Steve, he kind of just slinked away.
  • “Steve nodded to me and said ‘Thanks.’ Then he pulled out his phone and started checking email while we waited.”