The amount of (seemingly intentional) misinformation in LTT and ShortCircuit content about anything made by Apple (and featuring Alex) is alarming

[Ultraforce]

On 2/7/2023 at 8:32 AM, NB912 said:

Since the 11 series of iPhones he's stopped reviewing them, then again he does have MAC Address for that,  but they tend to release their videos (for the most part) long after the apple products have been released. Come to think of it, Linus hasn't reviewed any flagship phones since the Note 20, with one exception, the galaxy fold.

Jonathan Horst has done shorts referencing that basically it's because most Apple devices first are shown off in Short Circuit, then initially Anthony and Jonathan were to take turns using them, though now they get shipped to LTT Labs first, then LTT uses them and then finally Jonathan gets a hold of them for Mac Address stuff, which is part of why the videos about the new products turn into being a bit more evergreen content rather then current news the way that videos about announcement shows like WWDC would be.

[Fendrick]

I feel they should give more information on Symbian OS from Nokia to balance it out.

[wanderingfool2]

On 2/1/2023 at 2:40 AM, just_dave said:

What even is that? Did anyone with IQ over 80 spend more than 30 seconds working on that video script? This literally takes 5 seconds to Google: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/intro-to-macos-recovery-mchl46d531d6/mac

I can't recall correctly, but at that time (and maybe even now) swapping the NAND flash effectively kills the MacOS recovery option.  I think that might be why they showed the option to reflash the firmware.  i.e. Recovery mode doesn't exist to users who replace the NAND.  Which would mean if they tried the recoveryOS they wouldn't be able to get into it even.  Their wording wasn't 100% correct, but for their application it was pretty correct (iirc watching others trying to get the OS to recognize a new boot drive)

 

Also, wasn't short circuits the channel that they said they would do with very minimal research for the sake of getting things out/viable?

[moatmote]

The amount of (seemingly intentional) misinformation in LTT and ShortCircuit content about anything made by Apple (and featuring Alex) is alarming.

 

FTFY

 

But seriously. It's something I've been complaining about for years. ShortCircuit constantly hides behind this defense of "It's an unboxing, not a review." and ignores the reality that their image is tied to that of Linus Tech Tips, a respected source of information. I'm not saying they're not allowed to make a mistake, but the number of times I've heard blatantly wrong information on ShortCircuit that could have been avoided by doing something as simple as glancing down at a spec sheet is uncountable. And the vast majority of it is never corrected.

 

Edit: Language is important too. They need to be clearer about when they're speculating ("I think X is Y") vs. when they know something for sure ("X is Y").

[NullPointerError]

Wow, this thread really ages like fine wine, how LTT fanboys react to justifiable criticism and the number of mistakes a normal guy can find in a video.

[NullPointerError]

On 2/6/2023 at 10:49 AM, Ripred said:

Steve will call him out if he finds shady unrepeatable data

Are you a prophet?

[RoseLuck462]

Why LTT hasn’t dedicated Apple products to their Mac Address channel is so bizarre, like why even have a separate channel in the first place??

[batezippi]

On 2/1/2023 at 4:40 AM, just_dave said:

Before I get called a fanboy - I do use Apple products and enjoy it very much. But I am also a developer and especially on macOS, there are many, many problems that need to be highlighted and addressed. These products/platforms are not perfect and criticism is necessary. But misinformation that is intentionally misleading is definitely not. 

 

I hope I am not the only one, and I think the last ShortCircuit video proved it, as the now-pinned comment contains many replies sharing the same feeling. 

 

Over the last year or so, I noticed a very strong trend in almost all LTT and ShortCircuit videos where incorrect specifications are stated/presented or completely dumb assumptions are being made.

 

It makes it seem that either the writers for these videos are completely stupid and incapable of actual research and writing, or it's being done intentionally to drive interaction and views. 

 

Let me give a few examples with timestamps:

 

1. Mac Studio SSD Swap video at 9:30 - 9:50 ish. Alex says that macOS recovery has been removed and it's not longer possible to reinstall the OS etc. and Linus reacts to it by saying how badly Apple treats their customers.

 

What even is that? Did anyone with IQ over 80 spend more than 30 seconds working on that video script? This literally takes 5 seconds to Google: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/intro-to-macos-recovery-mchl46d531d6/mac

 

2. Mac Users Deserve Better  - at 6:12 - 7:20 Alex here just straight up says that the single external display support on M1/M2 is a software limitation and that the Thunderbolt 3 ports can support more than external display physically. It actually isn't true at all, because the external display hardware exists for only 1 display output on the M1/M2 die. Proving this is hard (as of now), because Hector Martin (the developer of Asahi Linux for Apple Silicon) has since deleted his Twitter (because of Musk) and his tTwitter account had all of this information documented (AT THE TIME OF RELEASE OF THE VIDEO WOULD COME UP IN REGULAR SEARCHES ON THIS TOPIC) along with die shots, die layout estimation etc. However, he posted it on hackernews, so there is only this comment thread available https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32175939

 

3. Windows doesn't have an answer - 15:01 webcam comparison, again the video is terribly written with incorrect specs for the webcams and Alex making a big deal out of it (I understand you need clickbait views). 

This time people corrected it and it was actually pinned, so that's at least some improvement. 

 

 

Linus and Alex always say how they want to perform in-depth testing for products, how they want to share transparent results and be the trusted place for consumers to come for information about what products to buy.

Well, this definitely doesn't inspire any confidence in that.

I have caught them giving wrong info specifically on shortcircuit ALL THE TIME. I bet If I sit down and comb over all videos I will find a factual mistake in every single video.

[batezippi]

On 2/1/2023 at 4:40 PM, divito said:

I'm confused, that latest video was primarily pro-Apple, and it's a ShortCircuit; not some in-depth review, teardown, research piece. 

I think you are missing the point. This is less about pro or anti Apple but rather not factually correct statements.

[Daphoid]

On 2/1/2023 at 6:16 AM, Budget DIY said:

This is a hard one IMO... What's bigger. My hate towards Apple, or my hate towards LTT and their clickbait/low-grade vids. Can I hate both?

 

*Sidenote, aside from already having a LTT forum account, I will be picking up a used apple product today. But hey, at least I won't be overpaying. It's going to be cheap as can be, for the hardware I'm going to get. Maybe I need to hate less?!?

Why even expand energy hating both when you can just ignore them and use/watch what you personally like?

- D

[tehfalcon]

Now this I can really get behind. LTT has always been the absolute worst source of any information on Apple products, very clearly doesn't actually know much about them and gets a lot of major things wrong. 

Pretty much every time a macOS or iOS devices shows up in a video something false is said about them. 

[kreative]

Tbh I don't think it's about Apple in particular, but more that Short Circuit is just very low quality content.

 

I remember when they made the Sony 1000xm5 unboxing and couldn't figure out how to use the controls. Linus didn't bother to read the manual and just blamed the product for having janky controls.

[Im_a_Rhinoceros]

I don’t think Linus or Alex are particularly reliable when it comes to Apple, but I also think they wear their bias on their sleeve. It’s a shame the Apple channel is pretty much unwatchable but I can get my Apple news from Marquez.