Disappointed in Apple announcements

 While a new set of phones is an annual happening, I'm surprised that Apple wouldn't try to be more giving.

The iPhone 16 will have USB, type C connectors but will have USB 2.0, 480 Mbps speed.  The Pro models will have 10 Gbps speed.

The iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro will start with 128 GB of storage, even though the 16 Pro will be US$999.

I can't believe that 10 Gbps speed and 256 GB of storage across the line would have impacted their profit margins so much that they would so negative results.

Apple are just too worried about their balance sheet and not how they're perceived.  It's true that moving to Android would be a huge problem for many people.  Today's crowd seems so convenience-oriented that not getting the exact pumps of mocha they wanted will ruin their whole day.

Long time using Macs

I've been an Apple Mac user since 1993 when Atari was failing and Windows wasn't ready.  My first smart phone was an LG Optimus on Android 1.3, as I recall.  It barely had enough storage to update itself, after I un-installed my applications.  I went to the iPhone 4S afterwards and missed the "you're holding it wrong" problem.  I'd had a second generation iPod touch, so switching wasn't a big change.

I give Apple credit for coming up with some good experiences.  Windows and Android wouldn't be where they are today without Apple's leadership.

When I put MacOS Catalina on my mid-2012 MacBook Pro, Mac users were complaining about how horrible it was.  Just prior to that, I had an Omen by HP (2018) laptop computer and Windows update 1709 ate itself and I had to recover Windows 10 from scratch.

More announcements on the way

They didn't mention Macs.

The pandemic is over and the sales of stay-at-home equipment might never recover.  However, they haven't announced any M4 Macs.  The M4 is barely in iPad.  The iPad mini hasn't been updated since 2021.

If they said that the products will be available by Christmas, it would at least be something more than we've been told to date.  You'd think will the Qualcomm Elite X laptop computers actually out for sale that they'd be more energetic about saying something.  Those machines haven't been as horrible or as great as expected but they're available.  If someone starts converting games to work on ARM, I'll be ready on my M1 MacBook Air.  With all of the development studio closures and the layoffs, I'm not sure any of that will be happening soon.  The Resident Evil engine is working on ARM, just fine, though.

Maybe, there aren't enough M4-series SoC to make enough MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Studio, and Mac Mini units.  They might as well ditch the Mac Pro line.  They screwed that up.  For something similar, Qualcomm is supposedly hiring Intel engineers to likely create desktop machines with interfaces to outside devices, such as graphics cards and internal drives.

Apple needs to "think different" because doing the same thing year-after-year isn't great.  Their security is better than the others but they tend to put certain software updates on the back burner until they make the news report.  Microsoft wouldn't even bother to respond in most cases, but would point the finger at someone else, if necessary.

Extensible Macs?

Will there ever again be Macs that have replaceable storage, graphics hardware, or memory?

I bought my M1 MacBook Air with as much as I could get.  It was 1 TB of storage, 16 GB of RAM, and the most cores that the SoC had available.  Even refurbished, it cost quite a bit.  Compared to an Intel quad-core i7, it was a huge step-up in performance.  The graphics hardware still needs more work to compete with AMD or Nvidia but compared to the GeForce 650M or 1050 mobile, it was good.

The EU is calling for removable, easily-replaceable batteries for phones.  Apple pretty quickly abandoned replaceable batteries in Macs back in 2012.  That's why my previous "last" Mac was from the series just before that.  My M1 MacBook Air doesn't have a thing that I can change easily.

Computers aren't as disposable as phones.  I've had 20 year old computers that were slow but fine.  Getting 5.25 inch floppy diskettes to not degrade is another matter.

Apple has shown and sold us machines that need their help to be repaired.  Can they do better?

Have the watches really changed?

I didn't mention the Apple Watch at all, until now.  I don't know that there is anything truly compelling, except for Sleep Apnea detecting.  The size has changed somewhat and the charging is better somewhat.  They haven't figured a way to speed up the transfer of updates to the watch, I'm sure, and I don't remember my 2nd generation iPod touch being so slow, even if it really was.

My Series 7 Apple Watch is sufficient.  It feels as though Apple has made it worse with each update.  The only good things I can say for it are that the original band is still okay, it detected that my heart rate was 192 BPM, and if I'm out walking to the store and forget to start the Outdoor Walk, it will give me an option to start it around 15 minutes later.

Update 2024.09.16: I was just reading an opinion piece about how iPhone 16 Pro didn't get so many pre-orders/reservations because AI wouldn't be available right away.

I'm thinking that people didn't reserve as many because AI would be forced on them.  Besides, the majority of people are probably spending their money on items that are more important to them.  Spending US$1000 or more probably isn't a priority for them.

Update 2024.09.17: Warning!  Updated to iOS 17.7 and macOS 14.7 today.  Went to California DMV to renew my license.  Filled out the application on my phone through the process to be ready for the window.  I got a notification and my application was GONE.  I could not log into the system through the California DMV app but Apple should have been checking since so many people working there live in California.  Maybe, someone at headquarters will return with a story and the fix will be out next week. 

Update 2024.09.30: Macs and iPad mini are supposed to be announced in October.  Hopefully, every Mac will have an update to M4 processors, including the Mac Pro.  The iPad mini will likely get an iPhone processor and hopefully, one that is an A18.  If the iPhone SE replacement in 2025 gets one and the iPad mini does not, it would be unfortunate.  They should have a fix for the wavy display problem, also.

Update 2024.10.07: Mac Studio and Mac Pro will have to wait until 2025 for upgrades.  The MacBook Air was always going to be delayed until spring, along with the iPhone SE.

Update 2024.10.18: iPad mini has been announced.  Going from the A15 to the A17 Pro will be enough to make it more powerful and just enough to keep it going for a year or two.  The better display hasn't happened.  This is the treatment I expect for the iPhone SE, but then, the iPad mini hasn't been the best seller, since it's almost the only tablet of a smaller size.  When the Google Nexus 7 (2012 and 2013) were new, I would compare those with the iPad mini.  Now, it's difficult to find competition for it.  The last 7 inch tablet I bought had performance like 2012.

This seems like pandemic hangover.  They started planning, were interrupted by the pandemic, and have had a rocky recovery.  Quite a few executives have left Apple in the last couple of years, but that also seems like pandemic hangover.  However, they desperately need a visionary.

Update 2024.10.29: The M4 iMac and Mac mini are out.  The MacBook Pro must be next.  The way executives are leaving, you'd think that Apple don't have a plan. Certainly, this release the products one-by-one without an event has been different.  It doesn't lead to "We watched an hour for...that!" reactions although people can and will complain about anything.

Update 2024.10.30: The M4 MacBook Pro models have been announced.  The good thing about all of these announcements is that the base RAM is 16 GB.  The bad thing is that they didn't increase the minimum storage.  How many can deal with 512 GB?  I'm still cleaning out my 1 TB drive regularly to make sure I have enough room.  It feels as though even a minor installation takes a lot more space than expected.  Obviously, Universal Applications take more space because of two executables--one for Intel and another for Apple Silicon.  We last dealt with such issues when moving from PowerPC to x86.

Even the MacBook Air is now at 16 GB of RAM.  Since the CPU and GPU share RAM, it's important that they have more, but usually macOS is so efficient, you'll barely notice a problem, unless you're working on high resolution video...or playing a AAA game that doesn't exist yet.  There are some of those on the way.

Update 2025.06.13: Since the M4 MacBook Air has been out for a bit, I've been considering a change.  My current M1 MacBook Air is the most complete model.  On Apple's website, the middle selection, configured to 16 GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage, and 10 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores is similar to my MacBook Air, but only $50 extra than what I paid for my refurbished machine.

 What's more, they showed me a $390 trade-in value.  That makes it somewhat affordable although the sales tax is based on the full value.  After 2.5 years, spending another US$1000 to replace this machine might be worth it.  The performance difference is bigger finally. 

 Update 2025.09.04: There are announcements in just under five days for Apple Watch and iPhone and iPad.  Macs should be announced in October.  Will people trade their phones for new models after just one year? 

Update 2025.10.30: The announcements were phones and watches.  Apple still can't understand the difference between "faster" and "as fast".  They didn't announce the M5 iPad Pro or the M5 14 inch MacBook Pro.  I'm waiting for the M5 MacBook Air in 2026.  The M5 looks very powerful.

Deleting Apple's App Store to be available with iOS 18

 Complying with the European Union's Digital Markets Act has been a dance with Apple.  They don't want to lose a huge source of revenue, some of which they should not be receiving.  e.g., Apple shouldn't be receiving any percentage on subscriptions.  They're not adding any value to the subscription.

Out of the various huge Silicon Valley companies, I trust Apple the most but will never trust them fully.  I'm sure they're positioning themselves to have indirect control of your life from your ears to your car.

Had they all all these products 20 years ago, maybe I would be more invested in what they're doing.  Right now, I'm okay with having alternatives.

The Digital Markets Act is giving consumers in the European Union the possibility of alternatives.  It's also giving consumers the chance to fail, to have unusable devices.

Part of compliance is to allow alternatives for everything, including the App Store.  However, the other part is that you'll be able to delete the App Store.  What happens when a consumer deletes the App Store without downloading another?  Perhaps, they can just use a web browser to download another, if they have a web browser available.  However, they might have deleted the installed web browser, also.

We can guess that the world will come together and have similar laws everywhere, eventually.  We can just view what happens in the European Union to anticipate problems elsewhere.  Hopefully, other governments will do better, but it isn't likely.

By the time all of this is settled, will Apple or Google or Microsoft even exist?

Update 2024.10.23: This shows that the Apple apps will be able to be deleted in iOS 18.2, at least, in the European Union.

Time to give up on Hoyoverse? (All gone!)

 After my recent "fun" with Honkai: Star Rail and my trial of Honkai Impact, I've updated Genshin Impact and visited their new area, Natlan.

I found that I ended up in a battle I couldn't win.  I also couldn't leave.

I'm only at account level 42, although my main character is at level 70.  Genshin Impact developers apparently feel depressed over negative feedback.  I'm considering removing their games from my devices.

This isn't the first time they've put me in a situation that was impossible.  I'm sure with all the money they've made that they're constantly thinking about the money and not how it feels to play when you're not fully leveled up.  If I return in one year, maybe, it will be okay, similar to the Knights of Beauty mess that happened in Honkai: Star Rail.

I appreciate that they're working on ways to make it fresh.  It's always been a struggle to play.  Maybe, this will save me some disk space.

Update 2024.08.30: After I lost the battle a few times, they gave me the option to downgrade my World Level to 4.  I finished the battle successfully.

While I was avoiding being in a loop, I made some progress in the other account on a quest that was taking too long, which got me into another quest that will take too long.

There is a common theme to upgrade the other characters and I haven't had much luck getting the materials, due to battle problems.  Is this the outcome of not spending real money?  It probably hurts.  I still haven't seen Inazuma because I haven't completed some huge quests since I can't figure out the puzzles.  I've tried a couple of walkthroughs.

Natlan is agreeable and there seem to be fewer enemies, but I haven't got into the two specific World Quests.

 

Update 2024.12.23: I just removed Genshin Impact from my drive.  I tried to use the relocate functionality to move it to a portable drive but that doesn't seem to work.  It was taking 11% of my 1 TB drive.  I've been looking at spending for a 4 TB drive, but I bought some photographic equipment instead.  My Mac's 1 TB drive is worse at around 100 GB free but it still works fine at that size of free space where Windows seems to be confused and works erratically.

I'm still opening Honkai: Star Rail every day and still building characters, but I'm not really up to date, even though many of my characters are at maximum.

I tried one of the character trials in Genshin Impact a few days ago, and it was too much for me.  I might be able to do better if I was playing every day, but I haven't made progress in months.

Update 2025.09.23: It's been a little over a year and I've tried to keep Honkai: Star Rail going but it's just not fun.  Genshin Impact was more work than fun and Honkai Impact 3rd was just crap.

I've been playing Solo Leveling: Arise for over 1 year and I took up Wuthering Waves before their 1st anniversary.  I'm still playing Tower of God: New World on the portable devices.  I'll probably tire of those eventually. 

Solo Leveling: Arise after three months

 I'm at character level 70 and Reputation level 36.  I started playing on May 8, 2024.

I have several SSR-ranked characters:

• Amamiya Mirei
• Meilin Fisher
• Yoo Soohyun
• Alicia Blanche
• Lee Bora
• Woo Jinchul
• Choi Jong-In
• Silver Mane Baek Yoonho
  

I have several SSR-ranked weapons for Sung Jinwoo:

• Moonshadow
• Vulcan's Rage
• Thetis' Grimoire
•  Demon King's Longsword
• Shadow Scythe
• The Huntsman
• Skadi
• Secured Marlin Surfboard
• Demonic Plum Flower Sword

and, more SSR-ranked weapons for Hunters:

• Overdrive Exclusive for Yoo Soohyun
• Sword of Light Exclusive for Cha Hae-In
  
• Bunny Bunbun Exclusive for Amamiya Mirei
• Howling White Tiger's Soul Exclusive for Silver Mane Baek Yoonho
• Ice Witch Exclusive for Alicia Blanche
• Hook, Line, and Sinker Exclusive for Meilin Fisher
• Another Level Exclusive for Woo Jinchul
• Unparalleled Bravery  Exclusive for Seo Jiwoo
• Sturdy Shark Water Gun
• What Never Was Exclusive for Lee Joohee

Building up to level 70 has been interesting.  I was surprised a few weeks back when the enemies were at level 85.  How do you defeat someone 20 levels above your characters?

I keep trying to get weapons to their maximum level, and on Sung Jinwoo's weapons, get the weapon's skills to their maximum level.  The main problem is a lack of credits and other resources.  Thetis' Grimoire and Vulcan's Rage are most used right now, but Shadow Scythe and Moonshadow are equally important, along with Demon King's Longsword.  I may still need SR-ranked weapons but with further drawings, more SSR-ranked weapons have arrived.

Getting the Hunters to their maximum is equally important, and equally dependent on resources.  Amamiya Mirei, Yoo Soohyun, and Lee Joohee are my top three at the moment.  I got a number of Lee Joeehee during drawing and therefore, she's very powerful for an SR-ranked character.  She's equipped with the Sturdy Shark Water Gun.  I recently became aware that I could craft an exclusive weapon for her, What Never Was, and I'm getting that up to level 60, but I'm not sure it will be as powerful as Sturdy Shark Water Gun with multiple levels of Advance.

At this level, certain gates are incredibly easy to finish and others seem impossible to finish.  An S-ranked red gate with bears are sometimes possible to finish, but not often.  One thing that was holding me back was that I had Semi-automatic engaged.  That works fine on a normal gate but not on a red gate.  As I've switched to manual, the system isn't fighting me.

I almost always do extra gates after the 15 keys are finished, if just for the weapon upgrade materials and credits.  I don't bother with gold gates at all.  Red gates come in handy occasionally, but as I've leveled higher, I don't see as much return for the effort, even with an SSS result.

Solo Leveling: Arise or Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail?

There are a lot of similarities in how things work.  The technical terms may be different, .e.g. Weapons vs Light Cones but they aren't so totally different.

Obviously, the open world of Genshin Impact is amazing.  Teyvat has a lot to see.  I still haven't seen that much, even though I'm at account level 42.  Honkai: Star Rail has some, limited movement, like an open world on rails.

Solo Leveling: Arise is very limiting at the moment.  Outside of each dungeon, there is no movement.  Even the lobby feels like a dungeon without combat.  Story mode is sometimes engaging, but I'm not sure I would put it on a level with the other two.

The work that went into all three of them is amazing.  The other two are more refined but had rough edges when they were new.  I'm sure that Solo Leveling: Arise will be amazingly smooth at some point.

The various battle modes are good, but it almost always feels repetitive.  There should be more venues, different magical beings, or something else that will surprise.  I'm not suggesting that they have a crossover, as they do with the mobile games but something a bit different would be interesting.

Update 2024.08.13: Reputation level is up to 37 and Character level is halfway to 71 now.  Little by little, everything will be up to maximum.  I've played several battle modes lately, but I can't be sure that there has been progress.  At times, the victories are so easy that I'm not sure that I was playing an S-ranked gate, until I get to a red S-ranked gate and I lose.

I continue to make comparisons with Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail because there are so many similarities.  Nothing works the same but increasing power certainly has similarities with a distinct difference or two.

One question: will Solo Leveling: Arise be around for its first anniversary?  It's moving so quickly, I wonder how it will continue.

Update 2024.08.15: Character level is 71 now.

Update 2024.08.17: Reputation level is up to 38.  Did a 10-ticket Custom Draw and got Phoenix Soul, which seems to be more powerful than Vulcan's Rage, which I've been using.

 

Update 2024.08.21: New codes available and I'm up to Reputation level 39 and Character level 72.

Update 2024.08.25: Character level is 73 and Army of Shadows is up to level 26.  Got Phoenix Soul to level 60, but don't have the Precision Design resource to level break.  I had several of them from the lower levels but can't seem to be lucky enough to get them during Dungeon Breaks.

I've noticed a problem with Dungeon Breaks and Undead Knight Eldhelm.  Sung Jinwoo can't move until attacked.  I haven't noticed a problem with the other bosses.

There seem to be loads of little things to do in the Happy 100th day area and in the Guild area.  The Guild boss is quite frustrating to fight but there are goodies to be had.

 

Reputation level 40 doesn't have any surprises.

Update 2024.08.26: I just slid through Chapters 15.5, 16, and 17.  Character level is now 74. I was working on the Side Chapter from Chapter 16 with Cha Hae-In and the demo version of her was not powerful enough.  Through the battle, the game was automatically switching back to her.  The first time through it, she was killed, so I had two of my own Hunters and they were doing okay, but no better.  With all three at the end, it ended poorly.

The trouble with Chapter 18 is that the battle at level 70 is probably going to be too much.  I haven't had much luck with level 70 battles so far but the battles at 60, 61, and 62 have gone pretty quickly.  Maybe, it could work out okay.

Also, have Sung Jinwoo up to Monarch of Shadows: Rebel Leader.  Now, Character level is 75.  There were 30 extra points for the job change and 5 more points for the Character level rise.  Battle Tier is also up, of course.

Update 2024.08.27: I've got Go Gunhee and Han Se-Mi, along with Emma Laurent.  I've also got the exclusive weapons for the first two.  I was splitting the crafting bits and finished the weapon for Han Se-Mi not long after I got her and then, one of the 100th day celebrations handed me a choice for either weapon.  I can still craft another weapon for Go Gunhee and get an Advance, since I have more than 50 crafting bits.

Also, I'd pretty much forgotten about the Challenge list.  I didn't have enough power to get far at the beginning.  Now, I'm trying to do it all at once.  I will be waiting for Character level 76 to finish the next item in the list, but there is a lot more to go.

Update 2024.08.30: Character level is 76 and Reputation level is 41.  Just got Seo Jiwoo and her weapon was already at level 51.  I've been attempting to complete the Guild Daily List every day, which seems considerable.  The Challenge List is up a couple of Chapters, with Custom Draw Tickets for each completed Chapter.

There are only three of us in the Guild, out of the 50 slots available.  The Guild is only at level 1 and 10% of the points to reach level 2.

Update 2024.09.04: Character level is 77 and Reputation level is 42.  The Summer promotion is almost finished but there are still some weapon fragments to use to craft weapons.

I keep finding bugs, so I hope they're getting them fixed, as well as adding new content.  The Power of Destruction doesn't seem to signal that there has been a second battle finished.  It's not showing up in the Guild List.  The Shop delays seem to be fewer.

They've come a long way in a short time, but to reach the success of Hoyoverse, they're going to need more.

Update 2024.09.07: Reputation level is up to 43.  Trying to hit all of the Challenges to catch up but there are many.  It's like cleaning.  You clean a little every day, it's not bad.  You wait for a week or two, and it's bad.  You wait longer and you need to call for a dumpster.  I think I'm in Challenges Chapter 11 right now.  It's moving pretty well and those 10 Custom Draw Tickets every time you complete a chapter are useful.

Update 2024.09.08: Character level is now 78.  That's only another 7 levels from maximum.  Isn't that strange that it's been about 4 months from level 0 to level 78?  100th Day celebrations are almost gone.  Will there be an update shortly?

Update 2024.09.09: I crafted new SSR-ranked weapons for Hunters.

• Night-Thoughts Exclusive for Emma Laurent
• Unstoppable Frenzy Exclusive for Kang Taeshik
• Intuition Exclusive for Park Heejin

They still have a long way to go before they're ready for battle since the levels are fairly low.  Night-Thoughts might be to level 60 in a day or so, but right now, equipping it drops Emma Laurent by about 8700 points.  It's going to need to be at level 80 before it's actually usable.  Unstoppable Frenzy was created a week or so ago and it's at level 27, which was better than the R-ranked weapon he had.  Intuition is still at level 1.

Quitting Black Clover mobile game after 8 months

Here I am halfway through account level 25, trying to figure out how to complete this blog entry about the game.  I guess thing I should be saying is that I'm tired of the frustration and will remove the game.

I haven't had much luck upgrading equipment, as the game will take gear at level 4 and waste 11 of 12 upgrade pieces.  Enchanting gear takes pieces that don't seem possible to find.  I've used the boxes of such pieces and they seem to give the same pieces I have every time.  This makes me feel that I will get the same result if I buy (with real money) the premium boxes.  I was lucky enough to enchant gear 1 time.

Black Clover (Clover being used in Japan and elsewhere for the card suit Club) is an anime that's been used as a basis for a mobile game.  I'd never seen anything of it until I'd downloaded the game.  Tower of God: New World is another game of similar circumstances that I'm playing.

Many of my characters are at level 15--maximum, several of those are LR.  I have some UR and SSR gear but it has barely got the four-player team to over 150,000.

I read someone's experience of using the original beta test game and that it was possible to finish the story in a week.  I looked at the chapters as I finished chapter 4 and there were a total of 10 chapters.  Maybe, it's possible to go more quickly if you spend money.  I haven't.  I also get the feeling that since he had an early version there was less to finish.

Now, the problem I'm seeing is that my characters are under-powered compared to the enemies in chapter 5.  So far, they've been victorious but the difference in power has been about 5000 and suddenly, it's 10,000. More recently, against the final underwater mage, I'm about 5000 over the requirement and still can't win.

How to organize

If I remember correctly, I started with Asta and Yuno.  Then, they give you a few other characters and if you're lucky, you will get an SSR level of character.  I was using Nebra Silva (SR) and Charlotte Roselei (SSR) as the other two on my team.

Right now, Asta and Yuno are both at LR level.  I'm also using William Vangeance (SSR to LR), Fuegoleon Vermillion (SSR to LR), and Charlotte Roselei (SSR to LR) on my team with Asta.  I've switched things around a bit for the task.

I also got Rades Spirito, Vetto, Sally, and (Costume Party) Charmy Pappitson starting out as SSR.  I have many SR characters and too many R characters.  I've been trying to bind the personal (those that have the same character) skill pages to the correct characters but everything is so tiny, it's difficult to see, especially with so many Silva family characters.

With an overload of those skill pages, you can enhance them to 5 levels.  (This is like Light Cones in Honkai: Star Rail or Weapons in Genshin Impact.)  Then, I found that I could bundle those that were extra, through Inventory, and Sell them.  My first thought was "What if no one wants to buy them?" and that's not a problem.  They're not up for anyone else to buy.

Around 1 a.m. Pacific Time (PST), a new day starts for the game.  I'm not sure why.  I've got three games from one Korean publisher and two change days at 4 p.m. and the other at 9 p.m.  Regardless, pick up the free items, summon once for free, and collect Asta's income.

From what I can tell, if you can find enough SR mage pieces, you can upgrade your SR characters to SSR once they reach Bond level 1.  You can upgrade them again, to UR, at Bond level 6, and to LR at Bond level 10.  Even if you don't have any SSR characters, you can end up with high ranking characters.  You can tell the characters original ranking by the color of the label in the character list because it doesn't change.  Finding the mage pieces is not easy, although some show up as you reach higher Bond Levels.  Since four are necessary for one character, you must choose carefully which character will ascend to the top.

 How to increase power

I've been using Normal Challenges to elevate my characters' power, specifically Evergreen Forest and Bond Patrol.  At the top, I've got one character at Bond Level 13 and three others at Bond Level 10.  They're all LR characters now.

I've been switching back and forth with the lower level characters to fight in Evergreen Forest for potions in order to raise their Bond Level, since they're not powerful enough for Bond Patrol yet.  If you use those Clear Tickets you've been getting for free, you can zoom through the level again and again.

My account level is Rank 17 and I've just (2024.03.07) completed Chapter 4.  It feels as though I've just begun to make progress.  It's 2024.03.12 and I'm at Rank 21, a few steps into Chapter 5.  It's 2024.08.08 and I'm now halfway through account level 25, as it's been for months.

I've got to believe that I would have gone further and faster if I had concentrated on raising the Bond Level more quickly for more carefully chosen characters.  I wasted gold on combining R characters, but fully equipped, they're no match, until you turn them into SSR or higher rank, if that is even possible.

I have made progress with characters but no matter, I'm stuck.  It's better than I quit now.  The frustration is so much, and I have many other games (without much frustration) that make more sense to play.

Razer Edge on the way--It's here!

 If you've been following for a while, you know that I haven't been happy with the Google Pixel 6a.  It was much less powerful than my OnePlus 8T, but compatible with my Razer Kishi V2.  Obviously, I play too many games.

I had been looking for a Razer Phone 2 for a long time, but those days are long gone.  The Razer Edge is only available as a phone on Verizon, and I'm not switching.  Since Android 14 on the Pixel 6a wiped my data, I haven't had an Android phone.  I've been using it on Wi-Fi only.  The Wi-Fi only Razer Edge will be just fine.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon G3X Gen 1 will be so much better than the SoC in either phone.  The Snapdragon 865 in the OnePlus 8T was fine and I got it specifically because the Snapdragon 888 was overheating in several phones.  Hopefully, I won't experience that.

The 144 Hz refresh rate of the OLED display is faster than the 120 Hz of the OnePlus 8T or the 60 Hz of the Google Pixel 6a.  I'm betting not much is ready to use it, though.  There don't seem to be many "holy shit!" games on Android.

 However, even the ligher ones tax the Pixel 6a, which is why I wanted something better.

Newegg has a deal on the Razer Edge with a coupon for US$100 off US$299.99.  Getting a product for 66% is good.

I'm guessing that with Steam Deck doing well and ASUS and Lenovo creating competitors, plus the previous Windows-baseed handhelds, Razer Edge hasn't been the big seller that they had hoped.

The only thing that might be a problem for me is that not all games use Google Play Games for their status updates.  The good thing for me is that, since Android 14 wiped out the other information, I won't be worrying about those other games.  I will likely have to transfer my music from my Google Drive backup.

Update 2024.07.20: It has arrived.  The device directed me to connect the two devices with a cable to copy information.  It connected to my main Android account easily.  That set off the Google warnings immediately.

Then, it updated some system software, asked for permissions, etc.

The strange thing is that it's only using Android 12.  It also didn't copy my second user account and barely copied any of the apps.

There doesn't seem to be a way to add another Home screen to host my games.  I really don't want to use the apps drawer every time I want to start them.  They probably think that everyone is going to use their Nexus app, even when the Kishi V2 Pro is not connected.  I'm not sure that is a good choice.  By the way, the Kishi V2, Pro or otherwise, takes power from the USB type-C port.  If you're not well charged, you could go into the danger zone quickly.

The newer controller seems better with controls that are easier to find while playing.

They refer to the Edge as a tablet.  It's certainly big but what is a tablet these days.  Is a 6.8 inch display big enough for a tablet?  My Google Nexus 7 tablets were just a bit bigger but there are a lot of phones on the market that are almost the same size.  I don't know I'll be putting it in my pocket to game out of the house.  This one is Wi-Fi only and, while I can provide an internet connection from my phone, it wouldn't be wise to have two devices without power.

It's almost charged to a good level again.  Once I get my apps downloaded, I'll see how powerful it is.

It's powerful enough.  It's like the Snapdragon 888 with a GPU upgrade.  Device warms up too much.  Graphics flow smoothly.  I suppose it's a good thing that they didn't upgrade to Android 13 or Android 14.  Perhaps, the 5G version is capable of being upgraded.  It's a bit sad that it only has 128 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM.  My OnePlus 8T had 256 GB and 12 GB, respectively.

There is a huge black frame around the display.  People talk about bezels but this feels more like an artificial frame that has nothing to do with the actual display.  However, it's rounded in the corners and covers some of the display so it's difficult to press buttons.

Kishi V2 Pro feels like the older version, but with force (haptic) feedback.  It's quite responsive on Asphalt 9 Legends/Legends Unite, although the game seems a bit sluggish since its re-design.

I've tried all of my Netmarble games and they work fine.

Those would be: Tower of God: New World, Seven Knights II, Solo Leveling: Arise, and Grand Cross:Age of Titans.

Black Clover M and Sword Chronicles: Awaken are also working just fine.

There are a lot of little, strange things about the interface that don't make sense but I suppose they wanted everyone to have the Nexus app running as their main interface.  If you want a machine that isn't a phone, this is a good device.  If you need a phone, buy something from OnePlus or Samsung, especially if you can get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8, Gen 3.  For the price I paid, it was an easy choice, US$100 for the controller and US$100 for the device.

Update 2024.08.02: Something was odd when I was updating a game.  There wasn't enough space.  I've been using a Google Pixel 6a with two accounts on 128 GB of storage.  The Edge only has one account on 128 GB of storage.  It's certainly possible that the games have become larger.  However, there seemed to be plenty of space and I removed some screenshots and it was fine after that.

 I just can't imagine that one account has suddenly become bigger than two accounts put together.  Maybe, it's Android 12, although I had two accounts on the OnePlus 8T but I had 256 GB of storage.

Update 2024.12.02: It was flickering last night and I had been using it without charging for a while, so I thought that it was so low that I had missed the 20% warning.

This morning, it's a brick.  It's completely unresponsive.  It hasn't even been five months that I've had it.  The good thing is that it was essentially a US$100 device and the Kishi V2 Pro is still working.  I believe that's still working.  I got their Cyber Monday advertising and I don't believe I want to put any more of my money into a company with such poor quality.  Maybe, I'll open it and find that the Snapdragon G3X overheated, even though the fan was louder than my desk fan.

I'm not sure that I want to put money into another Android device, unless it's a OnePlus 12R.  My OnePlus 8T was good for games, but the USB type-C port is not working, so I couldn't charge it, and it didn't work with the Kishi V2.  The Google Pixel 6a barely works when it's working and it's so slow that it should have been US$100 instead of US$300.  I bought it just before the Pixel 7 series arrived.

Update 2024.12.23: Got the Edge back to Razer but their web site apparently wasn't tested and wasn't able to take input to receive my information, which they already have elsewhere in their system.  There is another one on the way from Hong Kong.  It took three days to get across Hong Kong, so I don't hold much hope that it will arrive before the end of the year.

Update 2024.12.30: Replacement is here.  They sent the whole retail package, so I got another Kishi V2 Pro controller.  I need to ask them how they want me to return the new one.  It wouldn't be fair to keep it or the extra power cable and brick they also sent.  Setting up everything is a bit of a pain, but I eliminated a few games this year, so it's easier than it would have been.

Update 2025.03.03: After playing a couple of games I went to charge the replacement Razer Edge and it flickered like the other one did before it died.  It was unresponsive for quite a while and I just plugged in the cable to charge it.  It's working again, but I suppose this one is also at its end soon.

Solo Leveling: Arise after two months

 I'm at character level 60 and Reputation level 27.  It's been about two months.  I'm slowing down compared to the first month, but I didn't see that level with Honkai: Star Rail until about eight months.

 

There are many obstacles still but here is something I just learned.  You can play the story in Hard mode and get Essence Stones and Weapon Enhancement material without destroying your progress in Normal mode.  I've been struggling with Gates to get all the enhancements I needed and suddenly, I've been able to get quite a bit by playing the first few chapters in Hard mode.  I still don't have enough credits to apply the enhancements but it helps.

I'm currently waiting for about 90 minutes for the newest update.  There is a new character and at least one new weapon, including a Fire-oriented SSR-ranked weapon for the main character.  I watched the live stream for the first time.

Hopefully, new weapons will be attainable without money.  I really don't like to spend and I didn't spend any money with Honkai: Star Rail or Genshin Impact, unlike most people who play.

Update 2024.07.10: Battle Tier is at level 15, after getting Aquamarine earrings for one of the top three characters and getting them to level 14, as well as getting her weapon to level 60. 

The 20 custom draws didn't get me the new fire-oriented weapon or the new character but I got some already-owned characters which makes the Advance multiplier rise.  I'm still trying to get everyone up to level 60, so it's better to Advance.  It would be good to have SSR-ranked weapons for the SSR-ranked Hunters.

Update 2024.07.11: I just noticed that the updated game has ignored my graphics and language settings.  It didn't mess with my progress, thankfully.  I'm guessing that they didn't test.

Got the Aquamarine earrings for the other of the top three characters and now, the total power is over 180,000 and I still can't start Chapter 15.  I continue to run out of time on the first episode, even with the wind-oriented weapon.

Update 2024.07.12: Character level is 61 and Reputation level is 28. Some of those delays with the blue progress circle that you dislike so much get worse at character level 60.

Update 2024.07.14: Character level is 62.  Is there more resistance at difficulty level 16?  I'm not always completing S-ranked Red Gates.  Then again, I'm finishing SSS on A-ranked Gates.  Who knows?

Update 2024.07.15: Reputation level is up to 29.  Got some custom draw tickets and got one Hunter SSR-ranked weapon and another for the main character, plus another Thetis' Grimoire, so that gives an Advance level progress.  The Grimoire is already powerful at level 80, but as I reach new difficulties, it will need to be even more.  Sadly, I didn't get a fire-oriented weapon for the main character and I'm still using an SR-ranked weapon.  The SSR-ranked water-oriented weapon I got is good, but not necessary.

I got Chapter 15 started.  I didn't complete the first two episodes as quickly as the award requires, but I finished.  Having a wind-oriented weapon at level 80, along with Thetis' Grimoire at level 80, things can be done.  The total power is a bit over 186,000.  Now, it says that you need 150,000 to start Chapter 15.  Am I not understanding?  If I had two wind-oriented weapons, it might have been smoother and quicker.

Update 2024.07.18: I'm up to Reputation level 30 and Character level 63.  The total power is a bit over 190,000, which is close to the next Battle Tier level.

 

I have two Hunter SSR-ranked weapons to get to level 80.  They're both around half that now.  I've got enough SSR-ranked Hunters that I need something special.  I keep wishing for a fire-oriented SSR-ranked weapon for the main character but that hasn't happened.  I got some Advances on the others, though.  Struggling is expected, though.  I'm not spending bunches of money.  I spent some money early in the game and didn't get as much as I had hoped.

Update 2024.07.22: I'm up to Reputation level 31 and Character level 64.  I tried Difficulty level 20 but that didn't go well and I've brought it back down to 18 for the moment.  Raising the Artifacts level is going slowly.  So few work and it uses up resources too quickly.

Update 2024.07.25: I'm up to Reputation level 32 and Character level 65.  Got Yoo Soohyun and her weapon.  Getting them up to the best levels.  She's looking powerful.  Sword of Light still the most powerful Hunter weapon at the moment.  Crafted the weapon for Silver Mane Baek Yoonho, which should make him much more powerful.

Update 2024.07.27: Since I've rearranged the weapons, Hunters are in different order.  Yoo Soohyun has low skill numbers, so she's probably the most powerful, once skills and artifacts and her weapon are at a higher level.

 

Update 2024.07.29: Character level is 66 and Reputation level is 33.  Hunters have been re-arranged a bit, as I've got the artifacts on Yoo Soohyun at a higher level.  Haven't got her weapon above level 75 because I'm trying to bring the main character's new weapon, Vulcan's Rage, up to level 60.  This is the first SSR-ranked fire-oriented weapon for Sung Jinwoo that is available.  I also haven't touched Demonic Plum Flower Sword at all, even though that is brand new.  I have two other SSR-ranked dark-oriented weapons.

It feels as though Difficulty 18 is back where I expect it.  I should be up a level or two soon.  (We use the word "level" a lot in these games, don't we?) 

Update 2024.07.30: There is maintenance tomorrow and since the end of the second month is about here, there should be another, bigger maintenance and changes the next week.  I'm sure they are still introducing all of the battle modes they originally planned.  They probably have a plan for the whole 12 months.  Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail were that way.  Hoyoverse has had a couple of weeks with Zoneless Zone Zero.  I seem to remember their crying for Genshin Impact players after a few months of Honkai: Star Rail.

Have you played other Netmarble games?  I'm playing Tower of God: New World, Grand Cross: Age of Titans, and Seven Knights II.  They're all good but very different.

Back to SLA, I need to get weapons to maximum.  I've managed to Level Break several weapons and I have enough weapon enhancement materials but I don't have credits and I don't want to spend real money.  I played 12 more gates this morning and that's helped, but increasing skills and weapons levels takes credit and the gates helped but it's not a perfect solution. 

If you haven't seen the latest codes from the live stream, here they are!

I'm waiting for Tower of God: New World to open up at any moment and another two hours or so for Solo Leveling: Arise.  Other games will be offline Wednesday but of course, I'm not playing them right now, for whatever reason.  Will I pay US$18.99 and get Sung Jinwoo's summer outfit?

 

Update 2024.07.31: New artifacts exist, and I've brought them up to level 15 and the Battle Tier power is over 200,000, putting the team at level 17.

Update 2024.08.02: Got another set of artifacts from the summer theme.  They're also in the 60s, rather than the 40s and maybe a 50 that I've been using.  Character level is 67 and Reputation level is 33.  Finished a couple of gates this week and the final damage total was over 1 million.  I wasn't quick enough to get a screenshot but it's happened twice.

Update 2024.08.04: Character level is 68 and Reputation level is 34.  Things have opened up again.  There was something about Reverse.  Smashing watermelons is interesting.  Out of 15 SSR-ranked characters, I have eight, including

• Amamiya Mirei
• Meilin Fisher
• Yoo Soohyun
• Alicia Blanche
• Lee Bora
• Woo Jinchul
• Choi Jong-In
• Silver Mane Baek Yoonho

That's quite a few but the second most powerful right now is an SR-ranked hunter, Lee Joohee, with quite a few duplicates making Advance a huge difference.  Making progress is slow but good.  These summer weapons are interesting.  The shark surfboard and there are also shark water guns are both SSR-ranked and in my arsenal now.  It's difficult to find enough weapons for the Hunters.

Update 2024.08.06: Reputation level is 35.  Amamiya Mirei is third most powerful Hunter right now.  Got her exclusive weapon and got it again, so she is strong.  I like the sweeping way her character moves.  Maybe, it's just some of the Summer battles but she seems so powerful.  It should be interesting to handle gates with her.

Update 2024.08.09: The character level is 69 and Reputation level is 36.  I've given Lee Joohee a Shark water gun that has a number of Advance progressions.  She was the most powerful Hunter again, until I had another Advance on Bunny BunBun and Amamiya Mirei is now the most powerful.  The Battle Tier is the same but at 222,000+ they're close to the next level.

Need so many resources to level up the weapons and skills.  Coming up on character level 70, skills can be enhanced further.

Update 2024.08.11: Character level is 70.  Never thought when I started the game that I'd go this far and it's been only three months.  Further upgrades to skills are available at this level.  Battle Tier is level 17 now, exceeding 228,000.  I'm not sure that the numbers for Sung Jinwoo really matter or it's just something to give us a sense of control.