12-08-2014, 04:37 PM
gabester wrote:
[quote=C(-)ris]
[quote=gabester]
The real reason is edu customers. It's the least expensive Mac laptop that can go in a cart of iPads and use Configurator with more than 20 of them at the same time.
You forget about the MacBook Air? Any of them will do that, and do it better than the 13" MBP.
Forgive me for citing a PM with Onamuji here:
Onamuji wrote:
No, a MacBook Air can't sync to 20 iPads at a time. It can be used to mass-deploy iPads, locking them down with MDM profiles. Up to 30 iPads can be done in a single session, assuming that your cart or hub has enough ports and power. But even then it does them sequentially.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-co...3123?mt=12
Thanks - yes, using Configurator is exactly what I'm talking about. See here:
http://help.apple.com/configurator/mac/1.7/#/cadbf9a73b
"Use powered USB 2.0 high-speed hubs or carts that support multiple simultaneous device syncing."
There's a technical limit on MacBook Airs such that they can only support simultaneous syncing of just 20 devices at a time, whereas the older 13" MBP w/HDD can support 30 or more. I'm not sure what the technical limit is, I'm still trying to get that detail from my Apple team. I think it has to do with bus power?
On the subject of Configurator deployments: I have been instructed (repeatedly) that although you can do 30 iPads at once in theory, in practice you should limit it to 20 due to technical issues with the software. So, I'm not sure how advantageous the MBP really is in that scenario.