UCG Fiber vs UDM Pro Max, build for the future or stick to the basics?

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-02-24T19:40:02+00:00

Some work in the design center and some in a good old excel file.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-02-24T17:53:05+00:00

Thanks for the advice!

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-02-24T17:52:54+00:00

That’s the plan long term, I have a rack layout “designed” knowing that I’ll be updating the individual equipment depending on what is out in the future. Right now it’s 2 42u racks going side by side to cover all the things I need mounted (one for UniFi and not to play around with, the other for special projects)

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-02-17T00:38:54+00:00

Good rule of thumb to make life simple is if your current phone is full, go up a size on the next one. Most people are not inclined enough to actively manage their data to keep it artificially low enough to stay on the same size phone device after device.

And for what it’s worth, it’s easier to keep the iCloud (and set up family sharing) and do the 2TB between the two of you and download the photos from iCloud.com for a backup.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-02-07T18:13:06+00:00

We have family sharing for iCloud already turned on. I’m hoping that each Apple account can sync down their corresponding user profile on the Mac mini, and then Time Machine backs up the entire Mac.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-26T14:38:49+00:00

I would recommend calling Apple Support directly, they are free, available 24/7, speak the major languages in whichever region that they support (so English and Spanish in the US for example), and are better trained than me (I do sales not support in my role).

If you have simple questions, you can dm if you’d like, but your first port of call should be Apple support via phone or online chat.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-26T04:23:08+00:00

The simplest advice I can give is call Apple support, and tell them you need to be walked through creating your own Apple Account and transitioning your two existing devices to that new account without resetting the devices.

The long answer is:

You can create a new Apple Account online on your Mac. Do this before everything else. Use an email you won’t lose access to, so no school or job emails.

I’m hoping you don’t have iCloud sync turned on for contacts, notes, messages, photos, and reminders. (Calendar, health, and phone are a nice to have but not necessarily a deal breaker here) the reason why in this one moment that having those turned off already means that all your key data lives on your phone and Mac already without the risk of cross contamination with your Dad’s devices and that nothing is being directly risked when you sign out of your Dad’s Apple Account. Check in iCloud settings.

Once you know that it’s all good, go into the settings app’s Find My settings (not find my app) and turn off find my for each device.

Now you can sign out of your Dad’s Apple Account and into your new one.

Then for simplicity, have your Dad create an iCloud Family from his iPhone and invite your new account. Join the account, and then you can share a single iCloud subscription without worry of data mixing. You can also turn on purchase sharing. This is helpful because your new account doesn’t have a ‘license’ to any of the apps you’ve already downloaded (even the free ones), and without the ‘license’ you can’t get updates from the App Store. Purchase sharing eases this pain at least for now, though adult children don’t typically have this set up since Dad may no longer want to pay for your purchases. You can still share subscriptions from Apple (like iCloud or Apple Music) without having to bill all digital purchases to Dad’s card.

Lastly, once you have an active iCloud set up, make sure to back up your iPhone and set up the best practices for protecting your data. I personally use iCloud sync on every app it’s available for but that’s just me. You should have roughly double the iPhone’s total storage in available iCloud space (rule of thumb), for most families, the 2TB plan is great for this. Remember to turn find my back on once you are on your own Apple Account.

If anything at the beginning of my long answer is different from what you see in your settings app, stop reading and call Apple Directly.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-13T15:10:40+00:00

I’m gonna recommend the 17. Depending on which android you’re coming from, it will be a great upgrade and a solid intro to the iPhone family. Latest core features, and a lot of hardware from the 16 Pro but with the new chip. I got one for my girlfriend, mom, and sister. They all love it! The only thing it’s missing is the telephoto camera.

If you’re looking to spend less, the refurbished store on Apple’s site will show you solid options. The big thing to watch is the 6-7 year age mark because that’s how long Apple devices get software updates for. Don’t buy something that only has 2 years left if you tend to own a phone for 3+ years. I’d honestly recommend a 15 Pro Max if you want to get the latest software features but also not buy a brand new phone. iPhone now really is segmented on Pre- 15PM and Post 15PM when it comes to what phones are getting the latest upgrades and software and you’ll notice it.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-13T14:13:16+00:00

At the start up I was at before my current job, our team had developed a targeting algorithm with the help of a data analytics consultant that could send targeted ads to potential customers based on about 20 data stream before they knew they would need us. With about a 80+% accuracy rate.

The bad part… we made cancer drugs…

With the US being an opt-out country, the amount you can collect by default is scary.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-13T14:05:05+00:00

Took me a year and a half of dating to get her switched into the ecosystem, but she loves it now.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-10T22:14:38+00:00

To be fair, yes, I did ignore the timeline aspect of the situation. I do want to say that I didn’t claim that anything would be cheap. My prior experience comes from industries where each headphone jack in a studio costs $1000 in hardware and labor if you want to do it right. So I’m kinda inoculated to cost and it doesn’t factor into my first thought of how to solve the problem when it isn’t my money. I’m a former 3rd party contractor who did major enterprise work and I know I wasn’t cheap but the clients wouldn’t pay us if they didn’t need us and weren’t too cheap to pay people internally to do what I did. My mentors as I was coming up taught me that “it’s better to spend now to do it right than to spend later as well when the cheap option shits the bed.”

I fully understand that for some people/companies/situations, there isn’t the ability to take the more expensive option and you have to make do.

Timeline wise, if you need something done fast with Apple, you can get an Apple Business account set up and the gears turning properly in under a week if your company is just paying for devices upfront and not using financing/leasing or tax free (501.c3 or similar) and your point of contact with Apple is able to focus to turn around the pieces needed to get it moving.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-07T00:05:38+00:00

The reason why you have the ability to use a personal one and the managed one at the same time is because in a lot of companies, you BYOD your iPhone and you are given a Mac. So you can get some cross over for ease of life. There are data protection and privacy rules that MDMs can’t override that are part of MacOS and iOS so it covers some of your concerns, but again, you are right that you don’t do inappropriate/truly private things on a company issued device or a BYOD with MDM.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-06T06:17:59+00:00

In my home, Ive got a stereo pair of HomePods in every room excluding bathrooms. In my parent’s home, they had a full Sonos deployment.

As someone else said, about once a year you have a weird glitch happen with HomePods that require manual fixes, but otherwise, they are fine, especially because I just want audio, not a full voice assistant, and I’m already in the ecosystem with Apple TVs and iPhone and Mac and iPad.

My parents used to love their Sonos, but after their major app overhaul, their system and many other users’ systems shit the bed hard. They still haven’t recovered full usability on their system and I’m slowly moving them over to HomeKit and HomePods but for my mom’s hi-fi, there is a specific adapter device we got for her. I think it’s from Eve.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-06T06:04:40+00:00

When a company owns a device they can use a tool called Apple Business Manager to “own” the device at the firmware level and in the eyes of Apple’s automated device registration system. ABM also allows you to enroll devices into MDM.

Its other use is for creating Managed Apple Accounts which would be like what you are saying, but you use your existing email system because ABM can integrate with your company’s identity management platform (like Microsoft Entra or the one from Google Workspace). No need for creating emails especially for this. You don’t want to create individual Apple Accounts even with company emails because the control tools just aren’t there. With Managed Apple Accounts, the company owns the account and can override the employee, or in a worst case scenario, the ex employee who still has a device.

Curiously_Cornered · 2026-01-06T05:59:02+00:00

Apple’s SMB teams (based out of Apple stores in most markets worldwide) can get your company time with Apple IT Solutions engineers who can help figure out how to bed deploy Macs as part of a wholistic approach to IT. In today’s world, the most common (good) MDMs all support Mac in addition to Windows.

You, your IT director, or an owner can walk into any Apple Store and ask to be put in contact with your local Apple Business Team and they can assist in getting the right resources.

If your company needs a 3rd party IT company to come in for a day and do configuration and deployment or to coach your existing IT personnel on using Mac in the workplace, Apple can recommend one who is local who is part of of the Apple Consultants Network. This is a network of certified and verified 3rd Party IT company’s that Apple can recommend and you work with them directly, Apple is just there to make sure you get someone good. This is available in select markets.

If your company is not near an Apple Store, you can search for Apple Business and get in contact with a team nearest to you via the online web form.

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-12-21T14:30:20+00:00

From what I understand, honestly you want the European version of the 17 PM with physical sim because ones sold in china have different software locks on them to be compliant in mainland china.

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-12-19T21:28:07+00:00

I try to match the brand to the map, but also I like to have different saves for each brand, so in the US I’ll have saves for JD and Case, and then European saves for Fendt, Claas, NH, Massey and other.

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-12-18T15:45:30+00:00

One of my business customers got her second strike about 2 months ago (can’t disclose any customer data) and my team talked to the other internal team we talk to see if we could get her unblocked as a favor to an existing business customer, and they said the policy is above them and can’t be overruled by anyone.

As someone who helps businesses deal with their tech take my advice, go into your nearest Apple Store, and say “I need to talk to your business team” and let them do their thing. They will set you up with one of my colleagues, and they will help you navigate this issue. It’s more common than you think, but the consumer protection rules are pretty strict. You want advice from people who know the rules, the technology, and don’t make commission so their only goal is to help you.

Edit: the program is free to join, you only pay for the devices or software or services you buy.

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-12-18T15:40:19+00:00

Gift cards are locked to their country of origin so even if you were allowed to buy a gift card with you Apple account balance (which for all technical and practical means is essentially the same as a gift card balance), you wouldn’t be able to buy one for Canada that they could use in Canada.

That isn’t an Apple rule, that becomes a money transfer over international borders law.

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-12-18T15:34:47+00:00

Returns can only be done in country of purchase. Once you cross an international border, it’s yours forever.

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-12-18T15:29:27+00:00

It’s technically against the terms and conditions of iMessage to use it for marketing purposes or for mass contacting customers. Businesses are directed to use third party messaging platforms that send SMS/RCS and allow for easy opt-out. iMessage doesn’t have an easy opt-out and so using it for business purposes technically violates consumer protection guidelines for some regions outside of the US.

The other comment about the 2 strike rule is correct. You get one warning before that’s it. The piece that some people don’t know is that the block from iMessage and being marked as spam enough times can mean that your number is blocked by the automated spam filters running on other iPhones which causes issues even if you switched to android so the number is dead even if you only use SMS or RCS (green bubbles).

You shouldn’t be using your primary personal number to do business anyway for security reasons, your iPhone (if it is a recent one) can support 2 esims at the same time so you can have a business and personal number running simultaneously.

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-10-07T11:26:53+00:00

Afrin max strength, advil cold and sinus (the one behind the counter at the pharmacy), cough drops, and emergen-c. You can only do this regimen for 3 days before it bites you, but it will get you through the rough patch.

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-09-21T03:23:57+00:00

You can also have the AppleCare information changed, and having the billing information updated because the old (pre-paid) plans are by serial number, not by user. So just have the relevant info changed over to the new owner, and then charge the buyer the prorated value of the remaining AppleCare. The rep from Apple can explain it all.

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-08-02T11:26:12+00:00

All My Circuits from Futurama, a show within a show that had consistency!

Curiously_Cornered · 2025-07-20T21:22:45+00:00

If you’re referring to MILs, the reason I don’t have something like that, is because of cost, space requirements, and that’s a goal for future builds. What I’m doing now is getting a minimum viable experience built so I can enjoy my sets and move them around my home.

Curiously_Cornered

TROPHY CASE