Roger Fingas
Amid rumors that Apple is working on cross-platform software initiatives to bridge its two most popular systems, CEO Tim Cook is denying speculation that the company will eventually weld the two platforms together.
"We don't believe in sort of watering down one for the other," Cook told the Sydney Morning Herald in an interview published on Thursday. "Both are incredible. One of the reasons that both of them are incredible is because we pushed them to do what they do well. And if you begin to merge the two ... you begin to make trade offs and compromises.
"So maybe the company would be more efficient at the end of the day. But that's not what it's about. You know it's about giving people things that they can then use to help them change the world or express their passion or express their creativity. So this merger thing that some folks are fixated on, I don't think that's what users want."
In December, rumors surfaced about project "Marzipan," a plan to allow iOS apps to run on Macs, controlled by mice, keyboards, or trackpads. The effort may be intended to foster better support of the Mac App Store, which hasn't done nearly as well as its iOS counterpart — but is more probably something like the "fat binary" or "universal binary" approach that was needed for the migration from 68K to PowerPC and then from PowerPC to Intel.
More recently, Apple was reported to be working on project "Kalamata," an effort to design custom processors for Macs. New silicon coupled with backwards-compatible software OS implementations could conceivably make it easier to develop a flexible platform, though no results are expected until at least 2020.
Cook also addressed the implications of a comment he made several years ago about using an iPad as his primary device. For the moment, he uses a mix of hardware.
"I generally use a Mac at work, and I use an iPad at home," the CEO said. "And I always use the iPad when I'm travelling. But I use everything and I love everything."
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76 Comments
Step 1: Build a strawman and light it on fire: "We will never merge the two if doing so would mean compromises."
In other words, "We are in the process of merging the two." Putting an ARM chip in the macs and running the OS on the ARM isn't the same as merging, I suppose...
Apple is really starting to bother me. First, Mac updates simply do not happen with enough frequency - regardless of the product. Second, Tim Cook's "Upgrade Fun House", to get a 1TB SSD or more ram is DEFINITELY NOT how I want to buy a computer. And now, making a "MacPad" (an iPad that can run macOS) seems like low hanging fruit, but Apple doesn't want to do it. Apple used to enter existing product categories, innovate them, and be more successful than those that created them. Now .. they have a CEO touting the benefits of "staying in lanes." Apple ... You've become a boring company.
Sometimes I wish these CEOs would just not expand on things. They often make themselves look foolish.
"Both are incredible. One of the reasons that both of them are incredible is because we pushed them to do what they do well. And if you begin to merge the two ... you begin to make trade offs and compromises"
Yes, you make compromises. You make trade--offs.
That's exactly what the iPhone is.
Compromises and trade--offs themselves aren't the problem. The results of them might or might not be. That's why you make those trade--offs and compromises in the first place.
It would have been better to just say we have no plans to merge the two and leave it at that.
Good approach 😊🖖
The cross platform worked very well for Microsoft. And google has killed the market with there chrome net books. Apple is not a me two company and that is why I love them. I use my MacBook when I need a MacBook. I use my iPad when It’s feasible. I lastly I use my iPhone when I have to get things done and don’t have the either of the iPad or MacBook.