Tim Cook on merging macOS and iOS: “I don’t think that’s what users want” | Hacker News Reader

Tim Cook on merging macOS and iOS: “I don’t think that’s what users want”

arstechnica.com

46 pointsmr_toad23 comments

This is great - if it hold out.

> 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.

Tim says this... and this is also what users have come to expect of apple; but their products as of late very much reflect a different set of priorities. The notion of iOS and MacOS merging didn't come out of nowhere - thats the direction apple was/is heading.

As a lifelong Mac user, it's obvious we're second class citizens to apple, whos focus is primariy on iOS. IIRC, They don't even have a dedicated MacOS team anymore - everyone is doing IOS dev. And, it shows in the quality of the system.

I honestly think apple has already peaked and has started to decline - and i think they need to, to get hungry again. But with all the money they have, I don't think they'll be hungry for quite a while.

Does MacOS need to be #1 priority at Apple?

We've gone from OS-as-a-Platform to Browser-as-a-Platform (albeit on an OS). Operating systems have matured and have become relatively stable.

I feel MacOS has an edge in the market given the excellent trackpad (i.e. the #1 way to interact with a mac or any computer), iCloud, and honestly it just works.

Outside of Chrome, I use VS Code, VLC, FaceTime, iCloud, Dropbox, Zoom, and the Terminal.

> Operating systems have matured and have become relatively stable.

The bugs in High Sierra (passwordless root [1], APFS data loss [2], the App Store preferences vulnerability [3]) seem to suggest otherwise. I have a MBP at work which is still on Sierra, maybe next summer I will be confident enough to upgrade...

[1]: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/28/16711782/apple-macos-hig... [2]: https://www.macrumors.com/2018/02/19/apfs-bug-macos-data-los... [3]: https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/11/16877992/high-sierra-bug-...

Yes these are serious bugs and it's important for Apple to prioritize security. Apple could be doing a better job here.

My point was that many users have gone from running apps on OS's to browsers. The focus has shifted from producing the best-in-class OS to creating an OS which can run a best-in-class browser.

With this in mind, does MacOS need to be #1 priority at Apple? Security still needs to be a priority across all product lines

It doesn't "need" to be a priority. However, some Apple products (the MBP in particular) were big among professional users who now feel a little left behind.

Also, This is not limited to the software level. See the new MBP: there is no option for a laptop with top specs and no Touch Bar.

Yeah agreed that Apple could be doing more with their Mac product line. I would like a better MacBook Air (with retina and less bezel around the screen....more like the Dell XPS 13) and a more powerful reasonably priced Mac Mini.

I've been using a mac since 2002 and for many years everything got better with every version of OS X. But recent years I feel the OS id getting worse for me mostly because they take away control and make stuff more suitable for non-power users.

Some examples of what I mean: - I am not allowed to remove iTunes. This is BS and the kind of stuff we used to chastise Microsoft over. - Gatekeeper. I have to manually switch it to the mode where I get a dialogue that allows me to run non-app store applications. And then changes bakc with random updates it seems. - The plethora of deamons/services I don't want but cannot reliably disable or uninstall. I mean stuff like gamed, photosd, coreduetd, etc etc.

I just want control over what my computer is doing and has installed. Thats all.

Valid points around control but I feel like they are focused around design philosophy. Not necessarily related to whether or not MacOS should be #1 priority at Apple.

I feel like Apple have been making conscious decisions to make iPhones, iPads and Macs (to a lesser extent) more 'user-friendly' and utility like.

If I wanted an "old school" OS experience where I can control everything, I would pick Linux (i.e. Arch Linux) or BSD.

It's definitely not what this user wants. This user wants a real ESC key back too

BTW they need to bring back the previous generation keyboard with a descent key travel.

I love the new keyboard, as well as the ultra-low profile of the new macs.

New keyboard is great. Trackpad is too big and sensitive (has it gotten better with high sierra)?

Personally, I dont mind the touchbar - I have Caps Lock perma bound to Escape and rarely require the use F keys.

On that note though, I don't think I'd ever pay for the touch bar though if I was given a choice.

Devs and other creators want workstation grade productivity within a mobile form factor, solving the problem when switching between both worlds for mobility. Some devs who value mobility and change their location often, don't even want to get used to working on a big screen.

Current phones, while providing enough horsepower for development, are handicapped by they screen real estate, something AR could fundamentally change. Who'd buy a laptop if you're more productive with simple AR glasses connected to phone?

That's the future Apple is facing. While not a merger of both OS, macOS could just be an AR app on your phone that you'd use with your AR glasses.

I'd like to see some AR screens, but for me they would have to have an insane resolution (way beyond 8k, so that the virtual screen is "retina") and be able to create completely opaque surfaces.

There are lot of transparent screens in science fiction but those seem useless. Companies have not invested a ton of time and money into anti-glare screen for nothing.

I was surprised when this story was published in my local newspaper and picked up internationally as Apple have been firm in their product segregation that they have no public plans to

(a) release an iPhone desktop dock (c.f. Samsung DeX) (b) merge iOS and macOS into one toolkit (UWP/KDE Plasma) (c) merge Macbook and iPad (Chrome OS tablet)

(Disclaimer: not being a current Apple customer, I'm sure Cook doesn't particularly care what I want. However I am comforted that others do think different.)

I think that the a) and c) are kind of at odds. If one has everything in the cloud then they do not really need docking. Docking also seems to be quite niche as people prefer laptops when they need to move a lot. As a heavy mac, iPhone and iPad user I really hope they will not merge the UI toolkits though. It would be nice if they merged parts of their APIs and modernized the mac API but for me mouse+keyboard and touch are too different to use similar kinds of controls.

(a) i'm thinking home usage. An 8 core machine with 6GB RAM is plenty - plug in a keyboard, mouse and screen, who needs a mac mini? OTG and/or a hard disk attached to my wifi router is all the local storage I'd need, let alone the cloud.

(c) If Google pulls off seamless integration of Android apps on a Chrome OS tablet then the rumoured ARM Macbook may have users wondering why they can't run their favourite iOS apps too.

But that's just me, I guess, and my wants.

I dont want it at all, It doesn't have any sense. You don't need to do it to have a Superior software in iPad than in a Mac os, each device is for what it is.

What we want is a laptop with a working keyboard - not this buttterfly keyboard that sticks for every mac user I talk to.

Not sure Apple has the software engineering talent-time for that. Even Microsoft still struggles with unification.

Merging appstores tho...

Since when has apple done stuff that "users want"? Which user wanted the headphone jack to be removed? Which user wanted NFC to be disabled?

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