Hacker News Reader

Comment by zitterbewegung | Hacker News Reader

The counter to this argument is that why is Apple putting so many resources to making a keyboard case for the iPad Pro and adding trackpad support.

Is this some kind of test for when they move to ARM? Or do they want to do what they have done before and cannibalize the Mac platform for non professionals?

View on HN

It could be that their customers are growing up with their platform.

Kind of like how the Honda Civic has gotten bigger with more features over the years, to where it surpasses the original Accord. I'll bet the Honda Fit from now will grow in the same way and they'll have to invent a new "budget honda" for the next generation of young people.

A reason cars keep getting larger is fuel-economy laws.

> Expanding a car's footprint — the wheelbase multiplied by the track width — gives it a lower fuel-economy target to meet under the CAFE standards negotiated by automakers and regulators.

https://www.autonews.com/article/20160814/OEM11/308159946/is...

Huh, so why do cars in Europe tend to be smaller, where I was under the impression that emission laws are stricter?

Because the CAFE standards are a US thing

During diesel gate I did a lot of research, none of which I still have sadly. Diesel emissions regulations were generally slightly stricter in the U.S. I found that pretty surprising at the time.

That may explain why diesel is so rare for consumer cars and SUVs in the US compared to Europe.

The cars are smaller than in the US but they are getting bigger. For example, the VW Golf is 0.6m longer between the first model and the last one.

The obvious answer is buyer preference and cheaper gas.

https://www.theonion.com/a-statement-followed-by-a-question-...

The latter, of course. It's not even subtle, they've tried to tell us that you can do (almost) everything on a tablet ever since they announced the original iPad Pro. Then MS proved their point with the Surface, except they also proved people like to work with real keyboards. So now Apple are doing keyboards.

That's why I'm skeptical that we'll ever get an "Arm MBP". Apple would rather do away with laptops, they see them as annoying and expensive legacy that just happens to be unreplaceable at the moment. There is no point investing into a massive and bloody transition of a segment you are trying to divest from.

It's worth noting that the original iPad also had a keyboard available - it was just a keyboard stand, not a cover. Not the same as the portability that a keyboard cover offers, but it was what could be feasibly offered with the technology at the time.

Uhm, I'm pretty sure Asus was shipping Surface-like models already, back then. They were not great (because Asus is not Apple, with all due respect), but sold out the initial runs.

Also, part of the UI rethink has to happen in the OS, which is why Apple eventually spun out a dedicated tablet OS. They are coming around.

Logitech had keyboard covers in the start of 2013 for the iPad (including for the iPad Mini).

It was not technological limitations preventing Apple from making one themselves.

Apple released a very janky keyboard stand for the original iPad.

If they did away with laptops how could they expect developers to respect their license to only compile Apple apps on their OS? They can’t expect super users to work from tablets. I’d be curious if they would put this constraint on their own developers given their strict deadlines and work hours.

Uhm, maybe I'm parsing you wrong, but MS proved Apples point? The first Surface was released 3 years (!) before the first iPad Pro!?

This is about using tablets for real work, which is what the Pro is supposedly about.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com