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Comment by s3r3nity | Hacker News Reader

You could get an iPad Pro (or even a regular iPad) and remote into a cloud Mac.

If people wanted what you described, then Surfaces would be skyrocketing. However it looks like according to MSFT that Surface sales are sinking, which might explain why the previous head has left Microsoft:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/can-microsoft-recover-from-the...

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> If people wanted what you described, then Surfaces would be skyrocketing.

But isn't Apple in somewhat of a unique position given that they're the only company that develops a popular tablet OS and a popular desktop OS? Microsoft has Windows Subsystem for Android, but it looks like it only runs apps from the Amazon Appstore [1].

If there was an Apple device similar to the discontinued Surface Book that ran iPadOS and MacOS, I would be intrigued. Using an iPad as a display for a Mac is cool, but it would be nice to run MacOS locally.

[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/android/wsa/

Coincidentally, Microsoft ended support for WSA the day after I wrote this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39606464

Unlike Windows Subsystem for Linux which is thriving, Google's stranglehold on Android via its Play Store renders any attempt to integrate Windows and Android non-viable.

I switched from a Surface Book to a Macbook Pro + Ipad Pro combo.

I preferred the Surface Book from a device ergonomics perspective -- but I finally got sick of trying to do dev work on Windows.

So I paid 2x as much for the same functionality instead. And that's why Apple won't make that form factor.

Exactly. I also used to have a Surface (both the regular one and a Book 3) but the smaller screen of the former and the higher cost and weight, and lower performance, of the latter made me buy a MacBook. The form factor appeal is there for the Surface, it's just death by a thousand cuts in terms of their other problems. I never had an issue with Windows development however, as I generally used WSL 2.

Yes, that's basically it. Microsoft had the right idea they were just too early on it and cannot put as much money into it as Apple does. And they don't have a competitive enough chip to choose from their partners. If either Intel or AMD gets there, Apple will get some much-needed competition.

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