Tim Cook:
“We don’t believe in sort of watering down one for the other. Both [The Mac and iPad] 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.”
I have never been a fan of merging these two devices. There are always going to be compromises when you look at merging them that aren’t necessary. I’ll gladly take two devices, and two operating system over a merged device.
I still like the idea of having your phone be your computer someday in the future, with it pairing with a display to be your Mac, or with a portable screen to be an iPad. Never used a Microsoft Surface to know if the experience of going from a laptop to a tablet with the same device sacrifices anything. Does Windows pull it off pretty well?
Since the iPad OS is connected to the iPhone I guess it will keep going, but since the Mac seems to be uninteresting to them it makes sense that they wouldn’t want them merged. It’s unexplainable to me how a company that could get PowerPC programs to run on an Intel chip can’t seem to get iOS apps to run on macOS…kinda the same way. And I [cautiously] want a new Mac mini. Do I sound bitter? I feel bitter. 🙂
Honestly, it seems pretty obvious: touch screen, no touch screen. That makes for a bad experience on one or the other. So running iOS apps on the Mac just isn’t useful.
Not sure I like your solution but I agree on the problem, text editing on iOS sucks.
Thank god. I’m a Mac user first and I do enough writing that I want a real keyboard and a mouse or at the very least, a trackpad and MacOS text editing capabilities.
I’m perfectly happy for them to remain individual identities.
I don’t need them merged, but I do want a trackpad with my iPad. Snap on keyboards are fine, but touch is a terrible interface for cursor insertion and text selection.
If you’re at all considering how Windoze does on Surfaces, then go there and have fun. Otherwise, I trust Tim and Apple to hold the line on Apple’s approach to computing—on all of their respective devices—and separately on each. Sure, add functionality on each as technology and economics and market demand allow and dictate. But that DOESN’T mean merge them!
Being able to freemove the cursor has made a big difference to this (iPad you use two fingers to press in the text area to move the cursor around, on iPhones you can press with a single finger on the keyboard to take control of the cursor).
obviously it’s not a matter of getting iOS apps to run on macOS. iOS is based on OS X so of course they could. it’s a matter of whether they should.
yes, even the new cursor placement stuff is finicky and frustrating.
Give me a mouse and a keyboard. If and when Apple or someone else comes up with something better, I’ll be happy to give it a go but until then, text editing in MacOS is a winner for me.
Yes! They already run under Xcode.
Right, but if you’re using the Smart Keyboard you don’t have access to this. It’d be nice to have a solution for Smart Keyboard users.
Yes, it’s a sacrifice on both ends; the tablet is heavier than an iPad, and the keyboard is not quite as straightforward and stable as a regular laptop. And Windows is complex, especially for touchscreen use.
It’s a decent compromise if you don’t mind these problems.
I agree.
It’s more of a “gently lurch” than a run. We developers put up with it, but end users shouldn’t have to.
there should not be one software for all but there are some features of Mac OS that could and should be adapted to iOS
disagree. as a college student I do a lot of text editing on my iPad and with a properly coded app it’s not a terrible situation
that’s a fair comment. I agree that using a Keyboard shouldn’t alter cursor movements.
It shouldn’t be done at all for end users. That’s the point.