> An answer to the now age-old ARM-ed Mac question now emerges: With the emphasis on the iPad Pro as a real computer, there’s no reason for Apple to move the Mac off of trusty if perhaps less glamorous Intel processors. Does this mean that iPad Pro sales will cannibalize the Mac? We’ve long known the answer that one. It doesn’t really matter to the company as long as customers enjoy their Apple devices.
I don’t think Gassée is arguing that the iPad definitively will replace the Mac, or that this is Apple's intention. I think he’s arguing that Apple is positioning the iPad in a way that it could, and that this positioning lets the Mac off the hook for an architecture transition.
I actually suspect the move to/inclusion of ARM in the macOS lines of product is part of the motivation behind dumping support for 32-bit apps in Catalina. By preemtively removing support for a large amount of legacy software, which will likely never be recompiled for ARM, they avoid the situation where their new machines appear much less capable than the old ones.
There was a push to make all laptops have a touchscreen a few years back, but this seems to have fizzled out, and I've seldom seen anyone use them (deliberately anyway).
The iPad tablet form factor will eventually hit limits in screen size. Is a 15”, 24” or even 27” tablet really feasible? If eventually the iPad becomes highly usable in docked mode with a keyboard, why not bring it out in a full clamshell or even desktop form factor?
Looking at it this way ok, maybe the Mac will move to ARM, or maybe it won’t. The thing is in the long run it might not matter.
The people that required desktop like compute power either got a laptop workstation like Thinkpad W series (now P), or some server connected via RDP.
Apple just needs to have a docking station on their offerings.
But they do, it's called Thunderbolt, and they were the first manufacturer to really buy in hard.
For any laptop that can run within the 100 watt limit of USB-C charging there's little to nothing a proprietary docking solution offers compared to TB3, and even those that require more power can still use a TB dock just with one additional cable to plug in.
Yes there are a lot of crappy Thunderbolt and/or USB-C docks out there, but it's not like proprietary docks were ever bug-free either. At least now you have a choice of dozens of vendors rather than being stuck with whatever the laptop OEM wants to offer, and changing model lines doesn't mean buying a whole new set of docks.
It's still very common for companies to supply desktops to lower paid desk workers that don't work from home. The total cost is lower, fewer failures, etc.
This whole "ask apple's permission" thing really annoys me.
(A) It doesn't contact Apple for permission; it's asking you, the user, for permission to access certain aspects to prevent malicious apps from encroaching on user privacy and security — in no part of the transaction is it phoning home.
Locking applications out of unfettered access to the system is nothing new nor particularly Apple-specific.
Please do not spread unnecessary FUD.
> This whole "ask apple's permission" thing really annoys me
(B) I will direct you to point A.
When you install little snitch, you have to go to the security and privacy pane, which should have a dialog to allow obdev.at to install a kernel extension.
However, if you're not connected to the internet, that dialog doesn't seem to show up.
I don't agree with that position; I think the form factor of the Mac and the capabilities of MacOS are going to continue to be relevant, even in a world where a fully featured Xcode can be run from an iPad Pro.
It seems more realistic to me that apples' efforts to get catalyst to a point of usability is about enabling software to make a seamless transition to the arm architecture.