The Mac line is 32 years old and OS X will be the last desktop version.
Apple isn't going to stop selling x86 as long as there is demand for Windows. At the same time, Windows is dying by a thousand paper cuts to mobile; the future for Apple is iOS, et al, not OS X.
BINGO.
We got clueless fools (including many here) who say Apple needs to make an iPad that runs OSX. That's pure stupidity. Why would you switch from a platform that is thriving and growing (iOS) to a platform and is dying (OSX, Windows)?
The future is iOS desktops and laptops.
The thing is that touch (iOS) is no more a natural interface with a computer than is a mouse. Each of them are intermediate steps until we advance far enough into the future that we can build a natural interface (would require significant advances in Artificial Intelligence - which is why it is one of the hottest skills that are sought after). They are different interfaces that are best suited for a subset of tasks. I (more of a white collar worker type) work in front of a computer for 8 to 12 hours in any given day, and touch would only make it more tiring. There are other tasks where having to sit at a desk and use a keyboard and mouse would be more of a hinderance. Trying to make them the same is the mistake that Microsoft has made, just a different direction to an extent.
What is a natural interface? Speech would be one -- but before it is any good you really have to have a computer that is rather intelligent and learn the context of the information that you are trying to communicate. Speech can be more of a hinderance if the computer is basically a moron. When you talk to a co-worker you know the context around what you are communicating so you don't have to tell them the all the details or give explicit commands. If the context is not understand then you end up speaking volumes where a couple of words should do. The second "natural" interface is thought, and like the first it likely is far out into the future where we can augment ourselves with computers that we can communicate with using thought (it would still need artificial intelligence - you don't want a thought buddy that is a moron). Obviously that is significantly far off right now as to hard to work towards - but it is something that has to be budgeted in R&D budgets for the foreseeable future.
iPad while a beautiful device, still is limited in many ways. Even those people that do the majority of their work on them -- still often have need for something more on many occasions. Computers right now are going in different directions which fill different needs, and not one solution will solve everything. I work on systems where we don't have just one UI, we have multiple.... each may have access to the same data but each is optimized for specific tasks that is needed to be done. Trying to force every user to be the same regardless of what they are doing is often a huge mistake and more of a hinderance to all than a help to all.
For those that are just browsing the web, doing some editing in Word, email and chatting online along with social media... either can for the most part do each.
For those that are using their computers for other entertainment, or those that have huge monitors (like I do) it is more than an arms length away and I don't want to have to get up or lean forward just to navigate.... never mind having to cut and paste which is still a massive pain under iOS.
What is the task that this iOS desktop device going to solve, how will it bridge now until then.
how long bf they swap out the intel chip in the macbook to an arm processor?
dropping in two A10X chips would make it a powerhouse and likely be cheaper than the single intel chip.
arm compatible apps wouldn't necessarily be a problem. apple could help recompile existing apps to work on arm chips. even just converting MSFT Office, Safari, and iTunes will cover 90% of what people do with MacBooks anyways.
You'd lose the ability to emulate Windows at a decent speed, which was a major factor in helping Windows switchers since 2006. Even though most switchers stop emulating Windows after a few months, knowing it's there if they need it helps a lot. There are also a fair number of die hard Windows users that use their Macs as a Windows machine, and that, too would go away. Even if Microsoft was magnanimous enough to compile Windows to the A chips ala RT, most Windows Apps are still x86 binaries.
That all said, binary translation is possible (like Rosetta stone), and it would be interesting if Apple had their own CPUs. Then we wouldn't have a decade of SkyLake let downs and wouldn't be stuck with HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.2. And I still feel Apple switching away from x86 is more a question of when than if.
The folks that run Windows alongside OSX (or not), probably would be opting for an MBP, not a MacBook.
You'd lose the ability to emulate Windows at a decent speed, which was a major factor in helping Windows switchers since 2006. Even though most switchers stop emulating Windows after a few months, knowing it's there if they need it helps a lot. There are also a fair number of die hard Windows users that use their Macs as a Windows machine, and that, too would go away. Even if Microsoft was magnanimous enough to compile Windows to the A chips ala RT, most Windows Apps are still x86 binaries.
That all said, binary translation is possible (like Rosetta stone), and it would be interesting if Apple had their own CPUs. Then we wouldn't have a decade of SkyLake let downs and wouldn't be stuck with HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.2. And I still feel Apple switching away from x86 is more a question of when than if.
The folks that run Windows alongside OSX (or not), probably would be opting for an MBP, not a MacBook.
Well, I actually run VMWare Fusion with Fedora Linux and an Oracle database server running on it and it works quite well running my queries against my test database.... but yes, if Macbook went ARM you would have to move up to the next level regardless of your other requirements.
The folks that run Windows alongside OSX (or not), probably would be opting for an MBP, not a MacBook.
Well, I actually run VMWare Fusion with Fedora Linux and an Oracle database server running on it and it works quite well running my queries against my test database.... but yes, if Macbook went ARM you would have to move up to the next level regardless of your other requirements.
It's probable the pro would be closer in size to the old Macbooks anyway (in the future), so your not losing much portability (though it will undoubtedly cost you more than the ARM Macbooks).
Comments
What is a natural interface? Speech would be one -- but before it is any good you really have to have a computer that is rather intelligent and learn the context of the information that you are trying to communicate. Speech can be more of a hinderance if the computer is basically a moron. When you talk to a co-worker you know the context around what you are communicating so you don't have to tell them the all the details or give explicit commands. If the context is not understand then you end up speaking volumes where a couple of words should do. The second "natural" interface is thought, and like the first it likely is far out into the future where we can augment ourselves with computers that we can communicate with using thought (it would still need artificial intelligence - you don't want a thought buddy that is a moron). Obviously that is significantly far off right now as to hard to work towards - but it is something that has to be budgeted in R&D budgets for the foreseeable future.
iPad while a beautiful device, still is limited in many ways. Even those people that do the majority of their work on them -- still often have need for something more on many occasions. Computers right now are going in different directions which fill different needs, and not one solution will solve everything. I work on systems where we don't have just one UI, we have multiple.... each may have access to the same data but each is optimized for specific tasks that is needed to be done. Trying to force every user to be the same regardless of what they are doing is often a huge mistake and more of a hinderance to all than a help to all.
For those that are just browsing the web, doing some editing in Word, email and chatting online along with social media... either can for the most part do each.
For those that are using their computers for other entertainment, or those that have huge monitors (like I do) it is more than an arms length away and I don't want to have to get up or lean forward just to navigate.... never mind having to cut and paste which is still a massive pain under iOS.
What is the task that this iOS desktop device going to solve, how will it bridge now until then.
Well, I actually run VMWare Fusion with Fedora Linux and an Oracle database server running on it and it works quite well running my queries against my test database.... but yes, if Macbook went ARM you would have to move up to the next level regardless of your other requirements.
Does the originator of this rumor even know what a tape-out is?