all iPads can now place and receive telephone calls, and some iPads have LTE!
No they can't. Just like a PC or a Mac they can use chat apps like Skype or FaceTime, but they can't make phone calls or send SMS messages to non-Apple users like Android or feature phones. If you add a SIM card to some models of iPad, that only enables internet connectivity like a 4G or LTE modem for a PC - it still doesn't allow the iPad to make GSM phone calls or send SMS messages.
the devices' failure in the marketplace forced them to offer offline support and Android apps (which include but are not limited to other web browsers).
So as you yourself admit, Chromebooks run Android apps and web apps so have more in common with Android phones and tablets than desktop PCs - in other words, it does not run a desktop OS. So, by your logic ChromeBooks should not be categorised as PCs, but rather as Android mobile devices.
Whether Chromebooks can be hacked to run desktop Linux is irrelevant - that is not what they are designed or marketed to do.
Chrome OS devices generally run on 2 GB of RAM and lower end Intel processors?
And the iPad Pro has 4GB of RAM and has an A9x CPU that posts a Geekbench score of 5472 completely obliterating 2017 Chromebook scores of 990 to 3280. Your point is?
The iPad Pro ... would still lack monitor support
Actually, you can connect a big screen up to the iPad with HDMI and not only mirror, but also show different data on each screen.
No to all intents and purposes, the iPad is indeed a PC as analysts like Canalys acknowledge.
Typical of IDC to count Chrome Books (that run a web browser as an OS) and yet don't count Apple iPads (whose Average Selling Price is higher than that of PCs or ChromeBooks) in their numbers.
If IDC and Gartner did include iPads in their PC numbers (as Canalys and Barrons do), Apple would jump to the number 1 PC position worldwide with around 14 million unit sales last quarter.
And this is typical of Apple fans who only want a self-serving narrative with no regard to actual technology or consistency.
1. Why do Surface Books count as PCs while iPads do not? Because Surface Books run Windows 10 (or Windows 8) which is a PC OS. The iPad uses iOS which is a mobile OS. Making the Surface Book a PC device in a different form factor but the iPad a mobile device. Essentially Surface Book to Dell laptop = iPad to iPhone. The iPad and the iPhone both run iOS. Not only that, all iPads can now place and receive telephone calls, and some iPads have LTE! So is the iPad a phone? No. It is a mobile device in a different form factor. The same with the Surface Book. Running a PC OS makes it a PC.
This is called a straw man. Nobody has objected to surface books being counted. Or MS surface tablets either.
2. Chrome OS versus iPad: more of the same. First off, even if Chrome Books run a web browser as an OS, it is still a PC OS. For goodness sakes, most Chromebooks don't even have touchscreens. Also, Chrome desktop devices exist, as do dongles like the Chromebit. By contrast, no Chrome OS phones or tablets exist. Chrome OS is not a mobile operating system but rather a PC operating system designed for web and cloud applications.
It is not more of the same. ChromeOS is not a "PC" operating system as much as a Web Thin Client with local persistence storage.
Mobile OS for mobile devices. Finally, with Chrome OS, the operating system is not a web browser. Google would like you to believe that. Or at least they DID want you to believe that in the past, until the devices' failure in the marketplace forced them to offer offline support and Android apps (which include but are not limited to other web browsers). "Chrome OS" is merely marketing, as the OS for Chrome OS devices is actually Debian Linux - similar to Ubuntu - with desktop environments such as GNOME, KDE, MATE (or soon to be dead Unity) replaced with Google's desktop environment.
And iOS is simply MacOS under the hood. The underlying kernel for CrOS is Linux but the typical Linux user land is abbreviated. In developer mode you can add more stuff via portage but CrOS sits between a minimalist system using BusyBox and a full fledged linux desktop distro like Ubuntu. And no, it's not Debian but Gentoo based.
So no, it's not positioned to be a linux OS and yes, it really is a very advanced web browser. I don't see that as a negative as a sometimes web developer...
It's a real shame about Unity. If desktop linux was ever going to be mainstream then Ubuntu + Unity was the most likely way to get there. IMHO they can't control GNOME development sufficiently to provide a very polished desktop experience but I guess Shuttleworth can't just keep hemorrhaging money on Unity, phones and tablets.
Apple Market share could be twice as large if they fixed issues like releasing new Macs every year (as with iOS devices and as Apple did in the past with Macs). Likewise, bringing Target Display Mode to all iMac computers and upgradable components, with standard connectors, mostly for RAM and SSD, but also for microprocessor and GPU. And last but not least, not charging 2 to 3 times more for the very same upgrade like RAM or SSD as compared to retailers like Amazon.
Do you have any evidence to back up this claim? How about evidence that people want to be able to change their own RAM, SSD, etc? Is there a reason why you have to bring this up on every thread about the Mac? Its not happening with the exception of maybe the new MacPro whenever that arrives so you might as well just stop. Go buy a PC which is also moving in that direction as well.
Even if true it's pretty meaningless in comparison to spending that engineering effort into things like a glucose monitor for the Apple Watch. It strikes me that Apple's strategy is to have the A team shuffle attention around on major product updates as opposed to creating a B teams responsible for an entire product line. Even with more money than many countries there are only so much A level talent around that prefers to work for Apple vs Tesla or Google.
all iPads can now place and receive telephone calls, and some iPads have LTE!
No they can't. Just like a PC or a Mac they can use chat apps like Skype or FaceTime, but they can't make phone calls or send SMS messages to non-Apple users like Android or feature phones. If you add a SIM card to some models of iPad, that only enables internet connectivity like a 4G or LTE modem for a PC - it still doesn't allow the iPad to make GSM phone calls or send SMS messages.
You clearly don't know what Apple allows for. My carrier T-mobile allows for Wi-Fi calling and supports Apples continuity features. With my iPhone completely turned off my iMac and MacBook Pro are completely able to send regular SMS text messages and place telephone calls to landlines. I was able to use the same feature when I had a Wi-Fi only iPad, however, I replaced it with a cellular 9.7" iPad Pro. The iPad Pro is like wise able to make phone and SMS texts on Wi-Fi or only LTE.
All I need is data access to make send and place phone calls and texts -- no limitations on who I can call or text.
You clearly don't know what Apple allows for. My carrier T-mobile allows for Wi-Fi calling and supports Apples continuity features. With my iPhone completely turned off my iMac and MacBook Pro are completely able to send regular SMS text messages and place telephone calls to landlines. I was able to use the same feature when I had a Wi-Fi only iPad, however, I replaced it with a cellular 9.7" iPad Pro. The iPad Pro is like wise able to make phone and SMS texts on Wi-Fi or only LTE.
All I need is data access to make send and place phone calls and texts -- no limitations on who I can call or text.
Fair enough - in special circumstances with certain carriers, iPads and Macs can do wifi calling. So one wonders what freeper's point is if even Macs can do this - it certainly is not an argument for an iPad not being a PC.
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No they can't. Just like a PC or a Mac they can use chat apps like Skype or FaceTime, but they can't make phone calls or send SMS messages to non-Apple users like Android or feature phones. If you add a SIM card to some models of iPad, that only enables internet connectivity like a 4G or LTE modem for a PC - it still doesn't allow the iPad to make GSM phone calls or send SMS messages.
So as you yourself admit, Chromebooks run Android apps and web apps so have more in common with Android phones and tablets than desktop PCs - in other words, it does not run a desktop OS. So, by your logic ChromeBooks should not be categorised as PCs, but rather as Android mobile devices.
Whether Chromebooks can be hacked to run desktop Linux is irrelevant - that is not what they are designed or marketed to do.
Plenty of hybrid PCs have touchscreens - are trying to argue that makes them mobile devices and not PCs?
And the iPad Pro has 4GB of RAM and has an A9x CPU that posts a Geekbench score of 5472 completely obliterating 2017 Chromebook scores of 990 to 3280. Your point is?
Actually, you can connect a big screen up to the iPad with HDMI and not only mirror, but also show different data on each screen.
No to all intents and purposes, the iPad is indeed a PC as analysts like Canalys acknowledge.
It is not more of the same. ChromeOS is not a "PC" operating system as much as a Web Thin Client with local persistence storage.
And iOS is simply MacOS under the hood. The underlying kernel for CrOS is Linux but the typical Linux user land is abbreviated. In developer mode you can add more stuff via portage but CrOS sits between a minimalist system using BusyBox and a full fledged linux desktop distro like Ubuntu. And no, it's not Debian but Gentoo based.
So no, it's not positioned to be a linux OS and yes, it really is a very advanced web browser. I don't see that as a negative as a sometimes web developer...
It's a real shame about Unity. If desktop linux was ever going to be mainstream then Ubuntu + Unity was the most likely way to get there. IMHO they can't control GNOME development sufficiently to provide a very polished desktop experience but I guess Shuttleworth can't just keep hemorrhaging money on Unity, phones and tablets.
Even if true it's pretty meaningless in comparison to spending that engineering effort into things like a glucose monitor for the Apple Watch. It strikes me that Apple's strategy is to have the A team shuffle attention around on major product updates as opposed to creating a B teams responsible for an entire product line. Even with more money than many countries there are only so much A level talent around that prefers to work for Apple vs Tesla or Google.
All I need is data access to make send and place phone calls and texts -- no limitations on who I can call or text.