avon b7

Those are extremely poor arguments IMO.

Tablets are tools like anything else in the digital sphere. They are also computers so they should be able to do anything a similarly sized standard laptop can do.

The days of tablets being incapable (in hardware terms) of achieving laptop-like productivity should be gone by now. 

Deliberately holding them back is doing them and underservice. Especially at the top end. 

There should be seamless integration between these devices and they should offer the same general functionality. 

That, ideally (and possibly inevitably) would require a single OS running on multiple devices with it simply being paired down to each device's strengths/weaknesses. 

Write once, run anywhere. One app with multiple deployment targets. 

Apple is already inching (but agonisingly slowly) towards convergence in certain areas and my guess is that that is the real goal at some point (including touchscreen Macs of course). 

If they want to keep tablets in a 'limited' role, just add a 'tablet' mode to the device.

Mac OS shipped with Simple Finder years ago. Tablets could have a similar mode and let users decide. Tablets already accommodate even more limited roles (with things like Kiosk Modes).

I can't see any decent reason why modern powerful tablets should be able to do far, far more than they currently do but they need the right apps and OS foundations. 

I definitely see no good reason why they should not be fully multiuser for example. 

Of course it would take a lot of engineering effort and probably require some serious reworking of the foundations but the competition isn't sitting still and is already moving in this direction. The foundations have been laid. 

IMO, that is probably the real reason Apple wants to temper the desire for 'macOS tablet' at the moment. They don't have the foundations ready. 

Are we really to believe these poor arguments and then see more and more 'macOS' features seep into 'iPadOS'?

I see convergence in spite of these claims that that isn't the goal. 

It's not for me visually. The glass idea maybe isn't bad per se but I've seen a few images that seem make it look like there isn't enough 'separation' between what's on top and below some interface options. Especially with text involved. It mixes everything up visually. Colours can clash too. 

The 'glass' dock looked OK but I think it's going to need a lot of work to get right. 

Marketing people will do marketing. Product people will defend their products. Companies will try 'silence' first, then 'spin' and only when there is no way out, will they open up about a failing (especially if it is a strategic error like in this case). 

There is no other race. Nor is there the notion of Apple racing with itself. 

Apple was behind and remains behind. 

With generative AI and Ai in general it literally doesn't matter if it is system-wide or in an app (or multiple apps). 

AI brings options to users. Exactly how that is done is irrelevant.

Gruber was absolutely correct with his comments and I can understand why Apple feels awkward about having an 'ally' be so blunt. 

The reality is that Apple can simply no longer ignore AI (the 'ML' WWDC) or promise major features (the 'AI' WWDC) and underdeliver them. 

If Apple weren't behind, they would have not had to mention any of this in interviews. A competitive product would already be shipping and it would have shipped around 2022/23.

In the same vein, Apple would have its own AI training and inference hardware rolled out across the board by now. 

In terms of systemwide AI (in the ML sense), that has been seeping into systems since 2017 with the first NPUs. 

Of course, it's all got better and faster since then and will continue to do so. 

Apple got very wrongfooted by all of this and we have watched things play out accordingly. 

I haven't seen the keynote yet but any improvement to file management for the user is a huge plus.

iPad got files wrong from a design perspective right out of the gate with it being impossible to even download things like email attachments locally. 

People could work around the virtual keyboard by adding a physical Bluetooth one easily enough but it took almost forever for improvements file management in general. In 2025 there is no reason to hold the experience back. 

At last things seem to be moving on the right direction and that's massively positive. 

Now for touchscreen laptops and full interoperability at a system level between macOS and iPad OS/iPhone. 

And preferably a 3:2 aspect ratio option. 

charlesn said:

I really wish Apple would release data on how many people are actually using its self-repair options. Would love to know what tiny fraction of 1% all of this "right to repair" legislation is designed to serve, although I'm sure the Radio Shack and Heathkit diaspora are thrilled with it. Gosh, maybe we should force Apple to provide the parts, tools and instructions so I can build my own iPhone? No surprise that the EU, which leads the world in tech regulation, badly lags the U.S. and Asia when it comes to tech manufacturing and innovation. 

The key here is to design for repair. When designs are easily repairable (remember, one of the requirements is to be able to use common tools for repair) more people will likely opt for repair instead of upgrading. 

Will Apple go back to standard screw options? 

If you tie this in with the Batteries Directive (user replaceable batteries), perhaps even more people will hang onto their phones for longer. 

Sealing phones with glue was always a highly debatable move. 

Phones only really need to be splashproof and Apple has never made waterproofing a warranty option. Nano coatings have been around for years. 

I believe making a phone for submerged use would allow it to get some exemptions (especially for battery requirements) but then Apple would have to warranty against water ingress. 

Perhaps even less than 1% of iPhones have ever been submerged in water for a prolonged period.

Personally, in the last 15 years I've only seen a person jump into a pool with his phone in his pocket. Submerged for less than two minutes. And one other case of a phone ending up in a washing machine. 

The EU requirements are perfectly reasonable for the goals they have in mind.