Speaking of which, Apple could probably support Mac apps on modern iPhones if you plug it into an external monitor. I assume they aren't doing it because it would cannibalize their laptop market.
This is why I love Samsung for DEX. It's not perfect but it's actually fairly usable when travelling. Can even use it wirelessly with a compatible display (which sometimes hotel TVs are).
I'm very excited for stuff like smart glasses ever single Glass, meta's new stuff is awesome in terms of slimming things down but the real excitement is the wristband for input. Looks like we'll be solving the display/input problems soon enough.
They seemed resistant to the idea of a compute puck but I honestly think that's fine. I'd rather have a phone in my pocket that can be used for compute than bulkier glasses, though it is nice if future glasses can do very basic tasks unaided.
I hope that pretty soon I won't even need a laptop for out of hours tasks (but would still use one for the standard work day most likely).
Desktop apps already survive standby, so CPU usage shouldn't be a problem. And if automatically killing Mac apps, to free up memory, isn't an option, they could add a permanent notification which says "Mac App XYZ still consumes a lot of memory, tap here to close." Or they move the offending Mac app from RAM to temporary SSD storage as long as the phone isn't plugged into a monitor.
Knowing Apple, they'll never allow a use case where you have to restart your Vision Pro or iPad to get it into Mac mode, most assuredly losing cellular access in the mean time.
Apple is already offering apps that work on all devices on their stores. Look at every single Apple Arcade release as an example. That's their vision; every device has a specific UI, but apps can run on all of them separately.
> Knowing Apple, they'll never allow a use case where you have to restart your Vision Pro or iPad to get it into Mac mode, most assuredly losing cellular access in the mean time.
They likely have enough talented developers to make iOS run Mac apps natively. But I assume they neither want to cannibalize their laptop market nor want to let people circumvent the 30% fee for the iOS App Store, which is not required for Mac software.
Well, it would obviously result in fewer Mac sales. Because people could use their iPhone (or iPad, or Vision Pro) as a Mac. So it would be good for iPhone owners, who don't need to buy a Mac, but bad for Apple.
>90% of actual or potential Mac users likely have an iPhone. If a substantial fraction of them can replace their Mac with the iPhone they already have, the negative impact on the Mac market would be huge.
Not probably, definitely. Nobody wants that of course because it would mean hiring real developers over friends/family.
A19 pro is already faster than modern desktop chips let alone something from a few years ago. Almost all their mac software was designed for much more modest machines.
It would also be slow, not because the chip is slow but because if you do serious things with it it’s going to thermal throttle. Laptops have way better heat dissipation.
Most people put phones in cases which makes heat dissipation much worse.
Sure but just for browsing, checking some e-mails, a bit of YouTube or other media consumption, you know what 90% of people use their macbook for 99% of the time, it would be fine.
Nobody is saying you should be able to render some 3d models on an iPhone..
Is that really true. Do non-serious computer users still buy laptops?
What I see is that non-serious users who only communicate and consume content use phones and tablets. Laptops and desktops are for work, non-trivial content creation, and serious gaming with high memory and GPU requirements. You’re not running “cargo build” or a VM with Docker or Cyberpunk 2077 on a phone.
Higher end phones almost have enough CPU but not enough GPU, RAM, storage, or heat dissipation.
But that's mostly email, SaaS, web meetings, and spreadsheets. Most people have never in their lives run "cargo build" or launched Cyberpunk 2077. The actual market for sustained high local CPU/GPU compute is pretty small compared to the market for minimal load with the occasional small burst, and the latter works pretty well with poor cooling solutions.
Modern iPhones can even run modern games like Resident Evil 4 Remake from battery. Which suggests thermal throttle won't be a problem for most ordinary Mac applications.
Probably yes. Essentially all of those are the same: Apple TVs, iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and desktop computers. Slightly different version of Apple Silicon in different casing and different OS (or UI?).
This is why I love Samsung for DEX. It's not perfect but it's actually fairly usable when travelling. Can even use it wirelessly with a compatible display (which sometimes hotel TVs are).
I'm very excited for stuff like smart glasses ever single Glass, meta's new stuff is awesome in terms of slimming things down but the real excitement is the wristband for input. Looks like we'll be solving the display/input problems soon enough.
They seemed resistant to the idea of a compute puck but I honestly think that's fine. I'd rather have a phone in my pocket that can be used for compute than bulkier glasses, though it is nice if future glasses can do very basic tasks unaided.
I hope that pretty soon I won't even need a laptop for out of hours tasks (but would still use one for the standard work day most likely).
They could theoretically, but the thing is the Mac, despite what you read on here, has a ton of legacy libraries that are not used on iOS.
I think the bigger problem would be that desktop programs aren’t designed with iOS-style suspension and process-killing in mind.
Desktop apps already survive standby, so CPU usage shouldn't be a problem. And if automatically killing Mac apps, to free up memory, isn't an option, they could add a permanent notification which says "Mac App XYZ still consumes a lot of memory, tap here to close." Or they move the offending Mac app from RAM to temporary SSD storage as long as the phone isn't plugged into a monitor.
So what? Compatibility means a big install? The kernel is too stripped down to patch? In what way could "it needs libraries" be a real blocker?
Knowing Apple, they'll never allow a use case where you have to restart your Vision Pro or iPad to get it into Mac mode, most assuredly losing cellular access in the mean time.
Apple is already offering apps that work on all devices on their stores. Look at every single Apple Arcade release as an example. That's their vision; every device has a specific UI, but apps can run on all of them separately.
> Knowing Apple, they'll never allow a use case where you have to restart your Vision Pro or iPad to get it into Mac mode, most assuredly losing cellular access in the mean time.
They likely have enough talented developers to make iOS run Mac apps natively. But I assume they neither want to cannibalize their laptop market nor want to let people circumvent the 30% fee for the iOS App Store, which is not required for Mac software.
> They likely have enough talented developers to make iOS run Mac apps natively
I’m struggling to see this amount of work translate into more sales or a better experience for more than a token number of customers.
Well, it would obviously result in fewer Mac sales. Because people could use their iPhone (or iPad, or Vision Pro) as a Mac. So it would be good for iPhone owners, who don't need to buy a Mac, but bad for Apple.
> it would obviously result in fewer Mac sales
I’m super doubtful it would be that impactful. Also, switching Mac sales to Vision Pro sales probably works well for Apple in the long run.
>90% of actual or potential Mac users likely have an iPhone. If a substantial fraction of them can replace their Mac with the iPhone they already have, the negative impact on the Mac market would be huge.
Someone has been experimenting with running macOS on iPhone: https://x.com/khanhduytran0/status/1956681961126183186
Not probably, definitely. Nobody wants that of course because it would mean hiring real developers over friends/family. A19 pro is already faster than modern desktop chips let alone something from a few years ago. Almost all their mac software was designed for much more modest machines.
The fast-ness of the CPU is not the only problem. The rest of the hardware of the phone is designed to be a phone, not a Mac.
The battery will discharge faster than it charges, the flash storage will wear out, etc etc.
It would also be slow, not because the chip is slow but because if you do serious things with it it’s going to thermal throttle. Laptops have way better heat dissipation.
Most people put phones in cases which makes heat dissipation much worse.
Sure but just for browsing, checking some e-mails, a bit of YouTube or other media consumption, you know what 90% of people use their macbook for 99% of the time, it would be fine.
Nobody is saying you should be able to render some 3d models on an iPhone..
Is that really true. Do non-serious computer users still buy laptops?
What I see is that non-serious users who only communicate and consume content use phones and tablets. Laptops and desktops are for work, non-trivial content creation, and serious gaming with high memory and GPU requirements. You’re not running “cargo build” or a VM with Docker or Cyberpunk 2077 on a phone.
Higher end phones almost have enough CPU but not enough GPU, RAM, storage, or heat dissipation.
>Laptops and desktops are for work,
But that's mostly email, SaaS, web meetings, and spreadsheets. Most people have never in their lives run "cargo build" or launched Cyberpunk 2077. The actual market for sustained high local CPU/GPU compute is pretty small compared to the market for minimal load with the occasional small burst, and the latter works pretty well with poor cooling solutions.
Modern iPhones can even run modern games like Resident Evil 4 Remake from battery. Which suggests thermal throttle won't be a problem for most ordinary Mac applications.
Probably yes. Essentially all of those are the same: Apple TVs, iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and desktop computers. Slightly different version of Apple Silicon in different casing and different OS (or UI?).