“International Business Machines Corp’s IBM MobileFirst for iOS and cloud-based solutions continues to win airline customers,” Zacks Equity Research writes. “Recently, IBM collaborated with Japan Airlines (JAL) to jointly develop an improved aircraft maintenance solution based on its MobileFirst for iOS platform.”
“By using IBM MobileFirst on Apple’s AAPL iPad Pro and iPhone aircraft engineers can easily access tools and processes that speed up aircraft maintenance process,” Zacks writes. “Recently, Finland’s largest airline Finnair entered into an agreement with the company to use Mobile at Scale for iOS, which allows clients to deploy multiple iOS apps over a multi-year period.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The state of iOS in the enterprise is very strong and macOS is gathering strength.
SEE ALSO:
IBM and Apple bring Watson into the iOS enterprise – October 26, 2016
The debate is over: IBM confirms that Apple Macs are $535 less expensive than Windows PCs – October 20, 2016
Apple Inc., the enterprise IT company – December 15, 2015
IBM: Every Mac we buy is making and saving us money – October 28, 2015
Now we know why IT support hates Macs (hint: Windows PCs = job security) – October 19, 2015
IBM: Corporate Mac users need less IT support than those stuck on Windows – October 18, 2015
Just 5% of Mac users at IBM need help desk support vs. 40% of Windows PC sufferers – October 15, 2015
With Microsoft’s push of the Surface Hub, future MobileFirst efforts may have difficulties if there is no plan to be compatible with it.
Glad to hear iOS is making some inroads into business, keep the PC OEMs on their toes.
Add to that Microsoft’s announcement to deliver Windows 10 on ARM. It’s a game changer. IPad level portability, connectivity and battery life at bargain winblows prices. People are going to ask: why use iOS work around, when we can use our Win32 x86 apps on a mobile PC.
That is something I really truly hoped Apple would do. Imagine a macPad running iOS emulating x86 maxOS apps!!!!!! The Humanity!!!
C’mon Apple, Make It Happen!!!!!
Please!!!!!!
Microsoft makes lots of announcements. Remember Windows RT?
If you want an OS that truly runs well on ARM, then you should stick with iOS and Apple’s evolved and superior implementations of ARM CPUs/SOCs. iOS is evolving as well and the links between iOS and MacOS are growing stronger.
If you want to go Windows, then fine. But you need better reasons than a nascent Surface Hub and a vaporware commitment to Windows on ARM. I have watched Microsoft issue many promises over the years…few have borne any fruit, and that was mostly shriveled and rotten.
I would have to agree about MS’s past, but with their current leadership you can’t discount them. As they say with stocks, past performance is not an indicator of future growth.
Perhaps…
But I certainly incorporate past performance into my evaluation. Replacing a few people at the top will not necessarily produce radical (or rapid) change in a large organization. It can…but the significantly positive outcomes are rather rate, and the process can take many years.
In summary, you may be right, but I see no evidence that would lead me to jump on the Microsoft bandwagon. Along similar lines, I have a long and mostly satisfying history with Apple and I am unwilling to ditch that relationship simply because Apple has not “thrilled” me lately and doomsayers are predicting near-term catastrophe.
Given the histories of Apple and Microsoft as well as the current situations of the two companies, the decision is very straightforward for me. Some may consider me close-minded or a brainwashed lemming/fanboy. But they don’t know me, so their opinions have no validity. In fact, I carefully consider the pros and cons of every important decision in my life. I also place a lot of stock on loyalty…it takes time to earn my loyalty and, once earned, I do not forsake it lightly. Unlike Microsoft, Apple has earned my loyalty.
I understand change is not immediate, it’s been almost 3yrs since Nadella took over from Ballmer and Microsoft has been improving pretty much all the way. If he had just taken over a year ago I would be more skeptical of Microsoft’s future success as you.
I don’t expect anyone to jump on the MS bandwagon given that most of us old timers have grown up with their rise and fall but things do look to be much better in MS land. I’m just saying they can’t be discounted as during the Ballmer ‘era’.
As long as you keep considering your choices you’re good IMO. No two people have the exact same needs or expectations from the companies they purchase products from. If Apple fits your requirements that’s great.
Three years is not that long. I get your message, but I am not ready to buy into it yet. Darts Vader does not turn from the dark side that quickly, regardless of the events in Episode Vi.
They are already testing new laptops with ARM running Windows 10. I have used Windows 10 mobile devices and I can tell you your thoughts on how well Windows 10 runs on ARM is just way off. It runs quite well and battery life is much better than on iOS. Maybe people shouldn’t equate Microsoft today with Microsoft of the past!
Perhaps…
If you have actually had your hands on a Windows 10 mobile device running on an ARM CPU, then your comment would have more credibility. Are you one of the people testing the new ARM-based laptops?
I performed a quick web search, but did not spot any shipping mobile devices running Windows 10 on ARM – they are almost all running a variety of SnapDragon. If such ARM-based Windows 10 devices are out there in the wild, then they are either test units or very new product releases.
See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Windows_10_Mobile_devices
Microsoft or one of its OS licensees may end up shipping an ARM-based laptop first. But do not forget the lessons offered by WindowsRT and the rest of Microsoft’s history. In contrast, Apple has successfully negotiated two Mac CPU transitions – Motorola to PPC and PPC to Intel – and Apple has by far the most extensive commercial mobile device history with ARM. Apple designs their high-performing, custom ARM-based SoCs, and my bet is that Apple will offer the first fully functional ARM-based laptop.
I will admit that Apple has show a bit of weakness lately. But I am not one to turn with the vagaries of the breeze. Until someone else demonstrates that they can consistently match Apple in the innovation and product design game, then claims to the contrary are just empty talk.
Aren’t Snapdragon Processors ARM based? Simply clicking on any one of the Snapdragon numbers in the Wikipedia page you posted shows the specs for that processor and clearly mentions ARM under the CPU section.
Dude, snapdragon is ARM and Windows 10 mobile is running on that. So yes you can experience Windows 10 on ARM and if you weren’t aware Windows 10 is the same whether on ARM or intel. The new announcement is about being able to run x86 apps on ARM devices. They have already ported Windows to ARM years ago and Windows Phone and WinRT is full proof.
“…how well Windows 10 runs on ARM is just way off.”
And so is your assertion. Since Windows 10 blows severely anyway, you just severely damned MS with faint praise.
lol. I was thinking the same thing about his post. Even if Windows 10 on ARM performs much better than the crap I would expect, that does not necessarily make it even acceptable, much less good/excellent!
But Microsoft does succeed now and then, even if it takes many years and many iterations. Nothing is impossible, even Windows running well (on anything).
I think for low-end ARM based Win10 devices they will be competing against the Macbook and iPads for ‘light’ use consumers. (e.g. email, facebook, some browsing) For the price of a cheap netbook you might not be able to run ‘heavy’ programs but may just be acceptable enough for the user’s needs.
That’s an intellectual response. Thanks for wasting our time!
Windows on ARM is going to take time… if it even amounts to anything. Apps are going to have to be redesigned as well as recoded in order to work well on ARM based mobile devices. (It is NOT in any way, shape, or form just a recompile and rebuild!)
The same issue will happen if, or when, Apple decides to try to put macOS (or an iOS macOS equivalent) across all devices. An ARM based MacBook is a huge endeavor. Getting apps designed for Intel based Macs on iOS devices is no trivial thing (and emulation will truly suck for years to come).
The ARM transition is much less of a challenge for Apple than for Microsoft. First, Apple has transitioned across CPUs on the Mac before — twice before. Second, Apple has already sold 1 billion plus ARM-based mobile computers running iOS. And iOS is forked from macOS (aka OS X), so Apple has a huge head start in terms of the OS and the app developer environment and tools. Third, Apple designs its own ARM-based SoCs offering superior performance that already rivals the low-end Intel laptop processors in terms of number crunching and substantial graphics performance, as well. I believe that the next generation A11 processor will be the basis for A-series based Macs, both desktops and laptops. There can be little (no) doubt that Apple has been exploring opportunities for ARM-based Macs for years. Not only would it put Apple in complete control of a critical technology (remember Steve’s statements on this topic?), but it will reduce component cost, improve performance per watt, and, eventually, improve overall performance relative to Intel’s plateauing Core processor series. The integrated graphics on the A-series SoCs will exceed that of Integrated Intel offerings and will also likely best many stand-alone graphics card options for “real” laptops. Note that I am not including the giant power-hog portables packed with lots of fans that last for only 30-45 minutes even with a big, heavy battery. Those portable workstations are a niche market and not true laptops.
Windows was ported to ARM years ago folks, get with the times! The announcement only relates to letting x86 apps on Windows for ARM. Windows Phone is ARM and WinRT was ARM. This has nothing to do with porting to ARM, that was done with Windows 8!
The major way Windows and Android are different from iOS is that they both have a layer between the ‘main’ part of the OS and the hardware. This is an advantage in that it really does make the OS very portable across various HW platforms with very little recoding/recompiling. The disadvantage is that it IS a layer and will be slower in some areas than an OS designed specifically for a single or very small number of possible HW platforms like iOS or macOS. I submit that for Apple to redo macOS for ARM is magnitudes more difficult than for Android or Windows to be ported to a new processor.
No they won’t, the announcement was that x86 apps will run natively on ARM through emulation. And from what I hear they run very well!
Apple will not port MacOS to ARM because they already have an ARM os in ios. If anything they will ditch MacOS and go fully ios!
Perhaps…time will tell.
Agreed, but with Microsoft Hub expecting to sell close to 100,000 units by the end of the year at $9k-$22k each to Enterprise customers, I think it should be seriously considered if iOS is going to succeed in those same companies.
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/12/microsofts-surface-hub-sales-surprisingly-strong-its-a-huge-hardware-hit/
Same old Microsoft as far as I can tell. Inflated claims, “commissioned” research with some vague claims, and a lot of hype about a product that might hit $1B in sales annually. If it transforms the business world and ends up selling a lot of Surface tablets and such, then good for Microsoft. But this could just as easily become the modern version of Microsoft’s Big A$$ Surface Table of the early 2000s — you know, the console-size tablet with antiquated technology that you can still see on the reboot of Hawaii Five-O.
Yes, I noted the “Update” in the article in my calculation. Elsewhere in the same article you will notice that they also claim an average of 50 Surface Hub units for each of the 2000 expected Enterprise clients’ installations.
I think that Surface Table got miniaturized to the current Surface Studio (since it use the ‘Dial”) and the Hub is a different but related animal.
I don’t think that Apple feels any pressure to be compatible with Surface Hub at this point…and probably never will given Microsoft’s track record.
I guess time will tell. I don’t see Apple really feeling pressure since it really doesn’t affect their non-Enterprise sales. But if they are serious about the Enterprise it will be something they at least have to keep an eye on since other Surface devices will more than likely be very well in tune with the Hub.
To give a possible example, I can see a future where classrooms will have a Hub as their ‘blackboard’, the students using Surface tablets/laptops, and the teacher having a Surface Studio to run lessons off of. Since they all use the same OS it would easily be possible to collaborate and enrich the classroom environment and maybe even link classrooms that are far separated.
Apple story, but the microsoft social media FUD squad continues to dominate comments on this site.
Lot of Microsoft loving going on around this forum lately. I wonder how much of it is from youngsters that either discount Microsoft’s history too much, or are unaware of its history entirely. I have good reason to maintain a healthy skepticism and disdain of Microsoft. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe that same attitude will eventually get Apple in trouble. But seemingly minor “victories” by Microsoft are being hyped and hailed as momentous breakthroughs.
Admit, if Apple has produced a similar iPad Hub, there would be jeers, ridicule, and Ho-hum “Apple has lost it” commentary across the Internet (and on this forum).
Take your small victories where you may, but do not expect one small achievement for a niche market to turn into a trifecta or something.
I don’t see any love here, just plain facts of the matter. And I believe Apple is becoming a slow giant that can’t disrupt itself for revenue reasons and is playing safe. Not to mention how proprietary everything is for them. You were probably one of those that complained about the days Microsoft was so proprietary. And things change so to hold Microsoft to some decades old history is nieve and we shouldn’t discount some of their breakthroughs like HoloLens and the research arm they have! I see people still complaining about their past all the time and I see a much different company today. I follow any and all tech and Microsoft is far from their troubled past and maybe competition made that happen, but either way its a good thing for tech even if it hurts Apple at some point, they will have to respond in their way and will probably be better for tech too! Competition is king, not one company!