“In fact, it seems highly likely that Apple’s iOS and OS X are bound to merge in some fascinating and (hopefully) useful ways,” Stein writes. “How so? Well, let us brainstorm for you. We can think of at least five. Realistically, there will probably be a period of about 5 to 10 years where iOS and OS X devices will grow closer and closer together, sharing features, until one evolutionary OS/system pops out in the end. My bet’s on ‘OS 11.'”
Five iOS features that could make their way into Macs:
• As a superior quick-start OS
• For touch-screen Macs to come
• A Mac App Store
• Connecting to TVs (Maybe the next Apple TV isn’t a product but a platform to include on all Macs?)
• To go greener/more energy efficient
• Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MrMcLargeHuge” for the heads up.]
Haha, currently OSX is at 10.6.x while 10.7 is just about to come to market.
5 to 10 years…. you think we shall have 11…. Seems more likely in 3 years.
iPhoneOSX came from OSX to start.
Merge? Why? Why anyone thinks this is required or dreams it to happen is beyond me.
Sure the iOS shall grow perhaps into a full system closer to that of OSX and that time shall tell.
I think it’s funny that people are predicting things in such a backwards manner.
Apple doesn’t look at their roadmap and say we need a 10.7, and then an OS 11. Apple like other developers, looks at what they could do with their OS and maps out the fixes, tweaks and new features that they will put into the next release or push out. At some point a whole new approach will come out, or major overhaul to a main component and they’ll look at that as a major upgrade…which marketing will then decide to name.
So before thinking OS 11 or whatever it will be called, will come after 10.6 or 10.7, and at what time that would be, you’d need to predict what major overhaul to the OS Apple would actually do.
When you have a lull with Apple products, you know they’re not forgetting it but secretly working hard to up the ante with something astounding. People may say the Mac is dead, but it is really evolving. It is an evolutionary lineage following the original NeXT. I bet the next generation of Macs will be fully touch integrated with the multi-functional large glass trackpad that we did not see in this year’s WWDC and the first KEYLESS keyboard.
Or, as Steve Jobs replied to the quote of the “fake SJ” message about the imminent demise of Mac:
“Completely wrong. Just wait.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself…
I believe that Multitasking in the way iOS handle it could be a great benefit for the Mac OS X. Also folders (auto creation and auto naming).
@iMac Berlin
Of course not. That’s why those touchscreen Macs will have a different screen angle…
5 to 10 years? Is he drunk? I’d say 2 to 3 years, tops.
When you have a lull with Apple products, you know they’re not forgetting it but secretly working hard to up the ante with something astounding. People may say the Mac is dead, but it is really just going through radical evolving. It is an evolutionary lineage following the original NeXT. But the Mac is hw+sw, just like you cannot separate iOS from the iPhone. I bet the next generation (v10.7 or 11) of Macs will be fully touch integrated with the multi-functional large glass trackpad that we did not see in this year’s WWDC – plus the first KEYLESS keyboard.
My vote:
FTFF
iOS and OSX can live happily together via a front row like interface.
been saying it for ages now.
scale the iPad to 15″ and you have BOBW
basically becomes a mini iMac (BT KB if you need it)
just thoughts
Catch this puck:
The “future” is one “truck” per household. That truck, running OS11, will allow you to sit at the desktop and run your legacy programs (when you need to), but more importantly, it will serve virtual desktops to multiple mobile devices. So, the six people who live in my house will each have their own multitouch devices that can simultaneously access their own virtual desktop simultaneously accessing all the desktop programs they need. Of course, they can also run all the apps they have saved on their mobile devices.
The more I think about it, the more I feel Steve told us this at D8.
I don’t think Macs will ever have a touch screen, even if iOS and Mac OS X become more “merged” over time. iPhone (and iPod touch) at 3.5 inches and iPad at 10 inches are great with the touch-based interface. It will probably work fine at about 12 inches too, as long as you can keep the weight of the device to something like the current iPad’s weight.
However, if you get any larger than that size, the usability will suffer (even if it’s not meant to be held and weight is not a consideration). Why? Because the user will need to make larger human-energy intensive movements to control the interface. The user will need to hold their arms, hands, and fingers in awkward positions. The user’s arms, hands, and fingers will block the view to portions of the screen, while using the interface. You’ll leave fingerprints all over a large screen.
These things are not a major problem when the screen is 3.5 inches or 10 inches. It does not take too much movement to touch all parts of the screen, and you can quickly and easily move your hand and fingers out of the way after a “gesture.” And wiping off the finger smudges is not too much of a chore. But at 15 inches and larger…?
The best interface for a computer with a larger display is what we have now, a keyboard with mouse or trackpad or other mouse-equivalent. They require only minimal and efficient movement from the user. They do not make the user block part of the screen while using the interface. The screen stays clean (except for some dust). So the Mac’s on-screen GUI will continue to evolve over time, but I don’t think the means to interact with the GUI will change too much from what we have now. That is, until Apple invents some type of direct mind interface.
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I want to do 1920x1080p 3D editing in the future. Talk about insainely great? Then check out the Panasonic 3d plasma demos. Like the Rome demo. You have to expirience it, to really know how good it is. What’s this got to do with the mac? Everything. Because the future is NOT 1920×1080. It’s 1920×1080 3d. I don’t blame people who HAVEN’T seen the demos, who may think it’s not the future. Now…can I do 1920×1080 3d editing on the i-Phone, or i-Pad? Why would I?
@ken1w
You must be an accountant or anything else than a graphics artist to come with those comments. Reminds me of what many people were saying about the use of mice ( and a graphical GUI) ” nobody will ever want to use it for serious work…”
Of course a touch screen is a good thing. Who said anything about replacing all other controls? You use it whenever it suits your need. If a mouse, tablet keyboard etc fits a certain task better then fine, but being able to directly control what’s on the screen is definitely the best way of interaction in many cases.
@ Rockfixer
> You must be an accountant or anything else than a graphics artist
LOL. I think “or anything else than a graphics artist” accounts for a very large percentage of Mac users. You don’t have to be a “graphics artist” to be a Mac user these days…
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Besides, graphics artists already have their specialized devices. For example
http://www.wacom.com/cintiq/cintiq-21ux.php
It is a precision input device that uses a stylus (“pen”). That’s what they need, not an imprecise touch screen with a “fat” finger tip. It would be like telling a skilled graphics artist to finger paint for a living.
Apple is focused on usability. Usability on a touch-screen device will suffer, if the screen becomes larger than about 12 inches for exactly the reasons I mentioned. If you’re going to have a touch screen AND still have a need for mouse and keyboard, that’s the sort of compromise Apple does not like to make. Therefore, I don’t think Apple will make such products.
iOS has the touch-based GUI for mobile hand-held computers with smaller screens. Mac OS X has the keyboard and mouse-equivalent -based GUI for computers with larger displays. Pretty simple.
I hope we never see the day a “Mac App Store” arrives. Especially if it carries the same restrictions and rules as the iOS app store…
I just want the “face time” on my iphone to work with my ichat video so I can have the two work together–anybody know if that will happen?
Some of these don’t even make sense for Mac OS – isn’t a “quick start” OS really just an OS that you put to sleep? So does that mean that they’ll have sleep be the default option instead of shut down? And as someone pointed out earlier, wouldn’t a touch mouse be better for the Mac than a touch screen? Other than that, Macs already can connect to TVs – I saw it the other night.