“This week Apple plans to introduce new Macs to an aging lineup and the invitation to the October 27th event was a simple ‘Hello Again’ card; white text, black background, partially covered Apple logo,” Wil Gomez writes for Mac360. “The original Mac was introduced with a simple ‘hello’ written in cursive, way back in 1984. ‘Hello Again?’ It’s new Macs. But maybe something else. Perhaps a Mac with it’s own CPU inside instead of chips from Intel.”
“Let’s think thinner, faster, lighter for the MacBook Pro plus some kind of Magic Toolbar with Touch ID built-in, perhaps a speed bump for the iMac, maybe even some USB-C ports in the old MacBook Air and a lower price tag,” Gomez writes. “What else could come from Apple’s ‘Hello Again‘ show? ARM-based Apple A10 Fusion-like CPUs in the MacBook Air and the Mac mini.”
Gomez writes, “This would be a great way to introduce a far less expensive Mac line without devaluing the the value of the more capable MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, or Mac Pro, all of which can be made faster with new Intel CPUs inside.”
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote just after Apple’s invitation was delivered, “The use of ‘hello’ by Apple (previously used to introduce the original Mac, the original iMac, and the iPhone) is significant and signals that this is more than a typical Mac event.”
Now, does it make more sense to be smearing your fingers around on your notebook’s screen or on a spacious trackpad (built-in or on your desk) that’s designed specifically and solely to be touched? Apple thinks things through much more than do other companies. The iPhone’s and iPad’s screens have to be touched; that’s all they has available. A MacBook’s screen doesn’t not have to be touched in order to offer Multi-Touch. There is a better way: Apple’s way. And, no Gorilla Arm, either.
The only computers using Multi-Touch properly, using device-appropriate Multi-Touch input areas are Macintosh personal computers from Apple that run OS X (and Linux and can even slum it with Windows, if need be) and iOS even more personal computers (EMPCs), namely: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and iPad mini.
Note that none of this bars a “MacPad” from production. Any iOS-based iPad would become a high quality display (possibly still “touchable,” but likely not due to the reasoning stated above) when docked into a “MacBook” (running OS X, and providing keyboard, trackpad, processor, etcetera). Such a convertible device would negate having to carry both an iPad (car) and a MacBook (truck) around. They’d be one thing, but able to be separated into two, each providing the best capabilities of their respective form factors. — MacDailyNews, May 4, 2013
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Think code convergence (more so than today) with UI modifications per device. A unified underlying codebase for Intel, Apple A-series, and, in Apple’s labs, likely other chips, too (just in case). This would allow for a single App Store for Mac, iPhone, and iPad users that features a mix of apps: Some that are touch-only, some that are Mac-only, and some that are universal (can run on both traditional notebooks and desktops as well as on multi-touch computers like iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and – pretty please, Apple – Apple TV). Don’t be surprised to see Apple A-series-powered Macs, either. — MacDailyNews Take, January 9, 2014
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Anyone in the market for a 12.9-inch device that’s an OS X-powered MacBook when docked with its keyboard base and an iOS-powered iPad when undocked?
Illustration from Apple’s hybrid Mac-iPad patent application
