Yeah, I typed it: “Computer company.”
What are the HPs, the Lenovos, and the Dells of the world supposed to do now? (Apple is currently worth over 43 times Dell’s market value, by the way.)
As it stands currently, the Windows PC dreck cannot compete with Apple. Even when they were all stuck in steerage on the bad ship Intel, Apple retained the glaring macOS advantage. Now, with Apple about to run rings around the pretenders, laughing while expending half the battery power while doing so, the Wintel peddlers are SOL.
“Dude, you got a Dell? You poor bastard.”
😀
Apple’s Developer Transition Kit is an iPad packed into a Mac mini case, running an Apple A12 variant — not even an A13 — and yet Apple knows it’ll be plenty for developers to “make it so.” They’ll get their apps running well on an A12Z, this glorified iPad stamped with Mac branding, and when the first Macs with Apple’s custom silicon ship to the public by the end of the year, they’ll be packing A14-class SOCs.
We’ll have to bolt ’em down, lest they spontaneously take flight!
I can’t wait to see the benchmarks almost as much as I can’t wait to see the faces of the remaining Wintel boat anchor holdouts when they see the benchmarks!
Yes, this is going to be FUN! And fun, dear friends, is exactly what we need after the start of this wonderful year.
So – horn toot – over five years before the iPhone appeared, I predicted the iPhone. And, over five years before the Mac transitioned to Apple custom silicon, I predicted the Mac’s transition to Apple custom silicon.
Earlier this year, Strategy Analytics estimated that Apple Watch shipped 30.7 million units worldwide in 2019, jumping 36% from the previous year’s 22.5 million units, overtaking the entire Swiss Watch industry. Yeah, I predicted that, too, over five years ago:
The Apple Watch is going to be a massive hit that sells millions upon millions of units. – September 9, 2014
We do not foresee anyone wanting to take off their Apple Watch in order to wear a “jewelry watch.” Apple Watch is not just a watch to be replaced with another regular watch. Maybe wearing two watches will come into vogue for special occasions? — April 3, 2015
Here’s what makers of Swiss or any other watches should do: Push the idea of wearing of two watches, one on each wrist or two on one wrist, into vogue. Because once people start using Apple Watch, they aren’t going to want to leave it at home. Ever. They won’t want to go to dinner parties without their Apple Watch. And that’s bad, bad news for watchmakers not named Apple. Watch and see. – April 16, 2015
Pardon, please, I digress, even as that famous Dizzy Dean quote wafts in the air, shimmering silently.
So, what’s going to happen in the next five years?
Well, besides this (read the Take), which has the potential to once again change everything à la the iPhone, Apple’s indomitable Mac is going to leave Wintel PCs in the dust in terms of speed, battery life, flexibility, security, privacy, and, ultimately, sales.
As I wrote only a mere two-and-a-half years ago: Here’s an idea: Apple could sell iPad Pros as they do now, and for those wanting a “Mac,” Apple could sell them the macOS-powered display-less keyboard/trackpad/cpu/RAM/SSD/battery base unit. Attach your iPad for the display and off you go, you Mac-headed truck driver! Plus, you get to use the iPad’s battery, too, extending battery life to provide a truly all-day battery for portable Mac users. Detach the display and you get your iOS-powered iPad back, same as always.
Too outside the box? We’d love to be able to take our 12-inch iPad Pro, mate it with this theoretical Mac base unit, and turn it into a portable Mac. Right now, we carry 12-inch iPad Pros and MacBooks in our backpacks. Guess what’s redundant? Right, the displays. We don’t need to carry two screens on the road. The iPad Pro’s screen would do just fine, thanks.
Buy the Mac base on its own (for those who already have 12.9-inch iPad Pros) or buy it as part of a package (get a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro at a nice discount when you buy it with the Mac base). Imagine if Apple had unveiled this headless MacBook that you use with your iPad at their iPad event last fall. How many more 12-inch iPad Pro sales would such a product have generated? Enough to return iPad to unit sales growth, we bet. And, how many more Macs would have been sold, too?
The only thing that’s changed now is that the iPad Pro’s CPU will be able to run everything — there’ll be no need to have a macOS-compatible processor in the keyboard anymore (keeping costs down) — and just the mere presence of a Magic Keyboard attached to an iPad Pro could, in theory, if Apple so desires, magically turn it into a Mac.
Only Apple can do these things because only Apple owns and controls the primary (and secondary and tertiary) technologies, hardware and software, that comprise Apple products. No other company can compete.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer, and contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.