Goodbye Macintosh?

Quartz · 9 Dec 2017 at 17:41

It's a real possibility. So sayeth John Dvorak.

Apple is the master of radical pivots...

A very memorable pivot came when the company dropped the Apple II line of machines with an event called Apple II Forever. While it extolled the venerable machine with a fancy new model, it marked the end of the system.

What I'm sensing is that like the old Apple II (forever), the Mac will be phased out and the whole line will be replaced by iPads.

I'm a PC guy but I will be sad to see the Mac go.

robfosters · 9 Dec 2017 at 17:46

No way imo. Creative tasks such as video editing, photo editing, audio recording and more can be done on iPads but never to the same level and ease of use as a dedicated Mac computer.

The only way I could see it working is with a superb docking station with multiple monitor outputs and ports and interfaces, but it still seems like a no go compared to just having a computer. Too much hassle.

Schnippzle · 9 Dec 2017 at 17:48

robfosters said:
No way imo. Creative tasks such as video editing, photo editing, audio recording and more can be done on iPads but never to the same level and ease of use as a dedicated Mac computer.

What prevents an iPad pro from packing the necessary punch to perform those tasks when docked with a larger monitor?

robfosters · 9 Dec 2017 at 17:49

Schnippzle said:
What prevents an iPad pro from packing the necessary punch to perform those tasks when docked with a larger monitor?

See my edit to my last post. Yes you are right, but I don’t think it would take off with the creative industry too much.

What would be cool is to be able to pack the likes of a power Mac into a case the size of a Mac mini.

something daft already!! · 9 Dec 2017 at 17:51

I can't imagine the people who "write books" in coffee shops will like this. Apple is all about image rather than product features or quality.

Combat squirrel · 9 Dec 2017 at 18:03

I think its half true - they will still make desktop apple computers and laptops - but they will be all custom chips - apple will use the 'a20' - (or whatever) to power everything and it makes sense, my iphone 8 is incredibly powerful and more than enough to film and edit 4k on - ok not to desktop standards but it has the ability.........put the descendant in a massive screen on custom silicon ? It would be 'perfect' from a editing POV..............not so good though in that apple will really really really have end to end control, the software would only ever run on its chips - really its the end of hackintosh etc.

robfosters · 9 Dec 2017 at 18:06

Combat squirrel said:
I think its half true - they will still make desktop apple computers and laptops - but they will be all custom chips - apple will use the 'a20' - (or whatever) to power everything and it makes sense, my iphone 8 is incredibly powerful and more than enough to film and edit 4k on - ok not to desktop standards but it has the ability.........put the descendant in a massive screen on custom silicon ? It would be 'perfect' from a editing POV..............not so good though in that apple will really really really have end to end control, the software would only ever run on its chips - really its the end of hackintosh etc.

Would you say the iPhone 8 is powerful enough for multitrack audio recording (disregard storage), just the brute power of it?

Combat squirrel · 9 Dec 2017 at 18:52

robfosters said:
Would you say the iPhone 8 is powerful enough for multitrack audio recording (disregard storage), just the brute power of it?

Id assume so ? The data of multi track audio is still less than multi cam 4k video ? - the A11 chip benches a little higher than the macbook pros (intel i7)... ? So yeah id guess so.

Quartz · 9 Dec 2017 at 18:54

robfosters said:
No way imo. Creative tasks such as video editing, photo editing, audio recording and more can be done on iPads but never to the same level and ease of use as a dedicated Mac computer.

But they can all be done on a PC nowadays, can't they? The Dell 8K display doesn't work on a Mac, does it?

d_brennen · 9 Dec 2017 at 18:58

Aren't the real creative types abandoning Mac anyway?

With Windows being ported properly to ARM this time, it's clear x86 has a thought time ahead. Mac OS won't be far behind.

Quartz · 9 Dec 2017 at 19:02

Indeed, Microsoft dropping the Windows Phone and porting Office to Android could be the first steps of them abandoning Windows for Android.

robfosters · 9 Dec 2017 at 20:15

So eventually we wont have Macs or Windows just iPads and android PC's?

I dont want to live in that world

Combat squirrel · 9 Dec 2017 at 20:27

d_brennen said:
Aren't the real creative types abandoning Mac anyway?

With Windows being ported properly to ARM this time, it's clear x86 has a thought time ahead. Mac OS won't be far behind.

Sort of - I'm abandoning windows soon hopefully and moving to a.....ermm, home brew MacOS - purely because MacOS is just fast - iv tried Adobe's suite on both platforms and despite me having better hardware, it simply flew on a recent iMac - enough to make me jump ship - I've apple everything else, phone, tablet, laptop etc - so my main editing rig will become MacOS now.

Just a shame Apple dont sell content creation machines that make sense - sure iMac Pro is nice, but overpriced and it will over heat.

New Mac Pro at £2000-3000 with 16 cores 32gb/64gb ram would be ideal, but not £5000 for iMac pro (thats only the 8 core config anyway)

Feek · 9 Dec 2017 at 20:39

I can't see this happening, I really can't.

robfosters · 9 Dec 2017 at 20:42

What would be cool is say you docked your ipad and worked on a song in say FL Studio, it would be good if you could then undock your ipad and work on the project from the comfort of a sofa or bed. I think you can already to do this to a degree with FL studio mobile, but it would be even better if it was one system.

Skyboat · 9 Dec 2017 at 23:59

Good luck creating iOS apps on an iPad. It's far too restrictive for development purposes, and it will probably always be.

FishFluff · 10 Dec 2017 at 21:26

Quartz said:
It's a real possibility. So sayeth John Dvorak.

I'm a PC guy but I will be sad to see the Mac go.

Not happening any time soon. There's that interview somewhere of Steve Jobs making the analogy that iPads will be like cars and Macs will be more like pick-up trucks. There'll be need and demand for both in the future.

Also John Dvorak has a history of being completely wrong about pretty much everything.

Emlyn_Dewar · 11 Dec 2017 at 06:00

I would like to see an awesome future iPad Pro and docking station combo, as for a pleb end user with no seriously demanding apps it'd be great.
I can't imagine any real pro wanting to go from a serious workstation, to a passively cooled tablet though... Technology isn't there.

I guess Microsoft tried with that last Lumia phone, but... Windows phone.

Terminal_Boy · 11 Dec 2017 at 06:45

Feek said:
I can't see this happening, I really can't.

Likewise.

Apple make a skip load of cash every quarter from desktop and laptop sales.

MrRockliffe · 11 Dec 2017 at 07:18

Not a chance. Macs make Apple money. A lot.

If anything, high end iPads will be phased out, as the tablet market continues to decline.

Macs are a cash cow for them. They take little innovation and cost, but create big profits.