8 ms·

Why does it have to be a laptop? What not an iPhone with a desktop mode you can pair with a monitor, keyboard, and trackpad? I’d love the ability to carry all

by Svexav 8y ago

Why does it have to be a laptop? What not an iPhone with a desktop mode you can pair with a monitor, keyboard, and trackpad? I’d love the ability to carry all my software and data around in a phone without lugging around a laptop or having to buy a desktop computer. And I’d love to never concern myself with transferring or syncing data again. And why not let us connect an iPhone to an eGPU for desktop gaming?

gambiting 8y ago
>>What not an iPhone with a desktop mode you can pair with a monitor, keyboard, and trackpad? That sounds like the most un-apple thing I can possibly imagine. Their ethos was always to build a device that does something incredibly well - a phone that can be a phone but also a desktop computer is everything but this.
- aaronblohowiak 8y ago
  The iPad is already this but with a bigger screen.
  - gambiting 8y ago
    No, I'd argue it isn't. Even if you connect an external keyboard an display to the iPad, you are just getting the ipad experience on a larger screen. There is never any transformation of interface when used this way. Apple has never allowed mouse/trackpad on iOS(with some very very narrow exceptions) so it's not transformative - you are still getting the same experience essentialy. For it to work on the iPhone, they would have to add support for some kind of mouse/trackpad, because the iphone itself is sitting in the dock - and I don't see apple doing that in a million years.
    - solarkraft 8y ago
      iOS still has a long, long way to go. It seems like they're preparing all the hardware, though.
- bitwize 8y ago
  ISTR seeing illustrations from an Apple patent showing a computer display with a slot in the back into which an iPhone can be docked, turning the phone into a full-size desktop workstation. And this was during the Jobs era.
  - threeseed 8y ago
    Apple pays their employees to file patents for pretty much anything. That doesn't mean they will ever manifest in real products.
- Redoubts 8y ago
  How do you figure? The iPhone was unveiled as a 3-in-1 device during its first keynote.
camillomiller 8y ago
Look up what Tim Cook thinks about convergence. That is not what an iPhone is for. Period. This gimmick is just a pipedream of us nerds. It won't have the slightest chance in the market and it would be a subpar product. Both Huawei and Samsung have implemented such a solution on their flagship smartphones since at least two years. They work as advertised, but nobody could give half a shit about them.
- aaronblohowiak 8y ago
  I am on the other side of this bet. I believe it is just a matter of time and the Surface Pro / iPad Pro are paving the way for just that.
  - dieterrams 8y ago
    Agreed. I think it makes perfect sense to have a phone that can plug into a tablet or any other form factor. The thermals might not let you run an iPhone-in-tablet as fast as a dedicated iPad, but given how fast their chips are getting, it's probably just a matter of time.
    - titanix2 8y ago
      But Microsoft have no phone offering. And if they release a new phone, as a an ex-hobbyist Windows Phone developer who experienced all the consumer and developer hostile moves (no upgrade from 7 to 8, numerous lies, etc.) I'll be very reluctant to target this platform again. Other devs with experience on the previous phone platforms will probably have a similar view on the matter.
- iodiniemetra 8y ago
  They don't work as advertised - they're terrible. Besides Microsoft, Google has come the closest, but they're not pushing it as convergence. I think it is the future, but it's going to be a difficult one that requires an excellent launch - at least 3 years off before the next major inroads.
- philwelch 8y ago
TYPE_FASTER 8y ago
I think CarPlay is a test of this use. It's really similar, in that you connect your device to your car, and apps render a different view on a different form factor. You have a certification process so you know you have at least a chance of a good user experience. It's a subset of device functionality, instead of supporting more functionality. If Apple invests in enhancing CarPlay, it might be a sign that they are scaling to a wider convergence market. If they don't invest or abandon it, then maybe convergence won't happen. They're famous for saying they're not working on projects that they are actually working on, so we have to read between the lines. After upgrading from an iPhone 6 to an iPhone XR, I've been thinking how close the latest gen devices are to traditional computers anyway. The configuration/settings and features are so far beyond the first gen devices that I think convergence will happen, nobody knows what it will look like yet.
- OldHand2018 8y ago
  I don't disagree with you, but I'd like to point out that iOS apps have long been able to render a view on a television (via an AppleTV) while also rendering a different view on the device screen. This has been possible for at least 4 or 5 years. There have been a few party game apps that allow a person to drive the game on their device while the other participants see what is on the TV. I don't think it ever really caught on; perhaps partly because AppleTV was a niche product way back when and partly because it didn't get much advertising.
  - gumby 8y ago
    I think the difference in what the PP was saying is that with CarPlay you can interact with the program while with external video you can only watch.
xienze 8y ago
>What not an iPhone with a desktop mode you can pair with a monitor, keyboard, and trackpad? Because that would mean Apple doesn’t get to sell you two devices.
sundvor 8y ago
You just described the Samsung DeX.
- tlrobinson 8y ago
  And the Motorola Atrix before it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Atrix_4G https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Atrix_4G
chongli 8y ago
Why sell us one device when they can sell us two or three? I own an iPhone and a MacBook Pro. Why would Apple want to leave all that money on the table by converging these two devices?
tlrobinson 8y ago
Personally I'd rather have a "2-in-1" style MacBook + iPad Pro. I'm almost always going want to bring the screen and keyboard with me anyway, but it would be nice to have something I can use for both "real" work and casual use on the couch etc.
blackstrips 8y ago
I can see the iPad being used like a laptop but the iPhone ... the screen is a little small no - even the largest iPhones.
lysp 8y ago
Because they want you to buy a phone, a tablet, a laptop, a pc. Sure - one device could do everything, but that doesn't drive sales or profit.
flohofwoe 8y ago
iOS is too restrictive for a development/productivity machine since it doesn't allow to install software from outside the app store (something like homebrew would be a security nightmare). The UI model of iOS also is still too touch-centric (while touch input provides zero advantages for a command-line interface). But attach a proper(!) keyboard with touchpad to an iPad Pro, put macOS on it instead of iOS, and there's your next MBP ;)

by Svexav 8y ago

gambiting 8y ago

>>What not an iPhone with a desktop mode you can pair with a monitor, keyboard, and trackpad? That sounds like the most un-apple thing I can possibly imagine. Their ethos was always to build a device that does something incredibly well - a phone that can be a phone but also a desktop computer is everything but this.

aaronblohowiak 8y ago
The iPad is already this but with a bigger screen.
- gambiting 8y ago
  No, I'd argue it isn't. Even if you connect an external keyboard an display to the iPad, you are just getting the ipad experience on a larger screen. There is never any transformation of interface when used this way. Apple has never allowed mouse/trackpad on iOS(with some very very narrow exceptions) so it's not transformative - you are still getting the same experience essentialy. For it to work on the iPhone, they would have to add support for some kind of mouse/trackpad, because the iphone itself is sitting in the dock - and I don't see apple doing that in a million years.
  - solarkraft 8y ago
    iOS still has a long, long way to go. It seems like they're preparing all the hardware, though.
bitwize 8y ago
ISTR seeing illustrations from an Apple patent showing a computer display with a slot in the back into which an iPhone can be docked, turning the phone into a full-size desktop workstation. And this was during the Jobs era.
- threeseed 8y ago
  Apple pays their employees to file patents for pretty much anything. That doesn't mean they will ever manifest in real products.
Redoubts 8y ago
How do you figure? The iPhone was unveiled as a 3-in-1 device during its first keynote.

camillomiller 8y ago

Look up what Tim Cook thinks about convergence. That is not what an iPhone is for. Period. This gimmick is just a pipedream of us nerds. It won't have the slightest chance in the market and it would be a subpar product. Both Huawei and Samsung have implemented such a solution on their flagship smartphones since at least two years. They work as advertised, but nobody could give half a shit about them.

aaronblohowiak 8y ago
I am on the other side of this bet. I believe it is just a matter of time and the Surface Pro / iPad Pro are paving the way for just that.
- dieterrams 8y ago
  Agreed. I think it makes perfect sense to have a phone that can plug into a tablet or any other form factor. The thermals might not let you run an iPhone-in-tablet as fast as a dedicated iPad, but given how fast their chips are getting, it's probably just a matter of time.
  - titanix2 8y ago
    But Microsoft have no phone offering. And if they release a new phone, as a an ex-hobbyist Windows Phone developer who experienced all the consumer and developer hostile moves (no upgrade from 7 to 8, numerous lies, etc.) I'll be very reluctant to target this platform again. Other devs with experience on the previous phone platforms will probably have a similar view on the matter.
iodiniemetra 8y ago
They don't work as advertised - they're terrible. Besides Microsoft, Google has come the closest, but they're not pushing it as convergence. I think it is the future, but it's going to be a difficult one that requires an excellent launch - at least 3 years off before the next major inroads.
philwelch 8y ago

TYPE_FASTER 8y ago

I think CarPlay is a test of this use. It's really similar, in that you connect your device to your car, and apps render a different view on a different form factor. You have a certification process so you know you have at least a chance of a good user experience. It's a subset of device functionality, instead of supporting more functionality. If Apple invests in enhancing CarPlay, it might be a sign that they are scaling to a wider convergence market. If they don't invest or abandon it, then maybe convergence won't happen. They're famous for saying they're not working on projects that they are actually working on, so we have to read between the lines. After upgrading from an iPhone 6 to an iPhone XR, I've been thinking how close the latest gen devices are to traditional computers anyway. The configuration/settings and features are so far beyond the first gen devices that I think convergence will happen, nobody knows what it will look like yet.

OldHand2018 8y ago
I don't disagree with you, but I'd like to point out that iOS apps have long been able to render a view on a television (via an AppleTV) while also rendering a different view on the device screen. This has been possible for at least 4 or 5 years. There have been a few party game apps that allow a person to drive the game on their device while the other participants see what is on the TV. I don't think it ever really caught on; perhaps partly because AppleTV was a niche product way back when and partly because it didn't get much advertising.
- gumby 8y ago
  I think the difference in what the PP was saying is that with CarPlay you can interact with the program while with external video you can only watch.

xienze 8y ago

>What not an iPhone with a desktop mode you can pair with a monitor, keyboard, and trackpad? Because that would mean Apple doesn’t get to sell you two devices.

sundvor 8y ago

You just described the Samsung DeX.

tlrobinson 8y ago
And the Motorola Atrix before it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Atrix_4G https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Atrix_4G

chongli 8y ago

Why sell us one device when they can sell us two or three? I own an iPhone and a MacBook Pro. Why would Apple want to leave all that money on the table by converging these two devices?

tlrobinson 8y ago

Personally I'd rather have a "2-in-1" style MacBook + iPad Pro. I'm almost always going want to bring the screen and keyboard with me anyway, but it would be nice to have something I can use for both "real" work and casual use on the couch etc.

blackstrips 8y ago

I can see the iPad being used like a laptop but the iPhone ... the screen is a little small no - even the largest iPhones.

lysp 8y ago

Because they want you to buy a phone, a tablet, a laptop, a pc. Sure - one device could do everything, but that doesn't drive sales or profit.

flohofwoe 8y ago

iOS is too restrictive for a development/productivity machine since it doesn't allow to install software from outside the app store (something like homebrew would be a security nightmare). The UI model of iOS also is still too touch-centric (while touch input provides zero advantages for a command-line interface). But attach a proper(!) keyboard with touchpad to an iPad Pro, put macOS on it instead of iOS, and there's your next MBP ;)