Apple Won’t Launch An iPad/MacBook Hybrid Says Tim Cook
Ever since the iPad Pro was launched, there has been a lot of talk around iPads replacing MacBooks in the future. While this sounds nice, it is hard to imagine that right now, considering the number of applications that work on macOS but not on iOS. Apart from the general OS compatibility issue, the maker of iPads and MacBooks itself isn’t sold on the idea. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., has reiterated that Apple has no intention of creating a hybrid tablet-notebook device anytime soon.
Six years ago, Tim Cook exclaimed that a MacBook and an iPad hybrid would lead to a lot of trade-offs which adversely impact usability.
Anything can be forced to converge, but the problem is that the products are about tradeoffs. You begin to make tradeoffs to the point where what you have left at the end of the day doesn’t please anyone. You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but you know, those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user.
Six years later and Tim Cook is still not convinced. In a recent interview after Apple’s March 27th event, Tim Cook reiterated what he essentially said about six years ago.
We don’t believe in sort of watering down one for the other. Both [The Mac and iPad] are incredible. One of the reasons that both of them are incredible is because we pushed them to do what they do well. And if you begin to merge the two … you begin to make trade offs and compromises.
It is worth noting that Microsoft has had a fair amount of success with Surface Book lineup, which is essentially a Windows laptop and tablet hybrid. The Microsoft Surface Book lineup has a touch screen, a full-size keyboard and 180-degree foldable design. However, Apple still believes that the MacBook and iPad should not be converged. Both the MacBooks and iPads have been bestsellers in their domain so far. While MacBooks still don’t dominate the laptop industry, iPads have pretty much taken over the tablet industry. Only a handful Android tablets exist that can compete with an iPad.
While a hybrid of iPad and MacBook is far from being a reality, it appears that the iPhone SE 2 might be. At the upcoming WWDC 2018 conference, Apple is expected to launch the Apple iPhone SE 2. For more details, click here.
