Apple's Next Hit Could Be a Microsoft Surface Pro Clone

theodp writes "Good artists copy, great artists steal," Steve Jobs used to say. Having launched a perfectly-timed attack against Samsung and phablets with its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Leonid Bershidsky suggests that the next big thing from Apple will be a tablet-laptop a la Microsoft's Surface Pro 3. "Before yesterday's Apple [iPad] event," writes Bershidsky, "rumors were strong of an upcoming giant iPad, to be called iPad Pro or iPad Plus. There were even leaked pictures of a device with a 12.9-inch screen, bigger than the Surface Pro's 12-inch one. It didn't come this time, but it will. I've been expecting a touch-screen Apple laptop for a few years now, and keep being wrong.

Comments

Perfectly-timed?

[ts383]

Someone will have to explain how putting out a device that immediately gets eclipsed by a Note 4 counted as a perfecry timed attack against Samsung

Re:Bad idea

[93 Escort Wagon]

Sleeve cases for laptops are nothing new - I had one for my second-generation MacBook Air.

I know there really are people like you who like the Surface - I work with a Windows admin that loves his. But having used the latest Pro 3 with the "good" type cover... I don't get the love. Typing is awful, the trackpad is awful, and having to take one of your hands off that keyboard to touch the screen is slow as hell. I watch my coworker use his, and every time he reaches for the screen it's like whatever he's doing shifts to slow motion. it sure looks like a bad concept from top to bottom.

Perfectly-timed?

[slashdice]

The only difference between samsung and every other android manufacturer is the advertising/carrier kickback budget. Samsung can't compete on the low end because it destroys their profit margins. Meanwhile, the low end android manufacturers are quickly becoming mid/high end android manufacturers because that's where the money is at. It's the same story as IBM PC industry, except it took 10 years instead of 30.

Cloning a failure would be a failure....

[CraigCruden]

Cloning something a failure like Surface seems silly, if you're going to clone something clone something that is a success in the marketplace. If I want a table, I will buy an iPad - it works nicely as a consumption device. If I want to do a little more work, I will buy a Macbook Air. I don't really need a touch screen, in fact I find it a little annoying having fingerprints all over the screen. I also tend to sit back when using the computer and having to lean forward to touch the screen is actually more effort than just using my mouse. Call me old fashioned.... but I don't find it an improvement in usability when it comes to working on a computer. It works nicely when you are using an iPad and reading a book or watching a video.... Two different user interfaces in one machine is not useful to most.

Re: Perfectly-timed?

[whoever57]

Apple hasn't really innovated much since Steve left the scene.

And for a long time before Steve left the scene. Apple has been a success by letting other companies release new types of devices and then execute their own version of that type of device. Apple did not create the first portable music player, the first smartphone, the first WIMP interface, etc.. Apple's success has largely been down to executing arguably better versions of devices that already exist in the marketplace. Now, Apple is also benefitting from being perceived as a luxury brand.

Re: Perfectly-timed?

[Gr8Apes]

Samsung and others have been making lots of money off bigger phones.

You might want to review that statement, Apple appears to be cleaning house on the money side, taking 87% of the profit in the market.

Re: It's the OS, Stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

I highly recommend you stop making comments on a subject you know nothing about.

Apple has been getting UNIX 03 certification since 10.5 (Leopard). The recent 10.10 (Yosemite) release received certification on September 24, 2014.

http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/apple.htm

Re:It's the OS, Stupid

[dgatwood]

It isn't the idea that is bad; it is the implementation. One device with two distinct interfaces is a recipe for epic failure. But a single, unified interface that can take input in more than one way is useful, assuming you can get developers to adopt it. Mind you, it isn't a game-changer, and it isn't something that would be useful for every app, which makes it a hard sell, but that doesn't mean the concept lacks merit.

For example, if I had a full-scale laptop with a touchscreen:

• In audio editing apps, I could just reach up and nudge three or four sliders at once, rather than click each of them one at a time. When I need to mute every channel but one, I could reach up and drag across the buttons. And so on. Because mixing isn't something that most people do frequently, you wouldn't have the "gorilla arm" problem. With that said, if you do find yourself doing a lot of mixing, you could always spin the screen around and use it as a tablet, all without interrupting what you're doing, changing apps, moving the content from one device to another, etc.
• In photo editing apps, you could swing the screen around flat, then treat it as a pressure-sensitive art tablet (using either finger press spread or a stylus to detect pressure). Then you could switch back to the normal mode to work with type layers, adjust layer effects, etc.

An iPad can theoretically do both of those things, but lacks the CPU power, storage capacity, and pointing precision to do aspects of either task well. And although you can buy physical control surfaces and digitizer tablets or use an iPad as a controller in conjunction with your laptop, that's nowhere near as convenient as having it all in a single package, and being able to just reach up and interact by touch occasionally.