Users Don't Want iOS To Merge With MacOS, Apple Chief Tim Cook Says (smh.com.au)

Rebutting a widespread speculation, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the company is not working toward building an operating system that both Macs and iPhones could share. From his interview on Sydney Morning Herald: Later, when I ask about the divide between the Mac and iOS, which seems almost conservative when compared to Microsoft's convertible Windows 10 strategy, Cook gives an interesting response. "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. "So maybe the company would be more efficient at the end of the day. But that's not what it's about. You know it's about giving people things that they can then use to help them change the world or express their passion or express their creativity. So this merger thing that some folks are fixated on, I don't think that's what users want." A surprising comment, considering rumours from well-connected reporter Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, who wrote the company is working on a project called "Marzipan", which involves merging the codebase of macOS and iOS apps.

Comments

See, told you so

[SuperKendall]

People on Slashdot keep claiming merging the two is what Apple is working towards. Perhaps this explicit statement from the CEO that users do not want it and Apple has no plans to do so are enough to quiet the minds of such people, for at least a little while.

Of course you should merge the guts if you can

[iamacat]

UI and capabilities can be as different as users want them to be, but there is no need to force internal and external developers to do duplicate work. Few of iOS games are ported to OSX, the difference should only be in control scheme (and iOS/Apple TVs should trivially support paired Bluetooth input devices). The only reason to not do this now is if engineering effort is too high.

"What's a computer?"

[Comboman]

So what he's really saying is that OSX will continue to die from neglect until everyone gets on-board with using a tablet for everything.

What Users Want?

[tsqr]

I don't think that's what users want.

Right. Just like a headphone jack on the iPhone, or Thunderbolt-2 and MagSafe ports on the MacBook Pro, which absolutely no users want at all.

Re:Of COURSE we don't want them merged.

[tsqr]

Anyone who has used a touch laptop knows how nice it is to be able to reach out and scroll the screen or tap things on it instead of fiddling with the touch pad or mouse.

I am a member of the set of people you are trying to speak for, and I'm here to tell you you're wrong in saying I know how nice it is. I have a touchscreen Win10 laptop; aside from playing around with touch the day I got it, the only thing I've ever used touch for is to swipe to get to the login screen, and that only a handful of times. Touch is inaccurate, inconvenient compared to the touchpad, and results in a smudged screen. If you like it, fine; use it. But don't kid yourself that everyone feels that way.

Re:Well duh....

[nmb3000]

But I'm not convinced it can't be better.

I am. The desktop and mobile form factors are fundamentally incompatible. They have different display sizes, different input devices, different levels of accuracy, are used in different environments, and are used for different purposes. And that's only a few of the many, many differences between them.

Trying to make a desktop work like a phone, or a phone like a desktop, just leads to a really shitty desktop or a really shitty phone. Developers and OS designers need to simply accept and embrace this and instead focus on making both the best they can be.

I don't always agree with Tim Cook, but:

"So maybe the company would be more efficient at the end of the day. But that's not what it's about. You know it's about giving people things that they can then use to help them change the world or express their passion or express their creativity. So this merger thing that some folks are fixated on, I don't think that's what users want."

is damned spot-on. Ultimately, Microsoft is really just pinching pennies and trying to lock people into a Windows ecosystem by merging their desktop and mobile systems. Nothing about the attempt to merge these systems is good for consumers.