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Apple Tablet = iPhone OS or Mac OS X?

Luke1robb

Luke1robb

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 3, 2008
809
0
Cambridge, MA/Smithfield, RI
With all these rumors about the Apple "Tablet" I have one big question.

Is this thing using iPhone OS or Mac OS X?

I'm trying to do a physical mock-up and am looking for input. My hope is to get the "prototype" built in the coming week or so.

If it has iPhone OS, I would imagine a tapered back like the iPod touch. Furthermore, if it is running iPhone OS, wouldn't it probably use the iPhone/iPod charger adapter and plug?

If it has Mac OS X, I would imagine it will be unibody construction and MBP-esque back. Furthermore, if it is running iPhone OS, wouldn't it probably use the iPhone/iPod charger adapter and plug?

Thoughts anyone?
 
You're asking about specs of a product that hasn't released any spec details yet, and all visuals are just "envisioned mockups".

It's all speculation right now. It's been rumored to be running the iPhone OS, but that's just a rumor and nothing less.
 
Mac OS X, otherwise the only way of getting stuff on to it is by syncing it with another machine, which completely defeats the point of the device.
 
Have to agree with a straight Mac OS X operating system with some elements borrowed from the OS on the iPhone. One needs to be able to store stuff locally, after all. Not to mention install whatever apps they need without having to deal with an iTunes store.
 
Snow Leopard. This proported tablet is going to compete with netbooks. They wouldn't cripple it with phone OS.
 
Based on everyone's posts, it's like I said.

Completely up in the air, and no one has a definite answer. Guess we'll just have to wait and see what the Apple Tablet is really capable of.



Chances are, I'm still gonna get one to play with. :D
 
pelicanflip said:
You're asking about specs of a product that hasn't released any spec details yet, and all visuals are just "envisioned mockups".

It's all speculation right now. It's been rumored to be running the iPhone OS, but that's just a rumor and nothing less.
Click to expand...

Is this really productive for the thread? We're all MR members and clearly know that the device has never even been mentioned by leadership at Apple, so for all we know, it doesn't exist. The point of the thread is to discuss what it MIGHT be and give me some guidance on how I'll make this "prototype".

With that said, you're valid point leads me to think I should make 2 "prototypes" with one being an iPod touch of sorts and one being a Mac OS X tablet of sorts. Thoughts on this?

jayenh said:
Mac OS X, otherwise the only way of getting stuff on to it is by syncing it with another machine, which completely defeats the point of the device.
Click to expand...

I would completely agree if the machine is a legitimate computer. As Apple has somewhat said before, they consider the iPod touch/iPhone a mobile device/computing device capable of everything a netbook is capable of. Perhaps they could solve the issue of syncing with a USB port on the side and the ports of a MacBook Pro, but not the OS. That seems kind of silly and ridiculous though... hmm...

eawmp1 said:
Snow Leopard. This proported tablet is going to compete with netbooks. They wouldn't cripple it with phone OS.
Click to expand...

I agree that iPhone OS on this device would be somewhat crippling, though would the device/people's fingers really be appropriate for a standard version of Mac OS X? Imagine trying to get percision things like tapping on bold in Pages.

This actually raises a great point: Will Apple optimize all applications (Mail, iCal, Pages, Safari) for the new device or use iPhone/Mac OS versions?
 
Luke1robb said:
Is this really productive for the thread? We're all MR members and clearly know that the device has never even been mentioned by leadership at Apple, so for all we know, it doesn't exist. The point of the thread is to discuss what it MIGHT be and give me some guidance on how I'll make this "prototype".

With that said, you're valid point leads me to think I should make 2 "prototypes" with one being an iPod touch of sorts and one being a Mac OS X tablet of sorts. Thoughts on this?



I would completely agree if the machine is a legitimate computer. As Apple has somewhat said before, they consider the iPod touch/iPhone a mobile device/computing device capable of everything a netbook is capable of. Perhaps they could solve the issue of syncing with a USB port on the side and the ports of a MacBook Pro, but not the OS. That seems kind of silly and ridiculous though... hmm...



I agree that iPhone OS on this device would be somewhat crippling, though would the device/people's fingers really be appropriate for a standard version of Mac OS X? Imagine trying to get percision things like tapping on bold in Pages.

This actually raises a great point: Will Apple optimize all applications (Mail, iCal, Pages, Safari) for the new device or use iPhone/Mac OS versions?
Click to expand...

I'm just saying that if you're gonna do a mockup, you're going to have make some decisions on what OS the Tablet will be running, chargers, etc., all of which are up in the air right now.

Personally, I'd imagine it would be running the Mac OS X, because it's a tablet and not just an oversized iPod Touch, but I've heard rumors of it running the iPhone OS.

Two prototypes actually sounds fairly promising, giving a clear image of both ends of the spectrum. I say go for it.
 
I heartily doubt this will feature full-blown OS X.

Have there been any hints of touchscreen parameters/config files in the dev builds of Snow Leopard? I can't remember hearing about any and would expect there to have been a few sightings at this late stage in its release cycle.

The processors can't be anything too powerful, as the Tablet won't be allowed to get too hot. Imagine a Core 2 Duo and GT9400 in this supposedly slender device. Madness!

Also, as the primary interface is touchscreen, this device is going to have to be ultra-responsive. Apple are going to lock down features to maintain this.

This all points to an up-scaled version of iPhone OS. Hopefully with a new Launchpad. The "user-friendly" interface could be like Apple TV's with Safari and apps thrown in...

I'm still interested to see how comfortable it is to use sitting down. I can use my laptop hands-free, after all!
 
if apple is going to do it right, which im sure they will, i think it will be it's own OS. A hybrid of iPhone OS and OS X.

Actually, thinking about it, i think it would probably be more like OS X, but it would be optimized for touch...so iPhone like elements integrated into a full fledged Mac

Apple innovates. each OS alone on the device will produce a shoddy, somewhat impractical product. A new OS geared toward the tablet itself will be what makes the device stand out and succeed.
 
I would speculate that if this rumor proved to be at all accurate Apple would use a modified version of OS X Snow Leopard with a different GUI optimized for tablet computing. The GUI would be more familiar to iPhone users while its innards would be recognizable to OS X users, it would have access to an app store if not the same App store as the iPhone, and it may even have voice recognition albeit a version more advanced then the iPhone 3GS.

This is not unlike the current situation with the iPhone- the iPhone runs a scaled down version of OS X that has been modified and recompiled for the mobile architecture of the device.
 
Gizmodo had a story about how the interface for Snow Leopard that they showed off at WWDC appears to be influenced by a tablet interface with the glow around the cursor in Exposé and other parts of the OS much like the iPhone has.

I suspect it'll be a modified Mac OS X build, not iPhone OS X.
 
It will be full Snow Leopard with a heavily modified Inkwell app and lots of exclusive touchscreen .plists. :p

You can't put the iPhone OS on anything huge yet because resolution independence doesn't exist. It would look horrendous on a 10" screen.

Why does a P.A. Semi tablet rule out OS X? Apple supports three architectures right now, and since they're phasing out one of them, why wouldn't they just replace it with another? Besides, this envisioned one would soon be in the iPhone/iPod touch so they'd be down to two again.
 
People seem to be a little confused.

iPhone OS X and Mac OS X are the same except they each have unique features. The iPhone has a launch screen and the Mac has a dock, for example, but those are just features and Apple could switch them if they wanted to. Likewise "no local storage" and "have to get apps from iTunes" are not things you'd have to build into the iPhone. They just chose to for the iPhone

So the question is not "which system" but rather "which features" will a tablet include? I think it will obivously be a hybird system between these two choices.

My guess is this:

Start with the current iPhone OS.
Keep the launch screen (or something kind of like it) but put a desktop-and-file system under it that you can switch back and forth from. It's more locked down than the Mac, though. You have things like 'Documents' and 'Music' and 'Downloads,' but not every system file like you see on Mac OS X. You have access to your personal files but not the applications and preference-files and things like that.

Add some kind of application switching feature using a simple gesture, very similar to 'command-tab' on a Mac.

Applications are unique to this device. You'll have to buy the 'Tablet' version. You'll be able to get iLife, Word, and Photoshop, but they're specially made versions for the tablet. Mostly they're the same programing underneath, but the GUI is re-made to work with a touch-screen. You will NOT be using the pull-down menus from Mac OS X like your finger is a mouse. They'll be made to work more like iPhone apps even though they're really more like Mac apps. Apple will have some program that helps you turn a Mac app (and iPhone apps!) into a tablet app in "just a week." They'll bring out some small developer on stage to explain how he did it by himself in 3 days.

So you'll quickly see many of the same apps you can get on your Mac and your iPhone coming out for the tablet, but they will be different versions that you buy seperately. The smart developers will offer a way to buy all 2 (or 3) versions for one low price.

These apps will be available on iTunes, just like iPhone apps, but they will also be available from the 'net, like Mac apps. So iTunes is a safe, easy, and premium way of getting apps, but you won't be locked to them like with the iPhone. After a year, Apple will brag that 90% of tablet users only use iTunes for their apps.

There won't be free-floating windows like on OS X. Developers will design apps to switch between screens you need. Due to the larger screen size than the iPhone, an app can display several 'panes' at once. You can re-size them, but they always stick to each other, just like re-sizing windows in Apple's pro apps like Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro. You'll never see the desktop through an app, you have to specifically switch to it (which will look like expose).

Just a few guesses. I'm just making this up, so the details won't be exactly like this. But I'm nearly positive that "Tablet OS X" will be its own things that's different from both iPhone OS X and Mac OS X.
 
Small White Car said:
Just a few guesses. I'm just making this up, so the details won't be exactly like this. But I'm nearly positive that "Tablet OS X" will be its own things that's different from both iPhone OS X and Mac OS X.
Click to expand...

i can't see apple wanting to go down the Microsoft route here. i certainly don't see it being branded as Tablet specific.

My opinion is that the tablet should be a MacBook Air, just without the fold out screen and a little smaller. so essentially a laptop, with the standard magnetic charger, no cd drive, and a touchscreen.

and since, as you have said, the iphone and mac OS's are essentially the same, just stripped down/restricted, the touchscreen capability and on screen keyboard wont be an issue as they are already there, so no need to brand it "tablet" as if to say it is any different, as it is not.
 
jayenh said:
the touchscreen capability and on screen keyboard wont be an issue
Click to expand...

My problem is that I think this is the BIGGEST issue.

I don't think Apple will want you to touch a tiny 'FILE' menu bar and then touch a tiny 'SAVE AS' for example. Or scroll by grabbing the itty bitty scroll bar on the right part of the window. And so on and so forth.

Being forced to use your finger to pretend its a mouse sounds like the exact opposite of an 'Apple experience.'. And if you just say 'it runs Mac apps' then that is exactly what you're going to get. Even if some apps re-design to be touch-screen friendly there will still be a ton that won't, so you'll spend a lot of your day poking at buttons designed for a 1-pixel mouse pointer.

I just can't wrap my head around that. It just seems impossible to me that Apple would allow that.

The only way around that is to force developers to re-design their program for this device.
 
Small White Car said:
My problem is that I think this is the BIGGEST issue.

I don't think Apple will want you to touch a tiny 'FILE' menu bar and then touch a tiny 'SAVE AS' for example. Or scroll by grabbing the itty bitty scroll bar on the right part of the window. And so on and so forth.

Being forced to use your finger to pretend its a mouse sounds like the exact opposite of an 'Apple experience.'. And if you just say 'it runs Mac apps' then that is exactly what you're going to get. Even if some apps re-design to be touch-screen friendly there will still be a ton that won't, so you'll spend a lot of your day poking at buttons designed for a 1-pixel mouse pointer.

I just can't wrap my head around that. It just seems impossible to me that Apple would allow that.

The only way around that is to force developers to re-design their program for this device.
Click to expand...

Small White Car, have you ever used Inkwell?

I envision a system very similar to that established by Inkwell right now; key commands will have their own gestures.

Take a look at the handwriting recognition portion of Inkwell to see what I mean, and then you'll see how easily Menu Bar actions will translate to multitouch gestures.
 
Small White Car said:
My problem is that I think this is the BIGGEST issue.

I don't think Apple will want you to touch a tiny 'FILE' menu bar and then touch a tiny 'SAVE AS' for example. Or scroll by grabbing the itty bitty scroll bar on the right part of the window. And so on and so forth.
Click to expand...

those things arent much smaller than the soft buttons on the iphone. like "edit" in SMS for example. i really don't see the size of those things being much of an issue given the resolution it will have to be due to the screen size.
 
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