Apple Collaborating With LG to Develop iPads and MacBooks With Foldable OLED Displays and Ultra-Thin Cover Glass

[jlc1978]

I think they're saying dual-boot.

Which, mind you, I think would be ridiculous. Anything Apple would offer is far more likely to be a VM-like solution. A bit like Classic was in Mac OS X on PowerPC.

But if it were dual-boot, it wouldn't need that much RAM.

Dual boot would be ridiculous. You couldn't easily switch for one to another, risk losingwork if you forget to save; destroying what makes the iPad a good companion to the Mac.

Nope. iPad Pro 12.9 stays as-is. Ports are on the smart keyboard you'd attach to "make it into a Macbook."

Right. Unmount drives, disconnect keyboard, reconnect keyboard, remount drives. Real user friendly, not to mention latency.

Not necessarily. Only you assume a notch. Could either move the camera to the bezel, or by then the camera could be under the screen in our thinking-forward scenario here.

Except when you use the iPad you now have a camera on the side that makes Facetime odd.

Yep! Remember, use the iPad in iPad mode as you use an iPad.

My point exactly - poor human factors design.

Nope, not better. Two different OS's targeted for two different purposes. It's why Apple Car Play does not look like an iPad mini. Why radio <> tv.

And each OS works on the designed device, not some hybrid maybe this but sometimes that.

Excuses. We seem to live with fingerprints on our iPads, no?

Oddly enough, they don't seem to be as noticeable on the iPad than the Mac.

Exactly! And on ONE device. Nice and efficient.

More like a bastard son. Can't run both at the same time, need to add and remove peripherals, reboot to switch, not very "Nice and efficient"

We seem to survive now don't we? The MacBook OS would look like it looks now. if you reach out to touch it now, you'll do it then.

We don't now because we are not used to touching the screen. Add that in and it will cause confusion and frustration.

Exactly!! iOS can never become a productivity-focused Mac OS.

Which is why the iPad and Mac need to stay separate.

So tell me, do you wish you still had an iPod, and no music app on your iPhone?

I actually do, but the iPhone is just an iPod with a phone conceptually and if you used one you know how to use the other.

Or a separate camera to tote around and no camera app on your iPhone?

They'll get my L glass when they pry my cold dead fingers from it.

Carry around a pager, and no iMessages app on your Phone?

The point you don't understand is that functionality does not require a different OS nor design tradeoffs that cahnage the concept of the iPhone / iPad. Apple didn't try to mimic a pager but rather it's purpose. The iPad and its OS does the same without trying to be a Mac.

Do you also feel there's no value in virtual machines like Parallels? Better to have a separate Mac and PC, rather than be able to boot a Windows experience on a Mac?

But Parallels doesn't change the fundamental user interface of concepts behind a PC. I can run iOS apps on a Mac, so the virtualization equivalent is already there, no need to bastardize the Mac and iPad. Why haven't you dumped you iPad and use the MBA for what you think is a great solution?

 

[Tozovac]

Dual boot would be ridiculous. You couldn't easily switch for one to another, risk losingwork if you forget to save; destroying what makes the iPad a good companion to the Mac.



Right. Unmount drives, disconnect keyboard, reconnect keyboard, remount drives. Real user friendly, not to mention latency.

Those are quite a lot of assumptions you’re making, conveniently aimed at backing your case.

Here’s where my thoughts stem from.

I’ve seen the iPad grow in size over the years. I see the ridiculously-priced Magic Keyboard for iPad that adds a touchpad (now why would one need a touchpad for a touchscreen…) that (ridiculously) pushes the price of a 12.9 inch M1 iPad Pro + Smart Keyboard to more than the cost of an iPad Air. I see the current iMac’s “iPad on a stick” architecture. I see Macs getting thinner and thinner. I see both having the same processors now. I see Apple making iOS/iPadOS more and more complex with the dream of making an iPad as strong of a productivity device as a Mac, but overlooking that the iPadOS needs to continue to be “dumbed down” for fingertip control (fingertips are much larger and less easy to finely-control than a mouse pointer). I see prices climbing to where an iPad Pro + magic keyboard costs more than a MacBook Air.

All of it makes me wonder “wouldn’t it be fun to have the option to undock the iMac and treat it as an iPad sometimes. Wouldn’t it be fun for my pocketbook to have a single iPad/MacBook device with the drive/memory/everything in the body of the iPad/screen, to which one can connect a Magic Keyboard that has ports/touchpad and maybe add’l battery capacity.

Instead we’ll keep buying two devices using the same processor.

I’m not a believer in a touchscreen Mac, but obviously the Windows/PC crowd disagrees, and there’s an audience unlike me who is a believer.

Except when you use the iPad you now have a camera on the side that makes Facetime odd.

Except there’s always a way to refine the design to consider various trade-offs like that.

And each OS works on the designed device, not some hybrid maybe this but sometimes that.

Remember, only the hardware is a hybrid. There’s no dumbing down of MacOS towards iPadOS, and no over-complicating iPadOS to try to be anywhere near MacOS’s feature set and functions.

Why haven't you dumped you iPad and use the MBA for what you think is a great solution?

I’ll never dump either. Each shines under different use scenarios. But as Mac hardware looks more like an iPad (iMac…) and as iPads start to look more like Macs (via Smart Keyboard), the idea of a dual-boot device isn’t very far fetched. You’re just clinging to personal preferences.

 

[darngooddesign]

Which I contend is full of trade-offs. Windows 2010/2011’s chunky design that’s friendly to fingertips is awfully inefficient at times, wasting a lot of screen space that’s cumbersome to navigate with a mouse.

 

[Tozovac]

Remember that Microsoft tried the separate desktop mode and tablet mode thing and people didn't like it, which is why we now have a single version of desktop Windows.

Which I contend is full of trade-offs. Windows 2010/2011’s chunky design that’s friendly to fingertips is awfully inefficient at times, wasting a lot of screen space that’s cumbersome to navigate with a mouse.

 

[darngooddesign]

Which I contend is full of trade-offs. Windows 2010/2011’s chunky design that’s friendly to fingertips is awfully inefficient at times, wasting a lot of screen space that’s cumbersome to navigate with a mouse.

Sure, but its still a better experience than having to frequently boot into different OSes, just because you want to use a particular feature.

I personally don't think the current iMac looks like an iPad any more than the white iPad 2 looked like an iMac G5. Sure they are all rectangular, but so is the box my MBP came in.

 

[mazz0]

Everyone says they want that, but no one ever thinks about how it would work in real life.

Such a device makes no sense to me. It would likely involve tradeoffs that make either a poor computer or bad tablet, and likely a mediocre combination of the two.

Not really, I think the general idea is pretty simple and obvious (though the details wouldn't be, and would be where Apple's strengths really come to the fore). I think dual boot is the wrong approach - what I (and others) want is the iPadOS interface when in iPad mode (ie no cursor) and the MacOS interface when in laptop mode (ie when there's a cursor).

The obvious details to work out (and I'm sure there are non-obvious ones too) are how to handle the transition - should there be a delay, in case you plug in a mouse temporarily and don't want to transition, should the transition be manual or automatic, what should happen to currently open windows/apps? This sort of UI design is what Apple's great at.

 

[jlc1978]

Those are quite a lot of assumptions you’re making, conveniently aimed at backing your case.

Of course. So are you. Welcome to the internet.

All of it makes me wonder “wouldn’t it be fun to have the option to undock the iMac and treat it as an iPad sometimes. Wouldn’t it be fun for my pocketbook to have a single iPad/MacBook device with the drive/memory/everything in the body of the iPad/screen, to which one can connect a Magic Keyboard that has ports/touchpad and maybe add’l battery capacity.

Except now you have an iPad as thick and heavy as a MacBook; with a bunch of ports either on the back or side when used as a MacBook and a keyboard to carry around.

Remember, only the hardware is a hybrid. There’s no dumbing down of MacOS towards iPadOS, and no over-complicating iPadOS to try to be anywhere near MacOS’s feature set and functions.

Which means a UI nightmare and having to switch between them when you want one capability, though in reality if you have MacOS, what does the iPad add other than portrait mode and losing the flexibility of 2 devices?

I’ll never dump either. Each shines under different use scenarios.

Exactly why they are seperate devices.

But as Mac hardware looks more like an iPad (iMac…) and as iPads start to look more like Macs (via Smart Keyboard), the idea of a dual-boot device isn’t very far fetched. You’re just clinging to personal preferences.

Perhaps. I just don't think there is any compelling reason to have 2 separate OS's and switch between them. A more likely long term solution is merging the two so there is no longer iPadOS.

Not really, I think the general idea is pretty simple and obvious (though the details wouldn't be, and would be where Apple's strengths really come to the fore). I think dual boot is the wrong approach - what I (and others) want is the iPadOS interface when in iPad mode (ie no cursor) and the MacOS interface when in laptop mode (ie when there's a cursor).

If Apple decided to do that there is no need for iPadOS - simply switch to iPad mode when you run an iPad app in MacOS. They could keep the cursor, much as their iPad keyboard does, and add in a touch /pencil capable screen. Kill the touch screen when running MacOS; but then you get into human design issues with different responses from teh same device with little visual clue of the switch.

No dual boot, switching or VM needed.

The obvious details to work out (and I'm sure there are non-obvious ones too) are how to handle the transition - should there be a delay, in case you plug in a mouse temporarily and don't want to transition, should the transition be manual or automatic, what should happen to currently open windows/apps? This sort of UI design is what Apple's great at.

I think, because of their UI knowledge, the idea of such a device is dead in the water; at least as we know the current MacOS/iPadOS designs.

 

[jeffpeng]

If foldable displays have even a 5% market share in 2030, I will buy a hat and eat it.

The idea is stupid for so many reasons from engineering to aesthetic to simple HCI.

I suspect this is an April fool but you just can’t tell now.

"I'll have what he's having!"

 

[mazz0]

If Apple decided to do that there is no need for iPadOS - simply switch to iPad mode when you run an iPad app in MacOS. They could keep the cursor, much as their iPad keyboard does, and add in a touch /pencil capable screen. Kill the touch screen when running MacOS; but then you get into human design issues with different responses from teh same device with little visual clue of the switch.

No dual boot, switching or VM needed.

I agree, it should be one OS. I don't think the interface should be selected based on what app you're running though. I should be able to interact with the same app (and the OS as a whole) in different ways depending whether I'm using the device in handheld, iPady fashion, or on a surface with a mouse or trackpad.

I think, because of their UI knowledge, the idea of such a device is dead in the water; at least as we know the current MacOS/iPadOS designs.

I think, because of their desire to sell us MacBooks and iPads, the idea of such a device is dead in the water.

 

[tshrimp]

Wife has a Galaxy Flip 3, and admit...it is awesome. Interested how Apple will end up using this type of tech.

 

[farmboy]

To me, the best eventual use case for a foldable display is the iPhone. I would love a “regular size” iPhone that folds in half to slip into my pocket. I can imagine the exact thickness of the current model, but half as thin when it folds open. I just can’t imagine the tech being ready (I.e.-durable, inexpensive, seamless) for at least another decade, maybe even two. But anyone saying it will never happen hasn’t lived that long. Tech just has to catch up with the idea.

In two decades there will be some other, completely different solution / product. Count on it.

 

[happygodavid]

In two decades there will be some other, completely different solution / product. Count on it.

Ah yes! There’s that. I think it’ll be glasses. I’ve read about them replacing every other screen: watches, TVs, phones, computers… though, I do think there’s still a few decades to iterate on phones. I probably won’t live to see it (I’m 45), but I could be wrong. I’ve lived long enough to learn that “such and such will never happen” is often incorrect, especially in tech world.

 

[tshrimp]

Ah yes! There’s that. I think it’ll be glasses. I’ve read about them replacing every other screen: watches, TVs, phones, computers… though, I do think there’s still a few decades to iterate on phones. I probably won’t live to see it (I’m 45), but I could be wrong. I’ve lived long enough to learn that “such and such will never happen” is often incorrect, especially in tech world.

Would that be dangerous? It is hard enough to get people off their phones while driving. Think about if it was in their glasses. I assume voice will be better, but a screen that easily accessible while driving looks to me to open pandora's box. Also, didn't google try this already with limited succuss? With that said, Microsoft had a tablet similar to the iPad, but thicker, before Apple did but they didn't do it as well so it failed where Apple succeeded.

 

[jlc1978]

Would that be dangerous? It is hard enough to get people off their phones while driving. Think about if it was in their glasses. I assume voice will be better, but a screen that easily accessible while driving looks to me to open pandora's box. Also, didn't google try this already with limited succuss? With that said, Microsoft had a tablet similar to the iPad, but thicker, before Apple did but they didn't do it as well so it failed where Apple succeeded.

Years ago the Boston Computer Society had John Sculley talk at a meeting. He showed an Apple internal video, showing Apple of the future. A gray haired Woz talked, Apple was the targets computer company after buying IBM, and they showed their latest glasses with a display that projected in front of your eyes and a memory device about 8mm x 12mm that plugged into a slot in the glasses.

 

[happygodavid]

Would that be dangerous? It is hard enough to get people off their phones while driving. Think about if it was in their glasses. I assume voice will be better, but a screen that easily accessible while driving looks to me to open pandora's box. Also, didn't google try this already with limited succuss? With that said, Microsoft had a tablet similar to the iPad, but thicker, before Apple did but they didn't do it as well so it failed where Apple succeeded.

I mean, yeah, it'd be potentially dangerous, but I assume engineers would be smart enough to figure it out. Auto-disable certain features while driving, etc. See jlc1948's comment about whether or not it's the future.

Years ago the Boston Computer Society had John Sculley talk at a meeting. He showed an Apple internal video, showing Apple of the future. A gray haired Woz talked, Apple was the targets computer company after buying IBM, and they showed their latest glasses with a display that projected in front of your eyes and a memory device about 8mm x 12mm that plugged into a slot in the glasses.

Cool! Yeah, I figure if anyone can put a computer into a pair of glasses (or eventually, contact lenses), it'll be Apple. I won't live to see the latter, but the former? Probably. Assuming I start exercising again and/or don't get hit by a bus. I can see glasses replacing watches, phones, and TVs in another 30 years. Maybe sooner.

 

[Tozovac]

Everyone says they want that, but no one ever thinks about how it would work in real life.

Such a device makes no sense to me. It would likely involve tradeoffs that make either a poor computer or bad tablet, and likely a mediocre combination of the two. If anything, greater program interoperability while still allowing optimization for the device used would be a more realistic option.

macOS is not coming to the iPad.

Hopefully Apple is thinking about a version of how this would work in real life, finally, and long overdue if true.

 

[Tozovac]

@darngooddesign
@jlc1978
@chucker23n1

Yeah nobody wants an OS experience on ipad.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-aiming-to-make-ipad-more-mac-like-with-ipados-16-multitasking-changes.2346517/?post=31141024#post-31141024

Ideal would be an iPadOS on ipad when you want, then a macOS experience with keyboard when you want. But hopefully never a one size fits all maciPadOS.

 

[jlc1978]

@darngooddesign
@jlc1978
@chucker23n1

Yeah nobody wants an OS experience on ipad.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-aiming-to-make-ipad-more-mac-like-with-ipados-16-multitasking-changes.2346517/?post=31141024#post-31141024

Ideal would be an iPadOS on ipad when you want, then a macOS experience with keyboard when you want. But hopefully never a one size fits all maciPadOS.

Yea, like I said:
Such a device makes no sense to me. It would likely involve tradeoffs that make either a poor computer or bad tablet, and likely a mediocre combination of the two. If anything, greater program interoperability while still allowing optimization for the device used would be a more realistic option.

There's a difference between making the experience similar and greater interoperability and putting MacOS on an iPad. As a user of a Mac and an iPad/Keyboard combo thee certainly are ways to increase to utility of an iPad but putting MacOS on it isn't one of them.

The convergence of laptop/tablet devices may be teh future; but making a good one will require rethinking some of the UI and how teh device functions; not jut slapping some bags on teh side of an existing OS.