Apple Job Posting Suggests Future iPhone OS Devices

[MacRumors]

Computerworld points to an Apple job listing posted last week which suggests that Apple is looking to expand the iPhone OS beyond the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad to additional platforms. The position, entitled "Engineering Manager (Platform Bring-Up)", requires that the employee lead a team of software engineers working with hardware and "custom silicon" teams on new platforms and protoypes.

The Core Platform team within Apple's Core OS organization is looking for a talented and inspired manager to lead a team focused on bring-up of iPhone OS on new platforms. The team is responsible for low level platform architecture, firmware, core drivers and bring-up of new hardware platforms. The team consists of talented engineers with experience in hardware, firmware, IOKit drivers, security and platform architecture.

The report suggests a number of products, both existing and merely envisioned, that could benefit from an ARM-based architecture and iPhone OS, including Apple TV, MacBook Air, enterprise-class Time Capsule micro-server offerings and others.

Two years down the road, other low ends of the Apple Mac line might get eaten up by the Apple processor/iPhone OS. Mac Mini and Mac Book, I am looking directly at you. Once there is an iPhone OS running the TV and the MacBook Air segments, it isn't a great leap to expect to see it in low end Macs.

Obviously any such suggested offerings are based purely on speculation, but it seems clear that Apple is interested in leveraging iPhone OS and its hefty investment in ARM architecture for future products.

Article Link: Apple Job Posting Suggests Future iPhone OS Devices

 

[MacDawg]

Everything evolves and looks like Apple wants to stay on the leading edge and set the pace rather than play catch up

It will be interesting to see what "new devices" emerge

 

[boncellis]

That's cool--as long as they keep developing OS X along the way...

OS X was the reason I switched, but I've come to believe that Apple is a hardware company that uses its OS to sell that hardware. An iPhone OS-centric approach wouldn't really shock me.

Micro-server? Not a bad idea, but I think Apple has pretty well staked out the markets it wants to participate in.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

So from PowerPC to Intel to ARM...

They're really going to have to rebrand that OS. Having "iPhone OS" on your TV just seems too goofy.

 

[jodr]

So they're very serious about moving consumers to the iPhone OS, which makes sense - they control it so much more, it's simpler, designed for portability...

But I do hope Steve doesn't get totally bored with the professional market and OS X.

 

[manhattanboy]

Yes that's exactly what the Macbook Air needs... replace snow leopard with iPhone OS

 

[G4R2]

I think placing the iPhone OS in other devices rather than having Mac OS X be the one size fit all OS for every conceivable device is a solid strategy. The wisdom of this will depend on how much Apple can sustain a broader focus.

Obviously, the leading candidate for such a treatment is Apple TV. Apple TV would really take off if it were to benefit from an App store, though translating a touch interface to an HDTV may prove difficult unless this is accomplished through motion gesture recognition or some iPad/iPhone client.

It may also be the case that Apple may decide to enter the Microsoft Sync space and offer an automotive solution for which the iPhone OS seems almost ideally suited. In that case, app download would be discouraged in favor of tightly integrated apps using touch to control the vehicles functions and access media where appropriate.

 

[dwd3885]

this is not going to be good. see the iphone os on a macbook air or mac mini instead of an actual OS. The user configuration will be gone and Apple will lock everyone into iTunes and its App Store. This does not look promising.

 

[kolax]

Apple's own chips for non desktop OS X devices like: iPhone, iPad, Apple TV.

They have to keep a full OS X version for the MacBook Air and Mac Mini. It would be utter stupid to offer the MacBook Air with iPhone OS. It might work for the iPad, but not for laptops and desktops.

 

[acslater017]

Yes that's exactly what the Macbook Air needs... replace snow leopard with iPhone OS

The value/capabilities of a MBP are already questionable. Replace OS X with iPhone OS? Ha!

I'm pretty darn sure that Apple won't do that.

 

[MacDawg]

this is not going to be good. see the iphone os on a macbook air or mac mini instead of an actual OS. The user configuration will be gone and Apple will lock everyone into iTunes and its App Store. This does not look promising.

That's why God made Microsoft... for everyone else

 

[wescravn]

Ha, that would be the last apple product i bought. Imagine Iphone limited os running consumer/pro apps (ha!).

 

[jaw04005]

I could see the Apple TV, but MacBook Air and Mac mini no way.

 

[Robert M.]

I'm not looking forward to this. The OS is great for the iPhone and iPad but I can't imagine using it for anything else. At this rate one day all Apple products will use iPhone OS!

Or maybe they'll just rebrand it...

 

[Friscohoya]

Sounds good. I am already surprised tha tthe TV has not already made this move. That thing is screaming for iPhone OS. And some attention, but that's a differnet thread.

 

[alexk82]

exactly

I could see the Apple TV, but MacBook Air and Mac mini no way.

iphone os makes sense for the iphone ipad and anything thats not a lap top or computer

 

[niuniu]

Apple toaster time

 

[MacDawg]

Everything right now is wild speculation
I am willing to wait and see how it plays out
I think the OS for the iPad is the right choice in spite of a lot of initial criticism
And I have no reason to expect Apple to sabotage their success with dumb moves in the future

 

[markfc]

I could see a dual boot MacBook air with touchscreen and osx/iPhone OS.

Instant on with massive battery life when you need it!

 

[aconant5]

Not as long as there's no way to print

I was actually considering an iPad to replace my ancient Titanium PowerBook, but as long as there's no way to print directly from the device (the way I understand it, there are no printer drivers loaded on the iPad, and, at least in the current iteration of the iPhone OS, no way to do load any), that makes no sense. Maybe with this new iPhone OS push, that's something that Apple develops.

 

[jamesryanbell]

Yes that's exactly what the Macbook Air needs... replace snow leopard with iPhone OS

that's all I took out of this too.

 

[allpar]

My guess: AUTOMOTIVE.

Think about it -- Microsoft is going into automotive big time. Now think about APple and Microsoft in user interfaces.

Unfortunately neither one of them, I suspect, would understand automotive ergonomics any better than most of the current duncebuckets who work in the field - in that the key desirable factor is NOT TAKING YOUR EYES OFF THE FREAKIN' ROAD. (Actually Volvo does seem to understand that but most of them seem to be having a competition to see how much they can put into "soft buttons.")

 

[Doctor Q]

Until Apple changes strategy, to encourage users to install their own choices of software on the TV, which operation system it uses is of little consequence to most consumers.

 

[AriX]

What? This makes it sound like the MacBook Air switching to iPhone OS would be a minor jump. This would be a huge change... The MacBook Air has a trackpad, not a touchscreen, and iPhone OS would have to be modified a ton at that point, unless a touchscreen was added instead of the trackpad, which would make for an extremely awkward interface. I don't see this happening unless the iPhone OS is changed to use a touchpad, which makes it more of a scaled-down Mac OS than a scaled-up iPhone OS. And they probably wouldn't keep it called the MacBook Air.

These rumors of iPhone OS on computers do not make sense and seem unlikely and completely unfounded to me.

 

[AriX]

I was actually considering an iPad to replace my ancient Titanium PowerBook, but as long as there's no way to print directly from the device (the way I understand it, there are no printer drivers loaded on the iPad, and, at least in the current iteration of the iPhone OS, no way to do load any), that makes no sense. Maybe with this new iPhone OS push, that's something that Apple develops.

That's not true. There are several apps on the iPhone that allow you to print over the network.