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Apple Plans to Equip MacBooks With In-House Cellular Modems

tooloud10 said:
Where is the iPhone during this time? Just connect away, the phone doesn't care if it's in a bag or something.
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I would still need to put it into hotspot mode, as I wouldn’t keep it active due to battery drain. And as I’ve noted, being limited to how much data I could use on hotspot (in the past), I find it easier to just have the iPP be on its own cellular signal.
 
BGPL said:
About time. I think in 8-10 years the average consumer will think it ridiculous to use a hotspot when using a laptop computer. I could never figure out why this is just now happening - it's been present in tablets for over a decade.
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Perhaps because folks like me learned after paying a lot more for cellular on multiple iPads that tethering to one's iPhone had evolved to work quite well [I was forced to learn this when the cell radio on an iPad Air died]. Plus of course Wi-Fi hotspots have become ubiquitous in most heavily populated areas. So today I no longer pay a lot extra to add cellular to iPads and no longer wish for cellular capability on my laptops. I simply tether to the iPhone if no WiFi is available.
 
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What a waste of resources, space, and (for customers) money. On the rare occasion that you're lugging your computer to an area without Wi-Fi connectivity, you can tether to your iPhone.

This idea is stupid. If anything, it undermines a use for the iPhone.

Why not do something useful, like make the Pencil work on the defectively huge MacBook trackpads?
 
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Why? In what situation do you want to pay for an extra line on your cellular plan for your computer, when you could simply tether it to your phone instead... on the rare occasion when take your computer somewhere without Wi-Fi?

Do people think anything through?
 
the company reportedly considered launching a MacBook Air with 3G connectivity, but former CEO Steve Jobs said in 2008 that Apple decided against it, since it would take up too much room in the case.
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imagine if they released this. it would have taken off. we could be using cellular comp tiers right now.

if i remember correctly even back then people would bring their MacBook pro’s with them. I know i did. Why not put it in there? Or make a MacBook Air in a pro casing with lte?
 
MobiusStrip said:
Why? In what situation do you want to pay for an extra line on your cellular plan for your computer, when you could simply tether it to your phone instead... on the rare occasion when take your computer somewhere without Wi-Fi?

Do people think anything through?
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Well people pay for an extra line for their iPads, isn’t that sort of the same thing?

Agreed, people shouldn’t pay for an extra line for either as long as they can use a phone for a hotspot. But people do.
 
They do? I don't. I tether it to my iPhone on the very rare occasion I need a bigger screen and don't have my computer.

The irritating BS is that Apple only puts GPS in the iPads that have cellular radios. Rip-off. I've never put a SIM card in my iPad.
 
subjonas said:
Yeah if it’s built into the SoC, does that mean it’s not an option? People will get it (and pay for it) whether or not they need it?
I guess you could choose a cellular version of each ASi SoC, but seems like it adds a lot more SKUs for Apple.
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I mean they do that for watches and ipads already, everything has a cellular and a wifi-only SKU
 
MobiusStrip said:
What a waste of resources, space, and (for customers) money. On the rare occasion that you're lugging your computer to an area without Wi-Fi connectivity, you can tether to your iPhone.

This idea is stupid. If anything, it undermines a use for the iPhone.

Why not do something useful, like make the Pencil work on the defectively huge MacBook trackpads?
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Wow, get some caffeine on board. The large MacBook trackpad is a hugely beneficial feature.
As to the comment "This idea is stupid. If anything, it undermines a use for the iPhone," I disagree. The chips in question in the five-year future will probably be used for all kinds of things (including iPhones) so to have cellular on-chip makes total sense from a cost effective standpoint.
 
seek3r said:
I mean they do that for watches and ipads already, everything has a cellular and a wifi-only SKU
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True, but laptops can take up a lot more room haha. Also with integrated cellular, I guess there’s double “SKUs“ of the SoCs themselves—which maybe leads to less flexibility in operations as far as if they need to pivot from manufacturing more of one laptop or the other. But that’s just my speculation. There are always going to be natural trade offs of going integrated vs modular. But maybe the pros outweigh the cons here.
 
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foobarbaz said:
It's probably the licensing cost. Apple complained that Qualcomm charges a percentage of the device price. If they complain about that on the iPhone, I imagine they really wouldn't want to pay the same percentage on a $4000 laptop.

With their own chip, they only have to pay for manufacturing and patents.
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That’s trash. Not your comment, but charging a percentage larger than your share of the device cost.

If the laptop was $2500 and the modem is $30 they should not be able to charge anything more than the cost of that part. Especially considering that Qualcomm apparently has every patent on cellular connectivity to the point that Intel nor Apple could do their own version without bumping up against one of them.

Is there only one way to build a power efficient modem?
 
polyphenol said:
I agree it could make sense.

The biggest benefit for me would be if they implement in-country roaming. So I can use whichever signal is available. Coverage varies almost yard by yard round here!

But I have a nasty feeling that the cost will be more than I'm happy to pay. Just adding the cheapest ESIM from the 'other' carrier would likely be sufficient.

Especially as Apple One is already over-priced when I take out Arcade, find tv+ has somewhat thin offerings, and would only use Music to a limited extent. And a bundle including carrier(s) will simply increase the cost further - probably more than I am currently paying.
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Yea, probably 30% premium either charged to ISP's or shift the costs to us, just like App Store. But they may be able to market it towards corporates and "professionals".
 
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