So, honest question. Why with such an impressive hardware gauntlet and now 128gb available storage, is it not possible to run OS X natively on current 4th gen iPads? The whole apple profitability argument aside- Is there something missing that limits this or is there jus a complete architectural flaw to doin this? Again, honest, albeit, naive question but why?
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All iPads Could OS X run natively on iPad?
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While OS X cannot run out of the box on an ARM chip there is some code in OS X that has been compiled for ARM architectures.
They are totally different architectures, and as impressive as the specs of the 4th gen iPad are, they are nowhere close a typical desktop/laptop. GPU and CPU are a lot slower than what modern computers have, and it has just 1GB of RAM, whereas every single computer Apple sells start from at least 4GB.
Then we have the fact that using OS X, an OS designed for pixel-precise operation with mouse and keyboard, on an iPad with just your fingers, would be stupid, in the extreme. Even if it were possible, it would be just plain dumb.
I think you're partly right. We'll get some sort of hybrid on an iPad maybe, but what's probably looking more likely is ARM-based Macs.
ARM processors, or rather the breed of ARM processors that is used in phones or tablets, are not that great at running multiple programs at once. But technically, the iPads performance approaches PowerMac G5 territory.
Other than that, Apple most definitively won't put a portable Mac for $499 in your hands, sorry. Nor does Microsoft for that matter, and they even have the desktop running on the Surface — yet, no third-party apps, just Office.
Other than that, Apple most definitively won't put a portable Mac for $499 in your hands, sorry. Nor does Microsoft for that matter, and they even have the desktop running on the Surface — yet, no third-party apps, just Office.
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Probably the entire OS X has been already compiled for ARM years ago like it was being compiled for Intel all those years under wraps.
Which is a lot of memory. XP was motoring with 387Mb and I remember the days of having 128k in the PC. Object oriented programming and its waste made for large memory requirements which slows things down no end.
Software "modernisation" (actually lazy programmers and software architects creating spaghetti code) is slowing the hardware down in greater amounts than that the hardware is becoming faster. The end result is a slower overall performance.
4GB standard is a recent 'change' for Apple. Just a year back, 2GB was offered on the MBA--and in 2009, 1GB was standard. I'm not arguing that it is or isn't possible...but you point out recent changes to OSx hardware. The days of running Leopard and even Snow Leopard were very doable with 1GB or RAM. Not so sure about the ARM processing...but as mentioned, in pure benchmarking, the CPU and GPU speeds are close to if not an even parity with the G5 processors....some of which are still being used to run OSx.
I'm actually blown away by the 'power' that we can now put in our pockets, purses...or mounted to a dashboard. Pretty amazing...and no signs of it slowing down. Especially with Intel now jumping on board the 'mobile' processing bandwagon! (*In Earnest*)
J
None of the applications are compiled for arm and emulating x86 on an arm chip would provide horrendous performance.
Perhaps you could be more clear. iOS is currently based on OS X. And the version of OS X that runs on a Mac doesn't support touch.
Are you saying you want an iPad that requires a keyboard and mouse/trackpad?
Perhaps you could be more clear. iOS is currently based on OS X. And the version of OS X that runs on a Mac doesn't support touch.
Are you saying you want an iPad that requires a keyboard and mouse/trackpad?
iOS shares the kernel and some of the system libraries. It is in no way OS X based though.
Perhaps you could be more clear. iOS is currently based on OS X. And the version of OS X that runs on a Mac doesn't support touch.
Are you saying you want an iPad that requires a keyboard and mouse/trackpad?
Perhaps you are correct
. I meant I wanted it to have deeper hooks into OSX than the kernels.You can find used ModBooks on eBay for the price of an iPad. People have ported OSX over to Samsung Tablets, get one of those.
1GB is A lot of you compare it to the past. My first computer had 64KB of memory, but I'm not going to claim that that is a lot of memory TODAY. What XP did 10 years ago is really irrelevant.
Sure, you could do it, but it was not nice. And what about running a current OS? Of course you can take an older OS, designed for less hardware and run it with less RAM. Hell, my first Mac had 512MB of RAM (IIRC) and it ran Panther and/or Tiger. But I wouldn't recommend that anyone run Mountain Lion with so little RAM.
They are used to run OLD versions of OS X. so yes, iPad would have enough raw power to run old version of OS X. Fastest iPad has the CPU-performance of G5-Powermac from 2005, with less GPU-performance. But who wants to run Panther or Tiger anymore? My wifi base-station has more processing-power than some of the computers I have owned in the past, but I still wouldn't go around saying that they could run a modern desktop OS. Our computing-needs keep going up, and what was enough power for hi-end workstation 7 years ago, is today enough for an embedded device. My phone has a lot more computing-power than the hi-end SGI workstations that created the SFX for Jurassic Park.
Tempting actually. But my big pinch is I *need* the iPad hardware too. Thanks for the tip though!
My 2008 Unibody MBP came with 2GB.
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What do you need about the hardware? You'd have OSX RT with no legacy support or you'd have a heavier tablet running Intel with lower battery life.
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