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All iPads MacBook with iPhone chip rumor - what if it runs iPadOS
- Thread starter Scarboose
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That's the point we're making. It won't be a MacBook running macOS. It'll potentially be an iBook running a non-touch variant of iPadOS.
Touch-oriented operating systems running on non-touch platforms have never succeeded and have thus far always sucked from a UX standpoint. (Windows 8, anyone?)
But we already know it's a Mac.
New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Subscribe to the MacRumors...
www.macrumors.com
Maybe it is just labeled as “Mac” for now, and nothing is set in stone yet.But we already know it's a Mac.
New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Subscribe to the MacRumors...
Is that because of this?But we already know it's a Mac.
New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Subscribe to the MacRumors...
"The machine features the identifier "Mac17,1.""
Look, I think you're probably right. It's just fun to speculate.
But I do wonder...if this is going to presumably be called just MacBook (running macOS), how will it have enough to differentiate itself from the base M4 MB Air? Especially if it does come with only 8Gb RAM. How much base storage? 128Gb? That would put it firmly in line with the base iPad Air specs - fine for iPadOS, but anaemic now for macOS 26.
If it does come with 16Gb and 256Gb, that's still a tough sell when the base M4 Air can be had for $799 frequently.
a bit of additional cold water: Apple released developer Macs based on the A12Z-chip previously - Apple’s Developer Transition Kit. These worked quite nice, so an A18-based Mac will be great… maybe probably labelled different…
By the time it receives a model identifier, it's set in stone.
If Apple weren't sure about naming, they would call it something else. For example, Vision Pro is identified as RealityDevice14,1.
It can be fun to speculate, but at this point we have pretty credible info. You'd have to disregard the supply chain guys and pretend Quanta and Foxconn aren't EMS companies - that they just build blindly and toss the hardware over the fence to Apple. We know that's untrue.
A18 Pro matches M3 performance in single-core. It's about 30% slower in multi-core. How is that anywhere close to being anemic?
How does $999 MacBook Air (M4) differentiate itself from $1,599 MacBook Pro (M4)? It would be the same for $599 MacBook.
- Display size and features - 12.9-inch, 400 nits
- Performance - A18 Pro, no fan
- Ports - no MagSafe, 10Gbps
- Base memory and storage - 8GB or 12GB, 256GB
The fact that MacBook Air is frequently on sale for $799 is a strong indication Apple is missing something in their MacBook product stack. Do you think Apple wants to pull the price lever so hard? This is not a normal situation.
Having a $599 MacBook that can be on sale for $499 will make a strong Chromebook competitor.
OK, OK, you've convinced me. But if it turns out to run iPadOS or be an App Store-only device, I'm claiming a hollow victory. 😁
I agree there is a gap at the mid-lower end of the market. Does make you wonder how well the lower-cost iPad/add-on keyboard strategy is working out.
powerful enough to do anything some people do on computers I doubtful
I remember restaurant POS machines that ran some sort of windows me, but they also probably couldn't even play a video
you mean in Geekbench running iOS
that says nothing of it's ability to run a "desktop" operating system and do the things that people do on such operating systems
For schools, I doubt the iPad keyboards are selling well. Kids in K-5 use iPad for content consumption and exploration. For 6th grade and older, keyboard is king. This is why schools deploy iPad for early ages and Chromebooks later on.
Kids using Chromebooks in school results in generational platform loss. When they're adults, they're less comfortable with macOS. A MacBook running iPadOS doesn't help this problem.
Who cares if it doesn't outperform an M5 Max?
What do consumers care about? Will the $599 MacBook significantly outperform a $599 PC or Chromebook? The answer is yes.
- 1 UBS C port, not 2 (remains to see if there is magsafe or not)
- no Thunderbolt
- likely base RAM will be lower (8 or 12GB) with the option to upgrade to 16, but not more
- battery size, probably a smaller batter to avoid this having longer battery life than the air.
- slightly smaller screen
- storage options will probably cap at 1TB (also possibly slower storage too)
- long term support (may be supported 1-2 years less than the regular M series Macs, just like the iPad A series is supported for 5 years of OS updates instead of 7 for the air/pro), but Apple won't tell this in advance anyway
- webcam quality
- no charger in the box
Then this product is essentially a "e-waste" product that the only selling point over an iPad is macOS, which this product's target audience doesn't need (you don't need macOS to do browsing and consume content). I still maintain my opinion though and it makes the most sense to run iPadOS from both business and engineering standpoint. I guess you could be right since Apple does sometimes make illogical decision. I could be biased in my opinion since I really want to see Apple making a new kind of device.
It's really simple:
If it runs iPadOS, it's an iPad.
If it runs MacOS, it's a Mac.
It would make zero sense to release something labeled as a MacBook and have it running iPadOS, regardless of anything else. Macs run Mac apps, iPads don't do that. iPads have a touchscreen UI, Macs don't do that. They're different machines, with different use cases. People buying an iPad aren't looking for a MacBook, and people buying a MacBook aren't looking for an iPad.
A "MacBook" with an A13 running iPadOS isn't a MacBook - it's a $349 iPad with a downgraded processor and a keyboard attached to it.
If it runs iPadOS, it's an iPad.
If it runs MacOS, it's a Mac.
It would make zero sense to release something labeled as a MacBook and have it running iPadOS, regardless of anything else. Macs run Mac apps, iPads don't do that. iPads have a touchscreen UI, Macs don't do that. They're different machines, with different use cases. People buying an iPad aren't looking for a MacBook, and people buying a MacBook aren't looking for an iPad.
A "MacBook" with an A13 running iPadOS isn't a MacBook - it's a $349 iPad with a downgraded processor and a keyboard attached to it.
The rumored A18 MacBook is likely intended to replace the $599 M1 that is sold at Wal-Mart. The fact that Apple is still selling a 5 year old laptop and is getting positive online reviews (4.7 stars) from Wal-Mart shoppers indicates there is a market for this.
you must have quoted the wrong person
I wasn't commenting on any of those points
but too your question, not necessarily
Lets put things into perspective:
Intel Core i9-9980HK in Macbook Pro 2019, 8 core, has Geekbench score of 1513, 6960.
Intel Core Ultra 7 258V 2200 MHz (8 cores) (Lunar Lake) 2719, 8749
A18 Pro in iPhone 16, 2 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores, 3440, 8478.
So A18 is about as good as new Intel Lunar lake CPUs. And those are in notebooks, right? Does anyone complains?
So A18 is more than capable to run macOS, also multitask hard, also play games. It mostly depends how much memory it gets. I hope for 16GB, so Apple intelligence will be able to run there. Anything lower just doesn't make sense.
Best thing we got from AI is more memory :-D
Intel Core i9-9980HK in Macbook Pro 2019, 8 core, has Geekbench score of 1513, 6960.
Intel Core Ultra 7 258V 2200 MHz (8 cores) (Lunar Lake) 2719, 8749
A18 Pro in iPhone 16, 2 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores, 3440, 8478.
So A18 is about as good as new Intel Lunar lake CPUs. And those are in notebooks, right? Does anyone complains?
So A18 is more than capable to run macOS, also multitask hard, also play games. It mostly depends how much memory it gets. I hope for 16GB, so Apple intelligence will be able to run there. Anything lower just doesn't make sense.
Best thing we got from AI is more memory :-D
Computers have run very complex programs with much less powerful chips. I’m sure an A18 chip can run everything needed by this Mac’s target customer *and* do it well.
To me, it doesn’t make any sense. The biggest reason to use one OS or another is the form factor. I also remember people thinking that Apple would port macOS to the iPad when the iPad Pro M1 was announced. There’s no fundamental architectural aspect based on which an A chip is completely suited for iPads and an M chip is completely suited for Macs.
In the same way that macOS on the iPad would be terrible, iPadOS on a Mac is a bad option. There are more things to consider, but just to focus on the UI… iPadOS is based on a low-density layout, that can be easily targeted with fingers, while macOS is the opposite. Yes, Apple has made some changes in order to make using the iPad with pointer acceptable enough to some people (it’s easier to make iPadOS mouse-friendly than making macOS touch-friendly), but it will never be better than something thought from the ground up for keyboard and mouse.
In the same way that macOS on the iPad would be terrible, iPadOS on a Mac is a bad option. There are more things to consider, but just to focus on the UI… iPadOS is based on a low-density layout, that can be easily targeted with fingers, while macOS is the opposite. Yes, Apple has made some changes in order to make using the iPad with pointer acceptable enough to some people (it’s easier to make iPadOS mouse-friendly than making macOS touch-friendly), but it will never be better than something thought from the ground up for keyboard and mouse.
Lets put things into perspective:
Intel Core i9-9980HK in Macbook Pro 2019, 8 core, has Geekbench score of 1513, 6960.
Intel Core Ultra 7 258V 2200 MHz (8 cores) (Lunar Lake) 2719, 8749
A18 Pro in iPhone 16, 2 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores, 3440, 8478.
So A18 is about as good as new Intel Lunar lake CPUs. And those are in notebooks, right? Does anyone complains?
So A18 is more than capable to run macOS, also multitask hard, also play games. It mostly depends how much memory it gets. I hope for 16GB, so Apple intelligence will be able to run there. Anything lower just doesn't make sense.
Best thing we got from AI is more memory :-D
Apparently, the complaint now is that Geekbench scores don't reflect whether the chip can run a "desktop" OS, whatever that means.
I swear, we could have an A20 Pro and some people would still think it would "burn out" the chip and M1 is still better for a "desktop" OS.