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"Byproduct of mobile." If you need evidence: Swift appeared in IOS first and still is not great on the desktop at all. APFS (not AFS) is the default in IOS, a

"Byproduct of mobile." If you need evidence: Swift appeared in IOS first and still is not great on the desktop at all. APFS (not AFS) is the default in IOS, and still in feature preview and pretty unusable in 10.12. It's "expected" it will be released for desktop in 2017 Siri on the desktop is mostly useless, as said here.

owenwil 10y ago
Right - that's simply a result of what I say in the post about Apple focusing on iOS first, then letting the byproduct of that filter down into OS X. That's a end-result of the Mac team being merged into the iOS team. Maybe it's not bad, but it just means slower overall progress.
- comex 10y ago
  For APFS, I don't buy that it has anything to do with prioritizing one operating system or the other. APFS wasn't ready when Sierra was released, which is why it was included as a beta with limited functionality. It seems to be ready now, so it will be included in the next version of iOS (10.3), which is still in beta, and presumably the next major release of macOS. The only difference is that it's being released in a minor update to iOS but will probably wait for a major update to macOS. But that makes sense, because macOS allows the user to customize partitions and filesystems, and allows running other operating systems - including Boot Camp, which Apple itself must provide drivers for, and Linux, which is waiting on Apple releasing documentation for their filesystem, as they have promised to do. By contrast, iOS has the same partition layout on every single device and no cross-OS compatibility concerns. Thus APFS on macOS requires more work and has greater risk of failure. For both reasons, regardless of Apple's priorities, it would be logical to start with iOS. Even if Apple did add stable APFS support to a minor macOS update, they probably want to auto-convert users to APFS eventually, but doing so in a minor update would definitely piss off technical users; they could make it opt-in to start with, but it's easier to just wait. The next version of macOS is only a few months away; really not a big deal. (I agree that Apple seems to be prioritizing iOS in some areas; I just don't think APFS is one of them.)
coldtea 10y ago
>Swift appeared in IOS first Which makes perfect sense. We talk to our phones all the time anyway, and hands-free is crucial. For desktop, not so much. >APFS (not AFS) is the default in IOS, and still in feature preview and pretty unusable in 10.12. It's "expected" it will be released for desktop in 2017 Which makes perfect sense. A constrained environment without an exposed filesystem like iOS is easier to convert to a new FS. A full blown desktop OS not so much. That's why it needs much more testing and development to deliver the latter. But they ARE doing this testing and development. (Btw, APFS is not "the default in iOS" yet. It will be when 10.3 is released -- it is still in beta atm).
- addicted 10y ago
  I agree it makes sense. But it also indicates that Apple isn't really designing for the Mac as the author points out. I mean, Siri is the biggest feature Apple is touting for Sierra (http://www.apple.com/macos/sierra/ http://www.apple.com/macos/sierra/). And as you point out, it's something that doesn't even make all that much sense on the Mac.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    >But it also indicates that Apple isn't really designing for the Mac as the author points out. Maybe they don't but I don't see them doing anything major on the iOS side either. Both platforms are quite mature by now anyway. (And Apple was never about revolutionary new designs and jumps. Back in the day of the iPod and early MBPs etc, we cheered and waited anxiously for at best incremental changes -- now it has USB, now it has a different touch wheel, now it has a color screen, now it has wifi, now it does video, etc, year over year). >And as you point out, it's something that doesn't even make all that much sense on the Mac. Yes, but people (and pundits) have been asking for it all the same to appear on the Mac anyway. And "talking to your computer" has been a thing from the times of 50's sci-fi stories even.
    - mdekkers 10y ago
      Apple was never about revolutionary new designs and jumps. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple
madeofpalk 10y ago
> APFS (not AFS) is the default in IOS Well, it will be when that beta iOS is released. Besides, it makes sense for any sort of file system to be released first in such a limited manner.
- DannyBee 10y ago
  Uh You realize they make more phones than desktops, right? By like a factor of 10 at least :) So the limited manner would be to release it to desktop?
antfarm 10y ago
In what sense is Swift not great on the desktop at all?

owenwil 10y ago

Right - that's simply a result of what I say in the post about Apple focusing on iOS first, then letting the byproduct of that filter down into OS X. That's a end-result of the Mac team being merged into the iOS team. Maybe it's not bad, but it just means slower overall progress.

comex 10y ago
For APFS, I don't buy that it has anything to do with prioritizing one operating system or the other. APFS wasn't ready when Sierra was released, which is why it was included as a beta with limited functionality. It seems to be ready now, so it will be included in the next version of iOS (10.3), which is still in beta, and presumably the next major release of macOS. The only difference is that it's being released in a minor update to iOS but will probably wait for a major update to macOS. But that makes sense, because macOS allows the user to customize partitions and filesystems, and allows running other operating systems - including Boot Camp, which Apple itself must provide drivers for, and Linux, which is waiting on Apple releasing documentation for their filesystem, as they have promised to do. By contrast, iOS has the same partition layout on every single device and no cross-OS compatibility concerns. Thus APFS on macOS requires more work and has greater risk of failure. For both reasons, regardless of Apple's priorities, it would be logical to start with iOS. Even if Apple did add stable APFS support to a minor macOS update, they probably want to auto-convert users to APFS eventually, but doing so in a minor update would definitely piss off technical users; they could make it opt-in to start with, but it's easier to just wait. The next version of macOS is only a few months away; really not a big deal. (I agree that Apple seems to be prioritizing iOS in some areas; I just don't think APFS is one of them.)

coldtea 10y ago

>Swift appeared in IOS first Which makes perfect sense. We talk to our phones all the time anyway, and hands-free is crucial. For desktop, not so much. >APFS (not AFS) is the default in IOS, and still in feature preview and pretty unusable in 10.12. It's "expected" it will be released for desktop in 2017 Which makes perfect sense. A constrained environment without an exposed filesystem like iOS is easier to convert to a new FS. A full blown desktop OS not so much. That's why it needs much more testing and development to deliver the latter. But they ARE doing this testing and development. (Btw, APFS is not "the default in iOS" yet. It will be when 10.3 is released -- it is still in beta atm).

addicted 10y ago
I agree it makes sense. But it also indicates that Apple isn't really designing for the Mac as the author points out. I mean, Siri is the biggest feature Apple is touting for Sierra (http://www.apple.com/macos/sierra/ http://www.apple.com/macos/sierra/). And as you point out, it's something that doesn't even make all that much sense on the Mac.
- coldtea 10y ago
  >But it also indicates that Apple isn't really designing for the Mac as the author points out. Maybe they don't but I don't see them doing anything major on the iOS side either. Both platforms are quite mature by now anyway. (And Apple was never about revolutionary new designs and jumps. Back in the day of the iPod and early MBPs etc, we cheered and waited anxiously for at best incremental changes -- now it has USB, now it has a different touch wheel, now it has a color screen, now it has wifi, now it does video, etc, year over year). >And as you point out, it's something that doesn't even make all that much sense on the Mac. Yes, but people (and pundits) have been asking for it all the same to appear on the Mac anyway. And "talking to your computer" has been a thing from the times of 50's sci-fi stories even.
  - mdekkers 10y ago
    Apple was never about revolutionary new designs and jumps. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

madeofpalk 10y ago

> APFS (not AFS) is the default in IOS Well, it will be when that beta iOS is released. Besides, it makes sense for any sort of file system to be released first in such a limited manner.

DannyBee 10y ago
Uh You realize they make more phones than desktops, right? By like a factor of 10 at least :) So the limited manner would be to release it to desktop?

antfarm 10y ago

In what sense is Swift not great on the desktop at all?