4 ms·

Well, not all of them! x86/64 compatibility is going to be necessary for awhile, and emulation isn't quite there yet. Especially with one of ARM's main advantag

Well, not all of them! x86/64 compatibility is going to be necessary for awhile, and emulation isn't quite there yet. Especially with one of ARM's main advantages being power efficiency. But seriously, I agree that Apple made a HUGE mistake in completely missing the ARMtop 'Chromebook' market. Google really slammed that niche open - they've gone so far as to trademark 'Apptop' - and even Microsoft is beating them to the punch. I mean, the 'Apple Apptop'...well, coulda shoulda woulda. 'Google Apptop' sounds good, too; both would be equally incomprehensible names to someone two generations ago.

abritinthebay 9y ago
This sounds identical to the noise over Netbooks a decade ago. Same reasons apply now as then. Also “Apptop” is an awful name that screams “I’m a subpar product”, yikes.
- leggomylibro 9y ago
  Not really...Netbooks promised a fully-fledged laptop/desktop replacement, which is not the goal of these highly mobile and very light ARM machines. They aim for battery life, ease-of-use, and flexibility more than all-purpose work. But I still do use it for EDA software, designing models to 3D print, etc etc. But you often need to compile binaries specifically for ARM to do so, which requires steps that most users won't want to bother with. Chromebooks are products that are cheap, sturdy, functional, and target both entry-level users who don't need a computer to do much as well as powerusers who want extensibility and relatively strong ownership of the device.
Recurecur 9y ago
"x86/64 compatibility is going to be necessary for awhile" Not necessarily, if Apple can get the developer community onboard with releasing fat Intel/ARM binaries with updates for any already-owned software. Xcode obviously supports both instruction sets, and fat binaries date back to the good old NeXT days. :-)

abritinthebay 9y ago

This sounds identical to the noise over Netbooks a decade ago. Same reasons apply now as then. Also “Apptop” is an awful name that screams “I’m a subpar product”, yikes.

leggomylibro 9y ago
Not really...Netbooks promised a fully-fledged laptop/desktop replacement, which is not the goal of these highly mobile and very light ARM machines. They aim for battery life, ease-of-use, and flexibility more than all-purpose work. But I still do use it for EDA software, designing models to 3D print, etc etc. But you often need to compile binaries specifically for ARM to do so, which requires steps that most users won't want to bother with. Chromebooks are products that are cheap, sturdy, functional, and target both entry-level users who don't need a computer to do much as well as powerusers who want extensibility and relatively strong ownership of the device.

Recurecur 9y ago

"x86/64 compatibility is going to be necessary for awhile" Not necessarily, if Apple can get the developer community onboard with releasing fat Intel/ARM binaries with updates for any already-owned software. Xcode obviously supports both instruction sets, and fat binaries date back to the good old NeXT days. :-)