4 ms·

Can someone explain to me why this matters? It feels like CPU advancements in recent memory have brought nothing at all. It used to be, in the early days of sm

Can someone explain to me why this matters? It feels like CPU advancements in recent memory have brought nothing at all. It used to be, in the early days of smartphones, every generation brought something very new, something that can truly be considered an improvement. I remember the first dual core phone, the first quad core, etc. Nowadays, there is no noticeable difference at all. Even now, where phones have indeed caught up to computer CPUs in speed, we have yet to see a phone really do anything more with that speed. The one thing I want to see, but nobody seems to be doing it, is a phone that converts into a desktop. Your laptop doesn't have to be separate from your phone. Your laptop could be a dock for your super-fast phone that converts to a desktop operating system. Of course, there have been a few products on the market that have attempted this, but none that lasted.

bluescrn 8y ago
Games! More polygons, better frame rates, the usual... Except for the fact that we're still limited by an imprecise and rather limited input device (touchscreen) that has barely changed in a decade...
- ianai 8y ago
  Too true. Selecting text is still as worse as I remember it always being. But the battery life could be into the days. The processing capabilities may be similarly improved too. It’s not a nothing upgrade.
wuunderbar 8y ago
Apple would be in a good position to create a dockable phone, however the x86 & ARM gap needs to be bridged in order for this to happen. Perhaps that is their long game: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/266773-apple-may-dump-intel-starting-2020-favor-cpu-designs https://www.extremetech.com/computing/266773-apple-may-dump-...
on_and_off 8y ago
TLDR : it does not really matter that much.
criddell 8y ago
I suppose a fast chip could always be under clocked and maybe that would get you less heat and power consumption.
amelius 8y ago
Why would Apple cannibalize their desktop products? Apple wants to sell more devices, not less. And it also helps their iCloud business (which wouldn't exist if everybody had only one device).
- Finch2192 8y ago
  I guess I'm not really talking about it from a business-centric perspective, but rather one of progress. This is where I feel the next step in mobile computing lies, given these advancements in mobile CPU. But you're right, perhaps it does not make business sense, and that's why we're not seeing it.
  - amelius 8y ago
    I guess that too little competition means that progress has to give in to the business side of things.
- npunt 8y ago
  Agree with your second point. Re:cannibalization, Apple is more than willing to cannibalize their products - just see iPod Nano v Mini, iPhone v iPod, iPad v Mac, iPad 2018 v iPad Pro. It's part of their playbook to cannibalize themselves, so that competitors don't wind up sneaking in market segments. This is enabled by organizing the company functionally rather than by product line, which lets them avoid the 'strategy tax' of pre-existing divisions that own products wanting to keep those products alive (bureaucracies self-perpetuate and all that). That said, a phone that converts to a desktop (at least in how I think OP and others who bring this up think of it) is not part of the playbook, because its making the device do double-duty in UI/UX. See iPad not having a mouse. I think Apple's perspective is that the glue that ties mobile UX to seated/desktop UX together is the cloud, and to your point, that involves multiple devices. The exception is non-interactive content (AirPlay), which third parties can license.
jonhendry18 8y ago
"The one thing I want to see, but nobody seems to be doing it, is a phone that converts into a desktop." Samsung has its "DeX Dock" which lets you turn your Samsung phone into an Android desktop, and use the phone as a trackpad.
Shorel 8y ago
Ubuntu was working on this, and to be honest, I would very much prefer Ubuntu over Android in order to work or do development. But it never was profitable enough and it died. Nowadays there are some Android and Windows phones with that ability, and I think they are not very successful as well. In fact, you claim you want this, but if the technology were successful, you would already have one of these phones and one or more docking stations. The whole idea could die in a few years.

bluescrn 8y ago

Games! More polygons, better frame rates, the usual... Except for the fact that we're still limited by an imprecise and rather limited input device (touchscreen) that has barely changed in a decade...

ianai 8y ago
Too true. Selecting text is still as worse as I remember it always being. But the battery life could be into the days. The processing capabilities may be similarly improved too. It’s not a nothing upgrade.

wuunderbar 8y ago

Apple would be in a good position to create a dockable phone, however the x86 & ARM gap needs to be bridged in order for this to happen. Perhaps that is their long game: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/266773-apple-may-dump-intel-starting-2020-favor-cpu-designs https://www.extremetech.com/computing/266773-apple-may-dump-...

on_and_off 8y ago

TLDR : it does not really matter that much.

criddell 8y ago

I suppose a fast chip could always be under clocked and maybe that would get you less heat and power consumption.

amelius 8y ago

Why would Apple cannibalize their desktop products? Apple wants to sell more devices, not less. And it also helps their iCloud business (which wouldn't exist if everybody had only one device).

Finch2192 8y ago
I guess I'm not really talking about it from a business-centric perspective, but rather one of progress. This is where I feel the next step in mobile computing lies, given these advancements in mobile CPU. But you're right, perhaps it does not make business sense, and that's why we're not seeing it.
- amelius 8y ago
  I guess that too little competition means that progress has to give in to the business side of things.
npunt 8y ago
Agree with your second point. Re:cannibalization, Apple is more than willing to cannibalize their products - just see iPod Nano v Mini, iPhone v iPod, iPad v Mac, iPad 2018 v iPad Pro. It's part of their playbook to cannibalize themselves, so that competitors don't wind up sneaking in market segments. This is enabled by organizing the company functionally rather than by product line, which lets them avoid the 'strategy tax' of pre-existing divisions that own products wanting to keep those products alive (bureaucracies self-perpetuate and all that). That said, a phone that converts to a desktop (at least in how I think OP and others who bring this up think of it) is not part of the playbook, because its making the device do double-duty in UI/UX. See iPad not having a mouse. I think Apple's perspective is that the glue that ties mobile UX to seated/desktop UX together is the cloud, and to your point, that involves multiple devices. The exception is non-interactive content (AirPlay), which third parties can license.

jonhendry18 8y ago

"The one thing I want to see, but nobody seems to be doing it, is a phone that converts into a desktop." Samsung has its "DeX Dock" which lets you turn your Samsung phone into an Android desktop, and use the phone as a trackpad.

Shorel 8y ago

Ubuntu was working on this, and to be honest, I would very much prefer Ubuntu over Android in order to work or do development. But it never was profitable enough and it died. Nowadays there are some Android and Windows phones with that ability, and I think they are not very successful as well. In fact, you claim you want this, but if the technology were successful, you would already have one of these phones and one or more docking stations. The whole idea could die in a few years.