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As others have said, it's about 20% of phone revenue but you need a mac to build an iOS app. THey're also selling a whole ecosystem that needs to be cohesive an

by ch4s3 4y ago

As others have said, it's about 20% of phone revenue but you need a mac to build an iOS app. THey're also selling a whole ecosystem that needs to be cohesive and technically strong. For a while the mac part of the ecosystem wasn't living up to the quality of the phones, IMHO.

TheRealDunkirk 4y ago
I've brought this up before, and someone responded that they'll move iOS app building and compilation into a web service, and they will no longer need to sell general-purpose computers, and the idea haunts me.
- ch4s3 4y ago
  That feels like it cuts against the core of the f what Apple is, but it’s possible if Cook is succeeded by someone with no connection to old leadership.
  - hedgehog 4y ago
    They've built pieces of that already: https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/ https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/ I'm not personally very excited about living inside that sealed of a bubble.
    - b3morales 4y ago
      Even if that's their plan, it will be at least another decade before that service is viable to be a hard requirement, completely replacing local builds.
    - nostrademons 4y ago
      It's outsourcing a key part of the Apple ecosystem to Google (Chrome), which is why Apple will never do it. Big-tech companies go to extremely great lengths to own every part of the pathway from consumer to developer to hardware. Google first developed a browser, then an OS, then a hardware division just so Microsoft couldn't sit between Search and a microchip. Similarly, Apple has worked extremely hard to develop an App Store, IDE (XCode), and developer machine (Mac) so that neither Google nor Microsoft can come between them and the developer. Facebook is currently paying the price of not owning their distribution infrastructure - they've been hurt extremely badly by recent privacy changes that Apple and Google have put out, while Apple and Google themselves have been relatively isolated from them.
      - hedgehog 4y ago
        I don't think Google factors into this plan anywhere. The endpoint is iOS devices able to build iOS apps with full fidelity using Xcode for iPad, not a web based IDE. Total control for Apple.

by ch4s3 4y ago

TheRealDunkirk 4y ago

I've brought this up before, and someone responded that they'll move iOS app building and compilation into a web service, and they will no longer need to sell general-purpose computers, and the idea haunts me.

ch4s3 4y ago
That feels like it cuts against the core of the f what Apple is, but it’s possible if Cook is succeeded by someone with no connection to old leadership.
- hedgehog 4y ago
  They've built pieces of that already: https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/ https://developer.apple.com/xcode-cloud/ I'm not personally very excited about living inside that sealed of a bubble.
  - b3morales 4y ago
    Even if that's their plan, it will be at least another decade before that service is viable to be a hard requirement, completely replacing local builds.
  - nostrademons 4y ago
    It's outsourcing a key part of the Apple ecosystem to Google (Chrome), which is why Apple will never do it. Big-tech companies go to extremely great lengths to own every part of the pathway from consumer to developer to hardware. Google first developed a browser, then an OS, then a hardware division just so Microsoft couldn't sit between Search and a microchip. Similarly, Apple has worked extremely hard to develop an App Store, IDE (XCode), and developer machine (Mac) so that neither Google nor Microsoft can come between them and the developer. Facebook is currently paying the price of not owning their distribution infrastructure - they've been hurt extremely badly by recent privacy changes that Apple and Google have put out, while Apple and Google themselves have been relatively isolated from them.
    - hedgehog 4y ago
      I don't think Google factors into this plan anywhere. The endpoint is iOS devices able to build iOS apps with full fidelity using Xcode for iPad, not a web based IDE. Total control for Apple.