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You choose to simplify how to integrate the modem into the system while digging deeper into how tethering happens. Why doesn't having another separate subsyste

You choose to simplify how to integrate the modem into the system while digging deeper into how tethering happens. Why doesn't having another separate subsystem running it's own OS managing the cell connection also have network switching implications (something deciding the connection is now the primary one, just like it does for tethering), security issues (it's a know attack vector on phones as well), power management issues etc ? The iPhone 3G for instance was a piece of crap network connection wise, it would drop calls, lose signal, memory leak at the border of the two systems etc. Networking with a cell subsystem isn't trivial.

amazingman 2y ago
Can you make a reasonable case for why the experience must necessarily be worse in macOS than it is in iOS and iPadOS?
- makeitdouble 2y ago
  IOS was built from the ground to handle cellular networking, and the whole stack is optimized for that, including sandboxing network connections and not allowing server type applications or anything that directly tries to mess with the networking layer in a way that is not explicitly authorized. Coming from a mature OS built from a completely different paradigm is going to require a lot more effort. In particular macos has a whole legacy of programs doing almost whatever they want. Apple _can_ just slap a cell networking subsystem in it and let it crash and burn whenever something unexpected happens or the user gets out of the defined boundaries of when it should work (like depleting system memory), but that doesn't sound like a great brand strategy to me and is not what people seem to be expecting. Microsoft will be on board with it, but I don't see Apple.
  - amazingman 2y ago
    I think that qualifies as what I asked for, thanks. I appreciate the engagement, and am perhaps a bit less optimistic about the kinds of tradeoffs that might need to be made with cellular on macOS.

amazingman 2y ago

Can you make a reasonable case for why the experience must necessarily be worse in macOS than it is in iOS and iPadOS?

makeitdouble 2y ago
IOS was built from the ground to handle cellular networking, and the whole stack is optimized for that, including sandboxing network connections and not allowing server type applications or anything that directly tries to mess with the networking layer in a way that is not explicitly authorized. Coming from a mature OS built from a completely different paradigm is going to require a lot more effort. In particular macos has a whole legacy of programs doing almost whatever they want. Apple _can_ just slap a cell networking subsystem in it and let it crash and burn whenever something unexpected happens or the user gets out of the defined boundaries of when it should work (like depleting system memory), but that doesn't sound like a great brand strategy to me and is not what people seem to be expecting. Microsoft will be on board with it, but I don't see Apple.
- amazingman 2y ago
  I think that qualifies as what I asked for, thanks. I appreciate the engagement, and am perhaps a bit less optimistic about the kinds of tradeoffs that might need to be made with cellular on macOS.