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Speaking of which, Apple could probably support Mac apps on modern iPhones if you plug it into an external monitor. I assume they aren't doing it because it wou

Speaking of which, Apple could probably support Mac apps on modern iPhones if you plug it into an external monitor. I assume they aren't doing it because it would cannibalize their laptop market.

api 1y ago
It would also be slow, not because the chip is slow but because if you do serious things with it it’s going to thermal throttle. Laptops have way better heat dissipation. Most people put phones in cases which makes heat dissipation much worse.
- pipodeclown 1y ago
  Sure but just for browsing, checking some e-mails, a bit of YouTube or other media consumption, you know what 90% of people use their macbook for 99% of the time, it would be fine. Nobody is saying you should be able to render some 3d models on an iPhone..
  - api 1y ago
    Is that really true. Do non-serious computer users still buy laptops? What I see is that non-serious users who only communicate and consume content use phones and tablets. Laptops and desktops are for work, non-trivial content creation, and serious gaming with high memory and GPU requirements. You’re not running “cargo build” or a VM with Docker or Cyberpunk 2077 on a phone. Higher end phones almost have enough CPU but not enough GPU, RAM, storage, or heat dissipation.
    - thfuran 1y ago
      >Laptops and desktops are for work, But that's mostly email, SaaS, web meetings, and spreadsheets. Most people have never in their lives run "cargo build" or launched Cyberpunk 2077. The actual market for sustained high local CPU/GPU compute is pretty small compared to the market for minimal load with the occasional small burst, and the latter works pretty well with poor cooling solutions.
- cubefox 1y ago
  Modern iPhones can even run modern games like Resident Evil 4 Remake from battery. Which suggests thermal throttle won't be a problem for most ordinary Mac applications.
philistine 1y ago
They could theoretically, but the thing is the Mac, despite what you read on here, has a ton of legacy libraries that are not used on iOS.
- jayd16 1y ago
  So what? Compatibility means a big install? The kernel is too stripped down to patch? In what way could "it needs libraries" be a real blocker?
  - philistine 1y ago
    Knowing Apple, they'll never allow a use case where you have to restart your Vision Pro or iPad to get it into Mac mode, most assuredly losing cellular access in the mean time. Apple is already offering apps that work on all devices on their stores. Look at every single Apple Arcade release as an example. That's their vision; every device has a specific UI, but apps can run on all of them separately.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - cubefox 1y ago
      > Knowing Apple, they'll never allow a use case where you have to restart your Vision Pro or iPad to get it into Mac mode, most assuredly losing cellular access in the mean time. They likely have enough talented developers to make iOS run Mac apps natively. But I assume they neither want to cannibalize their laptop market nor want to let people circumvent the 30% fee for the iOS App Store, which is not required for Mac software.
      - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
        > They likely have enough talented developers to make iOS run Mac apps natively I’m struggling to see this amount of work translate into more sales or a better experience for more than a token number of customers.
casey2 1y ago
Not probably, definitely. Nobody wants that of course because it would mean hiring real developers over friends/family. A19 pro is already faster than modern desktop chips let alone something from a few years ago. Almost all their mac software was designed for much more modest machines.
- astrange 1y ago
  The fast-ness of the CPU is not the only problem. The rest of the hardware of the phone is designed to be a phone, not a Mac. The battery will discharge faster than it charges, the flash storage will wear out, etc etc.
fennecfoxy 1y ago
This is why I love Samsung for DEX. It's not perfect but it's actually fairly usable when travelling. Can even use it wirelessly with a compatible display (which sometimes hotel TVs are). I'm very excited for stuff like smart glasses ever single Glass, meta's new stuff is awesome in terms of slimming things down but the real excitement is the wristband for input. Looks like we'll be solving the display/input problems soon enough. They seemed resistant to the idea of a compute puck but I honestly think that's fine. I'd rather have a phone in my pocket that can be used for compute than bulkier glasses, though it is nice if future glasses can do very basic tasks unaided. I hope that pretty soon I won't even need a laptop for out of hours tasks (but would still use one for the standard work day most likely).
jpalomaki 1y ago
Probably yes. Essentially all of those are the same: Apple TVs, iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and desktop computers. Slightly different version of Apple Silicon in different casing and different OS (or UI?).
tech234a 1y ago
Someone has been experimenting with running macOS on iPhone: https://x.com/khanhduytran0/status/1956681961126183186 https://x.com/khanhduytran0/status/1956681961126183186

Speaking of which, Apple could probably support Mac apps on modern iPhones if you plug it into an external monitor. I assume they aren't doing it because it would cannibalize their laptop market.

api 1y ago

It would also be slow, not because the chip is slow but because if you do serious things with it it’s going to thermal throttle. Laptops have way better heat dissipation. Most people put phones in cases which makes heat dissipation much worse.

pipodeclown 1y ago
Sure but just for browsing, checking some e-mails, a bit of YouTube or other media consumption, you know what 90% of people use their macbook for 99% of the time, it would be fine. Nobody is saying you should be able to render some 3d models on an iPhone..
- api 1y ago
  Is that really true. Do non-serious computer users still buy laptops? What I see is that non-serious users who only communicate and consume content use phones and tablets. Laptops and desktops are for work, non-trivial content creation, and serious gaming with high memory and GPU requirements. You’re not running “cargo build” or a VM with Docker or Cyberpunk 2077 on a phone. Higher end phones almost have enough CPU but not enough GPU, RAM, storage, or heat dissipation.
  - thfuran 1y ago
    >Laptops and desktops are for work, But that's mostly email, SaaS, web meetings, and spreadsheets. Most people have never in their lives run "cargo build" or launched Cyberpunk 2077. The actual market for sustained high local CPU/GPU compute is pretty small compared to the market for minimal load with the occasional small burst, and the latter works pretty well with poor cooling solutions.
cubefox 1y ago
Modern iPhones can even run modern games like Resident Evil 4 Remake from battery. Which suggests thermal throttle won't be a problem for most ordinary Mac applications.

philistine 1y ago

They could theoretically, but the thing is the Mac, despite what you read on here, has a ton of legacy libraries that are not used on iOS.

jayd16 1y ago
So what? Compatibility means a big install? The kernel is too stripped down to patch? In what way could "it needs libraries" be a real blocker?
- philistine 1y ago
  Knowing Apple, they'll never allow a use case where you have to restart your Vision Pro or iPad to get it into Mac mode, most assuredly losing cellular access in the mean time. Apple is already offering apps that work on all devices on their stores. Look at every single Apple Arcade release as an example. That's their vision; every device has a specific UI, but apps can run on all of them separately.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - cubefox 1y ago
    > Knowing Apple, they'll never allow a use case where you have to restart your Vision Pro or iPad to get it into Mac mode, most assuredly losing cellular access in the mean time. They likely have enough talented developers to make iOS run Mac apps natively. But I assume they neither want to cannibalize their laptop market nor want to let people circumvent the 30% fee for the iOS App Store, which is not required for Mac software.
    - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
      > They likely have enough talented developers to make iOS run Mac apps natively I’m struggling to see this amount of work translate into more sales or a better experience for more than a token number of customers.

casey2 1y ago

Not probably, definitely. Nobody wants that of course because it would mean hiring real developers over friends/family. A19 pro is already faster than modern desktop chips let alone something from a few years ago. Almost all their mac software was designed for much more modest machines.

astrange 1y ago
The fast-ness of the CPU is not the only problem. The rest of the hardware of the phone is designed to be a phone, not a Mac. The battery will discharge faster than it charges, the flash storage will wear out, etc etc.

fennecfoxy 1y ago

This is why I love Samsung for DEX. It's not perfect but it's actually fairly usable when travelling. Can even use it wirelessly with a compatible display (which sometimes hotel TVs are). I'm very excited for stuff like smart glasses ever single Glass, meta's new stuff is awesome in terms of slimming things down but the real excitement is the wristband for input. Looks like we'll be solving the display/input problems soon enough. They seemed resistant to the idea of a compute puck but I honestly think that's fine. I'd rather have a phone in my pocket that can be used for compute than bulkier glasses, though it is nice if future glasses can do very basic tasks unaided. I hope that pretty soon I won't even need a laptop for out of hours tasks (but would still use one for the standard work day most likely).

jpalomaki 1y ago

Probably yes. Essentially all of those are the same: Apple TVs, iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and desktop computers. Slightly different version of Apple Silicon in different casing and different OS (or UI?).

tech234a 1y ago

Someone has been experimenting with running macOS on iPhone: https://x.com/khanhduytran0/status/1956681961126183186 https://x.com/khanhduytran0/status/1956681961126183186