On the eve of Apple’s WWDC 2023, I can’t help but bring up (yet again) the notion of the ultimate portable computer. Yes, they’ll talk ad nauseam about VR/AR glasses. And everyone will pontificate on that announcement and their expected lack of large language model integrations. (For the record, I don’t personally buy the need for Apple to be in this space, but that’s my own hot take.)
Whatever, they can have their news cycle.
I still deeply believe in a concept a friend (and coworker) of mine and I talked about 15+ years ago (even before the iPhone existed). And that’s the notion of a computer, nay your computer, that lives inside your phone. That utopian idea that when you’re out and about, your phone is your phone. And it does all the wonderful phone-based things we do today. But when you are at your desk, and your phone is connected to your monitor, it is your computer.
In 2006, the technology didn’t exist. But in 2023, why couldn’t Apple do this? They control the software. They control the services. They even control the underlying processor architecture. Let’s face it, the difference between an iPad and a Mac these days is a business decision. They really can’t put the M-series chips in iPhones? My guess is they already do, but refer to it as the A-series because that’s the product line expectations.
If you really think about it, this is ultimately what we, as consumers, want. But it does go against what Apple wants. Apple is a company, and like it or not, they are charged with making money for its shareholders. They have a diverse product offering that brings in (unheard of amounts of) revenue. Why would they break that cycle and combine product offerings that will ultimately decrease said revenue? (I’ll skip the whole always-show-market-growth-because-that’s-what-shareholders-demand ridiculousness for now.)
People asked them the same question in 2007. Their answer was “If someone is going to take that market share from the iPod, it might as well be us.” And that’s the same argument that could be made now.
Be a rebel again, Apple. Start another revolution.
