[philwelch]

You might be right, but I'd like to unpack that a little. Why would that be the case?

Obviously, the laptop form factor is missing, but it would be...interesting if the iPad, iPhone, and MacBook were all pretty much the same compute device with different form factors and different battery sizes and possibly different storage sizes. Honestly, the form factor and user experience are going to be the biggest user-visible differences, and those are also the things Apple seems to care the most about (even if they don't consistently get it right!)

Also, why would you want a single physical device anyway? Because hardware is expensive? Sure, maybe. Because you want to keep all your data in one place? That's the purpose of iCloud. Because you don't trust the cloud and want to keep all of your data physically on the same device and still access it from multiple form factors? That's a small fringe of the market that probably wouldn't buy Apple products anyway.

[Svexav]

> why would you want a single physical device anyway?

All my files and apps setup they way I want them on a single device that's with me 24/7. Complete privacy and security because my data never leaves my device (except for backups to a time machine or iCloud).

I don't have to own multiple computers. I own one computer: my iPhone. There's only one device to setup, update, and maintain. If I want to have a larger screen, VR headset, eGPU, mouse, keyboard, speakers, headphones, etc., I just pair my phone to one. I can buy different peripherals for my home, my office, etc. but I don't to buy redundant computers.

Think of the Nintendo Switch.

[scarface74]

All my files and apps setup they way I want them on a single device that's with me 24/7. Complete privacy and security because my data never leaves my device (except for backups to a time machine or iCloud).

So you don’t want your data to leave your device for privacy reason but you back it up to iCloud?

[tk75x]

Encrypt your backups.

[nrb]

I think a lot of people (except maybe Apple shareholders) would be happy with a single physical device that handles a variety of use cases rather than paying Apple $1500 a pop, several times over, for the exact same hardware in different physical cases.

[philwelch]

Hardware is expensive, but how much of that expense is the CPU and how much of it is the variety of screens and cases that you would still need to have to switch form factors?

[nrb]

That depends on if you already own a TV or monitor, both of which are available for a small fraction of the price Apple charges.

[philwelch]

If you have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, it's (theoretically) possible to use a smartphone as a desktop PC. That's also the least popular form factor for a computing device these days. Laptops or tablets would, even on the physical level, be much harder to pull off this way.

[dragonwriter]

For a laptop, all you need is a keyboard/screen clamshell unit with a docking port for the phone where a drive would be on a typical laptop.

A tablet is pretty similar, but the dock needs to be behind the screen, which probably makes a thicker than average tablet. Or you just make a foldable phone which folds out to a tablet.

[philwelch]

Even the laptop would be thicker than average unless you’re measuring by early 2000’s standards.

[crooked-v]

A single unified accessory market to end all accessory markets would probably be worth it.