[rffn]

Apple would cannibalize their computer and iPad sales if they were supporting the thin client model like Samsung DeX. See how they already avoid cannibalization of the iPhone business by preventing the iPad to make phone calls. They protect their product lines from each other.

As much as I like to see such a feature, I don’t think Apple will ever give it to us.

[bgoggin]

Seriously? Your claim is that Apple is afraid being able to make calls on an iPad would cannibalize iPhone sales? You think this is what's preventing people from walking around talking on iPads? Apple prevented calls on iPads so that AT&T would offer a cheaper cellular plan for iPads. Apple completely cannibalized their iPod business with the iPhone. They have proven over and over that they will cannibalize their own product lines.

[rffn]

Network operators could offer cheap data plans without allowing voice over them. Works for the Samsung S-Series tablets. Data is cheap, phone calls are disabled or charged separately.

For some users (e.g. elderly) an iPad with its large screen would make a better phone. They don't walk around talking (anymore). Also when wearing headphones, there is no need to lift the phone to the ear. Same goes talking to the watch.

[fsckboy]

>Apple completely cannibalized their iPod business with the iPhone

no, it's not cannibalization to upsell existing customers to higher margin items

[manuelabeledo]

> They protect their product lines from each other.

Is that the case, though.

Their product lines overlap significantly in several areas. Yes, you cannot use the Phone app in an iPad, but you can do many of the things a Macbook does, and I would argue that many people would be sufficiently served with an iPad and a keyboard, rather than a Macbook.

Pretty much the only other app that you can use with an iPhone but not with an iPad (and neither a Macbook), for technical reasons, is Wallet.

I think that Apple does not offer either of those apps in iPads because they are not believed to be practical, given the form factor.

[NietTim]

For this reason I've been, naively, patiently waiting for the first "m1 ipad" to run full mac os trough jailbreaking or something

[cfjgvjh]

Native Apple support of the MacOS on the iPad would be really cool, though I suppose it'd never happen considering just how awful the mouse on iPad experience is. It's astonishing compared to how just about everyone loves the trackpad feel on MacOS.

It just makes me sad that I have so much computing power in such a small form factor, and software just gimps it, both in capability and experience.

[lnxg33k1]

I agree with you, I used to be a fan of Apple, somehow, at least of the macbook and ipad lines, even if I used linux since I was 12, but then the idea of being dictated what I can or can't do with my stuff, and being used as a mere commercial strategy just made me avoid them, would have loved an ipad used as a flying dev station, even with power limitations, but with at least the ability. I think the HP EliteBook https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04553487 is a great tool with Linux on it, and since apart from the hardware, the software is free, I can do whatever I want with it

[criddell]

I don't know what DeX is, but if by thin client you mean the computer is somewhere else then I would say that doesn't sound like Apple at all. Apple is the last company that seems to still believe in personal computers on the desk.

[pmx]

I think they're using the term thin client incorrectly in the article. While it obviously means a low power terminal that connects to a remote server, they're using it to mean compute that you carry around and connect it to any monitor and input devices that you happen across. Dex is samsung's implementation of this and it works very well indeed.

[rffn]

Yes, I was using the term thin client as they did in the article. DeX actually tries to make the phone the only computer one needs. Just connect a screen and either use the phone as keyboard/mouse or connect a physical device.

This might be even more interesting with Samsung TVs which allow wireless DeX. Have not seen this in action though.

[jabroni_salad]

DeX lets you connect your phone to a docking station. You get a fairly basic windowed desktop experience.

I actually use it to run citrix receiver and connect to the corporate network. hardly ever bring my work laptop home anymore.

[criddell]

Is it way different than using an iPad with an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, disk, midi controller, etc...? Is the key distinction that it's on a phone rather than a tablet?

[bane]

Yes in the sense that it gives you a mouse/keyboard windowed experience instead of a touch-optimized one with a mouse cursor.

You also still get to use the phone/tablet at the same time while it's driving the desktop.

Of course you're still using Android apps, just inside of resizable, movable windows, and not all apps behave well or work as well with mouse/keyboard as you might like.

But you can install linux shells, remote desktop apps, etc, and basically just use it as a thin-client.

There's also a way you can use Dex inside of a window on Windows and it let you drive your phone without actually touching it or doing some weird remote access stuff to your phone.

Dex is kind of a hidden gem of the Samsung devices. Once you hook up a dock with some I/O it's basically just turns your Android device into a desktop computer.

https://youtu.be/0FfH51xgQDU

[jabroni_salad]

In terms of hardware, yes. In terms of software, no. Last time I tried that with an iPad you did not get a true windowed DE. It was okay if you wanted one big app and one sidebar app and a lot of context switching.

[criddell]

For better or worse, iPadOS is moving more in that direction for sure.

https://www.theverge.com/23787477/apple-ipados-17-stage-mana...

[jabroni_salad]

oh nice. Hopefully a few iterations from now it'll be really good. I just chose a Surface as my personal laptop last year because of this making ipad less than a perfect all-rounder.

[pmx]

Dex gives you a "proper" multi-window desktop with things like a start button, task bar, system bar, etc. It's very different to the iPad experience when the iPad is connected to a display and peripherals and much better.

[mandeepj]

> See how they already avoid cannibalization of the iPhone business by preventing the iPad to make phone calls.

I think you're a bit out of touch with Apple's design approach. Giving an ability to make phone calls from iPad, like taking photos from it, was already not ridiculous enough. Also, you'd need to have a bag with yourself all the time to carry that slap size device.

[kalleboo]

Which is a very sad conclusion because Steve Jobs was very explicit that they had to cannibalize their own products or someone else would.

[eviks]

There are things people say and then there are things people do

[kalleboo]

Steve Jobs is dead.

[trompetenaccoun]

What the user probably means is that just because he said this publicly doesn't mean he meant it. Steve Jobs was great at marketing and was well informed on what potential buyers wanted to hear.

[dwaite]

I believe this is specifically not to fear making something better due to potential cannibalization.

I suspect they don't feel iPhone apps (at as they are coded by developers today) as a "KVM-style" desktop experience is 'making something better' than the Mac - or even really worth doing.

[scarface_74]

SJ said a lot of things. There is nothing courageous about cannibalizing an iPod that had an average selling price of $200 and a much smaller market with a phone that is three times more expensive

[zpeti]

That's very easy to say in hindsight.

Cannibalising a public company's most successful product and profit source is extremely risky, especially for management. There is a reason this is so rare. It goes against many of our ingrained behaviours as humans.

So I don't think it's as obvious as you make out.

[scarface_74]

It was very obvious even then. Apple was selling 50 million iPods per year at $200 a piece. During the iPhone introduction, SJ said he was aiming to sell 10 million phones to capture 1% of the market the first year.

That means even then, the phone market was 1 billion devices a year. That was a much larger market than the stand alone music player market.

It was also clear that’s where the market was headed. Phone makers were already starting to sell music capable phones

[kalleboo]

The context I was thinking of was the iPad. At the time it was really thought it was completely going to kneecap the portable Mac line (even Apple believed it and invested more in iPad development than Mac development). It was only after Jobs left our mortal coil that the iPad really stagnated in comparison to what the hardware itself was capable of.

[whynotminot]

The iPhone literally destroyed their most important product at the time, the iPod.

Weird take.

[Phrenzy]

I've always seen it as a morphing into an iPod that accepts phone calls.

[Eddy_Viscosity2]

I would love a tablet that could work as a phone and do calls and texts. Do any good ones exist?

[Spooky23]

Nobody really wants that feature. It’s too niche, even among enterprise customers.

[IggleSniggle]

See also: cellular Apple Watch unable to make calls/texts without being tethered (over an Internet connection, remotely!) to an iPhone.

[endisneigh]

Cellular Apple Watches can make phone calls even if your iPhone is turned off.

You do, however, need an iPhone to initially setup an Apple Watch, even the cellular version.

[scarface_74]

This isn’t true. I just made a call two days ago from my Watch with ny iPhone being completely dead.

[smugma]

No kid has an Apple Watch, no phone (set up on my phone as a Family watch). Texts and calls me daily.

[MichaelZuo]

Are you certain? I'm fairly sure I've made calls with my Series 4 cellular when I know the linked iPhone is powered off.

[tcmart14]

I think the missing part from the person's post is not realizing there are variations of the watch. Some watches, like your, yea have cellular. I've got the 2nd gen Apple watch SE and I can't make calls off of it.

Although, interesting to know you had it on the series 4. I thought it was only on the newer series 8 and ultra, but I also just got my first apple watch about 4 months ago.

[runako]

This doesn't match my experience using Apple Watch.