Thank you for that, I had no idea the current iPhone SoC was that powerful.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Good enough to be the PC?
- Thread starter drumcat
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Certainly a phone could be docked to a keyboard and monitor and serve as a "computer".
The only limitations I could see are people in a lot of not most of cases want to separate their personal devices from "work" devices.
Also tech companies are businesses and want to sell you more stuff, so there's that.
That being said, I think this is the future. Maintaining an artificial barrier between a "real computer" and a "phone" is just hanging on to tradition to be honest. Kinda like how certain people in the late 70s and 80s thought there was no need for the average person to have a personal computer.
The only limitations I could see are people in a lot of not most of cases want to separate their personal devices from "work" devices.
Also tech companies are businesses and want to sell you more stuff, so there's that.
That being said, I think this is the future. Maintaining an artificial barrier between a "real computer" and a "phone" is just hanging on to tradition to be honest. Kinda like how certain people in the late 70s and 80s thought there was no need for the average person to have a personal computer.
I understand what you’re asking but:
1. Currently the technology isn’t ready. You can multitask on a phone but it’s nowhere near the multitasking of a computer or dozens of web browser tabs open.
The mobile chipsets in phones are ridiculously good at being “a phone, iPod and internet communicator” but not so good at really doing desktop work.
2. Apple is obviously not interested in converging these and limiting the sale of their products but Samsung or Google might look at this.
3. Most people are not interested in having a single product. I don’t even like using my phone as a GPS. I’d rather have a separate device so I don’t loose the map every time I get a call. I like my desktop being setup and ready to use when I get to work and still have my phone available for calls.
Maybe this will change as the desktop and mobile worlds converge, but currently, I’d rather keep it separate and have devices created with the idea of being great in one setting rather than being ok in several.
Last edited:
1. This is a matter of OS; there are options. Maybe it's best that the device have modes that when plugged in, it uses a partition of MacOS. Or maybe it's expanded such that it uses Stage Manager like iPad, but has a file system more like iPadOS. Or some hybrid. Either way, it's closer to a modern chip than you may realise. It's not going to have a problem with browser tabs. As mentioned, it's not going to have raw horsepower for rendering video the fastest, but that's not the intention. It's not a total replacement, but the question is when does this get good enough to be good enough.
2. Apple has a long history of cannibalising its own products, as well as a history of protecting its products. It depends where you stand as to where you make a case. In Apple's history, both are valid and defendable. The iPad was a great example where many felt that it would cut into iPhone and Mac sales, but it turned out to do neither more than it made, and a category of tablet was established.
3. People said this about cameras. Most people say this about GPS, but I guess not you. People like all-in-one stuff when it's good enough. You don't cut a steak with a Swiss Army, but that doesn't mean it's useless.
It also doesn't mean the end of new products… for example, what if you had a phone that plugged into a laptop like the NexDock, but the phone got a boost of sorts? Doubles its cores, or adds a better GPU when connected?
Either way, it feels like since Covid, we're in a hold waiting for AI, and AI will have to be offloaded to a large degree. So outside of people doing video (they always rush in to these discussions…) most use cases can be handled reasonably well with an A15. If optimised, they'd be fine.
Anyhow, more than one way to go on this. I think there's more money to be made by exploring this option.
As long as I can customize my 'future' to my liking. If using an iPhone as a computer is that and Apple allows me to connect what I want to it then fine. But if I'm forced down a path where restrictions are arbitrarily enforced I will either find a way around them or I will use something else.
And that'll be when you find this Gen-Xer having no need for a personal iPhone.
I'm with @MacProFCP on this. I want a dedicated device for a specific purpose. It's one reason I have as many computers as I do. It's one reason the camera on my phones go largely unused for anything important (I bought a phone, not a camera; the camera just happened to come with the phone).
Maybe there are others interested in that and you seem to be one of them. That's fine. Just not me.
Personally I think having multiple intelligent (ie, with their own CPU) devices that sync up near seamlessly is superior to having one device that you have to use for everything. I like being able to work on my laptop and then check my phone on the side and whatnot. Combining it into one device with a cable is clunky and restricting, and actually having some sort of laptop body that the phone docks in to is even more restricting - now I'm limited to just one device.
Same goes for desktops. As I mentioned earlier, if we are at the point where these mobile ARM chips can do everything - why not just stick an A/M series or a Snapdragon in each monitor from the factory? Every monitor could be an all-in-one computer, and one that would be able to run without interruption when you want to remove your phone for some other person.
Of course, the single device method does have the advantage in terms of cost, but I don't think these chips are actually all that expensive.
Same goes for desktops. As I mentioned earlier, if we are at the point where these mobile ARM chips can do everything - why not just stick an A/M series or a Snapdragon in each monitor from the factory? Every monitor could be an all-in-one computer, and one that would be able to run without interruption when you want to remove your phone for some other person.
Of course, the single device method does have the advantage in terms of cost, but I don't think these chips are actually all that expensive.
I have a Lenovo PC, and granted it is several years old, but my iPhone is even better. I do hope to get a MacBook soon, probably a MacBook Air because I love to have the big screen when I’m not mobile. I also can’t wait to have everything synced, and I’m most excited to have iMessage available on a laptop.
Something like swarm computing? I like that idea. The iPhone uses iOS. But, plug an HDMI monitor into an iPhone and you suddenly have the option to use a macOS partition. Your "home folder" could be a shared partition, like we do on unix/linux operating systems. A third-party dock could bring all the peripherals together as well as charge the iPhone while it's attached. The only downside I could see is that this would cut into Mac sales.
Good comment. You got me with "I'll dock it..." I ran a consulting biz where we all had Mac Duos and spent 95% of a day in the field. Then individuals would come into the office and upload Filemaker work done in the field. Back then it was easy and cheap before the Filemaker division was spun off from Apple and started aggressively screwing users.
Mac Duos were superb little b&w notebooks that ran Mac Project and the FMP apps I wrote. They slid into a dock like a VCR tape and the VRAM, mass storage and display were in the dock. The whole system was sweet. A similar thing could be done with an iPhone except that the M-series Max chips are huge, and if the M chip is in the dock, like someone else said: why bother?
There also is always that pesky thing called heat...
Last edited:
I think this is the way "visual computing" is headed. They will get rid of the physical screen and project large virtual screens. Then you will be able to leave the "computer" in your pocket.
The device is too large to be practical now, but maybe one day it will happen
Technically it could, but the dock will need a decent number of connections. Thunderbolt could handle it though.
One flaw is that phones are easily lost/stolen. How much of your life do you need with you, really? How hard will it be to get it sorted back out when the phone gets stolen, or simply falls in the lake?
It cannot work for me (the MxPro chip is a minimum requirement, along with 32GB of RAM, for my main computer) but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be sufficient for others. My father and brother are on M2 MBAirs and that chip is way more powerful than they require. Both have iPhones that would probably do for them. But then we start to talk about the limitations of the OS rather than of the hardware…
Heat can certainly be a problem. Though, the iPhone is pretty good at slowing itself down, lowering brightness, or even just completely disabling itself if it gets too hot. I don't think it necessarily needs an M series chip inside the phone or even a dock. It's already 90% of the way there when connecting to a display. There are apps that take full advantage of the external screen already and have been for years (most video streaming apps, Shadow PC, or as mentioned InfiniteX2P to name a couple - there have been more I can't think of at the moment).
The iPhone is already faster than most (all?) Samsung phones, which have included Dex for years now. The old 2018 A12X iPad Pro can run stage manager. I really don't see a technical reason why an iPhone 15 Pro couldn't handle 4 apps at a time on a connected display.
Last edited:
While no one can predict the future, I believe that over the next 5 years we will see a regression to “terminal”-like machines where the storage and processing are in the cloud.
As internet speeds approach the speeds of networking infrastructure, there will no longer be a need for each user to have full-blown processing power. I think we’re looking at a world where the device isn’t much more than a terminal to the cloud. Imagine that you pay a subscription for processing power. Imagine that for $100/year you could have processing power better than the best MacPro.
As we move to 6G and 7G wireless data and as ISPs upgrade customer’s connections to fiber, the internet and infrastructure will likely be fast enough for this within 2-3 years and once we’re there, few will see the need to spend thousands on machines that are only problematic if the internet is down.
This sounds great. What happens if you lose internet at home. What happens if you are living paycheck to paycheck and can't afford the subscription? What happens if the cloud service is hacked?
I'm also not into surrendering complete control over all my data to one singular location that gatekeeps my access to it. So you forsee this, I forsee data being held hostage.
I make a point of not tying myself to Apple so that I can move my data to any device I wish at will. And I do use cloud services. But my important data resides with me. and unless this model you foresee still gives me the ability to keep my private personal data off the cloud and on my own personal storage, I'm not sure I want to be included in that future.
Go back in time to the Handheld PC days and see why this is a bad idea.
The way technology has been developing over the past decade or so, I say remain with specialized hardware. Thus, keep iPhones for phone related activities, and a Mac/iPad for their specialities.
Going the 'route one model', as we used to do in football, used to work back in the day, but, often one needed a team with rather tall players, or it didn't work too well. To me a 'route one' approach would cause technical support issues to the wazoo! Not to mention, I feel there would be a section of the population, from a generation standpoint, that simply would miss out due to lack of use/owning/trying to use said hardware...
Going the 'route one model', as we used to do in football, used to work back in the day, but, often one needed a team with rather tall players, or it didn't work too well. To me a 'route one' approach would cause technical support issues to the wazoo! Not to mention, I feel there would be a section of the population, from a generation standpoint, that simply would miss out due to lack of use/owning/trying to use said hardware...
1. Apple has no problem combining products and cannibalizing sales when needed. For example, see the iPhone cannibalizing iPod sales or the combination of the iPod/ Quickcam being rolled into the iPhone.
2. Apple is not the first mover in an industry (usually). The only company that has a combination of a phone/computer is Samsung with Dex (I think that's the name), and it's very cumbersome to use.
3. What advantage would exist in having an all-in-one device like that for the user? What need would be met that otherwise wouldn't be met? I can't answer that question sadly.
2. Apple is not the first mover in an industry (usually). The only company that has a combination of a phone/computer is Samsung with Dex (I think that's the name), and it's very cumbersome to use.
3. What advantage would exist in having an all-in-one device like that for the user? What need would be met that otherwise wouldn't be met? I can't answer that question sadly.
Flaw? How is that risk level changed from today? It won't cause phones to be stolen or destroyed at a faster clip...
It'll make it harder to get to your data. If I lose my phone, for whatever reason, I can have everything I need and use on my Mac and can go from there. Not so if my all-in-one device is missing, unless I buy a replacement immediately.
For people like me, who don't really use the cloud, a lot of it would be gone forever.
Last edited by a moderator:
In a way, an iPad with associated keyboard and mouse offer something not entirely different from what you suggest. Granted, that's a tablet, not a phone, but discussions about how people find the iPad Pro with Apple's keyboard case to hold up as a 'notebook replacement' may inform how an iPhone-as-computer+bigger screen+keyboard+mouse might work in the real world.
I’m not saying I agree with it or not. I’m saying that I believe this is where we’re headed.
Subscription models have become the norm with Adobe, Microsoft and others canceling or sunsetting product ownership.
If you can buy a computer for $500 and pay $20-$50/month for processing and storage, the cost for many would be less than spending $2K on a laptop every 3-6 years.
And, we all know how Apple thinks about the minority who may not want what they offer.