is macOS dying ?

[Zanaty]

hello guys,
after the events of yesterday i have this question .. is the end near for apple's desktop operating system ?
the way it will look is completely identical to IOS/ipadOS, even the toggle switch is now on the mac without real need.
are we going to see the ipad running a unified os in the near future or a device like it ?
is the apple desktop dead ?

 

[Fishrrman]

Mac OS X (or, "OS 10")... probably IS approaching the end of life.
Mac OS XI (or, "OS 11")... is going to continue to transmogrify into something... "different".

My initial impression of OS 11 is... that I don't care for what I see.
But I'm old, conservative, and don't like too much change.

I have no plans to change my hardware/software anytime soon, so I'm happy to be "left behind" for now.

 

[motulist]

Yes. It's been doing for several years already.

 

[Falhófnir]

Because they've borrowed some of the aesthetic from iOS that doesn't mean macOS is 'dying' and soon to be replaced by iPad OS. They're becoming more aligned, but there's no suggestion Apple will be fundamentally changing the way MacOS works, or getting rid of it. Quite the opposite, they're investing a lot of time and effort in making it more fit for the future. Platforms that stand still, get outdated and cumbersome are the ones that are set for the chop.

 

[Zanaty]

So you guys think that a new device with a new os unifying both systems is coming in the near future ?

 

[hagjohn]

No, I do not think MacOS is dying.

 

[StellarVixen]

No, it's evolving. There is nothing in 11.0 that is suggesting Mac OS is dying.

 

[KPOM]

So you guys think that a new device with a new os unifying both systems is coming in the near future ?

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a touchscreen device that can run both iPadOS and macOS in the future, probably not in the next 2 years, but after the transition.

 

[ScreenSavers]

No. It’s improving.

 

[hagjohn]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a touchscreen device that can run both iPadOS and macOS in the future, probably not in the next 2 years, but after the transition.

I wouldn't mind seeing a MacPad. MacBook Air should be a MacPad. An iPad with full MacOS on it.

 

[Ansath]

So you guys think that a new device with a new os unifying both systems is coming in the near future ?

Well, the ARM Macs will support iOS apps. I suspect that we will see touchscreens for MacBooks & iMacs, along with monitors for the other desktop Macs. They will try not to do things that will alienate Pro users, so I think that's as far as it will go. iPads will continue with iPadOS, for the lighter use cases, and more hardcore will be for the Macs. ☺️

 

[MichaelDT]

I suspect iPads when docked to a magic keyboard will Macify, ipadOS and macOS obviously have an impending merger.

 

[CaptainAmerica95]

I may be completely wrong, but I do feel we're pivoting to a world where there will be one unified OS.

Each device (iPhone, iPad, MacBook) will serve as an optimised "canvas" to work on, with an optimised UI to match, however the underlying architecture will be much the same. That's probably years away though. If you're asking if Apple are going to outright kill off Mac OS, my instincts say no. Instead, I feel the separation of a mobile and desktop OS will eventually just fade away.

I'd also like to caveat that I bought my first ever Mac (MacBook Pro) last month. I specifically moved away from Windows because I have an iPhone and iPad that I love. For me personally, the idea of iOS and Mac OS become merged is appealing, but I sympathise with people who have been on Mac for years and want to keep it separate. Hopefully Apple can find a way to keep all parties happy!

 

[laz232]

Yes. Follow the money.

Full computer (iMac, MacBook, Mac Pro) sales are a small part of revenue compared to iPhone / iPad and services.

Professional market has always been small and Apple has stopped caring about it since 2010. Notwithstanding some mediocre attempts at Mac Pro (trash can) and the new one - both too little, too late, too focused on the video professional, without considering the non-video pros.

Even writers and journalists no longer need 2-3 screens and a good keyboard: 160 characters appears to be enough for their "work".
Within a large part of academia - a traditional stalwart of OS X, a little bit of copy-paste suffices.

The engineers and scientists will move to a linux distro, for the most part, with some Windows for certain CAD programs.

 

[leman]

hello guys,
after the events of yesterday i have this question .. is the end near for apple's desktop operating system ?

No

the way it will look is completely identical to IOS/ipadOS, even the toggle switch is now on the mac without real need.

Unifying the design language is something they explicitly mentioned. Which is about time, I always found it weird that the UI style is different between iOS and macOS. The toggle switch is very useful on Mac and something I wanted to see for a while. The only thing I disagree with about Big Sur is the design of some icons.

are we going to see the ipad running a unified os in the near future or a device like it ?

Probably not.

is the apple desktop dead ?

Do you really think they would go though all the trouble with designing new Macs etc. if they wanted to kill them off? Come on. People were prophesising the "death of the Mac" since Lion... and yet Mac is still more alive than ever.

 

[satchmo]

Never believe what Apple says in public...they're probably doing the opposite.

Tim Cook in 2018 on merging iOS and MacOS...

"We don't believe in sort of watering down one for the other. Both [the Mac and iPad] are incredible. One of the reasons that both of them are incredible is because we pushed them to do what they do well. And if you begin to merge the two... you begin to make trade-offs and compromises."

 

[Plutonius]

hello guys,
after the events of yesterday i have this question .. is the end near for apple's desktop operating system ?
the way it will look is completely identical to IOS/ipadOS, even the toggle switch is now on the mac without real need.
are we going to see the ipad running a unified os in the near future or a device like it ?
is the apple desktop dead ?

I think having a unified OS (runs on both iOS devices and Apple Computers) is one of the big reasons why Apple is switching to ARM.

To answer your question, I think that both the MacOS and iOS will go away and a new OS will replace them (incorporating parts of each).

Currently, supporting development and support on two separate OS is both time consuming and expensive.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

One thing I can envision Apple doing is treating the new ARM Macs like iOS and iPadOS when it comes to firmware updates. Once Apple stops signing a firmware release, there's no going back.

 

[Zanaty]

One thing I can envision Apple doing is treating the new ARM Macs like iOS and iPadOS when it comes to firmware updates. Once Apple stops signing a firmware release, there's no going back.

They are doing that now with intel too, once the os is dropped it’s done for the device.
[automerge]1593686248[/automerge]

I suspect iPads when docked to a magic keyboard will Macify, ipadOS and macOS obviously have an impending merger.

Maybe the laptop segment is going away becoming just iPad running macOS kinda like windows 10 running on surface pros

 

[leman]

Never believe what Apple says in public...they're probably doing the opposite.

Tim Cook in 2018 on merging iOS and MacOS...

"We don't believe in sort of watering down one for the other. Both [the Mac and iPad] are incredible. One of the reasons that both of them are incredible is because we pushed them to do what they do well. And if you begin to merge the two... you begin to make trade-offs and compromises."

And his statement still stands. They said that they were not merging anything, they didn't merge anything and they are still saying that they are not merging anything. I don't get the problem?

Beyond that, there should be no doubt that computing will change dramatically some day. We might be walking around with small phone-like device that will have enough power to run anything a consumer might want, transforming them into powerful workstations when plugged into an external enclosure. Once the technology is that far ahead, there will obviously significant changes to the OS. But as long as current computing paradigm does not change, there is no reason to fuse these things.

 

[TiggrToo]

hello guys,
after the events of yesterday i have this question .. is the end near for apple's desktop operating system ?
the way it will look is completely identical to IOS/ipadOS, even the toggle switch is now on the mac without real need.
are we going to see the ipad running a unified os in the near future or a device like it ?
is the apple desktop dead ?

How on earth did you come to this conclusion?

They've just launched the biggest paradigm shift in years, recently stabilized the OS by removing kext support, started a while new major version number and you see an that and go "Mac OS is dying".

Wow....just wow...

 

[Zanaty]

How on earth did you come to this conclusion?

They've just launched the biggest paradigm shift in years, recently stabilized the OS by removing kext support, started a while new major version number and you see an that and go "Mac OS is dying".

Wow....just wow...

You obviously didn’t get what I’m saying, I said with the little additions to the new version of macOS which make it similar to iPadOS I think the two will merge someday creating a unified os that can adapt to any form factor,Mac apps running on current iPad chip and vice versa.
What’s so wrong with that exactly that warrant your “wow just wow”?

 

[Wando64]

You obviously didn’t get what I’m saying, I said with the little additions to the new version of macOS which make it similar to iPadOS I think the two will merge someday creating a unified os that can adapt to any form factor,Mac apps running on current iPad chip and vice versa.
What’s so wrong with that exactly that warrant your “wow just wow”?

Looking similar doesn’t mean that they are functionally similar.

I doubt that they will create a unified OS.
iOS (and all its derivates) is great for the purpose it serves.

 

[TiggrToo]

You obviously didn’t get what I’m saying, I said with the little additions to the new version of macOS which make it similar to iPadOS I think the two will merge someday creating a unified os that can adapt to any form factor,Mac apps running on current iPad chip and vice versa.
What’s so wrong with that exactly that warrant your “wow just wow”?

I read your post. But no, I didn't "get" since I found it rather full of hyperbole.

If I die in 5 years time am I dying today?

I felt everything in your post warrented the response.

You cannot expect to post speculation without people disagreeing.

 

[Zanaty]

Looking similar doesn’t mean that they are functionally similar.

I doubt that they will create a unified OS.
iOS (and all its derivates) is great for the purpose it serves.

But with them all running on the same chip architecture maybe there is a chance in the future that we see a windows10 scenario in apple