Interview with Apple's marketing head Greg Joswiak and hardware chief John Ternus on why the company has no plans to merge iPad and Mac product lines

The Independent 2021-04-24 Andrew Griffin

Context & Ripple Effects

Apple’s position is consistent with Tim Cook’s earlier rejection of a converged MacBook-iPad, while the company had also worked to bring iOS apps to the Mac without collapsing the hardware categories. The interview makes separation of the two lines an explicit product-policy choice rather than a gap in technical capability.

That distinction matters as Apple was extending its own silicon across devices: the subsequent M1 iPad Pro discussion shows shared components can coexist with separate iPad and Mac roles.

First-order effects

Apple keeps iPad and Mac as separately positioned product lines, preserving distinct purchase choices rather than offering one converged device category.
Apple’s hardware and marketing leaders can pursue shared underlying technology while continuing to define the iPad and Mac around different product experiences.

Second-order effects

Shared Apple-designed chips raise the importance of software, form factor, and use-case positioning in differentiating iPad from Mac, rather than processor choice alone.
Developers serving Apple’s ecosystem continue to face two hardware categories even as Apple works to make software more portable between them.

Third-order effects

Apple’s repeated refusal to converge the lines points to a durable strategy of platform overlap without hardware consolidation: common technologies can expand across devices while product categories remain distinct.
If that approach persists, the competitive question shifts from which device absorbs the other to how effectively Apple differentiates adjacent devices built on increasingly common foundations.

The trend: Apple is pursuing deeper technology integration across its devices while preserving separate hardware categories and their distinct roles.

Discussion

@gruber John Gruber on x
@SadBillAckman @film_girl @verge I use an iPad Pro in Magic Trackpad near-daily. Doesn't make me want a touchscreen Mac.
@film_girl Christina Warren on x
Put macOS on the iPad, you cowards https://www.theverge.com/... via @Verge
@detroitborg @detroitborg on x
@TechNinjaSpeaks Yep, they keep launching powerful new iPad Pros before WWDC and 4-6 months before new software can take advantage of them.
@techninjaspeaks @techninjaspeaks on x
I do *think* there is something more to the iPAD pro coming at WWDC. NOT sure what, but It's SOMETHING MORE. I'm not buying an iPad Pro based on what COULD BE. They need to SHOW ME, what more it WILL do, not CAN do. https://twitter.com/...
@jioriku McGuire Wood on x
@LukeMiani You'd think this wouldn't need explaining The iPad is the literal *only* reason we don't have a touchscreen MacBook
@viticci Federico Viticci on x
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said macOS on iPad.” https://hbr.org/...
@lukemiani Luke Miani on x
macOS will never come to the iPad. Period. There are plenty of arguments for why they're two distinct and separately useful platforms but there's one reason: if an iPad is a MacBook and a MacBook is an iPad, you don't need *both*
@zcichy Zac Cichy on x
Apple is essentially saying: Let's get performance out of the way. Price will be determined by hardware bundle / form factor, not chip performance. (And this upends everything about Intel's business) https://twitter.com/...
@stroughtonsmith Steve Troughton-Smith on x
If iPad could run macOS in a VM, and otherwise supported all my Mac apps and accessories when docked at my desk, I would struggle to justify purchasing future Macs. Does that matter, though, if a decked-out iPad costs $2500+? Apple's getting the money either way https://twitter.c…
@reneritchie Rene Ritchie on x
Why do you want macOS on iPad? Hold that thought! What percentage of the market do you really represent? Hold that thought! What would it take for macOS to work amazing on iPad? Hold that thought! What could Apple do that'd be *better* for *more people* on iPad? Thoughts? https:/…
@stshank Stephen Shankland on x
@EPro Agreed. Apple has always been about minimizing SKU complexity; even with Intel CPUs, it offered few selections vs Windows PC makers. Apple's M1X/X2 or whatever will change things, though as with M1 I expect fewer memory options. Also the 2TB iPad Pro based on M1 costs $2400…
@hallstephenj Stephen Hall on x
This is true. They should put the M1 inside a new iPod shuffle just to make a point. https://twitter.com/...
@smashdawg Jeremy Kaplan on x
Fascinating analysis and absolutely spot on. In one breath, Apple is saying that the CPU is almost a commodity, not a feature that stands out — and proving how stand-out its M1 CPU really is https://www.extremetech.com/ ... via @ExtremeTech
@folletto Erin ‘Folletto’ Casali on x
The “same” M1 chip on every Apple device was the real announcement. “The choice of chip inside the system has become irrelevant within a given product generation” https://twitter.com/...
@epro Emil Protalinski on x
This is certainly true, but what happens when M1's successor comes out? Apple will start offering tiers again, unless it goes nuclear and stops selling all M1-based computers. https://twitter.com/...
@dylanljmartin Dylan Martin on x
Good read on why the Arm-based M1 is such a big deal and disruptive to Intel's and AMD's traditional business models for CPUs. “The M1 is such a good CPU (according to Apple), that non-professional Apple customers no longer need to care about their CPU at all.” #intel #amd https:…
@whatthebit Stefan Constantine on x
everyone knows, whether they want to admit it or not, computers became “good enough” in the mid-00s https://twitter.com/...
@jeffseibert Jeff Seibert on x
If you haven't yet internalized how dramatically Apple's M1 will change the computer industry, read this. Great article. Apple's M1 Positioning Mocks the Entire x86 Business Model https://www.extremetech.com/ ...
@counternotions Kontra on x
“According to Apple, the M1 is the right CPU for a $699 computer, and a $999 computer, and a $1,699 computer...No single x86 CPU is sold this way or positioned as a solution to such a broad range of use cases.” (Apple's M1 salvo.) https://www.extremetech.com/ ...

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