The initiative, code named Kalamata, is still in the early developmental stages, but comes as part of a larger strategy to make all of Apple’s devices -- including Macs, iPhones, and iPads -- work more similarly and seamlessly together, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The project, which executives have approved, will likely result in a multi-step transition.
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The company has also previously released Macs with ARM-based co-processors, which run an iOS-like operating system, for specific functions like security. The latest MacBook Pro and iMac Pro include the co-processors. Apple plans to add that chip to a new version of its Mac Pro, to be released by next year, and new Mac laptops this year, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Apple's products are built on an ideological foundation that says superior user experiences, better performance, and faster innovation and iteration of new features are possible when the company has control of all aspects of both the hardware and software it's shipping with its products. Dependence on Intel runs counter to that ideology, but it has been a necessary compromise to keep Macs competitive and to make it easy to entice developers to make software for them.
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When Apple has switched architectures in the past, it has done so gradually, taking great pains to ease the transition for users and developers. Even the transition from 64-bit to 32-bit apps on iOS and macOS have been approached conservatively. The company will have to take a similarly cautious approach if it plans to move away from Intel.
Yet the news that Apple could one day build its own silicon microprocessors isn't a huge surprise, and it's even less surprising if you remember what Apple analysts and observers call the "Tim Cook Doctrine:" eventually, Apple is going to own all of the core technology that goes into its products.
Apple CEO Tim Cook first laid out the credo in a 2009 quarterly earnings call, and he has repeated it in various versions in the years since.
The whole technology world is moving to developing and designing for mobile applications first, and Intel’s desktop roots keep holding it back from being competitive in that expanding market.
Apple’s moving on because Intel’s standing still.
If Apple stops using Intel processors, its a good bet that it will stop using the x86 architecture (using the architecture requires paying a license fee) and eventually support for x86 architecture in macOS would end—killing with it the hackintosh as we know it.
In a move that surprises almost no one, Instagram opted to ditch its Watch app entirely rather than dedicated it engineering resources to ‘modernise’ it. I expect this will be the path many developers pick, continuing the exodus of Watch apps from the store, a trend that we’ve seen for the better part of a year at this point.
I don’t want to repeat all my arguments about why WatchKit sucks; the archives exist for a reason. Simply, I love (and use) good Watch apps and WatchKit prevents developers from making good watch apps. I don’t blame these companies from abandoning watch ecosystem at the moment. If Apple doesn’t provide something better, these apps are never coming back.
Apple Watch sells very well, but apparently not strongly enough for some companies. A deadline requiring developers to base their apps on newer versions of watchOS just passed, and some businesses choose to pull their software rather than update it.
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Perhaps users are satisfied with the software that comes bundled with the Apple Watch and don’t see a need to install additional apps. Or perhaps developers accustomed to expansive smartphone screens find it difficult to make compelling offerings on a tiny wearable.
This is a very good tablet. The best, in fact, under $500. It’s too bad that nothing else comes close, because maybe that competition would have inspired Apple to make something a little better.
DaisyDisk is a smart little utility to help you manage your Mac’s drive space. [...] It uses a series of colorful concentric circles representing your drive space which is both pleasing to look at and easy to understand.
Cloudflare is launching its own consumer DNS service today, on April Fools’ Day, that promises to speed up your internet connection and help keep it private. The service is using https://1.1.1.1, and it’s not a joke but an actual DNS resolver that anyone can use. Cloudflare claims it will be “the Internet’s fastest, privacy-first consumer DNS service.” While OpenDNS and Google DNS both exist, Cloudflare is focusing heavily on the privacy aspect of its own DNS service with a promise to wipe all logs of DNS queries within 24 hours.
To understand ClassKit, you need to know about Schoolwork, Apple's new app for education. Schoolwork gives teachers a tool to distribute and collect assignments, track student progress, and collaborate with students. The app gives students a place to turn in assignments, track their own progress, and collaborate with their teachers. ClassKit is a framework that lets developers create apps that work with Schoolwork.
Nadella’s most impressive bit of jujitsu was how he killed Windows Phone; while the platform had obviously been dead in the water for years, Nadella didn’t imperiously axe the program. Instead, by isolating Windows, he let the division’s leadership come to that conclusion on their own.
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Nadella did the same thing with Windows proper: when Windows 10 launched Myerson claimed that the operating system would be on 1 billion devices by mid-2018; the company had to walk that back a year later, not because Nadella said so, but because the market did.