According to Jefferies & Co analyst Peter Misek, Apple might be planning to phase out OS X while introducing a new operating system, supposedly a blend between the 10-year-old platform as well as iOS. According to Misek, the next-generation MacBook Air will be the very first to sport the modification as soon as next year complied with by other Mac computers in the next few years.
The MacBook Air has been just recently marketed as the “next generation of MacBooks” because of its exceptionally lightweight type aspect at the cost of some features discovered in standard notebooks such as an optical disc drive. Yet, the Air currently ships with the exact same operating system as well as software application as other Macs, although that may not be the situation for long. If Apple is eying this transition, it would make sense to begin it with a product that has always been marketed as “cutting-edge”. In addition, Apple is stated to be seeking to scrap its partnership with Intel, at least with the Air, as well as begin bundling in its own A6 processor, which is likewise rumored to be bundled with the next-generation iphone as well as function similar performance to the one supplied by the most present consumer-grade Intel chips, as explained by the analyst:
We believe Apple is prepared to begin sampling the A6 quad-core app processor as well as will be the very first such multi-device platform capable of PC-like strength.
According to Misek, the primary aspect that may take Apple down this road will be the requirement to bring all of its products better together, which is difficult to do while supporting two contending platforms:
Users want to be able to pick up any type of iPhone, iPad, or Mac (or turn on their iTV) as well as have material step effortlessly between them as well as be optimized for the individual as well as the gadget currently being used, […] We believe this will be tough to carry out if iOS as well as OS X are kept separate.
While the shift must ramp up rather quickly, Apple’s a lot more standard products such as the MacBook pro as well as the iMac may take rather a few a lot more years to completely make the move, maybe as much as 4 years. Yet, the rug is slowly being pulled from beneath OS X: last month, Apple discontinued the white MacBook, its standard consumer-grade notebook computer, incentivizing a lot more clients to get the MacBook Air instead. If the latter is undoubtedly revamped next year, a big amount of individuals would discover themselves landing on the hybrid operating system.
Will OS X be phased out completely? As the platform ages, that’s an absolute must, however as iOS becomes a lot more popular, perhaps the death of the 10-year-old system is just what Apple needs to leave its “niche market share” tradition behind.
(via Barron’s)
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