Apple users don't want macOS and iOS merged, Tim Cook says

Apple CEO Tim Cook wants to politely squash any rumors that Apple’s iOS and macOS operating systems will merge into one at some point in the future. Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald during Apple's Chicago New iPad for education event, Cook said he doesn’t think users want the two OSes to merge.

“So this merger thing that some folks are fixated on, I don't think that's what users want,” Cook said. He also alluded to the fact that while merging would make the company more efficient, it would be at the cost of lost features uniquely built to the hardware involved.

Earlier in the interview, Cook revealed that he continues to use a Mac for work in the Apple offices, but uses and iPad at home and on the go. Based on further comments, Cook appears firm in his stance, one that runs counter to recent rumors that iOS apps will find their way onto macOS devices.

"We don't believe in sort of watering down one for the other. Both [The Mac and iPad] are incredible,” Cook said. “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.”

Don’t hold your breath for iOS apps on Mac

Apple seems pretty clearly set against the idea of bringing too many elements from either of its major operating systems to the other, focusing instead on how they connect via services and tools. Again, this is directly contradictory to rumors of anonymous sources spilling the beans on plans to brings iOS apps into a working capacity on macOS through an initiative called ‘Project Marzipan.’

A move like this would be unprecedented for Apple, hence the palpable excitement around the prospect. It would bring the firm closer in line with its rivals’ philosophies regarding their OSes, with Windows 10 being a multi-device OS by design and Chrome OS taking on the Google Play Android app store wholesale, with touchscreen Chromebooks fully supporting it.

However, Apple is always the one most likely to go against the grain, and it now seems to have dismissed any notion that iOS apps or macOS apps will appear on their respective sister OSes.

However, as The Sydney Morning Herald notes, this doesn't necessarily mean the earlier Bloomberg reports of Marzipan are entirely inaccurate. Seeing iOS apps on macOS is a huge leap from iOS and macOS sharing development tools.

At any rate, it seems that Cook wants to make Apple's position crystal clear. No matter what happens, Apple isn't interested in either of its operating system merging with the other or working like the other: Macs will remain Macs, and iPhones will remain iPhones.

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April 20, 2018 at 09:38PM
Joe Osborne