Apple gets Patent published today to Use Iphone with Macbook chassis as a computer

[Docturphil]

Actually, it won't be cloud computing, because huge amounts of data that would have to travel over the interwebs.

Not exactly. You wouldn't have to access your entire hard drive at once, just the stuff you're using. And once you access what you need it'll be stored locally in RAM. Your local device will probably need significantly more RAM, but RAM is pretty cheap. It's still a lot of data you'll have to pull down (probably 2GB-8GB), but not as much as you're thinking. With a gigabit connection that would take ~16-64 seconds. So yeah you would definitely need a fast internet connection for it to be practical.

But then cloud computing would just have all that data and processing power at the other end of the cloud, with your phone accessing it at a work station, right? So maybe it will be personalized devices usable at any work station, with large data available . . .

They could go the route of putting most of the power on the cloud end or they could go the route of putting most of the power on the user device's end. I'm honestly not sure which way would be better. It probably depends on several factors.

But that's already a problem with current computers. Any really large amount of data isn't stored on anyone's computer. It's all cloud. So how you access a work station wouldn't affect where the data is kept or accessed, right? If you don't need big data for your work, then the device/work-station is perfect, no cloud needed.

With increasing internet speeds more and more stuff is moving to the cloud. If internet speeds reach a point where the average person has a 100 gigabit connection then cloud computing becomes extremely practical. And with cloud computing, whether computer processing is happening in the cloud or the cloud is just storing data and transmitting it to whatever device you're connected to, it won't be necessary to connect a device to another device. All you would do is log in and then you would have access to all of your data and personalized settings.

[Kujako]

How "powerful" compared to a PC intel chip? Just curious...

Surprisingly competitive with the i7.

https://versus.com/en/apple-a10-vs-intel-core-i7-4850hq

There has a been a lot of speculation that Apple has plans to start using the A10 (or the next build A11) over Intel chips in at least some of their notebooks.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/16/12...e-intel-future

[Arenis]

Windows tried something of the same idea, by letting a windows phone work as a mini-desktop. Problem was, it wasn't very fluid. What I gathered from reviews was that it was a very nice innovative idea, but in practice it handled rather poorly (>yet<).

However, Apple is known for heavily optimizing their software. I don't doubt they will make this super-smooth in transition and usage. Just as long as it's not iOS (like a macbook with iOS.... yikes). It's nice for a phone/tablet, but absolutely wank for a laptop/computer.

[LilSaihah]

Don't think of the solution as a perfectly technical one. Think of it as a fluidly beautiful one

Well you've certainly got the applespeak down

[cubby]

At this point I'm spit balling, rather than arguing, in case that wasn't already abundantly clea

Not exactly. You wouldn't have to access your entire hard drive at once, just the stuff you're using. And once you access what you need it'll be stored locally in RAM. Your local device will probably need significantly more RAM, but RAM is pretty cheap. It's still a lot of data you'll have to pull down (probably 2GB-8GB), but not as much as you're thinking. With a gigabit connection that would take ~16-64 seconds. So yeah you would definitely need a fast internet connection for it to be practical.

So the phone/docking station would work. But then so would cloud computing. Right? At this point it would then be a matter of personalized issues, rather than actual better tech solutions.

They could go the route of putting most of the power on the cloud end or they could go the route of putting most of the power on the user device's end. I'm honestly not sure which way would be better. It probably depends on several factors.

If the power is on the user device end, then people would get the benefits of cloud computing access, along with a shit hot device to watch kitten videos. Or become better people. Or whatever. I'm sure the high-tech guys would want it in the cloud zone, so to speak, for better processing (might not be the right word), but the consumer majority would probably want it in their devices.

With increasing internet speeds more and more stuff is moving to the cloud. If internet speeds reach a point where the average person has a 100 gigabit connection then cloud computing becomes extremely practical. And with cloud computing, whether computer processing is happening in the cloud or the cloud is just storing data and transmitting it to whatever device you're connected to, it won't be necessary to connect a device to another device. All you would do is log in and then you would have access to all of your data and personalized settings.

Re personalized settings. I don't think just logging into a computer is going to get someone all the personalized settings a person would want.

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Well you've certainly got the applespeak down

Yeah, that just came out of nowhere. I promise not to do it again.

Hmmmmm . . . Apple already called me up for a marketing job . . . which I didn't apply for . . . they are everywhere!

[Docturphil]

So the phone/docking station would work. But then so would cloud computing. Right? At this point it would then be a matter of personalized issues, rather than actual better tech solutions.

Seems to me that with fast enough internet speeds the cloud computing solution would be immensely more practical.

If the power is on the user device end, then people would get the benefits of cloud computing access, along with a shit hot device to watch kitten videos. Or become better people. Or whatever. I'm sure the high-tech guys would want it in the cloud zone, so to speak, for better processing (might not be the right word), but the consumer majority would probably want it in their devices.

There would be advantages and disadvantages for both ways. If you have most of the power on the cloud end then your local device is going to be really cheap because it doesn't have to do much. The disadvantage is you're going to have to pay a lot more to maintain the cloud service. Another disadvantage is really heavy reliance on a consistent and really fast internet connection.

And on the other hand if the cloud isn't doing anything else other than storing your data and giving it to you when you need it, then the cloud service will probably be a lot cheaper but your local device is going to be more expensive. You'd still be reliant on the internet, but if you were doing something like updating a document or something you would be OK if the internet went out for a few seconds.

So I'm really not sure what the best way to go about it is.

Re personalized settings. I don't think just logging into a computer is going to get someone all the personalized settings a person would want.

Sure it would. When it comes down to it your personalized settings are just more data. That can be stored on the cloud just like anything else.

[Afrospinach]

bunch of cheap shells

Oh man, prepare to be surprised!

[Iamanerd]

Precisely. You can't make use of storage on a larger device because it's gone when you disconnect from it.

As for combining processing, graphics, and RAM that's a whole other engineering feat that hasn't been done yet AFAIK. And even if you accomplish that it's still going to cost you just as much and probably more if you want your very own device and a "computer dock". The only real advantage would be the convenience of being able to connect it to any other device without having to go through any configuration process.

I can see why people would want it, but I don't see how it's going to revolutionize anything.

Problem is most of the people here thinking it's something huge fail to understand how this or silicon tech works. This is beyond the limitations of our current silicon and why would people want this now? We're going to hit a point we're most computing can be done via cloud and the devices simply act as an interface rather than needing all the other hardware to do heavy or light work loads. Most people fail to realize but I'm happy to see someone else realizes it.

[W1sp]

I think you're missing the point. Instead of paying for 5 different computing devices, you buy one main machine (phone) and a bunch of cheap shells for different uses. And not to mention everything is stored neatly in one place, in your pocket.

Also I hope you can see where this is headed. Basically a credit card thin phone and will just slide into a laptop shell/ desktop shell/ tablet shell/tv shell.

>Apple
>Cheap shells
>Pick one

[Iamanerd]

Nobody who is seriously into IT would be in an apple ecosystem though would they?

Apple kinda has the reputation of being expensive gimmicks since the last decade. They used to be great for graphical processing, but intel and AMD overtook them.

Except a lot of people in IT/Devs use Macbooks because it's still a solid UNIX system if not the best to work in for that line of work.

[Gemini Soul]

Seems really stupid, more cash grab than anything else.

[Baelic]

Microsoft beat them to it! Though not with the fancy case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oi1B9fjVs4

[Super Kami Dende]

Doesn't really sound that impressive and requires 2 separate pieces of overpriced garbage to effectively use.

I'll stick to my USB3.0 for 1/4 of the price.

[Docturphil]

Nobody who is seriously into IT would be in an apple ecosystem though would they?

Apple kinda has the reputation of being expensive gimmicks since the last decade. They used to be great for graphical processing, but intel and AMD overtook them.

Except a lot of people in IT/Devs use Macbooks because it's still a solid UNIX system if not the best to work in for that line of work.

The platform a developer users is pretty much determined by what they're developing. If you're developing mobile apps for iOS you need to have a mac or at the very least a VM with mac OS. No way around it thanks to Apple's closed off system.

Most web devs will either use Windows if they're going the ASP.NET route or some distro of Linux if they're going for the Javascript/HTML/PHP/Python/MySQL route; usually Ubuntu or Debian.

So you'll pretty much see devs using any and all operating systems. I use all 3 for various purposes. Personally I have a raging hate boner for Apple, but I'm forced to use their OS for mobile development.

[Stormspark]

I think you're missing the point. Instead of paying for 5 different computing devices, you buy one main machine (phone) and a bunch of cheap shells for different uses. And not to mention everything is stored neatly in one place, in your pocket.

Also I hope you can see where this is headed. Basically a credit card thin phone and will just slide into a laptop shell/ desktop shell/ tablet shell/tv shell.

Except that would basically be useless except for very very very very light web browsing and email. That wouldn't be capable of doing 95% of what I use my computer for. Maybe Grandma checking her email doesn't require a full computer, but that's about it.

[Svifnymr]

Windows tried something of the same idea, by letting a windows phone work as a mini-desktop. Problem was, it wasn't very fluid. What I gathered from reviews was that it was a very nice innovative idea, but in practice it handled rather poorly (>yet<).

However, Apple is known for heavily optimizing their software. I don't doubt they will make this super-smooth in transition and usage. Just as long as it's not iOS (like a macbook with iOS.... yikes). It's nice for a phone/tablet, but absolutely wank for a laptop/computer.

Windows Continuum hooks to a dock for a monitor/keyboard/mouse, or you can bluetooth/cast and not worry about it. The limitations are using a phone app to do much of anything other than web-browsing/ typing.

Next gen Windows Continuum is looking to use full Windows 10, rather than Mobile.


The Apple thing is a neat enough idea if the tech of the screen was very cheap, but it won't be, we all know that. It's like the Moto-whatever, which advertises how you can get a digital camera face or a projector face or whatever, but each face costs more than just buying a stand alone item...

I think the more logical step would be a phone dock built into a macbook, merging information rather than relying on the phone for processing power or anything. (Piggy back cell data too)