A Look At OS X Yosemite And iOS 8.1
by Brandon Chester on October 27, 2014 8:00 AM ESTConclusion
It has definitely been a busy few months in the Apple world. September delivered the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, along with iOS 8, and a preview of the still mysterious Apple Watch. This month we got the iPad Air 2, the iPad Mini 3, the iMac with Retina 5K display, iOS 8.1, Apple Pay, and OS X Yosemite. Those last three points are some of the most interesting, and they all happen to be part of Apple's software ecosystem. I don't think that's a coincidence. We're reaching a point where it's becoming more and more difficult to differentiate your products based on hardware alone. Great software driving a great experience is where the focus needs to be moving forward.
Apple's strategy to provide that experience appears to be deep integration of their services across all of their product lines. It starts with the cloud, with new additions to iCloud like iCloud Drive and Photo Library. From there it goes to software commonality, with a design language that exists on both iOS and OS X, and applications that exist on both platforms. On the opposite end of the spectrum from the cloud are the new continuity features which provide integration between all the devices that you have right there with you. SMS Forwarding and iPhone call transferring expands communication on iPad and the Mac to new areas, while Handoff makes the transition between applications seamless and accurate right down to where your cursor was.
What interests me the most about Apple's stategy is how it provides incentive for a user with one Apple device to buy other Apple devices. This exists to a certain degree with other manufacturers as well. If you own a Samsung smartphone, you may be more inclined to buy a Samsung tablet due to the similar hardware design and user interface. But apart from any brand loyalty you feel, you don't really have any incentive to buy a Samsung laptop which runs Windows and doesn't integrate with your other devices. Apple's integration covers their entire lineup of devices. An iPhone user has a lot to gain by choosing a MacBook over a Windows Ultrabook, and an iPad over a Nexus 9. It would be interesting to analyze what percentage of people purchasing a new Apple device already own one or more Apple products.
Overall, I'm happy with the work that Apple has done with iOS 8.1 and OS X Yosemite. It's clear that a lot of this has been in the works for some time now, and integrating products and services to this degree requires a lot of planning to position your hardware and software so that it will be capable of working together in the ways you want them to. The Yosemite redesign has also gone quite well, and there aren't as many jarring inconsistencies as there were with iOS 7 at launch despite OS X being a more expansive operating system. Apple has definitely learned from their experiences with the iOS redesign. That being said, there is still a lot of work to do. Apple Pay needs to expand rapidly, and iCloud Photo Library isn't as far developed as I had expected it to be.
It's hard to say where Apple will go as we move forward. It will be hard to outdo the work that has been done with Yosemite. However, history tells me that there are still great things yet to come from Apple. It seems that year after year Apple is able to make updated products and proclaim them to be the biggest advancements in that product's history, and regardless of my initial reaction, I somehow always find myself agreeing .
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
173 Comments
View All Comments
ant1pathy - Tuesday, October 28, 2014 - link
> $1399 lenovo y50Form factor and battery life. Compare the two:
Y504k: 15.24" x 10.37" x 0.94" 5.29lbs | Up to 4 hour(s) battery
rMBP: 14.13" x 9.73" x 0.71" 4.46lbs | Up to 8 hours wireless web 95watthour
monopodman - Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - link
Yep, rMBP also has Thunderbolt 2 merged with Displayport 1.2 (guaranteed 4K@60hz support for external screen, not sure if HDMI in Lenovo is up to the task, because even HDMI 1.4 supports only 4K@30hz which is .... useless most of the time). I'm actively using Thunderbolt for data connectivity (faster and lower latency than USB3.0, more power (10W) for large external SSDs, universal dock-stations etc.)....Morawka - Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - link
how many people are going to drive a 4k display off their laptop? not manyzogus - Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - link
Considering the internal display of the laptop in question is 4K, the answer is "more than you seem to think."Ratman6161 - Monday, November 3, 2014 - link
For a lot of people the $600 Best Buy laptop or even, yes, the $400 best buy laptop are good enough for their needs. Yes, at the higher end the prices work out to often being nearly the same for comparable configurations. The thing is that for the person for whom a low end configuration is good enough, there is no "comparable configuration". Apple doesn't even try to play in that market - so those folks are going to go Windows.Also, why should Apple focus on making OSX and iOS play together more seamlessly? The numbers of iOS users are several orders of magnitude greater than those using a Mac. So what are all those iPad and iPhone users using on their desktop or laptop? The answer for the vast majority is...Windows. So might Apple actually be better off focusing their attentions on making iOS work seamlessly with Windows? There will be vastly more people out there using Windows + iOS than there are using OSX + iOS...just saying...
sbuk - Sunday, March 22, 2015 - link
That's some pretty advanced stupid right there...Anangrypotato1 - Monday, October 27, 2014 - link
Can you tell me why they do it other than for profit? I bought a 2013 MBA, and I see no reason why I shouldn't be allowed to replace the RAM, CPU, or whatever else I want to.Kristian Vättö - Tuesday, October 28, 2014 - link
Soldering the parts onto the logic board saves space, which is crucial for a laptop like MBA.ant1pathy - Tuesday, October 28, 2014 - link
The 2013 MBA isn't possible while also providing easy user accessibility. Form factor has consequences.monopodman - Thursday, October 30, 2014 - link
Here's why Apple use soldered RAM:1) it saves space (<- no room needed for connectors)
2) easier routing (-> less space on motherboard, lower resistive and capacitive load on IMC)
3) better performance (<- lower latency due to lower RC time constant, which is good in a laptop that usually runs hotter than desktop or DTR-sized laptop)
4) when maxed out to 16GB, there's no need to upgrade (it probably won't be possible to use 2x16gb sticks regardless)
5) repairability is a deliberate compromise
6) extra markup for Apple from "power users", who otherwise would buy 3rd party RAM
7) many ultrabook manufacturers are switching to soldered RAM
There're almost no laptops with replaceable CPU because
1) assembly becomes thicker
2) only oriented on power users (removing heatsink/thermal compound isn't trivial)
3) isn't good for marketing