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Apple must open iPadOS to sideloading within 6 months, EU says

(arstechnica.com)
380 points rezonant | 1 comments | 30 Apr 24 04:44 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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DCKing ◴[30 Apr 24 07:36 UTC] No.40208207[source]▶
The iPad App Store is perhaps an even more dysfunctional place than the iPhone in how much it holds hardware and use cases hostage to the manufacturer's vision. Just imagine how much more versatile the iPad Pro would be if only you could run Linux VMs on it in the moments you want to do anything remotely tinkery on an iPad.

Apple's hardware since the 2021 iPad Pro (with M1) has had the ability to do this. The iPads have the RAM (16gb on higher storage models), appropriate keyboard and trackpads, the works. Great hardware being held back by Apple's vision people weren't allowed to deviate from.

A straightforward reading of the DMA suggests that Apple is not allowed to restrict apps from using hardware features. Let's hope that means Parallels/VMware style VMs are possible without too much of a fight.

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walterbell ◴[30 Apr 24 10:17 UTC] No.40209236[source]▶
> Just imagine how much more versatile the iPad Pro would be if only you could run Linux VMs on it

After installing https://ish.app for Alpine Linux emulation on iPad, one immediately comes up with use cases, even though it's excruciatingly slow.

Hopefully Apple opens up the imminent M3 iPad Pros to allow macOS and Linux VMs, even if the feature is initially price segmented to devices with extra RAM. The iPad 4:3 high-resolution screen offers unmatched vertical real estate for text editing.

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rickdeckard ◴[30 Apr 24 10:47 UTC] No.40209501[source]▶
As long as the majority of the target group keeps buying MacBooks AND iPads, I doubt that Apple has an incentive to cannibalize its own product line.

They are well-aware of this, visible from the fact that they never bothered to add a touch panel or Pen-support to any MacBook, or make the Watch a standalone device: Customers wanting this either buy the devices individually anyway, or wouldn't be willing to hand over the sum of all combined devices for a single "superset" device.

Just imagine that Apple's view of the "iPad Pro with MacOS" demographic are customers who purchased a 1600 USD MacBook and a 1000 USD iPad. Is the "iPad with MacOS" able to replace either of those? Would they be able to charge 2600 USD for that device and sell comparable volumes?

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xattt ◴[30 Apr 24 10:59 UTC] No.40209582[source]▶
I see the Watch the same as a late 90s Palm device. You can’t make it standalone, because it depends on a larger device for configuration.

Unless, of course, you’re suggesting that it be made available for Android users as well.

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skhunted ◴[30 Apr 24 11:58 UTC] No.40210034[source]▶
I have the large Apple Watch. It has cell capabilities. I wish it was a standalone device. I don’t need a phone. The cellular watch could replace my phone if Apple allowed standalone devices. I doubt they will ever allow people to have a cellular watch without being tied to a phone.
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nehal3m ◴[30 Apr 24 12:17 UTC] No.40210192[source]▶
I also have a cellular Watch. Combined with some AirPods it works great if all you need is phonecalls which is a good use case if you want to be available without a time sucking little monster in your pocket.
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trogdor ◴[30 Apr 24 18:19 UTC] No.40214290{3}[source]▶
I think their point was that you have to pair Apple Watch with an iPhone in order to use cellular, and they wish you could use cellular Apple Watch without having to own an iPhone.
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1. nehal3m ◴[30 Apr 24 20:50 UTC] No.40216169{4}[source]▶
Yeah you're right, that's fair. I think any up to date iPhone will do though, so if you want to go this route you could buy the cheapest one you can find (hell, the screen could be smashed, who cares?), do the configuration and then toss your phone into a drawer.