FEBRUARY 2020 MACWORLD 19defining hardware characteristic. Thus
far, Apple has struck a pretty hard line
when it comes to device shapes: if it’s
got a hinge, it’s a laptop, and laptops run
macOS. If it’s a single slab of
touchscreen, it’s a tablet, and tablets run
iPadOS. That wouldn’t stop Apple from
making a device like this and putting
iPadOS on it, but it would certainly
require a shift in attitude.
ANOTHER ONE AGAINST
THE WALL
The best bet is that Apple just won’t ever
make a device like this. While Apple has
built a reputation as an innovative
company over the years, it’s remarkably
conservative when it
comes to product
launches. This is not
a company that
throws a bunch of
different product
choices against the
wall and sees what
sticks. (Not in public,
anyway. I’m sure
Apple makes all sorts
of stuff like this in
secret, and then is
absolutely ruthless
about killing products
that don’t measure up
to its standards.)
The real question is, does Apple think
the future of computing—most especially
laptop computing—includes a device with
two screens? If it does, is that device an
expanded iPad or a MacBook? The Mac
is probably the better choice here—
except that Apple has steadfastly kept the
Mac interface away from being
touchscreen friendly.
Who knows—maybe Apple has a
product in the lab, ready to go, that we
haven’t even heard a rumor about yet.
Maybe it’s in the planning for an
announcement at a fall event next year, in
which case it would end up beating the
Surface Neo to market. Wouldn’t that be
something? ■Are two-screen mobile devices part of the future of computing?