Alex Blake of Digital Trends writes how the nature of Apple Arcade shows the pitfalls of merging iOS and macOS.
You see, Apple Arcade is a showcase for all that’s wrong with taking two very different operating systems and mashing them together into a mixed-up medley where no one wins. Because developers have to make games that work on the tiniest iPhone and the largest iMac, they are forced into compromises that weaken the games on both platforms.
I see his point and I think I agree with him. No one wins except maybe the lowest common denominator. Maybe the more powerful M1 chip would change that, but probably not. iPadOS apps haven’t yet taken full advantage of the chip, as one example.
Check It Out: How Apple Arcade Shows an OS Merger Isn’t Wise
Andrew:
To borrow terminology from contemporary US politics; Apple need to be taken both literally and seriously when they say that they have no intention of combining macOS and iOS. Most serious developers, and certainly anyone who works at Apple, when quoted on the subject points out that, although both macOS and iOS are based on a Unix kernel, these are two VERY different systems, and repeat that Apple are not planning combining them into one.
And although macOS has imported certain features and recently even apps from iOS, these are largely minor if not cosmetic adaptations. And it is here that we should hope that Apple, when it comes to even these modification to macOS, go full-on Darth Vader with, ‘Pray I don’t alter it any further’.
Thinking that a keyboard/mouse interface and a touch interface that share a common kernel can be merged, one might just as well argue that mosquitoes and bats share wings, so why not merge them? Who would think that even the maddest scientists could blend them into a viable flying creature? Who would even want a ‘mosq-bat-o’?
As a community, we need to learn the distinction between wanting certain features, behaviours or capabilities across all devices and systems, and attempting to merge systems with the assumption that the features we desire will survive that merger. In all probability, whatever survives that merger would not be desirable by anyone.
Less mosq-bat-o, and more like ‘Brundlefly’ https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Brundlefly.