iMac Touch patent – via patentlyapple.com
Back in February I mused about the future of the iPad, and predicted that Apple will roll out a “MacTouch” line by next year. Far out crazy talk? Well, today an Apple patent has emerged with details on how this would actually work for both a desktop and a notebook.
In hindsight it’s a no-brainer for Apple. The software pieces are already there – it would be trivial to run an iOS emulator in OSX on a device with a touch-screen. Apps build for iPad would largely just work, and a new generation of apps designed for the larger screens would flourish.
It’s worth emphasizing again that the iPad is the linchpin to the success of this strategy. If Apple had gone straight from iPhone to desktop touch there would be no app market for it and no reason to buy one. The introduction of the iPad this year was critical. With the iPad, the very first MacTouch will have a library of thousands of apps already written for it, all selling for an average price of under $5. If we are to also believe the iTV rumor, it will also have a line of home-entertainment apps available as well.
I stand by my prediction that Apple will announce a touch-based desktop by next year. This would catapult Apple one more step ahead of the competition. As PC manufacturers struggle to bring tablets to the market, Apple will be launching a new massive attack on the desktop market, one that could prove unstoppable. Windows would be caught mid-cycle, and I believe that Google has made a strategic error in pursuing Chome OS instead of Android for the desktop. The problem is that Chrome OS next year will have nowhere near the number of apps as Android, let alone iOS to compete with Apple. In any case, neither of them would hold a candle to iOS+OSX on the desktop. It may sound over-the-top, but this has the potential to be a knockout blow to some *cough* PC manufacturers.
This is also going to be a shake-up for traditional desktop based vendors like Adobe. There will be a flood of touch-based paint apps, selling for under $9.99 competing with Photoshop express if not soon Photoshop itself. Desktop software vendors for OSX are going to have to rapidly switch to a lower price-point model, but those without the volume of iPad / iPhone apps to sustain them will be in big trouble.
Rarely is the arrow of history so clear pointing forward. This is one of those times.
Full disclosure: I’m currently still holding on to a bunch of AAPL stock, despite the weak stock market overall.