This is assuming Apple succeeds in shrinking the chip down to fit in an iPhone.<p>Let your imagination run wild.<p>What would an iPhone with a maxed-out M1 Max chip inside it look like?<p>What would be its capabilities?<p>How would a powerful chip like that change the device we're all so familiar with?
Not much. Same apps you have right now.<p>In an android phone, it would be game changing. Even now, galaxy flagships ship with an almost good-enough desktop environment when you connect an external monitor. With a much more powerful and efficient chip, that will finally get pushed into proper usability.
Single device computing with different user paradigms would be possible or even desirable with such a system, just plug into a USB-4/Thunderbolt dock and away you go; Instantly you’re in Mac OS able to do more than is currently possible on iOS/iPadOS.<p>This to some extent is possible now, on many Android flagships it’s possible to run a desktop environment, but getting actual Mac OS and it’s software catalogue would be far more desirable than what’s currently available on those Android systems.<p>Getting this CPU to run in a phone form factor would be a serious game changer - this increase in horsepower and homogenization between the two platforms would make it so this would be a major selling point: “The best of iOS and Mac OS, on one device”.
It hasn't been the processor nor the RAM holding smartphones back, they're plenty fast nowadays. It's the operating system and the form factor the issue. M1 won't solve any of that.
I think there’s a future where phones are all-in-one devices. When in my pocket, it’s a screen-first mobile device. When plugged into a dock, it’s a full-blown MacOS machine. I could then have “profiles” for personal and work environments.<p>I think these devices are going to become more tied 1:1 to our individual identities. Where my phone is a digital extension of my self. Acting as my wallet, gov ID, work ID, stores any info about me (or the private keys to get at the data in the cloud). Etc.<p>It’s really already to that point, it’s just not fully baked the way I describe above. But I think it’s highly likely to be exactly this eventually.<p>As a person in IT, I see an obvious change where hardware is still separated for people from person and work. people say they don’t want work on their personal devices, but then they’re the first to break that rule. Convenience is key.<p>So I think the solve is the same we’ve done elsewhere: 1 hardware device, multiple virtual spaces on top, all tied to the me that is the ID.
Really wish programming on phones becomes a thing. Not directly running on the phone, but maybe have a vscode/remote server that you can connect to and use a monitor + peripherals.
At that point, The iPhone would become like a console-level device like the Nintendo Switch, but 100,000x powerful and it will work with the existing Xbox and PS5 controllers. Potentially obsoleting Stadia.<p>> Let your imagination run wild.<p>An entirely new product. Smart glasses by Apple.<p>This is where Apple 'attempts' to compete in AR and VR very seriously along side their own VR headsets.