On OS X 10.10 ahead of WWDC 2014

Less than 24 hours before the beginning of WWDC 2014 I want to write a few ideas on what we might (or we might not, this is almost a game) see in OS X 10.10, the next version of the Mac operating system.

Some facts

It is a fact that:

  • The PC market is shrinking in favour of tablets. This doesn’t necessarily apply to the Mac right now but with the release of faster iOS devices every year, less and less people will buy Macs (cannibalization of the Mac)
  • Users are beginning to do more and more on their tablets, be it an iPad, Android or the Microsoft Surface Pro
  • Apple is likely not too keen on adding complexity to iOS because it would confuse the majority of iOS users (i.e. the normal users).

There are also rumors that OS X this year should receive a substantial user interface revamp. I don’t think that Apple is going to change a successful OS X UI just for the sake of being modern. That would not solve any existing problem.

This together with the fact that last year Apple introduced an iPad Air – leaving space for a possible iPad Pro – makes me think that OS X 10.10 could be designed in such a way to be the starting point for Apple tablet devices powered by OS X.

OS X on tablets?

What changes should OS X undergo to be used on a tablet? I think it should have:

  • Wider touch points
  • More gestures to interact with the operating system
  • An even more advanced power management than
  • Simplification of the UI by getting rid of useless shadows, effects, and whatever generates useless load for ARM based devices
  • A simplified Finder, or more likely make Finder less and less needed during normal operations by making iCloud even more pervasive
  • The possibility to natively run iOS apps.

A fridge with a toaster?

Tim Cook famously said that Apple cannot see iOS merging with OS X and therefore creating something akin to a fridge with a toaster. That is wise.

But it is undeniable that there is an increasing share of Apple users who are highly mobile and that would benefit from a Mac in the form of a tablet. These users already tend to leave their Mac behind when possible. The same users are willing to sacrifice OS X flexibility with portability, which is why they work on their iPad while on the go. I wonder if the direction of OS X is this one. In a little more than 24 hours all this is going to be clear.

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