I think people are placing way too much speculation into this. Would I be surprised if I saw a low end iMac come out that was touch enabled, no. It is no big secret that everyone is gunning for these thin OS'es for net enabled entry level system.
But, I would not expect for a minute that the Mac Pro, and the MacBook pro are going to run a stripped down web enabled OS. It counter to the power of the platform and would kill there top end.
Sure you may see pieces converge from the two and you may see touch enabled concepts come over to the pro line. But the day apps for the Pro line can only be purchased out of the app store, is the day that the Pro line ends.
It is two different markets. Apple has traditionally not competed well in the low end of the market. They believe with their success with the iPhone and the iPad that they can now offer products in that space and make up margins on the back side. I think iOS is the platform for that low end strategy and you will most likely, at some point, see computers offered in that low-end product space.
I don't imagine that Apple will ever "substitute" OS X with a mobile OS on the Macs. I believe that Apple will embed the functionality of the mobile OS in the hardware/software combination that is the Mac.
I might be wrong though as I had never considered the possibility that Apple might have been developing OS X for Intel processors right from the beginning as a “Plan B” sort of strategy. Being able to do keep that quiet for five years was truly amazing
Ermm, it was never a secret that NeXTStep was cross-platform.
But, I would not expect for a minute that the Mac Pro, and the MacBook pro are going to run a stripped down web enabled OS. It counter to the power of the platform and would kill there top end.
Sure you may see pieces converge from the two and you may see touch enabled concepts come over to the pro line. But the day apps for the Pro line can only be purchased out of the app store, is the day that the Pro line ends.
It is two different markets. Apple has traditionally not competed well in the low end of the market. They believe with their success with the iPhone and the iPad that they can now offer products in that space and make up margins on the back side. I think iOS is the platform for that low end strategy and you will most likely, at some point, see computers offered in that low-end product space.