Apple’s Project Marzipan could mean big things for the future of the Macintosh

“We learned a little more today about Apple’s plans for Marzipan, its UIKit that will make it easy for developers to port iOS apps to the Mac,” Ben Lovejoy writes for 9to5Mac. “Today’s report suggests that the project will be rolling out a little more slowly than expected, with an SDK for third-party apps launching at this year’s WWDC – but only for iPad apps… ‘By 2021, Apple wants developers to be able to submit a single binary to the App Store that will house the necessary business logic and interface code to deploy onto iPad, iPhone and Mac.'”
“It’s yet another piece of stickiness for the Apple ecosystem. If someone has an iPhone and iPad, and are then looking for a laptop, the ability to run their familiar mobile apps is yet another reason to opt for a MacBook,” Lovejoy writes. “A more efficient process will mean a lot more Mac apps, and that’s good news for consumers as well as developers. But it could also mean more iPad apps. A developer which currently offers only an iPhone app (waves to Instagram) may be more inclined to create an iPad version if that gets them a Mac app into the bargain.
“It’s a matter of when, rather than if, Macs make the switch from Intel to ARM. Apple’s long-term plan is to have its own custom-designed processors for Macs, just as it does for iPhones and iPads,” Lovejoy writes. “We’ve heard a suggestion that 2020 might be the year, but whether or not that proves to be the case, there’s little doubt that it’s coming soon.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s a win-win all around, but only if the apps can move from iOS to Mac in a much more elegant fashion than they do today. The first Marzipan apps (from Apple, no less) — Home, News, Stocks and Voice Memos — are pretty rough. They are the red-headed stepchildren of Mac apps. Happily, we expect Marzipan apps and the tools to make them to get better rapidly as this marriage is important to Appel and they’re going to be hell-bent on making it work!
Think code convergence (more so than today) with UI modifications per device. A unified underlying codebase for Intel, Apple A-series, and, in Apple’s labs, likely other chips, too (just in case). This would allow for a single App Store for Mac, iPhone, and iPad users that features a mix of apps: Some that are touch-only, some that are Mac-only, and some that are universal (can run on both traditional notebooks and desktops as well as on multi-touch computers like iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and – pretty please, Apple – Apple TV). Don’t be surprised to see Apple A-series-powered Macs, either. — MacDailyNews Take, January 9, 2014
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s Project Marzipan targeted to combine iPhone, iPad and Mac apps by 2021 – February 20, 2019
An enterprise take on Apple’s ‘Project Marzipan’ – January 11, 2019
Apple’s initial macOS Mojave Marzipan apps are ugly ducklings – September 25, 2018
Marzipan in Mojave: Porting developer iOS apps to macOS – June 13, 2018
iOS  –  macOS: What Apple’s ‘No’ actually means – June 11, 2018
Craig Federighi doesn’t see a touchscreen Mac in the future – June 6, 2018
Apple’s Craig Federighi details how iOS apps will run on Macs – June 5, 2018
How Apple might approach an ARM-based Mac – May 30, 2018
Will the 2019 Mac Pro be powered by an Apple ARM-based chip? – April 6, 2018
Project Marzipan: Can Apple succeed where Microsoft failed? – December 21, 2017
Apple is working to unite iOS and macOS; will they standardize their chip platform next? – December 21, 2017
Why Apple would want to unify iOS and Mac apps in 2018 – December 20, 2017
Apple to provide tool for developers build cross-platform apps that run on iOS and macOS in 2018 – December 20, 2017
The once and future OS for Apple – December 8, 2017
Apple, a semiconductor superpower in the making, looks to build their own ARM-based processors for Macs – September 29, 2017
On the future of Apple’s Macintosh – February 6, 2017
Apple’s Craig Federighi explains why there is no touchscreen Mac – November 1, 2016