Tim Cook says Apple won’t make a “converged” iPad-Mac device

On the heels of the iPad Pro's release, Apple's CEO Tim Cook has squashed any speculation of an iPad-Mac hybrid. Cook told The Irish Independent that he believes there is still a market for laptops like the ones his company makes and that combining an iPad and a Mac into a tablet-laptop hybrid would not provide users the best overall experience. "We feel strongly that customers are not really looking for a converged Mac and iPad," Cook said. "Because what that would wind up doing, or what we’re worried would happen, is that neither experience would be as good as the customer wants."

Earlier this month, Cook was quoted by The Telegraph as saying something a bit different: that PCs would not prove to be as useful as they once were now that there are many other types of devices with similar features. "I think if you’re looking at a PC—why would you buy a PC anymore? No, really, why would you buy one?" Cook said.

Now Cook is clarifying that he was talking about Windows PCs, not Apple devices, and that Apple doesn't "regard Macs and PCs to be the same." In the same vein, Cook also said that he is aware that customers use iPads and Macs for different purposes but often use them in conjunction with each other. "We’ve tried to do is to recognize that people use both iOS and Mac devices" he said. "So we’ve taken certain features and made them more seamless across the devices."

Here Cook was referring to Apple's Continuity features like Handoff, which lets you start a task on one device and then pick it up at the same place on another, and the ability to make and take voice calls from your Mac rather than your iOS device. These features certainly make it easier for Apple users to go from one dedicated device to another, but having just one extraneous Android or Windows device will break the string.

Hybrid devices are far from new, as Microsoft's Surface hybrid is on its fourth iteration. With the release of Windows 10, Microsoft is trying to make its operating system as continuous and seamless as possible across laptops, tablets, and Windows Phones, which notably contrasts with Apple's mindset. OEMs have also made many Android phone-tablet and tablet-laptop devices in attempts to see what sticks with customers.

Other than killing the iPad-Mac hybrid hopes and dreams of some, Tim Cook didn't reveal any upcoming plans for new Apple devices. When asked about the possibility of a self-driving Apple car, he was vague. "I don’t have anything to announce about our plans," he told the Independent. "But I think there’s some significant changes in the automobile industry over the next several years with electrification and autonomous driving. And there’s a need for a focus on user interface. And so I think there’s a lot of changes that will go on there."