Apple CEO Tim Cook has been making the rounds recently, engaging in interviews to help publicize the launch of the iPad Pro. In an exclusive chat with British newspaper The Telegraph, he claims the era of desktop computer domination is on its way out.
Cook wonders “why would you buy a PC anymore?” He says the 12.9″ iPad Pro, Apple’s biggest and most powerful tablet to date, will be “a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people.”
Tim Cook wonders “why you would buy a PC anymore” in interview to publicize the new iPad Pro: https://t.co/3Iuf8MbZLX
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The new device has its feet firmly placed in two markets: creatives and consumers. Combined with the Apple Pencil, the new iPad is “unbelievable” for sketching and producing digital art. A team of animators from Pixar can vouch for that. Likewise, the improvements to sound quality (the iPad Pro includes four high-fidelity speakers), combined with the huge 12.9″ retina display, make for a great media-playing device.
Cook admits that the iPad mini range may end up slightly neglected in the face of Apple’s other products: “I think if you have the larger phone, you’re less likely to have the iPad mini,” he says. It’s not a problem, though – better for Apple to “cannibalize” itself than allow sales to be hit by a competitor.
Towards the end of the chat, Cook hinted that Apple may dabble further into the health market in the future, though it would be with a separate, regulated, government-licensed health product rather than an extension of the health tracking capabilities of something like the Apple Watch.
He also reiterated Apple’s stance on encryption and privacy in the wake of the U.K.’s proposed Investigatory Powers Bill, explaining that government-only access isn’t possible. “Any backdoor is a backdoor for everyone” and could have “very dire consequences” for regular, innocent people.
You can check out the full interview if you’re hungry for more words of wisdom from the Apple chief.