I keep old Yoga 13 in a drawer. I think it happened still too early for its time - too heavy as tablet, fans, small screen vs form factor, font hinting quite bad in vertical mode, Windows8 clunky interface, battery...
I think today's Macbook Air M2 with 360deg hinges, touch and some iPad like UI-mode would be a holy grail for the article author.
A 360 MX Macbook with all the benefits of an iPad (run iOS apps, cellular data, both cameras, excellent touch response, maybe even lidar) would absolutely kill iPad sales, but it would also be the best all-in-one device Apple ever made.
Your dream is an interesting thought experiment. Let's reflect on if Apple would provide all these experiences.
0. 360 MX. This is the least likely. I'm sure Apple has been testing flippable hinges for decades at this point, but even if they could make the best one, they need a marketing reason for users. What's the point in a flippable laptop if you can't use everything when it's flipped like Windows?
1. Running iOS apps. macOS with an ARM chip already runs iOS apps, the problem is that most developers are chickenshit and don't allow people to run their apps on macOS. Apple needs to reverse course and remove the ability to deny running on macOS.
2. Cellular data. By this point, Apple would have done it. There's a valid argument that Apple doesn't want to even entertain negotiations with Qualcomm about how much it would cost them to put modems in their laptops, so I believe our last hope is that the modems currently in development by Apple themselves are someday destined for Apple laptops.
3. Excellent touch response. Every Macbook already has the best touch response in any laptop. Their trackpad is best-in-class. I don't know how Apple could even fail at that.
0. You bring up some points I fully agree with. Since we’re talking about Apple who can’t do anything mundane, for the hinge let’s just assume they come up with a new tech (maybe a single pivot point and the keyboard spins freely, or a mechanism that detaches it entirely so it can be snapped in flush on the back, or some other solution I can’t imagine yet)
1. Agreed
2. I can’t imagine this would actually stop them if they decided to cannibalize the iPad and build an MX 360
3. Agreed
4. Personally I would probably never use it, but it’s a notable iPad feature and might as well have them all
I find the Microsoft Surface Pro works in this niche much better than the Yoga devices - they're lighter, smaller and the keyboard cover can be removed entirely for a tablet experience.
That would help but some of what I found annoying was the delay in transitioning between modes and software generally not designed with tablet mode in mind. Not sure if the situation has improved in the last few years on those points.
Not sure if that's changed over time or not but transition speed is more or less the same between the two in my experience. There's some software which does a decent enough job at tablet mode (enough that I don't feel the need for a separate tablet - basically media consumption type activities - ebook readers, Netflix, etc are covered well enough and web browsing works for me) and the surface pro form factor feels much better for things like note taking using the surface pen in my experience (my work laptop is a Yoga, personal laptop is a Surface Pro so I use both regularly). On the negative side, the Surface Pro does make some different compromises - particularly the type cover isn't quite as good as the Yoga laptop keyboard (though of course any laptop keyboard is never that great) and the stand which folds out of the back isn't as good as having a laptop supported by the base if you have it on anything other than a decent desk. But overall I'd say the Surface Pro gets much closer to a true 2 in 1 device.
You can't even turn off the touch screen when in laptop mode, so every time you brush the screen when typing (it happens a lot, the device is tiny) you end up messing up something.
Microsoft, for all its qualities, truly does not care about the finer details.
I think today's Macbook Air M2 with 360deg hinges, touch and some iPad like UI-mode would be a holy grail for the article author.