Apple Downplays Touch-Based Macs (Again), My Stance on Touch-Based Macs, Thursday Q&A

Today's Above Avalon daily update includes the following stories:

  • Apple Downplays Touch-Based Macs (Again)

  • My Stance on Touch-Based Macs

  • Thursday Q&A

We kick off today’s email with the Mac. Following the unveiling of Macs with M1 chips, Apple executives once again downplayed talk of touch-based Macs in the future. We go over Apple’s commentary and then take a deep dive into my thoughts on touch-based Macs. The discussion goes over the difference between touch-based or touch-first Macs versus bringing touch to the Mac. The email concludes with a new installment of Thursday Q&A. I answer the following questions from Above Avalon members:

  • Is App Clips the start of the decomposition of the big app? So that little bits of an app’s functionality can be accessed in different ways depending on context? What does this say about greater integration of digital and physical worlds?

  • Mac market share currently stands at 8% (approximately). What do you think is the likelihood that the advent of Apple Silicon Macs will increase that market share, possibly even doubling it?

  • Is there an opportunity for Apple to take on YouTube with its own video service given Google’s never-ending need for more advertising revenue?

  • Why do you think the media is positioning the App Store, and Apple’s control over iOS app distribution, as the company’s swan song?

  • What’s your opinion on Salesforce buying Slack?

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