Apple Looking To Merge Mac OS X And iOS In 2012

Apple could be merging its iOS and Mac OS X operating systems into one platform by 2012. The platform would be used for both applications and cloud service and it might start with MacBookAir. Peter Misek with Jefferies & Co wrote Wednesday in a note to investors “Users want to be able to pick up any iPhone,iPad or Mac (or turn on their iTV) and have content move seamlessly between them and be optimized for the user and the device currently being used. We believe this will be difficult to implement if iOS and OS X are kept separate."

This thoery could be applied in 2012, and the MacBook Air might be powered by A6 quad-app processor, thus becoming the very first computer to comprise multiple devices and to have the power of a PC. Users’ digital data could be stored in the cloud, which could be the center of Apple’s strategy, since the profile, content and apps would be cutomized according to the device users log on to. The purported merging could be useful not only to users, but also to developers, who will adress only one unified platform, instead of developing apps and contents for multiple devices and different operating systems.

The recently launched iCloud Beta shows this merger happening with platform syncing. However, the traditional Macbook Pro and Mac desktop could stick to the Mac OS X software and the Intel processor and probably by 2016 the merging would be complete for all Apple’s devices. "When 64-bit ARM is available in 2016, we believe Apple will have a single OS and hardware architecture," said Misek.