Merging iPad and Mac will lead to ‘tradeoff, compromises’: Tim Cook

Apple has dismissed reports that it will be combining iPad, iPhone and Mac applications to pave the way for a unified platform.

Here’s what Apple CEO Tim Cook has to say on rumours of iPad and Macbook getting merged. (AFP)

Apple CEO Tim Cook has finally shared his two cents on speculation that the company will merge its iPad and MacBook lineup. He says that if the company chooses to merge the two products, it will lead to "trade-offs and compromises."

"We don't believe in watering down one for the other. Both (the Mac and iPad) are incredible. One of the reasons that both of them are incredible is because we pushed them to do what they do well. And if you begin to merge the two… you begin to make trade-offs and compromises," Sydney Morning Herald quoted Tim Cook as saying.

"So maybe the company would be more efficient at the end of the day. But that's not what it's about. You know it's about giving people things that they can then use to help them change the world or express their passion or express their creativity. So this merger thing that some folks are fixated on, I don't think that's what users want," he added.

In December, a Bloomberg report had claimed that Apple was working on a new strategy under which it would merge apps for iPads and Macbook under a secret project codenamed "Marzipan". A formal announcement was expected at this year's developer conference. The report, however, added that the plan could be scrapped at any point.

It's not the first time Apple has shut down rumours of a Macbook-iPad merger. In a 2012 interview, Tim Cook had said, "You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user."

Three years later, Cook expressed a similar sentiment. "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," he said. "So we want to make the best tablet in the world and the best Mac in the world. And putting those two together would not achieve either. You'd begin to compromise in different ways."

While Apple doesn't see any merit in merging the tablet and PC platforms, other tech companies such as Google and Microsoft did make similar efforts in the past. A few years ago, Microsoft launched the Universal Windows Platform that enabled developers to build apps for all sorts of devices, ranging from mobile phones to tablets and computers. Google is also unifying its platform by rolling out Google Play store for laptops running on its Chrome OS.